She takes just one step and immediately something changes. The wolf, Luz and Owlbert now look directly at Anne, the glowing eyes unchanged. They seem angry.
Anne gasps and stops immediately.
After a few seconds, Anne takes another step towards Luz, still six glowing yellow angry eyes fixed on her. The wolf starts growling.
"Anne, maybe you should come back", suggests Sprig, "Something's not right here at all"
"But... we can't leave her behind…", Anne argues and takes another step.
The wolf is still growling and Luz now has both hands on Owlbert in his staff form. She looks at Anne with absolute fury.
"Anne, seriously. You shouldn't go any further", Marcy yells.
Anne thinks about it for a moment.
"Oh, fuck it", she says and runs towards Luz.
"ANNE!", Marcy, Sprig and Polly scream. Anne turns and sees that the wolf is running towards her.
Her eyes widen and just a second before he hits her, she dives to the side.
The wolf doesn't stop. He keeps running. Heading straight for Luz.
"LUZ!" Anne roars, lying on the ground, just before the wolf hits Luz.
But instead of hitting, knocking over, or otherwise hurting her, he jumps into her, causing Luz to briefly lose her balance and stumble back a few steps.
Now that the wolf is gone, Marcy, Sprig and Polly dare to go into the corridor and run to help Anne up.
"Luz? Are you alright?" she asks when she gets back on her feet. Luz herself is still slightly crouched with her hands on her face.
Anne cautiously takes a few steps towards her.
Luz takes her hands off her face and Anne flinches.
"Guys, go back!" Anne yells urgently when she sees Luz's still yellow eyes and her furious look.
Luz extends her right palm to Anne. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an unfamiliar symbol appears in the air, just in front of her palm, and a strong gust of wind knocks Anne off her feet and throws her across the corridor.
"WHAT THE?", Anne exclaims in complete bewilderment as she lands on the ground several meters behind her. Her friends watch the scene with the same expression.
"HUMAN. YOU'RE LUCKY THIS ONE DESPISES VIOLENCE AGAINST THOSE SHE LIKES"
Everyone could see that the voice came from Luz's mouth, but it wasn't hers. This voice was much deeper and distorted.
"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO OUR FRIEND?" Anne yells back.
Luz looks away from Anne and turns sideways to one wall of the corridor. She raises her arm again and after another symbol materializes in front of Luz's hand, a huge explosion shakes the whole room. Marcy lost her balance momentarily but was caught by Sprig. While Anne is still trying to get up, Polly goes to the site of the explosion. There is now a large hole in the wall leading outside and Luz herself is gone.
By the time the dust from the explosion settles, the others have also arrived at the hole in the palace wall.
"What the frog was that?" asks Sprig, still not understanding what just happened, "Has Luz been possessed by that... wolf?"
"I hope not, but we have to- wait, I can still see her. Over there, she's flying out of Newtopia", Anne observes.
"I have an idea, come with me", Marcy calls and runs back towards the garden. "Polly, can you break this iron chain here?"
"Sure", she replies, and Marcy turns to the Mossman. "Good news big guy, you don't have to wait until tomorrow to escape. There's a big hole ahead. Get out of there as fast as you can."
The Mossman nods and Polly does manage to break the chain, albeit at the cost of one of Marcy's hand mirrors.
As soon as the chain is broken, the Mossman sprints out of the garden on all fours. The others meanwhile sprint up the spiral stone staircase to Marcy's room.
"Mar-Mar, will you tell us what your plan is?" Anne asks, slightly out of breath.
"Luz or whatever was talking to us isn't flying that fast. If we take Joe, we can still catch up with her."
"And then what?"
"If we can't talk to the thing inside her, maybe we can at least find out where it's going with her", she explains.
"Awesome"
Once upstairs in Marcy's room, Marcy climbs to her window and whistles loudly downstairs. Her companion, Joe Sparrow, is at her window shortly after. The group climbs out the window onto Joe's back and Marcy orders him to fly in the same direction Luz flew.
A few kilometers outside the city walls, Luz comes into sight riding Owlbert.
"Damn, she saw us", Anne says as Luz turns and looks straight at her. But surprisingly, she's slowing down, "She is doing something to Owlbert..."
