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.

52. EP 10: Roses and Thorns

The Angel of the Owl House

Season 3: The Divine Realm

Chapter 10: Roses and Thorns

"Luz Noceda-Clawthorne, Seraphim of the Demon Realm. I come with a message for you from my mistress." the unfamiliar Mandragora said; "Mistress Arboriel, Queen of the Mandragoras, summons you to her court."

For a split second, the team of Luz, King, Eda, Camila, and Raine stared at the Mandragora in stunned shock, taking in her appearance. Like Arboriel when Luz had first met her, this Mandragora looked just like a female Witch with pale green skin and vines for hair. Her eyes were a slightly darker green than her skin, and matched the darker green of her hair vines, while her clothing took the form of a very simple dress made from red leaves with a few flower petals added for a simple floral design in pale pink. The Mandragora also appeared fairly young, looking to be in her early 20's at the oldest, and now that she'd said her piece and was watching the CATTs for their reaction, she looked terrified and was trembling a little.

Luz recovered from her shock after that split second, and immediately roared in fury and conjured heavy metal chains to grab the Mandragora and bind her, as well as pulling her off the flower she'd just appeared from. Eda swiftly decayed the flower with Anti-Magic and then screamed down the hole left behind.

"BOOTS!? ARE YOU DOWN THERE!? CAN YOU HEAR ME!?"

There was no answer, and a panicking Luz leapt into the hole and began screaming "AMITY!?" and "HERMOSA!?" but to no avail. She didn't even get very far underground before the tunnel the plant had grown through collapsed, leaving Luz with no idea where the tunnel led. Dejected and furious, she flew back out of the tunnel and flew towards the captured Mandragora, her eyes glowing with rage and magic flowing off her in a thick aura. She landed in front of the trembling Mandragora and barely held herself back from grabbing the woman's throat, instead opting to grab the front of her chains and yank her close.

"Where did you take Amity!? What have you done with her!?" Luz roared, eyes glowing with prismatic magic as all eight of her glyphs appeared on her skin.

"I-I didn't do anything to her! O-One of my Mandragora Sisters put her to sleep with a Restraining Rafflesia! She was taken back to my mistress, Queen Arboriel!" the Mandragora cried in terror.

Luz shook her a little; "And where is she!? Talk!"

"S-She's in her garden! In an old temple beneath Barcarib! I'm supposed to invite you there and pass along a message!" the Mandragora cried.

Barcarib was an unfamiliar name to Luz, Camila, and King, but Eda and Raine recognised it. Eda stepped forward, still in her harpy form and with Anti-Magic flames burning on the ends of the feathers on her hands to intimidate the Mandragora; "Barcarib is a ruin at the very southern most point of the Titan's Ribcage and in the northern reaches of the Navel Woods. It's in the dead centre of the isles, between the bottom two ribs. There isn't a temple there."

"T-There is!" the captive insisted; "Queen Arboriel and Princess Terra found it! They turned the innermost chamber into their garden, where the new Mandragora are made."

"Terra!? As in Terra Snapdragon!?" Raine exclaimed.

"Y-Yes! Head Witch Snapdragon became Queen Arboriel's apprentice and the first of the new Mandragoras. She's also the Princess now; second in command to the Queen."

The CATTs exchanged looks, and Luz took a deep breath to force herself to relax a bit. She needed a clear mind to do what needed to be done here and save Amity!

"Is Amity going to be harmed in any way?" Luz asked.

The Mandragora shook her head; "Queen Arboriel insisted she would not be hurt so long as I and all my sisters returned by nightfall after she was captured, unharmed. And so long as you answer her summons within two days."

Luz nodded grimly, then looked to the sky; they still had a few hours before nightfall. "How long will it take you to get back to Barcarib?"

"If I grow a new Restraining Rafflesia, then I can be there in only a few minutes. I have a seed to make it work." the Mandragora answered, relaxing a little now that Luz was calmer and less likely to "shoot the messenger" as it were.

That made sense to Luz, who'd heard of the plants from Willow, and had worked with the petals and sap with Eda in her potion lessons. Restraining Rafflesia were also sometimes called Poison Plant Portals, as if two new Rafflesia are grown from seeds from the same parent plant, then their roots and stems become magically linked through some kind of magic pocket dimension, meaning anything that goes into one can be spat out of the other. Unfortunately, most creatures are rendered unconscious by the ordeal and are trapped as food… only a Mandragora or exceptional Plant Witch could safely control and travel through them. If the Mandragora was confident she could return to her home with ease, then another of the flowers must already exist in the garden.

"Fine then. We've got you for a few hours then; you're coming with us! We have some questions for you." Luz declared.

"We won't hurt you. Even without the threat to Amity hanging over our heads, we aren't the type to hurt prisoners." Raine quickly reassured her.

The Mandragora didn't look totally convinced, especially considering she could still feel Luz's furious aura and could hear King growling softly as their Mom's eyes remained narrowed. Only Raine and Camila were remaining calm, and only because someone needed to be the voice of reason!

"I-I will cooperate. I don't know any secrets, so I'll even consent to Blabber Serum! Just don't hurt me." the Mandragora pleaded.

In an instant, Luz's fury abated even more as she began to calm down. She didn't feel any malice from this Mandragora… she'd save her wrath for Arboriel and Terra! Plus there was no need to further terrorize this woman, especially if she was going to cooperate, and this was the perfect chance to finally get some information on Terra!

Snapping her fingers, Luz removed the heavy chains and bound the Mandragora's wrists together with some homunculus goo (Luz still felt giddy whenever she used her beloved's magic), and then sent the woman into her shadow so she couldn't hear or see anything Luz didn't want her to until the young Seraphim was ready.

Once that was done, Camila took a moment to make sure Luz really was okay and had composed herself, and her daughter nodded, though it was clear she was still struggling with her temper a bit. Stringbean was wrapped gently around her neck to help comfort her too, which helped keep Luz from freaking out.

"We'll have to check in with Mason later; for now, let's get back to Digale Island. It looks like we don't get to rest just yet." Luz sighed.

With that, they all piled onto the Teleportation Circle, which Luz activated and warped them back to Digale Island, appearing behind the CATTs HQ, where all their airships were docked and being given some maintenance by Salty and a crew of engineers. Upon arriving, Luz turned to her mothers, Titi, and little brother and said; "Head to the meeting room. I'm going to call everyone together."

They nodded and headed off, then Luz flew high into the sky and used Bardic Magic to enhance her voice as she bellowed out across Digale Island: "May I have your attention please! Could all CATTs Captains and Hexsquad members please report to the Meeting Room for emergency business! Thank you!"

Luz then flew back down and went to the meeting room herself, where she found Darius and Lilith already waiting for her alongside the four she'd just sent there. They were confused by what the meeting was about, and both quickly noticed everyone's agitation, Luz's barely restrained magic aura, and the notable absence of Amity, which had Lilith especially nervous. The others soon arrived, looking puzzled as well, with the only ones absent being Samael and Mason; the latter of which was still at his post in the Union Pillar and the former of which was taking a well-deserve nap after all the excitement at Manubrium. The Secunas and Nelumbos (sans Jerbo) were also absent, but the only non-Elites and non-Hexsquad members present were the Twins, Viney, and Jerbo.

"Okay, we're all here. What is all this about? And why does Luz look like she's about to explode." Boscha asked, crossing her arms.

"And where is Amity? She should be with you." Alador frowned.

Luz grit her teeth as she struggled to contain her emotions, so Camila answered for her. "Not long after we sent the last of you through the circle, we noticed that the foliage around the clearing was strange, having grown a bit since this morning…"

"Oh yeah, I noticed that too." Willow said, "It felt like a lot of Plant Magic was pooling in the soil. I just figured Hanu had done it to better hide the circle."

Hanu frowned; "Wait, you thought I did that? I thought you did it!"

The two girls exchanged curious looks; as they both thought about it some more, neither of them had noticed it that morning when they left the circles, so it must have been done sometime while they were on the mission… but that made no sense!

"What does this have to do with Amity?" Edric asked, getting impatient. The look on Luz's face made it clear something bad had happened to his baby sister.

"Well it turns out that the cause of the plant growth was at least two Mandragora hiding in the soil. One of them used a Restraining Rafflesia to capture Amity before any of us could react. They disappeared into the soil, and then the other Mandragora revealed herself and gave Luz an invitation to meet with her Queen; Arboriel." Camila finished.

Willow and Lilith both gasped, while the others took a moment to remember why the name Arboriel was significant. They'd all been told about the incidents at Hexside and the Bat Queen's forest, so they were familiar with the Mandragora Luz and her friends had encountered there. Alador, Darius, and the Twins all went pale, while Lilith immediately shifted into Harpy Mode; "SHE DARES!?"

"She does. She kidnapped Amity to force Luz to go and meet with her." Raine frowned, hiding their shock at seeing Lilith's Harpy Mode. "And that's not the worst part…"

"What the heck could be worse than Amity being kidnapped by a crazy plant monster!?" Alador demanded.

Eda scowled; "Queen Arboriel has herself a little Princess… Terra Snapdragon."

In a flash, everyone in the room turned as white as a sheet. Arboriel was bad, but Terra? She was in a whole other league! And the two of them together was basically a match made in hell! Between Arboriel's antics beneath Hexside and what she did to the Palismen in the Bat Queen's Forest, and Terra's treatment of her own Coven and the way she was willing to feed Hanu (who had gone pale and begun to shake a little) to the Bat Beast, no one wanted to even imagine what would happen to Amity.

The Blight Twins began to really panic and were comforted by their lovers, while Alador began pacing as Darius tried to soothe him. Meanwhile Lilith turned back to normal and put her head in her hands; "No… why did this happen!?"

Luz flinched and began to spiral; "It's all my fault! If I'd just finished off Arboriel before and not let her escape twice, or if I'd paid more attention and saved Amity before she was taken away, none of this would have happened! Now Amity is in danger and they did it to get to me and she could be hurt or killed or turned into a Mandragora and it's all-!"

Luz's family opened their mouths to intervene, but to the shock of everyone, Luz suddenly stopped and straightened out. She lifted her arm as if looking at a wrist watch, and everyone saw that Stringbean had slithered down her arm to her wrist and had gently chomped on Luz's thumb, leaving tiny red marks from where her little fangs touched her. Stringbean hadn't broken the skin, nor really hurt her partner, but she had gotten Luz's attention. Then something truly surprising happened.

With a long, slow inhale, followed by a matching exhale, Luz closed her eyes and began to calm herself down. "No… no, this wasn't my fault. I'm not responsible for what bad people do. I had no way of knowing about the Mandragora and would have reacted fast enough if I'd known and been fresh. I'm not to blame… I'm not to blame."

The others watched, stunned. Luz was actually working herself out of her spiral and reaffirming herself!

"Well, this is new!" Eda grinned.

Luz eventually opened her eyes again, then noticed everyone staring at her. She blushed a little and answered their unasked question; "After everything that went down with my depression and self-hatred, I started seeing the CATTs therapist; Golsi again since retaking the island. They've been teaching me healthy ways of dealing with stuff when I get stressed. If I start to spiral into old habits, Stringbean gets my attention and I'm then supposed to start going over the events that stressed me out and what I could have reasonably done differently. It's been helping a lot." Luz said bashfully.

Becoming a Seraphim and everything that happened in the Divine Realm hadn't exactly fixed Luz's issues; she still had a lot of work to do on herself, but with these new techniques, something proactive to focus on, and Stringbean as the ever-present voice of love and support, Luz was making great strides in her mental health.

"Remind me to send Golsi some flowers and a really good bottle of Apple Blood!" Eda commented, ruffling Luz's hair. "I'm proud of you, Owlet."

"As am I." Camila said, almost in tears of happiness.

Luz blushed, and a few of the others began wondering if they should pay a visit to Golsi themselves! Boscha was especially considering it!

Lilith and the Blights tried to be happy for Luz too, but Amity's situation was too distracting, and Luz was eager to get back on topic anyway, so she turned to them and said; "But even if it isn't my fault that Amity was captured, it is my responsibility as the leader of the CATTs and her girlfriend to save her! I promise I will bring her home safe and sound!"

"We know you will." Alador smiled weakly, still worried. "Do we have any more information though?"

Luz nodded and repeated everything the Mandragora they'd captured had said. Then once she was done, she had Willow and Hanu prepare to deal with the Mandragora if she tried to use Plant Magic to escape, then ejected her from the shadows. The Mandragora stumbled a little as she emerged, and looked around with fear in her eyes, especially as she saw a sea of angry faces waiting for her. She gulped in fear and slowly raised her hands (which were still bound together with homunculus goo) to show that she was no threat. However, she and Hanu briefly made eye contact and gasped in surprise.

"M-Mistress Hanu!?" the Mandragora cried.

"I know you! You're… Poppy! The Poppy Maid from Spriggan Manor! You were in the Plant Coven!" Hanu exclaimed, looking just as shocked as Poppy. "What the heck happened to you!? You definitely weren't a Mandragora before!"

Poppy nodded; "I was transformed by Queen Arboriel. Just about every woman in the Coven was, along with any female family who had the aptitude. The Mandragora race now has hundreds of new members."

The CATTs gasped in horror, and Eda slammed a hand on the meeting table; "Is that what Snapdragon has been up to!? She's been off hiding with Arboriel and turning people into Mandragoras!?"

"B-But when Arboriel tried to turn me and Willow into Mandragoras, she said it needed her nectar and some…" Luz gulped, trying to stop herself being sick, "…l-liquefied Witches! Don't tell me…!"

The others went green in the face as Lyra whimpered out; "The men of the Coven…!"

Poppy quickly shook her head; "No! No one has been killed! I swear it!"

That was a massive relief, but this whole situation was still terribly troubling, and with Luz so freaked out and Eda, Raine, and Lilith all being too emotional or disturbed to be completely rational at the moment, Darius decided to take charge with the questioning. He was worried about Amity too of course, but he was also capable of focusing and putting his emotions to the side for a bit.

"Miss… Poppy, was it? What is your real name? I assume you don't want to keep the title Snapdragon foisted on you." Darius began.

"Actually, I quite like it." Poppy gave a little smile, "I didn't enjoy being Head Witch Snapdragon's Maid, but I did like being called Poppy! It's cute! My birth name is Gertruckle."

Most of the CATTs cringed; "Wow, that name went out of fashion like 200 years ago!" Skara commented.

"My parents liked old-fashioned things." Poppy shrugged.

"Well then, Poppy it is." Darius said, getting back on topic; "Will you consent to Blabber Serum?"

Poppy nodded, so Darius turned to Boscha and opened his mouth to ask her for some, but the three-eyed girl had already pulled out the vial of liquid and handed it to him without a word. He nodded in thanks and administered it to Poppy, who shuddered a little and then relaxed. Now she would be compelled to answer all questions she was asked completely and truthfully.

"Alright, we'll start simple. Is Amity truly safe?" Darius asked.

"Oh yes. Queen Arboriel is loathe to hurt her or anyone else. Her deal with the Lord Divider specified that she not harm or kill anyone unprovoked. She only uses violence to defend herself or her garden now." Poppy answered.

"Well that's a change of pace for her." Eda said, remembering the battle in the forest.

"It's good news for Amity too, so long as we don't hurt Poppy here! But what's that you said afterwards? The Divider has a deal with Arboriel!?" Luz cried out in shock.

Poppy nodded; "Yes. I don't know the details first hand, but I did here others gossip about it in the Coven and the Garden."

"We'll get to that in a minute." Darius said, wanting to make sure they actually had time to get the full story or if they should wait until they were on the move; "Is Amity in danger of being turned into a Mandragora or having anything else bad done to her?"

Poppy shook her head; "No. Queen Arboriel was very specific. She said "The Blight Girl is to be rendered unconscious and kept that way until my business with the Little Sunflower is complete." Those were her exact words. No Mandragora, not even Princess Terra, will dare disobey that order."

That was another relief, making the Blight Family, Lilith, and Darius all slowly relax a bit. Now that they knew Amity was relatively safe until the two day time limit was expired, they felt a little better about taking their time to make sure they got all the information they could. Going off half-cocked would only get Amity hurt after all!

"Alright, now onto the next topic. This invitation to Arboriel's court; explain it fully. We want to know what Arboriel wants and what we're walking into." Darius demanded.

Poppy frowned and looked nervous; "Actually, Head Witch Deamonne… you can't go. I didn't get the chance to give Lady Noceda-Clawthorne the full invitation, but there are conditions."

"Such as?" Luz frowned, crossing her arms.

The Mandragora straightened up a little and then began to speak as if delivering a formal message; "At the demand of Queen Arboriel, three individuals are ordered to attend her court. The "Sunflower" Luz Noceda-Clawthorne, the "Seedling" Willow Park, and the "Little Sprout" Raine Whispers. The former two are to be guests of Queen Arboriel, and the latter is to be a guest of Princess Terra. Lady Noceda-Clawthorne and Lady Park are permitted to bring a single retainer each, so long as they are in the same age group. As an adult, Head Witch Whispers is not given the same permission. Under no circumstances is anyone else to attend. If others are detected at Barcarib, it will be perceived as an assassination attempt and the appropriate action will be taken."

"Meaning Amity will be hurt…" Luz gulped.

The CATTs took a moment to register all this, and Willow was the first to speak; "This is blatantly a trap. Arboriel probably wants to turn Luz and I into Mandragoras! Our "retainers" are probably the sacrifices we're supposed to bring to act as "food" for us!"

"But what about Titi?" King frowned.

Eda crossed her arms; "Knowing Terra, she just wants them for some revenge. I'm not entirely sure if Raine could even be made into a Mandragora; their race is mono-gender, being all female, so I don't think a Non-Binary Witch can be transformed."

"Which means I'm going to be food, at best." Raine shuddered.

"And also means none of us can come help you! You're walking into a literal monster's den!" Alador scowled.

"How could the Divider let this happen!? How is turning people into Mandragoras acceptable to him?" Camila demanded.

Poppy shifted nervously; "It's a bit of a long story, and I don't think some of you will like it…"

"Please tell us anyway." Vee said softly.

"Of course. It all began back on the day that the Owl Lady, Head Witch Whispers, and Lady Park snuck into Spriggan Manor and attacked Head Witch Snapdragon. The Head Witch was in a frightful mood, made worse by the Golden Guard and Silver Sentinel coming to confiscate the rest of the Palistrom Wood…" Poppy began.

Everyone looked to Hunter and Lyra, who looked sheepish. Hunter felt the need to defend himself; "We'd just let Luz and Gus go with the Palismen! We couldn't go back to Belos empty-handed! That never ended well!" he declared, pointing at his scarred face.

They got some sympathetic looks, but then Poppy continued; "I'm not sure exactly what happened next, but that same day, Queen Arboriel appeared in the manor and Head Witch Snapdragon introduced her to all of us as the new Mistress of Spriggan Manor. We weren't allowed to talk about her, but since we couldn't leave the manor without the Head Witch's permission anyway, we had no one to tell. They closed off the basement arena and started doing something there. The Head Witch would hide in there for a long time with Queen Arboriel, occasionally taking Plant Scouts in there too. They always returned but they were barely conscious for days afterwards. When the Head Witch came out, she started wearing veils to hide herself, but her skin became green and her eyes bloodshot. It wasn't until after the Day of Unity that we learned she'd been turning herself into a Mandragora. Queen Arboriel was still perfecting the method, so it took a while."

"That explains the veil and why she was so cagey about taking it off!" Eda suddenly realised; "We took her prisoner after the Day of Unity, but she was freed and put to work by the Divider, as Overseer of the Left Hip. I always wondered where she disappeared to; so she was in Barcarib with Arboriel this whole time?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Poppy said. "Again, I only heard this bit from rumours, but apparently the Lord Divider realised what Head Witch Snapdragon had become and demanded to be taken to Arboriel. The Lord Divider confronted Queen Arboriel at Spriggan Manor and easily defeated her in battle, but then spoke to her. Upon hearing of her plan to rebuild the Mandragora race, he actually decided to help her. I heard he was disgusted by people driving the Mandragoras to extinction and said he'd never tolerate it, so he gave permission to Queen Arboriel to establish her garden, with Head Witch Snapdragon as her first new Mandragora, becoming Princess Terra. He showed them Barcarib too."

The CATTs could scarcely believe it; had the Divider truly gone mad!? They could sympathise with Arboriel wanting to rebuild her race; no one deserved to be subject to genocide (and considering King, Vee, and Treble's circumstances, it was an especially sore spot for the CATTs), but allowing Arboriel to act without restrictions!? That could only end badly!

Lilith said as much with a bitter scowl, but apparently it was not as bad as it sounded. Poppy quickly added; "The Lord Divider's laws mustn't be broken though, so they didn't force the conversion on people. Everyone had to volunteer, and the people we feed on for our transformations have to consent as well. Every woman in the Coven was asked, and I was one of those who agreed in the first wave. I like being a Mandragora; I feel so much more powerful than the weak little maid I was before. However, while Queen Arboriel seemed willing to stick to the spirit of her deal with the Lord Divider, Princess Terra was… more assertive. She never directly forced anyone to volunteer to become a Mandragora or donate their vital essence for us to feed on, but she heavily implied there wasn't really a choice."

"And that's where most of the Plant Coven disappeared to, right?" Luz finished for her, a grim expression on her face; "Terra called them all together and convinced them to become Mandragoras or food."

Poppy nodded nervously; "Y-Yes, Milady. Queen Arboriel treats us all very well, and even those who are kept as food are given comfortable lives. But Princess Terra is… different. Queen Arboriel sees herself as our mother, but the Princess sees us the same way she saw us before; as minions. It was her idea to have the families of our Coven Members brought in too."

Boscha stepped forward with a furious expression; "Their families too!? Does that mean you've turned kids into Mandragoras!? Or used them as food!?"

"Um, yes and no. The non-female children aren't used for food because they're too young, but the girls have all been made Mandragoras. The Queen perfected the method." Poppy revealed.

Boscha turned ghostly white as Skara and Willow realised what this meant too; their mutual friend Amelia had gone missing, and her parents were in the Plant Coven too! That must mean…!

"Amelia was turned into a Mandragora too!" Boscha said, feeling sick to her stomach.

"W-We don't know that for certain yet." Willow reasoned, trying to remain calm even as she too felt like throwing up. "Maybe her family is just in hiding to avoid Terra? I mean, we saw Plant Witches at Mr. Clawthorne's Grove and I'm pretty sure at least one or two were females and not Mandragora!"

"If they were Divided, that would explain it. When the Lord Divider first made his deal with the Queen, the Divided were not allowed to become Mandragoras. Though once he disappeared about a month ago…" Poppy began.

Hunter groaned and finished her sentence; "Terra or Arboriel took advantage of his absence to break part of the original deal and begin converting the Divided. And I bet they stopped even asking for consent."

Poppy nodded sheepishly; "The Navel Woods is so big that people go missing there all the time. If someone is attacked by wildlife and savage plants, we save them and take them to Barcarib for conversion. If they travel alone or in small enough groups, the same thing happens."

"And the Divider really never noticed?" Katya asked sceptically.

"The people we take are turned into Mandragoras long before people realise they're missing. When the Lord Divider or his Angels come looking and asking questions, our new sisters are so happy with their new lives that they claim to have volunteered. We've even got some captured Angels, and a few volunteer Angels too." Poppy explained.

"So they have Mandragoras made from Angels!?" Matt exclaimed; "Oh, this is gonna be a massive headache!"

"Wait a second!" Lyra yelled; "If some of the volunteers are Angels, then they must be from the Wings of Rani! But then why would they have allowed Arboriel or Terra to kidnap and convert people against their will? They can't possible be so happy that they'd allow others to be turned against their will!"

Poppy looked confused by the question; "Why would any of the Queen's daughters want to stop her? We all revere her as Queen Arboriel, but she really is like a mother to us! What child would disobey their loving mother?"

That answer made everyone smell a rat. Poppy seemed a little too enamoured with Arboriel… Gus approached her and looked her in the eye closely, noticing that her pupils were a little more dilated than they should be… it appeared she was brainwashed or being influenced somehow.

"There is definitely something effecting her mind. Unless this is something specific to Mandragoras." he said, looking between Willow, Hunter, and Hanu; the only three in the room who might know more with their knowledge of plants and beasts.

"Perhaps it has something to do with the nectar? When we last met, Arboriel said that a diet of her nectar would turn me into a Mandragora too. Maybe that stuff lets her control the Mandragoras?" Willow suggested.

"Possibly… Poppy, has any Mandragora ever left or runaway?" Hunter asked.

Poppy thought about it, then nodded; "We did have one. Oak; the biggest of the Plant Scouts. She was posted outside the garden to defend it, but eventually ran away. She was dragged back, calling the Queen a monster, but then the next day, she was normal again. Ever since, Mandragoras aren't allowed away from the Queen for more than 24 hours."

"So do you drink the Queen's nectar daily?" Willow asked.

"No Mandragora drinks it. It's only for converting people into Mandragoras." Poppy replied.

"Which rules out the nectar… maybe it's some kind of pollen or pheromone." Hanu suggested; "It'd explain why the Mandragoras have to be around Arboriel; they'd have to be near her to inhale it."

"Come to think of it, I did read that Mandragora Queens control their children with a pheromone." Hunter said, suddenly remembering months ago when Lilith had come back from her failed mission to the Bat Queen's forest and reported the Mandragora issue. Hunter had expected to be sent after the creature and so had studied them a little, but Belos had never bothered to give the order.

Hettie marched over to Poppy and began casting medical diagnosis spells on her; "I'll run a few tests to see if I can pinpoint the exact chemical compound. Ideally, I'll need a blood sample and perhaps a hair… uh, leaf sample too."

"I'm not brainwashed! But if you need tests to prove it, then fine; I'll let you take some blood and leaves." Poppy said, confident her mind was totally her own.

Hettie smiled and conjured a syringe and a tiny pair of scissors to harvest the samples, then asked Camila to continue the scans, which she did. In fact, Emira and Viney quickly moved to help with the scans too to speed up the process, and Luz placed the Healing Hat on Emira's head to help boost her a little.

As this was happening, Boscha grabbed her scroll and pulled up a picture of herself with her friends on the Grudgby Team, then showed it to Poppy, zooming in on Amelia's face.

"Do you recognise this girl? Is she one of the Mandragoras?" Boscha demanded.

Poppy took a look, then nodded sheepishly; "She's the Eden family's daughter. She and her mother both joined our ranks months ago."

Immediately, Boscha, Skara, and Willow all looked stricken, and the others watched them with sympathy. Boscha and Skara held hands as Luz and Lyra gripped Willow's hands, with Gus, Matt, and Hunter all standing close to them for comfort.

"We need to rescue her. We need to rescue ALL of them!" Boscha declared, "Amelia is a teammate; I'm not abandoning her! Not again."

"We'll save them all, Firecracker." Eda assured them; "Owlet and Flowers will go with Raine Storm tomorrow and get it done."

Boscha nodded, her mind clearly elsewhere as she fretted over her old friend and teammate. Skara was only slightly better, and Willow was also pretty upset since she'd grown to be friends with Amelia in the plant track. None of them liked the thought of their friend being kidnapped and turned into a Mandragora, then stuck under Arboriel and Terra's green thumbs!

The medical scans and sample taking was completed a few moments later, and Darius decided to end the questioning with one final question; "The invited group is supposed to go the hidden temple beneath Barcarib, yes? How will they find it?"

"An escort will be waiting for them to show them the way. I don't know anything else about it, though I do know that Queen Arboriel wants to turn Lady Noceda-Clawthorne and Lady Park into Mandragoras. She intends to offer them a deal." Poppy answered, looking at the spot on the crook of her arm where Hettie had taken blood and then healed her. Her blood was emerald green and had glowing green swirls within it, making it quite pretty.

Darius nodded, then crossed his arms; "So to summarise; Arboriel teamed up with Snapdragon, turned her into a Mandragora, and then formed a deal with the Divider to rebuild their race with volunteers. They've set themselves up in the temple at Barcarib, and converted most of the Plant Coven into Mandragoras, and keep the unconverted as a living pantry. They've also been kidnapping travellers and Angels to fill their ranks, and now that the Divider had disappeared to face the Archivists, Terra has been emboldened and is taking things even further. You kidnapped Amity to lure Luz, Willow, and Raine into a trap. Do I have all that right?"

"Yes, Head Witch." Poppy said respectfully.

"Any other details any of you want to ask?" Darius said, looking to the others.

Treble nodded and asked; "Poppy, we had people from the Plant Coven come to Spriggan Manor a while back to try and talk to Hanu. Was that a recruitment mission?"

Poppy shrugged; "I'm not sure, but probably. Queen Arboriel was quite angry with Princess Terra over what happened with Lady Hanu. She would have made a fine Mandragora, at least from what the Queen said."

Hanu shuddered; "As traumatic as it was, I'm starting to think Snapdragon did me a huge favour by abandoning me!"

Her Palisman Glover sat on her shoulder and cuddled the side of her face, while Treble held her hand with his tail, but Hanu just smiled at them; she was okay and had largely moved past it.

"Speaking of Hanu, I'm surprised she wasn't invited to this audience too." Jerbo pointed out; "Especially if Arboriel said she'd make a fine Mandragora."

Again, Poppy shrugged. She had no idea what the reason for that could be!"

Steve raised his hand and said; "Maybe she doesn't know Hanu is with us? Today's mission was the first time she was part of a major mission outside of Digale Island, so there's a chance the Mandragoras never knew she left Spriggan Manor."

"That's possible. I didn't exactly leave it through the front door." Hanu agreed.

However that brought another thought to Luz's mind; "Hang on a second; Poppy, how exactly did you know where to find us? You were lying in wait in the perfect spot to ambush us and capture Amity! How did you know?"

Everyone suddenly paled; if they knew to wait at the Teleportation Circle and where the circle was in the first place, then the Wings of Rani might find out too! If they managed to listen in on the song to activate it too, they'd be able to reach Digale Island!

Poppy's answer helped ease their worries a little; "We only found out today. After your attack on Manubrium began, Princess Terra knew that you'd be rescuing Head Witch Whispers, and told us about a tracking seed that she'd placed on them after she was released from the CATTs' cells and taken away by the Lord Divider."

Raine blinked in shock and tried to remember back when the Divider had taken the prisoners from Digale Island. Now that they thought about, they did vaguely remember Terra brushing past them at some point after her restraints had been removed; that must have been when she put the seed on them.

Hanu went over to Raine and began causing Herbicide spells on them to kill the tracking seed hidden on them, while Poppy continued her explanation; "When Princess Terra felt the seed leaving Manubrium and heading westward, she guessed that you were heading to the Goliath Ash Moth Desert, where Head Witch Mason was stationed as Overseer. She sent us there, and we used plants to burrow beneath the ground faster than your airships could fly or sail. When we arrived, we decided to hide in a place with shade and plants and came across your circle by happy coincidence. We thought you'd be landing at the Union Pillar or the nearby fort, so we had people hiding in the fort too."

The CATTs frowned; they'd built the circle in a place with foliage to keep it hidden, but that had backfired in this case.

"And you hiding beneath the ground was why the foliage had grown." Willow realised.

Amber crossed her arms; "So you sat there and watched us until you saw the perfect chance to kidnap Amity and deliver the message!"

"That's right. The others will have already fled, but I don't think they'll tell the Wings of Rani about your secret circle." Poppy assured them; "Telling them would mean exposing what we've been doing too, and we can't stand up to the Wings of Rani yet."

The CATTs readily accepted that, then exchanged looks to see if anyone else had anything to ask. When no new questions were forthcoming and Hettie had all the scans and samples she needed, it was decided to send Poppy on her way. Before she could be sent away though, Boscha pulled out a small potion and said; "This will cure the Blabber Serum. One drop on your tongue is all you need."

Poppy nodded and stuck out her tongue so Boscha could apply it, but as soon as the potion touched her tongue, the Mandragora's eyes grew foggy and distant. The CATTs were confused, until Boscha spoke to Poppy and said; "You delivered your message and we all got angry and yelled a lot, before ultimately accepting your invitation. Nothing else happened."

"Y-Yes… Right. Sorry, I zoned out for a moment there." Poppy said, shaking herself; "I am sorry for the distress this caused you all, but it is for the best; an audience with Queen Arboriel is quite an honour! I hope to see you soon in Barcarib."

"Of course. We'll be there tomorrow." Luz said, realising what Boscha had done. She'd used an Amnesia Tincture to erase the memories of the meeting, so Arboriel and Terra wouldn't know that the CATTs were studying a way past their controlling abilities.

After those final words, Luz sent Poppy into the shadows, then told the others to begin discussing the plan as she quickly went back to the isles and tossed Poppy back out, letting the Mandragora go without incident. She stayed to watch her grow a Restraining Rafflesia and leave through it, then used Earth Magic to fill the hole and returned to Digale Island and the meeting. She hadn't been gone more than a couple of minutes, so aside from Hettie leaving to begin studying the samples she'd taken, everyone else was still present and discussing what to do next.

"So, we've got a night to rest from today's mission while planning tomorrow's rescue." Luz said, taking a seat at the table and staring listlessly at the others. "Willow, Titi, and I are obviously going, but what about the two "retainers" we're being allowed to take? They've got to be around the same age as us, so that basically means teenagers only."

"Why even have you go with "retainers" if this is a trap anyway? To make it seem less obvious?" Matt asked.

"I bet it's for food." Amber said; "Those Mandragoras feed on Witches and Demons, so if they want to turn Luz and Willow into Mandragoras too, they probably need a couple more additions to their larder too."

"You're probably right, as morbid as that is." Raine shuddered; "And since I'm not being allowed to bring one too, that probably confirms Terra wants me for revenge and not to convert me."

"So them being teens is just to make sure they're weaker and easier to overwhelm?" Derwin asked.

"It seems that way." Raine nodded.

They all sat around and tried to think of the best options; logically speaking, Samael was probably the perfect option since he was as powerful as Luz and appeared to still be a little kid. But the CATTs had no way of knowing if the Mandragoras knew what Samael was, and even if they didn't, they might refuse to let him come due to appearing too young! If they brought him and he was too young, then they'd have wasted one of their potential back up slots, and if they realised what he was and considered him way too old, then it'd mean the same thing AND they might hurt Amity! For similar reasons, King was out too, much to his frustration since he'd been to all the other elemental temples along with Luz and Amity too.

"I think Ed and I should come along." Emira volunteered; "Amity is our baby sister! We've got to do something to help her!"

"Yeah! We can help!" Edric agreed.

Unfortunately, Alador disagreed; "Not a chance! I'm sorry, but I just can't risk you two going as well! I don't think my heart could take it if all three of my children were in danger and I couldn't do anything to help!"

Darius nodded and reluctantly added; "And no offence to you two, Viney, Jerbo, Vee, Treble, or Hanu, but I think the two teens going should be from the Hexsquad."

"Us?" Matt blinked, mildly surprised. "Why?"

"Because not only are the nine of you all the strongest teenagers I've ever met, but you're also used to working together as a team. You'll be outnumbered, so you'll need to make up for that with teamwork." Darius explained. He'd seen the members of the Hexsquad fight together several times in the past, and they always managed to do amazing things! Heck, just earlier that day, Willow, Gus, Hunter, and Lyra had defeated dozens of Angels single-handedly!

Edric and Emira were not happy about the decision, but their Dad was so desperate to not let any more of his children out of his sight until Amity returned that they couldn't bring themselves to argue too hard. Besides, they had to admit that Darius was right… the Hexsquad kids had more experience and skill… Edric didn't think he could beat Gus, Boscha, or Hunter in their specialities, and Emira knew she couldn't match Gus as an illusionist or Luz as a healer. On a similar note, Viney and Jerbo had no doubt they'd been outclassed by their juniors after all the Hexsquad's experience, and Hanu knew her Plant Magic wouldn't stand a ghost or chance against a Mandragora's… plus she REALLY didn't want to face Terra again! The woman still gave her nightmares!

That left only the Basilisks, who were a little conflicted. Both hated to fight, but recognised that their magic devouring was extremely useful! If they could devour magic in an instant like Subject Zero, they'd be the best choice to go by far! However Treble didn't want to go anywhere without Hanu and was very wary that the biggest Basilisk weakness he knew was a plant. Vee, despite her terror at the idea of fighting or being captured, really wanted to do more to help her sister. She'd come to the Demon Realm to help Luz, but she felt like she'd barely done anything at all! It made her wish she was stronger and more capable.

Still, Luz and the adults ultimately agreed with Darius' suggestion, so they began to discuss which members of the Hexsquad should go.

"If they're willing, I think Gus and Skara are the best choices." Camila suggested; "Their Palismen Fusions are incredibly powerful! They're only a bit weaker than Seraphim in that form, and the mix of Illusions and Bardic Magic would make them a serious threat to the enemy without also endangering innocents."

That was met with almost universal agreements… until Gus and Skara themselves weighed in, both wincing a little.

"About that… I might have overdone it a little today." Gus said sheepishly, gesturing to Emmiline on his shoulder. She was completely fast asleep, not having so much as stirred. Not only that, but the magic he could sense from her was basically nil; it was almost like she was a mundane animal! Without the ever-present bond between them, Gus wouldn't even be able to tell if she was alive!

Skara was in the same boat as she reached into her ponytail and pulled out Melody, who was in the exact same state as Emmiline. "I overdid it too. Using so much magic all at once in that form really wore me out, and Melody has it even worse. To be honest, I don't think I'm going to be back in fighting shape in time for tomorrow, or perhaps even the rest of the weekend!"

"Yeah… I've gotta be real with you guys; I'm about ready to pass out." Gus agreed.

The others looked at them worriedly, and Camila immediately hurried over and began fussing over them. She cast some diagnostic spells on them and then frowned at the results.

