Luz Clawthorne: Two Worlds, One Family Chapter 129: Clawthorne Family Reunion, an owl house fanfic

All characters from Disney and other properties are owned by their respectful owners. The OCs made here are written entirely for the story. Enjoy this fic.

Chapter 129: The Clawthorne Family Reunion

At Scooter Crane's orphanage, Eda pinched the bridge of her nose while in front of the kids. With her were Donna, Ban, and Hicky.

"You know, after all my years of raising two children of my own, I am not surprised that you all did this," Eda said while the kids were silent. "I mean, I should be impressed. I used to hide pets from my parents when I was a kid. My sister did not appreciate it when I kept a baby griffin as a pet. My mother was not pleased and my dad just laughed and saw it as a new story he can share." She gave a sigh as she heard the doorbell ringing. "Donna, can you get that?"

"Alright," Donna replied while looking at the kids. "Good luck." she told them before walking over to the door. She opened and saw who it was. "Luz, Amity, Kay, King, what brings you guys here?"

"Hey, Donna," Luz replied as Donna invited them in. "Is mom here?"

"Yeah, she's dealing with a little situation with the kids…" Donna replied awkwardly as she led them to Eda, who noticed them.

"Luz? What are you kids doing here?" Eda asked them.

"Stopping by to see you, mom," Luz said while holding a camera.

"Yeah, we were wondering if you're still up for the-WEH!?" King exclaimed after seeing what was with the kids.

"Ruff!" barked a dog, but not just any dog… a dograptor, who was being hugged by Jesse.

"Hey, aren't you guys Eda's own kids?" Ban asked them.

"Yeah, I'm Luz, this is my girlfriend Amity, and my big-little bro, King," Luz introduced.

"Well it's nice to finally meet you all," Ban said cheerfully. "I'm Ban, and this is Ms. Hicky, we're the administrators here at the orphanage."

"You caught us in the middle of scolding these kids for keeping a pet without us knowing," Hicky explained.

"Ah the old hiding a pet scenario," Luz acknowledged while turning to King. "Remember when we hid that snake-rat from mom and Hooty, King?"

"Yeah… until we had to get it out from Hooty," King said with a shiver.

"His name is Sugarcup," Jesse replied while petting at the dograptor, who enjoys getting petted.

"So you two are the ones who've been the talk of town lately," Jak said to Luz and Amity. "What's it like being in the same house as Eda?"

"Ooh, is it true that you came from the Boiling Seas, or that you fought one-hundred monsters in the woods?" Beans asked Luz in an excited tone. "Do you have battle scars?"

"Heh, looks like I got a fan," Luz said in amusement.

"Eda's told us stories," Demi mentioned.

"Plus it seems like every week you two are involved in some kind of strange and bizarre situation going on around the Isles," Socrates pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's not like that's by choice," Amity said while Kay just giggled.

"So what were you going to say?" Eda asked them before realizing something. "Huh, I think this is the first time the three of you have been here."

"Huh, yeah," Luz said as she looked around. "It's not a bad place. But back to the subject at hand, we're about to go check out the Clawthorne family reunion down at Palm Stings," Luz explained. "Gwendma, Dellpa and Aunt Lilith already said that they'll meet us there."

"I also thought of bringing Kay with us, since it's been a while since we've had an outing," Amity said as Kay smiled.

"Okay… but what's with the camera?" Eda asked as she pointed to Luz with her camera.

"Oh this? This is for mami," Luz answered, pulling Eda aside to whisper to her. "I realized that I never gave her a proper tour around the Boiling Isles since she had been cooped up in the Owl House for the duration of her stay with us besides that time she visited Hexside, the time she went to temple service with us, and the time she went to the Bonesborough Brawl," she listed off. "Because of that, I don't think she got the best impression of the Isles and I thought this could be a good way to share more of my world with her, plus it will let me see the Isles before I go to stay with her."

"Sounds great," Eda said while looking at the camera. "Hey, Cammy, what do you think of where I work?"

"So mom, are you coming to the reunion as well?" King asked her, making Eda pause.

"Oh, um… gee, I wish I could go, but I have my duties here at the orphanage," Eda pointed out. "I mean, what could these kids do without me?"

"I can stay here to help Ban and Hicky watch over them for you, Eda," Donna volunteered, causing Eda to turn to her in surprise.

"What? Oh come on, Donna, I can't leave you here alone with the Little Rascals here," Eda said.

"I won't be alone and this sounds like this is something you probably shouldn't miss," Donna said to her.

"Earlier you did look uncomfortable about going to the reunion," Luz said to her mom. "It's almost as if you don't want to go to the reunion."

"Oh don't worry, Luz, it's no big deal," Eda waves it off.

"Huh, if I didn't know any better, it sounds like you're too scared to go," Jak indicated.

"Mom, you said that we should check out our extended family more," Luz reminded her, making Eda remember that she did promise Luz that back after the Glandus War. "So why are backing out now?"

"I'm not backing out anything," Eda said nervously while Luz gave her the look. This made Eda sigh. "Alright, I… I know that I promised to go, but… I'm reluctant."

"What do you mean, Eda?" Amity asked her.

"Well… in every family, there's always the annoying cousin that everyone despises… that cousin is me," Eda said, pointing to herself. "Back when I was your age, mom would always make me and Lily to go up to Palm Stings to meet up with the rest of the Clawthorne clan every year, but each year, I would get bored, and if I'm bored, I pulled pranks, even on my own relatives…"

"It couldn't have been that bad, could it?" Amity asked.

"Knowing my mom… it probably was," Luz admitted.

"Well they weren't bad pranks… but it did strain my relationship with most of my cousins there, especially Denise," Eda said with a grimace. "She's great-uncle Brolin's only daughter and she could act like a brat at times. Always showing off with her singing and dancing, so I took every chance to humiliate her during the talent shows we had." She gave a small snort while chuckling. "But of course, ever since I was hit by the curse, I never showed up there again. I was afraid of hurting them like I hurt my dad and that, combined with my criminal status, did no favors to my relationships with my extended family." She looked down while rubbing her own arm. "I guess I was worried that it wouldn't go well if I showed up. They'll probably just bring up my scams, past criminal activities, remind me of all of my faults and how inconsiderate I was to not think about my actions and reputation could affect the clan..."

"Oh come on, mom, you can't let that fear get to you," Luz encouraged.

"Yeah, your family drama can't be as bad as my family drama," Amity pointed out.

"I mean, don't expect them to say nice things about me," Eda said with a sigh. "Look kids, I know you're excited about this, but not every family member's going to be all strongly bonded and tight with each other. It's not like what they show in the movies or animes you kids watch. Most family members either don't like each other for a variety of reasons, even if you do love them. We're better off as a found family unit."

"Wait just a fucking minute," Jak said to Eda. "Didn't you tell me a while ago to not let my past define you or something?"

"Oh come on, that's different from my situation, Jak…" Eda said.

"But Eda, you're considered a hero to the Isles now," Ban pointed out. "I'm sure that your family will be delighted to hear all of the good deeds you've done lately."

"He is right," Luz agreed while walking up to Eda. "Besides, am I worried about what they'll think of me? Of course not, I just want to see more of the cool family that my mom's from. And if they give me or you a hard time, we can always leave."

Eda looked down at her daughter, giving her a smile. After thinking it over, she nodded. "Alright, I guess I can go. I'll see you kids there, just… let me stay here and deal with this a little longer."

"Alright, mom, and hopefully you'll be there when I show the family a surprise," Luz said as she turned to the camera with a smile. "Which will be featured at the end of my video." She winked. "But you'll just have to stay tuned until then!"

*Intro by Crash-X-Fusion/Crosshot*

The Clawthornes' new portal appears and opens. In a flash of light, Luz is free-falling before extending her wings and dive-bombing towards the ground until she lands in front of the Owl House, startling Hooty. As she stands in a crater, Amity, Eda, and Willow fly down on their staffs next to her, and Amity (who has King clinging to her back) jumps into Luz's arms. Luz smiles at everyone and looks toward the sky. Cut to Gus, Perry, and Emmiline looking up at the sky in the Human Realm as Camila and Dipper walk up to them. Dipper gestures to the hills overlooking Gravity Falls before the boys run off to explore with the adults fondly watching them go.

Captain Leonte and the Boiling Isles Guardians are shown standing at attention, unmasked and with an obvious gap present since Venoma has been removed from the group. Alburno and Thunder charge forward in a flash which transitions to Nina facing forward before a rotation shows Donna standing behind her, the girls facing away from each other. As they both turn around Nina fades away, Donna's face falling as her key glows in a dark aura. The aura envelops the screen before the seven remaining coven heads appear surrounding Willow with Alador sporting a knowing expression. Willow smirks, takes on her upgraded form, and ensnares the Heads minus Alador in vines.

Belos is shown with Hunter and Abel by his side and the Horned King above him, Hunter looking up as if he can see him. Belos raises his staff and fires off an unknown spell. Emily is shown wearing the Silver Sentry armor without the mask as Adrian and the dark silhouette of an unknown woman loom overhead. Emily shoots off red flames which turn green and clear up to show Cross standing with his family. Cross and Zee are surrounded by fire and water and emerge from them in their dragon forms, roaring.

The students of St. Epiderm are shown standing against the Emperor's Coven in front of their school. Next, Boscha and Nina (looking hesitant) appear leading the students of Hexside as they fight Emily and BIG. Then, Donna is shown suited up as she leads LOWTH into battle against Hettie Cutburn and several coven scouts. Finally, we see Eda with Lilith and Raine in front of the Covens Against the Throne, now including the Bards Against the Throne. The Clawthorne sisters are instantly surrounded by darkness and stand back-to-back as an army of Titan Trappers prepare to attack them. Hooty suddenly pops up and coils around Eda and Lilith to provide cover as King jumps out of Eda's hair, setting off a barrage of lightning glyphs.

Luz is shown standing somewhere near the Titan's skull, gazing up at it with one red eye before Cross (wearing a new set of clothes with armor) leaps down behind her. Out of instinct, Luz throws a punch he narrowly avoids and turns around smiling innocently; as if he can sense this, Cross frowns and lightly dope slaps her. Eda, Lilith, the Hexsquad (minus Gus), and Hunter show up with the adults (in their harpy forms) keeping the cousins from fighting by turning their heads and pointing upward. Belos, now in his monster form, is airborne with Abel and surrounded by coven blimps with scouts ready to open fire. Willow powers up and steps forward as Amity leads most of the others in launching their signature attacks. With King on her shoulder, Luz shares a determined nod with Cross before they charge to the front of the pack. Cross lets out a fire blast while Luz jumps, she and King letting out twin sonic screams which combine with the other attacks and cover the screen in a flash of light. The light fades away to show the logo, Luz Clawthorne: Two Worlds, One Family, in pale gold before it crumbles away. The logo is now dark purple with the "C" (now a claw) glowing white.

Bzzzt

"Is the camera on?" Luz asked while in front of the camera.

"You are good to go, Luz," said King, who was holding the camera.

"Alright!" Luz said as she cleared her throat. "Hey, Mami, this is Luz, and with me is my lovely smart girlfriend, Amity."

"Hi, Camila," Amity said, waving to the camera while Kay stuck her head out of her bag.

"And we're here to give you a video tour around the Boiling Isles!" Luz declared. "I know that you had a difficult time adjusting to the Isles, but I do want to share my world with you and I think this is the best way to do that."

"Starting with our hometown, Bonesborough," Amity added.

"Bo-bo-Bonesborough!" Luz cheered while striking a peace sign.

Bzzzt

"You've been in Bonesbourgh before, though you only saw a small part of it," Luz narrated as they strolled through the streets. "But this place has a lot of significant history, since it's the biggest and oldest city in the Isles. A lot of the city was rebuilt or redesigned when Belos took over, but plenty of the original buildings are still standing and they are some of the oldest existing buildings in the Isles." They stopped in front of the Bonesborough Library. "Take the old library for example, it has been standing here since at least the Deadwardian-Era."

Gary was shown sweeping the steps of the library when he spotted Luz and Amity. "Ah, Amity, what a nice surprise. Good to see you."

"Hey, Gary, how is Malphas doing?" Amity asked him.

"Oh you know, still cooped up in the Forbidden Stacks," Gary responded. "Honestly, nobody has seen him for a while. But I am glad to see that you're doing alright. Everyone misses you in the library, by the way."

"Thanks, I miss everyone too," Amity responded. "Although right now, I'm focusing on settling some things with my family."

"That's great of you, I'll be sure to let Malphas know that I saw you," Gary responded.

"Say Gary, do you have anything to share about the history of the Bonesborough Library?" Luz asked him, pointing the camera at him.

"Well, we unfortunately don't know a lot about the early years of Bonesborough, like who founded it and when," Gary explained. "If there were any written records back then, they would have been lost to time. The library wasn't a part of the original Bonesborough and we don't even know who built it. Or if it was even built by witch hands…"

"What do you mean by that?" Luz asked, confused.

"According to stories, the Bonesborough Library just popped into existence one day. Since then, it has remained standing, even through the harshest times. It has survived fires that ravaged the city and has resisted change. Any attempts to redesign or renovate the library have quickly been undone. The Construction Coven actually refuses to touch the building and the mayor of Bonesborough has agreed to let the Library stay as it is."

"Ooh, spooky," Luz said, grinning. She then realized something. "Wait… Bonesborough has a mayor?! How come he's never come up once?!"

"Because he's actually pretty corrupt and lazy," Amity admitted. "Since the Emperor's Castle is in Bonesborough, he just lets the Emperor's Coven do his job for him."

"Oh…" Luz said, getting it now.

The camera then focused on Amity. "Another fun fact about the Bonesborough Library is that for the longest time it has been run by Malphas, the master librarian. According to the other employees, he was in charge of this library even before the age of Belos."

"It's true," Gary said. "Malphas has been the master librarian for as long as I can remember. It makes throwing birthday parties really hard for the guy, since nobody knows how old he is and we have to guess how many candles to put on the cake."

"Couldn't you just ask him?" Luz pointed out.

"And make him sensitive about his age?" Gary asked.

Bzzzt

At the Supernatural Museum of History, Luz led them to a specific exhibit.

"And here we are in the Supernatural Museum of History," Luz explained as she showed the camera maps of the Titan… and of the Boiling Seas and the other landmasses that inhabited the Demon Realm. "This place has some of our best maps of the Demon Realm. Not just our Titan, but other Titans as well."

"We do get occasional visitors and travelers from other Titans," Amity explained. "Traders looking for friendly ports, refugees and immigrants seeking a fresh start, explorers wanting to map the Boiling Seas for their own Titans, and even the occasional representatives from these other Titans. There's actually a bunch of treaties between the Isles and other Titans to prevent conflict and war between the islands like there was in the past." Her expression changed. "Of course, the pirates from other Titans are still a problem, but that's why the Emperor's Coven has a Navy." She then leaned toward the camera to whisper. "I've also helped escort witches out of the Isles to another Titan."

"We actually have no idea how many Titans there are, since we don't have a complete map of the Demon Realm. The Isles doesn't have satellite technology, which makes mapping and charting the Boiling Isles a lot harder," Luz explained. "Most of the Boiling Seas are still unknown to us."

"And our maps aren't even that reliable, since you won't find King's island on any of them," Amity pointed out. "Most of the Titans aren't anywhere near us, with our only close neighbor being an archipelago known as the Inkwell Isles..."

"The huge distances between the Titans is one of the reasons that the witches here don't see much reason to leave the Isles, though there are exceptions," Luz explained. "Most of the witches who leave the Isles are sailors, those fleeing from the law, and the occasional expeditions sent out to explore some of the other Titans."

"I do remember Lilith mentioning to me that she had been through some expeditions before," Amity recalled. "I heard one expedition she was on resulted in the disappearance or death of Beast Head Fara Craft, who donated many of the artifacts she found in this museum."

They then showed the part of the museum that displayed models of the solar system. "We know less about other planets than we do about other Titans. Especially since the only way to study the other planets is through the telescope."

"So far, Oracles have done the most study of the planets in our system and the stars, since it helps them with their predictions," Amity added. "The star constellations are actually glyphs that Luz recognizes, but the Emperor wants us to believe that they all represent him for egotistical reasons."

"I do wonder if there is any life on any of these other planets in the Demon Realm though," Luz wondered openly. "Of course, the Boiling Isles is nowhere close to the point when we could actually explore these other planets that circle around the sun, so all we can do is wonder…"

Bzzzt

"Next up is the Conformatorium," Luz said as she showed the Conformatorium, which was currently under repair by Construction Coven members and some scouts. "The Construction Coven's is being repaired after it was damaged by a huge breakout… and this was after it had to be repaired when Puck trashed it. But we can still explain the deal with this place."

"The Conformatorium is a prison built by the Emperor's Coven for witches who don't 'fit in' to our society," Amity explained. "A lot of innocent witches have been thrown in just because they don't like joining covens or any number of reasons. Though to be fair it still houses actual criminal witches who are a danger to everyone else."

"Just like the prisons in the Human Realm," Luz added.

"Starting to think the prison system is a universal failed concept," King said from off-camera.

"Oh look, there's Wrath," Luz said as she pointed to Wrath, who was talking with some guards. They walked up to him. "Hey Wrath, where do you keep the prisoners around now?"

"What the… you kids shouldn't be here," Wrath responded before noticing Amity. "Oh, Amity, I see that you've returned."

"Hi, Mr. Wrath," Amity said, waving to him. "How's Braxus doing?"

"He's been doing good," Wrath replied, acting friendly towards Amity. "But he does miss you a lot."

"Yeah, I've missed him too," Amity said, also in a friendly tone.

Luz turned to the camera. "Amity used to babysit Wrath's kid and read to him at the library," she explained. "Honestly, underneath his tough surface and weird obsession with Eda, Wrath isn't too bad."

"As for you, Luz," Wrath spoke up, earning her attention. "I wish to thank you for helping stop the escaped prisoners the other day."

"Oh, well, that's…. unexpected of you, Wrath," Luz admitted. "I never thought I would hear that from you of all witches."

"Well, I owe you for stopping Nicole, who threatened my son when she was releasing the prisoners," Wrath replied.

"She did?!" Amity asked in shock. "She really has fallen low…"

"Well, none of you guys will have to worry about her anymore," Luz said. "She's pretty much just a mindless shadow at this point… I think."

"Just so you know, we're cool now," Wrath told her. "I am… grateful for what you and your mother have done for the Isles."

Luz smiled, feeling appreciated. "Wow. Thanks, Wrath."

Bzzzt

Now they were flying over Latissa, Luz in her winged form while King sat with Amity on her staff.

"Directly below us is Latissa, which you might remember," Luz explained. "This town's located at the Armpit of the Titan. This place is like the Mos Eisley of the Boiling Isles. A hive of scum and villainy."

