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.

59. EP 17: Alpha Aggression

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Due to family obligations, I have to put this story on hiatus for the remainder of the year. The next chapter will be released on January 3rd.

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The Angel of the Owl House

Season 3: The Divine Realm

Chapter 17: Alpha Aggression

After the events at the Laptela Necropolis, things slowed down significantly for the CATTs over a period of several days. They had lost quite a few of their allies during the distraction and Archives assault missions while Luz and the others were saving King at the Necropolis, so the CATTs were far more understaffed and trying to figure out their next move, as the Divider and his forces seemed to be stalling too. The Divider still didn't know how Luz had known his plan to stash King with the Oracle Coven, and his current belief seemed to be that the CATTs had spies with each of the Covens, so he was now taking several days to "clean house" and ensure there were no spies… by mass dividing almost everyone left at the Coven Headquarters, Wings of Rani outposts, and Union Pillars. He spared those who swore they weren't CATTs and weren't feeding them intel, and it seemed Rasiel still had enough of a voice to convince his other self to be merciful, but the situation was still dire. The news of that had shaken the Boiling Isles a little, especially as the new Abomaton Paladins now roamed the Isles, replacing the old Abomaton Knights and Knight Golems, and even the Knight Jars, since the Paladins had little drone Abominations they could use for aerial scouting. The Wings of Rani were now exerting full control, and things on the expanded Isles were becoming tenser by the day.

On Zachael's Landing, things had started off fairly well after the mission. They had held a memorial service for the Beasts and Oracles slain by the Titan Trappers, and they all raised a glass in toast to the brave CATTs and Angels that had thought hard and been captured by the Divider. The former Titan Trappers, choosing to rebrand themselves as the Titan Penitents, received a mixed reception from the others, but as they had sworn oaths to serve Luz and King, they had been ultimately accepted and given work assignments. Denasu and Rakusa were assigned to Hettie at the hospital, as a Herbalist and Healing Apprentice respectively, and Tarak and Galeh were both assigned to the Construction Crew, where their strength could be put to use. Lastly, Toruna was revealed to be quite skilled in cultivating plants and raising animals, so had been assigned to the farms. They had been given homes too, as had the Bat Queen and her children and Palisman Wards. The Bat Queen's home was out in the more tropical woods of the island, a ways outside the actual city of Zachael's Landing, since many of the Palismen were still not comfortable around people, especially after being attacked by the Mandragora and later by the Trappers. It was also at this point that Luz and the others learned that not ALL the Palismen that were kept at the Beast-Keeping HQ had been taken by the Titan Trappers, meaning they still needed to worry about rescuing the rest of them.

Samael and the rest of the Nexsquad (sans King) had also, predictably, ended up in a fair bit of trouble for their antics. Their parents and guardians (namely the Secunas, the Dryder Girls' parents; the Drobuki couple, Camila, Eda, Raine, and the new addition of Lazuliel) had talked over how to handle them and come to a fair agreement. The children were told that their help truly had been appreciated and they really had helped them save King in the end, but that didn't excuse their bad behaviour, so Emiliel, Simi, Asher, and Marama all ended up grounded for a full month; a long time for little kids. Samael was grounded for two weeks, since he had helped them with their scheme, and little Ramari had gotten away with only a mild scolding, since she hadn't gone on the dangerous mission, but also hadn't told the adults about it, letting them worry themselves sick. The kids all accepted the punishments… and ended up going to sleep that night in a giant owl pellet, as Hooty decided to give them his own punishment. The kids found this more fun than punishing though, and treated it like a sleepover in a weird smelling tent.

It had been a low-key and somewhat sombre end to the Saturday, as well as King's 9th Birthday, though the little Titan refused to complain. But the next day, a Sunday, ended up being a surprise party to make it up to King! Luz and the Hexsquad had been secretly planning it while the parents were dealing with the Nexsquad, and after the kids had gone to bed, they'd filled Eda and the others in, leading to the creation of quite the party! King had woken up the day after his birthday with a strange atmosphere in the air, only to be told to go visit with his parents (he'd been too tired the night before) and let them know about his growth and Palisman partner, but when he'd stepped through the Portal Gate, he'd found the Portal Nexus on the other side decked out with party stuff, turning the place into a mini-festival platform! King had been blown away, as not only did he get to spend his Birthday with his whole family, but his friends were also given a one day reprieve from their grounding so they could play with him! The Portal to Zachael's Landing remained open, so people could come and go (since the living still couldn't reside in the In-Between for too long), and the party ended up being a huge success!

King was inundated with gifts, most of which were small tokens like sweets, handmade toys, and plushies. He'd even gotten presents from his parents (using Eda as their intermediary), and shockingly, the Seraphim Council had sent him a birthday card with a "We owe you one Birthday Wish of your choosing" message inside, which Camila said was a real promissory note for a favour from the Union. It seemed they still felt guilt towards him over arresting him.

King's favourite presents ended up being the ones from his parents, his siblings, Amity, Matt, and Emiliel. His parents (including Eda) had originally gotten him a log of Palistrom Wood that Eda had gone out a few days ago and pilfered from her Dad's grove, but with Prince in the picture, that was no longer necessary. They'd given it to him anyway though, and King had graciously (and with permission) re-gifted it to Samael, so he could eventually carve his own Palisman. The (somewhat) last minute replacement gift from Orion, Cassiopeia, and Eda had been a hand-written tome full of glyph combos that Orion and Cassiopeia knew, some of which had been passed down in their family lines since the time of Civa, Nilam, and Mancal; Rasiel's old Titan friends. This included the Sealing Spell that kept Azazel captive (King and Samael had kindly included her in the party fun, even if she couldn't leave her seal), and even the Advanced Version, which had been used to create the Black Tombs. King naturally treasured this, and was overjoyed to see that he had managed to discover some his parents' combos all on his own!

The joint gift from Luz and Samael had been a pair of spells; the first was a simple animation spell, which permanently animated King's favourite toy; Francois the Rabbit. With Samael's help, they had created a very rudimentary artificial soul (which was just a marble enchanted with various control spells, the animation spell, and some simple intellect spells), allowing Francois to act independently to a certain degree, obey King's commands, and move around like a person. The second spell was one cast on King's tail; a modified version of Eda's hair storage spell, allowing King to keep a virtually unlimited amount of stuff inside his tail, which now included his new tome of combos and his animated Francois! Building on Luz and Samael's gift, Amity had crafted a special Homunculus that was stored inside a brass necklace worn by Francois; when King pressed a button on his controller (shaped like a disk and slotted easily onto the back of his medallion), the Homunculus would coat Francois and turn him into a modified Homunculus Warrior modelled loosely on the Titan Golems that existed on Titan Cradle Island. Thanks to the animation enchantments on Francois, this would allow the toy to defend King when needed, and it even had some glyph magic installed, and thanks to the shape changing abilities of Homunculi and Titan Golems, it could transform into various shapes, with Amity programming in a few Pokemon shapes since she knew King liked the series from their time in the Human Realm. Meanwhile Matt had made good on King's request of his birthday and made him a Bowcaster that was stored in a bracelet on his right wrist. It had the usual light bolts and glyph lenses, but it also had an alt-mode that functioned like Simi's slingshot, conjuring marbles into a mechanism designed to wrap them in any paper King slotted into the weapon, allowing him to write glyphs and glyph combos and plug them in.

Between his new lightning glyph, his Palisman Prince, his tome of new combos, his battle-ready Francois, AND his new Bowcaster, King's battle capabilities had gone through the roof!

In keeping with that theme, Emiliel had gifted King a piece of angelic plate armour. It was a white breast plate that protected King's upper torso (it would have protected his whole torso, but his growth made the armour a bit smaller on him now), and it had been made from a piece of Angelic armour given by the Union as part of the surplus supplies. Emiliel had ordered it customised and shaped for King, paying with the allowance she'd been saving up since her time with the Wings of Rani. One of the Construction Witches had customised it to fit King, and though he'd accepted her payment (which was far less than his labour normally cost), he secretly ended up giving Emiliel's money back via Hooty, who snuck it into her piggy bank. The armour was fairly plan and simple, with a simple gold filigree around the edge, a gold disk on the centre, and black, high quality straps to keep it on him. The end result was a very nice breast plate, which made King feel warm and fuzzy; a feeling he shared with Emiliel when giving her a tight hug, the two children blushing adorably. The party had continued on until midnight, and then a new day began and the children were put to bed.

When everyone woke up the next day, Luz had immediately gone to the Divine Realm to ask if one of the Union's Thrones would be willing to restore her halo like last time, but she was unfortunately rejected. It seemed that Laptela Necropolis was having consequences for the Divine Realm too, as the Titan Trappers there had been divided and were powering Cassiopeia's Union Pillars, which allowed the Divider to send even MORE Distorted Shadows into Gran Seraphia, as well as the surrounding land. The increased attacks had forced the Union to be on high alert, with every Throne and Seraphim needed, leaving none willing or allowed to give up their Halo to restore Luz's. Even Camael couldn't, as he needed his halo to help with healing. That meant that for several days at least, Luz was benched as she awaited the natural return of her halo. The loss of her halo also meant Luz wasn't strong enough to maintain an open connection via the glyphs, keeping her from using them to take on her Titan Form without putting a lot of stress on her body, as well as being unable to support the Fusions of her friends.

Luz and the fusions may have been benched, but the Hexsquad itself and the others were not, and so plans were made to try and counter the Divider and rescue their captured allies, while generally trying to delay the Divider by attacking the Union Pillars and trying to shut them down. This was met with mixed success, as Lyra was able to scry for their missing friends and the others were able to go out and rescue them… about half of the time. The other half of the time, the Abomaton Paladins and Wings of Rani were too fast and effective in countering them, preventing the rescues. After several days of this, in which Luz got plenty of rest, they had managed to rescue about a third of their captured friends, but the majority were still held captive, including Daniel the High Angel, who was being held on Rani's Eden where there was no hope of reaching him without Luz's help and without the Divider being elsewhere. In addition, all the Coven Headquarters that still existed were being heavily guarded, so plans to go there and catch Adrian Graye Vernworth, rescue the remaining Palismen, and stop the Abomaton Paladin's production had all stalled too.

As a result of the CATTs not wanting to go on any major missions until Luz had her halo back and was fully functioning again, things had slowed to a crawl for an entire week, but the same could be said of the Divider, who was now splitting his time between trying to figure out what had allowed Luz to figure out his plans and find the missing parts of Cassiopeia to complete his set of Union Pillars. As Azazel was also still a CATTs prisoner, the Divider had fewer powerful allies able to scour the world for signs of Cassiopeia's missing parts. A strange stalemate had formed within the Second War of Division, but to Luz and the CATTs, it felt like the calm before a VERY bad storm.

That all came to a head when a new week began, and Luz awoke fresh on Monday morning, the glow of a newly restored halo shining behind her head.

"Finally!" Luz practically sang as she leapt out of bed and danced around her bedroom, her new halo gleaming with golden light. Her magic still felt a little "stiff" for lack of a better word, but that had happened when her halo had been restored the first time, so Luz didn't pay it any mind and instead dressed quickly and skipped out of the room to tell her family.

As usual, the only ones awake in the temporary Noceda-Clawthorne Home before Luz were Camila, Raine, and Lilith, and the trio were sat together as always, enjoying tea and chatting about whatever took their fancy before the less mature members of the household awoke. A cup of warm smilk was ready for Luz as she slid into her usual seat with a "Good morning!"

"Good morning, Sparks." Raine greeted with a smile as Lilith reached over the table to pet Luz's hair and Camila kissed her cheek.

"Did you sleep well, Mija?" she asked.

"I did! And looky here!" Luz grinned, pointing to her halo.

"Oh! It's finally back! Wonderful!" Camila said happily.

"Does that mean today will be planning for a big mission?" Lilith asked eagerly. She wanted to get back out there and prove herself again after the Cocytux Island Mission went pear-shaped.

Luz nodded; "You got that right! We've got three targets, and I have a sinking feeling that the Divider isn't gonna take much longer! I feel like things are coming to a head! Call it Angelic Intuition, but something big is gonna happen soon."

Intuition was something no one with magic would risk ignoring, as it was often thought to be a form of magical precognition, similar to Oracle Magic. If Luz felt something big was going to happen, her family were ready to believe it was!

With that thought in their minds, Raine went to gently wake up Eda, while Camila did the same with Vee, King, and Samael, leaving Lilith and Luz to cook breakfast together. Luz did most of the work with a little magic, to try and break it in again after a week without it. By the time she was done, Eda wandered in with Raine, looking half-dead and grasping for the closest mug of Apple Blood she could get a hold of. Vee showed up next and immediately began helping set the table, sharing a hug with her sister before getting to work. The boys arrived right after, both bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (literally in King's case). They cheered upon seeing Luz's halo, while Eda sleepily hugged her daughter when she came over to put a plate of food in front of her. They all sat together to eat and chat and joke as a family, missing only Amity and the Clawthorne Grandparents to make it complete. Of course, Amity was at the Deamonne and Blight's temporary home, and the Clawthorne Grandparents were still in the Divider's clutches, though Luz had plans to change that very soon.

It was an extremely pleasant domestic scene, yet every single person at that table had a sinking feeling in their bellies… they didn't think they'd be able to sit like this again until after the war was over. Perhaps that was why they chose to eat slowly and maximise the time they spent together.

Eventually, they couldn't justify spending any longer on breakfast, so Vee and Samael did the dishes while Lilith took Eda to get dressed (Raine used to do it, but that tended to lead to a long wait as Eda teased them) and shortly thereafter, they left the house and headed to the Council Chambers, where they found Darius, Alador, and their children all waiting for them. The usual greetings were shared and everyone took their seat and chatted as the rest of the CATTs council arrived. This also included Bria, who while not a member of the council, was always present at meetings since she was now Hettie's apprentice.

The sight of Bria made Luz smile; when first meeting her all those months ago in Bonesborough, she'd not liked the other girl at all, and what followed at the Looking Glass Graveyard had solidified that opinion, but ever since Matt had brought her back to the CATTs, Bria was like an entirely new girl!

She'd arrived with just the clothes on her back; a Glandus school uniform, but Hettie and Luna had managed to find her some new clothes by asking some of the female CATTs. Apparently Bria only had boys' clothing at her old home, with a single hair clip that she wore in secret being the entirety of her female clothing, so she was kind of thrilled to have more feminine clothing, even if she was still used to male clothing, meaning she frequently combined the two to make some outfits that Luz adored. The one she was wearing right now had become Bria's favourite; a pair of dark blue shorts, a white skirt, and a white blouse with dark blue sleeves, as well as a pair of white nurse's shoes.

Her entire demeanour was different too; she was generally friendly and fairly nice, a little like the fake personality she'd shown when first meeting Luz, only dialled back so it wasn't sickeningly sweet. She was also snarky and had a dry, sarcastic sense of humour that was similar to Boscha (with whom she got along quite well), but was easily flustered and tongue-tied, which Luz found adorable. She split her time between the Hospital with Hettie, and the Construction Workshops with Matt and Mason, being the apprentice of the former and unofficial apprentice of the latter two as well. Her skills as a healer were advancing fast, though Hettie said her bedside manner needed improving, as she would heal her patients but then berate them for being stupid if they'd gotten hurt in a reckless or preventable way. Her skills in Construction and Matt's brand of inventing were less successful, but Mason still loved to have her around as "a cute looking girl that can throw a punch like her keeps the rest of the crew on their toes and minding their manners!"

Considering the Construction Coven members were almost all burly men and women with rough hands and rough attitudes, someone like Bria was definitely a bit outside the norm!

Then of course there was Matt, who had taken Bria out on a date during their week of low-stakes missions. It had apparently gone well, and the two were now officially dating; most people called them Matria, but a few people (namely Boscha, Gus, and Steve) were calling them Bratt as a bit of friendly teasing. Bria wasn't in the Hexsquad (though she was considering transferring to Hexside when things had calmed down), but she hung out with them a lot as Matt's girlfriend and they had started forming relationships with her. Amity and Bria commiserated over abusive parents trying to mould them, and becoming a bit of a brat in the process, though they didn't have a lot else to talk about. Gus was completely welcoming of her and got her into Cosmic Frontier almost immediately, and while Bria wasn't a super fan like the others, she did love it. Bria was initially unsure about Willow, but seeing the older girl's physical training one day had made her extremely interested in joining her, and now they worked out in the mornings alongside Hettie. Boscha was the one she was closest to besides Matt, and they got along well (especially regarding Cosmic Frontier and Grudgby), though paradoxically, Skara was the one Bria was least comfortable with, as they really had nothing in common. They were friendly enough with each other, but they didn't ever seek out each other's company. Hunter got involved with her primarily through Cosmic Frontier and Willow, and he'd helped show her some more advanced fist and sword fighting skills, but otherwise they didn't talk too much. Lyra was someone who became a strangely close friend to Bria, initially wanting to get close to her since it would give them both someone to talk to when Gus and Matt did their bro thing together. However it hadn't taken them long to hit it off, with Lyra showing Bria how to be a bit more gentle and ladylike, while Bria in turn helped bridge the gap between Lyra and Hettie, since it was still awkward between them. Lyra had even succeeded in getting Bria interested in the Good Witch Azura, though as more of a casual fan.

Then of course, there was Luz. Bria had been terrified of the young Seraphim at first, especially since one of her first looks at her since the Graveyard had been Luz going all Titan mode out of anger over King. That fear soon became bewilderment, and eventually a kind of quiet respect, in part due to them both being healers.

Luz shook her head, moving her thoughts away from Bria as the rest of the CATTs Council came in and joined them. Lazuliel was also currently present; Lady Uriel of Crest Chastity had worked it out so that Lazuliel would spend the mornings in the Demon Realm with the CATTs' child wards, and her evenings in the Divine Realm with her own responsibilities to the Cherubs there. She had come along to the meeting as a liaison between the CATTs and the Union, since many of their captured allies had been Union Soldiers helping them out, meaning the Union had even more of a reason to want to keep track of the attempts to save them.

As soon as everyone was sat down and ready, Luz smiled and began the meeting.

"Alright guys, as you can probably tell, I've got my halo back, which means I'm fully back online! Which also means our Palisman Fusions are back on line too!" Luz grinned.

"Which means we can now go tougher missions again!" Matt cheered; "I so want to get out there and really test my fusion's powers!"

Darius smiled too; "This is good news. So we've got four potential missions; the first is the Red Galdorstone, which would delay the enemy by a good long time, but is also the toughest. The new facility built to house it is going to be hard to break into, and we can't even scry unless we get Lyra onto the Cassiopeia Archipelago, which could be dangerous in and of itself."

"Okay, so maybe we table that one. That leaves Rescuing the Palismen from the Beast-Keeping Coven Headquarters, shutting down the Abomaton Production at the Abomination Coven Headquarters, or capturing Adrian and getting the Illusionists to help us at the Illusion Coven Headquarters." Luz said. "Lyra, have you uncovered any new intel?"

Lyra nodded; "I have. The Illusion Coven would be the easiest to breach, since the extra security is limited there. It's low priority for the Divider to defend, as none of our friends are there and he doesn't know we're targetting leaders of the community to get the people to help us. Vernworth is also keeping a low profile apparently; I think he's afraid of us and the Divider."

Raine hummed; "Coven Heads who fight us have had a habit of dying recently, so no surprise there. What about the other two sites?"

"Both heavily guarded." Lyra frowned; "The security at the Beast-Keeping Coven is lighter, since the beasts themselves are part of it, but we can bypass those easily with Eber and Hunter. The Abomination Coven is way worse though; security there is impossibly tight, and it's swarming with Abomaton Paladins."

"We figured the Abomination Coven would be difficult… though Darius and I do know the place like the backs of our hands, and I'm sure my parents are there. Getting them back would be a BIG help." Alador said.

Eda was quick to counter; "And mine and Lily's parents are with the Beast-Keepers. Same as Barcus' parents. Getting them back would also mean bringing more beasties to our side and Dad being able to make Palismen for all our members who don't have them! That'd be a huge buff for us."

Lilith nodded in agreement with her sister, and for a moment it looked like the old "Who do we save?" debate was about to get rehashed, with Darius and Alador on one side, and Eda and Lilith on the other. A fair argument could be made for either side too, or even the Illusion Coven, since it was the only major Coven they didn't have some influence over. Before it could get that far though, Lyra spoke up again.

"Actually, I think we might need to go for the Beast Keepers first." she said, looking a little guilty towards her adoptive father.

Darius was surprised to hear her voting against him, but wasn't about to get on her case about it, instead simply asking; "Why is that, Lyra?"

"W-Well I've been occasionally scrying on the Huntsman and his remaining Trappers. I can't normally find the Huntsman since he's either across the sea or beyond the sky, but sometimes his Undivided Trappers are still allowed to work on the Boiling Isles, and two of them are always stationed at the Beast-Keepers Coven. Ever since he found out what they did with the Palismen residing there, the Divider won't let more than two be there, and they're usually supervised. But I've managed to catch some of their conversations… I think the Huntsman plans to use the Divided Beast Keepers to replace the Trappers that were captured." Lyra explained, looking nervous.

Hunter frowned; "How does he plan to do that? The Divider controls them, not him."

"He DID have those mind control collars. If they work on Beast Demons and Palisman, it's possible they work on Witches and Biped Demons too." Edric pointed out.

That was a scary thought, but it also raised another question; "Why would he have waited so long? It's been over a week since the disaster at the Necropolis." Skara asked.

"Waiting for the heat to die down, perhaps?" Boscha suggested. "I imagine the Divider was watching him."

"Could also be that he was recharging after blessing Bill." Mason added.

Samael shook his head though, dismissing these; "It's not that. It's the moon. The Huntsman; Belial gets his power from the Moon, just like I now get mine from Eclipses and Black Holes now!"

"So it's the Lunar Phase?" Osran hummed. "That makes sense; it's a Full Moon tomorrow night. If he gets his power from the Moon, then that'll be when he makes his move."

Willow grinned; "He might even think he's tough enough to try his lucky with fighting the Divider again! That'd be convenient! Whoever loses that fight, we win!"

"Don't be so sure, Willow." Camila chimed in, suddenly looking very concerned; "We only met the Huntsman in battle once and it didn't go that well. And based on the Lunar Cycle, during the attack on Digale Island there was either a New Moon or Waning Crescent."

Vee's eyes widened along with the others; "Which means he was at his weakest!?"

"He IS supposedly the third strongest Archivist. I guess that title is no joke after all." Luz commented. "So, we have no choice; we go to the Beast-Keeping Coven first, and protect the place from the Huntsman and Titan Trappers, while escaping with the Palismen!"

"Wait a second! I'm not totally sure there is going to be an attack! We might be reading too much into the chatter of a couple of bored Trappers!" Lyra cried. She didn't want to send them all on a wild goose chase, especially since it meant not going where her Dad wanted to.

Luz just waved her off though; "I'm sure it'll happen! And we can't risk ignoring it on the off-chance it doesn't! In fact, I already have an idea!"

"Lay it on us, Owlet!" Eda said, grinning in anticipation of finally going to rescue her parents.

"Okay, so Step One: Sneak into the Beast-Keeping HQ with help from Tia Eber." Luz began, winking to the diminutive Coven Head, who winked back.

"Step Two: Find the Palismen and get them out via the Portal Door! Step Three: Deactivate the Union Pillar nearby! Step Four: Fight the Huntsman and the Trappers when they show up! Step Five: Escape through the Portal Door when the Divider shows up! We rescue the Palisman, we rescue some Beast-Keepers, and we leave before the Divider deals with the Huntsman!"

"That's not a bad plan. We'd essentially only be trying to get the Divider to come running to stop the Huntsman. Feels kind of like dealing with a bully by goading them into doing something bad in front of a teacher." Lilith mused.

"Eber agrees! Eber say we do it!" Eberwolf barked. "Eber knows the sneaky ways!"

"Which is perfect! But we'll still need to deal with the heightened security, which means attacking nearby areas to bring it down like normal. Though that's dangerous now too." Raine pointed out.

Samael hopped up; "Nuh uh! I can make it work! I'll make my Toy Soldiers, and turn enemies into Puppets too! Then I can attack a bunch of places on my own!"

"I can help too." Matt agreed; "I can't quite make an army of droids yet, but I HAVE been working on my epiphany from last week, when Camila kept chasing me back to bed. The Prototypes have worked so far, and all they need to be fully online is some blessings from you, Luz."

"Okay, I'll bite; what is this epiphany of yours?" Gus asked.

Matt, Steve, Katya, and the Supreme Dragon Trio all grinned; "Biomechanical Supreme Dragon Skeletons."

A silence fell across the room, as Darius then said; "Elaborate."

"Well, the main reason Steve and the others aren't stronger is because they can't access any Wellsprings to create the Dragon Skeletons for their Dragon Forms. Well I figured, why don't we use samples of the five humours, as well as some Titan Bone to craft our own Skeletons that they can fuse with! So far, we've had success with small-scale ones; about half the size of the real Dragons, but through glyphs and the humour samples we took from Flora, we've managed to complete Dragon Transformations! And the only downside is that the glyphs need to be recharged with every use, and the smaller skeletons seem to only provide weaker Dragon Forms. Still stronger than the Priest Forms, but we still need more power." Matt explained.

"Which is where my blessings come in, I take it." Luz grinned; "If you can get full-sized ones up and running, then we'll have five full Supreme Dragon level allies! Combine that with the six Palisman Fusions, me, Samael, and the Anti-Magic Trio, and we'll have a ton of forces that should be able to stand up to the Abomaton Paladins! I'm on board! How fast do you think you can make full sized ones?"

"I've already completed Steve's and Katya's, and I'm halfway done with Zara's. If the Construction Crew don't mind pulling another all-nighter, I can have Zara's, Godric's, and Lars' completed by tomorrow morning, then all we need is your blessings. Oh, and as a bonus; they're compatible with the Alchemy Engine and Shrinking Solution in my Capsule Tech!" Matt grinned.

"Which means we can take our Dragon Bones with us anywhere we go!" Godric said excitedly.

"Great! So the Distraction Team will be the three Supreme Dragons and Samael's Toy Soldiers! I wanna keep Steve and Katya here on Zachael's Landing as emergency support. Sound good?" Luz asked.

She received nods from everyone, then said; "Okay! So aside from me and obviously Eber, Mom, Tia Lily, and Barcus, who wants to come on the Beast-Keeping Coven Mission?"

The three she'd named all smiled, happy to already be included. The first hands to rise were King and Raine, who obviously wanted to save their Grandparents and (essentially) In-Laws respectively. They were accepted immediately, and King would naturally be bringing along Prince as his Palisman and representative of the little guy's mother, Chiro the Bat Queen. Immediately after that, Hunter raised his hand too and said; "I've been training hard as a Beast-Keeper with Aunt Eber! And I still need to unlock my fusion form too! So Flap and I should come along."

Eber barked in approval, and Eda chuckled; "Sure thing! My parents should meet one of their new adopted grand-kids."

Hunter smiled and Flapjack chirped happily, causing Willow to immediately volunteer to come too; "I should be there just in case. If something goes bad with Hunter's heart, I'll need to be there to fix it up!"

Lyra raised her hand to suggest coming along too, but Darius gently shook his head; "With Luz, King, the Clawthorne Sisters, Eber, Raine, Hunter, Willow, and Barcus going, we'll be sending a full team of nine, even if King and Eber are both small. If we send any more, we risk it being harder to keep everyone together and able to evacuate."

"But if I don't go on missions too, how am I supposed to achieve my fusion with Waffles?" Lyra asked stubbornly, petting the Blue Jay on her shoulder; "Understanding the aspects of Darkness is gonna be hard, and the best bet I have is going out on missions, like everyone else!"

Osran put a hand on her free shoulder; "Not necessarily, dear one. I would feel better if you bonded with the glyph through meditation. Death is not something I want you to face."

Luz shuddered; "Yeah, I'd listen to Osran on this one, Lyra. My own bonding was… rough. 0 out of 10, would NOT recommend."

Lyra opened her mouth to argue, but found she couldn't say anything convincing and so simply sighed and accepted it. She also understood that her scrying was helpful, since she was the only one who could do it against Angels, so her fellow CATTs were being cautious with her.

"Okay, so tomorrow we'll go to the Beast-Keeping Coven HQ in the Right Hip. Everyone on the Rescue Team and Distraction Team should spend today getting read-"

Luz was interrupted by Lazuliel's DCM suddenly going off, its chiming unusually loud. The woman winced and sheepishly apologised as she pulled it out; "Sorry! I work with noisy kids, so I tend to keep this thing on high volume! I'll just…" Lazuliel looked at the mirror and gaped at the name that appeared on its surface.

"Z-Zirael!?" she exclaimed.

The CATTs all looked at her in shock; "Isn't that the Arch-Angel that made the truce with us back during Plantamania?" Amity asked. That name had really caught on with the CATTs it seemed.

"That's her. She was one of Tia Lazuli's fellow Chastity Angels, until they wanted her to have a kid and her colleagues ostracised her for refusing. It drove her to join the Wings of Rani." Luz reminded everyone.

Lazuli looked at the chiming mirror sadly; "Ziri and I used to be good friends… I tried to stop the others from judging her, but I didn't have much success. I'd heard she joined the Divider after fleeing the Union, but I'd hoped she'd just left for the Free Cities."

"So, are you going to answer it? See what she wants?" Camila asked.

Lazuli looked to Luz for permission and got a silent nod, so she stood and went over to the side of the room and turned so her back was against a bare wall, to ensure Zirael wouldn't see anything. Skara and Severin then put up a one-way silencing barrier, allowing everyone to hear what Lazuliel and Zirael said, but preventing them from hearing the rest of them. Lazuliel then finally answered the call, and Zirael's familiar face appeared on her mirror.

"Zirael… it's been a while." she greeted stiffly.

"It has. Hey Lazuliel… I guess you've heard that I'm with the Wings of Rani by now." Zirael replied awkwardly.

"It might have come up. If you're calling to try and recruit me, then you're out of luck. The Union has its problems, but what you're doing it just plain wrong. Luz, Cassiel, and I are going to fix it the right way, without resorting to brainwashing!" Lazuli scowled.

Zirael winced; "I-I believe you. I didn't call to convince you to join the Divider…"

Lazuliel raised an eyebrow, while Luz and Amity exchanged curious looks. The Divider, not the Lord Divider?

"Than what DID you call me for?" Lazuli asked.

"I… I was hoping you could get me into contact with Lady Luciel. I know the Union is helping her, and you're close to her mother Cassiel. I want to arrange a meeting with her urgently." Zirael said, sounding very nervous. She was also looking around fearfully and now that Lazuli took a moment to notice it, she saw that Zirael was somewhere in a wooded area. What was going on?

Still, the CATTs were suspicious, so Lazuliel replied; "Why should I? So you can lure her into a trap for the Divider?"

"No! I promise, the Divider doesn't even know I'm calling you! And he won't if I can help it!" Zirael cried; "Please! I'll meet Lady Luciel wherever she wants me to! I swear, it'll just be me and one other Angel and we won't try any funny business."

Lazuliel blinked, then subtly looked up at Luz while making it look like she was staring off into the distance in thought. Luz mouthed "Ask her who the other Angel is.", so Lazuliel did.

"The other Angel is a friend of mine, one you might know? Daniel; a High Angel that was in Crest Diligence until just a week ago, when he left the Union to join Lady Luciel in the Demon Realm. Hold on, I'll put him on." Zirael said, before disappearing from the mirror's surface and letting Lazuli see more of her surroundings. She appeared to be in the Forearm Forest, though Lazuli wasn't familiar enough with the Boiling Isles to know exactly where (she only knew of the Forearm Forest because she'd gone there with Cassiel and Chiro in the last week to recover Chiro's buried wealth).

After a moment of fumbling and some quiet talking from the other side of the mirror, the face of Daniel soon appeared. He looked a little tired, and Lazuli got the impression he was depressed, but from what Luz had told her about him over the last week, that had been Luz's impression too. The poor guy was already being added to Golsi's Therapy List!

"Hey, Lazuliel. I don't think we've ever really spoken, but I've seen you before and heard of you from Luz and Ziri." Daniel said, smiling awkwardly.

"Likewise. You were one of the High Angels at Luz's trial… sorry to hear that seeing that messed you up so badly." Lazuli said sympathetically.

Daniel gave a half-hearted shrug; "It's fine. It's my own fault for not wising up sooner and doing something about it. But forget me for now; Ziri is being serious about wanting to talk to Luz. I know it sounds shady, but we can trust her; she saved me from being Divided after I was captured."

Once again, Lazuliel's eyes went to Luz, who in turn looked to the others and said; "What do you guys think?"

"It sounds legit, but it could still be a trap." Willow said.

"I've got some Blabber Serum ready." Boscha said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a vial; "I say we send them to meet you in an isolated spot, then we drag 'em into the shadows and dose them up! Just to be safe! Angels and the Divided supposedly won't lie, but Raguel showed that the Divider's Fanatics might still do it."

"Boscha has a good point." Severin said; "I recommend we go with her plan."

Darius, Raine, Lilith, and Eda all nodded in agreement, which was enough for Luz. "Okay, Tia Lazuli. Tell Daniel and Zirael to meet us outside the Owl House and to come alone. Lyra, you'll come with me; we'll nab them through the shadows and scry to make sure they really are alone. Boscha, you come too, so you can dose them."

The two girls happily agreed and Lazuliel, reading Luz's lips, passed along the message, phrasing it as "I'll tell Luz to meet you outside the Owl Lady's home."

She got two affirmative responses, and then thanks from them both before the call went dead. Once the call was over and the silencing barrier was dropped, Luz told everyone to stay put while she took Lyra and Boscha to grab Zirael and Daniel. They travelled quickly to the Portal Gate and passed through it, giving a short greeting to the Titans and Azazel before leaving through the Bonesborough Gate. The trio gave a cautious look around to make sure they weren't being watched, then entered the shadow world, where Lyra did a short scry to make sure they really were alone, and that Zirael and Daniel were together outside the Owl House. True to their word, the two Angels were there and waiting alone, though they were hiding in the shade of the Owl House's tower, so as not to be out in the open.

Of course, them hiding in the shade was a boon for the CATTs, so Lyra easily ensnared them with her shadows and dragged them into the shadow world before they could even scream. As soon as they were in the shadows, Boscha forced a dose of the Blabber Serum down their throats, then backed off to allow Luz to question the two shocked Angels.

"Sorry about this guys, but it's for our safety. Why did you want to talk to me, Zirael?" Luz asked.

"I wanted to bring Daniel back, and talk to you about what you plan to do for the world if you manage to defeat the Divider." Zirael said calmly. She wasn't too upset about being captured, at least once she'd had a moment to calm down.

Luz nodded and then asked; "Why do you want to know that?"

"Because I want to know if your way will end up being better than the Divider's. I have been starting to fear the Divider recently… he's not been the same since he returned from fighting the Archivists." Zirael frowned, looking sad.

Luz wasn't surprised by that; making contact with Rasiel meant he was now hiding within the Divider, so his conscience was becoming less prominent, and his repeated failures to capture or convince Luz were likely driving him further to madness. Unstable behaviour like that was bound to cause even some of his most loyal supporters to begin having doubts.

"So, you want to see if Luz is a better choice to follow? I'd say so; she can be a little spacey sometimes, but she's better than the lunatic you currently follow!" Boscha said, flashing a teasing grin at Luz, who gave a faux pout.

"Thanks Boscha." she said sarcastically.

"So, you guys are both safe and undivided?" Lyra asked.

Zirael and Daniel nodded, with the latter adding; "Thanks to my oath, I've been unable to tell Ziri how to get in contact with you all, nor could I lead her to you. That's when she got the idea to speak with Lazuliel."

"Glad to see the oaths work! Okay, we're going to take you both back to our base, but Zirael needs to swear a secrecy oath first. Are you willing to do that?" Luz asked.

"I'd rather not, but I won't argue." Zirael replied, compelled by the Blabber Serum.

Luz freed one of Zirael's hands and grasped it and had her give a simple secrecy oath. Once it was completed, Luz released them all from the shadows, looked around to ensure no one was missing, then summoned her own Portal Door.

"Step on through." she said.

Everyone obeyed, but as Zirael stepped through, she made a remark; "So the Divider was right… you do have the Portal Door again."

"So he suspects that I have it? I guess he probably checked… Oh well; as long as he can't get his hands on the key or the door, I don't really care." Luz said, leading them through to the In-Between and then straight to the gate to Zachael's Landing, though Zirael did briefly gape at the imprisoned Azazel.

They soon arrived back on the island and immediately headed to the council chamber, with Zirael looking around at everything with interest. She wasn't given time to look fully though, as Luz was intent on getting them back to the Council Chamber. When they did get back, a grand total of only about ten minutes had passed since the girls had left to get them!

"Well that was fast." Darius said approvingly, patting Lyra on the head as the Council stood to welcome back the girls and Daniel.

"Hey man! Glad you're doing good and are undivided!" Gus greeted Daniel with a big smile; "You saved my butt last week! I owe you big time! You're a real hero!"

Daniel looked shocked to his core, and had a faint pink tinge to his cheeks at the compliment; "O-Oh. I just did what I was supposed to, you know? I promised I'd get you to safety, so I had to. I'd have made a poor recruit if I'd failed, and I swore I wouldn't fail to do the right thing again."

Gus grinned and patted him on the back; "Still a hero in my book, Daniel. It's thanks to you that the Archives Assault wasn't a total wipe! And I bet you're partly the reason Zirael is here now."

"Uh, well… we did talk a lot over the last several days." Daniel acknowledged.

Zirael nodded; "We did. At first, I wanted to just catch up and try to convince him to join the Wings of Rani, so the Divider wouldn't divide him. But as we talked, he pointed out a lot of things I'd been either ignorant to or trying to ignore."

The CATTs all stared at the two Angels with interest as they took their seats again. Luz asked; "So what exactly has been happening with you guys? Start from the beginning; the mission last week."

"Well, as you know I got captured. I was taken to Laptela Necropolis because the Divider got a call from King's bodyguard, who'd been sent away…" Daniel began.

He told the story of what had happened, with the Huntsman worming his way out of trouble, the Divider's odd reactions, and the mass Division of the captured Trappers, then spoke of how Zirael had stood up for him when it was his turn to suffer that fate.

"Instead, she took me to her home in a living facility for the Wings of Rani, on an island with a strange tower." Daniel said, making the CATTs realise he was talking about Titan Cradle Island. "From there, I basically lived with Zirael for a week. It was kind of nice actually…"

He gave a shy blush that made Luz beam, while Zirael continued; "While he was with me, I did what I said before; tried to recruit him whilst catching up… but none of my arguments worked. Every time I brought up a benefit about Division, he told me something bad about the very same benefit! Like how I thought bad people never hurting their victims again was great, but he pointed out that they also weren't sorry or regretful at all either. It wasn't making the problem better, it was pretending it never happened! Every day before and after I performed my duties for the Wings of Rani, we'd debate and I'd lose… He even pointed out how the very thing that turned him away from the Union, your trial Lady Luciel, was instigated by someone on behalf of the Divider. And that's not even getting started with the Divider's own actions!"

Zirael shuddered and began to hug herself; "Ever since he returned with the Archivists, he's been acting… wrong. Letting that awful Huntsman roam around with those Titan Trappers so freely, letting the Trappers be a part of our forces when they're so blatantly cruel and evil, handing Lady Luciel's mother over to that degenerate potioneer, letting people keep sacrificing their magic to make another Red Galdorstone just for a trap, and allowing the Huntsman to get away scot-free after his subordinates MURDERED several innocent people at the Necropolis… I don't know how to parse all these feelings! The Divider I knew, loved, and followed would never do these things! It's like he's become so focused on the ends that he doesn't care about the means! And he is OBSESSED with you, Lady Luciel."

Luz cringed a little; it seems that Rasiel cutting himself off more was making the Divider even more unstable. Though she couldn't say this was Rasiel's fault; this was what the Divider WANTED, as he was trying to actively suppress Rasiel. It did make her wonder about the Huntsman though… the Divider hated Belial; their every interaction had been hostile! Yet he was being spared punishment for the Necropolis? Even if he'd managed to convince the Divider he wasn't responsible, why hadn't the Divider made sure? Was he worried about using up too much power by just dividing Belial? Luz had so many questions, but she doubted she'd get answers from her insane enemy.

But while Luz was thinking about that, Hunter spoke up; "So the Divider has basically lost your loyalty, so you freed Daniel so he could return here and bring you with him, in the hopes we'll just let you join up?"

"Right. At least, mostly… I'm tired of being burned by different masters. The Union threw my hard work in my face when I refused to be a broodmare, and the Divider is growing more unstable by the day, while Daniel has made me doubt his Paradise Plan right down to its essence! I refuse to just be the pawn of another powerful Angel! So I want to know, Lady Luciel… how do you plan to create Paradise. How do you plan to fix this broken world?" Zirael asked, half challenging and half imploring her.

Zirael's question made most of the CATTs, especially the adults, bristle. "Hey! I get that her being a Seraphim probably muddies the waters a little for you, but my Owlet is 15! She is a child! It is not up to her to fix your messed up Union, or the junk wrong with our Realm either! As it is, I hate how much we're all relying on her, and how much I know we'll rely on her in the future! So kindly step off!" Eda snapped.

"Edalyn is right." Darius said, crossing his arms; "It is not your place to ask a child to fix societal issues that have plagued us since before any of us were born!"

Raine, ever the gentler sort, said; "We understand that you're hoping for a solution and someone to put your hopes in, and as someone who has put their faith in Luz, I can say she is a wise choice. But in the end, it'll be up to us adults to fix the world, even if Luz does serve as our guiding light."

Zirael bit her lip, and Camila reached out and put a hand on her shoulder; "Speaking as someone else who was in your position too, and a similar position to Daniel as well, I think you should focus more on what you can do. Think of the changes you want to see, how those changes would come about, and what you can do to make that happen. In the end, I ran away from my problems only for them to boomerang back and cause me a lot of grief; don't do the same by foisting all your hopes on someone else and then living with regrets."

"I-I understand…" Zirael sighed. "I came on too strongly there, and it was unfair to you, Lady Luciel. Your family was right to scold me… but if I may, I would still like to hear your answer."

Eda opened her mouth to snap at Zirael, but the Arch-Angel kept speaking; "I want to know what kind of person you really are. What you would do with your mother's advice. So please… if the war ended tomorrow and you were in the position to change things, what would you do? How would you make Paradise?"

Luz looked her in the eye as she thought for a long moment, before finally giving the same answer she'd once given the Divider. "I don't know. I don't know how I'd make Paradise… or if it's even possible. As long as people have a right to choose their own way in life, there will be people who choose evil. As long as evil exists, you can't call the world Paradise. And if you take away people's right to choose their own way, then how is that Paradise? It would be like the Divider's brainwashed Paradise, or the Union's controlled world. So I guess I don't know what I'd do to make Paradise, because I don't think it's possible."

Zirael hadn't expected that answer; she'd thought that perhaps a pure-hearted and idealistic child like Luz might have a more fantastical answer, dreamed up with the innocence of a child. But while Luz was still pure, idealistic, and innocent, she was not naive. And while it wasn't the answer Zirael had expected, it was one she could respect.

"And what about fixing the problems you know about? How would you resolve those?" Zirael asked.

"If you've got a specific problem, I'll give a more specific answer, but generally speaking? I guess I'll just do the only thing I can; my best." Luz smiled, pumping her fists adorably.

Now that was the kind of answer Zirael had expected, and it made her giggle. "I see! You know, you really do remind me a little of the old Divider, and even more like the stories of him from the founding of the Wings of Rani. And believe me, that's a good thing!"

"I don't mind being compared to the old Rasiel. He was a good person at heart, but he ended up alone… lucky for me, I have a REALLY big family to stop the same from happening to me." Luz grinned.

"Lucky you indeed." Zirael said, before looking over to Daniel; "I think you were right, Daniel. Perhaps the CATTs ARE worth putting my faith in."

"I told you so. I wasn't able to give you any helpful advice back in the Union, but joining the CATTs would be the best thing to do if you want to make a better world." Daniel smiled warmly.

Zirael looked back to Luz; "Daniel is being modest; he helped me out more than he'll ever admit when were both in the Union. But he's right about you guys. With your permission, Lady Luciel; I'd like to join you."

Luz and the other teens beamed, while the adults looked a little bit more cautious. Still, Zirael had taken an oath of secrecy and would need to take another if she joined the CATTs, so she wouldn't be spying on them for the Divider! The Divider may have fallen far, but no one believed he'd sacrifice a person to get info on the CATTs!

"You're welcome to join us! Welcome aboard, Zirael!" Luz chirped offering her hand to Zirael to shake.

Zirael smiled and accepted the hand, then said; "I will carry my weight, naturally. I have some information that could be useful, and I have some of my old Wings of Rani Supplies! I had to ditch my command feather so I wouldn't be tracked, but it's not all I have!"

She reached into her shirt and pulled out a golden amulet that bore the emblem of the Wings of Rani. "This is a Barrier Pass! It'll get the wearer through any of the Wings of Rani's Barriers! And this includes the Anti-Shadow World Barriers!"

Luz gasped, and Darius and Alador both immediately rushed forward and gestured for Zirael to hand over the amulet, which she did without any fuss. The Barrier Pass was literally just some efficiently enchanted Aurum, though replicating the enchantments would require dismantling it to see the parts on the inside, and neither man wanted to risk that and lose their key through the Wings of Rani's defences.

While most of the CATTs were excited by this development, Lilith was also a bit suspicious; a feeling shared by her daughter. The two looked closely at the pass, then turned to Zirael; "This feels like a weird thing for the Divider to allow." Amity pointed out.

"My thoughts exactly. Why have such a thing? The Barriers we've encountered have been complex and able to keep out people based on their Magical Resonance, as well as identify them and set off Alarms if unapproved people enter them. With such fine-tuned defences, why make what is essentially a skeleton key? What's the catch?" Lilith asked.

"There isn't a catch. Or at least not exactly a catch… The Amulet is keyed to my magic so only I can use it, though a sufficiently strong Divine Blessing can work around that. But the barriers will still check the race of the user to ensure no one is trying to sneak in with a stolen amulet and a blessing or piece of the rightful owner's body." Zirael explained. "As for why the Barrier Passes were created; it's actually because the defences are so fine-tuned. And because of you lot, of course."

"Because of us? Oh, because we keep breaking into places?" Matt said.

"Yes and no. It's more because you keep breaking into places and then causing trouble so reinforcements have to come stop you. Tuning every barrier and defence to every member of the Wings of Rani and Titan Trappers takes so much more work, so it's simply easier to give Barrier Passes to high-ranked members so they can get in anywhere and bring a small squad along. I believe something similar is built into the cores of the Abomaton Paladins." Zirael replied.

"I guess that DOES make some sense. Especially since Wings of Rani members probably get moved around a lot. I heard that the majority of your former group is still in the Divine Realm." Camila commented.

"They aren't any more. Only about a fifth of the organisation remain in the Divine Realm, purely so the Free Cities they control remain theirs and don't descend into anarchy while they're gone. The Divider moved everyone else here to the Boiling Isles and the Fortress around Titan Cradle Island."

That wasn't a good sign… if he was bringing that many Angels to the Demon Realm then either Luz and the CATTs were a bigger problem than he was letting on and he needed the manpower, or he was reaching the final stages of his plan… either way, it was a problem for the CATTs.

"We'll have to have you sit down with us later to give us all the intel on the enemy you have! We could use the help." Lilith said; "We've been on the back foot since the Divider returned; all we've been doing is reacting to him, saving captured allies, and falling into his traps."

"It'd be happy to." Zirael said with a nod. "I can also be helpful with the children. I WAS in Crest Chastity after all."

"Perfect! You can take shifts with Tia Lazuli!" Luz grinned; "Now, I guess all that's left is to prepare for tomorrow's mission to the Beast-Keeping HQ! The new Barrier Pass will be a huge help!"

Zirael blinked, then smiled; "You won't need a Barrier Pass there, except to get into the Union Pillar itself. And those have living guards to check everyone before letting them in. Because of all the migratory animals living around the Right Hip, it wasn't practical to erect a barrier there."

"Wait, so it's useless for our mission tomorrow?" King frowned.

"Useless for yours… but not for a second one to another place!" Alador suddenly grinned. "Luz, hear me out on this. While your team goes with Eber to the Right Hip tomorrow to rescue the Clawthornes and Palismen, another team could go to the Left Foot and the Abomination Coven Headquarters to rescue my parents and stop the Abomaton Paladin production!"

Darius and Amity both exchanged excited looks; "We wouldn't need another distraction either, as the Distraction Team will already be doing their work for your mission!" Darius said.

Amity nodded enthusiastically; "Yes! We can save Grandma and Grandpa! Can we PLEASE go, Batata?"

She gave her girlfriend the best puppy dog eyes she could manage, and almost used her fused form to add to the cute factor, but held back so as not to be manipulative. It turned out to be unnecessary anyway, and Luz just giggled and nodded; "You don't need to convince me Hermosa. I think it's a good idea! Is everyone else in favour?"

No one raised any objections, so they instead decided who would be going on the mission to begin with. "Myself, Alador, and Amity are definitely going; there's no question about that." Darius said, "But who should come with us?"

"Us!" Edric and Emira declared together; "You're not going off to rescue Grandma and Grandpa without us!"

"I'd like to go too! I can do a lot to help out!" Lyra piped up; "If I can't help Hunter with his mission, I want to at least help Dadrius with his!"

"And if Lyra is going, I want to go with her. Besides, some good illusions will be helpful if we're sneaking into a place." Gus volunteered.

"Okay, so the four Blights, Darius, Lyra, and Gus. That makes seven. You can take a max of one extra person." Raine said.

The remaining members of the CATTs council exchanged looks, inwardly debating if they'd be suited for going on this mission. Skara would have liked to go, but Scooter's condition was getting worse by the day and she and her father feared that they'd be saying goodbye to him soon. Kyrie Crane never left his side any more unless to bathe or use the bathroom, and even that she only did if Skara, Raine, or Severin were around to watch him. For similar reasons, Severin was staying put, and Boscha was staying back with her girlfriend for emotional support. Matt also considered going, but if Hunter or Lyra achieved their fusions on this mission, then his presence could cause trouble for Luz if he needed to use his fusion too, while Amity and Gus could use theirs without issue. Unless BOTH managed it and the balance between Cassiopeia's four glyphs worked like it did for Orion, it would be safer for Matt to stay back.

