WARNING: This chapter will discuss a subject that some may find disturbing. You have been warned.

Luz was in a very happy mood the next few days, and why wouldn't she be? She had mastered her powers as a werewolf, something few had ever managed to accomplish. It was certainly something to be proud of. And even though she usually wasn't the type to relish in victory, she couldn't help but feel that way here, and the same was the case with her family.

They were all thrilled for the human witch, and nearly smothered her with the amount of hugs they gave her. Eda even cracked open a bottle of her finest apple blood to celebrate, but Luz politely declined. Even though her twenty-first birthday wasn't far away, it still felt wrong to her to drink alcohol before then. And if she were to be honest, she was glad she didn't. Everyone drank a decent amount, but Eda went a little overboard with it, and it really showed the next morning with the hangover she had, something Luz was more than happy to take a picture of for future blackmail material.

She was also more than happy to stay in the Demon Realm now that she was in sync with her curse. Her family was reluctant to let her do so at first, Dysley had still not been caught after all, and they made that point very clear to her. The human witch was undeterred however. She didn't want to live in fear and let it ruin her life anymore. Besides, she had an education to get and a wedding to plan, and she wasn't going to let anything stop that. Not to mention, her family would be there to help if something happened, so they reluctantly agreed.

It was now Tuesday morning, and Luz gave a big yawn and stretch as she sat up in bed. It was a beautiful day, perfect for outdoor activities. She then turned to find the rest of the bed empty. Amity had already gotten up and headed downstairs, so she decided to do the same. Being careful not to wake up Stringbean, she headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth and hair. She also opted to brush the fur on her tail as well. If she was going to have it out regularly, she might as well have it look nice.

The human witch smiled as she ran her brush along it. Now that she had achieved balance with her curse, her fur had become even softer than before.

No wonder Amity likes this thing so much. She thought with a chuckle.

After she was done, she got dressed and made her way downstairs to the kitchen. Sure enough, her fiancé was already eating breakfast at the table along with Raine. Everyone else seemed to be still asleep.

"Good morning." Luz chirped as she sat down, giving Amity a kiss on the cheek and a flick of her tail.

The purple haired witch blushed and smiled. "Good morning, Wolfie. How'd you sleep?"

"Like a log. You?"

"Same. I see now why you like to sleep in. It feels great."

Raine chuckled. "Don't get too used to it. Once this is all over, you'll need to get back into your routines, and that includes getting up early for work or college."

The couple groaned.

"Don't remind me." Luz said. "That's the one thing I hate about my classes. Why do they have to be so early?"

"That's just the way they are, unfortunately. I hated it too when I was your age, but it's all worth it in the end."

The human witch nodded. "Definitely. And with all seriousness, I can't wait to start my classes again."

"Oh yeah, you're gonna start again on Thursday, right?" Amity asked.

"Yep! It's gonna be a potion class, so that will be exciting!"

Amity smiled kissed her cheek. "I'm sure it will be. On another note, have you decided on a way to show everyone you have control of your curse now?"

Luz nodded again. "Yeah. The Bonesborough brawl is coming soon, so I figured it would be a good way to show off my abilities."

Raine frowned. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Why not? Amity and I have participated in it before."

"Yes, but not when you were a lycanthrope. Don't you think you should start off a little smaller?"

Amity giggled. "Oh Raine, you should know by now that's not Luz's style. She's all about going big or going home."

"Darn straight!" The human witch said.

Raine sighed. "Yes, I suppose I should know better by now. Regardless-"

Suddenly the front door flew open, and Hooty snaked inside with a surprised and concerned look on his face. "Guys, we have a situation!"

The trio instantly stood up.

"What's wrong?" Luz asked.

"There's someone here, and…well, it's best if you saw it for yourself!"

They all ran to the front door to see what the house demon was talking about. And when they did, they too formed surprised looks on their faces. Standing in front of them was a girl who was around Luz's age, with scarlet hair and golden eyes, but that wasn't what caught the group's attention. What caught their attention was that she was covered in cuts and bruises from top to bottom, like she had just gone through a demolition derby. Furthermore, she looked absolutely terrified.