"Latissa is infamous for its high crime rate," Amity mentioned. "This is largely because of how much more impoverished it is compared to Bonesborough and Metropelvis. The Emperor's Coven has had a harder time cracking down on all the crimes and the laws are much looser, which makes this the perfect place for anyone who wants to operate on the less than legal side in a place where the Emperor's Coven has a lot less influence and oversight."

"Like our good friend Dr. Bride, for example. This place is also home to Glandus High, which we'll be stopping by," Luz replied as they flew over to the ruins of Glandus.

As they landed, they saw the school being rebuilt while Luz continued to narrate. "Although it got torn down thanks to that Heinous woman, it didn't take long at all for the Construction Coven to decide to rebuild Glandus to its former glory. Well, if you can call it glory. Though when me and Ams showed up, it was a castle."

"That's because Glandus High actually used to be a castle for royalty," Amity revealed.

"Whoa, really?" Luz asked and Amity nodded.

"In the Savage Ages, it belonged to a Prince Prosperous," Amity explained. "He was a prince that ruled Latissa and he allowed this place to decay and rot, which is a large reason why Latissa is the cesspool that it is today. He neglected it and its people, especially when it was hit by the Red Death. One day, the Prince threw a party for his rich friends while everyone outside of the castle was dying, but then a carrier of the Red Death managed to break into the castle and kill everyone in it, including the Prince. After that, nobody touched the castle for years, fearing it to be cursed or haunted… until the first school war between Hexside and Glandus happened and the original Glandus was destroyed, resulting in the castle becoming Glandus' new building."

"Wow, you know it's appropriate that Glandus has such a dark and bloody history from the very beginning," Luz admitted.

"Hello, Clawthorne."

"FUCK!" Luz shouted as she jumped back, seeing that Faust had suddenly shown up. "Fausty… it's been a few days, hasn't it?"

"Although it feels longer," Faust confirmed while holding up a clipboard and mug.

"So you're helping to rebuild Glandus then?" Luz asked.

Faust nodded. "Right now I'm scheduled to meet and interview some new teaching staff that would be more qualified to handle the students here. I've also offered Detention to work with me to replace the dungeon detention down there. And don't worry, anyone teaching here will be given a full background check…"

"So Faust… what did you think about the news about your ex-wife?" Luz asked.

"Honestly, I'm disgusted with her and her actions," Faust admitted. "Of course, we were only married for a short while before she slammed me with the divorce and took everything from me before I could even realize who she really was. I dedicated my career to fighting evil, but not even I could have predicted the levels of her depravity…" He turned to Luz. "I must thank you, Luz, for helping expose the evil she really was."

"Uh yeah, it's no problem, Fausty," Luz responded, though she was still surprised to hear this from him. "I just happened to be there at the right time and place. Glad that she won't be a problem to anyone else anymore."

"Yes. It was nice seeing you again Clawthorne, but I must get back to work," Faust said as he walked away from her. "Just stay out of trouble…"

Amity turned to Luz, shocked. "Wow, did you actually get on Faust's good side?"

"Yeah," Luz admitted, starting to reflect on how Wrath and Faust were both antagonists to her in the past, but now things were cool between them and her. "Huh. I guess I have managed to make peace with some of my past enemies. I suggested the Glandus job to Faust and Wrath is cool with me now." She remembered a few other examples. "I'm also good with Boscha now, since we went from enemies to friends. And Nina, we went from being enemies to becoming sorta friends… I guess the power of friendship does work."

"And what about you and… Emily?" King asked.

Luz looked unsure. "I… don't know where I stand with Emily right now. I thought she was coming after me and my family, but according to Eda that's not what she's been doing since becoming the Silver Sentry." She remembered what Lindsay told her and wondered if she might have been right. "I am glad that she hasn't been antagonizing us anymore, but I am still wary of her."

Bzzzt

"We're now in the Bat Queen's forest," Luz explained as she and Amity were shown in the Bat Queen's forest. Amity kept watch over Kay, who had come out from her backpack and was playing with the other Palismen and the Bat Queen's kids. "The Bat Queen guards this forest from the Emperor's Coven, protecting the ownerless Palismen here. She is also an ownerless Palisman for a great giant who mysteriously disappeared years ago."

"Luz," the Bat Queen spoke up to her. "Good to see you again. How is Maya, by the way?"

"Doing good, Bat Queen." Maya replied with a smile. "Me, Luz and Amity are working on a little video tour for Luz's human mother to show her around the Isles."

"That is good," the Bat Queen replied. "Oh, Luz, do you still have the Palistrom Wood?"

Before Luz could answer, the video-

Bzzzt

"Metropelvis," Luz said while the camera showed off the city below them. Compared to Bonesborugh, the buildings of Metropelvis were a lot taller and less monster-like in appearance. Instead, the city was… shinier, its buildings made of bronze with a mixture of steampunk and factory pomo-style architecture. "The second largest city of the Boiling Isles, pretty much the Demon Realm's own New York. This is where our friend, Donna, and cousin Beocrow live."

They traveled around the city through the air. Luz commentating. "This place is a whole lot nicer than Bonesborough, which is definitely more middle class than Metropelvis, while Latissa is largely lower class." The camera showed witches riding on griffins. "And since this city is near the Knee, it's a little colder around here, though there are still parts of the city warmer than the rest, like the park." She dodged a griffin flying past by. "Gah! Hey, I'm flyin' here!" she shouted at the griffin driver. "Jerk."

"The city is at the Thigh of the Titan," Amity explained as the camera showed the streets filled with witches and demons. "It was founded by witches who used to live on the Knee before their city was destroyed by wild witches… allegedly. Rather than rebuild their old city, the survivors went down to live here, leaving the ruins as a reminder of the 'evils' of wild magic. Before the survivors from the Knee moved here, this city used to be called 'Smallpelvis'. Its name changed because of its growth. My family actually once considered living here, but we decided against it because we couldn't stand the cold."

"Yeah, me and mom don't come here often since it's not our kind of neighborhood," Luz admitted. "But though this place may be cold, there's still some natural flora around here." They flew closer to the ground. "Despite the cold weather, these flowers can survive up here thanks to adapting to the cold. Resulting in these blue snowflake flowers." She pointed to the blue flowers that were shaped like snowflakes on the bushes. "Just like how I have adapted and thrived here."

Bzzzt

"Now we're at St. Epiderm," Luz mentioned as they stood outside of the school while Amity helped Kay get covered up to protect her from the cold. "This is the rich kids' school that Donna and her friends attend. You remember Donna, mom, since you've met her a couple of times. Lindsay, Cross, and my cousin Beo also attend St. Epiderm."

"Another girl, Tabrella, also attends here," Amity mentioned. "I did plan to having a playdate for Kay with Tabrella's sister, but that was before I had to leave the Isles."

"Yeah, though they still got their playdate," Luz commented as she looked up at the school. "Man, I've made friends with a lot of rich kids lately, I'm gonna have to have a lot of expensive birthday presents," she joked. "Though this school does look more like a fortress…"

"That's because it originally was. The building is older than both Hexside and Glandus and is named after Saint Epiderman, a witch paladin from the Savage Ages," Amity explained. "Before it was a school, it was a fortress for warriors who were the Isles's main defense long before the Emperor's Coven. The paladins were also devout worshipers of the Titan. Saint Epiderman was their leader, helping to keep the Isles safe from invaders such as moguls, pirates, raiders, locust-bats… he was considered a hero."

"Huh, sounds appropriate that Donna and her friends attend here then," Luz said as she had King raise the camera to look up the Knee. "That's the Knee. The lingering magic of the Titan's is said to be found there and according to Eda, the earliest witches went up there to develop their magic." She was then reminded of something. "Wait… I just remembered Cat mentioned something. According to her ancestor, the Titan was only able to communicate with her on the Knee, since that is where the magic of the Titan was the strongest. And Kadabe mentioned that she only started receiving her visions after her family went up to the Knee…" She tapped her chin. "What if Kadabe's visions were actually the Titan trying to speak to her or through her…?"

Amity was silent for a moment, wondering about that herself while hugging Kay. Ever since she heard about Cat's ancestor, she had been forced to reevaluate her atheism. "Well… I guess the Titan is real from what Cat said. That he was alive and able to communicate with witches. But his meeting with her ancestor was centuries ago, so we can't be sure if he is even still capable of talking to them. I mean, he would have done something to stop Belos then, right? So it would still mean that we can't rely on his to help us. Kadabe's visions could have just been a result of the lingering Titan magic up on the Knee, not the Titan himself directly talking to her."

"Hmm, you do have a point," Luz agreed. "But it also does mean that the Titan religion preached by Belos is still a total farce, even if we can't prove it. Though, there has been people questioning it more after Scumday…"

Bzzzt

Luz and Amity were next shown at Satorius Acres, where they traveled through the small town. "Now we're here at Satorius Acres, a farming town that neighbors Metropelvis. This is where a lot of the food and livestock of the Isles comes from."

"The most prominent covens here are the ones related to Plant, Beast-Keeping, and Potions," Amity explained. "There are a lot of farms in this part of the Titan and the products of these farms get transported throughout the Isles. This town also has a farmer's market which is where we're heading down to."

Once they were at the farmer's market, they ended up spotting Lindsay who was at an apple stand with Jackie. "Hey, it's Lindsay over there," Luz pointed out.

"Oh, Luz, Amity, I am surprised to see you here," Lindsay said when she saw the girls. "And hello, King, and I see you brought Kay with you as well."

"We're just filming around the Boiling Isles for my human mother," Luz explained. "You've seen her before, Camila."

"Oh, well it was brief, but yes, I do remember seeing her," Lindsay confirmed. "Oh, this is my friend, Jackie Courtland, who runs the Courtland apple blood farms."

"Hey, my mom, Eda, loves to order your apple blood from there," Luz pointed out.

"Believe me, we know," Jackie said as she showed off her apple products. "These here apple products were personally brought in and butchered by my brother, who is the apple butcher."

"So, uh, I have a question… is apple blood really alcoholic?" Luz asked.

"Not really, though some witches would add alcohol to spice it up," Jackie admitted.

"Seriously? Well I feel lied to," Luz scoffed. "Mom told me I couldn't have any because it was alcoholic, but I guess she just wanted to have it all for herself."

"Yeah, that does sound like Eda," King admitted.

"Now where is Apple? She was supposed to come back from her break minutes ago," Jackie said while looking around for her farmhand.

"Here I am, Jackie," Apple said as she came back, her hair looking like a mess. "Just had to, uh, make a quick stop at the outhouse."

Bzzzt

"Now this neck of the woods is the Torsa Villa," Luz said, now in the treehouse village. "This is the reservation where the werecats community lives and it is Nina's home stomping grounds. Though, I will admit that I have never been to this place before."

"Same," Amity admitted. "This reservation was created because of a huge outbreak of Were-Fever in the Boiling Isles during the Savage Ages, causing many witches to turn into lycans for unknown reasons. This caused a lot of strife between witches and lycans and during this time werecats were trapped in their were-form thanks to a witch named Hotep Koff, who casted a spell that prevented them from changing back into their witch-selves. This made it much easier to hunt and kill them and lycan hunting used to be very common until the Emperor's Coven banned lycan hunting and granted the remaining werecats a piece of land they could live on."

"Lycan discrimination is still pretty common though," Luz admitted with a saddened look. "Although Belos never made any laws saying that lycan witches didn't have the same rights as witches and demons, he also made no efforts to integrate werecats into the rest of society. From what Nina has indicated, most of the werecats are too scared to leave the reservation and are submissive to Belos's decrees. Though, I have heard that the newer generation is unhappy about their place on the Titan." They were then spotted by Banjo, who was walking by.

"Hey, you're that Luz girl from before." Banjo waves to them.

"Oh, you're the Banjo girl that Nina knows," Luz said, waving to them. "This is Banjo Scorpincher, a resident here."

"I saw you before at Geist's bar," Amity recognized.

"Oh yeah, I recognize you too. The fae-girl that got everyone talking about for a while," Banjo said. "Luz, I just wanted to say that you did a good service in busting that Terra chick." She then spotted Ghost and her face brightened up. "Oooh, is that your cat Palisman? She looks so cute!" she gushed over Ghost, who was startled by her.

"Yes, her name is Ghost," Amity confirmed. "So Banjo, what can you tell us about the significance of the Torso Villa?"

"Significance? Well, we do have the finest cuisines here that you can't find anywhere else in the Isles," Banjo said.

She showed the girls and King around, leading them to a food stand. "Like these tasty fish snacks, for example," she said, holding up a plate of mashed fish with some bones sticking out. "Anyone want to bite?"

Bzzzt

At Lokitown, the camera looked around at the Nordic-like village. "This is Lokitown, a small village where the Shadowy Secret Expozers live."

"This small village is named after Loki the Wolf-Whisperer," Amity said, pointing to a statue of Loki riding on a wolf. "This village was saved from a natural disaster by him. While many believe that this Loki was just a powerful witch, other rumors say that he was actually a god and his name is often used in reverence."

"I would not be surprised if that was the actual Loki," Luz admitted. "I saw him once…"

They decided to stop by the juice bar, which they went inside. "Hey, look. It's our friends, the SSE," Luz said.

"Hey, Luz. Hey, Amity," Eve waved to them as she and the gang were having fruit smoothies.

"What's the occasion? Another mystery solved?" Luz guessed.

"Our first murder mystery to be exact," Sioux told them. "We not only resolved the Grim Goblin case, but solved the murder of the well known author Hank Hatesew."

"And Ollie's letting us have all the free smoothies we want," Korn declared while sipping his smoothie.

"So who was the culprit?" Amity asked.

"Venoma Heathens, aka the Pink Viper Scout," Linkin replied, which surprised Amity.

"Venoma? You mean the scout with her poison Abominations?" she asked. "I remember her. Lilith said that she was prone to backstabbing…"

"Well, don't worry, that chick is going to be locked up for a long time," Patty reassured her.

Bzzzt

"And now we're here in a part of the Titan that I've never seen before… the Underground!" Luz declared.

They were now beneath the Titan in a huge spacious cavern lit up by glowstones. There was an entire city down here, populated by biped demons. A family of demon rabbits walked by, there were some biped mole demons building another vein tunnel, and some ratworms come and go.

"This place is home to a subterranean society," Luz explained. "The witches here are biped demons resembling rabbits, moles, gophers, bugs…"

"The Underground has its own towns all across the Isles. Right now we're in Burrowton and like any other town it has its own market, stores, and farms," Amity explained. "It also has its own scout unit."

"Yeah, the 'Groundhog' unit over there," Luz said as she pointed to the scouts in brown colored capes. "They're mostly Construction Coven scouts but they're not that important."

"Not that important? We help maintain the sewer systems!" one mole-like scout ranted after overhearing Luz's claim.

The camera focused on Amity as she continued. "However, very few of the Underground dwellers have ever moved to the surface. Most are perfectly content to live down here and they even have their own magical schools here. In the case of Burrowton, it's home to Burrow School Bunyips."

"Go Bunyips!" cheered a passing rabbit demon.

"I guess they are comfortable down here," Luz said before realizing something. "Maybe… too comfortable."

"You alright, Luz?" King asked her, noticing the look on his sister's face.

"Oh, it's nothing, just… touring the Isles like this made me realize how a lot of the witches of the Isles don't stay far from their designated communities," Luz said while sitting on a rock "Like, most werecats never leave their reservation, most of the underground-dwelling witches never leave their communities, and most witches never leave the Isles. Even I have never gone farther than King's island," she admitted. "It's almost like something is keeping everyone here, and I can't believe that I have never really gone on an adventure to another Titan…"

"Well, maybe we could someday," Amity reassured her, patting her hand.

"Yeah…" Luz agreed. "So… who's up for Palm Stings?"

"Me! I would like to go!" King shouted as he raised his hand, which was visible to the camera's view.

At the old Clawthorne home, Lilith looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was in a blue turtleneck, a long black skirt, and black boots.

"I… hope that's good enough," Lilith said while adjusting her glasses and looking at her hair, which still had some blue streaks. "Maybe I should get a haircut at some point…"

"Why Lily, you look great," Gwen states, patting her eldest daughter's shoulder. "Now come, let's catch a griffin to Palm Stings."

Lilith nodded as she followed her mom to the living room, where Blazer was waiting.

"So who's going to watch me when you guys are gone?" Blazer asked before they heard a knock on the door.

"That must be them now," Dell replied as he opened the door. "Ah, welcome. Glad you're here. Please, come in."

"Thank you, Dell," said a polite female voice.

When Blazer saw who was in the doorway, his eyes widened. "No way…"

To the Hellhound's surprise, it was Odalia and with her… was Edric.

"Thank you for coming over to watch over Blazer for us, Lia," Lilith said to her.

"It's no problem, Lilith," Odalia replied while turning to Blazer. "Blazer, how are you doing? Have you settled well here?"

"Uh, yeah…" he replied while nervously glancing at Edric. "Um… why is Ed here?"

"Oh, I came because I volunteered," Edric responded, though he still shifted a bit awkwardly. "Since my mom has no idea how to take care of a Hellhound, I thought I could help assist her, since I've been taking Beast-Keeping courses. Plus I thought you could maybe use someone your own age to keep you company."

"Oh… um, it's… nice," Blazer said with a forced smile while his ears dropped.

"Yeah…" Edric responded as his eyes shifted away, awkward tension radiating between them.

"Well we should get going," Gwen said as she, Dell and Lilith prepared to walk out. "Call us if there's anything you need, Odalia."

"Emergency numbers are on the fridge and you can always call Hooty if you need help," Dell said as the Clawthornes climbed onto the back of a travel griffin as Gwen took control.

"Everyone ready?" Gwen asked them.

"We are, mother," Lilith confirmed while sitting beside her dad.

Gwen nodded and got the griffin to fly up and head in the direction of Palm Stings, leaving Odalia and Edric with Blazer as they watched the Clawthornes leave.

At the orphanage, Owlbert flew up to Eda as she was getting ready to leave.

"Alright, Donna, I trust you to help Ban and Hicky while I am at the family reunion," Eda said. "Think you can handle the fort while I'm gone?"

"Don't worry, Eda, we'll take care of everything," Donna replied.

"Great, and we'll figure out what to do with… Sugarcup, later," Eda said as she walked to the front entrance, only to notice a crate outside the door. "What the…?!" She grabbed a card that was on top of the crate and read it. "'To Eda the Owl Lady, we wish to leave you with this crate of home-brewed apple blood as a gift for everything you did yesterday.' Aww, now that's generous of them," she said, though she didn't give it much thought because she was too distracted by the family reunion. "I should get this delivered to the Owl House though."

"Don't worry, I'll have someone take it to your address," Ban said.

