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.

34. EP 13:Surprise at the Coven Day Festival

The Angel of the Owl House

Season 2: The Human Realm

Chapter 13: Surprise at the Coven Day Festival

A couple of days passed following Luz's trip to the past, and Luz had spent almost the entire time pouring over Philip's hideously complicated portal notes, getting help from Eda, Darius, Alador, and just about any other adult she thought could help her. After returning, she, Eda, and Lilith had spent the evening reporting what happened to the family, shocking them with the story of Evelyn and Caleb, and the truth of Philip and his fanaticism. Everyone was angry to hear what Philip had tried to do, and what he'd succeeded in doing to his own brother, as well as Luz's hand. When they'd gone to Digale Island to explain the situation to the other CATTs leaders, they'd been just as furious! Luz thought it was a good thing that Philip had lived hundreds of years ago and the Time Pools had since closed, or she thought the likes of Raine and Eber would actually hunt Philip down themselves! King was especially vocal in encouraging violence.

The day after their trip to the past, Luz had gone back to Hexside and reunited with her friends, telling them what had happened to. Predictably, Amity and Willow were practically spitting fire over Philip, and Skara was almost as angry. Strangely, it had been Boscha who calmed everyone down by reminding them that Philip was long gone, probably killed by Evelyn sometime after donating his diary to the Bonesborough Library, and had been almost entirely forgotten by history. It was a morbid thought, but the second hand revenge was enough to calm Luz's angrier friends. That day, Luz had spent every moment that she wasn't focused on her school work or friends instead focused on Philip's notes, which unfortunately had to be translated much like his diary. Luz worked herself to the bone translating them, and her friends were happy to help seeing as it was so important to her.

This continued into Saturday too, with Luz working hard to translate and understand the notes while Amity recruited everyone she could to help her girlfriend. The Hexsquad, the Magic Mixers, many of their family members, and even several members of the CATTs had all come together to translate the notes, and with the sheer number of them, Luz knew it would only take a couple of days to get everything translated and begin proper work on constructing the portal. Alador had even gone on a trip with Rasiel to the Portal Gateway Evelyn had spoken of, hoping for extra assistance; sadly it was fairly damaged and lacking the keystone needed to open it, so there was little they could glean from it.

Luz almost ended up pulling two all-nighters in a row, as she hadn't slept Friday night and would have repeated this on Saturday night, but Eda had put her foot down and actually sent the girl to bed, arguing she wasn't going to make any progress while sleep-deprived.

As such, it was a well-rested but still hyper-focused Luz who came down to breakfast on Sunday, still feverishly pouring over the notes.

"Owlet, I think you're pushing it a little." Eda said, gently taking the pages out of Luz's hands.

"But Mom, another weekend has come and almost gone, which means I've missed another visit with Mami and Vee!" Luz exclaimed as Rasiel all but forced her into a seat at the kitchen table and put a plate of food in front of her; "I need to get this new portal built as fast as possible so I can get back home and explain what happened! So Mami knows I haven't just abandoned her!"

"I know you're worried about your Mami, but you're seriously going to burn yourself out if you keep going like this! Especially since you insist on keeping up with school too." Eda frowned.

"I promised Mami I would. It was part of our deal; I need to keep my grades up, so I have to work hard!" Luz argued.

Raine, who was eating their own breakfast, chimed in; "Luz, I admire your work ethic but your Mom is right; you need to give yourself time to relax. If you work too hard, you'll just get exhausted and make mistakes when it really matters."

"Yeah! All work and no play makes Luz a dull girl." King said; "Take a day off!"

"I can't! There's so much that needs doing! The CATTs and the rebellion, finding out what happened to the Collector's mirror if Philip found it, finding the other Black Tombs and how to navigate the Primordial Wellsprings… Plus keeping up with my friends and Hexside! I can't just stop! If I do, everything falls behind!" Luz cried.

Eda and Raine looked to one another and began silently communicating with just looks and facial expressions. In the end, they both nodded and Eda decided it was time to put her foot down.

"Okay, I think that's enough. Time to be a responsible parent; Luz, you're not allowed to do any more work today! No homework, no portal work, no work at all! You're going to spend the day doing something with family or friends." Eda ordered. Inwardly she felt like she'd fallen into bizarro world; few parents ever imagined having to force their children to stop working and start playing!

Luz looked like she wanted to protest, but with everyone in the room looking in agreement with Eda, she couldn't bring herself to… at least not too much. "B-But what about the portal?"

"I will continue the translations." Rasiel declared; "I've grown quite proficient at decoding Philip's pretentious scribblings."

"And I'll help him out." Eda added; "The two of us working together will get more work done than you would on your own, so you won't fall behind."

Luz couldn't argue with that; "O-Okay. But what about everything else? Like the Rebellion and the Black Tombs and stuff?"

"Lilith and Amity are spending the day together at the library, researching the Wellsprings." Eda answered; "If there's progress to be made on finding a way through them to the Black Tomb, they'll make it. And we have an entire small army of people working on stuff for the CATTs, and other leaders to handle it. Relax."

"Oh." Luz replied. She was a little sad she wouldn't get to spend her day off with her beloved Amity, but she was glad she was spending time with Lilith; those two had really rekindled their old apprentice/mentor relationship and seemed closer than ever! It reminded Luz a little of how she and Eda were before Eda became Mom.

"I guess I have a day free. But after being so busy for so long, I've got no idea how to spend it! I think most of my friends are busy…"

She racked her mind for what the Hexsquad and her other friends were up to, while checking her Penstagram for updates. Gus and Matt were hanging out together with Steve, the Magic Mixers were taking a weekend trip together on Valtora's boat, the Twins were bonding with their dad, and the odd trio of Willow, Skara, and Boscha were visiting Cartilia up on the Knee. According to Willow's Penstagram posts, she was filling in for Amelia on the Banshees since the poor girl caught the Mold, and so was helping Skara and Boscha arrange the upcoming Grudgby Game between Hexside and St. Epiderm, which was based in Cartilia.

"It looks like pretty much everyone is busy. Maybe you and I could hang out today King?" Luz suggested.

King briefly looked excited, but then his face fell as he remembered something; "I can't… I've got to go to my therapy appointment today. Mom won't let me get out of it! Plus she wants me to have a proper check up at the clinic on Digale Island."

Eda nodded; "Sorry King, but we need to make sure you're healthy! We don't know much about Titan Biology, and you've gone through quite a few changes lately thanks to those Trapper scumbags."

That was certainly true; aside from his little wings (which he'd started getting the hang of), his brief rage on Titan Trapper Island really had left him with a tiny growth spurt. He was about an inch taller than he was before; only really noticeable to those who knew him well, but still an important development for the young Titan. Pretty much everyone who'd been told what happened agreed that this was because of Luz's blood, which had Titan power infused into it thanks to Orion and Cassiopeia, but the CATTs were still being cautious to make sure both Clawthorne kids were healthy.

"Well that's a bummer. Mom makes me take a day off and I've got no one to spend it with!" Luz pouted.

"Hey, I'm not no one!" Raine piped up with a small smirk; "You can spend the day with me! We haven't really had a chance to spend any time together with it just being the two of us."

Luz's eyes began to shine with excitement; Raine was right! She'd done plenty of stuff with them, but usually with others around! It would be kind of nice to spend some quality time with her Titi!

"That would be awesome!" Luz cheered; "What did you have planned?"

"Actually, I'm visiting my old home town today; Cartilia. Technically, it's a recon mission for the upcoming Coven Day Parade, but the CATTs aren't planning to attack it since its mostly a civilian event, so the recon is just a formality." Raine explained. "I can show you around my old home, and enjoy the festival while I "scout" the place out." they made air quotes with their fingers upon saying scout. Normally Raine wouldn't have bothered with something like this at all, but Darius had insisted that at least someone should keep an eye on the Parade preparations, and Raine had wanted a break and so volunteered for the easy mission.

"So we're going to the Knee? I've been going there a lot lately, but never to the city! Let's do it! I'll go get ready!" Luz cheered, wolfing down her breakfast then running to get changed into some winter clothes.

Raine and the others watched her go with a smile, with Eda kissing Raine on the cheek; "Thanks Raine Storm. That girl has been dealing with too much stuff lately; she really needs a break."

"And probably therapy. Between what Belos, Vitimir, Bill, and Philip have done to her, it's remarkable Luz isn't worse off." Rasiel commented.

"She's a tough kid, but you're right; she could do with someone to talk to about this stuff. I'll talk to the CATTs therapist when I drop King off later; maybe they can help. The pressure of everything is starting to get to her." Eda agreed.

Raine beamed and kissed Eda hungrily, making Rasiel smirk and King avert his eyes and pretend to gag. When they separated, Raine grinned at a blushing Eda; "You know, this responsible adult side of you is weirdly hot!"

"Dang it Raine, if you start doing stuff like that, I'll end up keeping you with me all day and neither of us will get anything done!" Eda said, playfully swatting her lover's shoulder; "Now go get ready yourself, before I decide to drag you back to my nest!"

Raine grinned and gave a flirtatious wink, then obediently left to get their own winter gear on. A few minutes later, Luz and Raine (now dressed in warm clothes) waved goodbye to Eda, King, and Rasiel and began flying up to the Knee. Thanks to Luz's wind magic, they didn't need to worry about the mountain gales, but Raine still insisted they land a little further down the thigh and then walk up the rest of the way so they weren't spotted and intercepted by any of the Covens before they got into town. They soon arrived on the main road leading into Cartilia, and Luz got her first proper look at the city itself. She'd seen it plenty of times from a distance, but one could only truly experience the city from close up.

The city of Cartilia was built into the side of the Knee, in a gigantic witch-made cavern. It looked like an old mine that had been fully opened up and exposed to the air, though only to the east of the city; the west was solid bone and there was no sky directly above thanks to the city being literally built into the Knee. The city was also quite narrow, and built in tiers with wealthier, nicer tiers higher up and the poorer, shabbier tiers lower down. The poorest district was made of wooden shacks outside the Knee itself, and had been built on the side of it like the cliff side sections of Bonesborough. The lowest tier of the city proper was similar in construction and architecture to Bonesborough, though darker due to the limited sunlight and covered in snow that the gales occasionally blew in through the eastern opening. The next tier up was nicer and home to buildings made of shimmering black stone, sort of like marble, and which belonged to the middle class citizens. The snow was kept out by enchanted heat lamps, which also provided light to the people living there. The next tier up, the penultimate tier, was were numerous manors made of black stone and gold filigree were built, housing the wealthiest people in the city. Each home had their own magical artificial sun, and an invisible barrier surrounded the entire district that kept the temperature inside at comfortable levels comparable to the rest of the Isles. Finally, there was the very top tier of the city, which was home only to three buildings; a gleaming white fortress which served as City Hall and the Emperor's Coven Precinct, a huge cathedral-like building with spires made of colourful crystals, and finally a tall pillar that actually reached the top of Cartilia's Cavern and looked to be a natural formation that had been hollowed out and turned into a building. The crest of the Healing Coven marked the pillar as one of their facilities, though Luz wasn't sure if it was the Headquarters or just an outpost.

Luz gasped with amazement as she and Raine walked through the city gates, taking in all the sights and sounds. Cartilia was bigger than Bonesborough so there were even more people about, all dressed in warm winter clothing and setting up stalls and other amusements for the Coven Day Festival.

"This is incredible! Who'd have thought such a big city could be built inside a cavern!" Luz gushed, barely restraining herself from running about and looking at everything.

Raine nodded with a nostalgic smile; "It's a beautiful city alright. You should see it at dawn on a calm snowy day; you can look out to the sky to the east and watch the sunrise as a light powdery snow gently falls on everything. In the morning, when the sun is to the east, it can get pretty warm here too, and the light makes the snow look like it's glowing! It's one of the few things the lower districts have over the upper ones; we get to experience the real weather, both good and bad."

Luz smiled brightly as she looked up at her Titi; they spoke with such unrestrained pride for their old home town. They and their parents had moved to Bonesborough to make a better life for themselves away from the snobbery that infested the city, but it was clear Raine still had very fond memories of the city itself. Luz could see why too; it was a marvellous place and the festival for the upcoming Coven Day was already in full swing despite it being a couple of days away. Everyone was either setting up stalls or enjoying the ones already set up, buying cheap knick-knacks and souvenirs, eating unhealthy but tasty festival food, and playing games that were of questionable fairness, but were fun all the same. It was like a real carnival, and way better than the last Demon Realm Carnival Luz had gone to! She still didn't know if Hooty ever spit that Tibbles guy back up…

"So what's this Coven Day thing about anyway?" Luz asked.

"It's to celebrate the formation of the Coven System, and all its subsequent "successes". Ask Eda and she'd say its just a fancy way of kissing the Emperor's butt, and she'd be right to some degree, but to the common people it's a day to just have fun and enjoy a big Isles-wide party." Raine smiled, gesturing to all the decorations; most of which were Coven Banners. "Festivals like this one start up a few days before Coven Day and last a few days afterwards, and the big event each year is the Parade."

Luz tilted her head curiously; "That's what we're here to check out, right? The prep for the Parade?"

Raine nodded; "That's right. It's a big parade that starts at sundown on the eve of Coven Day and then tours through all the major towns in the Isles. Each year, one of the four furthest towns on each of the Titan's Limbs is chosen as the starting point for the parade. There's Palm Stings on the Left Arm, Nailic down in the Swampy Toes of the Left Leg, Cartilia here on the Right Leg, and lastly Bonesborough in the Right Arm. Last year it was held in Palm Stings, so it should have been Bonesborough this year but…"

"We started a rebellion and now Bonesborough is "neutral." Luz finished with air quotes.

"Yep! So Bonesborough was skipped and it went straight to Cartilia. I heard Latissa was upset they were passed over as Bonesborough's replacement, but that just means we have more people mad at the Empire, which suits us just fine!" Raine said, giving a wink to their niece.

Luz grinned in response; even little things could win them support! Belos wasn't as popular as he thought he was!

Putting that aside, Raine patted Luz on the back to urge her forward; "Well, we're here for recon so let's get to it! I think a good start would be scouting out the stalls; make sure the food isn't tainted and the prizes for the games aren't secretly enchanting with mind control spells!" they winked.

Luz giggled and grabbed their hand to drag them around to every stall that caught her eye, all while Raine laughed and enjoyed the company. They'd come to Coven Day celebrations every year; at first with their parents, then with the Clawthornes after their parents passed away, then with just Eda when they started dating, and then with Katya, Derwin, and Amber when they and Eda had broken up. They were always fun, even if sometimes stained by sombre memories.

They'd arrived in Cartilia at around 9am, and for the next three hours until noon, they "scouted" the place. They ate snacks from various vendors and played all manner of games (Raine had even subtly cheated at one to ensure Luz was able to win, though only enough to make the rigged game fair). But the most fun the two had was just walking together, chatting happily and talking about the city as Raine pointed out landmarks and recalled old memories. When noon finally came, Raine took their niece to a nice, quiet cafe for some lunch, and they found themselves eating warm soup and grilled sleeze sandwiches on a veranda that faced the east, giving them a wonderful view of the isles as a shimmering heat lamp kept them warm.

"Thanks for bringing me here, Titi." Luz said gratefully; "I needed this more than I thought."

Raine nodded; "You're welcome. I know you have a lot on your plate between school, your friends, the CATTs, and all your adventures, but it's important to remember that you're still a child. You should let the adults care for you more."

"I guess you're right. It's just that I'm an Arch-Angel! I'm supposed to help people! I like helping people. I want to help Rasiel find his missing pieces. I want to save everyone from Belos. I want to find and free the Collector, and save Cassiopeia from the limbo she's stuck in. I spent so long thinking I was broken and useless, that now that I can finally do something… I don't know, I guess I just feel like I need to. To make up for lost time, you know?" Luz said.

Raine reached over and gently ran a gloved hand through Luz's curly white locks. Since bonding with the wind glyph, her hair had grown longer and she'd now taken to tying some back into a loose ponytail… Willow, Amity, and Skara loved to play with it and give her various hair styles, but she always defaulted back to the pony tail.

"You're a good girl, Luz. You always were. But that just means you deserve a break even more! Not many are as selfless as you." Raine complimented.

Luz chuckled; "I'm not so selfless. I told you, I like helping people. All the stuff I do makes me as happy as it does other people. Honestly, I think people like you and the BATTs are more impressive; you started the rebellion because you knew it was the right thing to do for the people of the Isles. That's a big deal."

Raine blushed a little, especially seeing the earnest admiration in the girl's face; "I'm not exactly selfless either. The injustices I saw made me angry, so I wanted to do something about it. Plus I sort of wanted to live like Eda; I'd always admired her free spirit so becoming a rebel felt like I had that free spirit too. She was always able to bring out the best in me."

"I still think putting yourself at risk to help others is pretty selfless, even if you gain something from out." Luz pointed out.

"Then can't the same be said of you?" Raine smirked, knowing they'd caught her.

The girl stared at them for a moment, then giggled; "Touché, Titi!"

The two laughed together for a moment, before Luz noticed a few people subtly watching them. They appeared to be regular people enjoying their lunch too, but a few had stealthily taken pictures of them with their scrolls. It occurred to Luz that neither were in any kind of disguise; Luz's wings were shrunken and hidden beneath her winter coat, but that was it! Their faces were on full display.

"I was having so much fun, I forgot we're technically wanted criminals in a town still under Coven control…" Luz whispered, "Should we do something?"

Raine shook their head; "No, we're safe. Remember, you're the girl who fought the "strongest witch on the Boiling Isles" to a stand still, and I'm a former Coven Head in all but name; it'll take a seriously powerful force to capture us together. No one wants to ruin the festival or upcoming parade by picking an unwinnable fight. Even the scouts from the Emperor's Coven are looking the other way; they don't want to get their butts kicked."

"We're that scary!?" Luz gasped.

"You're the Arch-Angel of the Boiling Isles. Whether a person is devoted to the Faith of the Titan and sees you as His Servant, or they're a Wild Witch and see you as a threat, people respect your power. And even if I never took the title formally, I was effectively running the Bard Coven for a few years. Even before I kicked Zamort to the curb, since laziness was one of his other failings." Raine explained.

Spelled out like that, Luz couldn't deny that she sounded pretty intimidating to common people. On a whim, she looked to one of the people watching her and smiled kindly, giving them a little wave. She felt a spike of pride and happiness when they seemed to relax a little and smile back.

"I guess you're right… but enough heavy stuff! We're on a fun day out and I want to know more about your old home town! It's so different from Bonesborough! Well, except this district anyway. Take away the snow and the view, and this place could pass for back home." Luz said, looking around at the familiar architecture.

"That's because this is the Commoner's District, better known as the Ice District. It's the lowest official district in the city, and the oldest part too." Raine explained. "You see, Cartilia started off as a quarry and mining settlement. Thousands of years ago, settlers came to the Knee and wanted to build a city on top of it; the city that eventually became Caplacier. Rather than lugging stone and bone up from below, they started a bone quarry right on the side of the Knee, where some natural erosion had already created an opening. Miners excavated it and turned it into a proper quarry, and rather than travel up the thigh every day, they build a settlement right in the cavern."

Luz listened with interest, reminded of some of the city lore in her Azura books; "Cool! But it's crazy to think that such a rich city started off as a mining town!"

"Mining towns can become surprisingly wealthy, depending on what they dig up! Cartilia was small and poor when it was just a quarry town hauling bone up to Caplacier, but once they started hitting the veins of Titan Blood and other valuable minerals, the miners and mining guilds got rich very fast. Cartilia got fancier just as fast, and the guild leaders and investors moved to be closer to the source of their riches. That led to the Middle Class District with all the black buildings; it's called the Snow District, because its like Ice but softer and more pleasant."

Luz giggled; "Witches back then were poetic! So I'm guessing the other two districts came about when people got even richer?"

"Close. The next district up is the home of the nobles; the Diamond Dust District. So-called because it's like snow, but fancier." Raine smirked; "After the Snow District formed, this place developed a noble culture of its own, so "Old Money" from other places came to live here among their own kind, and lord over the rest of the Isles from on high. All their black stone manors are made from Marrow Marble, a rare kind of hard and pretty stone that is formed from Titan Bone Marrow. It's great for enchanting, so rich people build their houses from it."

"And all the gold is just because it's pretty." Luz guessed. Raine nodded as they took a sip of their drink. Luz then looked up to the very top district, which had only three buildings. "What's the top district called?"

"The Azure Sky District; basically the heavens from which the rest of us descend." Raine said, a hint of bitterness in their voice; "The central building is City Hall, were all the nobles gather to flex their power under the watch of the Emperor's Coven. The huge pillar is Caduceus Grand Hospital; the largest hospital on the Isles and the Headquarters of the Healing Coven. Finally, the big building with the crystal spires is actually my old school, St. Epiderm; an academy for the rich and pompous."

"You don't sound like you're too fond of the place…" Luz frowned; "My friend Viney didn't have any nice things to say about it either… was it really so bad?"

"Only if you're not rich and pompous. Officially anyone can attend if they can afford it or get a scholarship, but there is discrimination and a strict social hierarchy. Noble students on top, wealthy students below, and so on and so forth, with the lowest being the scholarship kids like me. Still, it's better now than it was when I was a kid; the new principal is pretty no nonsense and won't tolerate that stuff. Actually she's the niece of my old mentor Scooter." Raine said, grabbing his scroll and showing Luz a picture.

The woman in the picture looked to be the same Demon species as Scooter Crane; having pale red skin, large clawed hands, and devil-like horns. She was also wearing an outfit similar to Principal Bump's, only with a green stole instead of a blue one. She was smiling next to Scooter, and the old man looked very proud.

"Her name is Kyrie Crane. She's a nice lady, but I tend to avoid her." Raine admitted.

"What? Why?" Luz frowned.

"Awkward history." they replied; "Not long after I broke up with Eda and joined the Bard Coven, Scooter saw I was down and tried to set us up together. He thought we'd be good for each other, but neither of us agreed. We're on friendly terms, or at least we were before I was outed as a rebel, but it's still awkward."