The staff that Luz is sitting on begins to glow more and more. The group keeps getting closer and closer to Luz.
Luz turns back briefly once more. Shortly after, she picks up speed. And she's getting faster. And faster. And faster. Joe Sparrow tries to keep up, but it drains him. Suddenly, there's a loud bang, followed by a shock wave that hits the group.
"What was that?" Polly asks after they've all been thoroughly shaken up.
"She... just broke the sound barrier. We can't catch up with her anymore..." Marcy explains with great disappointment in her voice. There is a moment of silence.
"And what are we doing now?"
"Well... She seems to have flown towards Frog Valley... We can look for her as soon as we drive back", Anne suggests, equally disappointed.
"Why not right now?", Sprig asks.
After checking her phone, Anne explains, "We're tired and Joe is exhausted. Also, the sun is about to rise and we're about to have an audience with the king."
"And what about 'no one gets left behind'?" he asks, making Anne looking down in guilt. He doesn't get an answer. "I see"
The sun has already risen when the group returns to Marcy's room at the palace. On the way back nobody dared to interrupt the silence.
Eventually the silence was broken when Lady Olivia, wide awake and quite frustrated, pushed open Marcy's room doors.
"Rise and shine, kids. Because of you, I barely slept a wink last night... Ugh, well, whatever. It's go-time. Your audience with King Andrias is about to begin. Get ready!"
She slams the doors again and a short time later Hop Pop shows up to bring Anne and Sprig their original clothes. Maddie is with him.
"I hope you had a nice night", he says enthusiastically. Marcy and Anne are lying on their bed, Sprig is sitting by Marcy's window and Polly has found a comfortable bucket and is taking a nap.
He takes turns looking at the children and says, very dryly, "That bad, yes?"
"Hey guys", Maddie looks past Hop Pop and heads around, "I've got Luz's stuff with me, since she's just... Um, where is she?"
Nobody answers.
"Guys, where's Luz?" she asks again with more pressure.
Again, no one answers. It even goes so far that no one even looks at her.
"Gone"
It's Sprig sitting by the window looking out.
"What do you mean 'gone', boy?" asks Hop Pop, seeing the increasingly concerned look in Maddie's eyes.
He turns to Hop Pop and Maddie, his eyes slightly swollen.
"She's gone. Not there anymore. She got possessed by some wolf-thing and ran away. She was going too fast for us to track her. She probably flew back to Frog Valley, that's all we know."
Maddie and Hop Pop stood in the doorway open-mouthed, not knowing how to handle this information. Sprig turns around again and looks outside again.
"Well, Maddie, it looks like you're going to come back with us", Hop Pop says, trying to ease the situation.
"Thank you", Maddie replies, "But I don't understand why Luz should just run off like that. We're all still here and so are her things..."
"Ugh... She didn't leave voluntarily... I hope at least", Sprig says, somewhat annoyed, "She had these creepy yellow glowing eyes and her voice was very different from her normal voice-"
Maddie's eyes widen as Sprig talks.
"Wait, what?"
"Huh?"
"Her eyes. They were glowing?"
"Yes, yellow. Is that important?"
"I think I know where she is..."
Anne and Marcy shoot up and stare straight at her "You know where she is? How? Where is she?"
"I'll tell you as soon as we're out of Newtopia. But don't worry. Where she is, nothing can happen to her."
Strong doubts linger in the room, but Maddie's belief that she knows where Luz is has been dispelled enough that they are willing to wait a little longer for the answers to their questions.
Shortly after, they are all getting ready for their audience with King Andrias.
Exactly thirty minutes later, Lady Olivia returns to collect the group, this time accompanied by two guards. Everyone has a hard time resisting the urge to giggle to themselves at the sight of Lady Olivia's painted twirl of mustache. She is visibly annoyed and ignoring the general fatigue of the group, she shoos them across the palace to the throne room. King Andrias is already waiting for them with great anticipation.
"Wonderful to see you all again"
"Hey King Andrias", greet him the two humans and the four frogs.
"So... Ask me if I found anything about the box", the king says playfully.
