The Angel of the Owl House

by OwlHouseAngel

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

26. EP 5: Let Sleeping Ravens Lie

The Angel of the Owl House

Season 2: The Human Realm

Chapter 5: Let Sleeping Ravens Lie

The days that followed the Blight Ball were chaotic for the CATTs, and especially the Blight family. Amity, Edric, and Emira had ended up spending the entire weekend with their father on Digale Island, while the CATTs helped them settle into one of the houses built in Digale Village. It was a nice experience to finally spend some quality time together as a family without it being for some ulterior motive of Odalia's… in the past, even their family vacations had been more about image and getting some exposure in different parts of the Isles. The little family was getting a lot closer, and Alador had gotten to meet more of his children's friends, including Emira's girlfriend Viney (with whom he got along fairly well), and Edric's friend Jerbo (with whom he got along very well, sharing a love of abominations). Since Luz had gone home to the Human Realm for the weekend, Eda, Lilith, King, and Raine had filled their time by going on a heist of Blight Manor and stealing all of the Blights' personal belongings, so they'd at least have their things to populate their new home on the island. Alador had also begun working with some of the rebels from the Abomination Coven to construct a new laboratory and weapons workshop in Digale Village, with the intention of earning his keep by arming the rebels. His work was already paying off too, as he'd reconstructed his old Abomaton Mk I's to serve as supporting soldiers, guards, and construction assistants, which hastened the development of the village and the areas beyond it. This work had led to the ultimate completion of the village's fortress-like HQ, where all rebel activities on the Boiling Isles were now directed from. Alador had also found himself now wanted by the Emperor's Coven, yet surprisingly, no wanted posters ever came out for his children.

Amity being busy over the weekend also meant she didn't go through with her original plan to join Luz in the Human Realm, which had the consequence of Luz once again chickening out on telling her Mami about what was going on in the Demon Realm. She felt awful for keeping it from her Mami and Vee, as well as breaking her promise to Amity, but when she'd tried, she'd ended up choking out of fear. Amity was understanding, but once again encouraged her to try the next week.

The next week passed in a haze of rapid activity for both the Hexsquad and the CATTs. The teenagers balanced school, odd jobs for the CATTs, and hanging out together, while Luz had the addition of lessons with Eda and Amity once again began her lessons with Lilith. A few important missions had cropped up, but the adults always handled those with the Hexsquad only being allowed to offer support back on the island, since Raine and Darius were both adamant about not letting children fight unless they were crucial, especially after the near-disaster at the Blight Ball.

The Blight Ball had consequences for more than just the Blights and CATTs though; during the first Monday meeting after the Ball, Darius had reported that Odalia had managed to show off the last two Abomaton Mk II's well enough to impress the Golden Guard and Silver Sentinel, who had agreed to a contract granting the Emperor's Coven the exclusive right to purchase them. Unfortunately for Odalia, as soon as work began on Monday morning, Darius' and the CATTs sabotage kicked in and the entire factory ground to a halt as the machines were rendered useless. Not only that, but when Alador's team went into his lab to retrieve the blueprints for the Mk II, they found the blueprints gone and the lab trashed, effectively halting production before it could start. Blame was placed squarely on Alador (since he was the one Odalia believed burgled the manor), but as Alador was already wanted for assisting the rebels, that didn't matter very much. Odalia was apparently humiliated (made worse by Luz, Willow, and the Blights releasing ALL the pictures they'd taken of Odalia during their two encounters), and the Emperor was NOT happy. He'd personally handed the two remaining Abomaton Mk II's over to Darius and his coven with orders to reverse engineer them, with Odalia and Blight Industries being forced to foot the bill for materials. Naturally Darius had no intention of completing the work, but he would personally bleed Odalia for as many snails as possible! Meanwhile, Darius actually worked alongside Alador just as they had in their youth, rekindling their old partnership, much to their mutual pleasure (even if both refused to admit it).

And so yet another week neared it's end, and it was once again Friday afternoon. That afternoon saw Eda and Lilith piloting a stolen Emperor's Coven Airship up from the Swampy Toes, with almost a dozen Wild Witches onboard. They were on their way back from their latest mission; rescuing captive Wild Witches from a research Lab hidden deep in the swamps of the Toes, which one of the Wild Witches on Digale Island had escaped from. Eda and Lilith had been tasked with busting into the relatively small facility and getting the witches out, and they'd succeeded without too much trouble… though they'd definitely overdone it by beating the stuffing out of just about every Coven Witch on the premises and burning the place to the ground. Still, they'd rescued the Wild Witches, and that was all Eda cared about.

"Well, I'd call that a successful mission! We might even get back before Luz gets home from school!" Eda grinned. "It'll be nice to spend an evening together before she goes off to her Mami's again. The stuff with Treble and Odalia got in the way over the last two weeks."

Lilith nodded; "It would be nice to have some family time. But don't let your guard down until we're back in Bonesborough, sister. We both used far too much magic in this mission."

Eda scoffed; "Ah, don't be such a stick in the mud, Lilith! We won!"

"Yes, and we both needed to take Elixirs because we drained so much magic! Remember, we're dependent on Luz's blessings to keep us going! We can't be so reckless!" Lilith retorted.

Eda huffed, but couldn't really argue; the Owl Beast had been pretty close to the surface during the rescue. Speaking off…

"So, what exactly were those creeps doing to you guys?" Eda asked the rescued witches, changing the subject.

"The lab was run by the Potions Coven. They were testing new potions on us." the eldest of the witches answered. "They were also trying to see which potions would still work if they turned them into a gas and made us inhale them."

Lilith frowned; "It sounds like they're planning to use gaseous potions against us… If I remember correctly, Head Witch Vitimir is particularly skilled in turning potions to gas."

Many of the Wild Witches shuddered; "He was terrifying! He only ever showed up if no progress was being made, and it was always terrible when he did…" one of the younger ones said. The sight of her made the Clawthorne sisters angry; she looked barely old enough to have graduated school!

"Well, none of you have anything to fear. Once we get to Bonesborough, you'll be safe. If you're willing to take oaths of secrecy, we can even hide you somewhere the Emperor's Coven will never find you." Lilith promised.

"W-Will we really be safe? Don't you guys work for an angel!?" another older witch cried fearfully.

"No, we work WITH an angel. She's my adopted kid, and is nothing like those old horror stories. She won't try to smite you or anything; Witch's honour." Eda reassured them.

There were some doubtful looks from the older witches in the crowd, which annoyed Eda a little, but she wasn't going to try and convince them; they'd see for themselves when they met Luz!

That would be very soon too, as within twenty more minutes Lilith was slowly landing the stolen airship outside the Owl House. Hooty and a couple of CATTs members (there was always at least two hanging around the house as additional guards) were on guard when they saw the sigil of the Emperor's Coven on the ship, but they soon calmed down once they spotted Eda.

"Hi Lulu!" Hooty cheered, immediately darting towards her. He crashed into her and knocked her down, before coiling around her in a hug.

Lilith laughed and pet his head; "Hello to you too, Hootsifer."

"I missed you!" Hooty cried.

Lilith tutted; "Oh Hootsifer, I've only been gone for-"

"8 hours and 43 minutes." Rasiel said, coming out of the Owl House with a tired expression; "Hooty was counting…"

"Oh dear." Lilith sighed while Eda laughed at Rasiel's worn-out expression; "Lulu" had supplanted "Raspberry" as Hooty's best friend, and while Rasiel was genuinely happy about that fact, he didn't like getting dragged into being Hooty's shoulder to cry on whenever he was missing Lilith.

King soon hurried out of the house and hugged his Mom in greeting, wanting to hear all the gruesome and bloody details of her battle with the Emperor's Coven, while Lilith soothed Hooty. The rescued Wild Witches watched in bewilderment, until they heard more people approaching.

Luz and the Hexsquad came walking down the path, done with their week of school and all looking a little worn out. Since Luz didn't bother to hide her angelic nature any more, the Wild Witches knew who and what she was immediately, and some began to back away in fear of her. Luz noticed this but didn't question it.

"I'm home Mom!" she greeted Eda, "So the mission to the Toes went well?"

"You got that right! I'll tell you and your little brother all about it at dinner." she said, making King pout as he instead jumped over to Luz's shoulder to hug her; "How was school today, Owlet?"

"Good, but long. Some of the seniors thought it was a good idea to take the Kappas from the beast-keeping track and replace the water in their head bowls with Apple Blood. The undiluted, hard variety."

Eda snorted; "Ha! I did that once! The drunken blighters ended up hosting a rave in the boy's locker room!"

Willow shook her head ruefully; "Well these ones decided to turn the school greenhouses into a swimming pool. We still have no idea how they managed to flood the place."

"Principal Bump ended up sending all the beast-keeping students to wrangle them." Amity smiled sympathetically at her tired girlfriend; "Poor Luz and Viney ended up having to do most of the work themselves, since they're the only ones in school who can use both Beast-Keeping and Bardic Magic."

"No wonder you look so tired." Lilith commented, finally getting Hooty loosened enough that she could stand up on her own. With one hand on Hooty, she raised the other to pat Luz's head (knowing she liked the gesture), only to find her other hand was missing!

"WHA!?" she screeched in surprise.

Luz spotted the missing hand skittering around in a panic near where Hooty had knocked Lilith over, and quickly snagged it with a vine and handed it to Eda, who helped attach it again

"Oh yeah, forgot to warn you about that." Eda said, snapping the hand back into place; "It's a side effect of the curse. Not sure what it has to do with the Owl Beast, but it's pretty fun every now and again. And very useful! You're pretty much immune to dismemberment now!"

"It's true! I saw Wrath cut off Eda's head and she just popped it back on. Kinda traumatizing actually." Luz chirped, adding that last part with a far away look in her eyes.

Eda snorted and ruffled her hair, while Lilith flexed her reattached hand; "Between this and the feathers, the pain of nearly transforming, and how awful those Elixirs taste… I had no idea how hard you've had it all these years. I am so, so sorry that I did this to you." Lilith said miserably.

King huffed and looked away, while Eda actually felt a little sorry for her big sister. She'd been giving her a hard time, primarily for handing Luz over to Belos, but it was getting to be hard to stay mad at Lilith. She was trying so hard and was so apologetic that Eda found herself beginning to forgive her. The fact that Amity was mending the bridge between them, and Luz had been accepting of Lilith since she turned on the Emperor made those feelings stronger.

"I know Lily. We all still need a little time, but we're getting there. Even after everything you did, we're still sisters, right? It's not like you never forgave me for the stunts I pulled."

Lilith smiled; "I think there's a bit of a difference between those pranks of yours and what I did… but thank you, Edalyn."

The Owl Lady grinned, then said; "Good! Now enough of the mushy stuff! Luz, we've got some Wild Witches to take to sanctuary! Come introduce yourself and tell them you aren't going to eat them or whatever they think Angels do."

Luz and her friends laughed, then the young Arch-Angel really did go and introduce herself to the rescued witches. She assured them that she only wanted to keep them safe and had no intention of enforcing her own order on the Boiling Isles. She was working with and supporting the CATTs and their goals, not the other way around. That was enough to convince most of the Wild Witches, with only a few from the older generation still refusing to have anything to do with her. Those that were convinced took the oaths of secrecy, then were taken by Luz to Digale Island, along with the rest of the Hexsquad. Those that refused were instead warned not to leave Bonesborough, as it was currently the only neutral territory, before they were sent on their way.

After spending the rest of the afternoon resting on Digale Island and getting the rescued witches settled in, the Owl Family returned home for dinner while the Hexsquad returned to their own homes, promising to see Luz again on Monday when she returned from the Human Realm. The only one who stayed behind was Amity, who would be sleeping over and then going with Luz to the Human Realm like she'd originally planned to do last week.

As Rasiel cooked dinner with some help from Hooty, Raine, Luz, King, and Amity listened to Eda and Lilith recount their adventure down in the toes.

"…and then once everyone was on the airship, I said; "Looks like Potions aren't the only things brewing here!" and cast a spell to summon a giant thunderstorm! Then zap! A thunderbolt struck the lab and it caught fire!"

King and Luz listened with sparkling eyes; "Awesome!" they cheered.

"You are so cool, Mom! I should think up some one-liners too! I get into enough fights that I'd actually get to use them!" Luz laughed.

"Didn't you beat up Wrath AND Grom with the whole "Eat this Sucka!" thing from your Azura books?" King pointed out.

"I guess, but that feels like plagiarism." she replied.

"One-liners aside, summoning a thunderstorm is really high level magic! It's amazing you can cast spells that strong even after being weakened by the curse." Amity said, genuinely impressed. The thunderstorm wasn't the only impressive feat of magic the Clawthorne sisters had mentioned either, as they'd been far from gentle with the Emperor's lackeys.

Eda puffed her chest out proudly at the praise, while Lilith nodded ruefully; "It's a small miracle. If not for Luz's blessings, I'd be virtually powerless, and Edalyn would be powerless!"

That reminded Eda, who looked guiltily at her daughter; "Oh yeah. Sorry to ask this Owlet, but Lily and I really did go a little overboard with our magic. We're almost out. Think you could give us another blessing?"

Luz nodded without a second thought and quickly conjured two balls of glowing golden flame, which she pressed against Eda's and Lilith's chests. Both women felt the familiar rush of magic that came with the blessing and sighed with relief as their distant exhaustion faded from their minds, and the curse within them became more docile. However their relief was short-lived, as Luz suddenly turned deathly pale and staggered.

"Luz!?" everyone cried, rushing to catch her before she fell. Raine had been right behind her, so they were the one to catch her as she fell backwards, cradling her with a fearful look.

"Ugh… thanks Titi." Luz groaned.

"What's going on!? Are you sick!?" Eda cried, gently taking Luz from Raine's arms and feeling her forehead.

"No, just really tired all of a sudden…" she mumbled back, eyes drooping even as she struggled to keep them from rolling into the back of her head.

Rasiel took one look at her condition and frowned; "Magic exhaustion. She hadn't replenished her own magic after her long day at school, so she must have used up the last of it."

That made Eda, King, and Amity all panic even more. "W-Wait, but angels need magic to live! I-Is Luz dying!?" Amity cried, almost in hysterics.

Rasiel put a calming hand on her head; "It takes a while to die from magic exhaustion, and so long as Luz doesn't keep using magic the moment she regenerates it, she'll be fine. Here."

He gently took Luz from Eda's arms and sat her on one of the kitchen stools and said; "Grow your wings back to full size. That doesn't require magic, and keeping them small all this time has slowed your magic generation."

Luz obeyed, letting the full glory of her six wings stretch out behind her. Rasiel then grabbed King and deposited him on Luz's lap so he could hug her and keep her upright through her exhaustion. He then looked to Amity and said; "Luz needs to absorb energy through her wings to replenish her magic faster. Light and heat are the most efficient, so produce some and keep them near her wings."

"On it!" Amity said, creating a ball of pink light in one hand and a pink fireball in the other, and holding them as close to Luz's wings as she could without burning them. Eda, Lilith, and Raine went to do the same, but Rasiel stopped them.

"Luz is in this state because she gave you her magic. Don't make that pointless by giving it straight back."

Raine sighed sadly and instead stroked Luz's head to help her feel better, while Eda and Lilith felt like they'd been punched in the gut. Their reckless overuse of magic had hurt Luz, even if only by exhausting her. Eda felt like utter scum for showing off so much on the mission and asking Luz to give her more magic while she was still tired from school. Lilith, on the other hand, felt her guilt magnify as she was faced with the fact that Luz had once again suffered for her choices. She'd scolded Eda for using too much magic, but she'd only been slightly better and now Luz was feeling dreadful!

"I-I'm so sorry!" she whispered, on the verge of tears.

Luz, already beginning to feel better as her magic reserves slowly began to replenish, just smiled sleepily and gave the okay hand sign; "I'm okay. It's not like you forced me. Besides, it's my own fault for not paying attention to my own health."

"You've really got to get out of that habit!" Amity gently scolded.

"Sorry Hermosa." Luz said, cuddling with King. Amity just sighed and kept up the fire and light until Luz's skin had returned to a healthy colour and she didn't look ready to pass out any more. The adults in the room were eerily silent as they dealt with their feelings on the matter, but Luz's usual cheerfulness soon brought them out of their shells again. Dinner was then finished and they all ate together, before Eda insisted on Luz getting an early night so she was fully back to health in time for her visit to the Human Realm the next morning. In fact, the entire Owl House got an early night after that, with Luz sending Amity back to her new home on Digale Island. While Luz, King, and Rasiel drifted off to sleep without much trouble, Raine and Eda lay awake together for quite a while as the former helped the latter deal with her guilt. Lilith was also awake into the late hours of the night, chatting quietly with Hooty, who she'd grown accustomed to using like a therapist… the bizarre Owl Tube wasn't exactly the best at reasonable advice, but he was a great listener!

The next morning saw everyone gathered in the living room bright and early, with Luz and Amity now carrying satchels with their belongings in them, ready for their sleep over in the Human Realm.

"Have you two got everything you need?" Eda asked, her usual grin a little more forced than normal after the previous evening.

"I do! We'll only be gone one night, so we don't need that much stuff." Luz replied.

"That's what I said, but Emira and Dad both insisted on me taking all this…" Amity complained, noting her satchel was closer in size to a duffle bag.

"Better safe than sorry, since I can't keep the portal open all day." Eda said, pulling out the portal key and using it to open the portal in front of Luz. "Speaking of, I'll be opening it again at around 8pm tomorrow night but I won't close it until you come back, so don't feel like you need to rush back."

"Got it, Mom! Love you guys!" Luz chirped, giving everyone a quick hug.

"Love you too, Sparks. Give your mother our regards." Raine smiled.

Lilith said nothing, but smiled as she returned Luz's hug (she hadn't been included in the last two goodbye hugs, so it was progress). King and Eda combined their hugs with a kiss to Luz's cheeks, then waved her goodbye as she and Amity walked through the portal door and into the forest around Gravesfield. Once the two girls disappeared out of view, Eda sighed and closed the portal door.

"Well there she goes…" she mumbled.

King looked up at his Mom; "Are you still down about yesterday? Luz is fine!"

"I know she's fine, but for how long?" Eda said; "We're in the middle of fighting in a rebellion, but Lily and I can barely do anything without Luz's magic supporting us!"

"It's not ideal, but it can't be helped." Raine said, putting a hand on their lover's back; "This curse is hard on all of us, Luz included, but we all agree it's better that we share the burden rather than let you stay trapped as the Owl Beast. We just need to learn to be more conservative with our magic to take the burden off of Luz."

"You're right, but we can't afford to do that! Sure Lily and I went a little crazy yesterday, but we'll need to do at least that much when dealing with bigger missions too!" Eda argued with frustration.

Lilith bit her lip; "This is all my fault… if I hadn't been so stupid with that Titan-forsaken Curse, none of this would have happened. I'm hurting everyone again."

King frowned, disliking the pity party going on; "Why don't we ask Tia Cammie about the Panacea Mirror? She can make another one and we can finally cure the curse!"

Rasiel, who'd been watching the whole conversation, chimed in; "Luz has mentioned the Panacea Mirror to her mother, but Camila is reluctant to donate her blood to its construction. Not only that, but since I have no magic and Luz has already made one before, Camila would need to make the whole thing practically by herself, and she simply doesn't have the magic needed. Luz was a High Angel and still needed support from those Power Glyphs made with the Galdorstones, but Camila is just a regular angel, so she'd need even more additional magic. And since the theft of a Galdorstone from the Looking Glass Graveyard, the Keeper won't let anyone near them. Luz and Gus already asked."

"Couldn't Luz support her with a blessing?" Raine asked.