"Thanks, Ban," Eda responded as she got on her staff and flew off.

"Hmm, there's no return address, but that's no problem," Bane said as he brought the crate inside.

Donna, now in charge, had the kids gather around. "Okay, so for today, I'm thinking we can play some of the games Eda recommended. Like a game of Duck, Duck, Moose, followed by learning how to jump-rope."

"What the hell's jump-rope?" Jak asked.

"Eda said that it's a game where humans jump over a rope as it swings around you," Donna explained, but then she heard a knock on the door. "Huh, who could that be?"

"Think Eda forgot something again?" Hicky asked as Donna headed to the door.

When Donna opened the door, her eyes widened in surprise. "Wait… you two?"

"Yer Donna, right?" asked Cups, who looked nervous for some reason.

"Yeah…" Donna replied. "You two were at the Bonesborough Brawl… and were kidnapped by Mel afterward."

"That's us," Mugs told her as he and his brother gave terrified looks. "But we need yer help!"

At the Drakescale home, Beocrow landed his staff right outside. He walked over to the front door and knocked on it. Opening it was Clair.

"Bailey, or is Beocrow what you like to be called these days?" Clair asked him.

"Hey, cousin Clair," Beocrow responded as she invited him in.

Cross and Zee spotted Beocrow coming in. "Beo… it's… surprising to see you," Cross said.

"Hey, just stopping by to ask if I can expect to see any of you at the reunion," Beocrow replied.

"The reunion? Gosh, I… I haven't been there for a long time," Clair admitted awkwardly, looking down.

"Ooh, that would be fun to go to," Zee commented while Cross and Clair didn't look as thrilled as her, which she noticed. "Come on, why the long faces?"

Clair just sighed. "Thank you for dropping by, Beo, but I am afraid you won't be seeing any of us at the reunion this year," Clair told him.

"Why not? Mom told me she's been wondering if you'll come this year," he told her. "How come I've never seen you at the reunions before?"

"Because it's… complicated," Clair explained to him. "My relationship with that side of the family isn't… easy. Especially with my parents. I mean, I do love them, but there is a lot of drama between us. Especially since they never were fond of Damien and that makes things harder for everyone else…"

"And I have my own reasons not to go," Cross said while looking down.

"Well, I was hoping you guys would come, since cousins Eda and Luz are supposed to be there this year," Beocrow explained. "And since Luz is going to be there for the first time, I'd like to see you come there for the first time as well, Cross."

"Luz and Eda… oh yes, I remember them," Clair said, though she still looked reluctant.

"I don't think Luz being there would be a good thing for us," Cross said with a groan. "Considering her own brand of bizarreness that she often brings with her…"

"I think it'd be fun to see the look on Luz's face when she sees us there," Zee pointed out. "I think we should definitely go."

"I don't think that's wise, Zee…" Cross said with a hesitant look.

"Oh why not, Cross?" Zee asked him. "I know that you've spent the most time with Luz and Eda, but did you seriously noy even mention to them at all that we're cousins? Cause eventually they'll find out, one way or the other."

"Zee…" Clair tried to speak up, but Zee continued.

"You guys have such an amazing extended family, yet you both want as little to do with that family as possible," she pointed out to them. "It makes me jealous, honestly. I wish I could be related to the Clawthornes, especially since all of my blood relatives are either dead or evil…"

Cross and Clair looked at Zee, realizing where she was going with this. The two looked at each other before turning back to Zee. "Well… you do have a point there, Zee," Clair admitted. "Maybe we could go this year, just so you can meet everyone."

Cross sighed. "I… I guess eventually Luz would figure it out, so better to rip off that healing patch now."

"So we're going?" Zee asked them with a hopeful tone.

"Yes," Clair nodded, as did Cross.

Zee smiled and went to hug the two while Beocrow smiled as well, happy that the Drakescales would be coming.

Back at the orphanage, Donna let Cups and Mugs in as they tried to explain themselves at the same time, talking over each other in the process. Donna looked even more confused before stopping them.

"Alright, one at the time," Donna told them. "What are you two saying… about a ghost?"

"Yeah! The ghost of Scooter Crane told us to come here!" Cups confirmed.

"He said somethin' about some unfinished business," Mugs replied.

"Uh-huh… yeah, I'm not sure about that," Donna replied.

"You gotta help us get rid of him! He's been spookin' us nonstop since we came back from the Underworld!" Cups begged.

Donna just looked at the two strangely. "Look, I'm confused by all of… what you two have going on, but I don't think I believe your story."

"Hey Donna, the other kids are waiting for you," Jesse said as she came over, before she spotted someone that made her gasp. "Mr. Crane!"

Donna looked at Jesse strangely. "Jesse, what are you talking about?"

"Mr. Crane's right here!" Jesse shouted as she pointed to the spirit of Scooter Crane, visible to her eyes as he looked just as shocked.

"My word, Jesse, you can see me?" Scooter asked in surprise.

"You can see him too?" Mugs asked her.

"Yeah, I have an ability to see and talk to ghosts, just like how I can talk to animals," Jesse revealed, which surprised Donna.

"Really?" Donna asked her. "Wait, if you can see Crane, what is the one thing he told me after I messed up a choir performance when I was ten?"

Jesse, after receiving an answer from Crane, responded. "He says that you couldn't make it to falsetto if your voice isn't high-pitched enough to fractured glass."

Donna's eyes widened in realization. "That… that was what he said…"

At the Left Hand of the Titan, Luz, Amity and King had arrived at Palm Stings.

"And here we are," Amity said as she stood in front of the camera that King was holding while Luz looked around in awe. "Palm Stings, the hottest part of the Titan."

"Whoa… this place," Luz said as she looked around the city of Palm Stings.

The palm trees were quite literal, with its top resembling hands. Two of the fingers and the thumb of the Titan stuck out like mountains. Many of its inhabitants had hand-like hair and body shape. Luz spotted some beasts with hand-like physiology as well, like hand-dragons and hand-parrots flying overhead. The plants were more suited for the hotter climate and included cacti. There were tons of attractions as well, including a boardwalk, stores, restaurants, beachside resorts, and buildings that could be rented out for events. The Titanwood letters hung over one part of the town.

"Palm Stings, home to sunny beaches, Titanwood, and Head Witch Orsan," Amity explained as posters of Orsan Pawculus were up on display. Kay stuck her head out of the bag, wearing an umbrella hat to help protect her from the heat. "The inhabitants of Palm Stings are called the Manus-sapiens, a species of biped demons that have hand-like characteristics as part of their biology."

"Yeah, I think some of the students at Hexside are from Palm Stings. Like Reggie, who has claws on their dreadlocks," Luz referred. "The green kid in Potions."

"Yeah, Reggie's family would've been from here," Amity confirmed.

As they walked around for a bit, Amity continued to commentate. "This part of the Isles is a bit infamous for its extreme heat, extreme weather like hurlcanes, and the sinkholes that you have to look out for."

"WAAH!" one unfortunate witch screamed as he fell into one of said sinkholes.

"But this place is also popular as a vacation spot, especially for graduating witches." Amity explained. "This place is especially busy during Palm Sting Break. Besides that, this town is a popular spot for elder witches who want to retire. It's also a hotspot for celebrity witches that star in their movies and shows that are filmed around here."

"So it's basically this realm's version of Florida and Hollywood," Luz commented.

The trio flew around Palm Stings for a bit, looking at the very sights. Once they were above Titanwood, Luz saw the large theater with a sidewalk containing claw-prints of celebrity names.

"Those are the Footprints of Fame," Amity explained. "Each footprint is from a famous witch. Johnny Tsunami, Scarol Burgess, Tana Derrance, Ozzy Rabbitt, Harper Taboo, and even Raine Whispers has their footprint here."

"This place is even more like Hollywood than I thought," Luz replied as she looked around at the studios operating in Titanwood. "Though a lot of studios are under the Illusion Coven's banner."

"Yeah, the Illusions Coven is responsible for producing our movies and crystal ball shows. However, most of the studios here used to be more independent, as the previous Illusions Head, Sven Starberg, advocated for independence from the covens. But when Adrian Graye succeeded him, Adrian made sure to have all the studios merge with and fall under the authority of the Illusions Coven through the Vernsworth Family Company. Meaning, most movies would now have to be made under his direction, and it resulted in many layoffs."

"Really? Man, that sucks," Luz commented. "A company running multiple monopolies is never a good idea…"

A distance away from them, Kikimora came out of one studio with Pugsley and another witch. "Thanks for coming to my audition, Auntie Kiki," spoke a young red-skinned demon girl with white hair, dark-green goggles, a red tunic with green sleeves, gray pants, and black boots.

"Yes, it's no problem, Miki," Kiki said to the younger demon girl. "Although when your mother called me and told me that it was urgent to come over to Palm Stings, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind…"

Pugsley then spotted someone. "Hey Kiki, isn't that the Luz Clawthorne girl over there?" he asked, pointing to Luz with Amity, King and Kay.

"What?!" Kiki asked in a panic. "We have to get out of here."

"I've heard about her, isn't she kinda infamous where you're from?" Miki asked while looking at Luz. She seemed curious about her.

"Trust me, Miki, you do not want to get involved with her," Kiki told her while grabbing hers and Pugsley's hands, pulling them away. "Cause nothing good happens when you cross paths with her…"

After going through Titanwood, Luz, Amity, and King had finally arrived at their destination.

"And here we are," Luz said. "The Clawthorne Family Griffin Ranch."

They saw a wide, ranch-style three story home which had a large field containing griffins of all kinds, including some baby griffins who were on the fences. But there were also many Clawthorne family members seen in the area, with the kids performing their magic while the adults mingled. There was even a bronze statue of a cowgirl-like witch who donned a Stetson hat, her face resembling a bit like Eda's with a ponytail, a coat, gloves, button shirt, trousers, and spiked boots. She was riding on a griffin.

"Whoa… look at all the griffins here!" King declared as they landed.

"Yeah, and our family members," Luz replied, spotting the extended family members, all from different branches.

A griffin landed in front of them. "Whoa there, Mercy," said one witch man who looked down at the trio. "Never seen you kids around here before," spoke the tanned witch man who had a muscular body, short white hair, and a white handlebar mustache. He wore a large brown hat, as well as a brown poncho with an orange shirt, blue trousers, and boots. "Say, I think I recognize one of ya…"

"Name's Luz Clawthorne, sheriff," Luz replied to the man.

"And I'm King Clawthorne!" King declared. "We're Eda's kids."

"Eda… oh, well I'll be, I knew I recognized the two of you, and the lavender-haired one, Amity, right?" he asked and Amity nodded.

"Y-Yes sir," Amity replied politely.

"Nice to meet you, little miss," he replied. "The name's Brolin Clawthorne, but you can call me your great-uncle Lin," he said. "I'm the eldest of the Clawthorne elders and have inherited my great-great-great-aunt's ranch. Jessebelle Everest Clawthorne." He pointed to the statue standing up front. "She's considered a hero around these parts."

"Whoa… Luz, doesn't she kinda look like Eda?" Amity pointed out.

"Yeah, she does look like mom!" Luz replied, seeing the resemblance.

"Yeah, I can see the resemblance as well," he admitted. "So how's my favorite niece doing? Is she around?"

"Not yet, but she will be," Luz responded. "But I can't wait to get to know you and the rest of this family."

Brolin led them to the ranch house. "Everyone! We got more members here!" he announced. "Meet Luz and King Clawthorne, Edalyn's kids."

"Edalyn? Is she here?!" asked an elderly, short witch woman with pale complex skin, short gray hair tied to a bun, glasses, a green dotted button shirt, a beige brown skirt with brown loafer, and a peg-leg. "The fact that she has kids is already giving me migraines as it is..."

"Now Eartha, be polite," Brolin told his wife. "Meat your great-aunt Eartha, kids. She's a bit grumpy, but she can be a real sweetheart when she wants to."

"Hi there!" shouted a pale but pretty woman in her late twenties as she walked up. She had red hair tied like ponytails, green eyes, and was wearing a blue button top and green mid-length shorts and sandals. "It's finally nice to meet Cousin Eda's kids! I'm Lulu, by the way!"

"Lulu Clawthorne?" King asked.

"Yeah! I live around here with my husband Jook, and our son, Tack, who's out playing with Felix over there." She pointed to a four year old orange haired witch boy with Felix, who was thirteen years old and wearing a lavender collar shirt with blue pants and gray boots. He was seen summoning an Abomination for his cousin to play with.

"Felix… he's Beocrow's little brother," Luz commented. "I remembered him mentioning him."

"Ah, you know little cousin Bail?" Lulu asked with a smile. "How is he, by the way?"

"Still goth," Luz replied.

"That sounds like him!" Lulu replied,

"My name is Amity Goodfellow, by the way, Luz's girlfriend. It's nice to meet you," Amity said to her.

"Oh, the fae-witch kid everyone in the Isles has talked about," Lulu said. "Oh, wait, that was insensitive to bring up, wasn't it?"

"Um, it's fine," Amity told her.

"Don't mind her," Brolin told them. "She's my youngest and um... not the brightest, but she's still kin."

"Of course I'm not bright, I'm not made of light you know," Lulu replied in a literal sense.

"I guess there's one in every family…" Luz commented.

"But don't worry, you're all welcome here," Lulu said while spotting Kay. "Oh, and who's this little one?"

"This is Kay, she's a godsister of mine that I'm watching over for her family," Amity said, pulling out and holding up Kay.

"Bamity!" Kay giggled.

"Aw, ain't she the precious little thing?" Lulu replied, smiling at the young gillchild. "Say, how about you all meet up with the rest of the family? I'll show you around."

She showed them her husband, Jook, who was feeding a griffin. "There's mah husband, Jookie, he started as a ranch hand around here until eventually, he asked me out and then we had lil' Tack together! Jookie! Meet cousin Eda's kids!"

"Sup," Jook Clawthorne responded with a wave while focusing on feeding the griffin.

They then heard singing coming from the tables. Luz, Amity, and King turned and saw Denise Clawthorne, who had her hair shortened. She wore a pink one-sleeved shirt with pink bell-bottom pants and boots and she was using her singing to help set up the table.

"Lalala-De-Da-Babada-da-De-bop-bop-bi-dee, a-didi-dee-dee-dee-Daaahhh," she sang in a skit-skat song, using her voice to levitate the plates and food to prepare for the family dinner.

"Sis, is there enough blood for my family?" asked a pinkish-skinned witch man with red eyes, fangs sticking out, red comb-over hair with gray streaks, a pointy mustache, and a black striped suit and necktie "You know my wife and her nieces are anxious about their blood."

"Don't worry, Dennis, Aunt Jolene knows to serve them blood," Denise told her twin. "I don't want another repeat of last year… those poor spider-cows."

"Denise! Dennis! Come meet cousin Eda's kids!" Lulu waved to her siblings. "Luz, King, Amity, meet my older twin cousins Denise and Dennis. Dennis here married into a vampire clan long ago."

"Eda's kids… tell me, which one of you takes after Eda more?" Dennis asked with a weary look.

"Luz," Amity and King said while pointing to Luz, who just shrugged.

"Eh, I sometimes go overboard, but not as much now," Luz replied.

"Well Beocrow has told me a lot of positive things about you all," Denise replied while walking up to them. "Nice to meet you, I'm Denise, I bet Eda has talked a lot about me."

"Not really," King replied bluntly. "Of course, she hardly talks much about you guys."

Luz looked around. "Where is Beocrow? Thought he'd be with you and Felix."

"Oh he said that he's coming, just with other members of the family," Denise answered. "Say, why don't you kids sit down so we can chat? I'd like to get to know you kids."

"Oh, well that'd be great," Luz said as she sat down along with King and Amity at the table. Amity set an Abomination baby seat for Kay.

"Whoa, that's so cool," Felix said as he walked up to them. "You're Luz, my big bro has told me a lot about you guys."

"You must be Felix, nice to finally meet ya," Luz told him.

"You must be in Abominations as well, right?" Amity asked him.

"Yeah," he replied. "Also, your hair is lavender, just like the colors of Abominations."

"Oh, well thanks for noticing," Amity told him. "Can you show me your Abominations?"

"Sure, here's how I make them," he said while summoning an Abomination. "Abomination, RISE!" he declared loudly as an Abomination rose from the ground. It had an autumn purple color and gray glowing pupils.

"Wow, that is great, Felix," Amity replied. "Your Abomination looks well crafted."

"Thanks, can I see your Abominations as well?" he asked her.

This caught Amity off guard. "Oh, um… to tell you the truth, I haven't been able to summon any Abominations for a long while," she said honestly. "I have a mental block…"

"Oh, well why is that?" Felix asked out of curiosity.

"It's… hard to explain…" Amity said awkwardly.

"So um, cousin Denise, or do I call you Aunt? Or Cousin-Aunt for that matter?" Luz asked her. "So what was your relationship with mom like? Is there a cousin-beef thing going on?"

Denise sighed. "Well, I'm gonna be honest, when we were little witchlings, Eda was… kind of a bully."

This didn't surprise Luz, Amity, and King as much as it should have, given what Eda had told the earlier.

"Um… how much of a bully was she?" Amity asked.

"Well, at one reunion for example…" Denise began

Little Denise was with little Eda and she had been talking to her for a while at the table.

"So me and mom saw this flying pig and mom said that pigs usually fly when something like this happens," Denise rambled innocently, while Eda just looked bored. "I could never understand why she said it, but it does make me wonder-"

In the next moment, Eda threw a pie in her face, making little Denise stop.

"Shut up," Little Eda told her.

Little Denise at age eight was displaying her magical prowess in front of the family. They all looked amazed as they clapped. Eda, however, hid behind a tree as she opened a box and released a bunch of ants.

"Hehehe, go on, my pretties," Eda said as the ants marched up to Denise, crawling up through her trousers.

"A-A-AAAH! There's ants in my pants!" Denise cried out while Eda laughed away. "EDA!"

Denise, now a teen, was performing for the talent show.

"I want a Slitherbeast for Krampmus! I want a Slitherbeast, yes I do!" Denise sang and danced while in her St. Epiderm uniform.

As Denise performed, Eda was behind the stage while drawing a spell circle over Denise. The circle opened a portal that caused Abomination gunk to fall on top of Denise.

"GAAH!" Denise cried out, as she found herself covered in Abominations while everyone gasped. "EDA!"

"Oh I remember that, and how you were steamed for what she did," Dennis said with a chuckle.

"Oh… wow, mom did that?" Luz asked her and Denise nodded. This just reminded Luz of all the impulsive things she had done "I'm so sorry. Unfortunately, I think I inherited this from her."

"I didn't, I ended up just being a good son," King said proudly.

"I'm not sure about that…" Luz said as she narrowed her eyes at King. "But hey, mom's changed for the better and is a lot more mature now, so when she shows up she can apologize to you."