"This isn't good… if anything, you two are downplaying it! Your Bile Sacs have been strained, so it's really not safe for either of you to be using magic for at least a few days." Camila fretted.

"Can't you heal them, Mama?" Vee asked worriedly.

Luz answered for her Mami; "Healing a Bile Sac is tricky. The magic in the bile can react with the magic being cast on the Bile Sac itself. It can cause the bile to be consumed and leave the patient in a coma for a few days as their magic regenerates, or the bile could react violently and damage the heart! Unless you need to perform life-saving surgery on the Bile Sac, one should never cast magic directly on it."

The mood in the room dropped again, and both Gus and Skara looked guilty. "I'm sorry, everyone. The power was just so new and made me feel so strong! I went way too far…" Skara said miserably.

"I'm sorry too. I should have known to be more careful, but there were so many Angels and I had to be careful not to hit Orion's Heart." Gus apologised.

No one held it against them, and Matt slapped Gus on the back; "Relax Gus, you've done a ton of work lately; let the rest of us pick up the slack for a bit."

"Matt is correct." Severin said, smiling as he patted Skara's head; "You almost single-handedly turned the tide of the battle yesterday. You deserve a break."

Boscha nodded; "That's right. Besides, this works out for the best; I'm going tomorrow."

That declaration wasn't much of a surprise; her friends all figured she'd insist on going so she could try and save Amelia. For all her prickliness, Boscha truly cared for her teammates and friends and was fierce about protecting them. She didn't always treat them well in the past, but she never tolerated anyone else treating them poorly either!

"Okay Boscha. You'll be my retainer. Somehow, I doubt you'd be okay with being Willow's." Luz said, smiling knowingly.

Willow smirked and Boscha scoffed at the very idea, as Luz looked to Gus and Skara; "As for you two; we still don't know everything about the Palisman Fusion ability, so we need to be cautious with your health. You're both hereby ordered to remain at Digale Island and rest! Mami, you can take care of them; chase them back to bed with La Chancla if they try to work or do magic!"

"So basically what I do to you?" Camila grinned, making the others snicker.

"Absolutely." Luz grinned right back, totally shameless. She was trying to keep her own spirits up so she didn't freak out over Amity being in danger, especially since she still needed to rest to recover her full strength.

"So who will be Willow's "retainer"? It has to be Matt, Hunter, or Lyra." Raine said.

Hunter immediately raised his hand; "I'll handle it. I don't have magic of my own, so I just need to rest my body tonight and maybe get a bit more healing from Aunt Camila, then Flapjack and I will be in top condition for tomorrow." Flapjack chirped in agreement from his shoulder too, making Willow smile.

"So, you're my "retainer" now, Hunter?" she asked with a teasing lilt to her voice.

"Of course! I'm always happy to support you Captain; Flora and Fauna are a match made in heaven!" Hunter grinned, before realising what he'd just implied; "I-I mean, our magic types just make us a good pairing!"

That was no better, so Willow blushed even as she smiled, and the others watched Hunter flounder as he once again realised his mistake, totally amused by his rather adorable bumbling.

"I mean, not like that kind of pairing! Just, you know, Plant Magic and Beast-Keeping are like the two magics that are always connected because of nature and stuff! A-And our elements too! The Plant Element and the Lightning Element are considered counterparts, just like Light and Darkness or Fire and Ice! We're like opposites! B-But the good kind! You know, complimentary rather than opposing! I'm just going to shut up now." Hunter finally gave up, facepalming in frustration.

Willow giggled even as her cheeks turned red and her glasses began to fog up a little. The others smiled or giggled good-naturedly too, while Darius groaned and shook his head; "Remind me to teach you how to talk to ladies without babbling like a fool."

Hunter just groaned and Lyra clapped him on the back; "It's okay, brother! I'm sure you just got flustered because you don't want to disappoint your Captain. Totally no other reason."

"Sis, please spare me… I can already feel the teasing that I'm gonna get from Luz! I don't need you doing it too!" Hunter whined.

Sure enough, Luz was grinning like a Cheshire Cat, but before she could say a word, Willow gave her a sharp smile; "Don't worry Hunter; Luz won't tease you too badly for getting tongue-tied. After all, I remember some of her bumbling too!"

That promptly made Luz gulp and chuckle nervously; "You wouldn't really tell him any of my secrets, right?"

Willow just kept smiling at Luz, refusing to answer. Of course, she wouldn't tell Hunter anything Luz had said or done in confidence, but as Luz's best friend, there was still a lot of teasing material she had on her bestie! Luz realised this and decided to keep the teasing of her sort-of-brother, sort-of-cousin to a mild level.

With everyone's mood improved a bit by the children's banter, and with little else to do while everyone was still exhausted, Luz and Darius both called the meeting to an end, telling everyone to go off and get some rest. The Amity Rescue Team was strictly ordered to relax and recover their strength for tomorrow, so Lyra (with some help from Gus) took it upon herself to stick around Hunter and ensure he rested, while Skara and Severin did the same for Boscha, Hanu and Treble did the same for Willow, Vee, King, and Camila did the same for Luz, and Eda did the same for Raine. At the same time, Lilith (who needed something to keep her mind occupied and keep her from spiralling into a panic over her little girl's safety) decided to take her absence as an opportunity to have a sit down talk with Alador about how their co-parenting arrangement was going to work, leaving the Twins and their partners to spend time with Darius, and Matt and his older brother to spend timethe BATTs trio.

Of course, getting the members of the Rescue Team to relax proved more challenging for some than others. The Cadences had followed Boscha to the CATTs Clinic, where Kyrie had taken Scooter, so he could be in the care of Meesha Leonis and the other healers. After checking on the tired old man and noting that he seemed to be focused and alert, thanks to Derwin using the Magic Earworm and the Cadence of Clarity that Raine showed him, Boscha had then tried to offer her services as a Potioneer to Hettie, who was working on the Mandragora samples in the clinic's lab. Upon hearing that Boscha was supposed to be resting, Hettie had kicked her out and threatened to strap her to a hospital bed if she didn't actually rest. As such, it was a very grumpy Boscha who sat on a rock on the beach, staring out at the sea with Skara and Severin sitting with her.

"You two don't need to babysit me. You both need rest way more than I do." Boscha said, her voice a strange mix of sullen and caring.

"I can't relax without you, my Muse." Skara said softly, cuddling close to Boscha.

Severin smiled and patted Boscha's free shoulder; "And I can't very well leave my beloved Skara's best friend and girlfriend alone when she is so clearly down in the dumps."

His expression then turned sympathetic; "Are you upset with me? For the fight at the castle?"

"No." Boscha said sharply, before repeating it more gently; "No, Uncle Severin… That fight upset me, but not because of you. I ended up being a burden to Skara… all I could do was hold you off."

"Boscha, that's all you needed to do! You kept Dad busy enough for me to defeat Mom! If you hadn't, I'd have had to fight both on my own and might have lost before Melody and I could harmonize." Skara said, trying to cheer Boscha up.

It didn't really work, but Boscha could at least appreciate the effort. Severin was tempted to remind her that he was a Coven Head (or had been at least) and so being defeated by him shouldn't make her feel ashamed, but he figured that wouldn't actually help the situation.

"Either way, because I barely got to fight or do much of anything, I don't need more than dinner and a night's sleep before going to the mission tomorrow, so sitting around doing nothing basically just makes me feel restless and useless!" Boscha complained.

Severin and Skara exchanged looks, before the former said; "Well… you might have a point. Still, we promised we wouldn't let you do anything but rest and relax, so how about a compromise? You find brewing potions pretty relaxing, right? And if you don't pour your magic into it then I don't think the others will complain, so maybe you could brew some potions for the CATTs?"

That made Boscha smile; "Really?"

Severin nodded; "You're right; forcing you to do nothing is counter-productive right now. But Skara and I will still be watching you."

Boscha hopped to her feet with a big grin; "Thanks, Uncle Sev! You're the best! Come on, Eda is busy making kissy faces with Raine or something, so I bet the labs are free!"

She grabbed Skara's hand and basically dragged her off towards the CATTs' labs, with Severin following along behind with a warm smile. He was glad to have cheered up his future Daughter-in-Law; Boscha meant a lot to him for what she'd done for his Skara over the years, and he'd always known the two girls would end up together some day; he'd felt it in his bones!

The little trio arrived at the labs, which looked more like an extra large apothecary shop, but found that it had some new neighbours. The house next to the apothecary shop was vacant, since it had been used as a bunkhouse for CATTs who normally lived on the Boiling Isles but needed a place to crash for a night or too, but now it had been given to a new family staying on the island; the Secunas.

When Boscha and the Cadences reached the labs, they found Mace examining the building's exterior while dressed as a builder; he'd swapped out his fancy clothes for overalls, work boots, and an old shirt, no longer hiding his true passion for Construction. Asher was watching the whole thing too as he chatted eagerly with Simi, the little half-lion boy getting on swimmingly with the little monkey girl, who was not with Emiliel for once. However, less pleasing for either Skara or Boscha was the presence of Amaranth, who was eyeing the property and occasionally making suggestions for improvements to her husband, who gave a toothy grin and a "Yes dear." to her every idea.

Asher quickly spotted Skara though and ran over, jumping into her tired arms with a big smile; "Skara! Look at our new house! That nice Head Witch Deamonne said we could have it! It's kind of small but really cool!" Asher chattered away; "Oh, and I made a new friend; Simi! She said she'd show me all the fun stuff on Digale Island, and all the secret places too!"

"That sounds fun." Skara smiled lovingly, petting his head; "I'm glad you're happy here so far. It must be a big adjustment for you, going from a noble manor to a castle and now to this."

"I don't have any of my toys, but I've got friends now so it's okay!" Asher chirped. He'd led a lonely existence in both Cartilia and Belos' Castle; his parents had always been there for him, but hiding his identity to avoid being bullied also meant he kept his distance from other children and didn't really make friends. It didn't help that his Daddy disdained all the pomp and snobbery of his fellow nobles, making others less interested in socialising with them.

Skara smiled, happy to hear her brother had friends, but the smile was wiped from her face as Amaranth approached. She still looked a little battle-worn from the fighting earlier that day, and she looked frightened as she stepped closer to the young Bard, but she approached all the same.

"Hello, Skara. I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon. I was hoping I could have a quiet word with you…" Amaranth's eyes flickered towards a scowling Boscha and a blank-faced Severin; "… alone."

Skara blinked in surprise, while Boscha growled and stepped between the two; "Not a Titan-damn chance! Anything you want to say to my girlfriend, you can say in front of me and Uncle Sev!"

"Girlfriend? Oh right, of course. You two are dating now. Um, I'm happy for you." Amaranth said awkwardly, "But I'm not going to say or do anything to hurt Skara. I just want to talk."

"You already have hurt Skara, you-" Boscha began, only to cut herself off as she caught Asher looking at her with big sad eyes. She didn't want to upset the kid, but she didn't want to let Amaranth just have her way either.

Severin came to the rescue by putting a calming hand on both girls' shoulders, and looking to Skara; "This is up to you, my Symphony. If you don't want to talk to her or be alone with her, then just say the word. Otherwise, we'll get out of the way for you."

Skara nodded and smiled appreciatively, then gave it some thought. The events of the day played in her mind; specifically what she'd heard about her mother's regrets about her past actions, and the emotional reaction she'd had towards Skara after she'd been reunited. The way Amaranth had hugged her and how that had made her feel… Skara wanted to talk these new feelings out.

"We can talk. Boscha, could you keep an eye on my little brother for a moment alongside Dad? Maybe you can get started on the brewing and show him how to make some simple potions?" Skara said.

Boscha frowned, but nodded; "Alright, but call if you need anything. Is it cool if I take Asher into the labs, Lord Secuna?" she asked, not looking at Amaranth.

"Call me Mace. And of course; I trust you and Severin to not do anything foolish!" The lion man smiled, barely looking away from his work. His wife had already told him of her intentions, and he supported her.

With that, Boscha gently took Asher's hand and led him into the lab alongside Simi, shooting one last glare at Amaranth as Severin kissed his daughter on the cheek and whispered; "Whistle if you want me to come back out."

Skara smiled, then watched as her Dad, Brother, and Girlfriend disappeared into the lab, leaving her alone with Amaranth and her husband. Amaranth looked pointedly at Mace, who nodded and headed into their house, leaving the awkward mother and daughter duo alone together.

The two watched each other for a moment, each trying to think of what to say and how the other would react. Eventually, Amaranth screwed up the courage to do what she needed to do.

"Skara… it occurs to me that… that I never apologised for the things I've done." Amaranth began.

"You mean trying to crush my hopes of being a Bard, disparaging my abilities, abandoning Dad and I when I refused to change my mind, and spreading horrible rumours about me being Dad's Bastard Love Child with Raine! You want to say sorry for all of that!?" Skara growled, her voice getting a little louder with each word.

Amaranth cringed in shape and nodded; "Y-Yes. I want, no, I need to apologise for all those things. W-With one minor correction…"

"And what correction is that?" her daughter demanded.

"I didn't actually start or spread those rumours." Amaranth said; "It's not a valid excuse, but I never once actually claimed you to be a bastard love child or anything but my daughter. Those rumours cropped up after it got out that I'd left the Cadence family. I never told anyone why, but some other nobles knew your father and I had been arguing about you, and the rumours started from there. Your Father and Raine were also close due to being apprentices of Scooter Crane, so people often made assumptions that they were lovers."

Skara's eyes widened; "You didn't start that rumour? You didn't even spread it to make yourself look good when you found out about it!?"

"No. Though what I did wasn't much better… when I was asked about it, I… I refused to comment. I told people that I didn't want to talk about the reason for my divorce, and let them think what they wanted. So while I didn't help spread it, I didn't help stop it when I had the power to either… I have no excuse; I was simply too proud to confess the true reason, and allowed the other nobles to influence me in my arrogance." Amaranth said, sitting on the front steps of her temporary new home.

Skara stared at her, not sure what to think. The biggest reason Skara had hated her mother was the belief that she'd tried to sully her father's name and reputation to save her own, and viciously disowned her daughter with those horrid rumours. The sting of her father's friends among the nobility leaving him, only to come crawling back later… and the heartache she'd felt when her own friends had been all too willing to abandon her too at their parents' discretion, leaving only Boscha on her side… it still hurt. Skara had also been viciously happy that Boscha's support, and by extension the Alembics, had made people realise something was up and discover the truth, causing Amaranth to suffer the damage that she'd tried to inflict on Severin!

But now, everything felt different. Amaranth had instead suffered the karma of not telling the truth about what happened between her and her ex-husband. And now that Skara knew her mother did still love her, and had regretted what she'd done to her… she didn't know what to do.

"I-I don't know what to say." Skara whispered; "T-This… doesn't make me feel better. I'm kind of glad you didn't come up with that rumour yourself just to hurt me and Dad, but you DID still hurt us by letting it spread without stopping it! That cost all of us! Do you have any idea how badly Dad was hurt!? How badly I was hurt!?"

"I do." Amaranth whispered, tears in her eyes; "And I am so incredibly sorry. I was arrogant, stupid, and selfish… and every time I was given a chance to make things right, I doubled down on my mistakes, because if I didn't then it meant it was all for nothing… however, even now as I regret the way things went with your father and you, I can't fully bring myself to regret that we actually split up."

Skara initially felt a spike of anger at that, but as she saw her mother's eyes move wistfully to the lab, with Asher within, she understood. "Because if you hadn't left my Dad, Asher would never have been born… even if you'd have had another child with Dad, they wouldn't be Asher."

Amaranth smiled sadly; "Exactly. You've grown very mature, Darling. Far more than I, I suspect."

Suddenly feeling exhausted in more ways than one, Skara sat down on the steps beside her mother and held her head in her hands. "I have no idea how to react to any of this! I-just… Why did you even agree to marry Dad if you hated Bards?"

"I don't hate Bards. Not really." Amaranth said; "But Bards, like Construction Witches, are considered lowbrow and common labourers. They're something for the common folk to be, not the nobility. My parents raised me with those beliefs, and my friends and fellow nobles reinforced it. I didn't personally see the point, but I didn't want my contemporaries to think less of me, so I went along with it. But my family, the Nefaeds, were also a weak family amongst the nobility. Our family chose to be neutral in Belos' establishing of the Empire, and so we weren't crushed or stripped of our power like his enemies, but we did find ourselves seen as "savage nobles" by those who'd sided with Belos. My grandfather could only find a match from another savage noble family, and then my mother did the same. But mother was so fed up of being seen as a savage age noble that she was determined to marry me to a Loyalist…"

"Meaning Dad and the Cadences." Skara frowned.

"Exactly. The Cadences were Loyalists who earned a lot of power by supporting Belos in his rise to rule. But they are a family of Bards, so are seen as the bottom of the barrel by other Loyalists. Thanks to that, Severin's parents and my mother reached an agreement and your father and I were engaged. He is a good man and was a good husband… I was happy with him." Amaranth smiled softly, remembering happier times.

"S-So even though you were arranged to be married by your parents, and were raised to dislike Bards, you still found happiness with Dad? Did you… did you ever really love him?" Skara asked.

Amaranth gave Skara a loving smile; "He was a dear friend, but I never loved him as normal person should love their husband, just as he never loved me like a wife. We were more like good friends and partners… but on the day you were born, and I held you in my arms, I felt that I truly did love Severin. It wasn't romantic, but it was still love for the man that had brought me my daughter. He later confessed to feeling the same thing."

Skara clenched her fists as she felt her heart ache; how could her mother tell her such a thing after abandoning her!?

"You loved him for making you my mother!? You loved me that much!? Then why did you do any of what you did!? You did everything in your power to stop me becoming a Bard! When you couldn't get your own way, you neglected me! And when Dad wouldn't let you get away with neglecting me, you ran off with another man!" Skara yelled, nearly in tears with how frustrated, confused, and hurt she felt.

Amaranth looked down in shame; "I am sorry… I know that's not enough, but it's the truth. I was an arrogant fool."

"You were an idiot! You married a Bard from a long line of Bards! What did you expect!? And you claimed you didn't even dislike Bards personally! So explain!" Skara demanded.

"Nothing I say will make it right; there is no excuse I can give!" Amaranth said, "But you deserve an honest answer. Before she died, my mother told me that the only way to raise the reputation of the Cadences and Nefaed's was to move away from Bardic Magic. Abomination Magic was on the rise, which is why I studied it on my mother's orders, and she insisted that shifting the Cadences to an Abomination family would be for the best and would allow them, and the Nefaeds by extension, to rise in noble society. So when you decided to be a Bard like your Dad, I foolishly discouraged you. I was so sure that our family would look worse if you became a Bard that my pride wouldn't allow it."

Amaranth buried her face in her hands; "I said horrible things about your Dad to make you want to be like me instead. I told you Bards were weak; that their magic was hard and never amounted to anything good even with all that effort. I even tried to tell you that you were awful, so you'd give up… but you were as stubborn as me AND your Dad. When your father caught wind of what I was doing and ordered me to stop, I decided to just ignore you in hopes of you eventually choosing to give up so I would pay attention to you again. As it turns out, all it did was destroy the pride I'd been trying to protect, while also costing me my family. Severin divorced me, and rightfully so, and I returned to being the Lady Nefaed."

"And then because you didn't tell the truth when people asked about the rumours, when the truth did finally come out, you were disgraced even more." Skara scowled.

Amaranth just nodded as she looked up again; "I deserved it… and it did lead to something good. My family's wealth and power was basically little more than a common person's by that point and my prospects were virtually nil. I'd lost everything and even my pride, which I'd done all this to preserve, was broken. That was when I met Mace."

Now that did surprise Skara; she knew her father had never kept a mistress as was common for nobles in arranged marriages, but she'd been sure her mother had been secretly seeing Lord Secuna on the side as her beau. It was the only reason she could think of for a nobleman to marry "tainted goods" like Amaranth, especially so soon after it all blew up. However Skara had been bitter over her mother's abandonment and refused to look into it, so she'd only recently learned that Mace was a Construction Witch and only a second generation noble.

"Let me guess; Lord Mace couldn't find a wife because his family wasn't well-regarded, so he settled for you?" Skara asked.

"That's not quite how I'd put it…" Amaranth pouted, "… but you're not exactly wrong. His family was new to nobility and had a habit of marrying commoners since the nobles looked down on "common labourers" like Construction Witches. Mace hoped that by marrying another noble, even a disgraced one like me, would help his family's image. And even if it didn't work; we were both "tainted" in the eyes of the nobility, so we weren't going to have better prospects. The fact he's a Cait Sith didn't help either, especially given the prejudice against them from the nobility."

Skara suddenly felt something a little unnerving, so she had to ask; "Lord Mace did tell you that before you married him, right?"

"Of course!" Amaranth answered with a smile, a little touched that Skara cared; "Mace is a wonderful man, and after he gave me my son and your little brother, I came to genuinely love him as I once loved your father. He's quite a moral man too; he didn't like me becoming Head of the Abomination Coven after hearing some of the rumours about Belos. He was also the one who encouraged me to swallow my pride and try to reconnect with you… I-I'd sort of been hoping to do just that pretty much the moment I made my colossal mistake by mistreating you."

Once again, Skara's heart lurched. So all this time, her mother really had wanted her back. Skara hated to admit it, even to herself, but a part of her felt happy about that. But the other part was incredibly conflicted.

"If that's how you felt, why didn't you?" Skara asked.

Amaranth averted her eyes; "I had no right to do that, not after what I did. You were happy with your father and I… I was just an unpleasant complication. So I thought that I'd instead try to forget you entirely, but I couldn't bear to do that either. In the end, I just watched from afar and told Asher about you; he's your brother, so I wanted him to know you at least a little bit."

Upon hearing this, Skara stared down at her hands; at the marks on her fingers that had once been cuts and sores from her relentless practice as a Bard. Her ambition to be the World's Greatest Bard had been formed partly out of spite for her mother, and now…? Her ambition hadn't changed, but perhaps the driving force behind it had. She hadn't thought much about her mother in recent months; she'd instead focused on making her Dad proud, on living up to Uncle Scooter's example, on impressing Luz and their friends on the Hexsquad, and on turning the passion she felt for Boscha into music. Somewhere in all that, the spite she felt had faded, and now that she was faced with a regretful woman who confessed to still loving her, and making sure her beloved baby brother knew her, Skara's heart didn't know what to do.

So she asked; "What do you think of me now? My skills as a Bard and as a Witch."

Amaranth smiled softly; "I am beyond proud. You have grown beautiful, strong, and incredible. I think you will be the one to finally turn around the attitudes of people towards Bards. And that is the honest truth; you can have your girlfriend dose me with Blabber Serum to confirm it if you want."

Skara chuckled at that idea, her heart feeling warm. She then asked; "And if I said I didn't want to reconcile with you? If I said I wanted nothing to do with you?"

"I would accept it." Amaranth said, the smile wiped from her face; "I wouldn't like it, but after all I did I have no right to complain. I would only ask that you let Asher stay in your life. He truly loves you and doesn't deserve to be punished for my sins."

"You don't need to worry about that; Asher is my adorable little brother and I want to spend as much time with him as possible!" Skara declared. Her next question was originally going to be if she'd be allowed to see Asher if she rejected Amaranth, but since that was now answered, she moved on to her final one; "Do you truly want to reconcile with me? To be a part of my life?"

"Yes. With all my heart. I have three regrets in my life; Serving Belos, not squashing those rumours when I had the chance, and abandoning you." Amaranth said earnestly, looking Skara in the eye.

With her heart beating a little faster, Skara stood up and began to pace, trying to work out some of her anxious energy; "Y-You have no right to ask to be in my life after what you did. You hurt me deeply, and you hurt my Dad! You made me feel like I was at fault for Dad being alone all these years!"

Amaranth bowed her head; "I am truly, deeply sorry. You may never forgive me, but you still deserve an apology. You and Severin both deserved better than me… Mace and Asher deserve better too, but so long as they want me, I will do all I can for them. And so long as you let me, I'll do the same for you.

Skara turned away, refusing to let Amaranth see the tears leaking down her face. "I… I don't forgive you. I can't forgive you… but, I accept your apology. I'm starting to think you did me a favour, in a twisted way. I wish I could say your misery and hardships make it all better for me, but they don't…"

Amaranth inhaled slowly, trying to keep her voice from cracking; "So that's a no, then?"

"I don't know." Skara whispered. "I don't know what I want. There's a war going on and my girlfriend is about to go and fight a plant monster to save two of my other friends, and I just got my Dad back, and Melody and I have reached a new level together, and my heart is so confused… I don't know how I feel about you, and I don't know if I want you around. But I do know that I don't want to make a decision like this while I'm all messed up inside, so… I think we should talk about this after everything with the Divider has calmed down."

Immediately, Amaranth smiled; there was still hope to reconcile with her daughter! Not a guarantee, but hope! That was more than she'd expected, so it was more than enough for her!

"Of course. Take all the time you need, Skara. In the meantime, I'll show you how serious I am about this by helping the CATTs. I'm not a genius on the level of Darius or Alador, but I am still a skilled Abomination Witch! I'll support you and the CATTs through anything and everything!" Amaranth declared, hopping back to her feet.

Skara couldn't help but giggle as she saw the usually reserved and elegant woman acting like an excitable teenager. It actually reminded her a little of herself! It looked like Skara really had inherited something from her mother.

"Thank you, Mom. I'll hold you to that. Now I should get back to Boscha; she's brewing to relax, but I bet it isn't working with her worrying about me." Skara said.

Amaranth nodded; "Of course, Darling. But one last thing before you go; never forget that I am proud of you, and that I love you. No matter what choice you make, that is and always will be the truth."

Skara looked back at her with watery eyes, and clutched her chest. She then gave a shaky smile and nodded, before rushing off into the lab to be with Boscha, her Dad, and Asher. Amaranth watched her go and then returned to her husband, hope filling her heart.

The wounds she had left in Skara's heart had scarred, but those scars may well be beginning to fade. Only time would tell.

[Later that Evening]

Raine and Eda lay together, cuddled up in a nest that the latter had created in the bedroom she'd chosen for herself in the CATTs HQ. The two had experienced a long afternoon and evening of catching up and having some romantic time to themselves, while taking care of a few little things like checking on Scooter and Kyrie, and spending a bit more time with Katya, Amber, and Derwin. Most of the time had been taken up by Eda telling Raine the stories that Luz and the Hexsquad had told her though, making sure Raine was caught up with everything that had happened in the Human and Divine Realms, as well as on the Isles. The details of those adventures were still on Raine's mind as they cuddled next to Eda.

"Those kids… they've gone through so much. Fighting Dragons, Angels, and their own Divided Families…" Raine said sadly, staring up at the ceiling. "I can't help but feel a little bit responsible for all of this."

Eda looked at them with a frown; "What are you talking about, you silly nerd? How are you responsible?"

"Well, Belos and the Divider aren't my fault, but the fact those kids are fighting them is sort of my fault. I founded the CATTs, and got Luz and King involved when I came to recruit you. Then the rest of those teenagers ended up joining and fighting too. They're spending their childhoods at war, fighting one oppressor after another and risking their lives… I can't help but think that I should have refused to let them get involved. The adults are the ones who allowed this world to become what it is; we should be fixing it for out children, not leaving them to clean up our messes." Raine said, eyes growing a bit misty with regrets.

Eda tutted and stroked their head; "I get it. It ain't fair that those kids are stuck fighting. But do you think they'd have stopped just because we told them to? Even if you hadn't invited her, Luz would have fought for this world anyway; that's just the kind of kid she is. And King is the same; he'd probably say something like; "If I can't be a bloodthirsty tyrant, then no one else can be either!" or something crazy like that. Besides, those kids are tough; they're the ones who are gonna build the world of tomorrow, so they've got to learn from our mistakes."

Raine smiled and kissed Eda's nose; "I never thought I'd see the day that you showed such wisdom, Edamame."

"I know right! I've grown up a lot too! The lone Wild Witch is now a Mama Bird! I've got kids, my relationships with you, Lily, Mom, and Dad have all been fixed, and I'm fighting for what I believe in! Heck, even the Owl Beast and I are pals now! Who'd a thunk it?" Eda grinned, flashing her gold fang before looking up at the ceiling. She cast a spell to make it transparent and show off the starry sky.

"Our world has changed so much. That nickname that you have for my Owlet is apt; Luz was the spark that set of a powder keg of changes and now… now I've got hope for the future. The idea of growing into a little old lady doting on her grand-kids has gone from a nightmare to a dream for me." Eda smiled, eyes reflecting the twinkling stars above.

Raine stared at her, enraptured by her expression; "You've changed a lot, Eda. But the thing that made me fall in love with you is still there… that look of yours, which never drifts away from the future. I always loved how you marched forward without hesitation, living each moment like it was your last, while I was always so timid by comparison. Everyone has changed and grown up so fast; it feels like I'm standing still!"

"Don't be dumb, you've grown up a lot too!" Eda said, flicking their nose; "You did start this whole shindig. You fought Belos, and you're fighting the Divider. Give yourself some credit; if you do, you might end up like Lily and I, and get a cool Harpy Mode of your own!"

"I don't think there is such a thing as a Bat Harpy." Raine said, "And I'm not sure I have what it takes to do what Lilith did."

Lilith had told Eda everything about how she'd unlocked her Raven Harpy form, so naturally Eda had told Raine. Considering the Bat Beast inside them had the same origin as the Raven Beast inside Lilith, Raine was sure that the same tactic Lilith had used could allow them to unite with their other self… the problem was knowing, understanding, and accepting the parts of themselves that they'd locked away inside the Bat Beast AND figuring out how to actually make contact with them safely. Lilith had only managed it after succumbing to the curse, then having Amity call out to her in an emotional moment that gave Lilith the positivity she needed to take back control… but how would Raine replicate that? Letting themselves become the Bat Beast was way too dangerous, and they didn't know if they had something as important to them as Amity finally calling Lilith Mom. Their all-but-adopted kids already called them Ma, Pops, or Mops, and Luz and King called them Titi. Severin considered them a sibling and the Clawthornes and Scooter all considered them to be like their own child… Not to mention Eda had already given her heart to them.

What moment could be emotional enough to pierce through the rage of the Bat Beast? Raine didn't know, but until they could think of one that might work, they weren't going to even try and mess with the Bat Beast! They'd be keeping Elixirs and Super Elixirs very close to hand!

Naturally, Eda responded with her usual confidence; "You'll do it, Raine Storm. Lily is awesome, and of course my greatness speaks for itself, but you're on my level too, so you'll definitely succeed."

Raine chuckled; "Wow, high praise! I'll have to work hard to live up to it."

Eda snorted; "Dork."

She then kissed them and snuggled closer, pulling the covers over them both as they prepared to drift off to sleep. Before falling asleep completely though, Eda softly said; "Raine…?

"Yes, Eda?"

"Be careful tomorrow. Protect my Owlet, and protect yourself too. I just got you both back, and as strong as I am, I'm not strong enough to lose either of you. Make sure you come back safe and sound." Eda said, showing a shockingly vulnerable side.

Raine's breathing quickened; "Oh Eda. You don't need to worry; I'll keep Luz safe, and she'll do the same for me."

"Good. Hunter and Willow too; Goldilocks is my nephew now, and Flowers is his crush and Luz's best friend, so you've got to keep them safe. Oh, and Boscha too; that Firecracker reminds me a lot of myself when I was her age, only with a worse temper."

"I'll protect all of them as best I can. I'm not going to leave the next generation to fend themselves and clean up our messes on their own. You don't need to worry." Raine promised.

Eda nodded sleepily; "I know, Raine Storm… I just feel like tomorrow is going to change everything. That something big is coming…"

"Every day with you and our little pack of weirdos brings a ton of changes." Raine joked, before kissing Eda and burying their face in the top of her head; "Sleep, my Eda. Any changes that come, we'll all weather together. As you always say; we weirdos have to stick together!"

Eda gave a contented hum and soon fell asleep, with Raine falling asleep moments later. High above them, through the ceiling left transparent by Eda's spell, a collection of stars began to shine just a little brighter.

[The Next Day]

Digale Island was a flurry of activity the next morning, as everyone prepared for the Amity Rescue Mission. Luz, Willow, Raine, Hunter, and Boscha were all fresh and fully charged; having been given potions and healing sessions from Hettie and Camila to make absolutely certain that they'd be in peak condition for the trip to Barcarib. They were stocked up with potions made by Boscha and Eda, some pre-made abomination and homunculus slime, all the glyph notes that King and the CATTs could stuff into their pockets, and even fresh Power Glyphs, courtesy of Mason (Camila had ended up going back to the desert alone to let him know what the situation was, and had returned with the Power Glyphs).

With the rescue team rested, fed, and fully equipped, they all gathered together at the Teleportation Circle, where the rest of their families, the Hexsquad, and the CATTs Elite assembled to see them off.

"Alright you five, the adults have come up with a plan of sorts that'll hopefully turn the tide in your favour." Darius said. "The first is getting back-up to you; Samael, Lyra, and Amber will be handling that, along with King and his darkness glyphs."

The little Titan nodded eagerly and said; "This part was my plan! Amber has shadow movement like Lyra, so those two will take the rest of us into the shadows, while Samael uses his magic to help recharge them so they don't run out of magic!"

"Tia Cammie showed me how to do Angelic Blessings, and I've got one of these!" Samael said cheerfully, holding up a Power Glyph of his own.

"Then when Amity is safe and not a hostage any more, the rest of us can be let out of the shadows and hurry to help you!" King finished.

Luz smiled brightly; "Great idea! Cute and clever; you're the whole package King!"

"Aw shucks, praise me more!" King preened.

Lyra, hating to be a party pooper, raised her hand and said; "It won't be quite that simple though. Based on what we were told by Poppy, the temple beneath Barcarib is almost definitely one of the Elemental Temples, like where the Black Tombs were sealed. Since Lord Orion's elements are Light, Fire, Ice, and Plant, and the Temples of Fire and Ice have already been visited, this one has to be the Light or Plant Temples. And since you said before that a Light Temple concept was scrapped because they wanted to build it in the Skull, that means the Barcarib Temple has to be the Plant Temple, meaning they'll have a home field advantage. You'll be facing an army of Mandragora's in what is almost definitely a plant-filled area."

Willow grinned; "So basically just like every other time Luz fought the Mandragora."

Eda laughed; "That's true! The ruins of Fibul Academy were overtaken by the Mandragora's plants too, and then we fought her in the Bat Queen's Forest after she'd absorbed a Palistrom Tree! Owlet and Flowers can totally handle it; I'd wager my right hand that those two are better Plant Magic users than even the Mandragoras!"

"It really is going to be a plant vs plant showdown then, huh?" Vee mused.

Matt nodded solemnly; "In one corner there's Luz, blessed with the Titan's plant glyph, and Willow, whose like the best Plant Witch we've got, and in the other corner is Terra Snapdragon, the bad guys' best Plant Witch, and Arboriel, who is a literal plant woman? And it's happening in an enclosed space? This isn't just a showdown; it's like the ultimate plant vs plant cage match!"

His brother Steve's eyes suddenly lit up; "It's the ultimate Botanical Battle! The Duel of Daisies, the War of Wisteria! The Floral Feud! It's… PLANTAMANIA!"

The CATTs who were gathered around to watch the Rescue Team's departure all suddenly cheered, as if they were about to watch some kind of gladiatorial combat. Even Severin's Palisman, Carabace the Sea Turtle, gave an adorable cry and slapped the ground with his flippers.

Luz blinked in surprise, then grinned; "I'm not totally sure where Steve got that from, but he and my favourite Turtle definitely seem to be having fun!" she said, reaching down to pet Carabace.

"Steve has been going on about Plantamania-" Lyra was briefly interrupted by another cheer and Carabace's happy flipper slapping, "-since we first discussed this plan last night while you were resting. But the plant advantage wasn't the main reason I brought the terrain up; if this temple really is one of the Elemental Temples like the others, then we won't be able to actually follow you inside the temple, even through the shadows."

The Rescue Team looked surprised, save for Hunter who gasped as he remembered something; "Of course! I remember now; when Lyra and I were sent to investigate the Caplacier Ritual Chamber, we had to use one of the tunnels that you guys and Zara blasted through the rock in order to get inside, as Lyra's shadow travel wouldn't let us in!"

Luz hummed; "I guess that does make sense. Makers of an Elemental Temple would know about shadow travel and probably blocked it so no one could use it to cheat and get past the trials."

"That was our theory too." Lilith said; "But either way, you'll be able to get inside and if possible, leave the path way to the Mandragoras' garden open. Then once Amity is safe, we can storm the place! Since there is no Black Tomb, there shouldn't be a Dragon Priest guardian either; just Arboriel and Terra."

"And the army of Mandragoras." Willow reminded her.

"Actually, that won't be a problem." Hettie said, stepping forward and revealing she was holding a tray with five syringes on it; "I studied the samples we took from Poppy and confirmed that they contained a mind-altering pheromone that was produced by a Botanical Demon. It seems Arboriel is using these pheromones to manipulate the Mandragoras, and possibly others too. These shots contain a drug I created that should render you immune. Camila helped me adjust them to work on Angel physiology too."

"Goodie…" Luz said nervously, eyeing the needle. She was tempted to complain; she hated shots, but King had been very brave about having his blood taken with needles, and Luz couldn't let herself look like a wuss in front of him, or the other children who were watching them.

She bravely offered her arm and Hettie gave her the shot quickly, making her squeak as a strange cool feeling filled her veins, then faded fast. Raine and Hunter took their own shots without so much as a blink, while Willow whispered to herself that it wasn't as bad as a bug bite, so it was fine. Boscha ended up being the one who had the biggest problem with it, scrunching her eyes shut and growling to hide her whimpers, then giving a battle cry to hide the yelp she felt when the needle actually went in. Once the shots were administered, Camila jokingly handed lollipops to the five members of the Rescue Team, then Alador handed over something far more useful.