A look of recognition soon formed on the group's faces as they realized they knew this girl. It was Anna, a member of the group that Dysley led when he first attacked the owl house, only now she was alone, which raised all sorts of questions.

Amity was the first one to speak, her face soon turning from confused to angry. "You! Do you have a death wish, or are you just plain stupid? Either way, you have some nerve to come back here after what you did!"

The girl held her hands up. "Wait, please listen! I'm not here to fight! I came to warn you that you're all in danger!"

"You expect me to believe that?! Titan, you really are stupid! Those injuries are just an illusion to get us to drop our guard, right? Well, I'm not falling for it! Where's Dysley? He's around waiting to ambush us, isn't he?!"

"No! I'm telling the truth!"

The purple haired witch grabbed her by the collar. "Bull!"

"Amity, stop!" Luz yelled as she pulled her fiancé away.

"What the hell are you doing?!" The purple haired witch growled.

"I don't think she's lying! Just look at her! She's pretty banged up, and looks really scared!"

"I already checked the perimeter too!" Hooty said. "She's the only one here! Hoot!"

Raine narrowed their eyes as they intently studied the girl's face. Their years in the emperor's coven had made them good at determining whether or not someone is lying. But looking at this girl's face, they saw no sign of deception whatsoever. It seemed like she was telling the truth.

"Your name is Anna, correct?" They asked.

"Yes." The girl replied in an almost whisper. "Anna Kessler."

"Okay Anna, I can tell you're being honest in what you're saying. Come inside so we can speak and get you patched up."

"Raine…!" Amity started, but they held their hand up.

"It's alright. I don't think she means us any harm. And if she says we're all in danger, I want to hear why. Go get Eda and King."

The purple haired witch reluctantly nodded, and she and Luz went off to do just that. Raine then turned back to Anna with a stern look. "Don't make me regret this, or you will."

Anna nodded. "I understand."

"Good. Follow me. Hooty, keep watch just in case."

The house demon nodded. "You got it!"

Raine then led the girl to the living room where they seated her down and began to access her injuries. They were surprised to say the least. Some of her cuts were quite deep and required medical attention. What happened to her? Did she get into a fight with a slither beast or something?

Luz and Amity then entered the room with Eda and King. Neither looked happy to see Anna, and they looked like they were trying their hardest to not attack her right then and there.

"You better have a good reason for being here." The owl lady growled. "Or else I'll pull your head off where you stand!"

"Eda, just stop it!" Luz yelled. "At least give her a chance!"

"Why?! She didn't give you a chance!"

"Exactly! We need to be better than that! Stuff like this is how I can prove myself!"

Eda sighed. There was no arguing with that, and the last thing she wanted was to make her apprentice upset. "Fine, but she gets only one chance to explain herself. One."

Anna nodded and took a deep breath before speaking. "Thank you. First things first though, there's something Luz deserves to hear from me."

She then turned to the human witch before continuing. "I am so sorry for what happened. What I did was inexcusable. Your life was already a struggle, and you were in enough pain as is. And yet…I still tried to hurt you."

She choked. "You were not bothering anyone. You were just trying your best to be happy like anyone else. But I let my fear get the better of me, and blind me to what Mayor Bump said about you. I was convinced I was doing the right thing, until…until I was reminded what a real monster is like. Regardless, I helped do a terrible thing to you, Luz, and I don't deserve your kindness. I will tell you what I need to tell you and be on my way."

Luz shook her head. "Oh no. There's no way I'm letting you go back out there like that. Let us patch you up."

Anna's eyes widened. That response caught her off guard. "W-Why? You have no reason to help me after what I did. If anything, you should hate me."

King scoffed. "If you're expecting that, then you clearly don't know Luz."

The human witch nodded. "Yeah, I'm not exactly the type to hold grudges. Don't get me wrong, I hate what you did, but I don't hate you specifically."