"Did you-" Anne began to ask
"BINGO!" he interrupts her and starts laughing, "Ta-daa"
He pulls out from behind his back a rather old looking book, which is several meters tall. The cover is made of brown leather with several golden decorations on the spine. The leather is partially already frayed and has minor water damage. There are three different colored gems drawn on the cover of the book, blue, green and pink.
The king opens it to a specific page and then places the book on the floor for the others to see.
"Here, take a look"
The groups gasps.
"It's the music box!", Sprig notes.
"According to this book, it's a magical artifact that is thousands of years old. Apparently, my ancestors used it to visit entirely different worlds. They were... peaceful explorers, scientists of you will. These stones are the key to getting it working again but they need to be recharged", he explains.
"Recharged? How?" Anne asks.
"The book mentions three different temples. Each channeling a different kind of energy. And once the stones are recharged..."
"WE HAVE A WAY HOME?" Anne calls excitedly and with stars in her eyes.
"Steal my thunder, why don't you?", King Andrias asks sarcastically, "But yes"
"I don't believe it. A real chance to get home..." says Anne with a newly found source of hope.
"Right? Now let's get out there and conquer these bad boys", Marcy shouts.
"Whoo-hoo", Anne cheers, but King Andrias slows her down a bit.
"Whoa-ho. Let's rein those snails for a sec. The book only mentions the location of one temple. Besides, you still have a lot of preparing to do before you set off", he explains.
"Good point", Marcy admits, "Gotta get equipped for a mega-quest like this. Armor to buy, maps to study, weapons to forge... This gonna take a few days"
"Few days, huh?" Hop Pop now also speaks up, "Well, I hate to say it, but we really need to get back to Wartwood. The harvest is coming up and we can't miss it."
"Okay, Marce, me and the Plantars will head back to Wartwood, and when you're ready we can just meet up.", Anne suggests
"Good idea, Anne", King Andrias says, "Besides, Marcy, I have an important mission for you, for which I need you while you are still here in Newtopia."
"Oh... What is it about?" Marcy asks.
"In a few days, General Yunan will be back from a classified assignment I sent her on. Once she gets back, I need your negotiating skills on a sensitive matter. Once this is done, you are free to travel to Wartwood and assist in the quest for the temples."
"Oh, umm... Alright", Marcy says disappointedly, and Anne takes Marcy's hands in hers.
"Don't be sad, Mar-Mar. We found each other and as soon as your commitments here are completed, we will meet again. I promise. And after that, nothing will separate us again."
Marcy wipes a tear from her face
"You're right. We've been waiting for months, what's another week?"
"That's the spirit", King Andrias exclaims, "Don't worry, you'll see each other again shortly... Speaking of seeing you again, I just noticed something. Where is that other girl who was here last time?"
"Oh... Luz is... umm...", Marcy stutters
"We overdid it a bit last night and we kinda lost her...", Anne says. King Andrias raises an eyebrow before bursting out in laughter.
"Oh, that brings back memories... When I was a young prince myself, I used to throw wild sleepovers with my friends from time to time. Sometimes we woke up all over town in the morning, it was fantastic...", he says nostalgically, "Don't worry, your friend will definitely show up again"
"Was the name of one of your friends purely by chance... Leif?" Anne asks, causing Andrias' expressions to fall.
"How do you know that name?"
"Erm... something was scratched into a wall in Marcy's room. 'Leif and Andrias for ever'. There was also a third name, but it was no longer legible", Anne lied. King Andrias falls backwards onto the steps in front of his throne and sighs.
"Yes. Leif used to be my friend an eternity ago", he admitted in a sad voice.
"What happened?", Anne asks sympathetically.
"She had stolen a valuable family heirloom. It had been in my family for generations. To this day I don't know why she did it and both the heirloom and Leif never showed up again..." he said and the whole room was silent. Nobody really knew what to say.
"But don't worry, that was ages ago. Nothing to worry about. Now go, you have an adventure to prepare."
Shortly after everyone has said goodbye to the King and Lady Olivia and the heavy palace doors have slammed shut behind them, Sprig turns to Anne.
"He lied, didn't he?"
"Oh yeah, totally..."
"LUZ! LUZ, THE HUMAN!"
Those were the first words Luz heard as she regained consciousness and found herself in a place she could only describe as empty. She sits up and realizes that the ground she's sitting on isn't solid. She slides a hand over it.
