Luz let out a huge yawn as she sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Beside her, Amity stirred and rolled over, giving her a smile.

"Good morning, Wolfie."

The human witch smiled back and gave her a kiss. "Good morning to you too, Mi Amor. Another day, another snail."

"Mhm. Are you going for your run?"

"Yeah, I need to get that cardio in before my classes."

"Okay. I'll have breakfast ready for you when you get back."

"Aww. You're just the best. Take your time though. You too, Stringbean and Ghost."

The two palismans an approving nod and drifted back to sleep. Chuckling, Luz gave her fiancé another kiss before heading over to her wardrobe to change into her workout clothes. It had been close to a week since she started taking her classes, and it had been going pretty well so far. Darius and her other professors were great teachers, and they always managed to make the lessons fun and engaging, despite the circumstances.

If Luz were to be honest, she was still bummed out about not being able to attend university in person. She just wished that people would understand her, or at least not ridicule her as harshly as they were. At the same time though, she didn't think too much about it. After all, the fact she was taking her classes at all was more than she could ever ask for. So she decided to be grateful for what she had and make the best of it.

After getting dressed, she jogged her way downstairs and out the front door where Hooty greeted her with a smile.

"Good morning, Luz! Going for your run?"

She nodded. "Yep! What's my current record again?"

"Twenty five minutes! I think you can run even faster than Eda can fly now! Hoot-Hoot!"

"You think so? Oh, I should totally challenge her to a race when I get back."

"Oh, that would be fun!"

"Well, at least until Eda loses. Then she'll just be sour the rest of the day."

The two snickered at the thought. The owl lady would never admit it, but she was a pretty sore loser, and the thought of her losing a race to her own apprentice made it even funnier.

Luz stopped however when her ears picked up on a noise coming from behind her. It was the sound of footsteps. Now this alone wasn't unusual. She heard footsteps around home all the time after all, but this was different. This sounded like a huge group of people, way too many to be just some friends and family coming to visit. This filled her heart with worry, a worry that was confirmed when she turned and saw the source of the noise.

It was a group of at least thirty people, all of which had intense looks on their faces. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and this was certainly the case here. It was obvious their intentions were not friendly, and Luz felt her heart start to race, especially when she saw who was leading the group. It was a face she was hoping to not see again anytime soon. Dysley, the man who ridiculed her at the market. He must have talked these people into coming with him, and Luz couldn't help but feel anger towards him. It was one thing to say harsh things to her when she was out in public, but now he was going out of his way to bother her, and this was crossing the line.

"Intruders!" Hooty shouted as he snaked forward, giving an intense glare, ready to fight to defend his friend. He then felt her place a hand on him.

"We're going to need backup." Luz whispered. "Go get the others."

The house demon nodded. One could never have too much help in a situation like this, so he quickly went inside to alert everyone. As he did, Luz turned back to the group and took a deep breath, trying not to show any fear.

"What do you guys want?" She asked, as if she didn't already have an idea.

"Come with us." Dysley said. "It's nearly the full moon."

Luz narrowed her eyes. "You expect me to do that? After the way you treated me? No thanks. I think I'll stay with my family."

"That wasn't a request."

As he said this, the group started to slowly surround the human witch, causing her heart to beat even faster. As they did, Dysley spoke again. "I'm afraid we can't allow you to just do as you wish. Make no mistake. We respect you, Noceda, but we're also not blinded by any bias towards you like Bump is. You carry the mark of the lycanthropes, and that makes you a danger to each and every one of us."

"And you know this how?" Luz countered. "I've had this curse for months now, and me and my family have been handling it just fine. We don't need your help."

A girl with scarlet hair spoke next. Luz recognized this person too. Anna, she believed her name was. "Don't be foolish, Luz. You speak of an ancient evil that nearly brought the Boiling Isles to its knees. What makes you think you can tame it? Look, we don't want to kill you, you saved us from Belos after all, but we will if we must. Make it easy on yourself and help us here."

"What the hell is going on?!"

The human witch turned to see Amity coming outside along with Eda, Hooty, King, Raine, and Stringbean, the latter flying over to Luz and changing into her staff form. They all looked absolutely livid at the scene in front of them, especially Amity. If looks could kill, the entire group would have combusted on the spot.

The purple haired witch spoke again. "You all have ten seconds to get out of here before I incinerate each and every one of you!"

Dysley just scoffed, not intimidated at all. "Enough, Blight. You can't just keep ignoring-"

"Especially you, Dysley!" Amity interrupted. "Or do I have to break more of your bones this time?"