In the end, the one to volunteer was Osran. "I could do with stretching my legs and getting my old bones moving again. Besides, I'd like to see my granddaughter's new Divine Tarot out in the field."

Lyra looked eager to show off her powers to him too, and as no one else was as eager to go as he was, they agreed.

"Got it! So Team Beast-Keeping will be Eber, Mom, Tia Lily, Titi Raine, Hunter, Willow, Barcus, King, and me. Team Abominations will be Amity, Edric, Emira, Alador, Darius, Lyra, Gus, and Osran. Samael and the Supreme Dragon Triad will be the Distraction Team, and everyone else will stay here! Sound good to everyone?"

Everyone agreed, and so Luz called the successful meeting to an end. "Everyone, get yourselves prepared because we head out tomorrow! Matt, I'll come to your workshop and see about those Artificial Dragon Skeletons! Mami, could you and Tia Lazuli show Zirael around, and get her an apartment?"

Camila smiled and nodded, and everyone split up to begin preparing for the mission tomorrow. For most of them, this just meant some rest and relaxation; Hunter and Willow went for a picnic date in the jungle, Lyra and Gus went with Osran to show him more of the former's Tarot Cards, Lilith went with Hooty to watch the children while Lazuliel was busy with Camila, Zirael, and Daniel, Raine went with Skara and Severin to spend some time with Scooter, while Boscha went with her parents to do some brewing for Hettie at the hospital, with Bria also assisting so she could learn how to make medicines, the Magic Mixers went off to have some fun together before Barcus left on his mission, Hanu and Treble went on a beach date, Samael went back to the school-turned-orphanage to be watched by Lilith and Hooty (since he was still grounded), and Amber and Derwin decided to spend some time hanging out with Eda and Vee; the unusual quartet having a makeshift jam session as Vee got used to being able to sing.

The rest of the CATTs Council; Luz, Amity, King, Darius, the Blights, Mason, Matt, Steve, Katya, Luna, the Supreme Dragon Trio, and Eberwolf all went to the Workshops to get a good look at the new Supreme Dragon Skeletons and how they worked. Matt had his own private warehouse-sized workshop that he'd been given by Luz and Mason after seeing the amazing MTH series and his other mechs, so he'd had more than enough room to begin making the Artificial Skeletons.

The inside of the warehouse was clean and orderly, with large blocks of quarried Titan Bone arranged neatly against one wall, a series of workbenches laden with tools and partially carved Dragon Bones (they appeared to be Ice Wyrm bone replicas), and a wide open space with numerous scaffolds surrounding nothing at all, while a heavy brass safe could be found locked up tight and surrounded by some Abomaton MK II's. As everyone began to look around at the partially completed Ice Wyrm bones, Matt spoke up.

"Like I said before, I'm partially done with Zara's skeleton. Once the Titan Bone is fully carved, I can start applying the mechanical parts. Those are all done and stored over there." he said, pointing to a workbench with a cylindrical tube on it. The tube looked almost like a brass version of a pack of new tennis balls, complete with balls inside. Each ball was actually one of Matt's Capsule Tech pieces though, keeping the components shrunken and out of the way.

"So cool!" Luz and King gushed together, looking at everything they could without touching anything.

"If you think that's cool, let me show you the final product! If you're up for a blessing, we can even give it a test run!" Matt grinned, heading over to the safe. There was no key hole or combination lock; only an interlock for a Palisman, which Pebbles promptly slotted himself onto, before twisting and causing the safe to unlock; several brass pegs popping out from the sides of the door with puffs of smoke. One of the Abomatons then heaved open the heavy door and revealed a whole bunch of blueprints, the Rite of Ascension Scroll, and more Capsules, with corresponding keys next to each one (including one with Pebbles' interlock).

As Matt grabbed two capsules (noticeably the only two that didn't have blank interlocks on their keys), Luz couldn't help but ask; "What's with the scroll, Matt? Did you need it to make the skeletons?"

Matt nodded; "Yep. There are diagrams of the skeletons for all eight Supreme Dragons! They aren't perfect, but they're better than nothing! I also had to make some edits…"

Luz took the scroll and opened it up, then noticed the edit right away; Matt had penned a warning on the Rite itself that trying to perform it with a Palisman would mean breaking their bond. Luz showed this to Katya, who was touched; while it was too late for her, it wasn't too late to save other future people from making the same mistake. At least Katya had the comfort of knowing Rumba was still alive and healthy; the little beetle spent most of his time with Bria, Riko, and Dulcett (the Palismen of Amber and Derwin). She still spent some time with the little guy, but it was awkward now… it would take time for them to adjust.

Shaking that off, she and Luz turned their attention back to Matt, who had everyone stay away from the scaffolds as he went with Steve to the centre. "My usual interlock keys obviously need Palismen to work, so for the Supreme Dragon Priests, I had to make their Capsule Keys rely on their Magical Resonance instead… just as secure, but it means no one else can ever use them, while people can at least team up with Palismen that aren't theirs if needed." Matt explained, showing the gathered audience the altered key, which had a crystal pad to place the Dragon Priest's thumb instead of the interlock.

Handing the key to Steve and placing the matching Capsule in the middle of the open space, Matt then hurried off to the side and gave Steve a nod, causing him to activate the key and shut down the Alchemy Engine. In an instant, the capsule opened up and a tiny folded up object began to grow and unfold, until the group were looking up at the carved white bone skeleton of a Terra Kirin. The resulting skeleton was massive, being a similar size to the other Supreme Dragon Skeletons (if not a little bit smaller), and it resembled an interesting mix of horse, dragon, and giraffe skeletons. It was bipedal, and its rear end was definitely horse-like, but with a draconic spine and tail, and cloven hooves as opposed to normal horse hooves. The front half of it was distinctly draconic, and it's neck was somewhat giraffe like (while nowhere near as long) and had a draconic skull at the top. The bones were also held together with some Homunculus slime and brass clasps, while tubes ran like veins through the bones and connected the brass clasps to the spherical Alchemy Engine in the creature's chest cavity. The Alchemy Engine also had a second orb-like organ attached to it, and Luz noticed that if the Engine resembled a spherical Abomaton-style Heart, then this object must be some kind of Bile Sac… it was covered in glyphs and glyph combos, and Luz was sure she sensed the five Titan Humours within it.

"This thing is huge!" Amity exclaimed; "The amount of carving this must have taken… how did you manage it?"

"Good tools and a LOT of Titan Bone to practice with. We've really gotta thank the Union for this." Matt said, patting the leg of the Kirin Skeleton while Steve admired it.

Among the supplies given by the Union had been a surplus of Titan Bone, as while the vast majority had ended up emigrating to the Demon Realm, several had still lived and died in the Divine Realm, leaving behind their bodies. The Angels didn't usually live on them like Demons and Witches did, but they did harvest them for materials; in fact, the Union basically had a monopoly on it, having fully harvested every unoccupied Titan Corpse in their realm so non-Union forces couldn't exploit it. The Angels had thus been able to hand over a large amount of it to the CATTs.

"So what's next? Does Luz just have to bless this thing and then Steve can bond with it to become a Terra Kirin?" Darius asked, examining the Abomaton-esque components.

"That's about right. Luz, if you you could give a strong blessing to the Titan Reactor, then that should kickstart it. It's the Bile Sac looking thing attached to the Alchemy Engine." Matt requested.

Obediently, Luz flew up and placed a hand on the Reactor, then turned back to Matt and asked; "Just a straight Divine Blessing?"

"Well, a Divine Titan Blessing with a focus on the Earth Glyph would be better, if you can do it." the boy replied.

Luz thought about it for a moment, then transformed into her Titan Angel Form and placed her left foot against the Reactor instead of her hand, causing her earth glyph marking to manifest. She then began channelling magic as if giving a Blessing via her foot, while also focusing on her Titan Magic. As she did so, she heard Cassiopeia's voice whisper in her ear thanks to the momentarily strengthened bond.

"Focus on King's power too… bless the reactor with that glyph and the earth glyph."

Luz obeyed and caused an aura of white and bronze to coat her, before the magic was sucked into the Titan Reactor, causing the glyph combos to glow white and thrum to life. Slowly, the magic in the reactor began to spread throughout the artificial skeleton, turning the bones from white to bronze. When the process was finally done, Luz landed and took a deep breath while Amity, King, and Katya all rushed to make sure she was okay.

"Luz! How do you feel?" Katya asked, walking her back towards the others.

"I feel fine. A little winded, but nothing a few minutes of rest won't fix. I felt something weird though; the bones and the reactor, well, reacted! For a moment, the reactor felt a lot like a Mini-Primordial Wellspring!" Luz replied.

Matt's eyes widened and he used some spells to summon various small tools and devices to his hands, then flew up to the reactor using Pebbles. "The bones turned bronze in the smaller models too, but the reactor is definitely way stronger than the smaller ones, even accounting for the size difference." he began casting spells and taking readings with the odd devices he had. "Okay, this is definitely WAY stronger than I predicted! Good thing I put in ridiculously high specs on these things to prevent overloads. What exactly did you do, Luz?"

"I heard Tia Cassiopeia's voice telling me to bless it with King's glyph AND her earth glyph. The result is that." Luz replied.

The other Supreme Dragons looked intrigued, with Lars murmuring; "Young King's power seems to forge connections… perhaps it connected the reactor to Lady Cassiopeia's soul? If that is the case, then Lady Cassiopeia may have used the skeleton, Luz, and Young King's glyph to cheat and create a functioning Kirin skeleton without the Wellsprings."

"Wait, what does that mean?" Matt asked.

"I think it means that we won't need to charge this thing up again. Luz's blessing was a one and done. But I'll need to fuse with it to try it out." Steve said, walking up to the skeleton. He didn't know why he thought that, but he suspected it had something to do with his new dragon instincts. He touched the bones and felt a connection between them, then walked into the forearm he'd been touching as if it were water, disappearing into it.

What followed was a bright flash of orange light, followed by the entire skeleton glowing and transforming; it's silhouette going from skeletal to fully fleshed as earth and stone seemed to manifest from nowhere on the creature's body. When the light faded, a Terra Kirin made of earth was stood before the crowd, until the earth became flesh and scales, revealing the true form of the Terra Kirin.

The flesh matched the skeleton, keeping an equine rear end with a draconic tail, a draconic front end, and a draconic skull with a somewhat long neck. In this form, Steve's tail was the same as his Witch Form's new tail, with bronze scales and an orange spike on the end, though it now included an orange line of fur that went up Steve's spine and to his head. His entire body was covered in bronze scales, and his rear end had cloven hooves that looked like stone, and ring-like plates of reddish bronze that went up to the knee of his equine hind legs. His belly also had lighter, yellow-bronze scales, and his forelegs were purely draconic and ended in strange, three toed feet. The legs had the same bronze rings of scales as the hind legs, and the claws were orange like his fur, of which he had small tufts on his elbows. A large crest of orange fur also decorated his chest and formed two long streams that went over his shoulders, while his thick, long neck had lighter bronze scales on the front and darker bronze scales on the back and sides, leading up to a draconic head that still had a somewhat equine shape to it. Steven's Dragon head was covered in darker bronze scales, had orange eyes, and had two sets of orange horns; a shorter set that pointed forward jutting from his brow, and a longer set that curved backward from the back of his head. A large mane of orange hair flowed from his head, and a matching set of long whiskers and beard did the same from his draconic snout.

Steve let out a mighty roar, shaking the foundations of the Workshop (though thankfully not alerting people outside, since the Workshops were designed to be soundproof), and began to move around somewhat awkwardly, as if he was drunk or confused. The Supreme Dragon Triad turned to the others and warned them; "Stay still and calm." Lars said.

"A first time Dragon Transformation can be a little bit disorienting, especially if the skeleton used is a new one." Zara explained.

Godric laughed heartily; "All the new instincts and enhanced senses are quite a rush! Give the boy a minute and he'll be fine."

Sure enough, Steve's confused eyes soon regained their focus and he knelt down on the ground so he wasn't towering over everyone as much.

"Wow, this new body comes with a huge rush of power! This is the true strength of a Supreme Dragon! Steve is feeling good!" he said, flicking his head to make his mane flutter majestically. "I should go outside and test this thing out, and see just how strong I am now."

"Maybe later, Bro. We've still gotta get Katya fitted for hers too. And you need to test leaving the skeleton. But first, do you feel anything strange?" Matt asked.

Steve shook his head; "Aside from being big and strong, I don't feel any different. It feels natural."

Matt grinned; "Perfect! Between my creations, Luz's blessings, and Cassiopeia's know-how, we're all set! Okay, come on out so we can get Katya all dragonified too."

Steve nodded and closed his eyes, causing his draconic flesh to turn into mud and stone that slopped off of his artificial bones, revealing the real Steve inside the creature's ribcage right before he hopped down and all the mud and stone turned to dust and disappeared. Emira and Luz gave him a quick medical check-up to ensure there were no adverse effects, while Matt examined the skeleton with Mason to see if there had been any degradation to the bones or mechanical systems, but both had come back completely clean.

Matt's invention was a huge success! They now had a way to get the Supreme Dragons back up to their full might! Five more Seraphim-level allies was a huge boon to have against the Divider and his Archivist minions!

Following the success of his dragon form, Steve used his key to put his dragon skeleton back into its capsule, with Matt allowing him to keep it on him now that he knew it worked properly. Once it was out of the way, everyone turned to Katya, who stepped up to release her own dragon skeleton, and the group were soon looking up at the white bones of an Aero Amphithere. As an Amphithere, the skeleton was basically that of a wyvern, but instead of hind legs and a tail, it only had a long serpentine tail. It also had a draconic skull, but while the Terra Kirin's skull looked draconic version of a horse, the Aero Amphithere's looked like a draconic snake. The group admired it for a moment, then Matt nodded to Luz and she flew up to the Titan Reactor inside the ribcage.

This time, Luz placed her right foot on the reactor and used her wind glyph as well as King's glyph to create the blessing. As with Steve's skeleton, Katya's began to change colour as it received Luz's blessing, gradually becoming a pale silvery grey. Once the blessing was complete, Luz groaned and flew down to the ground, then sat down on the floor as her friends looked at her with concern.

"I think that's enough for now. These blessings are going to exhaust you if you end up doing one for all five Dragon Priests!" Darius frowned.

Luz opened her mouth to argue, but found herself silenced by Amity, who said; "And scoop!" as she lifted Luz into a bridal carry. Both girls blushed profusely, and Amity carried Luz over to a stool that Mason had grabbed for her.

"T-Thanks Batata." Luz said gratefully, "And I'll be okay, Darius. It'll take maybe two hours to regain the magic I used here. I really only had to open temporary connections with Tia Cassiopeia, so it's not like I'm actually giving super blessings!"

That eased her friends' minds a bit, but Mason still said; "Either way, you're restin' from here on out. Can't have our boss keelin' over 'fore the next big mission."

The others all agreed, and Luz wasn't about to upset them all by arguing, so she just nodded and smiled, opting to sit (mostly) quietly on the stool she'd been placed on, with Amity gently rubbing her shoulders to relax her. The girl's fingers were magic, and Luz practically melted at her touch.

Everyone's attention then shifted back to Katya and her dragon bones, which she nervously walked up to and merged into, just as Steve had done. Predictably, the skeleton glowed with shining silver light as a powerful cyclone of wind covered the bones, forming into the shape of Katya's true Dragon Form. Soon the wind became flesh and blood, and the form of a living Aero Amphithere was now coiled up in front of everyone.

The Aero Amphithere was covered in silver scales, with thinner, white scales on her underbelly, and had a short crest of white feathers atop her draconic snake-like skull, as well as a pair of little wings that served as covers for her sensitive interior ears. Her eyes were a shining silver too, while her torso was that of a slender reptile (from above the hips at least), with her arms replaced by wings and her lower body becoming a long, coiled serpentine tail. The tail ended in a crest of white feather-like spikes, and similar crests were running up her spine, but only every half dozen or so vertebrae. The most striking feature though was her wings; Katya's Supreme Dragon Wings were shaped like a Wyvern's, with silver clawed "hands" atop each wing and a white membrane that was covered in downy fur that closely resembled feathers. Luz noted that Katya's form looked a lot like a Quetzalcoatl, with only two real differences; the first being that Quetzalcoatl's were true serpents and their wings were additional limbs, not replacements for arms. The second was that unlike a real Coatl or Quetzalcoatl, the Aero Amphithere didn't actually have feathers; just hair and flexible horns and scales that resembled feathers.

Katya, like Steve before her, roared loudly as she struggled with her new instincts, coiling up tightly to keep from doing anything bad as she tried to collect herself. Once she was done with that, Katya began to slowly uncoil; "This is such a strange feeling! I have no legs and my arms are my wings now, but it feels totally natural! Like this has always been my body!"

"It's quite an odd sensation, isn't it?" Zara smiled; "Try getting used to having no traditional limbs. I had to give myself ice legs in my own Ice Wyrm form just to keep my mind from feeling like something was missing."

"I can see why, though I think I'm getting used to it. Phew, I can hear and smell everything! I'm quite sure I can even smell Willow and Hunter's picnic! And now I'm hungry…" Katya mused.

Godric chortled; "Well I suggest you leave that body then! You'll find hunger much easier to sate with a Witch's stomach than with a Dragon's!"

Katya nodded and left her Dragon Form as hastily as she'd taken it, sending a breeze throughout the workshop. Emira checked her over alone (since Luz was still being kept seated by Amity) and Matt checked over his creation, both finding that there had been no harm or damage.

"Well, that's two successes! Zachael's Landing now officially has Dragon Protectors once again, and we have a way to restore the Supreme Dragon Triad's full power too!" Matt cheered; "I'm gonna get to work on finishing up Zara's right now! I wonder if I can get all three done and blessed in time for Luz to be fully charged for tomorrow."

Steve, Mason, Luna, and Edric immediately volunteered to help with the work too, since they had experience with Titan Bone and the Shrinking Solution inside the Alchemy Engines. Eber was intrigued but had little experience or knowledge when it came to things like this, so she just stayed out of the way and admired the giant form of Katya's Amphithere Skeleton, while asking Katya how it had felt. Emira politely excused herself to go help out Hettie at the hospital (and secretly warn Camila and Eda that Luz was likely going to drain herself again), while Amity and Luz watched the others getting to work. Strangely enough, Darius and Alador were just staring at a smaller, pony-sized version of Steve's Kirin skeleton, which Matt had left off to the side to be eventually repurposed. The two men looked deep in thought, so Amity couldn't help but call out to them.

"Hey, Demon Realm to Dad and Darius! Are you two in there?" Amity said.

The two men snapped out of their staring and turned to look at the girl; "Did you need something, Mittens?" Alador asked.

"Not exactly, but you were staring at the Kirin skeleton kinda intensely. It was a little weird." his daughter replied.

The eccentric inventor blushed embarrassedly, while Darius chuckled sardonically; "Our apologies, Baby Blight. But we were just lost in some nostalgic memories."

Luz and Amity looked mildly disturbed; "Nostalgia towards a skeleton?" Luz asked incredulously.

"No, more like nostalgia towards what it represents. This is a form of Bio-Mechanical Abomination Engineering, though substituting Abominations for Homunculi. It's rather slapdash too… Matt has little ability in our magical art, and likely just asked another Witch with help making this slime." Darius commented.

"Oh! That's a lot less creepy! But why is it nostalgic?" Luz asked. "Is it related to some research or cool project you did back when you were young?"

Alador shook his head; "No, that is far out of our comfort zones. If you want autonomous Abominations or Weaponry, I'm your Witch. If you want tools, transformations, and top of the line quality slime, you go to Darius. And if you want something hyper specialised, you go to Amaranth. But back in the day, if you wanted Abomination Prosthetics or other Bio-Mechanical marvels, you went to our Mentor."

Luz and Amity both gasped, though for different reasons. Luz assumed that Alador was talking of her father, Michael. However Darius quickly corrected her; "Your father was my mentor in life, Little Light. But it was Master Mechane who was my teacher in Abominations."

This had been what Amity assumed, having heard all about her father's former master. "Of course! How could I forget!? Your Master was Lloyd Mechane!" she cried excitedly.

Luz looked confused for a moment; that name was very familiar to her, and caused a strange twinge deep in her chest, as if something buried deep within was stirring. This time, Darius wrongly assumed that Luz was confused because she hadn't heard of Lloyd, so was quickly to explain.

"Lloyd Mechane was the previous head of the Abominations Coven. When Alador and I joined up, he spotted our talents immediately and took us, as well as Amaranth, under his wing as apprentices. He worked us hard, but he was an incredible Abominations Witch." Darius said.

Amity nodded eagerly; "He was a genius! And revolutionary when it came to Abomination Prosthetics! The field of Bio-Mechanical Abomination Development basically ground to a halt when he disappeared. But no one really knows what happened to him… he went on a mission for Belos and disappeared."

Alador and Darius looked grim as the former said; "Yes, it was very strange. Master Mechane was always an odd one; he was humble but ingenious, clever but blunt, and was extremely direct. He didn't mince words when he got serious, but was also the type to enjoy playfully teasing his apprentices and messing with his colleagues…"

"Your parents actually met him once, not long after I graduated Hexside and joined up. Michael was a colleague of his, and Cassiel and Em went to my Coven Initiation with him. Master Mechane seemed to get along well with Cassiel, and kept asking questions about her Healing Magic, since I told him I'd never known a better Healer." Darius interjected.

"As I was saying…" Alador shot Darius an annoyed look, and the taller man smirked and gestured for him to continue; "…Master Mechane was odd, but he wasn't the type to go on dangerous missions just because Belos asked. He didn't seem to like Belos, and after we joined up, he liked him even less. I think he picked up on Darius' hatred, and the "Fake Angel Incident" seemed to anger him more."

Amity hummed; "That IS strange. Do you think he ran away? Or do you think he died on this mission?"

"Running away wasn't his style! And he had a daughter, Nicole, who was last seen right before Master Mechane went to receive the mission that he never returned from. It would make sense that they both disappeared together, but I don't think they'd run away like that." Darius replied.

"They didn't run away."

Alador, Amity, and Darius all blinked and turned to Luz, who was looking down at her hands with a mournful expression.

"Luz? Are you alright?" Amity asked. "How do you know he didn't run away?"

Luz looked up at the man's former apprentices and sighed sadly, before reaching out in front of her. Her eyes began to glow with a strange swirl of green and gold magic, and a golden ooze emerged from her palm. It looked almost like a purified version of Belos' slime, and appeared to be a mix of Luz's blood and Palisman Essence. The slime congealed together to form a bipedal Ant, with six limbs and large eyes, though its true colouring was unknowable thanks to the slime it was made of. The Ant remained connected to Luz via a tendril of gold slime that attached to her palm, and the girl became noticeably pale as so much of her blood was now outside her body.

Amity rushed to Luz's side, while her father and mentor both gasped at the sight of the Ant. "T-That's Orville! Master Mechane's Palisman!" Darius cried.

The realisation of what this meant hit them both like a cannonball to the heart. If Orville's soul was inside Luz, then it meant Belos had previously devoured him. And since neither of them believed Lloyd Mechane would go down without a fight, only two things could have happened; he was either petrified or dead.

"I'm sorry, but I actually knew who Lloyd was, though not all the details. I was confused because I recognised the name and it took me a minute to figure out where from. I didn't know everything about him though; Orville only told me he died fighting Belos, because Belos became suspicious of him investigating the death of a friend." Luz said weakly.

Darius' eyes widened; "Your father… he never believed the story that he died in the Fake Angel Attack… In fact, I suspect he figured out that Cassiel was a real Angel; it would explain why he talked to her so much about healing. His daughter Nicole was sick with some kind of incurable condition, though he never told us which one."

"Wait, he was that suspicious? I never noticed!" Alador exclaimed.

"The Twins were a year and a half old at the time, and Odalia was pregnant with Amity and running you ragged. You were so tired that you barely knew your own name for a while." Darius told him.

Luz nodded; "Orville told me all this when you were talking. He was investigating Dad's death since they were friends. Lloyd apparently never trusted Belos either, because of the Coven Sigils. The one he had was on his prosthetic, so it didn't work properly and examining it made him suspicious."

Alador and Darius nodded along, finding that it made a weird amount of sense. Normally, Coven Heads were the ones to give the Sigils during the Coven Initiations, but Lloyd had always refused and let another Witch do it; a habit Darius copied. Of course Darius had known his own reasons, but now he understood his old Master's too. Orville chittered away as it waved at them, causing Moustrosity and Abette to play with the much larger Palisman for a bit. Unlike a normal ant, Orville was closer in size to a small child; the men remembered how much he'd scurried around with Lloyd, serving as his assistant.

"So, Belos heard about the investigation and tried to stop him?" Amity asked.

"Yeah… Lloyd refused though. They fought… and he lost. Belos was too strong, but he did have to resort to using Rasiel's wings. Lloyd proclaimed he was the real fake Angel, and tried to free Orville so he could escape, but succumbed to his wounds too fast, causing Orville to turn to wood. The next thing he knew, he was inside Belos and got sucked into the Amalgamation." Luz finished, before groaning.

Orville's slimy form flickered and wobbled, causing him to look at his claws despondently, before waving to his Palisman friends and his partner's old apprentices, before melting back into slime and returning to Luz's body, making her relax and regain a healthy colour. It was clear Luz was not like Belos; she couldn't use that slime without straining herself badly, so Orville showed mercy by cutting his appearance short.

"Wait, we didn't get a chance to ask about Nicole! Is she alive or dead? Did she flee the isles after her father died, or was she with him and died too?" Alador asked frantically.

Luz just shook her head though, as Stringbean wrapped around her neck to nuzzle and comfort her; "Sorry guys… Orville has gone back into a slumber with the other Palisman Souls."

"Damn." Darius sighed; "I would like to see Nicole again. She was a good girl; only 15 when she disappeared. She looked up to Alador and I, but considering she reminded us a little bit too much of Amity the First, we weren't always the most eager to spend time with her. Now that we've had closure and are close again, we'd have liked to do right by her."

Amity looked sympathetically at her Dad and Mentor, while Luz just frowned and said; "I'm sorry, Darius. I don't think it's a good idea to wake Orville again… but he DID leave me with a final message. Lloyd had a secret lab within the Abomination Coven Headquarters! It contains all his blueprints and research, and the "Ultimate Bio-Mechanical Abomination Prosthetics", whatever those are!"

"He did!?" Alador asked excitedly.

"Where is it!? How do we get in!?" Darius asked, even more eagerly.

"Orville said "Follow my brothers and sisters in Nicole's favourite place." but that's it." Luz replied.

The two men began brainstorming immediately; "Follow my brothers and sisters… does he mean Ants?" Darius mumbled.

"We did have a problem with Glacialants at the HQ. Not the same kind of ant, but might still be a lead." Alador nodded.

The two men then looked to Luz and smiled; "Thank you for this, Luz. And thank Orville for us too. We may never get closure for Nicole, but at least we know what happened to our Master." Darius said gratefully.

"We'll tell Amaranth about it too. And I promise we'll bring back all of Master Mechane's research!"

Luz smiled at that, and Amity now looked even more excited to be going with her Dad tomorrow! Hunting down the secret magic lab of a mentor figure to her own mentor figures? That was just like a scene from the Good Witch Azura Book 3, where Azura and Hecate had to find the hidden library of their mentors' (who were twin sisters) mother, who had in turn taught the sisters what they knew!

The girls began to gush over the idea, and the now energised Abomination Specialists decided to throw themselves into helping Matt and the others with the construction of the remaining Dragon Skeletons.

That was how time passed for everyone for the remainder of the day; Luz and Amity decided to have a nice relaxing day of Azura book reading and movie watching, while everyone else got on with their own dates or prep work. Luz was only called away thrice more to charge up the skeletons of Zara, Godric, and Lars, all of which were about 3 hours from each other so she had plenty of time to rest. The Dragon Priests proclaimed that these artificial skeletons feel just like their old ones thanks to the blessings, and so they took Steve and Katya to the other side of the island while they trained them a little for the next day's mission, which all five Dragons would now be going on. With his project done, Matt turned his attention to completing his second project; Dragonfly-esque Airships that the teams could use for their missions tomorrow. He'd been working on them on and off for most of the week, and the end result was a pair of MTH-Series: Doves. They were simple bird-shaped fliers with the usual suite of features; Palisman Locks, Invisibility Spells, and Capsule Tech, as well as a simple Light Bolt Gatling Gun inside their beaks, which functioned like a larger scale version of the Bolt Caster. One of these was given to Luz, and the other to Amity, and could easily seat a full 8 people comfortably, and up to 16 people if they really bunched together.

Naturally, Luz and Amity were ecstatic and took them for test flights around the island straight after dinner.

After their flights, they were briefly met by Amaranth, who quietly gave her thanks for giving her some closure for Lloyd's disappearance, though confessed she wasn't as close to him as the others since she'd been focused on her marriage to Severin, her political manoeuvring, and eventually her maternity leave for Skara. She did remember Nicole though, and hoped the girl was alive somewhere; probably living on another Titan.

Luz also paid a visit to Zirael, who'd been given an apartment next door to Daniel's, much to both of their happiness. The woman was settling in well, and thanked Luz for allowing her to stay, and helping her not only rekindle her friendship with Lazuliel, but also giving her a chance to once again grow closer with Daniel, who (at the insistence of Cassiel, Zirael, AND Lazuliel) had booked appointments with Golsi to try and help with his depression. Luz was overjoyed to hear it, and the young Seraphim happily went to sleep that night feeling like she'd achieved a lot in a single day!

Little did she know it was the last peaceful sleep she would get until the war was over…

[The Next Day]

As usual before a busy day with important missions, Zachael's Landing was bustling pretty much as soon as the sun rose. Even though no one outside the CATTs council was going on the missions today, the rest of the CATTs were pulling out all the stops for them, making sure they barely had to lift a finger! It was a nice day out too, so the CATTs council members NOT going on either mission today had led the others in setting up a tasty breakfast banquet on the beach, letting the three teams eat a tasty meal while their supplies were packed and readied for them by the rest of the CATTs.

When they were finally fully prepared, the teams thanked the CATTs profusely, and said their farewells for the day. Raine made a special point of visiting the hospital to wish a good day to Scooter, who returned the favour.

Then the three teams gathered together and headed through the Portal Gates to the Boiling Isles again, stopping only briefly to exchange well-wishes with the Titans and even Azazel. As they emerged to a warm, sunny Spring day, with Summer right around the corner, Luz took a deep breath and began to reminisce a little.

"In just a couple of days, it'll officially be the one year anniversary of when I first arrived in the Demon Realm." Luz said, feeling the nostalgia hitting her hard.

The others all chuckled; "Yeah, that's the day that led to the ones that changed all our lives! Heck, for me and your little brother, it IS the day that changed our lives. You were still just a weak little Cherub back then! I'll never forget watching you charge in and attack Warden Wrath at the Conformatorium! My little rebel has grown up." Eda cackled, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye (which was actually a very real tear that she was trying to hide).

"And you got me a crown! Kinda anyway." King grinned, putting a hand on his medallion, which STILL had that first light glyph she'd carved on it

Darius snorted; "Yes, I think we can all agree that day was what heralded the end of our quiet uneventful lives. But I also think we can agree there are no regrets."

Luz blushed as they all nodded in agreement, with even Zara nodding along with an amused smile. Her life really had changed so much… she'd once had only her Mami, but now she had so many people in her corner! It made her heart swell with joy.

"O-Okay, come on now! We better split up and get going before I start crying." Luz said, sniffling a little with how touched she was.

"Luz is right. We need to get going. That said…" Amity grabbed Luz by the shoulders and pulled her in for a passionate kiss. When they pulled apart, breathless and red-faced, Amity gave a confident grin and said; "Good luck Batata. I'll see you tonight, and we're gonna have some celebratory snuggles!"

"I can hardly wait, Hermosa." Luz replied, before giving Amity a more chaste kiss and a loving hug.

When the girls pulled apart again, Lilith gave Amity a hug next and said; "Be careful out there, Amity. Your Mom is rooting for you!"

"Thanks Mom. You be careful too! I want to meet my new Grandma and Grandpa today, so fight hard and bring them back!" Amity beamed, giving her Mom some extra motivation.

As those three were chatting, King and Samael also exchanged hugs and well wishes as Prince flew overhead (Chiro was reluctant to let him leave her sight, but King had proven himself worthy, so she'd given her support and blessing). Darius and Eber had a more subdued farewell, basically just teasing each other a little, and then the quartet of Hunter, Lyra, Willow, and Gus also said their farewells.

"Make sure you're extra careful with your heart, Lyra. Willow will be with me, so if your heart gets cracked or broken, we might not be able to save you in time!" Hunter fretted. "And are you sure you won't be warm in that outfit? I know it's your favourite, but it gets hot at the Abomination Headquarters!"

Lyra chuckled; "A little late to worry about THAT Hunter! Besides, I got this outfit in Palm Stings, remember? It's meant to be good for the heat! And don't worry about my heart…" she drew a card from her Divine Tarot Deck, revealing the Temperance Card of the Major Arcana. The figure on it resembled Willow, stood amongst fields of wheat. "… if the worst should happen, Shade can use this to mimic Willow's power and create one of the Galdor Heart Blooms."

"Vee loaded that card up with all the power my fused form could muster! If that can't help you, I doubt I could!" Willow chuckled. The Major Arcana of Lyra's deck had been remade by the CATTs in thanks for her Shadow Scrying; Vee had devoured the magic from each of them on a day off, then used her own powers to bless the cards with the devoured magic, meaning they'd now give Shade the full power of that person! It had been exhausting, but worth it.

"And don't worry, I'll protect your worry wart of a brother." Willow promised.

"Thanks, Willow. You're the best sister I could ask for." Lyra beamed, hugging the older girl.

At the same time, Gus and Hunter clasped hands as the latter said; "Protect Lyra with your life, brother."

"You got it, brother." Gus replied with a wide grin. The two pulled each other into a manly hug and slapped each other on the back, before letting go and doing a nerdy little salute from Cosmic Frontier when they thought no one was looking.

With the last of the farewells finally said, Luz and Amity released their MTH Doves and got everyone on board, while the Supreme Dragon Rebels and Samael waved and flew off using their dragon staves (or wings, in Katya and Samael's case). The plan was to wait until all six of the Distraction Team members got into position, then when they were all ready, they'd attack at once and the two mission teams would get to work at their respective destinations. Godric went to attack the Ash Moth Desert where his fire magic would be strongest, Steve went to the Palm Stings Desert since he was familiar with the place, Zara went to the Knee since the cold would boost her powers, Katya went to the left side of the Snowy Rib Cage, near the Left Hip, where the wind was strong enough to form cutting gales, Lars went to the Titan's Skull since it was close enough for him to attack the throat too, and Samael went to Manubrium, where his suddenly summoned army of Toy Soldiers would be able to cause the most disruption (and hopefully start another city wide game/riot).

As the Distraction Team was doing that, Amity and the Abomination Team flew at top speed all the way towards the Swampy Toes, while Luz and her merry band headed a much shorter distance to the east, where the Right Hip and Beast-Keeping Coven made its home. Since it was so close to Bonesborough now, what with Orion's Arms being tilted southward, their trip took only about 10 minutes by air, and Luz gasped in amazement as she got a good look at the area around the Right Hip for the first time. Luz had been in the general area quite a few times, usually when coming and going from the Knee, but since they'd usually flown high and straight to the Knee, or stopped at the Thigh and climbed up with their backs to the Hip, she'd never gotten a good look at it before! Thanks to the warmth of the Hip and the Cold of the Knee, a permanent ring of mist seemed to form around the Thigh, which was known as the Femurasma, which kept the Knee and Hip invisible to each other.

"Oh my Titan, look at this place!" Luz gasped, looking at the expanse from the pilot seat of her ship.

The entire Right Hip was a massive savannah, the sort of which Luz expected to see in the wilds of Africa! It was warm and arid, with sparse trees that were each fairly large (larger than a Union Pillar) and had far reaching canopies of golden yellow leaves, which contrasted with their bleached white bark. The long grass that grew in messy patches all over the place was blood red, and a few deep blue oases could be spotted with thicker, red vegetation growing around them.

"This place is so cool! Well, actually it's hot but you know what I mean!" Luz gushed, "Where's a good spot to land though? I can keep the Dove invisible, but we still need a safe place to park her that won't disrupt any animals."

"Park in a dead tree." Willow answered; "These things are Apex Acacia Trees; they're tough as rock and can support up to five times their own weight. Landing on one would be like like a large Eagle landing on an Apple Tree."

Eber barked; "Bee Lady is right. Trees here tough. Only die when hit by lightning. One such tree near here. Look west of coast."

Luz silently obeyed and sure enough, she spotted a large dead tree to land the flyer in. The tree had been struck by lighting and died a long time ago, just as Eber said, so there were no leaves or animals to disturb as she touched down on the massive thing. Once Luz was sure they weren't going to move or shift about as they disembarked, she opened the side hatch of the Dove-shaped Flyer and the nine-member team hopped out and stood on the thick branches of the tree and looked out across the Savannah.

The young Angel could feel the heat; "Phew, this is like Gran Seraphia all over again! Glad I'm dressed for the weather! How is it so hot here?"

Eber opened her mouth to answer, but an overexcited Hunter quickly chimed in, eager to explain; "It's actually because of the Beast-Keeping Headquarters! It is semi-reflective and it absorbs heat from the sunlight and radiates it outward! This creates an arid area and not only that, but the rising heat combined with the cold air from the Knee results in frequent thunderstorms, as well as the Femurasma."

Luz and the others all blinked at his passionate reply, making Hunter blush as he realised he'd gotten a bit TOO worked up. "O-Oh, sorry. I should have let Aunt Eber explain." Hunter mumbled, embarrassed.

Eber shook her head with a smile and patted his shoulder; "Gold Nephew shouldn't say sorry. You know more than even Eber! You should explain."

"Eber's right; don't be ashamed. I'm quite impressed." Raine said comfortingly.

"Yeah, you sure know a lot about this place! I guess it makes sense, with you being an animal nerd, as well as a space nerd." King grinned teasingly.

Hunter just shrugged; "I've always been interested in the nature of the Boiling Isles. There's magic in everything here, and for those of us who don't have any spell casting without their staves, it was fascinating."

"Magic in everything… that's a really beautiful way to see it, Hunter." Luz smiled warmly; "Never imagined I'd here that from the former Golden Goof!"

"Yeah yeah, make your jokes! I'm perfectly secure in who I am." Hunter retorted, smirking defiantly.

Willow kissed him on the cheek, making him blush again; "Dang right, Tiger! Now tell us all about this place! I don't know anything about this region and you're hot when you nerd out."

Hunter's face reddened a little further, then he eagerly gestured for everyone (including the smirking adults) to follow him through the air as he headed deeper into the savannah. The others (even those with wings) hopped on their staves and followed him obediently, Luz putting up a barrier with an invisibility spell woven in so they wouldn't be seen.

"This area is known as the West Ilium Savannah, and it is home to some of the toughest and most dangerous Beast Demons of the Isles. They are rivals with the Bug Demons that reside in the East Ilium Jungle, which covers the left hip and connects to the Navel Forest. You won't find many more dangerous and intelligent beings, which includes the West Ilium Direwolf Pack that Aunt Eber is the Alpha of." Hunter began, going full lecture mode. He spoke with such enthusiasm that it was impossible to not get sucked in though.

"Hey, Barcus; is your Mom from the West Ilium Direwolves too?" Luz asked curiously.

Barcus (who had his staff attached to his back, so it looked like he was a kite gliding along) woofed in response; "No. Mom was from the East Scapula Direwolves. They live in the hills not far from the Alchemist Atelier."

Eber barked in response, but what she said was lost in translation, as only a fellow Direwolf descendent could understand it. Barcus responded with a solemn nod, and Eber gave a sympathetic whine, giving the others the impression that Eber was expressing sympathy that Barcus was associated with that pack.

Deciding to change the subject, Willow decided to ask; "So, if this place is the West Ilium Savannah, where is the actual Coven Headquarters? I've seen a few small camps, but nothing that looks like a base."

"Look north west. See that thing in the distance?" Hunter told them.

Everyone did so, narrowing their eyes a little before they spotted what Hunter was pointing out. Luz, King, and Willow all gasped in amazement, being the only ones who'd never seen the place before, while the others still felt a bit of awe, just as they had on their first times seeing it too.

It was a massive Mensa; a flat topped mountain right in the middle of the Right Hip. That alone was unusual, as such mountains didn't normally form on Titans unless their fingers or ribs break, forming artificial flat top mountains, but despite this one appearing bone white too, it wasn't actually made of bone. Instead, it was colossal (big enough to fit a small city atop it) and made of ethereal white stone. Luz cast a spell on her eyes to zoom in and get a better look, and found the massive mountain appeared to be cracked and broken, with multiple valleys and passages leading through it. But the really interesting part was that with the exception of the edges of these cracks, which appeared weathered and white like the exterior of the mountain, the interior was glistening and crystalline, looking like a mix of opal and white obsidian, almost as if the entire thing was a gigantic gemstone! Luz couldn't see into the tunnels that well, but she could see walkways and carved out hollows all throughout the inside, as well as a few red stone buildings on the sides and top of the mountain's exterior.

"Whoa…!" Luz exclaimed; "Is that whole thing the Beast-Keeping Coven's base!? It's massive!"

"It's bigger than any of the other bases, unless you count the entire Laptela Necropolis and not just the castle!" King agreed.

"Heck, you could put Spriggan Manor, the Alchemist Atelier, Laptela Castle, the Caduceus Grand Hospital, and the Grand Symphonia Concert Hall on top of that thing, and then fit the entire inside parts of Cocytux Island inside it!" Willow cried, shocked to see such a massive base.

Eber barked out a laugh; "Need lots of space for beasts! Beast dens, beast hospital, beast training areas. Plus place for training hunters, tamers, and beast healers, AND place for people dens."

"I guess that makes sense. A lot of the Boiling Isles' creatures ARE pretty big… and you must need to accommodate for all of the different kinds." Luz said, nodding along.

"They likely won't need quite as much space with Belos out of the way." Lilith chimed in; "He ruled that using Healing Magic on beasts was the same as mixing magic, and was thus wild and wrong. That our Healing Magic was only for us. Because of that, the Beast-Keeping Coven had to pull double duty as healers for beasts, but without the benefit of healing magic. That meant they needed more facilities… the Beast-Keeping Coven was consistently one of the most overworked, underfunded Covens."

Barcus nodded; "I heard it would have never been able to keep offering its services if it weren't for public donations. A lot of people gave snails to the Beast Keepers to keep them operating, since they were all that stopped the more dangerous species from attacking them on the roads and in the smaller settlements."

That was a worrying thought, and since Eber, Lilith, and Hunter all looked fairly grim, the others knew it was likely true. This was likely another cruelty of Belos'; keep the Beast Keepers from really helping by underfunding them and overworking them, ensuring more innocent Witches and Demons ended up dead or maimed by dangerous monsters… Maybe he thought it would serve as further proof that these creatures needed wiping out!

"Well that tracks… Belos ruining things is nothing new." King grumbled. "Now tell me more about this giant white rock! It looks nothing like any of my Dad's bones! And I don't think our hips have those things."

"Actually, this place USED to be something of a mystery." Hunter began, making everyone (even those who knew about the place) look at him curiously. "You see, this mountain is known as the Wild Crag due to it being a beacon for Beast Demons. They love this thing; it's like Batnip for them! But in ancient times, it was known as the Great Lunar Altar, because this mountain isn't actually a part of the Titan; it's a slither of the Moon!"

"WHAT!?" Luz, King, and Willow all cried out in shock.

"That giant thing is a chunk of the moon!?" Luz said with disbelief.

"That's right! The Moon that orbits the Demon Realm has a synchronous rotation, similar to the Human Realm's Moon. It means we always see the same face and never the dark side of it, but Masters of Astral Projection are said to have travelled to the Dark Side of the Moon using their spirit forms, and found that the Dark Side is a ravaged wasteland, with huge chunks of it missing and only spikes of the interior visible. It was supposedly like cracking open a geode!" Hunter explained.

"Wait, but if this thing really is Moon Rock, why is it all crystalline on the inside?" Willow asked.

"Oh, I can answer that!" Eda grinned; "The Moon is made of a mineral called Lunacite! It's a variant of what we consider to be Moonstones! It's glassy and smooth, like obsidian, but has a milky hue with iridescent swirls, like Opals or Pearls. Chunks of it are worth a fair bit if you can keep them smooth, but it doesn't take a lot to tarnish the surface. Weathering from meteorites in space, and in the sandy winds down here are what create that chalky coating."

"Neat! That also explains the heat! If this is a chunk of the moon, it's makes sense that it absorbs or radiates the sun's heat! That's what turned this place into such a dry place, right?" Luz grinned.

"Got it in one!" Hunter grinned.

"Awesome!" Luz cheered; "So I'm guessing that mystery has something to do with how slithers of the Moon ended up in Orion, and presumably other places? Especially as they come from the Dark Side of the Moon that never faces the Demon Realm."

"That's right. It's one of the great natural mysteries of our world. No one is sure why it's like this." Lilith said.

Hunter's grin grew wider; "Like I said, it USED to be a mystery, but I think I know the reason for it now! And the Divine Realm gave me my first clue!"

"And what would that be?" Raine asked, intrigued.

"Well, the Divine Realm and Demon Realm are mirrors of each other, so everything should be the same unless altered by the residents. Well, I noticed the Divine Realm's Moon does NOT have a synchronous rotation! We saw different faces of it each night!" Hunter explained, growing more excited as he began voicing his theory. Seeing everyone's attention glued to him as they flew made Hunter feel giddy, so he eagerly continued; "Now what, or should I say, WHO has the power to take parts of the moon and use them against the Titans?"

They all gasped, and King exclaimed; "The Huntsman!? You think he did this!?"

"Think about it; it makes sense. The Huntsman has power over the Moon, and his direct magic wouldn't work on Titans, so he could conjure his own Moons like Bill did, but which a full grown Titan could probably dispel easily, or he could rip chunks out of the Moon and shoot them like spikes at the Titans he fought!" Hunter explained. "He could also change the rotation of the Moon to be synchronous, so the Titans never knew why these new "conjured" Moon spikes could hurt them while the old ones couldn't, as they wouldn't be able to see all the damage the Huntsman was doing to the Moon!"

The others gaped at the proud looking boy, going over the theory in their minds and being unable to find fault in it! It made a twisted kind of sense, and a Moon Bullet to the Right Hip could easily have been the reason Orion wasn't with Cassiopeia during her final battle with the Archivists! He was injured and stayed behind to heal!

Unable to contain herself, Luz tied herself to her staff with some vines, then transformed into her Titan Angel Form and closed her eyes to meditate, so she could make contact with Orion. She felt his presence within her mind, and heard his voice inside her head.

"Hello Luz. I've been watching." Orion greeted with a jovial smile; "And to answer the question I know you'll ask; your friend's theory is correct. A few hundred years before I passed away and the Titan-Archivist War ended, I and some other Titans clashed with the Huntsman. I was shot in the hip at the time, and instead of going to be properly healed by an expert, I healed the flesh wound and kept fighting. The Moon Shard has been stuck in me ever since, and slowed me down a lot… it's why I couldn't keep up with Cassiopeia when she went to fight the Archivists."

"So Hunter was right! I'm so sorry that happened to you…" Luz frowned, sending her thoughts to her Godfather.

Orion chuckled; "Such is the nature of war. I would have been fine if I'd gotten it treated properly, but I was impatient. Besides, if I'd gone with my Mate, I'd likely have ended up cursed and blown up too, and the Boiling Isles you know wouldn't exist, and the ancestors of all your friends would be scattered around the Demon Realm."

"I guess that's true. Always gotta look on the bright side! I'll tell Hunter, he'll be really happy he was right!" Luz smiled. The two shared a short goodbye, then Luz opened her eyes and turned back into her Seraphim form.

"Good news Hunter! According to Tio Orion, your theory is right! But I guess the bad news is that we have more reasons to hate Belial." Luz said, deciding to call the evil Archivist by his name and not his title. Not only did it feel like she was making fun of him (which she was all for), but it stopped any confusion with Hunter's name.

For his part, Hunter just grinned ecstatically, pleased to be proven correct. Lilith was very impressed, and Willow was sure to fly alongside him so she could give him a little kiss on the cheek in congratulations. Eber, Barcus, and Eda were intrigued by this new reveal, while Raine looked to a quiet King with some concerns.

"Are you alright, King? This must be complicated for you…" Raine said.

"It's annoying to hear that this really cool place was made by Belial hurting my Dad, but I guess it can't be helped." King replied, crossing his arms.

The look on the young Titan's face made it clear that he was done talking about this, so the others decided to drop the subject and get back to the focus of the mission; rescuing the Palismen and the Clawthorne Elders. However as they got closer to the Wild Crag, they all began to notice that there was no Union Pillar, and that the pillar for the hip was actually a good few kilometres to the north of the Crag.

"I guess the Wild Crag didn't hit Orion in the Wellspring. How should we handle this?" Eda asked. "Go for the Pillar, disable it, and start a riot? Or go in for the rescue while we still have the element of surprise, then spark the riot on our way out?"

Everyone turned to Eberwolf, since she was the one who knew this place and had been its Overseer before being rescued. The little Wolf Woman tapped her chin with a claw as she tilted her head like a confused puppy (making Luz nearly squeal at the cuteness), then barked; "Pillar first would be dangerous. Beasts divided too, would go feral and attack. Lots of chaos, easy escape… but potential deaths. Rescue while divided harder, but safer. Eber says we rescue friends and Palismen first."

"Good idea. So, do you know where they'd all be?" Luz asked.

Eber again took a moment to think, then answered; "Palismen kept in Tree Hollow, over there." Eber pointed towards a large Apex Acacia tree a few dozen yards to the west of them, making it directly south of the Crag. It looked like any of the other trees at first glance, but there was a large hollow in the centre of the trunk, and steps carved into the bark of the tree to reach it.