"No. Once an angel uses a Panacea Mirror, it becomes a part of them. Luz's blood and magic have traces of the mirror and its magic inside them, so now neither can ever be used in the construction of another one. I told you before; a tool with such incredible power comes at a cost." Rasiel finished.

Eda groaned and flopped onto the coach; "So even if we convince Camila to agree, we'd be stuck at the purification phase."

"Unfortunately. The only way we're making another mirror is if Camila is able to ascend, the Keeper changes his mind about letting us make another Power Glyph with the Galdorstones, or I find the Black Tomb with my wings. Honestly, the first is looking the most likely." the Ancient Seraphim sighed, having found no clues on Digale Island despite extensive searching.

A depressing atmosphere fell over the Owl House as everyone was filled with disappointment. Eda was frustrated that she would have to keep relying on her daughter's magic when she was supposed to be the protector and caregiver. It felt so wrong for her to be weaker than her own kids! But it couldn't be helped; she was cursed and had no innate magic any more, while Luz had her Arch-Angel powers and King had his growing Titan Magic, while both had the power of the glyphs.

Suddenly, Eda shot up in her seat as inspiration hit her; "That's it! That's how we can be helpful without draining Luz all the time!"

"You have an idea, Edalyn?" Lilith questioned.

"You bet your pasty butt I do! The glyphs!" Eda gave a toothy grin. She hopped to her feet and scooped up King; "We can learn to use the glyphs! And who better to teach us than the King of Glyphs himself!"

King gasped as his eyes grew wider with joy. His Mom wanted him to teach her!? This was the best day ever! Sure it would mean teaching Lilith too, which he wasn't so thrilled about, but at least he'd be helping his Mom, taking some of the burden off of his sister, and teaching Lilith would also mean bossing her around!

"Yes! I'll do it! I will teach you to be the best Glyph Witches on the Boiling Isles!" King declared, before squirming out of his mother's grasp and running for the stairs; "I'm gonna get my teaching stuff! Meet me outside in 10 minutes and don't be late! I'll give you a tardy if you do!" With that, he fled the room with excited pants, just like a dog.

Eda laughed while Raine, Rasiel, and Lilith smiled at the little Titan's enthusiasm. Then Eda looked down and noted she was still in her pyjamas, so began shuffling upstairs to change. As she went, she said; "You joining us, Raine?"

"Not this time. I've got some business in Bonesborough, and unlike you, I don't use as much magic." Raine said teasingly. "But I'm sure I could arrange for some… private tutoring from his Majesty's best pupil?" they winked flirtatiously.

Eda blushed even as she returned their flirty expression; "Ha! Looks like I can get a storm brewing even without magic! Get going Raine Storm, before I do something to make us both tardy."

Eda then disappeared, while Raine blushed and chuckled as they headed out the door. Rasiel and Lilith, two people who didn't really experience romantic feelings or attraction, just watched the scene with amusement.

"Those two really have rekindled their old relationship. They were apart for 15 years but act like they never separated. Watching them, as well as Amity and Luz… I almost feel jealous. I wonder what it's like to love someone like that." Lilith said wistfully.

"Even if we did love people like they do, I'm sure it would feel different. Despite my 100,000 years of life, I've never known two loves that were identical. A person's experiences will always be unique to them. Enjoy your own and worry not about others." Rasiel replied.

Lilith smiled at him; "I suppose you're right. Will you be joining us for glyph lessons?"

"Definitely. Without my wings, even a blessing is useless to me, so I need to find other ways of being useful." he said, a look of determination in his eye.

The two then decided to wait outside and chat with Hooty until Eda and King returned. Eda got back first, now wearing a slightly different red dress than usual; one that included sleeves and a slightly less torn skirt (though still noticeably torn). The slowly lowering temperatures of the season had compelled Eda to go for a slightly warmer style, especially since she couldn't so easily magic herself warm. King arrived a few minutes later, dragging a blackboard on wheels and wearing his professor hat. He was also dragging along three school desks and chairs that were floating behind him thanks to wind glyphs, then tired together with vines.

After a few seconds, King had set up his own little classroom in front of the house. "Alright students! The first lesson is on the five basic glyphs Luz has found so far! Gifts from my Dad… and possibly my Mom too." King said, his voice lowering slightly at the end.

Using an ice glyph to elevate him so he could draw on the blackboard, he drew and labelled the light, plant, ice, fire, and wind glyphs. Once he was done, he said; "The designs are simple and pretty easy to remember, but make sure you don't mess them up! You can make little alterations, but if you mess them up too much, they'll blow up or do something weird. Now the key to all of them is drawing a circle…"

Eda, Lilith, and Rasiel sat at the desks and listened to King's lecture, before being given paper to practice drawing circles with. The ability to draw perfect circles was something most angels and witches developed over years of making spell circles, so they didn't have too much trouble once they got use to drawing the circles with a pencil and not their finger. After that, they got to work on perfecting the actual glyph symbols themselves. Eda and Rasiel had already seen the glyphs enough that they could effortlessly replicate them (in fact, Rasiel had already done so once or twice), and Lilith's meticulous nature meant she picked it up very quickly, but they all continued to do as King asked, partly for practice and partly to humour the little Titan.

King was just moving on to how to get the glyphs to do what the user wanted when a tornado suddenly appeared from the sky and began to touch down right beside their makeshift classroom. Rasiel, thinking fast, activated some of his drawn plant glyphs to keep their desks and blackboard from being blown away, while Lilith tried to shield her eyes.

"Did someone activate their wind glyph already!?" she cried over the sound of the wind.

Eda and King, recognising a very familiar bird flying above the tornado, both grimaced and shook their heads. "Not a glyph… something far more annoying." Eda grumbled.

The tornado dissipated and the bird; a large brown hawk, transformed into a staff and settled into the hands of a woman who appeared from within the tornado. Lilith gasped while Eda and King held back groans, leaving Rasiel the only one to be clueless. He wasn't clueless for long though; the woman's face closely resembled an older Eda and Lilith, with olive green eyes, slightly rounder cheeks, fluffy grey hair with flashes of white near her temples, half-moon spectacles balanced on her nose, and a matronly purple dress with dark purple accents and a silver white fur collar and belt. There was also some kind of metal medallion around her neck with an unfamiliar rune on it. The woman's arms appeared muscular and scarred, and the sigil of the Beast-Keeping Coven could be seen on her wrist. Based on the resemblance and her bird-themed staff, Rasiel soon guessed that this woman was Eda and Lilith's Mother.

The woman smiled broadly at Eda (seemingly not noticing anyone else) and banished her staff as she walked over to her, stretching her arms out for a hug; "Hello, Little Witchlet! Come give me a hug!"

Eda stood but did not accept the hug, instead putting her hand on the shorter woman's head to keep her at bay.

"Gwendolyn." Eda said irritably.

Gwendolyn pulled back with a slight pout, before smiling again; "Oof, are we still on that? I'm your mother, call me Mom!"

"M-Mother!" Lilith gasped, finally recovering from her shock.

Still, Gwendolyn didn't seem to notice her elder daughter and remained focused on the younger. "It is so good to see you again." she said, grasping Eda's face with both hands; "How are you feeling? Are you eating well? I heard all about the Petrification Ceremony! Trust me, I have a lot of strong words for that Belos!"

"You and half the Isles at this point." Eda muttered, pulling away from her mother's grasp.

"I was off in the wilderness at the time, so I didn't hear about it until afterwards. I was horrified when I heard you were actually petrified, but thankfully I found someone who showed me a recording! And let me just say, I can't believe my Little Witchlet has grown up so much that she has a Little Witchlet of her own! Or should I say, a Little Cherub! I really must meet and thank my new granddaughter! To think we have an angel in the family!" Gwendolyn said with a big smile.

"Luz isn't here right now." Eda replied shortly.

Gwendolyn was undeterred; "No matter, I'll wait and see her when she gets back. In the meantime, I also heard that you finally made it official and adopted little King! Honestly Witchlet, I thought you'd never see sense! Now where is my little grandson?" she asked, looking around.

She soon found King, who'd been trying to stealthily draw an Invisibility Glyph Combo so he could escape. Sadly she caught him first and bustled over, scooping him up "There's my little man! Give Grandma a hug!"

"Weh!" King cried as he was hugged tightly; "Hi Gwen. Long time no see."

The woman pouted; "Not you too! Call me Grandma!"

"Okay! You're Grandma!" King yelled.

"Wonderful! Here." she placed him back on the ground and pulled a bag of candies from her hair; "Be sure not to eat these all at once! And share with your big sister!"

King accepted the candies with a grin; they were his favourite Salty Tear Caramels! "King accepts your offering!" he declared, happily beginning to munch on a few.

Gwendolyn chortled and patted his skull, then turned and noticed Rasiel for the first time. "Oh? Who is this gentleman? Surely not another boyfriend! I thought you were finally back with Little Whispers!"

"My name is Rasiel." he introduced; "Eda and I are merely friends. I'm currently a guest in her home."

Gwendolyn smiled; "I see, what a polite young man! I'm Gwendolyn Clawthorne, the mother of this rapscallion!" she said, pinching Eda's cheek as the younger woman scowled. "Honestly, I was worried there for a moment! Your father and I were so happy to hear that you and Raine had gotten back together! We were always so sad and confused that you broke up. I saw them in the recording of the Petrification Ceremony! I'm so glad they helped you escape!"

Lilith, having been largely ignored up to this point, desperately placed herself between Eda and their mother, forcing the woman to look right at her. "Mother! Hello! You know, I was at the ceremony too."

Gwendolyn still smiled, seemingly genuinely happy to see her eldest; "Oh, hello to you too, Sweet Flea! Still dying your hair I see." she greeted, gently stroking Lilith's black hair; "Well, it's very sleek. We'll catch up in a bit, alright Sweet Flea? Give me a few moments with Edalyn; it's very important!"

Lilith's smile fell and she slowly backed away, making both Rasiel and Hooty (who'd also been ignored thus far) frown.

"What's so important?" Eda asked suspiciously.

Gwen smiled proudly and declared; "Today, I am about to complete a 20-year mission!"

"Oh no…" Eda groaned, already knowing where this is going.

"That's right, your mother has finally succeeded!"

Eda pinched the bridge of her nose; "Ugh… here it comes."

Gwendolyn summoned her staff once again and spun it around, before slamming it down as she triumphantly declared; "Today, I shall be curing your curse!"

Her declaration was met with stunned silence from Rasiel and Lilith, and deadpan stares from Eda and King. Eda further stunned her sister by casually saying; "No thanks."

"WHAT!?" Lilith cried in shock.

"I said, "No thanks." I've got my elixir system, so I'm good." Eda replied.

"B-But who knows what they put in those nasty concoctions?" Gwendolyn spluttered.

"Actually, I do. I make them myself now, thanks to Luz and King figuring out how to grow Gold Wort. In fact, Luz even made the elixirs more effective by adding her angel tears." Eda said casually.

That turned out to the wrong thing to say, as her mother promptly gasped in horror; "You cannot be serious! You are not milking one of my poor grandbabies for her tears, are you!?"

Eda rolled her eyes; "No I'm not. Luz volunteers to do that; I don't force her…" she didn't bother mentioning the misadventure with the Tearful Tonic back on Luz's first day as her apprentice. She then looked at her wrist, pretending to be reading a watch that wasn't even there, before saying; "Well would you look at the time?"

She grabbed her mother's staff and sat the woman on it; "I've got a lot to do today. So sad to see you go. Okay, byyeeeee!"

With that, Eda slapped the end of her mother's staff and sent her flying off into the distance. She then smiled with satisfaction and dusted off her hands.

"Moms, am I right?" she grinned, turning to the others again. They didn't share her sentiments though; Lilith looked horrified, while Rasiel and King both looked noticeably uncomfortable with what they'd just witnessed.

"I haven't see Mother in forever!" Lilith cried with frustration; "And she was handing you a cure on a silver platter!"

"I don't even remember my mother, or if I was even raised by her." Rasiel added, unsure if he'd been raised by Crest Chastity like most Cherubs. Without his personal memories, it was impossible to know.

King wasn't as bothered, but he still felt kind of bad for Gwen; "You're my Mom, and I can't imagine ever just launching you into the sky. Besides, she's my grandma now and gave me treats!"

Eda crossed her arms; "King, you know better than anyone why I did that."

"True, but maybe it'll be different this time? Your curse is weaker now." King pointed out.

Lilith frowned; "What are you two talking about?"

Eda sighed; "Alright, listen; Mom comes to visit me at least once a year, and she always has some hair-brained scheme to cure my curse. It's always some stupid miracle cure, but they never work and usually cause me nothing but trouble! I'm sick of getting my hopes up! Besides, her "cures" usually leave me on the verge of rampaging as the Owl Beast anyway!"

Lilith's mouth hung open in surprise, before she whispered dejectedly; "Mother visits you… regularly?"

Rasiel gave her a sympathetic look, and even Eda and King felt a little bad for her. None of them had a chance to say anything though, as Gwen soon came marching back over to them, having landed and immediately turned back.

"Oh no, you are not getting rid of me that easily, young lady." Gwen huffed, hands on her hips; "I am not leaving until I've at least spent time with my grandchildren! I need to thank Luz for curing your petrification too! And perhaps she'll be able to use her angelic magic to prove that my latest cure will work, so you'll finally stop being so stubborn!"

Eda narrowed her eyes; "Luz isn't here right now and she won't be back for a while."

"Well then where is she? I'd have thought she'd be here with you." Gwen said, looking around at the faux school setting. "What are you doing anyway?"

"I'm teaching Mom, Lilith, and Rasiel my super cool glyph magic!" King said proudly; "And Luz is off-"

"-at the library!" Eda cut her son off with a cunning grin; "She went to get some books on the subject to help us study. Why don't you go help her; you can bond with her and I'll have you out of my hair for a while!"

Gwen narrowed her eyes, knowing full well that Eda just wanted her gone. But still, it would be nice to bond with her granddaughter for a bit, and Gwen knew where Eda lived, so she couldn't exactly hide forever! "Very well. I'll go get her! Come, Hawksley."

Her Palisman, who'd been circling over head so Eda didn't grab him again, descended so his partner could once again use him to fly off, heading into Bonesborough. Eda and the others watched her go, then Eda said; "That'll keep her busy for a while. Now we just need to get out of here before she gets back!"

"Are we really running away from your Mom?" Rasiel raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Trust me, letting her help is the fastest way for you to get up close and personal with a peeved Owl Beast. I don't even want to think about what'll happen if she sets off my curse AND Lily's!" Eda retorted. "But where to go? We can't get to Digale Island without Luz, and she's off in the Human Realm for the weekend."

King raised his paw; "Why don't we go to the Human Realm too? The woods around Tia Cammie's house is pretty big; we can practice there!"

Eda and Rasiel both smiled at the suggestion, while Lilith frowned; "I'm not sure how I feel about ditching Mother… besides, will the glyphs even work there? I remember you had trouble with them when we briefly fought in the Human Realm."

"Yeah, the fire glyph didn't work. But I think it's because Luz hadn't bonded with that one yet! The other three worked after all! Now that she has bonded with the fire glyph, it should work too!" King explained.

"That makes sense. Luz has become almost a living portal for the Titan's power, so it makes sense that the glyphs would still work in the Human Realm so long as she's there too. We can confirm King's theory by testing the fire and wind glyphs; if the fire glyph works and the wind glyph doesn't, we'll know for certain." Rasiel agreed.

Eda agreed immediately, while Lilith still had her doubts. In the end, King and the others packed up the classroom and headed inside; "We'll open the portal in my basement lab, so Mom doesn't find it and follow us. Hooty, make sure you tell Raine where we are when they get back!"

"Roger that, hoot!" Hooty replied.

Eda yelled to her sister; "Move it or lose it Lily!"

Lilith huffed, and with one more forlorn look in the direction her mother had flown, she followed her sister. Hooty watched her go sadly, feeling sorry for his best friend. Maybe he could find a way to help her and her Mom get along better? That would cheer his Lulu up!

[Meanwhile]

Gwendolyn happily touched down outside the Bonesborough library and headed inside to look for Luz. That proved easier said than done, as she scoured the entire library, every nook, cranny, and book shelf, but found no signs of the angelic girl. After maybe twenty minutes of searching, a librarian noticed her and came over to offer assistance.

"Are you looking for something in particular, Ma'am?" he asked politely.

"Not a book, I'm afraid. I'm looking for a young lady; about 14 years old with curly white hair? Named Luz Noceda-Clawthorne?" Gwendolyn replied.

The Librarian blinked; "Oh! The Arch-Angel of Bonesborough? I'm sorry, but she hasn't come in today. She rarely visits without her girlfriend Amity."

Gwen's eyes widened; "Girlfriend?"

"Oh yes, Amity Blight. She's one of our part-time student librarians. A nice girl, usually reads to the kids."

"I see…" Gwen hummed. So Luz wasn't here, and she just knew an angel wouldn't have lied to her mother about where she was going. So it must have been Eda who lied! The Clawthorne Matriarch groaned; so Eda had tricked her. She should have seen this coming.

With a polite thank you to the librarian, Gwendolyn marched out of the library and swiftly flew back to the Owl House, and just as she predicted, the place was practically deserted. Only Hooty remained, still embedded in his door. The woman frowned as she looked around and saw no signs of where her daughters and grandson went. She then cast a simple tracking spell, causing her eyes to glow orange with Beast-Keeping magic as she searched for footprints. When she found only her own leading away from the house and the rest going inside, she cast a second spell that enhanced her sense of smell to sniff them out, only to find yet again that their scents went into the house.

"So they're hiding inside? But their scents are so weak… how did they disappear?" Gwen muttered to herself, before turning to Hooty. "Hello Hooty; I don't suppose you'd tell me where my family have run off to?"

"Aw geez, I don't think Eda would like that, Hoot! Sorry Gwendy!" Hooty replied. He liked Gwendolyn; she was always nice to him, but he was Eda's House Demon! He couldn't rat her out!

Gwen sighed defeatedly; "I understand. I guess I'll just have to wait for them to come back. They can't just leave home forever! I guess I could go to Master Wortlop on my own and get the healing ability… I'd just hoped Eda would come with me so I could finally convince her!"

Hooty knew that would never happen; Eda didn't trust these healing methods since they never worked. Still, he felt sad seeing his friend Gwendy so disappointed, and more importantly, he knew that if the cure actually worked, it'd fix all their problems! Eda wouldn't have to worry about her curse, Luz wouldn't keep getting drained, and his precious Lulu would feel better!

That gave the House Demon an ingenious idea; maybe he could help Gwendy! If he went with her to see this healer guy, he could see if they were legit and convince Eda and Lulu! He'd be helping everyone and making them happy! Hooty loved to make people happy, especially his precious family!

"Hoot hoot! Gwendy, I've got a hootiful idea! Let me see the healer with you!" Hooty suggested.

Gwen looked at him oddly; "You want to meet Master Wortlop?"

"That's right! Hoot! If you take me with you and he's a real good healer, I'll take you to Eda and the others! Hoot!"

That made Gwen's eyes light up; Hooty was a very pure (if odd) soul, so he'd undoubtedly be able to see the truth of Master Wortlop's skills! Then once they had the healing ability in hand, he could help her wrangle her daughter and finally cure her! It was perfect!

"Wonderful idea, Hooty! But how will I bring you along? Aren't you part of Eda's house now?" Gwen asked.

Hooty smiled widely; "I'll handle it! One Porta-Hooty coming right up!"

Gwendolyn didn't know what that meant, until she watched with horror as Hooty put himself into a tiny birdhouse. It was quite horrifying to watch, and Gwen had seen a lot of horrifying things in the Beast-Keeping Coven! Still, once he was done she smiled, then asked; "Can you move on your own like that?"