Luz stared at the woman in the picture and tried to imagine her and Raine as a couple, but even without knowing anything about her personality, the image was still a strange and unwelcome one. "I'm biased, but Mom is definitely better." she said after a moment.

Raine snorted; "I'm biased too, and I agree! Anyway, she became the new Principal about five years back and has been slowly turning things around, but I heard rumours the old families that make up the PCA are making it hard for her. Such is life at St. Epiderm."

"Don't you have any good memories of going to school there?" Luz asked.

Raine thought for a moment, then smiled; "There is one. Remember my whistling alchemy trick?"

Luz nodded enthusiastically; "You mean the thing that saved my bacon back with Vitimir? How could I forget!"

Raine smirked as they began to recount the story; "Well not long after I developed it, I decided to get my own back on some of the stuffy noble snobs who looked down on everyone else. They always liked to act like our lunch period was some grand banquet and would have frequent toasts, so one day I waited for them all to make a toast, then whistled to change the chemistry of their drinks! They all took a big sip and promptly spat it out all over each other! They were mortified and the whole school laughed! What's more, because they didn't know what I'd done, they all blamed each other! Half of them ended up in the Detention Pit for attacking each other, and the other half walked around with all kinds of weird spells on them that the school nurse couldn't figure out how to fix!"

Luz burst into giggles; "That's great! Really show those snobs whose boss!"

Raine laughed along with her; "Your Mom said the same thing when I told her about it. That whistling trick was always good for some entertainment, and also got me out of quite a few tight jams!"

"Can you teach it to me?" Luz asked, suddenly grabbing the pitcher of water on the table and pouring herself a glass; "It saved my life a few weeks back, so I really want to learn it myself."

"Sure. Come to think of it I don't think I've taught you any of my magic, have I? Luckily you already rely on your lungs and breath for your ocarina and singing, so you've got the first step down. Now here's what you do…" Raine began, edging a little closer so the two could both easily lean over the glass of water.

For the next little while, Raine carefully taught Luz the trick behind what they called "Sonic Alchemy", using sound waves to change the chemistry of liquids (and theoretically gasses too) into something different. As Raine had said, Luz having already used her lungs heavily for her Bardic/Choir Magic meant she was already used to folding her magic into her breath, so all she needed to learn was how to properly focus on what she wanted. The process itself was easy, but the knowledge required was surprisingly difficult, as one needed some basic knowledge of chemical composition; namely knowing the composition of the desired result. It wasn't strictly necessary to know the composition of the starting material, but that did help too. Thankfully, between Eda's tutelage, and old Chemistry classes from back in the Human Realm, and the things Raine had learned over the years, Luz knew quite a few chemical compositions and after about half an hour of practice, she had mastered turning substances into water (without changing their colour, oddly enough) and also lowering the pH of water to make it into an acidic substance, potentially strong enough to actually do some damage.

Once she'd gotten that far, she leaned back and panted a bit, catching her breath after so much whistling, while Raine patted her back.

"Well done! I've taught that trick to my apprentices, Skara, and Eda, and only Skara picked it up faster." they complimented.

"Thanks, Titi! This'll be really useful, I'm sure of it! Though I wonder how long it took Skara to teach Boscha… she's a genius at Potions, but I don't know if she had any skill with Bardic Magic before that…" Luz commented.

"I didn't, and it took a whole sleepover to get it down."

Luz startled and both she and Raine turned to see three smiling girls walking out onto the cafe's veranda. Two were familiar; they were Willow and Skara, though dressed in winter clothing. The third however was unfamiliar; she appeared to be a regular witch with medium length green hair of a similar shade to Edric and Emira's, but tied into a pair of low-hanging pigtails. Luz had no idea who she was, at least until her voice and the things she'd said registered.

"No way… Boscha!?" she whispered urgently.

The unfamiliar girl smirked and reached into her pocket, removing a Concealment Stone that dispelled her disguise and turned her back into her true form of Boscha Alembic. "In the flesh!"

"I'd forgotten you guys were here to finish setting up the game with St. Epiderm!" Luz smiled, as Raine politely gestured for the girls to join them at their table. "But what's with the disguise?"

"Boscha here is technically wanted by the Emperor's Coven for the incident at the Alchemist's Atelier." Willow smirked; "So she has to go out in disguise when leaving Bonesborough."

"Yup! And Gus was nice enough to make her that Concealment Stone!" Skara chirped.

"Though clearly you two don't have that problem. You're two of the most wanted people on the Isles and you just wander around without disguises?" Boscha asked, looking mildly annoyed.

Luz grinned, then explained what Raine had said earlier about next to no one being stupid enough to confront them, even from the Emperor's Coven. Willow and Skara grinned at that, while Boscha nodded in agreement; she'd taken off her own disguise since she knew they'd protect her if things went south, so she knew they were right.

"So how did it go up at St. Epiderm?" Luz asked.

"Fine, though scheduling games is becoming a pain in the butt. Neither St. Epiderm or Glandus will send their teams to Bonesborough because of the rebellion, so all our games have to be away games." Boscha grumbled, "It's pathetic; as if the rebels would waste their time messing with school kids! What do we look like, the Emperor's Coven?"

Skara and Luz giggled, while Willow rolled her eyes; "You've been repeating that all day. Anyway, it looks like the game will happen but not until after the Day of Unity." the Plant lover said, "So either we're all free of Belos, all Angels, or all dead by the time that happens."

"And as long as we're not dead, I'll actually be able to play by then. If a game happened now, I wouldn't be allowed to play on my own team! Stupid Vitimir and his stupid bounty! As it is, I had to bring Park along because the St. Epiderm Coach demanded that the Banshees all come over to be vetted before they agreed to a game." Boscha griped. "Kinda hard to do that with Amelia out sick and Cat staying behind to look after her! I had to recruit Park and get Skara to agree to be a temporary Banshee again."

"She's been complaining about it non-stop." Willow rolled her eyes.

"It's not fair and you know it!" Boscha snapped, before Skara put a hand on her back to help calm her down. The three-eyed girl took a deep breath and sighed; "Well forget that for now. What are you two doing here? I'd figured you'd still be glued to that nutjob's notes."

Raine briefly explained the situation to the girls, and to Luz's mild annoyance, all three of her friends nodded in agreement.

"Good! You were pushing yourself way too hard! You were a Burnout waiting to happen." Skara nodded approvingly.

"Tell me about it. I'm surprised she didn't crack sooner; an hour of helping with those crummy notes and I was ready to pull my hair out." Boscha muttered, sneering at the memory.

Luz pouted, while Willow leaned over to hug her; "You know we love you Luz, but you were going a little stir-crazy. A break will do you good; flowers need sunlight if they want to grow, and you're no different."

"I'm not a delicate little flower…" Luz whined under her breath, before sighing; "But you're right. Besides, it's been a lot of fun hanging out with Raine! By the way, did you come to this cafe by coincidence or did you just happen to see us?"

"Actually, we heard rumours around town that the Arch-Angel of the Boiling Isles was wandering the streets, so we decided to check it out. Some people posted about you on Penstagram, so we were able to track you down." Willow smiled, before sheepishly adding; "Eda might have also given the whole Hexsquad access to the tracker on your scroll."

Luz blinked, then pouted; "Are you guys my babysitters now?"

"You do get in a lot of trouble." Skara pointed out.

Luz opened her mouth to argue, but found she really couldn't. Since coming to the Demon Realm, the longest she'd gone without getting involved in some kind of adventure was the roughly nine days between her unfortunate Dinner with Vitimir and the even more unfortunate trip to Eclipse Lake. Sure most of the stuff that happened around her wasn't really her fault, but that didn't change the fact she was a trouble magnet. Besides, she wasn't really upset over it; she trusted her friends to respect her privacy and only use the tracker if they needed her.

"Fair enough." she finally said, "What are you girls gonna do now that you're done at St. Epiderm?"

"We were thinking of checking out the festival! It'd be a waste to come all the way here and not enjoy it!" Skara said, bouncing in her seat from excitement.

"Why don't you come with us, Luz? The more the merrier, right?" Willow asked, before leaning in and whispering; "Plus with Skara and Boscha together, I'm stuck as the third wheel!"

Skara seemed to like that idea, and Boscha didn't look to be against it, so Luz's first instinct was to agree. But she'd come for a day out with her Titi and she'd feel bad abandoning them to hang out with her friends. Raine seemed to anticipate what she was thinking and smiled.

"You should go with them. We did come here so you could relax and have fun after all." Raine offered kindly.

The girls looked pleased, but Luz still didn't want to leave Raine alone. She reached out and grabbed their hand; "Only if you come too! I was having fun with you and I don't want to leave you behind!" she turned to her friends; "That's okay with you girls, right? Raine is totally cool, so it'll still be fun!"

"That would be awesome! I haven't got to hang out with Raine outside of training or CATTs stuff since my birthday party!" Skara chirped happily.

Boscha shrugged and nodded, having no issue with the Bard (who'd been the most welcoming of the CATTs leaders, excluding Luz), and Willow didn't mind either so long as she wasn't stuck on her own with her Rival and her girlfriend (even if neither had officially asked the other to be girlfriends yet)!

"Then it's decided! Raine will hang out with us! Plus we can say that you three helped us with our "recon"! That'll get you some more brownie points from Darius!" Luz smiled broadly.

The other girls and Raine all grinned and nodded. They then stood and left together, ready to enjoy more of the festival! They wouldn't likely be attending the Coven Day Parade itself (unless Skara accompanied her Dad) so this was the closest they would get to enjoying it and they intended to make the most of everything Cartilia had to offer!

[Meanwhile]

Up in the Diamond Dust District of Cartilia, Lucy the Silver Sentinel found herself sighing wearily as she left the manor of yet another local noble. She and her brother Hunter had been given the important job of overseeing the preparation and security of the Coven Day Parade, as it was believed to be a high priority target for the CATTs to attack. Personally Lucy didn't agree, but she wasn't going to turn down a chance to get out of the castle.

Ever since her Angelic nature had been exposed, the residents in the castle (excluding Hunter and her Uncle) had taken to borderline worshipping her. They would bow at the sight of her, and if they saw her doing a task, they would jump to do it for her, no matter how much she insisted it was unnecessary. Honestly, if it weren't for Hunter, she might have gone mad!

Well, that wasn't strictly true; she did have two other friends and confidants. One was her new Spirit Ally, which she had taken to calling Shade, since the scouts in the castle had nicknamed it the Silver Shade. Shade was always a good listener and usually happy to talk, especially since being summoned from his stone meant he got to feed on her "Divine Darkness"… whatever that meant. Her other new confidant was surprisingly Osran, who had taken her under his wing. The old man had visited her daily under the guise of teaching her Oracle Magic, and while he certainly had taught her a lot, he was just as interested in making sure she was doing well. Osran would sit with her and talk about his day while asking about hers, occasionally telling her stories of what the Isles were like before Belos, both the good and the bad. He asked about her hobbies and interests, and engaged her in conversation about them, and generally just acted supportively. Lucy was a bit confused at first, thinking Osran was just helping her because Belos asked him too, but he insisted Belos had done nothing more than grant his request to teach her. She'd then thought he was trying to repay her for helping him back on Titan Trapper Island, since her actions had saved their lives by saving Luz's, but again he insisted that wasn't the case, though he was grateful.

No; for all intents and purposes, it seemed like Osran had decided to become her mentor simply because he felt she needed one, and Lucy felt rather touched by it. Osran could be a real old curmudgeon, but he was also kinder than he let on and had both wisdom and wit in equal measures, fascinating Lucy one moment and making her laugh the next. That laugher had been sorely needed too, as since coming back from Titan Trapper Island, Lucy had felt off. Her magic had weakened (though she could still cast spells without need of a staff) and she'd felt weak and weary, almost like she was on the verge of getting sick. A trip to the castle healer had confirmed she was fine and likely just needed rest, though she'd kept that to herself in case Belos effectively grounded her again.

These feelings hadn't lessened by the time she and Hunter were sent to Cartilia, and frankly, they were getting worse! Hunter was currently off doing a sweep of the unofficial slums district of the city, colloquially called the Slush District, and making sure the city's criminal element knew not to cause a problem, while Lucy had been tasked with meeting with the nobles in the Diamond Dust District to ensure they would do their parts to help with the Parade. As an Angel, it was decided she was better for such things, and every single meeting had been tiresome… the Nobles either kissed up to her and borderline worshipped her like the people at the castle, or treated her with the minimum of civility, depending on their opinions of Angels. If she was being honest, the preferred the minimum politeness of those who didn't like Angels over the fawning of those that did… worship made her so uncomfortable!

Thinking on all this just made Lucy even more exhausted, something that was noticed by her Scout escorts.

"Are you alright, Ma'am? Forgive me for saying, but you look a bit pale." one of them said.

Lucy frowned; now that she didn't wear a mask outside of combat, everyone could see her face and expressions, so she had to be mindful of how she looked. It was yet another downside to her pseudo-ascension.

"Fine. Just tired." Lucy replied shortly, mindful not to tell lies. She'd experienced the consequences of lying now that she could speak, and it was NOT pleasant!

Her escorts (selected carefully from among the scouts that wouldn't fuss over her and would maintain professionalism), exchanged looks. Lucy couldn't see their faces behind their masks, but she was sure they were doubtful.

Putting that out of her mind, she began walking towards the Grand Staircase, which served as the primary passage way between the city's four official districts. As luck would have it, the manor they'd just finished visiting was the last of the Nobles she needed to speak to, so now she was technically free until dusk, when she was supposed to meet up with Hunter for dinner.

"What to do in the mean time…?" she thought idly. "Should I check out the festival stalls? Or would that be unbecoming of the Emperor's Silver Sentinel?"

"Why not do so anyway? Who is going to complain? If they do, claim you are inspecting things for signs of foul play." Shade said inside her mind.

"I can't lie, remember?" she countered.

"Then make it true. Go to inspect the festival and enjoy it whilst doing so."

That idea did kind of appeal to Lucy, but she had a feeling Hunter would want to check it out with her. He was hinting about sneaking off to do something fun together after they were both finished with their work. If that was his plan, Lucy wanted to wait for him… besides, she honestly wanted a nap.

Turning to her scouts, she said; "You're free for the rest of the day. Patrol the Snow and Ice Districts. This is an informal patrol, so feel free to go out of uniform or participate in the festival."

Her scouts stood at attention, and she could tell from their fidgeting feet that they were eager to get going. "Thank you, Ma'am!" they all said as one, before rushing off. Lucy watched them go with a smile, then began heading back to the precinct in City Hall, where she could find a bunk to nap in. She walked up the Grand Staircase to the Azure Sky District, but then just as she was about to walk into City Hall, she caught her reflection in the polished silver of a plaque beside the door. Lucy saw her own face, pale and listless, and frowned heavily. She really did look rough, and despite the fact she'd gotten a decent amount of sleep recently, she had bags under her eyes just like her brother's.

She sighed and thought; "I really do look awful."

"You have definitely declined since I met you, Lucy." Shade replied. He used to call her Mistress, but had stopped after Lucy requested it.

The young Angel touched her face and groaned, then looked over her shoulders to her wings. They were always on display now (at her Uncle's insistence), but they had lost their lustre since the incident on Titan Trapper Island. Once they had been bright and silver, shining softly… but now they were dull and grey like a pair of old socks.

"What is wrong with me?" she thought miserably. "Is this Divine Punishment? Did I anger the Titan when I took the portal key from Luz when she was so vulnerable? Rebel or not, she was an Arch-Angel after all…"

"I stole that key, not you." Shade corrected, "And I do not believe this is the Titan's work. However something is definitely wrong with you."

"The Healer at the Castle said I was fine." Lucy pointed out.

"Then perhaps it is time you sought a second opinion?"

Shade used their connection to flash an image of Caduceus Grand Hospital into her mind. Lucy herself had told him about the place when they'd first left the City Hall to begin their rounds, but she hadn't expected him to use that information like this. Slowly, she turned to look towards the Grand Hospital; it was where Head Witch Hettie Cutburn worked, so if she decided to visit, she could pass it off as just part of the inspection for Coven Day. She and Hunter had originally decided not to bother going there, as Hettie had a reputation for running a tight ship, but if anyone was going to be able to find out what was wrong with her, it would be Hettie.

"Alright. I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask her. I've got the time." Lucy conceded, walking away from City Hall and towards Caduceus Grand Hospital. Since the building had basically been carved straight out of the Titan Bone already present, it looked like a giant bone itself, though up close Lucy could see a huge amount of intricate patterns carved into it, forming runes and spell formulas. Most were purely aesthetic and were based on old wives tales about death-repelling wards, but a few were genuine protective enchantments that kept the building safe.

Walking through the front doors, Lucy found herself in a foyer of white tiles and dark blue linens, giving the place a sterile but oddly homey feel. A few people were waiting to be checked in for minor afflictions, and Healers were running about in full uniform. The Healers Coven had three different uniforms, all matching the theme of white clothing with dark blue head coverings of some sort, and the Healing Coven sigil over their hearts. The Guards wore white leather and had simple blue hoods that covered their faces, while also wielding surgical tools as weapons. The practicing healers wore either long flowing white robes with blue headscarves, or simple white tunics and pants with little blue caps atop their heads, resembling Human Realm nurse's hats. The two uniforms differentiated the regular Healers (the robed ones) from the Emergency Healers (the ones with pants).

The reception desk had nine people attending it and nine lines of people waiting to talk to a healer, but the moment Lucy joined a random one, the people in that line recognised her and parted to let her go ahead of them. None of them looked to be in urgent need of help and Lucy was in no mood to argue with them, so she simply nodded her thanks and moved to the front of the line. The Receptionist Healer's eyes widened at the sight of her, but he remained professional.

"Good day, Madam Sentinel. How might I help you today?" he asked.

"I'm in Cartilia to do inspections and run security checks prior to the Coven Day Parade. I would like to speak to Head Witch Cutburn at her earliest convenience." Lucy replied.

"Of course Ma'am. I'll inform her of your arrival immediately." the Receptionist bowed, then opened a Comm-pact on his desk. Lucy couldn't see the mirror, but she heard the deep and distinct voice of Hettie Cutburn answer.

"Yes, what is it?"

"The Silver Sentinel is here to see you, Head Witch. She requests a meeting at your earliest convenience."

There was a pause, then Hettie replied; "I had wondered when she'd come. Send her up to my office, I will be there as soon as my surgery ends."

The call then went silent, and the Receptionist relayed the Head Witch's message to Lucy, before gesturing to one of the doors on the side of the reception; "Please head on up. The Pneumo-Veins will take you to the Head Witch's office on the top floor."

Lucy nodded her thanks and walked through the indicated door to the main chamber of the Hospital. She barely held in a gasp of amazement as she took in the true form of the hospital; the interior of which was almost entirely one single massive atrium. She could look up and see just about every floor in the place, each one being a different ward dedicated to different kinds of injuries, maladies, or medical research. Demons and Witches of all kinds were laying in comfy beds as the Healers dealt with them, while other Healers poured over books and worked with mannequins and consenting test subjects to discover new healing magics and treatments. There were almost no stairs too; everything was connected by an elaborate series of multi-coloured crystal tubes; the Pneumo-Veins, which would suck people up and transport them anywhere they asked. They were aptly named too, as they really did look like a series of blood vessels. Lucy had read about them before and was very eager to try them out.

Walking to the closest Pneumo-Vein entrance, Lucy stepped onto the spongy platform and then watched as a kind of magic gel rose up and formed a capsule around her. A soft voice then said: "Please state your destination."

"Head Witch Cutburn's Office." Lucy stated.

There was a chime, then a green ray of light appeared at her feet and slowly moved up her body, scanning her. Once it was done, there was another chime followed by the soft voice saying; "Now departing."

The capsule Lucy was encased in then shot up through the Pneumo-Veins at incredible speeds, rocketing her up to the very top of the building. Yet despite how fast she was moving and how many twists and turns the capsule took as it navigated the system, Lucy didn't feel a thing. It was almost like she was standing still and the world around her was moving instead. The Pneumo-Veins were designed to transport patients after all, and many would be in bad shape where rapid movement could be dangerous. As such, the capsules nullified the feeling of inertia for all inside, ensuring they got where they were going quickly and safely. The trip also let Lucy get a good view of the upper levels of the Hospital, where the private rooms and surgical theatres were.

After a short trip however, Lucy's capsule shot into the ceiling of the tower and all she saw was darkness until she finally arrived at the very top floor of the hospital; Hettie's personal clinic and office. The capsule came to a stop and the magic gel dissolved, allowing Lucy to step out into the clinic. She was completely alone, Hettie not having arrived yet, so she took the opportunity to look around.

On the surface, Hettie's large circular office was split into two halves with the entire room being well illuminated by windows that covered 90% of the walls. The eastern half to Lucy's right was a homey looking area with a soft blue carpet and white sofas, as well as a medical bed and Hettie's desk, which was large just like the woman herself. The western half looked more like a clinic, with white tiles and another medical bed surrounded by medical devices and machines the likes of which Lucy had never seen. Many appeared to be a bizarre amalgamation of flesh, abomination technology, and some other type of tech made from metal and wires. It gave Lucy the creeps, so she avoided looking at it and instead went over to the east-facing window and looked out at the city of Cartilia below; she was so high up that she had an incredible view of the city and the Isles beyond it, yet no one could see her… it was strangely enthralling.

Lucy was so enthralled that she didn't notice that she wasn't alone for long.

"Enjoying the view, Miss Sentinel?"

Lucy squeaked in surprise and spun around, coming face to masked face with the large and imposing Hettie Cutburn. Hettie was a tall, very muscular woman that towered over just about everyone Lucy knew, making her feel tiny in her presence. However aside from her height and muscular frame, very little of her features could be seen due to being almost entirely covered by her outfit. Said outfit consisted of a two tone blue dress, with the main body being a very dark navy blue, and the sides of the skirt and her shoulders being covered by a lighter blue. A thin white belt sat around her waist, matching the white gloves she wore over her clawed hands, and the mostly white headdress she wore. The headdress covered her neck and most of her head with white material, and featured long white horns capped with flat blue ends. The upper part of her face was instead hidden by a blue ceramic mask, and her outfit was completed by a golden medallion on her chest that bore the blue sigil of the Healing Coven, and two blue ribbons attached to the bottom.