"Clawthorne Elders lived within Head Witch's Lodge, centre of the Crag. Eber gave it to them; Eber preferred being out with Pack. Barcus' family not sure… could be anywhere. Rom was Tamer and Howlena was Hunter, so could be anywhere in West Ilium." Eber replied.

"That makes things a bit tougher. Let's go for the Palismen first." Raine suggested; "Luz can undo the division on any guards we find, so they can give us more intel."

The others readily agreed, and so Eber nodded along too, but she had another idea to take care of first; "We should find Eber's Pack first. Pack not divided, as Pack Alpha was already divided; Eber. They help."

"Then lets find them first! We're not supposed to begin the infiltration until we get word that Samael and the Dragons have begun their attacks anyway." Luz said. "Is there a good spot we can hide in that also gives us a good view of the place?"

Eber nodded and pointed to the far west, past the Palisman Tree Hollow to a small rock formation directly south-west from the Wild Crag. The gang flew there together and landed atop it, finding it just tall enough to see everything except the other side of the Wild Crag, making it ideal for seeing at least half the West Ilium Savannah. They kept the invisibility barrier up so they wouldn't be seen, and began surveying the area as they waited for the signal from the Distraction Team.

The Wild Crag really was huge, and when seen up close, it really did look like a Moon Mensa had been dropped onto the Boiling Isles, and had cracked a fair bit from the impact. The warmth radiating out from it was thankfully mild, as the weathered coating didn't reflect heat quite as well as the pristine crystalline surface, but it still had King testing his new staff by casting a simple ice spell to cool them all down. The place was also so big that it was sparsely protected; almost every Wings of Rani Member and Abomaton Paladin that they'd seen was patrolling around the Union Pillar north of the Crag, with very few elsewhere. They seemed to be posted at the entrance to any crack on the ground, while a few Angelic Outposts had been built atop the Crag itself, but beyond that security was fairly lax. The Beast-Keepers living in the area seemed to be largely living as they always had, with groups of them roaming the Savannah with Animal Companions; a few of which were injured and being taken on rehab exercises, and a few that were born in captivity and being reintroduced to the wild. Some of the Beast-Keepers were out on hunts, either to capture Animal Companions or to deal with dangerous animals.

Eber and Hunter took turns quietly reporting all this to those not familiar with the area and the Coven, and even pointed out one particular hunt that was happening nearby; a pack of three Hunters with Marrdreg Companions where hunting a Sandstorm Hippo: a kind of Hippo Beast Demon that burrowed under the ground and stored a huge amount of sand into its body, which it then expelled through its pores whenever it wished in order to create a Sandstorm that enabled it to escape its predators (the fearsome Tyrant Sand Drakes), and their preferred prey… which was just about anything smaller than it. According to Eber, they were solitary animals and if they got too close to one another's territory outside of their mating season, they'd end up fighting, and fights between the Sandstorm Hippos could shut down huge chunks of the Savannah, cause other Beasts to flee (causing more territory disputes for other creatures), block off roads and access to important watering holes and food sources, and almost always ended with one or both participants dead. This particular Hippo was allegedly a young one; a hot shot female (as designated by its darker colour) that was encroaching on the territory of an old male. Even during mating season, the age difference would mean the two wouldn't see each other as partners, so outside of that season it would inevitably lead to a bad fight, and so the Hunters had been sent out to deal with the Hippo.

Luz couldn't resist getting a good look at the Hunters by casting the zoom spell on her vision again (and doing the same for Willow, Barcus, and King since they couldn't do the spell themselves yet). The Hunters looked a little bit like Titan Trappers, given the way their uniforms consisted of dull orange tunics and pants worn over animal hides, but the difference was that they had normal boots and gloves, and their hides could be anything from fur, to thick skin, to scales, to even insect chitin. They also wore cloaks and hoods in the colours of the savannah, with simple cloth masks over their mouths and a carved bone domino mask that resembled an animal skull over their eyes.

"Coven Hunters not mindless murderers like Titan Trappers, but still serious warriors. All Hunters must kill for duty; to eat, to protect, to survive. Is the Circle of Life." Eber explained when she saw King's disturbed expression. "First law of Coven: Kill if needed, do not kill if not needed. Simple. But when Hunters bring down first large prey, they make armour from hide and mask from bones. Not as trophy, but as memorial. We take life, and honour that life."

"Grim, but none of us here are vegetarians, so we've all eaten beasts killed and turned into food." King mused, watching as the Hunters and their Marrdreg companions slowly stalked towards a feasting Sandstorm Hippo, who was devouring a dead Bolt Goat; jumpy little Goat-like Demons with lightning bolt shaped horns, which allowed them to catch lightning in a storm and save it for later, then shock predators with it in order to escape. Clearly this poor fellow hadn't realised that the rubbery, earth covered hide of the Sandstorm Hippo was resistant to lightning. The hunters were using their cloaks as simple camouflage, and using the Marrdreg's ability to whip up winds to make sure their scent was being blown downwind and away from their prey.

"It's the same in the Divine Realm. The Circle of Life is sacred there." Luz said softly, wondering if the Hunters were going to kill the Hippo… she did notice that one of the Hunters didn't have any additional hides or a mask, meaning she was likely a young and inexperienced Hunter, yet to earn her first kill.

Her worries were unfounded though, as the Hunters all burst out of cover around the Hippo and startled her, before firing very mild stinging spells at the creature, while the Marrdregs barked and snapped at the Hippo's side, not piercing the skin but definitely bothering the larger beast. The Sandstorm Hippo tried to use her titular ability, but the Marrdregs blew the sand away, and with more stinging spells bothering her, the Hippo eventually roared in annoyance and trundled off in the opposite direction. The Hunters chased her for a short time, but never caught up despite how slow it ran, literally just chasing it away. Once it had gained enough distance and showed no signs of stopping, the Hunters recalled their Marrdregs and stopped the chase, their mission successful.

The CATTs smiled as they watched the older Hunters slap the young one on the back, as she had led the hunt well.

"You see? No need to kill Hippo. Problem solved by driving her off." Eber smiled. "Kill when needed, spare when possible. The most important part of the Beast-Keeper's Creed!"

"Those Hunters were smart." The CATTs' own Hunter commented; "They knew just want to do and drove her off with minimal damage or stress. If I'd been down there, I probably would have been too aggressive and ended up causing the Hippo to feel challenged, causing a fight that'd end in injury or death."

"Hey now, don't put yourself down." Willow told him; "You're amazing too!"

"Thanks, Blossom." Hunter smiled, using the little nickname she liked most; "But I wasn't putting myself down, just giving an honest assessment. It was important as a leader in the Emperor's Coven, as Belos demanded the best of the best in performance, and I needed to be aware of my strengths and weaknesses so I could find solutions that performed to his expectations."

"Oof, don't remind me… you're not alone there, Nephew." Lilith shuddered. It still made both of them cringe to think about how desperate they'd once been to please Belos!

Neither Eda nor Willow were happy with this topic, and thankfully it ended when Luz's DCM got a call from Samael. The little Sephiroth had begun his attack on Manubrium, and the Supreme Dragon Team had each begun attacking their targets in full Dragon Form, sowing chaos across the Isles. Luz thanked Samael and told the rest of the team, who then watched the Wild Crag like a hawk for signs of the security changing. Sure enough, some urgent calls went out from the Wings of Rani… however none of them left the region and instead went to guard the Union Pillar, making it incredibly well-guarded but also leaving the Wild Crag completely without Angelic or Abomaton security. That meant only the Coven itself was protecting it now.

"Perfect! Attacking the Union Pillar is probably a lost cause now, but if we're smart, we can free a ton of the Divided without going near it anyway!" Raine grinned.

Luz nodded; "Right! And if worst comes to worst, I'll go full force and attack the Pillar. Mom, Tia, Titi, and I should be able to force out way in if we need to. But lets save that for a last resort." she turned to Eber; "We're ready to move out. Tia Eber, we'll leave you to lead us to your pack."

"Got it, Little Light! Thanks to Marrdregs, Eber caught Packs' scent on the wind! Follow!"

Eber leapt down from the rock formation and began rushing off to the south, not far from where the Hippo had run off too. Luz and the others gave chase immediately, but Lilith briefly paused to release and activate the Signal Jammer that Alador had made, ensuring there would be no reinforcements to the Right Hip while they were present. They followed Eber on their staves, as the little Pack Alpha was shockingly fast as she ran on all fours.

The chase lasted for only a couple of minutes, before the CATTs spotted what Eber had smelled; a large pack of Direwolves roaming near a watering hole, resting and eating. They were each massive, horse-sized wolves with orange fur like Eber, purple eyes with yellow sclera, and manes of reddish brown hair that started at their heads and went down their spines towards their long, bushy tails, which ended in the dark reddish fur in the same way King's tail ended in lighter fur. Some of them had battle scars, and many had bloody fangs and claws, which they were washing off in the watering hole. They appeared to be the males, while the females of the pack were laying down beside the water, watching as their pups messily devoured the remains of a Bolt Goat. Numerous Bolt Goat Carcasses, largely stripped of edible flesh, were piled up nearby; evidence of the Pack's most recent successful hunt.

Eber barked at the pack to announce her approach, as well as let them know she was bringing guests, including a Direwolf Pup from a different pack. It was important to make such a thing clear, lest her pack think she was being chased and thus attack her pursuers, and kill poor Barcus. The Wolves all looked up, and some sharp low barks from the females had the pups stopping their meal to hide behind them, while the females circled their children and the males moved to meet Eber part way. They didn't seem happy to see her however, and were instead on guard, with their ears back, their tails low, and their eyes focused on Eber. Luz narrowed her own eyes in suspicion, and the others did too as they sensed a tension in the air… was it just because Eber was bringing outsiders? Or were they wary about her still being under someone else's control?

Either way, the CATTs followed Eber until she stopped a few feet from the pack, then stopped behind her a bit further back, with Luz taking on her Titan Form and standing proud with her family, who took on their own hybrid forms. Willow also fused with Clover, leaving only Eber, Hunter, and Barcus as they were before.

"Pack! I return!" Eber barked, walking forward on all fours with a confident stride. She deepened her bark slightly, to make herself come across as more masculine, since she WAS still masquerading as a male.

The pack did not reply, and in fact the males began to slowly encircle them, with some of the females forming a secondary ring around them too, all showing aggressive body language. Eber narrowed her eyes at this and howled loudly, before snarling viciously, making many of the Direwolves flinch back a step.

"You dare disrespect Alpha!?" she snarled; "I bring guests and allies! Do not disrespect them!"

However, disrespect was not where the pack's disobedience would end, as when Eber began turning to look at each wolf in turn, the one that seemed to be leading the pack in her absence suddenly lunged forward silently, his maw wide open and ready to crunch Eber's head. Her friends cried out and Luz raised a hand to fire off a spell, but Eber snarled out; "DON'T INTERFERE!" startling Luz as the little Coven Head effortlessly dodged toward the rogue Direwolf, passing beneath his chin before suddenly leaping up and smashing her fists into his jaw, causing it to slam shut with an unsettlingly loud crack, whilst also sending him head over heels back to where he started.

The Rogue Direwolf disguised his whimpers with furious growls as he clenched his jaw and snapped it back into place, while also spitting out some back teeth. Eber just growled; "What do you think you're doing, Roargna!?"

The CATTs who could understand her gaped in shock; she was still speaking in the Direwolves' dialect, but now she spoke far less casually and far more regally. Luz used to think that Eber and Barcus spoke different versions of the same language, and her being used to Barcus but not Eber when they first met, but had since learned they actually spoke exact same language. The reason for the difference was that the Direwolf tongue often valued simplified sentences with fewer words, as a lot of their communication was reading body language, but some like Barcus spoke more like a regular Witch or Biped so they could be better understood by those who didn't know HOW to read their body language. Eber usually preferred the simplified version, but now she was speaking the formal version that Barcus spoke, making it very clear that she was in charge and she was not happy.

Roargna snarled, but didn't make any move to attack again, instead beginning to pace in circles around Eber, who in turn paced around him, still walking on all fours. She had entered a partial Wild Heart Shape, so her legs were now shaped a bit closer to the standard Dire Wolf, even though she still looked like a puppy compared to Roargna. He was by far the largest of the Direwolves, being closer in size to a Shire Horse, while his fellows were like Mustangs. He was covered in rippling muscles, and his fur was burnt orange with a reddish black coloured mane. He also, strangely, had basically no scars unlike the other wolves.

"Roargna and Pack know truth now!" he growled; "Former Alpha is fake! False! FEMALE!"

Eberwolf's eyes widened in shock, as did the other CATTs. How did Roargna and the Pack know that!? Eber hadn't revealed it while Divided as it would get her killed, and no one else outside the CATTs knew! The rest of the West Ilium Direwolves began snarling and growling, letting Eberwolf know just how they felt about her trickery. The poor Coven Head looked heartbroken and unsure of herself for a split second, which combined with the support of the Pack to give Roargna a massive confidence boost.

"You not deny it!?" he demanded.

Eber shook her head; "No, Eber won't deny it! Eberwolf is Female, and happy about it! Eber will never be ashamed of her gender!"

"You tell 'em, Eber!" Eda cheered, getting the others to cheer along too.

"That's right! Never be ashamed of your body or identity, Eberwolf!" Raine agreed.

"Yeah! But I'm curious… how did you even figure it out?" Luz demanded, glaring at Roargna.

He looked back at her and King with a mix of apprehension and fury; their Titan forms were making his instincts want to run for the hills, but his pride wouldn't allow that, so he was stuck in a kind of limbo.

"The Skull-Faced Ones told Roargna!" he revealed; "Skull-Faced Female comes to Roargna, has strange eyes and smells bad… but tells Roargna truth! Old Alpha is deceiver!"

The CATTs frowned; the Skull-Faced Ones could only be Titan Trappers, but the question was when did they reveal this to the Direwolves? And how did they know? It was possible that the Trappers assigned here before (who'd helped collar and steal most of the Palisman) were the ones responsible, but why would they do that and how would they have known? Luz highly doubted the Divider brought it up to them.

Eber wasn't concerned about that though, and continued to stand and pace with her head held high, refusing to buckle or be ashamed. "Yes, Eber lied. Eber's mother lied to protect her. Eber was already small and a half-breed; if people discovered Eber was female too, they would have killed her. But Eber became strong! Strong enough to kill Father and become the new Alpha! Eber is still strong! Even as a female, Eber won't lose to any of you!"

That last sentence was accompanied by Eber snarling and lunging at Roargna, jumping up at the last moment to kick him hard in the face, knocking him backward and getting a pained yelp from him. The larger Direwolf managed to stay on his feet and shake his head, snarling back at Eber incoherently. The rest of the pack snapped and snarled too, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that things were coming to a head. Hunter used his Wild Heart Transformation so he'd be ready for a vicious battle, and the others were preparing to fight too; Direwolves were sturdy and had thick pelts that even strong magic could struggle to get through, and with this many of them surrounding them, things could get bad very fast.

Eber realised this as well, and so let loose a loud howl that silenced the growling Pack. She then glared fiercely at Roargna and declared; "Eber challenges Roargna to a Blood Hunt, for the title of Alpha!"

The Pack went very still as Roargna's eyes widened. Hunter and Barcus both gasped too, and when the other confused CATTs looked to them, Hunter whispered; "A Blood Hunt is basically like a Direwolf version of a Witch's Duel! They compete against each other in a test of violence and strength; either a literal hunt for some powerful beast, or a straight fight between them! But they almost always end in death for the loser! They are called Blood Hunts for a reason!"

"Seriously!? Tia Eber, is this a good idea?" Luz whispered nervously. If it was a one-on-one fight, she wouldn't be able to help! She had faith in Eber, but she didn't want to risk her or the mission!

Sadly though, Eber couldn't back out now even if she wanted to, and now that the Pack knew they were present, they wouldn't let them leave! They either had to be conquered, killed, or memory-wiped to ensure they didn't cause the CATTs more trouble! There was no other way now, as Eber knew they couldn't be talked down.

However it seemed her plan wasn't going to work anyway; Roargna looked cagey as everyone waited to hear his response, and to the shock of Eber and the entire Pack, he actually refused.

"No! No Blood Hunt! Lying Female is Deceiver! Slew old Alpha with magic and deception! Brings new allies to cheat for her!" Roargna glared at the CATTs; "Strange Furry Angel will cheat! Give her power! Roargna refuses!"

It was a paper thin excuse in the CATTs opinion, but it was at least an understandable objection, meaning Roargna wasn't shamed for refusing. Eber grit her teeth as the Direwolves began growling and becoming aggressive again, while Luz protested.

"I won't interfere or give Tia Eber any of my magic or powers! I won't let the others do it either! I'll give an Everlasting Oath if I have to! Then you should have no reason to refuse!"

Roargna shook his head; "Deceiver has deceiver friends! Cannot be trusted!"

"Sounds more like you're just a coward! A great big Dire-Chicken!" King taunted, before making chicken noises at Roargna.

The New Alpha was enraged and actually turned to snap at King, only for Eda to take exception to that.

"Step off from my kid, Mutt!" she snarled, before lifting one of her Harpy Form's taloned feet and slamming it into Roargna's face, making him yelp loudly and causing ALL the other Direwolves to begin rabidly snarling and howling.

Hunter and Eber cringed; "Now that we've hit the Alpha, we've basically just declared war!" the former yelled.

The Direwolves outside the circle immediately began snatching up their pups in their mouths and tossing them onto their backs, before darting off with incredible speed, running to a safe distance so they and the pups wouldn't get drawn into the fight. The instant they were out of the way, Roargna let out a loud howl that carried a magical echo, and he began to actually grow a little, becoming the size of an Adult Griffin, while the other Wolves in his pack grew to be about the size he had just been.

"Holy Moly! They can get bigger!?" Willow gasped, green spell circles with plant glyphs inside them already forming in her palms.

"Direwolves can cast spells in a similar way to Bardic Magic, by using their howls. Each howl is different, though only a Direwolf's ears are sensitive enough to pick out the difference 99% of the time." Hunter replied, twirling Flapjack and holding a glyph combo in his other hand as the pack began to snarl and encircle them.

Barcus nodded and growled; "Direwolves even have a rudimentary Bile Sac, but it's attached to our oesophagus and not our hearts."

Before any of the CATTs could say more, one of smaller male Direwolves (who was still huge now) leapt at Eda and aimed to bite off her head with a single chomp. At the same time, a female wolf howled and caused roots from an Apex Acacia to rip their way out of the ground and wrap around each of the Hexsquad's feet and arms, preventing them from immediately escaping. Since Eda couldn't now dodge, she cast a simple wind spell by twirling her finger then pointing it upward, causing a powerful gale to hit her in the chin and knock her head off her neck and several feet into the air. This meant she evaded the bite from the Direwolf, who was then sucker punched in the gut by Eda's fist, winding him and knocking him down to the ground.

Willow then flexed her body, releasing a green aura that immediately caused the roots to release them all, before sending them to capture the wolves instead. The female that had set the roots on them tried to howl and regain control, but her effort was useless against the power of Willow and her fusion. Eda then flew up to catch her head and reattach it, while King, Lilith, and Raine joined her in the air to begin their counterattack where the wolves couldn't easily reach them.

Eber's pack had about 25 wolves (not including the pups), which was split into 13 males and 12 females. Five of those females had fled with the pups, leaving seven of them to fight alongside the males, meaning two enemies for the gang to deal with. Eber herself focused on Roargna and his mate, while Luz dealt with Roargna's two large male Betas and a single female Beta (the largest in the pack besides Roargna's mate), leaving the remaining 15 to the others. The four CATTs in the air focused on the group as a whole, supporting the others on the ground, while Barcus, Hunter, and Willow each took on five of the wolves.

For Willow, this was so easy that she didn't really need support; the wolves had all managed to bite and claw through the roots binding their legs so they could attack, but Willow just used her wings to buzz around and dart out of the way of their attacks, while shooting vines at them like whips to smack them back and growing simple plants as a form of crowd control, since she had no desire to waste her magic and strength this early into the mission. She easily defeated one Direwolf by growing a tree beneath it, causing it to be tangled in its branches and unable to free itself or get down, with vines wrapping around its snout. A second was defeated by goading it into a full on charge, then shooting a pair of coconuts bound together by vines like a bolas, wrapping it around its ankles and making it trip and smack its head on another tree Willow quickly grew. The third was paralysed by Willow's hair stingers as it lunged at her and she tilted her head to the side to avoid taking damage. The last two then tried a coordinated attack, but found that instead of attacking Willow, they'd ended up attacking each other, as Willow had used the fluttering of her wings to subtly spread the pollen of the Mirage Magnolias, which caused those who inhaled it to see what they wanted to see. As such, both wolves saw themselves leaping to maul a helpless Willow, only to wind up smashing head first into each other and knocking themselves out.

Barcus was having a similarly easy time, as he used his own Direwolf ability to grow alongside his Lycan Ancestry, which allowed him to take on the muscular form of a werewolf, complete with a more wolfish head. He didn't usually like using this form since it meant losing some of his intelligence to the wild instincts he was indulging in, but since Luz's Titan Form was making her less terrifying to his spirit (even though its magic still didn't work on her) and there were no crazed Necromancers around like there had been at the Necropolis, Barcus' spirit (nicknamed Wise) was able to help him maintain his mind, while also whipping up potions for him by using his knowledge and the Potioneer Belt he wore around his waist. Combining this with his Direwolf Howl spells allowed Barcus to make short work of the five wolves attacking him, who seemed to be the weaker members of the West Ilium Pack. They likely saw him as just a weak half-breed pup… one would think that after Eber, they'd see the error of that way of thinking!

Almost immediately, Barcus defeated one of the wolves by using his now Lycan-like forepaws to grab its jaw as it lunged at him, then force it shut and bind the teeth and lips together with some Gooey Gab-No-More produced by his spirit. Another wolf howled at his back, creating a cutting gale that actually hurt Barcus, but his thick hide kept the wound from being too bad, and Wise poured a simple healing potion on it as Barcus used the gagged wolf as a cudgel to smash into the other wolf, knocking them both out. The remaining three then attacked at once, one going for his left ankle, one going for his throat, and one going for his pink monkey Palisman Duno, who was meditating in order to help guide Wise. Barcus avoided all of them by using his powerful legs to leap into the air and have his Palisman Staff hold him there as he then conjured a series of crystal balls, which he used like giant potion bombs by filling them with the fluid of a Lightning Magic Bomb, which Wise had been brewing in a conjured crystal ball, as Wise could uniquely turn small, non-living objects incorporeal, allowing him to put ingredients into his crystal ball without opening it up, letting it serve as a cauldron. With these newly formed Oracle Potion Bombs, Barcus howled and launched them down at the three Direwolves he'd just evaded, causing a massive explosion of lightning magic that knocked all three of them unconscious, and even managed to knock out one of the ones fighting Hunter.

This turned out to be a big help, as Hunter was struggling by far the most. The fight for him had started off badly when he tried to pre-empt a pounce on him by flashing behind a Direwolf who'd been acting as if it was about to. However the instant he appeared behind it, the wolf had kicked its rear legs out like a horse, smashing Hunter incredibly hard and sending him flying into the watering hole. Thankfully his sturdy Stonesleeper parts meant he was only mildly bruised rather than having a shattered ribcage, and his Selkidomus parts allowed him to easily swim around in the water, before launching out of it like a dolphin and blasting a stream of lightning from Flapjack. However the moment he did this, he found spikes of rock emerging from the ground in front of his target, causing the lightning to hit that instead, nullifying the attack. It seemed one of the other Direwolves had uttered a quiet howl to conjure the rocks when Hunter wasn't focusing on them. Hunter growled at this and switched to shooting fire instead, but then one of the wolves howled and caused the water of the watering hole to rise up in a series of tendrils and douse Hunter's attack, while also slapping him away and then down onto the spikes of rock that had thwarted his lightning attack. Hunter just barely reacted in time to flash away before hitting the sparks, but the fourth Direwolf had tracked his movement just as the first one had, and was waiting to sink its teeth into his tail just as he appeared.

Hunter screamed and was promptly thrashed about like a chew toy, before Lilith shot a beam of yellow magic at the top of the Direwolf's head, making it yelp in pain as a minor electrical current surged through its skull. Hunter used this yelp to pull his tail free, slap a healing glyph on the bite wound, and then growled and used his Bestial Blessings to give himself the wings of a Griffin (so he could fly while using Flapjack to cast spells), the metallic scales of the Rubicon Snake, and the forehead horn of the Marrdreg. With this combo, Hunter flew into the air (watching as one of his four Direwolf foes was taken out by Barcus' Lightning Magic Bombs) and used his own lightning magic to supercharge his body via the brittle but metallic scales he now possessed. He then wrapped himself in a tornado with his new horn and cried out:

"Wild Charge!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the Cursed Trio and King (who'd been helping keep the Direwolves from teaming up on him after seeing the trouble he was having) all backed off and Hunter began rapidly flashing from one wolf to the next, shoulder slamming each one like a Football player. The lightning electrocuted them while the wind sent them flying, and unlike the previous attacks, the Direwolves didn't seem prepared for this. They DID strangely anticipate where he was going to go with his Flash Spells, but they simply couldn't avoid him in time with the wind and lightning auras he had further speeding him up. This led to all four remaining Direwolves being sent flying and rendered unconscious, giving the victory to Hunter, who didn't feel good about the win as he calmed down and dismissed his spells.

Oddly enough, Luz was also having a bit of trouble; the three powerful wolves she was fighting also seemed to know her tricks and schemes with her various go-to spells and favourite combos… the only time she caught them off-guard was when she tried something new, or used some form of Darkness Magic in her combos. Of course, against a Titan Seraphim, simply knowing her tricks wasn't enough to defeat her or even evade her for long, as Luz delved into her creative streak to create a spell to easily knock the three wolves out. First she channelled her beloved by creating a Homunculus, then she blended the powers of the Dryder species with Hunter's Bestial Blessing Speciality, allowing her to create a special Dryder Form Homunculus that could shoot thin but strong purple webbing from literally anywhere on it's body. This allowed Luz to quickly capture the Direwolves in her web, and as they tried to escape, she used the earth and light magic to petrify the webbing itself, turning it into stone that she could then easily transmute into simple iron, effectively binding the wolves in iron wire that was paradoxically strong for how thin it was. Luz considered finishing them with some straight lightning magic, but felt it might be a little mean to just electrocute the giant wolves (which Luz still found to be adorable), so she instead combined lightning magic with her healing magic. The result was deep blue lightning that completely fried the wolves' motor functions for a short time, rendering them utterly unable to move.

"Phew! Got 'em!" Luz grinned as she looked around at the other battles. Excluding Eber vs Roargna and his mate, the others had ended without too much trouble, but Hunter was still looking furious with himself over his relatively poor showing. He'd been fighting hard and doing well, but somehow the enemy had known his moves and tactics already! That was suspicious, and Luz found herself wondering why such a thing had happened to the two of them, but not Willow or Barcus.

Putting that at the back of her mind for now, Luz joined the rest of the CATTs in watching Eber fight Roargna and his mate, knowing she would prefer to handle it without their help. Not that she appeared to need help!

Eber had been mostly just dodging the attacks of the two large Direwolves, weaving through their claws slashes and harsh bites like a leaf on the wind. She wasn't even bothering to attack back, as both her opponents were being incredibly cautious and not giving her any openings. As one needed rest, the other would up the frequency of attacks to give their mate a moment to catch their breath; a tactic Eber had taught them herself. She had taught most of her pack everything they knew, which was also why she was able to easily disrupt and evade their Howl Spells; many of them had been invented by Eber!

Finally, the stalemate ended when Roargna, in a fit of frustration, overextended himself when he really needed a rest, allowing Eber to lightly kick his ankle as he lunged, knocking it out from under him and making him face plant into the sand around the watering hole. Eber then leapt and launched a vicious claw swipe at the back of his head, an aura of orange magic surrounding her claw. The aura shaped itself into a wolf's head preparing to bite down on Roargna's neck, but the foolish Alpha was saved by his mate, who leapt in the way and howled, unleashing a dragon-like breath of fire. Eber's attack and her fire clashed for only a moment, before Eber's superior magic and skill overpowered the other female, ending in her getting Eber's attack right to the face, which knocked her out cold.

Seeing his mate flop to the ground unconscious had Roargna shaken to his core, especially as Eber landed on top of her and growled threateningly, the orange aura from before coating her even more and shaping itself into a large wolf around Eber's body.

"You lose, Roargna! Eber is the superior Alpha! Surrender and heel, or Eber will tame you like a disobedient dog!" Eber demanded, snarling viciously.

Roargna stepped away out of instinct, then turned around to see what had become of his Pack. Seeing them all defeated made his eyes widen with horror.

"Impossible! Bone Faces told us secret things! Way of fighting for strange cat creatures! How my Pack lose!?" Roargna growled in confusion.

Luz and Hunter frowned; so THAT was how they knew how they fought! Someone had warned them! But that someone hadn't known about Willow's Fused Strength or Barcus' abilities, meaning their info was likely old. Had it been one of the Titan Trappers from Titan Trapper Island? No, that couldn't have been it… Hunter didn't have his Wild Heart Form or his Bestial Blessings back then, and Luz had more extra powers than just her Titan Form and Darkness Glyph! Something wasn't adding up…

Eber was unconcerned though, and growled at Roargna; "Heel, Dog! Eber won't give another chance!"

"No! Roargna never heel! Roargna refuses!" the new Alpha snapped back, before something strange happened. His eyes, once the same purple as Eber's, glowed with pale green light that was eerily familiar to King. A crescent moon emblem appeared on Roargna's forehead, and he suddenly howled, sending a wave of pale green magic in all directions. The CATTs were pushed back, but they'd been on guard and thus avoided being knocked off their feet, so they were up and ready as they watched Roargna's body shrink back down to his original Shire Horse size as his mane turned white and patches of blue and green appeared on his fur in the shape of the lunar phases. The howl hadn't only signalled Roargna's transformation either; it had sent magic into the entire pack!

A Direwolf Pack had a kind of symbiotic magical connection, sort of like the power of King's glyph, bonding the Pack Members to their Alpha and allowing them to share in his power. The unconscious Direwolves were immediately roused back to consciousness, and their injuries were healed rapidly as they shrank back to their normal sizes just as Roargna had. They kept their red manes and didn't gain any new patches of fur, but they DID gain a crescent mark on their forehead and a green ring around their irises, akin to the gold ring in the eyes of the Divided.

"What is that!?" Willow exclaimed, horrified as the wolves all began getting back up like nothing had happened.

"That's Belial's power! It looks like when that creep Bill had it!" King growled.

"Then the Direwolves must have been blessed by him!" Raine scowled.

They all knew what that meant; combined with what they knew thanks to Lyra's scrying, Belial the Huntsman and his Titan Trapper Minions may already be present within the Wild Crag! Perhaps that was why the Wings of Rani had been so willing to abandon the Crag to solely protect the Union Pillar; they already had back-up inside the Crag!

Before any of them could say any more, they were suddenly swarmed and attacked by the wolves, who despite being smaller now, were a LOT more ferocious! They were stronger, faster, and firing roars that conjured the Crescent Moon blades that had caused King and the Nexsquad so much trouble a week ago! To make matters even worse, Roargna opened his mouth wide and began a long howl, which caused a small moon to begin forming just above his snout. It was nothing compared to the one King and Samael had stopped, but it was still potentially devastating!

"Mom, Tia, Titi! Take care of the Crescents! King, help me with the big one!" Luz said urgently. "Tia Eber, Hunter, Willow, Barcus; cover us!"

The CATTs all fell into step with Luz, with King flying up to land on her shoulder. The two inhaled deeply and released a synchronised roar that countered the Archivist Magic of Roargna's Blessing, destabilising the still-forming Full Moon and causing it to disintegrate. At the same time, the Anti-Magic Trio created a barrier of black and gold flames that absorbed and destroyed the Crescent Moon Blades trying to pass through it, while the remaining four quickly dealt with some of the Direwolves who tried to attack anyway. Willow got them all outside the Anti-Magic Barrier with a Giant Venus Fly Trap, then Barcus threw down a bad stink bomb to make all the Direwolves howl and recoil at the stink. Eber had seen it coming and so had blocked her own nose, then she and Hunter darted around the pack, knocking the gagging Direwolves out swiftly. Eber even landed the most powerful physical blow she could right to Roargna's head as he gaped in shock over his moon being destroyed, but despite staggering for a moment, the new Alpha didn't fall and in fact howled and healed himself. That same howl also awoke the knocked out Direwolves yet again, making the CATTs groan in frustration.

"We're wasting magic, time, and resources here!" Lilith yelled.

Roargna tried to leap at Eber and bite her, but Luz mixed lightning and darkness magic to make Eber and her Spider Homunculus immediately swap places via the shadows, causing the monster to be stuck with slimy goo binding his mouth shut. This stopped him howling, but his mate and Betas were quick to leap in, the latter two serving as living shields as his mate rapidly chomped and licked at the slime, getting it off Roargna's mouth at record speed.

Knowing the Alpha would be free again in seconds, and not confident she could defeat the Betas and Mate fast enough to stop them (especially while the other Wolves were attacking), Luz made a hasty decision; they needed to get back on the mission before the situation got too out of hand.

"CATTs, retreat! This is becoming too much trouble!" Luz ordered. "Willow, cover us!"

The others were a bit surprised, and Eber was incredibly reluctant, but even if they definitely could win the battle, it really was taking too much time and energy. They were there on a rescue mission, not to defeat anyone!

Eber didn't argue with Luz's decision and instead simply snarled; "Eber will be back, Roargna! Eber won the Alpha title fairly, and you face me with allies and foreign Lunar Magic! You are a coward and a deceiver! Eber will take your head!"

That vicious threat had Roargna and the entire Direwolf Pack shuddering slightly, as each one remembered just how powerful and brutal Eber could be… She'd killed her abusive father in a Blood Hunt to take over the Pack, and had shown no mercy to many others who'd challenged her, believing she was inferior as a Halfbreed or "Runt". For a year after becoming their Alpha, she'd worn the hides of her father and his beta as bloody trophies, and later burned them as an offering to her mother. With the power bestowed on him by the Huntsman, and the truth of Eber's gender being revealed by the foul-smelling Titan Trapper, Roargna had felt he no longer had to fear her… he found in that moment that he was very wrong!

As the Pack went still for a split second, Willow flapped her wings hard and released a silvery powder that caught the light, and reflected it off each individual particle. This caused a rapid flash of light as the light repeated reflected back and forth within the cloud, blinding all the Direwolves, while the smell of the powder got stuck to their noses and left them all sneezing and recoiling, having lost two of their main senses. Luz then silently ordered everyone to take to the sky (they'd closed their eyes when the powder started appearing), and played her Ocarina to cast a simple Lullaby of Lethargy, aiming to put the Direwolves to sleep. It began to ease the smaller wolves to sleep, which further ensured the Pack wouldn't be pursuing them for a bit. Finally, King used a wind glyph to make sure the wind was blowing towards them, carrying their scents AWAY from the pack, taking away the only trail they'd have to follow.

Finally, the CATTs all took flight with their Palismen and flew hard north, returning to the rock formation they'd been using as a scouting vantage point before. They stopped there for a moment to catch their breaths and make sure they were still in good condition, and thankfully the only injury had been the bite to Hunter's tail, which he'd since healed and banished anyway, dropping his Wild Heart Form and Bestial Blessings.

"Well THAT could have gone better." Eda groaned, cracking her neck

"You're telling me." Hunter grumbled; "Sorry guys, I was a total liability back there!"

The others shook their heads; "No you weren't, Hunter." Luz reassured him; "Those Wolves were warned! Whoever told them about Eber being female also told them how we fight!"

"Luz is right. And even if you had a rough start and needed some help, you still won!" Willow reminded him, kissing him on the cheek; "You fought well, my Golden Wolf."

Hunter blushed; Willow had taken his love of wolves and made it part of his nickname, and while he personally felt a bird of prey would suit him better, he still loved the name. The heart she'd given him beat a little faster, and felt warmer in her presence, and it made his self-doubts begin to melt away. Belos had always made Hunter question himself and his value as a person, but Willow made him feel the opposite! With Belos, he was never good enough, but with Willow he felt like he could take on anything and win! Combine that with his family always supporting him, and it was a lot easier to snap out of his disappointment in himself.

"Thanks, my Blossom. And you too, Luz. I won't let myself get bogged down feeling sorry for myself! I'll just do better next time." he swore.

"Attaboy Goldilocks! Now what the heck do we do now?" Eda asked. "Those wolves are gonna tell the bad guys that we're here, and worse, they've been powered up by that Belial Creep!"

"Which means the Trappers are probably already here and lying low." Luz scowled; "And Belial himself too. I'll be honest, he's probably tougher than I am."

"Then maybe we should consider getting our mission completed and then getting out of here as fast as we can." Raine said; "We have three objectives; the Palisman, the Clawthornes, and Barcus' parents. There are nine of us, so I suggest splitting into teams of three and getting all three objectives done at the same time."

Eber, still in a foul mood, agreed. She still hoped that if they got their primary objectives finished, she could have another crack at Roargna! By the time she was done with him, the pack would never dare think less of her again! "Eber agrees. Will go with Barcus to find parents."

Barcus woofed in agreement, and Lilith said; "Alright, I'll go along with those two."

"Wait, are you sure you don't want to go rescue Mom and Dad?" Eda asked with a concerned face.

Lilith shook her head; "I'd like to, but the mission has to come first and in teams of 3, it makes more sense for you, Luz, and King to go after Mom and Dad. They're most likely in the deepest parts of the Wild Crag, and that's where most of the Titan Trappers will likely be, as well as Belial if he is here. Our best fighters and wielders of Titan Magic should handle that."

That was a fair point, and Luz, King, and Eda had no real argument, and honestly all three DID really want to be the ones to save Gwen and Dell. As such, they agreed and Luz said; "We'll make sure your Mom and Dad get back safely, Tia Lily!"

"I know you will." Lilith smiled, before looking to Hunter, Willow, and Raine; "I guess that leaves you three to rescue the remaining Palisman. Sorry to essentially decide our teams by myself."

Hunter shrugged; "I was going to volunteer for this anyway. Those Palisman are Flapjack's friends, and he spent years with them while he waited for a new partner after he left the Clawthornes; as his new partner, it's my job to make sure they're safe!" he declared, making Flapjack happily hop and chirp on his shoulder.

"And you know a wolf doesn't go anywhere without his mate!" Willow smirked; "I'm definitely going along!"

That just left Raine, who smiled serenely; "I'm happy to go wherever I'm needed. If we're going to let the kids fight, the least I can do is support them."

"Then it's decided! Team Barcus will go for his parents, Team Hunter will go for the Palismen, and Team Luz will go for Grandma and Grandpa!" King decreed, playing up his monarch side again.

With that, the team split into three and began heading their separate ways, promising to meet back up at the rock formation when it was time to get out of there, or the top of the Crag if things got too loud. Team Luz flew up high and went to infiltrate the Crag from above, entering through the cracks in the top in order to get as close as possible to the Coven Head's Chambers, where the Clawthorne Elders supposedly lived. Team Barcus flew down to the lower levels of the Crag and headed towards a secret passage that Eber had dug in order to avoid being spotted entering and leaving by the Emperor's spies back in the day; they had no clue where Rom and Howlena would be, but the Coven Members in the lower reaches of the Crag had been mostly undivided before the Divider started cleaning house, so Eber was hoping she could find some who'd evaded that fate that she could get information from them for Barcus. That left Team Hunter to fly eastward towards the Apex Acacia that housed the Palismen.

As Team Hunter flew however, Hunter himself was flying beside Willow (who'd dropped her fusion and was riding just on Clover's staff) when he looked over at her. The wind was blowing lightly through her hair, making her braids flow in the wind, and the contented smile, the slight pinkness of her cheeks from the wind blowing against it, and the determined look in olive green eyes made Hunter's heart nearly skip a beat. In fact, his heart DID began beating a little bit erratically, and while Hunter briefly dismissed this as normal for looking at his beautiful girlfriend, he found that the erratic beating was getting a bit TOO out of control. His chest wasn't hurting, but he did feel a heat there and a strange feeling of static electricity. Growing concerned, Hunter looked down at his left hand and flexed it, finding that as he did so, yellow sparks of electricity arced between his fingers for a split second, accompanied by an electrical crackling sound. He blinked in surprise and looked up at Willow and Raine to see if they noticed, only to find both were moving just a little bit more slowly. It wasn't quite slow motion, but it was definitely slower than it should have been. It was like everyone except him (and Flapjack) were moving at only 90% speed.

The sight of this startled Hunter so much that he lost his balance and slipped off his staff, causing him to begin plummeting. Almost immediately, Flapjack began moving 10% slower too, but Hunter barely noticed in his panic. He reached out to his Palisman, willing him to come catch him before he hit the ground, but as he did so, his hand crackled with electricity again and he suddenly felt himself flashing back up to his staff and grasping it, hanging from it in mid-air. Having all this happen in a fraction of second, made Hunter begin to hyperventilate, which finally drew the others attention, making Willow and Raine look at him with wide eyes.

They noticed his panicked expression and the way he was breathing rapidly as he clumsily pulled himself back onto his staff, so Raine took one of his shoulders while Willow took the other and they slowly flew down to the ground so they could check he was okay. As soon as they landed, Willow grew some of the long red grass to hide them, then knelt down beside Hunter, paling as she saw him gripping his heart.

"Hunter! Is something wrong with your heart!?" she asked in a panic.

"I-I don't think so? It started beating faster and got really hot, but it didn't hurt… and I started seeing the world around me get slower and then these sparks of electricity went through me and I got freaked out and fell from Flapjack, but then flashed back up to grab him." Hunter explained.

For a moment, Raine and Willow sighed with relief that he hadn't been hurt, but then his words registered.

"Wait… you fell off Flapjack, then flashed back onto him!?" Raine exclaimed, as even Flapjack looked shocked as he flapped around his partner's head, preening and fussing over him.

"Did you use a glyph combo? King DID have a short-range warp combo right?" Willow asked.

Hunter slowly shook his head. "No… I just… I did what I always do with Flap, only I wasn't holding Flap this time."

"But that means you did Magic!" Willow gasped.

Hunter's eyes widened, and for a moment he wondered what this could mean for him. But he dismissed the idea just as fast, refusing to get his hopes up that he'd suddenly developed magic. "N-No, it's probably nothing like that. Maybe… maybe it's because of Luz's blessing and King's glyph? It probably let me remotely tap into Flapjack's magic while I was still kinda close to him. That has to be it."

Willow and Raine didn't look convinced; "Are you sure? It could have something to do with your new heart! Maybe now that the magic of the Galdorstone isn't solely going towards keeping you alive, some of it is now usable for your own magic!" Raine suggested.

"Yeah! I mean, your old heart needed to use all its magic to beat and function like a heart, but the Galdor Bloom I made for your new heart can do most of that stuff on its own, with just a little help from the shards of the original heart! So maybe your body really is tapping into and using the extra magic to cast spells! Try drawing a spell circle!" Willow said excitedly.

Hunter frowned, not really believing it was possible. Still, he loved Willow and humoured her, only to get the result he was expecting; he tried to draw a spell circle with no success. He had no magic within him to focus on, and so naturally it would never work! Willow and Raine looked very disappointed, but Hunter just shrugged; "It was worth a try, but I figured it wouldn't work. Galdorstones usually just enhance a person's magic, right? Give a Galdorstone to a human and its just a fancy rock. I guess it's the same for me."

"But they DO serve as magic batteries, so they must provide magic too… maybe it's just that only other magic can bring the Galdorstone magic out and harness it?" Raine theorised, scratching their chin.

"So, maybe the connection to Flapjack through Luz's blessing and King's glyph really is causing this, and is stronger now since its using the extra magic of the stone!" Willow smiled. "Or maybe it and that lightning crackling is a sign that you're getting close to bonding with the lightning glyph Luz blessed you with! You might be fusing with Flapjack soon!"

Hunter smiled at that thought, and gently tapped his forehead against Flapjack's; "I hope so. But we should get going; we've been delayed enough by me and those Palisman need us to save them!"

"Wait! But what about your heart? You said it started beating wildly and got hot! Shouldn't I look into that first? Make sure my creation isn't faulty?" Willow fretted.

Hunter blushed, and Raine laughed and clapped Willow on the back; "I think looking at the girl he loves is what made his heart beat such a rhythm!"

"Oh… OH!" Willow gasped, blushed, then giggled; "My Golden Wolf is a flatterer without even meaning to be!"

"I'm a teenage boy with a hot girlfriend! The fact my heart goes crazy around you sometimes is normal!" Hunter blushed, ignoring Flapjack laughing in his head. "Now let's go! We're close to the Palismen Apex Acacia!"

Willow giggled again, and Raine smiled and muttered; "Ah, young love." as they continued their trip after their brief break. The Apex Acacia that had the Palismen held within was only a two minute flight at their usual speed, and the trio moved in silently while concealed by invisibility glyph combos. However as they arrived, they found that there were quite a few people now guarding the tree, and what looked like a small lake had appeared around it, with no way across without swimming or flying. A few dinghies were sailing about in the lake, each one manned by two people, and it was the sight of these people that first clued the CATTs in on who they were.

They were all dressed in sailor and pirate outfits, and had fur armour beneath their normal clothes, capped off by Titan Skulls (most of which appeared to be resemble aquatic or amphibious creatures), identifying them as Titan Trappers! The commotion with the Direwolves must have caused them to come out and guard likely locations that the CATTs would go for, meaning there were probably a fair few at the Union Pillar too, and around the Clawthornes.

This particular batch of Trappers were from the Silver Skulls; the Titan Trapper Clan that had no home and roamed the seas in a large flotilla, and who had the honour of being the Huntsman's second favourite Clan, since they'd built his temple. Tarak had explained this and the nature of the other clans to the CATTs council over the last week. The Silver Skulls were pirates of the worst kind; in the Titan Genocide, they'd hunted Titans that specifically had skulls shaped like aquatic creatures (Titan Skulls could look like the skull of just about any animal, with the addition of horns), and when they lost their purpose, they'd turned to piracy and were vicious. They attacked other ships and stole treasure, while kidnapping their crews and passengers to sell into slavery.

There had been an infamous case about 50 years ago in which they'd successfully robbed a Cruise Ship touring the Far East of the Demon Realm; they stole every valuable, sold the almost 2500 passengers and crew members into slavery, and even scrapped the ship and solid it for materials. It took ten years for the Military of the Eight Fang Titans (the closest region to the site of the attack) to find and free all 2500 people who'd been sold, and the entire incident had been one of the things Belos used as an excuse to pass stiff laws that controlled who could come and go from the Isles and who could trade with them, as well as nautical travel of all kinds around the Isles; it was easy to scare nobles into thinking Pirates would enslave them, and the common folk couldn't resist them AND Belos back then. Hunter often wondered if Belos had contact with this tribe though, and the Bone Hands definitely had, trading farmed goods with them in exchange for stuff they couldn't grow or make on Cassiopeia's Left Hand.

As the trio got close to the tree, Willow hid them in some more long grass, and Raine closed their eyes and shifted to their Dhampyr Form, using their incredible sense of hearing to track the location of all the Palismen and Titan Trappers in the area. They could see five dinghies with a total of ten trappers on the lake they'd made around the tree, and Raine could detect a further five trappers inside the tree hollow, with a total of 14 Palismen. This was a mild concern, as according to Chiro the Bat Queen, there was a total of 20 missing Palismen, meaning 6 were still missing. Raine reported this to Hunter and Willow, but Flapjack and Clover chirped and buzzed, making the teens nod in understanding.

"Flap thinks the trappers in the hollow must be using the Palismen as staves. I bet one was also taken into the Crag… maybe as a gift for the Huntsman, or for the leader of this tribe?"

"Clover thought the same." Willow agreed, before getting an idea; "Hey Hunter, do you think you could electrify this entire lake?"

Hunter looked at it, then nodded; "With Flapjack, I could do it easily. But those wooden dinghies would stop the trappers from getting shocked too."

"Leave that to me." Willow grinned, making her hands glow with green magic as she pressed them to the ground. She sent vines into the soil and tunnelled them beneath the lake and up to the bottom of all five dinghies, where the vines produced little roots that tunnelled into the wood, allowing Willow's control to extend to the boats. She then nodded to Hunter, who turned Flapjack into staff form and extended him out of their cover and gently into the water beside them. The two teens then mouthed a countdown, then acted together. The dinghies promptly disassembled themselves and dumped the trappers into the water, causing them all to begin screaming and yelling until a sudden massive shock of electricity coursed through them, ending their screams by knocking them out. Willow then had her vines toss the unconscious trappers out of the lake to avoid them drowning, while Raine flew up and hung upside-down from a small lantern post above the entrance to the hollow. They heard the trappers inside reacting to all the noise, and one particularly nasty sounding voice began spitting orders.

The voice had a weird burbling effect to it, as if the person speaking was doing so from underwater, and it sounded deep as well, with a cold, cruel edge to it. "Stop yer belly achin'! Get out there and find out what happened, and if those idiots went down without a fight, I'll keelhaul the lot of 'em!" screamed the voice.

Four Silver Skull trappers ran out from the hollow with looks of pure terror in their eyes, and as soon as all four were out and Raine could hear that the fifth (apparently the leader) wasn't moving, they acted; shooting tendrils of their blood out from their red blood coat and ensnaring the trappers legs AND their staff wielding arms, as Hunter and Willow had been right about them using stolen Palismen. Raine yanked the staves free and tossed them to the teens, then hung the trappers they'd caught upside down by their ankles. Raine then began to play his violin, playing a Lullaby of Lethargy with Derwin's Ear Worm trick to put all four trappers asleep for a good long time.

Once almost the entire group of trappers guarding the tree had been rendered unconscious, Raine prepared to use their sonar ability to determine what they were up against from the group's leader, only to hear the sound of a spell being cast. They barely had a moment to dodge before a stream of scalding hot water at high pressure blasted out from the tree behind him, having been aimed and fired with shocking accuracy. The wood steamed from the water, and concealed the approach of a very long and slimy green tentacle, with a faint pale green aura to it. The tentacle looked like it came from some kind of octopus, and came very close to catching Raine, only failing because they didn't rely on their eyes. Raine flew away a little to try and ensure they were out of reach of the tentacle-using trapper, and Willow cast a spell to gather the splinters of wood blasted everywhere by the trapper and combine it together into a large wooden club, which she held tightly as she and Hunter flew up to be beside Raine.