Hooty nodded happy and began using his worm-like body to slither along on the ground, dragging the birdhouse with him. It reminded Gwen of a snail dragging along its shell, and was only marginally faster. Not wanting to spend all day walking with Hooty (and not really wanting to touch him after what she'd just witnessed), Gwen decided to cast a spell to help him out. She enchanted his birdhouse with Beast-Keeping magic, causing a pair of functioning chicken legs to appear on the bottom of the birdhouse. Hooty gasped with delight as he found he could control these legs and run around freely.

"Hoot! It's just like my big legs under the big house! This is the best gift ever! Can I keep them!?" Hooty asked.

Gwen nodded; "Of course Hooty. Now follow me; Master Wortlop awaits!"

"Yippee!" Hooty cheered, scurrying after the woman on his new little legs, though not without first leaving a note in the dirt, letting Raine and the others know where he'd gone. It was quite literally chicken scratch, but it was legible… enough.

Gwendolyn ended up leading Hooty around the edge of Bonesborough, sticking to the forest, so none of her daughter's enemies saw her out walking with her House Demon and realised the Owl House was undefended. Once they'd skirted around Bonesborough, Gwen showed Hooty to a stone rise that marked the edge of a short plateau. A part of the stone looked notable door-shaped, and it was here that Gwen pointed.

"Here we are! Master Wortlop's grotto! He was a Titan-send after dealing with the Healing Coven for so many years. Unlike them, he was actually interested in healing the curse and not just learning to live with it!" Gwen scoffed. Those Healers didn't want to cure her daughter so they could keep selling her elixirs! Gwen knew how it worked; the Healers were paid by the Potions Coven! Master Wortlop told her himself!

Gwen held up her medallion, and the rune on it began to glow green. The same rune appeared on the door-like stone, which promptly glowed green and moved aside, revealing a passage way into Wortlop's Grotto. Hooty hooted with amazement at the beautiful sight; the grotto was full of purple crystals, candles, magical doodads and trinkets, and even a waterfall! Hooty bet Luz would love it; it looked just like something from her Azura books! Gwen and Hooty weren't alone either as they entered, spotting another pilgrim who'd come to Master Wortlop in search of healing.

A grey-skinned gremlin with swollen, boil-covered eyes was kneeling in front of a sagely looking demon, begging for help; "Please, they're so itchy!"

The sagely looking demon looked down on the gremlin benevolently. He was a dark greyish blue skinned demon with long ears and four arms, clad in a pale robe and hood and with his face largely covered by a long white beard, which matched his hair. His eyes glowed white, and he wore a necklace of thick green beads whilst wielding a staff with a pointed crystal on the tip. A matching gem was also visible on his forehead. It wasn't hard for Hooty to guess that this was Wortlop.

Wortlop waved a hand over the Gremlin, a pink spell circle in his palm, which promptly coated the gremlin in a pink aura and made him float into the air. There was a flash of light, and then the Gremlin's boils were cured and his eyes were left pure and sparkling. Hooty hooted in surprise, while Gwen nodded approvingly. The Gremlin wept with joy and thanked Wortlop before skipping away with a happy laugh, while Gwen and Hooty approached the sage.

"That's Master Wortlop. He's a travelling curse expert who's perfected next-level healing magic!" Gwen explained. Hooty was definitely impressed, though he'd seen Luz do cooler things with healing magic.

Master Wortlop took notice of the pair and gestured for them to approach. Gwen did so eagerly and knelt in front of him, while Hooty did a chicken squat beside her.

"Gwendolyn, my pupil. Your aura is shining bright!" Wortlop greeted, his voice sounding ancient and carrying a supernatural echo.

Gwen smiled brightly and conjured a sack of items; "It took many months, but I was able to gather the sacred items you requested!" She began pulling items from the sack and placing them in front of Wortlop; "The Copper Egg from the Snowy Rib Cage, the Silver Dagger from the Swampy Toes, and the Golden Chalice from the desert of Palm Stings!"

Wortlop looked pleased with the offerings; "You truly are a most dedicated mother." he said, before summoning an old book in a flash of green magic. "Inside this tome is the healing ability you see."

The book floated into Gwen's hands and she gazed at it reverently as Wortlop added; "Keep it away from the eyes of non-believers. For they may be blinded by the power it holds!"

Gwen stood and bowed to the old sage; "I understand. I am in your debt, Master Wortlop! Farewell."

She then hurried from the grotto, eager to heal her daughter's curse. Hooty ran after her, meeting her outside. As soon as the grotto had closed behind them, Gwen turned to Hooty with an expectant smile; "You see, Hooty? Isn't Master Wortlop amazing! You saw him heal that poor dear when we arrived, and this book practically oozes with the secrets of powerful magic!"

Hooty stared at Gwen; "I've got to be honest Gwendy… I don't think I've ever seen someone MORE legit in my entire life! Hoot!" he said, breaking into a wide grin; "We'll heal that curse for certain! I just know it! Hoot!"

"Marvellous!" Gwendolyn beamed, "I knew you'd understand! So, are you going to take me to where Eda's hiding."

"Of course! We need to go back to the house! They all went down to Eda's basement lab!" Hooty replied.

Gwen looked confused; "They were just hiding in the basement? I should have been able to smell them…"

"Not once they've gone through the portal to the Human Realm! Hoot!"

"The Human Realm!? Portal!? My Little Witchlet has a portal to the Human Realm!?" Gwen exclaimed.

"Yep! That's where Eda gets most of her human stuff! It's where Luz came from too! Luz is actually there right now, visiting her Angel Mom!" Hooty explained.

Gwendolyn went silent for a moment as she registered these revelations. It suddenly made sense how Eda always managed to disappear and be untraceable whenever she'd wanted to get away from her! She'd been hiding in the Human Realm! Well, now she had her answers, could heal her daughter, AND meet her granddaughter in one fell swoop! It'd be killing three birds with one stone!

With a cheery smile, she said; "Thank you for telling me, Hooty! Let's go find this portal. Once my Little Witchlet is curse free, we can finally start spending time together as a family! Maybe I can even get her to talk to her father again!"

The two walked back to the Owl House and headed straight through to the basement, where they found the portal door had been left open (so Scroll calls could get through the boundary between realms, in case Eda or Lilith needed to be reached). Gwen poked her head out into the Human Realm but couldn't see anyone around, though she could hear the distinct cries of "Weh!" in the distance, undoubtedly from King doing something. Where there was King, there was sure to be Edalyn, so Gwen and Hooty passed through the portal and snuck through the woods around Gravesfield until they came to an isolated clearing. Inside the clearing was the same classroom set up that King had set up outside the Owl House itself, and Gwen saw Edalyn, Lilith, and Rasiel scribbling away on some note paper while King used some kind of roar magic Gwen had never seen before, along with his own pieces of paper that produced light, fire, ice, and plant-life. These conjured elements merged with King's roars to create all kinds of elemental roars.

Gwen smiled; Edalyn was distracted and King's roaring was ensuring no one heard her! She hid behind a tree with Hooty and cracked open the tome she'd gotten from Wortlop, then said; "Well Hooty, let's see what we can do about this curse!"

[Meanwhile]

Raine returned to the Owl House only a few minutes after Gwen and Hooty passed through into the Human Realm, and to say they were surprised was an understatement. There was no sign of anyone; not even Hooty! Nor was there a barrier up like there usually was when Hooty was missing. The Bard looked around in confusion as Katya and Amber, who'd been doing chores with them in town, frowned.

"Where'd everybody go?" Katya asked.

Amber shrugged; "Maybe they went to Digale Island?"

"No chance. They'd need Luz, and she'd have put up a barrier if Hooty was going too." Raine frowned, looking around. They eventually spotted Hooty's scratched message on the ground beside his door, and stooped to read it.

"I've gone with… Gwendy? To see Master Healer… Wortlop? Hoot hoot." Raine read aloud, struggling to make out the literal chicken scratch. "This must have been left by Hooty."

"Wortlop? That name's kind of familiar… I could have sworn I'd heard it around Bonesborough." Amber said.

"I think I have too. The name came up when we were looking into prominent locals to try and recruit." Katya said; "Never heard of a Gwendy before."

"It must be Gwendolyn; Eda's mother." Raine said, scratching their chin as they wracked their brain for who else it could be. Few people could convince Hooty to leave the house unguarded, and Gwen was likely one of them. They then turned to Katya and Amber; "Did you ever find out more about Wortlop?"

"Not much. It was like he was avoiding us." Katya answered.

Raine narrowed his eyes; "A master healer that Gwendolyn went to see… I have a bad feeling about this. Let's investigate this so-called Master Healer Wortlop."

The ladies nodded and followed Raine as they went back into town, though not without putting a barrier around the Owl House first.

[Meanwhile]

Luz stood nervously in her Mami's kitchen, helping her, Vee, and Amity make lunch. She'd been home for a couple of hours already and the visit had been very pleasant so far. Camila had been as happy to see her as always, and greeted her and a blushing Amity with a big hug, before asking them about school. They'd answered honestly (including mentioning the misadventure with the Kappas, which had Camila and Vee both giggling), and Vee had in turn asked about how Treble was doing since her last visit. After that, they'd all sat down together for some tea and a chat, which had become the tradition for whenever Luz came home. Vee, in her human disguise (which she only used when Luz was home), had happily told the girls about her time in Gravesfield High School, and her hang outs with Masha, Gray, and Rebecca. Then Camila had told them about any interesting events happening at her work, and all the adorable animals she'd gotten to help. It had all been very nice… which was why Luz found it so hard to finally break the truth to her Mami about the adventures she'd gotten up to in the last three weeks.

There was no way her mother wouldn't be angry about her going on recruiting missions for the rebels, fighting the Emperor's Elites, saving Selkidomus, chasing spies into hurricanes, and getting captured by a crazy woman who'd put a knife to her throat! Plus, now she'd also be upset that Luz had hidden it from her!

Amity was trying to be silently supportive, not wanting to broach the topic herself and force her girlfriend into talking, but also not wanting to just let her keep hiding things from her Mami. So now the girls were stood together at the sink, peeling potatoes for lunch, while Camila and Vee chopped veggies behind them on the kitchen table.

"… and then Mrs. White showed the class how to make the flames turn green! I didn't know humans could do stuff like that, but she just threw some powder into it and fwoosh! Green fire! It was so cool!" Vee chattered away, telling them all about the science experiment she'd done in Chemistry class.

"Chemistry class sounds almost like a mix of the potion and abomination tracks at Hexside." Amity said, intrigued.

"It is fairly similar. It's has a lot in common with our angelic alchemy too. Just without the magic of course." Camila said, "I've always been good at that one! It comes in very handy at work. Speaking of, Luz; have you done any more alchemy work recently? I know you help Eda make potions from time to time."

Luz nodded; "Yeah actually, Rasiel showed me how to make Harmonic Crystals with alchemy."

Vee tilted her head curiously, while Camila gasped softly; "Don't tell me… did you make a Teleportation Circle!?"

The look on Camila's face was one of awe and pride, making Luz blush. That blush intensified when Amity grinned and said; "She sure did! It's amazing, Camila! Luz helped the CATTs find an uncharted Titan Island inside a giant hurricane called the Maelstrom Strait! She made a Teleportation Circle to take us there and back, so now we've got a whole private island just for the CATTs! Somewhere Belos can't get to!"

Camila beamed; "That's amazing, Mija! You've really come so far since the day you left. I'm so proud of you!"

Luz blushed, feeling her insides squirm as she both enjoyed the praise and felt even more apprehensive about what she had to tell her Mom. "T-Thanks Mami."

Camila frowned, picking up on her daughter's nerves; "Luz baby, are you okay?"

"I'm fine I just… I've got some stuff to tell you. Stuff I don't think you'll like…" Luz replied, forcing herself to look her Mami in the eye.

Amity and Vee looked at the nervous girl with sympathy, while Camila kept her expression neutral; "Are you in trouble Luz?" she asked.

"N-Not exactly? Stuff happened in the Demon Realm, but I'm just as safe as I was before."

Camila nodded, then asked; "Did you do something wrong?"

"I think so… I sort of kept stuff from you. Stuff I should have said on my last two visits, but chickened out on. I guess it was a lie by omission?" Luz replied, beginning to shrink in on herself. Amity reached out and held her hand to comfort her.

"Did you do this because you knew I'd be angry with you, or because I'd be worried?" Camila asked.

"The second one." Luz answered in a small voice

That made Camila smile softly; "Okay, I understand. I assume you haven't broken any of the three conditions I set you? I know you didn't break the one about coming home."

"No, I've been obeying them, honest! My grades actually got better since I can do some real Construction magic now, and I haven't even seen Belos since the Petrification Ceremony!" Luz quickly assured her.

Camila put down her kitchen knife and went to her daughter's side, putting a hand on her cheek and stroking it with her thumb; "Alright. Listen Mija, I don't ever want you to think you can't talk to me about anything, okay? I want to know all about your life in the Demon Realm, even if it's stuff that would upset me. So you can take your time, but please tell me all about it. I'll listen whenever you're ready."

Luz smiled brightly, feeling a little better; "Thanks, Mami. I'm sorry for being so nervous and keeping things from you."

"I understand, Luz. This situation is still very new for us both. It'll take some time to work out the kinks." Camila reassured her, giving her a kiss on the cheek before getting back to work on lunch. Luz felt a lot better as she got back to her own prep work, and Amity gave her a proud smile.

Vee then chimed in; "I did something like that too, last week." she confessed; "Mama has been teaching me how to use my new powers and wings! I can fly on my own now, and I got so hooked on it that I sort of snuck out for a night time flight when I couldn't sleep."

Luz grinned; "Oh yeah, I did that a few times when I first mastered flying! Mom said it was okay as long as I left a note and told Hooty where I was going, but she doesn't like it if I do it on a school night."

"Neither does Mama! I thought I was in big trouble when I got home and Mama was waiting for me in my room!" Vee said with a wince. "I was scared I'd get kicked out for causing so much trouble!"

Camila tutted; "You would have been grounded if it wasn't the first time you'd misbehaved and you hadn't been so scared. I'll never kick you out for causing trouble, especially when you didn't mean to."

The poor little Basilisk had been in tears when Camila had first confronted her, but seeing her so contrite and genuinely apologetic had severely blunted any scolding Camila had planned.

"Mama was great! I still wasn't allowed to fly the next day, but I didn't get hit or have to go without food! It was nothing like the Conformatorium!" Vee chirped happily.

Camila, Luz, and Amity all scowled at the mention of the life Vee had lived before, while Amity was also painfully reminded of her own mother; a woman that was now her second biggest enemy, after Belos himself.

"Those people really were monsters… Hitting children, or anyone outside of self-defence for that matter, is reprehensible! And withholding meals is almost as terrible! Parents are supposed to make sure their children are safe and fed, and those things go against that!" Camila said passionately.

Luz nodded; "Mami says that corporal punishment is strictly forbidden in the Divine Realm. Anyone instigating violence of any kind is severely punished!"

"One of their better laws." Camila added. "But anyway, you learned your lesson Vee, so it's all fine. As I always said with Luz growing up; if you do something wrong, it's best to confess and face the consequences! Then you can move forward with a clean slate. Besides, it's even more important now for you to not be roaming around outside the house in your true form Vee."

Vee nodded, suddenly becoming serious. Seeing the tone shift, Amity asked; "Did something happen with Vee's true form?"

"Not exactly…" Vee said; "Luz, remember the snare I got caught in on the day we met? You healed my tail after getting it off me?"

Luz frowned severely; "Yeah, I remember. Some jerk set up traps all over the place! I also saved a fox from one!"

"Well there are even more of them around now." Vee frowned, "We've found at least five this week alone. They're all along the path too and from the abandoned house, and around the house too."

"Not only that…" Camila said, angrily opening one of the kitchen drawers and pulling out a camera; "I found this set up in the bushes across the street, pointed at our house."

Luz's eyes widened as she stared at the camera; it was a cheap camcorder that looked like it had been broken and repaired, and it was placed on a short tripod. "No way! Someone is spying on our house!?"

Camila nodded grimly; "It seems that way. I already spoke to the neighbour whose yard it was in, but they swear they'd never seen it before. I'm not the best with technology either, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't hooked up to any Wi-Fi or internet cables though, so whoever set it up must have planned to come back and check the recordings. It's a good thing I found it too, as it had caught Vee leaving and returning on her midnight flight."

"Have you shown it to the police?" Amity asked, "That's what you're supposed to do with stuff like this in the Human Realm, right?"

"I haven't." Camila replied; "I deleted the footage, but I'm worried that if I hand it in to the police, they might recover it somehow and find out the truth about Vee. Instead I cast a spell that lets me know whenever someone comes and goes from the area around the house. If someone I don't recognise or who doesn't live on this street shows up, I'll be able to keep an eye on them and see if they're the culprit."

Luz and Amity exchanged worried looks, and Vee nodded grimly; "Masha also swears someone is stalking me. Every time we hang out in town, she says she can feel someone watching us, and last time, Rebecca swears she saw someone suspicious following me! She chased after them, but they escaped."

"Okay, now I'm a little worried. It couldn't be some government agent, right? That only happens on TV!" Luz said, sounding unsure.

Camila nodded; "It's not, I'm sure of it. If the Human Government found out about us, they wouldn't waste time; they'd just try to catch us immediately. No, I think it's someone else. Probably whoever set up those traps! I wager it's a poacher who caught sight of Vee on a hidden trail cam."

"Should we do something?" Amity asked; "I could ask my dad about some home defence measures? Maybe a portable Abomination Pot so Vee has something to defend her if she's attacked outside the house?"

Camila and Vee smiled gratefully, but politely refused; "We appreciate that, Amity. But it isn't necessary; I've been teaching Vee more than just flying! She's gotten quite good at both water and earth magic. If anything happens, she should be able to defend herself and call for me. Which reminds me…"

The older angel drew a spell circle, and to Luz and Amity's surprise, summoned a Smart Scroll just like theirs. Luz gasped at the sight of it, even as Camila grinned.

"Mami! You've got a scroll too!" Luz exclaimed.

"Yep! I traded Eda some human junk to sell in return for her buying this for me. It may not have as many features as a smart phone, but at least now I can also keep in contact with Eda and your friends." Camila explained. "Speaking of; can I have your contact details? And yours too, Amity?"

"Of course!" both girls said, quickly exchanging contact information with Camila.

After exchanging information, the conversation once again became more positive and light hearted as the four of them worked together to finish lunch. Camila insisted on making a hearty meal, believing Amity was too skinny, and it was greatly enjoyed. Odalia always limited how much her children could eat, wanting them slim and "presentable", so while they'd not gone hungry (unless they'd gotten in trouble), they'd not had as much as they'd like. The irony was, with how active her children were, Odalia was actually making them underweight, something Alador was currently working to fix. By the time they were done, Amity was sitting back in her chair with a content smile and a full stomach, while Luz giggled and stroked her hair, making the witchling purr like Ghost.

"I still can't believe witches purr." Luz gushed. "Are you sure you're the cool one and not the cute one, Amity?"

Amity pouted at her teasing girlfriend; "No fair! I can't help it!"

Luz giggled, while Camila smirked at her daughter; "Oh, so you haven't told Amity about your adorable little noise?"

Luz blushed and Amity perked up, while Vee snickered. "What noise?" Amity asked eagerly.

Before Luz could do anything to stop it, her Mami's hand shot to the back of Luz's head and gently rubbed the base of her skull, where her neck met her head. In an instant, Luz made an adorable, involuntary trilling noise that was halfway between a bird's trill and a cat's. Amity squealed with delight.

"Oh my Titan, that is precious! Luz, how could you keep this from me!?" Amity cried, immediately taking Camila's place in rubbing Luz's head to make her trill.