"I worked together with my children, their lovers, and Lilith to make these." he said, giving Luz a small pouch full of brass poke-ball like objects. "Thanks to Hettie's discovery, we were able to work out a compound that could override the effects and temporarily prevent the pheromones from working again. It's not as useful as those inoculations, but it'll turn the tide if you end up outnumbered."

"They're gas bombs based on abomination technology." Jerbo happily explained; "I used Plant Magic to find a plant-based pheromone that matched what Hettie had found in Poppy's system, then Viney and Emira figured out how to make a cure for it with Healing Magic, which Ed could then refine into a potion with his Potion Magic, with help from Miss Lilith. Then Mr. Alador and I were able to create a container for the potion that would aerosolise it when activated!"

The six of them looked incredibly proud as Luz took the bag and praised them; "Incredible! With these, we can really turn the tides! Good job guys! It's amazing what you can do in just one night!"

"We were motivated. But be careful; the gas breaks down fast and its effects won't last once it's gone, so you'll need to get those under the Mandragora's control to leave the area before that, or she'll just control them again." Emira warned, before giving the rescue team a serious look; "Bring Amity back home safe and sound, okay?"

The rescue team nodded in response, and Luz gave Emira a hug and promised her, and the others too, that she'd bring Amity home without a scratch.

The rest of the farewells went quickly, with the rescue team's family members making sure to wish them luck (with Boscha receiving those well-wishes from Skara, Severin, and the Secunas instead). The Parks even gave Hunter an extra clap on the back and asked him to take care of their little girl, much to Willow's embarrassment. Once the farewells were done, everyone who was going as back up used their darkness glyphs to hide inside Darius' shadow, as Darius would fly with the rescue team to the edge of the Navel Woods, then leave them to go on alone so the Mandragora's didn't get suspicious. After that, Luz activated the Teleportation Circle and they were warped to Orion's Right Fingers.

Almost immediately, their plans hit a tiny speed bump as they noticed Wings of Rani and Construction Coven Airships moored at the Union Pillar and CATTs' Cradle fortress in the distance, showing that the inspection had finally begun. This was only a minor inconvenience though as they used invisibility glyph notes to hide themselves and then fly south-east over the Boiling Sea until they reached the western border of the Navel Woods. Traversing the forest whilst avoiding the main path and without getting lost was a difficult task, so they opted to risk the road and fly around to the north, where they could then take the carefully maintained path that led through the forest for the shortest possible distance.

Darius left the rescue team here; "Barcarib is about an hour's hike from here, so it shouldn't be too tough to reach. Just keep an eye out for danger."

"Got it. Thanks Dadrius." Hunter smiled gratefully.

His adoptive father ruffled his hair with a smile, then used a darkness glyph to go into his own shadow as the back-up squad began moving through the shadows of the trees. Once he was gone, Willow led the way, having been there before along with Raine during their trip to Spriggan Manor. The woods covered much of the western expanse between the hips and chest, with places like Pancrea City and the Intest Valley towards the central area and east side instead. It was still a safe place free of pretty much any danger, and the Angels had likely only made it safer, though the roads were not patrolled by the Wings of Rani. Rather, Mandragoras openly walked the path, wearing cloaks of leaves and armour made from bark. These green-skinned women were all bare foot and carried simple wooden staves that looked more like branches that hadn't even been carved, and many of them had strange foci on them, taking the form of crystalline flowers that were clearly of Divine Realm origin.

The hike was done in silence as the rescue team eyed the Mandragoras carefully (especially as some had tamed Beast Demons with them), but none of them said or did anything to them; they just watched them right back, undoubtedly under orders not to bother them. This did give Luz and her friends a chance to get an answer to something they'd been wondering about; just what happened with Angels and Demons who became Mandragora. It appeared that the Angels were basically no different form the Witches; their skin turned green (being darker or paler to correspond with the Angel's original skin tone) and they gained green eyes too, with hair made from petals, leaves, and/or vines. The big difference was their wings, which now looked lore like tree branches that had grown long, feather-like leaves. They still seemed to function as wings though, given the number the rescue team had seen patrolling the sky. As for the Demons, their forms varied based on their original species; exposed skin turned green, scales and chitin became bark, feathers became leaves, spikes, talons, and claws became thorns, and fur became thin blades of grass or cotton-like fibres. Their clothing, also made of plant matter, was no different from the other types of Mandragora though, giving them all a uniform look.

They really did just look like their old selves, reconstructed out of flora!

"These guys are kinda creepy." Luz shuddered, very mindful of the Mandragora watching them from off the path and in the sky.

"It is a little eerie. But at least we're not far from Barcarib." Raine replied, keeping their ears sharp. Hunter was doing the same, having given himself a Bestial Blessing of a Bat to improve his hearing.

"Do any of you know much about Barcarib? All I know is that it's the ruins of a city that was destroyed in some kind of war around 1000 years ago, and has since been retaken by the forest." Willow asked.

Boscha and Luz shrugged, and Raine just mumbled that they'd explored the place once with Eda when they were kids, but had found basically nothing. Only Hunter knew any more.

"The city of Barcarib was destroyed 1000 years ago, but it wasn't a war… or at least not a conventional one. A species of Bug Demon known as Onibubu attacked. They're giant locusts that curse people into a death-like sleep. They migrated to the Navel Woods from another Titan and began trying to devour the entire forest. They were eventually wiped out by Ancient Beast Keepers, but no one knew how to lift their curse, so the people of Barcarib remained asleep. The entire city was declared cursed and people avoided it like the plague, causing the slumbering people to die without help, and the city to be reclaimed by the forest." Hunter explained. "We're actually already inside the old city limits, but only the largest buildings still have visible ruins; that's where we're headed."

The others shuddered, and their Palismen all cuddled closer to them for comfort. "That's grim. A whole city put to sleep, then left to die and rot." Luz frowned.

"Witch and Demon corpses make great fertiliser. That's probably why the forest is so verdant in this area." Willow added.

"What the heck, Park!? Don't say gross stuff like that!" Boscha snapped.

Willow just rolled her eyes and continued leading the way, heading to where the forest grew thicker and more untamed. Eventually they found the ground beneath them becoming hard, like stone, and Luz looked down to see green stone blocks, which reminded her of the coloured stone blocks from Caplacier, Volcarpalis, and Pulvoltary. They were getting closer to their goal!

To confirm, Luz looked at the ring that Amity had gifted her for her birthday and rubbed the stone to activate it, creating a thin needle of light that pointed in the direction they were walking. The stone always pointed to Amity, so they were definitely going the right way!

Finally, after a couple more minutes of walking, they found themselves emerging into a natural clearing, where the ruins of a large stone building could be found, with the exact same architecture as the aboveground temple Luz and Willow had seen at Pulvoltary. Since the ground in this area was all hard stone, plants hadn't been able to get their roots into it, so it was free of all but dead leaves and what appeared to be a makeshift camp or village. Shacks of an almost tribal design were scattered about, made of sticks and leaves, and which were occupied by Mandragoras, who had turned the clearing into some kind of miniature village. Upon entering the clearing, the Mandragoras all turned to look at the rescue team, creeping them out.

That creep factor grew worse when the rescue team noticed several non-Mandragora roaming around, wearing clothes made of leaves and bark. Some were Divided, but most appeared to be under Arboriel's control… and worst still, there were children among the ranks of both the Mandragora and the Non-Mandragora. Luz was almost ill at the sight of a little Mandragora girl who couldn't be older than 4, playing with a little boy who appeared only a bit older; the fact even a child as young as that was made into a Mandragora sickened her.

As the rescue team walked further into the clearing, the Mandragoras began to slowly surround them. They didn't make any hostile moves towards the CATTs, but they blocked off any way except forward, forcing the team towards the largest of the huts, which had been built where Luz assumed the altar of the aboveground temple had once been, meaning the entrance to the temple's underground area would be within.

"We've come to answer your Queen's summons." Luz called out, flaring her Seraphim magic a little as she spread her wings and wielded her staff.

"Yeah, so bring her out so we can get this over with!" Boscha demanded, glaring at the Mandragora and producing a small ball of flame to show she meant business. Many of the Mandragora backed off in fear, but two actually approached from the large hut; two who were very familiar to Boscha.

It was Amelia Eden and her mother, Legume. Amelia looked a lot like she had before, but as Poppy had implied, she was now a Mandragora and thus had green skin. Her eyes were unchanged from their previous green, and her short crop of green hair had been replaced by leaves of the same colour, which had been arranged to closely resemble her old haircut. Her outfit was a dress made of red leaves, which looked a little like the Hexside uniform, only with a longer skirt and no sleeves or leggings, and like all Mandragora, she was barefoot. She also wielded the staff she'd gotten on Palisman Adoption Day; a plant-based Palisman (appropriately enough) named Tugel, who took the form of a dark green and orange mandrake that had large carrot-like leaves atop its head.

Similarly, her mother Legume looked very similar to how she once looked as a normal witch. Back then, she'd been a tall and skinny woman with a somewhat bony build and a pointed chin and high cheek bones, with green eyes and wavy brown hair that reached passed her shoulders. Now her pale skin had turned green and her wavy hair had become almost kelp-like vines. She didn't wield a Palisman staff (either she didn't have one or something had happened to it) and instead had a branch-like staff with some Rosen Emeralia; the green crystal roses of the Divine Realm, growing from the top.

"You haven't changed a bit, Boscha. Always jumping in head first." Amelia said, smiling brightly.

"Amelia!" Boscha cried, putting out her fire and rushing towards her teammate. Amelia happily threw open her arms and the two girls embraced. "Thank the Titan you're alright! Even with the whole Mandragora thing! Are you alright!? Did those monsters hurt you!? I swear that if they did, I'll burn them to ash!"

Amelia shook her head; "They didn't hurt me. The process to transform me was done against my will by Princess Terra, but it didn't hurt. And life isn't so bad as a Mandragora; I feel so at peace in nature, and my Plant Magic is super strong now! I might even give you a run for your money, Willow!"

Willow gave a strained smile; "Maybe we'll see one day. But hopefully not today."

Luz stepped forward; "Amelia, I'm sorry to cut this reunion short, but I need to know; is Amity okay?"

"Your lover is well, Lady Luz." Legume said kindly; "She slumbers in the Inner Court right now, kept comfortable and asleep by Queen Arboriel's pollen. Aside from the flower pod she was placed inside, she has not been touched."

That was a load off Luz's mind, who sighed and relaxed. At the same time, Willow noticed Boscha reaching for one of the pouches on her Combat Potioneer's Belt, where she kept her storage of Anti-Mandragora Gas Bombs, no doubt intending to use it to cure all the people present of Arboriel's control.

"Boscha, don't." Willow whispered, catching her wrist.

"Why not!? Amelia and her Mom and everyone else here is under that weed's control!" Boscha snapped, barely keeping her own voice to a whisper as she let Willow drag her away a bit.

"I know that! But if you do that and Arboriel realises we can undo her pheromones or that we're immune to them now, we'll lose a huge advantage! Leave it until the right moment, when Amity is safe or at least able to defend herself!" Willow told her.

Boscha growled and grit her teeth as she snatched her wrist back from Willow. The two girls gave one another challenging looks, but Boscha ultimately accepted that Willow was right and reluctantly decided to just do as she was told. It burned her up inside, but Boscha wasn't going to let her pride get people hurt… not again.

Amelia and Legume watched the pair curiously, and the other Mandragoras kept their distance, not wanting to risk Boscha's fury and flames. Hunter went and put a hand on Willow's shoulder, while Luz did the same with Boscha to help cool the two girls off, while Raine took charge and spoke to Legume.

"I apologise, but the kidnapping of our friend and comrade has left us on edge. Can you lead us to your queen, please?" they asked.

Legume nodded; "I can show you the way to the Outer Court, but I'm afraid getting to the Inner Court will not be quite so simple."

"Is this not the Outer Court?" Hunter asked.

The Eden women shook their heads and Amelia answered; "This is the surface camp. We guard the entrance to the Outer Court. Now, follow."

Amelia turned and walked into the hut, and the rescue team followed behind her, with Legume walking at the back of the group. The inside of the hut was larger than expected, having hammocks made of leaves and strange giant flower bulbs that contained some kind of glowing green liquid dotted around the place. The giant flower bulbs looked similar to Mandragora Flower that had yet to bloom, so Luz and Willow assumed they were meant as food for the Mandragora citizens. However the largest part of the hut was taken up by a staircase that led down into the ground, which was covered in vines and roots that had tangled together to make the path inaccessible. It was just like the entrance to the other temples!

Amelia drew a spell circle with her staff, causing the vines to glow green and recede, opening the path into the temple. The group then descended down the stairs and into the main underground chamber of the Temple of Barcarib, also known as Arboriel's Outer Court.

The layout of the room was the same as the other temples, only being made of vibrant green stone instead of blue, red, or yellow. It had the usual long hallway that was lined with pillars, and even had the same rows of sarcophagi! The main differences were the carvings, which depicted centipedes (much to Boscha's disgust). It appeared centipedes were the main animal theme of the Plant Temple, though no one was quite sure why. The Sarcophagi had also gone undisturbed, just like the ones in Pulvoltary. The room was illuminated by centipede shaped torches, which held bundles of luminescent mushrooms instead of fire, and at the very end of it was the usual three doors leading to trials, and a dais that took ritual orbs and led to the Ritual Chamber. Upon seeing it, Luz and Willow were both sure that the chamber was the location of Arboriel's Inner Court.

However, unlike the other temples which were abandoned, this temple was full of Mandragoras and their Witch and Demon food source. Large amounts of soil had been dragged down from outside and used to cover parts of the floor, so trees could be grown that served as the basis for tree houses, which the residents lived in. Other huts were built around the tops of the pillars, while walkways and rope bridges connected everything, and what appeared to be two large garden areas off in the corners of the chamber were full of woven baskets and fruit bushes, the former of which was loaded up with the produce of the latter. There was also another fenced off area with a few Mandragora Flowers that were closed up and contained people, visible through their transparent petals, while odd glowing fruit was being grown from smaller blooms attached to the large ones. The rescue team were alarmed by this, especially when they saw one Mandragora approach one of these giant flowers and pluck off one of its glowing fruits before eating it, but when Amelia saw their concern, she smiled and explained.

"Don't worry, the Fleshlings aren't suffering." she said, "They take it in turns to spend a day in the Mandragora Larder Blooms, having their magic and a small amount of their vital essence drained out to grow Mandragora Fruits. A single fruit can keep one of us fed and happy for three days, and potentially longer if the person the fruit was grown from is someone we feel close to."

Legume nodded and continued; "Each Fleshling spends one day per week in a Larder Bloom. Not enough to cause permanent damage to them or effect their lifespan, but enough to feed quite a few of us. In return, we use our magic to create fruit bushes and make the fruits grow much larger and faster, keeping the Fleshlings fed."

The rescue team definitely didn't like the idea of calling non-Mandragora "Fleshlings" or the idea of feeding on people they like helping to keep the Mandragora's going for longer, but they supposed that at least no one was dying… Arboriel clearly didn't want to waste her living larder! It truly did appear like the Mandragoras and their non-Mandragora comrades had formed a symbiotic society; each producing something the other needs to survive.

Putting that thought aside, Luz turned to Amelia and asked; "So, how are we getting into the Inner Court? Do we wait for your queen to summon us and open the way, or is she going to come out here?"

"Neither." Amelia said; "You need to pass the Temple's Trials; only then can you reach the Inner Court."

That got a look of shock from all five of the CATTs; "Amelia, are you serious!?" Boscha demanded. "Why do we need to solve some stupid puzzles!? We were basically threatened into coming here and now that Weed wants to play games with us!?"

Amelia flinched; "I-I'm sorry Boscha, but there's nothing I can do! Only people who pass the trials can enter the Inner Court! No one can go in without doing it, not even the Queen or Princess Terra! The temple itself closes the passage after a short time! The only ones granted audiences with the Queen are those who are strong enough to become her Elites."

Boscha scowled, but tried to calm down so as not to further upset her friend, who was brainwashed and not in her right mind. Meanwhile, Willow nodded along, thinking it made perfect sense.

"Only someone who's pretty good at Plant Magic could solve the trials; that was the whole point of them. So it only makes sense that Arboriel would only grant audiences to strong Mandragoras who are worth her time." she rationalised.

"Yeah, but we're not Mandragoras. Meaning she's either testing you and Luz to see if you're worthy of being forcibly recruited, or she's hoping to tire you out ahead of the meeting." Hunter theorised.

Raine hummed and approached the trial doors, while Boscha and Hunter examined the dais. The three of them hadn't seen anything like it before (Hunter had only seen Caplacier's empty Ritual Chamber), so they were eager to look around a bit, especially since they weren't likely to be doing any of the work, as their Plant Magic skills were limited. There wasn't much to be gleaned from the trial doors themselves, but the dais was definitely interesting; it resembled a tiny withered tree made of stone, with three stone centipedes wrapped around its trunk and holding their pincers open, ready to accept the trial orbs. The ground beneath the dais was also stone, but had a strange winding pattern that didn't match the rest of the temple's floor. Luz used her ring once again, and it pointed diagonally downward, indicating the Ritual Chamber.

"So we go into the trial rooms, beat them, bring back the orbs, and stick 'em in this thing, and it'll open the way?" Boscha asked, making sure she had it right.

"That's right. And each trial will reflect an aspect of the Plant Element! Regeneration, Rejuvenation, and Life." Luz replied.

Nervously, Amelia raised her hand; "Um, actually… that's not quite right."

The rescue team looked to her with confusion, while her mother nodded and said; "Those aspects of Plant Magic are a common misconception. In reality, Regeneration and Rejuvenation are the same aspect. The third aspect is Growth."

Luz blinked in surprise, but when she thought about it, she found it did make sense. She'd always struggled to really figure out the difference between Regeneration and Rejuvenation, and her understanding of her own personal growth had been a big deal for her when she'd bonded with the plant glyph…

"I wonder where that misconception came from…" she mumbled.

Hunter decided to flex his Wild Magic knowledge by answering; "In the Old Runic Language, the word "Regeneration" also meant "Growth". It was the same rune, just with different meanings based on context. When ancient texts on the elements were translated, a mistake must have been made and a misconception was born."

"Huh. Well if nothing else, I learned something new today." Luz noted.

"Good job, Hunter." Willow praised, making Hunter preen. He truly loved the praise (he was a glutton for it, after years of Belos giving back-handed compliments at best), so he was eager to continue impressing his sort-of sister, sort-of cousin, and the bespectacled girl that he felt a lot of complicated things towards.

"That's not all! I can even tell what the Supreme Dragon of this Temple would have been once upon a time." Hunter revealed. "You can tell based on the animal theme of the temple! Caplacier had the limbless snakes for the also limbless Ice Wyrm, Volcarpalis had the salamander for the very similar Fire Drake, and Pulvoltary had the bat with their two feet and two wings for their Thunder Wyvern with the same exact limbs."

The rest of the team (sans Boscha) looked intrigued, and Raine said; "Then the Supreme Dragon of Barcarib would have been a serpentine dragon with multiple pairs of legs?"

"That's right. Also known as a Lindwurm! So the Supreme Dragon here would be some kind of plant-based Lindwurm." Hunter smiled.

Luz made a long "ooh" sound; "That's cool! Rasiel only knew about three species of Supreme Dragon, but between this one and the legends of the Omni-Coatl, it seems like there were a lot more!"

Boscha was less impressed; "Who cares? There's no Black Tomb here and no Dragon Priest guardian, so what does it matter? Let's just get a move on!"

"Calm down a bit, Boscha. We've got time; we don't want to rush in." Luz said soothingly.

"I'm surprised you're so relaxed, since it's your girlfriend we're here to save." Boscha countered.

"Amity is fine; I'm certain of it. Getting ourselves worked into a frenzy is just going to end in us making mistakes because we're rushing. It also makes it harder to keep up morale. So let's just take a deep breath and do this calmly." Luz replied, speaking gently.

Boscha grumbled, but then sighed and nodded; "Fine, you're right…. Sorry."

Luz slapped her on the back; "It's all good! Save some of that fire for Arboriel and Terra!"

That brought a vicious smile to the three-eyed girl's face; "Oh, I intend to."

With that said, Luz and her team (still accompanied by Amelia and her mother) began looking at the three doors and debating which one to go through first, or if they could manage doing two at once.

"If I take one door and Willow takes another, we'll get two trials done at once, then can finish up the third one super fast." Luz said.

Willow shook her head; "Actually, I was hoping you'd let me handle all three of them."

"You want to take all of them on yourself, Captain?" Hunter asked with a frown.

"Yes. I went with Luz and the others to the Lightning Temple at Pulvoltary, but I was pretty much useless. Here I can actually be useful, and if I handle the trials myself, Luz will remain fresh and at full power for what happens next. It's better if I'm a little more tired while she's completely fine, than to have us both be a bit tired." Willow reasoned.

Luz wasn't quite so sure she agreed with that, but ultimately shrugged and said; "If that's what you want, I won't get in the way. By I still want to go with you for at least one of the trials!"

"You should all go with her for at least one." Raine suggested; "Luz is the second best Plant user here, Hunter is in-sync with Willow and knows a lot of obscure knowledge from the era of these temples, and Boscha knows a lot about plants too thanks to her potions studies."

"What about you, Titi?" Luz asked with a frown.

"I'll wait out here. I'm not much good with plants; I can barely keep a house plant alive!" they joked. They were exaggerating a little, but they definitely felt that they were the worst person present when it came to Plant Magic, so it was better to leave it to the youngsters… plus if they were going into the trials in teams of two, then that would leave two teens out, and Raine didn't want to leave them alone with the Mandragoras everywhere, especially since they were all watching them from a distance. Better to be safe than sorry.

The teens didn't argue, and so it was decided that Luz would go with Willow for the first trial, Hunter would go with her for the second, and Boscha would go with her for the third, while whichever two weren't accompanying her hung out in the Outer Court. And so, Luz and Willow headed through the door on the far left, receiving calls of good luck from Raine, Hunter, Boscha, and even Amelia and her Mom.

As expected, the door to the trial slammed shut behind them and they walked through the dark to the first trial chamber. They arrived in a green stone room that was full of long rectangular planters that were filled with soil and a strange kind of plant that neither Luz nor Willow recognised. The plant resembled thick brambles or dried out thorny vines, each of which was at least as thick as Luz's arm, and which had dead-looking purple leaves all over them. There were also strange wilted purple flowers buds that were about the size of a fist and shaped like a thick spike with a spiral pattern around it. The plants all appeared to be dead, or at least extremely withered and on the verge of death, which made Luz and Willow frown sadly. Lastly, there appeared to be a completely empty flower pot in the dead centre of the room, between the long planters.

"These poor babies…" Willow said, reaching out and gently running her hand over one of the plants. "I've never seen this kind of plant before, but I'm sure they're not meant to look like this!"

Luz nodded in agreement and looked around a little more, spotting an engraving on the wall at the back of the room. It was a message written in the old Runic Language; "I think this is a clue as to what we have to do. How good is your Runic, because mine isn't great." she asked.

Willow came over and got a closer look while Clover, her Palisman, began to gently buzz around the wilted flower buds. Stringbean slithered down from Luz's shoulder to sniff around too, flicking her tongue at them and hissing curiously.

"I think it says… "Abundance and Decay… something something balance… something healing… something blessing." I can't make out much more." Willow said; "My Runic is awful."

"Huh, I figured yours would be better than mine. I can make out a little more… "Abundance and Decay come to all things. The two most remain in balance. Overabundance can bring death just as Decay can bring healing. Find the balance to restore the Forest's Blessing." I might be simplifying it a little, but that's what I can make out." Luz said.

Willow tapped her chin; "It sounds like this is the Trial of Rejuvenation then. We probably need to bring these plants back to a healthy state to make the trial orb appear."

"That sounds about right to me. There are five planters, not including the big pot in the middle, so we just need to rejuvenate five plants. That shouldn't be hard for the Isles' greatest Plant Witch!" Luz grinned, making Willow blush a little.

"Aw, I'm not that great! Not yet anyway. I'll get there one day though! Now let me see here… is it going to be just as simple as using Plant Magic to rejuvenate these babies?" Willow mused, drawing a spell circle over one of the plants. She filled it with Plant Magic, causing green veins to appear throughout the withered plant, only for the magic to be ejected from the plant via its flower, literally floating out in the form of little green balls of magic. Stringbean and Clover made a game of catching them, flying around and either snapping them up in the former's mouth or sucking them up with the latter's proboscis.

"Of course it couldn't be that easy. I need to prove I understand how the Aspect of Rejuvenation works, rather than just letting my magic solve the problem for me." Willow mused. "Abundance and Decay in balance… plants can be sensitive and too much or too little of something can kill them pretty easily. Do I just need to find the right balance of what these babies need?"

"Plants usually need water, light, air, nutrients, space, and the right temperature." Luz rattled off, counting on her fingers; "So you just need to make sure these guys have the exact right balance."

Willow nodded; "My thoughts exactly. Considering we're underground and light is a whole other element, I think we can discount light as one of the things we need to change. They either don't need it or have enough of it from those glowing mushrooms."

"Wouldn't that discount water too?" Luz pointed out.

"Not necessarily. Hold on a moment." Willow said, before going to each planter in turn and sticking a finger in the soil. When she reached the third planter, her finger broke through a very thin layer or regular top soil and ended up immersed in what was essentially mud. The soil in the third planter was so waterlogged and swampy that it was like goop; no wonder the plant couldn't grow in it!

"As I expected. This is what the clue meant when it said overabundance can bring death. The plant is basically drowning in all this water! I'll drain some out bit by bit and see how the plants react; I'm guessing it'll be faster than it should be." Willow said, conjuring some thin vines from her wooden bangles and making them stretch into the planter to begin drinking the excess water in the soil. As the water was absorbed, a tiny bunch of grape-like fruits began to grow from Willow's bangle, and as more and more water was sucked up, the grapes grew larger and then more numerous. These were Aquama Grapes from the Divine Realm, and served as natural water purifiers. They sucked up dirty water, absorbed all the impurities, then stored the water itself within little crystalline grapes. They didn't taste of much, but they were very refreshing.

"I think that'll do." Willow said, plucking off the bunch of grapes and handing them to Luz, so she could share them with Stringbean and Clover. Stringbean enjoyed swallowing them whole and letting them burst inside her as she coiled her little body, while Clover preferred to stab her proboscis into them and suck out the water, turning them into Aquama Raisins (which Luz greatly enjoyed). Clover even buzzed a bit and coaxed Stringbean into transforming into a Bee like her, so they could drink together and make more raisins.

At the same time, Willow was closely examining the soil, which had been dried out a lot and left with only a normal amount of water; the perfect amount for these plants, based on Willow's expertise and professional estimation. Sure enough, the vines of the withered plants began to soften and turn dark green, with its purple leaves being rejuvenated into a red colour, and their odd flowers to fully bloom, their spiral pattern opening up to reveal a flower that was akin to a blue sunflower with long spiral petals.

"There we go!" Willow smiled. "I know what this plant is now; it's a Sol Iridessia. They're quite rare flowers that change colours based on how they're raised. If they've had more water than anything else, then they turn blue."

Luz clapped her hands while Stringbean hissed her praises, and Clover buzzed as her voice echoed in Willow's mind; "Excellent work, my Queen. This trial will be cleared in no time."

Willow rolled her eyes with a good-natured smile; she was still working on getting Clover to use her name and not "My Queen", but she hadn't had very much success yet. "Thanks Clover. But the other planters had the right level of moisture in the soil, so it looks like I'll need to solve a different problem to rejuvenate each one."

She went over to begin examining the first planter again, and Luz decided to take a closer look at the other plants. Immediately, she saw a small sprout had appeared in the central pot, making Luz realise that it would probably grow more with each successful rejuvenation, and the trial orb would be obtained when the plant fully bloomed. However, as Luz turned her attention back to the Sol Iridessia, she noticed something else that made her think about something she'd been wondering about since coming to the Boiling Isles.

"Hey Willow, I've been meaning to ask. Grass and leaves here are usually red, right? In fact, a lot of plant life on the Boiling Isles isn't green! Yet Plant Magic is still associated with the colour green and looks green. Do you know why that is?" Luz asked.

Willow nodded, not even looking up from her examination; "It's because plants that grow naturally on the Titan have evolved differently. Normal plants still use chlorophyll to photosynthesise, but when a plant grows in Titan Earth, it instead feeds on the nutrients of the Titan and develops Plant Blood. It's basically like a cross between an animal's blood and normal chlorophyll, and sort of functions as both. That's why so many plants have red leaves. Other mutations happen as well, and different plants develop different physical properties, which comes with a bunch of unique colours too."

Luz listened closely, amazed by it; "So even the plant-life grows and evolves differently because of the Titan! I suppose it makes sense though; with how potent Titans are, plants growing in their flesh are gonna be pretty different from those growing in regular old dirt."

"That's right." Willow said; "If you ever see a plant with green leaves, then there's a high chance it was imported from outside the Boiling Isles. Plants that grow on natural landmasses still tend to be green. Plant Magic is also green too, since that is the natural colour of plants, just as red is the natural colour of fire."

"That's so cool! And now that I think about it, the only place I've been in the Demon Realm that wasn't part of a Titan was Titan Cradle Island, where King was born! I wasn't paying much attention at the time, but now that I think about it, I'm sure the trees there had green leaves! And there was green grass too!" Luz beamed, happy to have just learned something new. "Thanks Willow! You really are a genius of plants!"

Willow blushed a little even as she smiled wider. That smile grew even more as she finished the examination of the first plantar and realised the problem. "This one's soil is too tightly packed and compressed. The air and water can't circulate well, and it's roots are struggling to grow. I'll need to churn the soil up and loosen it."

She drew a spell circle and created pine branches from her bracelets, which grew several strange looking pine cones. These pine cones looked very similar to Human Realm ones, but the scales were longer, wider, and slightly sharp on the edge, resembling blades. They were Whirligig Pine Cones from a Whirligig Pine; a kind of tree that spun around in high winds. In the height of the windy season, when Cutting Gales (the same sharp winds that formed Gorenados) blew across the peaks of the Snowy Ribcage, they would spin the Whirligig Pines so fast that when the gales finally cut through their thick trunks, they would go spiralling into the sky. This would shoot their metal-like needles in all directions (which were very dangerous) and also send their pine cones flying, where they would spin and spin as they were carried on the wind. When they finally hit the ground, their spinning would let them drill into the Titan's bones and take root; this made them ideal for churning soil!

Willow made them spin with some Plant Magic, then placed them in the soil and carefully moved them around by manipulating the branches she'd grown, making sure to avoid hitting the roots of the plant she was trying to save. Luz and the Palisman watched closely, and after a few seconds, the Sol Iridessia began to revive and its flower bloomed yellow, like a normal sunflower.

"There! Two flowers down, three to go!" Willow smiled, clapping her hands to knock off the dirt, then dismissing the plants she'd grown. She and Luz looked over at the central pot and saw the flower within grow a little more, much to their joy, then Willow headed over to the next planter.

As Willow worked, Luz couldn't help but admire her, and the girl's bright smile drew Willow's attention.

"You look happy. I'm glad; I was a little worried you'd struggle to smile for real while Amity is being held hostage." Willow said as she examined the soil. It was a little too cold, with some frost build up beneath the surface. She began growing some Garnet Peppers from the Divine Realm; jewel-like peppers that were naturally very warm, and made for both a tasty (and eye-watering) spice and a great hand warmer.

"I am worried, but I'm working on keeping positive. I can't keep worrying everyone by slipping into depression every time something goes wrong." Luz said honestly. Her therapy had been going very well, and while she still needed to unlearn some very unhealthy habits, she was making good progress.

"I'm proud of you, Luz!" Willow beamed, burying the peppers to warm the soil. "You've come a long way."

Luz giggled; "I was just thinking the same about you! You've changed a lot from the shy girl you were when we first met. It's incredible! You were no slouch even back then, but you've become so dependable! You're like the Team Mom!"

Willow blushed; "Aw shucks, I'm not that impressive."

"No, seriously Willow! You're incredible! We wouldn't have made it this far without you! You're the first real friend I ever made, and easily my best friend!" Luz praised earnestly.

"T-Thank you." Willow said with a shaky smile, her heart beating hard; "That means a lot. I still feel like I don't belong sometimes; I'm not a genius like Gus, or someone trying hard to change who they are like the others. Even Boscha is improving as a person! I am who I've always been… I'm just Willow. It never feels right to compare myself to any of you."

Luz opened her mouth to refute her, but it seemed the universe itself wanted to do it first, as that was the moment the plant she was working on began to revive, having been warmed enough to finally bloom, with its petals turning white.

"I think that's all the proof I need that "Just Willow" is more than enough for anyone." Luz praised; "You're amazing, and everyone on the team depends on you in some way! If I'm the leader, then you're like my second in command!"

Willow's eyes glistened as she felt touched; "Thank you Luz. And for the record; you're my best friend too. I was able to grow because you helped clear the path for me. So no matter what, I'll always have your back."

She offered her hand to Luz, and the young Seraph happily took it, then the two girls pulled each other into a hug, which ended with Stringbean (still in Bee form) atop Willow's head and Clover atop Luz's. Luz giggled and pet Clover, who buzzed happily, while Willow pulled Stringbean down into her arms and cuddled the little creature.

With three plants now grown and two more to go, it was a reinvigorated Willow who got to work on the next plant. The fourth plant, upon further inspection, turned out to have some kind of root fungus that was growing on it and stealing its nutrients before it could use them to grow, so Willow carefully cast a Fungal Pesticide Spell to clear it away and the plant swiftly returned to normal, blooming a green flower. Then Willow got to the final flower and continued to poke and prod at it for a while, spending almost five minutes trying to work out what was wrong with it; there was the perfect amount of water, the soil was loose and a good temperature, and there were no bugs or other harmful organisms or diseases effecting it, leaving Willow briefly stumped. Finally, she decided to check the nutrient content of the soil by having Clover stick her proboscis into it and test it. Stringbean imitated her, but then swiftly turned back into her normal form and flew back to Luz with a pout.

"It tastes like yucky dirt." the little Palisman complained, making Luz giggle and feed her some more Aquama Grapes to wash away the taste.

Clover didn't seem to mind the taste though, and buzzed away happily as she spoke to Willow in her mind; "My Queen, the soil is lacking in nutrients, just as you suspected."

"Thought so. Thanks Clover! This is an easy enough fix." Willow said, before drawing a spell circle in each hand and sticking them into the dirt. Green light emerged from the gaps in the soil as Willow enriched it with her magic, and after a few seconds, the flower began to rejuvenate. Finally, it blossomed into a beautiful golden colour, leaving all five plants successfully rejuvenated.

Willow stepped back and clapped her hands to get the dirt off them again, then she and Luz turned to see how the central flower was blooming. It ended up being another Sol Iridessia with green petals, and as the spiral flower opened up and revealed its core, the two girls found the first of their trial orbs waiting for them. As with the other temples' trial orbs, it was a palm-sized crystal orb that contained a figurine of the temple's signature animal; in this case, a small wooden centipede. A never ending vortex of tiny green leaves also swirled around inside the orb, much to Willow's pleasure.

"Yes! One trial beaten!" Willow cheered as both Stringbean and Clover flew onto her shoulders and nuzzled her in congratulations.

Luz gave her a high five; "Great job Captain Willow! Keep that up and we'll be done in no time!"

"Heh, thanks General Luz!" Willow said jokingly; "Now I've just got the Growth and Life trials!"

"Yep! And you'll be all alone with Hunter for one of them! Enjoy that!" Luz said coyly.

Willow's cheeks went pink; "Hunter and I are good friends; I'm sure he'll be good company and will have a lot of tricks that could help." she said, trying to downplay her feelings.

Luz rolled her eyes; Willow and Hunter were so blatantly crushing on each other! Willow teased Hunter in a totally different way than she teased anyone else, and always got a cute blush when he complimented her, while Hunter was always so nervous and flustered around Willow, especially when she gave him positive attention. Pretty much everyone was already wagering that they'd get together before long; even Lyra was betting on it, which was partly why she too liked hanging out with Willow and being a bit like a little sister figure to her too.

"Come on Willow, I know that I've got no right to talk considering how much of a mess I was when crushing on Amity, but you know you like Hunter as more than just a good friend. Heck, you read all of Cosmic Frontier just so you could make him gush about his favourite parts while you sat their and smiled!" Luz grinned.

Willow ignored her entirely and said; "Oh well, one trial down, two to go! Let's hurry before Boscha combusts!" before racing off back to the central chamber. Luz shook her head with a good-natured groan, then followed her as Stringbean hissed and laughed from her shoulder.

They returned together to the main temple hall, Willow steadfastly avoiding Luz's teasing grin even as she tried to get her blush under control, and emerged to find a peculiar scene. Raine was sitting on a stool made from a tree stump alongside Amelia and Legume, while just about every Mandragora, Witch, and Demon in the Outer Court was gathered around, listening as Hunter and Boscha were passionately explaining the plot of Cosmic Frontier. Their audience was a mix of utterly bewildered and completely fascinated, with Raine being somewhere in the middle; intrigued enough to find the subject engaging, but not invested enough to be hanging on their every word.

Willow and Luz's return wasn't even noticed for almost a full minute, until the former cleared her throat loudly, making Hunter and Boscha pause and turn around.

"Oh, Captain! You're back!" Hunter smiled, blushing a little at being caught.

"I'm here too, Hunter." Luz said in a deadpan.

"R-Right. Hi Luz." he replied awkwardly; "So you guys succeeded?"

Willow held up the trial orb with a big smile, making her teammates all smile right back.

"Great job! I knew you could do it! So, does that mean I'm going with you for the next trial?" Hunter asked eagerly.