The smoke began to fade and the tentacle retreated back into the tree, then a moment later the owner emerged from the tree hollow and out onto the veranda that oversaw the lake the trappers had made. The man(?) was a kind of humanoid Octopus Demon with green skin on most of his body, and pale yellow skin on the underside of his tentacles, matching the pale yellow suction cups he had there. His body appeared humanoid in shape, with octopus tentacles for legs and six long, writhing and boneless arms, clad in a pirate's outfit that included black pants with a brown belt, a dark tan undershirt and a sleeveless reddish brown coat with a high collar, golden trim, and crescent shaped buttons. His head and face were almost entirely obscured by a long dark green beard that was tied into three additional tentacle-like bunches that covered half his chest. The upper half of his face was concealed by a Titan Skull that resembled a shark with a pair of curved horns on the back. Strangely, these horns were one above the other instead of being side-by-side, with one curling up and one curling down. The skull was also worn sideways, and a single red eye of the Demon was visible through the skull's right eye socket. Atop the skull was a pirate's brown tricorn hat, trimmed with gold with the front shaped like a crescent moon on its side, and in the demon's tentacles were two cutlasses, two strange looking giant black Pill Bugs, and the two remaining Palismen Staves that were unaccounted for; one of which was pink salamander and the other was a blue cat.

As he stepped out into the light of the day, the Demon looked up at the CATTs and his tentacle arms flailed angrily before going still; "So, ye be the scurvy dogs that took out me men!? I'll give ye a taste o' the Cap'n's Daughter 'fore I sell ye!"

"He's gonna do what with who's daughter!?" Willow gasped, horrified.

Hunter smirked; "He's talking about a whip. Those Cat o' Nine Tails ones that they use on sailors for punishment. It's some horrible thing that Belos introduced. Guess that confirms he had something to do with the Silver Skulls."

"Don't speak o' that putrid fake to me, boy! He promised me crew a bounty o' gold for bringin' him strong bodies for whatever he needed, and he never paid! I shoulda never dealt with him again! Not after he welched on buyin' me Pa's biggest score! We take down a ship o' 2500 of ye landlubbers on his ask, and he doesn't even buy a single slave!? Rotten waste o' spit!" the Demon snarled angrily

The CATTs' eyes widened in horror; so Belos hadn't just used that captured cruise as an excuse, he'd actively engineered it!? If the Silver Skulls had shared the loot with him, it'd explain where a lot of his early treasury had come from… He'd always said it was donations from the faithful, but Hunter had never heard of him getting that many!

Raine growled as they felt their temper rise; "So Belos set that up!? I bet he used that to make other nations avoid the Isles! Yet another scheme of his; making the waters around the isles seem unsafe!"

"Combine that with the creepy whip thing, and we're learning all kinds of horrible things about him." Willow shuddered in disgust. "Speaking of horrible things, why don't you introduce yourself, Silver Skull?"

The demon spat on the ground; "I'll not be spoken to like that by a wench or a whelp! I'll give ye to the crew and sell what's let of ye for cheap!"

Willow sneered and Raine narrowed their eyes dangerously, but Hunter did NOT take that threat so lightly. In a flash, he appeared right behind the Demon and punched him in the back of the head with the arm of a Slitherbeast, gained via a Bestial Blessing. The man was launched forward, barely managing to use his cutlass to catch the guard rail around the veranda to stop himself falling all the way to the lake below. He did however drop the black pill bugs, and Hunter saw that they were curled up tight, with little white whiskers peeking out… whiskers that looked eerily like a fuse, which happened to be burning down. Hunter barely realised what they were in time, switching to his Wild Heart Form and curling up to turn to use his Stonesleeper blood to turn into a statue right before the bugs violently exploded.

"HUNTER!" Willow cried.

"It's okay! He's still alive! I hear his heartbeat!" Raine calmed her. Their words had reached the Demon too though, who scowled as he pulled himself fully back onto the veranda, showing his back to the other CATTs and revealing that he had a strange, wiggling leather pouch on his back, from which he pulled two more tiny black pill bugs. A quick twirl from his stolen staves had them curling up and swelling to the size of a cannon ball.

The smoke from the explosion cleared and Hunter was revealed to be unharmed, turning back into flesh after the blast. The boy glared at the Demon; "You psychotic creep! Those are Black Powder Pill Bugs!"

The Demon's eye widened and he nodded, his body language making him seem impressed; "Ye actually got it right. Aye, these bugs be a plague on any ship with a proper stock o' gunpowder! They eat it and become little bombs themselves! But a tiny bit of magic makes 'em swell nice and big! Perfect weapons, and easy to breed too!"

"Damned Monster! Living things aren't weapons or tools to be used and murdered at your whim!" Hunter growled, rushing forward with his lightning flash. He lunged with his horns to try and impale the Demon's staff wielding arms, but the Demon parried with their swords and leapt down onto the lake, where he was strangely able to walk on the water. Hunter replaced his Slitherbeast Arm Blessing with a Sahagin Feet Blessing, allowing him to walk on water too as he leapt down and charged at the Demon again, Flapjack's staff being turned into a lightning glaive again. He swung left and right, knowing that attempting to parry him with a metal sword would be pointless and lead to a shock.

The Demon was completely on the back foot, especially as Willow and Raine weren't willing to stay back and leave it all to Hunter. Willow used her Fused Form and Raine used their Violin to great effect; the former growing seaweed and other aquatic foliage to trip and bind the Demon, as well as ensnare his stolen staves, while Raine used their music and Anti-Magic to immediately dispel any Spell Circle that the Demon created. Normally Raine's tactic would be a bad one, as it would also disrupt any spell circles their allies made within range of their music, but as Willow was using her glyph powers and Hunter was using a pre-cast spell, neither was disrupted or bothered.

Finally, in a moment of frustration while attempting to cut himself free from some seaweed, the Demon took a swing at Hunter with his sword again, causing Hunter to block it and send all the electricity in his staff directly into the enemy, making him scream in agony, utterly paralysed. Raine was then able to steal their weapons AND their bag of bugs (the Demon hadn't managed to light a single one thanks to all the water being kicked up by his and Hunter's steps on the surface of the pond). Now disarmed and paralysed, the Demon was then smashed over the head with Willow's massive wooden club, sending him right down into the depths of the magically conjured lake.

"Ha! Take that, you creepy freak!" Willow cheered with a vicious grin.

"He can breathe underwater, right? Because if he can't, we'll need to fish him out before he drowns." Raine said, not looking any happier about the idea than the teens.

"He's an Octopus Demon; I'm sure he can." Hunter said dismissively. He was pretty sure the guy would be okay, and he wasn't about to risk going into the water and his territory on the off chance he was an Aquatic Demon that COULDN'T breathe underwater.

Instead, he took the Palismen staves that Raine had captured from the Silver Skulls and carefully snipped off the control collars, freeing them. They immediately began chirping, yowling, tweeting, and squeaking in gratitude, especially as they briefly reunited with Flapjack and Clover (who once again defused from Willow). Then after a moment of this, they all began racing off to the hollow of the giant tree to check on their fellows. The CATTs followed them up the long flight of stairs to the veranda, then into the hollow itself, which was large enough to fit a few small houses inside. The entire place had been decked out with different areas that could support different animals and keep them comfortable in their natural habitat, meaning there were nests for birds, small ponds for the aquatic ones, little dens and caves for land-based Palismen, and even a series of soil-filled planters for the rare non-Animal Palismen.

Every single one of the Palismen had been fitted with collars to put them under the control of the Silver Skulls, but it took only a few short seconds for the CATTs to free them all, which was followed by all three being mobbed by grateful Palismen, who only grew more excited as Flapjack and Clover told them that their fellows were safe with the Bat Queen in a new hideout. The CATTs watched their happy reunion with warm smiles, opting to let them have their moments since their part of the mission had now been completed. The Palismen began to play together, Clover catching up with their old friends while Flapjack tried to coax Rena into coming and joining them, though the shy fox seemed reluctant.

"It's nice to see them all so happy. I think we got here just in time; any longer and those poor things would have been used as weapons." Willow smiled.

"Yeah, we all got lucky there. Though I'm curious; Raine, where did you get Rena from? I know Flap and Clover came from the Bat Queen's brood, with Flap being Caleb Wittebane's old Palisman and Clover being the Snapdragon Clan's Palisman, but what about Rena? Did you carve her or adopt her?" Hunter asked.

"I carved her! Dell gifted me some Palistrom Wood when I came to live with the Clawthornes, and helped walk me through how to carve it into what I wanted. Even when he couldn't carve, he was still a great teacher! Then Rena awoke when I made my desire to be a great bard clear… as well as my desire to be with Eda for as long as I could." Raine explained, watching Rena slowly accepting the invitation to play. She kept looking back at them like a shy child asking for permission to play; it was adorable!

"I wish I could have carved Clover so she didn't have all that Snapdragon Trauma, but otherwise I'd never change a thing about her." Willow said with a wistful smile.

"I feel the same about Flapjack. I don't know his full life story; he doesn't like to talk about it, but I know he was basically carved by Evelyn Clawthorne for Caleb, and that no other Clawthorne could bond with him after Caleb passed. It must have been lonely to go 400 years without a partner." Hunter mused, before smiling; "At least I got to carve Waffles for Lyra! Those two get along like a house on fire, and Flap loves his own little sister!

As if realising that someone was talking about him, Flapjack turned to Hunter and hopped adorably over to him, then flew up and began gently pulling on his hair noodle in an attempt to pull him over to the other Palismen. Hunter laughed and playfully resisted; "Hey now Flap, don't get too excited! We need to get your friends back to the meet-up point soon! We'll have more time to play later!"

"Yes yes, I know! But I need to show you off- I mean, introduce you to the others first. So they'll feel safe with you." Flapjack insisted.

Hunter laughed and shook his head in mock-exasperation, but then as he was being pulled along by his Palisman, Flapjack suddenly went still. All the other Palisman followed suit, sensing that something was off. They all began making a run for the veranda, including Rena and Clover, who were guarding them all. Flapjack tried to fly over with them, but Hunter gently caught him first, confused as to what was going on.

"Flap? Are you alright? What's got you guys all freaked out all of a sudden?" Hunter frowned.

"Something big has appeared in the lake! I can't tell what it is, but we can all feel something huge! The magic of it feels like that Huntsman creep's power, from the Direwolves earlier." Flapjack explained.

Hunter's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to tell Willow and Raine that their mission wasn't over yet, but before he could utter a single word, a massive cloud of noxious gas suddenly erupted from the lake and shot towards the tree, flowing from a globule of black ichor. The ichor hit the tree above the entrance to the hollow, and some of it went through the hole the Octopus Demon had made earlier when shooting Raine. Hunter grabbed Willow and Raine and flashed out of the way, allowing the two of them to raise their hands to summon their staves… only for it to fail.

"What!? Clover!" Willow cried, trying to see through the gas to see what had become of her Palisman. Hunter used a wind glyph note to blast the gas away, revealing that those who'd been caught in it had been knocked unconscious, which included the entire group of Palisman. Clover and Rena had been with them, and so they'd been caught in it and knocked out. This was bad, as not only could Raine not use their staff or violin, and Willow couldn't use her staff, but Willow also couldn't use her fusion!

To make matters worse, the source of the black ichor rose from the lake, revealing itself to be the Octopus Demon, who was clearly not quite as unconscious as they'd thought. The Titan Bone Mask must have absorbed a lot more of the damage from Willow's club than they'd thought! Now he was coming back for round two, and he had decided to use the Wild Heart Spell, only it was empowered by a minor Blessing from Belial the Huntsman.

The Demon had lost any signs of their humanoid form and instead simply become a gigantic kraken, with his head concealed within his Titan Bone Mask, which had apparently grown with him… or perhaps he'd previously shrunken the skull of a larger Titan so it would fit on his head? Whatever the case, he'd also stolen the Titan Masks from several of his unconscious minions and wrapped them around the tips of his eight tentacles, giving them razor sharp spikes on the end. Lastly, a set of four cannons had been summoned and attached to four of his eight tentacles, and from what Hunter knew of cannon models from his time as Coven Head of the Emperor's Coven, these ones appeared to be the kind that shot blasts of magic, meaning there was a recharge time but no need to reload.

"Oh boy, this is bad!" Hunter exclaimed. "Willow, grab the Palisman!"

Willow did just that, conjuring vines to grab them while Raine helped by using their blood tendrils. The Palismen, including their own, were pulled to safety and hidden away in some of the nests where they would hopefully be safe, while Hunter flashed out and stood on the guard rail of the veranda.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you Trapper!?" Hunter snarled, once again in his own Wild Heart Form. He took a good look at the green-skinned kraken before him, which really did look just like a giant octopus, making him a Shallow Sea Kraken. A Deep Sea Kraken would have been a lot worse!

"Ah ha ha ha! I be honest with ye, whelp; ye be tougher than I thought! I underestimated ye! For so long I've had naught to hunt but soft sailors! My ancestors hunted Titans upon the waves, while I'm stuck huntin' ye mere minnows! But perhaps ye will be worth a proper scrap!" The Demon bellowed with a laugh as crescent moon symbols in a pale green light began to glow all over him; "What be ye name, whelp?"

Hunter narrowed his eyes; "I am Hunter Deamonne-Clawthorne of the CATTs! And I am the one who will defeat you!"

The Demon cackled, then replied; "Aye whelp, ye will try! I be Cap'n Krakyll, Leader o' the Silver Skulls Titan Trappers! And I be the one who'll mount ye head on the bow o' me ship!"

Without any further preamble, Krakyll launched his tentacles directly at Hunter, attempting to slice him to ribbons with the Titan horns and fangs, or crush him with his raw strength. Hunter evaded this by giving himself a Griffin Wing Bestial Blessing and flying into the air, then promptly raining lightning down on the giant kraken, who couldn't hope to evade it all with that huge body. However it appeared he didn't need to, as Hunter's lightning merely bounced off the kraken's skin, causing very minor burns but not actually managing to conduct into his flesh.

Hunter narrowed his eyes; "He's using some kind of Bestial Blessing too! He's given himself rubbery skin!"

Krakyll then began drawing spell circles with the four arms that didn't have cannons, while using the four that did to fire a powerful barrage at Hunter. The Demon's aim was incredible, as he anticipated where Hunter would dodge, causing him to be hit by one of the blasts. It thankfully wasn't too damaging thanks to his Stonesleeper parts, but Hunter still felt one of his ribs crack from the impact, and that was only made worse when Krakyll's four spells went off, which turned out to be summoning spells. Summoning was a rare skill for Beast-Keepers, letting them summon to them any Beast that they had tamed and marked, so long as they were within a certain distance. The creatures Krakyll summoned turned out to be Gaburi Land Sharks; creatures that looked like velociraptors with shark-like tails, fins on their arms, legs, and backs, and even shark-like heads. These Land Sharks were all silvery grey and had the Silver Skull's Emblem (a silver Titan Skull with a silver Witch skull on either side of it) engraved onto their foreheads.

Four of these beasts dropped down onto the veranda below Hunter and began rushing for Willow (who'd been unable to help since she couldn't fly without Clover), and Raine (whose own magic had been weakened without their instrument). Of course, not having their Palismen didn't make them helpless, and Raine still had their Anti-Magic and could perform with whistles and percussion, so Hunter didn't foresee the Land Sharks being particularly problematic for them… but they were problematic for HIM as now he was stuck dealing with Krakyll by himself.

"No, don't think like that, Hunter!" he thought to himself as he dodged another salvo of magical cannon blasts; "I can do this! I can beat this guy on my own! I am not a weak link!"

His determination grew, and his heart began to beat a little faster, causing lightning to crackle over his body again. However this time, Hunter was too focused on the fight to notice, especially as he dodged around the flailing tentacles of the Kraken and flew up high, where they couldn't reach him. Naturally the cannon blasts still could, but Hunter could evade far more easily now that he was further away. As soon as he was in position, Hunter then began raining down continuous bolts of lightning, making them weaker since they wouldn't conduct through Krakyll anyway, and instead burning him with thousands of tiny little electrical bolts that fell like needles from the sky.

Krakyll snarled and growled as the burning sensation intensified, then suddenly leapt up into the air, using his four unarmed tentacles to draw spell circles that produced massive and powerful jets of water, launching the Kraken's colossal form directly at Hunter, who before he knew it, had a cannon's barrel directly in front of his face, far too close for him to dodge. Hunter's eyes widened and his life flashed before his eyes as the inside of the cannon's barrel lit up from the magic it was about to fire, and as his heart beat even faster, the lightning around him intensified and to his surprise, he saw the world beginning to slow down again, just like it had earlier.

With barely a thought, Hunter suddenly disappeared in a flash of lightning and reappeared on top of the cannon that had been about to blow his head off, shocked to his core that he'd been able to activate the spell fast enough.

"It happened again! Did time really slow down, or did I just speed up!?" Hunter thought worriedly.

"I saw it too." Flapjack thought back; "You sped up, I'm sure of it!"

"Wait, I sped up? The world didn't slow down?" Hunter frowned.

Flapjack gave an affirmative tweet, and Hunter's mind began to race; "My heart beat faster, that lightning appeared again, and time slowed down for me… could it be that the lightning is speeding up my brain? The synapses and stuff all rely on electrical signals… if it makes my perception faster, then it might make it seem like things are slowing down, and my body moves faster because my brain is!"

"It seems possible… but then what is causing the change? Your new heart?" Flapjack wondered, as Hunter was forced to begin flying again to evade Krakyll, who was still pursuing him in the sky. Hunter managed to evade another volley of cannon blasts, but it was a VERY close thing, as Krakyll empowered them with his Huntsman Blessing, turning the blasts pale green and making them a lot faster AND bigger.

"My new heart… if feels like it's awakening something new within me!" Hunter thought as he spun Flapjack and fired some red lightning at Krakyll, focusing on inflicting pain rather than damage. He hit the burnt parts of Krakyll's skin to bypass some of the rubbery resistance he'd given himself, making the kraken scream in agony and lose control of his tentacles, which writhed and briefly got tangled with themselves as he fell from the sky and into the lake. Upon hitting the water, most of the lake's water was sent skyward, and Hunter hastily used a Bestial Blessing to give himself the oesophagus of an Alpha Tundra Wolf; giant Direwolf cousins that had only normal animal intelligence but also had the power to exhale extremely powerful freezing winds. This froze the water of the lake, turning most of it into hail that rained back down on the wincing Trapper Leader, while the rest froze around his tentacles, temporarily holding him down.

"Flap, do YOU feel anything different about me?" Hunter asked.

Flapjack hummed, then replied; "Yes. It feels like our bond has grown stronger, almost like we are brothers… it reminds me of how I feel about Waffles. But paradoxically, it also feels like I am sharing you…"

"Sharing me?" Hunter wondered, feeling a spike of joy over their stronger bond.

"I can't explain it. I thought it might be because of your love for Willow, but I didn't feel this way with Caleb and Evelyn. Yet I still feel like she is at the heart of this." Flapjack said, trying to articulate what he meant.

Hunter was still a little confused, but he got the gist of what Flapjack was trying to say. When he closed his eyes and focused, he felt something similar… there were several bonds within him; to Luz and King via the glyphs he'd been blessed with, to Lyra and Darius as his dear family, to Flapjack as his Palisman, and to Willow as his lover… but also as something else.

Sadly, he didn't get much time to think on it any longer as Krakyll roared and broke free of the ice, his rage now reaching a volcanic level. With a screech of hatred, Krakyll launched himself into the air once again, this time producing a MUCH bigger jet of water from his mouth, which was beneath his body, between his tentacles. This jet not only launched him skyward, but it also sliced into the earth, while his tentacles did the same as Krakyll launched high pressure water blades from each one. Hunter was worried about the Savannah, but had no worries for himself as he focused on his beating heart, allowing him to once again speed up his perception, slowing the incoming attacks so he could effortlessly dodge even without magic.

While this worked for Hunter, it didn't help Willow and Raine. They hadn't had much difficulty at all with the Land Sharks; they were basically just velociraptors that could also swim and breath underwater, and had no magic, making them easy for Willow and Raine to defeat by binding them with tree roots and then putting them to sleep with a whistled rendition of the Lullaby of Lethargy. But it had taken a bit of time for Willow to wrangle the speedy creatures, and they'd only just finished when Krakyll began his rampage of water blades… water blades that could never normally cut down a tree as impressive as an Apex Acacia, unless it just so happened to slice through the hollow, where the wood was thinnest. Raine had lost their head when the slicing water hit them (thankfully a blood tendril caught it and reattached it) and the entire tree was sliced in half at an angle, causing the top half to begin sliding down before toppling over, right onto where the unconscious Titan Trappers from earlier had been left. Willow and Raine couldn't let them die, so Raine began whistling the Song of Sky-Swimming to let Willow fly with them down to the trappers, where Willow used her plant magic to grip the tree and hold it in place.

Even out of her fused form, using the magic of the plant glyph made her regular plant magic a lot stronger, so she was just barely able to hold the tree in place, though at the cost of being totally unable to move.

"Ugh! Raine, get those Trappers out of the way! I can't keep this up forever!" Willow cried.

"Already on it!" Raine yelled, hurriedly grabbing the Trappers and dragging them away. Of course, with the Apex Acacia being such a thick tree, that still took time and Raine didn't have the physical strength to drag all of them at once, so they had to keep making return trips, meaning Willow was stuck keeping the tree in the air for longer.

Hunter and Krakyll saw this, and in an attempt to at least take out two of his three foes, the Silver Skull leader turned away from Hunter and launched himself onto the trunk of the tree just as Raine had gone back under to get the next batch of trappers. The added weight of the colossal kraken caused Willow's magic to nearly burn out instantly from trying to keep the tree up, and Raine had to grab their Power Glyph and stick it to Willow's neck to ensure she didn't immediately run out of power and drop the tree on them both.

"That monster is willing to kill his own men to crush us too!? Hold tight, Willow! I'll go drive him off!" Raine yelled.

"NO! Leave that to Hunter! Just get the trappers out of here so I can drop this thing!" Willow cried, struggling with all her might.

Raine grimaced but didn't argue, and got back to work. Meanwhile above, a furious Hunter flashed towards Krakyll, his eyes flashing yellow and orange as if he was having a Bile Overload. Krakyll was still launching water blades with his non-cannon arms and Lunar Magic Blasts with his cannon ones, but Hunter was flashing past them like they weren't even there, gunning for Krakyll with rapid speed. Right before impact, Hunter decided to try something new and cast a new Bestial Blessing, this time focusing on giving him the size of a beast without its actual body parts. He focused on a Deep Sea Kraken (which was larger then the Shallow Sea variants) and to his joy, the spell (mostly) worked.

Hunter's skin became like octopus skin and he suddenly felt dehydrated in the heat of the savannah, but he still grew to almost twice the size of Krakyll, allowing him to pick the Demon up and use his natural Stonesleeper aspects to resist the damage Krakyll tried to do.

"YARGH! LET ME DOWN, YE FREAK!" Krakyll demanded.

"My pleasure!" Hunter declared, replacing his Tundra Wolf Blessing with Slitherbeast Arm Blessings, which further increased his strength. He plucked the Titan Skulls from the Titan Trapper, revealing that his face was heavily scarred and branded with both the Silver Skull emblem and the Huntsman's signature crescent moon, and his other eye was missing, explaining why he'd kept it hidden in his normal form. With that done, Hunter then tossed Krakyll into the sky and then grabbed the Apex Acacia, freeing Willow (who collapsed with relief) and hoisting the tree up like it was a giant club. Even while giant, Hunter was still only half the size of the fallen part of the tree, but with his Slitherbeast Arms growing in strength in proportion to his size, he was still able to give the tree a good swing, striking Krakyll as he fell back into his range. The boneless creature was hit full force, knocking him out completely and launching him hard to the west, where he would soon land in the bay between the Right Hip and Right Arm.

Willow and Raine were shocked by the brutality, and watched as Hunter gently placed the tree down away from them or any other living things, then dismissed his blessings and returned to his normal Grimwalker form, before flashing over to them.

"Willow! Are you okay?" Hunter asked urgently.

"Exhausted, but otherwise fine. I've got some Bile Boosters to help get my strength back, but I should take it easy for a bit." Willow said, reaching into her pocket for the bottles. "But what about you? Did you just kill that guy?"

Hunter chuckled; "Nah, a Kraken like that would take WAY more than that to kill. They're boneless and can survive just about any blunt force trauma that doesn't involve crushing them between two surfaces."

"Well that's a relief. And now we're sure he's out for the count. That was more annoying than it should have been." Raine sighed; "Now come on; the fallen tree is bound to catch attention, as well as the giant Hunter! We should get the Palismen to the meeting point before any reinforcements appear."

Willow nodded, but Hunter shook his head; "You go ahead, Raine. I think we should split up; like you said, they'll have seen me and will be hunting me. If you're with me, they'll find you too. You take the Palismen and I'll lead the reinforcements away."

Raine nodded; "Alright, that's probably a good idea. I'll get Luz to shoot a signal into the sky when we're ready to get out of here, so you can come back." they then turned to Willow; "You and Clover are going with him, right?"

"Of course! Like I'd ever leave him!" Willow said between chugs of the Bile Booster. She could have sworn they tasted different now… before they used to be made with Luz's feathers, but since she became a Seraphim, her feathers were too potent, so now Lyra donated her feathers instead.

Hunter smiled, and the CATTs headed up to the stump of the fallen tree, where they found the unconscious Palismen hadn't even stirred. Willow made some plants for Hunter to turn into a foul-smelling field concoction, which he wafted under the noses of the Palismen to wake them. Once they were all woken up, Clover returned to Willow's side and fussed over her a little, while Rena and the others went with Raine and began heading back to the meeting point on foot. Willow and Hunter decided to go on foot in the opposite direction, and soon found themselves attacked by Divided Beast Hunters and Silver Skull Titan Trappers, but a quick Palisman Fusion later and Willow wiped the floor with them.

"What do you think we should do now?" Willow asked as she unfused again, picking through the knocked out enemies for useful materials or valuable information.

"I was going to suggest meeting up with Luz's group. I bet that if our luck led us to that monster, theirs will lead them to something way worse." Hunter smirked, only half joking.

Willow giggled, fully agreeing. With that decided, the pair and their Palismen headed towards the Wild Crag to catch up with Eda, King, and Luz. However as they went, they idly wondered how Barcus, Eber, and Lilith were doing.

[Meanwhile]

Lilith and Barcus stuck close to Eber as she led them to a small watering hole near the Crag. It was hidden in the shadows, as the Crag and nearby Acacia trees meant that the shadows always overlapped to cover it, meaning there was very little vegetation growing around it and so animals tended to not go near it. It wasn't even good for the shade, as it was so close to the Crag that on hot days when shade was needed most, the Crag radiated more heat, turning the watering hole into a warm bath! This was good for Eber though, as it was also the site of her secret tunnel, which lead down into the cold storage chamber deep in the bowels of the Crag; a place enchanted to be as cold as ice in order to keep food and supplies nice and fresh.

Eber silently gestured for Lilith and Barcus to approach as she stopped beside a seemingly innocuous rock, which she then lifted with her Wild Heart Form, revealing a small hole.

"Eber made this for Eber only. Barcus fit fine, but Raven Lady too big. Need to get smaller." Eber said softly, knowing sensitive ears could be in the area.

Lilith was thankfully unconcerned; "I'll be fine. Amity taught me how to use the Homunculus version of the Abomination Transformation Spell that Darius uses."

With a twirl of her finger, Lilith transformed into a homunculus version of herself and then gave a thumbs up, making Eber and Barcus smile. Eber then gestured for her companions to head through the tunnel (it was a straightforward path so they needed no directions), and as soon as Lilith began squeezing herself through, with Barcus right behind her, Eber grabbed the rock and hopped into the tunnel so the rock blocked it off again. Once all three were in the tunnel, they got through surprisingly fast, as none needed to crawl and could in fact run (or very quickly slither in Lilith's case) until they reached the end, which only took about ten minutes, their path illuminated by softly glowing rocks embedded into the tunnel walls by Eber.

"I think we're nearly at the end." Lilith whispered as she felt the temperature begin to drop enough that she needed to actively keep her slime body moving to avoid freezing.

"Path ends in small room. Do not open door without Eber; magic alarms!" the Coven Head explained.

"Got it." Lilith replied, as Barcus barked in agreement.

Shortly thereafter, they emerged from the tunnel (that had a wooden barrel lid blocking the exit that Lilith pushed out of the way) and found themselves in a small room that was about the size of a walk-in freezer, and was cold enough that it might as well be one! In fact the walls, made from the glossy and non-weathered Lunacite, looked a little like ice too. The secret tunnel into the room was hidden among a series of barrels marked as pickling agents, and the rest of the room contained only some ice boxes and shelves with giant ice cubes on them. Lilith, turning back to normal, took a look at the ice boxes and found them locked, then looked at the giant ice cubes and saw vague tool-shapes within them.

"What are these?" she asked as Barcus and Eber emerged, the latter hiding the tunnel again.

"Supplies. Eber hid things for missions! Things Belos couldn't know Eber had!" Eberwolf explained, flicking a claw at one of the ice boxes to open it and reveal a LOT of weapons, poisons, and illegal books, all of which were on various Beast-Keeping and Abomination Practices that had been outlawed. Lilith was nearly salivating over them, but Barcus sniffed rather pointedly at the door to the rest of the Cold Storage Chamber, then growled lowly. Eber sniffed too, and listened carefully, before growling too.

"What is it?" Lilith asked, lowering her voice a little more.

"People are outside." Barcus answered, summoning Wise from his Oracle Stone and conjuring a Crystal Ball for him so they could scry on the next room. Eber and Lilith gathered around and watched the ball as Wise went into the next room, revealing its contents to the trio.

The Cold Storage Chamber was a large cavern dug out from the bottom of the Wild Crag, and stretched out through most of the plateau's foundations, and it was riddled with pillars to support the upper levels, which were also the enchanted segments that kept the entire floor nice and cold. A lot of things were stored around the place; crates of all shapes and sizes, piles of fur, scale, and hide pelts, giant slabs of meat hung up on hooks like a butcher shop, a few animals and trophies that needed refrigeration, and a rather massive amount of alcohol (the Beast-Keepers liked to party hard). One part of the massive chamber was even being used as a morgue, as death was an all too common thing in the wilds of the West Ilium Savannah.

However it was not the room and its normal contents that had Barcus and Eber growling; it was its current occupants… a horde of Titan Trappers. Lilith narrowed her eyes on them through the crystal ball, noting that they all wore the traditional Titan Skull masks, and had silver, white, and extremely pale blue fur outfits on, all seemingly made from arctic Beast Demons. Interestingly though, they also wore feathers, bones, and carved beads as jewellery and decorations, which appeared to have been handcrafted by the owner.

"The White Pelts." Lilith whispered; "Titan Trappers that live out on the tundras of the South Pole. Tarak said they made their home on an adolescent Titan who died there, turning their bones into the White Pelts' city."

"I guess them liking the cold is the reason they're camping out down here." Barcus woofed softly, still focusing on his vision. "How do we deal with this?"

Eber woofed softly in reply; "Penance Trapper not tell us much about White Pelts.", she said, referring to Tarak. "Fanatically loyal to Pack and Hunt Brat. But White Pelt Alpha strange… something wrong with her."

"Their leader? All I remember Tarak saying was that she was a woman… One of two women leaders of the various Clans. I think her name was… Crystal? Tarak didn't seem sure either."

Tarak hadn't been able to tell them everything about all the tribes and their leaders; only a few of the most important details. He hadn't even known the leaders of some tribes, like the Silver Skulls, and only knew a little about others, like the leader of the Bloody Fangs also being a woman. Tarak hadn't been comfortable with the other tribes, especially the Silver Skulls, and Bill hadn't exactly encouraged coexistence, so a lot of information had never been shared between them.

Barcus focused on the crystal ball again, but quickly noticed the vision becoming oddly foggy and full of static, as if something was interfering with his spirit. It was similar to when Lyra looked at Luz with Shade, meaning it was likely an Angel or someone with Angelic Magic. Lilith herself caused some minor static, since her curse originated in the magic of the Huntsman, but this was a fair bit worse. The source of the static turned out to be a woman who was sitting by herself a short distance from the rest of the White Pelts, who were themselves set up in a little camp not far from the large steel gates that led out of the Cold Storage. More than that was impossible to tell, as when Barcus tried to peer closer, Wise refused and ejected himself from the crystal ball.

"I guess that ends our scouting. That woman must have a blessing from the Huntsman, similar to Bill. I believe we can safely say she is their boss." Lilith commented. "I know we're looking for Barcus' parents, but I think it would be best to take them out first. The normal Trappers are probably no match for us, but their boss will be tough… should we go ahead with fighting them?"

Eber and Barcus both nodded, the latter also trying to apologise to and placate his agitated spirit. Without waiting for more of a plan, Eber moved to the door and very gently opened it, the door scraping against the ground without making a sound thanks to a silencing enchantment. She immediately began climb up the sheer walls of the massive chamber, using a Bestial Blessing to give herself suction cups on her palms and soles to stick to the surface as she skittered across the ceiling, making not so much as a peep. Choosing to follow her, Barcus and Lilith crept out of the room too, though they used invisibility glyph combos to hide themselves, while Lilith cast a scent-masking spell to ensure they wouldn't be smelled either.

The trio crept over to the makeshift camp, and thanks to the layout of it, they found the majority of the trappers were between them and their leader, the lone woman of the group. They did however get close enough to actually give the woman a proper look… and they found she was surprisingly young.

The woman, Crystal (if Tarak was right about her name) appeared to be in her early twenties, with olive skin and pale icy blue eyes. Her hair was long and black, cascading over one of her shoulders in a beautiful yet simple style. The woman was fairly beautiful in appearance, but her face had been marred with many scars; two claw marks through her left cheek and down to her jaw, one on her chin, and one through her left eye and eyebrow, with a bad looking burn scar taking up much of her right cheek just to cap it all off. She had clearly lived a hard life, and interestingly, she had no markings from the Huntsman or any other Archivists (Tarak had explained that some Trappers had historically been tattooed with the emblems of the Huntsman's three older siblings on rare occasions, as a sign of respect).

Clothing wise, she wore simple pale blue furs with white fur trim, and silvery grey pants, white fur boots, and dark blue fingerless gloves, which had Titan Bone claws covering the fingers instead. She had some black earrings; a pair of studs and a ring in each ear, and a somewhat ornate necklace made from red feathers, blue beads, and the fangs and claws of some unknown predator. She had a Titan Bone mask that resembled a Wolf Skull with short horns and surprisingly included a lower jaw too, which was apparently extremely rare for Titans, whose lower jaws were usually not part of their external skulls. Crystal didn't seem to like it though; she wasn't wearing it and instead kept it off to the side, barely within her reach. She also appeared to have a staff laying beside the mask; a non-Palisman staff that was decorated with the skulls of various birds and beasts, and also had some kind of wooden chime hanging from it. It was a bit eerie, but the part that really made the hidden CATTs' skin crawl was the presence of a human skull among the others. It was distinctive due to its lack of fangs and a different pattern on the top of the skull from when it had fused together (Witch and Human Babies' skulls were formed ever-so-slightly differently, so they fused a bit differently too), and the mere sight of it had the CATTs paling a little… there were not many ways that skull could have been obtained, and even fewer were good!

Lilith carefully grabbed Barcus and carried him in her talons as she flew up to where Eber was hidden on the ceiling above the little camp. Using her finger, the Harpy Woman gently traced the words she wanted to say on Eber's hand.

'We need to deal with as many of them at once as possible, including the leader. I'll attack on your signal.' Lilith traced.

Eber nodded subtly, then began to slowly sign her response with sign language; 'Eber understands. Signal will be impossible to miss; stay clear of flames' she nodded towards the little campfire that Trappers had made.

Lilith and Barcus both tapped her paw to show they understood, then Lilith promptly flew behind the pillar of Lunacite that the Leader Woman was leaning against, waiting for Eber to begin her plan. As they waited, Lilith noticed that the woman was glaring with hostility at her own clansmen, who didn't seem to be showing her much respect either. They spoke the Common Tongue with a mild, unfamiliar accent, and they were enjoying exchanging conversations about their "Conquest" of the Crag with the other tribes, and how they'd scored such a fine place to rest compared to the sweltering heat upstairs. They would also occasionally look over at their leader and smirk to themselves, whispering snide remarks to one another.

Despite not knowing anything about the woman (and actually having reason to assume the worst about her), the CATTs all felt a spike of annoyance over that. Barcus hated those who mocked and belittled their own friends and comrades, Eber couldn't stand disloyalty from a Pack to their Alpha (except if the Alpha is unworthy), and Lilith remembered when it had been her in this woman's place, as the new head of the Emperor's Coven at a young age, struggling to earn the respect of her comrades. The CATTs had no intention of holding back on the young woman, especially if she proved as evil as Bill and his ilk, but they still felt the desire to put her disrespectful subordinates in their place.

Preparing her plan, Eber used a subtle Bestial Blessing to give herself the Explosive Bile Sac of the Burning Bonobo; a species of Monkey that lived in deserts to the southern region of the far eastern continent. One mouthful of this noxious oil-like fluid was all it would take to create a sizeable blast of fire when applied to a little heat, and Eber gobbed it right into the little campfire the Trappers had made. The result was predictably explosive, whoever the Leader Woman and a few of the sharper Trappers had noticed the bile falling from the ceiling, and had immediately dodged back, with the Leader actually grabbing her staff and mask and leaping behind the pillar of Lunacite she'd been leaning against. This meant she actually crashed into the invisible Lilith and Barcus, who hadn't expected such a thing.

The three of them stumbled over each other, the invisibility on the CATTs breaking just as the bile hit the campfire and exploded. The explosion was a bit more powerful than expected, and sent all the Trappers who hadn't evaded flying, while even those who HAD dodged back were blasted back a little, suffering quite a few burns. In one fell swoop, the camp was destroyed and most of the Trappers had been rendered unconscious, while those who'd braced themselves were badly burnt but still conscious; ironically suffering more damage by stopping themselves from being sent flying, as it meant the fire that followed the initial shockwave scorched them too. Only their leader, who'd leapt behind a pillar had evaded damage.

The woman leapt to her feet and shot a scared and worried look at the CATTs, especially Lilith, then hurried back around the pillar to survey the damage. Lilith and Barcus did the same, and Eber immediately leapt down from the ceiling onto one of the injured Trappers and knocked them out. Another tried attacking Eber from behind, but Barcus had his Palisman Duno throw a Lightning Magic Bomb at him, zapping the Trapper into unconsciousness. Two more than tried to attack Barcus, but Lilith's Anti-Magic wiped away their spells with ease, while she shot a simple white fireball at one of the Trappers and defeated the other by sweeping his legs out from under him with Corvanc, then knocking off his Titan Bone Mask with the base of her staff and then finally casting a simple sleep spell.

This left only the shocked leader, and two others, one too injured to fight. The less injured one attacked Barcus with a harpoon made of bone, but Eber jumped down and landed on the shaft, shattering it before it could hit, and Barcus then had Duno leap forward and twist the man's mask so he couldn't see, letting Lilith easily get in his blind spot and smash him into the floor. Seeing this and seeing their apparent leader rooted to the spot, the injured Trapper yelled at the woman.

"CRYSTAL! Stop standing around doing nothing, and help us! Wake the Mistress already!" the man demanded.

The CATTs looked confused; the Mistress? Was Crystal not the leader after all?

They would get their answer to that when a slightly trembling and very reluctant Crystal lifted her Titan Skull Mask and put it on her head, then closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. Suddenly, her body went limp and she staggered forward a step before suddenly catching herself and shuddering. Her entire stance then changed, and she went from fearful and reluctant to strong and confident. She raised her head and flashed her manic grin, with teeth that had suddenly become much sharper. Her eyes also glowed an ominous blue as she spun her staff around, causing icy mist to flow from the eyes and nostrils of the human skull. This mist then formed into a harpoon shaped blade of ice, turning the entire thing into a spear.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" Crystal said, her voice carrying an unnatural echo, as if she were possessed. "Three fun looking beasties! And a nice big cave to hunt them in! Perhaps this trip won't be a waste after all!"

"Mistress! These three are surely part of the Rebel group that the Grand Huntsman warmed us about! They've already taken out the rest of our hunting party, so we should-"

The injured trapper didn't get a chance to finish, as "Mistress" Crystal suddenly plunged her ice spear into his throat. The CATTs cried out in horror and attacked as one, Lilith shooting Anti-Magic feathers, Barcus tossing Fire Magic Bombs, and Eber leaping at the woman's arm with her Wild Heart Form. Mistress Crystal blocked the fire bombs with a wall of ice that she conjured with a wave of her hand, though the Anti-Magic Feathers began eating away at it, and Eber managed to sink her teeth into her arm, though the woman's furs were thick enough to actually keep Eber from biting too deep, barely drawing blood and not even making Mistress Crystal flinch. The Trapper Woman instead laughed and pulled her spear out of the Trapper, who fell to the ground dead after having bled out rapidly from the wound in his neck. She then swung her arm hard to try and get Eber off, and when that didn't work, she grinned maniacally and caused spikes of red ice to rip their way out of her own flesh to pierce Eber.

Eberwolf yelped in pain as she took several bad piercing wounds from the red ice, but thankfully her Palisman Tigriel caught her before she could hit the ground and rushed her over to Barcus and Lilith, the former of which began using healing potions to close the wounds.

"Interesting Palisman you've got there! I've never seen such a beast!" Crystal grinned, her glowing eyes beginning to glow a pale green. "I wonder if I can take it for myself after I mount your skull on my staff!"

Eber, now healed up, snarled; "Try it, monster! You kill your own people! Eber will put you down!"

"My people? Oh, you mean that imbecile who suggested we run from a hunt!? Honestly, as if such a disgraceful creature could ever be seen as one of MY people!" the woman mocked. "Only that bleeding heart Crystal would think such tripe! And the same fool hated her for being a weakling!"

Lilith scowled, looking confused; "But aren't YOU Crystal?"

"Bah! Of course not! I am her better half in every way! You may call me Mistress Morozov!" the woman retorted, giving a mocking bow.

The CATTs exchanged looks as Lilith muttered; "Wait, that was the name Tarak said!" she remembered; "It was Crystal Morozov! So this woman has a split personality?"

Barcus shook his head; "No. I sense two souls inside her! They overlap in the middle though… the person in control feels like the overlapping part!"

"Overlapping? Two souls? Wait, is this like Eda and the Owl Beast!?" Lilith gasped.

Barcus shrugged, not letting his guard down as Morozov watched their talk with fascination, as if wondering if they'd figure out the truth on their own. "I can't tell for sure; my sense for souls isn't as keen without Wise, and he won't come out right now! The Huntsman's Blessing is getting in the way. But it does feel pretty similar to Eda! The overlapping part even feels like her Harpy Mode! But Eda feels synchronised, with her two halves coming together. Morozov feels like they're trying to pull apart."

"Huntsman power… two souls, one body. Curse?" Eber questioned.

Lilith gasped; "Of course, that could be possible! The Huntsman was the one to trap the Owl Beast in a Curse Scroll! He could easily have done it again!"

Morozov grinned and clapped sarcastically; "Wow, strong prey AND smart prey! You three are going to be fun to hunt! And for the record, you're quite right. During the War with the Titans, the Huntsman hunted and sealed up a Chatloup, and entrusted the scroll to the leader of the White Pelts at the time, who'd pleased him by pointing out the beast as worthy prey."

Eber narrowed her eyes; a Chatloup was a distant cousin to the Tundra Wolves and Direwolves; they were intelligent wolves that lived in arctic areas and had large, deer-like antlers that appeared to be made of ice. They could use the same Howl based magic as Direwolves, and were said to have gained sapient-level intelligence by eating the flesh of Witches and Demons that wandered into their domain and made the mistake of challenging them. They were exceedingly rare in the modern era though, likely due to overhunting. If the Trappers had pointed the Huntsman at one, then they were likely also guilty of hunting them, and may be partly behind their endangered status.

"So the original Crystal Morozov ended up cursed with the Chatloup, and you somehow came about as a result?" Lilith frowned.

"Indeed." Morozov smirked; "Our father was the last White Pelt Chief, and the Morozov line has held dominion over the White Pelts since the Age of Titans! Our city in the south pole; Sadalsuud, was made from an adolescent Titan that our ancestor's hunting party slew, not even needing to kill his Avatar Form! We achieved victory all on our own, and the Morozov family ruled ever since! But then my other half was born…"

The woman spat in disgust; "Crystal was skilled, intelligent, and powerful… she had the makings of the greatest hunter the White Pelts had ever seen! But she was weak! She hunted only for food and survival, not glory! She ended things quickly, taking no pleasure in the kill! And worst, she sympathised with the weaklings and whelps who couldn't hunt like the real men and women of the clan! It was disgusting! Enough so that our father felt that she needed some real predator instincts before she could become Chief of the Clan!"

"Typical. A Titan Trapper isn't a total piece of filth, and they are immediately seen as a deviant or insane by their fellows. It's like a whole nation of Mini-Belos." Lilith scowled. "And let me guess, your father cursed the old you with the Chatloup to give you that predator instinct."

"Correct again." Morozov chuckled, unconcerned by the insult; "It wasn't pleasant at first; they warred with each other until I was born! The most deep seated parts of Crystal and the Chatloup, the parts of themselves they both hated and repressed, overlapped a lot! Eventually Father and the Shamans of the Tribe entered my mind and did a little messing around to stop the curse from destroying our body. As a result, I was born from all those rejected parts! Now I rule the Trappers of the White Pelt clan, and let weak little Crystal keep the body when I am not needed." she explained grandly; "Administration is dull work, and I leave it to Crystal while I get to go out there and have some fun with our hunts!"

Hearing this made Lilith grit her teeth; "Now I see, you're nothing like Eda or Raine or myself! Eda and the Owl Beast found common ground and became allies! Raine and I conquered and accepted our repressed sides and unlocked this power in our own way! We didn't need to repress and torment our other selves, nor did we need someone to go into our head and make a whole twisted persona for us!" Lilith then pointed her staff at the woman, while Eber and Barcus growled more fiercely; "We'll defeat you and find a way to set the real Crystal free!"

Morozov briefly scowled, before her eyes suddenly widened, realising what Lilith was saying; "Wait… your form is a Cursed Hybrid!? No wonder you know so much about how this works! How delightful! I've longed to test my skills against another like me for so long! Let us duel!"

"Any time, any place, you monster!" Lilith shot back.

"Oh Monster am I?" Morozov laughed darkly, her body beginning to change; "Believe me, you've seen nothing yet!"

To the horror of Lilith, Eber, and Barcus, Morozov's body began to grow, becoming longer without becoming wider too, resulting in her proportions becoming extremely long, gangly, and nearly skeletally thin. Each of her legs were about five feet on their own, and her torso was about the same from hip to shoulder, while her arms were almost twice that, reaching to the ground even when she stood up straight. Her clothes were replaced by pale blue wolf fur that shaped itself into an approximation of Morozov's normal outfit, similar to how Eda's feathers were shaped like her dress when she entered her harpy form, leaving only her necklace unaltered. Her face was also completely changed, fusing into her Titan Bone Mask in such a way that the mask itself became her new face, with the horns on it seemingly becoming ice, growing longer, and branching out to become like the antlers of a Chatloup. Combining this feature with a long tail growing from her tail bone, and her feet twisting into paw-like shapes resulted in Morozov looking ALMOST like a very disturbing Titan. Lastly, her fingers were elongated too, and her nails became extremely long claws that seemed to be made of ice, while her sclera became pitch black and a pale green crescent moon appeared on her forehead, showing she was now fully using her Huntsman Blessing.

"Look upon my glorious form and weep! I'll take your hides for trophies and devour your flesh!" Morozov cackled, her voice sounding even more demonic as it gained a deeper echo effect to it.

Eber shuddered, more out of disgust than terror; "Cursed one become like Wendigo! Might actually eat us!"

"Then we better knock her out fast!" Lilith declared; "Barcus, support us from a distance! Eber, get in as close as you dare! I'll take mid-range!" she ordered, slipping back into her old leadership persona from her Coven days. Her comrades jumped to obey though, both eager to see the fight end.

First, Barcus actually ran as far as he could while still seeing the fight, so he could safely call out Wise again and begin brewing potions with him and Duno. He had a formula he wanted to try out, and so began working on it while Wise and Duno worked together to make a variety of potion bombs and topical potions that could be helpful in a pinch. Secondly, Eber (still in her Wild Heart Form) used the spell on Tigriel too, turning the Deva Tiger Palisman into a much larger variant. Normal Deva Tigers were larger than Shire Horses, but as a Palisman Tigriel was based on a smaller version; something the Wild Heart Spell reversed. With the two in battle mode, they charged to attack Morozov, who used her long legs to leap out of the way of Eber's claw swipes, which were charged with orange magic to make them far longer and more deadly. Leaping was a bad choice however, as now Morozov was in the air and within Tigriel's reach. The Deva Tiger roared loud enough to create a shockwave, sending Morozov flying back until she managed to stab her harpoon into the ceiling to catch herself. She then began casting a spell to conjure ice spikes to throw at the giant Palisman, but Lilith shot and destroyed them with Anti-Magic feathers, then cast a spell of her own with Corvanc, which was meant to bind the Wendigo woman in magic chains. She only managed to bind her spear hand though, with the rest of the chains destroyed before they could take hold by Morozov's sharp claws, which glowed with the Huntsman's magic.

"Nice try!" she mocked, slicing through the other chains to free herself and drop back down to the floor. As soon as she landed though, she was nearly hit and consumed by a fireball shaped like a Wolf's head, which Eber had sent at her with her Howl Magic. Morozov blocked it with a sudden ice wall, which barely survived the heat thanks to her blessing. Of course, the wall was then smashed down by a single swipe of Tigriel's massive paws, sending shrapnel into Morozov's body, making her cry out in pain, made worse by Tigriel suddenly spinning around and smacking her with her tail, causing the woman to go flying deeper into the cavern, were she barely got a moment to catch her breath before she was suddenly struck by a combo attack of a Fire Magic Bomb and a Lightning Magic Bomb.