Camila giggled while Vee shot teasing grins at her adoptive sister. "Just as witches purr, angels trill. I'll have to dig out some old home videos later; I've got tons of Luz trilling as a cherub and it is adorable!"

Luz huffed and tried to pout, but it was hard to keep that expression with Amity making her feel so good! She couldn't stop trilling, and she had a feeling she'd be doing a lot more of it in the future too, now that Amity knew! Amity eventually stopped, if only because her arm was getting tired, but then Vee decided she wanted a turn and began petting Luz too, leading to Luz playfully swatting at her like a kitten, which in turn made Vee playfully swat back, until the girls were having a full play fight. This continued as Camila and Amity did the dishes together, both wanting to let the new sisters bond some more, but once they were all done, they settled down in the living room.

"Now that we're full and you girls have worked off some energy…" Camila shot a bemused look at Luz and Vee, who grinned back impishly, "… maybe now you can finally tell me what's been going on in the Demon Realm, Mija?"

Luz immediately felt her stomach lurch, and the meal she'd just eaten suddenly felt like a rock in her gut. Amity held her hand and smiled reassuringly, which helped Luz's pounding heart, and Camila quickly added; "You don't have to if you're still not ready."

"N-No. I don't think I'll ever be completely ready, but you deserve to know." Luz said, steeling herself. She then took a deep breath and began; "Okay, so it began literally straight after I went back to the Demon Realm on the day I first came home…"

From there, Luz told her Mami and Vee everything that had happened over the last three weeks; the meeting with Darius and Eber, the Selkidomus mission, the fight with the Emperor's Elites, the truth behind Treble on Digale Island, and the events of the Blight Ball. Through it all, Camila had kept a neutral expression on her face, though her eyes flashed with anger or annoyance at various points, which was the only emotion she allowed herself to show. She'd also shot some sympathetic looks at Amity after hearing about her mother's actions, while Vee had been shocked by what Treble had really gotten up to, and how Luz and Skara had dived into a hurricane to save him.

When Luz was finally done with the story, Camila sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose; "I understand why you didn't want to tell me all that…" she said.

"A-Are you mad at me?" Luz asked fearfully.

"No Baby, I'm not. Aside from not telling me about these things straight away, you haven't done anything wrong. That being said, I can't say I'm happy about this either. I knew you'd be involved in the rebellion against Belos, but infiltrating factories and jumping into hurricanes is a bit more than I expected!" Camila frowned.

Luz wilted a little; "Y-You're not thinking about stopping me from going back, are you?"

Camila winced, making Luz's heart nearly stop; "I'd be lying if I said the thought didn't cross my mind-"

She didn't get a chance to go any further before a terrified Luz leapt to her feet; "No! Mami, please! I don't want to leave! Don't make me!"

Luz began to hyperventilate as she was flung into a full on panic attack. Her eyes began to dart back and forth, and both Vee and Amity could see that she was on the verge of bolting like a terrified cat. Thankfully Camila was faster and her hands shot out towards her daughter. One gently clasped one of Luz's hands, while the other drew a spell circle that shot a ball of warm orange magic at Luz's chest. A light orange aura coated Luz for a moment before her eyes, previously wide open with terror, began to droop and the strength fled her legs. The girl nearly flopped to the floor, but Camila pulled her into a hug then took a seat on the sofa beside Amity, keeping Luz in her lap.

"Shh, Mija. It's alright; calm down. You've got nothing to be frightened of. You've done nothing wrong and I won't go back on our deal. You can relax. Let's just talk." Camila said softly, stroking her daughter's back. Amity slowly reached up and pet the back of Luz's head just like she had earlier, while Vee hurried off to make a pot of tea to help calm everyone's nerves.

After a few minutes and some sips of tea that Vee gently pressed to her lips, Luz's breathing began to slow again and she remained curled up on her mother's lap, mentally pulling herself together. As she began to trill adorably from Amity's ministrations, her girlfriend looked to Camila with concern.

"I've never see her get like this before… not since the last time we all came here at least. What was that spell you cast on her?"

"A combination of a simple soothing spell and a very minor angelic blessing. It's a common trick of angel parents, and something I learned growing up in Crest Chastity; it soothes a child with the feel of their carer's magic, helping them feel safe and secure. I haven't had to use it on Luz for quite a while, but I used it on her a lot before she went to the Demon Realm." Camila explained, her eyes becoming misty. "The fact you've never seen her like this in your world is just more proof of how much better suited she is for it than this one."

Amity and Vee both looked confused; "What do you mean, Mama? Did living here cause Luz a lot of panic attacks?"

Camila nodded; "Since the day she was born, Luz has been an emotional child. She wears her heart on her sleeve and only ever hid her feelings if she was afraid they'd hurt someone else's. But the Human Realm can be cruel to people who don't fit in, and between her emotions being obvious and her inability to lie, Luz couldn't even pretend to." she stroked her daughter's hair lovingly; "Combine that with her wanting to be a good angel and help people, but her methods being a little too chaotic and "out there" for this realm, and Luz ended up with a lot of negative emotions that she had to bottle up because she was too scared of hurting people by showing them, or causing them trouble. It got to the point that she struggled even to be herself around me… though I suppose I didn't help her much there. But frequently, she wouldn't be able to keep it all in any more and she'd have a breakdown. It was always so hard on her…"

The angelic woman wiped her eyes, refusing to cry in front of the girls. Vee looked at the Nocedas with sympathy, while Amity couldn't help but stare at Camila in shock. It was so strange to hear something like that! Luz had always been a little chaotic and Amity knew she was open about her emotions most of the time, but the idea of her precious Luz ever having it so bad shocked her to her core and made her heart ache. Luz was always the first to volunteer to help someone, and never once looked ready to back down from an impossible situation so long as it meant she was helping.

"It's so strange… I've seen Luz fight dragons and monsters, and even Belos! She never batted an eye… but living in this realm caused her so much pain?" Amity said quietly.

Camila nodded sadly, and Vee piped up; "I think I understand why though. She wasn't as scared by fighting those bad guys because, well, she actually could fight them. She wasn't totally helpless even if she was outmatched. She could fight! But in the Human Realm… the problems they face aren't something you can just magic away with a beam of light or a blast of fire. It's like fight or flight; Luz couldn't fight, so she had to run and before the Demon Realm, she had nowhere she could run to except Mama and this house."

"I think you might be right, Cariño." Camila said, smiling sadly as she reached over to pet the little Basilisk's head; "It was the same for you in the Demon Realm, wasn't it? You couldn't fight so you had to run."

Vee nodded; "Yeah, but I can fight in my own way here! We Basilisks are masters at fitting in, and so long as I've got you and my friends, I can thrive in this world!"

That made Camila smile a bit wider as she ruffled Vee's hair; she'd had a few reports from Luz's teachers that the "New Luz" that had come home from Camp was a breath of fresh air in the school. Vee was just as happy to help, but she was calmer and more methodical than Camila's more energetic daughter, and thus able to adapt to situations and give the help that was needed without going overboard. Luz's old principal had even said that if "Luz" wasn't so keen on sticking with her core group of three friends, she could rapidly become one of the most popular children in the school!

It had made Camila proud to hear that Vee was fitting in so well, though it also made her feel bitter that everyone was so happy with "Luz" no longer being herself. The realisation that her daughter would have had to change her entire being just to be happy in the Human Realm stung.

After a few more minutes of sitting together quietly, Luz's trilling stopped as she finally came back to herself. When she fully realised where she was sitting and what was going on around her, she went red with embarrassment.

"Oh… I had a panic attack again, didn't I?" she mumbled.

"You did. Don't worry though, we all understand." Camila said gently.

Luz still felt humiliated; she couldn't believe she'd freaked out like that in front of Amity! The Angel girl turned to her witch girlfriend, mouth open to apologise, but her words were stopped in her throat by Amity pressing her lips over hers, trapping her in a kiss. Luz blushed, but leaned into the kiss and soon forgot all about her embarrassment.

When Amity finally pulled away, she gently held Luz's cheek and made her keep eye contact; "I know what you're thinking Luz, and don't you dare apologise. You've done NOTHING wrong. You're allowed to feel upset or overwhelmed sometimes and it's nothing to feel ashamed of."

"I-I guess. I just never wanted you to see me like that." Luz confessed.

"Luz, as your girlfriend, I insist that if you ever have a panic attack or feel on the verge of one or a breakdown, you come and find me so I can help take care of you! I love you Batata, even the parts of you that you don't like to show me." Amity said, her golden eyes boring into Luz's own.

Luz's lip quivered; "You're too good to me sometimes, Hermosa."

Amity snorted and kissed her again, on the cheek this time; "We'll have to disagree on that one!"

Luz giggled, and both Camila and Vee watched the exchange with wide smiles. Seeing Luz and Amity so clearly in love and so caring of each other made Camila's heart swell with joy, as she was reminded of better times. She and Manny had been just as sickeningly sweet with each other; their home had always been full of love and joy, and the birth of Luz (even with its difficulties) had added to that. Camila was sure these two would one day have their own home full of love… and perhaps a grandchild or two for her to spoil!

Meanwhile Vee was just happy to see her adoptive sister bouncing back. She knew how awful panic attacks could feel! She was a little jealous too; she wished she had someone like Amity in her life. Well maybe not exactly like her… the image in Vee's head was a person with darker hair, a cheeky smile, and a surprisingly adorable gap tooth.

After letting Luz and Amity have their cute moment (during which Luz had been shifted from Camila's lap to Amity's), Camila cleared her throat to speak, making Luz suddenly nervous.

"Mija, do you remember what I said? While you were panicking?" Camila asked.

Luz nodded; "You said I didn't need to be scared. That you wouldn't break our deal."

"That's right." her Mami replied; "And I meant it. Like I said, the thought of convincing you to stay here in the Human Realm for good did cross my mind, but I won't act on it. I'm just worried about the danger you're in. Danger I can't do much to help you with."

"I understand Mami. I should have told you from the beginning. Three weeks of stuff being explained all at once just made it worse… it's like the moment I come back here, I become a failure again." Luz sighed dejectedly.

"Don't call yourself a failure. You were never a failure! You just hadn't found your niche yet! But now you have." Camila reassured her; "I promise I won't ever go back on my end of our deal, so long as you don't go back on yours. Alright?"

"Alright. Thank you Mami." Luz smiled, feeling her usual confidence beginning to return.

"Good. But no more secrets! I don't want you to feel like you can't tell me something." Camila said, a touch more sternly.

Luz gulped and bowed her head in a little nod; "I'll try. Sorry Mami."

Camila shook her head with a smile, then ruffled her daughter's hair; "I forgive you. Now, I think we've been cooped up inside for too long! Let's go out and work off some of our lunch."

Luz and Vee both cheered and hopped to their feet, with Amity soon joining them. The Noceda girls rushed off to get ready for their outing, leaving Amity alone with Camila in the living room. Camila waited to make sure the others were out of earshot, then turned and smiled at Amity.

"Thank you for what you said to Luz, Amity dear. I'm glad she has someone who loves her so much." Camila said.

Amity blushed and fidgeted a bit; "O-Of course! I'd do anything for Luz! I know she'd do anything for me too."

"I'm glad to hear that! And just so you know…" Camila put her hands on Amity's shoulders; "If you ever need some advice or someone to talk to, you can call me. I know I'm not your mother, but given what you've told me of your actual mother, I think you could use more positive maternal influences in your life."

"T-Thank you, Camila!" Amity beamed, surprised but overjoyed! The fact her girlfriend's Mom valued her more than her biological Mom was a bit irksome, but it just went to show that Camila outdid Odalia in every way that mattered.

Camila then gave a teasing grin as she added; "You're welcome. Consider it practice for my eventual "Mother-in-Law" status!"

The lavender haired girl squeaked adorably, and Camila giggled; her daughter's girlfriend really was precious!

Luz and Vee returned shortly thereafter and the four ladies left the house together, ready for a walk. Since it could be a problem if any of Vee's friends saw Luz looking and acting so differently from normal, they decided that walking into town would probably be a bad idea for now, so they instead decided to go for a leisurely stroll in the woods near the house. It was a nice clear day out, with enough of Summer's residual heat to keep them warm while a pleasant autumn breeze kept them from being too warm. As they walked through the trees, Camila told Amity all about the nature and animals they passed, as the girl had no experience with Human Realm flora and fauna, while Luz and Vee chatted about their magic lessons and what they could do with their powers now. Luz also told Vee a bit more about how Treble was doing on Digale Island, and discussing some tentative plans to find and rescue the other Basilisks (whom Vee was immensely relieved to learn weren't being harmed).

The walk was almost soured when they found another snare trap, thankfully one that hadn't been triggered yet, and Camila had angrily blown it apart with a concussive force spell.

Vee scowled at the remains of the trap; "More snares. What's the point in setting so many? Are rabbits and foxes really worth enough money to make all this effort worth it?"

"They aren't worth anything. Selling their fur is illegal around here, and no one is going to buy wild rabbit meat. It's either cruelty, or something just as sinister going on." Camila growled.

Luz and Amity exchanged nods, before the former suggested; "How about we hunt around the forest for more snares? We'll make a game out of who can find and dismantle the most! We could use our magic and make it a test of what we've learned too!"

"Good idea, Mija. The winner gets to pick what we have for dinner tonight!" Camila declared.

That got Luz and Vee smiling broadly, and they immediately began scurrying about the woods in search of traps. The first signs of them finding one was a sudden twanging sound, followed by a yelp, a thud, and an "oof!" from Luz.

"I'm okay!" she yelled before anyone could worry, and the others all chuckled. Amity followed the sound and found Luz hanging upside down from a tree branch by her ankle, while trying to stop herself spinning long enough to shot the wire holding her up. Once she got herself down, she smiled sheepishly and said; "That still counts as finding and destroying one, right?"

Amity giggled, then swiftly joined Luz in hunting for Snares, while Camila followed along at a slower pace, being far more methodical about her search. They each managed to find at least five snares, with Luz and Vee both finding seven for a total of 24 in the space of 30 minutes. It was frankly ridiculous, and not all the traps were empty; some had snared rabbits, foxes, and even a deer in one instance, all of whom the Noceda family calmed, healed, and released.

"If I ever find out who is setting these traps, I'm introducing them to La Chancla!" Camila fumed, clutching the snares she'd found so tightly that they began to crack. Luz and Vee nodded grimly, while Amity just wondered what "La Chancla" was.

Suddenly, Vee began looking around and sniffing the air, having noticed something.

"What is it, Cariño?" Camila asked.

"I smell magic… familiar magic. I think it's King and Eda!" Vee said, sniffing more intensely.

Luz blinked; "Really? Did they leave the portal open or something? Or did they come to the Human Realm for more junk to sell?"

"I have no idea. Still, we should at least go and say hello if they're here, or make sure the portal is closed if they're not; we wouldn't want whoever's setting these traps to wind up in the Demon Realm! They might get eaten, or worse, start trying to catch demons!" Camila said.

The girls agreed, and they all began to follow Vee's nose as she led them through the woods. It didn't take long for them to find King and Eda, as they soon heard a cry of "Weh!" in the distance. Picking up the pace a bit, they hurried along until they found a large clearing not far from the abandoned house, inside of which was King, Eda, Rasiel, and Lilith. It looked like they'd set up an outside classroom of some kind to study glyphs, but they'd clearly run into some odd difficulties. Jagged crystals littered the clearing and more kept raining from the sky, which King was shattering with cries of "WEH!" as he stirred a cauldron full of elixir. One crystal was embedded in Rasiel's head, and the man was bleeding gold blood as he wandered absent-mindedly around the clearing, while Eda was lying spread eagle on the floor with a peeved expression and feathers sprouting from her neck. Meanwhile Lilith was busy melting chunks of crystal while also trying to reinforce some magic chains that she'd used to capture a kind of sentient cloud known as a Cumaulus, though based on the ice it was trying to spew, Luz guessed it was the Freezing Fog variant! They were a breed of cloud-like monsters that usually lived in the Snowy Rib Cage or on the Knee; how had one gotten into the Human Realm!?

"Hey guys!" Luz yelled, announcing their presence as she, Amity, Camila, and Vee walked into the clearing.

"Luz! Thank the Titan you're here! I'm trying to brew more elixirs for Eda, but the knife rain won't stop and Lilith is busy with that stupid cloud! I could really use your help here!" King cried, looking out of his depth.

"Whoa, what on earth happened here!? Ugh, questions for later." Luz shook her head and turned to the rest of her family; "Vee, go drain the magic from that Cumaulus so Lilith can help King with the elixir. Mami, please cast some calming spells on Eda to keep her curse at bay! Amity, use some abominations to shield King from those falling crystals! I'll go heal Rasiel!" Luz said.

The others nodded and immediately got to work on their assigned tasks while Amity smiled; Luz may not believe herself to be a leader, but she was surprisingly good at it when she needed to be!

Amity immediately summoned a large abomination to shield King and the cauldron of elixir, allowing him to focus on brewing while Amity blasted fire at the crystals. She frowned when the crystals didn't melt, meaning they weren't the usual ice knives that rained in the Demon Realm. Still, her light beams did the trick! At the same time, Vee hurried over to Lilith and the Cumaulus, changing into her true form as she went. Lilith was briefly startled by the appearance of a winged basilisk, but she'd been told about Vee before and so didn't question it, instead sighing with relief as Vee inhaled sharply and began to suck tendrils of blue magic our of the sentient cloud, causing it so slowly shrink from the size of a buffalo to the size of a house cat. Once it was out of magic and lying on the ground lethargically, Vee smiled triumphantly.

"Mmm, tastes like ice cream! Are you okay now, Miss Lilith?" Vee asked.

"I am now that you're here, Miss Vee. Please keep an eye on him while I help King." Lilith replied.

Vee nodded and held the weakened Cumaulus in her arms while Lilith hurried over to help King brew. Meanwhile, Camila had knelt down beside Eda and begun casting some calming spells to help her relax.

"Take deep breaths, Eda. Don't try to fight or resist the curse, just focus on your breathing and your heart rate. Let the stress melt away." Camila said soothingly, applying the spells directly to Eda's shoulders by casting them on her hands and then massaging the magic in. Eda sighed with the steadily growing relief.

"You're a gift from the Titan, Cammie!" Eda said as her feathers stopped growing. They weren't shrinking, but it was better than nothing.

Lastly, Luz had gone after Rasiel, who was now scooping up rocks from the forest floor and gnawing them like a baby with a teething ring. The crystal that had stabbed into his head had pierced his brain and was messing with his intelligence, and without his wings he didn't have the magic needed to regenerate on his own. If he wasn't a ten-winged Seraphim and True Immortal, he'd be dead.

"Whoa there, Rasiel! Let me help you." Luz said, gently pulling the stones out of his mouth.

"Oh, hello Fluffy Duck. You have a lot of wings. Can I borrow a couple? I seem to have misplaced mine." Rasiel slurred.

Luz would have laughed if the situation wasn't so grim; "I'm afraid not. Don't worry though, let me get that crystal out of your head and then I can heal you."

"Oh, you're going to remove the sparkle horn? I think I'd like that. It went thunk in my head meat and now I don't talk so good." Rasiel replied.

Luz tried to get the crystal out with her hands, but it was jagged and she only succeeded in cutting herself. After healing herself, she instead grew some vines and tied it around the crystal, before throwing the other end over a tree branch, then yanking on it hard. It took all of her weight, but it created enough leverage to yank the crystal straight out of Rasiel's skull. There was a spurt of golden blood, but Luz was quick to create her Crystal Lotus spell to heal the wound, which regenerated rapidly. Once she was done, Rasiel shuddered and groaned.

"Ugh, why does my mouth taste like dirt?" Rasiel complained.

Luz created some water for him to wash his mouth out with as she explained; "You were licking rocks."