Lucy didn't know why Hettie covered herself so much, but she assumed it was to stay safe and sterile. The only part of Hettie that was uncovered was her mouth and chin; the latter of which was strong and square, while the former was decorated with extremely dark blue lipstick and a pleasant smile.

"Head Witch Cutburn. I apologise for taking time out of your schedule but I have important business with you." Lucy said formally.

Hettie smiled; "I assume you're here for a proper check up?"

Lucy blinked in surprise; "W-Well officially I'm in Cartilia for security reasons."

"Yes, but that's not why you came here to my hospital. Don't be shy dear, I know you're worried about your health." Hettie said, silently gesturing for the girl to take a seat on the medical bed on the comfier side of the room.

She obediently sat down and worriedly asked; "Did the Healer at the castle tell you?"

"No. We take Healer-Patient Confidentiality very seriously in the Healing Coven. It's part of our Healing Vows, along with "Do no harm that is not to save." Had the Healer I assigned to the castle spoken to me of your visit, I would have been quite cross." Hettie said.

"Then how did you…?"

Hettie smiled a bit wider; "I have eyes. This mask hides them, but they are present and they work. I have attended meetings with you since your recent physical changes and I've seen the signs of exhaustion. Honestly, I was expecting you to visit me at some point, though I suspected the Emperor would order you to come here."

"You mustn't tell him!" Lucy blurted out, making Hettie stare at her intensely. She quickly added; "I don't want him to confine me to the castle again. I'm not so weak that I can't do my job, but Uncle can be very protective…"

The Healer tapped her chin; "Technically, as you are still a minor I should report any medical needs to your guardian… but since the Emperor has insisted on treating you and your brother as adults, I see no reason to report to him on this."

That made Lucy sigh with relief; "Thank you, Head Witch Cutburn."

"Not at all. Now describe your symptoms and all the effects that have happened to your body since your ascension. Leave nothing out." Hettie instructed, taking a seat on the sofa beside the bed and conjuring a clipboard.

For the next few minutes, Lucy essentially gave Hettie her full medical history; how she'd lost her voice and her memory when her Father killed her Mother and attacked her, how she'd been a stunted Cherub, how she'd received blessings from Belos and eventually Luz to keep her alive, and how she'd felt after emerging from the Primordial Wellspring. It culminated in her partial ascension and then the exhaustion and slow degradation of her power since returning, including the discolouration of her wings.

Hettie listened carefully, jotting down notes as Lucy spoke, and when the girl was finished she hummed; "How peculiar… Did you receive check ups to your throat before your ascension? To try and restore your voice?"

"Yes. The Healer at the Castle said my voice box had been removed. I think it must have been badly damaged by my Father, and then removed by my Uncle so it wouldn't hurt me." Lucy replied.

"Hmm, that was foolish. We could have restored it had it merely been damaged, but we don't yet possess the ability to restore lost body parts… though I doubt it's coincidence that you regenerated your voice box after being exposed to Miss Noceda's magic. I witnessed her use some brand of Angelic Magic to regenerate her hand after it was cut off in her escape from the Castle." Hettie mused. "Which brings me to my theory; I believe the combination of Miss Noceda's Blessing and exposure to the Titan Magic of the Wellspring kickstarted your stunted magic and caused your partial ascension. However neither of those things addressed the underlying issue that caused your stunted nature, and so once their power began to wear off, you began to weaken further and further."

Lucy looked fearful; "D-Does that mean I'll regress back to a stunted Cherub when its gone completely!?"

Hettie shook her head; "No, I don't believe so. Your body isn't actually regressing, but because Miss Noceda's power jump-started your growth, your body is now continuing to grow naturally. But while before it used the power of the Blessing to fuel this growth, it is now using your own power, resulting in this lethargy and apparent diminished state."

The young Angel blinked a few times; "So… It's basically like magical growing pains?"

"In a sense, yes." Hettie nodded; "Though this is honestly just a theory on my end. I would need more information to confirm it. Would you be willing to allow me to examine you properly? I'll do nothing invasive, I promise."

Lucy hesitated, but ultimately agreed. She'd come here for help, so no point in letting her squeamishness stop her! Hettie seemed delighted, and openly admitted to being ecstatic at the chance to examine a real Angel so she could finally document the physiology of the Divine Race.

For the next hour, Hettie gave Lucy a thorough examination, doing just about everything she could do without taking off the girl's clothes or doing anything invasive. She examined every accessible part of Lucy's body meticulously and with extreme care, from the tips of her toes all the way to the crown of her head, and even her hair. Hettie paid special attention to her throat, eyes, wings, and heart, and took a hair sample (carefully snipping off a single strand), since those were the areas that had been most changed by Lucy's ascension, but she soon found herself hitting a roadblock, which both fascinated and annoyed her.

"Biologically, you seem to be almost identical in general make-up to a Human or Witch. Your ears would mark you as Witch-like, but you have a larger heart, more akin to a Human. Unusually large blood vessels also seem to link the heart and wings directly… There also appears to be some kind of mass around the heart itself, like a hard shell… how fascinating."

"Okay… so what does that mean for my health?" Lucy asked.

"Sadly, I can't tell. I could glean more if I used my machines, but that would take time… and I'd need a point of comparison." Hettie explained.

Lucy looked at the clock on the wall; "It's only a little passed noon, so I have time if you do. But what do you mean by a point of comparison?"

"Simply put, I need another Angel. Once who is typical, or as close to typical, as possible so that I can compare your results to theirs and see how they differ."

The Sentinel frowned; there were only two known Angels on the Isles besides her. Her Uncle Belos wasn't typical, being ten-winged and infected by a rotting curse, and more importantly keeping his true nature a secret. Then there was Luz, who Hettie undoubtedly meant. Being as they were very similar angels from the same Crest Order, she made the most sense… but that wasn't likely to happen anytime soon.

"I don't think Luz will agree to be a part of this. She probably wants me dead for taking the Portal Key." Lucy frowned. "Besides, we'd need to go all the way to Bonesborough to capture her."

"Actually…" Hettie began to grin; "Miss Noceda is currently in Cartilia, alongside Raine Whispers."

Lucy gasped; "What!? They must be here to sabotage the parade!"

Hettie shook her head; "Actually, they seem to be here on Recon, though from what my people have overheard, that's just an excuse to enjoy the festival. Cartilia is Raine's home town, so I believe they are just here to relax. Besides, attacking the parade would lower the support of the people towards their rebellion, and Raine is smart enough to know that."

"You're very well informed." Lucy frowned.

"Cartilia is MY city. I make it a point of pride to know everything that is going on here. Now, if you are willing to wait, I will send a polite request to Miss Noceda and have her visit us here." Hettie said.

"Well no harm in trying I guess. But do you really think that'll work?" the young Angel asked. "Wouldn't she assume it's a trap and refuse to come?"

Hettie grabbed her Comm-pact with a knowing smile, and opened it. The face of an unfamiliar Healer appeared on it; "What can I do for you, Head Witch?" they asked.

"The Arch-Angel of the Boiling Isles is in Cartilia and I would like to meet with her. Please send some people to invite her here for a meeting. And ensure they pass along a message that should she come willingly, I will meet her at the door and offer my oath that neither I nor anyone under my command will attempt to capture her for the Emperor until after sunrise tomorrow." Hettie instructed, effectively answering Lucy's question.

The Healer on the other side of the call looked surprised, but agreed immediately and began repeating the orders to someone off-screen. They then looked back and asked; "What if the Arch-Angel still refuses?"

"Then convince her by any means necessary. Invite her friends along, or appeal to her kind nature by asking for help healing our patients. It would be informative to see her healing close up after all." Hettie said, waving her hand dismissively. She didn't care how they got Luz to visit; she just wanted the girl to come to the hospital.

The Healer nodded and said; "It will be done, Head Witch." before ending the call. Hettie nodded happily and put the Comm-pact away as she turned back to Lucy.

"There; now we wait." Hettie said, before giving a sly grin; "And just because I said that neither myself nor anyone under my command will threaten Miss Noceda, doesn't mean that you and people outside my control can't try to apprehend her, should you choose to try."

Lucy gulped and nodded; if Luz really did show up and see her, then a fight would almost certainly break out! There was no way she wouldn't be furious about the Portal Key, so there was a good chance she'd attack her on sight, and it was fight Lucy wasn't likely to win even if she was in perfect health! At least she'd have Hettie and the Healing Coven Guards backing her up… they may be forced not to try and capture Luz, but that didn't mean they couldn't defend themselves (and Lucy) against her!

Still, the poor girl felt her heart hammering with nerves; this wasn't going to end well, she could feel it!

[Meanwhile]

Luz laughed heartily alongside Skara and Raine as she watched Willow and Boscha competing against each other at one of the festival games. They were competing to see who could use their magic to pop as many balloons as they could without crossing over the line or casting spells that conjured something past the line. Willow had used her wooden bangles to grow a Shooting Seed Pod to fire seeds at the balloons like a mini Gatling Gun, while Boscha was using her Potioneer Belt to whip up potion grenades to toss at the balloons. The poor Stall owner was frantically trying to conjure more balloons for them to pop while their timer was still running, and Skara and Luz had taken to helping him even as they laughed.

Willow and Boscha had gotten into a weird competition to see who could win the most festival games, and so far Boscha was winning 7-5, much to Willow's annoyance. That went up to 7-6 when the timer ran out though, causing Willow to cheer.

"Yes! 167 balloons to your 154! I told you that speed and accuracy was better than power in this game!" Willow shamelessly boasted.

Boscha scoffed; "Whatever, Park! I'm still winning!"

"For now, but I'm coming for the top spot, Alembic!" Willow shot back.

Both were being highly competitive and less than sporting, but they also both appeared to be having fun, which was all the others cared about. Luz, Raine, and Skara were competing against each other in a similar manner, though a lot less intensely, and so far Raine was blowing the girls out of the water, and Skara was ahead of Luz, though the young Angel didn't mind.

They moved onto the next game, where a stern faced man was holding a giant mallet. The man's feet were also very large, and had a target painted on them.

"Hit my foot with the mallet. The louder I scream, the better your score." the man grunted, pointing to an enchanted device floating beside his head which would measure the decibels of his scream.

Luz was briefly horrified, but the others didn't even blink as they accepted the mallet from him. Skara giggled as she raised it above her head and brought it down on the man's foot with all her strength, only to get a meagre grunt from the Demon. The score was equally underwhelming, making Skara pout as she handed the mallet to Luz. Luz watched as the Demon cast a healing spell on his foot, then gave her an expectant look. She wasn't too invested in winning their contest and didn't actually want to hurt this guy, so she just raised the mallet high and smacked it down lightly, not even getting a squeak from the Demon, and thus no score at all.

"Not you kind of game, eh?" Raine asked, accepting the mallet from her.

Luz nodded and Skara grinned; "Great! Maybe I'll win this one!"

Raine chuckled; "Sorry, but no." they said, before slamming the mallet onto the man's foot with shocking strength. The man promptly screamed, easily beating Skara's score.

Skara pouted as Luz laughed; "Better luck next time, Skara! Titi is really good at these games!"

"No kidding!" Skara whined a little as Boscha stepped up to take her turn. Disappointed with her showing, Skara looked over to the prizes to see what she could get with her point score, but her eyes were drawn to a soft glow in the shadows of the alley behind the stall. Looking closer, Skara saw some pretty looking flowers growing out of a crack in the ground and glowing a soft blue. The young Bard smiled; she hadn't seen flowers like that before! They looked pretty, so she decided to go and pluck one.

She wandered into the alley, still in full view of her companions and stooped to pick the flower, only to be suddenly yelled at by Boscha and Willow.

"STOP!" they both cried, abandoning the game and running over to her. Skara's hand was millimetres from the flower, and Boscha immediately grabbed her and pulled her away.

"Don't touch those!" the three-eyed girl ordered sternly.

"What? Why?" Skara asked, looking between Boscha and the innocent looking flowers as Luz and Raine came over to see what the fuss is about.

"Those are Nightshines! They're extremely poisonous!" Willow explained urgently.

Skara paled and edged away from the flowers; "Oh wow! Is just touching them enough to poison you?"

"Only when they're glowing." Willow said; "They're called Nightshines because they glow in the dark, as they produce a poisonous glowing powder when out of direct light. The poison will make you really sick if you absorb it through the skin, and if you manage to ingest the flower itself, even when it's not glowing, you'll be dead in minutes!"

Raine nodded grimly; "These things grow all over Cartilia. They're weeds, but they're pretty when they glow so the nobles refuse to allow the Plant Coven to clear them out. They also look like Cerulea Poppies when not glowing, so a lot of people grow them by mistake."

"Nobles keeping them around because they're pretty to look at is kinda messed up." Luz frowned.

"Yeah, almost everyone living below the Snow District gets Nightshine poisoning at least once in their lives; I know I did!" Raine shuddered at the memory. "And there's at least one death a year from someone drinking tea made from them, thinking they're Cerulea Poppies."

The girls all looked horrified; "That's terrible!" Willow cried.

"That's life for the poor in this city. Only the people stuck in the slums, AKA the Slush District are usually desperate enough to make Cerulea Tea, since it's healthy but tastes awful, so they're usually the only ones who die… the Nobles hate the Slush District for being an eyesore, so they don't care if someone dies." Raine scowled, turning towards the Grand Staircase and glaring up at the Diamond Dust District. They knew for a fact that no Nightshines grew up there! The nobles just saw pretty lights from on high and a way to get rid of the "eyesores"…

The girls were disgusted and glared up at the upper districts too. Luz and Willow even exchanged looks, both silently considering using their magic to grow some Nightshines up in the higher districts too! It would serve those stuck-up nobles right… but many probably had children who wouldn't know any better, and neither wanted to hurt someone who didn't deserve it, so they ultimately decided against it. Instead, Willow used a plant spell to wither the Nightshines and completely destroy them, ensuring no one else stumbled into them and got sick.

With the mood soured a bit, they all left the alley and tried to get back into the games and stalls, but the girls were still upset and Raine still felt the old bitterness that had followed them since their time living in Cartilia.

"It kinda bothers me that there's so much wrong with the Isles that I just didn't care about before." Boscha muttered as she and Skara walked together, hand in hand. "The whole reason I refused to join the CATTs at first was because I didn't care about the rebellion, but hearing stuff like this… nobles in this town let people get sick or die so they can have pretty flowers when it gets dark, and everyone else just has to suck it up? It's terrible. I'm almost thankful to Vitimir for opening my eyes!"

Skara squeezed her hand; "You're with us now, and that's what matters. But how did you know about the Nightshines? Willow makes sense since she's a plant nerd, and Raine obviously lived here, but I didn't take you for a plant person."

"The potions track teaches a lot about poisons." Boscha answered simply.

"It's a good thing too." Raine chimed in as they walked; "Just about everyone in Cartilia knows about those flowers, but most visitors just assume they're Cerulea Poppies. I swear that half the tourists who come here and wind up in Hospital do that because they see "glowing poppies" and try to pick them. The news should have spread, but the nobles don't want to decrease tourism."

"No offence to the Cadence or Alembic families, but nobles suck." Willow scowled.

The others all agreed with varying levels of enthusiasm, and Skara was already making plans to bring this up with her dad. Severin was a Coven Head now; if anyone had some authority to do something about this, it would be him! After that, it took a little while and some coaxing from Raine, but eventually the girls' good moods began to return and they got back into their contest at the game stalls. The facts they just learned lingered at the back of their minds, especially for Luz, but they were increasingly able to ignore it in favour of actually enjoying themselves again. However, that didn't last long either.

Just as the group were walking past the Grand Staircase to the northern half of town, they were suddenly stopped when someone shouted "HALT! DO NOT MOVE, LUZ NOCEDA!"

They (and many civilians wandering the streets) turned to see a squad of about six witches and demons marching towards them from the upper districts, each one wearing white leather armour, a dark blue hood, and a winter cloak. They all had the sigil of the Healing Coven on their chests and wore battle ready expressions as they marched towards Luz, quickly surrounding her and her friends.

Luz looked at them without much concern; "Healing Coven members? These guys have fighters too?"

"All of the Top Ten Covens do. Most magic can be used in battle if you're clever." Raine said, equally unconcerned.

The Captain of the Combat Healers scowled at the Bard, then ignored them and the girls in favour of focusing on Luz; "Luz Noceda, Head Witch Hettie Cutburn has ordered that you come to the Caduceus Grand Hospital immediately! You are to surrender and come with us at once! Do not attempt to resist; we have authorisation to bring you in "by any means necessary" from the Head Witch herself!"

Luz stared at them for a moment; the Captain was some kind of four eyed mouse demon, with two tails swishing behind him. He was also fairly tall and muscular, but that was hardly intimidating to the Arch-Angel. She turned away from the man to Raine and her friends and asked; "Are these guys serious?"

"Looks like it." Skara said casually; "I guess someone finally reported you, so the Emperor's Lackeys took notice."

"But seriously, they only sent six? There are three wanted criminals here and they only sent two for each of us? I went toe to toe with Vitimir, and that's not even including what Luz and Raine have done! I'm kinda offended." Boscha mocked, intentionally not including Skara or Willow, since they technically weren't publicly known as rebels and thus shouldn't fight if they didn't need to.

The Captain of the Healers went red in the face, then yelled; "Silence brat! We don't care about you or Whispers, we're only here for the Angel! Stay out of our business if you don't want to be arrested! Now come along, Luz Noceda! We don't have all day!"

Luz frowned; "Noceda-Clawthorne. It's Luz Noceda-Clawthorne."

"O-Okay!?" The Captain stuttered, getting angry at the lack of reaction. He prided himself on being one of the top Combat Healers in the Coven, so it bothered him that he wasn't getting the respect he felt he deserved. He drew a blue spell circle and conjured a giant silver scalpel, which he wielded like a spear; "Now are you going to come with us peacefully, or do we do this the hard way?"

Luz answered by conjuring a light sword, while Raine and Boscha summoned their staves. Willow and Skara stepped back, knowing they wouldn't be needed for this fight. However Luz turned to Raine and Boscha when she saw they were getting involved and said; "Let me handle this on my own. I want to stretch my wings a little and try out some new combos."

Without arguing, the two turned their Palismen back into their animal forms and stepped back to let Luz handle this alone. The other five Combat Healers then summoned their own weapons; one wielded syringes like throwing knives, one had an IV stand as a Bo-staff, two had rolls of bandages as restraints, and the last one split a pair of giant scissors into duel-wielded blades.

Luz whistled; "You really do like the medical theme, huh?"

"Do not underestimate us! Even a powerful opponent cannot hope to stand up to six Combat Healers!" the Captain boasted.

The Arch-Angel chuckled and her clothes glowed before transforming into her Holy Raiment, her six wings shining brilliantly as she spread them wide behind her. Immediately, the fire glyph on her right hand began to glow and warm her body up, countering the effects of the cold on the light clothing, and the wind glyph on her right foot glowed too as she began gently hovering with a soft breeze-like aura around her.

"I'll be sure to remind you of that when you're on the ground in about… five minutes?" Luz teased, acting more like a child engaging a rival in a school yard game than warrior about to fight six assailants.

Angered, the Captain gave a battle cry and charged at Luz, his scalpel blade glowing blue as he tried to slice her. Luz parried with her light blade but frowned as she felt some of her magic being cut away and the blade shrinking slightly. It looked like the blue magic of the scalpel damaged her magic directly… that could be a problem for an Angel that needed magic to live, but Luz didn't intend to give the Captain a second swing.

In a flash, Luz's light blade turned red as she infused it with Fire's Aspect of Destruction and then before anyone knew what was happening, Luz was behind the Captain and his scalpel spear had hit the ground in two pieces, sliced in half with little effort. The man stared dumbly at the destroyed weapon… he'd barely seen Luz move to attack it! He tried to spin around, a spell circle in his fingers as he turned, but the instant he laid eyes on Luz again, she slashed him with her light sword, which had now turned blue as she switched out fire magic for ice magic. He barely had a chance to gasp before he was coated in ice, leaving him frozen beneath the neck.

"W-What!?" he chattered as he squad gaped.

Luz, still floating, lifted her right foot and wiggled her toes; "A little aura of wind to boost my speed! Let's me move pretty fast! Too bad my brain can't keep up with my body when going that fast, or I'd be unstoppable!" she grinned.

"D-Don't just stand there you idiots! C-Capture her!" The Captain yelled to his squad.

The duel-wielding Combat Healer let out a battle cry and dashed at Luz, extending the range of his scissor blades with blue magic until they were too long for Luz to reasonably dodge. She countered with an ice barrier instead, which stopped the blades but still allowed them to drain her magic a bit more.

Luz frowned; "That's annoying. Let's try Sleep Powder!"

With her barrier still up to stop the brunt of the Healer's attacks, Luz filled the inside of the ice dome with Sleeping Nettles using the plant glyph, then promptly burned them with the fire glyph to release smoke and powdery ash with the properties of the nettles. Her wind aura kept her from inhaling it herself, and she promptly dropped the barrier and used more wind magic to direct the Sleep Powder towards the Healers.

Instantly, the scissor wielding Combat Healer got a face full of the stuff and promptly passed out, but before the powder could reach the other three, they pressed something inside their hoods which covered their faces with enchanted cloth masks that functioned like gas masks. Luz was almost impressed as she used wind magic to disperse the powder so no one else was effected. The remaining three Healers then decided to jump in and attack her together; the bandage wielding ones directing the bandages to try and ensnare Luz while the syringe wielding one threw her weapons at the girl in an attempt to administer a sleeping drug and drain more of her magic with that blue aura.