All this did considerable damage to Morozov, though she slowly healed thanks to the Huntsman's Blessing. "I guess I was wrong; this is more difficult than I imagined! Facing three of you at once may be too much after all… so I guess I'll have to split you up!"

Naturally, no one was going to make it that easy for Morozov, so Lilith, Eber, and Tigriel darted at her with their top speeds, while Barcus and his conjured cauldron darted away with Wise, leaving Duno to keep throwing potions. Morozov blocked the potions by conjuring frigid cold water from her entire body, creating a soft barrier that caught the potions without breaking, then froze to ensure Lilith and the others couldn't get to her. She then drew a series of spell circles on all the skulls on her staff, carving a crescent moon onto each one (excluding the human one). She then melted the barrier again just as Lilith began decaying it with Anti-Magic, channelling the frigid cold water into the skulls.

The skulls seemed to turn to ice as a result of this, and the emblems on their foreheads started glowing, making the group wonder just what kind of magic the Wendigo Woman was casting. She didn't have the Anti-Magic of the Avian Beasts, but she clearly still had some power over ice and water. They got their answer when the water channelled into the skulls formed into an abomination-style body for each one, based on the bodies they'd had in life; namely large birds and various wolves, foxes, bears, and other Arctic dwelling creatures. One was even a Sleet Wyrm; a Lesser Dragon variant of the Supreme level Ice Wyrms.

A total of 15 of these water constructs were conjured, and with a twirl of her staff and a wolf-like howl, Morozov sent the entire lot of them after the CATTs; the birds went after Barcus, the wolves and foxes went for Eber, and the bears and Sleet Wyrm went for Tigriel, all meant to keep them busy and out of the way as Morozov herself had a one-on-one duel with Lilith. The CATTs didn't have a chance to come to each other's aid as they were attacked ferociously, but they weren't about to act like weak links, so they threw themselves into their battles with all their strength, splitting up around the massive chamber so they wouldn't get in each other's way.

For Barcus, this meant using Wise and Duno to fight while he kept working on his formula, needing to finish it so he could safely finish off Morozov. Thankfully he was only dealing with the Water Constructs of Arctic Birds, of which the worst ones present were the Snowy Gyrfalcon; a relatively small bird of prey, so it wasn't too hard for Duno to toss potions made inside mini-Crystal Balls, which Wise could then control with Oracle Magic to hit their target, meaning even the swift birds couldn't evade him forever!

Eber and Tigriel had a similarly easy time, as while they had the most numerous and most powerful creatures, they also worked together exceptionally well and actually turned a portion of the underground chamber into a mini-hunting ground, sealing it off from the rest of the chamber with a Beast-Keeping Spell known, appropriately, as the Hunting Ground. This spell was used by Beast Keepers to create magical "territory" boundaries that animals instinctively hesitated to cross, and while these constructs weren't normal animals, they still seemed to have similar minds, so they didn't leave the area and instead focused their ire entirely on the giant Tigriel, trying to overpower her while Eber stealthily crept around the Hunting Ground and picked off the constructs, destroying them by using her fiery orange aura to evaporate the water with her aura-imbued claw and tail swipes, and the occasional howl. A few even ended up being consumed as Eber summoned Trunk Beetles; a form of lesser Bug Demon that were known to cause droughts by drinking huge amounts of water and then migrating to swampy areas, taking the water with them. They didn't actually consume the water though, using it to instead expand their homes, so they served as fairly effective mini-water skins for emergencies, and Eber kept quite a few around the Wild Crag for hot days, meaning it was child's play to summon them. She would have decimated the entire force of water constructs with them, but they tended to die quickly in cold environments, and while they were pests, she didn't want to kill her whole supply!

This left just Morozov for Lilith, and the wild Trapper immediately went gunning for Lilith with reckless abandon, laughing manically as she swung her spear back and forth and slashed with her long claws. The Wendigo Woman had clearly realised Lilith's Anti-Magic meant a magical duel was pointless, so she was instead attacking physically and only throwing out the odd spell to keep Lilith on her toes. Lilith parried the spear with Corvanc, whom she turned into a spear of her own with a spell she'd learned from an Angelic Spell Book, and she used her own talons to block Morozov's, using hardening spells to make them strong enough to resist the razor sharpness.

After a few short minutes of clashing, during which Lilith felt herself growing tired while Morozov was as energetic as she'd started, her greater physical prowess slowly whittling Lilith down.

"Not good. I'm letting her lead the fight! I can't match her in a physical fight, so I need to use my brain! I want to deal with the curse and that messed up personality that was forced on this woman" Lilith thought, putting up a hasty magic barrier to give herself a moment to catch her breath. It wouldn't last long against Morozov's magic-coated claws and spear, but it didn't need to.

Corvanc thought back to his partner; "If I remember your old books on curses and mind magic, then Crystal's father and the White Pelt Shamans likely entered her mind physically and tied together the traits they wanted to shape her personality with. If we enter her mind too, we can destroy the lynchpin, unwinding this personality and freeing her."

Lilith's barrier broke and before she could react, Morozov's harpoon became like a halberd of ice and chopped down on her, slicing off her right arm and wing. Thankfully, Lilith's own curse meant this was only a mildly painful irritant rather than a crippling wound, and Morozov's shock at the lack of blood and Lilith's stoicism in the face of such an injury left her open, allowing Lilith to summon Corvanc into her left hand then slash at her enemy with the feather shaped blade atop it. Anti-Magic flowed through the blade too, allowing Lilith to slice through Morozov's spear, destroying the ice blade and shattering the human skull (to which Lilith offered a silent prayer and apology).

The staff was destroyed, and the Titan Trapper scowled and threw it away, though not without removing the wooden chime first, which she attached to her waist. Morozov then flicked the chimes, causing a haunting sound to echo across the underground chamber. This wasn't just eerie though; it was actively horrifying, as the song filled all who heard it with a deep-seated terror, paralysing them. This included Lilith, who then found her other arm and wing sliced off by Morozov's claws, before the woman gripped either side of her head.

"I'll mount this somewhere nice!" the woman grinned with an insane glint in her eyes, before proceeding to literally pull Lilith's head off. Naturally, thanks to the curse this wasn't too hard, and Morozov was again shocked at just how easy it was and the lack of blood involved, all while Lilith played dead and pretended that she truly had been killed. Morozov sniffed at her neck and the base of Lilith's head, frowning the whole time.

"Strange… is the blood not flowing because it's cold? Are they so weak to cold climates that they can't stand this temperature?" she wondered, looking around at the cold room. It was nothing compared to the arctic of course, but Morozov didn't know how the Warmbloods reacted to the cold, so it was possible that her prey's blood simply froze.

Putting that aside, she tied some of Lilith's hair to waist, which proved difficult with the woman's shorter hair. Once Lilith's head (still playing dead) was in place, Morozov closed her eyes and sensed for her creations, finding that the birds had all been brought down already, while a handful of the other beasts still survived. Deciding to leave the boy for last, so she could really savour his torment, Morozov stealthily made her way towards Eber and Tigriel, using the Huntsman's magic to disguise her scent and silence her steps, concealing her from Eber's sharp senses. Morozov then watched with a sinister grin as Eber and Tigriel finally pinned down and destroyed the Sleet Wyrm, finishing off the last of her water constructs. Lilith was sad to see that Tigriel had taken a little bit of damage in the fight and was bleeding green essence, but thankfully Eber was alright and patching Tigriel's wounds, leaving them both oblivious to the monster stalking them.

Aiming to get some revenge for earlier, Morozov climbed up onto the ceiling and slowly skittered across it until she was above Eber and Tigriel, then began charging as much magic as possible into her claws, turning all ten of them into mini-crescent scythe blades, intending to slice Eber to ribbons in a single move, which would naturally take out Tigriel too as the death of her partner turned her into a hunk of inanimate wood. However Morozov wasn't accounting for one thing; Lilith still being alive.

Just as Morozov was about to drop down, Lilith began screaming at the top of her lungs; "EBER! ABOVE YOU!"

The Trapper flinched and looked to Lilith's head in shock and horror, wondering if she was actually a Dullahan, while Eber looked up and saw Lilith's disembodied head. Naturally Eber knew Lilith was fine, but still seeing the head of her comrade on the hip of her enemy was all it took to drive her into a serious frenzy.

"GRAAAAAH!" Eber snarled, her magic flaring wildly as her Wild Heart form began to grow larger. Eber's fiery orange aura took on the shape of a large Direwolf; larger than even Roargna's blessing-enhanced form from earlier, and she summoned Tigriel to her hand in staff form, twirling her around to conjure a huge fiery spell circle, unleashing Eber's own secret weapon and a spell she'd been developing for a while now.

The Wild Soul spell.

While Wild Heart was a spell that allowed a Demon or hybrid to take on the aspects of the Apex of their species, it was limited to only the natural capabilities of said species. Eber, living her life as a small creature who had to use magic and ferocity to measure up physically to either Witches or Direwolves, was not content to merely push herself to the Apex of her bloodline; she wanted to be the TRUE Alpha! The strongest Direwolf there could be! And so the Wild Soul spell began development; a spell that combined the physical improvements of Wild Heart with the power within a person's soul, effectively transforming them into the version of themselves they most desired to be.

In Eber's case, this meant transforming into the ULTIMATE Direwolf, and it turned out that her fiery aura was the prelude to this, as the spell made Eber's body grow and shift until it was a perfect replica of this aura. In her Wild Soul form, Eber's body was pure Direwolf, losing all her Witch features with the soul exception of her forepaws, which were a lot more Witch-like with their thumbs and dexterity. Her large mane of hair fit this new body surprisingly well, and stretched down her head to her tail, which now resembled a larger version of her original ponytail. Even her face had become pure wolf, though her eyes kept their original appearance. Even Tigriel was present, but like Lilith, Eber had learned the Angels' weapon transformation spell, and Tigriel had been turned into giant tiger claw gauntlets that fit over Eber's hands even in her grown size.

The sight of Eber's change caused Morozov to leap down and try to slice her up, but the force of the transformed Eber's howl was enough to send her smashing back into the ceiling. Morozov was stunned, but shook it off and tried to claw at Lilith's face so she could kill her for certain, then escape and reattempt her sneak attack, but before she could, she found both Lilith's head and her wooden chime snatched away by the rest of Lilith's body and Corvanc respectively, both of them having been preparing for this since the moment Morozov had left them unattended.

Lilith put her head back on and turned Corvanc back into a staff, before stowing the chime in her small satchel and blasting Morozov with white hot fire, causing her to once again fall from the ceiling and into Eber's maw. Eber chomped down just hard enough to hurt her, then shook her violently and tossed her across the room, where she smashed into a pillar and hit the ground with a groan. The CATTs women gave chase, Lilith preparing another white flame spell while Eber made her Palisman Claws gleam with orange magic that had Morozov sweating.

She turned and tried to run, but then stopped and growled "Why am I retreating!? I'm stronger than that Cursed Harpy, and surely a great Trapper doesn't flee from a beast like that wolf, no matter how big she is! I refuse to simply run!"

With that thought in her head, she skidded to a stop and turned back to her pursuers, then began slashing her claws back and forth, firing cutting blades of magic shaped like crescent moons, while subtly using her toe claws to drew spell circles that began to turn down the temperature even more, creating a wave of ice that spread out and began to freeze the room. Lilith and Eber were so focused on dodging or blocking the crescent blades that they didn't notice the freezing floor until the ice began creeping over their legs. Both moved to break the ice, but in their moment of distraction, Morozov used the power of the Chatloup within her, gathering the cold from around her into her icy antlers and focusing it through her skull and into her mouth, where she then fired it out in the form of a beam of ultra cold magic, which struck both CATTs and froze them completely solid, leaving them unable to move at all.

For a moment, Morozov was certain she'd finally won and could take her time carving her new ice sculptures up, but that hoped died immediately when both began to melt their way out, Lilith coating her body in Anti-Magic that ate away at the ice, while Eber's pure fiery body simply began to radiate enough heat that the ice simply couldn't hold up. Within ten seconds, the ice slopped off the pair of them and they took a quick breath, before immediately attacking again. Morozov gasped in horror and tried to regain control of the situation again, but there was no hope; Crystal and the Chatloup were terrified of the power of these two older, far more experienced women, and the corrupt personality that was Mistress Morozov couldn't power through the sheer instinctual terror felt by them, especially as Lilith noticed her fear and decided to capitalise on it, transforming from Harpy Mode to full on Raven Beast Mode.

Before Morozov could flee or fight, both Raven Beast Lilith and Alpha Direwolf Eber launched a claw strike at her, parrying the Trapper's desperate slash and getting them out of the way so the CATTs could "high five" each other with her between them, leading to Morozov being knocked completely unconscious. When the CATTs moved their paws, they saw that as Morozov lost consciousness, she reverted back to her Witch Form, so Lilith reverted to her Harpy Form and removed the Titan Skull she wore.

"And that's the end of that! We'll take her with us when we leave and try to find a way to deal with her curse and the warped personality forced on her." Lilith said, picking the younger woman up.

Eber nodded, still in her Wild Soul Form, and looked around for Barcus. She sniffed a little, then smiled; "Barcus coming. He safe."

"Oh good, he beat those birds." Lilith smiled.

A few moments later, Barcus came trotting back over, Duno riding on his back and carrying a potion in a test tube. The fluid was a spiral of gold and purple, and glowing softly, and Lilith could feel a strange magic from it.

"Barcus, I'm glad you're alright. Did you have much trouble with those Water Constructs?" Lilith asked.

"No." Barcus woofed, his tail wagging as he had a smug look on his face; "Duno and Wise took care of that! Meanwhile I perfected a formula I was working on before! One that's perfect for this situation!" he boasted.

Eber and Lilith exchanged looks, then both gestured to the unconscious Crystal; "Eber thinks Barcus is late. We won."

Barcus shook his head; "I know that, why did you think I came out of hiding? I'm not much of a fighter, especially compared to you two. So I stayed back and waited for you to win so I wouldn't get in the way. In the meantime though, I created this!" he nodded to Duno, who wiggled the potion with an impish grin on his monkey face.

Lilith held out her hand for the potion, and Barcus nodded to Duno again, so the little monkey Palisman obediently handed it over. The Elder Clawthorne sister then gave it a look and hummed; "I see… this potion looks like the one used in the ritual to enter someone's mind. But you've modified it with Oracle Magic. In fact…" Lilith looked closer at the purple swirl, then gasped; "Wait, did you have your spirit possess the potion!?"

Barcus nodded proudly; "Spirits need to possess crystals, so I had Wise possess a sugar crystal that I then dissolved into the potion! Now he's inside the potion and can overcome mental barriers, meaning we don't need to perform the full ritual to get inside the head of the person who drinks it! All we need is to feed them the potion OR scry on them using the potion as the focus! It does still need to be a full moon, but since tonight IS a full moon and I beefed the potion up a little, we can use it right now!"

Lilith grinned widely, while Eber looked impressed by the boy's ingenuity; "You found a way to have your own potions be possessed, and used that to overcome one of the limits of the Mind Invasion Spell!? I am SO glad I approved that Multi-Tracking initiative at Hexside!"

"I am too! Now should we do this now? I still want to find and save my parents, but I want to make sure this woman is taken off the board for the Trappers too!" Barcus woofed.

"Then Eber says no time to lose! Do it now!" Eber said, sitting down to wait patiently (and to calm her soul enough that she could drop her transformation, since she was currently too big to fit through the door.

Lilith and Barcus nodded, and laid Crystal on the ground. Barcus then gestured to the crescent moon blessing that still manifested on Crystal's forehead and told Lilith to get rid of it with her Anti-Magic. Lilith focused and sensed for the magic of the Huntsman within Crystal, and since they had a calm moment out of battle, she was able to hone in on it and attack it, sending targeted Anti-Magic directly into the woman's body to destroy the blessing. It required fine-tuned control, but it worked like a dream and all signs of the Huntsman's magic vanished from Crystal. Once that was done, Barcus had Duno pour the potion into Crystal's mouth, causing her eyes to glow purple so brightly that it was visible through her eye lids. Once this was done, Lilith cast the spell to enter Crystal's mind, and just as she'd hoped, she was met with no resistance, just a feeling of vertigo as she was sucked into the woman's head and fell through a black void before finally arriving in Crystal's Inner World.

As Lilith has suspected for one of the White Pelts, the world inside Crystal was a replica of the snowy tundra in which she lived, with the city of Sadalsuud ahead of her. The city consisted entirely of an adolescent Titan slumped against a large mountain, with buildings of wood, bone, and fur built throughout it. The entire city was about the size of Manubrium, with what looked like a very large Viking-esque hall built inside the skull, matching the vaguely Viking aesthetic of most of the city. Lilith began walking into the city; the gates of which had been build between the toes of Sadalsuud's right foot, and as she walked, she found numerous memory portraits on the walls.

These memories painted a grim picture; each one seemed to depict a scene of an exile; in which a Trapper who'd broken the law was stripped of their mask and banished from the city with only a spear and simple furs. Considering the treacherous nature of the South Pole, Lilith doubted any of the exiled people survived for long… even the beasts of the region were supposed to be too tough for a single Witch to take on without extreme skill and competence. Putting that aside, Lilith headed into the city and began walking up the simple streets of the right leg, noticing more paintings here and there, depicting mostly small and insignificant portions of Crystal Morozov's life. Some of these paintings were in frames made of bone, and others were in simple ice frames, making Lilith think they represented the new and old Crystal personalities respectively. She peeked into a few to try and get a clue as to where to find the lynchpin of the twisted new personality, as well as some information on the Trappers, Huntsman, or Divider, but all she found were mundane memories of administration and hunting.

"Well this is going to be a pain in the butt. I don't have time to go looking through every memory in this woman's head!" Lilith groaned.

As if on cue, the silence of the inner world was broken by a loud howl, causing Lilith to look up towards the skull of Sadalsuud. She smiled and said; "Well the Owl Beast is inside Eda's Inner World according to her, so I bet I'll find the Chatloup here too! And perhaps it'll lead me to my target!"

With that, she took flight and flew up to the skull, keeping an eye out for the Inner Crystal the entire time. She quickly reached the skull and the Viking Hall within it, finding that the hall was about the same size as the CATTs' old fortress HQ on Digale Island. Outside it was an extensive courtyard lit with fire pits that were roasting large bear carcasses, and in the centre of this courtyard was a black iron rod that had been stabbed into the ground. The rod was giving off an ominous black smoke, and it had numerous chains and black, tar-like threads attached to it. The threads stretched out to various memory portraits in the area, connecting them to one another via the iron rod, while the chains were both forged onto the rod and wrapped around it and led to two different parts of the courtyard.

The first set of chains led to one of the fire pits, where Lilith found the Soul of the Chatloup that had been bound to Crystal via the curse. It was a somewhat ragged and sorry looking wolf with matted pale blue fur, a skinny physique, and ice-like antlers that resembled a deer's. Clearly the poor beast was not in good condition. Lilith guessed this was due to the curse and the bindings, and so she very gently knelt down to pet the Chatloup, who growled lowly out of fear. It quickly got over this though and began leaning into the gentle touch, before woofing adorably at Lilith.

"Whose a good…" Lilith looked at the wolf's belly, "…girl then? Is it you?"

The Chatloup wagged her tail weakly and woofed again, then pointed her paw over to the other side of the courtyard, where a crude shelter of firewood had been made. The other set of chains led into that shelter, and Lilith didn't need to be told what they were attached too. She stood and invited the Chatloup to follow her (which it did), as she crossed the courtyard and peered into the shelter.

Sure enough, she found the emaciated and exhausted form of Crystal Morozov, huddled in a corner and trying to keep warm. This was a difficult task as she wore only dirty grey rags, and her feet and fingers were nearly black with frostbite. Through the holes in the rags, Lilith could count every rib of the extremely skinny woman's body, and saw a LOT more scars than just the ones on her face.

"Oh Titan… look what's been done to you two!" Lilith gasped, heart full of pity. She'd never normally feel so bad for a Titan Trapper, but by her darker self's own admission, Crystal had originally been kind-hearted even with her skill as a hunter! And besides, with King as the last Titan and the rest dying over 5000 years ago, it wasn't like Crystal herself had killed any, and if the CATTs could accept Tarak and Denasu, Lilith could accept Crystal!

For her part, Crystal eyed Lilith warily, and then in a raspy voice she said; "Are you here to kill me and finally set me free of this nightmare?"

"Kill, no. Free, yes. You and this furry lady." Lilith said kindly, petting Chatloup.

"Oh, Koko." Crystal said with a soft smile, before suddenly looking horrified; "Wait, is the other me unconscious!?"

"Yes she is. Why?" Lilith asked, wondering who Koko was. Did Crystal mean the Chatloup?

Crystal sighed with relief and pet Chatloup; "Oh good… If Koko and I are too close together in here, then the other me gets stronger. If we're apart, then her personality is stretched thin and more of my good traits end up making up the difference, but if we're close to each other, she is able to harvest our negativity and get stronger."

Lilith blinked in surprise; "Wait, so the Chatloup IS Koko… and you're friends?"

"Yes. We became friends after my father violated my mind and twisted bits of it together to make that." Crystal pointed at the black rod. "Koko and I have tried to destroy it, but we can't do anything! All we want is to be free of it."

Lilith smiled; "I thought that rod must be the source of the evil you! I'll destroy it and free you both."

Crystal gawked at her; "Just like that!?"

"Well yes, that's why I came all the way here." Lilith chuckled.

"B-But I did awful things! I was an awful person!" Crystal argued.

"Join the club." Lilith retorted, before using her Anti-Magic to coat her talons and shred all the tar-like threads (making sure the flames of Anti-Magic didn't reach Crystal's memories), before finally grabbing the rod itself and disintegrating it. The entire Inner World shook as a demonic screech echoed throughout it, as the dark Crystal was literally ripped apart and her aspects returned to their proper places within Crystal and Koko.

Almost immediately, Inner Crystal's body began to fill out and restore her to her true physical condition, making her match the version of her outside in the real world. Even her frostbite and rags vanished, replaced by healthy flesh and her usual furs. Similarly, Koko was restored to how a Chatloup should look, and proved to actually be an exceptionally beautiful member of her species, with her light blue fur ending in white tips and her icy horns taking on a prismatic design.

"Finally! After all these years! It's been what, 7 years since Father did this to me?" Crystal wondered, getting to her feet.

Koko answered by tapping her paw on the ground five times, then barking. "Only five years!?" Crystal gasped; "Of course! I was 16 when he cursed me… But it wasn't until I was 18 that he and the Shamans made that iron stake in my brain! Man, I've never liked killing unless it was for survival, but I am REALLY glad the other me killed those monsters!"

Lilith hummed, guessing that the Dark Morozov must have wiped them out since Crystal hated them, and she contained Crystal's negative emotions and traits. The more Lilith thought about it, the more it seemed like Crystal had been given the reverse of the Divider's Blessing, with her good side repressed and her bad one allowed to thrive.

At that moment, Lilith looked down and frowned, seeing that only one of the chains was gone from Crystal and Koko's legs, while the other was still around their ankles and apparently linking the two together. That chain was likely the manifestation of the curse, similar to the red string of fate that Eda had described connecting her and the Owl Beast.

"Crystal, would you like me to destroy this too?" Lilith asked, pointing at the chain. "If I'm right, I can use my Anti-Magic to destroy the magic of your curse, freeing Koko from you. At least, that's what I think will happen." Truthfully she wasn't completely sure, though Lilith did think it would suit the luck of the Clawthornes for her and Eda to be able to easily cure curses like theirs, except for the ones on themselves (since they couldn't destroy the link while fused, and couldn't use their Anti-Magic while unfused).

Crystal and Koko exchanged looks, then the former asked; "Will this hurt Koko in any way?"

"I don't think so." Lilith said, going off her gut feeling and her considerable research into curses like this. "I believe breaking the link should unravel the curse keeping Koko restrained to her vessel. The Huntsman usually uses the curse to trap his prey in a scroll, and the scroll can then transfer its power to another chosen vessel. If the curse is unravelled, Koko should be freed, like pouring water out of its vessel."

Once again, Crystal and Koko looked at one another, the former embracing the latter. "I've lived my life as a borderline slave to my own clan as they propped up my worst parts as their leader. I don't care what happens to me… but I won't risk your life Koko. You've been the one friend I've had in my life. What do you want to do?"

Koko licked her face, then leaned down and growled as she gnawed on the chain, then on her own leg, showing that she too was willing to give up everything to break the chain and be free once more, while also freeing Crystal from her. Crystal smiled tearfully and looked up at Lilith; "I think we'd like you to do it. But first, I'd like to know the name of the woman who saved us from this living hell."

"I am Lilith Clawthorne, of the CATTs. My comrades are Eberwolf and Barcus." Lilith explained.

Crystal and Koko both looked at her gratefully and bowed their heads, thanking her and silently willing her to do what she had to. Lilith said a quite prayer to the Titans out of habit, then touched the chain with Anti-Magic. Once a single link had eroded, the entire chain turned white and shattered, freeing Crystal and Koko. Almost immediately, Koko's body began to shine with pale green and white magic, before she suddenly disappeared from Crystal's Inner World, no longer able to remain there without a tether or spell. The rest of the Inner World was fine though, with no disturbances, so Lilith was confident Crystal had suffered no harm.

Well, aside from a bit of melancholy from no longer having her faithful companion within her.

"Alright, I'm going to leave now. I'll wake you up in the real world when I get there." Lilith said.

"I understand. And thank you… I can only hope that Koko is waiting for me outside." Crystal said with a slightly worried smile.

Lilith gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, then cast the spell to send herself back out of Crystal's inner world. She felt the same sense of vertigo as the world went black, just like when she entered the inner world, then in a flash, Lilith found herself back in the real world, panting slightly. She immediately looked around and found Barcus with Duno and Wise (released from the potion once Lilith infiltrated Crystal's mind) in front of her. Lilith assured them she was fine, then spun around and saw Eber, having calmed down and returned to her normal form, saw on the back of her Palisman Tigriel, who was staring down a very much alive Koko.

The Chatloup was sitting calmly in front of the Beast-Keeper and her Palisman, sniffing at them and showing no signs of aggression. When Lilith appeared though, she turned to her and wagged her tail happily, panting like a big dog.

"Koko! Oh thank goodness, breaking the curse DID free you!" Lilith beamed, rushing over to pet the Chatloup. Now that she knew this method DID work to free those trapped by curses, they could free others under the same effect! Perhaps even freeing the Owl Beast from Eda! Of course, Lilith somehow doubted the duo would be overly eager to end their arrangement, at least so long as the war was raging.

Putting that out of her mind, Lilith kept petting Koko as she asked; "Barcus, do you have smelling salts or something that can wake Crystal up? I think she'll be on our side now."

"Are you sure?" Barcus asked.

"I am. And even if I'm wrong and she double-crosses us, we beat her at her strongest; we can do it again if we need to." Lilith replied.

Barcus had no argument there, and Eber seemed unconcerned too, so the boy simply whipped up a quick batch of smelling salts from his Potioneer Belt and used it to revive Crystal, who shot up with a gasp. "H-Huh? What?" she cried, looking around fearfully. This continued until she spotted Koko, who was holding herself back from licking her friend's face.

"K-Koko! You're alive! And not inside me any more! So it was all real!? It wasn't a dream!?" Crystal beamed with joy, reaching out for Koko. The Chatloup jumped into her arms and gave her a lot of wolf kisses, making the three CATTs smile at her. The two shared a tearful reunion, before Koko finally let Crystal stand up.

"I thank you, Lilith. I owe you and your comrades more than I can ever repay! Still, I wish to try." she kneeled; "Allow me to join you as an ally! I'm somewhat familiar with the other tribes and know about the other leaders present here at the Crag."

Lilith and Barcus were surprised by the offer, but Eber was suspicious; "You betray Pack?"

Crystal sneered; "My "pack" cursed me and warped my mind and soul because I wasn't enough of a monster for them. They betrayed me!"

Eber looked her in the eye, and felt some kinship with her, especially considering what she'd just gone through with her own pack. The diminutive Coven Head looked to her comrades and nodded, giving her silent agreement. Barcus had no strong feelings either way; Crystal's aura was full of pain and hatred, but it wasn't deceitful to his eyes, so he doubted she'd betray them. And of course, Lilith was more than happy to have her on their side.

"Alright. You and Koko are welcome to come with us. I'll put in a good word for you with Luz and the other Leaders. But first, we need to get back to our mission and find Rom and Howlena." Lilith said.

"I don't recognise those names." Crystal said, tilting her head curiously.

"They're my parents. My father is a Lycan and my mother is a Direwolf." Barcus explained.

Crystal hummed; "I see… if you don't mind pricking a paw pad or something, I think I can help. Chatloups like Koko can smell your relatives by sniffing your blood. In Sadalsuud, captive Chatloup pups were used as Paternity Tests if a child bearer was accused of being unfaithful, so I can attest it works."

Barcus didn't need to be told twice; he poked one of his paw pads with a claw and made a tiny trickle of blood, which he offered to Koko. The Chatloup sniffed it, then licked the blood away and ran off, heading towards the secret passage that the CATTs had entered through. She couldn't get through on her own though and ended up scratching at it, making Crystal and the CATTs follow her.

"She's leading us back outside? I guess that means Rom and Howlena are outside of the Crag right now." Lilith frowned.

"Eber thought that could happen. No choice; we go out into Savannah and find!" Eber barked.

"I'll help track them down. The Silver Skulls are the tribe roaming around outside, and they're a nasty lot." Crystal explained. "Captain Krakyll is a sinister man, but if we're lucky, we can defeat him and find his kid. She's like me; skilled, but does NOT want to be a part of all this!"

The CATTs nodded in agreement; new allies were always welcome, and robbing the enemy of them was just as good! With that, they left the Wild Crag through the secret passage (Crystal and Koko needing a Shrinking Solution to fit) and headed back out to the Savannah to continue their hunt, and hopefully meet up with Raine's team too.

As they went, Lilith briefly thought about her family members elsewhere within the Crag, hoping their own trip was going well, especially given Luz's luck with stealth missions…

[Meanwhile]

Despite Lilith's fears, the infiltration of the Crag was going exceptionally well for Luz, King, and Eda. As it turned out, they barely even ran into anybody as they snuck in through the top of the crag. It had been a simple flight under invisibility to reach the top, then a quick peek into the cracks and crevices from the top to try and find the Head Witch's Quarters. They'd quickly spotted it; it was a large hive-like chunk of Lunacite that hung in the air in the dead centre of the Crag's largest cavern, visible through a hole from the top of the massive moon chunk. It was kept in the air with a LOT of heavy metal chains, and connected to other parts of the HQ with a series of long bridges; some rope and some stone or Lunacite, and it was sparsely guarded by a few Titan Trappers stood on watch towers, at windows looking into the cavern from other parts of the crag, and even flying around with Griffins, brooms, winged boots, and enchanted Titan Wings. Their equipment was a hodgepodge of the Viking style worn by the Bone Hands, the more arctic Viking Style worn by the White Pelts, and a distinctly Asian style that resembled a mix of Samurai and Japanese Bandit; a style favoured by the Bloody Fangs. There were basically no combat Beast-Keepers roaming about; only breeders and healers.

After effortlessly sneaking in with the full suite of stealth spells (invisibility from King's glyphs, silencing from Eda's Bardic Magic, and scent-masking with Luz's Olfactory Illusions), the trio began sniffing around for Dell and Gwendolyn, wanting to make doubly certain that they were in the heavily guarded Head Witch's Quarters before they headed in. The results were mixed; King and Harpy Eda couldn't smell anything at all from Eber's old rooms; no signs of life new or old, and no signs of anything at all for that matter! It was almost like it wasn't even there! Luz then tried a Bestial Blessing to give herself a Direwolf's nose, which was more sensitive than King's or the Owl Beast's, but the result was a resounding meh. She again smelled nothing… but she DID detect Gwendolyn's scent from elsewhere in the Crag, along with another somewhat familiar scent from the Crag.

"I think I've found Abuela!" Luz whispered as the trio hid together behind a natural outcrop of Lunacite.

"Really!? Where!?" Eda asked eagerly, inwardly laughing at how much things had changed that she was now eager to get to her mother.

"Up a ways and…" Luz sniffed again, "… east. There are a lot of animals there too, and the smell of medicine. I think she's with the healers."

"Any sign of Grandpa?" King asked.

Luz shook her head sadly; "None. But I do smell another person. Remember Skylar?"

Eda smirked; "Oh yeah! She was the Wild Witch they used to call the Beast of the Forest! A friend of BQ, er, Chiro."

"And one of the Witches that got petrified, then saved by Mason and you!" King chirped.

"That's her alright! She's kind of a lone wolf so didn't hang around with the rest of the CATTs much, preferring to look after Chiro's Beasts and Palismen on Titan Cradle Island. She only really let me get to know her because her Palisman, Fenrir, is still inside me." Luz said. Skylar was a fierce fighter, and a Wild Witch that blended Beast-Keeping with Bardic Magic and Potions. Of course, Luz fully expected to be able to beat both her AND her Abuela if she needed to, but she had a plan to take the fight out of them both and undo their division before it got that serious.

She whispered this plan to Eda and King, who both grinned eagerly, neither wanting to fight and hurt their friend and their family member!

With the plan explained, the three snuck eastward, where the medical wards for the various beasts were. Larger beasts had their wards lower down, and they were heavily reinforced with stone, iron, and Titan Bone to ensure even the toughest of beasties wouldn't just run riot and destroy the place while being treated. Extremely heavy sedatives sourced from the Potion Coven and Healing Coven were locked up tight here too; the kind of drugs that could knock out a Grand Dragon with a single prick of a needle! There were also a series of cranes and pulley systems built right into the Crag, both to lift heavy beasts onto operating tables and to get the lighter beasts (that were still too heavy to carry) to the upper floors. Each type of beast also seemed to have its own ward; Bugs, Mammals, Reptiles, Amphibians, Birds, Fish, and a few specialised wards for more complex creatures, like Chimeras that mixed traits of different classes, like the half bird, half mammal Griffins and Hippogriffs, or the half mammal, half fish Kelpies. The upper floors gradually got smaller and catered to smaller types of animals, with a few specialist wards for Biped Demons of different types (which were more like first aid stations for Coven Members), and even a ward for Botanical Demons!

Not a lot of animals were present; now that Belos was gone and Magic Mixing was allowed again, a lot of Beast-Keepers were now using full on healing magic, which they could cast even with their sigils thanks to them being adapted to work on Beasts. This meant the animals were healed up faster and released back into the wild, leaving only those who needed long-term care, had diseases, or were pregnant. The regular Beast-Healers were dressed like a mix of Hettie's healers, and the Beast Hunters; they wore robes of orange and white, with an orange cross on their chests that had the Beast-Keeping sigil in the centre, while wearing orange cowls that had faux-animal masks made from the hide of the animals they specialised in healing (taken from those who died naturally or shed the materials on their own), so those animals would recognise them as kin and trust them more. Then there were the Beast-Breeders, responsible for population management and ensuring extinction never comes for the beasts of the isles; they were dressed like the healers, but had extra armour to protect them from the birthing beasts, who frequently got aggressive during the birthing process.

The Titan Trapper presence in this area was also sparse, and the Beast Keepers (both divided and undivided) were keeping their eyes on the few that were wandering around. One trio of them were loitering around a water cooler in a quiet corner of the small-to-medium animal wards, so Luz used King's glyph to speak to him and Eda and point them out. While still invisible, Luz dove into the shadows, then Eda silenced the trappers with a strum of Owlbert's Cittern form, ensuring no one noticed as Luz then dragged the trapper trio into the shadows. A moment later, she took King and Eda into the shadows too, and five minutes after that, the Owl Trio emerged from the shadows disguised as the three trappers, even wearing their furs in order to trick people who might brush past them. King didn't wear any furs of course, instead releasing Francois and making him create a homunculus shell that could pass as the third trapper, and which King could ride on the shoulders of.

With their disguises set up and ready, the Owl Trio continued following Luz's nose without the need for silencing or invisibility (though they kept the scent-masking). They got a fair few dirty looks from the undivided Beast-Keepers, so it was clear the Trappers weren't exactly a welcome sight for them. Still none said a word and they were able to easily make their way to the top floor, of the healer's wing, where the smallest creatures were.

Gwendolyn and Skylar's scents were coming from the small Mammal Maternity Ward, and when Luz pointed this out, Eda smiled and whispered; "Mom always loved being a mother and helping others be mothers too. She's probably helped deliver almost as many beasts as your Mami has at her Vet thing."

"It's called a job, Mom." Luz teased, making King snicker and Eda huff.

"Oh shut up! You know what I meant!" Eda groaned, not completely hiding her amused grin. She then looked around subtly and saw that no one around was watching, so she nodded silently to Luz, who snuck into the shadows again and watched as Eda and King entered the room, arriving to a heart-warming scene.

Gwendolyn, dressed in her usual outfit and looking healthy and happy (with the exception of the eerie golden ring in her eyes, confirming she was divided), was gently petting a heavily pregnant Prickle Hare; a breed of rabbit that could turn her fur into long, sharp quills at will. Gwendolyn was whispering to her and casting Beast-Keeping spells to soothe her, keeping the rabbit nice and calm as Skylar stood near the Hare's rear-end and helped it deliver its babies. This was dangerous, as Prickle Hares had fur that could become quills right from birth, and if the babies became stressed for any reason at all, they could use this trait and do some serious (if not lethal) internal damage to its mother, as well as it's siblings. Prickle Hares also introduced a sedative into their babies via the umbilical cord to help make sure this didn't happen, but it wasn't perfect, so Skylar was being very careful.

Eda and King watched the scene in silence, knowing they couldn't act until the birth was complete for the sake of the animals. Instead they focused on Skylar and took in the sight of her, disappointed to find that she truly was divided as well. They'd suspected, but had hope that wouldn't be the case… Eda felt she was likely divided back on Titan Cradle Island, when the Angels took it over.

Appearance wise, Skylar was a muscular young woman in her mid-twenties (though due to being petrified shortly before Luna, she was chronologically in her 50s), and she had tan skin from her time in the sun, piercing blue eyes, and long black hair that ended in blue highlights. Her face was more handsome than pretty, but there was still some femininity there, and her time working with beasts had marked her, as she had a scar going through her left eye and eyebrow, and claw marks on her left cheek. Clothing-wise, she wore grey fur boots, black pants with numerous tears in them, and a black button up tunic with white buttons and edges, a matching hood, and bluish grey sleeves that had a few rips of their own. Her hands were clad in fingerless gloves, and she had several potion vials strapped to the right side of her chest, as well as a necklace of some kind around her neck, and a simple belt around her waist. In addition to all of this though, Skylar had a few non-Witch features, revealing her bloodline was actually half Lycan; she had a long black furred tail that resembled a wolf's, somewhat slitted pupils, and black painted nails that were more like long claws instead.

Eda didn't know a lot about Skylar due to her whole lone wolf thing, but she did respect the other woman greatly, especially considering she'd apparently grown up in an affluent family yet dropped out of Hexside to live in the wild, getting more in tune with the wildness of magic. It reminded Eda a little of herself, though Skylar didn't have a curse driving her to flee.

The birth of the Prickle Hare's babies went smoothly, and Eda found herself smiling as she watched her mother, while King avoided looking at the miracle of life to instead look around the room. As he did so, he ended up with quite the shock; his Grandpa Dell was sitting right in the room with them! He looked the same as ever, minus the gold rings of the divided around his eyes, and he was simply sitting quietly off to the side, staying out of the way while his wife worked. Dell shot the two disguised CATTs a blank look, no doubt wondering what they were doing there, but he said nothing.

King subtly pointed him out to Eda, who had to once again hold herself back from greeting him happily, as that would give her identity away.

The Prickle Hare soon finished birthing her babies, and each one was wrapped gently in a little towel that could keep their spikes from coming out before they were handed back to their mother, who immediately began to feed them as Gwendolyn praised her and Skylar drip fed her a healing potion to help heal her up after giving birth. Once this was done, the two women left the animals to feed and rest, which led to them finally taking notice of what appeared to be two random Titan Trappers. Their faces went blank, and Skylar stepped forward.

"Titan Trappers aren't allowed on the wards without express permission. What are you doing here?"

Eda chuckled; "Watching the miracle of birth, clearly. I'm a parent myself, though I've never given birth. Seems painful, messy, and stressful; I prefer my way."

The Owl Lady had spoken in her own voice, causing Gwen and Dell to gasp, while Skylar just looked confused. Eda then removed her mask, making the woman realise who she was, while King did the same, further shocking Gwen and Dell. Before any of the Divided could fully react, Luz burst out of the shadows behind Gwen and Skylar, an aura of white magic coating her as it spread out from King's unique glyph. Neither woman was able to react or fight back in time, and after the usual prismatic light show, both were fully restored to their normal selves, the golden rings vanishing from their eyes. As this was happening, Dell leapt to his feet, but he was promptly bound in homunculus slime from Francois, who tied Dell up on King's orders.

As Eda rushed to her mother's side as the woman slowly came back to her senses, Luz turned to do the same to her Abuelo, only for him to shake his head frantically and cry; "Wait, Luz! I'm not actually divided!"

That made Luz pause; "What? Abuelo, you're not divided?"

"No! The eyes are an illusion. I managed to avoid being divided when my wife was by pretending I'd already been divided when the Divider took Digale Island." Dell hastily explained, edging away from Luz's glowing hand as much as he could, not knowing for sure what it would do to him.

Luz gasped softly and released her magic, while King immediately had Francois let him go, then turn back into rabbit form and go back into storage within his tail.

"ABUELO/GRANDPA!" they both cried with delight, rushing to hug the man.

He reacted stiffly, with even his smile being stiff, but Luz chalked this up to her Abuelo getting old and her and King being a fair bit stronger now. Still, they cuddled him and he returned the hug with a small smile, awkwardly patting King's skull as he more gently ran his hand through Luz's hair and rubbed it against the soft feathery wings on her back. As Dell was being hugged, Eda helped her mother up (Skylar was already on her feet and looking around, being far fitter) and the old lady took one look at her daughter and nearly burst into tears.

"Oh Witchlet, I've missed you so much! How are you? Are you doing well? Have you been eating enough? Is Sweet Flea okay? What in the Titan's name did you do to your hair? And my grandbabies, are they alright!? What's been happening!?" Gwen cried, rapid-firing questions as she kissed Eda's cheeks and hugged her tightly.

"Uh, in order; I've missed you too, Mom. I'm fine, honestly. I've been eating enough and not even getting that wasted on Apple Blood. Lily is okay and somewhere else in the region, searching for more of our captured friends. My hair kinda got cut while I was divided and I decided to stick with it. Your grandbabies are safe and sound and you kinda have a couple more now. And a LOT has happened." Eda answered with a cheeky grin.

Gwendolyn gave her the look of a long suffering mother, before she laughed heartily and gave her daughter another squeeze. "I'm so glad you're alright, Witchlet."

"I'm glad you're okay too, Mom. Have you and Dad been okay?" Eda asked.

"Oh yes, we've been quite fine until today, when those ghastly Trappers came along. They marched in like they owned the place, claiming to now be in charge of the Wild Crag! The Angels argued, but one of the three leaders handed a letter to the Arch-Angel in charge here, and apparently the Divider really did approve it!" Gwen sighed; "Oh, I don't know what came over that boy! Rasiel used to be so sweet and helpful."

"Tell us about it." Luz said, finally breaking away from Dell to reunite with her Abuela, alongside King.

"Oh, Little Dove, Little Crow! Look at you both! You've grown so much!" Gwen cried with sad smile. She bustled over and hugged the pair of them, scooping King up in one arm and wrapping the other around Luz. "A Seraphim already! I'd heard, but seeing is a different story! I'm proud of you, Little Dove!"

"Thanks Abuela! It was tough, but I had my family to pull me through it." Luz replied.

"Good! Oh, I wish I could have been there too, with your Grandpa and Mother too! But look at you, Little Crow! Only nine years old and you already have a Palisman! And one of the Bat Queen's children at that! I've always been fond of the little dears! Well done! We're proud of you too, aren't we Dell?" Gwen said, rubbing her face against a giggling King.

Dell just smiled and nodded; "Yes my dear, very proud."

Eda looked to him and went to hug him, but before she could, Dell put a hand up to stop her. Eda looked at him with confusion and a tiny bit of hurt, but Dell quickly placated her; "Sorry Witchlet, but this old body is feeling its age today, and the little ones squeezed my capacity for hugs right out of me!"

"Oh! Yeah, they're strong huggers! Still, it's great to see you again Dad. I think the last time I saw you, I was divided! Though I thought at the time that you were too! Good job on outwitting the Angels and Mom all this time." Eda grinned.

"What can I say? I know you all well." Dell smiled stiffly.

"That you do! But seriously, do you need some healing? We've got potions, glyph combos, spells…" Eda offered, showing examples of the first two.

Dell shook his head though; "No no, let's not waste magic or resources on me just yet. This old man isn't going to be useful for the fights ahead anyway."

"You're not some old geezer yet, Gramps!" King grinned cheekily. "By the way, what's with the Scent-Masking?"

"Oh this? One of the Trapper Leaders demanded I help her look for some pet of hers that escaped, and she cast this spell on me so my scent wouldn't tip it off. We caught the thing and she sent me on my way, saying her spell would wear off eventually." Dell explained.

Gwen huffed; "That's what that horrid woman wanted? Honestly, couldn't she have just taken better care of her pets!? These Titan Trappers truly are awful!"

"I can agree with that." Skylar nodded.

Everyone turned their attention back to her, having nearly forgotten she was even present. Skylar smirked at them, pleased with her ability to blend in silently even outside her forest territory.

"Skylar! Sorry about that! Are you alright?" Luz asked.

"I am. Don't worry, I'm not offended. Your family is obviously going to be more important. But I do have to ask…" Skylar grabbed Luz and picked her up by her underarms, then pressed her ear to the girl's stomach; "…is Fenrir still okay in there?"

Luz giggled; "I keep telling you, the Palismen aren't literally in my stomach! They're kind of everywhere; their souls are connected to mine."

"Right, of course. My question stands though." Skylar said, putting Luz back down.

The girl giggled, especially when Fenrir apologised to her for his partner's lack of personal boundaries. "He's fine, Sky. Fine and telling you to stop picking people up without asking."

"Ah, that sounds like him. I'm glad." Skylar smiled.

At that, Stringbean (who'd been hidden inside the mask of Luz's trapper disguise, which she'd lifted to show her face) emerged and transformed into a small, purple, white, and green replica of Fenrir, taking the form of a little winged wolf pup. Skylar beamed at her and reached down to pet her, while Gwendolyn cooed at how cute the little Palisman was. After a few moments of this, Dell cleared his throat.

"I think we should get a move on." he said.

"Good idea. Hunter, Willow, and Raine probably already finished saving the Palismen, and I bet Tia Lily, Tia Eber, and Barcus are either done or soon will be with finding Rom and Howlena." Luz said. "We should get out of here! We might actually get out of this without a fight for a change!"

"Wait a moment. There is something we must do before we leave. I think I have a way to hurt the Divider." Dell explained.

That got everyone's attention, even his wife. "You have a plan, dear?" she asked.

Dell nodded and sat down on his chair as the others all gathered around him; "I do. It's something I've been working on all these months, ever since seeing the Division Ritual inside the Union Pillar. I think I can use my Palisman Expertise, King's Titan Power, and Luz's Angelic Power to make a ritual circle backfire on the Union Pillar, potentially shutting it down along with the ENTIRE network of them! Not only that, but the Divider has linked himself to the network, so the backlash would deal some serious damage to him and may even leave him vulnerable to being captured!"

The others gaped at him in shock; if his plan really worked, it would be a game change for the CATTs! Not only would it shut down every Union Pillar at once (and potentially free all of the Divided), but it would severely weaken the Divider and make Luz's sealing plan significantly easier! In fact, if they timed it right, they could bring the pillars down right as the sealing spell was being prepared, defeating the Divider and leaving him no chance to recover and restart his plan! It was perfect!

"We're gonna need details for how to do that, Abuelo! But we need to hold off for today anyway, and get out of here! The Pillar here is well-guarded and we need more support. Let's retreat to our base and plan it out with the others." Luz said determinedly.

Dell's expression briefly flickered to one of annoyance, before he accepted that Luz was probably right. However, he still couldn't leave the Wild Crag yet!

"I understand, but we still need to get something else before we leave. My Palisman was taken from me by that Titan Trapper Leader when I was helping her. He was acting normally despite me supposedly being Divided, and so the woman took him to find out why." Dell said with a frown.

Eda scowled; "I already hate this woman and I've not even met her yet! I guess you can't just summon Goldfrey back?"

Dell shook his head, and the CATTs exchanged looks; all of them knowing they couldn't leave without Goldfrey. Naturally all the Clawthornes were willing to go, and a single look at Skylar was all they needed to know she was onboard too.

"Alright, do you know where he's being kept?" Luz asked.

"Our old quarters, or rather, the old Head Witch's Quarters." Dell answered.

"Got it. Then it looks like we're not getting out of this without a fight after all! We'll probably have to beat this Trapper Boss before we can get Goldfrey. That said, if we can nab him and get away without a fight, let's do that! The more we fight, the more risks we take." Luz declared.

The group gave a unanimous agreement, and they all left together, with Eda and King slipping back into their Trapper disguises, and illusions placed on the eyes of Gwen and Skylar to make them look divided. No illusion was needed for Dell, as his eyes still had the gold ring illusion from before, and he even offered to let King ride on his shoulder while disguised as a small animal so he wouldn't need to wear a disguise made from his people's avatar forms; something King very gratefully accepted. Skylar briefly went and found another Beast-Healer to inform them of the Prickle Hare's successful birth and the need for someone else to watch over them, but after that the group began heading straight for the Head Witch's chambers, taking a path that led through many different parts of the crag.

They saw an armoury where Trappers and Beast-Keepers alike were making and enchanting weapons and armour using Animal Parts, as well as a few small dens were Beast-Keepers and Animals alike were resting and relaxing with each other, enjoying some personal time with one another and generally just living symbiotically. Other areas were more like mini-bars or hang out spots, where some of the Beast-Keepers (mostly the Divided ones) were laughing with the Titan Trappers and telling stories of their various hunts and other experiences. The most interesting areas, at least to Luz and King, were the ones used by Beast Tamers; these looked like a mix of circus and training grounds, and had numerous Tamers working alongside their chosen beast partners to practice their fighting and hunting skulls, or to simply get the chosen partner trained and obedient to their Tamer.