"Oh. Thanks for the help Luz, I'm missing enough memories without missing chunks of my brain too." Rasiel replied.

"It's okay. You did call me a Fluffy Duck though." Luz giggled.

"Surely a goose would be more fitting?" Rasiel smirked. "Because you're silly, and it rhymes with Luz!" he then gave her the finger guns with a slightly unsure expression; "Am I doing this right?"

Luz laughed; "You're spending too much time with King and his puns! But enough of that for now, let's help out the others."

Rasiel nodded, then went with Luz to help the others brew Eda's elixir. They had it complete before too long (King had gotten it mostly done before they arrived) and administered it, causing Eda's feathers to finally recede completely and turn her back to normal. There was a sigh of relief from everyone, and thankfully the rain of crystals seemed to have stopped, so they were able to relax a bit.

"Well, that was chaotic." Luz said, taking a seat on the ground beside Eda, who was now sitting up. "What are you guys doing in the Human Realm, and what was all that about?"

Eda sighed and explained the situation with Gwendolyn and her quack methods of curing her curse, as well as how they'd come to the Human Realm so they could keep studying the glyphs in peace, without Gwen bothering them.

"We weren't here for long before things starting getting weird." King added. "Also, remember that theory I told you before about you and the glyphs?"

Luz nodded; "The one about glyphs working in this realm if they're bonded to me?"

"Yep! We confirmed it! The fire glyph works now while it didn't when we first came here, and the wind glyph doesn't work at all yet." King declared happily; "I also found out that glyph combos work here, but only if you've bonded with all the glyphs."

Camila hummed; "It's almost like Luz has become some kind of signal extender for the Titan's powers. I've never seen anything like it. But does this mean you'll end up with another glyph tattoo?" she asked.

"Probably." Luz replied.

"Ah. Well hopefully it'll be hidden like most of the others. The only ones we can see normally are on your hands." Camila said. She wasn't a big fan of tattoos and even with their magical (and involuntary) origins, she didn't like that Luz had some.

"Putting that aside, things started going wrong not long after we made these discoveries. First, Eda found that." Rasiel said, pointing to a wooden sign on the edge of the clearing. It said "Apple Blood!" and had an arrow pointing deeper into the woods, away from the clearing.

"We thought it might be you pulling a prank on Edalyn." Lilith explained. "We couldn't think who else in the Human Realm could know about Apple Blood and Edalyn's love of the stuff. But we decided to ignore it; my sister's way of teasing you by messing up your prank."

Eda nodded; "But then it started raining those crystals wherever I went! I thought Knife Season had come early this year, but then I remembered you don't have Knife Hail in the Human Realm."

Luz gulped; "It hails knives in the Demon Realm!?"

"Well technically it's just very large, very sharp ice. Atmospheric temperature and razor sharp winds result in large hail stones that are carved into spikes by the wind." Rasiel helpfully informed; "But those things were definitely crystals and not regular ice. Painful too…" he added, ruefully rubbing the spot he'd been stabbed.

"Rasiel here pushed me out of the way, which is how he got stabbed. The curse started acting up then, but when I tried to grab an elixir, I found them all gone!" Eda exclaimed. "That's when the Cumaulus showed up and started trying to freeze us all!"

Luz, Amity, Vee, and Camila all frowned, beginning to get the picture. But they were confused also; who had left that sign? It must have been the same person who caused the crystal rain and released the Cumaulus, but the question was who and why!? The sign made it seem like they were targetting Eda and trying to separate her from the others, but for what purpose? Was it an assassination attempt? How had the culprit gotten into the Human Realm!?

"One thing I'm confused by; why did you start trying to make more elixirs here? Why didn't you just go back to the Owl House and grab more from there?" Luz asked.

Eda and her group all cringed, making Luz's heart drop. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like their answer.

"We tried." Lilith admitted, "But the portal is closed and Edalyn… misplaced the key."

"WHAT!?" the others all cried.

"B-But if the door is closed and you can't open it, then we're all stranded here!" Amity cried. She'd only just started reconnecting with her Dad; was she going to be separated from him forever now!?

Luz was also on the verge of another panic attack, realising she might be trapped in the Human Realm, but Eda quickly said; "Now hold on! Before everyone freaks out, I know for a fact I had the key when I came here. I probably just dropped it while running away from the crystals and Cumaulus. It's gotta be around here somewhere. We can use magic to look for it."

That calmed the others down, but the calm didn't last long. The temperature suddenly began to rise, until it was as warm as the middle of summer… and it was slowly rising even higher!

"What's going on now!?" Camila yelled, beginning to sweat.

"I smell something coming this way!" Vee said, looking around. "And I hear… buzzing?"

Luz and the Demon Realm inhabitants all went pale; "Oh no…" Eda groaned.

The buzzing got louder until the source suddenly burst into the clearing. It was a swarm of Fire Bees, each one burning with intense flames that made the clearing even hotter! Their beady little eyes gleamed hatefully as they swarmed towards Eda, seemingly hyper-focused on the Owl Lady. Lucky for Luz and the others, that meant the swarm ignored them, but unlucky for Eda, it also meant they were chasing her around! Eda screamed as she fled the swarm, keeping away from Luz and the others so they wouldn't get stung too.

"Fire Bees too!? If this is an assassination attempt, the assassin is either cruel or stupid!" Amity yelled.

"Forget that, we've gotta help Eda!" Luz cried, preparing an ice spell. She shot an aurora beam at the swarm, but it simply parted to allow the beam to pass them harmlessly, then reformed to continue chasing Eda.

Luz growled and prepared another shot, but Lilith acted first; "Fire Bee Swarms are too wily for accurate strikes! You need wide range magic! Observe!"

Lilith leapt forward and twirled her finger to make an icy blue spell circle, which unleashed a massive wave of cold that promptly froze the Fire Bees solid, turning each one into a little ice sculpture of a bee.

"There! No more Fire Bees!" Lilith said, dusting off her hands.

"Thanks for the save their Lily! First a Cumaulus and now Fire Bees? Someone is definitely out to get me!" Eda groaned, feeling her curse once again acting up a bit. Luckily the elixir was still holding strong.

"I feel kind of sorry for them." Vee said, sadly poking the frozen Fire Bees with her tail while holding the deflated Cumaulus. "They were forced to attack you."

"It must be someone with Beast-Keeping magic." Luz said, before patting Vee's shoulder; "And don't worry, the Cumaulus will be fine once it inhales some water, and the Fire Bees aren't dead. They'll be okay once they thaw. Though we should sweep them up and back into the Demon Realm before that happens."

That cheered Vee up, and Camila decided to help by conjuring a large crystal container to store the frozen bees in. Once they were sealed up, Camila said; "We should look for the portal key now. It can't have gone far."

The others swiftly agreed and began to search around, but kept their guard up in case someone attacked them yet again. Vee alone stayed out of the search, so she could keep the Cumaulus company since she felt bad for draining its magic. They searched the clearing high and low, but found no signs of the portal key. Luz was about to suggest using Beast-Keeping magic to get the help of woodland critters, when Eda suddenly yelped and began running away from the bushes she'd been searching. Everyone looked to her, then blinked in surprise as snakes with little draconic wings came flying out of the trees and bushes, chasing Eda around the clearing just like the Bees.

"Seriously!?" King cried; "This assassin is the worst assassin ever! I don't even think half those snakes are poisonous!"

"Stop criticising their methods and help me! Mama is having a bad time!" Eda cried, feathers once again beginning to peak out of her skin.

Luz, Camila, and Lilith immediately jumped in to try and stop the snakes, using a mix of Beast-Keeping and Bardic/Choir magic to try and tame the snakes chasing Eda. They were wilier than the Bees though and proved harder to catch. Amity, doubting she'd be much help with the snakes, decided to instead continue the search for the portal key. Since conventional looking hadn't helped, she pulled out her Oracle Stone and decided to try dowsing for the key.

Thanks to her mother being an oracle and Luz's presence messing with Oracle Magic, Amity had some complicated feelings regarding the magic, so rarely used it outside of class. The help her spirit had given her against the Abomatons had warmed her to it though, so Amity was more willing to use Oracle Magic than she had been. Removing the Oracle Stone from her neck and tying the string around her wrist loosely enough that it could still dangle a bit, Amity closed her eyes and focused her magic whilst focusing on a mental image of the portal key. The Oracle Stone then began to glow purple, and a little needle of light emerged from it, pointing off into the woods.

Amity was tempted to immediately go after it, but decided it could be dangerous if there really was an Assassin around, so she decided to recruit some help; "Rasiel, Vee; I'm detecting the portal key in this direction. Can you come with me? With a True Immortal and someone who can eat magic, we should be safe."

Rasiel agreed immediately, since he could go into as much danger as he wanted without worry, while Vee took a moment to think about it before reluctantly nodding. She didn't like the idea of confrontation, but she didn't want to leave her new sister's girlfriend to face the unknown by herself, and it didn't look like King or the others would be able to help until the snakes were dealt with.

The three walked together into the woods, following the needle of light wherever it pointed. It only took a few minutes before Vee detected something herself, as the wind changed direction and blew a new scent into her nostrils. "I smell magic. Some weird magic, and some that's kind of familiar. It smells a bit like Eda and Miss Lilith."

"Oh no… I have a bad feeling about this." Rasiel grumbled as he followed the girls. It didn't take long for them to find the source of the smell and the place Amity's dowsing spell was pointing them to. Hearing voices, the trio approached stealthily and hid behind a tree, peeking out to see the source of all their trouble.

It was Hooty in his portable form, along with a woman neither Amity nor Vee recognised, but Rasiel did.

"I feared as much. It's Eda and Lilith's mother, Gwendolyn. She must have convinced Hooty to bring her here." Rasiel whispered.

"She did more than that! Look!" Amity whispered back, pointing to a spot between the two. It was a large cloth sack full of elixirs, as well as the portal key, both of which were guarded by Gwendolyn's large Palisman, Hawksley.

Based on what Eda had told them earlier, it didn't take much for Amity to figure out what had happened; Gwendolyn must have stolen the elixirs and portal key to stop Eda from escaping or interfering with her attempts to cure her, and she'd likely used Hooty to do it. Amity knew that creepy bird tube could be stealthy when he wanted to be! Creeping closer, Amity saw Gwendolyn watching the scene in the clearing through a crystal ball, likely using beast-keeping magic to spy through the eyes of a bird or some other creature she'd tamed.

Gwen tutted; "My granddaughter and her other mother are certainly making this difficult! Sweet Flea is too! Still, I'm happy they care for Edalyn so much. If only I could make them understand! But my Little Witchlet will turn them against my methods the instant I try to talk to them."

Hooty gave an unsure hoot; "Aw gee Gwendy, I don't think we're doing this right, hoot! Freezing the curse, heating it up, even snakes! We tried it all and nothing worked! Hoot!"

Amity exchanged shocked looks with Vee and Rasiel; that was all them!? It wasn't a bad assassination attempt, it was a terrible curing attempt!?

"I know Hooty. But my grandchildren, bless their well-meaning hearts, gave Edalyn more of that nasty elixir! I thought we'd seen the last of it when you and Hawksley stole their supply, but it seems my little King is clever enough to make more! It completely reversed the progress we'd made with those purifying crystals!" Gwen complained.

Amity had heard enough; this Gwendolyn lady had almost gotten them all killed with those crystals! Heck, if Rasiel wasn't immortal, he'd be dead after being stabbed in the brain! With her temper raging, Amity leapt out of the bushes and marched towards Gwen, whose eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh! You're the young lady who was with Luz and her mother! And the little Basilisk too!" Gwendolyn said, smiling at Vee. "A Quetzalcoatl Basilisk too! How remarkable! I was quite surprised to see you with my granddaughter! I don't suppose you can eat curses, can you?"

Vee shook her head in bewilderment, while Amity glared at the woman; "Vee won't be doing anything of the sort! I think you've already done enough to hurt Eda and the others!"

Gwen frowned; "Now see here, young lady! I've been doing nothing more than trying to heal my daughter's curse!"

Amity felt her temper raise even higher; "You set wild beasts on her THREE times! You rained razor sharp crystals on her! Because of you, Rasiel here got stabbed in the head! If he was anyone else, he would have been killed! You almost murdered someone! Not to mention almost causing Luz a panic attack when she found out the portal key was missing!"

Those last two statements actually made Gwen pause; "I apologise for both of those mistakes. I had no idea poor Luz would react like that, and I certainly had no intention of hurting Rasiel! Those crystals were aimed so they wouldn't hit anyone, but the young man shoved Eda out of the way, thinking she'd be hit. It was an honest mistake, and one I deeply regret. I would have come out to help you immediately, had Hooty here not told me that you couldn't be killed… though how that came to be is something I'm very curious about." she said, looking to a contrite looking Hooty before she turned back to Rasiel bowed her head in shame; "I truly am sorry for that Rasiel. I'm glad you're unhurt."

"I accept your apology, Madam Clawthorne. However I am alive and unharmed now, while the same might not have been the case for your daughters. Eda is dangerously close to transforming out of stress. What on earth were you thinking?" Rasiel frowned.

Gwen brightened; "I know the methods are unconventional, but this is an unusual curse! Trust me though; these are tried and true methods from a master healer!"

"It's true, hoot!" Hooty chimed in, hopping up and down with his little chicken legs. Rasiel thought he was adorable, Vee found him terrifying, and Amity was overcome with the desire to try and see how far she could punt him. "We went to see Master Wortlop together! He's an awesome healer! He's got a crystal staff and more beads than anyone I've ever seen, hoot!"

Amity took a deep breath and began to count to ten in her head, while Rasiel cringed and said; "That's not a measure of healing ability, Hooty."

Gwendolyn then raised her tome; "This tome contains all the necessary instructions to heal the curse… or at least, the first set of those instructions. The ancient tome is part of a set; I was just about to go back to the Demon Realm and collect the rest of the series! Since I already have the first book, I only need to trade a few paltry family heirlooms to get the rest!"

Vee blinked in confusion, but to Amity and Rasiel, that was a red flag if ever they'd heard one. Rasiel eyed the tome suspiciously; "Madam Clawthorne, may I take a look at that book?" he asked, stepping forward with his hand out.

Gwendolyn pulled the book out of his reach; "Halt! Only people who have scaled Wortlop's Pyramid of Study may touch the tome! I worked very hard to earn this!" she said, brandishing the medallion whose rune was the same as the one on the book.

Amity was unimpressed and immediately summoned her Oracle Spirit to snatch the book from Gwen's hand, making the woman yell in surprise. The lavender haired girl ignored her though and began reading the book, her face going from irritation to disbelief, then back to anger.

"Are you kidding me!?" she exclaimed; "Look at this tripe! Essential Oils for Stab Wounds!? Abomination Salves for Athletes' foot!? Slitherbeast Dandruff for Nihilism!? How could you possibly be dumb enough to believe any of this!? You're being scammed!"

Hooty gasped dramatically, while Gwen snatched the book back; "I am most certainly not!" she huffed; "As if I would spend my life's savings on a fake!"

"Madam Clawthorne, I can tell you right now that none of those things work! You've been hurting Eda! The Curse isn't something that can be removed so easily! Luz and I had to construct a powerful magical tool just to try and heal her!" Rasiel tried to reason with her.

"And it didn't work, did it?" Gwen raised an eyebrow.

"Only because Luz had to use it to save Eda from being petrified!" Amity yelled.

Gwendolyn frowned at her; "Who are you anyway, young lady? I saw you hanging around with my granddaughter!"

"I'm her girlfriend!" Amity declared, "And I'm also Lilith's apprentice! You know, your other cursed daughter!?"

Gwendolyn froze; "M-My what!?" she choked out.

Amity's eyes widened; "You didn't know…?"

"The moment she showed up, Madam Clawthorne almost exclusively paid attention to Eda. She hasn't spoken to Lilith long enough for her to talk about her own curse." Rasiel said, wincing at Gwen's horror struck face. It hadn't occurred to him to bring it up, and one look at Hooty made it clear that the House Demon hadn't even been aware that Gwen didn't know.

As Gwen's face slowly shifted from disbelief to anger, Amity realised she might have just made a big mistake. That thought was confirmed when Gwendolyn summoned Hawksley to her side in staff form and immediately began marching towards the clearing where the others were, leaving Amity, Hooty, Rasiel, and Vee to chase behind them; Vee snatching up the portal key as she went.

Back in the clearing, the tag-team of Nocedas and Clawthornes had finally managed to capture all the winged snakes and stuff them into a second crystal coffer conjured by Camila. As soon as the last snake had been puled out of her hair, a feather covered Eda had practically dunked her head into the cauldron of Elixir to force back the effects of her curse, while the others panted in exhaustion.

"Okay… I love animals… but things like this are why I prefer the furry ones…" Camila gasped out. She really needed to get back in shape if she was going to hang around such energetic and wild people!

"I second that." Luz said, her lips dry and chapped from playing her ocarina in an attempt to charm the snakes. King conjured some water for her and she gulped it down to rehydrate herself, then her little brother made more for her Mami, Mom, and Aunt, which he poured into cups made of ice. Her mothers accepted them gratefully, but Lilith wasn't able to.

The poor woman was on all fours, panting even harder than the others. Her magic was almost entirely exhausted, and black feathers were beginning to poke out from her neck. She'd worked even harder than the Nocedas to capture the snakes, throwing magic around liberally in her desperation to protect and help Eda. Now she was paying for it though, and both Eda and Luz were looking at her worriedly.

"Hey now Sis, come drink some Elixir. You're getting close to transforming." Eda said, helping Lilith to her feet.

"I'll give you another Blessing too. Being low on magic is gonna make the curse even worse." Luz adding, already conjuring her golden flames.

Lilith gently pushed Luz's hand away as she approached with the flames; "No. Not unless you're completely fine. I don't want you getting hurt or exhausted because of me… you've already suffered too much because of my foolish mistakes."

Luz sighed sadly; "Aunt Lilith… hurting yourself doesn't make up for those mistakes. Besides, as bad as handing me over to Belos was, you truly didn't want me to get hurt. I was only ever mad at you for cursing Eda and helping Belos capture her."

"You did WHAT!?"

Everyone in the clearing nearly leapt out of their skin in surprise at the unexpected yell, and they all spun around to see Gwendolyn marching towards them, a look of shock, hurt, and denial on her face. Luz and Camila were the only ones present who hadn't seen her before, but both could see the resemblance to Eda, so it wasn't hard to tell who she was. Right on Gwendolyn's tail was Rasiel, Amity, Vee, and Hooty (whose little legs both creeped the others out, while also being rather cute).

Lilith gasped and backed off a step as Gwendolyn marched right up to her and put her hands on her hips.

"Sweet Flea, you have a lot of explaining to do! What in the Titan's name did Luz mean when she said you cursed Edalyn!? And actually helping that monster Belos by handing my granddaughter over to him and trying to capture you sister! Did you truly do those things!?" Gwen demanded.

Lilith recoiled, the feathers on her neck getting longer. "M-Mom! I can explain!"

"Good! While you're at it, you can also explain why I had to find out from Luz's girlfriend that you're cursed too!"

Everyone turned to Amity, who winced; "Sorry, I didn't realise she didn't know! Besides, I found out that she's the one who stole the portal key and the Elixirs! She's also the one behind the crystals and beasts! She's been following the advice in some quack scam artist's book to try and heal Eda!"

Now everyone turned back to Gwen with furious expressions; "You did all that!? How could any of that stuff help me! You almost got me killed! And if I'd transformed without the Elixirs, I could have killed the others! My son was here, Gwendolyn! Who knows what could have happened!?" Eda roared, her curse once again beginning to flair up.

