The Emperor Strikes Back
Preparing for the Future
It was a bright and sunny day on the Boiling Isles as Luz, Vee, and Hunter went into Bonesborough and met up with Gus, Amity, and Willow. Luz, Hunter, and Vee had finished telling the others what they had learned about Caleb and Flapjack from the Bat Queen.
Gus was amazed as he said, "Whoa! So Flapjack was Caleb's Palisman!"
Amity looked up in thought as she realized, "That explains how he found that rebus back in the human realm."
Luz looked at them with hatred as she said, "Yeah, and Belos hurt him when he killed Caleb!"
Willow looked at Hunter with an emotional expression as she said, "No wonder Flapjack gave his life to save you."
Hunter sadly looked down as he said, "Yeah. He saved me in every way. He protected me from Belos to help avenge Caleb."
Luz walked in front of the others as she optimistically said, "Look at the bright side! We're on a roll, learning more and more about Caleb. Pretty soon we might know everything about him."
Amity smiled as she suggested, "Maybe Philip's diary has some information about him."
Hunter smiled as he became cautiously optimistic and said, "Hopefully nothing about how he killed him."
Luz smiled cheerfully and said, "That's the spirit! Now let's forget about the past and focus on the present! Now let's see if we can help anyone out around Bonesborough."
Vee happily agreed as she said, "Yeah!"
As the six of them went through town Luz happily greeted some people, many of whom had different reactions. Some returned Luz's kindness as they greeted her with friendly expressions while others shot her ugly looks, and some steered clear of Luz in fear because of the rumors. Luz tried to help some people but they shunned her in fear, which hurt her feelings and the others sympathized for her. They kept walking when a certain demon pointed at Luz and accused her of being a cruel thief, which scared some people around them as they left while the teens kept walking.
They stopped walking as Luz looked at the others with a hurt expression as she said, "Guys I can't take this. It's bad enough that some people blame me for all the bad stuff that's happened to the Boiling Isles, but it's worse that people think I'm a criminal. I didn't steal anything or hurt anybody!"
Willow held her palm out as she sincerely said, "We believe you Luz, but it's going to be harder convincing everyone else you're innocent."
Amity agreed as she honestly said, "Willow's right. If we want to clear your name then we're going to have to find out what's really going on. We need to find some clues."
Luz had a determined smile as she said, "Then it's time to find some clues, using our sleuth skills!"
The others all happily cheered, "Sleuth skills!"
Luz smiled as she pointed at Amity, then the others while she said, "Let's split up and see what we can find. I'll go with Amity. Hunter, you go with Willow. And Vee, you go with Gus."
Willow smiled sweetly at Hunter while he looked away blushing bright red, and Gus and Vee happily smiled at each other. The six teens split up and started searching for clues and asking around the people of Bonesborough for what they knew. Luz and Amity held hands as they happily ran past some stands and then came to Eda's stand where she sold human garbage with King and Lilith.
Seeing no one else around, they ran to the stand as Luz happily asked, "Hey Eda, how's business?"
Eda showed a bit of disappointment as she said, "Not exactly booming."
King stood on the counter as he agreed, "Yeah, we've only had two customers all day."
Luz smiled optimistically as she said, "Don't worry. I'm sure it will get better."
Suddenly they all jumped as they heard a voice say, "I wouldn't bet snails on it."
They all turned their heads to see Flora Desplora looking at them with a proud smile on her face as she came to them.
Lilith felt uncomfortable as she said, "Flora?! What are you doing here?"
Flora smiled cockily as she said, "I was just out studying some old ruins until I decided to do some browsing. I saw you over here and thought I'd drop by to see my old bookworm. I love what you've done with your hair. Modest, just like you."
Lilith forced herself to smile as she said, "Thank you Flora. It's good to see you too."
Amity was confused until Luz leaned closer to her with the back of her left hand in front of her mouth and whispered, "Flora was Lilly's mentor in the Emperor's Coven. She mostly makes her feel bad about herself by showing off her exciting accomplishments."
Flora glanced around at the stand as she mockingly said, "It's sweet that you're helping your sister and nephew out with their little trash stand."
Lilith kept smiling uncomfortably as she looked away and said, "Well, the Supernatural Museum of History hasn't been doing so well since the Day of Unity, so I've been helping out to put food on the table for my sister and her children."