"Why?" Anna asked again, flabbergasted. "I helped attack you and your family unprovoked! How could you not hate me?"

Luz sighed. "Because I understand why you did it. Like you said, you were afraid, and I honestly don't blame you. The history of the lycanthropes is…not pretty to say the least. Whenever they're mentioned, they're described as bloodthirsty monsters who know nothing of peace or mercy. And to be fair, umbra lycanthropes are definitely like that. The one who bit me was, that's for sure."

Now Amity sighed, understanding what her fiancé was saying, and began to use her healing magic on Anna's wounds. "She's right. You were taught to fear lycanthropes. So when you found out that Luz was one, it kind of turned things upside down for you. It challenged everything you thought you knew. And because of that, you started doubting that she could be trusted anymore."

Anna looked down with shame. "Yes. I knew she was an animae lycanthrope, but that didn't matter in my mind. I thought she would be dangerous to everyone around her, and I didn't want that to happen. But…I realize now how stupid I was in thinking that."

Luz nodded. "And that's the biggest reason why I'm not hating you. You actually went out of your way to come here alone and apologize, even though you knew that could put yourself at risk. Call me crazy, but I don't think Dysley would do that."

Anna tensed. "No, he wouldn't, and that's really the main reason I came here. I came to warn you about him. He's lost it completely, and I fear he has become a danger to everyone on the Boiling Isles, not just you and your family."

Eda's face now grew a look of concern. "Why? What did he do?"

The redhead hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath before speaking again. "After the initial attack here, I guess Dysley became desperate to find a way to fight Luz, and he decided that we needed more power to do it, so he led us to the frigid area of the knee."

"The knee?" Raine said. "Damnit, I knew we should have double checked that area!"

Anna shook her head. "I don't think that would have mattered. He was very good at keeping us hidden. Anyway, Dysley led us there because there was supposedly an ancient type of spirit that resided there, one that could give him the power he was looking for. And since he was once a member of the Oracle Coven, he was confident that he could summon it and use it."

"What kind of spirit?" King asked.

Anna tensed for a moment, her hands trembling, before responding. "It was one I'd never heard of until that point, but I really wish I had. The wendigo."

Eda and Raine's faces went pale. Wendigo. They knew that name, and it was one they prayed they would never hear in this context.

"Wh-What did you just say?" The latter asked.

"You know what she's talking about?" Luz asked.

"Yes. And if this is true, we really are in grave danger."

"I'm not following." Amity said. "What's a wendigo?"

"They're evil spirits, Boots." Eda replied. "And powerful too. Even Belos was spooked by them. In fact, one of the first things he did when he became emperor was ban the Oracle Coven from summoning them, because they were too dangerous. It was one f the only good things he ever did. To put it another way, even the lycanthropes from the old legends never summoned the wendigo, because of the negative effects it would have on them."

Raine nodded. "Because of all that, the wendigo isn't as well established in our folklore as the lycanthrope, and many books don't even mention the process of how to use them. Though clearly Dysley must have learned how from his time in the Oracle Coven."

Luz felt herself tense as she heard this. Belos was a despicable being who did all kinds of horrible things, and there were many words that could be used to describe him, none of them good. One thing he wasn't however was a coward. He was someone who rarely showed fear in any way, shape, or form. The fact that these spirits made him uneasy caused a chill run up the human witch's spine.

"I'm kind of scared to ask this." She said. "But what exactly do these wendigos do?"

Raine took a deep breath to keep themselves composed before responding. "When a witch summons a wendigo, they must make a deal with them. If they prove their worth, they will be granted incredible power. However, this power comes at a heavy price. The witch will be permanently turned into a hideous monster, one which bears the same name, and they have an everlasting hunger that eats away at their body and mind. And because of that, they very often go mad, not that anyone who summons a wendigo isn't mad to begin with."