"It's like water... but not wet... HELLO? IS THERE ANYONE?" she calls into the dark void that surrounds her on all sides.
No Answer. Luz gets up and tries again
"HELLOOO? CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME? WHERE AM I?"
"GOOD YOU ARE AWAKE"
A deep disembodied voice speaks to her. With every word, the void flashes brightly.
"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here?"
"WHAT'S THE LAST YOU REMEMBER?"
"I was running away from these... things with my friends and then I saw this wolf. Then all I know is that I woke up here"
"YOU ARE IN YOUR OWN HEAD RIGHT NOW"
"What?"
"I COULDN'T TRUST THAT YOU WOULD COME BACK HERE BY YOURSELF SO I SENT MY COMPANION TO GET YOU"
"What you're saying doesn't make any sense. I've never been inside my own head. Well, at least not in that way. I'll ask you again: Who are you?"
"I THINK IT WOULD BE EASIER TO SHOW YOU"
Suddenly the void transforms and colors fill the room. A blue sky and white clouds. The liquid under her feet is now grass. Trees grow all around. And in the distance rises a gigantic skull, a bright yellow glow emanating from its eye sockets.
"No way!"
"YOU WOULD PROBABLY CALL ME THE TITAN"
"But... you... how... huh?" Luz struggles for words, "But- But... you're dead. How can you be here? HOW CAN YOU BE IN MY HEAD?"
"I SHOULD EXPLAIN MYSELF... WHAT YOU WOULD TERM DEATH IS NOT THE END FOR MY SPECIES. OUR BODIES WILL PASS AWAY BUT OUR CONSCIOUSNESS RISES TO A NEW LEVEL OF EXISTENCE. ONCE OUR BODIES PASS, WE ARE BOUND TO THE PLACE WHERE WE PASSED. I EXIST IN THE WHOLE WORLD YOU WOULD CALL THE DEMON REALM AND CONTROL THE MAGIC THAT WAS RELEASED AT MY DEATH"
"But... I'm in Amphibia... not the Demon Realm..."
"WHEN MY BODY DECOMPOSED, MY BLOOD COMBINED WITH THE WATER IN THAT REALM CREATE PORTALS THAT MAGIC WENT UP INTO OTHER REALMS AS WELL, AND WITH IT A PART OF MY SELF. IN THIS WORLD YOU CALL AMPHIBIA, MY BLOOD IN CONTACT WITH THE SOIL HAS CREATED A PLACE THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW."
Suddenly the surroundings change again. Luz is now standing in the middle of a large cave, which is surrounded by huge crystals that glow in different colors. In front of her is a stone altar, above which a huge glowing crystal is floating. Suddenly, people appear too. She sees Hop Pop lying on the altar. Maddie looking at him worried. And herself touching the crystal with both hands.
Luz looks at this still scene. She tries to put her hand on the shoulder of the image of herself, but her hand slips through.
"THIS PLACE IS FAMILIAR TO YOU, ISN'T IT?"
"Here... Maddie and I revived Hop Pop..."
"THE COMBINATION OF MY BLOOD WITH THE MINERALS OF THIS WORLD HAVE CREATED THIS PLACE. THE MAGIC OF MY BLOOD THAT WENT INTO THIS WORLD CREATED THESE CRYSTAL FORMATIONS. HERE IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT YOU."
"I remember... someone had called my name"
"INDEED."
Luz needs a moment to process this and takes a deep breath.
"Well...let's assume I believe you, that you really are the titan. Why am I here?"
"I HAVE MADE MISTAKES AND I NEED YOUR HELP TO CORRECT THEM"
"You are the Titan. What do you need my help for?"
"I NO LONGER HAVE A BODY. I CANNOT PERFORM SPELLS BUT ONLY CONTROL AND DIRECT MAGIC IN ITS PURE FORM."
"But why me? Why not one of the witches and demons from the Demon Realm?"
"THIS IS PART OF THE MISTAKE I MADE. I NO LONGER HAVE THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE WITH MY CHILDREN"
"What happened?"
"HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO, TWO HUMANS FOUND A RIFT BETWEEN THE REALMS AND STRANDED THEMSELVES IN THE DEMON REALM"
"There were more humans in the Demon Realm before me?"