"Yeah, but also might have to apologize to the rest of the family for her mischief…" Denise commented. "But enough about Eda, what can you two tell about yourself?"

Luz began. "Well, I am from the Human Realm, for one thing. Eda rescued me as a baby after a car crash." She then had to clarify. "A car is like a metal rat worm, by the way. Since then I've been living in the Boiling Isles, helping out my mom's get-rich quick schemes like selling human world junk and that one casino business one time. Then I started Hexside early this year. I wasn't the best student at first, especially when I landed in the detention track. But thanks to Amity's tutoring, I got out of the detention track and then joined the Bard Track."

"Oh, that's great. You know, I was in Bard as well," Denise said.

"Yeah, I figured that out," Luz replied. "Hexside also has a new multi-track program so I later joined Beast-Keeping as well. Also been thinking of taking other tracks next semester."

"I am also multi-tracking," Amity added. "Both Abominations and Illusions."

"Why that's wonderful that you kids get the opportunity to explore other tracks," Denise replied as she looked down at her own sigil. "Witches of my generation never had that opportunity to do so. Of course, I'm happy in the Bard Coven, but I think I would have liked to have had more options when I was your age. It would have been nice to master other types of magic like Eda did."

"No wonder she didn't join a coven," Dennis muttered.

"Dennis," Denise hissed at her twin brother, who fell silent from her glare. She turned back to the kids "What about you, King? Are you in school?"

"Oh no, unlike Luz and Amity, I can't do any magic," King admitted. "I actually started out being raised as a pet and then Eda's roommate and it was only recently that we made my adoption into the Clawthorne family official. But she took me in when I had no one but some kind of robot nanny that I named Jean-Luc. I don't really know much about where I came from except that I had a dad at some point. I've been looking for him, but have found no leads yet."

"Well, I hope you find your father someday," Denise told him. "Although I have to say, neither of you remind me as much of Eda as I thought you would."

"Yeah, we tend to be our own witches," Luz confirmed. "Hell, I kinda used to worship her for taking me in, even dyed my hair with orange streaks like her, and let my hair grow before cutting it down. I think I have a much healthier view of my mom now, since I can recognize that she has made a lot of mistakes, but she's still my mom and I still love her."

"That's great to hear, Luz," Denise replied while turning to Amity. "What about you, Amity? What's your situation like? I've heard that you've been living with Eda and Luz for quite some time."

"Yeah, I have been," Amity replied with a sigh. "I started living with them after the incident with the petrification ceremony. That stay became longer after I had a falling out with my family. In addition to living with my girlfriend and her family, I started taking care of Kay when her family were…" She didn't finish as she looked down sadly. "You probably have heard about some of the recent events that I was a part of, like the divorce trial and the Bonesborough Brawl. But I have managed to make amends with my family and after everything that has happened in the past week, I want to make sure that my family's in a better place before I think anymore about my future with Luz."

"Well, I'm glad that you're working things out with your family, Amity," Denise admitted sincerely. "And yeah, I have heard a lot about your family, but I didn't want to assume anything."

"Yeah, I know a lot about family drama, kid," Dennis spoke up. "My wife, Yvontte over there, is the daughter of a self-proclaimed countess." He pointed to his wife, who sat under an old tree. She was a pale vampire woman with long black hair and was wearing a long gothic red dress which was tightly form fitting and a hobble skirt. She was playing ball with her twin nieces, both pale with long black hair and black dresses with white buttons. "I love her, but her mother can be too much for me sometimes."

"Well when you married into the family, you knew that it came with baggage," Denise pointed out sarcastically.

"What about you, Denise?" Luz asked her. "What can you tell us about yourself?"

"Oh, as you've probably figured out I joined the Bard Coven after graduating from St. Epiderm, then I started to go solo after my singing group split up," she said. "I ended up writing and singing commercial jingles, but they were a hit big enough to earn me royalties, enough to be well-off for years to come. Nowadays, I work in studio recording and sound editing."

"Whoa, now that sounds neat," Luz commented. "You are also friends with the Masterskulls, from what I hear."

"Oh yes, they're really good friends," Denise responded happily. "Me and Diana go way back. When she was a delinquent while I was her rock. I even sang at hers and Gladys's wedding. And I am very fond of their daughter, Donna, who is such a sweetheart…"

Back at the orphanage, Donna walked through the building while showing the ghost of Scooter Crane around. Jesse, Cups, and Mugs followed her.

"And over here is where the band practice room is," Donna said as she showed him.

"See, Uncle Crane, the practice room is still the same as it was before," Jesse told the ghost, who looked around.

"Hmm, the instruments are still here," Scooter said while noticing the piano. "Oh my old piano, used to use it when you kids practiced their singing…"

"Whoa, now these are some fancy instruments," Cups said while holding up the trombone.

"Don't touch those!" Scooter warned, making Cups slowly put the trombone away out of fear. "Honestly, I don't get why the Emperor picked Eda of all witches. That witch is unfit to run this place."

Jesse looked up to Donna. "He's glad that the place hasn't changed much, though he doesn't have anything positive to say about Eda…"

"The hell is going on?"

Donna turned to see Jak, along with Socrates, Beans, and Ban as they looked at them in confusion. "You guys have been running around through the orphanage showing those two every room."

"Are they also orphans?" Beans asked.

"No, we still live with our grandpa," Mugs responded.

"Donna, um, what is going on here…?" Ban asked in concern.

"Okay, you may not believe this, Ban, but apparently, those two boys are being haunted by the ghost of Scooter Crane," Donna said as she pointed to them. "And they came to me for help, and then it turns out Jesse can apparently see and speak to the spirit-"

"Scooter Crane's ghost is here?!" Ban asked excitedly. "Oh my Titan, I've been dreaming of being visited by Scooter's ghost!"

Scooter groaned in annoyance. "Oh, Ban… you along with Jak were the hardest to find a good family to match you with."

"Jesse, you can talk to Scooter, right? Did he say anything good about me?" Ban asked the girl.

"Um…" Jesse turned to Scooter, who just waved his hands 'no'. She turned back to Ban. "Uncle Crane said…. to keep up with the good work."

"Will do, sir!" Ban declared, giving a salute in the direction where he believed the spirit was.

"He's um… over there," Mugs pointed out, getting Ban to turn around.

"So is someone going to explain some shit?" Jak asked.

"Yeah, like Mr. Crane's ghost is here?" Socrates asked. "Why?"

"Well, the thing is, Mr. Crane wanted to see how the orphanage was doing. So me and Jesse, along with Cups and Mugs, are showing him around the orphanage and showing him that everything is fine," Donna explained.

"Okay, so basically this orphanage is now haunted," Jak indicated.

"Should we call an exorcist or something?" Socrates asked.

"No, that won't be necessary," Donna said as they continued on with the tour.

"Ah, young Jak. He, like Bandigo, was hard to find a good family to match with him. He never gave any family a chance," Scooter Crane commented.

"Now he's talking about how hard it was to find Jak a good family," Jesse said to Donna.

"Well, thanks to Eda's encouragement, Jak might have an easier time finding a family now," Donna replied to the ghost.

"Really now?" Scooter asked while looking at Donna. "Jesse, can you ask Donna something?"

Jesse turned to Donna. "Donna, Scooter wants to ask you something."

"Oh, um… what does he want to ask?" she asked her.

"Well, he wants to ask about you," Jesse replied to her. "He said that he's actually surprised to see you here at the orphanage and he wants to know how you've been doing."

"Oh, well… after your death, Scooter, I started volunteering here," Donna explained. "It was thanks to you that I got adopted by the Masterskulls and this place still means a lot to me. But besides that… I have been going through a lot these days. A lot of stuff has changed recently and I ended up burning bridges with my best friend." She looked down shamefully. "And… Amber and Derwin, you remembered them?"

"Yes, I do," Scooter replied. "And I was also made aware of their arrest. When I was brought out from retirement, they brought me up to speed about what happened. So I visited them at the Conformatorium, and gave them a piece of my mind about what the hell they were thinking." Jesse relayed this to Donna.

"Eda explained their situation to me, and they were supposed to be kept incarcerated with Belos promising Luz that nothing bad will happen to them…" Donna sighed sadly. "But then in a live-broadcast, Terra revealed that Belos went behind her back and killed them."

"What?!" Scooter asked in shock. "Belos… he… he wouldn't..."

"Admittedly, I'm still not sure if what Terra said was true or not and I've learned not to take a villain's lies at face value when they provide new evidence. But they weren't spotted with the other escaped prisoners during the breakout… so I'm still unsure," Donna admitted. "I… I wish I could've done something for them."

Scooter looked at Donna sadly, wanting to muster up some words… but then he spotted a portrait on the wall. He gasped.

"What's going on now?" Donna asked.

"I think he's staring at this old portrait of that lady," Mugs said as he pointed to the portrait of a brown-skinned witch woman.

"Huh, I've seen this portrait plenty of times but I never asked who she was," Donna admitted.

"Yeah… not sure who she is either," Ban admitted, he and the others having followed the group.

"Donna…" Scooter said as he looked at the portrait.

Jesse's eyes widened with a gasp. "Is something the matter, Jesse?" Beans asked her.

"That woman in the portrait… he said her name was… Donna," Jesse said, which shocked Donna.

Back to Palm Stings, Eda caught up with her family as they made their way to the griffin ranch.

"Eda! Glad you decided to come!" Dell shouted, waving to her.

"Yeah, of course…" Eda said while flying next to them. She had a nervous look. "But I'm probably not going to be as welcome…"

"You're not the only one worried about that," Lilith replied with a mutter.

"Oh come now, you two," Gwen said to them. "Especially you, Eda. Uncle Brolin has told us how much he missed you coming here."

"Yeah, Uncle Brolin did love you the most, Eda," Lilith pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," Eda replied with a smile.

"And don't worry, I already asked everyone not to ask about your eyepatch if you do show up," Gwen reassured Eda.

As they landed down to the ranch, they were met by Brolin.

"Dell, how's my baby brother doing?" Brolin asked as he and Dell hugged.

"Doing great, Big Bro," Dell responded. "So glad to be here with the whole family for the first time in years."

"How's Eartha doing, Brolin?" Gwen asked him.

"Doing well, Gwen," Brolin said before he turned to Lilith and Eda. "Lilith, Eda, give your old uncle a hug."

"Hello, Uncle Brolin," Lilith said nervously. "It's, um… great to see you again."

"Y-yeah," Eda said while rubbing her own arm. "Good to see you, Uncle Lin."

The two sisters gave their uncle a hug as he hugged them back. "Can't wait for you two to meet up with the rest of the family," he said while leading them to the ranch.

'Okay, Eda, you can do this,' Eda thought to herself. 'Getting to meet the rest of the family, mingling your aunts and cousins, meeting the rest of the Clawthorne ankle-biters… then being reminded of your criminal pasts…'

'I'm sure that they'll treat me well,' Lilith thought while her mind went elsewhere. 'Of course, then there's all the scandals they might have heard of… and my time at the Emperor's Coven…'

'All the scams, schemes, illegal sales, not to mention my past operations at Palm Stings…' Eda thought, her anxiety creeping up on her.

'What if the step-family had wild witches in their families that I might have let get petrified?!' Lilith asked worriedly. 'Wait, should I have taken that into account?!'

'Not to mention all the incidents like with the Slayground,' Eda thought as she grew more worried. 'Amity! Oh Titan, I hope they don't do anything to her…'

'With Amity's fae-status, they're going to judge her more!' Lilith thought while sweating.

'I can't think of any worst case scenario!' the two sisters thought.

Brolin looked back at Eda and Lilith, who were giving off weird expressions as they walked in silence. "Are they okay?" he asked Gwen.

"I… don't know," Gwen admitted as they kept walking to the ranch.

"Everyone! Guess who's back after thirty years!" Brolin announced as he showed them Lilith and Eda. "Dell's daughters, Eda and Lilith!"

"Hey, everybody…" Eda waved to them nervously.

"Oh my Titan, you two are the cousin Eda and Lilith!" Lulu shouted as she rushed over to them, shaking their hands. "I'm Lulu! I'm Denise and Dennis's little sister, and it's so great to finally meet you two!"

"Lulu?" Eda snorted at the name. "Should've brought Hooty for this…"

"Delly, Gwendolyn!" shouted one elderly witch woman with white pigmentation all over her pink-skin, curly white hair, a yellow blouse, and gray trousers. Next to her was a blue hooded old pale woman wearing a blindfold with bandages around her hands. She was covered in charms and used her dove palisman as a walking stick. "Good to see my little brother and his sister-in-law."

"And my little sister as well," Jolene commented with a smirk.

"Bella, Jolene, it's nice to see you again," Gwen said as she hugged them both. "I brought my daughters with me this year."

"Eda, Lilith, so good to see you two again," Bella said as she hugged them both.

"Good to see you too, Aunt Bella," Eda responded.

"And you two, Aunt Jolene," Lilith responded as Jolene gave her a hug. "How are your sons, Jason and Zeke?"

"Oh they came along with their own families as well," Jolene replied. "Jason met this wonderful man at the Left Foot Swamp, he makes the best scumbo from there."

"Oh, Jason finally met someone? That's great," Eda commented.

"Speak of the devil, Eda." spoke Jason, who spooked Eda. She saw the pale witch man in a blue blouse with gray trousers. On his shoulder was a duck Palisman. "So, you finally decided to come back here after all these years," he said.

"So that's the cousin?" asked a three-eyed green demon man in a black turtleneck.

"Jay, it's um… great to see you," Eda replied. "And this must be your husband."

"Yeah, I've told Macy all about how and how you would always pull pranks on everyone when we were kids," Jason told Eda. "But we also heard about all the good things you've done, and quite honestly… I'm totally impressed with what you've done with yourself, girl."

"Oh… um, thanks, Jason," Eda said to her cousin. "I am surprised to hear that."

"And we were even more surprised to hear it," spoke up Zeke, who was a short, plump, and pale witch man with a droopy-like look. He held a vulture Palisman. "After all the good you've done lately, it looks like you've finally gotten your act together."

"Yes, yes Jan, I gotta get back to you later," spoke a witch woman with four arms, blonde hair, a red business outfit with a jacket, white blouse, skirt and boots. After hanging up on her crow, she turned to Eda. "Oh, so you must be Eda and Lilith! I'm Delores, Zeke's wife. And it's good to finally meet you two!" She offered one of her hands.

"Uh, you too," Lilith replied as she shook her hand and found a business card in it. "Oh… you sell make-up products."

"Oh yeah, but not just make-up. I got a whole market on powdered drinks and carbohydrate candy bars. I don't make the stuff though," Delores replied. "How would you like to go to a seminar later?"

"You do pyramid schemes?" Eda asked as she smiled. "I used to do those too."

"Great! We should definitely get in contact, especially since having the hero of Bonesborough promote my products would boost sales," Delores said.

"Hmm, I'll think about it," Eda replied.

"You've been in high demand lately, Edalyn," Lilith pointed out.

"Yeah, looks like you're not the black sheep of the family anymore," Jason said as he patted Eda's shoulder. "But I can't say the same for your sister, though," he said, causing Lilith's eyes to widen.

"Jason," Bella scolded her son before turning to Lilith. "Oh don't you worry bout a thing, Lily. You're still welcome here."

"Um… thanks, Aunt Bella," Lilith responded.

"Yeah, so what if you were involved in an affair or made your goddaughter spy on Eda's family-Ow." Jason felt his head hit by Jolene's walking stick.

"Would you hush, Jason?" Jolene asked her son.

"No, he's right," Lilith said as she looked down somberly. "I, um, shouldn't intrude. I'll just stay inside… out of sight."

"Lily, no, you're not," Eda told her sister, stopping her "You heard Bella, you're still welcome here."

"I… I guess," Lilith said, though she still felt dejected.

"Look, why don't we go look for the kids," Eda suggested while turning to the family. "Have any of you seen my kids? Luz, Amity, and King?"

"Yeah, they arrived earlier," Brolin said as he pointed at the table near the tree. "They're right there talking to Denise and Dennis."

"Denise…" Eda said as she turned, seeing Luz, Amity, and King conversing with Denise at the table. "Oh…"

Over at the outdoor table, they were sharing stories about their own families.

"Really? King actually did that?" Denise asked while King looked embarrassed.

"Yeah, he thought that his newly invented holiday 'King's Day' would catch on," Luz said while patting King's head.

"It would've been great! We would've had a big party, a big feast for me to chow on…" King declared.

"We all settled to eat at the Newt Burger," Luz cut him off.

Dennis spotted Eda and Lilith. "Don't look now, but… Eda's here," he said, pointing to Eda.

Luz turned to see her mom. "Mom, you made it! And Aunt Lily too!"

"We were just talking to cousins Denise and Dennis," King said.

"And getting to know her son, Felix," Amity replied while playing an Abomination game with Felix.

"Well, that's great," Eda replied while turning to Denise. "Um… hey, Denise."

"Eda, Lilith, it's been such a long time," Denise replied, getting up and walking towards Eda. "Beo said that he and Donna had met you, Eda."

"Y-Yeah, they did," Eda replied while looking at Denise. 'Maybe things have changed between us… though, what if she still pines for Raine?' Millions of thoughts raced through her head again. "S-So, Denise, uh, how have you've been doing?"

"Been doing great, Eda," Denise replied.

"She mentioned that she works as a sound editor for the Bard Coven, mom," Luz told her. "Doesn't that sound exciting?"

"Yeah… exciting. Sound editing," Eda said, though she didn't get why Luz was excited about it. "So that's like, something to get by on."

"Well, I also did jingles for commercials which I receive royalties for," Denise said as they both sat down. "What about you, Eda? I hear that you're running old Crane's orphanage."

"Yeah, I am," Eda replied. "And the kids love me…"

Amity looked up to Lilith. "So Lilith, what can you tell us about the whole Clawthorne family? Especially their history."

"Yeah, you would have a lot of knowledge about them," Luz replied. "We did learn that this ranch belonged to Jessebelle Clawthorne."

"Why yes, Jessebelle is a well known hero around these parts of Palm Stings," Lilith confirmed. "She along with her children Mallard, Larson, Mildred, and Lucy kept the small town safe from bank robbers, bandits, evil barons, and cacti-lizards during the Volar Rush. They were known as the Griffin Riders."

"Whoa, she sounds like a badass," Luz said.

"Oh please, don't let Aunt Lily fill your head with that nonsense," Eda interrupted. "Because during my time here at Palm Stings, back during my wild witchery days, I learned that she and her Griffin Riders were bandits. Learned about it when I was desert treasure hunting and found one of the gold volars she had hidden and were labeled 'Property of Lucy Clawthorne'."

"But that doesn't prove anything," Lilith told her sister.