Flora had a snarky smirk on her face as she turned from Lilith to Luz while saying, "A shame you didn't learn more from my teachings. Times are hard now but I've found new ways to put my knowledge and talents to good use. You could too if you did more put your faith in the right place. You'd be off on thrilling quests instead of working in a dead-end job selling trash, and you wouldn't have to spend so much time with lower troublemakers."
Luz and Amity glared at Flora while Eda spoke up and said, "Okay history buff, unless you want to buy something get out of here!"
She smiled cockily as she pulled out her whip and said, "Don't worry dear I won't waste anymore of your time. I need to get back to work anyway."
She lashed her whip out and lassoed it on a weather vane and used it to swing away before jumping across rooftops.
Lilith let out a sad sigh and Luz sympathetically said, "Hey, don't let Flora get to you Lilith."
Amity agreed as she glared in the direction Flora went and said, "Yeah, you're way cooler than her."
Lilith smiled at them as she said, "Thank you Luz and Amity. You're very kind."
Eda smiled at the girls as she asked, "What are you two up to anyway? I know you didn't come here just to say 'hi'."
Luz smiled eagerly as she said, "We're gonna solve the mystery of who's trying to give me a bad name! We're looking for clues as to who's really behind these crimes going on."
King happily raised his fingers as he said, "Yes! Detective time!"
Eda smiled as she pointed her thumb to the side and said, "Well maybe you should start with Tibbles. He usually knows about shady deals going down in Bonesborough."
Luz and Amity happily took off running as Luz looked back and shouted, "Thanks for the tip Eda!"
Eda, King, and Lilith happily waved at the girls before Lilith showed a sad expression again as she thought about what Flora said. Luz and her friends spent the rest of the afternoon asking people what they knew before regrouping in front of a store.
Luz expressed disappointment as she said, "I hope you guys had more luck than we did."
Vee also showed disappointment as she said, "All we found out is that someone's been flying around Bonesborough."
Amity also expressed disappointment as she said, "We talked to Tibbles and just said that he heard of someone stealing potions."
Hunter spoke up with a surprised expression as he said, "We heard rumors that there's a new Golden Guard going around."
The other four looked at him and Willow in shock as Luz said, "Really?!"
Willow nodded as she nervously said, "Yeah. People say they've seen a new Golden Guard traveling across the Boiling Isles."
Luz was very interested as she said, "But Belos is gone and the Emperor's Coven has disbanded. Who's this new guy?"
Willow showed a bit of regret as she said, "We don't know. No one's seen who's behind the mask."
Hunter brushed it off as he shrugged and said, "Eh, probably just some crazy believer in the Emperor's Coven trying to spread fear and propaganda."
Luz raised her finger as she thoughtfully said, "Maybe, but this new Golden Guard might have something to do with what's going on."
They noticed the sun going down and Gus said, "We should head home."
Amity agreed as she said, "Yeah, I think that's enough detective work today."
Luz agreed as she smiled encouragingly and said, "Yeah, we're not having much luck but I think we're getting somewhere. We'll talk at school tomorrow. By guys."
They all said goodbye to each other before leaving, then Luz went back to the Owl House with Vee and Hunter. When they came to the door Hunter pulled a vole out and fed it to Hooty, who happily ate it before opening the door. They saw Eda, Lilith, and King sitting on the couch together while Raine stared at them, Lilith still looked sad.
Vee then curiously asked, "What's wrong?"
Eda looked at them as she said, "Lilly's still thinking about what Flora said today."
Luz told Hunter and Vee about Flora's visit on the way home, so they both already knew about how Flora upset Lilith.
Hunter narrowed his eyes as he scowled and said, "Don't listen to Flora, Lilith. Belos just chose her as your mentor to keep you in line when you first joined the Coven. You surpassed her and became a greater witch than she ever was."
Eda pointed her finger at Lilith as she said, "Yeah, just ignore her. Don't give her the time of day. We beat jerks like her when we were at Hexside."
Lilith turned to Eda as she sincerely said, "You're right, Flora is just trying to get under my skin. But she is right about one thing. We may need to find a new line of work."
Eda was surprised as she said, "What?"