"Of course." Willow said happily, handing the orb to Luz for safekeeping; "As much as I'd love to hear your passionate explanation of Cosmic Frontier, I think Amity would actually punch us if she found out we were delayed in saving her because you were fanboying and we didn't stop you."

"You're not wrong." Hunter chuckled. Amity wasn't generally violent, but she did have a habit of flinging abomination (and now homunculus) goo at people who annoyed her enough to break her usual composure. It wasn't usually painful, but those gooey fists left stains that wouldn't come off until Amity forgave them.

Turning to the audience, he said; "Sorry everyone, but I'll leave it to Boscha to tell you the next part, while I'm off with Willow in the next trial. Don't worry, Willow is amazing so I won't be leaving you at Boscha's mercy for long!"

Willow blushed at Hunter's totally innocent compliment, while Boscha growled; "Shut it, Cow-Lick! I'm being unbiased; you're the one who won't stop gushing about the clone storyline!"

"The clone storyline is the heart of the entire saga! You'd understand that if you weren't so obsessed with the trashy romance between Junior Medical Officer Obara and Princess Selena of the Baracles! Who I remind you is also a clone and central to the clone storyline!" Hunter shot back.

"Nerds!" Luz mocked jokingly.

Both turned on Luz with a scowl as Boscha said; "You and Lyra once spent three hours debating on if Villainous Lucy was redeemable in the Good Witch Azura; you're the biggest nerd here!"

"I know, which is how I recognise my own people." Luz said shamelessly; "Now speaking of my people; Hunter, go with Willow already before she gets a nosebleed from watching you yell at Boscha. And Boscha, be the beautiful jock-nerd hybrid we all know you are and keep telling the story so we can get to the part where we save my girlfriend from a crazy plant monster. No offence; I was mostly talking about Terra." she added when some of the Mandragora looked a little affronted.

Amusingly, most of the Mandragoras just nodded sagely, then turned back to watching Boscha. Willow, shooting a pout at a grinning Luz, then grabbed Hunter's hand and dragged him off to the next trial while Boscha continued where she left off. Luz then went and tried to squeeze onto the stool with Raine, only for them to chuckle and instead settle her on their lap.

"You're still small enough to fit here, even with the growth spurt." they said.

Luz blushed a little, but smiled and let Raine cuddle her. She'd always liked Raine's hugs; they were gentler than her Mom's but firmer than her Mami's; like a perfect balance between them.

"So, what got Hunter and Boscha started with all this?" Luz whispered so she didn't disturb the audience.

"Oh, well we felt a bit awkward after you and Willow left." Raine said, smiling as they watched Rena playing with Stringbean, who'd turned into a Fox Kit. "I can talk to Hunter about tactics, and to Boscha about Skara, but there wasn't much all three of us could talk about. So Hunter suggested telling me about Cosmic Frontier, and then he and Boscha got really into it and the Mandragoras all started listening in. Before I knew it, we'd drawn quite the crowd!"

Luz giggled; "Sounds about right. Hunter and Boscha are super-fans and love debating stuff from the fandom. Gus is more chill, and Matt prefers to keep his headcanons to himself… especially since he's weirdly good at predicting what happens next!

Raine chuckled and began to stroke Luz's hair, enjoying the closeness they could share with their niece. They really had missed her a lot, as much as the Divided could miss anyone. They fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes as they listened to Boscha's story, but eventually Raine had to say something that had been on their mind.

"Luz, your Mom told me everything that you told her… about what happened in the Divine Realm, and with your fathers. I'm so sorry you went through all of that, and you have my condolences for your fathers; Em and Michael sounded like great men. Darius certainly had nothing but great things to say about both of them." Raine said softly.

Luz gave them a sad smile; "Thank you, Titi. I won't lie; a lot of what happened still bothers me and makes me want to cry… but I'm tired of letting these things define me. My Papi and Dad wouldn't want me to wallow, and Dr. Golsi had been teaching me better coping techniques for dealing with trauma and not blaming every little thing on myself. I'm doing better, and it feels good to be proactive and able to actually help again."

"You should never have had to deal with all of that." Raine frowned; "You're 15 years old! Your problems should begin and end with homework and high school drama!"

"When all this is over, I'll be sure to get right back to that. I'll be nice to go to Hexside again!" Luz giggled, "And yeah, maybe I shouldn't have to deal with all of this. But it's the path I chose and I don't regret it. Besides, I have all my friends and family to support me."

Raine smiled and hugged her a little tighter; "I wish I could have been there to support you too."

"You were, Titi. Maybe not in the Human and Divine Realms, but you've been supporting me a lot. I would never have escaped Belos without you, or have Stringbean without you! I love you Titi, and don't you forget it!" Luz said, looking them in the eye with a look that Raine could never hope to win against.

That made Raine's heart swell and they got a little teary-eyed; "Thank you, Sparks. I love you too; and I owe you for saving me many times over as well! The Petrification Ceremony and yesterday at the Coven HQ being prime examples. But I also feel like I should apologise… I feel like it's my fault you're wrapped up in all this. Like if I hadn't let you get involved in the CATTs, you wouldn't have gone through so much. I should never have allowed literal children to fight this war for us."

Luz frowned and shook her head; "Titi, I chose this. All my friends chose this. This is our world too, and Belos and the Divider threaten all of us. We wanted to help and so we did; you're not to blame for that! And come on; I'm the daughter of the Owl Lady! Do you think not letting me help would have stopped me?"

"I know all that logically…" Raine began, trailing off at the end.

"… but your heart says something different." Luz finished for them. "Believe me, I get it. When everything went wrong after the trip to Belos' mind, I started blaming myself for everything too. I felt in my heart that all this happened because I could have done better but failed to. It's an awful feeling; one that hurts a lot inside. But it's not true; it's just our terrible confidence and lack of self-esteem using our self-doubt to form monsters in our hearts and minds."

Raine couldn't deny that; they'd never had the greatest confidence or self-worth. Their parents had been poor, and barely able to survive and support themselves in the Ice District of Cartilia, being just barely wealthy enough to escape the destitution of the Slush District. Raine was the product of two mothers; Odessa, a soft-spoken Witch from the Construction Coven (and whom Raine got most of their features from) and Domini Whispers, a stern but loving Witch who worked as a Healer in the Caduceus Grand Hospital. Though since Domini had been forced into being a Healer by her parents sending her to their local magic school in Phalagia; the Healing Hand Day School, she hadn't actually been that good at it and was basically a Hospital Orderly; still important, but much lower paid. They'd met while Odessa was in Phalagia on a construction project, and had injured herself enough to be sent to the local clinic, where Domini worked. After falling in love and later marrying, they'd moved to Cartilia together when Odessa was sent there by the Construction Coven with the goal of trying to make the Slush District more secure, though as this was low-paying and Domini wasn't a good enough healer to earn a higher position at the Caduceus Grand Hospital, the little family was quite poor, even before Domini gave birth to Raine.

From an early age, Raine had been gifted in Bardic Magic and music, and had earned the attention of a travelling bard named Scooter Crane, getting some violin lessons and the Bard's old violin in the process, which Raine used as a street performer to earn money for their family. Scooter continued to return from time to time to tutor Raine, and through his tutelage and their own growing fame in Cartilia, Raine had received a scholarship to St. Epiderm. That had been a massive boon for their parents, who no longer needed to fear sending them off to school, but being a poor scholarship student in one of the most looked down upon magic tracks had made them the butt of every joke and the victim of every bully. If they weren't so good at winning competitions for the school and thus had the protection of the old principal and teachers, Raine would likely have gotten a lot worse than just the taunts and insults they'd suffered. The result was crippling self-esteem issues, a massive amount of anxiety around performing (after all, if they failed and lost their scholarship, their parents would be in dire straits), and a general sense of helplessness… like there was nothing Raine could do to escape their problems in life.

That last part had been made worse by the tragic passing of their parents in an accident shortly after their graduation. Following the first HECK event after Terra Snapdragon had taken over the IFWOT and refused to hand out any Blue Ribbons, the prior St. Epiderm Principal had threatened Raine's position at the school, uncaring that Snapdragon hadn't given awards to ANYONE. That had been the final straw for Odessa and Domini, who'd promptly pulled Raine out of St. Epiderm and moved to Bonesborough, where Principal Faust easily allowed Raine into Hexside after the recommendation (and threats) from Terra. It was cheaper to live there so their standard of living improved and Raine got to be with Eda and slowly rebuild their confidence, but there progress had been destroyed when there was a catastrophic accident at the Calibri Steelworks (the factory that would later be bought by the Blights and made into Blight Industries).

Odessa and her team of Construction Witches were there repairing damage from a prior explosion caused by unsafe standards that Lord Calibri had enforced, and Domini was there helping to heal the injured workers, when a second explosion shook the building and caused a collapse which took the lives of both Raine's parents. They were the only casualties, as they'd protected their teammates and patients, and the whole incident had emotionally destroyed Raine. They were a mess after that and moved in with Eda at the newly built Owl House, where they remained until their break-up. To make matters worse, Lord Calibri had escaped consequences for his shoddy safety standards and no one had been willing to do anything about it, leaving Raine miserable and seething with impotent rage. It had ultimately been Eda who'd gotten some justice for their parents, by launching a campaign of harassment and sabotage that bankrupted Lord Calibri so badly that he fled the Isles to escape his debtors. That earned Eda her first major bounty and Raine's gratitude, but it had also inadvertently made their confidence worse, because they'd had to rely on Eda to win them justice rather than getting it for themselves! Eda's later refusal to let Raine help with the burden of her curse had just left Raine feeling even weaker and more helpless, like they weren't good enough to help Eda and that was why she refused to let them.

Luz watched Raine's face closely as they were lost in contemplation, then leaned up a little and kissed them on the cheek; "Just remember Titi; even when we think so lowly of ourselves, the people we love will always think the world of us. Mom is in love with you, King and I see you as our Titi, and Skara does too, even if she doesn't call you that. Lilith and Severin sees you as a sibling, Scooter, Abuela, and Abuelo see you as their own child, and Katya, Amber, and Derwin see you as a parent. Heck, to Katya, you're her only parent! I know Darius also sees you as a good friend too. You're extremely important to a lot of people, so don't go blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong around you, okay?"

The girl felt a little bit like a hypocrite for saying that, considering her past actions less than a month ago, but she had largely moved past that stage of her life (minus momentary relapses), so she thought it was probably okay.

Raine was clearly touched by her words and kissed her forehead while hugging her a bit tighter; "Thank you Luz. That means a lot to me. And so you know; if I'd been there in the Human Realm or Divine Realm, I'd have said the same thing as the others. You are an amazing young woman that I am honoured to know."

With that, both Titi and Niece cuddled together happily and listened to Boscha's story of Cosmic Frontier while feeling closer than ever. Raine also felt a spike of warmth, and was reminded of their earlier talk with Eda.

"You'll do it, Raine Storm. Lily is awesome, and of course my greatness speaks for itself, but you're on my level too, so you'll definitely succeed."

Well, as far as Raine was concerned, if both Eda and Luz were confident in them, maybe they should try being more confident in themselves.

[Meanwhile]

After dragging Hunter through the rightmost trial door, which promptly slammed behind them, Willow suddenly became very conscious that she was gripping his hand as she dragged him along. She could feel how warm his hand was, and how rough the skin was. Even as she continued to pull him along down the dark corridor to the trial chamber. Hunter didn't say a word, and neither did Willow; both enjoying the contact until they finally got to the trial chamber, at which point Willow finally let go with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry about that, Hunter. Luz likes to tease me, though I suppose I give as good as I get." Willow said nervously.

"No no, don't apologise; I liked it." Hunter said, before realising what he said and quickly amending; "Uh, I mean; I like watching you and Luz tease and have fun. It's good to see her back to her old self, even with her infuriating teasing, and it's great to see you teasing her too; it's like you let your hair down for a little while."

Willow smiled, but that last part confused her; "Let my hair down? How so?"

"Well, you're always working so hard to take care of all of us. You really are like the Team Mom! Even back in the Human Realm, you made sure we all had full plates before you started eating and made sure our plates were empty by the end. You were the ones to make sure we all slept and rested, and you're the one that broke up any bickering. I think we'd have driven Aunt Camila nuts without you! Even now, you constantly make sure we're being healthy and responsible." Hunter explained. "So I guess it's just nice to see you relax and just have fun for a bit. You weren't as bad as Luz when it came to taking on too big of a burden, but you still took on more than you should ever have needed to."

Willow felt her cheeks warm up; "I-I guess. Sorry I nagged you guys so much, I just wanted-"

"No!" Hunter interrupted; "You didn't nag, you just looked out for us. We all appreciate it, even Boscha! Though she'll never admit it. And I especially appreciate it; I know I can be bad at taking care of myself."

That made Willow feel a little better; "You, Luz, and Lyra are pretty bad at just relaxing. I was a little worried I was being too strict with you and Lyra; I don't want you to start thinking of me as a boss."

"We don't, I promise. Lyra likes having you be like a responsible big sister figure, and I like having someone who can take charge and call me out if I'm being dumb. One thing I miss about the Emperor's Coven was that it was regimented and when it came to my job, I never had to think about what I was supposed to do; only how to do it. So once I had all the freedom in the world, I felt lost. You provided stability that we both needed, without taking that freedom away." Hunter smiled. "It helped a lot. Your acceptance meant a lot, especially after my screw up at HECK."

Willow scowled; "I think my screw up was worse that day, since it got Darius exposed and Osran too…"

"But it was my fault that situation even happened." Hunter countered; "And I was insensitive to your feelings."

The Plant girl opened her mouth to counter as well, then suddenly froze and then face-palmed; "Listen to us! We're turning into Luz!"

Hunter snorted; "Well we can't have that! Can we just agree that neither of us were in the right that day?"

"Sure." Willow smiled.

"And that we're both good friends who have each other's backs?"

"Of course."

"And that you're am amazing person that I'm lucky to call a friend?"

"Yes- wait, hey!" Willow blushed and protested.

"Ha! No take backs!" Hunter grinned; "Gus taught me that trick!"

Willow huffed; "You boys are a menace together!"

She marched past Hunter into the middle of the trial chamber, hiding her blush and bashful smile from the boy, who was watching her with a big grin, feeling pleased with himself. With their morale nice and high, the pair finally took stock of the trial itself, which was shockingly barren. It contained nothing but an empty plant pot sitting on a podium in the middle of the room. The pot was the same green stone as the rest of the temple's construction, and appeared to be carved from the same solid piece of stone as the podium itself. There was some kind of runic passage carved into the side of the pot too, making Willow curse.

"Can you read Runic?" she asked Hunter.

He nodded enthusiastically; "I can! I can read it almost fluently! Leave it to me."

He stepped forward and peered at the carving, wiping away some dust and dirt to make it clearer, while Willow began examining the pot itself. It contained good quality soil that was a good temperature, properly moist, nice and loose, AND (according to Clover) had good nutrient content. Willow could also sense a small seed within it, though she didn't recognise the type from just the feel of it through her magic.

"The carving reads: "Life begets life. All that lives is born from that which lived. Seek life where it has yet to bloom and unearth that which begets our offering. When our offering and yours are together and the family tree is bloomed, you shall partake of Nature's Blessing and give thanks for her bounty." I'm not totally sure what that means, but I think we can safely say this is the Trial of Life." Hunter said.

"Looks like it. Boy am I glad I brought you along! I'd never have deciphered that on my own." Willow said, before rubbing her chin; "Life begets life… they're probably talking about reproduction here. After all, even plants need to be born and have parents of a sort. There's also already a seed in the pot, which I think is the temple's offering. So we need to provide a second seed that's the same as the first one, and the two together will bloom a tree that'll give us the trial orb."

"Reproduction. That involves pollen from one plant getting into another, right? I know plants grow from seeds, but I never thought much about how the seeds are made." Hunter said.

"You got it fundamentally correct. Flowering plants produce pollen in their stamens, which are then carried by pollinators like insects or the wind, and delivered to another flower, where it fuses into the ovule within the pistil." Willow told him; "That's how they produce seeds, and in trees and bushes, it's also how they produce fruit."

Hunter listened carefully, then said; "So we need to somehow create this second seed… but how? Can you just conjure it with magic?"

"Normally yes, but I need to be pretty familiar with the seed and the plant it grows into." Willow answered. "And I've got no idea what the seed in the pot is."

"Can't you just dig it out and see for yourself?" Hunter asked, tilting his head as Flapjack landed on the rim of the pot and began pecking at the soil.

"I tried earlier when I was testing the soil. The seed is there, but the pot is enchanted so you can't reach it. Give it a try yourself if you want." Willow said.

Hunter nodded and summoned Flapjack to his side in staff mode, then gave himself Mole Claws as a Bestial Blessing, before beginning to dig in the pot. He started of gentle but no matter how much he dug, he never seemed to make any headway, as if the soil was shifting back into place beneath his claws without him even noticing. He tried dumping the soil out of the pot entirely, but the same thing happened and when he turned to look at the displaced dirt, he found it was all gone; returned to the pot. Even the dirt on his transfigured claws disappeared after a second or two, which was at least convenient for keeping clean.

"Okay, so just conjuring a seed isn't going to work." Hunter sighed, admitting defeat. "This is all you, Captain; any ideas?"

Willow smiled and nodded; "I've got a few knocking around in my buff brain!" she said, earning a chuckle. "If a single plant blooms from two seeds, then it must be Legion Flora. That's a kind of plant that is too weak to survive as an independent species and needs to fuse with others of its kind in order to flourish. They're also called Symbiosis Flora, or Family Trees."

"Like in the runic message!" Hunter gasped.

"That's right. I know of about six Legion Flora, but I'm only familiar enough with two to conjure them. I'll give them a try at least." Willow said, drawing a pair of spell circles and causing small sprouts to emerge from her wooden bangles and produce a pair of seeds. She showed them to Flapjack; one was a little black teardrop shape and the other looked like a corn kernel; "Mind helping me plant theses, Flap?" she asked.

Flapjack tweeted and nodded, then used his little talons to scratch open a hole which Willow planted a seed in. He then kicked the dirt back in place, but only for a moment before black smoke rose from the spot. Willow nodded grimly as Flapjack dug the seed up again and revealed a burnt husk of a seed.

"Well, either that was the wrong seed or the enchantments on the pot knew I cheated." Willow frowned. "We'll try again with the other seed."

They repeated the process as Hunter and Clover watched, with the little Palisman sitting on Hunter's shoulder and drinking from a canteen he'd brought along. Sadly the result was the same and Willow pulled another burnt husk from the dirt.

"I guess it was too much to hope… we're gonna have to play the trial how it wants us to then." Willow sighed.

"And you know how that is?" Hunter asked.

Willow gave an unsure wave of her hand; "Maybe? I've got a vague idea; I think it wants us to show we understand Life by creating the seed the old-fashioned way; by pollinating the right flower."

"Respecting life by doing it the natural way? I suppose that makes sense; this was a religious facility after all; the old priests cared more about their acolytes proving they understood the lessons, rather that simply solving the puzzles." Hunter mused. He then looked around at the barren room; "But then how do we make the seed? I suppose you could conjure the right flowers and pollen, but how do you do that if you don't know what plant you need?"

Willow nodded; "That's part of the puzzle too. Maybe… maybe we're missing something. Clover, can you lend me a hand? I want to see if I can combine our magic to get a better feel for the seed."

Clover buzzed over and turned into a staff, which Willow used to draw a spell circle around her before closing her eyes and focusing. She remained like that for a minute, then opened her eyes to reveal they were glowing green. The moment she opened her eyes, she gasped and began to slowly look around at everything in the room, smiling wider and wider as she did so. The spell she'd cast was one to enhance her perception of plants, which she'd planned to use to try and get a better look at the seed in the pot, but it had also revealed other things to her, like the Palistrom Wood that made up Hunter's bones and keratin, and both their Palismen, and more importantly; seeds hidden within miniscule cracks within the walls of the chamber; too small to be spotted if one wasn't looking for them.

"I see now! This trial isn't just about understanding how life spreads! It's about seeing the life that exists all around us, even in the tiniest ways and most hidden places!" Willow cheered, rushing over to one of the tiny cracks between two slabs of green stone against the eastern wall. Hunter and Flapjack watched her curiously, then gasped as Willow cast a spell on the wall and a tiny black flower began to emerge from it.

"Seeds hidden out of sight… which can only be found if you're looking for signs of life in unexpected places. Remarkable!" Hunter whispered, amazed by the ingenuity of the ancient Witches and Demons that built this place.

"All these seeds are slightly different too; similar to the one in the pot, but a little off. That could be explained by a defect in its creation, or by it being a slightly different species. I guess that's to ensure we can't tell exactly what seeds we need to grow and pollinate." Willow said, examining the flower.

"Sorry, I'm lost on that part." Hunter replied.

"We need to bring life to ALL the seeds in order to find the matching pair. I'm guessing there is only one. Once we find it, we can use one to pollinate the other and make a new seed. They also hid slightly misshapen seeds so we couldn't just see it matched the one in the pot and yank it out of the wall to put in the pot." Willow explained. "Also, this flower here is an Andros Flower, which means it only has stamen that produce pollen and no Pistil to produce the ovule. In essence, it's a male flower of the species."

"Plants can have genders!?" Hunter exclaimed as Willow left a ring of magic to keep the flower blooming, before moving to grow the next one.

"Rarely, yes. In some species of plant, especially the Legion Flora, seeds are spawned that grow into either Andros Flowers or Gynos Flowers, which only have a pistil and no stamen. This is to prevent a flower from pollinating itself by mistake. Legion Flora are like animals in that they need genetic diversity to grow well. The seeds of the Andros Flowers are lighter and fly further afield to pollinate other members of the species, while the Gynos seeds are heavier and stick close to their "mother" plant, often fusing into them once they bloom." Willow explained, rapidly growing all the hidden seeds.

"Wow, I never knew plants could act almost like animals! I know there are Botanical Demons like Treants, Spriggans, Mandrakes, and Mandragoras, but this is like a regular plant!" Hunter said, completely amazed.

"I know right? I'm almost done here too." Willow said, approaching and growing the last hidden plant. When she did, she rolled her eyes; "Of course it'd turn out to be the very first and very last flowers I grew!"

Her most recent flower did indeed look like the first one she'd found and caused to bloom, only with different colours and slightly different interior. They both looked like lilies, only the first one; the "Andros Flower" had black petals and stamen with red filaments. The newest flower was the "Gynos Flower" and had white petals and a pale blue pistil, with no signs of stamen or pollen. Seeing this, Willow released her spells on the other flowers, letting all but these two return to their seeds.

"These are Elhrim Flowers; when they grow together as a proper Legion Flora, they'll become an impressive Elhrim Tree! They're pretty rare these days!" Willow said with a smile, sending Clover to get some pollen from the Andros Flower and bring it over to the Gynos Flower.

"I've vaguely heard of Elhrim Trees. Their wood used to be valuable for talismans and training wands." Hunter commented, watching with Flapjack as Clover acted like a real Bee and pollinated the flowers by rubbing her fluffy torso against the stamen of the Andros Flower, then flying over and doing the same with the pistil of the Gynos Flower.

"Their flowers are also common gifts at births and funerals; they give the Gynos Flower to mothers who've just given birth, and place Andros Flowers on the bodies of those who've died." Willow explained as she used a little Plant Magic to help the pollen along.

After a couple of seconds, the Andros Flower suddenly shrank back into the wall it had grown from all by itself, returning to its seed state, while the Gynos Flower's petals closed up and the inside began to swell. Bit by bit, the Gynos Flower transformed into some kind of glowing fruit, but it was impossible to properly make out its features as it glowed such a bright green. Finally, after a couple of seconds, the fruit "burst" in Willow's hand and disappeared, leaving behind a seed that was shaped vaguely like a zebra patterned bean. The stripes weren't even, but they were still straight and spiky, informing Willow that this was the seed of a Gynos Elhrim Flower (the Andros ones had curly stripes).

With seed in hand, Willow turned back to the central pot and had Flapjack plant the seed by digging a little hole with his feet, then using his beak to plant the seed deep inside it. He then buried it again and almost as soon as the seed was covered in dirt, a green light began to shine from within the soil. Flapjack flew back to Hunter's shoulder just in time as the two seeds in the pot grew rapidly.

"It's working!" Hunter cheered, watching the process with fascination. He preferred animals but seeing plants like this, with Willow at his side, was enough to get him excited for the whole process.

First, a black Andros Elhrim Flower and white Gynos Elhrim Flower bloomed, just like the ones Willow had used to make the seed, but then they began to grow towards each and twist together, growing taller and thicker as they went from a flower to a tree. The colour of the flowers bled away and they became green, transforming into leaves that would soon become a canopy atop a tree, while their green stems began to harden into wood and be coated in bark of their original colours; the Andros half turning black and the Gynos half turning white. Their roots were the same and began go grow out of the pot and down the sides of the podium, where they quickly began to spread across the floor as the sapling grew into a full tree. The final result was a tree with normal green leaves, but a trunk that resembled a double helix, with one side being white and the other black. Branches of the same colours were emerging from them the top of the trunk, spawning the leaves, and with a flash of green light, tiny buds that Hunter and Willow hadn't been able to see with the naked eye transformed into full Elhrim Flowers. Ironically, the white Gynos Flowers only grew from the black branches, while the black Andros Flowers grew from the white ones.

"And here it is; the Elhrim Tree! Also known as the Helix Tree for it's appearance. The second most valued tree in the world, behind only the Palistrom Tree. Well, and any of the legendary trees that aren't even confirmed to exist." Willow smiled, admiring it; "I've only seen pictures before… it's beautiful!"

"Yeah, she is." Hunter agreed wistfully, not looking at the tree but instead at Willow's sparkling eyes behind her glasses.

Willow didn't seem to notice what he'd said or where he'd been looking as he said it, but she did smile as she noticed his look; "Thanks for the help, Hunter and Flapjack!"

Flapjack chirped and Hunter translated; "He says "You're welcome." but I don't get it; what did I do."

"You gave moral support. And I enjoyed your company." Willow replied with a grin. "Now watch, I think I know what's about to happen!" she said, turning back to the tree.

Slowly, one of each type of flower began to extend down from the tree and towards Willow, carried on long vines. They then came together and began to fuse into a single bloom of black and white petals, with both a stamen and a pistil, more like a regular plant. This didn't last long though, as the flower closed up and began to swell as it transformed into a fruit. The fruit resembled a large green grape, and was strangely unassuming compared to the rest of the tree's life cycle. It had a nice shine to it though, which was appealing to look at.

"An Elhrim Fruit. I know about these." Hunter said as Willow plucked it from the conjoined vines. "An Elhrim Tree only grows one of these per year. Magically, they're not very potent, but if their juice is enhanced with more magic, it's supposed to make a person's DNA more malleable. These things are most famously used for high-end Bloodline Potions."

"Huh, I know another use of these fruits, but I didn't know that one. Though now that you mention that, it does make sense…" Willow mused, her cheeks going a bit pink.

"Another use? What is it?" Hunter asked.

"N-Nevermind, I'll tell you later. We still need to finish the trial. We need to "partake of Nature's Blessing and give thanks for her bounty." which I think means we need to eat this thing." Willow said.

"Oh, I see. The other part of the Life Aspect; consuming the life of others to extend your own. That part sounds almost grim…" Hunter said.

Willow agreed; "It is a little, but the vast majority of living things, even plants, have to consume other living things in order to survive. All we can do is show respect and give thanks." she said, before closing her eyes and whispering a prayer to the Titan, giving thanks for the fruit, before taking a bite.

It had the texture of a grape as well as its appearance, and it's flavour was sweet and delicious, but more honey-like than grape-like. It was also quite juicy, so Willow had to be careful not to make a mess of herself. She only took a single bite, as the moment she did, she saw a soft glow from within the fruit's flesh and looked to see the sudden appearance of the second trial orb, forming inside the fruit like one of its seeds.

"We did it!" Willow cheered, pulling out the orb and showing it to Hunter; "That's the Trial of Life passed! Two down and only one to go!"

"Great job Captain! Amazing work as always!" Hunter praised, raising a hand for a high-five. Willow happily gave him the high-five, then handed him the orb to look at more closely.

"Thanks Hunter! I actually liked this trial a lot; as a Plant Witch, I spend so much time conjuring and controlling plants with magic, it feels good to do some kind of old-fashioned gardening and help a new plant grow the old-fashioned way. It also makes me feel like I should be showing more gratitude to nature; the plants I use in fighting and every day magic are doing a lot to carry me. They deserve more respect and care." Willow declared.

Hunter smiled, though had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes a little; Willow loved her plants and cared for them a lot already from what he could see! Sure she didn't stop to thank them every time she needed to use one in a fight, but he knew she still felt the gratitude. Plus, it was a result of her own talents too!

Though now that the Trial of Life was over, Hunter found himself deep in thought about life in general, especially his own. The whole thing left him feeling odd inside; since he was a Grimwalker, his origin wasn't exactly like a conventional living person's. He didn't have biological parents in the same way others did, and he wasn't technically even conceived or "born" either. He'd been created, like a tool, machine, or golem. He began to frown; genetically speaking, he was the same as Caleb Wittebane, so that meant his "parents" were the same as Caleb's too from a genetic stand point. He'd researched the subject a bit while in the Human Realm, but hadn't learned anything good; Caleb and Philip had been born to John and Constance Wittebane, both of whom had died while the boys were young. Old town records listed Constance as having died of "The Consumption" (the old term for Tuberculosis) when Philip was about three years old, and John was said to have died in a drunken brawl with another man. These were second-hand accounts told by Caleb when the brothers moved to the town though, and it was clear by the records that neither Caleb nor Philip had thought well of the man.

All this left Hunter feeling rather down about his origins… even his genetic blueprint had an unfortunate start to life, and he was born as a real person!

Hunter's feelings showed on his face a lot more than he thought too, as Willow asked; "Are you okay, Hunter?"

"Yeah, I am. I'm just thinking about life. This trial got my mind going and now I can't help but wonder… do I count as a living thing?" Hunter said, looking wistfully down at his hands.

Willow's eyes widened; "What!? Of course you do! How can you think otherwise!?"

"It's just… life begets life, you know?" Hunter said, trying and failing to meet Willow's eyes, "That's what the trial said and what it taught. But me? I wasn't exactly born from life, but death. I'm a Grimwalker… the "womb" I was grown in was literally a grave! I wasn't born so much as spawned, using ingredients Belos got by killing other creatures. So do I count as a living thing, or am I just some kind of advanced Death Golem? I mean, I have move in common with one of Dadrius' abominations than a Witch like you."

Willow scowled, and promptly flicked his nose, making him flinch. It didn't hurt, but it did surprise him.

"Did you feel that?"

Hunter blinked at the odd question; "Uh, yes?"

Willow then said; "Oh good, you heard me too?"

"Of course! I'm not deaf or numb!" Hunter frowned.

The girl then held up the piece of fruit she'd gotten the trial orb from; "What colour is this?"

"Green. Willow, what are you-?" Hunter was interrupted as she wafted the fruit under his nose.

"What does it smell like?" she demanded.

"Kind of woody and earthy. Seriously Willow, what's going on here?"

Willow didn't answer and instead shoved the piece of fruit into his mouth (making them both blush as they both realised it was the part Willow had taken a bite from). "W-What does it taste like?"

"… it's sweet." Hunter mumbled, too flustered to speak louder.

Willow nodded; "So you can feel, hear, see, smell and taste. And do you have feelings? Emotions?"

"Of course I do!" Hunter exclaimed; "Being a Grimwalker doesn't mean I don't have all those things!"

"Then how are you anything other than a living being!? Abominations don't eat; even I know that! They don't feel either! And last I checked, neither do golems or homunculi." Willow said, crossing her arms. "So you weren't "born" in the traditional sense; that doesn't make you any less of a person and any less alive!"

Hunter felt his heart beat a little faster as his cheeks went pink, and his brief moment of fear began to fade away. He didn't answer Willow immediately though, so she stepped forward and hugged him, putting her ear against his chest so she could hear his heart. Hunter really wished she hadn't though, as it began to beat even faster!

"You've got feelings and a beating heart, Hunter. That heart may be made from a Galdorstone, but it works just the same as mine. You're not defined by the parts that made you, or the method used to put them together. You're more than that; you're a living, breathing, thinking, feeling person! You have soul like mine and…" she gently reached up and pulled his head down a little, hugging him in such a way that his ear was against her chest, letting him hear her heartbeat.

It hammered just as fast as his.

"… you have a heart like mine too, Hunter. So don't ever let me hear you call yourself anything less than a person ever again." Willow said seriously.

Hunter pulled away a little, gulping as he gave a small nod of understanding. He and Willow ended up staring each other in the face for a few seconds, both getting progressively redder as what just happened sank in. Eventually, Willow felt like she had to ease the tension with a joke and promptly declared; "B-Besides, the Palistrom Wood that helped make you means you're at least part plant! That makes you even better than a "normal" person in my book!"

The young Grimwalker stared at the Witch in surprise, before grinning; "Of course. Thank you, Willow. That means a lot to me."

It was a simple thanks, but the emotion in his voice made it clear how much her words had meant to him.

With those words said and the trial orb in hand, the two teens and their Palismen began making there way out of the chamber, though Hunter did pause to ask; "Hey Captain, if you weren't planning to finish it, could I eat the rest of that Elhrim Fruit? It really was pretty tasty."

Willow blushed crimson and answered; "S-Sure, if you want. But don't tell Luz and Boscha, or anyone else."

"I can do that, but why? Are these fruits popular enough that they'd be mad we didn't save any for them?" Hunter asked.

"N-No, it's just a silly tradition that Mr. Clawthorne, Eda's Dad, told us all about back on Digale Island, before you joined us. In the old days of the Titan Faith, and in most countries around the world, an Elhrim Fruit is shared by a couple on their wedding day… it's supposed to grant good luck, and thanks to its magical effects, it actually makes it easier to conceive children for as long as it is in your system." Willow explained, blushing hotly.

Hunter flushed and stared at the fruit with a strange feeling in his belly. "I-I see. If the others found out we shared it, they'd tease us a lot."

"Yeah… so just don't tell them, okay? We've both already taken a bite already, and the fruit came from the trial, so it probably doesn't count anyway." Willow reasoned, handing him the fruit.

Hunter nodded slowly, then without looking at Willow, he tore the fruit in half and began eating one half, while handing the rest back to Willow. She blushed and silently accepted, and the two ate the fruit as they headed back to the others, neither saying another word.

They returned to the central chamber, where they found the Mandragoras still listening to Boscha's story, along with Luz and Raine. Boscha seemed to be enjoying the attention and having people hanging on her every word, so as Willow approached Luz and Raine, she was already planning to ask the Bard to accompany her on the Trial of Growth.

Boscha apparently had other plans though, as she paused her story and walked over to the rest of the team just as Willow revealed the second trial orb.

"Well, two down and one to go! We're almost ready to face Arboriel and Terra." Willow smiled.

"Finally; these trials sound like they're taking you way longer than the other trials did." Boscha said, crossing her arms.

"Plant Magic isn't something you can rush." Willow said defensively; "Besides, I'm still getting them solved quickly!"

"You've done awesome, Willow." Luz smiled, still on Raine's lap.

"Incredible work. You're carrying us through this part!" Raine praised too.

Willow smiled; "Thanks! Now did you want to come with me for the last trial, Raine?"

Raine didn't get a chance to answer as Boscha cut in; "Hey, it's me going with you for the last one! Don't think you can ditch me, Park!"

"Wouldn't dream of it." Willow said with a roll of her eyes; "I just figured you'd rather stay and address your adoring fans."

"Oh please, Hunter can manage that. I told them all the good stuff already, so he can rant about the clone storyline to his heart's content." Boscha said dismissively, before marching towards the entrance to the final trial; "Now come on, Park! I ain't got all day! We've got to save Amity."

Willow grumbled and gave the second trial orb to Hunter for safe keeping, then followed Boscha to the trial door with only a tired wave to her other friends. The two then marched through the door together and it slammed shut behind them just like the others had, leaving those outside watching awkwardly for a second in silence.

"Um, Luz? I know I probably shouldn't speak up given my loyalty to the Queen, but was it a wise move to let Willow and Boscha go off alone together?" Amelia asked nervously. "Their history is… not the best."

"Yeah, Willow was Boscha's biggest victim for a long time. Even so, they're a lot better than they used to be. Willow stands up for herself and actually teases Boscha back, while Boscha has gotten much better at knowing how far to take things and when to pull back." Luz replied.

Amelia looked surprised; "That almost sounds like they're friends."

Luz and Hunter both gave so-so gestures; "I think amicable rivals is the better term." Hunter said.

"Personally, I like "Frenemies". Luz smiled. It was pretty accurate too; Willow still had some (well-deserved) grievances with Boscha, who definitely acknowledged that what she'd done to the girl in the past had been unacceptable, but the two had found their own way to get along, mostly through competing in different ways. They were definitely the two members of the Hexsquad with the worst relationship, but they'd found a middle ground that worked for them.

However, Amelia's concern did make Luz wonder if the girls would be okay; they didn't usually spend time alone together (their Palismen being present didn't really count), instead having at least someone else there to smooth any ruffled feathers.

"I hope they don't fight too much…" Luz whispered, as Hunter picked up where Boscha had left off in the Cosmic Frontier story.

[Meanwhile]

An awkward silence once again filled the air as Boscha and Willow marched side by side into the final trial chamber, neither letting the other get so much as a step ahead of them, so neither could be said to be "leading" the other.

Eventually Boscha broke the silence by saying; "You've done the Life and Rejuvenation Trials, so this one has to be Growth. I doubt it'll take you long given how much you've grown yourself, but do try to make it fast."