Eber had explained to Luz once that a Beast needed to have some level of love or affection for their partner before they could be authorised for training, so it wasn't just Tamers enslaving their partners; something that was unfortunately common in the days before Eber's predecessor. Said predecessor; Jenny McGorgan, a centaur woman with a love of animals, had revolutionised a lot of the Beast-Keepers' practices, turning them from glorified trophy hunters into respectable Beast-Keepers. Jenny was still alive out there too; she'd taken Eber as an apprentice, then retired when Eber surpassed her, and now lived out on her ranches dotted around the isles, caring for animals in her own way. As far as Luz knew, she'd kept out of the war (beyond using her ranches as CATTs safe houses) and hadn't been divided.

Finally, the little group reached the very top floor of the Crag's interior, and were making their way to the least used bridge that connected to the hive-like quarters of the Head Witch. According to Gwendolyn, this path was rarely used as the area it led to was a largely empty set of caverns that had yet to find use for more than storing old junk (most of which were the few animal trophies from the old days that hadn't been destroyed yet). The only prominent feature of this area besides the garbage was how dark it was, as it had none of the Lightning Bug or Fire Bee lights that the rest of the Crag had; instead it just had a few small skylights leading directly into the sky above. The darkness made it eerie though, and the gang couldn't help the feeling that they were being watched.

It was as they were crossing through this room that King suddenly smelled a familiar scene coming from one of skylights, and called the group to a halt, with Dell almost walking into Luz's back with how close he'd been sticking to her. King looked up and suddenly whispered sharply towards the skylight.

"Hunter? Willow? Is that you!?"

Sure enough, the smiling faces of Hunter and Willow peeked through the skylight and silently waved, before flying down with their Palismen.

"I thought it was you guys!" Hunter grinned; "Your disguises are great and even your smell is concealed, but I'd recognise that gait anywhere!"

"You realised it was us by the way we walked?" Luz asked, dispelling her illusory disguise and raising her trapper mask beneath it.

Hunter nodded proudly; "You can change your face, your voice, your clothes, and your scent, but it's not so easy to change the way you walk! And what are the odds that two trappers walking with the Clawthornes would have the same gait as Luz and Aunt Eda, who were last seen heading off to find those Clawthornes."

Willow giggled and kissed his cheek; "While he's being all proud of himself, I'll ask what he should have; are you all okay?"

"We are. What about you? Where is Titi Raine and how did the mission go?" Luz asked.

"It was a success; we took out the Silver Skull leader and rescued the Palismen." Hunter smiled. "No problems at all! Raine is with the Palisman at our rendezvous point."

"We also ran into Eber's team on our way here. They beat the White Pelt leader and seemed to have recruited her. They're now hunting for Barcus' parents out in the Savannah. But things haven't been all sunshine and rainbows for us; Hunter's heart has been acting weird…" Willow frowned.

Luz, Eda, and King immediately looked alarmed, but Hunter waved them off; "It doesn't seem to be a big deal! My heart is just getting stronger with time and there are some growing pains. I'm sure it's fine." he said, before hastily changing the topic; "So, what are we doing? We can fly out from the skylight above if we go in single file."

"Actually, we need to rescue Abuelo Dell's Palisman first." Luz smiled, causing Dell to nod stiffly.

"Which reminds me!" Eda grinned; "Mom, Dad; I adopted Hunter and his sister into the Clawthorne Clan as my nephew and niece! Lily did the same, so now you've got a couple of extra grandkids!"

Gwen gasped and hurried to hug Hunter; "Oh, this is wonderful! Welcome to the family, my boy! Now we have our own Little Hawk to go with our Little Dove and Crow! Oh, and your sister has to be our Little Blue Jay!"

"Big on birds, you Clawthornes." Skylar commented. "We haven't met yet, kid. I'm Skylar Lykoudis Wu."

"Nice to meet you." Hunter nodded to her, then smiled to his new grandma; "Thank you, Gwen-uh, Grandma. Having you and Master Dell as family is a great honour."

"Oh come now, he's Grandpa now! Right dear?" Gwen smiled to her husband.

"Uh, yes. Of course. Sorry, I'm a little distracted by worry for my Palisman." Dell said, smiling awkwardly.

Hunter gave him an unsure look, and kept looking the man up and down, feeling something off. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up a little, and if there was one thing he'd learned from Eber since leaving the EC, it was to trust his instincts. As such, he kept a very close eye on Dell as Gwen happily chattered to Luz and Eda.

"Oh this is wonderful! So Hunter and Lucy-"

"Lyra, now. She changed her name to one that Gus inspired." Luz gently interrupted.

"Oh! How sweet! So Hunter and Lyra are the extra grandchildren you mentioned earlier?" Gwen asked.

"Well, half of them. You've never met one of them, but I basically adopted him as my nephew after King and Luz adopted him as their sibling. He's a cute but powerful little ball of starlight named Samael. So a Little Starling to you." Eda chuckled.

"I can't wait to meet him! But that means there's a fourth I HAVE met…" Gwen tapped her chin; "Don't tell me, I want to figure it out! Hmm… Oh, I know! It has to be that adorable kitten of Sweet Flea's! Amity!"

"Got it in one, Abuela!" Luz beamed; "My Hermosa became your granddaughter a few weeks back!"

Gwen giggled; "I knew she would one day, with how in love you two are, but I'm glad Sweet Flea didn't let that get in her way! I assume no Bloodline Potions were used? That would cause trouble for you two."

"Don't worry, we're not blood related to the Clawthornes at all. Well, except VERY distantly. My father was a Grimwalker of Caleb Wittebane, who was the husband of Evelyn Clawthorne, and whom you guys are descended from! Abuelo's Ancestor Lillian was technically my half-sister genetically." Luz explained.

Dell flinched violently, making everyone look to him with concern. King felt him tensing a lot, and could have sworn he heard the old man grinding his teeth a little.

"You okay, Gramps?" King asked worriedly.

"Yes yes, I'm fine. This is just a lot to take in all at once, and I'm still on edge due to being in enemy territory and missing my Palisman. I need to rescue him!" Dell said impatiently, before he firmly took Luz's hand and began marching off toward the bridge.

The others looked at him in concern, while a bewildered Luz and King tried to relax him with gentle words. However Hunter was even more suspicious, especially as he watched the way Dell walked.

Hunter suddenly flashed in front of the old man and pointed Flapjack at him, causing the others to gasp.

"Hold it right there! Something is wrong here!" Hunter growled, fully on guard.

"W-What are you talking about!? What madness has taken you, boy!?" Dell growled.

"Hunter, what are you doing!?" Luz asked.

"Grandpa Dell is acting strangely! He called Goldfrey "Him" when she's a girl!" Hunter declared.

Naturally, this made everyone present blink in confusion; Goldfrey WAS a "Him". He'd always been male, with no signs of that changing, so what was Hunter talking about?

Then to the shock of everyone present, Dell shook his head and sighed; "Right, right. I'm sorry; my tongue slipped and I let my panic get away from me. I was thinking about you and your Palisman, since you're so similar to me and Goldfrey, and I slipped up and used male pronouns instead of female. It was my mistake, but is this really enough reason to threaten me?"

Hunter's grin grew wider, and he began making the end of his staff crackle with lightning, while Luz pulled herself free from Dell's grasp and King jumped off him, making him look around worriedly. Seeing all the distrustful and confused faces looking back at him made his heart sink.

"What is-"

"You messed up." Hunter interrupted him; "I lied before; Goldfrey IS a male, something I'm sure you knew from Dell's memories. But you immediately went against that when I lied, showing you only have surface awareness of his memories! But as I told Luz earlier; even without that mistake and your disguise, you can't hide the way you walk… Belos!"

The CATTs all gasped in shock and horror, with Willow immediately binding "Dell" in vines, which Luz reinforced with chains made of light. Everyone present (except for Skylar) then drew their staves and pointed them at the man, who struggled in vain for a moment before groaning and realising the jig was up.

Dell's golden eye began to glow blue, and the putrid green slime of Belos began to appear over his body, causing the scar on his left eye to get much worse, before Belos' signature antler-like horns of slime burst from the top of his head. He then gave a sickening smirk as he said; "So, you figured it out Hunter. You've always been annoyingly sharp… though not sharp enough to realise my true plans until they were slapping you in the face."

Hunter glared; "You had me well brainwashed. But you were such an abusive monster that I never forgot the sound of your footsteps, or the way you'd stalk around like you own the place! I thought it was weird for a humble man like Grandpa Dell to walk in the same way, and lo and behold, I was right! I've been wondering what hole you've been hiding in!"

"Be thankful you're in my Abuelo's body, Belos. It's the only reason you've not been turned to stone!" Luz growled, her magic flaring. "I guess that plan of yours was just a lie to lure us into a trap!"

"Of course it was. I have no grand idea to shut down all the Union Pillars! If anything, I suspect I could use them in place of the Eclipse for a new Draining Spell!" Belos remarked, smirking as he knew he was safe while possessing Dell.

"That's why you kept Luz so close! And I bet you let King ride your shoulder so you could nab him and use his Titan Power as a weapon against the Divider and the Archivists!" Eda accused.

"Naturally. As if I'd let the little beast touch me otherwise! Him or this Corrupting Angel!" Belos sneered at Luz; "You are too far gone to save now, Luciel. Your only redemption is through the Draining Spell and death!"

"Oh put a sock in it!" Luz growled, shooting some homunculus slime at his mouth to gag him.

With Belos bound and gagged, and everyone fully on guard, a distressed Gwendolyn cried; "How do we get him out of my husband!?"

"We don't know yet. Luz had to make it look like she was going to get them both vaporised when he possessed her. I'm not sure what else will work!" Willow frowned, remembering how haunting it had been to see Luz demand that Lazuliel attempt to kill her. Sure it had been a bluff, but Willow hadn't know that at the time!

"So what do we do?" Eda asked, trying to keep her cool. "We can't risk taking him back to base, and we need to get out of here! Plus… what actually happened to Goldfrey!? You don't think Belos…?"

The thought of the man possessing Dell and then devouring his Palisman was a haunting one, but thankfully Luz dismissed it immediately. "No, he hasn't; I'm sure of it. I don't sense any Palisman Souls within him. The others inside me would notice in an instant."

"Which means he's stashed Goldfrey somewhere… what are the odds Goldfrey is actually in Eberwolf's rooms?" Skylar asked.

"Knowing Belos' penchant for mixing half-truths with lies, I'd say high. So we still need to rescue him." Hunter replied; "In fact, I say that Willow, Luz, and I should go save Goldfrey while the rest of you take Belos to the Divine Realm with Luz's portal key. I bet if anyone can contain Belos and get him out of Grandpa Dell, it's the Angels."

The others were about to agree, but just before they could, Luz and Hunter both felt the hair on the back of their necks stand up. Suddenly, there was a flash of something white, black, purple, and yellow, and the vines and chains binding Belos were sliced apart and began decaying. Luz hurried to restrain him again before he could run for it, but a blade came slicing out of the shadows behind her and nearly cut off one of her wings. Thankfully for her, Hunter flashed in the way and parried the blade with his electrified Palisman staff, as he thanked his lucky stars that his pounding heart had caused his mind to speed up once again.

"Holy Titan, that was close! Thanks Hunter!" Luz said with relief, only to then curse as a blade sliced through Eda's neck, making her head go flying off with a yelp of pain. Gwen screamed in horror, momentarily forgetting this aspect of her daughter's curse, and Skylar was suddenly forced to dive at Willow and knock her down just before a blade could slice through her staff arm. Unfortunately, Willow had been in the middle of a spell to bind Belos in plants again, and with that failed, a knife coated in purple magic shot out of the shadow cast by Belos and hit the chains, countering Luz's light magic with corroding darkness magic. The chains began to swell as if they were going to explode, forcing Luz to relax them so Belos/Dell could escape without being killed in the explosion. As soon as he was free, Belos was dragged into the shadows where he stood, and the chains exploded, filling the air with smoke and making a LOT of noise.

Luz coughed; "Ugh, what the heck was that!?"

"I'll bet my horns that it was the third Titan Trapper Boss!" King growled out, using a wind glyph to blow away the smoke. "She's been watching us since we came in here! I'm sure of it!"

"Oh, that rotten woman!" Gwendolyn snarled; "I bet she's the reason Dell was possessed! He was totally normal this morning, being loving and affectionate, and then she calls him away and he comes back acting different! I should have spotted the problem immediately!"

"It explains the Scent-Masking. We'd have picked up on the stench of rotten Palistrom Wood without it." Eda growled, putting her head back on.

"I wonder… Abuelo might have been divided after all, making him weak enough to possess." Luz frowned, rubbing her chin in thought.

"Forget all that for now! The mission isn't over until we get back Grandpa Dell and Goldfrey! He was luring us to Eber's rooms, so I bet that's where he is! Let's go!" Hunter declared.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that."

Everyone spun around towards the bridge leading to the Head Witch's Quarters, and saw a figure emerge from the shadows. The figure was clearly a Titan Trapper, and the one to have taken Belos away, and based on their garb, Luz suspected they were from the Bloody Fang Tribe.

The Trapper was a woman of average height and a lithe build with lean muscle. Her eyes were an almost midnight blue, her skin was pale, and her lips were dyed red with lipstick, but otherwise her body was completely hidden by her outfit, which seemed to be a mix of ninja and martial artist clothing. The outfit itself consisted of a black cheongsam that only came down to the woman's mid-thigh, and incorporated long sleeves that concealed her hands. Beneath this she wore simple black baggy pants and footwear made from the feet of a Titan, only with the fur dyed a venomous purple. Her cheongsam had an asymmetrical design and yellow along the hem, seam, and sleeves, as well as faded yellow dots all over it, making it look almost like the night sky. On her chest, over her heart, was a purple circle with a yellow crescent moon over the top, signifying the Huntsman. Lastly, she wore a bird-like Titan Skull on her head, which had long curved horns that were similar to King's. The beak of the titan was purple, and there were numerous cracks around the left eyehole.

"That's her! That's the leader who took Dell away earlier!" Gwen growled, pointing at her accusingly.

In a flash, a knife was thrown by the Trapper, who aimed for Gwen's throat. It managed to get past Luz, Hunter, and King, who were too close to the Trapper to react in time, but Skylar managed to lash out a claw and swat the knife out of the air, suffering only a slight chip to her claw.

"Why you evil bit-!" Eda began, only for the Trapper to put a finger to her own lips and shush Eda.

"There is no need for cursing or rudeness. Nor pointing." the Trapper said softly, her face completely blank. Luz would think she was divided, if not for the absence of the gold rings in her eyes.

"Rudeness!? You threw a knife at my Abuela!" Luz snarled.

"I am not a novice, Titan Child." the woman replied; "The blade was not thrown with enough force, nor did it have enough sharpness to pierce the throat of that old woman. I made sure of it, and even included a mild sedative potion that would have massively slowed any bleeding if it had broken the skin. I threw it to send a message and silence the woman."

The CATTs all glared at her hatefully, and Willow began subtly conjuring vines beneath her feet, intending to capture the woman.

"Who are you!?" Luz demanded, sensing what Willow was up to.

"I am Madame Kirame, Head of the Bloody Fangs. I am an assassin and huntress, not a fighter or brawler, so you can rest assured that revealing myself means I have no intention of killing you. I am merely here to deliver a message and ensure none but the chosen two may pass this bridge." the woman, Kirame explained.

Naturally, the CATTs all narrowed their eyes and pointed their weapons and spell circles at her, making her sigh softly. "What message would that be?" Hunter demanded.

"Simply an invitation to have an audience with my master. He awaits across the bridge. Both the possessed man and his Palisman are there too, if you need further incentive." Kirame said.

The Master of a Titan Trapper Leader? That could only mean one thing; the Huntsman himself was paying them all a visit.

"Let me guess; me and my sister are the only two chosen to go see the grand green brat!" King snapped.

Kirame didn't rise to the insult or seem bothered by speaking to a Titan; "Correct. Yourself and the other Titan Child may pass. The rest may not."

Luz felt a little odd, being considered a Titan Child. Sure she had her Titan Form, but she didn't really think of herself as an actual Titan. Still, she kept her guard up while Eda stalked forward to stand between her kids and glare at Kirame, Anti-Magic burning and decaying Eda's stolen Titan Trapper outfit to reveal Eda's true clothes beneath, which soon became her Harpy Mode.

"And if we refuse, kick your behind, and go face the Huntsman together?" Eda demanded.

Kirame was not afraid; "Then we fight, some of you will die, and your father's Palisman will be devoured by that strange abomination, who will undoubtedly drain your father of his remaining life force and then move on to a new host. I have seen him do this before; he possessed a maidservant from another tribe in order to get an audience with the Grand Huntsman, and that servant died earlier today when he moved on to your father. She was naught but rot and bones when he left her. Would you like your father to suffer that same fate?"

This was absolutely the wrong thing to say, and in a fit of rage, Eda screamed and leapt at Kirame, her staff spinning in one hand while Anti-Magic burned in the other. Kirame clearly hadn't expected it either, but she still managed to dive into the shadows, then emerge behind Eda. She tried to sink a knife into Eda's heart through her back, but Luz stopped that plan dead by shooting Kirame with Silver Light Beams. Kirame avoided them by letting herself fall into her own shadow cast onto Eda's wings by the silver light, after which point the beams bent away from Eda so as not to harm her. Once this happened, Luz ordered everyone to close their eyes and keep them closed, at which point Luz transformed into her Titan Mode and conjured a series of glowing light balls, which filled the room and illuminated everything in blinding light, ensuring that absolutely no shadows could form… except for a single spot at Luz's own feet. Since she couldn't be blinded by her own light magic and there were no other shadows in the room, Luz was able to watch as Kirame was forced to leap out of her shadow in an attempt to strike her and stop her light. Since Luz was prepared though, she evaded the woman's jab with a needle-like blade that dripped with a sedative poison, and immediately countered with a magic-enhanced punch to the gut, sending Kirame flying out of the room and onto the bridge.

The Titan Trapper caught herself and landed on all fours like a cat, before scowling. "I should have known a Titan Child would be stronger. This is what I get for trying to engage in a battle and not simply assassinating you. Still, your life is not mine to take, so I'll have to leave you with this!" Kirame declared, before preparing a smoke bomb and tossing it into the shadows. The bomb went off and a thick green smoke emerged from Luz's shadow, making her choke and gag as she realised it was poison.

The poison burned as it spread through the room, and slowly poisoned the others too, until Luz could no longer hold the light. As soon as the light went out and the shadows became prominent again, the gas began flowing from everywhere and the CATTs all began coughing and spluttering, barely able to move or stay focused.

"This poison is a simple one. First it burns, then it targets the Bile Sac and causes internal bleeding. Within minutes, anyone with a Bile Sac will die. Once your friends have torn themselves inside out from the rupturing of their own Bile Sacs, you two Titan Children can come to the meeting. And remember; you were warned." Kirame said darkly, before slowly sinking back into the shadows and disappearing, leaving the others to die.

While Luz, King, and Hunter (unbeknownst to Kirame) were able to survive due to their lack of Bile Sacs, it appeared that the others would soon perish. Thankfully, Skylar pulled a potion from her pocket and croaked out; "Blow the gas away!"

Luz just barely managed to conjure a wind glyph to do just that, forcing the poisonous gas out of the chamber via the skylights. As soon as the gas was gone, Skylar threw down the potion she was holding, which shattered and created a pink gas that immediately began to soothe (but not totally reverse) the poison. Luz, King, and Hunter felt completely better, while Skylar herself, along with Eda, Gwen, and Willow all still felt pain in their chests.

"Phew, I was right." Skylar groaned in pain; "The poison is actually venom. An aerosolised venom from some animal or another. It's non-magical, but that meant my general purpose Antivenom worked."

"So you're all gonna be okay?" Luz asked hopefully.

"We're better, but the poison is still in our system. We'll need a proper antidote to heal completely… that or a lot of time." Skylar replied.

Hunter jumped to act; "I can provide that!"

Twirling Flapjack's staff, Hunter cast a Bestial Blessing that gave him both the nose and shell of a turtle. Specifically, the nose and shell of a Panacea Turtle; a creature from the Divine Realm that had a distinct star-shaped snout and a large crystal shell that looked almost like an underwater reef made out of gemstones. Panacea Turtles had originally been bred by Angels to solve pollution problems, with them being intended for use in the Human Realm, as they could consume toxic material through their noses and produce a natural curative to the effects of that material within their shells, hence the name "Panacea Turtle." It was supposed to clean up polluted rivers, lakes, and oceans while producing a compound to rejuvenate natural underwater ecosystems, but unfortunately the project was shut down due to it technically violating the Treaty of Division, which prevented Angels and Divine Realm creatures from having too much of an impact in the Human Realm. Instead, the Angels had put them to use in creating Antivenoms to the effects of various plant and animal toxins!

Thanks to this, all Hunter had to do was stick his nose into the shadows (with help from a darkness glyph) and inhale some of the poison gas that still resided there. His Panacea Turtle nose kept the poison from effecting the rest of his body (the nose and shell were on a closed biological system) and allowed his shell to begin breaking the gas down and finding a suitable counter, building it from scratch from the various minerals and compounds found in the shell. When he was done, Hunter released a cloud of pinkish red smoke from his shell, which immediately reversed the effects of the poison on the others. Eda, Skylar, Gwen, and Willow all sighed with immense relief, feeling so much better, and Luz then hurried forward to give them all healing potions from the storage in her hair, making sure they were fully healed without her wasting more magic! She couldn't afford to if the Huntsman truly was waiting for them up ahead!

Thankfully, the potions did the trick and the four ladies were back to peak condition almost immediately. Willow was quick to show her gratitude by kissing Hunter, and even cheekily kissing the side of his turtle nose as if thanking it specifically for saving them.

"Well that was unpleasant." Gwen shuddered.

"You've got that right! I swear I'm gonna smack that woman if I get the chance! But we've wasted enough time; we need to go before they hurt Dad!" Eda declared.

The others naturally agreed with her, except for Gwendolyn. To the CATTs' surprise, she sighed and shook her head; "I think you should all go ahead without me. I doubt I'm a match for that woman or Belos, and I'm certainly no match for that Huntsman! I fear I'd just get in the way."

Luz and the CATTs winced; Gwen was right after all. She was a fierce old lady, but she was an old lady. Kirame and Belos were likely to be annoying, but the Huntsman? He would be difficult even for a team of Titan Luz, King, and Fused Willow, and all three had Titan Magic to counter him! If they had to fight while protecting Gwen, then they'd have a much harder time, and Belos at least was definitely the type to use her as a hostage.

"Alright Mom, perhaps it would be best if you let us save Dad while you got to safety. Hey Skylar, would you mind going with her? Not to be rude, but the rest of us either know Belos' tactics or have a counter to the Huntsman, so you might not be able to help much in this fight either." Eda said, looking a little guilty.

Skylar simply shrugged and nodded; "That's fair. I'll escort Gwen to safety. Just make sure that Belos goes down hard before this ends! I want justice for Fenrir!"

"You got it, Sky! See you when it's over! Let the others know we'll come running as soon as we can." Luz said with a smile.

The Clawthornes then exchanged some hugs, with Gwen kissing her daughter and three grandchildren, and even giving Willow a brief hug before the two hurried off, flying out through the skylight on the back of Hawksley.

With Gwen and Skylar leaving to find the others, the rest of Luz's party turned back to the matter at hand and marched across the stone bridge to the hive-like quarters of the Beast-Keeping Head Witch. There wasn't much point to being stealthy at this point, so they kicked open the door and marched right in, finding themselves entering the foyer of a fairly fancy looking manor. The entire Head Witch's Quarters was basically a small mansion that was seemed Bee-themed, matching the outer shape of the building. Almost everything was some shade of gold or orange, and hexagons were a prominent part of the design, really selling the Bee aesthetic. This was due to the place being built by the first person to settle Wild Crag before the Beast-Keeping Coven. It had been ruled by a powerful Queen Bee Demon, who had basically turned the Crag into her hive, with this manor being her personal space. Naturally she'd eventually been ousted (though Luz didn't know how or if she was replaced immediately by the Coven, or if someone else had come between them), but the Beast-Keeping Coven Heads hadn't cared enough to have the place remodelled, leaving the honey and gold coloured décor. In fact, the hexagon-like openings in the walls around the Crag had been the basis of the current rooms and layouts for the coven.

The foyer of the Head Witch's Quarters, containing only decorations, doors to other rooms, and a grand staircase to the second floor, was guarded by some Bloody Fang Titan Trappers, who took one look at the extra members of the Titan Children's party before screaming out a battle cry and charging them. They were utterly destroyed by the CATTs, especially Eda and Willow, who were furious after the poison incident and unwilling to give them any quarter. Leaving behind numerous broken, bleeding, and unconscious Trappers, Luz then led them up to the second floor, where more Trappers awaited them.

These ones were smarter though and did not attack, instead backing off while one of them nervously said; "Um, Welcome to the Honeycomb Pavilion. The Grand Huntsman is holding court in the master bedroom… however he is only expecting the Titan Children. If the rest of you could kindly wait outside…?"

Eda growled, and Luz smiled sweetly as she said; "I think my Mom is getting a bit impatient to see Abuelo again, so I think we'll all be going in together. But if you could show us the way, we'd appreciate it."

"B-But I-" the Trapper tried to argue, but Willow put a finger against the Trapper's mouth.

"Pal, this is above your pay grade. Just show us the way and then go hide somewhere." Willow said, smiling as sweetly as Luz, yet coming across just as threateningly (the fact Luz was still in full Titan Mode didn't help)!

The young Trapper decided to cut her losses and just bowed her head and pointed to a door at the end of the second floor corridor. The CATTs began marching towards it, Luz nodding politely in thanks, while King whispered "Boo!" whilst making a lunging gesture, which had all the Trappers yelping and running for the hills. Apparently seeing them shrug off their leader's poison then beat the stuffing out of the downstairs group had demoralised them!

Unfortunately, the CATTs only got halfway down the hall before a wave of pale green magic passed through them, and the air suddenly felt much thicker, as if a miasma of fear was haunting them. The magic hadn't actually been used to cast a spell; it was simply the Huntsman flexing his power to intimidate them. It worked, but they weren't about to back down, so they kept walking and threw open the door to the Master Bedroom, which had been converted into a kind of throne room.

Any furniture had been thrown out and replaced by a throne made from the dragon skull of Zara, which had been taken from Cartilia after Zara was forced to abandon it. The skull's maw was held open and a seat of animal hides had been placed inside, upon which sat the monster himself; Belial the Huntsman.

Belial was leaning back casually, idly toying with a small birdcage hanging from one of Zara's fangs, and which contained a strangely unbothered Goldfrey, who appeared to be divided too. Beside him on his right was the possessed Dell, the slime of Belos clinging to him tightly, while to his left was Madame Kirame, looking rather frustrated that so many of her poisoned victims had not only survived, but seemed unharmed. Along the walls of the extravagant room, decked out with gold and animal trophies, was a series of elite Bloody Fang Trappers, each one dressed in armour reminiscent of ninja or samurai, and wielding Titan Bone Armaments.

"Welcome, little Titans. I have been hoping to get a moment to actually speak to you both alone, but it seems that once again, even my elite Trappers have failed to stop you. Krakyll is napping off one hell of a wallop over in the sea to the west, Crystal has outright betrayed me to join with you CATTs, and now even Kirame has failed me, even if she still stands." Belial said with a theatrical sigh, still seeming more amused than actually annoyed. He sat forward a little, making his ten white wings stretch out, tinted pale green by the aura they gave off. "But… I see two of your group did pay the price after all. Kirame reported seven of you, and yet I only count five."

Luz defiantly pointed her staff at him, while King glared with pure hatred in his eyes; "Sorry to disappoint, Belial… but Abuela and Skylar are alive and well too! They chose to evacuate so we wouldn't need to hold back when you inevitable cause this to end in violence!"

The casual use of his real name briefly made the Huntsman's face harden, but he relaxed again quickly; "I see… so rather than a 2 out of 7, you scored a pathetic 0 out of 7. Most disappointing, Kirame."

The woman grit her teeth, but then bowed; "I apologise, Grand Huntsman. I had prioritised your orders and so revealed myself to them in order to deliver the message. Had I been ordered to kill them from the start, I would have."

Belial snorted and waved her off; "Excuses. No hunter should be a one-trick pony! But forget that, if they survived you then I suppose they've at least earned the right to be here. In fact, I'm rather glad you five ARE here. Let's see here…"

He pointed to Eda; "We have the woman possessed by one of the trophies I lost, obtaining a unique hybrid form." he pointed to Willow; "We have a Palisman Fusion with unique Grafted Plant Magic that even the Scribe hadn't seen before." he pointed to Hunter; "We have a Grimwalker with a unique heart made from plants." he pointed to Luz, "and of course, we have the girl who is half Seraphim and half Titan, literally being a lesser member of my own race yet filled with the power of our most hated enemies!"

Belial grinned; "Combine that with the last Titan, and we have a perfect set of new additions to the Archives! And since I'm feeling magnanimous, I will make you an offer! I will spare your lives and let you all live out you lives in comfort, perhaps even luxury, in return for just two things."

Luz growled; "Let me guess; surrendering and letting you turn us into exhibits for your precious Archives!?"

"But of course!" Belial chuckled; "That's a given. I mean, I could easily kill the five of you and add you to my mother's Archives already, but I'm in a good mood after hearing so many hunting stories from the residents here. Not to mention the Divider seemingly coming around to my way of thinking and actually letting me come here! Plus, fighting might damage you, even if I REALLY want to kill the last Titan and the Titan Halfbreed with my own hands!"

Luz and King felt a wave of deep, primal terror wash over them as Belial briefly flashed a glare at them.

"But as I said, I'll spare you if you surrender… and bow on your hands and knees, whilst confessing the truth of the Sephiroths' superiority! Proclaim that the Titans are inferior to us, and I'll spare your lives!" he declared.

The CATTs gaped at him, almost unable to believe his audacity. He'd invaded the Demon Realm with his siblings, slaughtered almost the entire Titan Race, created a cult that worshipped him and was dedicated to murdering Titans, and almost single-handedly prevented any new Sephiroth from being born by ensuring no Seraphim could get Titan Blessings… and now he wanted the last member of the race he'd committed Genocide against to kowtow and stroke his ego!? The sheer audacity of that was enough to have King nearly spitting blood out of pure hatred, while Luz was almost unable to comprehend the arrogance. Willow was just as shocked, being reminded of Terra and her entitlement, while Hunter and Eda now understood why the Huntsman and Belos had seemingly joined forces!

However a horrifying thought suddenly came to Luz when she too made the Belos connection, and she couldn't stop herself from crying out; "Wait, is THAT the real reason for all of this!? Your mass-murder of the Titans… was it just you trying to prove your superiority over them!?"

Belial's smug smile fell for a moment, and a blood-thirsty sneer took its place; "And so what if it is? Do you know what I am, girl? I am Belial the Huntsman! I am a Sephiroth, like my mother before me! Even if I'm technically only a Sephiroth Seed. By right of birth, I am superior to all of you mortal beings! And yet those disgusting balls of fur had the nerve to refuse me anything!?"

Belial stood up and began to pace around the room, circling the CATTs like a predator; "Mother always had a soft spot for the Titans. She was even in love with one once, from what she told me as a small child. They were unworthy to kiss the ground she walked on, and yet he rejected her! And the Watcher believes it was a Titan who was behind her leaving us! Or was at least involved!"

"A Titan is the reason the Celestial disappeared? But she was a True Sephiroth; not even a Titan could have killed her or hurt her so badly that she'd be gone for all this time!" Luz exclaimed.

"I don't know the details!" Belial snapped; "I didn't understand the nonsense that the Watcher was talking about. Just that Mother was gone and some Titan had gone after her! But they couldn't see either of them with their vision, so the Watcher doesn't know more! But Mother leaves and is followed by a Titan and neither return!? What am I supposed to think!? Not only that, but the Titans; mere mortals, dare to have power over us!? We are living Gods! And to think we need their blessing to even become True Sephiroth… it's disgusting! When I came to gather the life forms from this pitiful world for the Archives, they DARED to resist me! To attack me when I put one of them in their place by hunting them and showing why the SEPHIROTH are the superior species!"

"Are you freaking insane!?" Luz cried, before shaking her head; "What am I saying? Of course you are! Nothing else explains THIS hot mess!" she gestured at Belial; "Your Mom loved a Titan, you have a vague idea that one followed her when she disappeared, and their powers stop yours, so you being a spoiled brat and Mama's boy decided to make yourself feel big and strong by randomly murdering one who'd never done anything to you!?"

"Don't forget that right after that, he rightly got his bony backside kicked to the curb by the so-called "inferior" Titans!" Eda taunted, an angry and mocking smirk on her face.

Belial snarled; "And where are those Titans now, you feathery wench! DEAD! All of them! The Keeper demanded that we come back here and try to make "peace" with the wretched Titans, for the sake of the Archives, Mother's misplaced affection, and the future Sephiroth. But I think she was just angling for a blessing so she could ascend to be a True Sephiroth… Naturally the Scribe just does whatever The Keeper tells her, and the Watcher doesn't care about anything so long as they get to watch, while the Collector was a spoiled brat that just wanted to play with the Titans like they were some cute new toy! Only I refused! I made sure those peace talks failed; as if peace could be made between Gods and Beasts!"

"You monster!" Luz cried; "You committed Mass-Murder because of your God Complex!?"

"That is beyond messed up!" Hunter growled, "No wonder you and Belos get along! But not only is it stupid and evil, it makes no sense! You knew the Titans were needed to complete the Sephiroth! Why would you kill them knowing that!?"

Belial's furious expression twisted into a malicious grin; "Why? Well isn't it obvious!? If there are NO Titans, then the Arbiter of Power will have no choice but to change the rules! And I, as the slayer of the False Deities, will be the best choice to become the next new Sephiroth! With that power, I can hunt anything I wish, anywhere I wish! I can rule over the very concept of the Hunt, and rule Earthly Matters just as Mother ruled Celestial Matters! I will be the ultimate warrior! Even my siblings will not be able to stand in my way any more! And the Divider… I'll show him what a REAL God can do!"

"You're insane… no, you're worse… you're pure evil!" Luz growled; "And we WILL stop you!"

The Huntsman's grin faded, but rather than rage, he simply looked blank faced for a moment as he stopped his pacing and took a seat on his throne. He then declared; "You can try. You'll fail of course; even as a Sephiroth Seed, I AM immortal. You cannot kill me, and I won't fall for whatever pathetic tricks took out the Scribe or won over the Collector. But you know what; I'm still in a good mood, and Belos failed to lure you fully into my trap so I'm inclined to punish him by denying him the Titan's corpse to borrow, or the Titan Girl's life to take…"

The possessed Dell looked ready to protest, since he HAD gotten them to come to him, but Belos ultimately chose to keep his mouth shut since he could be easily wiped out by the powerful False God. But once his plan came to fruition, he'd get his vengeance for the slight AND the blasphemy!

"…as such, if you simply bow your heads, surrender, and confess that I am right about the Sephiroth being superior, I will spare your lives and take you to the Archives. Think carefully; the next word out of your mouths will decide your fate! You stand no chance of victory, and even if you manage to escape, you have no hope of winning this war." Belial said, flaring his magic again to remind everyone that even while restrained, he was still the strongest being in the room.

Naturally, there was not a single moment where any of the CATTs present even considered the offer. The only consideration passing through any of their heads was what would be the one word that gave their answer in a clear and concise way? Hunter and Willow braced themselves, both looking at Belos and readying to attack him, while Eda's eyes focused on Kirame as Luz and King exchanged looks. The two siblings understood each other implicitly, and soon decided on the word that would let Belial know just what they were thinking. Seeing what her children were thinking, Eda subtly pulled a darkness glyph note from her hair whilst pretending to run her hand through it.

Taking simultaneous deep breaths, Luz and King filled their lungs with as much air as they could, then unleashed a simultaneous Titan Roar with a cry of "WEH!"

King's roar had taken the form of a beam, while Luz's roar had been the usual sonic wave, but as they were in-sync and completely simultaneous, the two roars combined and became an overwhelmingly powerful spiralling beam of Titan Magic, which blasted towards the Huntsman at high speed. Belial was not a fool though despite his cruelty and arrogance, and so he'd been prepared, and summoned many of the Titan Trappers from the surrounding walls by dropping them into their own shadows and making them fly out of the shadows in front of him, literally using his own people as a living shield. He'd even tried to do this with Hunter, Willow, and Eda, but Hunter had flashed onto the chandelier, Willow had entered her fused form to fly, and Eda had naturally just flown around as a Harpy. Eda also used the darkness glyph to allow her to move through the shadows a little, reaching her hand through to grab Goldfrey from his cage by using his shadow on the floor of the tiny cage. Madame Kirame tried to stop her by throwing knives into the shadows and actually managed to sever Eda's arm, making the woman cry out in pain… right before her hand finished the rescue of Goldfrey all on its own and hopped back into the shadows and out beside Eda, reconnecting itself and allowing Goldfrey to land on Eda's shoulder while the woman herself grinned and flipped Kirame off while her kids weren't looking.

As this was happening, the double barrelled blast of Titan Magic smashed into the living shield and still had enough strength to go through them (knocking them all out), and slam into Belial too, sending him smashing through the rear wall of the room and out into the cavernous expanse of the Wild Crag's central cavern, destroying Goldfrey's cage that had just been emptied by Eda, the two Titan Children knowing their adoptive mother as well as she knew them. Belial hadn't expected that much power (underestimating what eight glyphs of Titan Power and King's surprisingly mature magic was capable of) and actually took heavy damage and roared in pain. He managed to stop himself from being blasted out of the Crag altogether by conjuring a magical mirror with his Angelic Magic, which consumed the roar and launched it back.

Seeing their super powered blast coming back their way, Luz threw up her own Titan Glyph Barrier to protect her friends, but while this stopped the blast, it didn't stop the Huntsman from following this up by spreading his wings and consuming Lunar Magic from the moon to charge up a super powerful attack of his own. It was still daytime so the moon wasn't out or visible, weakening the amount of magic the Huntsman could draw from it (especially thanks to the Anti-Archivist Barrier and the Distorted Sky), but it was still the day before a Full Moon, meaning he could harness almost as much magic as he could draw from a half moon at the apex of night! Combining this with his Angel Magic (which was above the pinnacle of a Seraphim) allowed him to unleash an extremely powerful beam of pale green light; one that Luz's glyph barrier simply couldn't hold back.

King saw the first crack appear and immediately threw up his own barrier too, overlapping it with Luz's to strengthen it. Eda used Owlbert to throw up a hasty barrier to help her kids, then began weaving a more advanced barrier like the kind she used to protect the Owl House from the Boiling Rain. Hunter used lightning magic to create a kind of electromagnetic barrier to try and hold off some of the energy, and Willow grew some Botanical Bamboo Barriers, all with the intent of holding off Belial's heinously overpowered blast. Unfortunately, while this seemed to work at first, the CATTs weren't the only ones working together!

The few Titan Trappers that hadn't been knocked out by the super roar began firing their own spells at the barrier, and Madame Kirame began trying to launch knives through the shadows to hit the CATTs within the barrier, but Luz was able to use her own control over the shadows to keep her out. Even Belos was getting in on the action, twisting his ooze into various glyph combos to attack the CATTs' barrier.

Cracks began to form in the barrier, and the CATTs all focused their strength into maintaining it, with King and Luz both manipulating the glyphs on the surface of their barriers into Barrier Combos, layering further protections into their magical shield. But it wasn't enough on its own and so long as the Huntsman could keep absorbing magic from the moon (which only got stronger as time marched on and the night of the Full Moon got closer), he could keep firing his beam; his stamina exceeding any mortals.

"We need a change of plan! Do we go into the shadow world!?" Willow cried.

"Bad idea; that Kirame woman is quick on the draw! She severed my hand in the two seconds my hand was in there to save Goldfrey! We pop in to escape and we're sliced and diced!" Eda argued.

"Even if I flash through?" Hunter suggested.

"I can't take us in AND get us out while flashing. I'd have to open a portal through the shadows first, and as soon as I do, Kirame will exploit it!" Luz said through gritted teeth. She didn't want to be wasting so much magic already!

"Then I'll just grab everyone here and flash us away normally! Once I flash you and King away, the barriers go down and we get out of the way before the beam hits us!" Hunter yelled.

"I don't think you'll be fast enough! And can you and Flap even move four other people at once!?" Willow asked fearfully.

Hunter opened his mouth to immediately say yes, but he wasn't actually sure. Come to think of it, each person he took with him also slowed him down a little. It wasn't noticeable with one extra person, but a third person decreased his speed by a third of a second. With a fourth, it would likely be two thirds of a second, and with all five of them, it would likely be a full second. That didn't sound bad, but with the beam of the Huntsman's attack being so fast… it may very well kill them while they're defenceless!

"I-I don't know if I can!" Hunter confessed, beginning to feel terror build in him again.

"We aren't running away!" King declared with a snarl, his magic flaring and lightning crackling from his wings and staff; "I refuse to turn tail like a coward! This monster killed my people! I am NOT gonna give him the pleasure of seeing me run away! We all in this together, right!? So let's do this!"

The little Titan's words carried a surprising amount of power, especially as a white aura coated him and they all felt his emotions through the linking power of his unique glyph, radiating out from his glyph barrier. This ended up having quite a few effects on them; Eda felt her connection to the Owl Beast grow stronger, Willow felt her fusion with Clover grow stronger, and Hunter felt a deeper connection with Flapjack, his own new heart, and something else… something WITHIN Flapjack that wasn't the Palisman himself. But Luz was the one who felt it most strongly, as King's glyph on her chest began to radiate power too. It was a strange experience; similar to the one she'd felt on Zachael's Landing after her friends had bonded with all four of Orion's glyphs. Ever since that day, Luz's glyph marking would occasionally gain and lose new lines, and after Matt's fusion, Luz had noticed this process speeding up, gaining and losing more lines at once and forming simple patterns, as if the glyph was still trying to decide on it's final design. King unlocking his lightning glyph had made this process even faster, and now with King's outburst of emotion and power, it was getting faster still!

The power was unstable and chaotic, so Luz didn't feel like it was making her stronger, but it DID make her feel like she was understanding her own Titan Angel nature better! Clinging to that feeling and trusting her instincts, Luz put all her thoughts into escaping in the hopes of coming across a miracle… a miracle that hit her like a bolt out of the blue.

Luz's hands were outstretched to keep up the barrier, and a strange ring of golden magic appeared between them, with what appeared to be a swirling shadow inside it. Luz was confused by this, but Stringbean (perhaps foolishly) decided to transform back into a tiny two-headed Hydra the size of Luz's palm, and extend one of her heads into the black swirl. She then pulled her head back out and began to hiss frantically.

"Mama Luz, Beanie found a place! It was dark but Beanie could smell things! Smell of Granny Eda and Tio King and Divider Man! And Mama Luz too! Strange room too, with nests! Looked like Mama Luz's room back home!"

Luz blinked in surprise; that sounded like her bedroom back in the Owl House! Taking a risk, poked her own face through the swirl and realised it wasn't a swirling shadow, but a swirling image of the inside of her bedroom in the Owl House, which was dark due to the closed curtains. Pulling her face back out with a gasp, Luz cried; "A portal!? I think I just made a portal!?"

The others were shocked, but with the dire situation they were in, they didn't have time to overthink it. Most of them came to the conclusion that since Titan Blood and Sephiroth Magic (which was evolved Angelic Magic blessed with Titan power, which Luz already had in a way) could both open portals under the right conditions, then Luz likely had some form of the power too, and King's glyph growing stronger again had likely helped it awaken, since his power seemed to be connections and Portals were essentially connecting doors between two points. Luz herself believed she'd opened it because she was thinking of escaping to a safe place, and the place she felt safest was her home in the Owl House.

"Can you widen it to get us out of here!?" Willow asked.

"I-I think so! This feels like when King's power evolved back at the base, with Godric! I think I can get the hang of it and get us to safety!" Luz replied.

King had other plans though; "Forget that, Luz! I've got a better plan!"

Luz blinked, but King then began to send his plan into her head via their glyph connection, causing Luz to grin. "Devious, little brother! Let's do it!"

With that, King took over controlling the Glyph Barrier all by himself, while Stringbean began using Barrier Glyph Notes from Luz's emergency stash to support him while Luz focused on mastering her new portal summoning. She closed the one she'd made by accident, and then reopened it at will, and then repeated the process once or twice to see how big and small the portals could be, and where she could go with them. The smallest portal Luz could make was the size of a wedding ring, and the largest was still unknown, but Luz could definitely make them big enough to fit a small airship through. As for the destination, Luz discovered that she could open a portal to any location that was unoccupied (the portal couldn't form inside solid matter) and that she could clearly visualise. In addition, Luz could only create portals that led to places within the Demon Realm. She wasn't sure if this was specifically the Demon Realm, or if it was the same realm she was in, meaning she couldn't make portals that crossed the In-Between Realm. Opening portals also took a fair chunk of Luz's magic, and Luz had a feeling she could only do it if she was in Titan Form and currently using King's power in addition to her own. Once she'd fully figured out the trick behind the portals, Luz grinned and prepared to complete King's plan.

Luz drew a massive spell circle on the surface of the glyph barrier and used a combination of illusion spells to make it look like she was casting another barrier, when in reality she was conjuring a massive portal large enough to swallow Belial's Lunar Magic Beam. Then, as soon as she was ready, King told the others to ignore the beam and instead move their defences to blocking the attacks from Belos and the Trappers. They obeyed without question and the glyph barrier went down, causing Belial to laugh triumphantly, thinking the CATTs had underestimated how long he could hold his beam for. He'd wanted them to stew in their barrier and realise they had no hope of escape before finally buckling and being wiped out, but he had instead underestimated them!

His beam blasted through Luz's portal and emerged from the other end… directly above him. Belial barely had a moment to process what had just happened before his own magic was blasting down on him, making him scream in pain. His overwhelming might had been turned back on him, and while it ended quickly, it had still done considerable damage, which combined with the damage done to him by the roar earlier, had put him on quite the back foot.

"Ugh! You damned beasts! We could have made this so easy, but no! You had to make it difficult!" the Huntsman snarled, before flying back into the room at high speed. Luz and King braced themselves, while Belial's minions stopped their attack in shock at their master's damaged state. Belos looked tempted to jump out of Dell and try to take Belial's body while he was weak, but he didn't stay weak for long. In a horrible display of callous brutality, Belial conjured a series of blades on chains from his palms, with each blade having the telltale blue gleam of a Blessed Dagger, and thrust them into the unconscious bodies of the Titan Trappers he'd used as living shields earlier. The CATTs looked on in horror as each of the stabbed Trappers was drained of their life force, rapidly ageing until they died and turned to dust, while Belial's wounds were healed.

Luz almost felt like vomiting, but she swallowed hard and glared at Belial with hatred. She had no words for him now; he was just a monster that needed to be defeated! She summoned Stringbean back to her hand and prepared for a fight, while the rest of the CATTs focused on the other foes surrounding them, all of whom were distracted by the deaths of the injured Trappers. No one wanted to make the first move; not even King, who was in a strange state of being on the edge of fleeing and rampaging simultaneously.

Now fully healed, Belial ended the silence with a snap of his fingers (making everyone flinch), which repaired his damaged clothes in a flash of light. He then took a few deep breaths, before glaring at Luz; "You know, you are quite possibly the luckiest person on the Boiling Isles right now… because you have made me so incandescently angry that I can't risk fighting you. If I did fight you, I'd destroy your bodies beyond repair and then there would be nothing left for the Archives. So instead…"

The Huntsman looked to Belos; "You will be my instrument here. Ditch that old man and possess Kirame instead. The two of you can work together to destroy this lot."

Belos and Kirame's eyes both widened in shock, and they each began to protest.

"Grand Huntsman, you must be joking! This slimy monstrosity would only hold me back! Not to mention the damage he'd do to my body!" Kirame protested, keeping respectful.

"I hate to agree with a Witch, but I find that I do. I'll happily possess and use her, but working together? That's a stretch!" Belos sneered, not bothering to hide his true nature since everyone present already knew it. The Huntsman had made it clear that he knew the real Belos from the start after all.

But the Huntsman didn't budge and merely said; "I don't need you for my mother's Archive, Kirame; you have no protection from my wrath! And Belos; you are already a pile of sludge! So long as I leave enough of you to fill a jar, I'll call it a job well done! So I suggest you obey before my temper gets worse! Consider this your punishment for getting caught and failing to kill the extras!"

With the Huntsman's aura flaring again, Belos decided that obedience was safer. At least if he used Kirame's strong body to kill King, he could immediately nab his body and make a run for it! If he could take Luz's body again too, he'd even have an immediate way out with her new portal powers!

Belos slowly forced his way out of Dell's body, making sure to make it as painful and damaging to the old man as possible. He didn't fully kill him though, since as long as he lived, the CATTs would worry more about saving the old man than killing Belos. But the moment Dell was released from Belos' control and flopped backward, Luz acted. She opened a portal beneath Dell that gently dropped him on top of the rock formation they were supposed to meet the others at. The Huntsman launched a conjured web of chains at her to stop her from attacking again, but King roared and knocked the web back at the Huntsman, while Hunter flashed around the room and knocked out the other Trappers, who were rooted to the spot by Willow. Eda shot a powerful blast of Anti-Magic at Belos, managing to destroy a good chunk of him, weakening him greatly before he removed the burning parts and hid behind the tangled Belial to avoid follow up attacks.

"We've got what we came for! Luz, get us out of here!" Willow cried, the one person present with the fewest axes to grind.

Luz agreed and opened another portal directly below the CATTs, allowing them to just drop down and reappear on top of the Wild Crag. She closed the portal right away, then opened a new one to take them all to the meeting spot without needing to fear them being followed. They arrived on the Rock Formation to find quite a crowd waiting for them; Raine, the rescued Palisman, Lilith, Eber, Barcus and his parents (who were tied up since they were still divided), the duo of Crystal and Koko, and of course the horribly injured Dell, whom everyone was freaking out over.