Luz's casual wind aura wasn't strong enough to deflect those attacks on their own, so Luz instead flew straight up at high speed and watched as the bandages snaked through the air to chase her and the missed syringes magically returned to their owner's hand so she could throw them again.

"The bandages are fast, and I bet they'd drain my magic too. I'll cut 'em to ribbons!" Luz giggled, using the plant glyph to summon hundreds of fresh green leaves. She then coated them all with light magic to turn them into leaf-shaped light blades, then blasted them with wind magic. It took a huge amount of focus to control each leaf with a different wind current, but Luz found that by focusing on a specific target rather than the leaves, she was able to direct them all to slice through the air towards them. The leaves spun like little light buzz saws and shredded the bandages coming towards Luz while she lazily dodged the thrown syringes. The bandage wielding medics soon found their weapons expended and began to conjure more, but before they could, Luz suddenly flew directly above them, each of her six wings glowing with silver wind magic.

"Dual Wingbeat!" she grinned, flapping her wings hard and blasting both of them with a powerful gale that was enough to smash them into the ground. They were still conscious, but the wind was blowing down on them too hard for them to stand, leaving them vulnerable to Luz suddenly adding ice magic to her wind, creating a mini blizzard that froze them both like their Captain.

That left only the syringe wielding healer, who looked pretty terrified. She desperately threw her syringes at Luz, but the girl countered with a cry of "Hurricane!" and conjured a thick wall of spiralling winds around herself that caught the syringes and kept them in flight, preventing the healer from summoning them back to her. They still drained Luz's magic a little, but she didn't actually need to infuse much into the wind to control it, so she could handle the loss. Finally, Luz created a fireball and infused it with wind magic, causing it to turn blue as the flames intensified in strength. Luz pointed the blue flames at the healer and smiled.

"Nighty night! Blue Flare!" she grinned, before blasting the flames towards the woman in a massive stream far too big to be dodged. The woman screamed and dove to the floor, where she passed out from sheer fright. Luz's flames spluttered out before they even reached her however, as Luz had never intended to hit her with the incinerating flames (that would be cruel). She'd intended to just make her dodge into a trap, as Luz had channelled some vines underground, ready to bind the woman when she dove to the ground… not much need for that now she was passed out, but oh well.

"And that's all of them!" Luz smiled, dismissing the hurricane after carefully directing the syringes into the ground around her, where she shot them with red light beams. She transformed her raiment back into her winter clothes and shrank her wings down once again. "Easy enough!"

She looked around at the stunned, frozen, and unconscious Combat Healers with satisfaction, then frowned as a thought occurred to her. "Wait, weren't there six of these guys? What happened to the one with the staff?"

Boscha, who was torn between gaping at Luz's strength and laughing her butt off at the Healers' poor showing, just pointed over to the Grand Staircase, where the last Combat Healer and a small squad of Coven Scouts were trying to sneak away. They froze upon being noticed by the young Arch-Angel, then promptly screamed and ran up the stairs as fast as they could, retreating to the Azure Sky District.

"Wait, where did those scouts come from?" Luz frowned.

"They came to join the fight against you while you were in your barrier making Sleep Powder. After they saw you take out the scissor guy and then shoot that huge swarm of Razor Leaves, they gave up and ran away with the staff guy." Willow explained in a loud voice, ensuring the watching civilians could hear her every word.

The civilians began to mutter, some looking at Luz fearfully while others scowled at the retreating scouts. Seeing an opportunity, Luz walked to the frozen Healers and used some Sleeping Nettles to put them to sleep, then thawed them out and used vines to gently gather the five unconscious foes in the centre of the little square that had become their battlefield. She then knelt and cast some healing spells on them, prompting Skara to ask what she was doing.

"Just healing them up. I don't like hurting people, so the least I can do is make sure they're alright." Luz said.

"They tried to attack you." Boscha reminded her.

"They were ordered to. I doubt it was personal, so no need to make it personal on my side either." Luz smiled kindly.

The people began to mutter a bit more loudly, and a few citizens who were also in the Healing Coven moved forward to assist Luz, making sure the defeated Combat Healers were okay. That made Luz smile, as the fearful looks she was getting began to die down. She would have healed the idiots anyway, but she was glad she was also able to make the locals less afraid of her!

A few moments after finishing up with the Healers, there was a commotion over by the Grand Staircase and Luz and her friends looked over to see an unusual sight. The Combat Healer with the IV Stand/Bo-Staff was coming back down… being dragged along by the ear like an errant school boy by another Healer. This one was an elderly, dark-skinned woman with glasses, dressed in a white robe and blue headscarf, denoting her as one of more common Healers. Following behind her were twelve Emergency Healers wearing white tunics and pants, and blue nurses hats. Ten of the twelve were paired up and carrying stretchers ready to use, while the remaining two were just causally following the older woman, smirking at the Combat Healer's predicament.

Once they arrived in the Ice District, the woman gestured for the Emergency Healers to take the five unconscious Combat Healers and put them on the stretchers, then return them to the hospital. They gave them a quick once over, but upon seeing Luz had healed them, they nodded gratefully and left. The Elder Healer then marched over to Luz and bowed politely, while forcing the last Combat Healer to bow his head low.

"Good afternoon, Miss Noceda-Clawthorne. I am Healer Dorothea, senior member of the Healing Coven. I have come to correct a misunderstanding and ensure this fool properly apologises on behalf of his teammates." she said politely.

Luz bowed politely in return; "Nice to meet you, Healer Dorothea. You can just call me Luz. But what is this misunderstanding?"

Dorothea gave the man beside her a glare; "These fools were never meant to attack you or try to capture you. Head Witch Cutburn's orders were to invite you to the hospital and try to convince you by any means necessary. Violence was never meant to be a part of the equation, but that fool captain and his hot-headed team thought this was their chance for glory and advancement."

"I'm very sorry!" the Combat Healer cried fearfully.

Raine and Boscha moved to stand side by side with Luz, while Willow and Skara remained just behind them. Raine crossed their arms; "We appreciate the apology and explanation, Healer Dorothea. But you can understand why we'd refuse this invitation."

Dorothea nodded; "I do, Mx. Whispers. However it would be remise of me not to explain. Head Witch Cutburn asks for a peaceful meeting with you, and has offered to make an oath not to attempt to capture you or allow anyone under her command to attempt to capture you until sunrise tomorrow. I believe she wants to see you for purely medical reasons."

Luz looked intrigued, but Boscha quickly said; "Remember Vitimir? He made an oath too, and he worked around it! Cutburn could just plain attack you without trying to capture you, or be luring you into a trap so people not under her command can nab you! Don't trust these Coven guys!"

"You've got a good point. Sorry, but I don't know if I can trust Hettie enough to go along with this. I've got to say no." Luz decided.

"Please Miss Noceda-Clawthorne, I understand how this must look but I truly believe Head Witch Cutburn has no nefarious intentions towards you! I believe she just wishes to make use of your Angelic Healing for some of our problem patients, and perhaps examine you to better understand Angel physiology." Dorothea said earnestly.

Luz frowned; she kind of wanted to see the inside of the Hospital… it looked so cool and fantasy-style that it was making her curious! And she could potentially help people Hettie and her Coven couldn't! She had no problem risking herself to help others, but she doubted she'd convince Raine and her friends… and it was technically an unnecessary risk, even if it could build support for the CATTs.

"I'm sorry; it's tempting, but unless I can believe my friends and I will be safe, I can't risk it." Luz decided, getting approving nods from her allies.

Healer Dorothea bit her lip, then tried once more to implore Luz; "Could you at least come to outside the hospital? Then the Head Witch could come out and greet you, and negotiate an oath that would make you more comfortable. I'm willing to make an oath of my own that there is no trap and that I'll fight alongside you should one I'm not aware of be sprung! Please, I just know that this meeting will be for the good of our patients!"

Her pleas were really starting to get to Luz; under those circumstances, how could she refuse? If people needed her help, then it was her responsibility as the Arch-Angel of the Boiling Isles to try and help them! She turned to her friends, and the girls all wore exasperated expressions as they could see she'd been convinced. Oddly enough, Raine seemed convinced too.

"Hettie isn't one for trickery, and she's fiercely protective of her hospitals. She'd never let one be used as a place for a battle or trap. I think she might truly just want your help." Raine said.

Luz smiled; perhaps this was more like a Mason situation than a Vitimir one. Turning back to the Healers, Luz asked; "Do you have patients suffering from Nightshine poisoning?"

Dorothea seemed surprised, but then nodded; "Yes, actually. Quite a few, thanks to all the tourists in town for the Coven Day festivities."

"Then I will accept your invitation under the terms you just gave. The nobles that serve the Emperor may not care about the people of this city, but I do! I'll undo their mistakes and heal the people who got sick because of them!" Luz declared.

There was a murmur from the watching crowd, and Luz's friends grinned as they watched the support for the young Angel rise. Luz then turned to Boscha and said quietly; "I'll take Titi Raine up with me, but you, Willow, and Skara should stay down here. Remember, those two aren't known CATTs like we are, so it'd be dangerous to take them to this meeting."

Boscha scowled; "And what are we meant to do in the meantime?"

"Enjoy the festival without us. Or if you want to help the CATTs, maybe wipe out the Nightshines growing all over the place? Willow could probably find and wither them with her plant magic, right?" she looked to Willow.

"I can do it alright." she nodded.

Boscha looked ready to argue, but one look from Raine and Luz made it clear neither would budge. "Fine, but you better call if something goes wrong! I've saved your butt from one crazy Coven Head, and I'll do it again if I have to!" Boscha said, before turning on her heel and marching off, grabbing Skara by the hand and dragging her away too. Skara giggled and waved to Luz, while Willow rolled her eyes and gave Luz a smile before she headed off too, wishing Luz and Raine luck.

Once they were gone, Luz and Raine turned to Dorothea and gestured for the grateful healer to lead the way, which she did quite happily. She took them both all the way up to the Azure Sky District, accompanied by the still-frightened Combat Healer and the two Emergency Healers who'd been sent with the others and hadn't needed to take anyone back up. They were ribbing the Combat Healer, revealing that as soon as their Captain had headed out, Dorothea had arranged the Emergency Team to follow them alongside her since she knew they'd get their butts kicked by the Arch-Angel. Luz giggled at their banter, but gave the Combat Healer a pat on the back and a promise not to beat him up, so he'd calm down a little.

When they arrived outside Caduceus Grand Hospital, they found only two Healing Coven Guards posted outside and a few civilians roaming in and out of the building, with no signs of the Emperor's Coven or a trap. Luz and Raine stopped outside while Dorothea hurried in to get the Head Witch, while the Combat Healer and Emergency Healers left to take care of their own duties. It took almost five minutes before Hettie emerged from the hospital, bustling along with a pleased smile. Luz hadn't gotten a good look at her at the Castle or the Conformatorium, so she was shocked at just how tall and buff the woman was. Her voice was fairly deep too when she addressed the pair.

"Ah, Miss Noceda-Clawthorne; thank you for joining me. Dorothea has told me of your conditions, and I am happy to accept them; on my word as a Healer, there is no trap waiting for you and neither myself nor anyone under my command will attack you." Hettie said, before nodding to Raine; "And it's nice to see you again, Raine. Severin has done an admirable job as Head Witch of the Bard Coven, but it would have been nice to keep working with you."

Raine kept a neutral expression; "Sadly, the Emperor has made that impossible."

Hettie tilted her head, but didn't otherwise acknowledge what they said, instead turning back to Luz. "Shall we make this oath now?"

Luz nodded; "Yes, but this is the oath I want you to swear first."

The oath Luz requested was the same as Hettie's offered one, with a few addendums; Luz would allow her to examine her body so long as she truthfully explained everything she was doing first and destroyed any samples taken from her immediately, without using them for anything but testing. Hettie was also forbidden from attacking her or restraining her unless Luz became hostile to her first. Lastly, if someone out of her control was to attack Luz, Hettie was forbidden from attempting to impede her escape or fight in any way. All of this applied to Raine as well, who was to be allowed to witness anything and everything Hettie or her coven did to Luz, with no attempts to separate them beyond asking for their consent. It was a demanding oath, and Luz had almost asked for Hettie to swear to defend her if other forces attacked too, but had decided that was a step too far.

Despite this, Hettie didn't even hesitate and carefully swore the oath exactly as Luz recited. As a show of good faith, Luz had then sworn to heal any patients she could no matter who they were, with the sole exception of Belos. Raine had sworn only that they wouldn't attack anyone unless they attacked first, and wouldn't try to sabotage the Healing Coven, which they never would have dreamed of anyway.

Once the oaths were sworn, Hettie escorted Luz and Raine into the hospital and watched as Luz gaped, eyes sparkling as she took everything in.

"This place is incredible!" she gushed.

"Why thank you. The Healing Coven is one of the most forward thinking; we take any and all advancements no matter their origin, for the good of our patients. We're also the only Coven not truly invested in this civil war with the rebellion." Hettie explained as she showed Luz and Raine around the ground floor wards, where the most minor injuries and illnesses were treated. There were dozens of healers sitting on stools around the room, with carefully organised lines of patients waiting to see them. Each patient would be healed quickly, then sent happily on their way.

"I think this is my favourite coven by far." Luz said, both at the sight of the helpful healers and to Hettie's comment about their non-involvement in the war.

"I am glad to hear it! Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I have four motives for inviting you here. The primary reason is a certain patient I am trying to help, who I believe you will be able to assist me with. You'll meet them once we get up to my office, but I thought we could take care of some other things along the way." Hettie explained.

Luz and Raine exchanged looks, with the latter saying; "And what are the other three motives?"

Hettie smiled and began counting them off on her fingers; "First, professional curiosity; I wish to do a full physical examination of a healthy Angel specimen so we might finally understand your biology and how it compares to other species of people. Second, the advancement of Healing Magic; I want to see your own healing spells in action to see if they can be learned by non-Angels, or if we can glean some insight that might improve our existing healing spells. Third and most important, the welfare of my patients; I have many patients and not enough healers, so I was hoping for your assistance in treating them. Things are busy whenever festivals and events bring an influx of tourists to town."

Luz nodded along, having expected the first and third reasons. The second one was a pleasant addition too, so she was happy to help.

"I'll do whatever I can. I also want to heal anyone with Nightshine poisoning." Luz said.

Hettie nodded; "Dorothea informed me. We have a specialist ward for that, since it's a common affliction. Sadly, our only treatment is a generic Anti-Toxin that reduces the effects of the poison, a potion of pain relief to help with the agony, and some fluids to help replenish what they've lost. After that, they just have to ride it out."

Raine frowned; "It's nasty stuff. The poison is like having an awful stomach virus…"

"How terrible! Can we go there first?" Luz requested.

"Of course. Follow me." Hettie said, leading them to the entrance of a Pneumo-Vein. Luz was amazed and delighted by the unusual transportation, and Hettie explained how it was used to transport patients safely, and how she herself had helped develop the gel-like substance that made up the protective capsules. As they were travelling up to the Nightshine ward, Luz also noticed a lot of medical items that looked like they'd come from the Human Realm.

"Some of this stuff looks like it belongs in a Human hospital." Luz commented, looking to Hettie.

"Some of it is, while others are reconstructions adapted to work with magic, with help from the Abominations and Construction Covens. Human medical books and supplies sometimes wash up on the shores, so we adapt them for our use. Humans have shockingly advanced medicine for a species without magic!" the Head Witch replied.

They soon arrived in the Nightshine ward, and Luz looked around sadly at the roughly fifteen filled beds, all with patients who were either unconscious or laying curled up in a ball, clutching their stomachs in agony. The air was thick with the smell of disinfectant, making Luz's nose burn a little. She shrugged this off quickly though and began looking around until she saw a little boy, no older than five or six, curled up and suffering as his worried parents sat on either side of his bed, stroking his back and trying to comfort him. Luz ran towards him, deciding this would be her first patient.

"Excuse me, but may I try to heal him? I promise I'll do no harm." Luz asked kindly, looking at the parents.

The boy's father seemed to recognise her, but he said nothing as his husband eagerly nodded; "Please do! If you can ease his suffering, we'd be very grateful."

"I'll do all I can." Luz promised, swapping places with the boy's daddy and immediately conjuring her Healing Lotus. Raine and Hettie had followed her and now watched as the green pollen-like light blended into the child's skin. It seemed to be working too, as the boy's face relaxed and he opened his eyes to look at the Angel helping him. He was still in too much pain to talk though, and just watched with tear-filled eyes.

Hettie cast a diagnostic spell as Luz worked, and hummed as she saw the results; "Miss Noceda-Clawthorne, you're spell seems to be directly healing the damage done by the poison, but the poison itself is still in his system. As soon as you stop your spell, the symptoms will return."

This was something the Healing Coven had already discovered; they could do the same with their own spells, but they didn't have enough healers to have them casting constant spells on the patients until the poison ran it's course.

Hearing this made the little boy whimper, and he managed to splutter out; "Please don't stop! I don't want it to hurt!"

Luz smiled kindly; "Don't worry, I won't stop until you're better." she assured him, before turning to Hettie; "The poison is plant-based, right?"

"Yes. A toxic pollen that is absorbed through the skin." she confirmed.

"Okay… I think I can do this. Just gotta channel Willow a little…" the Angel muttered to herself. She used her free hand to conjure another Healing Lotus, though this time it was a crystal lotus that appeared to be made of emerald. It released a deluge of healing light down on the boy which was a noticeably deeper green. The child sighed happily and began to feel even better, not even noticing as Luz dismissed her first lotus and focused entirely on the second one.

Hettie watched curiously, then gasped as her diagnostic spell gave her some more results.

"The poison is disappearing from his system! 80% gone… 87%… 94%… 99%… gone! The poison has been completely purged!" Hettie said, amazed.

Luz sighed and released her lotus, allowing the little boy to sit up, now feeling completely fine. The boy's dads both cheered and eagerly hugged their little boy. All three then looked to Luz; "Thank you!" cried the father, "Thank you so much!"

"I thought we might lose him after those rotten St. Epiderm kids knocked him into the Nightshines! Those brats are always pulling pranks down in the Slush District and they ran right into him while running away!" the boy's daddy added angrily. Luz finally noticed that all three of them looked fairly poor, with damaged clothes that had been roughly patched up. She felt even better about helping them now, though she was angry to hear how the child had gotten poisoned.

The little boy himself looked up at Luz with bright eyes; "Thank you nice lady! Are you really an Angel?" he asked, pointing at her wings.

Luz nodded; "You bet! I'm a nice Angel who helps everyone I can. I'm glad you're feeling better." she said, moving a wing to gently tickle the boy, making him giggle as his parents beamed.

"Good work, Luz." Raine praised.

"Good? That was extraordinary!" Hettie said, overjoyed; "How did you do it!? I must know!"

"Plant magic." Luz explained; "My healing spells mix raw light, plant, and ice magic together, so I just added more plant magic and focused on drawing out the plant-based toxin and then withering it into nothing."

"I see, like how Willow safely destroyed the Nightshines themselves." Raine commented.

Hettie eagerly conjured a clipboard and began taking notes; "Fascinating… a Coven witch couldn't do this conventionally since it blends healing and plant magic, but perhaps I could speak to the Potions Coven about a herbicide poultice… something that can kill plant matter and is absorbed through the skin. Thank you, Miss Noceda-Clawthorne; you're visit is already paying off!"

Luz was glad to hear it, but then noticed the other conscious patients were watching her eagerly. She had work to do!

With Raine and Hettie following her through the ward, Luz went from bed to bed, healing everyone she could. She focused on the conscious patients, starting with the ones who'd been sick the longest, then once all of them were cured, she turned to the unconscious ones. It took about ten minutes, but Luz had soon healed everyone in the Nightshine ward. The Healers helped the patients up and began to discharge them, and they all gave their heartfelt thanks to Luz as they left. A few tried to offer her money or trinkets, but she politely declines, and a few others whispered to her or Raine that they'd pay a visit to Bonesborough and see about helping "the cause". Neither commented on that beyond giving them a smile and telling them to follow their hearts on the matter, but Hettie always happened to be conspicuously looking away or talking to another Healer when these conversations happened.

With the success on the Nightshine ward, Hettie began taking Luz to several other wards too. They were all wards where conventional healing just wasn't enough, or where they were severely understaffed due to how hard it was to heal the afflictions suffered there. Luz quickly became very well-liked by the Healers and Patients alike, happily walking in and curing everything she could. Sadly she couldn't solve every problem; she could heal direct damage, purge plant-based poisons, and treat the symptoms of most diseases, but she couldn't do anything about curses, harmful enchantments, purely magical maladies, genetic conditions or particularly virulent diseases that were resistant to magic. Sadly the conditions resistant to Witch and Demon Magic seemed to also resist Angelic Magic, so the most Luz could do in those cases was ease their suffering by curing the damage done by the disease.

Luz spent a whole two hours healing patients, all while Raine watched and occasionally entertained the patients with songs. Their usual stage-fright didn't seem to extend to such an informal setting, and soon the hospital was filled with the melodious sound of a violin. Meanwhile, Hettie had been taking page after page of notes, watching as Luz's magic knitted flesh back together and cleansed bacteria.

As they moved onto the final floor of the open part of the hospital, Hettie giddily said; "I've found so many new potential treatments today that I can hardly contain myself! But who'd have thought so many useful healing methods were locked behind other types of magic? It makes me wonder, could things like Illusion and Oracle magic be used to treat mental illnesses? Could Potions and Plants be used to make vaccines against all kinds of diseases? Could Construction be used to build defences within the immune system itself!? So many possibilities!"

Luz smiled, glad to see someone as interested in helping people as she was. "I'm happy I was able to help! If you keep swearing not to attack me, I'd love to keep helping out around here!" she said. Healing people had really improved her mood, though Raine did give her a look of exasperation; today was supposed to be a day off from work after all, and here Luz was happily working…

Well at least she had a half-day!

"Thank you, Luz." Hettie replied, having been told to call her by her real name not long after Luz got started. "If only this rebellion wasn't in full swing, I'd recruit you in a heartbeat! With your help, my ultimate ambition might one day be achieved!"