"Go for his legs," Eda said. "But do it slowly so it will really hurt!"

"Guys, stop it!" Luz shouted. "Let's just try and talk this out with them!'

Raine shook their head. "I'm afraid that won't be possible, Luz. Trust me, I know Dysley, and he won't listen to any kind of reasoning. He only follows what he believes is the truth. And looking at the other people here, they clearly feel the same way."

The human witch looked around, and indeed saw what Raine was talking about. Everyone in the group had a look of fear and determination in their eyes, but also stubbornness. She recognized that stubbornness too. It was the kind that people had when they feel they are right no matter what, regardless of how much evidence there is to say otherwise. The more she looked at this, the more it became abundantly clear. These people were not going to take no for an answer, and she was in serious danger.

"I take it you won't be handing her over to us then?" Dysley asked.

"Over our dead bodies!" King shouted.

"Then I'm afraid you have forced our hand."

He gave a simple hand motion, and the entire group charged forward, some casting spells while others had their blades pointed at the family. Raine casted a shield spell to block the incoming projectiles while Hooty reared up high and puffed himself out.

"Big mistake, guys!" He shouted. "Now you will receive the Hooty special treatment! PAIN!"

He shot forward and began to headbutt and knock aside as many people as he could. Eda quickly shifted into her harpy form and joined in the brawl.

"Luz, get inside!" Amity shouted.

The human witch's eyes widened. "What?! No! I'm not gonna just leave you out here! I have to help!"

"You can't! They're all using light spells and weapons! You know what will happen if you get hit by one of those! We can't risk it!"

"She's right, Luz!" King added. "Don't worry, we can handle these bozos!"

The human witch had no choice but to agree, and she hated it, but she also knew her fiancé was right. If she joined in the battle, that would only put herself and her family more at risk. So despite her brain screaming at her to stay, she dashed inside and closed the door behind her. She then ran towards the living room, holding her head while tears started to form in her eyes. Her worst fears had been realized. People were not only fearing her, but they were now taking arms and standing against her. They were actually trying to hurt her and her family. Stringbean changed back into her regular form and tried to comfort her owner, but to no avail.

Why?! Luz thought. Why is this happening?! Why can't they see that I'm still me?! Why can't they just leave me alone?!

She was getting more upset by the second, and the sounds of the battle outside were not helping. She was starting to hyperventilate, and could start feeling her curse surging through her body. She couldn't lose control now, not at a time like this, so she reached into her pocket and pulled out her vial of medicine.

But just as she was about to drink it, she felt three pairs of hands grab her from behind while knocking Stringbean aside at the same time, causing her to drop the vial on the floor and spill the liquid. Two people were holding her arms, the one on her right pointing a fire spell at Stringbean, while another was holding a blade to their throat.

"Do exactly what we say, and you and your palisman won't get hurt." A voice from behind her spoke.

"I can't believe her family fell for that." The man holding Luz's right arm said. "That was almost too easy."

The human witch was in full panic now. She and her family had been tricked. These people snuck inside while Dysley was talking to her family, leaving her wide open for a sneak attack like this. Now these people had her exactly where they wanted. Furthermore, even though the knife wasn't actually touching her, she felt a great deal of pain from it. It was obviously enchanted with light magic, and it was making her curse go ballistic. She could feel it surging through her body at an overwhelming rate, and it was only a matter of time before she lost control.

"Guys, you got to let me go! Right now!" She shouted.

The trio just laughed however.

"You think we're stupid?" The man on her left arm mocked. "You're not going anywhere but with us. Now play nice and do what we say."

"You don't understand! Luz begged. "I need to take my medicine before I-"

"Shut up!" The person behind her hit her on the head with the hint of his knife, knocking her on her knees. She yelled in pain as she did, but it wasn't just from the blow she received. It was also for a different reason.

"Last warning!" The man with the knife shouted. "Get up and-"

With an inhuman growl, Luz emitted a pulse of dark magic, knocking the man and his associates several feet back, before they hit the ground hard. They groaned in discomfort, dazed from the blow, so much so that they didn't hear the sounds of clothes ripping and bones breaking as the human witch transformed. Stringbean did however, and her eyes widened with horror. Luz's wolf form was emerging again, and the snakeshifter knew there was only one way to stop it. As much as she didn't want to leave her owner, she knew she had to get help, so she flew out the front door to alert the others.