"As far as I know, this family comes from a proud line of con artists," Eda argued with her sister. "And it makes me feel closer to our ancestor every day."

Lilith gave her sister a deadpan look before continuing. "So, other than that, Jessebelle settled down here while her children spread out throughout the Isles, except for Mildred who decided to stay at the ranch with her. The rest of her kids went their separate ways and continued the bloodline with other families. Brolin, Bella, and Dad are the great-grandchildren of Mallard Clawthorne and they settled in Bonesborough, where they met Mom and her sisters, merging their clans with marriage. After Mildred's son passed away, Brolin inherited the Griffin Ranch and started his family here."

"So what's our family line around here?" King asked.

"Well, Denise, Dennis, and Lulu are Brolin and Eartha's kids," Lilith said. "Dennis married the daughter of a vampire countess, both have a daughter."

"And our two nieces are Daniela and Andreea," Dennis said as he pointed to the two twin girls, who looked over at them.

"So that's cousin Eda and Lilith?" Daniela asked.

"Cousin Eda looks a lot older than we thought," Andreea whispered.

"And you've met Denise and her sons, Beocrow and Felix," Lilith pointed out. "Lulu is married to Jook and they have a son, Tack. There is Aunt Bella and her wife Joline with their sons, Jason and Zeke. Jason's daughters are Lumi, Lila, and Tulip. Zeke's children are Kilt, Cletus, Alexandra, and Ellington. And we can't forget Beverly Thorngood, the elder sister of Mom, Jolene and Eartha. She is married to Marcus and their son Mason is married to San, with their three children Malcolm, Milton, and Pepper. Now, there are other distant branches from Larson and Lucy's sides of the family…"

"That's a lot," Luz replied with a smile. "But it's great to see them all here. So many Clawthornes, so many family members…"

"Yeah," Lilith agreed with a smile. "We have a proud clan."

Denise, meanwhile, turned to Eda. "So, Eda, I heard that you've met up with Raine Whispers lately…"

"Oh, um… why do you want to know?" Eda asked nervously.

"I'm just curious," Denise said. "I mean, I did know Raine before they transferred to Hexside. From what I hear, you and them were pretty tight, and close…"

"Yeah… and from what I heard from Diana, you had a crush on Raine," Eda said.

"Oh yeah, but it was a small, schoolgirl crush, I got over them," Denise admitted. "After going through two deadbeat lovers, I've decided to settle as a single mom to focus on my sons."

"Oh, that's… nice," Eda said, setting her mind at ease.

"Yeah, what did you really think that I would forever pine for an old crush I had who didn't think I existed for years?" Denise asked with a chuckle. "I mean, I'm not that lamentable."

"Yeah, um…" Eda said as she looked down, giving a shameful look. "Look, Denise, I just want to say… I'm sorry. Sorry for all the pranks and grief I gave you when we were children. I realized now that I wasn't being fair to you or the family for that matter. Looking back, I did all of that because I… didn't want to be here, I was out of my comfort zone. But I realized now that I should've been a lot nicer to you and my cousins."

"Why… thank you, Eda," Denise accepted, patting Eda's hand. "I accept your apology, Eda. And don't worry, I don't hold a grudge against you about it."

"Really? Not after all the pranks?" Eda asked her.

"Well, I was mad that you pulled them, but over the years since you went missing, I actually started to miss you," Denise explained. "In fact, I even thought about trying to reach out to you and I talked to Raine about if they've seen you. But according to everyone I talked to, you were avoiding everybody. Friends, family, acquaintances." She looked down. "I guess, I figured that you would want to avoid me as well."

"Yeah, that sounds like me back then," Eda admitted while rubbing her own arm. "But, I am trying to be better now."

"Sorry we're late."

Everyone turned as Denise called out to Beocrow. "Beo, you're just in time. Cousin Eda and Luz are here."

"I know, and I came with more of our family," Beocrow replied as Luz, Amity, King, and Eda were all shocked to see who was following Beocrow.

"Hello, fellow Clawthornes!" Zee announced. With her were Cross, Clair, Damien, and Drayden.

"Cross?! Zee?!" Luz and Amity exclaimed.

"Wait, you mean all this time you guys were our family members as well?" Luz asked them.

"Uh… yeah," Cross responded awkwardly

"So the Drakescales are part of the Clawthorne Clan?" Amity asked before turning to Lilith.

"That is true," Lilith admitted. "Clair is the descendant of Lucy Clawthorne, making her the great-great-great-grandniece of Jessebelle Clawthorne and our distant cousin. Of course, Clair has a different surname from her own parents."

"I'm surprised that you're actually here, Damien," Dennis commented. "Considering you and Clair rarely come…"

"Hi Lilith, Eda, and Denise," Clair greeted while walking over.

"Hey Clair, glad you, Damien, and your family could come," Denise responded as she went to give Clair a hug.

"Are my parents here?" Clair whispered to Denise.

"They told us that they wouldn't show up until later in the week, Clair," Denise assured her.

"Thank Titan…" Clair whispered while Luz walked up to confront Cross.

"Oh boy…" Cross said as Luz confronted him, her bangs' shadows hiding her eyes.

"So… all this time, you've been a member of the Clawthornes, huh?" Luz asked him, giving him the look. "So you thought you could hide from me, Crosshairs? Thought I wouldn't know?"

"This is gonna hurt, is it?" Cross asked, sounding anxious.

"Oh I'm more than hurt by this, Slim-Shady," Luz said, slowly looking up to him. "This… is… really awesome!"

"…What?" Cross asked her.

"I'm ecstatic about this, Cross," Luz said while shaking his hand. "Having you as part of the family, that is something I didn't expect, but that just makes you and Zee more family that I get to know now!"

Cross was surprised by Luz's reaction. Rather than be angry at him, she was instead just excited that he was part of her family. "I… I'm sorry, Luz. For keeping this a secret from you."

"Well, why didn't you tell me before that you're my cousin?" Luz asked him.

"I… no offense, but you do tend to gain a lot of attention from the Emperor's Coven," Cross said while looking down nervously. "The reason why I didn't tell you is because I didn't want that kind of attention that you seemed to attract."

"Oh…" Luz said, looking down in realization.

Cross looked at Luz and sighed. "I'm sorry that I wasn't honest with you before, Luz. But I did figure that you would eventually find out, especially since our paths kept crossing despite my best efforts," he begrudgingly said.

"Do your friends know? Does Donna know?" Luz asked.

"No, they don't," Cross admitted. "At least… it didn't come up in conversation. But Beo knows about me, surprised that he didn't tell Donna about my relations."

"I figured that you'd want to keep it to yourself," Beocrow replied.

Cross nodded and looked back at Luz. "So… what happens now?"

Luz leaned closer to him, making Cross step back slightly. "Now… we bond."

Meanwhile, Donna had a shocked look when she heard what Scooter told Jesse.

"Wait, you mean… that witch is named Donna?" Donna asked.

"What are you talking about? Are you saying that lady is named after you?" Beans asked her.

"Beans no, that's… the other way around," Socrates said.

"No, that… if that's Donna," Donna said as she turned to Ban. "Ban, do you recognize this woman?"

"I have no clue myself," Ban admitted. "Despite being here in the orphanage since I was a kid, I don't think I've ever heard of or met this Donna before. I just know that that's the name he gave you when you were found on our doorstep, but I never questioned why he gave you that name."

"That woman… was my niece," Scooter said, shocking Jesse further.

"His niece…" Jesse revealed.

Donna walked up to the portrait. "What… has happened to her?"

Scooter looked down while patting on the portrait. "Jesse, make sure you tell them every word I say."

Jesse gave him a nod and began relaying the message. "Her name was Donna Crane. Before the orphanage, she was the first orphan that he took in…"

Scooter continued. "She was my sister's daughter, and her parents died when she was just a teenager. When I brought her in, she was a real rebel. A spitfire that would never do as she was told." He smiled, remembering how his niece would badmouth and swear a lot, and how the two would argue. "She never gave me a break, just like her mother."

"I once saw her practicing the piano," Scooter continued. "I saw potential in her, so I became her teacher, teaching her everything I know about playing the keys. Donna was gifted, and I helped her use her gifts." He smiled at the memory, remembering his niece playing a piano for an audience for the first time.

He looked up with an aspiring look. "Once she became of age, she decided to become a piano bard with her talent. She did tons of shows, got tons of deals, and was even offered to be a Coven Head to succeed Keys. I remembered that she once told me that she hoped I could help more witches like her, give them direction in order to help them reach their full potential." He chuckled. "Everything was going perfect for her, she was a star…" He frowned. "Until she made some new friends… bad influences."

Donna's eyes widened while he lowered himself and gave a sigh. "I warned her about them but she assured me that nothing would go wrong. After that, I didn't hear from her for a while, though at the time I was busy with my coven duties. Until one day a scout came to me… and told me the news…" He was quiet for a moment before continuing. "They told me that… she and her friends were going to a party and… they were intoxicated. They ended up in a crash, with some injured but the rest… dead… including Donna Crane."

Donna's eyes watered slightly as she heard this story, which sounded all too familiar to her…

"After her death, I felt like I failed her," Scooter said, lowering his head in shame. "I failed to help her more and I failed my sister in the process… but I refused to tarnish her memory by just grieving all the time." He turned around to face them. "Not only did I influence Donna Crane, but she influenced me as well. She told me that I should help children like her, children like you. To help them become the best Bards possible, and to help them find families and make sure that they are all in a safe place. And I did just that, though I still miss her." He looked over Donna. "And because I wanted to honor her memory, I ended up naming you after her."

Donna looked down, trying to process what she had heard. "Donna? Are you okay?" Jesse asked her.

"I… I… excuse me," Donna said as she walked away from the group, needing some space.

Back at the reunion, the Clawthornes and Drakescales had started to mingle. Zee was gushing over King.

"Oh my Titan, it's so great to meet you!" Zee told him as she hugged the skullcap demon.

"Ack! Eda, help! She's trying to squish me to death!" King cried out.

"Sorry, sorry, just that I have never seen a demon like you before," Zee replied before letting him go. "In fact, you could be an unknown species of demon."

"Yeah, I figured," King replied. "I've been wondering what I am, since I can't use magic like other demons can."

"Well… perhaps somewhere outside the Isles may know more about what you are," Zee suggested.

"I have been… recommended that if I want to look for info, I should look for it outside the Isles," Lilith admitted to them. "Of course, that someone who recommended that also tried to kill me…"

"Yikes, sounds like one of my exes," Zee commented.

"Hey Zee," Luz spoke up to her. "So you're in Beast-Keeping, right? What is the most powerful beast that you've tamed?"

"Well, nothing more powerful than my Taraskit, Yang," Zee replied. "Although I do have some friends in my senior year that I hang out with and go on trips with. They fight and tame beasts that have been terrorizing parts of the Titan."

"Do you also go to St. Epiderm?" Amity asked.

"Nah, my little bro goes there because he has a special scholarship," Zee admitted. "I'm a senior at Merlin Meadows. May not be one of the top schools, but it's a great school nonetheless."

"What about you, Beo? You ever tame beasts?" Luz asked him.

"Not really, I'm more of a bonding with them to help out kind of guy," Beocrow replied. "It's just been me and Takai for the most part."

"You know, I don't think I've ever really tamed any beasts like you, Zee, or Dusty," Luz admitted.

"Oh you should try it out," Zee recommended. "You don't just get to tame beasts, but also bond with them and make them your eternal friends."

"I do remember befriending this big Cerberus dog named Spot, Hades's dog," Luz commented. "But I didn't need taming magic for that, I'm just good with animals. Another example is the Slitherbeast we used to keep in the backyard."

"So you're a natural then," Zee replied.

"So Clair," Eda said to her distant cousin. "I just want to let you know that I know about your son's, um… dad's side of the family."

"Oh don't worry, Eda, you're not the only one here who knows," Clair said. "Denise knows, for example."

"I figured it out long ago when I was watching Cross and Zee when they were little," Clair said with a chuckle. "It caught me by surprise when Zee sneezed flames, I thought she had the fire flu until I saw the scales."

"Oh, so you're okay with it?" Eda asked.

"Well, daddy always said to keep an open mind," Denise pointed out.

"Huh, okay," Eda said. "Well… I thought you might also want to know that when I made my first trips to the Human Realm before for my Human Treasure business, I actually lived with a dragon family for a few years."

"Wait, you did?" Damien asked in surprise, overhearing this.

"They're called the Longs," Eda explained. "Dragonkind there are the guardians of the magical community. The Longs are good family friends of mine and their son is the American Dragon. I think you would like them if you met them."

"Oh yeah, Jake's pretty cool," Luz said while turning to Cross. "They also have a Dragon Council with members from all over the world."

"A Dragon Council?" Cross asked, intrigued. "That does sound like something of interest…"

"Yeah, I would also like to meet this Dragon Council as well and the Long family," Lilith added. "I am very curious about how magic works in the Human Realm."

Cross nodded, thinking about dragons in the Human Realm before he suddenly remembered something and turned to Luz. "Actually, there's one thing you should know, Luz, about Emily."

"What about her?" Luz asked her.

"I ended up working with her along with Hunter to stop the Grim Goblin," Cross informed her. "You probably heard about this, but he kidnapped Lindsay along with Gibson and some others, and Emily helped to save them. Later she, me, and Lindsay fought that Terra clone in the Plant Coven and rescued the hostages there. During all of this, Emily reassured me that she wasn't coming after you or your family."

"Oh, actually mom already let me know about that," Luz admitted. "She heard from this detective, Boils, that he along with Emily and Hunter teamed up to completely wipe out the Tarot Guild, hitting their bases one by one. I'm still not sure that I completely buy it, but mom seems to believe it, especially since she and Eda apparently made their peace with each other last week. But you know, since you went after the Goblin and the Terra clone, I think that you can't help but get involved. After all, you chose to go to the Underworld with us to save Emily and you chose to help us save Faust at the IFWOT," she pointed out. "If you ask me, I think it's more than just bad luck on your part that you keep getting involved."

Cross reflected on this. "Yeah… I guess… I do choose to get myself into trouble."

"Isn't that a good thing, though?" Amity pointed out. "I mean, the Isles need good witches like you, Cross. Those who help others when they need it, even if they are someone that most witches wouldn't bother with, like Emily or Faust. You're naturally empathetic and I think that should be something you take pride in."

"Wise words, Amity," Drayden told Amity.

"Thank you, sir," Amity nodded.

"So tell me, Amity, if you don't mind me asking, but what can you do with your newfound Fae-magic?" Drayden asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, well I can teleport, fly, talk to animals, and use spells without spell circles," Amity listed off.

"What about shape shifting?" Drayden asked her. "I know that Faes are able to change into a dragon. Do you have that ability?"

"Oh, well, no," Amity admitted. "Apparently shape-shifting can only be done by a full Fae. As a part-Fae, I have limits to my powers and I am still mortal like everyone else, meaning that I can age, die, and be killed. I would love to turn into a dragon, don't get me wrong. But apparently in order to be capable of doing that, I have to let go of my mortality and I don't want that. Staying a teenager forever while everyone else around me ages and dies is not appealing. I actually did have a mentor who was teaching me about my Fae abilities while I was in hiding, but he had to leave, apparently so he could deal with some political upheaval in his realm."

"Hmm, sounds serious," Drayden commented while drinking his tea.

"Hey y'all, Jook releases the griffins so they can stretch their wings, so we're about to start the Griffin Round Up!" Lulu waved to them.

"Hey Beo, want to play with the griffins with me?" Felix asked him.

"Sure, little bro," Beo replied as they got up.

"You kids go play with the griffins, I'll watch over Kay for you, Ams," Eda assured Amity while Owlbert played with Kay.

"Thanks, Eda!" Amity replied as she, Luz, and King went to play with the griffins as Zee and the vampire twins also tagged along.

"Come on, Cross! Join us in!" Zee shouted as she used her Beast-Taming magic on a griffin.

The young Clawthorne kids spend some time playing with the griffins. The big and smaller griffins let the kids play with them, even fly with them. Amity knelt down to pet a baby griffin, who nuzzled up to her. Luz joined in as she petted the baby griffin as well.

After he was lifted up onto one griffin by Beocrow and cousin Pepper, King rode on the griffin as it flew up. King shouted in excitement as he rode on the griffin. The griffin dived down as it splashed a non-boiling lake with its wing.

Zee and Cross used their magic along with the other kids to help round up the griffins back to their fenced fences. Luz and Amity flew by as they led some of the griffins back to the fences as well. Beocrow demonstrated his Beast-Keeping skills by drawing a spell circle to summon some treats for the griffins, attracting them over. The rest of the kids came with the griffins of their own. King flew his down there.

"Alright, time to get on the griffin of yer choosin'!" Jook announced as the kids each got on a griffin. "When I give the word, you'll have to try not to get bucked off! Or get maimed!"

"Ooh! I want to ride your toughest griffin that you got! And I mean the most baddest one you have!" King shouted as he raised his hand.

"Well if it's the baddest griffin you want, then you can ride on Old Darkquills," Eartha said as she pointed to one of the griffins.

This black griffin raised its head up as it was revealed to be part raven. Its one eye twitched as it screeched around with an untamed look. It sent a glare at King.

"Eep," King said as he shrank down.

"I'm surprised that mean old griffin is still alive," Eda commented with a flinch while holding Kay.

"Yeah, that griffin survived through sheer stubbornness and meanness," Jason responded. "Toughest part was getting its wings clipped."

The rodeo commenced as each of the kids rode on their griffins. A few of the kids were quickly bucked off from them and soon more were sent crashing to the ground by the griffins one by one. Even Cross crashed down to the ground, Felix and Amity helping him up.

"You alright, Cross?" Felix asked him.

"This is something I could never get used to," he admitted.

"Weeeeeeeh!" King cried out as he fell off of Old Darkquills.

Eventually Luz, Zee, and Beocrow were left, the three trying to stay on their griffins as their mounts kept trying to shake them off. Luz and Zee looked at each other as they both competed to not get bucked off. Beocrow, however, was stoic the entire time even as the griffin tried to shake him off.

"Come on, Luz! You can do it!" Amity cheered for her girlfriend.

"Try not to fall, Zee!" Damien cheered.

"You got it, Beo!" Denise cheered for her son.

Eventually, Luz and Zee ended up falling off from their griffins, with Beocrow still standing.

"And the winner is Beocrow Clawthorne!" Lulu declared with a cheer, hugging her nephew, who didn't react much.

Luz and Zee just laid there on the ground, the two sharing a laugh.

"Good game, Zee," Luz commented.

"You too, Luz," Zee replied as they got up.

In the background, King was seen getting chased by an angry Darkquills. "AAAAAH!"

Up on the rooftop of the orphanage, Donna sat down with Whirlwind accompanying her. She held her knees close to her, while looking down with a saddened look.