"Your ambition?" Luz said, tilting her head curiously.

"Yes. The ultimate ambition of any truly devoted Healer; to one day be able to cure anything and everything but death itself!" Hettie said grandly, clenching her fist with a determined smile.

"Wow…" Luz breathed, completely enamoured with the idea, while Raine looked curious.

"I'm surprised you don't want to cure death too. I always heard that the previous Head Witch had that as their ultimate ambition." Raine said.

Hettie scowled; "That is heresy. Healers guard against death, but we don't cross beyond that line. Resurrection is the business of Titans and Gods; mortals have no right to meddle in that domain."

Luz and Raine were surprised by her sudden shift in mood, with Raine only able to awkwardly say; "That's very… devout of you?"

They continued to walk in silence for a few moments more, before Raine said; "If I offended you Hettie, then I apologise."

The Head Witch shook her head; "You did not. I apologise, but necromancy and the like is a sore spot for me. The previous Head Witch was also the first to lead the Healing Coven after its founding; he was a man named Caduceus, and is whom this hospital is dedicated to. He was a good man, but he became obsessed with immortality and resurrection. I was his apprentice, but I already had a hatred for necromancy and so I refused to take part in his experiments. One day he succeeded in raising a dead patient… only for them to be a soulless husk who immediately attempted to claim a soul of its own by killing Head Witch Caduceus. I was too late for him, but I did destroy the Husk. I became Head Witch not long after… though not without whispers that I engineered the event or let it happen so I could have the position."

"That's awful!" Luz scowled; "It must have been terrible to lose your mentor like that… I can't even imagine it."

Hettie nodded grimly; "It was rather upsetting, but we had drifted apart by that point. I mourned the man he was, not the one he became."

The young Angel felt sympathy for the witch, and for Caduceus before her… there was a time when she'd have done anything to raise the dead too. But Hettie was right; that was the domain of Higher Powers… In truth, Luz didn't like the idea of even Titans like Orion being able to revive those long dead. The recently dead was a different case; that could be argued to be resuscitation, but the long deceased shouldn't be disturbed…

As Luz was thinking on this, Raine noticed something about what Hettie had just said. "You mentioned already having a hatred for necromancy. It's a grim subject so I don't blame you, but what actually made you hate it so much?"

Hettie stopped in her tracks, and there was a pregnant pause as both Luz and Raine looked at her, fearing they'd said something very wrong. Eventually Hettie answered in a soft voice; "I am from Clavice." and then kept walking without another word.

Raine went pale and cursed, startling Luz to hear such language from them; "Where is Clavice?"

"Clavice used to be the most south eastern town in the Titan's Right Shoulder, nestled into a little forest valley." Raine answered.

The "used to be" made Luz gulp; "What happened to it?"

"Destroyed 30 years ago. A necromancer used the town graveyard to raise an army of zombies in a plot to overthrow the Emperor. No one knows for certain if the necromancer ordered the zombies to attack the town to get more corpses, or if he simply lost control, but either way his army slaughtered the entire town, including the necromancer. Belos and the Emperor's Coven scorched the entire valley, leaving nothing behind. It's an ashen wasteland now. I had no idea someone had survived…" Raine explained, looking at Hettie.

The woman walked a few paces a head of them, her face hidden from their view. She briefly looked over her shoulder to say; "I was lucky. My face was mutilated, but I knew enough healing magic to stem the bleeding and stave off infection. I tried to heal the other townspeople, but I wasn't strong enough. My patients all died, and as the healthiest person left of the survivors, the others sent me to get help. I was the one who told Belos what had happened, but by the time he and his army arrived, he told me there were no survivors."

Luz briefly wondered if that was true, or if Belos had scorched the survivors too, but decided to keep that thought to herself. Instead she said; "I'm very sorry for your loss"

"Thank you, Luz. I trust now you both understand my hatred for necromancy."

The two CATTs nodded, both feeling a little sick. Raine was shocked there was a survivor of that catastrophe, while Luz was horrified such a thing had ever happened. "Yeah… I think that's enough to make anyone hate zombies and necromancy." she said in a small voice.

"Ah…" Hettie said, making Luz look up at her; "I should correct a misconception. They weren't zombies; those are reanimated corpses. What the necromancer created was Grimwalkers."

Luz blinked, then looked to Raine for an explanation, only for them to shrug. "What's a Grimwalker?" Luz asked.

"Grimwalkers are essentially clones born from corpses and graves. Rather than revive the dead, the necromancer used their bodies to create living clones of who they were in life. It requires many esoteric ingredients, including Palistrom Wood and something called a "Bone of Ortet" which is basically a bone of the person they wish to replicate. They are supposed to be horribly difficult to make, but if done perfectly then they're indistinguishable from the original, including magical abilities and excluding memories and personality." Hettie explained. "However that monster screwed it up somehow. I don't know if he used the wrong ingredients or it was a result of him trying to implant some way of controlling them, but the end result was them basically being feral."

"Magical Death clones…!?" Luz gasped, blown away by the very idea. To think that the Demon Realm had such a thing! It was both amazing and horrifying! But she did have one question; "Hettie, I get why those feral ones were bad since they were basically just zombies with extra steps, but what if they were made properly? If a Grimwalker is basically just a clone with a different personality, doesn't that mean they're their own person?"

"No." Hettie scowled; "Grimwalkers are and always will be aberrations. I don't care how "perfectly" they are made; they are not natural born creatures but the result of necromancy. They are an affront to life and must be destroyed."

The Head Witch said those words fiercely enough that Luz and Raine both decided to end that conversation there, lest she get angry and things become more awkward. Still, Luz couldn't help but think that if a properly made Grimwalker was more of a clone than a zombie, then they should probably be considered a person and not a monster. Not that she was going to try and convince Hettie of that, especially if her family and village was destroyed by such beings.

Thankfully, they soon finished the walk to the final ward they were visiting (they'd opted against the Pneumo-Veins so Luz had longer to regenerate her magic). It was the Prosthetics ward, where people who'd lost body parts were given replacements. It looked like a hybrid of a doctor's office and a tool shop, with different mechanical and magical prosthetics hanging up on the walls like items on a store shelf. Most of the prosthetics looked like regular human ones with crystals installed in them to link them to the wearer's mind so they could be moved. Others looked to be brass and constructed from abomination goo (these bore the mark of the Abomination Coven), and some appeared to be constructed from plants of some kind for Plant Witches. There were also many different kinds of limbs available, from the usual arms and legs, to the rarer eyes and ears, to the non-standard tails, tentacles, horns, trunks, and non-Witch arms and legs in all different shapes and sizes.

"With current magical advancements, it isn't possible to regrow any lost body parts." Hettie began as they walked in; "We can grow each individual element of a limb using magic, but we cannot grow them together for some reason, and attempting to grow them separately, then surgically combine them always leads to the parts rejecting each other, and if we try to grow them directly onto the body of the patient, they go into shock. As it stands, if we can get our hands on the original part, we can regenerate it and the rest of the body enough to reattach it, but nothing more. That is where you come in."

Hettie turned to Luz with a wide smile returning to her face; "I witnessed you regrow your own hand during that debacle at the Emperor's Castle. I would like to know if you can do the same to others."

Luz nodded; "I think I can. I'm willing to try at least."

Hettie grinned and looked around; there were currently only four patients on the ward, so she decided to start with the youngest; a young girl who'd wandered too far out of town and lost a foot to a Slitherbeast. Not only did Hettie think she'd be the patient Luz would most want to help, but she was also the smallest and thus had the least to grow back. She led Luz and Raine over to the girl and her mother, and quietly explained the situation. The girl looked nervous, while her mother looked ecstatic, especially as Luz smiled and reassured them that she'd do her best.

The child was getting an abomination prosthetic, which meant the wound had been left open so the nerves could be connected to the prosthetic, though the child's pain receptors had been deadened so she didn't suffer. This meant Luz was met with a grizzly sight when she removed the child's bandages, but also meant she had a clean shot at healing her. With a twirl of her finger, Luz summoned her Crystal Lotus and began to heal. The green magic fluttered down onto the open wound and bit by bit, the girl's leg began to regrow. It started with the bone, then the blood vessels and nerves, then the muscle, and then finally the skin, going from the lower shin, to the ankle, to the foot itself, and then the toes. Hettie, the child, and the child's mother watched with awe, but Raine noticed something; not only did Luz look like she was straining herself, but her spell also looked like it was producing a lot more of that green healing magic than when they'd seen her heal her own hand at the castle. It was almost triple the amount, despite the fact the girl's foot was smaller than Luz's hand.

It took ten minutes to complete the healing and Luz was tired by the time she was done, but the little girl's foot had been fully restored. With an excited cry of joy, the girl leapt to her feet… only to fall face first into Luz's chest as her nerves were still not working properly. Luz and the adults all chuckled as the young Angel helped pick the girl up and accept the hug she was offering her.

"Thank you! Thank you!" the little girl cried, absolutely beaming.

The girl's mother did the same thing, and hugged Luz too, while Hettie took copious notes. After the little family had calmed down, they were taken to be discharged by the other Healers, all while the little girl waved to Luz from her mother's shoulders. Luz waved back, then as soon as the girl was gone, she sighed and collapsed onto the bed the girl had occupied.

"That took way more out of me then doing it on myself!" she complained.

"It used more magic, that's for certain." Raine agreed, before telling Hettie what they'd witnessed at the castle and how it compared. Hettie noted everything down, then hummed.

"I wonder… it seems Angelic Healing Magic is capable of performing more complex tasks than Demonic Healing Magic, but healing someone else uses more magic than healing one's self… I wonder if this is because the magic has to adapt itself to another person's body, and thus loses strength in the transition? It heals Luz easily since it's already adapted to her system, but another person would need fresh adaption to avoid rejection. Curious…" Hettie muttered, once again taking notes.

That explanation sounded about right to Luz; an Angel's magic was like their lifeblood after all, so it made sense that it was more efficient at healing the Angel it belonged to. Still, there were still three more patients to go, so she got to work, starting with the one that would be the most tiring; a large lion-like Demon who was missing his arm. For the next half an hour, Luz trudged from patient to patient, regrowing their lost limbs, feeling her energy draining rapidly with each one. Their thanks and joy helped keep her spirits up, but by the time she'd helped the last one, she was already down to 1/3rd of her normal magic levels.

"I'm glad losing limbs isn't more common…" Luz mumbled as she took a moment to lie down and get some strength back.

"Are you alright, Luz? You can take back the blessing you gave me if it'll make you feel better." Raine offered, sitting beside her and stroking her hair to comfort her.

Luz leaned into their touch like a cat, trilling softly as she did so. "No thank you, Titi. I just need a moment to adjust to having less magic."

Hettie finally looked up from her notes with a smile; "Thank you for your assistance today, Luz. You've given me many insights and helped progress the field of healing by leaps and bounds. And no doubt helped gather support for the rebellion too."

Luz and Raine looked at her warily, but she just shrugged; "What? I'm not interested in the fight between you and the Emperor. You have legitimate grievances, and he has a noble cause; I simply want to minimise casualties as you both work it out."

"If that's what you feel, why not join the CATTs? You could do a lot of good for a lot of people, even without fighting." Luz said, sitting up again.

"I sympathise with your people, but I still believe in what Belos' ultimate goal would achieve." Hettie said firmly; "If anything, you've done more to convince me today than Belos has since the day I met him."

Luz's eyes widened with horror; "W-What!?"

"It's true. I'm sure you're aware by now what the Day of Unity is for, yes? It will unite the Demon and Divine Realms and turn all Witches and Demons into Angels, free of Wild Magic and corruption. With that, we will all have access to all the Healing Magic you used today, and my dream of one day being able to cure all but death itself will be that much closer to being realised." Hettie said, looking passionate about the subject.

The young Angel could only stare at her in shock. She couldn't argue with that! From Hettie's perspective, what Belos' wanted to do was good and righteous! Heck, when phrased the way Hettie had said it, even Luz found it almost convincing. But even if Belos' ultimate goal was that noble (and Luz wasn't convinced he was telling the truth, or such a thing was even possible), it didn't justify the cruelties he committed to achieve it!

"The ends don't justify the means." Raine said, eyes narrowed as they articulated what Luz was thinking; "I don't believe true happiness can be built with the suffering of innocents."

"And as a Healer, I believe that sometimes one must do more damage before the healing can begin. Sometimes one must lance a boil, or cut away infected flesh. Sometimes more pain must come before relief can be achieved." Hettie retorted.

She and Raine stared each other down for a moment, before the Head Witch said; "I respect your decisions, Raine. As I said, I believe you have legitimate grievances against Belos and his methods. But I must trust he has his reasons, and his goal is worth the suffering. Can you or Luz assure me the results I hope for without this plan?"

Luz sadly shook her head; "I can try. I can do everything I can to find a way… but I don't have a plan on how I'd do it."

Hettie smiled kindly; "I know you would try, and I thank you for your honesty. But for the sake of healing, I must continue to support the only plan that leads where I wish to go."

Raine sighed and looked away, knowing nothing they said would convince Hettie. She knew Belos was cruel, but the chance to gain Angelic Magic for healing was just too good to pass up. Seeing neither Raine nor Luz wanted to keep arguing, Hettie said; "But I didn't invite you here to make you join the Empire, just as I don't think you accepted my invitation so you could convince me to rebel; now that we're done with the patients, let's get to the primary reason I asked you here."

Luz nodded in agreement; Hettie wanted to give her a full examination and have her help with another important patient waiting up in the Head Witch's office. Feeling a little more energised, Luz hopped to her feet again, ready to go. However Hettie looked to Raine.

"I apologise Raine, but for the sake of the patient's privacy, I must ask you to remain behind. Only Luz and I may go up to my office."

Raine narrowed their eyes suspiciously, but Luz just smiled at them; "I'll be fine, Titi. Hettie swore it wasn't a trap and she wouldn't try to capture me. I'll be fine." she then leaned in and whispered; "And if the worst should happen, I'll just bust out and fly away! She's got windows up there after all."

That made Raine grin; Hettie had mentioned having a great view of the town from her office at one point during their rounds, so Luz would easily be able to flee if this mystery patient attacked her.

"Alright. I'll wait down here. Call me the second something bad happens." Raine ordered.

Luz gave a little salute and a cheeky grin in response, making Raine laugh. Hettie then directed them to a lounge area for the members of her Coven, before directing Luz to the closest Pneumo-Vein. Luz gave Raine one last wave goodbye, before she and Hettie were shot up towards the Head Witch's office. When they arrived, Luz looked around briefly and was initially pleasantly surprised by the homey nature of the east-facing side (not to mention the great view of the city and isles). Then she noticed the actual clinic/lab side of the room and was shocked; it looked like a fantasy style version of a modern day hospital! There were things like an MRI machine, an X-Ray machine, high-tech microscopes of different kinds, and all manner of similar stuff, but all seemingly made with a combination of organic material, abomination goo, and metals and minerals native to the Demon Realm. It really was like someone had made Demonic versions of Human Realm equipment! Hettie wasn't kidding when she'd mentioned adapting Human techniques and tech from things washed up on the Isles!

However as Luz was looking around in amazement, she saw movement in the corner of her eye and turned towards it. Rising from the shadows on the comfy side of the room was Lucy the Silver Sentinel. Luz went completely still as she laid eyes on her, and Lucy in turn looked at her for only a moment before looking down, seemingly shy or ashamed. Hettie didn't acknowledge the awkwardness or tension that had suddenly filled the room, instead speaking to Lucy.

"Why were you in the shadows? Did you leave my office?" she asked.

Lucy nodded like a child who'd been caught doing something she shouldn't have; "I was nervous about inviting Luz to help me with my problem, so I hid in your shadow. I've been watching the whole time." she looked nervously at Luz, her purple eyes meeting Luz's golden ones for a moment before she averted them again; "Y-You do good work, Luz."

That nervous compliment didn't truly register in Luz's mind, as nothing but the sound of her own heart hammering in her chest seemed to reach the Arch-Angel's ears. Her pupils had shrunk to pinpricks, and her fingers were practically twitching to cast a spell.

This was the girl who had caused almost all her current problems! The girl who'd taken advantage of her weakened state to rob her of the Portal Key and give it to her greatest enemy. It was because of her that Luz had broken her promise to return home to her Mami. It was because of her that Luz didn't know when she would see her Mami or sister again. It was because of her that she was so stressed, and working so hard to rebuild a portal when she could be helping the rebellion more!

It was all Lucy's fault… she'd taken the Portal away…

She'd taken Luz's mother away from her.

Anger filled Luz's body, fiery enough that it actually surprised her so much that she almost hesitated… almost.

In a flash, Luz was in her Holy Raiment and her wings were spread wide behind her as she darted at Lucy, using wind to speed herself up. Lucy gasped in surprise and tried to flee into the shadows, but a bright flash of light from Luz's wings briefly destroyed all shadows in the room, preventing Lucy from escaping. The next thing the Sentinel knew, Luz had grabbed a fistful of her shirt and pushed her up against the wall, using her slightly superior height to lift the other girl off the ground. Lucy blinked the spots out of her eyes from the flash just in time to see Luz wave a hand to make vines appear from the wall and bind Lucy's hands like manacles. Once again, Lucy tried to disappear into the shadows, but Luz's wings were shining with light and keeping her pinned. The next thing she knew, Luz was glaring at her and a sword of light was pointed at her chest.

Lucy was shocked by how quickly she'd been rendered helpless! Luz knew all her tricks and without Hunter as back up, there was nothing she could do! She couldn't even use the new Oracle Magic Osran had taught her, since Shade was cowering in his stone in the presence of the furious Arch-Angel.

Still, Shade did have enough courage to speak to Lucy through their link; "Lucy, are you alright? Should I go and get your brother? I can probably escape without her seeing me."

"Yes. I don't think she'll kill me, but I could use the back up just in case! Besides, you'll only get exorcised if I try to fight with you." Lucy thought back, barely keeping her mind straight as she stared into Luz's burning golden eyes.

She felt Shade disappear from her Oracle Stone and phase through her body and the wall, then flying off to find Hunter down in the slums. However once he was gone, she suddenly felt very lonely, especially as Hettie wasn't rushing to help her!

Thanks to her oath not to attack Luz, Hettie was forced to stay back, watching the two worriedly, wondering if she was going to have to treat an injury or clean up a body. She could still speak though, so she gently approached Luz and said.

"Luz, the Silver Sentinel came to me today for help. She's been suffering from lethargy and weakness for several days now. She's no threat to you in her current condition. You didn't strike me as someone to attack a patient so please, let her go." Hettie pleaded.

Luz growled and pointed her blade at Lucy's face; "She stole the Portal Key! Because of her, I can't go home! I can't see my Mami or sister like I promised I would! I can't even call her to explain! Mami probably thinks I've run away and abandoned her, and it's all your fault!" she hissed, glaring furiously at Lucy.

Lucy felt her heart clench; so that was why Luz was so angry! Now she understood. For a brief self-deprecating moment, Lucy was tempted to stay silent and accept sole responsibility for stealing the key. She'd felt awful about it happening, especially under the circumstances, but ultimately Luz deserved to know the truth… and Lucy really didn't want to die or get beaten up!

"I didn't steal it!" Lucy blurted out, her fear making her sound more desperate.

Luz sneered, then suddenly her eyes widened; Lucy was an Angel… she couldn't lie! "Then who did!? Hunter!? Osran!? Tell me!" she demanded.

"Neither! It was my Oracle Spirit!" Lucy cried.

"So you did steal the key, and you're trying to hide it with semantics?" Luz scowled.

Lucy shook her head; "No! I didn't order him to do it! He did it on his own! I didn't even know about it until I got back to the castle and Uncle was yelling at me for sneaking out!"

The Arch-Angel narrowed her eyes and searched the younger Angel for signs of pain or deceit. She was a relative of Belos, so maybe she could lie like he could? Still, Luz found herself believing Lucy despite this; her instincts were screaming at her that the girl was innocent.

Lowering her light blade but keeping Lucy pinned by vines and light, Luz crossed her arms and said; "Tell me what happened. All of it."

Lucy complied; she told Luz everything about Shade reading her mind when they first bonded, and discovering her desires, leading to him stealing the key without anyone's knowledge. When she was done, Luz looked more upset than angry, and she let out a long sigh and snapped her fingers. The vines holding Lucy disappeared and she felt her feet touch the floor again. Then Luz's wings shrank down and stopped giving off light, leading to Lucy immediately leaping into the newly returned shadows and reappearing on the other side of the room, hiding behind one of Hettie's machines.

"I-I'm so sorry…" Lucy said tearfully. "I didn't want to hurt you or make you lose your way home! I just wanted to protect my brother! He gets so upset when he thinks he's disappointed Uncle! If it weren't for that, I would have given the key back!"

Luz blinked; "You would have?"

"Yes! You saved my life! Sure I saved yours too, but it's also thanks to you that I ascended and don't need to rely on Uncle's magic any more! It wouldn't have felt right to keep the key after that, especially since you were bleeding out at the time." Lucy cried, before looking down guiltily; "It still doesn't feel right… but I can't do anything about it."

Luz opened her mouth to suggest she just steal the key back for her, but decided against it. That would make her the enemy of her only family, and it was an unreasonable thing to ask even if Belos was evil. In fact, him being evil made it more unreasonable, as Luz doubted he'd be kinder to his niece than he was to her during their last two meetings.

Instead, she sighed heavily and said; "I see… I'm sorry I attacked you like that, especially if you're sick. If I can help you, then I will."

Lucy peeked out from her hiding place a little more, while Hettie smiled with relief. "Y-You will?" Lucy asked shyly. "I-I can swear an oath not to betray you or anything! It's just… I really need to find a way to fix what's wrong with me before Uncle confines me to the castle again."