"INDEED. TWO HUMANS OF THE SAME BLOOD. ONE PEACEFUL AND KIND, THE OTHER FULL OF HATE AND CONTEMPT. THE DESPISING ONE LEARNED MY LANGUAGE AND CONTACTED ME. HE WANTED TO LEARN MAGIC SO I GRANTED HIM THIS WISH. MY GIFT WAS NOT ENOUGH FOR HIM AND HE WANTED MORE. LIKE A PARASITE, IT ATTACHED TO ME AND ULTIMATELY ABSORBED ME"
"But if he absorbed you, how can you talk to me now? And how could you take me away from there?"
"I CAN PERCEIVE ALL INDIVIDUALS TRAVELLING BETWEEN REALMS. THE SPACE BETWEEN REALMS LEAVES A MARK ON THOSE WHO WANDER THROUGH. THAT'S HOW I WAS ABLE TO FIND YOU, EVEN OUTSIDE OF THAT REALM. THE PARASITE DOESN'T KNOW THIS WORLD. HE DOESN'T KNOW THAT A PART OF MY SELF IS HERE"
"I see... wait, you said that was only part of the mistake..."
"INDEED. IN THIS REALM, I HAVE MADE THE SAME MISTAKE. THE INHABITANTS OF THIS WORLD FOUND THIS PLACE MORE THAN TEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO AND I PERMIT THEM TO USE THE CRYSTALS TO SPREAD THE USE OF MAGIC. IT WAS NOT LONG BEFORE THE FIRST INDIVIDUALS ABUSED MAGIC, BRINGING SUFFERING AND PAIN NOT ONLY OVER THIS WORLD, BUT ALSO OVER MANY OTHERS"
"The Gems... The music box..."
"INDEED"
"So I was right. I knew Andrias was a tyrant. I have to tell the others"
"THAT WOULD NOT BE WISE"
"What? Why not? You do want to stop him, don't you?"
"THAT'S CORRECT. HOWEVER, THIS WORLD IS NO LONGER SAFE FOR YOU"
"What do you mean 'not safe'?"
"THE RULER OF THIS WORLD KNOWS ABOUT YOU AND THIS PLACE. HE CONSIDERS YOU A THREAT AND WILL TRY TO ELIMINATE YOU. I CANNOT LET THIS PLACE FALL INTO HIS HANDS OR THOUSANDS OF WORLDS WILL BE CONQUERED BY HIM AND ELIMINATED AS WELL"
"Oh..."
"ONCE HE FINDS THIS PLACE, YOUR FRIENDS HERE ARE IN MORTAL DANGER AS WELL. AS SOON AS HE SEES NO MORE USE FOR THEM, HE WILL END THEIR LIVES. FOR NOW, THEY ARE SAFE."
"Oh..."
"I BROUGHT YOU INTO THIS WORLD ORIGINALLY, BECAUSE YOUR LIFE IN THE DEMON REALM WAS JUST AS ENDANGERED AS IT-"
"Wait! YOU brought me here? You almost killed me as I arrived here. YOU robbed me of the chance to save Eda's life? And now you're demanding me to fix YOUR mistakes?"
"NO. I BROUGHT YOU HERE TO MAKE YOU AN OFFER"
"An offer? What kind?"
"IT'S EASIER TO SHOW YOU"
The surroundings are changing again. The illustrations of Maddie and Hop Pop have dissolved. The image of Luz still stands in front of the crystal. Her image's eyes are still glowing yellow. Owlbert has now appeared on her shoulder, his eyes also glowing.
"WHAT YOU SEE NOW IS REALITY. BUT FOR YOU FROM AN EXTERNAL PERSPECTIVE"
"I know you're watching me. Step forward"
A third voice can be heard. It is the image of Luz that speaks. She does hear her own voice, but it's deeper and a little distorted.
The image turns away from the floating crystal and faces an empty stone path leading away from the area where the altar is located towards the portal leading into the cave. A tall, slender figure emerges from the path. It's a pink Newt with blond hair and dark iron armor and a black cloak.
"My name is General Yunan, Scourge of the Sand Wars, Defeater of Ragnar the Wretched, aaaaaand... the youngest newt to ever achieve the rank of General in the great Newtopian army! You have no right to be here. Leave this place"
"I'm afraid you're mistaken. YOU have no right to be here, General."