Meanwhile, Luz groaned in agony as her body continued to transform. It hurt just as much as it did the first time, but this time she didn't care for the pain nearly as much. Her adrenaline was pumping through her body, numbing it for the most part, and her primal survival instincts were in overdrive. She was now only thinking one thing.

These people threaten your life. Kill them before they kill you.

She flexed her shoulders to pop them in place as she finished her transformation, then looked at the three people around her. They were getting back on their feet, and they looked absolutely horrified. In a second, their plan had gone wrong in the worst way possible. It didn't take long for Luz to lock her eyes on the man with the knife. He was certainly the biggest threat at the moment, so he needed to go first.

She took a step towards him, causing him to panic and point his weapon towards her.

"Get back! I'm warning you!" He shouted. Meanwhile, his associate prepared to cast light spells from behind the werewolf, but a sneak attack was pointless now. They only got lucky the first time, catching her by surprise when she was in distress and not focusing on her surroundings. Now that she was however, she could easily hear what they were up to.

In an instant, she turned and teleported behind the two men, grabbing them both before hurling them towards the man with the knife. The trio fell on a heap on the floor a second time, but this time they weren't given a chance to get up. Luz charged over and grabbed one of the men by the throat, lifting him up as he screamed in terror.

"Please!" He shouted. "Have mercy!"

The werewolf ignored his pleas, opting instead to slash his chest with her claws, cutting him open. The person's screams were instantly replaced with gurgling noises as blood poured out of their mouth. It didn't take long after that for the life to drain from his eyes.

"Montford! No!" The lead man shouted as he grabbed his knife and got up again. He went to stab the werewolf, but she easily caught his arm as she tossed the now lifeless body of his companion aside. At the same time, she placed her foot on the third person, ensuring he stayed where she wanted them.

The man struggled desperately to free himself, but it was futile. He was no match for the strength of a werewolf. Luz grabbed his shoulder with her other hand and pulled as hard as she could, ripping his arm off and spilling more blood on the floor. The scream the man gave would have been spine chilling had Luz been in a clear state of mind at that moment, but she wasn't. Now, with her curse having taken over, it didn't phase her at all.

She was interrupted however by a searing pain coming from her leg. She let out a yelp and dropped the man before looking down to see a large burn on her leg. The third person had cast a light spell to free themself, and was preparing to unleash another one. This infuriated the werewolf. With a growl she lifted her foot and brought it down again on their head, crushing their skull and killing them instantly.

She then turned her attention back to the lead man. He was stumbling towards the front door, clutching his bloody stump as he did. The scent of it was intoxicating to Luz, and she wanted to taste more of it.

She was about to charge forward when the front door swung open, which was followed by Amity running inside with Stringbean. She gasped in horror and covered her mouth as she laid eyes on the scene in front of her. There was blood everywhere, and at the center of it all was Wolf Luz, standing over a dead body with its head crushed like a peanut. It looked like something one would see in a horror movie, and the purple haired witch found herself struggling to not vomit at the sight.

She only had a second to process all of this however as the man practically tackled her, holding onto her with his remaining arm for dear life.

"Help me! Please, help me!"

But there was no time to do anything. Before the Amity could blink, the werewolf lunged forward and grabbed the man by the head, before hoisting him up to look at him face to face. Her glowing yellow eyes pierced right through him, and the man was certain at that point his life was done.

This snapped Amity out of her shock, and she frantically reached into her pocket to pull out her emergency syringe of medicine. As Luz was about to deliver a killing bite to the man's neck, the purple haired witch ran forward and plunged the needle into her side. She yelped in pain as she swung around to face her attacker, her eyes now blazing with anger.

She dropped the man and was about to deliver a swipe at Amity, but then suddenly stopped. In an instant, she felt all of her strength leave her body, her magic subsiding, and her eyes becoming heavy as the medicine did its work. She took slow deep breaths, trying hard to stay on her feet, but it was pointless. Her eyes rolled back and she collapsed unconscious on the ground. A moment later, her body started shifting back to normal.

Amity breathed a sigh of relief, before turning her attention to the man who was back on the ground. As much as she wanted to tend to her fiancé, this was much more urgent. The man was now growing pale as he breathing became more shallow. He was losing blood fast, and something had to be done now or else he'd die right there on the floor. But his arm had been torn off at the shoulder, leaving no spot to apply a tourniquet, and the wound was too big to stop the bleeding with pressure alone.

Gritting her teeth, the purple haired witch did the only thing she could think of. She summoned a fire spell and used it to cauterize the wound. The man let out another spine chilling scream as she did, and she hated doing that to another person, but in the end it was worth it. The bleeding stopped, and the man was now given a fighting chance. Amity then used some healing magic on him before turning her attention to Luz, who was just starting to come to. Stringbean grabbed a blanket from the nearby couch and used it to cover her owner.