Anna started shaking again. "Yes, it's all true, but I didn't know any of that at the time. None of us did. Dysley just told us that it would give us the advantage to fight Luz. We believed him, because we were blinded by our fear of Luz's lycanthropy. But I really wish we weren't, because Dysley had something unspeakable planned. When he summoned the wendigo, he asked the person who was second in charge to stay with him while we retreated to a safe distance. He claimed it was for our safety, but in reality…he didn't want us to see what was about to happen, because he knew we might try and stop him."

Amity's heart started racing. She didn't like where this was going. "Does this have to do with what Raine said about someone 'proving their worth?'"

"Yes." Eda said. "If someone wants the power of the wendigo, they must commit what many consider the ultimate act of evil."

"What? Murder?"

"..."

"Eda, tell me."

"...Cannibalism."

Amity felt her heart drop a thousand feet. Her brain had completely short circuited, and all she could do was stand there in absolute shock at what she just heard. Dysley didn't just kill a member of his own group, he…ate them. All just to gain power for a cause that was based on delusions and fear.

"Oh, titan." Luz whimpered as she started turning green. "I…I think I'm gonna be sick."

She then sprinted towards the bathroom where she proceeded to empty everything in her stomach into the toilet, and even after that she couldn't stop heaving. Dysley had done the most vile and inhuman thing she had ever heard of. Even Belos never went that far.

While Luz was still gagging, Anna continued her story. "Yes, that's exactly what he did. When he came back, we didn't recognize him anymore. He had become the scariest thing I had ever seen in my life, and he had blood all over him. Yet despite that, he…he smiled at us. He said that we must follow in his footsteps so we can gain this power too, and purge the Demon Realm of lycanthropy forever. That was the moment we realized how big of a mistake we made. We didn't want anything to do with this anymore, because we knew things had gone way too far. So we refused Dysley's offer, calling him crazy and evil, and he…he did not like that. Not one bit."

She then started shedding tears. "He accused us of being cowards, saying we were just like all the others. And in the blink of an eye, he attacked us. Oh Titan, I-I still remember the blood, and th-the screaming! Everyone, every last one of them, t-torn to pieces! I-Including my palisman, and m-my own brother! They were the only family I had!"

She started bawling at this point, and Eda embraced her in a hug. All of the hatred she had for Anna disappeared in an instant, and she now felt terrible for feeling that way in the first place. Meanwhile, Amity couldn't take it anymore. She ran to the bathroom to join Luz while King ran to the upstairs bathroom to vomit as well. Raine was having trouble holding it together themselves, but kept it together and hugged Anna as well.

"Anna, I'm…I'm so sorry." They said. "Losing family is painful enough already, but that? That's not something anyone should have to experience or witness. You were very brave though to reject Dysley's offer and make your way here."

"No kidding." Eda added. "That takes guts to do, and you definitely have them."

"Th-Thank you." Anna said through her sobs. "Thank you f-for showing me kindness, even when I don't deserve it."

"Don't say that." Raine said. "I wouldn't wish what happened to you on even my worst enemies. Besides, when you helped attack us before, you were only doing what you thought was right."

"It wasn't."

"No, but at least you know that now, and I won't take any legal action against you. You've been through enough already. Let's just focus on getting you healed."

Anna shook her head. "N-No! We can't d-do that here! It's not safe! Dysley's p-probably on his way here now! We have t-to get out of here before he arrives!"

"Shhh. It's okay." Eda cooed. "That won't happen for a while. Wendigos are stronger at night than during the day, and I doubt Dysley would want to make his move when he's weaker. If you ask me, we have plenty of time."

"O-Okay…"

At that moment, Luz came back into the room with a glass of water in each hand. She walked over to Anna and handed her one. "Here Anna, try to drink some of this."

The redhead silently nodded and took it. Eda then turned to her apprentice. "You okay, Kiddo?"

The human witch now nodded. "I'll be fine. I'm gonna call my Mom and tell her what's going on."

"Yeah, good idea. Tell Boots to call her family as well when she feels better."

"Will do."

As Luz walked out of the room again, Anna let out a sniff. "I…I can't believe she's being this nice to me."