Lilith held her palms up as she sincerely said, "Edalyn, you've been making money selling human trash for years, but it hasn't sustained to well since you started back up. Maybe it's time to think of the future and put your talents into something else."
Raine looked at Eda sincerely while they heartfeltly said, "It does seem like you may need to consider searching for something more sustainable."
Eda showed a bit of self-doubt as she looked at her items on the floor and said, "You really think it might be time to close up shop?"
Lilith held her left palm up as she said, "There are other ways you could make money."
Eda still showed self-doubt as she said, "Like what?"
Luz smiled as she pointed at Eda and suggested, "Maybe you could be a teacher. You'd make a good one. Maybe Bump would hire you at Hexside."
Eda laughed and snorted for a moment before she said, "Nice try kid but Bump would never hire me. No school would."
Raine smiled as they confidently said, "Maybe, but maybe you wouldn't have to teach at a school. Now that Belos is gone maybe you could teach young witches about Wild Magic."
Eda became interested as she looked up in thought and smiled as she said, "I guess I could give it a shot. I'll think about it."
The others showed warm smiles as they stared at Eda for a moment before walking away to do different things.
Later in an abandoned building
Belos' spirit was floating in a room with Terra, Adrian, Vitimir, Flora, and the new Golden Guard as they waited for Odalia.
She suddenly entered with an annoyed expression as she said, "Sorry I'm late. Darius has been watching me and I wanted to make sure he wasn't following me."
Adrian smiled deviously as he pointed at Odalia and said, "I can help you get that goblin off your back."
Odalia grinned evilly as she said, "That would be wonderful."
Belos then spoke up as he seriously said, "Alright, enough small talk. I want a progress report."
Terra smiled deviously as she said, "We've been recruiting more witches to our cause and Raine and the others are still unaware of our plan."
Adrian had a diabolical grin on his face as he said, "We've even managed to recruit Bill and some of his Titan Trappers to our cause."
Odalia put her hands together as she evilly said, "And I've managed to salvage a few more Abomatons."
Flora smiled evilly as she held her left palm up and said, "I saw most of the Owl House residents today. They pose no threat and are barely making ends meet with their human garbage stand. Speaking of humans, that little bat is still chasing her own tail looking for answers."
The Golden Guard spoke with a serious tone as she said, "They're asking questions. We can't keep this secret forever. Sooner or later they'll figure out what's going on."
Belos turned from the Golden Guard with an annoyed expression before smiling deviously as he said, "Yes Luz does have a talent for interfering with others' plans, but we're almost ready to make our move. By the time she realizes what's happening it will be too late."
The Golden Guard nodded while she said, "And she'll leave with for a day to celebrate Thanksgiving with her mom, and she'll probably take Eda, King, and Vee with her."
Belos smiled evilly as he turned to the others and said, "Good. Then that's when we'll start. In four days we will have a secret meeting. Tell everyone to meet at the Archives, and we will discuss our plan to retake control of the Boiling Isles."
They all smiled evilly as they nodded and said, "Yes Emperor Belos."
Over the next few days Luz and her friends continued to try and find more information about these mysterious crimes that happened recently. On Monday they went to Hexside and during breaks they asked the other students if they knew anything, but there was no such luck. The Coven Heads assembled to discuss the changing events on the Boiling Isles, and Raine remained suspicious of Terra, Adrian, and Vitimir. They played along with the other Coven Heads and pretended to want to help build a new future for the Boiling Isles. Eda stayed home with Lilith and King as she went through some of her old books about magic and looked to see if she had anything that would help her as a teacher. The following day, after school Luz and her friends flew around the Boiling Isles on their staffs as they went around to find more answers. They asked some people about the rumors of the crimes and also about the new Golden Guard, but they did not find out much. Vee snuck around and made sure no one was following her as she checked on the other basilisks hiding in the cave. That night, Odalia was walking through the Night Market while Darius followed her, though Odalia was aware of his presence. She turned around a corner and Darius followed her as she walked down an alley and into the forest without saying a word. Darius was unaware that he was following an illusion as Odalia watched him with Adrian who had a blue ring of light at his fingertip while they both smiled evilly. The next day after school Luz told Eda about Thanksgiving and asked her and King to come with her and Vee to celebrate with them. They happily agreed while Lilith, Hunter, and Raine agreed to look after the Owl House and see if they could learn anything else for them. They decided to have some fun before going as King, Hooty, and Eda played baseball together and Luz happily took a picture of them. In the morning, Luz used some of King's blood to open the portal to the human realm and went through it with Vee, King, and Eda. They flew to Luz's house and she and Vee happily hugged Camila as she let them all in and told them a little bit about Thanksgiving. Luz revealed that she also brought the Echo Mouse with her and Camila was very fascinated by the little creature and what it could do. Eda sat on the couch with Camila and offered her a jug of apple blood while Luz took a picture of them; Camila was reluctant to try the apple blood. Suddenly they were all startled as the Echo Mouse suddenly projected a video from Philip's diary onto the ceiling.