"Luz, are you okay?" Amity asked.

The human witch groaned in discomfort. "I…I think so. Where's everyone else? Are they-"

She stopped however when she looked down. Her hands and arms had blood all over them. There were also stains on her chest and feet as well. Her whole body started to shake.

"A-Amity." She said in an almost whisper. "W-Why do I have b-blood on me?"

The purple haired witch tensed, but then shook her head. "Don't think about that. Let's just focus on getting you cle-Luz!"

But Luz didn't hear her. She instantly swung her head around to look at the room behind her, and felt her heart drop into her stomach when she saw the carnage in front of her. Two people were dead, and one was barely alive. Blood splattered all over the floor, and it was impossible to tell who's body it came from, but it didn't really matter. All the human witch could think about was what she had just done.

"No…"

Amity placed her hands on her shoulders. "Luz, it's okay."

Again, the human witch didn't hear her. Instead, she looked down at her trembling hands, hands that were stained red. She tried to warn them. She tried to tell them how much danger they were in. But they didn't listen, and now two of them were dead. She killed them. Her shaking became far more intense, and tears started to spill down her face like a faucet.

She slammed her fists on the floor and started screaming. It was a sound unlike anything that had come out of her before, a sound of pain, anger, fear, and sadness all rolled into one. It was something that should never come out of a person, yet Luz was screaming it full force.

Amity instantly pulled her into a hug and started sobbing uncontrollably. This had been her fiancé's greatest fear, and she had done everything to ensure that this didn't happen. But despite all her efforts, it happened anyway, all because these people wouldn't leave Luz alone.

The screams and cries of the couple were enough to have Eda and the others come barging in within seconds. And upon seeing the scene in front of them, they too froze in terror.

"Oh titan." King said. "Wh-What happened in here?!"

He was too in shock to move, and so was Hooty. Eda however sprinted over to hug Luz tightly while letting out cries of her own. The human witch was a wreck the night she was cursed, but that was nothing compared to the way she was now. She was completely broken, and it tore at the owl lady's heart.

Raine meanwhile helped the man who was still alive stand up and walked him outside to the others. Most of the group had been subdued or knocked out at this point, with only a quarter of them still standing, and those people were given the most judgemental and hate filled stare one could possibly imagine. It even made Dysley flinch a little. Still holding onto the injured man, Raine moved over slightly and pointed inside towards the carnage that just transpired.

"Look at what you've done." They hissed. "Luz wasn't bothering any of you. She was handling her curse just fine, but no. You just couldn't leave her alone, could you? Well, look at how well that worked out for you. Two of your friends are dead, and one is critically injured because of you."

Dysley frowned. "Because of us? Open your eyes, Whispers. This violence is exactly what I was warning you-"

"SILENCE!"

The venom and fury in that shout would have been enough to shut even Belos up, and Dysley was no exception. He recoiled and turned away. Raine then glared at the rest of the group before continuing.

"Don't any of you dare use that tone with me, and especially don't try and point the finger at Luz. For your information, lycanthropy reacts violently to anything it perceives as a threat, including light based magic, and this can cause Luz to lose control. Now we have medicine to help stop a transformation in such situations, but based on what I'm seeing inside the house, your people clearly did something to stop her from taking it. That was just foolish, and it cost two of them their lives. I only pray to Titan that the same will not be the case for this man here.

"You and your people are the ones responsible for what happened today, and I will see to it personally that you all face consequences. Under my authority, I am placing you all under arrest for more crimes than I can count."

Dysley turned to face them again, his stern expression returning. "I'm afraid we can't do that. Like many others, you too are blinded by your attachment to Noceda, but you'll see the truth eventually. I can only hope it's soon."

He and the remainder of his group then cast mist glyphs, covering the area with a thick fog. Raine growled and cast a wind spell from their harp to dissipate it. But when they did, they saw the group was gone, and they could only stare at the now empty space with frustration. This wasn't over yet. Dysley and his group will be back, unless Raine could have them arrested before they did.

They decided to worry about that later however, as there were more urgent matters to tend to. They laid the injured man on the ground and began to access their condition. As they did, they took a glance back inside the owl house and at Luz, who was still wailing in anguish. Like Eda, the sight broke their heart.

Don't worry, Luz. They thought. We've overcome everything thrown at us so far, and this will be no different. I promise.