"Yes, really." Luz said, smiling. Lucy reminded her a little of a scared rabbit; the girl was powerful, especially now that she had magic of her own, but the combination of guilt and whatever was wrong with her magic meant she was unusually timid. And years of wearing a mask all the time had left her unable to control her facial expressions very well, so Luz could read her like a book. It was a little like having a little sister again… perhaps it was just because Luz was missing Vee, but she found her prior anger melting into protectiveness. It also helped that Lucy wasn't guilty of what Luz had thought she was, meaning there was no reason for her to be angry with the girl.

Slowly, Luz walked towards the girl and offered her hand; "You swear an oath not to attack me, and I'll swear an oath not to attack you. Then once this is done, we both go our separate ways. Deal?"

Lucy carefully accepted the offered hand and the two Angels exchanged oaths. Once that was done, Lucy felt much more relaxed, and Luz turned to Hettie.

"Alright, so you want to examine me so you can compare a healthy Angel with Lucy to see if you can find out what's wrong with her, right?" she asked.

"Correct. I was going to have you change into a gown, but that outfit of yours works just as well, so please keep it on. Lucy, I'd still like you to change." Hettie said, conjuring a changing screen and a pale blue hospital gown.

Lucy accepted the gown and scurried behind the screen to change, while Hettie began to explain to Luz what Lucy had been experiencing. At first, it sounded like Lucy was just suffering from magical exhaustion, similar to how Luz would feel when she still needed blessings from her mother and it was almost time for a new one, but since Lucy still had magic, that couldn't be right. The discolouration of her wings from silver to grey was also strange… the only thing Luz could think of was that Lucy might have caught whatever affliction had infected Belos, though she kept that to herself for the moment. If Hettie learned Belos was an Angel, she might be even more devoted to his cause, and the Arch-Angel still had hope she could turn Hettie to the rebels' side with time.

Lucy emerged from behind the changing screen (which promptly vanished) and placed her warm cloak and Sentinel uniform in a neat pile on one of Hettie's sofas. Her wings were hidden away with magic since there was no enchantment on the gown and no holes for them, and the loss of them seemed to have made Lucy paler and more lethargic.

Noticing this, Luz approached her and said; "Here, let me show you how to enchant your clothes so your wings phase through. It'll save you a lot of time and money getting things custom fit."

Lucy blinked in surprise as Luz cast a spell on the gown, then at her insistence, she released her wings again and was delighted to find they passed through the cloth like it wasn't even there!

"Thank you! I've got nothing to wear but Sentinel uniforms back home, because everything had to be custom made and Uncle didn't want to waste money on casual clothes! The only other clothes I have is a couple of night dresses for sleeping!" Lucy said, overjoyed by being able to wear something else with her wings out.

Luz held back an insult to Belos and instead forced a smile; "You're welcome. I'll teach you how its done while Hettie is doing her tests. Is that alright?" she asked, turning to Hettie herself.

The Head Witch smiled and began casting spells, causing more medical machines and tools to appear from magically concealed compartments. For a moment, Luz and Lucy were interested… then surprised… then very nervous as more and more items appeared, until there was almost no room in the clinic half of the office.

"Naturally. Now I'll be beginning a thorough examination. And when I say thorough… I mean it." Hettie said, an excited grin on her face as she picked up a syringe for taking blood and flicked the needle.

"Now… who's first?"

The two Angels looked at each other and gulped; this might end up being more than they bargained for!

[Meanwhile]

Hunter smiled at a job well done as he finally walked up the rickety, unauthorised extension of the Grand Staircase, which led down into the slums of Cartilia. He'd spent the whole day scouting the place out for signs of Anti-Empire and Pro-Rebel elements, and instead largely found impoverished people with a hatred for the city's nobles, a few dealers of illicit substances, and a whole lot of people asking intently if his armour was made of real gold (it wasn't). He'd spent most of the last two hours hunting and destroying Nightshines, since the people claimed they'd be the biggest threat to the security of the upcoming Coven Day Parade, and while Hunter hadn't believed them, he'd done it anyway. Flapjack (concealed to look like his usual artificial staff) had spoken in his head to urge him to agree, claiming it was the right thing to do and it would build support for the Covens if they were seen to be helping the people. Hunter couldn't argue with that, and was actually pretty glad to help!

But now he was done and it was time to head to City Hall and find his sister! A Coven Scout from her unit had told him she'd finished up her work and had gone there for a nap, which Hunter was pleased to hear; Lucy hadn't been feeling so well recently after all. A little extra sleep should perk her up in time to get dinner with her favourite big brother!

Smiling, Hunter dismissed his own unit to enjoy the festival as they wanted and began walking towards the official bottom of the Grand Staircase to begin his climb up. As he walked, he looked around at the festival and grinned, enjoying the atmosphere. It would be nice to spend time enjoying himself with Lucy and Flapjack! It was their first festival with the rascal of a Palisman, so it was bound to be fun!

However as he was about to begin climbing the staircase, something else caught his eye. He turned and saw a soft blue glow in the shadows behind a nearby house; the telltale signs of a Nightshine. Hunter was tempted to ignore it, but what the heck? He'd spent the afternoon zapping them to dust, so why not deal with one more? It wasn't out of his way and it would help the townspeople after all.

With a little hum, he headed towards the Nightshine, gripping Flapjack with one hand and channelling Lightning Magic to his other hand before reaching down to zap the flower, since his gloves would protect his skin. However just as he was about to touch it, another hand emerged from around the corner, with a green spell circle in the palm, and promptly withered the flower to dust. Hunter blinked in surprise and turned to see the person who did it, only to be further surprised when he saw their face.

They were a girl with cute round cheeks, olive green eyes behind large circular glasses, and long dark hair tied into two short pigtails, with a dyed green streak on the right side of her face. The girl was wearing winter clothes, but even through them Hunter could see she had a sturdy frame and the markings of a body turning from the plumpness of youth to the hardened musculature of a powerful woman. Hunter didn't know what this girl's exercise routine was, but she somehow managed to look silk soft and rock hard at the same time! Hunter couldn't take his eyes off her… now if only she didn't look like she was about to punch him.

"Um, hello Citizen. I see you've decided to help deal with the weed infestation as well. I appreciate the assistance." Hunter said, straightening up somewhat awkwardly.

The girl looked at him for a moment, then her eyes hardened and Hunter almost recoiled at the sight alone. He didn't understand why she seemed so angry with him… until two more girls appeared beside her, both glaring at him too. These girls he recognised on sight: Boscha Alembic, wanted for Rebellion and assaulting Head Witch Vitimir, and Skara Cadence, daughter of Head Witch Severin. He immediately backed off a step, pointing Flapjack and his still-electrified hand at Boscha (since she was the only wanted criminal of the trio), but he suddenly found three Palismen pointed back at him as all three girls drew their own staves. Outmatched, he gulped and tried to talk his way out of his current mess while readying his flash spell.

"So… hanging out with rebels, Miss Cadence?" he asked.

Skara scowled; "It's not illegal to have friends. You should try it sometime."

"Okay, ouch…" Hunter frowned; "And while that's not a crime, threatening a Coven Head definitely is."

"You pointed your spells at me first, eyebags." Boscha scoffed.

Hunter looked offended; "I have a name you know! It's-"

"Hunter." Willow growled; "AKA the Golden Guard… AKA the brother of the girl who robbed my best friend while she was bleeding out!"

Hunter actually did recoil this time. He knew the truth of what happened with the Portal Key; Lucy kept no secrets from him and she'd confessed it all the night they'd gotten back. She'd been pretty upset about it, and while Hunter could see why due to the circumstances, he didn't think she had anything to be upset about. It might not have been her decision, but they completed their mission and acquired one of the two things they needed for the Day of Unity, pleasing their Uncle greatly! The guilt was worth it!

Right?

Still, the boy was smart enough to realise that defending that action to a pack of the Angel's friends was probably a bad call, so he said; "She also saved Luz's life! Besides, is it really so bad that the Owl Lady can't as easily get human garbage to sell? Our reports from Bonesborough says she barely runs that stall any more, instead handing it off to Gus and some weird human club of his."

Willow's eyes briefly flashed green at the casual use of Gus's name, and the dismissal of what Lucy had done. "You also took away Luz's ability to go home and see her mother! Luz promised to go home every weekend and now she can't because of you! Do you have any idea how broken-hearted she is!? Be glad Amity isn't here, or she'd gut you and your sister!"

The girl's eyes were starting to flash green more and more as her temper rose, and while Skara looked a bit concerned, Boscha just smirked. It was nice to see that rage and power pointed at someone else for a change! Hunter was more concerned with what Willow had said; he'd never thought Luz was still in contact with her Angel Mother… he'd sort of assumed she was an orphan adopted by the Owl Lady, or perhaps kidnapped and brainwashed. If Lucy found out about this, her guilt would only grow.

However, seeing Willow's fierce eyes and her bee Palisman made Hunter's own eyes widen with recognition. "Wait a moment… I do know you! You're Willow Park! You were briefly wanted for assaulting Head Witch Terra Snapdragon, before the head of the Latissa Gardening Club gave you an alibi!"

Willow growled and pushed her staff a little closer, daring the boy to keep talking. The boy responded by actually lowering his own staff and releasing his lighting spell, showing he wasn't going to attack (though his flash spell was still ready to go if needed).

"Look, I'm sorry about what Luz is going through, I really am. Neither my sister or I knew what was really going on, and technically we didn't even steal the key. Lucy's Oracle Spirit did it on its own because it knew she wanted it. I'll make an oath that it's the truth if you want, since I'm not an Angel like my sister." Hunter offered. He felt he could probably win in a fight with these three if he wanted to; a quick flash behind them and some lightning spells would put them out of commission fast, but he really didn't want to ruin the festival by hauling in three teenage girls!

The girls narrowed their eyes; "Do you expect us to believe that?" Skara frowned.

"Did the offer to make an oath not give you a pretty good reason to? I'll make it right now; take my hand." Hunter retorted, offering his hand to them, willing to make the oath with any of them. Skara and Boscha suspected it was a trap, especially since they'd seen the lightning in his palm when they first saw him, but Willow decided it might be worth the risk. She pulled her staff back a bit and prepared to take Hunter's hand.

Just as they were about to join hands however, they were interrupted by the sudden arrival of an Oracle Spirit, looking frantic.

"Hunter! Lucy has encountered the Arch-Angel Luz and it looks like it's going to come to blows! She requires your assistance!"

Hunter and the girls all gaped at the spirit's sudden appearance, before their expressions hardened. Willow tried to grab Hunter while Boscha shot a small fireball at him, but Hunter immediately flashed away to the roof of the building they were stood behind. He was still close enough for the spirit to talk to though.

"Is Luz attacking City Hall!?" Hunter demanded.

"No, she is in the office of the Head Witch of the Healing Coven."

"Caduceus Grand Hospital!? What is Lucy doing there!? Argh, forget it; I'm on my way!" Hunter declared, flashing off towards the hospital.

Willow, Skara, and Boscha saw him disappear in a flash of golden light and immediately got on their staves to give chase; Hunter and Lucy were a powerful threat if they fought together, and while Luz was sure to have Raine on her side, the Emperor's Elites would have Hettie! Luz and Raine would need back up!

With all the speed they could muster, they flew off in pursuit of Hunter. They considered flying straight up the side of the Grand Hospital and blasting in the office windows, but Skara happened to know that the offices of Head Witches were heavily defended against such tactics (thanks to her father now being one), so they were forced to head for the entrance and find their way up from the inside.

"Luz, you better be okay up there!" Willow muttered to herself as she flew towards what was sure to be a battle.

[Meanwhile]

As it turned out, Hettie really wasn't kidding when she said she liked to be thorough in her examinations. Luz and Lucy found themselves being prodded, poked, and put through just about every machine and test in Hettie's sizeable repertoire! It had started with simple stuff; she looked in their ears and mouths, then gave them a hearing and vision test, paying special attention to their eyes. She took samples of hair, skin flakes, and even a feather and a few drops of blood from each of them for testing purposes (all of which Luz had personally destroyed once Hettie was done testing them, keeping an eagle eye on them until that point). But with each test result, Hettie got more excited and began giving them more tests. She tested their reflexes with a little hammer tapping their knees, then went behind them and listened to their heartbeats with a stethoscope by putting the cold metal disk between their wing joints, and took their blood pressure (both of which were noted to be higher than average for girls of their age). Then came the machines, where Hettie put them both through x-rays of their whole bodies, and then MRIs and other such scans to get a look at their insides.

As she was putting Luz through the first of these tests, she told the girls that she'd gotten enough results to form a theory about Lucy's problem. She believed that because Lucy's body was currently between the Cherub and full Angel stages, similar to Luz's after she bonded with the first glyph, her body was now requiring the magical energy of a full Angel in order to fuel itself, but Lucy's wings weren't yet developed enough and were only generating enough for a Cherub. As such, Lucy had enough magic to survive and even cast spells, but her body was craving more and so she felt weak and lethargic. Plus, since Angel Magic was strongly effected by emotion, similar to a witch's bile production, Lucy's guilt had further weakened her ability to generate magic. Luz should have had the same problem, but the light glyph itself had allowed her to passively absorb magic from the Titan, which made up the difference.

Lucy was relieved to at least know the reason for the problem, as was Luz, and both girls suspected it would take care of itself once Lucy matured more, likening it to a teenager who was always hungry due to going through puberty and growth spurts. Hettie wasn't satisfied though and wanted a medical solution, so she continued the tests.

However, it was these last few tests that caused a shift in Hettie. She wouldn't let either girl stand at the monitor with her as she was looking at the results for the other girl (something about Healer-Patient Confidentiality), but after looking at an MRI of Lucy, her excited expression had fallen into a severe frown.

"Is everything alright?" Lucy asked, noticing her frown.

"Yes, I just think the machine is playing up a little bit. Lay down and I'll repeat the test." Hettie replied, not looking up from the monitor.

Lucy looked over to Luz, who was sitting on the clinic bed nearby, but the older Angel could only shrug in response. Lucy obediently laid back down and was put back into the machine, whereupon Hettie's frown deepened.

"Impossible… he couldn't have…!? Belos… what have you done!?" she whispered frantically, just out of the girls' ear shot.

"What was that?" Lucy asked, the loud buzz of the machine keeping her from hearing properly.

Hettie pressed a button to deactivate it and let Lucy get up, though she didn't answer and instead got up and moved over to one of her microscopes. She went to look through it, then scowled as she remembered Luz had destroyed the blood samples.

"I believe I have found a way to deal with Lucy's problem." she said shortly, "However I need to compare her blood with yours once again, Luz. Might I have another drop of blood from each of you?"

Luz blinked, then nodded; "Alright… but I'll be watching closely." she said, feeling suspicious due to Hettie's obvious shift in mood. Hettie handed both her and a confused Lucy a tiny device shaped like a wingless mosquito, which they placed on the tips of their right index fingers. The device then stabbed a very small needle into their fingertips and drained out a single drop of blood, just enough for a microscope slide. She'd used a normal syringe earlier, but that had been because she needed more blood for more tests; she only needed a drop for this… plus Luz didn't like needles and poor Lucy had been even worse and nearly passed out when it had been her turn. As per usual, Luz's blood was a shining gold, while Lucy's was a regular red, and both drops were immediately placed on slides and loaded into the microscope (which was quite different from the ones Luz knew about). Hettie fiddled with some strange dials on it, and cast spells that did who knows what as she examined the blood, seemingly growing more and more agitated.

"This can't be right… to be so blatant…" Hettie scowled, before handing the slides back to Luz to destroy; "I need another sample. I need to be certain there is no cross contamination!"

Luz destroyed the slides with her red light, then she and Lucy both hesitantly gave another sample with the little mosquito devices. However the result was the same and Hettie stood and began to pace, muttering to herself darkly. She didn't just look agitated, she looked angry! Her jaw was clenched and as she muttered, Luz could see her teeth grinding together. Something was obviously up!

Curious, Luz went to the microscope and took a subtle peek at the sample inside, which happened to be Lucy's. There was nothing strange on the surface… at least until Luz noticed something green inside each red blood cell, as well as something else she vaguely recognised from science classes back in the Human Realm.

"Is that… a plant cell?" she frowned.

Hettie snapped to attention and cast a spell, popping the slide out of the microscope. "Healer-Patient Confidentiality, Luz."

"O-Oh, sorry. But maybe I can help? I'm fairly certain Angels don't have anything like plant cells inside them." Luz said, destroying the slides.

Lucy was surprised to hear such a thing was inside her too, and could do nothing but shrug; "Maybe it's from my father's side? Uncle only ever said he was a Wild Witch, but he could have had Demon DNA too. I don't remember what he looked like, but it's possible he was descended from Plant Demons of some kind? Like Mandragoras or Dryads?"

"That must be it. Without asking Belos, I'll doubt we'll get any other answers. It'd explain the green stuff I saw in your blood cells too; probably some form of Chloroplasts." Luz said, proud of herself for remembering that word.

Lucy had no idea so just accepted it, while Hettie was muttering to herself still. "I need to do something about this, but what…?"

The things she'd learned from Lucy's scan and blood sample couldn't be ignored! Something had to be done before a greater tragedy occurred!

Before she could come up with a plan, Hettie felt her Comm-pact vibrate, so she excused herself behind a privacy screen (which also blocked sound) and answered it, finding the caller to be one of the Receptionists.

"What is it?" she asked shortly.

"Apologises, Head Witch. But the Golden Guard is here and demanding access to your office! He claims there is an emergency up there involving the Silver Sentinel and the Arch-Angel! Three girls are with him too, claiming to be friends of the Arch-Angel, and Mx. Whispers has caught wind of it and is demanding access too! They're about ready to come to blows with us AND each other! What should we do!?" the receptionist asked fearfully.

Hettie growled under her breath, then paused. She could use this!

"Tell them that the emergency was de-escalated and I am currently in the middle of a consultation. Let them know that I will allow access shortly, and that I'll be sending the Arch-Angel down to help settle things peacefully." Hettie ordered.

The Receptionist obeyed, and Hettie ended the call. Now she could get Luz out of the way while she dealt with Lucy!

"Luz, I'm sorry but would you mind heading down to the reception? Your friends have arrived and are kicking up a fuss. Three girls I think it was?" Hettie asked.

Luz blinked; "Oh! Willow, Skara, and Boscha must have thought I was taking too long and got worried! Hold on a second, I'll just call them and let them know."

She summoned her scroll, but Hettie piped up; "Actually, I was hoping you'd go tell them in person. I'm ready to give Lucy a treatment for her condition, and I'd like some privacy."

"Really? But then couldn't you use a privacy screen?" Luz asked, feeling her suspicion rising. Hettie had just been agitated, and now she seemed calm and ready with a treatment? Something was off.

"This treatment requires a lot of space and I don't have any privacy screens big enough." Hettie hastily explained.

Now Luz was certain; something was wrong here! She looked to Lucy, who appeared nervous about what this treatment could be. The younger girl gave her an imploring look, not wanting Luz to leave her alone. Seeing this, Luz signed to her; "If you want me to stay, just nod your head. I'll hide under an illusion and make Hettie think I've left."

Lucy responded with a nod, confusing Hettie. Luz then smiled and said; "Okay, I guess I'll go down. I'll be right back up after though! Good luck with the treatment, Lucy!"

She walked over to the Pneumo-Vein, and drew a spell circle that cast her illusion. The illusion turned Luz invisible while creating an illusory copy, which walked into the Pneumo-Vein (also covered in an illusion) and descended with a quick wave. Hettie watched the whole thing, but since the illusory Luz was wearing her winter outfit again, Hettie just assumed the illusion was to change her clothes. Now hidden, Luz gently flew up above Hettie's head and began to hover silently, watching her every move.

The Head Witch turned to Lucy with a pleasant smile; "Take a seat for a moment, Lucy. I need to whip up a medicinal tea first."

"I don't need to disrobe or anything?" Lucy asked, sitting on the sofa she'd put her normal outfit on.

"Not yet. The medicinal tea will relax you and help stimulate your body first. Don't worry, the treatment isn't painful at all, I just need to make sure your body is properly prepared for it." Hettie said, walking over to a cabinet behind her desk. She opened it, Luz peering over her shoulder, and revealed a series of herbs and flowers. The cupboard door kept them from Lucy's sight, so Hettie reached in and pulled out a familiar glowing blue flower… a Nightshine! Luz held back a gasp; if she made tea with that, the drinker would die! Unless Hettie was going to add something else to counter the poison?

She didn't however; she simply plucked some petals with her gloved hands then returned the flower to the cupboard and closed it up. She didn't allow Lucy to see what she'd gathered until the natural light had touched the petals and made them stop glowing, then she finally placed them on her desk.

"What are those?" Lucy asked.

"Cerulea Poppy Petals. I'll be making an herbal medicine based on Cerulea Tea. It won't taste great, but it'll do the job." Hettie said, opening another cupboard and pulling out a tea kettle and a bag of tea leaves. Using Water Magic (a component of Healing Magic), Hettie filled the kettle and used the enchantments on it to start it boiling, then began to make the tea, which she added the petals too. A horrified Luz watched invisibly, hoping with all she had that Hettie was going to add something more, right up until she poured some into a summoned cup and handed it to Lucy.

"Drink up Dear. I added normal tea for flavour, so it shouldn't be too bad." Hettie smiled kindly.

Lucy accepted the tea and began to bring it to her lips, only for Luz to suddenly burst out from her illusion beside her and grab the tea, tossing it cup and all at Hettie's head. The Head Witch hadn't expected it and couldn't get out of the way in time, leading to her headdress being soaked in tea and her face being scalded by the hot liquid. Thankfully for her, none got in her mouth, but she was still hurt and outraged.

"W-What is the meaning of this!?" she demanded.

"That's what I want to know!" Luz roared; "You just tried to feed Lucy tea made from Nightshines! If she'd drunk that, she'd be dead!"

Lucy's eyes widened and she backed away from Hettie, summoning her artificial magic staff with a spell. "What!? Why would you do that!?"

Hettie spluttered; "I-I would never! I swore an oath to do no harm that is not to save! Luz must have mistaken the Cerulea Poppies for Nightshines! It's a common mistake, even by Cartilia natives!"