"Donna?"

She turned and saw Jesse there. "Jesse… here to check up on me?"

"Yeah," Jesse said with a nod as she went to sit beside Donna. "Crane and I were worried about you when you ran off. So we wanted to make sure that you're alright."

"Oh, well… thanks," Donna replied to the young girl.

"Is this about your name?" Crane asked.

"He wants to know if this has anything to do with your name?" Jesse asked her.

Donna sighed. "I guess that it's because of the timing of everything. During the weekend I learned my birth name."

"Your birth name…" Crane said in surprise.

"What was your birth name?" Jesse asked her.

"Karona," Donna answered. "My real name is Karona." She looked down. "Recently I was able to remember what happened to my birth parents. Their names were Astronema and Ulysses. Both of them came here to the Isles to start a new life, and I even had a twin brother named Andros. But then they were killed by a monster, who had been hired by my evil uncle from another Titan, since apparently I have an evil uncle who kidnapped my brother and may or may have not killed him. I only survived thanks to Eda of all witches," she said, which surprised Scooter more than Jesse as she continued. "Well, it was the Owl Beast specifically, who rescued me and ended up dropping me to the orphanage." She sniffed, wiping away her tears. "I've been wondering all my life what my origins are, and there's still more pieces of the puzzle left for me to solve. But after learning who I was named after… I feel like I haven't honored your niece enough, Crane. If only you knew the kind of witch that I have been acting-"

To Donna's surprise, she felt herself hugged by Jesse. She looked down and saw Jesse embracing her. "Was that… from Scooter?" Donna asked her.

"Actually, the hug is from me," Jesse replied, tears leaking from her eyes.

Donna looked down at the girl and hugged her back. "Thank you, Jess," she thanked. "Honestly, right now, I'm in the middle of an identity crisis because of all the recent revelations and I don't really feel completely like myself anymore…" She looked up at the stars in the sky, which had gotten darker. "I feel different now and even the stars look different to me now, if that makes sense."

"Well, we can help you with your issues if you want, Donna," Jesse offered.

"Thanks, Jesse," she replied while hanging her arm around the younger girl. "But like I said, I just feel like I haven't been the best witch lately."

"I think you're pretty great, Donna," Jesse reassures her. "Since you've started volunteering here, we've all enjoyed seeing you around and having you spend time with us. We're all grateful for that."

"She's right, and I am proud of the witch you've grown up to be, Donna," Scooter reassured her with a smile. "I may not have said it much, but you were always a good kid."

"Even Scooter says that you're good and that he's proud of you," Jesse mentioned.

"Thank you, both of you," Donna replied, looking up at the skies while Jesse and Crane comforted her.

Back at the reunion, the kids were hanging out and mingling with each other.

"No way… you were almost killed by a demon bear attack?!" Amity asked in shock after hearing Beocrow's story.

"Yeah, I got a large slash on my back," Beocrow said with a shrug. "It happened when it was just me, Tina, and Veronica when our parents set us up on a playdate, and we were exploring the woods. Then the demon bear popped up and I shielded them from the attack. After that, I landed in the Healing Coven and Cross was there to accompany me."

"Well, dad wanted me to not leave you alone and he wanted me to hang out with someone my age," Cross said. "Although even when we ended up going to the same school, we still didn't really talk to each other that much."

"Really?" Luz asked them.

"Yeah," Cross said as he scratched the back of his neck. "Honestly, maybe we should have talked more. But Beo had his friend group while I had Teri… who is in the oracle institute now, so we probably won't be hanging out again anytime soon."

"I mean, you're always welcome to hang out with me and my friends, Cross," Beocrow pointed out. "Aren't you and Donna dating now?"

"Um… kinda," Cross said. "I don't think we agreed on if we were going steady or not. We didn't even talk about if we were going on another date or not, but in my defense we had other things on our mind at the time. Apparently her parents do want me to be her bodyguard though…"

"Dennis! Your daughter's finally here!"

Everyone heard Brolin's announcement and the kids spotted another family member showing up.

"Sorry I was late, everyone," Barbara Marlo said as her parents went over to her.

"Barbara, it has been a while, my dear," Yvontte said as she and Dennis hugged her.

"Hey, mom," Barbara replied after hugging her parents. "Sorry that I haven't visited lately, but things have been really busy in the Emperor's Coven. Fortunately I was able to get some time off to come here and I hope that you don't mind that I decided to bring a friend with me."

When everyone saw who Barbara had brought with her, they were quite surprised…

"Um… hi, everyone," Hunter said while in his normal clothing and with Flapjack on his shoulder. "I'm Hunter and I know Barb from work, but you probably already know me…"

The rest of the family had no idea what to make of the Golden Guard of all witches showing up at their reunion. All loud conversation suddenly ceased and an awkward atmosphere fell over the event as whispers could be heard.

"Isn't that the Golden Guard?"

"He's a bit young, isn't he?"

"Why would he come to this gathering?"

Hunter looked around and saw Luz and Amity, both sharing awkward looks. Cross just looked surprised to see him here, as did Eda and Lilith. But to ease the tension, Dell and Gwen got up and walked over to him.

"Hunter, what a nice surprise," Dell greeted him.

"It's so good to see you again, Hunter," Gwen said while hugging him. "How have you and Flapjack been?"

"D-Doing well, Gwen," Hunter responded to her. "It's good to see you two again."

"Dell, Gwen, you actually know the Golden Guard?" Eartha asked while giving him a suspicious look.

"I didn't know he had an artificial arm," Lulu commented.

"Well, we didn't know who he really was at first," Dell admitted. "When Lilith brought him to us, we thought he was a lost kid that needed some help. We were right about him needing help, at the very least."

Everyone turned to Lilith, who suddenly looked very nervous. "W-Well, we were acquainted back in the castle and um, he was going through a rough time and needed to get away from the castle for a bit. So I brought him to live with me and my parents."

"Hey, Lilith," Barbara said as she walked up to her. "It's so good to meet you. I mean, we did see each other a couple of times before back when I was a rookie, but you left before I had a chance to talk to you," she said awkwardly. "I'm Barb, by the way. I mean, you already know that. I was a scout working in the castle."

"Oh, well it's… nice meeting you, Barbara," Lilith replied to her. "Wait, weren't you known as Commando Barb during training?"

Barbara chuckled nervously. "Yeah… that's me," she admitted.

Hunter then spotted Luz coming over. "Uh, Luz. It's um… great to see you here."

"Why are you here, Hunter?" Luz asked him.

"Well… Barb is a friend of mine that was recently recruited into BIG," Hunter explained. "She planned to use her day off to come here but she got nervous and considered skipping the reunion. I encouraged her to come. I wanted to talk to Lilith, so I stopped by their house only for Odalia and Edric to tell me that she went to the family reunion, so I ended up tagging along with Barbara to… come here." He then noticed Cross. "Hey, Cross…"

"Hunter," Cross acknowledged.

"Hi! You must be Luz, I've heard so much about you." Barbara said as she went over to shake Luz's hand. "I'm Barbara Marlo-Clawthorne, or Marlothorne. But I mainly go by Marlo. And my friends call me Barb. I'm a dhampir."

"Oh, um nice to meet you, Barbara," Luz said to her. "I didn't know we had more family in the Emperor's Coven…"

"Yeah, um, I was recruited after graduation," she said.

"So what can you tell us about yourself, Barb?" Luz asked her.

"Well, I am good at card-reading for one thing, since I was in the Oracle Track," Barbara said. "I'm an only child, which is partially because the Emperor's Coven places limits on how many children a vampire can have…"

"Wait, so does being a dhampir come with any benefits?" Luz asked her. "Like, what powers do you have?"

"Oh, you know, the basic vampire powerset. I have enhanced strength, agility, senses, and levitation," Barbara said. "That is with or without the sigil brands. You may have heard that vampires could shapeshift or had other powers, but only the older and stronger vampires had those powers… and they're not around anymore."

"Does being part-vampire make you immortal?" Amity asked her.

"Oh, you must be Amity. Nice to meet you," Barbara greeted before answering. "As for your question, well, only pure vampires are immortal. Dhampirs like me just age more slowly."

Luz had another question. "So… being another Clawthorne in the Emperor's Coven, have you ever had any trouble reconciling between your loyalty to your family and your loyalty to the Emperor's Coven?"

"Oh… I have never had a conflict of interest before, so no," Barbara admitted while rubbing her arm. "I do still feel bad about sacrificing my Palisman when I joined, but it was a sacrifice that I was willing to make in order to help the Isles and serve the greater good."

Luz could tell that Barbara had some doubt in her voice when she mentioned her Palisman, but Luz also felt one of her fists tighten and she realized that must have been Maya. "Would you be willing to sacrifice any of your family if the Emperor asked?" she asked her, prompting Barbara to fall silent.

"I… don't like where this conversation is heading," she admitted.

By that point, a lot of the witches had turned back to their own business, though a few still glanced at Hunter as he pulled Lilith aside.

"Okay, no one's around to hear us," Lilith said while looking at Hunter.

"Okay, now we can talk… about Darius," Hunter replied, which made Lilith's eyes widen. "I know that he's alive, and Gavin knows as well."

"You do?" Lilith asked him.

"I had a suspicion for a while, and Gavin saw him when the breakout happened," Hunter mentioned. "I told him that I would ask you about Darius. Did you know that he was alive?"

Lilith nodded in confirmation. "Yes. But he told me to not tell you or not get any of his family involved. He didn't want to see either of you get hurt."

"I… get that," Hunter admitted. "But at the very least, could you help set up a meeting with him? Me and Gavin just want to talk to him. I think we deserve that much."

"Of course," Lilith said to him. "I'll talk to him the first chance I can get."

"Thank you, Lilith," Hunter said with a nod. "And… I'm sorry for interrupting your family reunion like this. I guess I forgot that people know my face now."

"Well… since you're already here, perhaps you can stay and join us for some activities," Lilith suggested in a hopeful tone.

Hunter looked around and saw all of the Clawthorne family members having fun at the ranch. He… wondered if he could really be a part of all of this. "I… don't know if I would be welcome here," Hunter admitted.

"Everyone's welcome here, Hunter," Lilith pointed out, patting his back.

There's nothing complicated about the way we live

We're all here for each other, happy to give

The Clawthorne family members all gathered around on the field, about to play some games. Eda and King had their legs tied along, as did Luz and Amity, followed by Cross and Zee, Beocrow and Felix, Barbara and Marcus. Once Eartha's parrot Palisman squawked, the three-legged race commenced as they all raced to the finish line.

Proud of who we are

Humble beneath the stars

They raced across the field, using their magic on one another. Luz used her light spells to blind her cousins. Then the baby griffins were summoned to slow down Luz and Amity while Beo and Felix ran past them. Cross and Zee along with Barb and Marcus tried catching up to them, but they were all surpassed by Eda and King, who crossed the finish line.

We've everything we need, the moon, the sun

Ooh, there is more than enough here for everyone

Later, King was holding the video camera as he went around filming Luz with her and her other family members. Luz and Amity were asked to take selfies with the other cousins. They each posed with them. Amity posed with Lumi and Lila. Luz posed with Ellington, Alexandra, and Cletus. Both Luz and Amity ended up posing for pictures with the vampire twins, Daniela and Andreea. King even got to pose with Tulip, Pepper, and Kilt.

All we have, we share

And all of us, we care

King was still filming as they interacted with the adults of the Clawthorne family. They shook hands, gave hugs, and eve bowed to the elder countess vampire.

Hunter gives a similar greeting to one of the elders, Eartha, who just gave him a stern and narrow eyed look. He immediately walked away, since she did scare him a bit. Eartha then took notice of Flapjack on his shoulder…

So, come on!

Welcome to our family time!

Welcome to our brotherly time!

King walked over with a plate of food as he joined Luz, Amity, Kay, Beocrow, Felix, Cross, and Zee. While they ate, Hunter watched them awkwardly before he decided to go sit beside Barb and her cousins to eat.

We're happy giving and taking, to the friends we're making

There's nothing we won't do

Eda was conversing with her cousins when she felt a tap and saw the other kids behind her. They all asked for her autograph, which made Eda smile. She signed each of their notebooks and took Penstagram photos with them.

In the distance, Lilith watched to see her sister as the center of attention. She thought back to when the children of the Isles used to look up to her. Now they had switched roles. Eda was the new star of the family… but Lilith had learned to accept this.

Welcome to our family time!

Welcome to our happy-to-be time!

This is our festival, you know, and best of all,

We're here to share it all!

Later, it was time for a game with the adults. They were going to play a game of Twister, where they had to avoid getting caught by a literal twister created by Gwen using Hawksley. Eda nudged Lilith before the two sisters changed into their harpy forms, flying up to avoid the twisters coming at them while the rest of the adults got caught by them, making them lose.

There's a bond between us nobody can explain

It's a celebration of life and seeing friends again

Eda snickered, as she thought she had won. However, the mini-twister caught up to her, causing her to be swung around along with Lilith. The two spun around until they landed on the ground. Eda looked up to see Clair and Denise offering her and Lilith a hand. They let themselves get pulled up, all four of them laughing.

I'll be there for you

I know you'd be there for me too!

Dell placed a small log in front of Hunter, who was participating in a wood carving activity. Hunter looked over at the many Clawthornes carving out figures that resembled animals or themselves. He frowned, but when he saw Dell giving him an encouraging smile, Hunter immediately began carving at his wood.

So, come on!

Welcome to our family time (welcome into the family)!

Welcome to our brotherly time (with our brothers here)!

Amity was sitting down with Kay, watching Luz playing with the littler kids. She felt a tap and saw one of the young girls, Tulip, handing her a flowery headband. Amity accepted the gift as she let them place it over her head. She then saw Luz rising up with her wings spread out while the kids were holding onto her. Amity gave a laugh and Luz laughed as well, all the while King was filming them for Camila.

This is our festival, you know, and best of all

We're here to share it all!

Back at the orphanage, Crane was looking at his building one more time when Donna and Jesse came back down after regrouping with the others.

"You know, we never could figure out your final business was, Mr. Crane," Donna pointed out.

"Yeah," Cups said. "When are ya gonna leave us alone?!"

"Yeah, everyone's been looking at us like we're crazy all week," Mugs pointed out

"Well, even with the Owl Lady being in charge, not to mention the dograptor, the place hasn't been burned down at the least," Scooter Crane said with a sigh of relief. "And after all the tour and being reminded of why I founded this place, I've come to realize that my legacy is in good hands. Not just Eda's, but yours as well, Donna."

Donna's eyes widened when Jesse relayed the message. "Me?"

"Yes, Donna," Crane replied with a heartfelt smile. "Perhaps you're not sure who you are right now, but I do recognize your compassion for this place. It was your first home and after leaving its doors you've grown up to become a fine young witch who is more than worthy of her name. Even if you didn't become a bard like I had hoped, who you are now is still more than enough. Because this place, even more so than my music, is my greatest achievement… my legacy."

After Jesse relayed the message, Donna gave a heartfelt smile as well. "Thank you, Mr. Crane. And I appreciate what you've done for all of us."

Donna, Jesse, and the Holder Brothers walked around the building some more, showing Crane around. "And here's your office, untouched by the way," she said as she showed Scooter the office. Donna then looked at the Holder Brothers. "By the way, what is your deal with Cups and Mugs?" she asked him while turning to Jesse.

"Um, Donna…" Jesse said as she turned to her. "He's gone."

"What?" Donna asked her.

"He's finally gone to the great beyond," Cups declared.

"Now he can be with his niece…" Mugs replied while wiping his tears. "He was such a good witch, really…"

Jesse looked down sadly while Donna knelt towards her. "Are you alright, Jesse?"

"I-I'm fine, it's just… I miss him already," Jesse sniffed.

"Me too, Jesse," Donna replied as she gave Jesse a comforting hug. Jesse hugged her back as she let the tears run from her eyes. "I'm gonna miss him too…"

Later, some of the kids had decided to leave the ranch and visit the boardwalk at Palm Stings. Luz was amazed by all of the sights around her. With her was Amity, King, Beo, Cross, Zee, Hunter, and Barbara. Kay wasn't present, Amity having left her with the adults at the ranch.

"Man, Palm Stings is great, I cant believe that I haven't been here before," Luz commented while tasting the fried urchins.

"Yeah, they have the best honey popcorn I have ever tasted," King replied as he ate his popcorn.

"We can try the Fearis Wheel or the Teacup Ride next," Amity suggested.

"I don't recommend the Teacups," Beo said. "That ride broke down after one kid climbed out of there and twelve got injured as a result."

"Well, the Bumper Worms are fun to ride on," Zee suggested.

Hunter, who was back in the group, looked down at the carved figure of a bird he made. Barbara tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, you alright?" she asked him.

"Yeah, just…" Hunter said as he looked up at the gang. "Feeling awkward."

"Because of Luz?" Barb indicated. Hunter just fell silent, so she continued. "Come on, Hunter, at least have yourself some fun around here. You don't have to mope around."

Hunter considered Barbara's suggestion as he looked around the boardwalk of Palm Stings, seeing all the wonderful sights…

And so, they began to try out the attractions at the Boardwalk, Luz spotting a 'Test-Of-Strength' game. She picked up a hammer and then slammed it down hard enough to hit through the bell. The carnie looked shocked, but he still gave the prize stuffed animal to Luz, who gave it to Amity.

King was with Zee, throwing rings at the Ring Toss game. King kept missing, so Zee decided to lift him up and help him throw the rings at the poles, helping him earn a prize.

After they played some more games, Luz walked over to Cross, handing him some fried lizard heads on a stick. "Want some, cousin?" she asked.

"Thanks," Cross replied, grabbing the kebab and eating it.

"So what were you saying about you and Donna?" Luz asked him while they walked.

"Why are you interested in my lovelife all of the sudden?" he asked.

"It's because we're cousins now, or I guess we always were cousins but I didn't know until now," Luz replied. "But since I know we're family now, that means I get to be invested in your personal life and stick my nose in your business."

"Of course," Cross said with a sigh.

"Hey, I do the same thing with King and his long-distance girlfriend," Luz pointed out.

Remembering the otter biped that Luz was referring to, Cross nodded. "Well… we haven't really talked since yesterday when I was visiting Lindsay's place. Me and Lindsay had to explain to her about how we knew that Emily was back… and how I promised Emily to not tell Donna about her return because of what she did to Nina."

"How did Donna take it?" Luz asked him.

"Honestly, she handled it pretty well," he admitted. "However, since then, we haven't spoken to one another because of everything that has happened after that. The Grim Goblin, Terra, and then Beel's funeral, which we were both at but we didn't speak to each other during it…" He turned to Luz. "Thank you for coming, by the way. It really means a lot."

"No problem," Luz replied with a nod. "So you don't know where your relationship with Donna is right now because of a lack of communication. Do you like Donna though?"