That was almost a compliment, so Willow smirked; "Don't you worry; you can just sit back and watch as I take care of everything. Maybe you can spend the time throwing together some potions for our meeting with Arboriel and Snapdragon. We both know that isn't gonna end without a fight."

"You can't just "throw together" potions! That'd be like calling Plant Magic "playing with dirt!" It's a complicated art and one of the most diverse forms of magic!" Boscha argued.

"Just like Plant Magic then, only I don't need to mix a bunch of stuff together to get the effects I want." Willow said smugly.

"You're signature technique is literally Grafting Plant Magic, which mixes plants together to get the effects you want!" Boscha pointed out, making Willow blush as she couldn't argue that.

"Okay, fair point. But it still goes to show that Plant Magic is just as diverse as Potions! Once I figure out how to graft more than two plants together consistently, I'll be able to make botanical versions of any potion effect you can dream up!" Willow declared, only having managed a couple of triple grafted plants so far.

In reality, most magic types had some crossover with other types, like how Healing Magic could be used for strength augmentation like Construction Magic, or how Abomination Magic could be used to mimic the physical attributes of animals like in Beast-Keeping Magic, but only four types of magic could be used to mimic all the others. These types were Plants and Beast-Keeping (using the magic of native flora and fauna respectively), and Bardic and Potions (using craft and skill to mimic the effects in roundabout ways).

"Whatever you say, Park." Boscha said, flipping her hair with a huff.

The two continued on and arrived in the trial chamber itself, where they found a garden plot in the dead centre of the room, from which grew a withered tree. The tree appeared to be a Coralferous Tree; a type of Conifer that grew on beaches and in areas with a lot of salt water, like tear lakes, and which looked more like coral than a traditional tree, hence the name. They were strange trees that produced savoury, salty, meat-like fruits, which were commonly eaten by Vegetarians and Vegans in place of actual meat.

"Okay, a growth trial and a dead tree; I don't think it'll take a genius to work this out." Boscha said dismissively, pacing around the tree and looking it up and down, unimpressed.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Boscha. It might not be that easy." Willow countered, spotting a runic engraving on the stone rim around the plot of soil. "The others weren't so simple either; we probably need to show we understand Growth in some way."

"What's to understand? Things get bigger over time if you care for them properly. Seems simple to me. Just cast your fancy spells and let's get a move on."

Willow rolled her eyes and ignored the three-eyed girl as she got to work on examining the tree and the plot of soil. It didn't take long, but Boscha's impatient sighs and foot tapping was starting to get on Willow's nerves as she worked. The soil was nutritious, properly watered and spaced (it was sandy and full of salt water), and it was the right temperature, so as far as Willow could tell, the soil wasn't the problem. The tree itself didn't reveal any secrets either; it had no obvious sickness or infections or parasites, so Willow couldn't figure out why it had withered at all. It must be the magic of the trial.

"Huh, it can't just be finding out what's wrong with it and making it grow again; that's too much like Rejuvenation. What does the message say?" Willow whispered to herself as she knelt to examine it. "Ugh, I can barely make out any of this! I think I recognise the word for nature and that's it. Boscha, are you any better at Runic."

"Better than you? Naturally, Park!" Boscha said with a smirk, making Willow grumble. She then took one look at the message and her smile faded; "Oh… the alphabet is the same, but the style and grammar is totally different…"

"So can you read it or not?" Willow asked.

"Don't rush me! Just… just give me a minute." Boscha yelled, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment as she knelt down on the ground for a closer look. "I think it says something about "balance in nature" and "Summer and Winter". I'm not sure…"

Willow crossed her arms with a smug smile; "So you're not much better than me after all!"

"Shut up! I translated more than you! It's not my fault this temple is like thousands of years old and they changed all the grammar rules for Runic!" Boscha yelled. "Just use your magic to make it grow so we can get out of here!"

The Plant Witch continued to grin, feeling like she'd won a small victory over her former bully. She then cast a basic Growth spell on the tree and stepped back as it began to grow… though it remained withered. It's branches and roots, still as grey and gnarled as before began to rapidly spread across the room, covering a good chunk of the floor and brushing against the ceiling. There was no sign of a trial orb though, so Willow was soon forced to stop her spell before the tree grew over her or Boscha. As soon as she stopped the spell, the tree began to creak as it shrank back down to it's original size, making it look like Willow hadn't even used her magic.

"I knew that would be too easy." Willow said with a frown; "Now what's the actual solution?"

Boscha, a lot warier now, eyed the tree carefully; "I'm no expert on plants, but something about the way the tree grew was weird. It still looked dead, and it got kind of… lumpy? It was gross."

Willow nodded in agreement; the tree's trunk had become misshapen as the tree had grown, almost like the surface of it was bubbling in certain spots. The tree's roots and branches had also grown in an awkward manner, almost growing on top of each other, as if they were trying to block and choke one another. It was very bizarre, and Willow couldn't think of a single plant that grew or acted like that. It didn't help that the tree was so withered that it was almost impossible to tell its exact subspecies… it was just a dried out, greying husk of wood, with no leaves, flowers, fruit, or discernible markings, so while it was obviously a Coralferous to her well-trained, Willow didn't know if it was a coastal one or an inland lake one.

"The way the tree reacted to my magic… it was almost like a weed that was praying on itself. Parasitic Trees DO exist, but not ones that sabotage themselves!" Willow said, tapping her chin in thought.

Boscha took another look at the clue; "This is the Trial of Growth, so growing is obviously the answer… but what's this about balance, or summer and winter? I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume balance means you have to be more careful about keeping the tree balanced as it grows, since it looked pretty wonky. But what do the seasons have to do with anything?"

Willow wracked her brain for answers, while Clover perched on the back of Maya, who was skittering around and snipping a little at the few roots still visible above the dirt. In plants, the seasons were naturally very important, and within Plant Magic the seasons were defined as "Spring of Life, Summer of Growth, Autumn of Harvest, and Winter of Death", and that was the case for pretty much all plants and had little to do with the tree growing weirdly.

"Aside from Summer being the season of growth, I can't see why those seasons are important here above all the others. Maybe I'm supposed to turn it's current Winter of Death into a Summer of Growth? But then why did the tree act so weird?" Willow muttered to herself.

Boscha shook her head in frustration; "It's almost like the stupid trial is trying to tell us two different things at once."

Willow froze; "Two different things at once… that's it! I know what the problem is!"

She began excitedly looking at the tree from all angles while Boscha looked confused. "Care to fill me in, Park?"

"It's exactly what you said! Two different things at once… this isn't a single tree! It's two trees grafted together!" Willow explained, beginning to cast some spells to identify exactly what trees were involved.

Boscha stared at her for a moment, trying to comprehend what Willow was getting at. But as the pieces fell into place, her eyes widened and she leapt back to her feet. "That's why it got all weird and lumpy! The two trees that make up this thing grow at different rates! So the weird lumps came from one tree growing bigger while the other stayed the same rough size! And that's why the roots were trying to choke each other!"

"Exactly! I didn't notice since both trees are Coralferous, but different varieties! I'd wager one is a coastal one that normally grows on beaches, while the other grows on the edge of inland lakes made from the Titan's Tears." Willow explained, smiling wider as her spells revealed the exact same information to her. "And I was right! Now I understand the Summer and Winter part too!"

"Well don't leave me in suspense! What does it mean?" Boscha asked, actually getting into the puzzle now that she was starting to understand it.

"It's talking about the seasons for the plants specifically, not the world. Summer is the season of growth, but not all plants actually grow more in summer, or die in winter. It depends on the plant! For some species, summer is a killer while winter helps them grow!" Willow explained, pointing to the Fused Coralferous Tree; "Take this guy for example. A Coastal Coralferous thrives in the winter. It is kept warm thanks to the temperature of the Boiling Sea so close by, but in the summer the heat of the sun combines with the heat of the sea and creates an environment in which the tree withers from overheating. On the flip side, an inland Coralferous grows around cold bodies of water, so they thrive in the summer with the sun's heat, but wither in the winter when it gets cold, since they don't have the sea to warm them."

"I think I get it!" Boscha grinned; "The Trial teaches that while all living things grow, they don't always grow in the same ways, at the same rates, and in the same environments! Growth is a personal thing, unique to each individual life form."

Willow smiled; "I couldn't have put it better myself! Now that I know this tree needs to grow at two different rates, I can find a way to harmonise their growth and make sure they're fully symbiotic! Just give me a second."

Now that Willow actually knew what she was doing, what followed wasn't very difficult at all. With her right hand she created a spell circle that governed the coastal Coralferous' growth, then used her left hand to do the same for the inland Coralferous. The two plants began to grow, and whenever the tree began to look misshapen or strange, Willow would slow down or speed up the growth of one side until she eventually found the sweet spot where both were growing at a perfectly synchronised rate. Once Willow found this spot, a rather amazing transformation occurred as the tree seemed to spring to life.

The previously withered, dead coral-like tree suddenly began to turn a series of vibrant colours that looked almost like a full coral reef, while seaweed-like leaves began to grow from its branches. It was a beautiful sight, especially as the coastal variant had a more tropical appearance with brighter, more exotic colours, while the inland one had more traditional muted forest colours and red leaves. And to cap it off, once Willow had finished growing the tree back to the size of a fully grown and healthy specimen, a small knot that had formed began to open up into a small hollow that contained the third and final Trial Orb.

Boscha quickly grabbed the orb, just in case the tree withered again when Willow stopped the spell, though this turned out to be unnecessary, as the tree remained healthy and strong even as Willow ended the growth spell and dismissed her spell circles. The two girls cheered at their success and got so into their jubilation that they actually exchanged excited high fives as Boscha handed the orb over to Willow.

"Well, I don't say this often but I've gotta give props where they're due. Good job, Park. You really did carry us through these trials." Boscha said, keeping a small grin on her face. It didn't bother her as much as used to to compliment Willow, but it still left her feeling kind of awkward. Plus she didn't want her rival to think she was going soft.

Willow graciously took the compliment; no need to poke the bear without cause after all! "Thanks Boscha. And you did help a little, your translation and idea did give me the final clues I needed."

"Well duh! My greatness was never in question." Boscha said, turning her nose up pompously. She was playing (mostly) and Willow knew that, so she just rolled her eyes and smirked. Willow admitted, even if only to herself, that she liked Boscha's dry wit and humour… if it weren't for their awful history, they really would be pretty good friends. Even with that history, Willow had to respect that Boscha had changed.

"You know, I'm glad it was you who came with me for this trial." Willow said; "You've grown. You're not the same bullying brat that you used to be. You're still a pain in the butt and, well, Boscha… but you're not someone I dread having to be around. If nothing else, you've got my respect. At least a little of it anyway."

Boscha looked back at Willow with an unreadable look on her face. Deep down inside, Boscha wanted to say something very similar to Willow… to compliment the girl on how she too had grown into someone who was both strong and dependable. But Boscha's pride was too strong; she still wanted to beat Willow and be better than her, even if she didn't want to do that by keeping her low any more. So instead of saying the words that truly described the way she felt, she just snootily replied;

"Well of course. I'm amazing. Now let's get out of her before we get a whole new kind of sappy."

Once again, Willow rolled her eyes but didn't argue, instead just smiling and nodding, then heading for the door with the trial orb in hand. Boscha followed her, half a pace behind her as Clover and Maya exchanged looks. While their owners had a rather contentious rivalry, Clover and Maya got along swimmingly; Maya was a crab of few (if any) words, and was generally calm and no nonsense, only showing her softer side to Boscha, while Clover was generally as much of a mother hen as her partner, taking it upon herself to make sure the other Palismen were alright! The fact Maya was calm and caused no trouble for Clover, and the fact that Clover didn't bother Maya much meant they had a nice, calm friendship. Both knew their partners still had some deep-seated issues with themselves and each other, but they refused to let themselves be pulled into that, and neither Boscha nor Willow had ever said a word against the two of them being friends.

After a silent walk back to the central chamber, Willow and Boscha arrived to find that Hunter had finished summarising the story of Cosmic Frontier and was now answering questions from curious citizens of Arboriel's little kingdom. The return of the two girls caught everyone's attention though, especially as they smiled and Willow held aloft the third and final trial orb. The sight of this made all the Mandragoras whisper excitedly, while the non-Mandragoras bowed politely, now seeing Willow (who'd actually been the one to complete the trials) as an elite who was worthy of meeting their queen.

Luz and Raine got to their feet to congratulate them, while Hunter hurried over to do the same.

"Congratulations you two! That's the last one we need! Now we can finally get to Arboriel and get my Amity back!" Luz cheered.

"Indeed. Good job." Raine smiled, holding the other two trial orbs.

"We knew you could do it; especially you Captain." Hunter grinned; "I bet it was a breeze; it definitely didn't feel like you were gone very long."

"I think it was technically the easiest trial once I figured out the solution… admittedly with some small help from Boscha." Willow said, shooting a teasing smirk at the three-eyed girl, who just huffed and turned her nose up snootily.

The others smiled, and Luz was especially happy; she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but Boscha and Willow seemed a little closer. A tiny bit of the old awkwardness between them had faded, which was great to see!

"Well now that we've got all three of the orbs, we should get a move on." Willow said, trying to hand the third orb to Luz. Luz refused to take it however.

"Oh no; you did the work so you get to do the honours!" Luz declared, as Raine held out the other two orbs for Willow to take when she was ready.

Willow smiled; "Alright, let's do it!"

With that, she walked over to the dais, which all the Mandragoras and their brainwashed servants were keeping a healthy distance from. Carefully, she slotted the trial orb she'd just earned into one of the centipede's maws, causing them to shimmer and turn from stone to something more akin to flesh and chitin, making them look like a real living centipede. Nothing else happened though, at least not until she accepted back the other orbs from Raine and slotted them into place too. Once all three centipedes were "alive", they began to skitter around the stone tree, with one going up and rapidly running around its branches, one remaining on the trunk, and one going down and running around the roots, which were the cause of the odd pattern on the ground around the dais. Everywhere the centipedes touched, the stone dais transformed into real wood, almost like they were undoing petrification, and once the entire tree was turned into a living thing completely, the centipedes crawled down between the roots and disappeared from sight. After that, the tree began to grow as it's roots shifted and changed, descending down into the ground and unveiling the long shaft that led down into the Ritual Chamber. After a few seconds, the tree was a full grown and rather impressive one that brushed the ceiling of the temple, with a thick canopy of green leaves in all different shapes, and with roots that descended deep into the ground and created a staircase that led all the way to the bottom of the shaft. Raine, Hunter, and Boscha were all rather impressed by the complicated process and looked down the shaft at all the stairs.

"That's a long climb down… I don't suppose there's a secret exit that lets us avoid climbing back up again?" Raine asked. They didn't relish having to climb back up after inevitably fighting Terra, Arboriel, and whatever else they had down there.

"Probably not. Potentially no shadow travel either given what Lyra and Hunter told us earlier. But don't worry, if you're tired Titi then I can carry you." Luz smiled cheekily.

Raine snorted and ruffled her hair as the team prepared to head down. The Mandragoras and their servants were all kneeling and bowing their heads in respect to the CATTs, and seeing Amelia doing that didn't sit right with Willow or Boscha, but they kept silent since they doubted she'd be convinced to act otherwise so long as she was under the control of Arboriel. Before descending down the stairs, Boscha grabbed Luz so she could whisper in her ear.

"Shouldn't we set something up to free them all from the Weed's control? Otherwise they might swarm us from behind when things get hostile."

Luz smiled; "I already set something up while you were off with Willow. Don't worry; they won't be a problem much longer." She then held up a single index finger, which had a tiny amount of pale pink slime on it, indicating she'd done something with homunculus magic.

"You really do love using that magic…" Boscha smirked.

"Of course! It's the magic my Hermosa made and taught to me!" Luz replied with a lovestruck smile, making Boscha roll her eyes.

"You really are a total sap. Well whatever; let's go!"

The CATTs nodded and after giving a short wave to Amelia, who would be remaining behind with the other Mandragoras, they began to climb down the long staircase as quickly as they safely could. As they walked, Boscha pulled out a small potion vial and handed it to Willow, telling her that it was a milder version of the Bile Booster and to drink it and recover the magic she'd used up in the trials. Willow had taken it gratefully, and while the potion tasted worse than dirt, it did work pretty dang well as her Bile Sac began producing more magic bile at the perfect rate to recharge her and get her ready for a fight without inducing an overload.

From the start of the climb to reaching the bottom of the shaft, it took them about a minute, and once they reached the bottom, they were met with a large stone door, which Luz easily opened to reveal the hallway to the Ritual Chamber. It was well lit by Centipede-shaped sconces that had more glowing mushrooms growing on them, but there wasn't much to see besides the staircase at the far end of the hall. With a slight feeling of trepidation, the five of them walked to the end of the hall, with Raine leading the way as the sole adult of the group. They reached the end and climbed up the stairs, appearing in the dead centre of the Ritual Chamber, or as it was now known, Arboriel's Inner Court. The sight of it brought a gasp to their mouths, and if not for the person who'd turned it into it's current form, Willow would have loved it!

The base of the room matched the other Ritual Chambers; it was a massive cylindrical chamber of the same green stone as the rest of the temple. However the walls were not made from a sealed Supreme Dragon like in the other temples, since this one didn't have such a creature waiting for them, meaning the walls were the same green stone as the rest of the chamber and virtually indestructible. The walls weren't bare though; they were richly decorated with intricate carvings of trees, flowers, and plants of all kinds, with various creatures living amongst the foliage. Most were Witches and Demons of different species, but there was also a pair of long serpentine dragons with multiple sets of leg, whose carvings wrapped around the entire room, their heads meeting directly opposite the entrance, where they rested in the hands of a giant carving of a Titan, which Luz knew from the shape of the horns was supposed to be Orion. The altar was in the same place as in the other temples too, but the ring of lights that the other altars had were absent from this one, with only a single brazier-like structure made of stone centipedes standing on either side of the altar, with giant green mushrooms glowing within each one.

That was just the basic room though, and did not include the contents that had come later. The entire floor was covered in soil that had been brought in from outside, giving the place about half a foot of fresh and earthy-smelling soil, with which the residents grew their plants. The southern half of the room, behind the passage leading into the room, was taken up by a series of massive trees that had a miniature village of tree houses constructed in them, with each one looking more like a compact tree castle, all of which reeked of magic and had strange seals on the doors and windows. Luz couldn't be sure without looking closer, but the magic was similar to the magic on her old satchel, making her realise that the tree castles were likely bigger on the inside, making them a more appealing place for the Elites of the Mandragora to live. Built around the bases of these trees were a series of huts for the Witches and Demons whose essence fed the elites, and off to the western side of the room was a small farm of Mandragora Larder Blooms and various fruit trees, fruit bushes, vegetable plots, and logs laden with edible mushrooms, which appeared to be the pantry of the inner court. The eastern side of the room was also full of flowers that were very similar to the Larder Blooms, but had crystalline petals, and unlike the Larder Blooms they were all currently empty and open, making them look more like standard Mandragora Flowers.

Finally, there was the northern section, behind the altar, which was dominated by a field of flowers in the middle of which grew a gigantic tree; one so big that the roots must have stretched through the soil to every bit of the room. The tree was actually a slumbering Great Treant; a Botanical Demon that took the form of a sentient tree, which could grow a face, branch-like arms, and even crawl around with it's roots if it chose. It's face, which was carved to look like the Titan's skull, had glowing green eyes with the same look to them as the brainwashed citizens of Arboriel's little Kingdom, and it appeared to have a larger tree castle (with the same expansion enchantments) built into its branches. Finally, vines hanging from the Treant's canopy had been woven together alongside a lot of beautiful flowers to create a hanging throne of blossoms… a throne in which sat Arboriel, the Queen of All Mandragoras.

Luz, Willow, and Boscha stared up at the plant woman in surprise and anger, seeing how much she'd changed. In their first meeting, she'd been nothing but a green-skinned woman with leaves for hair and making up her clothes. In Luz's second meeting, which had been after she'd absorbed the Palistrom Tree in the Bat Queen's Forest, she had looked like she'd been carved from a red tree and a blue tree that had become twisted together, giving her blue and red skin, with red thorns added to her leafy hair, as well as wooden armour in the same style as her own body, and a crown of red and blue roses with black thorns. Now though, she had clearly been altered by the Divider giving her some kind of blessing, as there was something distinctly divine about her appearance. Her skin was once again green but was now crystalline, like a Divine Realm plant, and her "hair" was now a long stream of golden leaves and flower petals that flowed down her back. Her clothing consisted of a wooden breastplate made from a topaz-like crystalline wood, with a long dress of white petals forming beneath it and covering her legs. On her back was a pair of Angel-like wings made from wood and golden leaves, and on her head was a crown of white and yellow roses, with diamond-like clear crystal thorns. The woman's eyes were totally unchanged as they stared back at Luz and Willow, and in her hand was a long staff made of green stone, which ended in a large blue crystal that was wrapped up in a serpentine dragon (whose appearance was similar to the wall carvings), making it look like a draconic Palisman, though none of the CATTs could sense any signs of life from the staff, meaning it was likely something else.

Arboriel watched the newcomers with a warm smile, especially as she looked at Willow and Luz, who'd both changed quite a bit since the last time she'd seen either of them. She also looked at Boscha with a sharp smile, no doubt remembering her from the Fibul Academy incident too. Arboriel wasn't the only Mandragora present either of course; the room had at least a few dozen of them scattered around, watching the new arrivals or serving as guards. Many of them were converted Angels (one was even made from an Arch-Angel) and all were wearing either armour made from a crystalline Divine Realm Tree, or a dress made of fancy flowers. Even the non-Mandragoras looked fancier, with higher quality robes of white, gold, and green, similar to the kinds given out by the Wings of Rani.

"Ah, you have finally arrived. It has been so long, Little Sunflower." Arboriel smiled in an almost motherly fashion as she looked at Luz. She then gave the same expression to Willow as she added; "And even longer since I've seen you, my Seedling. My, look how you've both grown!"

"Arboriel." Luz frowned; "You've changed a lot yourself. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that your new power is thanks to the Divider's Blessing?"

"You would be right, my radiant little Sunflower. My new, immaculate form is truly something to behold, is it not? As is yours; look at all those wings! Your magic smelled tantalisingly delectable even when you had only two wings, but now that you have eight… why I am practically salivating! To have your power become a part of my little garden will be a dream come true! But I mustn't neglect my Little Seedling either! You have grown stronger and more beautiful, my dear." Arboriel said, eyes full of desire as she turned her attention to Willow.

She wasn't wrong either; Willow had grown quite a bit in the 10-11 months since she'd last seen Arboriel beneath Hexside! She was physically and magically stronger, with a lot of muscle on her thick frame, and enough magic that the scent of Plant Magic lingered around her always. She also carried herself with more confidence, compared to the skittish, beaten down little girl she'd once been, though there were cracks in that confidence even now.

"I'll take the compliment. And we'll be taking our friends back too! All of them!" Willow declared.

"Yeah! Show us Amity! I know she's here somewhere, I can feel it!" Luz agreed.

Arboriel tutted; "Still such disobedient little girls. You are guests in the Court of the Last Mandragora Queen! The Monarch of Barcarib and all Mandragoras in existence! You must learn decorum and patience. But there will be time for that later I suppose. First, introduce your fellow guests; which of you is Mx. Raine Whispers? The "Little Sprout" as Dear Terra calls you?"

Raine stepped forward and glared up at Arboriel; "That would be me "Your Majesty". And I'm surprised Snapdragon isn't here with you right now."

"The sarcasm on your address to me was unnecessary. Dear Terra was right; you're a wilful creature. Powerful too… a pity you're not a woman; you'd make a fine citizen of my court. Well, you still will be, just not a Mandragora one." Arboriel replied, both annoyed and amused by Raine's sharp tone. She looked to Hunter next and smiled; "And this one… you smell like a beast of the forest. In fact, you smell like the forest as well. How curious…"

"My name is Hunter Deamonne-Clawthorne. I'm here as Willow's "retainer". I'm also a Grimwalker; you can probably smell the Palistrom Wood inside me." the young man explained, Flapjack nestling into his hair to comfort him. Something about the way Arboriel looked at him was creeping him out, so he appreciated Flap's help… It was like she saw him as both food and a lesser creature, even beneath other Witches and Demons. It wasn't a cold or cruel look; just condescending, like he was a pet.

"A Grimwalker! Now I understand! The familiar scent I smell from you is not just Palistrom Wood, but also your core!" Arboriel began to stroke the head of her staff, which the CATTs suddenly realised might well be a Galdorstone; it was a large, softly glowing blue crystal, and given this was a temple to the Titan, it was possible a priest buried here had their heart turned into a Galdorstone upon their death and then retrieved by Arboriel.

Arboriel herself confirmed their thoughts a moment later; "There was a book on your kind in the ruins of Fibul Academy, where I once lived. I read it once to pass the time; a dry read, but it did fascinate me to learn of another plant-based creature… imagine my disappointment when I discovered Grimwalkers were still just fleshlings with superior bones. But I did learn one fascinating thing; the powers of a Galdorstone! After the Lord Divider helped me establish this little palace of mine, I discovered a tomb in this very chamber, where my Treant Palace now sits…" she pointed her staff behind her and fired a green beam from the end of it, hitting the palace. The entire tree pulsed green, revealing its inner workings like a sonar pulse and allowing them to see a more ornate looking sarcophagus sealed up inside it, where the Black Tomb had been in the other three temples. "… and within it I sensed great power. After opening it up, I found both this staff and this Galdorstone. There was also a rather large green skeleton in here when we first arrived, but I had it removed."

The CATTs exchanged looks; the dragon skeleton had likely belonged to the entombed priest too. For whatever reason, they'd undergone the Rite of Ascension and become a plant based Supreme Dragon, gaining a Galdorstone Heart and one of those Dragon staves like Zara and her mates had, but had later either lived out their extended lifespan or been killed somehow. Both their original body and their Dragon body must have then been entombed. Still, the fact Arboriel had robbed a grave for the staff and Galdorstone made all of the CATTs angry, and had them bracing for a harder fight.

After all, Arboriel had the Divider's Blessing AND a Galdorstone staff; it was possible she was strong enough to give even Luz a challenge now.

Boscha growled; "So you're a kidnapper, a brainwasher, AND a grave robber! Does every so-called ruler on the Boiling Isles turn into a monster, or is being a monster a requirement to have a crown around here?"

Arboriel turned to glare at Boscha, before her smile once again turned sharp and predatory; "Ah, it's you. I haven't spared you a thought since we met back beneath your festering little school, but it does do me proud to see my Little Sunflower bringing you to me as her retainer. Finally serving your betters are you, little fleshling?"

Boscha sneered; "The only thing I'll be serving is you, carved up and turned into a side salad!"

The Queen Mandragora grit her teeth and flared her nostrils as she struggled to contain her temper. "Be careful, you little gnat! My promise to the Lord Divider is the only reason I'm not plucking that third eye out of your skull and eating it like a grape!"

The three-eyed girl immediately summoned her staff and pointed it at Arboriel, who narrowed her eyes dangerously. With a snap of her fingers, Arboriel caused a large closed Mandragora Flower to descend from the canopy of her Treant, growing from a massive vine. Inside the translucent flower was Amity, unconscious but seemingly healthy.

"Amity!" Luz cried, about to rush to her. She stopped when Arboriel pointed her staff at the slumbering Blight.

"Hold it right there, Little Sunflower. I suggest you make your three-eyed dog heel, or I will do something drastic. I've reinforced the strength of this flower so even a Seraphim's full might can't get through it in under five seconds." Arboriel said coldly, her fingers held up like she was preparing to snap them.

"All that and you can only hold me off the five seconds?" Luz asked with a glare.

"Well, there's no need for more. The acid I can flood into that flower will liquefy the little Witch's flesh in 3 seconds. By the time you break through it, only bones will remain." the Mandragora revealed.

Luz gulped, turning pale as her friends and Titi backed off a little, all looking furious and terrified. They could always rush her and hope to restrain her or knock her out before she triggered the acid, but there was no guarantee they could stop her fast enough and none of them were willing to risk Amity's life. They all slowly put their hands up and Boscha dismissed her Palisman with a murderous glare.

Arboriel smiled smugly as she saw them surrendering, then turned to Luz; "Now, Little Sunflower… I believe I told you to make your dog heel."

Luz glared at her, then looked guiltily at Boscha. The Potioneer just sighed and nodded; "Do what you've got to do, Luz. We have no choice but to play her game."

The young Seraphim nodded bitterly, and with a quick spell she made vines rise up from the soil beneath Boscha and tied her up, forcing her to her knees. The vines were loose but Boscha offered no resistance, making it look like Luz had bound her tightly so as to satisfy Arboriel. And the Mandragora WAS satisfied, applauding Luz's work.

"Very good, Little Sunflower. Now, I trust there will be no outbursts from the rest of you, so we may comport ourselves as is appropriate for court." Arboriel said, smiling regally as she relaxed in her suspended throne. She snapped her fingers and the flower containing Amity disappeared back into the canopy above, much to Luz's distress.

"Alright, you've gotten your way, your majesty." Raine said, speaking softly and politely. "What exactly do you want from us?"

"You, my dear? Nothing at all. You are someone that Dear Terra requested be here. I merely wanted my Sunflower and Seedling. I have a proposition that will do wonders for them." Arboriel said, suddenly acting like a regal hostess again, as if none of the prior unpleasantness had even happened. "Now, I'd offer you all tea but I assume you wouldn't be keen to drink anything I give you, so we shall have to get straight to business. Or at least, we shall get to business once my dear Terra returns. Since getting confirmation that Spriggan Manor has been abandoned once more, she has been preparing it to be my new seat of power within the Boiling Isles."

Luz exchanged looks with her friends; Hanu and Treble had obviously been spotted out and about during one of the CATTs' missions, so Terra and Arboriel were able to realise they were gone. The Wings of Rani guarding Spriggan Manor had likely abandoned it too once their charges had disappeared from under their noses, leaving it wide open for Terra to move back in… It was no great loss to the CATTs, but it still irked them a little to have inadvertently helped the foul plant women.

"Great. You threatened us to get here as fast as we could and then make us wait once we get here? Not exactly becoming of a "Queen", don't you think?" Willow scowled.

Arboriel's eye twitched, but she couldn't totally deny her Seedling had a point. "Yes, it was poor timing on dear Terra's part. She felt you would take far longer to complete the trials that allow access to the Inner Court. You have my apologies for that. In the meantime, make yourself comfortable! Enjoy the smell of the flowers; I'm sure you'll find it very agreeable."

The look in Arboriel's eyes made it obvious that she was expecting them to find the flowers more than just agreeable. No doubt they would be spewing the Mandragora's pheromones in an attempt to control them. Luckily for the CATTs, Hettie's inoculation had hopefully taken care of that risk! Knowing this, the CATTs (minus the bound Boscha) complied and wandered around the garden Arboriel had made, literally stopping to smell the flowers. They really were gorgeous and smelled delightful, yet they could also feel something tugging at the edges of their minds as they breathed in the scent. The pheromones weren't taking hold, but Luz smiled serenely and pretended like they were, to get Arboriel's guard down a bit.

"Your flowers are beautiful, your Majesty. You're truly lucky to have come by such a wonderful sanctuary in which to grow them." Luz said sweetly, playing up her innocent side.

Arboriel looked extremely satisfied as she preened at the praise; "Of course! Though I can't take credit for this wonderful location. Your old friend, the Lord Divider showed it to me, and led me and Dear Terra here shortly after the Day of Unity and the fall of the False Emperor."

"Truly? How strange! We wouldn't have thought the Divider would be so willing to help you. Can you tell us what happened exactly?" Willow asked, playing along with Luz.

"Of course! Though the tale is not as exciting as you might hope. After Dear Terra was taken captive by your rebel friends following the Lord Divider's return, I was left alone in Spriggan Manor. I remained hidden there until Dear Terra was freed, and she was compelled to tell the Lord Divider about me. He visited me and was rather upset with me at first, but as I was the last of my kind he decided that it was better to let me build my garden instead of destroying or imprisoning me and condemning the Mandragora race to extinction. He taught me to refine the conversion process to turn people into true Mandragoras, then provided me and my new family with this place to call home."

Luz and Willow shot each other meaningful looks, while Raine and Hunter did the same; that lined up with what Poppy had told them. So the Divider had opted to let Arboriel rebuild her race out of volunteers, and she (either of her own volition or with Terra's urging) took it a step too far by forcing people into her service and controlling them with pheromones to make sure that even if she was discovered, her victims would lie to protect her… and with Angels among their ranks, those forced lies would be very believable (though Luz wondered if an Angel still be unable to lie if turned into a Mandragora).

At that moment, there was a noise from the flowerbeds beside the Great Treant, and everyone watched as a Restraining Rafflesia suddenly bloomed, growing from a seed left dormant in the soil beneath the other flowers. From within this flower rose a woman; one that the CATTs knew very well, even if she'd undergone a drastic transformation.

Terra Snapdragon, former Head Witch and current Princess of the Mandragora… and shockingly enough, she looked like she deserved that title!

Terra's transformation into a Mandragora had been a lot more drastic than the others, likely due to her advanced age, resulting in her apparently getting a lot younger. Terra now looked like a young woman in her twenties, with an actual beautiful face. Even Raine, who'd first met her when they were a kid at HECK, hadn't seen her looking this young! On top of her restored youth, Terra had gotten a bit taller and her body was slender, yet still curvy enough to turn some heads, actually having a similar build to Eda. As a Mandragora, she had pale green skin and matching emerald green eyes, as well as green lipstick, and her hair (which had looked like large green leaves anyway) now appeared to be made of long green vines that gave her an almost medusa-like appearance. She had a flower crown of small pink blossoms atop her head, and she was dressed in a very royal-looking ballgown made of green leaves and pink petals. If it weren't for the fact everyone present knew who she was and what she'd done to her Coven Members, they'd actually be pretty impressed by this regal Mandragora! She was easily the best looking one, behind only Arboriel.

"I have returned, Mother Dearest." Terra said, giving a curtsy to Arboriel. She then noticed the CATTs and her eyes narrowed on both Willow and Raine, one after the other. "And I see our guests arrived quicker than expected."

"Indeed. Your estimation of their skills turned out to be a tad off, my dear. But forget that; how are things at the manor?" Arboriel asked.

"It will soon be fit for a proper Queen to live in it, Mother." Terra answered simply, not taking her eyes off Raine. There was a hunger there that the Bard did NOT like!

"Marvellous. Then let's get on with the audience. We've kept out guests waiting long enough." Arboriel said, snapping her fingers and causing a second, less impressive vine throne to be lowered from the canopy of the Treant for Terra to sit on.

Once Terra was seated, Arboriel gestured for the CATTs to stand together (they stood around the still-bound Boscha, since she couldn't move) and then grandly declared; "Luz Noceda-Clawthorne and Willow Park; I have summoned you both here today to grant you an incredible privilege! An invitation to join my court as Mandragoras! And not just any Mandragoras either; I wish to do for you what I did for Dear Terra, and elevate you both to the rank of Princesses of the Mandragora Race!"

The two girl's jaws hung open in shock; they'd honestly expected Arboriel to "offer" to make them Mandragoras, and that this whole mess was engineered for just that purpose, but to be made princesses!? That was not something they'd expected, and judging by the look in Terra's eyes, it wasn't something she was keen on either.

"You want to turn Willow and I into princesses of your kingdom!? B-But why!?" Luz exclaimed.

"It's simple, my dear Sunflower; if this kingdom is to thrive and truly make the Mandragoras a race not to be reckoned with then I need princesses and heiresses that are of superior quality. I converted Dear Terra using my own vital essence, altering her biology and making her my daughter by blood, so that she may serve as my immediate heiress and successor, because she was by far the most powerful Witch I've ever encountered when it comes to Plant Magic." Arboriel began, making Terra sit back smugly.

"You, little Sunflower, were originally desired so your great power could be leveraged for my Kingdom too. While I now have other Angels like yourself within my ranks, none are as powerful as you nor do they possess the blessings of two Titans. Your strength is incredible and just what I'm looking for in a Princess. And you, little Seedling…" Arboriel turned her eyes to Willow; "I sense within you the most incredible latent potential for Plant Magic. Your potential for it outstrips even Dear Terra's-" Terra scowled at that, "-and possibly even my own! If I did not know any better, I'd believe you were a Mandragora already!"

Willow felt a bit warm and fuzzy inside upon hearing she had such incredible potential, and she also felt an extra jolt of confidence as she noticed the rest of the CATTs just nodding, as if this was no great surprise for them.

"So that's your plan… have you really thought this through? The Divider might not be too happy about you threatening Amity or targeting me and Willow; he sort of has a high opinion of us." Luz said, a hint of a threat in her voice.

Arboriel shrugged; "He can hardly get angry if I don't actually harm you, and if I do it will be because you assaulted me first. I'm entitled to self-defence."

"I somehow doubt that excuse will fly." Willow muttered. "But putting that aside; why did you tell us to bring "Retainers"? And why does Terra want Raine?"

Arboriel's smile became sharp; "Is it not obvious? We only have so many fleshlings here, and with every new Mandragora I create, the amount of food each of us can have is reduced. So I asked you each to bring a fleshling that can help keep the equilibrium of food to Mandragoras. As for Mx. Whispers…"

Terra chimed in; "What can I say? I've always had a soft-spot for my Little Sprout. They were always so full of life… I guess you could consider them to be a bumper crop."

Raine sneered; "So you invited us to feed on us like parasites. I had figured."

Luz narrowed her eyes on the two Mandragora Royals; "Sorry to disappoint, but I think we're all going to have to decline. Please return Amity so that we can end this without too much fuss."