Luz growled and used some wind magic to open the cabinet behind Hettie and levitate the pot of Nightshines out. Bringing them over to her, she handed them to Lucy; "Use your Darkness Magic to block out the light on these things, and you'll see the truth!"

Lucy didn't hesitate, instead drawing a purple spell circle that briefly blotted out all light in the room… all light except for Luz's softly glowing wings and eyes, and the gentle blue of the glowing Nightshines.

Dropping the spell, Lucy looked at Hettie with horror; "Luz is right… you tried to poison me! You tried to kill me!"

Hettie scowled; "I prefer the word "euthanise". I'm sorry to do this, but I've got no choice! I cannot allow you to leave this room alive!"

She conjured a scalpel in one hand and made her other hand glow with blue magic, while Luz conjured a light sword and Lucy brandished her staff.

"Why!? Why do you want to kill me!?" Lucy cried.

"It's because of those results, right? Lucy has something in her blood that you're afraid of! Let me guess; her father was from some race of big scary Demons that Belos or someone else drove to extinction?" Luz asked with a sneer. That sounded about right for Belos and the Demon Realm; they'd wiped out Basilisks and Mandragoras for similar reasons. Maybe Lucy's father was the son of a Mandragora? It would explain the plant cells.

Hettie paused, weighing up the pros and cons of explaining the situation to Luz. She briefly thought that if she told her the full truth Luz would help her, but she quickly dismissed that idea. No, Luz would still say Lucy deserved to live! She was too innocent and ignorant of the horrors the creature beside her could inflict! Instead, she opted to keep her silence and not waste time on a pointless explanation, especially with the Golden Guard and Luz's allies ready to beat down her door.

"I'm sorry, but I need to do this for all of our sakes. The Dark Angel must die; don't get in my way!" Hettie declared, throwing the scalpel at Lucy's face while using her other hand to conjure bandages at Luz.

Lucy easily side-stepped the scalpel while Luz shredded the bandages with a flurry of slashes from her light sword. However the scalpel suddenly turned and shot back at Lucy from behind, aiming for her neck. Lucy didn't see it, but Luz did and she slashed her light sword (which she turned red with Fire's Aspect of Destruction) towards it, slicing it in half and making the two pieces disintegrate. At that same moment however, Lucy had been preparing to conjure dark tendrils from her shadow to bind Hettie, only for Luz's light sword to destroy the shadows and cancel her spell, leaving her open for a moment.

Hettie took the opening to charge forward, both fists glowing with blue magic. Lucy tried to dive into the shadows, but Luz casting a light blast at Hettie once again destroyed the shadows and stopped Lucy's spell, allowing the Head Witch to duck the light blast and grab Luz's sword arm with one hand while punching Lucy in the chest with the other. Lucy felt her magic drain from her at the moment of impact, even as Hettie's enhanced strength smashed her into the reinforced windows of the office. They cracked, but were strong enough to stay largely intact… sadly the same couldn't be said of Lucy's ribs, and the girl began to tear up as she was overwhelmed with pain and struggled to breathe.

Hettie saw she was helpless, so briefly turned her attention to Luz; "You really shouldn't have thrown that tea back in my face. It was an act of aggression that freed me from my oath. I can fight back and defend myself against you now."

Luz, held aloft by her wrist, found her light sword shrinking as Hettie's blue magic aura drained her magic. It was just like the aura used by the Combat Healers outside!

"Ugh, what is this…" Luz groaned as she struggled in-vain to pry Hettie's fingers open so she could escape.

"Healing Magic can do many things to the body. I can use it to enhance my muscles and thus my speed and strength, or I can use it to disrupt another person's magic. I discovered while examining you that while your blood carries your magic through your body instead of keeping it in a Bile Sack, you still have to channel it into your nervous system to make it work and Healing Magic can block your nerves ability to feel magic, just as we can prevent it from feeling pain or other sensations." Hettie explained, unable to resist instructing a "fellow Healer".

She had done so in an attempt to demoralise Luz, but it instead inspired her. Her spell was basically a form of numbing spell, so the "drain" was actually just the sensation of magic growing weaker. But since Luz could still feel some magic and now she knew she hadn't lost any, she could force it out! Like a person forcing their numb fingers to move on a cold day!

Luz's light sword vanished, then Luz created a crystal gauntlet on her other hand which she used to punch Hettie's wrist as hard as she could, expelling some wind magic from her elbow to further boost her punch. There was a crack as it broke a bone in Hettie's forearm, making the witch groan and drop Luz. The young Angel used her wings to hover back and then pointed the gauntlet at Hettie's face before launching it at her using wind and fire magic, mimicking a rocket punch. The gauntlet smashed into her face, cracking her mask and tearing her headdress a bit, while also making the woman groan once again, and stagger back in pain.

The Arch-Angel moved to press the attack, but then saw Lucy's condition and prioritised helping her instead. She threw up a crystal barrier to keep Hettie at bay, then ran to Lucy's side and began urgently healing her ribs. Lucy sighed with relief as the pain vanished and she could once again breathe.

"T-Thank you. She hits like a rampaging Slitherbeast!" Lucy said, wiping her eyes as Luz helped her to her feet.

"You're welcome. But what happened back there? I thought you'd retreat into the shadows." Luz said.

"I can't when you use Light Magic. Most of my magic is either Darkness or Oracle Magic, and I can't use either very well around you. I haven't got that many other spells." Lucy replied.

Luz frowned guiltily; "Ah Titan, I didn't think of that! Sorry Lucy! I'll try to avoid using Light Magic so you can use your Dark Magic more easily."

Lucy shook her head; "It's fine, if you can just turn down the brightness a little. I didn't have this problem against Amity or when we first fought! Your light has gotten brighter since then."

"Then I'll try to tone it down. Is this alright?" Luz asked, creating another light sword which was a darker gold than the usual almost white gold colour of her light. Lucy bent the shadows beneath her and smiled upon seeing that the light didn't destroy them instantly.

"I can work with this! This'll be my first time teaming up with someone other than Hunter…" she said, stepping forward and preparing to fight.

"And Gus. Can't forget him!" Luz grinned.

To her surprise, Lucy's cheeks darkened slightly; "R-Right. Of course."

There was no time for Luz to question the odd reaction however, as Hettie suddenly leapt at them and smashed both her fists into the crystal barrier, managing to crack it slightly. The woman had healed the damage Luz had done with her crystal gauntlet and had removed her broken mask and torn headdress, finally revealing her full face.

Hettie's face was heavily scarred, with pretty much every thing previously covered up being a mess of scar tissue. She was missing her nose, but the holes for her nostrils remained and were noticeably large, while her eyes were intact and a pale blue that looked almost white. Her ears were not the pointed ears of a witch though, but appeared to be Bovine in nature (with one of them being badly torn). Matching that, she had two large bull horns sticking out from the sides of her bald head, one of which was broken.

"I guess that explains the weirdly shaped headdress…" Luz muttered; "You're some kind of Minotaur Demon, right?"

"Half-Minotaur Demon, on my mother's side." Hettie answered as she began pounding on the barrier, slowly cracking it. The crystal could take an astounding amount of magical punishment, but it was weaker against physical attacks, and Hettie was increasing her strength massively, to the point that her sleeves and gloves were being torn off, revealing clawed hands covered in very short dark brown fur. "My father was a Witch. I lost both of them, along with my face, on the day that Necromancer defiled our town!" she growled, punctuating each word with a punch to the barrier. She was slowly breaking through it, but her hands were suffering the consequences as Luz could see the bruising and broken fingers. However she wasn't even wincing, so Luz guessed she'd numbed the pain.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, but I'm not going to let you kill me just because half my ancestry is something you don't like!" Lucy yelled, casting a spell to cause Hettie's shadow to rise up and grab the woman, restraining her. Luz then lowered the barrier and used the plant glyph to grow a pair of Shooting Seed Pods, which began to fire their seeds at the Head Witch. Luz added her wind magic to the seeds to make them fly faster, and Hettie found herself being badly bruised.

"Taste my Bullet Seed!" Luz cried.

Hettie tried to power through it, but even with the pain numbed, the sheer number of attacks began to make her flinch. Seeing this, Luz aimed the next volley at the woman's prominent chin whilst telling Lucy to release her shadows. The younger girl obeyed and Luz's Bullet Seeds slammed into Hettie's chin. She staggered, and Luz shouted "Seed Bomb!" as she used Plant Magic to enlarge one of the seeds into the size of a coconut, which struck Hettie hard enough to elicit a yelp of pain and topple her over. The woman landed on her back, and Lucy bound her in shadows once again, trapping her.

"I-I think we won." Lucy said cautiously, seeing Hettie groan at the pain getting through her numbing spell.

"Don't let you guard down yet. She's a Coven Head after all! Even one focused on Healing can be pretty tough!" Luz replied, using ice and plant magic to further bind Hettie using vines and icy chains.

Lucy nodded obediently, then asked; "Why were you yelling out spell names?"

"Oh, uh… It's kind of a Human Realm thing. Giving your attacks names is just kinda cool, right? Like your spell there could be called Shadow Bind! Imagine shouting that when using it." Luz replied with an excited grin.

Lucy imagined it and to her surprise, the mental image of herself shouting "Shadow Bind!" as she tied her opponents up in their own shadow was pretty cool. She giggled; "I guess you're right!"

The two girls grinned, though their smiles were wiped away when Hettie suddenly began to struggle. Her bruises were healing on their own as a blue aura coated Hettie's entire body, and she freed her arms by using raw strength to rip them free. The shadows couldn't be ripped or torn, but they were only as powerful as the magic Lucy was channelling into them, and that simply wasn't enough for Hettie's growing strength. She went to pull the restraints from her legs too, so Luz shot a fireball at her while Lucy conjured some throwing knives. Hettie responded by blasting water at the fireball, dousing it and filling the room with steam. The water jet also knocked the knives off course and hit both girls, blasting them over with the force of the jet.

As the room filled with steam, Luz covered herself and Lucy with a barrier and then conjured a hurricane around it to blow the steam away. However there was a flash of light as Hettie used her own Light Magic to destroy Lucy's shadows and free herself. The flash stunned the girls for a moment, allowing Hettie to cast a spell out of their sight. When they regained their vision, they saw Hettie stood watching them from outside the barrier, her skirt torn to reveal Minotaur-like legs. Luz raised a finger to make a spell circle, only to suddenly feel a slight prick in the side of her neck.

The girl gasped and raised a hand to her neck, where she felt a small syringe sticking out of her. Her eyes widened as her body began to go numb. "H-How…" she slurred, teetering so much that Lucy had to hold her up.

"Thanks to my examination of you, I know exactly what medicines effect you best, including anaesthetics. This is my office and it is filled with hidden medical equipment for any occasion, so no matter where you stand, you're in range of my tools." Hettie replied, pointing to the coffee table in the sitting area, which was within Luz's barrier. A small compartment had opened up due to Hettie's spell, and it had shot an anaesthetic dart into her neck, causing her to swoon. It left Luz feeling sluggish and made it very difficult for her to move, though not impossible.

"Hmm, sadly I don't have a perfect anaesthetic for knocking you out available at the moment, but that one will keep you debilitated the longest. I'm sorry that it doesn't make you lose consciousness, making you witness what's about to happen, but you left me no choice." Hettie declared.

With Luz weakened, Hettie took the opportunity to cast a spell on herself, making the claws of her right hand glow a deep blue. She then stabbed the claws into her own neck like syringes, and caused her body to begin swelling and growing, becoming more bestial. Her face, still heavily scarred, took on a more bovine appearance, and Luz realised that whatever she'd just done to herself was likely the Healing Magic equivalent of the Wild Heart spell.

When the spell was over, Hettie was indistinguishable from a full-blooded Minotaur, and her broken horn had regenerated entirely. However unlike with the Wild Heart Spell, Hettie seemed to retain full control of her mind, as she was able to use her magic so summon two large medical items; one was a morgue slab, which she held in one hand like a tower shield, while the other was a massive bone saw, likely intended for use on large Demons.

"I'll end this abomination before the Arch-Angel recovers!" she declared, before lunging at Lucy and swinging the bone saw. Thanks to Luz being weakened and Hettie herself being massively strengthened, she was able to slash straight through Luz's barrier, shattering it like glass. Lucy dove into the shadows with Luz, aiming to flee with her, but before she could even think of another shadow to leap out of, she and Luz were suddenly forced out behind Hettie's desk by the woman using a light spell to destroy the shadows, leaving that as their only exit point. Lucy barely had time to register where they'd appeared before she was forced to roll to the side as Hettie brought the bone saw down and sliced her own desk in two, almost taking Lucy's head off at the same time.

Weakly, Luz used some wind magic to gently blow Lucy off of her and out of the way of a follow up swing. "Leave me! She's not aiming to kill me so don't weigh yourself down!"

"B-But-!" Lucy began, only to be forced to dive into her shadow as Hettie coated her bone saw in ice magic and waved it at her, sending a deluge of razor sharp icicles at her. Hettie prepared to cast another light spell to control where Lucy emerged, but Luz was able to shoot a silver light beam into her eye, damaging it and making Hettie hesitate long enough for Lucy to leap out of the enlarged woman's shadow and attack her from behind.

"Uh, Rot Knife!" Lucy cried, throwing a conjured knife overflowing with Dark Magic. It struck Hettie's saw arm, which began to slowly decay. Hettie scowled and spun around, aiming to smash Lucy with her shield. Luz hit the woman in the side of the head with another silver light beam, and the flash resulted in Hettie's shadow being cast on the shield, allowing the younger Angel to actually run and jumped into the attempted shield bash, vanishing into the shadow. The Head Witch was incredibly confused for a moment, until Lucy appeared under her with a pair of conjured knives. She slashed the woman's Achilles tendons to make her fall to her knees, then dove back into the shadows only to shoot out again and aim a Dark Magic uppercut directly to the woman's chin.

Hettie screamed in pain and fell on her back once more, while Luz cheered from where she was still flopped on the floor. "Good job Lucy! That was a mean Shadow Punch! Or maybe Shadow Sneak!"

"T-The names actually do make this a little less scary!" Lucy admitted, smiling nervously. Another downside to not having her mask was that everyone could now see how terrified she was when she had to fight; she was good at it, but that didn't change how scary it was!

Hettie groaned and unleashed a bright flash from her whole body, destroying the Dark Magic that clung to the wounds Lucy had inflicted, stopping the rot they caused. Then her body glowed blue and began to regenerate on its own as she stood up.

"N-Not bad, you monster!" Hettie panted, beginning to feel the drain on her magic; "But I'm not done yet!"

She stomped one of her hoofs and caused ice to spread across the floor in an attempt to freeze both girls solid. Lucy managed to avoid it by conjuring a ball of dark purple flames to stave off the cold, while Luz weakly summoned the fire glyph and made a ring of fire around her. The anaesthetic was in full effect now and it took all Luz had to move her mouth or even just a finger!

Seeing as Lucy had escaped her attempts to freeze her, Hettie cast another spell circle that caused the nerves in her head to begin glowing, leading to electricity arching between her horns. Lucy gaped, not expecting Lightning Magic! Healing Magic was made of Light, Ice, and Plant Elemental Magic, so it made sense that even a Sigil branded Healer could use Light and Ice Magic (though not Plant Magic, due to that using a different Spell Phlegm), but Lightning Magic shouldn't be possible!

"Forgive the pun, but I think it's time I send this monster into shock!" Hettie bellowed, bowing her head and causing the electricity to shoot from her horns towards the Dark Angel.

Lucy couldn't dodge the high speed attack in time, and the light it gave off was bright enough to stop her from using the shadows, so she was hit straight on. The poor girl screamed and convulsed as the lightning pulsed through her body, while Hettie used the opportunity to raise her bone saw to split the girl in two.

Thinking fast, Luz blasted herself forward with wind magic, making her own body flop around like a rag doll as it flew towards Hettie's face. Right before impact, Luz manifested her crystal barrier, essentially using it like a combination of her earlier crystal fist and Seed Bomb attacks. Hettie cried out as her nose was broken and one of her horns was snapped off, while Luz and her barrier fell to the ground. Luz opened and closed the barrier quickly to trap Lucy inside it with her, then cast a quick healing spell on her.

The spell countered the effects of the shock, making Lucy stop convulsing and fall to her knees, panting. However the spell also used the last of Luz's magic, as she still hadn't recovered from all the healing she'd done on the wards. As such, her barrier fell just as Hettie was recovering and glaring furiously down at the girls.

"Uh oh…" Luz groaned, unable to move or cast spells.

Hettie raised a hoof to stomp on the Arch-Angel, aiming to knock her out the old fashioned way, but Lucy conjured spears from the ground around Luz's body, so they stabbed into the Head Witch's hoof and leg and made her topple over again, falling on more of her expensive medical equipment. Lucy then grabbed Luz and again pulled her into the shadows so they could plan their next move.

The shadows were a space of near infinite blackness, where Lucy could see every shadow she could jump out of as a window. Her range was limited though, and if the windows were all closed, she and everyone with her would be forced out. Still, it allowed them a moment of peace to plan.

"We don't have a lot of time." Lucy frowned, watching Hettie remove the spears from her hoof and slowly heal herself, taking advantage of their absence to be more thorough than before. "How the heck was Cutburn able to use Lightning Magic!? Did she circumvent her sigil somehow!?"

"Given she's a Master Healer, I wouldn't be surprised if she could do that. But that wasn't real Lightning Magic; she used Healing Magic to channel and magnify the electrical signals sent by her nervous system. So it was a kind of Pseudo-Lightning Magic created through Healing Magic. Sort of like how Bardic Magic can be used to cast spells from other types of magic." Luz explained, having figured it out based on seeing Hettie's nerves glowing.

Lucy was surprised by that, but was more concerned about their situation; "I'm running low on magic, and you're basically out all together AND unable to move! We need a plan!"

"I'm open to suggestions." Luz said, feeling a little silly as she just kind of floated around in the void of shadows, unable to move enough to even face the other girl.

Lucy bit her lip; "Hunter is the planner and leader… I just followed his orders! I'm not so good on my own."

"That big Shadow Punch Combo was far from "not so good." You're clearly smart! Have some confidence! You'll need it, since I'm basically useless now." Luz replied.

"You're really out of options?" Lucy asked.

"I have a bottle of Ambrosia to boost my magic, as well as a Power Glyph… but they're in my satchel, and I can't summon it without magic to cast the spell, so unless you can get to the Owl House and back here in the space of 10 seconds then yeah, I'm out of options." the older Angel replied. "I don't even have the magic to summon my scroll and call Titi and the others to come help me!"

"And I don't have a scroll, so I can't call either… Dang it, we're stuck!" Lucy said fearfully, putting a hand through her hair out of nerves. "I can't beat her alone! She regenerates from everything I do! If only I could give blessings like you! Then I could give you my magic and you could save us! Or at least get us out of here!"

Luz frowned; Lucy's confidence issues were keeping her from thinking things through calmly. It was the same thing that Luz went through often in the Human Realm, whenever she'd messed up and struggled to fix things before it got too out of hand. Telling her to snap out of it wouldn't help at this point, so Luz helped by keeping her focused.

"Can you move us through the shadows to a place outside of Hettie's office?" she asked.

"No… entering and leaving the Void of Shadows doesn't take too much magic, but moving through it does. The further I move from where I entered, the more magic I use up! And that's doubled with you here… if I left alone, I could probably make it out to safety, but it'd mean leaving you behind." Lucy replied.

"You could do that. Hettie won't kill me… I think?" Luz said, not so sure if that was true any more. She'd made the woman pretty mad.

"Even if it is true, I can't just leave you behind. Not after what my spirit did on Titan Trapper Island." Lucy shot back, the guilt still shining in her amethyst eyes.

Luz was both touched and concerned, but she didn't have time to dwell on that. "What about your staff? Can't that boost your magic?"

The younger Angel shook her head; "Uncle says it's a waste to give me a proper artificial magic staff now that I have magic of my own. My staff can channel my own magic for bigger spell circles, and it has the same flying enchantments as a flying broom, but that's it. We could use it to escape if we break the reinforced windows in Hettie's office. We've damaged them a little already."

Luz frowned, remembering how Hettie has smashed Lucy into them at the start of their fight. That was definitely one option, if they could finish the job…

Weighing up her options, Luz said; "Hettie has got to be burning through magic like crazy with all the healing and pain numbing spells… if we can just hammer her with a few more attacks, she'll be too exhausted to fight back and we'll finally win! Or if we can hit her with a strong enough blow to knock her out in one hit! Either way would work! It's either that or we bust down the window and hope we can escape on your staff. I'm relying on you regardless, so I'll leave it up to you Lucy."

"I-I don't know…" Lucy fretted, "I want to run away, but…"

What would her Uncle say if she fled? She was his Silver Sentinel and Left Hand! If she ran like a weak little girl from a traitor Coven Head, he'd lose any faith he still had in her! She'd only just won back some affection from the man, she couldn't bear to lose it! There was also a bit of personal pride in it; she didn't want to keep relying on her brother all the time! She wanted to be Hunter's equal, not glorified back-up or worse; a burden!

"I-I think we should try to beat her! I think I can knock her out, and I have an idea to do it, but it's risky." Lucy said, then floated over to Luz and moved the other girl so they could look one another in the eye. "It could also get you hurt. Y-You might have to lie for it to work. Are you okay with that?"

Luz nodded with a smile; "One advantage of being numb all over is that the burning in my throat shouldn't be so bad! I'll help however I can, so tell me your plan!"

Lucy gave a shaky smile of her own, then began to explain.

Meanwhile, Hettie had finished healing her damaged hoof (those spears had really gone in deep) and was now fortifying herself with more spells in preparation for the girls' inevitable counter attack. Luz was basically beaten already; she wouldn't be able to protect that creature for much longer! A good thing too, as the augmenting spells she cast on herself had tired her out more than expected! She needed to finish this up quickly, especially if she was going to escape afterwards. The Emperor and his men wouldn't forgive her for killing the Sentinel after all.