"Master Wortlop is not a scam artist!" Gwen yelled, "And I did what I had to to save you from that awful curse! Starting with destroying that nasty poison!"

Before anyone could stop her, Gwen snapped her fingers and a large demon bird (the same one she'd been spying through) suddenly swooped down and knocked over the cauldron of Elixir, sending the orange liquid seeping into the dirt.

"No! What are you doing!?" Luz cried, running to try and salvage the Elixirs. Unfortunately it was too late; the dirt had rendered it useless.

"Are you crazy!?" King yelled; "We needed that!"

"No you didn't! According to Master Wortlop, those things are made by Healers and Potioneers who only want money!" Gwen replied haughtily.

Luz, King, and Eda all looked furious; "We make them ourselves! We don't even need to buy the ingredients thanks to our plant glyphs!" Luz cried.

"Do you think we charge our own Mom!?" King added.

Eda's curse symptoms began to get worse, and Lilith was nearly catatonic, trying to deal with all the horrible feelings of shame, misery, and anger bubbling away inside her.

Gwendolyn shook her head; "I'm sure you meant well children, but it's better to leave this to the experts."

"Experts!?" they exclaimed furiously.

Gwen ignored them and turned back to Lilith, frowning severely; "I'm still waiting for that explanation, Lilith Clawthorne! Why didn't you tell me you were cursed too!?"

Lilith stared at the mother for a long moment, eyes wide and jaw agape as the shock of the situation overcame her. But ever so slowly, her eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched as anger overcame her. "Why didn't I tell you? You actually have the nerve to ask me that!?" she snapped.

Gwendolyn gasped and everyone around her recoiled; they'd never heard Lilith speak with such venom. And she was only getting started;

"You want to know why I didn't tell you!? Tell me Mother, when would I have even had the chance!? During all the myriad of times you came to visit me!?" Lilith yelled, voice dripping with sarcasm, "Or perhaps during all the times we've talked today? Oh that's right, you only let me get one sentence in before you ignored me… for Edalyn… AGAIN! Did you know that your one hello and comment about my hair was the ONLY time you've talked to me in over a YEAR!?"

Lilith took a step forward as her rage built, and her mother stepped back fearfully; "Now Sweet Flea, that's enough! I'm your mother! You know I love you!"

"Do I!? I sure don't feel like it! And you call yourself my mother, but that sure doesn't feel like it either! A mother would have been there for me! But you were barely involved in my life even before I cursed Edalyn! It was always "Edalyn this" and "Edalyn that"! You barely even acknowledged that you had another daughter!" Lilith accused.

Gwen shook her head, fervently denying it; "That isn't true! I always loved you both equally! Your sister just needed a little more attention; you know how she is! She was always energetic and mischievous; you were calmer, better behaved, and so independent! You didn't need me as much as she did!"

Camila chimed in, severely unimpressed with that excuse; "Did you not pay her attention because she was independent, or did she have to become independent due to your neglect?"

"I-I did not neglect my daughter!" Gwen cried.

Lilith scoffed bitterly; "Oh please, you didn't even come to my Hexside Graduation, or my Coven Initiation! Even Dad and Eda came to them both! And Dad hated my decision to join the Emperor's Coven, but he still supported me!"

Eda's eyes widened; she'd attended those events in secret, wanting to see her big sister's big days, but she'd thought Lilith hadn't known! Unfortunately, her moment of thought was cut short as Lilith's feathers began to grow out more, appearing in more places as rings of black appeared around the edges of her eyes.

Luz saw this too and put her hands up soothingly; "Aunt Lilith, please try to stay calm!"

"Why!?" Lilith demanded, whipping around to face Luz; "Why should I be calm!? What right do I have to be calm, or happy, or content!?" tears began to build in her eyes; "Everyone I love hates me, or I ruined their lives, or both! My sister, my niece and nephew, my apprentice… I can't look Dad in the face because I ruined his life and let Edalyn take the blame, my own mother only gave me the time of day when she found out I cursed the child she actually loved! What possible reason do I have to be anything even close to calm!"

Luz and the others gasped softly as Lilith fell to her knees and punched the ground; "All I've done in my life is hurt and disappoint people! I thought I could make up for my sins and redeem myself, but I can't, can I? I'm never going to be anything more than a monster! An unloved monster! I… I…"

She nearly collapsed to the ground as all strength and resistance left her; "I should never have been born…"

With those final heartbreaking words, the feathers completely overtook Lilith and the woman let out a final, heart-wrenching scream before she completely transformed into her cursed state. The others looked on in horror as Lilith's beast form roared with rage and sorrow.

Lilith's cursed form was quite a bit bigger than Eda's; it was covered in long, shaggy black feathers that looked almost like Lilith's long black hair, and hard dark brown feathers on its legs, each of which was tipped with razor sharp black claws. The beast's wings were dark grey and massive, being notably raven-like compared to Eda's owl-like form, and her face had become far more monstrous that Eda's beast form, complete with longer, veiny ears with multiple spikes along the underside. Luz wasn't sure if it was because of the circumstances of the transformation or because of the nature of the beast itself, but this "Raven Beast" was far scarier looking than the Owl Beast!

The Raven Beast snarled and swiped her claws at Gwendolyn, but Hooty saved her by slamming into the back of Gwen's legs, making her fall over so the claws sailed over her head. King then used the emergency light glyph carved into his medallion to stun the Raven Beast, since light glyphs seemed to work to enrapture and calm the Owl Beast. However it didn't do more than make the Raven Beast rear back and try to stomp on him, as well as blinding the others who hadn't been prepared for the flash. The Beast missed the first stomp due to her blindness, but the second was right on target. Thankfully Luz was used to being blinded by flashes by this point and recovered fast enough to throw up a crystal barrier around King to save him, and Camila, who recovered next, cast a concussive force spell at the Raven Beast's underbelly, sending it into the sky and giving them all a chance to breath.

The Beast roared once again and prepared to dive bomb the group, but Vee flew at the beast, a look of fear and determination on her face as she flapped her wings as hard as she could. She darted to the Beast's back and landed on it, wrapping her tail around its neck and holding on tight so she could begin devouring its magic. The Raven Beast thrashed in fury, and the magic streaming out of it was pitch black and tasted rancid, making Vee choke and weaken her grip, allowing the beast to throw her off. Amity caught Vee by sending her Oracle Spirit to grab her out of the air.

While Vee's plan hadn't worked to defeat the Raven Beast, it had made it wary of her, causing it to promptly turn around and fly away at high speeds.

"She's flying towards Gravesfield!" Luz cried.

"Oh no, the humans will be defenceless against her!" Rasiel exclaimed.

"Not as defenceless as you think, unless the curse makes one bulletproof. Lilith could be shot down and killed if the police show up! Not to mention the danger of exposing magic to the Human Realm!" Camila argued, suddenly looking very worried.

"We've got to go after her!" Eda declared, taking a step forward before falling to one knee with a growl as her own curse began to force itself out. She was stressed and almost as low on magic as Lilith had been; she was going to transform any minute now!

"Mom! Oh no, we need Elixir!" King cried.

Amity and Rasiel paled; "W-We forgot to grab the bag when we ran after Gwen!"

They looked to Vee, who guiltily held up the portal key; "I-I only grabbed this. We had the cauldron, so I didn't think to get any of the Elixirs! I'll fly back and get them!"

As Vee flew off back to where she'd left the bag, a despondent Corvanc landed on Rasiel's shoulder, while the others desperately tried to keep Eda from transforming. Meanwhile Hooty could do nothing but watch and feel awful; he'd wanted to help Lulu and his family, but he'd only made things worse.

"This is all my fault…" he hooted miserably; "I just wanted to help Lulu and Eda and Luz! I love my Owl Family!"

"Hooty… we love you too; you're a weirdo like us! You were trying to help, but were tricked; we understand." Luz said softly, briefly looking up from where she was helping soothe Eda.

King frowned as those words made him think about Lilith; "Trying to help, only to get tricked… just like Lilith and Belos." he muttered. Maybe he'd been too harsh with Lilith… aside from the curse, nothing she'd done had been malicious and even the curse hadn't been intended to be as bad as it was.

Hooty also took Luz's words to heart and hurried over to Eda, where he promptly coughed up an Owl Pellet beside her, which he scratched open with his chicken talons to reveal a bottle of Elixir.

"I saved one, just in case. Now I'm going to go and save my best friend! Hold on Lulu, Hooty's coming!" he declared, running off after the Raven Beast with unnatural speed.

The others looked at him with surprise, while Eda gulped down the Elixir and sighed with relief as the curse was once again pushed back.

"That little weirdo is a Titan-send." Eda said.

"Eda! Thank goodness you're okay! We need to go after Lilith before she gets hurt, or hurts someone else!" Luz said urgently.

Eda nodded; "Hooty will be able to hold her back for a bit; he's surprisingly resourceful. Besides, we're going to need a plan if we want to stop Lilith without exposing magic to the humans."

As the Clawthorne-Noceda family began to discuss what to do, Gwendolyn looked to be shutting down completely, still kneeling on the ground and staring off into space in the direction Lilith had flown off.

"H-Have I been wrong all this time?" she whispered, slowly looking down at her tome and medallion; "I tried so many things… the Beast-Keeping Coven said the curse couldn't be tamed, and the Healing Coven said it couldn't be healed… I was so desperate… Wortlop told me they were lying so they could keep selling treatment instead of a cure… I believed him. I-I need to go and talk to him! Surely this is a misunderstanding! Surely there's something I'm missing!"

"Yes! You're missing the point!" Amity yelled; "Wortlop is a scam artist! He's been lying to you and exploiting you for snails! How have you not gotten that through your head yet!?"

Gwendolyn shook her head as tears streamed down her face; no, this couldn't have all been for nothing! 20 years, all of her savings, and the relationships with her family… she couldn't have wasted it all on a lie!

Could she?

Camila, seeing the woman on the verge of a total breakdown, went and knelt in front of her; "I know how you must be feeling right now. You did all this because you thought it was for your daughter's benefit. As a mother, you only want what's best for your child, right?"

"O-Of course!" Gwen sobbed.

"I understand what you're feeling very well. Sometimes we do what we think is best for our children, without realising that we're hurting them. We tell ourselves its for their own good, but even as we do that, we're ignoring what they want and how they feel. I did the same once… but all I succeeded in doing is pushing my daughter away, and worse, reinforcing her belief that there was something wrong with her. It took me seeing how badly my daughter was hurting and how little I was helping to finally realise my mistakes. Now you're in the same boat and you've got a choice to make; you can keep denying it and hurting your children, or you can accept your failings and try to fix them!" Camila said passionately, putting her hands on Gwen's shoulders.

Gwen looked Camila in the eye, searching the woman's face for signs of deceit or manipulation. A person she thought she could trust had just been exposed as a fraud, and she'd hurt one of her precious babies on his word; she couldn't let herself be fooled again! But this woman was an angel, just like her granddaughter; her every word had been the truth.

"I-I really was scammed, wasn't I?" Gwen asked in a small voice.

Camila nodded with a sad smile; "You were. You shouldn't feel too ashamed; I've been scammed like that too. I once sold energy drinks as part of a pyramid scheme for three years! I thought I was helping people and needed to make more money while my husband was sick, my daughter was a newborn, and I was still in veterinary school. Turns out I was being taken advantage of by people who saw an opportunity to exploit a mother."

Gwen clenched her fists and bitterly threw Wortlop's tome away and set fire to it; "I've been a fool. A Titan-damned fool!"

"Took you long enough…" Eda muttered bitterly.

The Clawthorne Matriarch stood and cautiously approached her youngest child; "Oh, my beautiful daughter… I failed you and your sister so much." she slowly put a hand on Eda's cheek, and the Owl Lady tensed but didn't move away.

"I should've listened to you. All these years, I wondered why you insisted on pushing me away… now I understand." Gwen shook her head ruefully; "I made you feel like your curse was something to be ashamed of. Something that made you lesser. I hurt you to "fix" you, and drove you away. And when you told me you'd found a way to make it manageable, I treated that method, and you by extension, like it wasn't good enough. I was being selfish without even realising it, and treating your problem like it was mine. I can never apologise enough for that…"

Eda felt a little of her resentment break away as she relaxed into her mother's touch; "Better late than never, I guess."

"Oh Witchlet… I am so, so sorry. While it was never what either of us wanted for you, this curse is a part of you now. And I love every part of you. I'm sorry I ever made you doubt that." Gwen said earnestly, gently stroking Eda's cheek.

"Thanks Mom. I appreciate that… maybe once we save Lilith, the three of us can sit down and talk things out. Being a Mom myself now, I understand you a little better. Besides, I think I need to say some things to Lily too…" Eda sighed, worry for her big sister filling her chest once more.

"I think we all have some things to say to Aunt Lilith." Luz said, petting a nodding King. "But first we need to save her! I've got a plan that could do just that without exposing us as witches and angels to the humans, but I'll need everyone's help. Are you in, Abuela?"

Gwendolyn looked a bit confused, so Camila leaned in and whispered; "That means Grandma."

The woman gave a soft little gasp in response, and she smiled brilliantly; "Of course, Little One. I'm so sorry that our first meeting has become such a disaster; I hope we can start again after this is over." she then took off Wortlop's medallion and her eyes gleamed; "How about we start with some skeet shooting!"

She tossed her medallion high into the air, and Luz grinned and blasted it with a light beam, shattering it to pieces. Everyone looked on with satisfaction, and a moment later, Vee showed up with the bag of Elixirs."

"What did I miss?" she asked curiously, having seen the light beam.

"Don't worry about it Vee. Come on over here, I've got a plan and we'll need your help too!" Luz smiled, now feeling more pumped up.

[Meanwhile]

Jacob Hopkins was having a slow day at the Gravesfield Historical Society; he was stuck watching the front desk, even though no one had come in all day. Unfortunately the Museum's owners were sticklers about him doing his actual job, rather than following his true passion; trying to research the Demon plague that resided in their sleepy little town.

Ever since he'd witnessed the true nature of the two Noceda Girls, he'd been watching their house carefully. Hopkins had put up disposable cameras to document their comings and goings (one of which had been discovered, to his annoyance, so he hadn't been able to go and check the others), and he'd also put more snare traps in the woods in hopes of snagging one of them again! It had worked once, so it had to work a second time, right? Sadly his observations hadn't exposed anything interesting; just that only one of the girls was usually home, and the second only appeared on the weekends. Where she went in the meantime was lost on Hopkins, or even if it was the same one who disappeared each time; for all he knew, they alternated!

Hopkins was updating his blog with his latest theories on the subject (he suspected one of the Demon girls remained on Mars with the rest of her kind, while the other stayed as their spy on Earth), when he suddenly heard screaming coming from outside. Frowning, he hopped to his feet and walked out to see what the commotion was about, then promptly gasped at what he saw. A giant griffin-like bird monster was flying overhead, roaring and shrieking as some kind of long worm-like creature was trying to wrap itself around it like a snake. The worm-like creature was, oddly enough, coming from a little bird house running around on chicken legs, and it appeared to be… hooting?

Hopkins almost couldn't believe his luck; real demons! And two of them to boot, out in public! Now he'd finally have all the evidence he needed to make his claims believable! Still, the griffin monster looked eerily similar to the owl-like beast he'd seen before; the one with the face of that vagabond Eda. It was clearly a different creature, but it definitely had a strong resemblance! Shaking that thought off, Hopkins rushed into his office and donned his specially purchased Anti-Demon armour, which took the form of a heavy breastplate, large spiked pauldrons, a horned helmet, and a red cape. He also grabbed an ornate sword he'd bought at a Covention, as well as a curved knife that he intended to use to take the monster's pelt once he'd brought it down! As the only Demon Expert in town, he was surely the only one who could save it from the beast!

"Look out Gravesfield! Your hero is on his way!" he grinned to himself, running out onto the streets and heading in the direction of the two demons, who had flown towards the town park. People were running and screaming in the opposite direction, but just as many others were stopping to gawk or even going towards the park to watch the scene. Thanks to the crowd going both directions, Hopkins barely managed to push through to the park in time to see the Raven Beast knock the strange worm demon off of it and into a pond, where it was forced to drag itself out with a waterlogged hoot. Now that Hopkins had a closer look, the worm had an owl-like face too… just what kind of bizarre demon was it!? From the number of claw marks on it and the amount of ruffled feathers on the Raven Beast, it looked like the two had been fighting for quite a while!

"Hoot… Hoot…" Hooty panted, "You're really strong, Lulu! But don't worry! I'll still save you from your curse!"

The Raven Beast snarled at him and continued to circle around the park, occasionally dive-bombing the few humans who hadn't fled. However each time she tried, Hooty would extend himself out rapidly and smack into the Raven Beast's neck or stomach, dazing her and protecting the humans. Despite the dangerous situation, a lot of them seemed to be treating the whole thing like some kind of show. Hopkins scoffed at them all; they were too stupid to realise they were in danger!

Ironically, he didn't realise that his own get-up was half the reason for that. Seeing a man in armour wielding a sword and running after a giant monster and some kind of odd mascot character made most people assume it was all just a TV Show being filmed.

Pushing himself through the crowd of gawkers and into the park proper, Hopkins pointed his sword at the Raven Beast and declared; "Come down here and face me, Demon! I'll slay you and reveal the truth of your kind to all of Gravesfield, and then the world!"

The Raven Beast took notice of him and snarled, swooping down to attack him. Her claws were sharp enough to shred his cheap armour and sword like tissue paper, but before she could actually reach him, she was once again knocked back by Hooty. The House Demon headbutted her as hard as he could, and while this saved Hopkins, it angered Lilith and focused her rage back on him. The Raven Beast roared and bit down on his neck, making Hooty flail around and screech, his little chicken legs running around in terror.

Hopkins grinned as he saw an opportunity and raised his sword high; "I'll slay both you monsters!"

"We cannot allow that!"

A voice echoed across the park, supernaturally amplified so it seemed to be coming from all directions at once. A beam of light shot out of the sky and struck Hopkins' sword, snapping the blade off at the hilt and making him cry out in shock and fury; he'd spent a week's wages on this sword!

"Good people of Gravesfield, don't be alarmed!" said the voice; "You are about to be saved by…"

Five colourful plumes of smoke suddenly burst out of the ground in the centre of the park, obscuring everyone's view of the entire area with a miasma of red, yellow, black, pink, and white. The smoke quickly dissipated though and revealed five figures.

"… The Magi-Rangers!"

Hopkins gaped in shock as he stared at the five people who now stood in together in the park, each posing dramatically. They were wearing colour-coded jumpsuits with bird-themed helmets that looked like they'd jumped straight out of a Power Rangers or Super Sentai series.

Hooty was surprised too, but he immediately recognised all of them as Eda, Luz, Amity, King, and Vee, hiding behind illusions.

Behind her disguise, Luz was grinning widely; this was her master plan to stop Lilith without exposing magic to the humans; pretend the entire thing was nothing but a TV set! Humans were naturally sceptical of magic, and as soon as they were given a believable explanation for fantastical things, they'd swallow it hook, line, and sinker! Since the Raven Beast was a giant monster and Hooty looked like a mascot puppet, it was even easier to sell that image! Hiding herself and the others as Power Ranger Knock-offs using Concealing Stones also ensured they could fight and bring Lilith down without too much attention!

Gwendolyn, her Mami, and Rasiel were also hiding nearby; Gwendolyn was hiding under an illusion, ready to administer an elixir as soon as Lilith was brought down, Camila was using illusion magic to produce the smoke effects and create the image of camera crews set up on the rooftops around the park, while Rasiel kept the police at bay with paper towels that had been covered in an illusion to look like legal documents giving them the right to film in the park.

Several kids in the park were already cheering, and Luz just knew they'd love what was coming next!

"Okay Mom, follow the script!" Luz whispered.