"Edalyn!? Luz!? King!? What happened! Why is Dad so hurt!? And what is with the portals!?" Lilith cried, looking ready to hyperventilate; "And where is Mother!?"

Eda looked around, seeing that Gwen and Skylar weren't back yet. They had either taken the slower, safer route, or had run into enemy forces that delayed them. "It's a long story."

"I'm gonna heal Abuelo. You catch everyone up on it while I'm working and we're waiting for Abuela and Skylar!" Luz said, immediately kneeling beside the wheezing Dell and beginning the process of healing the damage Belos had done to him. It was thankfully well within the limits of her Seraphic Healing Magic, but it still took most of her concentration.

As she worked, Eda gave everyone from the other teams a rundown of what happened, and just as she was getting to the part in Belial's "Throne room", Gwen and Skylar finally arrived, shocked to find they'd been beaten there. Naturally Gwen was horrified and rushed to comfort Dell as Luz healed him, and Skylar informed the others that they'd been ambushed by some Silver Skulls. Skylar had made quick work of them, but it had delayed their retreat.

While this was happening, King decided to see if his glyph's advancement had finally made him strong enough to use it to undo Division like Luz could, and coated himself in a white aura again as he touched Rom and spread the aura to him. To his immense joy, he found that he had indeed grown strong enough, and Rom was soon undivided just as Luz could do! Howlena was next, and the two were soon sharing a very happy reunion with their son Barcus, leading to three different tails wagging so hard that it was a wonder they didn't manage to blow King off the rock formation!

Thankfully, it didn't take much longer for Luz to heal Dell, and while he was still unconscious, he was at least in good health again, with none of Belos' taint clinging to him. Eda had finished filling the others in too, so they were good to go.

"Okay, we have my parents, Barcus' parents, the Palismen, and everyone is present and alive! Let's get out of here!" Eda declared. "Luz, either open a new portal or use your door!"

Luz nodded and raised a hand to open her portal, but then she suddenly felt her strength begin to drain away rapidly as a massive wave of fatigue overcame her. The reason for this was easy to spot too, as the wind and earth glyphs appeared on her feet by themselves, signifying that Skara and Matt were using their Fused forms! Boscha's was active too, and both Amity and Gus had used theirs a couple of times throughout the day, though the latter two were no issue since they were out on a mission. But Skara, Matt, and Boscha were all on Zachael's Landing, and were surely smart enough to not use their fused forms while Luz was in the field, especially with how they drained her!

Two Cassiopeia fusions on top of the Orion Fusions was a massive blow to Luz, and she found she could just about stand, fly, and muster regular Angel-level power; such was the fatigue of the fusions.

"This is bad! Something's going on with Zachael's Landing! There's no way the others would use their Fusions all at once otherwise!" Willow fretted, rushing over alongside King to help Luz stay on her feet and steady herself.

An eruption from the Wild Crag made them all jump, and they spun around to take a look, seeing pale green flames burning atop the colossal rock of Lunacite, making it look almost like the stub of an enormous silvery candle. The Huntsman was in the middle of that flame, having erupted with pure anger, and it would only be a few moments before he tracked them down and came at them, either alone or with Belos and Kirame by his side too, so the CATTs didn't have a lot of time.

"The Portal Door! Luz, you've got the key this time, right!?" Eda asked urgently.

Luz silently pulled the Portal Key out of her hair and clicked the eye to summon the door. The CATTs briefly sighed in relief, but when Luz opened the door, she was greeted with the iridescent and golden swirl of magic and light that had filled the door back when it was incomplete. Luz poked her head in out of confusion, then pulled it back with a very pale face.

"I-It's been disconnected from the doorway at the Portal Nexus! It just drops us into a random spot in the In-Between Realm now!" Luz cried.

The others all went deathly pale, and Lilith exclaimed; "Wait, if something is happening on Zachael's Landing, then does that mean the Portal Nexus was compromised too!? They could have easily found the Portal Gate there!"

That dropped a whole shedload of worry onto the CATTs, but they didn't have time to think about the others when they were still in danger themselves!

"The Huntsman will be here any second and there's no way we're outrunning him. Luz is in no state to be making portals either." Eda began, taking the key and banishing the door, before slipping the key into her daughter's hair. "Skylar; you need to get my parents, Barcus' family, the Palismen, and those two…" she pointed to Crystal and Koko, "…out of here! The rest of us will hold off anyone who comes after you. Get as far from the Savannah as you can. There's gotta be Titan Trapper ships you can steal! Nab one and get out of here!"

The evacuating CATTs looked unsure, but Crystal (who gently lifted Dell and flopped him over Koko's back) said; "I know where the Silver Skulls docked their ships! I also know that Krakyll's daughter is likely the only one minding them, and she'd help us in a heartbeat. I can lead us there."

Skylar nodded; "Alright, lead the way. We'll leave the rest to you guys."

"Take care, Witchlet, Sweet Flea! And all my Grandchildren too!" Gwen said.

"We'll keep an eye on our scrolls. Shut off the Jammer when you need to find us out at sea." Barcus added, his parents nodding beside him as they gathered up all the Palismen with help from Hawksley. The only Palisman that refused to go with them was Goldfrey, who decided to rest on Hunter's shoulder, right beside Flapjack's usual spot.

"You sticking with me to avenge your partner?" Hunter asked with a smile.

He got a bob of the head for a reply, making him smile. No one was going to argue with the Palisman, so Skylar quickly led the others down from the Rock Formation and high-tailed it towards the Silver Skulls' ships, using invisibility spells cast by Crystal and scent-masking ones cast by Skylar and Gwen to ensure they weren't spotted by the enemy. They got out of there just in time, as a moment later, the Huntsman found Luz's group and flew over, immediately firing a beam of magic that destroyed the Rock Formation and forced them to all leap down to the Savannah floor.

Once on the ground, they all pointed their staves up at him, with Willow still in her fused form (Luz couldn't be weakened further unless Hunter or Lyra suddenly fused, so there was no point dropping it), and Raine and Lilith both in their hybrid forms. The Huntsman glared at them, and with a snap of his fingers, Madame Kirame emerged from the shadows beneath him. She looked rough, as Belos had possessed her as ordered, keeping his mind primarily inside the Titan Skull she wore, and stretching his slime body throughout Kirame, acting more like a second skin for her rather than entering her body. They were connected by only the smallest threads of slime going into her ears, allowing Belos and Kirame to work together without either being in explicit control of the other… it was an arrangement they both hated, but neither could do much about it with the Huntsman ordering it and being able AND willing to wipe them out for disobeying.

Belos especially hated being subservient and Hunter could see that, taking some pleasure of seeing his one-time creator in such a bad position.

"So, you ran all this way and for what? Three more allies? If you were going to anger me so much, you should have run and gotten an army! This? This is just sad." Belial mocked, conjuring a floating moon for him to sit on. "And you, Brat… you look paler. Weaker." he said, glaring at Luz; "Ugh, you're not even going to be fun to watch die! I guess I'll need to make some fun then! Belos!"

The man in question directed his eyes upwards, and Belial ordered; "The Grimwalker is inconsequential. Bring me his unique heart and the corpse of the Bee Girl. I'm sure you can handle a child and your old broken toy?"

Belos narrowed his eyes; so Belial was keeping him from Luz and King… He was cunning, Belos would give him that! But this was fine too; "A chance to repay your disobedience on the Day of Unity and in the Human Realm, Hunter. I'll show you precisely what happened to your predecessors!"

Hunter scoffed and pointed Flapjack's staff at him; "I'll avenge those predecessors by finally killing you! You couldn't beat me in a one on one, and your new puppet won't help you with Willow on my side!"

"Got that right! You should give up and jump ship while you can, Kirame! Your own master is basically throwing you to the wolves!" Willow taunted, flexing her sizeable arm muscles.

Madame Kirame scowled but didn't rise to her bait; "I am no puppet. He has no control over me just as I have none over him. We will work together for the glory of the Grand Huntsman!"

With those words said, Kirame darted through the shadows and emerged behind Willow, aiming a kunai at the back of her skull. Willow ducked and Hunter promptly shot a bolt of lightning at the kunai, forcing Kirame to drop it to avoid being shocked. Hunter then had to flash into the air to avoid being nicked by one of Belos' slimy claws, which emerged from Kirame's back like a third arm. Willow then used her plant magic to conjure a small bat made of heavy oak and swung around, smashing it into Kirame's gut. Belos' slime moved to block it, preventing any damage, but the force still sent him and Kirame flying a good distance away, so Hunter and Willow gave chase.

This exchange happened in the space of mere seconds, and the Huntsman was semi-entertained by it before turning his attention back to the other CATTs. Luz was given a Power Glyph by her Mom, to get her feeling better again for at least a little while, while everyone glared up at the Huntsman. King couldn't resist taunting the man, hating him above all others in existence.

"So where are your other lackeys? Your Trappers are all weak, dead at your hand, or already beaten by us, and your last one is now off getting their butt kicked! Are you finally gonna fight us directly!? 'Cause we beat Azazel with a smaller team than this!" he declared, making the Huntsman growl irritably.

"You talk big for such a little brat!" the Huntsman spat, before suddenly grinning; "Besides, I have three lackeys right here! Perfect for a three vs three match!"

The CATTs were confused, especially since there were currently six of them and no visible Huntsman Lackeys… at least until Belial created a ball of pale green magic in his hand, like a tiny ghostly moon. He then held this orb out towards the CATTs, who put up barriers to defend themselves, only for the barriers to be useless as Belial began to squeeze the orb and Eda, Lilith, and Raine suddenly cried out in pain and fell to their knees, each one gripping their hearts with one hand and their heads with the other.

"Did you really think you could come before me, infected with my own Curse Magic, and suffer no consequences? The scrolls I place my trophies inside allow me to control them, and while splitting the curse up between the three of you has weakened my control, I can still do this!" Belial declared, squeezing the ball tighter.

With the curse on the Owl Beast broken and divided between three bodies, he actually couldn't control them at all, but he could still hurt them and influence them a little, sending the Owl Beast within Eda into an uncontrollable rampage, while also inflicting enough pain and rogue emotions on Raine and Lilith to keep them from syncing with their parts of the Curse Magic, resulting in all three transforming into their Feral Beast forms. The Owl Beast snarled the loudest, while the Raven and Bat Beasts snarled beside her, causing King, Luz, and Eber to group together in horror, as Owlbert, Corvanc, and Rena rushed over to them to avoid being hurt by their uncontrollable owners.

Said owners first tried to attack the Huntsman, but found him protected by a barrier that they couldn't pierce, and as they had no Anti-Magic in their uncontrolled states, the feral beasts turned their attention to the first foes they COULD reach; Luz, King, and Eberwolf.

"Oh come on!" Luz groaned, turning Stringbean into key blade mode and using Corvanc's staff in her place. "Of freaking course he can control the beasts he enslaved! I should have seen this coming!"

Similarly, King sighed and used Owlbert's staff, while trying the Palisman Transformation Spell on Prince, who transformed into a black bladed short sword with Prince as the hilt and his hair extending both up and down as the blade and grip. "On the bright side, we've got experience fighting these guys! Let's just try to restrain them!"

"Eber is on board with that!" the diminutive Coven Head declared, deciding to sit on the back of Tigriel while borrowing Rena to use as a staff (though she noticed a lot more reluctance from the fox than Luz or King had gotten from their borrowed staves).

Belial the Huntsman grinned maliciously and clapped his hands, creating a barrier of Seraphim Magic around the area, empowered by the Moon. This Full Moon barrier was a swirling maelstrom of pale silver moonlight, golden Seraphic power, and his own signature pale green magic, and it was nigh-impenetrable, keeping anyone from getting or even seeing through it. With his prey now trapped and at the mercy of their own maddened friends, Belial sat back on his floating seat and declared; "Let the show begin!"

[Meanwhile]

The barrier created by Belial was huge and covered a large part of the Savannah, but thanks to how far they'd moved away from the others during their brief running battle, Willow, Hunter, and Belos-Kirame had managed to get out of its range, ensuring they weren't trapped too. So far their fight had been a series of quick, high-speed exchanges; Hunter would flash forward and attack with Flapjack in his lightning halberd mode, and Kirame would either evade with amazing reflexes or by escaping into the shadow, where Belos would then try to either counter attack with a glyph combo or send his claws and tendrils out through the teens' shadows to attack them. Willow may not have been the fastest person in the battle, but in her fused state and with Clover's senses and flying speed, she had saved Hunter and herself more than a few times by sensing the opening shadows and either escaping Belos' reach or using conjured vines to pull Hunter to safety. None of them had done any damage to each other yet, and smack talk had been kept mercifully short, as Kirame had little patience for Belos' mind games.

Their clash continued for about two more minutes after the Huntsman's barrier went up, before they finally stopped and stood opposite each other, Willow and Hunter staring down Belos and Kirame from a safe distance as all four caught their breath.

"We should not be struggling this much to kill two teenagers! I killed dozens of Golden Guards before this, and none were this much trouble!" Belos growled, his green slime almost bubbling due to his anger. "It's that contemptible bird's fault! I should have destroyed or consumed it when I had the chance!"

"What you SHOULD have done is left your brother to live in peace with the woman he loved! You were able to find a way home after killing him, but you could have done that first, then gone back to the Human Realm and forget any of this existed! But no, you had to choose genocide and fratricide!" Hunter yelled, lightning crackling around his body as he once again felt his heart beating faster. Goldfrey noticed this from his spot on Hunter's shoulder and tweeted to the boy.

"Be careful, Young Hawk. Your heart and body are becoming more and more like a Palisman! If you continue like this, you may end up trying to create a Soul-Bond with someone who is already bonded!"

Willow, understanding Goldfrey thanks to being fused with Clover, was stunned by that piece of information and was about to translate for Hunter, when the boy shockingly replied; "My body is becoming more like a Palisman!?"

"Hunter!? You understand Goldfrey too!?" Willow gasped.

Hunter blinked, then gasped as well, realising that he had. It was strange, and felt similar to when Flapjack talked; he heard Goldfrey tweeting like a bird, yet his brain instinctively knew what he was saying, almost like he was speaking in English directly into Hunter's brain. Combining that with Goldfrey's statement about Hunter becoming more like a Palisman made the boy gulp and look at his free hand, which still crackled with electricity, especially as his heart beat even faster.

His moment of distraction almost cost him, as Belos suddenly used his slime to create his most infamous glyph combo, which cast a petrifying spell on him. Willow conjured a pair of trees in response; one to block the spell and protect Hunter, and the other to launch her towards the villainous duo, were she was able to harden her fist into iron with the Iron Iris pollen she rapidly produced inside her nose with her fused power. She then threw a solid punch right at Kirame's face, aiming for the part beneath her bone mask, where her face was unprotected. Despite being able to, Belos did NOT try to defend her with his slime, knowing he could take her body with ease if she was knocked out, but luckily for Kirame, she was able to protect herself by suddenly opening her mouth and causing the head of a spear to shoot out and parry Willow's iron fist.

Willow was shocked, especially as Kirame's surprising strength allowed her to knock Willow back a bit with the spear. The girl flew away to avoid the follow-up lunge and Belos trying to hit her with red lightning, but Hunter flashed in to help her by blocking the follow-up lunge and actually taking the red lightning for her. For a split second, Hunter felt that overwhelming pain, before time seemed to slow down again and he felt his powers reacting. His own innate lightning overpowered and consumed Belos' red lightning, allowing Hunter's aura to momentarily become red lightning too. Hunter then touched the spear jutting out of Kirame's mouth and caused the red lightning to conduct into her.

Both Kirame and Belos screamed in agony, but Belos used this to his advantage and used his connection to Kirame's brain to transfer his pain to her, causing her to spasm as the lightning became too much. She would have bitten through her own tongue if not for the spear in her mouth (which Belos knew she'd summoned from the shadows inside her mouth), and by the time Hunter let go of the spear and stopped the current, Kirame had been rendered completely unconscious by the pain. She flopped backward, Belos pretending to have been knocked out too, and hit the ground with a thump, her spear slowly sliding back into the shadows.

"Did we get them?" Willow asked cautiously, readying some vine and root spells to bind them.

Hunter narrowed his eyes; "I don't know, but I wouldn't bet money on it being that easy! Belos is a slippery one."

That was all Willow needed to hear; she cast the spells and bound Kirame's body up tightly, wrapping her in soft vines, then a second layer of thorny vines that would cut her skin if she woke up and struggled, and finally a third later of stiff roots. Once Willow was done, Hunter used a Bestial Blessing to give himself the "Goo Bladder" of a Slitherbeast, allowing him to spit up a large amount of sticky greyish purple gunk. He then used a barrier glyph combo and a wind glyph note to create a barrier full of air around Kirame's head, before completely cocooning her in a second layer of Slitherbeast Goo.

"Well it anything is gonna hold them, it's all that!" Hunter declared, undoing his blessing and letting Flapjack return to animal form on his shoulder, alongside Goldfrey.

"No kill like overkill, right My Wolf?" Willow giggled, dropping her fused form for a bit to conserve her magic.

"With Belos, there is no such thing as overkill." Hunter snorted. He then looked over to the Huntsman's barrier and grumbled; "Yeah, we're not getting through that. What do we do now?"

"We could try using a shadow travel glyph combo to go under? But I'd be surprised if it worked." Willow replied, before turning to fully face her boyfriend; "And to be honest, I'm getting concerned about you Hunter. Goldfrey said you're becoming more like a Palisman, and your heart has been going crazy and causing some weird stuff! Something is definitely going on!"

Hunter looked down at his hands, which were still crackling with electricity (though it was no longer red). His heart was still beating faster than it should be, and Hunter definitely felt something strange going on… something within him calling out to both Willow and Flapjack.

"I don't know what's happening… Goldfrey, do you have some idea?" Hunter asked.

The yellow cardinal bobbed his head affirmatively; "I have a good guess, as the Palisman of a Palisman Carver. Your body is partly made of Palistrom Wood, like a Palisman, yes?"

"That's right." Hunter nodded.

"And the heart you made for him, Willow… you made it specifically to integrate with his Palistrom body, yes?" Goldfrey asked. He'd sensed the unusual heart while his partner was being healed, and Flapjack had explained the situation to him, but he wanted to be certain.

Willow simply nodded in reply, making Goldfrey say; "The heart is the vessel of the soul. If the body is Palistrom Wood, and the Vessel of the Soul is also partly Palistrom Wood, then it stands to reason that the person is a Palisman. This is unprecedented; a never before seen situation… Hunter, I believe you are a unique Human-Palisman Hybrid!"

Hunter's eyes widened while Willow covered her mouth in shock, as Clover buzzed around in shock. Strangely though, there was no shock or surprise from Flapjack, who sat in silence on Hunter's other shoulder. His silence drew Hunter's attention though; "Flap… did you know?"

Flapjack nodded; "I sensed it happening almost immediately. We're bonded partners; a piece of you soul is within me, along with Caleb's. I kept quiet because I had no idea how to explain it to you…"

The scarred boy wasn't angry with his partner, but he WAS shocked to his core, unsure of what to say or do in the aftermath of this information. His sense of self was fragile; he'd thought he was a stunted Witch, then learned he was a Grimwalker, then learned he was specifically a clone of Belos' own brother, and genetically identical to Luz's father of all things (which also meant he was genetically identical to his sister Lyra's father). He'd barely found his place in the Hexsquad, the CATTs, and the Deamonne, Clawthorne, and Noceda families, and now he had to deal with the fact he was now becoming some kind of Human Palisman!? He didn't know how to process all this!

Thankfully Willow, as shocked as she was, kept her mind focused on Hunter's health; "So why is his heart going crazy now? Is it because it's evolving and becoming more Palisman like?"

Goldfrey shrugged and answered, with Clover translating for him; "I can't be sure. We Palisman don't have internal organs like normal animals, and our souls permeate our whole body. But when we feel a "pull" towards a potential partner, we feel our souls pulsating and calling out to that partner. Perhaps Hunter's soul is doing the same?"

Hunter snapped back to attention; "That's exactly it! That's what I've been feeling! I'm sure of it! I felt a pull towards Willow and Flapjack!"

"Makes sense. A Palisman loves their partner more than anyone, so a hybrid like you would surely feel a pull towards your lover. And you are already bonded to Flapjack, so your soul is trying to repeat the bond on the other side!" Goldfrey tweeted.

"But I've already got a Palisman; Clover! And Flap IS a Palisman! Is it even possible for a Palisman to bond with another Palisman? Or for one Witch to bond with more than one Palisman?" Willow asked.

Goldfrey shook his head; "Normally, no. But Hunter isn't a pure Palisman; he's a hybrid. Who knows how the rules apply to him? Dell will be so fascinated!"

"Well that makes this complicated… so who do I choose? And how do I complete the bond anyway?" Hunter asked, growing more confused and conflicted.

Willow opened her mouth to let Hunter know that she wouldn't mind if he chose not to bond with her, and would also be okay with it if he DID bond with her, but she never got a chance as the shadows at her feet darkened. The bespectacled girl barely had a chance to register what she was looking at before a massive Odachi blade shot out of the shadow and came very close to stabbing her in the face. Thankfully she stepped back and immediately summoned Clover back over to fuse once again, allowing her to then effortlessly turn herself into iron again with Iron Iris Pollen, which saved her from suddenly being impaled by a dozen spears bursting out of the shadows all around her. Most of the spears had wooden shafts and their blades snapped off as they smashed against Willow's hardened flesh, but a few were sturdier and actually pinned Willow to her spot, trapping her.

"Willow!" Hunter cried, switching Flapjack back to his Lightning Halberd Mode as Goldfrey became a regular staff for him to use. He held the two staves high above and then slammed them down, creating a huge burst of light to destroy all the shadows, severing the spears that were emerging from them. Even with this, the spears pinning Willow were too heavy for her to shift, so she released the pollen of the Rusting Rhododendron to reduce the metal spears to a heap of red dust.

Now free, she rushed back over to Hunter, and the two flew into the sky to avoid any more shadowy traps.

"Those weapons from the shadows have got to be the work of Kirame! I bet Belos either woke her up or simply possessed her fully and is using her body!" Hunter growled, fully on guard as his lightning aura flared even more.

"I'm shocked they had a shadow inside that mess of restraints! Lyra said pure darkness wasn't usable for travel; they had to be shadows." Willow replied.

"Ugh, that air barrier I made to keep Kirame from suffocating! I bet Belos was able to make a light glyph inside it and use the shadow to worm his way out of the restraints and into the shadow world!" Hunter theorised.

"Clever Boy!"

Belos' foul voice suddenly sounded from behind Hunter, who turned and looked in horror as a fully possessed Kirame leapt out of the shadow that Hunter was casting on Willow's back. Belos had two of Kirame's knives in his hands, both dripping in poison, and he managed to slash both across Willow's back (making her scream and fall from the sky) AND slash at Hunter, barely missing him thanks to Hunter slowing down his perception of time, enabling him to flash out of the way just in time, then flash again to catch Willow before she hit the ground.

Without missing a beat, Hunter cast a Beast Summoning Spell (one he wasn't super good with) to summon the Sandstorm Hippo from earlier. Beast Summoning works on any beast so long as the caster had enough magic, they were in range of their desired beast, and they were familiar with the beast, so thanks to Hunter watching the Beast-Keepers from earlier drive off the Hippo, he knew it well enough to summon it with the magic of his dual staves. The Hippo immediately became agitated and created a sandstorm, blinding Belos and allowing Hunter to once again zip away with the poisoned Willow, who had turned pale and was definitely not in good shape.

Once they were safely in cover, Hunter used a Panacea Turtle Bestial Blessing again in order to consume some of the poison from Willow's wound and then begin making an antidote. Luckily, the poison was from an animal just as he'd hoped, so the process was fairly simple and he was soon able to distil an Anti-Venom and administer it to Willow's wound. The skin around the cut had previously turned green and begun to putrefy, but the cure caused it to take on a healthy colour again. Hunter then applied a healing glyph combo to close the wound completely.

"That was too close! Are you okay, Willow?" Hunter asked urgently, cradling her.

"I… I'm okay. But I feel numb and weak…" Willow said softly, struggling to stay awake with how weak she felt.

"The Poison has been cured, but it still did some damage! Here." Hunter handed her a healing potion; "Take this and rest. I'm going back in; join me if and when you feel up to it!"

Willow nodded, defusing from Clover. The little Palisman wasn't hurt, but since she felt everything Willow did while fused, she still felt the lethargy and nausea after separating, while Willow herself actually grew a little weaker. She still had enough strength to pull Hunter in for a passionate kiss though. When they pulled apart, Willow grinned weakly at Hunter's red face and said: "Go get him, my Wolf!"

Hunter's heart not only beat faster, but also felt hotter in response, and he nodded awkwardly, unable to think of anything suave or clever to say. He instead rushed back into the sandstorm, swapping out his Panacea Turtle Blessings for his Wild Heart Form with three new blessings; the first being the arms of the Kairiki; a four-armed Ape Demon with incredible strength. The second was the wings of the Yellow Wyvern, which transformed Hunter's additional arms into strong new wings without costing him the strength in his transformed original arms. The last one was the eyes of the Sandstorm Hippo, which could be used in the aforementioned sandstorms without issue.

Now transformed and ready to go, Hunter transformed Flapjack into a full Halberd with the Palisman Weapon Spell, then charged him with lightning again whilst putting an invisibility glyph on Goldfrey's staff and strapping it to his tail for use as an invisible sneak attack source. He then charged into the sandstorm as stealthily as possible, where he found Belos floundering around and trying to kill the Sandstorm Hippo, who was avoiding him rather easily. Belos didn't have the ninja-like killer instincts or skills of his host, so he didn't have any choice but to try and brute force the problem by using her magic to blindly throw weapons.

Hunter didn't want the creature to die after he dragged it into battle, so he snuck through the sand and winds so he could reach Belos and deliver a powerful electrical shock to him by slashing his electrified claws through him. Then when the man was sent flying with a nasty slash through his back, Hunter took the opportunity to shoo the Hippo away, shooting sparks at it like he'd seen the Beast-Keepers from earlier do. The Hippo made a loud noise of discontent, then trundled off in the same direction as before, returning to whatever new territory it had found for itself.

Of course, this meant the sandstorm went with it, and Hunter was soon faced with a VERY angry Belos.

Belos took one look at Hunter's current form (the boy dismissed his Sandstorm Hippo Eyes), and was about ready to spit fire with pure rage and hatred. Hunter's Wild Heart Form obviously had the hoofed feet of a Stonesleeper, a long Selkidomus tail, spikes of Palistrom Wood on his back and shoulders (which looked a lot more pronounced now), clawed hands, pointed ears like a Stonesleeper, and the horns of a Stonesleeper Alpha! Mixing that with the draconic Yellow Wyvern Wings and his natural red eyes as a Grimwalker meant he looked a LOT like an actual Biblical Demon! The fact he looked like that while also having his brother's face drove Belos into a fury.

"How dare you! How dare you fall this far into evil and corruption! I created you in my brother's image, and then you defiled that image by becoming THIS!? I'll tear my brother's blood from your veins and leave your corpse for your failure of a sister to find!" Belos roared, his slime warping Kirame's body and ironically making her look just as demonic and monstrous.

His slime consumed her Titan mask and turned it and her entire head into a large skeletal bird head with antler like horns, all made of slime. Her legs were similarly extended and mutated to look like bird legs, but thinner, skeletal, and far too long to be natural. Her hands were similarly warped to look like the skeletal structure of Bat wings, with extremely long fingers but no membranes, making her look like some kind of horrifying bird skeleton that had been stretched out too much. Ten long, thin slime arms emerged from Kirame's back, echoing the stolen wings that Belos had for so long, and bits of his slime even emerged from her here and there in the form of twisted feathers, each one with a single blue eye on it. She looked monstrous, and Hunter couldn't help but think of the Hecatoncheires; a race of giants with dozens of arms and ugly appearances.

"Tch, and you call ME evil and corrupt? Hypocrisy has always been your go-to!" Hunter growled, spinning his halberd and borrowed staff to create two yellow spell circles crackling with lightning. "But you made a mistake this time, you scum! You're not possessing some idiot human or my friend; you're possessing a murderer and Titan Trapper! I've got no problem putting you BOTH down for good!"

With that he thrust his two spell circles towards Belos and unleashed a massive double barrelled blast of lightning. Belos evaded it by using Kirame's magic to sink into the shadows, all while spitting several globules of his slime at Hunter. Most of the slime was vaporised by the lightning blast, but a few drops splattered around Hunter's feet, where they shockingly turned black like shadows and unleashed one of Belos' back-arms, which was now holding one of Kirame's weapons.

All of Kirame's weapons were from the Eight Fang Titans, where the Bloody Fang Tribe lived, and since that area of the Demon Realm overlapped with the Human Realm's east Asia, most of the weapons looked distinctly Japanese, Chinese, or Korean in nature. The swords were Chinese Jian straight swords and Dao curved swords, while the spears were largely Japanese Yari, and the knives were Japanese Kunai and Tantos. Hunter was familiar with all of them thanks to Luz's sizeable anime collection, and he greatly admired them… though not when they were bursting out of the shadows to cut him to ribbons!

The boy flashed into the air and took flight, but the slimy arms extended up to reach him anyway, chasing him at high speed. Hunter flew around carefully, avoiding the blades or blocking with his Stonesleeper durability when he was sure he could avoid damage. The blades were almost certainly dripping with poison, and a single cut would enable Belos to try and worm his way inside Hunter's body; something the boy definitely didn't want! With careful evasion, Hunter was able to fly around in such a way that Belos' arms quickly became entangled, forcing him to melt the appendages back down into a big slurry of green rot, then drain it back into the shadows so he could attack again. The weapons fell and hit the ground, before slowly being reclaimed by the shadows too.

Hunter grinned, feeling like he was winning without too much difficulty, but his confidence was soon tested when Belos' tendrils suddenly emerged from his own wings, as his body cast shadows onto them. The tendrils wrapped around him and bound him tight, preventing him from flying and causing him to fall out of the sky and crash into the savannah below. A fall from that height would have killed a normal person, but Hunter's Stonesleeper parts enabled him to resist the damage (albeit with still a few cracks to his bones). He was still tied up though, and forced to grit his teeth to stop Belos from getting into his mouth to possess him. That wasn't Belos' plan though; instead the slimy monster let his skeletal bird-like head emerge from the shadows and begin exhaling a potent poisonous gas directly into Hunter's face. The gas stung mildly on the skin, but if he inhaled it, Hunter would find his internal organs beginning to melt, forcing him to hold his breath.

"You should know by now boy… I know how to make you sinners scream!" Belos declared maliciously, causing dozens of spears to thrust into Hunter from the shadows beneath him, forcing him into the air. Most of the spears hit his Stonesleeper parts and thus did no damage, but others speared through his wings and cut some of his softer parts, causing Hunter to have to work extremely hard to not cry out in pain. Thankfully, for as good as Belos was at making his victims scream, he had also been very good at training Hunter's body to stoically endure pain, so Hunter kept his jaw clamped shut and instead focused on his magic. His eyes began to flash between red and gold, much to Belos' confusion, as he used a Bestial Blessing to give himself the beak of a Thunderbird.

Thunderbirds were large eagle-like birds with blue and yellow feathers, and with the power to not only transform into Lightning, but also to call down Lightning Strikes on themselves, even without a storm in the sky. Using the beak of one such creature, Hunter used the last of his breath to cry out loudly (exhaling and not inhaling), creating a sound like an eagle's cry, which immediately caused the sky directly above him to fill with black clouds spiralling around like a cyclone. From the centre of this cyclone shot an immense bolt of lightning, arching down from the heavens to strike Hunter head on, which of course meant he also struck Belos's slime and zapped him.

Belos cried out in pain and was forced to let go of Hunter, who was completely unharmed by the lightning thanks to the Thunderbird beak and his own innate lightning magic. Hunter then immediately dismissed his other Blessings so he could pull free of the spears with only a few more scratches, and then flash his way out of the spears that had thrust him into the air and away from the gas.

As soon as he was in the clear, Hunter breathed deeply and quickly, catching his breath after holding it for so long. He then immediately switched his blessings to the Panacea Turtle again so he could hurry back over to the gas and create an antidote for it, which he then had Goldfrey help him distil into some emptied healing potion bottles, the prior contents being chugged by him to heal his cuts and other wounds. Once he was finished and had inhaled all the gas to make into antidotes, Hunter stored them in one of the pouches on his belt and then gave himself a new set of blessings; the wings of a Thunderbird, the metallic shell of a Marrdreg, and muscles of a Slitherbeast, causing him to hunch over almost like a gorilla. He then used the Thunderbird wings to take to the sky and summon more lightning to strike him, which hit his metallic shell and caused it to grow brightly as he curled up like an armadillo. Now electrified to an incredible level and emitting light from his shell AND the light glyph notes he'd activated while curled up, Hunter descended back to the ground like a meteorite, striking it hard and creating a small crater as well as a bright flash that destroyed all shadows within a hundred yards, forcing Belos out of the shadow world with an undignified squawk.

The man landed in a heap not far from the crater Hunter was climbing out of, so he immediately turned one of his slimy hands into a whip-like appendage and lashed it at him, while using the others to create a petrification glyph combo. Hunter easily tanked the lash by spinning and letting the slime smack harmlessly against his iron shell, then he flashed out of the way of the petrification attack. He then flashed back towards Belos, aiming Flapjack's halberd form at the man's neck and aiming for a decapitation. Sure he'd rather not kill if he could help it, and he'd been lucky to avoid killing thus far even with his old Golden Guard Job, but he wasn't going to hold back on Belos OR Kirame!

Belos lost an arm to the slice as he ducked to evade it, then he pulled out another Yari Spear from the shadows and swung it at Hunter, causing the two to briefly engage in a duel of weapons, with each blocking, thrusting, parrying, and riposting one another. Belos clearly had no idea what he was doing with the spear though, so Hunter easily had him on the ropes and cut off his hand, making the former Emperor cry out in pain. The man then switched to a new weapon; a Jian straight sword, and to Hunter's immense shock, Belos was actually fairly good with it! The evil man swung at Hunter until the boy was forced to block, then as he was blocking, Belos used his other arms to fire bolts of corrosive black magic at Hunter, making him hiss in pain as his shell was devoured by the magic. Hunter dismissed his Marrdreg Blessing, then to his immense surprise, Belos raised his additional arms and expanded his slime out to create a massive curved wall of the stuff, which cast a massive shadow. From there, he launched Kirame's entire supply of kunai, throwing knives, shuriken, and any other weapon he could throw, sending an entire storm of sharp metal at Hunter's now unprotected torso.

Hunter tried to flash away, but Belos' slimy tendrils emerged from the ground as well, not leaving through shadows but from his toe claws, which he'd had secretly going under the ground. They rooted him to the spot and Hunter suffered several cuts before he snapped out of his surprise and tried a new plan.

"Magnetic Flux!" Hunter declared, using his lightning magic to create a barrier of electromagnetic energy around himself. This energy caught and repelled any metal object that got close to him, causing all of Kirame's weapons to bounce off before they could get close to his skin. Immediately after this, Hunter charged electricity between his Stonesleeper horns, then lowered his head and cried; "Electro Ball!" before firing the orb of Lightning Magic directly at Belos. Belos ducked it, but Hunter was able to use his Magnetic Flux to draw the Electro Ball back to him, then launch it again. This repeated itself a few times until Belos was struck and electrocuted, causing his attack to stop and him to scream in pain. The pain also forced him to stop his attack and retreat into the shadows, though he didn't leave without a parting gift; he unleashed a huge amount of red lightning right as he was sinking into the shadows, making the lightning arc between the hundreds of metal weapons sticking out of the ground around Hunter.

The Electromagnetic Barrier could block and deflect metal projectiles, but it COULDN'T block electricity like the Red Lightning, so Hunter ended up taking a very painful blast of it. He howled in agony as the evil lightning made his nerves sing with pain, like knives carving out his every nerve and setting them on fire. The pain was excruciating and almost entirely unending, as the lightning kept bouncing between Hunter and the metal weapons around him, forming a perpetual circuit.

Thankfully for Hunter, as the pain got worse and his heartbeat sped up, the world around him seemed to slow down again and Hunter was able to VERY BRIEFLY speed up his own perception so much that it was like time was standing still. This gave him the mother of all migraines, and he naturally couldn't move his body at this kind of speed, but it did allow him to absorb the current into his own electricity like he'd done earlier, which then allowed him to stop it entirely.

With a gasp, Hunter's perception snapped back to normal and he collapsed to his knees, his body shaking with the residual pain he'd felt from the attack and his head pounding from his brain working so fast. Not only that, but his body felt weirdly exhausted, even discounting the pain he'd suffered and the fierce battles he'd been fighting.

"Ugh, this is not a good time for this…" Hunter grunted, managing to climb to his feet briefly before another muscle spasm had him back on one knee. "I should be doing better than this!"

Goldfrey and Flapjack both turned back to their animal forms and rested on his shoulders to reassure him.

"Hunter, you're doing fine! You're fighting an adult Witch possessed by a monstrosity, all while being a teenager! Not to mention you're kind of going through a big change right now." Flapjack said comfortingly.

"He's right, Young Hawk. Belos is formidable, even without his stolen wings. Don't feel ashamed." Goldfrey agreed.

Hunter wasn't convinced; "But I beat him so much easier in the Human Realm!"

"You beat him while he was weak, had very little magic, and was possessing a Human Body with no powers and unfamiliar modern tools. Now he has feasted on magic to regain his strength, has a strong magically and physically trained body, and a series of weapons and poisons he understands how to use." Flapjack pointed out, "There is no shame in not being able to crush him like you did back then! Especially with your body being unstable as it changes."

Again, Hunter didn't feel totally convinced… when his comrades were regularly fighting Seraphim-level foes like Supreme Dragons, actual Seraphim, and other powerful forces, it was hard to look at himself struggling with a relatively weak foe. Still, he did appreciate the attempt to cheer him up.

Knowing full well that Belos was not likely to give up even after a brutal shock like the one Hunter had just dealt him, the young Grimwalker forced himself back to his feet and restored his Marrdreg Bestial Blessing so he would be ready to defend himself. Unfortunately for him, Belos was ready too.

One of the shadows of the weapons Belos had shot at Hunter opened up, and from it was thrown something. Hunter didn't see what it was at first and spun around, swatting it away with his tail, only to find that whatever it was had left an unpleasant bloody stain on the fin at the end. The object hit the ground near Hunter with a wet thud, and Hunter looked at the blood on his fin with distaste, smelling the strong coppery stench that confirmed the blood was real. With a sinking feeling, he looked over at the object, and stepped towards it, fearing what it could be. Upon getting close enough to finally identify it amidst all the blood and unkempt black hair, Hunter froze mid-step, his heart nearly stopping as his mind ground to a halt at the grisly sight.

The object was a disembodied head… a head sporting broken glasses, a green streak of hair barely visible through all the blood, and broken braids, the bottom of which had been cut off while the rest was kept from untangling thanks to all the blood.

It was the head of Willow.

Hunter's eyes widened as tears filled them and his body began to shake even more. This couldn't be true… it couldn't be real! There was no way Willow could be dead!

Another shadow opened and another object came flying out, but this time Hunter caught it without thinking, unable to turn away from Willow's face, his eyes locked on her empty dead ones. But even without looking, he knew what the object he'd caught was… it felt and smelled like burnt wood, and crumbled a little in his hand. Flapjack and Goldfrey reacted with horror at the sight, and Hunter just knew that he was holding the husk of Clover.

Hunter's mind began to spiral for a moment as his heart sped up again and a deep well of emotion threatened to overflow within him… But even as he was faced with the death of his beloved, there was something in Hunter's mind that he kept repeating.

Willow couldn't be dead!

With each repeat, it sounded less like denial and more like a statement of fact; there was simply no way Willow was gone! Sure, killing Willow while she was weak and devouring Clover was well within Belos' capabilities from a moral standpoint, but Hunter refused to believe Belos could have snuck over and murdered her! Willow was too powerful, too determined, and too amazing to go out so easily! Even weakened by the after-effects of poison, she would never lose without a fight! The heart hammering away inside Hunter's chest convinced him of that! In fact, now that Hunter let the initial shock and horror fade, he noticed that he STILL felt his soul trying to bond with Willow.

"She's not dead." Hunter declared resolutely, finally looking away from "Willow" to look at the thing in his hand; the husk of Clover. It was a blackened bee of wood, but the wood actually had a few different types in it; spots where it looked like two pieces had been jammed together before they were burnt. Hunter sliced it open with a claw and saw that multiple pieces were still slightly unburnt in the very centre; it was only a few fibres, but it proved that they were in fact several different pieces of wood stuck together and then burned! Hunter's eyes then flicked towards some of the weapons around him… many of which had wooden handles. It wasn't difficult to deduce Belos had made the fake Palisman from some of Kirame's weapons just to mess with him.

Feeling his horror turn into rage, Hunter sniffed the blood on his tail, and while his Stonesleeper nose wasn't as sensitive as a wolf's, it WAS sensitive enough that a closer inspection made it clear that the blood WAS Witch Blood, but did NOT smell like Willow. He then took it a step further and grabbed "Willow"'s head and picked it up to sniff, not detecting even a whiff of Willow's scent! All he detected was rot and the scent of Kirame, with the feeling of the fake head's hair being more like grass than hair. Hunter jabbed the fake head's cheek and caused a cyan puff of smoke, revealing that the head was just an illusion covering a warm lump of mud, with grass stuck in it for hair, and Kirame's blood dripped over it to sell the illusion.

"I knew it! It's a fake! Belos was just trying to get inside my head again!" Hunter snarled, feeling his temper rise even higher.

Suddenly, he heard Belos' voice emanating from the surrounding shadows; "I've always been inside your head, Hunter. Your head, your flesh, your soul… I made you. And I can unmake you."

"Then come out here and try it instead of hiding in the shadows like a coward!" Hunter yelled, looking around while the Cardinal Palismen kept an eye out for Belos and watched Hunter's back.

"Oh? But doesn't your sister hide in the shadows too? Or is it your daughter now? You are biologically her father now. Though in truth, I am the father to both of you, as your creator!" Belos taunted.

"Shut up! Don't talk about Lyra! And you are NOT my father! My only father is Darius Deamonne!" Hunter snarled, losing his temper bit by bit.

"Lyra, is it? Oh yes, I seem to remember that from your foul invasion of the Heavens. To think, she was such a failure at imitating Luciel that she even changed her name to be further from hers! Though maybe it's better to say Luciel was imitating her by rebelling against Heaven! As for Darius… leave it to you to be adopted by such a creature! He can't even pass for a proper human like some Witches!"

Hunter didn't even want to think about what Belos meant with that statement! Instead he yelled; "This coming from the fanatic that can't even be called Human any more!?"

Belos' voice grew louder as he laughed maniacally, unnerving Hunter as the laugh came from all around him, giving the boy that feeling that had haunted his childhood in the castle; the feeling that the Emperor was always watching.

"Oh Hunter… if I'm not Human, then what does that make you? Made in the image of my brother, even if you defiled that image with foul magic. The truth is that you and I are more alike than you'd ever want to admit!"

"SHUT UP! SHOW YOURSELF!" Hunter roared, losing the last bit of his self-control, his irises glowing in an unsettling swirl of red and gold light.

"As you wish… my foolish pawn!"

At those words, some of the mud of the fake Willow Head began to flake off as the head swelled, revealing that the inside of the head was actually Belos' slime, which was forming into numerous fire glyphs and contained a series of red slips of paper marked with runes and foreign glyphs. Hunter's eyes widened and he dropped the head, but the glyphs exploded, igniting the paper tags along with the slime, creating an even larger explosion right in Hunter's face before he could turn Flapjack back into a staff and flash away.

The explosion was powerful and basically point blank, though thanks to Hunter reaching for Flapjack with one hand and throwing up the other after dropping the disguised bomb, he had managed to partially shield Flapjack and Goldfrey. Partially being the key word of course, as they were still hit with some of the force and fire, while Hunter took the brunt of it. If not for Hunter shielding the Palisman and being in his Wild Heart form, the trio would have been blown to pieces and died a grisly death, but with them they thankfully survived, albeit barely in Hunter's case. The force of the explosion sent Hunter flying several feet and crashing into the savannah floor, leaving quite the bad skid mark along the ground. Goldfrey and Flapjack landed just in front of him, all three of them severely injured and in need of desperate medical attention.

"Ugh… Flap…? G-Goldfrey…?" Hunter managed to utter, trying to stand up only to end up flopping face down in the dirt. He saw the injured Palisman and felt his heart break as he began dragging himself towards them, desperate to protect them.

Before he could reach them though, Belos emerged from the shadows in his monstrous bird-like form, still possessing Kirame (who was now missing a finger, as Belos had sliced it off to get the blood for his ruse). He smirked down at the badly wounded boy and scooped up the Palismen right in front of him, holding them both in two of his smaller back-arms.

"Ah, here we are again. How many times have I stood over your beaten and broken form, after you made the mistake of drawing my ire?" Belos asked rhetorically. "You never were good at avoiding it. You're lucky I didn't destroy you by accident several times!"

"You bastard…!" Hunter growled weakly, trying to force himself to his feet. He winced in pain as his wounds screamed in protest, and he soon found himself unable to move as Belos' slime bound him and held him spread eagle in front of him, ensuring he couldn't reach the Palismen or his pouch of potions and glyph combos, which Belos snatched and tossed away for good measure.

"Such rudeness towards your creator. I'd start showing gratitude if I were you, boy." Belos grinned mockingly. "Especially as we're so alike."

"We are nothing alike!" Hunter spat.

"Oh? As I recall, you wore a golden mask and masqueraded as a Witch just as I did, while actually being a human. Or at least, modelled on a human. You also feed on the power of others in order to survive!"

Hunter looked at him like he was insane; "YOU gave me that mask! YOU told me I was a Witch! I had no idea it was a lie! And I do not feed on others!"

"Oh? You feed on the Titans' power to use their glyphs in those paper notes. You fed on Carbuncles once to use those artificial Magic staves. You feed on the magic of this pathetic bird…" he squeezed Flapjack, making the Cardinal squawk in pain and causing Hunter to cry out to him; "… and I bet you use the blessings of Luciel or her dark doppelganger too."

"No, I don't! I am not some parasite like you! Sure, my friends help me out since I have no natural magic, but I don't take anything they won't give!" Hunter argued.

Belos snorted; "And yet, it's so easy to make people give you what's most precious to them if you make them love you. I conquered the Boiling Isles and had an entire Coven willing to give up their Palismen; their so-called closest companions and vessels for a part of their soul, to me! They loved me and let me devour their Palismen, just as your little friends love you and let you feast on them! And for what? Let's face it Boy, you are inferior in every regard!"

Hunter scoffed, even as his restraints tightened and made him clamp his jaw shut for a moment to stop himself from giving Belos the satisfaction of hearing him whimper. He then glared at Belos; "As if I care about your opinion any more! Unlike you, I don't hurt the people who love me, or abuse the gifts they give me! I do what I can for them too, and never ask something I wouldn't give too! You stole and devoured everything you got your rotten hands on! We are not alike!"

"Oh, we certainly are. Though you are inferior to me as well. The most damage you ever did to my plans was when you were trying, and failing, to help me with them!" Belos laughed; "But since then, what have you achieved? I saw a lot in Luciel's memories, and in the memories of those I possessed in order to survive after the incident in the Heavens; I know it wasn't you who helped turn Lucy into this "Lyra" creature. It wasn't you who foiled my plans at Glandus. Your actions on the Day of Unity would have amounted to nothing if not for Cassiel and the Divider. Again, your actions would have achieved nothing when we fought in the Human Realm if Luciel hadn't saved you, and even then, that "defeat" of me was enough to get me into the Heavens and in a position to fool the Collector and take Luciel's body for my own. And since then, what have you achieved? A pyrrhic victory against lower ranked Angels in Cartilia and Manubrium? Nearly being killed in the Navel Woods, and needing your little lover to save you? And now? What have you achieved today? You saved a few useless Palisman, defeated some disgusting sea beast, and ended up where you always do in the end; beaten and bloody at my feet."

Belos grabbed Hunter's hair and yanked his head up so the two were looking into each other's eyes; "This is how it always ends, Hunter. Every single Golden Guard that didn't die in my service eventually died at my hand. And besides looking the most like Caleb, you had absolutely nothing special about you at all. You were utterly average… in fact, you fall somewhere in the lower reaches of my creations."

Hunter grit his teeth, and for a moment he felt a rush of despair go through him as he thought back to all he achieved… or all he'd thought he'd achieved. When it was framed the way Belos did, it really did look and feel like he'd barely done anything at all! It was like he'd been the load around the Hexsquad's necks! Everyone else in the Hexsquad had done something amazing, or created a new and amazing form of magic, and while Hunter certainly had big ideas of doing the same, he didn't have magic of his own to achieve those ideas!

The despair began to deepen, even as a voice in the back of his mind kept telling him to stop listening to Belos; to ignore his every worthless word. This was what Belos did; he twisted the truth and made everything seem as rotten and foul as he was. Still, as Hunter searched his mind for proof that Belos was wrong, he couldn't find anything!

However, Flapjack certainly could as he began furiously chirping at his partner;"Don't listen, Hunter! You helped plenty! Lyra survived because of you! Waffles was born because of you! Gus was saved at Glandus, because of you! And the entire Hexsquad owe you their lives after you saved them in the fight on the Day of Unity! Not to mention Cartilia and Manubrium may not have succeeded without you, and Willow and Boscha could have been killed by Terra if you hadn't saved them!"

Hunter's eyes snapped up towards Flapjack, the despair in them fading fast as he realised Flapjack was right! Belos liked to use things that were "technically" true to discourage and demoralise, while also psychologically tricking his victims into not thinking about it deeper, since they see it is "true" and immediately think they can't dispute it. In reality, when looked at from a third party point of view, things are a lot more nuanced and the "truth" becomes a lot less black and white.

Belos scowled furiously, letting go of Hunter's head so he could turn his attention to Flapjack, whom he began to slowly crush in one of his slimy back arms.

"I don't know what you said, you infernal pigeon, but I do know that you are once again getting in my way! Just as you did with Caleb all those years ago!" Belos growled, the tips of the fingers holding Flapjack slowly getting sharper; "I think it's time I give you more than just a scratch on the eye!"