They all looked up as the video showed Philip's silhouette, eclipse lake, a silhouette of Caleb looking happy and sad, then a silhouette of a female witch.
While all this was shown they heard Philip's voice say, "After collecting the Titan's blood from Eclipse Lake I am ready to begin constructing the Portal Door. But I can't do it alone. I must share my knowledge with my brother Caleb. Together we will finally build a way back to our world and I shall free him from his evil captor."
Luz was amazed as she saw through the lies and said, "Evelyn!"
The Echo Mouse stopped projecting the video as Camila smiled at him and said, "Whoa! Someone has a talent for storytelling."
Vee slithered next to Luz and looked at her as she said, "So Caleb helped Philip build the old Portal Door."
Luz smiled in realization as he said, "Yeah! Maybe that's why he didn't build a new one like you said. Because he didn't have Caleb to do what he did before."
Eda smiled as she snidely said, "I'll bet he did most of the real work while Belos just sat back and waited to stab him in the back."
Luz nodded as she said, "Probably."
King glanced around at the others while he said, "Hunter did say he helped Belos rebuild the old door."
Camila pointed her finger as she theorized, "He probably needed his help to fix it and it probably reminded him of when Caleb helped him build the original."
Luz showed hatred as she said, "And I'll bet after that is when Philip killed him."
Eda also showed hatred before smiling wickedly as she said, "Yeah and then that Evelyn chick probably did a number on him!"
Luz smiled when Vee happily said, "And since Caleb helped Philip build the original Portal Door and Hunter helped fix it, maybe Hunter can help you build a new one."
Luz smiled excitedly as she said, "Yeah!"
Camila stood up and smiled as she politely said, "Okay, enough mystery solving. We need to get started on dinner."
Luz stood up and happily said, "Si mama! Let's get cooking!"
Eda and King stayed in the living room with the Echo Mouse and Palismen while Luz and Vee helped Camila cook the food. They cooked Thanksgiving dinner and sat down at the table and ate together with the Echo Mouse on the table, and they told Camila about what was going on in the demon realm.
Eda smiled as she ate some turkey and said, "This turkey is really good. It tastes a lot like fried bat wings."
Camila smiled awkwardly before looking at Luz with a bit of concern as she said, "Thank you Eda. So people are starting to think that you're a criminal?"
Luz looked at her as she frowned and said, "Yeah, we think someone trying to turn everyone on the Boiling Isles against me."
Vee spoke up as she said, "We're not sure who but we think it might have something to do with this new Golden Guard we heard about."
Camila became worried as she said, "Muy mala!"
Eda was not deterred as she said, "I wouldn't worry. It's probably just some wannabe trying to trash her reputation."
King swallowed some food before he said, "They say he's got Hunter's old staff."
Eda kept eating as she said, "Eh, probably bought it from somebody at the night market."
Camila narrowed her eyes at Eda as she strictly said, "Eda, someone is trying to make everyone think Luz is bad! Doesn't that bother you?!"
Eda smiled arrogantly as she said, "Girl, for thirty years everyone on the Boiling Isles called me a criminal for not joining a Coven. A lot of people blame Luz for everything that's happened to the demon realm so I'm not surprised someone's trying to ruin her rep. She's still got most of the people on her side and Raine will make sure Luz doesn't get punished for something she didn't do."
Luz was still a bit nervous as she said, "Thanks Eda but I still don't like rumors spreading of me doing bad things. We need to find out what's going on and clear my name."
Eda smiled confidently at Luz as she pointed at her and said, "And we will kid! We'll find out who's doing this and teach them not to give you a bad name! We've beaten robot Abominations, Coven Heads, and a possessed Titan! Taking down this lie will be easy peasy!"