Eda, who'd been the mystery speaker a moment ago, blushed beneath her disguise and whined; "This is embarrassing, Owlet!"

"It's for Aunt Lilith!" Luz reminded her.

Eda groaned and stepped forward. She performed a dramatic pose and showed off her uniform, which was coloured red and had an owl-themed helmet; "I am Magi-Ranger Red Owl!" she announced, barely hiding her embarrassment.

King, who was disguised as a teenage human, performed his own pose, showing off his black uniform and crow-themed helmet; "I am Magi-Ranger Black Crow!" he declared, far more enthusiastic than his Mom.

Vee was next, feeling totally bewildered; "I am Magi-Ranger Yellow Canary?" she announced, awkwardly posing.

Next was Amity, who actually enjoyed the cosplay illusion more than she was letting on; "I am Magi-Ranger Pink Dove!" she cried, posing with flair.

Luz was the last one, and by far the most excited. This plan was also a chance to fulfil a childhood fantasy of hers after all! "And I am Magi-Ranger White Sparrow!"

The five of them then did a team pose, accompanied by explosions of smoke in their signature colours appearing behind them. Eda then pointed at the Raven Beast, who was growling softly at them; "We will lift the curse that the foul Emperor Belos has placed on you, Sister! Then you will return to being Magi-Ranger Blue Raven!"

As soon as she said those words and finished setting up the scene, all five of the "Magi-Rangers" essentially dropped the act and got to work. Luz, Eda, and Amity all ran at the Raven Beast with the intent of dragging her down to the ground and restraining her, while King ran to help the injured Hooty and Vee began to evacuate the people still in the park, using the excuse that they needed to "get off the set".

"I'm confused." Hooty said as King used his Healing Glyph Combo to repair the damage that the Raven Beast had done to him.

"Me too. This was some crazy idea of Luz's. But hey, it's working! The Humans don't seem to realise what's really going on!" King replied, gesturing at the people around them, who were cheering and using their phones to record the show.

Hooty sighed with relief as his cuts closed, then hooted; "Do I get to be a Magi-Ranger too!? I'll be Magi-Ranger Hooty House!"

"Hooty isn't a colour and House isn't a bird." King pointed out.

"Aw, but Eda already took Owl…" he pouted.

King rolled his eyes behind his illusory mask; "Fine, whatever. Come on; this'll be easier with your help."

As King picked Hooty up and strapped his birdhouse to his back, Hopkins was gaping in disbelief at what he was seeing.

"Just a show!? How can anyone be stupid enough to believe this!?" he growled to himself; "Those cameras weren't there a second ago, I'm sure of it!"

His rant to himself was interrupted when Vee, disguised as Yellow Canary, ran over to him and said; "Sorry sir, but we really need all civilians to vacate the park. Don't worry, the show will be over soon! Also, please be careful with those knives! We don't want any of our actors getting hurt!"

Hopkins spluttered; actors!? As if he'd believe that! However as the girl ran off to alert the next group of people to get out of the park, something clicked inside his head; the girl's voice was familiar! It sounded a lot like the Noceda girl's!

Narrowing his eyes on her, Hopkins examined the girl's silhouette more closely; the yellow jumpsuit she was wearing wasn't quite skintight, but it was close enough that he could get a very good look at her frame and general body type, which were also notably similar to the Noceda girl's… not identical, but enough that the suit could excuse any differences.

"I knew it! They're no super heroes! They're the demons! They must be putting on this show to distract us all from their attack on the town!" he ranted. Well, he wasn't going to let them get away with that! He'd let them bring down their out of control monster, then swoop in and defeat it and them in one swoop! His sword may have been broken, but he still had his knife!

Unaware of Hopkins' rantings, Vee kept urging people to leave the park, ever mindful of the battle between the others and the Raven Beast. Most people were willing to leave without too much fuss so long as she let them take a selfie with her first, and the few that weren't were convinced after a warning that some of the "special effects" could be dangerous to them. She stayed in-character through all of it, and actually began to have some fun pretending to be a super-hero; she could kind of understand why Luz had wanted to go with this plan!

She was just about to go and clear out the next group when she noticed someone she hadn't expected; Masha. Vee's best friend (and crush, as much as she tried to deny it when Mama or Luz brought it up) was sat on a high branch of the tree that they often hung out under whenever they all met up, and was eagerly watching the battle going on, using their phone to record everything. Heart lurching, Vee ran to them as fast as she could and shouted up at them.

"Excuse me, Citizen! We really need everyone out of the park! It's dangerous on the set! Please climb down and move to a safe distance!" Vee yelled.

Masha, who hadn't been looking at her, suddenly got a strange look on their face and looked down at Vee.

"Luz? Is that you?" they asked.

Vee cursed; since she'd created this disguise by mimicking Luz's illusory costume and altering the colours and helmet, her voice ended up being the same as Luz's, which meant it was also the same voice Masha and her other friends were used to!

Deciding it wasn't worth it to lie right now, Vee nodded and said; "Masha, I need you to come down! Seriously, it's not safe!"

Masha grinned; "Oh wow, this is a side to you I've never seen! Is this like a local drama production, or did you go and become a TV star when I wasn't looking?"

"Masha, I'll explain everything later! But seriously, you need to get down or you could get-"

"INCOMING!"

Masha and Vee both whipped around to see the Raven Beast flying right at them, having been clipped by a light beam from Luz and forced to make a crash landing. Eda and Amity were flying after her with their staves (Owlbert being turned red and Ghost being disguised as a pink dove to match Amity's disguise) and trying to lasso the beast back towards them and prevent her from hitting Masha. They managed to succeed in pulling the beast down a bit and avoiding a direct hit with the human, but their efforts instead resulted in the Raven Beast slamming into the tree trunk beneath Masha, snapping it like a twig and causing Masha to scream as they fell from their perch. They thankfully landed softly on the Raven Beast's back, but the beast recovered quickly and immediately took to the sky again, forcing Masha to hold on for dear life lest they fall to their death.

They screamed in terror as the Raven Beast flew away, and Vee cried out; "Masha! No!"

Without stopping to think for even a moment, Vee shed her disguise completely and took on her true, Quetzalcoatl Basilisk form, before flying after Masha and the Raven Beast. Eda and Amity followed with her on their staves, while Luz flew in with her wings and King even took flight using Hooty, who extended his neck and spun it around like a helicopter's propeller to allow the disguised Titan to fly.

"She's trying to escape!" Luz yelled, "We need to stop her and tie her down! Then we can save that human and give Lilith the Elixir!"

The actual fight with the Raven Beast hadn't been too difficult for the extended family so far; she was strong, fast, and had deadly claws, but she didn't have any usable magic, while the others all had spells, glyphs, and their own abilities to fly, not to mention greater numbers. If it weren't for the fact they had to be mindful of the humans and collateral damage, they could have defeated the beast easily!

"We need to get that human off of her before we can really nail her though! Otherwise we might hurt them!" Eda yelled back.

"Leave that to me!" Vee declared, a fierce determination bubbling up inside her. "I just need a boost to get closer to Miss Lilith! She's faster than me!"

King nodded and pulled out one of his glyph combos; "The wind glyph might not work here right now, but my old wind combo should work! I knew this thing would come in handy!"

He slapped the glyph note between his claws and created a gust of wind from his palm that he aimed at Vee's back. The wind caught the little Basilisk's wings and gave her just the extra push she needed to dart forward even faster and finally get close to the Raven Beast. She grabbed its tail feathers and used them to drag herself onto the creature's back and slither up to the still-screaming Masha.

She gently took her best friend's arm, and Masha spun around with wide-eyes, shocked by the creature she was looking at.

"W-What!?"

"It's okay!" Vee assured her; "I'm here to save you! Just hold on tight!"

Still terrified out of their mind but seeing no other options, Masha nodded fearfully and allowed Vee to wrap her arms around their waist, then jump off of the Raven Beast, flicking her tail down hard in the process and cracking it against the Raven Beast's back, right between its wings. This made the beast roar in pain and slow its pace, allowing the others to catch up more easily.

"That wasn't a prop or special effect!" Masha gasped; "That was real!"

They turned to get a better look at Vee; "You're real too, aren't you!"

Vee nodded with a sad frown; it looked like at least one human would know the truth after today… "I'm real, Masha."

Something in the way she'd spoken made Masha's eyes widen a fraction; the serpentine girl's voice wasn't familiar, but there was something in her tone and the way she'd said their name, as well as the look on her face…

"Wait…? Luz?" they said, eyes widening further. They looked around at the ground and couldn't see any signs of the Yellow Canary they'd been talking to before, and they didn't believe for an instant that the Luz they knew would run off and abandon them! So that could only mean this flying creature WAS Luz!

Vee gasped in surprise and almost dropped Masha, but managed to keep her grip; "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, now I know it's you! You're a terrible liar!" Masha gasped; "I can't believe it… Luz, you're some kind of magic winged shapeshifter!? That's amazing!"

"W-What!?" Vee cried; "Y-You're okay with this!?"

Masha nodded enthusiastically, grinning wider and wider the longer they looked at Vee; "Are you kidding me!? You're incredible! You're supernatural, which you know I love, and your true form, or at least I'm guessing it's your true form, is awesome! You're absolutely adorable!"

Vee squeaked in surprise; "A-Adorable!? B-But I thought you'd think I was ugly like this!"

Masha scoffed; "No way! Don't get me wrong, your human disguise was a cutie too, but this is actually way more more style." they winked, "You've gotta tell me all about you! And your magical friends too!"

Vee looked over her shoulder to where her companions were surrounding the Raven Beast. She then looked back to Masha and said; "I'll introduce you to them and explain everything, but I should get you to safety first and finish evacuating the civilians, just in case."

"Got it. I'll help out too; you don't want anyone else exposing your secrets!" Masha agreed. Vee smiled and the two landed near the fallen tree, where Vee used her water magic to whip up some mist to hide her as she transformed back into her Yellow Canary disguise. Once that was done, she and Masha continued the evacuation of the park.

Meanwhile, Luz and the others had completely surrounded Lilith, whose cursed form couldn't fly as fast thanks to Vee's tail strike. The Raven Beast hissed and snarled, feeling cornered, and began to slash its claws back and forth in a wild frenzy to try and kill its attackers. Luz quickly created illusory clones of all of them to distract it, while Eda flew above the frenzied beast.

"Sorry about this Lily, but it's for your own good!" she cried, spinning Owlbert to make a giant spell circle which blasted a huge wave of golden magic down on the Raven Beast's back. The force of the spell sent the beast crashing into the ground, where the others immediately began holding it down.

"Lulu, I'm sorry for helping cause this! I just wanted to make you happy!" Hooty cried, hopping off King's back now that he didn't need to fly any more, and promptly wrapping himself around the Raven Beast's wing so she couldn't fly away.

Amity then used her earth and abomination magic to turn the ground beneath the Raven Beast into a swampy marsh, while tendrils of abomination slime shot out of it and bound one of her rear legs; "I'm here for you Lilith! You were there for me when Odalia was willing to hurt me and even forgave me for being such a brat to you! Now I'll do my duty as your apprentice and help save you!" she declared.

King then used his plant glyphs to conjure vines that further tied the Raven Beast's torso to the ground, while using his Monster Glyph Combo to create two large arms that held the beast's other rear leg. "I want you back too! I'm still mad about what you did to Mom and Luz, but you're still my Auntie, right!? You were trying to make things right, and I didn't let you… but I'm willing to start! I'll be the King of Nephews!"

Next was Luz, who used crystalline tree roots to bind the Raven Beast's neck down to the ground, while freezing one of the beast's front legs into the swamp Amity had made; "We all want you back! We all love you, Tia Lily! I forgive you for taking me to Belos; you were tricked and doing what you thought was right! I don't blame you at all! And we can work through the curse issue together as a family!"

Then it was Eda's turn, who conjured some earth Hooty golems to bind the beast's final free limb, then jumped onto the back of the creature's head and held her tightly, speaking softly into her ears; "Do you hear us in there, Lily? You're surrounded by people who are pretty dang happy you were born, including me! We've had our problems; we've fought and done stupid stuff and hurt each other… but even so, you're still my big sister and the aunt to my kids! We love you, even with all the stuff that you did. I'm sorry I didn't tell you that more, or acknowledge that you were really trying to make amends. Now open up these big ears of yours and listen, 'cause Mom's got some things to say!"

The instant Eda's words had left her mouth, Gwendolyn swooped in on the back of her staff and landed in front of the Raven Beast, who immediately screeched and thrashed even harder in its restraints as it tried to get at the woman who was the source of so much of its rage. Gwen didn't even flinch, and instead knelt in front of the beast's head and gently took it in her hands.

"My Sweet Flea… words cannot express how much I've failed you, and how sorry I am." Gwen said, tears already appearing in her eyes; "I neglected you so much… I told myself you were self-sufficient and that you didn't need me, but I never realised you only became that way because I didn't give you the attention you deserve."

The Raven Beast stopped its snarling and went still in Gwen's arms, her large black eyes beginning to glisten as her mother continued; "After Edalyn was born, you were so good with her. You cared for her so much and seemed like such a little grown-up… at times, you were almost like her mother yourself! I allowed that to fool me into thinking you'd already grown passed the need for your mother; I thought you were mature enough to not need me, instead of realising you were growing up too fast and still needed a loving mother to help care for you… If I'd done my job as your mother, perhaps you wouldn't have cursed Edalyn and none of this heartbreaking mess would have happened… and worst of all… worst of all, I…!"

She struggled to get the words out as she began to cry in earnest; "Worst of all, I let you feel like I didn't love you. That alone is a sin that I can never live down. I can never take that back, or take back the pain I caused you and your sister with my foolishness… but I can make sure I never make that mistake again."

The Raven Beast was crying now too, and Gwen reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a bottle of Elixir; "Will you let me try and make it up to you, Sweet Flea?" she uncorked the bottle and offers its contents to the Raven Beast, "Will you let your mother show you how much she really loves you?"

Deep within the Raven Beast's consciousness, Gwen's voice resonated with Lilith. Her words, and the words of the others, had reached the heart of the woman within the beast, and it swelled with their love. For a few short moments, Lilith was able to use that love to fuel her and force the Raven Beast to open its mouth, allowing Gwendolyn to pour the Elixir in with a joyful smile. Eda then forced the beast's mouth shut so it couldn't spit the potion out when Lilith lost her control over it, and faced with choking or swallowing, the beast had no choice. It gulped down the Elixir and its eyes immediately began to glow gold.

A huge wave of golden magic surrounded the Raven Beast, forcing Eda, Gwen, and the others to release their restraints and back off, allowing the magic to pour into the sky in the form of a massive golden pillar. The pillar then erupted into a bird-shaped mass of magic, and the silhouette of the Raven Beast was replaced by that of Lilith. The witch then floated back down to the ground in her true form, and the light dissipated, allowing Eda and Gwen to rush forward and catch Lilith before she could collapse to the ground.

"You see Mom? My kids know how to make some mean Elixir!" Eda smiled.

Gwen smiled softly in return and Lilith, who was briefly hazy following her first full transformation, quickly gathered her wits and broke into sobs; "Mom! Eda! I'm so sorry! I hurt you both, but I couldn't stop myself! I-I couldn't do anything!"

"Shh Sweet Flea. Hush now." Gwen said soothingly; "It's okay. Everything is okay now! I'm here for you, just as I should have been from the beginning."

Lilith sniffled; "Y-You meant it? What you said before?"

"Of course! I was many things, but a liar wasn't one of them." Gwen said, stroking Lilith's hair.

"We all meant the things we said." Eda nodded, "Right kids?"

Luz, King, Hooty, and Amity all nodded. They were still hidden behind their illusions, but Lilith could still tell which was which from their colours and voices.

"Thank you. All of you." Lilith smiled tearfully, on the verge of sobbing again. The only thing that stopped her was the knowledge that they were in a public place and surrounded by humans, all of whom were now clapping and cheering at the completion of the "show". Lilith looked at them with confusion.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"That's a long story. We'll tell you when we're out of here." Luz replied, reaching down to rub her back; "But welcome back, Tia Lily."

The return of the beloved nickname made Lilith beam, and she hugged the girl tightly. She looked at King, daring to hope for a hug from him too, and he nervously said; "M-Maybe when we get out of here. This form is just an illusion, so it'll look weird for you to hug it."

Lilith could accept that, and allowed her Mother and Sister to help her to her feet. At that moment, Rasiel came over (covered in an illusion to make it look like he was wearing common human clothing) and loudly said; "Excellent work, team! That scene went perfectly! We won't need any retakes of that one!"

He then added in a low whisper; "The police bought the fake papers, but they're calling their superiors to double check, so we might want to get out of here before we're discovered!"

Everyone nodded (except for a confused Lilith) and began making their way out of the park as quickly as they could. Vee soon joined them, as did Masha, getting some questioning looks from the others.

"They know. They figured it out. I'll explain later." Vee said hastily. Again, everyone nodded and they got out of there as fast as they could, continuing to play the role of actors by waving and posing for pictures with a few kids, before ducking out of the park and into an alley, then making a run for it as soon as the coast was clear. They soon met up with Camila, who had snuck away from her own vantage point after dismissing the illusions of the camera crews. She took one look at Masha, then decided not to question them until they were safely back at the Noceda House.

The group hurried through back alleys to avoid being noticed by the people of Gravesfield, and actually made it nearly all the way back to Camila's house, before they found that the day still had one more surprise in store for them. It turned out they had been followed, and said follower suddenly jumped out in front of them, blocking their path.

It was Jacob Hopkins, whom they only knew as the weird guy in armour who'd threatened the Raven Beast with a sword. Everyone had largely forgotten about him in the chaos of dealing with the Raven Beast, and his fellow humans had just assumed he was part of the show thanks to his armour.

"Hold it right there, you monsters!" he cried, brandishing his knife at them.

"Dude, if you want an autograph you're gonna have to drop the knife and pick up some cash!" Eda scowled.

"I don't want your autograph, Demon!" Hopkins snarled, pointing his knife at her; "I'm not fooled by your clever disguises! I know the truth! You're all real monsters and demons! I saw that one-" he pointed the knife at Vee, "-transform into a snake monster! I know she's a real demon and I know none of that stuff you did today were special effects!"

The group paled and began to exchange worried looks (though most of their faces were still hidden by illusions), but their worries were wiped away by Hopkins' next sentence; "I know it was all your creepy witch and demon magic, meant to lure humans under your spell so you can harvest our teeth for your time machine!"

Luz inhaled sharply while the others stared at the man, dumbfounded. Vee muttered; "You… don't actually know anything about us, do you?"

"I know enough!" Hopkins growled, "I wanted to take that bird monster's pelt, but since you turned it back into this…" he looked at Lilith; "pointy eared… witch, I'm guessing? I'll need some other proof! I'll defeat all of you monsters and save humanity, then take you-" he pointed at Vee, "-as my proof! Say goodbye to your friends and prepare for a life in cages, demon!"

Vee instinctively whimpered, and Masha pulled her behind them, while Luz and Camila surged forward. Without a moment's hesitation, Luz shot a beam of red magic at Hopkins' knife, disintegrating it. She then shot two more blasts, doing the same to his armour and helmet. Camila then grabbed him by the collar and glared at him like only a furious mother could.

"You listen to me, Mister! This family has had a very long and emotional day, and we do not have the time nor the inclination to listen to your delusions! Now back the heck down, before I show you that an angel can be far more terrifying than any demon!" she declared, her voice echoing with divine magic as her wings flared out behind her.

"Y-You're not a real angel!" Hopkins cried fearfully; "An angel wouldn't side with demons! An angel would smite them and work with Humanity against them!"

Camila's eyes narrowed and her expression became one of hatred, actually startling Luz, who'd never seen a look like that on her mother's face.