Terra sneered, while Arboriel looked down on her imperiously; "I think not. Listen closely, Little Sunflower; accept your place as Princess of the Mandragoras and you will have everything you could ever want. I will expand my garden queendom across the Isles and beyond it, and once I have become the Empress of all Flora within the Demon and Divine Realms, I will carve out independent queendoms for my loyal daughters. Behave and take this great honour without a fuss, and I will even convert your little lover into a Mandragora too. This "Amity" may be your royal consort." The Queen then looked to Willow; "If you accept, I will also allow you to keep this boy as your consort also. I can smell the affection between the two of you, so no doubt you'd be happy with that."

Willow and Hunter both flushed, but glared up at Arboriel in response. "No deal!" Willow yelled. "Give us back our friend, now!"

Arboriel scowled, and Terra smiled viciously as she turned to her new mother; "It seems they will not obey of their own free will. Perhaps it is time to overpower that will, Mother Dearest?"

"You are right, Dear Terra." Arboriel sighed, snapping her fingers and causing the air around the CATTs to be filled with a strange reddish-pink haze as the smell of the flowers grew a lot more intense. The CATTs began holding their breath, but they didn't bother trying to defend themselves in other ways, knowing the haze was actually the pheromones that Arboriel was releasing through her flowers. They made a show of coughing and spluttering as they tried in vain to waft the haze away, before all of them slowly went still and began to look at Arboriel with faux looks of reverence. Seeing the five CATTs apparently falling under her power, Arboriel's smile returned and she snapped her fingers again, lowering her throne to the ground and getting up so she could approach her two would-be princesses.

"I had hoped to add you to my ranks with your free will intact, but it seems that was not to be. Fear not; you will grow to love me as your mother soon enough. Once you've tasted the power of a Mandragora, you will understand our greatness!" Arboriel declared, gently brushing a hand through Willow's hair, playing with one of her braided pig tails. Willow had to try very hard not to shudder at the unwelcome touch, and it thankfully didn't last very long as Arboriel then turned her attention to Luz as Terra descended to join the Queen in examining their prizes.

"With a Seraphim as one of my Princesses, I will soon have even the Divine Realm within my Empire. The Lord Divider has plans to unify the Divine Realm with the Demon Realm and bring paradise to both, and what better way to create a paradise than with a world of flowers, ruled by a Goddess of Nature?" Arboriel smiled serenely, stroking Luz's face. She brushed a thumb over the scar on Luz's eyebrow, tutting a little as she did so. Luz clenched her jaw as tightly shut as she could to keep herself from reacting; Arboriel clearly didn't realise that the Divider's ultimate goal would involve dividing everyone, including her. His sympathy for the plight of her race had deluded her into thinking he'd accept her plans, and one way or another, she was in for a rude awakening.

"And while Mother Dearest is making her new daughters and building our empire, I will take my proper place as a monarch in my own right. The Isles will be mine to rule while she moves on to the rest of the Realm." Terra grinned as she reached for Raine's face; "And you will be mine too, Little Sprout. You were always so full of energy… I look forward to devouring it over and over for the years to come. You'll remain my obedient food source for the rest of your life, while that wretched Owl Lady will be lucky to escape being plucked like the over-sized pigeon she is."

"If that is your plan, your Majesties, then there is a slight problem with it." Luz said, keeping her voice respectful.

"Oh? Are your old rebel friends planning something?" Arboriel asked.

Luz's smile turned sharp too; "Of course; they plan what rebels always plan; Rebellion!"

With that Luz opened her mouth and shot a light beam from her tongue, aimed directly at Arboriel's face. The Mandragora Queen's eyes widened and she began to dodge to the side, but she hadn't seen the attack coming quickly enough and ended up grazed, burning her left cheek and ear, and losing a few leaves.

At the same moment, Raine suddenly slammed their forehead into a shocked Terra's face, making her nose bleed green blood as she recoiled and screamed in pain. Boscha ripped herself free from Luz's weak restraints and all five of the CATTs summoned their staves while all but Luz reached for their hidden supply of Anti-Pheromone Gas Bombs.

"What trickery is this!? Why do my pheromones not work on any of you!?" Arboriel demanded, her cheek slowly healing. It was odd to watch; it was like the plant fibres of her being were coming undone and then having the burnt parts pulled away before regenerating and threading themselves back together.

"Your messenger, Poppy, provided us with more than just your message! We used samples we took from her to make a counter for your pheromones, not only giving us immunity, but also preparing gas bombs! Say goodbye to your minions!" Luz declared as her friends all threw their bombs around the Ritual Chamber. Thus far, the other Mandragoras and their brainwashed servants had been watching from a respectful distance, not daring to approach their queen's throne without being summoned, but now as the gas bombs landed amongst them and began filling the room with a strange blue vapour, they all began shuddering as their minds slowly returned to being their own. The feelings of deep love and loyalty they felt for Arboriel vanished with the pheromones, and most of them immediately began to flee in terror, either using their own Restraining Rafflesia to escape beyond the court, or fleeing for the still open entrance that Luz and the CATTs had come through. The few that remained rushed to surround their former masters, with the Mandragora that had once been an Arch-Angel moving to stand beside Luz.

"On behalf of my brothers and sisters, I sincerely thank you for freeing us, Heroine of Paradise! Please, allow us to fight on your side against these foul deceivers!" she said.

Luz smiled and was tempted to agree, but remembered Emira's warning from before; the gas wouldn't last very long and granted no immunity, so if the freed Mandragoras stuck around, they'd be controlled again and the CATTs would be stuck dealing with them.

"Thanks for the offer my friend, but it'll actually be safer if you leave. The cure we gave you won't last much longer, and if you're still around when it wears off, she'll control you all again. Please evacuate and get the others to safety." Luz said quietly, making sure Arboriel and Terra (who were still tending to their injuries while being surrounded) didn't hear her. The Arch-Angel looked conflicted, but seeing as Luz was a fellow Angel and had to tell the truth, she believed her and nodded reluctantly.

"Alright. We shall do as you say. The Wings of Rani will not forget this, my Lady." she said, before ordering the others to follow her and flee the Inner Court.

Once they were gone, Luz and the others began preparing spells to restrain Arboriel and Terra, but the latter snarled; "If you think you were helping those fools, you've got another thing coming! The Mandragoras outside are still loyal! They'll capture them in a heart beat!"

Luz smirked; "No they won't. In case you didn't notice, I didn't throw any gas bombs. I put mine to use elsewhere!"

Boscha grinned; "You left them up in the Outer Court with a bunch of little homunculi, didn't you?" she asked, figuring out the girl's plan.

"You got it! When I shot Arboriel just a second ago, I used my magic to send an order to the little guys and had them set the bombs off in the Outer Court AND in the forest outside, with wind glyphs to spread the gas far and wide! Even now, every Mandragora in your little queendom should be free and running for the hills, while the CATTs are swarming the place!" Luz declared with a victorious grin as she pointed Stringbean at Arboriel; "It's over for you now! Give up and make this easy; not even the Wings of Rani will try to stop us after what you did to their own!"

Arboriel glared furiously, now fully healed; "Do not get too hasty, girl! Your precious mate is still trapped within my grasp!"

The Mandragora then snapped her fingers to summon back the flower that contained Amity… only for nothing to happen. With a curse, Arboriel looked over at the Great Treant that held her throne, and saw that it too had been cured of her pheromones and was no longer going to obey her, as it was a naturally born Treant rather than one conjured by her magic. Of course, the Treant would likely fall under her control again if she used her pheromones a second time, now that the cure gas had faded, but Arboriel didn't know that and Luz and her friends were not in a rush to tell her! So long as Amity's plant cocoon remained out of Arboriel's grasp, she was safe and the Rescue Team could fight!

"Fine then. We'll do this the hard way… I confess, I was curious how a rematch would go! Face me now, child of the Divine! Show me the strength you've gained since our last encounter!" Arboriel declared, before slamming her staff on the ground. This released a shockwave that knocked everyone but her off their feet, including Terra. Luz recovered by catching herself with her wings, while Hunter caught himself with his flash spell, using it to flash over and catch Willow, helping her back to her feet. Boscha, Raine, and Terra all fell to the ground though, but Boscha rolled with the fall and sprang back up, leaving only Raine and Terra needing to pick themselves up, the former grumbling that they weren't young enough for such acrobatics any more. Raine may have only been in their late 30's, but the curse still left them creaking like an old barn door!

As the first to have avoided falling, Luz shot several light beams at Arboriel to force her to dodge backward and give the CATTs some space, but as she did this, Luz heard a grinding sound and turned around just in time to see the entrance to the room slowly grinding to a close, just as it did when the Supreme Dragons had awoken in the other temples.

"Dang it, I guess that staff can control the temple. Now the others can't get in!" Luz cursed. The stone of the Elemental Temples, made from Dragon Bone, was all but impenetrable and indestructible without special tools and methods. During the brief time they'd spent with the CATTs, Lars had explained to Luz that this was because the bone that made up the temples were still infused with the power of the dragons who gave their skeletons to build them, and thus continued to drain power from the Titan's corpse, rendering them nigh-indestructible. That was why the main temples were built underground, submerged in the Titan's flesh-turned-earth, and why Luz had been able to destroy Pulvoltary; once Cassiopeia's Heart was destroyed, the Dragon Bone that made up the temple lost its connection and power, rendering it vulnerable.

Terra, finally clambering back to her feet, immediately attacked Raine by conjuring some Mandrakes; little plant creatures that resembled some kind of root vegetable that was shaped like a baby. Despite having baby-like bodies, they moved with surprising coordination as they ran at Raine, their needle-like teeth dripping with poison. Raine scowled and turned Rena into her violin form to begin fighting back, but before they could play a single note, the Mandrakes began to scream. The scream of a Mandrake was deafening and could shatter glass, making it extremely hard to communicate AND rendering a lot of Bardic Magic useless. Thankfully, Raine's ears were tough and they could power through the scream to launch a sonic blade from their bow, slicing the Mandrakes in half and silencing them.

Terra growled, but didn't have time to conjure more before she was attacked by both Hunter and Willow. The latter shot at her with a Shooting Seed Pod that she'd grown from her wooden bangles, and Hunter flashed towards her and tried to jab her in the back with his electrified staff. Terra avoided Hunter's attack by managing to grow a shield of Bouncing Bellflowers, whose rubbery leaves insulated her from the lightning. The seeds pelted her skin though, but while they did hurt and even bruise, these little injuries lasted only a few seconds before Terra's Mandragora physiology allowed her to absorb the seeds and use them to heal her wounds. Not only that, but like Arboriel had once done with the Palistrom Tree in the Bat Queen's forest, Terra was able to incorporate the absorbed plant matter into herself, growing a pair of Shooting Seed Pods of her own from her shoulders, which began firing at the two teens in tandem. Raine came to their rescue by putting up a sonic barrier to protect them, giving them a moment to plan their next move.

At the same time, Arboriel pointed her staff at Luz and fired a monstrously powerful beam of green magic. Luz dodged out of the way and summoned an ice glyph before declaring; "Ice Burn!" and firing an equally powerful beam of blue ice magic that looked almost like intense blue flames. Arboriel defended against it by conjuring a thick wall of roots, only to find Luz's attack burning through them with a cold flame. Arboriel was shocked, but her surprise only grew when she caught a flash off to her left and turned just in time to see Boscha shooting a stream of fire at her. The flames hit her head on and made her scream and began thrashing about, but she was swiftly doused by Luz, who'd sprayed her with water.

"Luz, what are you doing!? If we light her on fire, we can force her to waste all her magic on healing! Or just force her to surrender!" Boscha yelled.

Luz shook her head; "We can't afford to use fire in here! We're trapped in an enclosed space with no way out right now! If you start a fire, there won't be a way to escape and we could all be burnt to a crisp or suffocated! Remember what nearly happened to Hanu the other day!?"

The three-eyed girl gulped, remembering Hanu recounting how one of her father's hunters had ignited the forest she'd made down in the tunnels of Digale Island… the CATTs still hadn't managed to get back to that part of the underground yet, but it was all but confirmed that the hunters who'd been trapped in that underground blaze were now dead. Now Boscha understood why Luz had opted for ice magic that she'd shaped like flames rather than any actual fire!

"Okay, fair point… this might be a little tougher if I can't use fire, but I've still got my potions and abominations! I'll follow your lead Luz!" Boscha declared.

Luz smiled and looked over to the fight with Terra; Willow, Hunter, and Raine seemed to have things well in-hand, so she would leave the evil Plant Witch to them while she focused on Arboriel.

The Mandragora Queen, feeling slightly insulted that she was fighting only two of the CATTs instead of three, began conjuring various different kinds of flowers to attack the two girls with; she'd crush the three-eyed gnat and then focus all her attention on the little Sunflower!

At the same time, Terra conjured more Mandrakes and used some root tentacles from the ground to pick them up and launch them at the rebels, focusing her attacks mostly on Raine. The Bard responded by producing several sonic blades to slice the roots away, but like a hydra, every one they cut seemed to split into two, with the tip reconnecting to the ground and growing a whole new root, and the original body just growing a new tip. Willow tried to help by spinning her staff and growing a series of root tentacles herself, but as they shot from the ground and hit Terra's creations, the evil woman cackled and declared; "Using plants on a Mandragora!? You don't have the faintest idea what you're doing!"

Terra then drew a spell circle that caused her roots to begin wrapping around Willow's, before beginning to fuse with and consume them, making Terra's roots bigger while Willow's were absorbed. Willow grit her teeth; that was the second time Terra head easily just absorbed her magic and if she could do that with any plants, that rendered Willow's main form of attack useless!

Hunter was undeterred though and called out to Raine; "Raine, follow my lead!" he yelled, channelling Lightning Magic through Flapjack's staff and creating a halberd blade of lightning atop it, before flashing towards the roots. Raine decided to follow suit by channelling Bardic Magic into their violin bow, turning it into the magic saber that they'd used against Luz just the previous day. The two former Coven Heads then slashed through the roots, with Hunter using his flashes to move at very high speeds and avoid the roots' attacks while Raine did the same by creating propelling sonic booms with the impact of their feet against the ground. Hunter's lightning halberd cauterised the roots as he sliced them, keeping them from regenerating and growing a new body, while Raine's magic bow merely sliced them, giving Hunter an opening to go back and cull them as they regenerated.

Willow, determined to still be useful even if she was now limited to a support role, cried; "I may not be able to use plants directly on you, you evil hag, but I can still use them to help my allies!"

With that, she began to grow a new plant from her bangles; a small grey strawberry-like fruit with a slightly more rounded body and with bright yellow seeds on its flesh, and odd cotton-like fluff on top of it in place of the usual leaves. These were Stormberries, and as the name suggested, they could create tiny localised storms. Willow tossed one into the air above the root tentacles, and then shot it with a tiny bit of Plant Magic in the form of a simple green bolt of magic. The berry was struck and promptly exploded, immediately releasing a decently large storm cloud that covered the ceiling of the entire Inner court and began crackling with lightning. Stormberry juice, when exposed to magic, would immediately evaporate into clouds that were primed to become thunderstorm clouds, while the seeds could generate a decent amount of static electricity when they were hit with magic too, and the two effects resulted in an instant thunderstorm.

"Hunter! Use this!" she yelled, making the boy grin.

"Thanks for the present Captain! I'll make it count! Wild Bolt Storm!" Hunter cried, using Flapjack to draw the lightning of the storm towards him, then slamming the staff down towards the roots. Immediately, multiple massive bolts of lightning shot from the cloud and converged on Flapjack, and as Hunter struck one of the roots with his staff, all that lightning exploded outward in a huge blast of electricity which incinerated the root tentacles completely, while Hunter's control over the lightning ensured Raine didn't get hit too.

"Ha! Got it! How'd you like that, Snapdragon!?" Hunter cheered.

Terra, for her part, did look a little bit surprised… though she currently looked insultingly casual too. The mandrakes she'd conjured before were now serving her tea as she lounged on a giant mushroom.

"Impressive! And here I thought Belos only kept you around out of some twisted nepotism, or as an easy vessel for possession. But it seems you actually have some skill! And you…" Terra pointed a long fingernail at Willow; "Growing Stormberries with magic alone is a very impressive feat! Perhaps Mother Dearest was right, and you ARE worthy of becoming a Mandragora Princess!"

Terra began to play with her vine hair as she thought about it; "Hmm, yes… that could work. Let me give you an offer, girl; become my child instead. I'll spare your golden boy toy as a pet for you and you can live quite comfortably! Once I take over Mother's Empire one day, I'll leave you as the new Mistress of the Isles!" she offered, before her smile grew sinister; "All you'd need to do is kill my treacherous Little Sprout. They've been tainted by their curse and are useless for food and everything else! Their one use is as a jester, but who wants a performer with stage fright?" she mocked, having lied from the beginning about what she really wanted Raine for.

Raine frowned at the jab, which hit a sore spot for them. They'd always hated their stage fright and didn't need this evil hag mocking them for it! And of course, Willow responded to Terra's words by using an Iron Blood Iris, one of her grafted flowers, to produce the effects of both Iron Irises and Blood-Boiling Buttercups. This turned Willow's flesh into iron and granted her a mini-Bile Overload and feral rage, which she used to rush at Terra. The woman was surprised and sent out her Mandrake Minions, but Willow began tearing them apart with ease, as their poison teeth failed to pierce her iron skin and their screams served only to annoy her… at least until Raine used Bardic Magic to temporarily deafen Willow, forming red and gold domes over Willow's ears that looked like magic earmuffs. Once the last of the Mandrakes was torn to pieces, the raging Willow tossed one of the minions' heads at Terra, who swatted it aside with a look of disgust, only to find that this had given Willow the opportunity to launch herself at Terra too, rapidly growing a short tree at an angle beneath her feet to propel her forward.

Willow threw back her fist with a vicious scream and Hunter suddenly shot a lightning bolt at her, making it conduct through her iron skin without damaging the organs beneath it all. Willow slammed her fist into the surprised Terra's face, and the electricity immediately jumped into the evil woman, zapping her too. Terra was knocked flying, screaming from the punch as both Willow and Hunter yelled; "Plasma Fist!"

The evil Mandragora crashed into the wall of the temple and would have potentially been knocked out if a series of giant mushrooms, just like the one she'd been sitting on, hadn't suddenly grown out of her back and acted like a natural airbag. Willow, who returned to normal as the effects of her grafted flowers wore off quickly, frowned as she examined the mushroom that Terra had just been sat on, noting it had a very pale pink cap and no visible gills as the cap curled round into its vibrant purple body. It took a moment for Willow to recognise it's species, but by the time she had recognised it, it was too late; Terra had snapped her fingers.

Suddenly, the mushroom stood up, revealing it had a whole swarm of mycelium tendrils (the mushroom equivalent of roots) beneath it, which it used to stand up. It extended many of these tendrils towards Willow and wove them together into a long, rope like appendage that it suddenly lashed at her. Clover, still in staff form, quickly flew up on her own, dragging Willow into the air with her thanks to the tight grip she had the staff, allowing Willow to avoid the lash. Hunter, seeing this attack, promptly shot a lightning bolt at the odd mushroom, burning a hole right through it. However this didn't kill the fungus, which simply created a second rope-like appendage to swing at him too, leaving both teens having to dodge them.

Terra watched this as she stood back up, snapping her jaw back into place after Willow's punch had broken it. Her body still felt a little numb and tingly from the lightning, but the effect was wearing off fast. "You little fool! You should have taken my offer! Not I'll have to kill your little Grimwalker pet along with my Rotten Sprout!"

"We won't be beaten by the likes of you!" Raine declared, sending a sonic blade at the odd mushroom and slicing it in half right down the middle… only for it to keep moving and attacking, much to Raine's and Hunter's confusion.

"It's a Chambler Mushroom!" Willow explained, having pulled herself up onto her staff to fly around out of the Fungus' reach; "They're basically Zombie Mushroom Creatures! They won't stop trying to consume their prey until they're completely destroyed! Nothing short of complete disintegration can kill one!"

As she said those words, the two divided halves of the Chambler each independently gave up on catching Willow and instead rushed for Raine and Hunter, each one growing a second rope tendril and flailing them wildly to try and catch one of them and destroy them. At the same time, Terra used vines attached to her back to lift her into the air so she could go after Willow, keeping the (slightly crushed) Chambler Mushrooms on her back so they could use their tendrils to attack the girl. Willow responded by using some Pruning Spells to give her a blade of green magic around her hands, allowing her to slice the tendrils away.

"Disintegration, huh? Then let's try this!" Hunter yelled, giving himself a new Bestial Blessing; the tail of a Yellow Wyvern. A Yellow Wyvern was a Greater Dragon that was descended from the Supreme Grade Thunder Wyverns, and were very similar in appearance, only smaller and with vibrant yellow scales and black horns and wings, which helped them blend in with stormy skies. They were less powerful too, but their tails featured the same double thunderbolt-like prongs, only made of black crystal instead of the usual horn-like material.

Hunter used this tail to create a tiny black crystal between the prongs and super charged it with Lightning Magic, then launched it at the Chambler coming towards him with a cry of "Electro Ball!". It hit the target and promptly exploded, releasing a perfect orb of intense Lightning Magic that vaporised the Chambler completely, leaving only black ash in its wake.

At the same time, Raine took out the second half of the Chambler with similar ease, playing a song known as the Dirge of Destruction on their harp. This spell mimicked the demolition spells of the Construction Coven, allowing Raine to launch a red wave of magic at the Chambler that reduced it to mulch in a single moment. It wasn't a spell that worked on living things under normal circumstances, but as it lacked any kind of soul or real sentience, the Chamblers were more like fungal golems than living things.

With both halves of the original Chambler now gone, Raine and Hunter rushed to Willow's aid, the former opting to remain on the ground while the latter took to the air with a Bestial Blessing of Griffin Wings. Hunter immediately got stuck in alongside Willow, deflecting tendrils with his Yellow Wyvern Tail or destroying them with his staff, once again turned into a lightning halberd. At the same time, Raine prepared a new song to take advantage of the fact Willow wasn't using actual plants against Terra.

"This type of music never suited me, but here goes! This is the Herbicide Hula!" Raine declared, blushing a little as they began to play their violin. The music they played really was very close to Hula music, and was supposedly developed independently by both the island nations of the Human Realm and the Demon Realm. The Herbicide Hula had been invented, along with a ceremonial dance, as a way of destroying the Green Tiger Grass that grows on the coast of non-Titan Landmasses, and which would catch and strangle fish then use them to lure in sea fowls for the grass to devour, robbing the people of two food sources and even making them victims of its strangling grasp on occasion.

As such, while it was not Raine's preferred type of music, they made good use of it here to effect Terra's little fungal minions on her back, and even Terra herself. The song caused the Chamblers on her back, as well as the flowers and grass around their fight to turn black and begin to wither away into nothingness, while Terra's own green skin began to turn a rotten colour akin to Belos' green slime, which while the woman began to feel sick and weak. Raine grinned; they hadn't expected the spell to work on Terra too (if they'd known, they'd have whipped it out earlier), but there was an unfortunate downside too… one Raine didn't see coming until Willow and Hunter suddenly fell out of the sky.

Willow had fallen because Clover had been effected and became sick as well, while Flapjack had suffered the same fate. However Hunter hadn't been flying with Flapjack; his fall was due to the spell effecting him too, causing the Palistrom Wood inside him to begin rotting as well and leaving him feeling sick and frail. Raine gasped in horror and stopped their song, then looked and saw that even Rena was turning an unsightly shade of green due to the spell.

"Oh no! I'm a fool! Palismen and Grimwalkers are part plant! If the spell effects Mandragoras, of course it'll effect them too! I'm so sorry!" Raine cried turning Rena back into her fox form and cradling her even as they ran over to the teens and their Palisman.

"Raine! Can you help them!?" Willow cried, holding Clover in one hand and holding up Hunter with the other as the poor boy tried not to throw up.

"I-I…!" Raine began to panic, realising that this was their fault. They instinctively went to play a song of healing with their violin, but stopped when they remembered Rena's condition. Fur began to emerge from their neck and wrists as they struggled to contain their curse, and they hastily chugged down an Elixir to force it back and calm their mind.

"I can do it." they said, composing themselves quickly. They began to softly whistle the tune of the Restorative Rondo, using a big chunk of their Divine Blessing from Luz to produce a kind of healing aura around their hands, which they first pressed into Rena to restore her to full health. Raine then began playing the song on their violin, which allowed them to more effectively heal Hunter, Flapjack, and Clover in one swoop. They played the song softly, so it wouldn't reach Terra and fix her too, though that didn't seem to matter as the evil Mandragora began absorbing the plant life around her to restore her damaged parts.

"Ugh, that wasn't fun." Hunter shuddered, shaking off his nausea; "Thank you, Raine."

"Don't thank me. I was a fool who almost got you killed with that. I'm so sorry." the Bard replied, looking down in shame. First they'd dragged these kids into war, and now they'd hurt them personally with their carelessness!? Raine could scarcely believe how foolish they'd acted!

Hunter and Willow both opened their mouths to tell Raine to give themselves a break, but they were attacked by a resurgent Terra before they could manage it. Of course, she hadn't attacked them directly; it wasn't Terra's style to fight when she could have her botanical minions do it for her, so she had conjured a pair of Ent Golems: a kind of artificial Tree Giant made from growing and animating a tree with magic. The Ent Golems looked like actual Ents though; giant trees of different species that had grown into the shape of a humanoid and then been animated. Real Ents were known for incredible strength and these fakes were no different!

"Enjoy your brief moment of triumph over me, you Rotten Sprout! It'll be the last one before I consign you to the compost pile!" Terra threatened viciously as the two Ent Golems came charging at the CATTS, with one focused on the teens and one focused on Raine.

Willow took charge of fighting the one heading for them and shouted to Hunter; "These things don't have their own magic like real Ents, but they're just as tough! Aim for the their joints where their bark armour is thin! A good blow to those will end this quickly!" She declared, conjuring her Artillery Seed Pods. She'd made them smaller than normal (a boon of working with Grafted Plant Magic) and began firing explosive seeds at the Ent, focusing on its shoulders in order to disable it's powerful arms. This wasn't easy thanks to the beast's surprising speed and the amount it moved around, but Hunter was there to back her up.

"Bestial Blessing: Kraken Tentacles!" Hunter declared, transforming the fingers of his left hand into the long, powerful tentacles of the mighty Kraken (scaled down to fit Hunter's smaller size). These tentacles wrapped around the Ent's legs and then squeezed them together, not only tying the legs up and making the Ent trip and fall (with a cry of "Timber!" from Hunter) but also cracking and splintering the bark on the Ent's legs, exposing the softer wood and plant fibres beneath. With that, Hunter was able to leap out and slice both legs at once, using his Yellow Wyvern Tail's sharp prongs to slice one leg while using his lightning Wyvern to do the same with the other. At the same time, with the Ent no longer able to dodge or attack her, Willow was able to focus her Artillery Seed Pod explosions on its shoulders more easily, blasting off the Ent's arms. With no arms and no legs, the two Teens launched a final combo attack, with Willow creating a blade of pruning Plant Magic on her staff while Hunter used his lightning halberd to deliver a scissor-like double slice to either side of the Ent Golem's neck, decapitating it and destroying it, leaving it as nothing but wood that began to rapidly rot away.

As this was happening, Raine was having a bit more trouble with their Ent Golem, though that was more due to their confidence issues rearing their ugly heads after their mistake a moment ago. Of course, this didn't mean they were struggling exactly; just not taking it down as easily. Raine tried to compose themselves enough to use sonic blades to cut the Ent Golem down to size, but struggled to keep themselves focused as the Golem stood between Raine and the teens, making them worry they would cut them if they weren't extremely careful with their aim. Ultimately, Raine scrounged up the courage they needed and aimed their slice high to ensure the sonic blade sliced right through the Golem's abdomen, bifurcating the wooden construct. It's torso began to slide backwards off its hips, but as that risked landing on the teens, Raine rapidly conjured violin strings from their fingers and bound them to the golem's torso, pulling them away with all their strength in order to make the Golem collapse on itself, landing in a heap of broken wood. This let Raine easily hop up its body and onto the top of its head, where a quick sonic blade cut the golem's cranium in half right down the middle, destroying the Ent Golem and causing it to start rotting, just like the other one.

"Easy as pie!" Hunter cheered, dismissing his Kraken Blessing.

"Don't let your guard down yet." Raine said with a frown as they looked at Terra. The Mandragora Woman was smiling cruelly, which was not the expression one wanted to see on an enemy whose minions they'd just destroyed. The trio braced themselves for what would come next, as Terra drew a spell circle.

Hunter flashed forward in hopes of interrupting Terra's spell, but she was swiftly protected by a giant Bouncing Bellflower that was coated in a web of Iron Vines, neutralising both the force and electricity of the attack. Within her flower barrier, Terra completed her spell and caused all the decaying chunks of Ent Golem to melt together into a huge pile of rotting compost, from which she grew a massive Restraining Rafflesia. The bloom was closed when it first grew, but almost as soon as it appeared, the giant flower began to move erratically as something dangerous tried to break out from inside. Hunter shot a blast of lightning towards the flower in hopes of destroying what Terra had just summoned with it, and successfully pierced the side of the flower and whatever was inside.

The result was a loud roar of rage and the flower thrashing around as the creature tried to break out with even more vigour.

"Bad move, boy. You were born from a grave… well my little pet is about to put you back in it!" Terra grinned, snapping her fingers and causing the Restraining Rafflesia to bloom, revealing the creature inside.

It was a Dragon, and one that made Hunter and Willow both turn as pale as ghosts. The Dragon was about the same size as Princess, Kikimora's Clasping Amphithere, but that was where the similarities ended. The Dragon's body was quadrupedal and appeared to be constructed entirely from pieces of wood bound together by dark green vines that were so overcome with rot that they appeared almost black, despite not having lost any strength. It's legs each ended in a three-clawed stump-like foot, and it's long tail ended in a wooden version of a Venus Fly Trap, with teeth that looked like they could pierce iron. It's neck was short, and its head, which was resembled a common dragon head carved from wood, was releasing some kind of black and green miasma from its maw. The creature's horns were tree-branches, and it also bore two huge wooden tusks sprouting from its shoulders, while it's wings were skeletal and covered in strange bloody red petals that didn't look to be a natural part of its body. These red petals continued to the creature's back, which was covered in them., but that wasn't all the creature was covered in… the inside of its body was full of hives and webs, which were in turn full of insects of all kind, creating a rather grim and disturbing image as the little creatures swarmed out at the Dragon's roar.

"What in the Titan's name is that!?" Raine cried in horror. They'd never been a fan of bugs in large numbers!

"A Rotwood Dragon!" Willow gasped; "One of the great Scourges of the Forest!"

"It's a Lesser Dragon with only limited strength, but it's symbiotic relationship with the swarms of insects that make their hives inside its floral flesh make it as potentially dangerous as a Greater Dragon!" Hunter continued, already coating himself in an aura of blue lightning, to act like a Bug Zapper.

"I hope you enjoy fighting my little pet! I caught and tamed this beast just for situations like this! If a handful of minions isn't enough, then try thousands!" Terra cackled, waving her hand towards the CATTs.

The Rotwood Dragon responded by roaring and unleashing a swarm of Black Soot Bees; a variant of Fire Bees that have condensed their flames into the poison in their stingers, allowing them to deliver one of the most excruciating stings in the Demon Realm. The whole swarm rushed towards the trio, and while Hunter was immediately safe thanks to his aura of lightning, Willow was forced to use Iron Iris Pollen to make herself too tough for the bees to sting through, while Raine blasted the swarm away with a sonic blast from their violin. Of course, the bees weren't the only issue, as a swarm of tiny black spiders began creeping towards the trio from gaps between the Dragon's toes. These spiders were common garden spiders, but in such large numbers and under the influence of the Dragon, they could quickly wrap their victims in silk. Willow took to the sky to evade them, and used a vine to pull Raine up with her so they could keep playing their violin and keep the Bees away. Hunter remained on the ground since his aura zapped the creatures, but this made him the target of the Dragon, which thrust its tail towards his head, aiming to bite it off. Hunter countered with his own Yellow Wyvern Tail, hoping his scales would keep the teeth at bay since Yellow Wyverns were a higher grade than a Rotwood Dragon, but being sized down had also reduced their hardness, allowing the dragon to pierce through it and into the flesh.

Hunter screamed in pain, but since the tail was just conjured from a blessing, he easily dismissed it and responded by flashing behind the Dragon's head and launching a lightning bolt at the back of its wooden skull. The blast hit, but the Dragon was tough and it's wooden hide didn't conduct electricity very well (hence why the prior bolt while the beast was being summoned from the Restraining Rafflesia had failed). In retaliation for the blow, the Rotwood Dragon reared back and knocked the boy to the ground with the back of it's head, then turned and charged at Hunter, aiming to gore him with its tusks, though Hunter was saved by Raine slicing the tusk off with a sonic blade, making the creature roar in pain and release a cloud of red pollen from the flowers on its back. Hunter didn't recognise the pollen, as the red petals weren't a normal part of Rotwood Dragons, but Raine found it oddly familiar looking and Willow realised what it was immediately.

"Hunter, get back! That's Wrathful Rose pollen! The petals all over this thing must have come from them!"

The young Grimwalker flashed away and conjured a large spear, which he heated up with fire magic and then tossed at the Dragon like a javelin. The spear stabbed right into the creature and began burning its insides, causing it to roar and begin rampaging around, ramming into the nearby walls and releasing every bug in its body to swarm the CATTs. Willow was still under the effects of the Iron Iris and Hunter still had his aura though, so most died quickly or tried to attack Raine, who simply leapt down from Willow's vines and touched the ground, then began to furiously play their violin, performing the Prelude of Light, which caused the light around them to condense into small golden orbs that began firing needles of light at the bugs with incredible speed. It took a lot of fine control and wore Raine out a little, but the swarm was quickly slain, with the only survivors being those that ignored them all and fled into the grass and foliage that filled the Inner Court.

Terra continued to smile though, and between that and how weak the Rotwood Dragon was, the CATTs were starting to smell a rat. Beyond their physical prowess, the Rotwood Dragon was a species that was only really dangerous for two things; a disease spreading breath attack that was very effective on plants, and the ability to take control of insects that nest inside its body, by using a pheromone in its flesh (which the insects feed on) to take over their minds. This made them dangerous to forested areas, but it was still only a Lesser Dragon, though this specimen was smaller than most of its species, probably being the runt of the clutch. Without its swarms, it was only a challenge for average Witches and Demons (which the trio of CATTs were certainly not), yet this particular specimen was also rather weak even for its smaller size, and it was behaving oddly. They were usually more cunning creatures…

"Small, weaker than average, and attacking mindlessly? What the heck has Snapdragon done to this thing?" Hunter wondered aloud.

"Considering her tendencies, she probably stole its egg and raised it as some twisted pet to use on people in her little arena beneath Spriggan Manor." Willow said with a scowl.

Terra snorted and mockingly said; "Aw, you know me so well. I always did like a certain type of endangered beast, and what can I say? Feeding them with the blood and flesh of failures brings me joy! Weakness should feed strength! Like little Hanu for example."

"I'll remember that when you're beaten and bleeding on the floor!" Willow snapped; "And you don't have the right to say Hanu's name after what you did to her!"

"Such drama; if you cared so much, you wouldn't be fighting alongside the monster who actually almost ate her." Terra said, grinning cruelly at Raine. The Bard flinched and averted their eyes with a guilty frown, remembering how they'd been forced into becoming the Bat Beast.

Hunter growled; "Shut up! You're the one who forced that situation, Snapdragon! And you were beaten to a pulp for it! But by all means, let's relive that part right now! Come on, Captain!"

The two teens, rising to the defence of their comrade (who was both touched and guilt-ridden to be having them fight their battles for them), flew at Terra with a fury, each one wielding their staves like halberds by infusing them with the same magic they'd used on the Ent Golems. Terra defended against their slashes with the same combination of Bouncing Bellflower petals and Iron Vines, though found that Willow's Pruning Magic sliced through both effortlessly (it was magic that couldn't normally even cut hair, but was extremely effective on Plants), forcing the Mandragora to flee by letting herself be swallowed by a giant flower, which then tunnelled underground and bloomed again on the other side of the Inner Court, just before the entrance to the trees. She looked at Raine and grinned.

"How about we all reminisce on those good times back in Spriggan Manor… though there'll be no Owl Lady to save you this time, and a little Grimwalker replacing little Hanu!" Terra cackled.

Raine growled; "I knew that's why you loaded that Dragon up with Wrathful Rose petals! Too bad for you, I'm not going to let that pollen anywhere near my face!"

Terra began to laugh uproariously, as if Raine had just told the world's funniest joke; "Not going to let it!? Oh, you Rotten Sprout… who says I even need that? You're already doomed!"

That confused them and the teens too, but the confusion didn't last long as the Bard suddenly felt a mild sting on their left forearm. It didn't hurt a lot, but it did make them flinch and look down, their eyes widening with horror as they saw what had stung them; or rather, bitten them. It was a tiny ant with a very dark crimson body, and a massively swollen abdomen that appeared to be full of some lighter red substance.

This was a Potion Pot Ant; a breed of Demon Realm Ant that consumed pollen from magic flowers and stored it inside its abdomen, where its natural enzymes broke the pollen down into liquid and mixed it all together with the other Pollens it had eaten, essentially creating micro-doses of all manner of bizarre potions. The goal was to kill a large beast with these potions, then have their colony move into the corpse until it was fully rotted away, by which point they'd go looking for another one. Historically, several potions had been "invented" by these Ants purely by accident, and then replicated by Witches and Demons after seeing their use.

Raine crushed the Ant and flicked its remains off their arm, then stared in horror at the tiny red mark on their skin… before that horror began to turn into utter fury as a massive amount of rage filled their minds.

"N-No! Damn you, you plant hag!" they growled furiously forcing themselves down on one knee and digging their fingers into the soil as they fought the urge to try and carve them through someone's flesh.