Luz smiled and they went back to eating Thanksgiving dinner, unaware they were being spied on by Belos' ghost as he floated behind them, invisible.
He watched them with hatred as he softly said, "Don't be so certain Owl Lady."
Later that night in the demon realm
A crowd of witches and demons secretly gathered for a meeting in the Archives, the castle on top of the Titan's skull. The Archives were somewhat damaged from Belos' attack when he possessed the Titan, but the castle was still bright and shining with much splendor. Among the many witches in the crowd were Terra, Adrian, Vitimir, Faust, Roselle, Dottie, Bria, Gavin, and Angmar. There was also Bill and some, not all, of his Titan Trappers as they showed impatient expressions as they waited. Everyone was gathered in the foyer of the Archives while Odalia and the new Golden Guard stood at the top of the staircase.
Everyone was talking until Odalia raised her voice and said, "Your attention please! Thank you all for coming, we're ready to begin!"
The Golden Guard held her right hand out as she announced, "Please give a warm welcome to the late great Emperor Belos."
Belos' spirit magically appeared as he floated and looked down at everyone as he smiled and said, "My loyal followers, thank you all for joining our cause. I know many of you are reluctant to help because of the fiasco on the Day of Unity, but understand that that day did not go as I had intended. When the Collector came he turned the Boiling Isles into his personal toy chest with all of us as his toys. During that time my condition worsened and I was forced to do many desperate things in order to survive. I used the power of the Titan to try and free us of the Collector and all wild magic until I was defeated by Luz the human. Thankfully the Collector left but that human has sent us into a dark time where many of our homes have been destroyed and we our former glory has been taken from us."
While he spoke Bria, Gavin, and Angmar stared at him nervously while others were very interested, and some were angry at the mention of Luz and how things had changed.
Roselle folded her arms as she hatefully said, "Rotten teen!"
Bill then cupped his mouth as he impatiently yelled, "Enough melodrama Belos! What does any of this have to do with us?!"
Belos smiled slyly as he said, "I realize that my martyrdom has left a void for a new greater power to fill. I believe that all of you may be that new power."
Everyone was interested as they started talking amongst each other until Terra asked, "And exactly how do we do that?"
Belos smiled deviously as he held his hands out and made an illusion of the planet appear above him while he said, "My master and my new apprentice have learned of a powerful spell that will enable us to spread great magic across not only the Boiling Isles, but throughout the entire demon realm. In three weeks we will activate a Amplifying Spell more powerful than the Collector himself. Once activated, the spell will spread sigils and enhance the nine types of magic in every witch in the world. Every witch and demon in the demon realm will have powers like never before and you all will be the most powerful as you rule them all under our guidance."
Everyone was amazed before they happily cheered and Terra smiled evilly and said, "Yes! This is what we should've gotten on the Day of Unity!"
Darius smiled evilly as he agreed and said, "Quite, this should makeup for the Collector's interference."
They all stopped talking as Belos raised his finger and seriously said, "Now if we are to succeed then we must prepare. There are still ingredients to collect and procedures that must be accomplished. We must also keep our plan secret. We cannot let the human, the Owl Lady, or any of the other traitors know about our objective."
The others understood as they nodded and said words of agreement, then Belos smiled and said, "All of you must now go back into hiding. We will stay in touch and contact each of you when your part must be played."
They all understood and nodded while Odalia smiled and started walking out as she said, "Alright, time to go. We have much to do. We look forward to changing the world with all of you."
She escorted them all out and when they were gone Belos smiled evilly next to the Golden Guard and said, "They may be powerful, but these monsters are easily misled."
The Golden Guard agreed as she said, "That's for sure."
Author's note: So now you know a little bit about what Belos and the others are planning, but there's still so much to find out. I thought it would be nice to have one chapter take place during Thanksgiving. We won't see them celebrate Christmas, but they will mention it in later chapters. The story will end around the time of Luz's Christmas break. Luz and her friends still don't know who is trying to frame her but they are starting to find clues and are putting together some pieces of the puzzle. I also wanted to foreshadow some things we saw in the epilogue, such as the University of Wild Magic. We also see some more villains from the first two seasons, some minor, but some are more important. Please review.