"You don't know the first thing about angels or demons!" Camila hissed lowly, before shoving him away, "Now walk away, before you get hurt."

"N-No! You can't do this! I won't let you! I'm the hero here! I'm the good guy!" Hopkins cried.

Camila conjured a sandal, and Luz immediately cringed as her mother's expression became icy cold; "Yeah, a lot of bad guys say that."

She then slammed the sandal hard into Hopkins' face and he made a funny little yelp as he crumpled like wet tissue paper, hitting the ground unconscious.

Eda whistled, impressed by Camila's swing; "Dang Cammie, you've got an arm on you! That guy's gonna have one heck of a shiner when he wakes up."

Camila smirked; "He'll likely need a shower too." she said, picking him up like a sack of potatoes and dumping him in one of the alley's dumpsters.

Rasiel eyed his fellow angel, then looked to the human in their midst, and then the costumes most of his friends were wearing. "This has been the strangest day of my life." he muttered.

Amity laughed and lightly slapped him on the back; "Mine too! Guess this is what happens when you join the Noceda-Clawthorne family!"

"I only know like, a tenth of what's going on, but if things are like this with you guys all the time, I have a feeling life is never going to be boring!" Masha grinned.

"I hope you say the same once you know all of it…" Vee whispered to herself.

With Hopkins dealt with for the time being, the group finally made it back to the Noceda House. They sat Lilith down in the middle of the couch, then had Eda, Gwendolyn, Luz, and Amity squeezed in around her, with King and Hooty on their laps. Masha opted to sit on the floor with Vee, while Camila went to make some calming tea with help from Rasiel. Once everyone had some tea in their hands, Luz and the others finally dropped their illusions.

Masha gasped with delight as they laid eyes on King; the adorable skull-faced dog-like creature matched their aesthetic perfectly! However before Masha could say a word about King, their eyes were drawn to Luz… the REAL Luz.

"Wait, what!?" they cried, pointing at her, then looking back at Vee (who was in Basilisk form); "You have an identical twin!?"

Vee shook her head guiltily; "N-No… Masha, the truth is that I'm not Luz. My name is Vee, and I impersonated the real Luz so I could take her place at Camp Reality Check and at school, while she went to the Demon Realm."

Masha gaped; "S-So you're not Luz? That girl over there is the real Luz?"

"Yeah… I'm really sorry for lying to you all this time…" Vee said, her head lowered with shame. Masha hated to see the adorable snake-like creature so sad.

"Hey Lu- I mean, Vee… I've got to ask two questions, okay? First, has every time I've spoken to "Luz" been you?" they asked.

Vee looked to Luz, who nodded and said; "I think I saw you around school, but we never talked."

"That's a yes then." Vee answered.

Masha nodded, then said; "Okay, second question. How much of the you I've been hanging out with has been the real you? Personality wise I mean. How much of you has been the real Vee and how much has been you impersonating Luz?"

"When I first imitated Luz, I only knew her face, her voice, and the fact she was an angel. I didn't know her personality at all, so I was always "myself" when with you and the others." Vee replied.

Masha listened carefully, then smiled brightly; "Oh thank goddess for that! I'd have been pretty bummed if my best friend was just imitating another girl! Okay, I'm still real curious about what you are, and this Demon and Witch stuff, and the fact Mrs Noceda is an angel… and I'm guessing the real Luz is too…" they looked at the real Luz, who tilted her body a bit so her shrunken wings could be seen by Masha, confirming their suspicions, "… but honestly, the biggest thing I cared about was my best friend still being my best friend. You can tell me about all the rest of that stuff when you're comfortable with it, okay?"

Vee stared at Masha in complete shock; "Y-You're serious? You're not mad?"

"Nope. I'm not gonna blame you for hiding your real self, especially since you're not human. I wish I could say jerks like that guy in the alley were rare in our world, but they're honestly pretty common. Hiding yourselves was just keeping you safe, and I'll never criticise you for that." Masha said, giving Vee a side hug.

Vee nearly burst into happy tears at her best friend's acceptance, and hugged them tightly, making Masha grin and pet her hair. The rest of the gathered family smiled at her, and Camila and Luz felt especially fond of Vee's gothic friend.

"Thank you for this, Masha. We truly appreciate it." Camila said.

"Yeah! And for the record, I'm cool with telling you everything. You've accepted us, so I say we trust you!" Luz declared.

"Thanks Camila, and you too Luz. Wow that feels weird to say after all these months…" Masha chuckled wryly, "But we can leave that for another time."

They gave Vee another quick squeeze, then drained her tea cup and got to her feet; "It looks like you've still got important family stuff to work out, and I don't want to intrude, so I'll head home for today. We'll talk more tomorrow, right Vee?"

Vee nodded enthusiastically, getting up to show her friend out; "Of course! Luz and her girlfriend Amity are here for the weekend, so if you come back tomorrow, we can explain everything to you."

"That'll be awesome! For the record, I won't tell Gray and Rebecca, but I think they'd be cool with it too. But I'll leave that up to you. Nice meeting you all!" Masha said, waving to the others.

The others all waved back, with Eda saying; "You're alright, Kid. Get Luz to bring you to the Demon Realm sometime; I bet you'd fit right in."

Masha grinned; "Demon Realm? Oh I am so in! Until next time!"

With that, they opened the Noceda's front door and stepped out, before quickly turning around and pecking Vee on the cheek. Vee squeaked adorably, and Masha whispered flirtatiously; "You're still a cutie. In fact, don't tell Luz this, but I actually think you're cuter in this form."

Vee could do nothing but stare dumbly at Masha as her cheeks reddened. Masha giggled and skipped off down the garden path and away from the Noceda House, waving goodbye as they went. When they were out of sight, Vee finally closed the door and turned around, only to find everyone else looking at her with knowing smiles. She blushed and hid her face behind her wings, making Luz coo at her.

"Aw Vee! You and Masha are adorable! I'm so happy for you!"

"T-Thanks. But that's enough about me. Miss Lilith is the important one right now." Vee blushed, just barely peeking her eyes out above her wings.

Lilith shook her head with a smile; "You are just as important as me or anyone else, Vee."

Vee smiled, and Gwendolyn gently squeezed Lilith's hand and said; "That goes for you too, Sweet Flea. You are just as important and just as loved as Edalyn. I'm sorry that I made you feel otherwise for all these years."

"Thank you, Mom." Lilith said, leaning in to her mother, "That means a lot to me."

"We meant what we said back at the park too." Eda said, one arm around Lilith and the other around Luz, with King on her lap; "We love you, even if we didn't always get along with you. I for one am pretty dang happy you were born! Life would have been so boring and lonely without you!"

"You can say that even after I cursed you?" Lilith asked in disbelief.

"I'll be honest, the curse is a pretty big sticking point. But I'm done letting it rule my life. I have my kids, the love of my life, and a lot of friends. I even have Mom back now… you may have given me the curse, but I was the one who let it take so much from me. I won't let it take you from me too." Eda said earnestly, before smirking; "Besides, you only meant for it to last a day, right? Then it's also proof that perfect prissy Lily can make mistakes!" she added teasingly.

Lilith pouted, but it was mostly for show; deep down she felt nothing but overwhelming love and joy.

Luz then added; "I understand what it's like to make big mistakes and make everything worse, when you're only trying to help or make things better. You made a big mistake, but then just like Abuela, you basically dedicated your life to fixing it. Sure you went about it the wrong way, but it's the thought that counts, right? And also like Abuela, you came around in the end. I want you to be Tia Lily again; I think I have from the beginning… I just wasn't ready. But like Mom said, I'm happy you were born, so please don't wish something like that ever again!"

Then it was King's turn to speak up, and he did so in the form of a question; "When you took Luz to Belos, did you really think you were doing the right thing?"

Lilith nodded reluctantly; "Yes. I believed in Belos… I trusted him with all I had. I'd cursed Eda because of his advice to make whatever sacrifices one needed to achieve greatness, and I devoted myself to him when he promised he could cure her. I let him fill my ears with his poison, and convinced myself that the curse was corrupting Eda and in turn corrupting Luz, and that by bringing her to him, I was helping her. But I never knew he would hurt her, or use her as an excuse to kill Eda. If I had, I never would have done it; I'd have lied like I did with the Palismen in the Bat Queen's forest."

King listened to her response carefully, then sighed; "You got scammed, just like Grandma. And then you were so deep in the fantasy that you denied the truth even when it slapped you in the face… just like I did when Rasiel told me I was a Titan."

"You're a what now!?" Gwen gasped.

"Story for later, Mom." Eda hushed her.

King looked up at Lilith; "I denied the truth and Luz ended up hurting herself by lying to keep me happy. I don't even have the excuse of saying I thought I was helping… so I guess what I'm getting at is, I forgive you for what you did. I'd kinda like to start again from the beginning, Tia Lily." he said, a little blush on his cheeks as he shyly said those last two words.

Lilith's eyes shone even as tears built in them and her lips turned up into a quivering smile; "T-Thank you, my nephew. Words can't express what that means to me."

King held out his arms; "Then maybe a hug? I am the King of Hugs!"

Lilith burst into a combination of happy tears and joyful laughs as she scooped King up and hugged him tightly. Eda pulled Luz into her lap in his place, then the two joined the hug, with Gwendolyn following straight after. Hooty smiled with tear-filled eyes of his own, until all five Clawthornes looked at him and gestured for him to join. He promptly burst into noisy sobs and wrapped himself around all of them, squeezing them as tightly as he dared.

Camila, Vee, Amity, and Rasiel watched the Clawthorne family hug with smiles on their faces, and when they finally separated, Rasiel reached into his shirt pocket and pulled our Corvanc, who had been hiding with him during the fight, unwilling to fight his partner, and had since fallen asleep. The moment he stirred awake and saw Lilith, he cawed with delight and flew onto her shoulder to nuzzle her and begin preening her hair, while Lilith thanked him and kissed his head.

With things now calmed down and the family closer than ever, Camila invited them all to stay for a big Noceda-Clawthorne family dinner, with Amity, Hooty, and Rasiel included among that number. By Camila's words; each of them was basically a Noceda-Clawthorne anyway at this point, or a part of the "Owl Family" as they'd also become known, so they had every right to be at their family dinner. All three appreciated it greatly, and the entire family worked together to make a big meal and eat together, spending a wonderful evening just chatting. Gwendolyn took the chance to finally introduce herself properly to Luz, and the two bonded over the stories of their adventures on the isles. Gwen was made aware of all of Luz, King, and Eda's adventures, as well as the true nature of King and Rasiel; both of which surprised her greatly. However she ultimately didn't care, and accepted her grandson regardless of his species, and saw Rasiel as the close family friend he'd become. She also mended things with Amity, who was more than happy to give a second chance to a mother who actually wanted to make things right! Amity and Luz also made plans with Vee in preparation for Masha's visit the next day, and how they'd explain things to her.

It was an energetic and joy-filled experience for them all, and as the evening marched on, Lilith and Camila found themselves stood together in the kitchen, drinking tea together as they watched Luz and Amity try to explain the complicated lore of the Good Witch Azura to Vee.

"You know, if Luz and Amity learn from even half the mistakes of their parents, they'll be phenomenal mothers someday." Camila commented, smiling fondly at her girls. Amity may not be her daughter, but she would inevitably be her daughter-in-law some day, so Camila already thought of her as one of her girls.

"You're right. They have some good AND bad influences to learn from too." Lilith smiled; "You and Eda are wonderful mothers yourselves, and Mom did something not many could and admitted they were wrong."

"That's not so difficult when you have amazing children." Camila said.

Lilith laughed; "True! I'm a little jealous of that fact. I've no interest in a romantic partner, so I doubt I'll ever have kids of my own."

Camila tilted her head; "Do you really need a partner to be a parent? I know for a fact there are spells for single parent conception. They were forbidden in the Crest Orders due to our population control, but I doubt the Demon Realm has that issue."

"W-Well, I suppose that's true. But I don't think I'd be cut out for it. Babies are also a little… much, for me." Lilith admitted.

"Then consider adoption." Camila said simply; "There are plenty of children out there in need of love and care. I think you'd be quite a good mother, once you were in a more emotionally secure place."

That made Lilith think; "Huh… maybe you're right. I wonder…"

Camila smirked and nudged her with her elbow; "You never know, you might find someone in need of a mother pretty close to home."

Lilith looked at the other woman in confusion as Camila nodded towards Amity. Lilith gasped softly, especially as she realised that she actually really liked the idea. Amity was probably the person she'd felt the closest to "maternal" with… Luz and King gave her similar feelings, but they were undoubtedly Edalyn's children (and Camila's in Luz's case).

"Luz and Amity told me all about Odalia and the Blight Ball. I could tell Amity cares a lot about you from the way she talked about how you defended her." Camila said. "I think she values her apprenticeship with you more than she lets on. Like King, she was just too hurt from recent events to admit it."

Lilith suddenly gulped, if finally sinking in that Camila knew what she'd done to Luz now. "Camila, I-"

"No more apologies." Camila cut her off; "You made a mistake and you're trying to fix it. Luz has also forgiven you, and I won't question her judgement. I think you're a good person Lilith." her expression darkened for a moment; "It is Belos and Belos alone that I want to see suffer for what he's done."

The former Head Witch nodded grimly, fully agreeing. "Thank you, Camila. I see where Luz gets her kindness from. But about Amity… do you really think she'd want someone like me as a Mom?"

"I do. She might not even realise it herself, but I'm sure that if you continue to grow your relationship through this apprenticeship and the CATTs, you might just find yourself becoming "Mom" to her, just like Eda and Luz." the Angel replied, smiling pleasantly.

Lilith smiled back, feeling her heart lighten; she really did like that idea! She wouldn't push Amity or even ask her directly; she'd just be there for her like a mother should! She too could learn from the mistakes of her own parents, and give Amity the mother figure she deserved!

Shortly thereafter, it was time for everyone to go back home. Luz and Amity would be staying with Camila and Vee for the rest of the weekend, but Eda, King, Lilith, Gwendolyn, Hooty, and Rasiel would be returning home to the Boiling Isles. Vee returned the portal key to Eda and they all exchanged hugs, goodbyes, and well-wishes. Eda's group wished Vee luck with Masha, and Luz promised to spend more time with her Abuela when she got back to the Demon Realm. With that, and one final walk through the dark forest back to the abandoned house, Eda's group returned to the Owl House.

They arrived in the basement, where the portal door had been left and began heading up to the house.

"Well that was a long day! I should check in with Raine and make sure they know we're home safely." Eda said.

"Oh good, it'll be nice to see them again! We've got some catching up to do!" Gwen smiled, before scowling as she said; "And speaking of "catching up", I think I better pay a visit to Wortlop. I'll teach him to scam an old woman!"

"Uh, you might be a bit late to the party on that one, Ma'am." said a voice as the group entered the living room.

The group came face to face with Derwin, Amber, and Katya, who were looking after a pale and exhausted looking Raine. The Bard was sat with their feet in a large bucket of hot water, with a moist towel on their forehead and Derwin stood behind them, massaging their shoulders. Katya had been the one to speak, and she had a big grin on her face as she saw them all.

"Whoa, what happened to you, Raine Storm? You look like you got chewed up and spat out by a Slitherbeast!" Eda said, hurrying over to check on them.

"Ugh, I feel like it too… the curse is awful!" Raine whined.

"The curse? You transformed too?" Lilith questioned.

Raine nodded, then winced as the movement made their pain worse; "You too, huh? How are you standing; my bones ache so much it hurts to exist!?"

"The Elixirs numb the pain of the transformation." Eda answered for her sister; "I'd wager the transformation hurt, but then turning back felt fine?"

"That's accurate. So you didn't use an Elixir, Raine?" Lilith asked. "Why not?"

"And what does this have to do with Wortlop?" Rasiel asked.

Amber grinned; "It's a funny story actually!" she chirped, "We got back from town earlier and saw Hooty's note about going to see Wortlop with Gwendy. We recognised the name since we'd been trying to recruit him to the CATTs, but he'd been avoiding us. Raine had a bad feeling, so we decided to look into it."

"We eventually tracked down someone in Bonesborough who could tell us where he lived. It was another person he'd scammed." Derwin continued; "We went to his grotto and overheard the truth. "Wortlop" was just a disguise; it was three gremlins in a suit, with a fourth one pretending to be a sick patient so they could sell their scam!"

"Why those little-!?" Eda stopped herself before she cursed in front of King; "I'm going to teach those gremlins a lesson!"

Katya smirked; "Like I said, you're a bit late. We overheard them bragging about how they'd scammed Gwendy out of her life savings, and well… Raine was a little tired from our errands, and in kind of a bad mood too. Before we knew it, they transformed into their cursed form and jumped into the grotto! We didn't have any Elixirs and we couldn't risk them getting out and attacking Bonesborough, so we just sealed the Grotto behind them until Raine turned back on their own."

Lilith blinked; "You can transform back without the Elixir?"

"Of course. How do you think I turned back after my first transformation?" Eda asked. "It can happen when the beast runs out of strength, or when I regained enough strength or willpower to fight it back. But as the curse gets stronger, the longer that takes. By the time I split my curse with you two, the curse needed the Elixir to turn back."

Gwendolyn, who'd learned Raine split the curse when she'd heard the story at dinner, smiled as she said; "Does that mean Raine's cursed form ate Wortlop?"

"I still taste raw gremlin meat… urp, it's not good…" Raine groaned.

"Oh yeah, Gremlins do NOT taste good. You know in my experience, cooking them actually makes them worse." Eda grinned, sitting on the couch and gently lowering Raine so they were on her lap. They seemed to appreciate it, especially when Eda summoned a vial of Elixir and fed it to them, helping sooth the pain in their bones.

Gwendolyn smiled at the domestic scene, then cleared her throat; "I should be going."

"Nah, it's late and you've still got some catching up to do with me and Lily, right? Stay the night and hang out with us tomorrow. We can show you Digale Island and the CATTs. It'll be like old times." Eda offered. "Oh wait, we need Luz for that… well she'll be home tomorrow night anyway, so if you stay late we can still show you!"

Lilith nodded enthusiastically; "Oh yes! Mother, please stay with us for the night! I still have so much I want to talk to you about! And you still need to spend some time with Raine too!"

Said bard had dozed off now that they were comfortable, but the sight just made Gwen and Lilith smile; "Oh alright. But I really need to go home tomorrow; It's been too long since I've seen your father too… Speaking of, you should both come home for a visit too."

Lilith agreed immediately, while Eda frowned; "I don't know if I'm ready for that…"

"Edalyn, you know the incident wasn't your fault, don't you?" Gwen frowned.

Eda didn't answer and just averted her eyes. That made her mother and sister sigh, and the latter said; "Sister, I know you're not ready yet, but you should really consider it. Dad misses you, and you know your kids will want to meet their grandpa!"

She gestured to King, who had sat down beside Eda and conked out after his long day teaching glyphs and fighting the Raven Beast. Eda smiled and pet his head, then said; "I'll think about it…"

Knowing that was the best they'd get (and that it was huge progress in itself), Gwen and Lilith nodded with smiles and sat down to have some late evening tea with Raine's apprentices, while Eda closed her eyes and pet King's head and Raine's hair. If Luz had been there too, snuggled up with them, it would be the perfect moment of bliss for Eda.

"You've gone soft, Owl Lady…" she whispered to herself with a smirk. But as she thought of her lover, mother, and sister, all of whom she'd reconciled with, all the new friends she'd made, and her beloved son and daughter, she decided that she wouldn't change a thing.

"Not even you…" she whispered to the Owl Beast, deep within her. For a split second, Eda thought she felt the curse loosen its grip on her, before she fell fast asleep amidst her family.