"Raine!?" Willow cried, trying to rush to them, only for Hunter to pull her back.

"Careful Captain! The insects inside a Rotwood Dragon are under the control of the Dragon, and if the Dragon is under that hag's control, who knows what she's been forcing those Ants to eat!? I doubt it was just Wrathful Rose pollen!" he yelled.

"Indeed it was, you little scar-faced brat!" Terra said, repaying Hunter's insults with one of her own. "I loaded them up with all the pollens needed to create both a rage-inducing potion AND a nullifying agent for a certain rare plant… Goldwort!"

Raine, who'd been struggling to reach for another Elixir to stave off their transformation, suddenly went still; Goldwort was the key ingredient that allowed the Elixir to work! If the potion now working its way through their body was nullifying it, then the Elixirs wouldn't have much of an effect!

"Damn you! Damn you!" Raine growled, forcing themselves to remain still as they desperately fought to keep themselves from transforming. But Terra had no intention of letting them avoid that fate, and snapped her fingers, causing the still flailing and screeching Rotwood Dragon to ignore its pain and leap at Raine, throwing them to the ground and beginning to savage them.

For a split second, the teens looked on in complete horror. Hunter's eyes were wide with shock while Willow screamed, and both rushed at the Rotwood Dragon, believing they'd just witnessed it savagely mauling Raine to death. Willow's approach was stopped when Raine's arm came flying towards her, apparently ripped off by the Dragon's frenzy. She almost threw up, before noticing the lack of blood and the fact it had been pulled out of Raine's sleeve rather than torn off with their sleeve, meaning it had likely been detached as part of Raine's curse. That moment of relief faded fast though, as a whole new bloodthirsty roar bellowed out from the thrashing Dragon… or rather, beneath the Dragon. The teens couldn't see Raine through the haze of the fight, but they did see their detached arm beginning to swell and grow more muscular, as well as gaining a coating of mint coloured fur, long black claws, and parts of a wing.

This was the arm of the Bat Beast, and the roar Willow and Hunter had just heard suddenly seemed very different.

"Oh no…" Willow gasped, before suddenly screaming in surprise as the Rotwood Dragon was tossed in her direction, missing her by only a tiny margin as it hit the wall behind her. She and Hunter looked to where it had been thrown from and watched in horror as Raine the Bat Beast began stalking towards them, still intimidating despite the awkwardness of its three-legged gait. Its missing arm began clawing its way back to them, and reattached itself to the rest of its body, giving it both its wings. Now complete and in a frenzy that no Elixir could cure, the Bat Beast roared in fury and leapt at the Rotwood Dragon as Hunter pulled Willow out of the way.

What followed was a brutal exchange of claws and fangs as the two similarly sized monsters raged against each other and tried to kill one another. Raine's Bat Beast form was a tiny bit larger though, and as Terra clapped and cackled, they actually began to roar in fury and grow larger, to the point that it looked to be almost twice the size of the Rotwood Dragon. The reason for this was more Pollen Pot Ants, who were desperately coming out of the grass and biting the Bat Beast, only making it angrier and stronger as a result. Finally, the brutal battle ended with the Bat Beast tearing off one of the Dragon's arms and tossing it to the ground on its back, where it began to savagely rip into it, sending chunks of wood and rot everywhere, ultimately killing the creature.

"Marvellous! Now that was the show I wanted to see!" Terra clapped, utterly entertained.

"You sick freak!? They're only going to try and kill you now!" Willow yelled.

"Oh, I think not." Terra smirked, drawing a spell circle; "I planned for this from the start!"

As she completed her spell an Iron Vine shot out of the ground and stabbed itself towards the Bat Beast, managing to hit its head. The vine's tip pierced only about a centimetre into the top of the creature's skull, and the Bat Beast responded by easily ripping it to shreds, though it had already done its job.

"The seed is planted, now to make it grow!" Terra declared, drawing another spell circle. In response to their second spell, the Bat Beast suddenly stopped rampaging and growling, and instead began to shudder and move gingerly as it swayed back and forth. Willow and Hunter, still on guard, watched to see what had just happened, then gasped as long leaves began to grow from the top of the Bat Beast's head. These leaves were purple and featured swirls of pink and black; a sight that had Willow turning almost green.

"Oh no…!"

"What is it!?" Hunter asked urgently as the Bat Beast stopped shuddering and began to calmly walk towards Terra.

"Brain Wormwood! A parasitic plant that sends tiny roots through your pores and into your skull and brain, letting it control you!" Willow explained fearfully.

"And letting anyone who controls the Wormwood control them too." Terra said, casually making the Bat Beast kowtow to her so that she could step onto its back and face the teens; "Now…" she grinned maliciously; "… your plant magic pales in comparison to mine, little Seedling, so you'll never wrest control of this beast from me! So let's see what else you can do!"

Willow and Hunter both gulped as the Bat Beast turned to them and began to growl; this was not going to go well!

[Meanwhile]

On the other side of the Inner Court, too wrapped up in their own battle to notice any of this, Luz and Boscha were fighting against Arboriel in a much more evenly matched battle. It had begun with Arboriel rushing towards Boscha with her golden leaf wings, while producing a long crystalline leaf from her left wrist that she used like a scythe blade to try and cut the girl in half. Boscha countered by throwing down an abomination bomb that produced an abomination that could hardly move with how thick it's goop was, but was hard to cut through as a result, having a consistency like stiff toffee. Arboriel abandoned the lead blade and flew up to attack Boscha from above with her staff, but Luz met her in the sky and kicked the head of Arboriel's stolen staff, knocking her spell off course.

The spell had been intended to rapid fire bolts of green magic at Boscha, which would have grown Bloody Roses from her skin if they'd hit. These roses, similar to the Black Mold, would drain her blood from her, slowly killing her as they dyed their white petals red. These roses instead grew on the ground beside Boscha thanks to the missed attack, and the girl promptly yanked some of their white blooms from the thorny stems and began making a new potion with them. Arboriel growled and cast a spell, causing the thorns to grow much larger and then manipulating the roses to extend towards Boscha to try and stab her. This failed though, as Luz turned Stringbean into a fox-themed Scimitar, with the Snake-Shifter's body as the hilt and her tail as the blade. Luz sliced down on the roses, shredding them with a flurry of blows, then spun around and shot a monstrously powerful light beam directly at Arboriel.

The Mandragora responded by firing a beam of green magic from her Dragon Heart Staff, and the two blasts clashed and began to push against each other. In raw power, Luz was superior with her Titan-enhanced Seraphim magic, but Arboriel's blessing from the Divider and her stolen staff provided her with just enough magic to be able to match Luz, much to the girl's frustration. Of course, Luz wasn't alone and Boscha swiftly turned the tide by throwing an Ice Magic Bomb directly at Arboriel, causing it to shatter against her skin and release a blast of ice that made her scream. This also disrupted Arboriel's attack, allowing Luz's light blast to overpower her and hit her full on. Arboriel was only barely able to offset some of the power with the dregs of her own blast, and ironically enough, Boscha's ice attack had reduced the damage she'd taken. She still ended up blasted into a wall though.

"Ugh… foul gnat! This is between me and my sunflower! You're just an inconvenient pest!" Arboriel growled, tearing off the frozen parts of herself and absorbing the plant life around her to regenerate. Boscha wasn't going to make it easy though, and tried to use a Pale Curse Potion to prevent Arboriel's regeneration, but the Mandragora caught the potion with a vine and tossed it at Luz instead, who hastily opened a way into the shadows, then released the potion from the ceiling above Arboriel's head. Again it was blocked, though this time it was grabbed, shattered, and absorbed by some tree roots. The roots were afflicted instead, so Arboriel withered them to nothing and conjured a pair of Divine Realm Flowers that resembled Sunflowers, but with clear petals made of a crystalline material. Luz recognised the flowers as Diamoscus Flowers, which could fire light beams just like she could (albeit more weakly). The flowers immediately began rapid firing tiny light beams, with one focus on Boscha and the other on Luz, forcing both to take flight.

"Those flowers are weirdly hard! You'll need something corrosive for that!" Luz yelled to Boscha, as she decided to combine the ice and lightning glyphs to create an aurora-coloured bolt of lightning that zapped forward and almost hit Arboriel. The Mandragora blocked it with another conjured tree root, then suddenly grew another crystalline flower that resembled cotton with grey coloured crystal forming the fibres. This was Smoky Cosquarts and produced pollen so thick and in such large quantities that it formed a kind of natural smokescreen, which also made it hard for the girls to dodge the blasts shot by the Diamoscus Flowers. Luckily for Boscha, she had a trick up her sleeve.

The three-eyed girl used used a Tincture of True Sight, just like she'd done when fighting Severin, to let her third eye see the magical plants and Arboriel through the pollen smoke screen, then caught some of the pollen in a test tube filled with a strange liquid known as Itemizing Ichor. This liquid, when mixed with something else, neutralised any magical effects within the added material (so long as the magic could be degraded by the ichor), before the user drinks it. Upon drinking this ichor, the drinker gained instinctive knowledge of the added material's physical and magical properties, making the potion very useful for safely testing new potions, plants, and ingredients.

After choking down the foul tasting ichor, Boscha gained an understanding of how the material was composed, which made her smirk as she realised it was a very simple carbon-based material. With this knowledge now in hand, Boscha unveiled her somewhat limited skill with Transmutation Magic by transmuting all the smoke into a mild numbing poison, which Luz sent at Arboriel with a flap of her wings, causing the Mandragora to growl and hold her breath before she could be effected. That still didn't take care of the Diamoscus Flowers though, so Luz shot red light beams at them to disintegrate them now that the smokescreen was gone; a process that took a few seconds due to the hardness of the flowers.

Arboriel could hold her breath for quite a while, but not when Luz and Boscha began gunning for her in a coordinated effort, with Luz deciding to make use of her own Combat Potioneer Belt to work with Boscha, creating multiple Ice Magic Bombs and tossing them at the Mandragora. A few of them hit, making Arboriel bite her lip to keep herself from screaming, before she slammed her staff on the ground and began growing vines around her in a cocoon. These vines appeared to be made of yellow crystal, and had tiny green and purple flowers that looked like cut gemstones. These vines not only kept the ice bombs at bay, but the flowers on them also began to suck in and absorb the numbing poison Boscha had created, slowly turning black and crumbling away like coal as a result.

"What the heck are those?" Boscha frowned, still making potions but not yet throwing them.

"Those are a Divine Realm Flower; Airixandrites. They're a natural air filter that purifies the air around them." Luz answered, recognising them immediately; "Did the Divider give her a crash course in Divine Realm Plants or something? Or did she learn all this from the Angels she captured?"

Whatever the answer was, Luz wasn't about to find out immediately as Arboriel suddenly shot a beam of green magic from her staff again, shooting it through the yellow crystal vines, which she used like a magnifying glass to condense the beam into a thin laser that was only about as wide as a pencil, but had incredible force. It pierced straight through Boscha's left thigh before she had a chance to react, making her scream and fall to the ground right before Bloody Roses began to grow from the wound.

"Boscha!" Luz cried, rushing to help her. She used her plant glyph and darkness glyphs together to wither the flowers before they could drain too much of Boscha's blood, but the flowers had worked quick and Boscha's leg now looked withered and emaciated, like it hadn't been used in years.

"Argh! Dang it!" Boscha cursed through gritted teeth, before seeing another flash of light from the cocoon of crystal vines. "Luz, duck!"

The young Seraphim dove to the ground beside Boscha just in time to avoid being struck by another beam, though this one seemed to grow Iron Vines on the tree it hit, so it had obviously been meant to wound Luz and then bind her, rather than kill her. Luz retaliated by shooting more beams of red light at the cocoon, causing it to disintegrate. She then cast a Construction Spell she'd learned from Matt to harden the skin and flesh of her forearms, causing them to become diamond-like crystal in appearance. Since Luz's golden blood was still visible on the inside though, her arms looked more like glittering amber, and when Arboriel suddenly flew at her with a club made from a heavy Stone Spruce (a tree whose wood and bark were akin to hard rock), Luz was able to shatter it simply by holding her arms up to block the swing. Arboriel hadn't expected that and was shocked, which soon became a very real shock when Luz used Beast-Keeping Magic to turn Stringbean into Zio Hound; a breed of dog that had the ability to produce electric shocks with their bites. Stringbean bit down on Arboriel's now empty hand, making her scream and then convulse as the lightning pulsed through her. Once Arboriel was stunned, Luz punched her in the gut with one of her hardened fists, then tried to use the other to wrestle the Dragon Heart Staff from her. It almost worked, but the winded Arboriel actually used a trick she'd learned from Luz and fired a green bolt of magic from her tongue as she struggled to get back her breath.

The beam hit Luz in the cheek, but whatever plant she'd been trying to grow failed to appear due to Arboriel not putting enough strength into the spell due to Luz's gut punch, and the young Angel's Seraphim hardiness making the beam fail to pierce her skin. However the beam did still make Luz flinch, and that was enough for Arboriel to wrest her stolen staff back from Luz and have a large plant grow beneath her and swallow her up before disappearing back into the ground, whisking Arboriel off to safety.

"Did she just escape again!?" Boscha asked furiously.

"I doubt it. She'd not make it that easy." Luz frowned, rubbing her cheek as she kept her guard up. Stringbean returned to staff form in Luz's hand, then the girl knelt back down beside Boscha; "I think she's just licking her wounds. Speaking off, your leg looks kinda like pale beef jerky, so I should probably fix that."

"Ya think!?" Boscha snarked. "But I can handle that myself; I'm not incompetent! Just grow me some Gummy Goldenrods."

The girl pulled out the potion she'd been making with the Bloody Rose Petals, and Luz obediently produced some of the Gummy Goldenrods. She then watched as Boscha harvested the tiny yellow flowers, and couldn't help but break the tension by teasing; "You know, if you weren't bleeding and lopsided, I'd be making you say please and thank you."

"And I weren't bleeding and lopsided, I'd be giving you a noogie! Now leave the sass for the experts and watch a genius at work." Boscha said, distilling her newly produced (and ominously red looking) potion into a dropper like the one she'd used for her Tincture of True Sight.

"A genius at Sass? I'll definitely give you that." Luz giggled, making Boscha roll her eyes. The girl then hissed as she dripped the red liquid into her wound, which immediately stopped bleeding as it scabbed over. Her veins throughout her withered leg then began to swell and turn a vivid red that was visible through the skin, before the whole leg swelled and returned to normal, albeit a little pinker than before.

"A Blood-Replenishing Tonic?" Luz questioned.

"Yep. Gummy Goldenrods to promote coagulation to seal wounds, and Bloody Rose Petals to stimulate the bone marrow in the local area to produce more blood, along with some supplements like Iron Vines to give me the necessary raw materials to make more blood." Boscha said, using her staff like a cane to get herself back to her feet as feeling came back to her leg. It currently felt like she'd slept on it weird, and it was taking time to wake up.

"Neat. Want me to heal the wound properly? It could scar otherwise; unless you think your Ambrosia will enjoy that." Luz grinned.

Boscha glared; "Don't make fun of me; that name is personal to Skara and I."

Luz's face fell; "Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it mockingly. I'll be more careful."

"It's fine; you didn't mean any harm and Titan knows I said worse about you in the past. Just… being soft with someone is new for me." Boscha blushed a little.

Luz's smile returned as she slapped Boscha on the back; "Considering Skara always seems happy when we have girl talk, I think you're doing a good job. But seriously, do you want me to heal you up?"

Boscha nodded, so Luz knelt down and began healing the leg wound properly. Seeing Luz kneeling in front of her, Boscha couldn't help but tease her, wanting to clear any awkwardness; "Seeing you on your knees in front of me is a lot less appealing than I used to imagine it."

"Maybe Queen Boscha has finally learned some humility." Luz giggled. However her giggling stopped as she noticed Boscha stiffen. Fearing she'd crossed a line again, Luz looked up at the girl's face, only to find her central eye fixed on the ground behind her. Smelling a rat, Luz used King's glyph and her physical contact with Boscha to speak into her mind "Boscha? Are you alright?"

"Luz, don't make any sudden moves. The Tincture of True Sight is still working on my third eye, and I can see some magic vines creeping their way beneath you. Arboriel is plotting something." Boscha thought back.

Luz frowned and closed her eyes, using her earth glyph to sense the vibrations in the earth beneath her feet. It was a technique called Seismic Sense, and was based on a show she liked and allowed her to "see" via touch. It was hard to make it work, but if she closed her eyes and focused, she could "see" everything touching the ground for about five metres in each direction, which allowed her to detect the gently moving vines.

As slowly and subtly as she could, Luz began drawing spell circles with her wings by slowly flapping each one in a circle. Each circle contained a different one of her glyphs, making Boscha's eyes widen as she realised Luz was planning a big attack with all eight elements at once, including the element of fire that she'd previously warned Boscha against. The girl wondered what Luz was planning to do, but got her answer a second later when vines suddenly shot out of the ground around her. The vines went straight for Boscha's throat with crushing force, but Luz released the green plant spell, causing the corresponding wing to turn green and also making the vines glow green too and obey Luz instead of Arboriel.

It seemed that while her staff and blessing made Arboriel a threat to Luz, Luz's magic was still superior by at least a small margin!

Using her grip on the plants, Luz raised her glowing green wing and caused them to be pulled out of the ground and twisted together into a giant ball of vines, which Luz mentally compared to twirling spaghetti around a fork. After a second of this, she felt a snag and knew she'd caught her target!

"Gotcha! This one's a fighter! Too bad for her, I'm stronger! Boscha, get ready to help me take her down!" Luz grinned, before releasing the bronze earth spell, causing the wing that drew it to turn orange/bronze and fill her body with the strength of earth. Luz then gripped the vines and used both her physical and magical strength to yank it, slowly dragging her target towards her. After a few seconds of pulling, in which Boscha began frantically preparing something to help put Arboriel down for good, Luz finally gave one last yank and pulled Arboriel herself out of the dirt, her legs having transformed into the vines she'd sent out.

The Mandragora screamed in rage and pain as she was yanked into the air and pointed her staff at Luz in an attempt to blast her, only for Luz to counter the blast with her golden light spell. Luz overpowered the stunned Arboriel and knocked her hand back, then used the silver wind spell to produce a gale above the Mandragora and slam her down into the ground. She then used the red fire spell to blast her and set her alight, making the Mandragora desperately thrash and try to put out the flames, while using the purple darkness spell to consume any fires that spread, ensuring the room didn't go up in flames. Luz then unleashed the blue ice spell to douse the flames with water so she didn't kill the Mandragora (Luz still wasn't sure she was mentally prepared to take a life like that). She then finished up the combo by unleashing the yellow lightning spell, making each of her wings a different colour, and hitting Arboriel with lightning, which conducted through the water on her body and zapped her even more intensely.

Still, Arboriel was powerful and sturdy, so she remained conscious even if she was stunned and forced into a kneeling position. Luz saw this and flew up into the air with her wings shining in eight different colours, nodding to Boscha as she went. In response, Boscha grinned and tossed a trio of potions at the Mandragora Queen, with two of them shattering in mid-air and releasing abominations. These abominations were like none Luz had ever seen before; they appeared to be yellow and a lot looser than a regular abomination, to the point that they didn't really form a proper humanoid shape and instead looked more like puddles with faces and goopy arms. One of them grabbed Arboriel's staff-wielding arm and "bit" down on it with its toothless maw, causing the limb to both lock up and making her lose all feeling in it. The same happened to her legs when the other abomination crawled over them, leaving her left arm as the only limb she could still move. The third and final potion was a form of silencing potion known as "Gooey Gab-no-more", which created a thick and sticky slime when the liquid came in contact with a person's lips. The goo ensured their lips remained sealed, while also ensuring the nasal passages were open to ensure the victim didn't suffocate.

"Good job, Boscha! What are those things?" Luz asked, her wings no longer glowing separate colours and instead glowing with iridescent light as she prepared to blast Arboriel with magic that shone in all the colours of the rainbow.

"I call them Abomi-Potions. Abominations infused with different potions. Not many combos work, since the potions mess with the slime and there are only so many adjustments I can make, but I'm trying to find more." Boscha smiled, preening at Luz's impressed look.

"That's amazing! It looks like you figured out some more magic-mixing tricks too! I'll have to see if I can try and make Homunculus Potions! Ooh, you, me, Amity, Mom, and Alador could make it a joint research project! We could invite your parents too! It might break the ice more between our Moms." Luz said, casually channelling magic from her wings to the end of her staff, which she pointed at the Mandragora Queen, ready for a blow that would ensure Arboriel wasn't getting back up for quite a while.

However, Arboriel gulped as her life practically flashing past her eyes whilst she stared into the light of Luz's final attack; an attack that she was sure would surely spell doom for her, since she had no idea that Luz had no intention of killing her outright despite her actions. Boscha's potions and abominations had disabled her ability to dodge or defend herself or even call for help, forcing the Mandragora Queen to watch as her defeat was prepared right in front of her. However, Luz would never get to use her technique…

"Hold it right there, Little Angel. Unless you want your little friends to die a horrible death."

Luz's eyes widened as she heard the smugly foul voice of Terra Snapdragon. She and Boscha both turned in the woman's direction, only to pale at what they saw.

Terra was stood atop Bat Beast Raine, whom she was controlling with a plant that they both recognised as Brain Wormwood. If that wasn't bad enough, the Bat Beast's front paw was pressing down on a heavily scratched up Hunter, who had numerous mild but bleeding wounds. The poor boy was struggling to escape, but he didn't have his staff in his hand, leaving him powerless. Flapjack was tied up at Terra's feet, connected to her via thin vines just like the Palismen of the Bat Queen's forest had been tied up during Luz's last encounter with Arboriel. Then there was Willow, who was being held by the neck by one of Terra's vines, choking her just enough to leave her weak, but never enough to knock her out or kill her completely, while Clover's staff was being held by Terra, with the poor Palisman trapped in its staff form with strange glowing ivy that was connected to Terra's hand.

"Oh no! Hunter, Willow, Titi!?" Luz gasped, stopping her spell.

"Let them go, you Weed!" Boscha demanded. Her demand was met by a tree root suddenly shooting out of the ground and smacking her hard across the face, knocking the girl to the floor and leaving her with a bloody lip.

"Honestly, did you think I'd release them just because you demanded it? Little fool." Terra said scornfully, before looking back at a furious Luz. "Now, I am going to count to five. If when I reach five, you have not surrendered, released my Dear Mother, and bound that little chit in chains, I will kill your little friend's Palisman. Then I will have my newly bloomed Sprout tear this defective spawn to pieces, before finally hanging this Little Seedling and leaving her corpse to dry in the sun. One."

Terra did not make it to two, before Luz put her hands up and landed back on the ground; "Hold on! Let's not do anything hasty now! If you kill them, the Divider will destroy you!"

"And if I don't, you'll destroy my future Empire. If I'm going to lose anyway, then so are you. The only way this ends well for anyone is if you give up. Live as a Mandragora or watch your friends die as an Angel. Two." Terra continued.

Luz began to sweat as neither she nor Boscha knew what to do next. They couldn't just give up, but they couldn't let their friends die either! Terra counted to three and Hunter, wincing in pain, yelled out; "Forget me! Save Willow! Everything I can do is thanks to Flapjack anyway so I'm expendable! But if we lose you or Willow, the CATTs are doomed!"

Willow struggled harder in the vine's grip as she choked out; "N-No…! Save… Hunter! This was… my… mistake! He got caught… protecting me! Leave me!"

"Four." Terra said, her evil smile growing larger.

Luz's mind raced and she clutched her heart, whereupon she felt the warmth of the glyph on her chest. In a flash of inspiration, her eyes met the glassy black eyes of the Bat Beast and a decision was made. "I won't sacrifice anyone or let myself become a Mandragora! I just need to buy time!" she thought.

Quickly, Luz dropped her staff, making Stringbean return to her animal form and slither into Luz's hair. Luz then knelt on the ground and put her hands behind her head, shocking her friends.

"Alright Terra. You win. I surrender." Luz lied, disguising her pained grimace as a look of defeat.

Willow and Hunter both gasped in horror and cried out to her, begging her to abandon them and keep fighting! Imploring her to let them go so the rebellion was not lost; but Luz just looked them both in the eye and silenced them as they saw the golden fire that still burned within them. They had seen Luz when she was beaten down and defeated, and this was not that. Boscha, equally stunned, nonetheless did what she'd promised to do and followed Luz's lead, releasing Arboriel by slowly using a solvent to dissolve the Gooey Gab-no-More and then dismissing her Abomi-Potions, letting their effects rapidly wear off. She then knelt down and put her hands on her head while Maya scuttled inside the back of her Grudgby jacket to hide.

"Now there's a smart girl." Terra grinned mockingly. "Mother Dearest, let's not delay. Once these two are Mandragoras, you can use your pheromones to control them again; I'm sure of it. Then you'll have the entire rebellion in your hands."

Arboriel smiled; "Well done, Dear Terra." she said, getting to her feet as feeling returned to her legs, "You once again prove to be the best of my subjects, and the ideal firstborn daughter. As promised, once I expand beyond the Boiling Isles, I will leave it to you to rule as the new Empress. Perhaps I'll even leave the Little Seedling with you, so she might properly learn her place as Princess."

Willow glared with pure hatred, while Terra grinned and threw her to the floor hard. Luz slowly helped her up and tried to heal her wounds, but her hands were swatted by the bottom of Arboriel's staff; "None of that, child. Those wounds are the punishment for her defiance. They will be healed alongside her conversion into a Mandragora Princess. Be glad I'm still giving you both that honour." Arboriel lectured. Her tone set Luz's teeth on edge, as it was just like the one her Mami used when scolding her, which felt disgusting in this instance.

Terra kept the Bat Beast's claws firmly pressed on Hunter's back as she pointed Willow's stolen staff at the girls, while Arboriel walked over to the strange open flowers on the eastern side of the room. The Mandragora stood between two of them and gestured for the would-be princesses to step onto them., while also pointing her staff at Boscha to make sure she didn't try anything funny.

"These are Mandragora Chrysalis Blooms; a hybridisation of normal Mandragora Flowers and Larder Blooms. A female magic user is placed inside and then she emerges as a new Mandragora. It takes longer the more powerful you are, so I suspect you'll be in there for a while, Little Sunflower." Arboriel explained as Luz and Willow approached the blooms, dragging their feet.

"H-How long are we talking here? For both me and Willow?" Luz asked. She needed to know how much time she had for her plan.

"A young Witch of what, 15 years? That would normally take about 3 hours, though with the Little Seedling's level of magic, it will likely take double that. As for you; Angels take a long time, with the Arch-Angel taking 36 hours. I suspect a Seraphim with your level of power will take closer to a full week. Fear not though; the process will keep you fed and healthy." Arboriel answered, slowly helping a reluctant Willow step into the shallow pool of glowing green liquid that filled the bottom of the flower. The bespectacled Witch shuddered, feeling an uncomfortable warmth from the liquid.

Luz gingerly stepped into her own flower, then held up a hand to try and make Arboriel pause for a moment; "C-Could you walk me through what will happen? I'm scared." Luz said. She was being truthful, but she played up the fear so she'd appear vulnerable.

This triggered Arboriel's maternal instincts, as she'd already mentally decided these two girls were her daughters, even before the conversion. "You needn't fear; it will not hurt and you'll spend the majority of the process asleep. On my command, the flower will close and seal you inside, and that liquid will rise up and fill the flower. It is a form of magical Chlorophyll taken from my Mandragora Flowers and infused with some vital essence from fleshlings. The fluid in your flower was made from Angels like yourself to ease the change."

"Wait, how are we supposed to breathe if this stuff fills the flower!?" Willow exclaimed.

"You will find the liquid to be breathable, though it'll be uncomfortable as you adjust. Once you do adjust though, you will find yourself relaxing and slowly falling asleep. Once you are fully unconscious, thin vines with needle-like thorns will be inserted into you at your heart, neck, and wrists…" she gently tapped Luz in each of these places, making the girl flinch a little, "…and then proceed to inject you with my nectar. This will slowly replace your blood, and the combination of the nectar and chlorophyll will slowly convert your flesh and magic into those of a Mandragora. Then voila; the flower blooms and you are born again as a Mandragora! I'm sorry to say that your clothing will likely dissolve after a couple of hours in the chlorophyll, but you'll be able to grow your own with ease afterwards."

That last part was said with a playful wink, as if Arboriel wasn't just talking about completely rewriting Luz and Willow's very being to make them into Botanical Demons like her. As Luz gulped, she noted that this was the third time someone had wanted to do something like this to her, with the first time being Vitimir and his Familial Historia Elixir, and the second being Raguel and the Reformation Ritual.

At that thought, the crystalline petals closed around the girls and trapped them completely, leaving them unable to hear anything from outside. Luz held a hand out to Willow and mouthed "Do not go to sleep." in Spanish. Willow thankfully knew enough Spanish after taking lessons from Camila with the Hexsquad to understand Luz's words, so she nodded in response. If Luz was right, then so long as they stayed awake, the process wouldn't be able to continue and it'd buy her more time to complete her plan. It was risky, but Luz was confident she could pass off her staying awake as fear keeping her from relaxing, so hopefully the two Mandragoras wouldn't do anything to "help" them along.

Hunter and Boscha watched in horror, the latter being bound in vines by Arboriel, as the Magic Chlorophyll began to rise up and fill the two Chrysalis Blooms completely. Willow and Luz struggled and thrashed as they instinctively held their breath once they were submerged in the warm liquid, but after a moment they were forced to try and breathe, resulting in a very brief drowning sensation before their bodies and minds adjusted and they were able to breathe via the Chlorophyll just as Arboriel had said. Immediately, Luz felt her body growing heavy as the warm, aromatic liquid soothed her body and induced calmness in her. It was like being in a nice warm bath on a cold day, and left both Luz and Willow struggling to stay awake. Willow resorted to digging her nails into her own skin to keep herself conscious, while Luz closed her eyes and clasped her hands together in front of her chest, acting as if she was praying. In reality though, she was doing this to hide the glow of King's Incomplete Glyph as she activated its power.

Focusing her mind, Luz opened her eyes again and stared into the blank, glassy black eyes of the Bat Beast: "Okay Titi, I know you're in there somewhere… and so is the magic of my Blessing! If I can use King's glyph to link my mind to the magic of the blessing inside you, then maybe I can help you wake up from within the Bat Beast!"

It was going to be tricky, as she had to send her mind through the link and into the Bat Beast without making it appear that her body had lost consciousness. Thankfully, the Palisman Souls within her came to her rescue.

"Allow us to help you, Luz!" said Percival, one of the Palisman within her, whom took the form of a European Robin. "We'll take control of your body and keep you awake while your mind goes to save your friend!"

"Thank you! I'll leave it all to you guys! Try not to eat too much of my magic while you're doing that though; this fight isn't over!" Luz thought gratefully, before putting all her mental and emotional focus into King's glyph. The Souls responded with a rallying cry and Luz felt them take control of her body, similar to how Belos had back in the Divine Realm, only without the disgusting, unnatural feelings of violation. Now confident that her body was safe in the hands of the Palismen, Luz used the sole Divination Spell that she'd been able to perform since being taught by her Mami; Astral Projection, which allowed her to disconnect her spirit and consciousness from her body without severing the link between her body and soul (which would kill her). She then used the link created by King's glyph and her blessing within Raine as a passageway to flow into Raine's body and pseudo-possess them.

"Okay Titi, here I come! Time to face some inner demons!" Luz thought.

[Meanwhile]

Ever since Raine had fallen under the sway of Terra's Wrathful Roses, their consciousness had been transported to the same black void as always when transforming into the Bat Beast. It was only the third time they'd ever transformed (the first being when they'd eaten those Scamming Gremlins, and the second being when Terra had last used those dratted roses on them), yet every single time filled them with fear and dread, making them wonder what they were doing outside. The constant falling sensation didn't help either, as they sank like a stone into the endless abyss, with the Bat Beast falling somewhere in the darkness with them, out of their sight but certainly not out of their mind. As they fell, Raine began to curse themselves.

"Idiot! How could I let myself be fooled by Terra of all people!? Especially with the same flowers she got me with back beneath Spriggan Manor! What kind of colossal fool lets some stupid ant and a smug snake like her drive them mad like this!?" they spat, rubbing a hand over their face, trying to ignore the tears of frustration building there.

"Eda, Luz, and King went through all that trouble to rescue me and bring me back to the CATTs, and this is how I repay them? I mess up on the very first mission I go on with them and land the children in danger!? Who knows what I'm doing to Hunter and Willow, or Luz and Boscha too for that matter!? Oh Titan, I'll never be able to forgive myself if I've hurt them, or Titan forbid, killed one of them!?

Raine began to hyperventilate as panic wracked their mind. They couldn't do anything to stop themselves! They couldn't see or hear the outside world, and were powerless to do anything about it even if they could! Terror and despair began to flood their heart.

"I'm so useless! I dragged those children into my rebellion, then relied on them to do all the work and save the day! I've barely done anything compared to them! W-What purpose do I even still have!? The CATTs were running smoothly without me anyway… They've been doing so well with Luz as the leader, and Darius as her advisor… But I don't want to just give up and disappear! I want to help them! But how do I do that? I'm not good enough…" Raine whispered, feeling the darkness of the void creeping into their soul as they sank even deeper. They idly wondered if the Bat Beast, looming in the dark beyond their sight, was waiting to devour them entirely… Heck, maybe they'd already been devoured and this void was the beast's stomach.

As their dark feelings grew more intense and their single, frail thread of hope began to fray, Raine suddenly felt a faint warmth in their chest and heard a quiet voice whisper in their ear.

"Okay Titi, here I come! Time to face some inner demons!" whispered the voice of Luz.

Raine gasped softly, and suddenly they saw a series of white feathers appear in the void, like twinkling little stars. Raine continued to fall though, so the feathers chased them downward, like shooting stars that illuminated the dark abyss and revealed something else hidden in the darkness; the Bat Beast. Like Raine themselves, the Bat Beast was falling, but they were not doing so gracefully; they were tumbling and writhing, desperately trying to flap their wings and catch air that did not exist within the void. The Bat Beast was shrieking and crying, though Raine could not hear them… however they could see a white blob of some kind of light on the Bat Beast's back, which suddenly shot towards Raine. The light blob looked vaguely like a baby and held out a tiny hand towards Raine, which they instinctively reached up and grabbed.

In a flash, all the feathers shot into the light blob's back, causing them to grow and mature as the feathers formed wings. After a couple of seconds, the blob had grown into a perfect replica of a five year old Cherub Luz, only with eight cherub sized wings on her back. She was just as Lilith had described from her own vision, letting Raine knew immediately that this was the Blessing Luz had given them, personified within their mind.

The instant the Cherub Luz was fully formed, the falling sensation came to an abrupt end and Raine suddenly found themselves floating upright in the void with the Bat Beast catching themselves and landing gently just a short distance away from them. Thanks to them being still now, and Cherub Luz giving off enough of a glow to illuminate the void, Raine could finally see their Bat Beast form for themselves… they really did look just like a giant vampire bat, only with their own face in place of a normal Bat's face… though they had empty black eyes and the nose of a vampire bat. Raine found it hard to look at them, but they refused to look away; this was them after all… all the ugly parts that they'd locked away within themselves, foisting them off and into the manifestation of the curse. The padlock hanging from chains wrapped around the Bat Beast's chest looked huge and impossibly heavy, while the key they could now see hanging from a black chain attached to their own heart left Raine will a sinking feeling in their stomach. They weren't sure the key would ever work.

Putting that aside, Raine looked to Cherub Luz, who was beaming up at them with that same adorable smile that had always made Raine's heart melt. Even without Eda's blood, Luz had still inherited her big toothy grin.

"You are Luz's Blessing, right? Just like what Eda and Lilith saw in their Inner Worlds. Sorry to say this, Little Sparks; I don't think I'm capable of doing what they did…" Raine sighed, patting Cherub Luz's head.

"You can't give up before you even start, Titi!" Cherub Luz said, speaking in the same voice she'd had as a little girl.

Raine yelped and fell on their backside in surprise; "L-Luz!? You can talk!? I thought you were just a blessing!?"

"This "body" is." Cherub Luz explained. She pointed to her chest, where the Stringbean Ouroboros pattern had gained a white ring like King's incomplete glyph; "I'm using this glyph's power to link with you, connecting to your mind and soul via the magic I blessed you with."

"So you're the real Luz from outside!?" Raine exclaimed; "What's happening!? Are you all okay!?"

Cherub Luz winced, and Raine's heart sank.

"It's not going so well. Terra used a Brain Wormwood to control you and use you as a weapon against Hunter and Willow. Hunter got banged up and both were captured. Terra then threatened to kill them to force Boscha and I to surrender. Willow and I were shoved into these Chrysalis Blooms by Arboriel to be turned into Mandragoras… I'm using the time inside the bloom to connect to you." Luz told them, not wanting to lie. Raine needed to accept themselves fully in order to blend with the Bat Beast, and the only way that was going to happen was if Raine was totally honest with themselves and their feelings.

Raine did not take the news well, gripping their head in shock; "No! No no no no! I hurt Hunter!? Oh Titan, I've ruined everything! And now your only hope is supposedly me!? No, that can't be it! Y-You can't rely on me! I'm useless at solo performances! I can't do anything alone!"

Cherub Luz gave her Titi an angry pout and gently reached up to grab their cheeks and pull on them a little, making them pull a silly face.

"Yes you can and no, you're not! You founded the BATTs and CATTs! You spear-headed the whole rebellion! Without it and without you, Belos might have won!" Luz scolded.