Just as she was about to cast a bright flash to force the girls out of the shadows, one of them suddenly leapt out of the shadows in front of her and lunged towards her. Assuming it was Lucy since Luz couldn't move, Hettie prepared to cut the girl in half with her bone saw, only to hesitate when she was it was Luz after all. Dropping her morgue slab/tower shield, Hettie instead caught the girl and noticed she was still like a rag doll from the effects of the anaesthetic.

"What? How did you leap at me?" Hettie asked, bewildered.

"I didn't! She threw me!" Luz cried indignantly; "That brat tossed me at you as a distraction and so she could escape alone! She said she was going to go get her brother!"

Hettie scowled; "I told you that thing couldn't be trusted! But how does she have enough magic? My examinations showed her range should be more limited than that… Did I miscalculate?"

"I don't know, but I'd really like to smack her one for ditching me!" Luz growled, her eyes strangely glistening, the betrayal having no doubt saddened her. "Look, I've got no magic so I don't suppose you could at least stop the anaesthetic so I can move again? I can help you take Lucy down! I'll tell Titi and the CATTs that she's an enemy and they'll help too!"

Hettie weighed up her options; if Lucy had reached Hunter, Hettie would need to fight through the Emperor's Coven to take her out and escape… having the CATTs to cover her escape and give her sanctuary would be ideal! Perhaps she could find a way to enact the Day of Unity plan with Luz too!

"Alright. I'll accept your terms." Hettie agreed, before jabbing a claw into Luz's neck like a needle, injecting her with Healing Magic to remove the anaesthetic.

Luz winced as Hettie put her down, and she staggered on her feet. "Oof, that hurt like crazy!" she complained, rubbing her throat. She then looked at Hettie's large form; "You'll need to shrink down to normal again if you want to use the Pneumo-Veins."

"True. Hold on a moment." Hettie said, before jabbing herself with her claws and casting a new spell to reverse the effects of her transformation, shrinking her back down to her normal size. This meant the bone saw was also far too large to easily wield any more, so Hettie banished it and prepared to summon a scalpel instead.

However the instant her weapon vanished, Luz leapt at the woman and wrapped her arms around Hettie's right arm, gripping it with all her strength. She then kicked her legs out and wrapped them around Hettie's neck, using her own body like a makeshift cuff to hold her arm in place.

"W-What is the meaning of this!?" Hettie demanded as she used her free hand to try and pull Luz off of her. The moment she tried though, the shadows at her feet became tendrils that shot up and grabbed her left wrist, pulling it down hard enough to dislocate the woman's shoulder and keep the arm immobile. Lucy then launched herself out of the shadows behind Hettie, wielding a war hammer that she'd conjured, which she slammed down onto Hettie's head, right between her horns.

It was a heavy blow, and against most people it would have been lethal as the hammer would have broken their neck or caved in their skull. Thankfully Hettie's augmentation spells and sturdy Minotaur heritage ensured she survived, though not unscathed. The heavy THWACK of metal on skull echoed across the room and the Head Witch staggered forward, falling to her knees. For a moment, it looked like she was merely dazed and would soon rise to her feet once again, but then the moment passed and Luz watched her eyes roll back in her head as she collapsed face first onto the floor, totally unconscious.

The two girls eyed her warily for a moment, before Lucy used the last of her magic to conjure chains to wrap the woman in, ensuring she couldn't easily escape if she regained consciousness. Meanwhile, Luz collapsed exhaustedly onto Hettie's sofa and sighed with relief, rubbing her throat.

"That wasn't very fun! Still, it worked out! Good job, Lucy." she complimented, giving a weary thumbs up.

Once she was satisfied Hettie was secured, Lucy looked at Luz with concern; "I couldn't have done this without you. It was you who lied to get her guard down! If she hadn't left her Enlarged form, that blow wouldn't have knocked her out. Are you alright?"

"My throat is killing me and I've got no ice to soothe it, so that's not fun. But I'm alive and so are you, so I'll call it worth it. Still, I wonder why the heck she wanted to kill you so badly…" the Arch-Angel said, staring forlornly at Hettie's fallen form.

Lucy was wondering the same thing; "It's got to have to do with my father. Mother was an Angel and Hettie didn't have a problem with you, so that side of my bloodline can't be a problem. Maybe Uncle will tell me when I report all this to him. Speaking off, I should go get Hunter; I sent my spirit to him a while ago and they still haven't returned. He's the one with the Comm-pact."

The girl didn't have one, since talking was a new development for her, so she'd never needed one before.

However, just as Lucy was about to take the Pneumo-Vein out of the office, she saw something outside. Looking up, she saw Hunter, Raine, and three girls she didn't initially recognise all flying outside the damaged window, staring through it with wide-eyed expressions. Raine whistled sharply while Hunter shot golden magic at the window from Flapjack, causing the damaged window to shattered completely. Hunter and the CATTs then flew in, Hunter landing in front of Lucy and standing between her and the others, while the CATTs did the same with Luz.

"Sister, I'm here! Are you alright!? What in the Titan's name happened!? Did Luz defeat Head Witch Cutburn!?" Hunter asked urgently.

"I'm fine, Hunter. I'm sorry if Shade worried you; Luz and I were on the verge of fighting when I sent him to you, but we worked it out without violence." Lucy explained.

"I don't know, this all looks pretty violent." Boscha snarked, noting Luz was in her raiment and looked exhausted, while the room was trashed and Hettie was beat up.

Raine and Willow were fussing over Luz just like Hunter was with Lucy, while Skara was subtly backing up Boscha as they kept an eye on the Emperor's Elites.

"I'm fine too, just out of magic and with a burning throat." Luz croaked. "A lot happened…"

"I'll summarise for you all." Lucy added, before giving the short version of what happened.

Hunter was apoplectic that Hettie tried to kill his sister, and almost struck down the unconscious woman then and there! Meanwhile Luz's friends were just as surprised to find out it really was true that the Portal Key had been stolen by Lucy's spirit without her knowledge, and the two Angels forming a brief alliance against Hettie.

Raine shook their head exasperatedly; "Honestly, I can't take you anywhere! I'm not sure if Eda is going to be more mad or smug!"

"Hehe sorry." Luz giggled nervously.

"You're all trouble. Comes with being a rebel." Hunter deadpanned, "Still, you helped save Lucy's life again, so thank you. I'll repay you by forgetting about you threatening her at the start."

Luz bowed her head guiltily, though the guilt faded when Lucy caught her eye, then rolled her eyes at her brother's protectiveness with a fond smile. That made Luz giggle again, especially as she noticed a bit of a shine returning to Lucy's wings… perhaps she'd shaken her guilt and self-doubt a little? That would help her feel better!

"Ignore Goldilocks, Luz." Willow said dismissively, making Hunter squawk indignantly; "You had a right to be angry."

"Yeah. Shame I wasn't here to get a picture though." Boscha pouted. When the others looked at her questioningly, she smirked and said; "What? A picture of Luz in all her Angel glory pushing another girl that looks just like her up against a wall? All I'd need to do is add an illusion of flirty eyes and a little blush and I'd have the perfect weapon to use on Amity!"

The two Angels blushed crimson while the CATTs all laughed and Hunter acted like a protective big brother by pulling Lucy closer to him. The laughter eased their moods, though it did wreak havoc on Luz's sore throat, so Boscha used some water magic to make an ice cold drink to soothe her with, as Raine and Skara looked down on the unconscious Hettie.

"What a waste… she'd have made a good member of the CATTs if she hadn't gone mad." Raine sighed sadly. Skara couldn't help but agree, but she wasn't too fond of recruiting someone who wanted to kill a little kid. Lucy wasn't even a teenager yet as far as she could tell! However she wouldn't have long to think about it.

Skara looked away from the bound and defeated Head Witch as she heard a commotion from outside with her sharp ears. She looked over to the broken window and peeked out, frowning as she saw a large group of Coven Scouts marching into the hospital or making plans to get airships or flying brooms so they could fly directly up to them.

"Guys, the Cavalry is here. We should get going." she warned.

"That's a good idea. Luz is exhausted and I'd rather not fight every scout in the city with only one of my fellow CATTs as back-up." Raine said, nodding to Boscha.

It was a fairly transparent attempt to deny that Willow and Skara were rebels too, and both Hunter and Lucy saw through it immediately. However Hunter was grateful to them for the help, and Lucy had no intention of making an enemy of Luz again so soon after clearing the air with her and shedding some of her guilt. They may be on opposite sides of the Civil War, but the three teens respected each other quite a bit; they all felt that the others were doing what they thought was right, even if they believed they were mislead and manipulated. They would fight one another for what they believed in, but when the need for fighting was passed, they'd try to get along. After all, Luz considered Lucy to be a junior Angel she could help discover herself, and saw Hunter as a bad but sad boy who could do with some better influences in his life, and on the flip side, they both viewed her as a fundamentally good person being misled by the criminal Owl Lady.

Hunter turned away from the CATTs and said; "The official story will be that Hettie Cutburn tried to assassinate you both due to you being Angels. We worked together to defeat her, and then while Lucy and I were securing the prisoner, you all fled under the cover of an illusion. Understood?"

A sleepy Luz smiled as Willow lifted her onto Clover's staff; "Thank you, Hunter. And you too, Lucy."

Lucy smiled, while Hunter just scoffed; "Yeah yeah, don't make me regret it. Now get out of here! I swear, one of these days I'm going to capture you for real!"

The CATTs all smirked as Raine, Skara, and Boscha got on their Palisman. Raine began to whistle a tune known as the Hymn of Hiding to turn them all invisible, but right before they disappeared, Willow winked at Hunter; "See you around… Hunter."

The boy felt his face heat up a little, right before Willow and the others turned invisible and flew away, retreating back to their homes in Bonesborough. As soon as he was sure they were gone, Hunter made sure Lucy was alright and gave the girl a moment of privacy to change back into her uniform, then gave the Emperor a call on his compact.

When his Uncle's mask appeared on the mirror screen, Hunter said; "Uncle, there's been an incident in Cartilia. I think you need to come down here and see for yourself."

Meanwhile, thanks to their invisibility and a little wind magic from Skara, the CATTs flew all the way back to Bonesborough without incident. Willow, Skara, and Boscha separated from the group to go home and let their parents know they're okay, since they'd been gone longer than expected, so Luz and Raine said their goodbyes as they flew back to the Owl House on Raine's Palisman, Rena.

They arrived to find Eda, Rasiel, King, Lilith, Amity, and Hooty all sitting around the coffee table in the living room, translating pages of Philip's notes (well, Hooty was mostly just offering moral support as he chatted with Lilith). It looked like they'd made some decent progress too! There was a pile of newly written translations that was almost as thick as the notes Evelyn had given them, marking the translation as almost completed. There was also a pile of very large tomes stacked up behind the couch, each one looking dusty and as big as Luz's torso.

"Hey everyone! Wow, it looks like you've been busy!" Luz greeted as they walked through the door.

"Welcome back, Owlet. Did you have fun with your Titi?" Eda asked with a smile, as King hugged Luz's ankle and Amity went over to kiss her girlfriend in greeting.

Luz pet her little bro's head and returned Amity's kiss before answering; "Yeah! The first two thirds of the trip were great! But the last part was kinda… well, that's a long story. The short version is I ran into Lucy and found out she didn't steal the Portal Key on purpose… and then we beat up the Head of the Healing Coven when she tried to kill us both."

Everyone stared at her blankly, with Eda sighing exasperatedly; "Even when I tell you to take a break, you still end up doing something! That's what I get for raising a Rebel Angel I suppose."

The others snickered and Luz just smiled bashfully; Eda wasn't mad at her after all. Raine walked over to sit beside their lover, and the two exchanged kisses of their own. Eda whispered something to them and they whispered back, making Eda relax a little more. Luz guessed she'd been asking if they were both truly alright.

"I'll tell you guys the full story over dinner." Luz promised as Amity and King pulled her over to sit between them.

"Good! Darius will also be glad to hear Lucy didn't actually rob you like we all thought. He's been almost as down as you have about it… I think he cares for Hunter and Lucy a lot more than he lets on." Amity smiled. Darius and her Dad had been spending a lot of time together, and Amity had also been training in abominations with them both whenever she wasn't spending time with Luz, Willow, or Lilith, so the girl had seen Darius subtly moping over the situation for a while now.

"Yeah! But tell me about your days! How did it go at the library, and the therapist? Oh, and the notes too!" Luz said, looking between Amity, King, and Eda.

Lilith smiled and gestured to the pile of tomes; "Thanks to my Assistant Curator position and Amity's exemplary record, we were able to convince Malphas to let us into the Forbidden Stacks! He even showed us the Forbidden Forbidden Stacks, where he's been secretly hiding copies of all the books that Belos ordered banned and destroyed. We'd hoped to find a copy of Philip's diary to add to these notes, but sadly that was a dead end. But we did find those; "Grand Arch-Mage Chinana's Primordial Almanac: A Study of the Titan's Humours and Primordial Wellsprings." It's the most comprehensive collection of research on the Wellsprings that was ever written! If a way to navigate the Wellsprings exists, it'll be inside those tomes."

"Which means I'm going to be spending every free moment I have for the next few weeks reading through them." Rasiel sighed, not looking forward to it. He'd skimmed the first volume briefly and the work could be most charitably called dry reading… but it was the only clue to reaching the temple occupied by Lars, and the Black Tomb within.

"Good luck, Rasiel! If I get the portal working before you're done, I'll help you read through them." Luz offered. The Ancient Angel smiled and nodded, though he doubted that would happen; he'd seen enough from the notes to know that building the portal properly would be a difficult task.

King was the next to speak up; "My therapy was fine. I mostly just talked about how I was feeling, and they gave me this!" he reached behind one of the couch cushions and pulled out a stress toy; "They said to squeeze it whenever I started getting mad. Not sure how it's gonna help, but it's kinda fun!"

Luz giggled; "Good for you, Cutie-Pie."

Finally, it was Eda's turn to speak; "As for the notes, we're like 90% done. The good news is that we've translated most of the ingredients and a lot of them are fairly easy to get. We've also translated the details of Philip's first attempt at a portal, which didn't go so well. The bad news is that while a simple portal to who knows where is easy to make, making a proper portal to where you want to go is gonna be crazy difficult… and Philip had the Collector help him."

That was a massive shock to both Luz and Raine; so Philip really had met the Collector too… and now there was a chance Luz needed his help too! This could actually work out! She could free him with King's help, and then he could help them in return!

"So the mirror Evelyn told us Philip found in the Titan's Head really was one of the Collector's mirrors! Is there any information on what he did with it besides having the Collector help make the portal!?" Luz asked eagerly.

"We're not sure yet." Amity said, "But if something that powerful still exists, and Philip didn't destroy it out of spite, then it might be in Belos' hands." she finished with a grim expression.

Luz paled; that was a fair point! Belos had read Philip's diary, which could also have contained where Philip left the mirror! Unless Philip purposely hid the mirror and left behind no mention of where it was, then Belos had almost certainly found it first! Which meant Belos now had access to someone with immense magical power… or at least enough knowledge of it to make anyone a formidable threat.

"If Belos has the Collector on his side, then this is going to be a lot tougher than I thought." Luz frowned. "But we've got no choice; we'll find a way to stop him! And we can turn the Collector to our side by offering to free him! If only a Titan can do that, then Belos is out of luck! We can still do this!"

A new determination began to burn in Luz's chest; they were making progress on all their objectives and now had a clear idea of what to do next! Finish the portal, find a way through the Wellsprings, and defeat Belos, and now they had information to help with all three!

"By the time this is done, Belos won't know what hit him!" Luz grinned. The rest of the Owl Family found her enthusiasm infectious and soon joined her in smiling. Luz's pseudo-day off had reenergised her completely! Belos had best watch out!

[Elsewhere]

Belos arrived at Caduceus Grand Hospital, answering the call of his elites, and met Hunter and Lucy in the reception of the hospital. The Emperor's Coven had completely taken over the hospital and were keeping the patients and healers out of the way while they finished their investigation, just as Belos had ordered. The Emperor looked at Lucy and upon seeing she was in good condition, he turned back to Hunter.

"Has the situation changed since you called?" he asked imperiously.

"No, Emperor Belos. Cutburn is bound and under guard in her office. We gagged her as instructed, and I received word a few minutes ago that she'd awakened." Hunter answered.

"Good. I will go and interrogate her; you and your sister will remain here." Belos replied, leaving no room for argument as he swept out of the reception and headed for the nearest Pneumo-Vein. He used it to reach Hettie's office and found it in a state of disarray following her battle with the Angels, and the woman herself was on her knees between four Coven Scouts. She was roughed up, bound and gagged, with her head coverings still removed to expose her true, scarred face. The moment she locked eyes on Belos, they filled with a burning hatred and she began to struggle and scream indignantly into her gag. Belos ignored her and looked to the guards.

"Leave us."

They did so immediately, and as soon as Belos and Hettie were alone, the Emperor reached down and removed Hettie's gag.

"You monster!" she immediately spat at him; "Do you have any idea what you've done!? What you've created!?"

"Naturally. And do you have any idea who you're defying?" Belos asked casually, completely unthreatened.

"A mad man is who I'm defying! Is anything you've told us true? Will the Day of Unity truly do what you say it will!?" Hettie demanded.

Belos chuckled darkly; "You'll find out yourself. I still need you after all… the Coven Heads are all required. But I have alternative ways of ensuring you're in your proper place."

He summoned his staff and cast a red spell at Hettie, causing the kneeling witch to slowly be petrified from the ground up. The woman briefly struggled as her face flashed with fear and pain, before she realised the futility of escaping and turned to glare hatefully at Belos once more.

"Mark my words, False Emperor! The Arch-Angel will destroy you! She's grown stronger since that day in the Conformatorium! You and all you've built will be torn down! I regret nothing other than not being there to see it!" she declared, one final defiance against the man who'd betrayed all her hopes and expectations.

Belos just chuckled and watched as Hettie was fully petrified… all except for a single ear. So long as he didn't complete the spell, he would be able to reverse if himself without need of Luz's powers, and in the meantime Hettie would suffer in stone for her betrayal, all while able to hear everything around her. He then stooped beside her and whispered into her ear.

"Luz will play her part, whether she likes it or not. As will you. In fact… let me tell you precisely what will happen." Belos said, before whispering to her exactly what the Day of Unity was and how it would work. There was no reaction from the stone woman, but Belos knew that inside that casing, Hettie Cutburn's mind was burning with the truth he'd just revealed.

Unbeknownst to anyone, Belos personally moved Hettie's mostly petrified form to a secret location, then replaced it with a simple stone replica. Three days later, when Coven Day itself arrived, everyone across the isles watched as Belos addressed them via a giant illusion projected above Cartilia City Hall and then broadcast via scrolls and crystal balls, ensuring no one avoided seeing his speech.

He was met by the gasps and applause of the crowd watching live; "Thank you, everyone. Together we are perfecting the Coven System as the Titan intended. The Day of Unity will be in exactly one month, when the tide is at its lowest and the moon obscures the sun. At that time, we will journey to the head of the Isles, and there the worthy shall inherit a Utopia free of Wild Magic!"

There was more gasps from the crowd, especially as Belos reached for his mask; "There is more I must share with you. I've always hidden my face, out of fear. But because of your support, I can finally take off this mask."

Slowly, Belos removed the mask with one hand and then swept off his cowl with the other, finally allowing his true face to be seen by each and every person on the Boiling Isles. The face behind the mask was that of an older man with a narrow, gaunt face and a pointed nose with a crooked bridge. He had dull blue eyes, long ash-blond hair, and a knick in his pointed left ear. But most strikingly of all, he had a disgusting green scar that stretched from his hairline above his right eye, and through his left eye and over the bridge of his nose (crossing where it was crooked), before going over his left cheek and disappearing down his neck, where it no doubt continued beneath his clothes.

The reveal was met with more gasps, and then cheers as Belos smiled benevolently; "Thank you, Boiling Isles." he said, before his expression became one of sadness; "But alas, I must also use the opportunity to reveal a heinous plot against the Day of Unity, and deliver a stern message… though my heart is heavy to see such a thing become necessary."

The projection extended to show the area around him, revealing that next to him was the fake statue he'd made of Hettie, though to everyone watching it appeared to be the true petrified remains of the Head Witch of the Healing Coven.

Belos then spoke grimly "Three days ago, Hettie Cutburn was discovered to be a Rebel conspiring against the Empire. She used a medical check-up to try and assassinate my adopted niece and young Angel Lucy, while also attempting to murder her own ally, the Arch-Angel known as Luz Noceda. For her crimes, she has been petrified in stone, and to ensure the nefarious CATTs do not try to force this woman's would-be victim to free her, I will take drastic action." he brandished his staff and promptly destroyed the fake Hettie statue, causing a deathly silence to come over the entire Boiling Isles. He then looked grimly back at the audience via the projection and said; "Let this be a message. To the people of the Isles, hold fast against these Rebels who would betray even their own! To the CATTs, surrender and accept the utopia I offer! And to you, Luz Noceda… it is not too late. Come to my side as the Titan wills it…" he held up the Portal Key, "… and I will save you from the corruption of the Owl Lady, and return you to your true mother."

His eyes burned blue for a moment, before his expression softened and he smiled once more; "But that is enough grimness for one day. Let us celebrate our successes and pending utopia! Happy Coven Day, everyone!"

And with that, the broadcast ended in a shower of magic fireworks. For many, the party atmosphere of Coven Day would return and they would celebrate like nothing had happened. For others, a grim toast would be raised to the apparently departed Hettie Cutburn. For the CATTs, it was a rallying cry; a call to arms against the man who would do such a thing while claiming to be the good guy. And to Luz and her family and friends, it was a reminder of just what they were fighting to stop.

When Luz saw the message Belos had sent her, she heard only the words he'd truly meant; "You will submit. I will make you."

And in response, she muttered back; "Go ahead and try."