Cross almost choked on his kebab. "Um… well…" he said, looking reluctant to tell Luz.

"Come on, what's the problem?" Luz asked him. "I mean, if you don't like Donna because you've realized you're gay, I can probably-"

"It's not like that!" Cross quickly interrupted, his face slightly red with embarrassment. "I like girls! And I like Donna! It's just that… I also like another girl," Cross admitted with a whisper.

Luz's eyes widened. "No way… you playboy." She lightly hit him in the arm.

"I-It's not like that either," Cross reprimanded, having already regretted telling her this.

"Hey, you admitted to liking two girls," Luz told him teasingly before she realized something. "Wait a minute… it's Lindsay, right? Is she the other girl? Does Donna know?"

Cross looked at Luz in a deadpan expression, then he sighed. "No, Donna doesn't know, and yes it's Lindsay…"

"Ah, so you're going at it with the rich girl and the farmer's daughter," Luz indicated. "You are becoming a real-life Peter Parker."

"I don't know who that is," Cross told her in a flat tone. "But look, my situation's a bit complicated. Donna's my first girlfriend and I don't want to hurt her feelings, since I do care about her. But Lindsay's been my crush for a while, and… well, I thought I missed my chance with her until I learned that I still have a chance… it does sound worse saying it out loud."

"Look, I get it, dude, and I know that it sounds complicated," Luz reassured him. "But it sounds to me like your biggest problem is poor communication. Why not just talk to both girls? Figure out what they want?"

"Yeah… I'll think about it," Cross told her.

The teens next hit the stores where they would buy some souvenirs. Amity held up a Palm Stings shirt while King held up a Palm Stings hat. Zee came out from the changing room in a black crop top, denim shorts, knee-length boots, and sunglasses.

"Now this… is the Palm Stings look," Zee declared. She noticed a little model knick-knack of Palm Stings for sale and smiled. "Hey, I know a cute girl who would like this," she said, picking it up as well.

"Are you going to wear that for the rest of the night?" Amity asked awkwardly.

"It's hot here, so I probably should wear something to cool off," Zee replied.

After making their purchases, they walked out of the store. Amity turned to Zee. "So, Zee, do you have the same powers and abilities as Cross?"

"You mean can I turn into a dragon?" she asked while turning to Amity. "You bet. What about you, Amity? Can you tell me about your Fae abilities?"

"I would be glad to," Amity responded as the two talked to each other about their abilities.

Hunter and Barbara were handed sparkle sticks from a stand. They held it up as Hunter held the sparkle far from him. However, he noticed someone in a cloak looking at him from the crowd. "Huh?" he asked, before seeing the figure disappear from the crowd.

"What's wrong, Hunter?" Barbara asked him.

"I… I thought we were being watched," Hunter said, confused. He then felt a sparkle hit his arm. "Ow!"

Soon the whole gang were in front of a haunted house attraction called 'Dr. Heckle's House of Horrors'. Luz looked at the sign and structure of the shack-like building.

"You alright, Luz?" King asked her, noticing the look on Luz's face.

"Yeah, just… this place looks oddly familiar," Luz commented as they entered the haunted attraction, passing by the bouncer.

"Enjoy the sheer terror of Dr. Heckle's House of Horrors, dudes," spoke the witch who looked suspiciously like Soos...

They went through the attraction, which had darkly lit rooms where ghosts passed by through the walls. They then saw statues and displays of the horrors of the Isles…

"The Mythical Giraffe, ooh…" Barbara said in awe as she, Cross, and Hunter looked up at the statue of the giraffe.

"Yeah, you can actually find those guys in the Human Realm pretty easily," Luz commented while passing by, making Barbara, Cross and Hunter react in fear.

They went past some flashing lights and heard the sound of cackling laughter as they saw a display of a skeletal creature in a dark robe. "The Witch Reaper," Beocrow said while reading the label underneath the display.

"The extinct Wyrm," Amity commented while the Wyrm display made echoing roar noises in the background.

"The Javelin-Throwing Goblin- okay, that one is just ridiculous," Luz commented while seeing the display of a goblin throwing a javelin.

"Well, they don't call this place a tourist trap for nothing," Cross pointed out as he walked by.

Once they passed through the haunted halls, they found themselves in a gift shop. Luz looked around and saw bobble-heads, t-shirts, and other merchandise for sale while a teenage witch girl wearing flannel sat behind the cash register.

"Amity…" Luz whispered to her.

"Yeah, Luz?" Amity asked her.

"Does this place look really familiar?" Luz asked her.

"Um…" Amity said as she spotted a pair of twins working at the store. One was wearing the store's hat and the other was wearing a sweater. They were with Dr. Heckler, who looked like a demon version of Stan Pines. "Do you want to step outside for a bit?" she asked Luz.

"Yeah," Luz nodded as the two walked out, which was noticed by the staff.

"What's with them?" the cashier girl asked her boss. "They left before you even got the chance to try to sell them your junk."

"Those two look like they've seen a ghost," Dr. Heckler said, scratching his chin. "But in a metaphorical sense."

After that, the gang regrouped at a picnic table where they hung out. Their Palismen were seen on the floor playing with each other, with Ghost and Flapjack interacting with Takai, Aqua, and Elio.

"So you carved Takai from a Palistrom given to you by Grunkle Brolin?" Luz asked Beo.

"Yeah," Beo replied. "Gramps has always been looking out for me, my mom and my brother. So when I came of age, he sent me the wood to make Takai. My mom helped me work on him."

"Well, Elio was passed down from my dad," Cross said as he pointed to his Phoenix Palisman. "Funny how most of the Clawthornes have bird-themed Palismen."

"Yeah…" Hunter said nervously while turning to Zee. "How did you get yours, Zee?"

"Well, Aqua actually chose me," Zee admitted. "Aqua has been my partner in crime since I was around Luz's age. She may not be a bird, but I like Aqua just the way she is."

Cross looked over at Hunter. "What about you? How did you end up with your Palisman?"

"Same reason Zee is with Aqua," Hunter admitted while looking at Flapjack with a heartfelt smile. "He chose me when I'm at my lowest."

Barb sighed as she looked down. "If only Cherry were here…"

"Cherry?" Amity asked her.

"My magpie Palisman," Barbara responded while looking at the Palismen with a pained expression. "Growing up, I was just an only child living under vampire nobility. I had trouble making friends, even amongst my own kind up at the Neck. But then after passing some tests, I was offered a chance to join the Emperor's Coven. I joined there for two reasons: to make the Isles a better place and to make friends." Guilt flickered across her face. "But then they asked me to hand over Cherry and when I refused, they told me that I had to prove my commitment to the Emperor's Coven and the Boiling Isles by making a sacrifice…"

"Barb…" Hunter said as they noticed her eyes tearing up.

"I'm sorry, it's just…" Barbara sniffed. "I just miss my Cherry so much…" she said in a weak voice as Zee reached over to comfort Barb and pat her shoulder.

Maya's red eyes shone through Luz's and she gave Barb a disgusted look. "You think crying will make up for murdering your own Palisman?" she scoffed.

"W-What?" Barbara asked, confused by Luz's sudden voice change, not realizing it was Maya.

Luz winced. "Maya, be nice."

"Nice?! Why should I be nice to someone who not only surrendered her Palisman to the Emperor, but is working for the group that's been slaughtering my kind," Maya argued.

"It's complicated, but she is still family," Luz argued back.

"Some family isn't worth keeping around," Maya argued back. "Just like with Boscha and Nicole-"

"Hey, that's two different things!" Luz pointed out as she got up and walked away from the group to argue with Maya.

Everyone but Amity, King, and a slightly uncomfortable Hunter watched Luz arguing with herself in confusion.

"Why was Luz talking to herself…?" Cross asked.

"Was that another voice?" Beo also asked.

"It's, um, normal for her," Amity admitted while Hunter looked down in discomfort. "Just give Luz a while."

As Zee comforted Barbara, she looked up to her brother. They both had the same thing on their minds.

At another part of the boardwalk, riding on the Dragon-Coaster were Pugsley and Kikimora.

"YAAAHOOOOO!" Pugsley cried out with his arms up as the coaster went down. Kikimora just gave a stoic look while hanging on the bars. "This is the most fun I've had in years!"

"Get me off this ride…" Kikimora muttered, while trying to not show her enjoyment of the ride.

After the ride, Kikimora and Pugsley went through the haunted house.

"Look Kiki, isn't that interesting?" Pugsley asked while pointing to the giraffe.

"Why did you bring me here…" Kikimora complained but Pugsley didn't hear her as they walked through the house.

They then took some photos at the photo booth. Once they came out, Pugsley looked at the booth photos in his hand. "Look at us, Kiki! Don't we look great?"

Kiki just shrugged after seeing the photos, which contained Pugsley making silly faces while Kiki had a completely deadpan expression.

Finally, they tried out some of the food, Pugsley handing Kikimora the lizard head kebab. "Here, Kiki, try this!"

"Ugh, fine," Kikimora said as she munched on the food. "I still can't believe you dragged me here, Pugsley."

"It's because I always wanted to come here," Pugsley said while munching on his notdog. "Since we were in the area, I just thought that we could have some fun before we go back to the Emperor's Castle."

Kiki sighed. "I'm supposed to be above this," she said while sipping her drink until she heard someone arguing.

"That was not appropriate, Maya!"

"Hmm?" Kiki asked as she spotted Luz in the distance, arguing with herself. "The Clawthorne brat…?"

"Huh? Oh isn't that Luz Clawthorne over ther-hmm!" Pugsley was yanked down under the table as he and Kiki ended up hiding from Luz's site.

"I'm just speaking the uncomfortable truth, Luz," Maya's voice spoke to her as her red eye flashed. "She and her scout buddies have spilled the blood of countless innocent Palismen for Belos. You may not like acknowledging it, but I don't see a reason why we should take pity on her just because she's supposedly family. You can choose who you want and don't want as your family. And we should be above associating with a Palisman murderer."

"I… I know," Luz told her. "And I'm sorry, Maya. I should have considered your feelings about this and I'm not going to tell you that you shouldn't be angry about that, because you should be. But Barb was pressured into giving up her Palisman, pressured by the same kind of bullshit that Belos feeds the entire Isles."

"Who is she talking to?" Kiki wondered while observing Luz. "And why is her voice changing?" Of course, she remembered that this wasn't the first time she saw Luz like this…

"Look, I just want to spend time with the rest of my extended family and get to know them more, even Barbara," Luz told Maya. "I am not asking you to forgive Barb, but could we please do this later? I don't want to cause any strife with my family."

Maya gave a sigh. "Fine..."

Later, Luz returned to the others. "Sorry, I was just… arguing with myself."

"Does that happen often?" Beo asked.

"I can explain later," Luz said while turning to Barb. "And I'm sorry too, Barb. For the outburst…"

"No, it's fine," Barbara responded while wiping away her tears. "You said what you had to say. I don't blame you for it."

"Okay, so now that is taken care of," Zee spoke up while turning to Luz. "There is… one thing that has been in our minds."

"Yeah, like… are the rumors about Belos true?" Cross asked

Luz looked alarmed by this, as did Amity, King and Hunter, while Beo just stayed silent. Luz tried to avoid the topic. "Um… come on, guys, it's just a rumor so I wouldn't know. I mean, Nicole's just speaking out of her ass…"

"Really? Cause when you think about it, it would make sense that given everything that Belos has allowed you to get away with," Cross pointed out.

"Wait, wouldn't that mean you're technically a Clawthorne as well?" Barb asked Hunter, who just looked down.

"Although I will admit, it is kind of hard to imagine Belos being a Clawthorne after all the horrible stuff he has done," Zee replied. "The overharvesting of Palistrom wood and him forcing recruits to turn in their Palismen would be especially bad if he is from a family of Palisman carvers. That would make him the ultimate black sheep of the family. And in light of recent events, I am really doubting some of his claims."

"I'll say, we don't even talk about him," Pugsley said as he randomly popped up, which startled the teens.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Luz exclaimed.

"Pugsley?!" Barb replied before she saw Kiki with him. "Kiki!?"

"Yeah, even I'm getting a bit suspicious of him," Kiki admitted.

"What the fuck are you two doing here?" Luz asked them while holding Amity's hand in protection.

"Did Belos send you?" Hunter asked.

"Oh no, I'm off duty. I wanted to stay away, but Pugsley couldn't help himself," Kiki shrugged while looking at Luz with an uneasy expression.

"After we saw ya arguing with yourself, we ended up hearing you all talking about Belos," Pugsley said. "Which we should warn you not to do."

"So what? They're allowed to talk about the rumors," Hunter pointed out.

"Yeah, especially since he hasn't made an official comment about it…" Zee added.

"Well, we're not supposed to talk about the rumors at all in the we're definitely not supposed to talk about how he is coming after the hu-" Pusgley gets pulled by Kiki's hand hair to shush him.

"Shh! Do you want to be cursed?!" Kikimora scolded him.

"For once I kinda agree with you, Kiki," Luz told her as she started to sing. "We shouldn't talk about Belos, no, no, no."

"Oh, we're singing now," Pugsley realized.

"We don't talk about Belos…" Luz sang. "But! It was execution day."

"It was execution day," Amity and King sang from behind.

"I was brought before him, brought face-to-face with that guy."

Amity and King: "Face-to-face with that guy."

"Belos walks in with a devilish grin-"

"Hold on!" Kiki spoke up.

"You telling the story, or am I?" Luz threatened Kiki.

"Um… sorry, Clawthorne, carry on…" Kiki backed away from her.

"He offered to help have my powers trained."

"What did you tell him, then?" asked Cross, Zee, and Beo.

"I told him no, I know that he's insane!"

"That could have been your end…" Pugsley and Kiki admitted.

"His talk will just rot your brains!"

"Hey, we're on the fence, but anyway," Kiki said.

"We don't talk about Belos, no, no, no!" Luz, Pugsley and Kiki sang. "We don't talk about Belos!"

"Hey!" Hunter spoke up. "Grew to live in fear of Belos' stuttering or stumbling, I could always hear him sort of muttering and mumbling, he made me promise to keep things all shush-shush-shush." Behind him in the background, a hooded figure bopped their head as the song continued. "Secrets about family and history, yet his true plan still remains a mystery, the product of prophecies that we couldn't understand… do you understand?"

"Eleven-foot frame, skeletons in the closet," Beo sang with a sinister green light underneath him. "You think he's got his sanity, but no he may have lost it. You see his eyes, they're death in disguise!"

"We don't talk about Belos, no, no, no!" Beo, Luz, and Hunter sang. "We don't talk about Belos~!"

"He told me the guards are fine, the next day… dead!" Pugsley declared.

"No, no!"

"I once wanted to be worthy, until he killed my friend!" Amity states.

"No, no!"

"I told him I'd give my life to you, but I was misled," Hunter claimed as he, Luz, Amity, Beo, Kiki and Pugsley sang around Cross and Zee. "But can we really trust a word that he said?!"

It was then Barb stood up, the spotlight on her. "He told me that if I sacrificed for him I would earn a place at his side," she sang with a saddened look. "He told me that the work we would do would wipe away all the pain inside…"

"The Day of Unity is on the way," Kiki pointed out.

"He told me that this is all destiny just to follow his lead," Luz told Barb. "But I knew better… strangely it's like I hear him now..."

"Hey sis," Cross spoke to Zee "Maybe we should drop the subject for now(Luz: It's like I can hear his voice now!)"

"Who am I hearing now?" Luz asked herself.

"Um, Belos…" Zee sang to her brother "Yeah, about that Belos, we really need to know about Belos!" She turned to confront Luz. "Give us the truth and the whole truth about Belos!"

"Well obviously not around here!" Luz pointed out to Pugsley and Kiki at the back.

"And it's time for dinner!" Amity announced, prompting the teens to summon their Palismen

Each of them sang the previous lyrics to the song, all giving their own feelings about Belos as their voices overlapped. By the time they flew back to the ranch, Cross and Zee were even more curious about Belos. But regardless of whether the rumors about him were true or not, they recognized how dangerous it was to talk about him.

"Don't talk about Belos, no, no, no!" they sang.

"Why did we talk about Belos?" Cross asked himself.

"Not a word about Belos!"

"We never should have brought up Belos!" Cross declared.

"Can't believe they still kept the hole I made," Eda said as she and Lilith stared at the small hole in the wall while inside the ranch house.

"Yeah, we could never dedicate enough time to fix it," Brolin admitted. "But sometimes we cover it up"

"Just make sure that your children don't add their own holes, Eda," Eartha told her.

The two sisters entered the dining hall, where they saw the rest of the adults set up the food and plates.

"Eda, Lilith, here to help out?" Denise asked while passing out the plates.

"Might as well," Eda replied while she and Lilith helped out with setting up for dinner.

"Say Lilith, there's been something on my mind for a while that I wanted to ask you about," Lulu said to Lilith.

Lilith sighed. "I do not want to talk about… what everyone says about me, Lulu."

"Actually, I was gonna ask if what the rumors said was true about Belos being a Clawthorne," Lulu said, which caused everyone to stop and fall silent.

Lilith and Eda both paused. "Um… I don't… think he is?" Lilith tried to deny.

"Really? Cause you worked with him the most, so wouldn't you know?" Lulu pointed out.

"Honestly, it would explain how your daughter gets away with all the things he does, Eda." Jason mentioned.

"Oh come on, who knows what goes on in that old witch's mind," Eda said dismissively. "I mean, he has his guards and scouts chase me around for years and then he tried to have me and Luz executed that one time."

"But he then immediately pardoned you and Luz, darling." Yvontte pointed out to Eda.

"Although if the Emperor really is related to us, wouldn't he have given us more royal favors?" Dennis suggested.

"More evidence that he isn't a Clawthorne," Lilith suggested. "He did nothing to help out the family."

"Well I don't believe he could be a Clawthorne," Eartha declared while taking her eyepatch off, showing both her eyes intact. "Not at the rate he destroyed Palistrom trees and Palismen, threatening our family's legacy."

"Although, when you used to work with him, you kept your Palisman," Damien pointed out to Lilith. "What's the deal there?"

"Oh, that… is a long story…" Lilith claimed.

"Hmm, and that Golden Guard boy also has a Palisman," Eartha pointed out. "Isn't he the Emperor's nephew?"

"And Belos gave you the position to run Crane's orphanage, Eda," Denise pointed out to Eda.

"Yeah, that. I guess, since I don't have magic anymore, he didn't need me in a coven anymore and he thought it would be a good move after I saved those witches from the Scal-Mart…" Eda mentioned.

"Hmm, didn't you offer to run the place for the Emperor's Coven, Denise?" Dennis asked his sister.

"What now?" Eda asked, turning to Denise.