Raine denied it; "I only managed to form the BATTs because I had Katya, Amber, and Derwin on my side, and I didn't actually achieve much… it was you and Eda who saved Katya when she was arrested, and inspired the other prisoners enough to make them join us as the CATTs! And the rebellion would have happened anyway; Darius and Eber had already formed their own…"

"Titi, that's not true! You kicked that jerk Zamort's butt for what he did to Katya! You supported Amber when the rest of the Coven decided she was too much work! You helped Derwin get his passion back! And so what if you can't do everything by yourself? I can't either! I'd have been dead, or worse, like a thousand times over by now without my Mamas, my siblings, my Hermosa, and my friends! Including you! If not for you, Belos would have captured me again after that mess back in the castle when I was turned into a feral Titan girl! Plus you helped Mom beat Subject Zero on the Day of Unity!" Luz said, listing off everything that first popped into her head when it came to the things Raine had done; "And you were the one to keep the CATTs organised and working! Even now, I'm doing what you taught me!"

Raine bit their lip; "I-I don't know, Sparks… all of this… I don't know if I can do this."

"I do know, and you can! I wish you could have as much faith in yourself as all of us do!" Luz said seriously; "Believe me, I understand where you're coming from… feeling like you're not good enough, that every good thing you'd done was actually someone else's hard work, all while taking the blame for any mistakes that happen. I was exactly the same, but everyone showed me how wrong I was! Even when I couldn't believe in myself, they believed in me! That's why…"

Luz reached up again and this time cupped Raine's face, her big golden eyes staring into Raine's; "… I'll believe in you even if you don't believe in yourself. All the parts of yourself that you've rejected are locked up right over there, within the Bat Beast. But they still haunt you, along with the beast, because they are still a part of you. You'll never know peace if you don't accept that. So come on." Luz took one of Raine's hands and tried to pull them over to the silently watching Bat Beast; "I know you can do this!"

Raine let Cherub Luz pull them to their feet and over to the Bat Beast, who just continued to stare blankly at Raine, like they were looking into a twisted fun house mirror. They stared at each other for almost a full minute in dead silence, while Luz watched them with a look of confidence and support on her face.

"So… you are me. If Lilith was right about her theory, then you're just me, but twisted by the curse and hiding all the parts of myself that I hate, or that I'm scared off…" Raine mused, taking a deep breath; "I'm not so foolish that I don't know and understand my own flaws. Self-doubt…"

They remembered busking on the streets of Cartilia to raise money for their family, and how sometimes regular listeners would pay them and other times simply walk away without a word, making them wonder what they were doing wrong.

"Low self-esteem…"

Raine remembered their schooling in St. Epiderm and the frequent threats and taunts, and reminders that they didn't belong due to being both poor and a Bard.

"A lack of confidence…"

They remembered the terror they felt in their stomachs whenever someone was relying on them, even for something as small as a song. Even knowing how to play the song practically in their sleep, they still feared messing it up. It was part of why they had such terrible stage fright despite being a Bard.

"And of course, the worst of it all… my cowardice."

Raine remembered so many times where they had let fear get a hold of them and how they'd suffered for it. Fear of letting down their parents and school, only to eventually do so at HECK and get them moved to Bonesborough, where their parents had later died on a project they'd never have been involved with otherwise. Fear of Belos' empire and his threats to Wild Witches, which had been part of what led Raine to finally give in and join a coven. And worst of all… fear of failing Eda. Of watching her curse consume her while they could do nothing to stop it or help her. That had been part of what led to their break up; Raine had often said that it was Eda's lack of honesty about her problems and refusal to let them help, but it had also been fear of not being able to help her and fear that Eda refused to confide in them because she didn't see them as someone she could rely on.

It was all a vicious cycle; Raine had been afraid of failure, and the combination of their low self-esteem, low confidence, and self-doubt ensured that failure felt inevitable. Raine had only ever been brave when they were righteously angry, or when someone had asked them for help, as for all their flaws and fears and low confidence, Raine couldn't say no to helping people.

"Sparks… do you truly think I've done good? For you, and Eda, and the CATTs?" they asked in a small voice, their eyes never leaving the Bat Beast.

"Yes." Cherub Luz replied without a moment of hesitation. "Titi, you're a hero! You chose to help Amber even when just about everyone else in the Bard Coven had given up on her! You helped Derwin regain his love of music! You saved Katya from the fate that Zamort and those corrupt EC guys wanted to inflict on her! You saved me from Belos at his castle! You fought for King and I on Titan Cradle Island! And you were the one who helped bring all the different factions of the CATTs together! Darius and Eber couldn't have done it without you! And of course, you won my Mom's heart! Only someone truly incredible could do that!" she grinned, before flying up a little to hug Raine closely.

"Even though you were scared, you still fought. Even though you were sure you'd fail, you still strived for the sake of others! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were an Angel too! You could fit into any of the crests! You are humble, generous, kind, diligent, and patient, as well as deeply loving to your family and friends. You are amazing even with your flaws and even though they've tormented you, you never let them get in the way of doing what you had to for the sake of others." Luz continued, before giving Raine the warmest, most loving smile she could; "I love you, Titi. And so does Mom, and King, and your three all-but-adopted kids! So tell me Titi; do you trust our opinions?"

"Of course." Raine whispered, their throat feeling thick as they struggled to contain their emotions.

"Then you should trust us when we say we believe in you. Accept that and accept your flaws!" Luz declared.

Raine smiled, feeling their heart swell a little. They slowly grasped the key hanging from the chain that emerged form their heart, and looked at the Bat Beast with softer eyes. "You… you are my inner self, twisted by the curse magic I absorbed, and with all my flaws wrapped up inside you. But you're still a part of me, along with all those things I hated about myself."

They reached out and touched the Bat Beast's face; "But Luz is right. She was able to fight through depression with the help of her friends and family, and Eda, whose own curse truly was a separate being, was still able to come to terms with her problems and make friends with the Owl Beast… how can I stand by their side and back them up if I can't even face my own flaws!"

Luz giggled as Raine flashed her a cheeky grin, then slowly placed their key into the lock on the Bat Beast's chest. They then closed their eyes and began to whisper softly, as if praying.

"I am flawed, but I won't let that stop me and I won't suppress myself. I doubt myself, but my apprentices-no, my children believe in me. I don't think highly of myself, but my niece and nephew think the world of me! My confidence is low, but my comrades are confident in me. And while I am afraid… I can be brave and risk it all, just like the love of my life, and the inspiration that keeps me moving forward!" Raine began to turn the key; "No show goes off without at least something going wrong… but I am Raine Whispers, Founder of the Covens Against the Throne, and so long as I live and breathe, the show must go on!"

They fully turned the key, and both it and the lock and chains turned a shimmering white and then vanished with a flash. Cherub Luz cheered and clapped like a one-girl adoring audience, and the Bat Beast slowly exhaled as the entire abyss of darkness was replaced by a void of pure white light. The Bat Beast's body then slowly turned completely black and dispersed into countless black musical notes that floated through the air, producing a note whenever they were touched. Left behind in the spot where the Raven Beast once stood was another version of Raine; the version of them that had once sat in their special spot with Eda and broken up with her… the version of Raine that they were most ashamed of. Raine could scarcely recognise themselves, looking barely older than a teenager with shorter pale mint coloured hair… it bothered them a little to see this version of themselves from the day they made their biggest mistake, but seeing Luz looking at them with such awe was kind of nice; she seemed so impressed!

"You look so different! More like a kid, even though you were a grown-up." Luz commented; "You look almost cute! It's nice, but I like you more as you are now. The longer white hair suits you!"

Raine chuckled, then jokingly said; "I'm glad my old age pleases you.", making Luz giggle. They then became serious and said; "This is how I looked on the day I broke up with Eda. I'll always regret that day… half of me couldn't bear to be by Eda's side as she was hurting, and then lying to me about it. I wanted to help her, and she wouldn't let me… but the other half of me was afraid to watch her pain while I felt powerless to stop it. So even though I loved her, I left her too…"

"I get it." Luz said, "And so does Mom. She doesn't blame you; she knew it hurt you for her to hide her problems from you when you wanted to help. She pushed everyone away… but you all came back. You two are together again now, and have no secrets from each other; I think that's a good enough reason to forgive yourself. I mean, you two did apologise to each other, right?"

Raine nodded; when they and Eda had sat down to discuss their new relationship after the Petrification Ceremony, they had each apologised for their part in the break up. Raine certainly understood Eda's secrecy and so had easily forgiven her, and she'd done the same for them and their feeling of helplessness.

Upon seeing the nod, Cherub Luz beamed adorably; "Then what's the worry? You were younger and dumber, but then you grew up. That happens to all of us! Its happened to me like eight times by this point, and I bet it'll happen again as I keep growing."

"You're right." Raine said, feeling a touch more fond of the mirror image in front of them. They snapped their fingers and conjured their violin, then gestured to their mirror image to do the same. The Raine that had once been the Bat Beast summoned a violin of their own, and without another word passing between them, they began to play Raine's Rhapsody together. Unlike Lilith, Raine didn't feel the urge to hug their other self, and instead showed their closeness and acceptance with a duet… a duet that became a trio with some subtle looks towards Luz, who conjured a Lapis Ocarina and began to play along.

As they played, the Younger Raine began to glow gold as black music notes emerged from their bodies, slowly shrinking them with each one removed. After a moment, the Younger Raine had the exact same appearance as Raine did when first enrolling at Hexside. The two Raines locked eyes, and the music notes floating in the air turned iridescent and strung themselves together into musical bars, which Raine noticed was the written form of their Rhapsody. The entire void was filled with light in every colour of the rainbow, as well as a beautiful song that moved the hearts of both Raine and Luz. The Incomplete Glyph Marking on Luz's chest began to glow more brightly, and as Raine's Rhapsody approached it's end, Raine spoke once more.

"Well, my Inner Bat; it's time. Our duet will end here and become a solo, and all the flaws within me will make my success all the sweeter. All that's left is to take a bow."

With that, the song reached its final note and the two Raines bowed to each other, with Luz curtseying to them both. The light of the musical notes and the light given off by Luz grew brighter and brighter, and Raine felt it as Luz's consciousness disappeared and both her blessing and their other self fused into them. They had become one, and it was time for the new Raine to take the stage.

[Meanwhile]

Luz's consciousness returned to her own body and gently pushed the Palisman Souls aside, taking back full control. The experience she'd just had left her feeling invigorated, and the Palisman Souls noticed immediately.

"You were gone for mere moments, Luz. Did it go well?" asked the soul of Amethyst: a feline dragon Palisman.

"It did." Luz answered, looking out of the Chrysalis Bloom. She could see Willow fighting to stay awake in her own pod, and Arboriel and Terra watching eagerly from a short distance away, while Boscha and Hunter looked on in fear and hope, unsure of what Luz's plan was but sure she wouldn't have given up so easily without one. However what she really focused on was Raine, whose Bat Beast form had begun to change beneath Terra's feet without her even noticing.

It began with the eyes, which regained their green irises but kept the black sclera. Then their mint-coloured fur suddenly turned a pale, silvery grey while the parts on their head turned white like their regular hair colour after receiving the curse. It was at this point that Luz saw wisps of black and gold flame licking at the very edges of the Brain Wormwood, as Anti-Magic began to decay it. Hunter noticed the grip on his back loosening considerably, as well as the weight pressing down on him becoming a lot lighter as Raine subtly shifted their weight onto their other foreleg instead. Then, as Raine's Bat Beast body began to slowly shrink, Terra finally took notice and looked down, but reacted too slow to stop what was about to happen. She opened her mouth to yell and alert Arboriel, but she was bucked off of Raine's back before she could, resulting in her tumbling forward and hitting Arboriel, sending both Mandragoras falling to the ground.

"R-Raine?" Hunter gasped as the Bat Beast reared up onto their hind legs and continued to transform, becoming more humanoid with every moment.

With Hunter free and the Mandragoras trying to untangle themselves, Luz and Willow no longer needed to worry about any hostages, so the former promptly sliced her way out of the Chrysalis Bloom with a sword of light, while Willow used some Plant Magic and brute strength to literally rip the bloom open and escape. The chlorophyll spilled out and both girls were left choking for a moment as their lungs adjusted to breathing air again, but by the time they were done, Raine had fully transformed into their Hybrid Beast Form, which took the form of a Humanoid Bat-like creature.

"If Mom and Tia Lily had Harpy Modes, then it looks like Titi Raine has Dhampyr Mode!" Luz declared, taking in the full appearance of her Titi's new form.

Dhampyr Mode Raine had the same physical proportions as their normal form, though they'd gained almost a foot of height and were now the same height as Eda's Harpy Mode. Their entire body, from their throat to just above their knees, was coated in a soft, short silvery grey fur, while their legs below the knee were mostly hairless, having only some downy fuzz, revealing Raine's normal dark caramel skin tone. Their feet had also become like those of a bat, with long bestial toes that ended in sharp claws. Their finger nails had become claws too, and their ears had become slightly larger and looked like a Bat's on the inside, while prominent fangs now stuck out from their top lip. Their hair remained unchanged; being white and somewhat messy, and their only clothing was a red diamond on their chest, which was actually their Bile Monitor, which they preferred to keep hidden in their clothes normally. However, all of that was just the changes to Raine's existing anatomy and did not account for the additions, of which there were two major ones. The first was that Raine now sported a long silvery grey fox tail, which ended in pale white fur; somewhat resembling Rena's tail with a different colour. The second change was a pair of large bat wings growing from Raine's shoulder blades, and which were currently letting him fly on his own above the ground where they'd just stood. Their wings were black with pale, pinkish-red membranes, and black semi-functional clawed hands at the top of each wing.

Raine looked down at themselves with interest and amazement; "This is the new me? The me that accepted myself and tamed the curse magic? Amazing! That Anti-Magic packs a punch, and I can feel inspiration for something more too… perhaps something that can help me look a little more decent."

In truth, Raine didn't like not having clothes, even if their fur kept their modesty intact. Eda and Lilith's Harpy Forms gave them dresses made of their feathers, but that didn't seem to have worked out for the featherless Raine, so they instead tapped into the new power they felt welling up inside their blood. "If this form is like a Dhampyr, then let's see if I can manipulate my blood!" Raine declared, focusing their power.

Their attempt worked and they released blood through the pores in their hands, which they then shaped and altered to fit the design they wanted, giving themselves a long red coat made of blood, which they wore over their shoulders. "A good start." Raine said, before they then summoned Rena to their hand in staff mode. The shy Palisman took one look at their partner and shook her tail, producing something from inside that Eda had given them before. It was a tiny stylised Titan Skull with a red ribbon attached that featuring golden chevrons. Seeing this and understanding Rena's following yip, Raine used their new blood powers to create a belt for the ribbon, as well as expanding the red ribbon into the size of a lengthy loin cloth, which it became when Raine attached it to their new blood belt, using the Titan Skull medal like a belt buckle.

"Now that is more like it. Fine work, Rena! Now I don't feel quite so exposed." Raine smiled, their voice carrying a slight magic echo, just as Harpy Eda's and Harpy Lilith's did.

"Raine!" Luz cheered, grabbing Willow and rushing over to their side. Willow immediately began fussing over Hunter's wounds, while Raine stooped to use their new Anti-Magic and blood powers to free the bound Boscha. As soon as they were done freeing the girl, Raine stood and was hugged tightly by Luz; "You see? I knew you could do it!"

"Only with your support, Sparks. I owe you my thanks! But that will have to wait… we still have a couple of weeds to pull up." Raine said, their smile becoming vicious as they turned to look at Terra and Arboriel, who'd finally untangled themselves and gotten back to their feet, completely fuming. Terra still had Flapjack tied up and connected to her waist with thin vines, while she still wielded the vine-bound Clover in staff form too, forcing the Palisman to obey her orders, so Raine decided to focus on that first.

"Willow, Boscha; please focus on taking care of Hunter's wounds." they said; "Leave the Mandragoras to Sparks and I."

The two girls reluctantly nodded while Hunter weakly protested that he would be fine for a while and they should focus on fighting instead. They ignored him of course and bundled him off to a corner of the Inner Court, where Willow could grow medicinal herbs and Boscha could brew them into healing potions. This left Luz and the resurgent Raine to face Arboriel and Terra.

"Sparks, hold of Arboriel for a bit. I'll deal with Terra, then we can focus on Arboriel together." Raine said.

Luz nodded with a smile and summoned Stringbean back in staff form and pointed her at Arboriel, who returned the favour with her own staff. Meanwhile, Terra fumed at the total disrespect that Raine showed her.

"Don't think I'll lose so easily, Sprout! You may have found some freakish transformation like your wretched girlfriend, but my power is still superior! And don't forget I have a hostage!" Terra threatened, holding up Flapjack.

Raine simply raised an unimpressed eyebrow and said; "Do you really think that a stolen staff and some Mandragora power is enough to stop me?"

Terra scoffed; "Did you forget the hostage!?"

"Of course not." Raine replied casually; "But it seems you forgot who you were standing on a little while ago. Let me remind you…"

With a sharp whistle, Raine suddenly caused parts of the vines on Flapjack to catch fire with Anti-Magic flames and burn away, causing Terra to scream and drop him, recoiling in fear. This only grew worse as the soles of her feet burst into Anti-Magic flames too, causing Terra to keep screaming and dancing about madly, trying to put the fire out. Flapjack was unharmed by the Anti-Magic that rotted away his restraints and immediately flew back to Hunter's side, stopping only for a moment to fly around Raine's head and chirp their gratitude. Raine smiled at the bird, then stood beside Luz and watched as Terra and Arboriel tried to put out the flames on the former's feet without any success.

"Whoa… Titi, can you infect anything you want with Anti-Magic now, just by whistling!?" Luz asked, awestruck.

Raine chuckled and shook their head, stooping to whisper into Luz's ear; "Not quite. I can use Bardic Magic to ignite my own blood with Anti-Magic, and when Terra was stood on me in Bat Beast Mode, with Flapjack laying on me too, I was able to release a tiny bit of blood through my skin and fur to get it on them. Then I just whistled to activate it and make sure it only burned what I wanted it to."

"Wow! So you really do have crazy Dhampyr Powers now!? How does that work?" Luz asked.

"Not exactly. This form gives me a big magic boost, and your blessing helped me refine my control even further. My blood control is actually a Bardic Song named the Rondo of Blood; a dangerous song for most to perform since it lets the user control their blood, which can be hard to control without injuring one's self." Raine explained.

Luz looked puzzled; "I don't understand; you're not playing a song right now…"

Raine smirked; "Remember how I said your blessing is helping me refine my control? Well here." they gently grabbed Luz and pressed her head against their chest, so she could hear their heartbeat… a heartbeat that sounded strangely like a song.

Luz looked up at Raine with a whole new level of amazement; "You're using magic to control your heartbeat, making it beat to a rhythm of a Bardic Song!? That should kill you… unless…!?"

"The song it's beating to is a song that controls blood, allowing me to manually pump it around my body. It takes a lot of control to do it, but…" Raine smirked.

"My blessing and your new form refines your control!" Luz finished. "How in the heck did someone as amazing as you ever have confidence issues!?"

Raine laughed; "Hello Miss Pot, I'm Mx. Kettle!"

Luz blushed; "Touché."

Their talk was interrupted by a sudden blood-curdling scream, causing all the CATTs to turn towards the two Mandragoras, who'd taken an unexpected approach to stopping the Anti-Magic that burned at Terra's feet… namely, cutting her feet off entirely! With a blade of green magic shot from the end of her staff, Arboriel had sliced off Terra's feet at the ankle, then promptly buried them in the dirt to be consumed by the decaying power of the black and gold flames. Terra, who was screaming bloody murder the entire time as she spilled green blood everywhere, then began to absorb plant life from the garden around her in order to regenerate, slowly restoring her feet to their original state. It was a rather horrifying sight, which neither Arboriel nor the CATTs could fully tear their eyes away from, though Raine did also use the opportunity to shoot a blood tendril towards Arboriel.

The surprise attack almost caught Arboriel off-guard, but she leapt to the side to avoid the attack at the last moment, at which point Raine revealed that the attack on her was just a ploy, and their real target was Clover. With Arboriel out of the way and Terra still recovering, neither were able to stop Raine yanking the little Bee Palisman back towards them, letting Luz catch her and rip out the vines and ivy that Terra had used to control her. Once she was free, Clover thanked her rescuers with a polite nod and a pleased buzz, before darting off into the eager embrace of Willow, who shouted her profuse thanks to Luz and Raine as well.

By that point, Terra had regrown her legs and shakily got back to her feet in utter rage. "You are going to pay for that, Sprout!"

Raine was unimpressed; "Oh wow, you were forced to have a limb cut off by a friend to save you from a horrible infectious power forced on you by an enemy… Luz here knows a lot about that. Maybe you should ask her how much sympathy she has for you, considering you stood by and smiled as she suffered the same thing thanks to Belos and his sigil!"

Luz shuddered at the memory; "That was NOT a fun day!"

Terra screamed in rage and conjured a series of bean-like seeds that she threw into the soil, growing a small army of about 12 Bark Mandrakes. These were a variant of normal Mandrakes that appeared older, being shaped like small goblin-like creatures. They were stronger and more vicious than regular Mandrakes, and possessed claws that could rend flesh with ease, but lost their poisonous bites and some of the power in their screams. Still even with weaker screams, 12 little goblins with knife-like fingers all charging at someone whilst screaming deafeningly loud was still a disorienting and terrifying experience… if one wasn't a Seraphim or the Isles' best bard.

Luz ignored them altogether and used the Incomplete Glyph to link to Raine's mind and let them know she was going after Arboriel, rushing at the elder Mandragora. She turned Stringbean into a Saw Shark-themed chainsaw and began swinging at Arboriel as she countered with blasts of intense green magic, leaving the Bark Mandrakes to Raine…

…for all of two seconds, which was how long it took Raine to shift their staff into violin form and create a single cutting note that slashed through the whole swarm and bifurcated them at the waist. Terra growled in fury and cast another plant spell, causing the sliced up Bark Mandrakes to regrow their missing halves by absorbing the plants around them, restoring their bodies and doubling their numbers.

"Prune them all you want! Plants always grow back stronger!" Terra said, wearing a mad smile. She then conjured some Shooting Seed Pods from her shoulders like she'd done earlier and began firing seeds at Raine to keep them moving around in the air and to try and disrupt their playing as the Mandrakes screeched beneath them, clambering over each other to try and gain enough height to reach them. Raine was totally unimpressed and responded by landing and putting up a simple barrier, which the Mandrakes all began to clamber around on, clawing at it in a vain attempt to get through. Raine then touched the barrier and ignited it with Anti-Magic, immediately causing the thin barrier to decay into nothing whilst also spreading the Anti-Magic fire to the Mandrakes. Their screaming grew more intense as they began to rot away, unable to regenerate where the flames were and leaving Terra fuming even more. She doubled down on the seed shooting, and conjured some thorny vines to try and whip at Raine, absolutely determined to hurt them.

Raine, for their part, found this effortlessly easy to deal with; their wings made weaving around Terra's attacks almost effortless, though this may also be because Terra had lost her composure and was flying into a rage. With this in mind, Raine continued to fly around as they began to play their violin and perform the Minuet of the Forest. This song allowed Raine to control small and simple plants, such as the seeds being launched at them or the leaves of the Great Treat looming over the room, giving them a huge mass of plant life that they promptly began firing back at Terra. Of course, using plants on a Mandragora was pointless as Terra just cackled and began absorbing the leaves and seeds launched her way, but it also obscured her vision enough to let Raine intentionally spill a little bit of blood on the thorny vines, as well as on a couple of leaves that they carefully directed to touch the Seed Pods on Terra's shoulder.

"Be careful what you absorb, you old hag; it might not be good for you!" Raine declared before whistling and causing all the blood they'd spilled to explode into Anti-Magic flames.

Terra screamed as her thorny vines were destroyed, and then she noticed her seed pods burning too, and promptly cut them off herself before the Anti-Magic could spread to them. Terra then tried to conjure a giant Treant Arm from the ground, but Raine simply infused their blood and Bardic Magic into their bow, causing it to gain an elongated red blade with which they effortlessly slashed the Treant Arm. They then pointed their hand at Terra and began firing a drops of blood from their palm, turning each one into a needle that destroyed the next wave of plants Terra was growing by injecting them with Anti-Magic. Terra screamed incoherently, virtually insane with fury, and Raine knew immediately that this fight was all but done. The woman was resorting to hiding behind plant barriers and growing minions to send at Raine, having no greater plan than trying to overwhelm the Bard.

Raine was honestly a little disappointed, though also felt some catharsis in outmatching Terra so much. With their newly unified power and Luz's Blessing helping to take the edge off, Raine was merely tired as opposed to being utterly spent (though they did have to be careful not to use too much blood, even with the Rondo of Blood causing their body to generate more of it much faster.).

Deciding to end it and go on to help Luz with Arboriel (not that she needed the help from what they could see), Raine decided to give Terra some final cutting words to let her know how little they thought of her.

"You know something Terra, I've always hated you. Your plant puns were never as clever as you seemed to think, and that combined with your cruelty and selfishness left you with a personality akin to "hot garbage" as they say these days. Every aspect of your magic revolves around exploiting life without the slightest bit of respect for it… you really are like an insidious weed." Raine said scathingly, looking down at Terra like she was less than filth. "And I think it's time someone finally pulled you up by the root and threw you into the fire!"

With that, Raine began playing their violin even faster, producing a storm of sonic blades that slashed down on the fuming woman, who screamed in incoherent rage as she tried to simultaneously regrow the vines blocking their attacks AND manipulate the Mandrakes to scream at them, hoping to drown out their music. It failed completely though, as Raine's sonic blades beheaded the Mandrakes faster than Terra could grow them. It took a moment, but soon their attacks overwhelmed her entirely and her vine barrier was left critically damaged and one good blow away from breaking. With this in mind, Raine stopped playing and used their blood to create a simple throwing knife shaped like a musical note, which they then tossed at the vines, where it was embedded inside the barrier. Terra continued to try and grow her barrier though, causing the knife to soon be lost within the writhing mass of vines.

The evil plant woman was certain Raine had finally run out of steam, while she could just keep absorbing parts of the garden to recover her strength, totally ignorant of the trap Raine had laid for her. She didn't remain ignorant for long, as Raine ignited the blood note with Anti-Magic, causing the barrier to promptly go up in black and gold flames. Terra screamed in shock and fear as she recoiled, rushing to escape the flames before they spread to her. Raine didn't give her a chance to get far though, swooping down like a silent hunter, their bow still transformed into a red blade of blood and Bardic Magic. Terra turned around just in time for Raine to slash her across the torso, delivering a diagonal cut that went through her left shoulder and came out above her right hip. It was a devastating blow that made Terra scream, though it wasn't lethal on it's own. The woman staggered back in pain and shock, before Raine ended the fight by using blood and Bardic Magic to make their violin into a hammer which they then smashed into her face, knocking her flying. She smashed into the wall of the temple with a nasty cracking sound, then fell face down in the dirt and grass of the Mandragoras' Inner Court.

Raine remained hovering in the air a short distance from her and watched as she bled green blood into the soil. She appeared to be unconscious, so the Bard turned away from her with a muttered "Good Riddance" before rushing over to help Luz with Arboriel.

Though "help" might not be the best word…

[Meanwhile]

After the first round, Luz was not holding back and was fighting full force, using her wide range of magical abilities to blitz Arboriel, making sure the Mandragora barely had time to react to her attacks, keeping her from pulling off any big spells. It had started with the Stringbean Chainsaw blade, which Luz had swung at Arboriel as she'd been growing some Divine Realm Trees to try and give herself a protective perch from which to fight from. Luz had used that and a combination of strength-enhancing Construction Magic and the scalpel spell of Healing Magic to make quick work of these crystalline trees before the Mandragora could fully grow them, and the sight of the blade and the strength Luz put into swinging it had Arboriel panicking; one blow to her body would slice her in half! Even if she could regenerate by consuming plant matter, it would still hurt a lot!

Because of this Arboriel continued to flee, running from Luz by fusing into the various trees that the Inner Court's tree castles were built in and then emerging from a different tree, using them like portals in a similar way to Treble. However no matter where she went, Luz would find her fast and reach her with incredible speeds, using Wind Magic to propel her and a hidden Bestial Blessing to give herself the nose of a Dog, which let her sniff out Arboriel too quickly for her to do anything but run or fire desperate blasts from her Dragon Heart Staff.

"Damnable- Begone!" Arboriel demanded, slamming the butt of her staff onto the ground and creating a shockwave of green magic, which caused brambles and flowers to begin rapidly spreading. Luz avoided these by flying over them and slicing up the ones that came close to actually grabbing her, then swung at Arboriel's staff-wielding arm, planning to literally disarm her. Arboriel avoided it by once again fusing into the tree she was using as cover, which caused Luz's blade to slash right through the trunk of the tree and making it come crashing down, destroying the tree castle atop it as well as another tree castle that was in the tree that it crashed into on the way down. The destruction of the two tree castles sent wooden debris everywhere, as well as a minor magical explosion caused by the expansion spells on the castles failing.

"Careful, Luz!" Willow yelled to her, looking up from the herbs she was growing after some of the debris nearly hit her, Hunter, and Boscha.

"Sorry Willow!" Luz yelled, before suddenly ducking as Arboriel emerged from a tree behind her and shot a blast of green magic at the back of her head. "Maybe it's time for a different kind of blade!"

Stringbean turned back into her snake form, then listened as Luz used their link to relay the plan for her new form. For a moment, Luz wasn't sure Stringbean could do it, but after a moment's thought, Stringbean transformed into the desired weapon, keeping her form snake-themed as she did so. The resulting form was just what Luz had imagined, and she wielded it with joy.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun!" Luz grinned, creating a barrier to block more attacks from Arboriel. Her new weapon resembled a large purple key that was the rough size of a sword, and had a little keyring that was made from Stringbean's tail orb. Luz spun it around with skill, having a replica of a very similar weapon in her room back in the Human Realm; a souvenir from a convention she'd gone to a couple of years ago.

"Let's see if Stringbean the Keyblade can't open your rotten heart, Arboriel!" Luz beamed, jumping out from behind cover. She was immediately shot at by Arboriel, but Luz simply used the lightning flash spell to zip out of the way and get into Arboriel's face, at which point she slammed the keyblade down on top of Arboriel's head. The Mandragora yelped in pain, but managed to block the follow up blow with her staff. For a moment, the two ladies clashed weapons against each other, with both augmenting their strength. Eventually they ended up pushing their weapons against each other with all their strength, which culminated in Arboriel smirking and releasing a powerful explosion of Plant Magic. The explosion hit both of them, sending Arboriel crashing into a tree (which she fused into in order to cushion her impact), while Luz was blasted all the way back to the Great Treant.

Luz hit the tree hard and groaned at the impact, but her Seraphim durability kept her from taking too much damage, and she immediately used the distance to point her keyblade at Arboriel and shout; "Blizzard!". The end of her keyblade glowed blue with the ice glyph and a chunk of ice was launched at Arboriel, leaving a trail of frost on the ground as it travelled. Luz flashed onto this trail and actually slid along it, catching up with the ice chunk before it could reach it's target, which worked out in Luz's favour. Arboriel had easily side-stepped the projectile, but thanks to Luz now being right behind it, the young Seraphim was able to smack the ice chunk with her keyblade, like she was playing baseball with them. She scored a home run as the ice chunk smashed into Arboriel's face, making her cry out and spill green blood from her nose.

"Argh! Why fight me this hard!? You were going to be a Princess!? You would have a throne, a crown, a palace! You lover as your eternal consort! Do you hate Mandragoras that much!?" Arboriel screamed as she rubbed her sore nose and let it regenerate.

"I don't hate Mandragoras at all. I wouldn't have ever fought you if you weren't doing evil stuff." Luz countered; "You tried to kill Boscha and Amity back at Hexside, you hurt the Palisman at the Bat Queen's Forest, and you basically enslaved and forcibly transformed a ton of people here! Of course I'm gonna fight you! I'm Luz, Seraphim of the Demon Realm! It's my job to save and protect people here!"

Arboriel glared; "So you already staked your claim! That's why you rejected my offer; you want this realm for yourself!" she accused, thrusting her staff at Luz and conjuring a series of Whirligig Pine Cones. The span towards Luz with enough force to drill right through her, but Luz held up her keyblade and conjured a strong wind around herself, which caught the pine cones, reversed their rotation, then sent them spinning right back.

"Have a taste of Aerora! And I don't want to rule the Demon Realm or anywhere else! I want to protect it! I don't need some fancy chair or house, or gaudy golden headgear to do that!" Luz countered.

The Mandragora Queen spun her staff to deflect the pine cones, then looked at Luz in total confusion; "You make no sense! You rise to the Seraphim; the royalty of the Divine Realm, but you declare yourself a mere servant and protector of the Demon Realm!? Do you not see that you can protect your people more effectively by ruling them!?"

Luz's smile fell and she became serious for a moment; "That line of thought is what turns good people into dictators!"

"And what probably turned Rasiel into the Divider…" she thought bitterly.

"I refuse to be like that! I'll protect those who can't protect themselves, help others fix the mistakes they make, and bring the best peace I can to the Demon Realm! Besides, no one who wants to rule is worthy to do so! I learned that from the Good Witch Azura!" Luz declared.

"Well said, Sparks!" Raine as they flew over to join them.

"Hi Titi! Things with Terra go well?" Luz asked.

"She's currently face down in the dirt over there, so I'd say so." Raine grinned, making Luz giggle.

Arboriel gasped and turned to where Terra lay in the dirt. She grit her teeth furiously as she turned back to the pair; "You two will pay for hurting one of my daughters!"

With that, Arboriel let lose a blood-thirsty scream and stabbed her staff into the soil, piecing the ground with the Galdorstone. The entire room then began to rumble as the trees in the southern part of the room began to uproot themselves as their trunks suddenly tore open, creating pseudo eye holes and maws full of splintered wooden fangs. The trees, now turned into Treant-like Golems, began rapidly crawling towards the pair, causing the bridges and walkways that connected the tree palaces build inside their branches to begin snapping off and flailing around like whips.

Luz and Raine, using King's incomplete glyph and the connection of Luz's blessing to coordinate silently with each other, effortlessly began an aerial dance together, as Raine began to play the violin and Luz began to sing. The song was an Angelic Hymn (basically the equivalent of a Bardic Spell) known as "Nature's Charity". It was hymn sung in the fields by Crest Temperance, as it promoted growth in plants; though it had to be used carefully, lest the growing go out of control.

The power of a Titan-empowered Seraphim with the accompaniment of the Boiling Isles' best Bard ensured just that very result, which was just what they wanted.

The Wood Golems began to grow rapidly, as did the grass and flowers on the ground around them. In fact, every plant in the room that didn't also count as a Demon (such as the Mandragoras and Great Treant) began to rapidly grow longer and larger, which soon became a problem for the golems, as they struggled to move without getting caught on each other or tangled in the longer plants. It resulted in the Golems growing and fusing together into a massive block of wood, which Raine and Luz then swiftly decayed into nothing with a mix of the former's Anti-Magic and the latter's Darkness Magic.

Even while continuing to sing and play, Luz and her Titi began to dance together, with Raine creating rings of blood around the pair of them and Luz infusing this blood with elemental magic (since it was Raine's blood and contained a part of her blessing). The two created eight rings, four around each of them as they danced and Arboriel tried in vain to blast away the plants that were STILL growing as a result of the hymn. Raine ended up with the rings of Cassiopeia's elements, while Luz had Orion's (though traditional fire was replaced with Raine's Anti-Magic). The two then flew at Arboriel, whereupon they began to dance around her, smashing the rings into her and inflicting elemental damage that had her screaming in pain, her staff flying out of her hand.

"Revelation Dance!" Raine and Luz declared as their literal song and dance reached its crescendo with a fireworks display of tiny elemental explosions.

The result was Arboriel falling to her knees in pain and shock; she was partially frozen, burned by light and Anti-Magic fire, covered in cuts from razor sharp leaves and winds, bruised by rocks, spasming from electricity, and suffering some minor decay to her fingers from the Darkness Magic.

"And that, Arboriel, is what our family can do!" Luz grinned, twirling her keyblade.

"As brief as it was, you were a joy to perform with again, Sparks." Raine complimented, rubbing the girl's head before dispelling the Anti-Magic so it wouldn't spread or kill Arboriel.

"Thanks Titi! Let's do this again sometime! Though maybe not in a fight." Luz giggled. She shot a simple healing spell on the Mandragora's hands and the areas that had been partially destroyed by the Anti-Magic. Luz did leave the rest of her wounds in place though, until she could be properly secured as a prisoner.

Arboriel could do nothing but glare at Luz and Raine in humiliation. She was the Queen of the Mandragoras, and yet here she was on her knees in front of her enemy, left disarmed and defenceless. Luz's decaying Darkness Magic and Raine's Anti-Magic destroyed her plants faster than she could grow them, and with her Divine Blessing spent and her staff knocked from her hands, Arboriel truly was out of options.

She opened her mouth to spit an insult at the two CATTs, only for her body to suddenly be wracked with pain as she felt something thrust in through her back and out through her stomach. The words she'd meant to spew were replaced by a spray of green blood, and yet more blood leaked from her wound as she looked down, seeing tree roots impaling her. The CATTs all gasped in shock, especially as the roots began to glow faintly and absorb the blood being spilled from Arboriel, causing her to slowly become shrivelled and elderly looking. Weak and in pain, Arboriel turned her head shakily to look at her attacker, her eyes glistening with tears of betrayal.

"M-My daughter… why…?" Arboriel choked out as her eyes fell on the smirking face of Terra Snapdragon.

Terra, using roots from her hands to suck up Arboriel's vital essence and regenerate herself, held the Dragon Heart Staff in her other hand with a triumphant expression.

"Sorry, "Mother Dearest" but there is only room for one Mandragora on the throne, and you've officially outlived your usefulness!"