"Listen, I know you're a friend of Marcy's and I really shouldn't be telling you, but I've been given orders by King Andrias to ensure that no one knows of the existence of this place, by any means necessary. So I beg you: go, before you force me to use means that I would hate to use against a child."
"I don't like this", the real Luz comments. Luz's image moves into a fighting stance while General Yunan's sighs in disappointment.
"You leave me no choice then"
Luz stands a little apart from the two images and alternately looks back and forth between the two. Yunan extends metal claws from the ends of her arms and charges towards her opponent. The image of Luz shows no sign of wanting to dodge the attack. Instead, she balls her fists, stretches them out towards her attacker and immediately in front of them a symbol appears in the air and a strong gust of wind knocks Yunan off her feet and, trying not to be blown too far away, she rams her claws into the ground.
"What the…" the real Luz comments, wide-eyed. Yunan looks similarly horrified at her opponent.
Luz's image raises her arms and this time a different symbol appears on each hand. The water that flows around the area around the altar overflows the bank. As if trapped in an invisible pipe, two jets of water rush towards Yunan with great force.
She raises her arms in front of her face to protect herself, but that's when she's hit and thrown against a rock face and falls to the ground on all fours. The image of Luz now has blue glowing balls of flame on her hands and slowly walks towards Yunan.
Seeing the pain in Yunan's eyes, the real Luz runs between the images of Yunan and herself.
"Stop! Stop hurting her!"
Her image now looks Luz straight in the eye and the flame balls in her hands go out. They both kneel down to Yunan who is coughing up blood.
"This one, who owns this body, doesn't want you to get hurt any further", Yunan looks at her with a questioning look, "But I can't allow your king to know more about this place"
Luz' image puts her hand on Yunan's head and she collapses.
"What did you do?"
Her image goes back to the large floating crystal.
"A sleeping spell. Besides, she will have no memory of this altercation and I have healed the worst injuries."
"But how did you... did I do that? I'm a human after all"
"MY COMPANION, THE WOLF, AS YOU CALLING HIM, THE ONE, I HAVE TRAVELLED WITH FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS, HAD MERGED WITH YOU AND TRANSFERRED ALL HIS REMAINING MAGIC TO BRING YOU HERE. HE SACRIFICED HIMSELF. SO SURELY YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THAT I AM IN A VERY DESPERATE POSITION"
"So basically, you're offering me magical abilities in exchange for helping you with your problems?"
"THAT IS CORRECT"
"And what would you do if I declined the offer?"
"SHOULD YOU DECLINE, YOU ARE FREE TO GO. I WOULD EVEN SEND YOU TO A WORLD OF YOUR CHOICE."
"But what would happen to you then?"
"NOTHING"
"Nothing? What do you mean 'nothing'?"
"I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING, SHOULD MORE INDIVIDUALS DISCOVER THIS PLACE AND WISH TO CLAIM THE MAGIC. I WOULD BE FORCED TO STAND BY AND OBSERVE AS WORLDS GETTING HARVESTED FOR THEIR RESOURCES AND ULTIMATELY PERISHED BECAUSE OF MY MISTAKES"
Within a split second, Luz has an answer ready: "I'll help you."
"THEN THE TRANSMISSION WILL NOW BEGIN"
Suddenly Luz notices strong movements inside the cave. The ground trembles and as she takes a closer look around the cave some of the larger crystals appear to be moving and realigning. She turns to the image of herself, which has now let go of the giant crystal and is lying down on the altar beneath the crystal.
"How exactly is this going to work now, the magic transfer thing?"
"IN ORDER FOR YOUR BODY TO BE ABLE TO STORE AND USE MAGIC IN THE LONG TERM, I HAVE TO MAKE A FEW ADJUSTMENTS. YOUR VISUAL APPEARANCE WILL NOT BE AFFECTED BY THIS"
"Adjustments? What adjustments?"
The ground beneath her feet begins to shake again and cracks begin to form, leading away from the altar to the water surrounding the platform. The water flows into the resulting cracks and leads it like a canal to the altar. Luz marvels when, once there, it flows up the altar and watches as it envelops her body.