"Well… I did offer to help run the place, since I knew what it meant to Donna and I couldn't help but feel bad for those witchlings," Denise said. "But they said they have someone else in mind to run the place. They didn't say who, but then you turned out to be the one running it."

"Huh…" Eda said as she remembered asking Leonte if there was anyone else qualified to run the orphanage.

Apparently others had offered.

"Alright, let's put a pin in the whole Belos topic right now," Gwen said. "I just saw the kids coming back from the boardwalk."

"And just in time for them to taste Macy's Scumbo," Jason said as he and the rest of the adults finished setting up the table.

Soon Luz and the others came back into the ranch house.

"Alright, we don't have to talk about Belos now, so maybe later after dinner," Luz told the Drakescale siblings, who nodded in agreement..

Once the kids were inside, Luz split off from them and found Gwen. "Hey, Gwendma, can I see Dell before dinner…"

Soon all of the Clawthornes and their guests had gathered around the huge family table for dinner. There were two tables, one for the adults and teens, and one for the kids and babies, including Kay who sat in her own baby seat.

"Alright, now that everyone's gathered at the dinner table, it's time that we have our story sharing tradition," Brolin declared. "My Eartha's Palisman, Wikit, will fly over to the witch of her choosing and they will have to tell us something interesting that happened to them recently."

"Go on, Wikit," Eartha told her parrot Palisman, who flew around and landed in front of Brolin. "Looks like she picked you first, Lin."

"Hmm, something interesting that happened to me," Brolin said while thinking it over. "Oh! Me and Jook had to lead a flock of griffins to have their talons clipped, but I had to rescue one after it got stuck in a large quarry when it strayed off from the others." He continued his story and when he finished, this earned a lot of cheers from the family as Brolin let Wikit go. "Alright, who's next?"

The family held their hands up for Wikit to pick them. Eventually, the parrot Palisman landed on Beocrow's head.

"Got anything to say, Beo?" Denise asked her son.

"Well… two weeks ago I went to another realm," he revealed, shocking a lot of his family members. "My best friend, Donna, was kidnapped and taken to a realm called Wonderland, so me and my friends, along with two other witches, had to follow them to save Donna. We all succeeded, but then we woke up back here in our realm. That realm existed as both a real place, and a dream… at least, that's what I could interpret."

After he finished his story, Wikit flew off and hovered over a few family members before it landed on Cross.

"What's something interesting I did this year?" Cross asked while thinking it over. "I guess… I made some new friends recently. I guess, I'm slowly getting out of my shell a lot more. I even went on a date." Zee hollered, which made Cross look at her with a deadpan expression.

Wikit flew around and landed on Hunter after a couple more family members.

"I went through a lot of hardship this year," Hunter revealed, rubbing his mechanical arm while looking over at Flapjack. "But I also met Flapjack this year. He's probably my best friend and he makes me want to be a better witch than I was before."

The parrot Palisman then flew around once more until it eventually landed onto Amity.

"What's something interesting that has happened to me? Well…" Amity said. "A lot has happened recently, since I've been on this long journey of hardship over the past summer solstice. Being part-Fae is probably the biggest development," she said while looking down and spotting Sam, smiling a little. "It definitely came as a shock to me… but I think it has become a part of me that I liked."

Wikit flew around and landed on King's horn next.

"What's interesting about me?" King asked while thinking it over. "Well… recently I realized that I had a dad somewhere, and I got a job, a girlfriend, and Maurice, my companion squirrel," he declared. "But most importantly of all, I officially became a part of this family and it has been awesome getting to know the rest of you guys."

After King, Wikit flew around until it finally landed onto Luz, everyone looking over at her in anticipation to hear what she was going to say.

"What's something interesting that happened to me this year?" Luz asked while looking around. "Honestly, too much to really do justice, but I do feel like I have grown up a lot this year. I used to want to be nothing more than Eda's kid, the most badass witch in Bonesborough and the number one delinquent witch at Hexside. Admittedly, I wasn't the nicest kid around, picking fights or just causing general mayhem. But eventually I got my act together and I really expanded my social circle. Besides my family, it used to just be me, Gus, Willow… and Hunter." She nodded at Hunter. "But after I started attending Hexside, I made friendships with witches that I had previously never seen myself with." She looked over at Amity, smiling at her. "Now I have a lot of witches that I know that I can trust. And besides my new friends, and my relationship with Amity, I've always been reconnecting with both my human and my witch roots, which is a big reason that I'm here…"

King held up a video camera as Luz opened up her bag, ready to bring something out.

"I am a witch of two worlds, one family. And I've decided to bring someone else into that family," she declared as something flew up from Luz's bag, surprising everyone at the table.

Flying high and spreading out its wings was a purple mockingbird. It flapped its wings and flew back to Luz, landing on her arm. The whole family, with the exception of Dell, looked amazed. Dell just looked proud.

"Luz, your Palisman…" Amity said in awe.

"His name is Atticus," Luz introduced while petting her Palisman. "I have been working on him in secret ever since I got my Palistrom wood back from the Bat Queen and Dellpa helped me with the final touches. And flying isn't the only thing he can do," she declared as Atticus's talons wrapped around Luz's arm, changing his form into that of a crossbow. "Since I don't need him to fly around, Atticus can instead change into my own duel disk that I can place my glyph cards on to give it a little boost of magic. I was actually inspired by Bump's Palisman, who is his eyes rather than just a staff he can fly on. In this case, Atticus can be my arm. With his help, I can be more creative with my combat and experiment more with my glyph combos, even with the natural magic I got recently."

"A mockingbird… of course you'd name it Atticus," Eda said proudly as she went to pat Luz's back.

"He does look marvelous, Luz," Lilith replied.

"And he's very well crafted," Zee commented in awe.

"Honestly, I would've thought you'd make something like a bat or a dragon," Hunter admitted.

"Your Palisman's beautiful, Luz," Amity said as she went to pet Atticus. Flapjack, Owlbert, and Ghost all went to greet him. "And Ghost thinks so too."

"Just hope that Hooty doesn't end up eating him," King said while Atticus landed on top of his skullcap, and then on top of Kay who giggled in laughter.

"My, your granddaughter sure is impressive, Dell," Brolin told Dell.

Everyone got up from their seats to get a good look at Atticus or congratulate Luz, who was swelling with Clawthorne pride.

'You did good, Luz,' she heard Maya say, which made Luz beam even more.

When Atticus landed on her hand, she looked down at him. "Welcome to the Clawthorne family, Atticus."

Atticus responded through his chirps and Luz alone was able to understand what he said.

Thank you.

Meanwhile, at the Owl House, Donna had flown over to drop off the crate of apple blood.

"Wow, a whole crate of apple blood! Eda's going to be so excited for this!" Hooty declared. "Thanks, Donna!"

"It's no problem, Hooty," Donna replied to him.

"Hey, if you're staying here for a bit, we can talk if you want!" Hooty suggested, wrapping himself around Donna.

"Um… that's alright, Hooty," Donna replied. "I should-"

"Please don't go! I've been all alone since everyone else went to the family reunion," Hooty said with a sniff. "Everyone but me went, but I guess that's the cost of being a house guardian…"

Donna looked at Whirlwind who shook his head, but Donna still felt bad for the house demon. She sighed. "Alright, I guess we could stay for the moment…"

"Great! Oh boy, I am so excited to have someone over, I could just… just…" Suddenly a large lump started coming through his tube body. This caused him to let go of Donna. "Oh, here it comes…"

Donna immediately ran away as Hooty threw up a bunch of piles of junk from his mouth. This included some of Luz's comics, Bruce, and Maurice and Acorn coming out of pellets.

"Fucking finally!" Acorn shouted as she flew up.

The traumatized Maurice walked out from his pellet prison, before stumbling on an envelope

"Acorn, you've been in Hooty the entire time?" Donna asked him.

"Well, I was hiding from Ghost at first…" Acorn said before noticing Maurice calling up to her. She turned around and flew over to see the envelope he was holding. "What's this, Maurice?" she asked as she read who it was for. "Say… this letter's for King."

"For King?" Donna asked, seeing the black envelope.

Back at the ranch, Hunter was outside getting ready to leave.

"Well, I should be going," Hunter said. "I didn't plan on staying overnight, but thanks for having me here."

"It's no problem, Hunter," Lilith assured him as they hugged. With her were Dell, Gwen, Eda, Barb, Brolin, and Eartha, all here to see him out. "I am glad that you came."

"Yes, it was great to see you again," Dell told him. "Especially since your visit yesterday was so short."

"Tell Scameron I'll check back in later in the week," Barb told him.

Hunter gave them a nod before he turned to Brolin and Eartha. "Um… I guess I should say thank you for letting me stay here for a bit. This family… it's amazing."

"Well, it was… interesting to have you over here, son," Brolin told him.

"Your Palisman though… Flapjack, is it?" Eartha asked him.

"Uh… yeah…" Hunter answered nervously.

"You know, somewhere in our family, I think there was one member who had a red cardinal Palisman," Eartha said while looking at Flapjack. "If you ever decide to come here again, maybe we can talk more with yer Palisman if you're not busy."

"Oh, I… I would like that, ma'am," Hunter nodded respectfully.

"Well, we won't hold you much longer, Hunter," Eda said to him. "Just be careful, alright?"

"Thank you, Eda," Hunter said as Flapjack transformed into his staff. "See you," he said before he set off from the ranch.

Hunter flew until he spotted the boardwalk below again. Seeing that it was less crowded than before, he decided to levitate down to walk around a bit.

"Maybe I could find a coven station and hitch a ride on a blimp," Hunter said to Flapjack, who chirped in agreement. As they walked, a sudden blur rushed behind him. Hunter turned around. "Huh?" He could've sworn that he heard something. "Did you see anything, Flapjack?"

Flapjack chirped a negative as the two put up their guard. Hunter transformed Flapjack into a staff for defense as he walked around. "Alright, show yourself! I'm not afraid of you-"

But then, from the shadows of an alleyway, Hunter was grabbed and pulled in…

Back at the ranch, the rest of the family were preparing to turn into their guest rooms for the night. Luz, who had Atticus on her shoulder, saw that Amity was preparing Kay for sleep. Luz smiled before she then spotted Cross who was out at the balcony.

Deciding to meet him up, Luz walked over to see Cross staring up at the night sky. "What's on your mind?" Luz asked him.

"I was just looking up at the Titan's Eye," Cross admitted. "You know, I almost decided against coming here, but Zee was the one to convince me and my mom to come."

"Does that have to do with me?" Luz asked him.

"Well, that and… my mom doesn't really have a good relationship with her parents," Cross told her. "Her parents didn't like the fact that my mom married into the Drakescales, especially to someone who had been married before."

Oh…" Luz said. "Your sister's cool, by the way. She's probably more Clawthorne than you are," she added teasingly.

Cross couldn't help but smirk and chuckle at this. "Thanks. I'm sure she would appreciate hearing it," he said. "You know, this night turned out better than I expected. I guess having you as my cousin won't be so bad after all."

Luz gave an over dramatic gasp. "Oh, I'm hurt, Drakescale," she said, placing her hand over her heart. "Absolutely wounded." Then she dropped the act and the two shared a smile.

"Luz!"

The two looked up and saw Donna flying over to them on her staff. She landed on the balcony, much to Luz and Cross's surprise.

"Donna, what… what are you doing here?" Cross asked.

"Sorry that I came here unannounced," Donna apologized before she brought the envelope out. "But I wouldn't have come here if it wasn't urgent and it's about your brother, Luz."

"King?" Luz asked as Donna handed her the black envelope.

"This letter is for King," Donna replied as Luz looked at the envelope. "Apparently, Hooty ate it some time ago."

"Wha…. Who knows how long this has been waiting for him?!" Luz exclaimed as she called out. "King! You're not going to believe what Donna brought over!"

Soon Luz had called King, Amity, Eda, and Lilith over as Luz handed him the envelope. Donna and Cross were with them.

"I don't believe it… Hooty has been eating my mail?!" King asked as he opened it, a small stone falling into his paw.

"Well what does it say?" Eda asked him.

"It says, 'Dear King Clawthorne, if you wish to know who you truly are, come to this location and meet our warrior clan,'" King read while looking at the piece.

"A warrior clan?" Amity asked.

"I think… they could be my family…" King said as he looked up to the others. "Well, my other family, not that I don't consider you all-"

"Hey, we know, King," Luz said as he patted his back while Lilith took the letter.

"Let me have a look," Lilith said as she studied the letter. "This letter contains a map that would take you far away from our Titan. But I had explored that area before though. I'm sorry to say, King, but there's nothing of note in that area. Whoever sent this probably just wants to send you on a wild goose chase."

King looked down in disappointment. "Oh man…"

"But what if you missed something?" Luz suggested. "Maybe you didn't know what you were looking for and there is something there for King. I mean, maybe this clan moves around and they weren't there before when you checked. If they're still there, then surely it would be worth a-" An idea popped into her head. "Light bulb!"

"Light bulb?" Cross and Donna asked in confusion.

"Oh I get it," Amity realized. "I think I know what you're suggesting Luz…"

"An adventure to another part of the Demon Realm!" Luz and Amity declared in unison.

"Wait, what are you two on about now?" Eda asked, scratching her head.

"It's about this revelation I had earlier, mom," Luz said to her. "While we were visiting around the Isles, I realized that even though I have lived in the Demon Realm for fourteen years, I have never ventured far from the Boiling Isles. Just like how a lot of witches are far too comfortable and never leave their communities, I have stayed put. I mourned the fact that I've never been on an adventure to another part of the Demon Realm and this is exactly what I wanted! One big adventure before I go to stay with Camila!"

"Oh… so you found your call to adventure out at sea," Eda realized.

"And if there is a chance I could learn where I came from… I do want to take it," King admitted. "Like Luz connecting with both of her roots, I want to connect with both of mine. What if there are more demons like me? What if we couldn't find answers on the Boiling Isles because those answers are elsewhere in the Demon Realm? And since Luz has powers similar to mine… maybe she could find answers as well."

Luz turned to Eda. "Mom, can me and King go on this adventure together? I think this is something that we both need."

Eda took a moment, thinking it over. She saw how important this could be for King, and how important it could be for Luz as well. "Alright, I can let you kids go," she agreed.

Luz smiled. "Thanks, mom!" she shouted as she went to hug Eda.

"Yeah, thanks mom!" King added as he joined the hug.

Luz then thought of something else. "Oh, and I just have another idea!"

Suddenly, Luz grabbed Cross's arm and pulled him over. "We'll be taking Cross with us on our adventure!" she declared, confusing and surprising Cross.

"Wait, what?!" he exclaimed.

Credit to Crash-X-Fusion aka Crosshot for the new opening.

And so this kicks off to the events of "Edge of the World"

So now we have finally come to the family reunion episode, as Luz gets to meet the Clawthorne family. Including discovering that Cross is her cousin, along with Barb who is also a vampire Clawthorne and a dhampier.

We also finally get to see interactions between Eda and Denise, where we learned that once again, Eda was an unhinged child. But Denise doesn't hold it against her as she grew up from the past and is pretty well-off.

We also got to meet the Clawthorne family members. There's Brolin and Eartha, along with Bella and Jolene as they're the oldest Clawthornes along with Dell and Gwen. Denise and her siblings, her twin Dennis who's married to Yvontte Marlo(internet cookies to those who gets the Munster reference) and their daughter is Barbara. There's Jason who let's be honest, we all have a Jason Clawthorne in the family. Also Lulu who is pretty much… um, the Luanne Platter of the family.

We've also set that the Clawthornes would have some western-style ancestry with Jessebelle Clawthorne, who may or may not be allegedly an outlaw(which Eda would be super admired about).

(Please note that family relations can be a bit confusing, like in all honesty I would mistake what makes cousins, uncles, aunts and great-grandparents well enough.)

Now, making the Clawthornes from a double-cousins relationship was in fact something I've thought would be interesting. I've recently discovered that down to my grandparents, we're a double-cousin family. Thought it would be interesting to have a Clawthorne relationship like this where two different families married to each other.

The Dograptor was this long-standing idea of the orphans having found and kept him in a secret. Jesse speaking to him and Scooter's ghost is a reference to Anne-Marie in All Dogs Go To Heaven.

Now for the real deal about Atticus, Luz's Palisman in this fic. See, we have been planning on Atticus before Stringbean came along in the Owl House canon. Now, after some consideration, we've both decided to keep using Atticus because quite honestly, Stringbean wouldn't really have been a fit for this version of Luz, who has gone through her own arc. Atticus felt a good fit for her here because he represent a fusion of both Luz's witch heritage(he's a bird Palisman like the rest of the Clawthornes) and human heritage(as he's named after a piece of human literature).

And many of you are surprised to hear about Miki, Kikimora's relative that she disguised herself as in canon. We've decided to use the idea of Miki immediately after "For the Future" premiered. Thought it'd be fun.

Some trivia:

-Manus-sapiens are the basic names for the hand-like witches and demons coined by DeviantArt user MonsterFan50.

-Palm Stings is what we'd imagined to be the Boiling Isle's equivalent to Ocean City, City of Palms, and Beach City from Steven Universe. As well as a mix of Florida and Hollywood. And Sven Starberg, the Illusion Head before Adrian, is a play-on name for Steven Spielberg.

-Songs used for the fic are "Welcome to Our Family" from Brother Bear, and a cover of "We Don't Talk About Belos" a parody song by Tomatosauce who does the Owl House Abridged videos, as it's a parody of "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from Encanto.

Now to answer your reviews:

Volcasiron30: Great that you did.

Matteso585: 1) Yeah. 2) Wait and see. 3) No spoilers. 4) Nah, Tyrone's been always the Bow expy.

61394: Yeah, we've decided none of them. I do remembered you suggesting them to us but we're not planning on adding in more complex family members. Hell, we've decided by Book 2 we've had enough characters as it is since we're on the final arc of Book 2.

Franco Almiron: Yeah, we'll be adapting Labrynth Runners differently without Gus.

Crash X Fusion: Not yet on Hollow Mind, just the family reunion, and then to Edge of the World.

Spantidem7: 1) They do have different names, you might have missed something. 2) Does it matter if we see it? 3) By chance. 4) Same as canon. 5) Um… BIG has transportation, and they've only made it back after the witch hunt for Terra was called off.

Alamout: 1) Gus just said it's Hagust, which is August in the Human Calendar. 2) To be determined 3) Different physiology 4) No. 5) TBD. 6) TBD.

Shuffollower: 1) Nope. 2) Subverted your expectations. 3) Emily won't come due to Adrian keeping a close eye on her.

Okay, so those who don't know, the Q&A are closed. Sorry that we couldn't answer to your questions on time but those who did we could just private message you some answers if you want.

And in honor for the premiere of Hazbin Hotel... the new Helluva Dad will be out next.