Hunter struggled with all his might as Flapjack began chirping in pain, and Belos' twisted bird-like face became an ugly grin. However right before Belos could pierce Flapjack with his claws, Hunter's enhanced hearing picked up a soft buzzing and the sound of something shooting through the air at high speed. This "something" turned out to be a seed, which smacked into the side of Belos' face with decent force, making him flinch as the seed was embedded in his slime.

This seed was the first of many, and a moment later, Belos found his face and torso completely peppered with these seeds, which then began to smoke a little before they all suddenly exploded, revealing themselves to be the seeds of an Artillery Seed Pod; one of Willow's grafted creations. The explosion blew most of Belos' slime away from Kirame's upper body, revealing her badly scarred and withered Witch Form underneath, while the blasted slime (still maintaining its hands and thus holding the two Cardinal Palismen) started to slowly reform over the groaning woman's body.

At that moment, Willow appeared out of thin air, still looking pale and sickly in her fused form. The poison from earlier, even though it had been cured, had still left some after-effects that a normal healing potion hadn't treated, leaving Willow feeling pretty awful. Still, she'd managed to pull herself together and fuse with Clover (who also felt bad since the poison had infected them while they were fused), then hurry to Hunter's rescue under the cover of Chameleon Camomile pollen.

"Hunter! Oh Titan, are you okay!?" Willow gasped in horror upon getting a better look at her injured boyfriend. She used a vine to grab one of the discarded Kunai from earlier and used it to begin trying to cut away Belos' slime restraints, as Hunter sighed with relief.

"I'm fine… or I will be with some potions in me. Some of those, as well as some healing glyphs are over in my pouch. Belos tossed it over there." Hunter nodded his head in the right direction, and Willow conjured a small Mandrake and ordered it to go get the pouch as she kept working on Belos' restraints, which were avoiding being cut by reforming the instant the blade stopped touching it. The Mandrake soon returned and Willow abandoned the restraints for a moment to begin pouring the mild healing potions down Hunter's throat and gently placing the healing glyph notes on his burns, fixing him up.

Once Willow had stopped shoving potions into his mouth, Hunter said; "What about you, Willow? I don't want to be rude, but you don't look so good…"

"I don't feel so good either. Neither is Clover, and it turns out that if you and your Palisman are both sick when you fuse, the result feels super sick! But it's no worse than the food poisoning I got from Gus's weird Mustard Ravioli back in the Human Realm!" Willow tried to joke.

Hunter smiled, but then gasped in horror as he saw Belos finish reforming behind Willow. "BEHIND YOU!" he yelled.

It was too late though, and when Willow spun around to face Belos, he was already in her face and the combination of his foul smell and the sudden spin had Willow staggering as a wave of nausea slammed into her. Then Belos raised one of his slimy bird-like feet and really slammed it down on Willow, making her hit the floor with a cry of pain. That cry became a full on scream when Belos then used the shadows to shoot a pair of spears out of the ground beneath Willow's hands and the ends of her wings, impaling them and pinning her down.

"NO! WILLOW!" Hunter cried as his girlfriend tried and failed to pull herself free. Unfortunately she couldn't stand with Belos stamping on her back, and she couldn't free her hands or wings without standing.

"Ah, your little insect of a lover. How appropriate… you know, of all the incarnations of Caleb to betray me, you're only the third to do so because you were seduced from your duty. Caleb was too, and of course you know about Michael! Though at least HE was mislead by a sinful human that also corrupted an Angel, while you and Caleb were seduced by filthy vermin!" Belos scoffed.

Hunter struggled and snarled; "LEAVE HER ALONE!"

Belos sneered and stabbed a toe claw into Willow's shoulder, making her wince and groan through gritted teeth as Hunter's struggling became almost rabid.

"I think not. You know Hunter, I never enjoyed killing any of my Golden Guards…. I always hated reliving that betrayal from my brother. But even so, I kept giving his incarnations chance after chance. None died because they failed me; they died in my service or from betraying me! Sure, I had a firm hand when it came to disciplining you all…"

One of his unoccupied slime hands lashed out and slapped Hunter hard across the face, though the boy barely registered it with his hardy Stonesleeper aspects. Belos didn't mind that though; the slap was more to emphasise his point.

"…but I never actually killed any of you for failing me. Still, I feel like simply killing you is not a fitting punishment for your betrayals, so I shall give you a choice… the same choice I was once forced to make. You get to decide who lives and who dies."

He held out Goldfrey and Flapjack, then pointed down at Willow; "You are going to die, and one of these three will die too. YOU will decide which one."

"W-What!?" Hunter exclaimed.

"You heard me; I will spare two of your lives and take the other two. God teaches mercy after all! And I want to teach you a lesson, as long ago I chose my faith and the fate of Humanity over the life of my beloved brother. Now you will make a similar choice, sacrificing yourself and someone you love for the sake of something else you love! But who will you choose?" Belos asked with a demonic grin.

"We have your Palisman, and the very gift that corrupted my brother and brought him under that foul Evelyn's spell… But he is also the source of your power and even as you die, I'll devour him and destroy his soul, ensuring you never see him again in whatever Hell you're condemned too. Then we have your lover; if you die with her, you'll both be condemned to the same Hell and can suffer for eternity together… that is if she forgives you for condemning her. And of course, we have this other Palisman, belonging to your new beloved Grandfather… tell me, how much do you think he'll curse your name and memory if you condemn his companion to die?" Belos said, his unnatural azure eyes burning with malicious glee. "Three choices, one death… Choose, Hunter. Choose, or I'll kill ALL of them as you watch! I'll give you a few minutes."

Hunter's mind immediately went into overdrive, his heart beating faster and hotter as his perception of time slowed down once more, his body crackling with electricity (which sadly did not seem to be enough to stop his slimy restraints) as he thought over his predicament. Now Hunter was no fool; he knew this was a mind game and that Belos would kill whoever he chose, then kill the others too, just to hurt him. The man's word meant less than nothing, so making a choice was pointless even if Hunter could bring himself to do so.

"Stop and think, Hunter! There has to be a way out of this! Belos is cocky, but he's always like that when he thinks he's won! He'll let his guard down, at least a little! I have to be able to do SOMETHING here!" he thought, his eyes darting back and forth as he tried to think of a way out. His friends couldn't reach him right now, Willow was incapacitated, and Hunter himself was bound… Breaking down the problem, the solutions were simple; escape his binding and free the Palismen and Willow before Belos can hurt them. However executing that solution was going to be borderline impossible without magic or help.

"Okay, be calm and rational. You emotions and instincts empower you, they do not rule you, Hunter." he thought, his heart heating up a little more; "I can come up with a plan! I just need to be smart!"

Hunter went deep into his own mind, slowing his perception of time even further at the risk of giving himself another migraine, searching through his memories of the entire day in an attempt to find a solution. Then, out of pure instinct, his mind settled on the memory of his talk with Goldfrey and his belief that Hunter was now becoming like a Palisman. Palismen had a form of magic they could use on their own; they couldn't cast spells, but they could become staves, fly in staff mode (even if they can't in animal mode), and in the case of Palismen based on magical creatures, they could use the magical abilities of that creature (such as Stringbean shapeshifting, or Viney's Palisman Regant having his poison sting).

The boy jumped on this and began to think; he was exhibiting some magical abilities on his own, such as the lightning aura and speeding up his brain, but those were NOT the abilities of a Human! Those were spells usable by a Witch with lightning magic! And from a certain point of view, Hunter could consider him to be a Palisman of a Witch and not a Human, as while his DNA mostly came from a Human, Belos had "carved" him with the intent of making him blend in as a Witch! Combine that with his magical heart incorporating Galdorstone Fragments, the Blessing of Cassiopeia given via Luz and King, the effects of King's glyph, Hunter's bond with Flapjack, AND the occasional blessings Luz had given him, it was conceivable that Hunter had evolved from a Grimwalker based on a Human, to a Humanoid Palisman designed to look like a Witch! And if he was a Palisman modelled on a Witch, then he would have the powers of a Witch!

Perhaps his logic was flawed and his understanding of the situation wasn't completely accurate, but Hunter's instincts were screaming at him that deep within, with the help of Flapjack and Willow, he had a magic of his own! He just needed to believe in himself and tap into it! The Clawthorne Family he'd become a part of had a saying after all; Magic came from the Heart! With that in mind, Hunter turned his focus inward, to the call within him that pointed to Willow and Flapjack.

"Flapjack is already my Palisman Partner and has a piece of my soul! Willow is the girl that owns my heart! I am already bonded to them both as tightly as I could ever hope for… but there is one bond I haven't fully completed! A call I've barely noticed… because it was pointing inward! My Palisman side, my Grimwalker side; two sides of the same coin… and I am going to bond them together!" Hunter thought, following his instincts as his heart burned with emotion, and his mind raced with new ideas and strategies.

The one bond he'd yet to complete was being rebuilt inside him; a bond within himself, between his heart, mind, and soul! Like Luz, Hunter had defined himself by what he was in others' eyes; Darius' son, Lyra's brother, the Hexsquad's friend, Flapjack's partner, and Willow's lover… he hadn't thought much at all about who he saw himself as! What did Hunter want to be?

As he came to the answer to that question, the bond between his magic and himself finally solidified and a surge of power filled the boy, his eyes permanently turning from red to gold. Belos noticed this, but he noticed it a fraction too late as Hunter suddenly zipped out of his restraints in a golden flash, casting magic entirely by himself, and slammed into Belos with enough force to send him flying backward. Hunter then roared and electrified his claws before slicing off the slimy arms sprouting from Belos' back, allowing him to free Flapjack and Goldfrey in an instant. Hunter's next move was to land beside Willow and very gently jab the back of her neck with an electrified claw, stunning her nervous system long enough for him to yank out all four spears pinning her to the ground, before swiftly casting a VERY simple healing spell to begin healing the wounds.

The wounds were closed but not fully healed, making Hunter look at his hands with a contemplative look; "Guess there's more to this spell-casting business than I thought! I guess I can't rely on Flapjack to make up for a lack of skill any more."

Flapjack, knowing just what had happened, was cuddling into Hunter's neck with overwhelming pride, while Goldfrey rested on his shoulder and bowed his head in thanks, and Willow stood (still feeling nauseous and with aching wounds) and gaped.

"Hunter… did you do magic on your own!? No glyph combos, no Palisman… just you!?" she asked, shocked and amazed.

Hunter nodded; "That I did. I figured out some stuff thanks to this new heart of mine. I never expected it to turn me from a Grimwalker into a Hybrid Palisman, but I made it work!"

"I see… so does that mean you bonded with Flapjack again? I didn't notice a bond with me." Willow asked.

"I bonded with myself. My body, my soul, my heart; I connected all of it. At least, that's what I think I did… honestly, it was mostly just instinct." Hunter explained; "But I know what I want to do!"

He pointed defiantly at Belos, dropping his Wild Heart Form so Belos would see the face of his beloved brother glaring at him; "I am Hunter Deamonne-Clawthorne! I am going to go to Hexside with my friends, I am going to learn as much magic as I can, I am going to master Wild Magic, I am going to become a Palisman Carver, and I am going to have a big family, who will never have to worry about you being a part of their world!" Hunter declared, his heart nearly ablaze with emotion.

"But before all that… I am going to defeat you!" the boy yelled, as the power within him reached its pinnacle.

Willow watched in amazement while Belos watched in disgust as the lightning glyph of Cassiopeia appeared on Hunter's chest in a flash of yellow, right before a beam of yellow light shot out from the Huntsman's Barrier, passing through it without issue to strike Hunter in the chest. What followed was an eruption of light that blinded everyone, and Hunter felt something inside himself change fundamentally.

When the light faded and Hunter opened his eyes, he found himself floating in a white void with only Flapjack for company. Combining that with the glyph on his chest made Hunter nearly giddy with joy.

"We did it! Flap, we really did it! We bonded with the lightning glyph and achieved our fusion!" Hunter cheered, hugging his Palisman.

"Oh Hunter, there is no "we" here. This was entirely your achievement. I've been waiting for this moment for so long… the moment our bond would become even deeper! Deep enough that you can reach the treasure I've guarded for so long!" Flapjack declared, a twinkle in his eye as tears built up in the corners.

"Treasure?" Hunter asked, holding Flapjack on his outstretched hands.

"Yes. You see, I only ever had one other partner; Caleb Clawthorne. He carved me himself when I was but an egg, and when Belos came to destroy his family, Caleb broke our connection so I wouldn't be sealed up in my wooden form. He did this after Belos wounded me, giving me this scar… but breaking the bond does not remove the fragment of his soul that he offered to me when we bonded. To this day, I have carried that fragment and searched for Caleb's worthy successor. I tried to bond with only one other person in my life; Caleb's daughter Lillian." Flapjack sounded nostalgic as he chuckled; "Lillian rejected it though. To her, "Flap-Flap" was "Papa's Palisman" and so she couldn't be anything but a dear friend."

Hunter looked sadly at his Palisman; "So you've been hiding all these years, unable to find anyone to connect with before me? And the treasure you hold is the fragment of Caleb's soul?"

Flapjack nodded; "Evelyn was a skilled Oracle. After Caleb died and Luz visited the past, she learned of the Golden Guards and knew that one day, one would rise to stand against Belos and finally survive him, completing Caleb's deepest wish. Evelyn asked me to bear the fragment of Caleb's soul until I found that Golden Guard, so Caleb could give his Last Will and Testament to his final incarnation."

"I see… and I am that Golden Guard? Why did you choose me?" Hunter asked, unsure how to feel.

"In truth, I chose you because you made me forget my duty and my promise. I had met most of the Golden Guards and rejected all of them, and truthfully I had rejected you too that day in the Desert. But as I travelled with you for a while, I began to forget Caleb, forget the Golden Guards, and see only you. I saw you, Hunter Deamonne-Clawthorne. You tried to do what you believed was right, you had no hatred for your "enemies" and were driven by love, even if you didn't see it. You were not the perfect Golden Guard I was looking for, but you were the one I WANTED. And my faith in you was rewarded time and time again, as your pure heart won out over Belos' influence." Flapjack said, never letting his gaze drift from Hunter's now golden eyes.

Hunter was touched by the little Palisman's faith; "I'm glad you didn't pick me just because I was the newest version of Caleb."

"Believe me, you and Caleb are VERY different. Your faces are about the only things you share! Even your soul feels totally different. Speaking of, it's time I fulfil my mission." Flapjack said, before flying around Hunter and creating an orange and purple spell circle, which caused some kind of energy to be siphoned out of the Palisman. This energy and the spell circle then became a small orange and purple flame, which suddenly grew and changed shape, becoming a humanoid silhouette. Once it stopped growing, the silhouette of flame suddenly became the real thing, and Hunter found himself face to face with another person.

This person was taller than him, being a full fledged adult wearing dirty brown leather boots, swampy green pants kept up with suspenders, and a white shirt that was rather torn and threadbare. The man's clothes were much less interesting than his face though, which was a near perfect doppelganger of Hunter, only with a more defined jaw, somewhat sunken cheeks, and his hair tied into a ponytail at the back. Hunter didn't need three guesses to figure out who this man was.

"Caleb…!?" he breathed, too shocked to speak louder.

Caleb smiled; "Hello, Little Brother. It's nice to finally meet you face to face."

"L-Little Brother?" Hunter repeated, trying to get his head around what he was seeing.

"That's right. That monster, Belos, consumed my original little brother… left nothing of the boy I'd grown up with and helped raise. But he also used my bones to create a whole host of little brothers for me. Every Golden Guard ever made is my little brother now, including you." Caleb explained.

Hunter nodded dumbly, feeling warm inside. He also noted how Caleb referred to Belos; the boy got the feeling Caleb was being metaphorical, and Belos wasn't really a monster that consumed Philip in a literal sense.

"I see… I've got to be honest, Caleb; I'm totally lost!" Hunter said, trying to wrap his head around all this.

Caleb chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder; "I can see that, Hunter! Long story short, thanks to the piece of my soul inside Flapjack, and a spell cast on him by my daughter Lillian, anyone who bonds with Flapjack can use my soul piece to summon the rest of my soul into their minds for a bit. The fact that you're mid-fusion right now just worked out in our favour."

Flapjack bobbed his head, briefly flying from Hunter's shoulder to Caleb's; "I would have done it earlier, but you didn't have enough magic for the spell. I can't cast it totally on my own; I don't have the power either, so I needed you to be stronger first. You bonding with yourself awakened that power, and the Glyph Bonding helped too."

Hunter nodded, just about getting his head around it; "Okay, I think I understand. I'm guessing Evelyn predicted the future and so told Lillian to cast the spell on you, Flapjack? Or did something else happen? What IS that spell anyway?"

"Evelyn predicted I'd find an Angel or an Oracle who would become my partner, and they would be able to call out Caleb when I asked. In hindsight, I think she was predicting Lyra! Or perhaps it was Luz she was hoping for. Either way, Lillian disagreed with trusting in something as nebulous as prophecy, and enchanted me with the spell herself. A spell made from a glyph combo; a boon granted to her by the Titan for slaying the Draco Lich." Flapjack explained.

Caleb nodded proudly; "My little girl was a strong one! She became quite the hero! My pride and joy."

Hunter smiled, "She definitely sounds amazing. But now I know the what and the how, but I don't know the why. Flap said something about your Last Will and Testament. I don't know what he means by that."

"Simply put, I have watched as all of my little brothers lived and died under Belos' thumb. None survived him until you. I was hoping that you, the last of my brothers, would be able to fulfil the wish that I had for myself, my family, and the rest of our brothers." Caleb said, putting a hand on Hunter's shoulder and nodding to Flapjack, who hopped back onto Hunter's other shoulder. "Don't worry, it's a wish I think you'll be happy to grant."

"Is it to kill Belos?" Hunter asked, already resolute.

"No." Caleb shook his head; "Kill him if you please or if you can, but no. My wish is simply this; live well, Little Brother. Have a family, or simply a group of good friends. Leave this world a better place than you found it. And above all else, pursue happiness. If you can die with a smile at the end of a full life, you'll have fulfilled the wish of myself and your brothers…"

At that, white flames coated Caleb in an aura, and shades began to walk out of him and surround Hunter, each one taking the form of one of the previous Golden Guards. Every single one was present, save for one, and they were all stripped of their masks and uniforms, and clad in clothes they personally preferred. Hunter looked around at them all in shock, while even Flapjack looked surprised, though Caleb wasn't.

"Young King and Little Luz are quite the special pair. The glyph of the former, and the connections the latter has forged… they're strong enough to allow me to bring some friends with me to this meeting. Only those who share a strong connection with you of course, but I think our brothers count." Caleb grinned.

"That linking glyph can link to things beyond death!?" Hunter exclaimed in shock.

One of the past Golden Guards; Zachary nodded; "Got that right, little bro. Our niece and her brother are a curious duo! You'd be surprised what that power they've cultivated can do!"

"Got that right! And I have a feeling it'll only get stronger." said a second one, named Jacob.

"But enough about them." said Ezekiel, "We came to let you know that like Caleb, we've been watching you."

"Yeah, the only one of us who hasn't been is Michael, and he's busy watching his little girl." Jonathon said with a knowing smirk.

"We're getting off topic a bit." Caleb cut in, making his younger brothers all grin; "The long and short of it is, I wanted to leave you with that wish, and free you of any obligation you feel to avenge us. If you kill Belos, then that's all well and good, but we don't need you to risk anything for us. Our pain is ended. Our brothers also wanted to let you know that they are also watching and cheering for you."

At that, Hunter received a loud cheer from his predecessors… no, his brothers.

"Kick butt out there, baby bro!"

"And Belos' jewels! Kick those too! HA!"

"We saw your lady friend; don't screw up and lose her!"

"Seriously, do not mess that up! If Michael is the only one of us to have kids, he'll brag until the end of time!"

"Give our love to his daughters. Let 'em know they've got a lot of Uncles watching over them!"

"And our baby sister! Take care of her! Give her our love too!"

"And don't let that Divider guy or his weird minions get you down! If you survived Belos, you can survive them!"

"That's right! Now stop surviving and start thriving! You've got magic of your own now! Use it well!"

"And kick butt with that fusion! You took forever to pull yourself together and unlock it, so it better be strong!"

Hunter felt tears welling up in his eyes as he took in all the love and affection (and teasing) from his newly discovered brothers. They were a lively group for a bunch of dead guys, and Hunter already felt melancholic that he may not see them again until he actually died.

"I'll do it. I'll beat Belos today and live well, with Willow and my family! I'll make you all proud with my new magical abilities!" Hunter promised, smiling brightly.

Caleb slapped him on the back; "Attaboy, Baby Brother. Oh, and for the record, Evelyn and the other dead Clawthornes did some thinking and figured out what happened to give you these powers! It was like you thought; Willow's new heart turned you from a simple Grimwalker into a Grimwalker-Palisman Hybrid. But while the new heart was a good vessel for your soul and kept you alive, it wasn't actually fully bonded to your soul. You bonding with yourself was simply connecting your new heart and soul, and without that disconnect, you can now use the magic of your heart just like a Witch can!"

"So I was close! No wonder my instincts led me to that!" Hunter grinned, before looking to Flapjack; "Instincts, all the emotions I've been going through, and pushing my brain to the max; it was all the perfect combination to bond with the Lightning Glyph!"

"That it was, partner! Now, you've inherited Caleb's and your brothers' will; it's time to finish this!" Flapjack said. "Caleb, you can rest easy from here. I'll make sure he stays on the straight and narrow!"

"I know you will, Flap. You were the best Palisman I could ever ask for, and now you can be that for Hunter." Caleb replied; "Oh, and one last bit of advice; Evelyn said that if you want to practice Wild Magic, then don't focus on rules or techniques. Go wild, follow your instincts, and make it up as you go along."

Hunter laughed; "That sounds like terrible advice!"

"Well it came from a Clawthorne, so take it how you want!" Caleb smirked; "Now it's time for us to leave. We are still dead and cannot linger in this world for long, even if it's inside your own mind. So complete your fusion and send us off with a bang!"

The rest of the Golden Guard Brothers nodded eagerly and watched with bated breath as Hunter held Flapjack close to his heart and said; "Come on Flap; let's do this together!"

With those words and Flapjack's tweet of agreement, the two melded together as the white void was consumed by light, and the spirits of Caleb and his brothers faded back beyond the veil, where they would watch the fight closely.

As Hunter and Flapjack's minds returned to the waking world, where only a couple of seconds had passed, the light surrounding them began to fade and revealed to Willow, Goldfrey, and Belos the true form of Hunter and Flapjack's fusion. Willow broke out in a huge smile as she laid eyes on it, while Goldfrey gave a cry of amazement, and Belos took a step back as he gritted his teeth with hatred, seeing this copy of his brother blended with the Palisman that he partly blamed for leading him astray.

In his fused form, Hunter had undergone quite a drastic change; his feet were replaced by the feet of a large raptor-like bird, with grey plates of hardened flesh, three toes ending in razor sharp talons, and a fourth talon emerging form his heel. From his knees to his hips, Hunter was clad in a pair of shorts that were made entirely out of red feathers like Flapjacks. His "shirt" was made primarily from black feathers that were so fine, they looked almost like fabric at a glance, and was long sleeved, reaching his wrists, which had fluffy cuffs of red feathers around them, while his hands had taken on a similar appearance to his lower legs and feet. The shape of his hands remained the same; five fingers and a thumb, but they were now grey and had the same grey plates of hardened flesh, and his nails were now long bird-like talons. Atop his shirt, Hunter wore a mantle and cape of red feathers, which combined with the black shirt beneath it to make the markings on Hunter's chest vaguely resemble the black and red markings of Flapjack's face. The lightning glyph of Cassiopeia glowed in bright yellow from his chest, shining through the red part of his mantle, while the cape actually doubled as Hunter's new wings, looking like a simple red feather cape while flowing down his back, but transforming into magnificent red wings when he spread them out behind him. Lastly, there was his head and face; his eyes had turned red once again, but now had a vibrant shade like Flapjack's body, rather than the bloody shade of a Grimwalker, and he'd gained a black marking on his left eye to represent Flapjack's scar (Hunter's own scars were still visible on his face). His eyebrows had turned black, as had the back and sides of his hair, while the very top of his hair had turned red and gained a large crest of hair on the back of his head that resembled the points of Flapjack's own feathered crest. His most prominent change though was his nose and upper lip, which had fused together to form the dark red top half of Flapjack's beak. He still had a normal Human/Witch mouth, but his upper lip was replaced by this beak, giving him a look that Willow compared to the bird-like Rito from Luz's Windwaker video game.

Fully transformed and fused with Flapjack, Hunter took a deep breath and began to examine his own body, amazed by how powerful he felt! This fused form felt a lot like his Wild Heart form, and Hunter found that when he tried to cast the spell out of curiosity, he was unable to.

"Hmm, I guess this fused form counts as a Wild Heart form, just using Flapjack's animal form instead of mine. Fascinating!" Hunter grinned, drawing spell circles with one hand and conjuring lightning glyphs with the other, falling in love with the feeling of being able to cast spells naturally.

"Whoa Hunter! You look incredible! You feel incredible! The magic coming off you is intense and the air feels electrified!" Willow gushed, a blush on her cheeks.

"Really? I thought the air was always like that when I was around you." Hunter said with a grin, making Willow blush even deeper, giving Amity a run for her money.

"Okay Mr. Smooth Talker! Go easy on me, I still feel light-headed!" Willow giggled, playing with one of her braided pigtails as Goldfrey rolled his eyes from her shoulder.

Hunter chuckled, turning his back on Belos entirely so he was fully facing Willow, which drove Belos mad. He couldn't stand being ignored, especially when his last Grimwalker had suddenly gone from a devilish appearance to one akin to the beast that corrupted his brother. He dove into the shadows where Hunter couldn't see or track him, then emerged behind Willow, throwing down a poison smoke bomb in the process. The smoke forced the teens to hold their breath while also blinding them, as Belos charged up a blast of corrupted magic to blast through Willow's back and into Hunter. However, unbeknownst to Belos, Hunter's massively empowered lightning magic allowed him to detect all currents around him, including the ones inside people's brains and nervous systems. While Belos' slime form didn't have this current, his still-living victim and vessel Madame Kirame did. Thanks to this, Hunter saw where Belos was in his mind's eye, enabling him to grab Willow and immediately flash high into the air, where the two could fly and avoid the gas, then prepare his counter attack.

First, he plucked some red feathers from his wings (which grew back almost immediately with a crackle of thunder). He then decided to see if he could give a Bestial Blessing to pieces of himself that had been removed, and found that he actually could! He transformed them into the blade-like feathers of the Panzaeron War Falcon, whose wings were made of naturally occurring steel. Hunter then threw these feathers like hunting knives, and thanks to using some lightning magic to create magnetic fields remotely, he was able to direct the knives directly towards Belos, whom he could still sense thanks to the currents of Kirame's brain. Belos, completely unaware of this since he couldn't see through the smog he'd created either, suddenly found himself being pierced through both hands by the long metal feathers, which Hunter then used as Lightning Rods for his magic.

"Rising Voltage!" Hunter declared, causing the mild static charge inside his steel feathers to suddenly magnify and grow stronger, unleashing a full on electrical shock that was almost on the level of being struck by lightning.

Belos roared in pain, then ejected some of his slime to force the daggers out. Once they were out, he banished the smog with a wind glyph and glared up at Hunter.

"I'll make you pay for that!" Belos snarled.

"How about we agree to an exchange. You forgive the pain I just caused you, and I'll forgive the equivalent amount of pain you inflicted on me." Hunter said mockingly, before glaring with eyes like a bloodthirsty hawk; "That still leaves me with quite a bit of pain to payback though… so let's get started!"

Hunter pulled out another feather as an idea crossed his mind; he could give his feathers Bestial Blessings, so why not give them as many blessings as he can cram into them? And if he could give them arms, legs, and wings… why not go all the way and make them into full bodies?

"Time for a magical experiment! Try this on for size!" Hunter declared, focusing on all the traits of a Direwolf as he loaded Bestial Blessings onto his feather. Originally he could only handle three, but awakening his own magic had given him a capacity for five, with that further increasing to 10 while fused, meaning he could load a full ten traits onto his feathers since they were still part of him.

The result hit the ground as a fully formed Direwolf, roughly the size of a horse, and howling and snarling at Belos. Normally such a thing would be just a very accurate flesh doll, but thanks to Hunter's skill with lightning magic, he could control the electrical impulses in the fake's very real brain, animating it even though it had no soul, essentially creating a perfect living thing that had no mind of its own and thus no moral issues. Hunter did also realise that if he stabbed his feathers into a corpse, he could control them like a puppet, but he resolved to never do such a horrible thing.

The Fake Direwolf leapt at Belos and began biting and chomping on him, but Belos was unconcerned and instead flooded the fake with his slime, briefly taking control of it in addition to Kirame, but Hunter just scoffed and snapped his fingers, causing the fake to lose its blessings and become a regular feather again.

"Good, but inefficient… using so many blessings to imitate a single creature isn't gonna be as useful as I'd like." Hunter mused, trying to develop his own unique magic with Belos as his test subject. Using his feathers to make Animal Servants without the moral issues of using and sacrificing real animals felt like a step in the right direction, but he was unsure where to go next.

Thankfully, Willow gave him a bright idea just as Belos was launching waves of Kirame's poisoned knives and smoke bombs at them.

"Why not just use one blessing that gives the complete form of the animal you want? Or is their a limit on how much you can be changed with each blessing?" Willow asked, watching Hunter casually swat the kunai aside with his electromagnetic barrier, then strike and destroy the smoke bombs long before they could leave their payload around the teens.

Hunter's eyes lit up; "That's it! The only limit to a Bestial Blessing is usually magic, but I have magic to burn in this form! I can make whatever I want so long as it isn't too big or magical! A Direwolf is a little too big to be cost effective, but if I were to make a whole pack of regular wolves…!"

To test his theory, Hunter shot a wave of about 20 small feathers from his cloak down to the ground, and blessed each one with a single blessing; the body of a wolf. They all hit the ground together and thanks to Hunter's control over them, he was able to have all of them attack Belos at once. Of course, while this was more effective since Belos couldn't keep possessing Kirame AND take over that many Fake Wolves at once, it was still ultimately a pack of magicless beasts biting and clawing at something that wasn't really solid. The wolves that managed to clamp onto Kirame's body within the slime found themselves being rapidly infested with slime and then consumed by Belos (thankfully they contained very little magic, so Belos wasn't empowered by them), but seeing this also gave Hunter another idea; one that was frowned upon by Beast-Keepers for being highly unethical due to the harming of animals… something that wasn't going to be a problem for Hunter now.

"Only one blessing on each feather means I can apply more! So let's add the gas bladder of a Boumala Tortoise!" Hunter declared, casting a spell that had no visible effect on the wolves. Boumala Tortoises were infamous for their ability to fill their shells with explosive gas, then shed them and throw them at a predator before igniting it with their fire breath, creating a massive explosion. Their gas bladders, if punctured, would make them explode rather nastily, though their shells usually prevented this… only these wolves now had the bladders and no shells.

"Taste one of my original moves! Wolf Pack Bomber!" Hunter yelled, ordering his altered wolves to all bite down on any part of Belos they could, before Hunter used the electricity of their nervous systems to ignite the contents of their gas bladders. The result was a massive pillar of flame and smoke and a deafening BOOM, which drowned out the screams of the vile former Emperor. When the smoke cleared, Belos had lost so much mass; his slime being reduced to ash by the most intense parts of the explosion, that his form had shrunk to a fairly normal Witch-size. He was now barely covering Kirame's body and maintaining his vaguely bird-like aesthetic, and the parts of Kirame that were visible through his undulating flesh were mildly burned since Belos' slime thankfully took most of the damage.

Belos, realising he wasn't going to be able to beat Hunter while he was in the sky and most of his ranged options were easily blocked or evaded at such a distance, decided to close the distance by descending into the shadows again, putting Hunter and Willow on guard. However Belos was manipulative but uncreative, so Hunter correctly guessed he'd emerge from his body, Willow's, or Goldfrey's, using the shadows that one of the others was casting on them. With this in mind, Hunter distanced himself so neither Willow or Goldfrey were casting shadows on him, forcing Belos to instead emerge by sending a tendril wielding a sword out from Goldfrey's shadow on Willow's shoulder. This was a bit of a problem, as Hunter didn't want to just zap the sword with lightning in case Belos was touching Willow and hurt her too, but thankfully he didn't need to do anything at all, as Willow coated her hand in bark to avoid touching the slime directly, then grabbed the sword wielding tendril and crushed it, causing the sword to drop and Hunter to grab it.

"You're not the only one who can use the shadows!" Hunter declared, pulling out another feather and turning it into a Blackout Bat, a creature who released a black miasma from its body that functioned like a shadow. He then used a darkness glyph to stab the jian straight sword into the shadows and hit Belos by aiming for just a little bit above where he sensed Kirame's weakened brainwaves. This attack split Belos' slimy head in two, and while he reformed it easily, it distracted him long enough for Hunter to electrify his fist, shove it into the shadow portal, and grab the front of Kirame's clothing, using the electricity to force Belos' slime back. With that, he then yanked Kirame, and by extension Belos, out of the shadows and began to fly high in the air, before doing a back flip and dropping down at high speed.

Hunter had considered just dropping him, but if he did that, then Belos would open the shadows beneath him before he hit the ground and they'd be back to square one, whilst this way if Belos DID try to use the shadows to stop his fall, Hunter would still be on him, their momentum wouldn't be lost, and Hunter could easily force him back out of the shadows again himself. Belos must have realised this too, and knowing he couldn't touch Hunter while he was electrified, he did the next best thing; he moved his slime away from Kirame's back, ensuring that he wouldn't be cushioning the impact for her.

As the ground got perilously close, Hunter focused his mind and sped up his perception again, making time seem to slow so he could think. Kirame was evil, there was almost no denying that, but she was also fairly easily dealt with now that he had awakened this power, so killing her just to damage Belos felt wrong and immoral. Changing tactics, Hunter suddenly pulled back up, then flew down again, zigzagging through the air to disorient Belos (while also breaking his momentum). Then when Belos had fully coated Kirame again, Hunter threw him down and smashed him against the ground, using just enough force to do damage and disrupt Belos, but not enough to kill or cripple Kirame. He then flew back up and unleashed a storm of his feathers, transforming each one into a Fire Bee with his Bestial Blessings. The bees swarmed Belos and made him scream, their flames damaging his slime and producing enough light all around him to prevent him from escaping through the shadows.

Since the shadows wouldn't save him this time and Belos refused to abandon Kirame and make himself vulnerable, he pulled his slime fully into her body to shield himself, then had Kirame run towards the nearest watering hole. Hunter pursued him while using another feather to create a Parrot, which would fly up to Willow and tell her his plan. He saw her nod and fly after Belos, staying high in the air so she wasn't in range of his attacks as he fled the Fire Bees. Hunter then removed a single feather from his wings and used it, before heading after Belos too.

The reprehensible parasite arrived at a watering hole moments later, disturbing a flock of Moon Cranes, who all flew away in a big flock of feathers. Belos then dove into the water and remained under for quite a while, knowing that Fire Bees couldn't go near water. Unfortunately, there were no usable shadows under the water, so Belos was stuck… at least until Hunter unveiled the second phase of his plan. He drew a spell circle and the Fire Bees suddenly gained a new Bestial Blessing; the Icy Abdomens of the Glacialants, which replaced the Bee's Fire Magic with Ice Magic. Hunter then willed them to begin landing on and freezing the small oasis Belos was hiding in.

Belos, realising he was about to be frozen solid, quickly emerged from the lake and prepared to let off one of Kirame's poison smoke bombs to kill the bees, only to find that the Queen Bee was ready for him. Willow had already taken control of the long grass surrounding the oasis, and as soon as Belos emerged, this long grass reached out and ensnared Kirame's body, distracting Belos and allowing Hunter to flash forward and snatch the poison bomb, which he then launched into the air and shot with a lightning bolt to destroy it, ensuring the gas didn't reach them. The Ice Bees then began freezing Belos faster and faster, while Willow and Hunter watched side by side.

"Ice Bees; I never would have imagined… You've got some tricks up your sleeve, my Wolf. Or should I say, my Hawk." Willow flirted, both to make Hunter happy and because she knew it infuriated Belos even more as he screamed and cursed.

"Either works for me, my Blossom. And now that I have magic of my own, I've finally been able to make my own magic! Chimera Conjuring! Inspired by you, or course." Hunter grinned.

"Me?" Willow blinked.

"That's right! Your Grafted Plants Magic is what inspired my way of using Bestial Blessings! I wanted to make my own Chimeric Beasts too, but I didn't have the magic or the lack of morals. But now with Flapjack and the heart you made me, I have the magic AND a way to do it with my own hairs or feathers, bypassing the moral issues! I can make any animal I want, just as you can make any plants you want! I've become the King of Beasts, just as you've become Queen of the Forest." Hunter flirted; "We make quite the pair, right?"

Willow giggled and kissed him on the cheek; "I'm loving this new confidence!"

"I find it nauseating!"

Hunter and Willow rolled their eyes and looked over to see Belos using some of his still unfrozen slime to create fire glyphs to melt himself free and incinerate the Ice Bees, before darting back onto the shore of the Oasis and burning away all the grass too.

"Why can you not just make this easy, Belos!? You can't win! I have a counter for all your tricks, and I know every glyph combo you do and how to work around them! You've lost! Face justice with dignity!" Hunter growled, using two more feathers to make Panzaeron Feathers, while Willow coated her fists in wood and thorns.

Belos sneered and began looking around for his escape… an escape that he found running right towards them. A bark caused Hunter and Willow to turn to the sound and pale, seeing Eberwolf running towards them in her full Direwolf Form caused by the Wild Soul Spell.

"Aunt Eber!? What are you doing here!?" Hunter cried.

Eber barked, and while Belos didn't understand her, Hunter clearly did. "No! Get out of here! We've got Belos on the ropes! If he possesses you, he'll know the secrets to undoing my Beast-Keeping Magic!" the boy yelled, trying to shoo the confused looking Eberwolf away.

Seeing his young adversary so stressed out, Belos just knew what he had to do! If Eber had been foolish enough to try and join their fight, then he would take advantage of her stupidity and destroy these wretched CATTs! He rushed towards Eber, only to find Kirame's leg suddenly ensnared by Willow. He didn't let this stop him though, and shot a slime tendril out at Eber, catching her mouth. She reared back and yelped, and Hunter tried to shoot lightning at him, but it didn't matter; Belos sacrificed a portion of his tendril to make it look like Hunter had thwarted him, then secretly sent his slime through the shadows using Kirame's magic, emerging directly beneath a gagging Eberwolf. Before either Hunter or Willow could stop him, Belos left Kirame's body entirely and possessed Eberwolf's, causing green lines of slime to appear all over her as his slime arms and antlers emerged from her back and forehead.

Kirame flopped to the floor, her body in seriously bad condition and barely clinging to life, but at least still alive. Willow hesitated a moment before rushing over to give her first aid, while Hunter stared down the possessed Eberwolf as Belos cackled from within her.

"You've always been a stupid brat at heart, haven't you Hunter? Almost as stupid as this beast! And you think THIS is worthy of living amongst the Creations of the Lord!? Pathetic! I can barely even feel her mind!" Belos mocked.

Hunter growled, but then registered what Belos said; "Wait, did you say her? How did you know Aunt Eber was female?"

"Idiot! I learned from Luciel's mind, of course!" Belos retorted like it was obvious.

"I see… it makes sense now! You're the one who told Roargna! He said a skull-faced female that smelled bad and had strange eyes told him, and Kirame said you were possessing a female servant before! So it was you!" Hunter yelled, his temper rising. "You told Roargna and Eber's old pack so they would turn on her! Why? To take away some of our allies?"

Belos snorted; "As if I care how many dogs you have in your little rebellion. No, I told that mutt about this little Bitch because she made the mistake of crossing me, and I wanted her to pay."

Hunter grit his teeth; so it had all been just a cruel trick? A way for Belos to hurt Eber out of petty revenge, stripping her of her "family". Well, Hunter knew that even without her pack, Eber had a family with the CATTs, and that once she'd taught Roargna the error of his ways, the pack would have no choice but to follow her again. But before all that could happen, Hunter was going to offer Belos up to the CATTs for justice!

"I'm sure you feel really good about yourself for your plots and schemes." Hunter said, suddenly smirking; "Too bad you're not the only smart one around! I'm sure Aunt Eber will be happy that her image was used to finally beat you!"

Belos blinked in confusion, before he suddenly screamed as his body was wracked with agony from a powerful electrical current, which paralysed him and his host body. The lightning was coming from WITHIN his host too, ensuring Belos couldn't escape! "W-What did you do!?"

"Haven't figured it out yet?" Hunter asked with a mocking grin; "That "Eberwolf" is a fake; it's actually just one of my feathers turned into a Direwolf that I modelled on her Wild Soul Form. Bestial Blessings, and by extension Chimera Conjuring won't work with Witches, Humans, and Biped Demons, so I had to use this form to trick you."

"It was all a trick!? You fooled me into possessing a fake!?" Belos cried, his body toppling over.

"That I did. You weren't having trouble finding Eber's mind because she was resisting you; it's because this doll has no mind! It's just a feather I made earlier!" Hunter grinned victoriously.

Willow stepped forward with a proud smile; "Hunter figured out everything! He didn't want to kill Kirame to capture you, but knew you'd never be caught so long as you had a host, so he engineered a plan to trick you into possessing a target he could destroy!"

Belos' eyes widened in fear, and Hunter began firing multiple feathers into the sky, transforming each one into a Thunderbird with his new Chimera Conjuring Magic. It used a lot of Hunter's magic, but the flock of Thunderbirds all cawed loudly and produced a swirl of black clouds up above, coating most of the Savannah sky in the thunderous storm clouds. Hunter then raised his hand and looked Belos in the eye;

"We've tried capturing you for trial before, Belos. You always worm your way out. But this time, I'm not taking any chances… I'll end your life here and now!"

The Thunderbirds each transformed into constructs of blue lightning, demonstrating the lightning transformation powers of their species. Hunter lowered his hand, signalling for them all to attack, and calling down lightning from the storm clouds above.

"WILDBOLT STORM!"

With those two words, the Thunderbirds and all the lightning of the storm was called down on Belos, combining into a colossal beam of electrical energy that struck Belos, still paralysed and trapped in the body of the fake Eber. He did not scream as he was consumed by the beam, which was easily large enough to destroy a good third of Hexside, and Willow and Goldfrey had to shield their eyes from the blinding light, while Hunter continued to stare into it. When the lightning finally stopped, the Thunderbirds were gone and the storm dispersed as quickly as it had been made, leaving Hunter to stare down at the results of his ultimate attack.

There was nothing there; a smouldering hole in the ground that was about 5 feet deep and had become glass at the bottom due to the sheer amount of heat generated by the attack. There was not a speck of Belos anywhere; it was all just ash.

"Y-You did it! You ended Belos!" Willow cheered, rushing to hug her boyfriend.

Hunter let her hug his arm, but did not tear his eyes away from the pit, his expression one of doubt and unease. Willow was worried by this and cupped his cheek; "My Hawk? Why so sad? Do you… do you feel bad for killing him."

The boy shook his head; "No… the opposite actually. I don't think I killed him."

"What!? But how could he have survived that!? He's dust now!" Willow cried.

"I don't know how to explain it, but this doesn't feel right. Before my spell hit, his eyes went dull… the glowing stopped and he looked lifeless. I'd have thought he'd given up on life and was accepting his death, but Belos would never do that! And he didn't scream either! I-I wanted that spell to hurt! I made sure it would! But he didn't scream…" Hunter confessed, looking a little ashamed of that last part.

Willow looked totally horrified; "No, no, he HAS to be dead! How can that cockroach still be alive!?"

Feeling a hunch, Hunter turned and looked over to where Kirame had been laid after Willow finished giving her some emergency healing. The woman was gone, leaving not a trace behind. Hunter grit his teeth; "Kirame got away. I bet she used the shadows…"

"You don't think Belos was still possessing her, right!?" Willow exclaimed.

"I do. If he left even a little bit of slime inside her, then he could move his soul to it before he died, just like when he sent it into that tiny bit of slime he shot at Luz before being petrified." Hunter said, rubbing the back of his head in frustration; "Damn it… if only I'd just killed that woman! Now Belos got away!"

"W-Well at least he'll be weak again! It took him months to get the strength to be a threat in the Human Realm, and over a month here too. If he's just a slime ball again, he'll be out of commission for a while." Willow tried to reason.

"I wish I could believe that… but unlike earlier, we've now got the Huntsman running around and giving out blessings like candy, and he and Belos seemed to have worked out a deal. I wouldn't bet on Belos staying quiet for long." He clenched his fists, then swiftly calmed down, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. "Forget about it for now. We can hunt down Belos and deal with him once the Divider and Archivists are dealt with. They're the bigger threat anyway."

Willow nodded; she could tell Hunter was upset that Belos got away again, so she decided not to dwell on it and instead turn her attention to the Huntsman's Barrier in the distance. "Let's go get the others. Luz is probably having a rough time supporting three fusions from Cassiopeia's glyphs on top of the Orion ones, but with all of us working together, maybe we can nab the Huntsman at least."

Hunter and Goldfrey both agreed, and they rushed towards the barrier and used a darkness glyph to get through it by going through the shadow world. Upon arriving, they found Luz, King, and Eber engaged in battle with the Owl Beast, Raven Beast, and Bat Beast, while Belial the Huntsman watched from his floating throne. He looked amused by the ongoing battle, while the CATTs looked tired but otherwise uninjured, and the Beasts looked distressed but also unhurt. Clearly the battle had been going on for a while, but neither side had managed to hurt the other, or Luz had been on top of the healing and was ensuring no one stayed injured for long. The Beasts were also on high alert for their three opponents, and with the Huntsman controlling them, they were wary of all the usual methods of restraining or disabling them.

However, they were NOT aware of Hunter and Willow yet.

With a few signs thrown to Willow (Hunter had been teaching her sign language), the girl nodded and the two teens snuck back into the shadows and reappeared beneath the Huntsman's floating throne. From there, Willow subtly wove vines under the ground towards the trio of Beasts, while Hunter locked on to each one in his mind's eye. Then, with a final silent nod between the two, they burst into action.

Willow's vines tore out of the ground and dragged the three Beasts to the floor, stunning them and allowing Hunter to flash past all of them, knocking off their heads as he went and holding all three by their hair. He then stunned them with a powerful electric current, targeting their motor functions to keep them from moving without hurting them. He then brought the stunned heads over to Willow, who used Sleeping Nettle Pollen to put all three beasts to sleep, essentially ending the fight in one fell swoop.

The Huntsman stared in shock, blinking dumbly as he tried to register what had just happened, while the CATTs all just sighed with relief while shooting proud looks at Hunter. Luz, who looked practically dead on her feet, smiled and said; "You couldn't have timed that better, guys!"

"Glad to be of service!" Hunter grinned; "Since you're the source of the light show that makes these fusions, and kinda look like death warmed over, I'm guessing my new form isn't a surprise to you?"

"You guessed right. And it's good to know I look how I feel!" Luz joked, actually leaning heavily on Owlbert's staff. "But you look awesome! Thanks for saving us there! Skara and Matt only ended their fusions a short time ago, so my fatigue is fading, but I'm still not at 100%."

"We could use your help capturing the Huntsman too! But what happened to Belos? Did you kill him?" King asked eagerly.

Hunter and Willow's faces fell, and the others all sighed, realising what must have happened. "Parasite escape?" Eber asked.

"Yeah… I almost had him, but he was wilier than I thought." Hunter frowned, before turning his attention to the Huntsman; "But I'll redeem myself by helping you catch this guy! Me, Willow, and Luz should have enough power for the Sealing Combo!"

Belial, who'd been lost in thought admiring Hunter's new form (he was unique and looked fun to hunt) and wondering where Belos slithered off to, suddenly snapped back to attention with a glare.

"Don't get cocky, brat! You're intriguing, but I can add you to the Archives as a corpse just as easily as I could with you alive!" Belial snarled.

The CATTs all readied themselves for another fight as Belial stepped off his floating moon throne and descended to the ground with his pale green-tinged wings. However, a moment after he touched down on the ground and summoned his weapon, there was a chiming sound that made Luz and the CATTs frown, while Belial cursed and reached into his cap, pulling out a small golden ring that was about the size of his fist. The ring was the source of the chiming, and Belial cast a spell to enlarge it, whereupon the Divider's face appeared within the ring, making Belial mutter a curse and cast a spell to create a cone of silence, preventing them from hearing what the Divider was saying, but noticeably not silencing Belial too.

The ring was clearly some form of communicator, one that bypassed the Jammer that the CATTs had set up, meaning the Divider must have known about the Jammers, likely learning from one of the Divided CATTs, since it wasn't knowledge protected by their oaths.

Belial began cursing quite fast; "Oh come on! I'm here on YOUR orders! Who cares if I got to have a little fun! I didn't break your precious rules…! Yes, I know that but I- But it was just getting good! I'm about to fight her! Ugh, fine! I'll return immediately. You what? Oh whatever, it's your toy anyway."

The angry Huntsman waved his hand to dismiss the cone of silence, then shockingly threw the ring to Luz while saying; "Well the Boss wants to talk to you! Now I've got to get the hell out of here! We'll continue this fight at another time!"

With that, the Huntsman dropped the barrier and shot away at a speed the CATTs couldn't hope to match. Stunned by his sudden departure, Luz looked down at the Comm Ring and found herself staring into the painfully neutral face of the Divider.

"Divider… what are you calling me for? Gonna try and convert me again?" Luz asked, her weariness making her less patient.

The Divider shook his head; "No. I am inviting you to a meeting. I want to speak to you in the place that this all began."

"And if I don't want to attend your meeting?" Luz asked.

"You will. After all… I think you'd want to face the man that destroyed your home and led one of your friends to their death." the Divider said, his voice as dull and emotionless as one of the Divided.

"WHAT!? WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Luz screamed as the others gathered around her, unable to believe their ears.

"Your hideout, Zachael's Landing, has fallen. It's people are in my hands now. Come to me, Luz… For the day after tomorrow, all this comes to an end."