"YOUR BLOOD IS NOT RECEPTIVE ENOUGH. I WILL ENRICH IT WITH MINE"
"With your...? So that's not water?"
"CORRECT."
Luz gets closer to the altar her body is lying on and sees the liquid slowly seeping into her skin.
"Okay... what else?"
YOUR HEART IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO PUMP THE REINFORCED BLOOD THROUGH YOUR BODY. IT WILL BE REINFORCED AS WELL AND YOU WILL RECEIVE A SECOND ONE"
"A second heart? Uff... Then I'm not really a human anymore, am I?"
"INDEED. YOU WILL BE A CHILD OF TWO SPECIES"
"Forever?"
"IF IT SHOULD BE YOUR WISH, IT WILL BE POSSIBLE TO UNDO THE CHANGES"
"Nice to know. What else are you doing?"
"A FEW OTHER ORGANS NEED TO BE REINFORCED AS WELL. THIS RESULTS IN INCREASED PERFORMANCE. YOUR LIFE EXPECTANCY WILL ALSO BE INCREASED"
"By how many years are we talking?"
"ACCORDING TO MY ESTIMATES, YOUR LIFE EXPECTANCY WILL INCREASE BY FIFTEEN MILLENNIA"
"WHAT?"
"A FULLY EVOLVED TITAN HAS A LIFE EXPECTANCY OF UP TO FIFTY MILLION YEARS. MORE THAN FIFTEEN ADDITIONAL MILLENNIA IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR YOUR SPECIES"
"I... um... ugh... I'm not going to complain. I'm just... surprised, I guess"
"I THINK, IT'S IMPORTANT TO POINT OUT THAT THIS IS ONLY A MAXIMUM VALUE. YOU ARE BY NO MEANS IMMORTAL. ALSO, OVERUSE OF MAGIC CAN REDUCE YOUR LIFESPAN AND YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PRODUCE MORE ONCE WHAT I LEAVE YOU WILL IS USED UP"
"Just out of curiosity: How much do I get from you?"
"YOU WILL RECEIVE EVERYTHING STORED IN THIS CAVE"
"W- What? But... what about you then?"
"MY EXISTENCE IN THIS WORLD WILL END AFTER THE TRANSFER IS COMPLETE"
"You- So you're dying? No, I can't let that happen"
"AND I CANNOT ALLOW ANY OF THE MAGIC TO REMAIN IN THIS PLACE. WHAT IS IN THIS WORLD, OUTSIDE OF THIS CAVE, IS BEYOND REACH OF THOSE WHO CAN ABUSE IT. NOT FOR LONG, THOUGH"
"You're talking about Anne, Marcy and Sasha, aren't you?"
"THERE ARE FOUR GEM CARRIERS IN THIS WORLD"
"What? Who else? Me?"
"NO. IT IS AN INDIVIDUAL THAT YOU MUST SEEK OUT ONCE YOU RETURN TO THIS WORLD."
"You're sending me away? No! I have to stay here and protect my friends from this tyrant"
"I'M GOING TO SEND YOU BACK TO THE DEMON REALM, WHERE YOU WILL HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO CONTROL YOUR NEW ABILITIES. YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DO THAT HERE. ALSO: ONCE THE PROCESS BEGINS, YOUR BODY WILL BE FLOODED WITH MAGIC AND YOU WILL PASS OUT UNTIL IT HAS ADAPTED TO THE NEW SITUATION. UNTIL THEN, YOU ARE COMPLETELY UNPROTECTED"
"No, I won't-"
"ONCE YOU'RE SUFFICIENTLY COMFORTABLE WITH YOUR NEW ABILITIES, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO TRAVEL FREELY BETWEEN WORLDS. ONCE BACK HERE, SEEK OUT AN INDIVIDUAL NAMED VALERIANA. DESTROY THE BOX. DESTROY THE TEMPLES. IN THE DEMON REALM, STOP THE PARASITE AND SAVE MY ONLY REMAINING DESCENDANT. TRANSMISSION BEGINS... NOW!"
Luz sees many beams of bright energy shooting from crystals on the cave wall to the large crystal and from there into her body before everything around her phases out of existence and she passes out.