The owl lady smiled. "She's the biggest ray of sunshine in the world. Then again, would you expect any less from the savior of the Boiling Isles?"

The redhead shook her head. "No. No I wouldn't. I know that now."

….

Anna's revelation of Dysley becoming a wendigo was an unexpected and huge shock for the family, and it became all hands on deck as everyone canceled any plans they had that day for an emergency family meeting. Within a couple hours, they were all assembled in the owl house's living room. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife. Everyone was on edge, and who could blame them? A wendigo was a huge curveball for them, and if Eda and Raine's words were any indication, they needed to treat this situation with extreme caution.

Camila was the first one to speak. "First things first. Anna, you have my sincerest condolences. I know how painful it is to lose a loved one, and I promise you Dysley will answer for what he's done."

The redhead sniffed and nodded. "Thank you, but we can talk more about that later. It will be dark in about four hours. And when that happens, Dysley will come for you."

"She's right." Alador said. "And we've never dealt with a situation like this before. We need to come up with a plan, and fast."

"Alright." Camila said. "Let's start by laying everything out in front of us. Masha, you said wendigos are in Human Realm folklore too. What kind of powers do they have?

Masha sighed. "A lot. They possess incredible strength, speed, durability, and stamina, even more so than Luz. Legend has it they can control the elements as well."

"They can." Lilith said. "They can use fire, ice, even electricity. They can also do things like mimic voices, control wildlife, and cast forcefields."

"All of that I can vouch for." Anna said. "I saw Dysley use those abilities myself."

"Titan," Edric said. "We really got our work cut out for us this time, don't we?"

"Yeah, but I'm not afraid." Vee said. "These things may be powerful, but I guarantee they're not invincible. Nothing is."

Lilith nodded. "You would be correct, and that's one thing we have working in our favor here. Wendigos have the same weaknesses that lycanthropes do, light and holy magic. And even more fortunate for us, we happen to have some light pendants and crosses lying around."

Hunter spoke up. "I say we each wear one of those around our necks. This isn't like what we did with Luz where we didn't want to hurt her. Here, our goal is to take Dysley down, and we need every advantage we can get."

"I agree." Willow said. "It would definitely make Dysley hesitate. Of course, it won't protect us from ranged attacks, but it's a start."

"What about weapons?" Gus asked. "Do we have anything infused with light magic?"

Anna shook her head. "Some of my group had knives, but I wasn't able to grab one when I fled. Maybe we can make more instead?"

Hooty then perked up. "I can do one better! At the museum, we have one of the specially forged light swords the elder witches used when they fought the umbra lycanthropes five hundred years ago! It'll cut through Dysley like butter! Yes, it's valuable, but if it means stopping that maniac, then I'd be more than happy to put it to use! Hoot-Hoot!"

"Perfect." Amity said. "As soon as we're done here, we'll grab it. Now, let's talk about strategy here. I have a feeling we'll need to do something different than what we did with Luz's beast form. So how exactly are we gonna tackle this?"

Luz took a deep breath before speaking. "Well, that leads into another advantage we have. We know that, like Belos, Dysley cares about nothing except being the hero in his own delusion. So not only does he want to prove his point, he wants to be seen doing it too. I think we can definitely exploit that weakness."

"I agree." Edric said. "But remember, Dysley used to be a member of the CATs. He's no stranger to combat tactics. If we don't play our cards right, he'll know we'll be luring him into a trap.

"Definitely." King said. "Dysley may be an egotistical psycho, but he's not stupid. Remember what happened last time he came here?"

Eda tensed and clenched her fists. "Yeah, and I don't plan on letting something like that happen again. We need to be smart about this, try to think like Dysley, even though that makes me want to puke."

"Exactly." Camila said. "So let's think about this. What do we think Dysley will do when he makes his move?"

Raine hummed as they scratched their chin. "Well, he knows that Anna escaped, which in turn means that he knows we're aware of the situation. A surprise attack will be off the table. He's going to try something else."

Masha spoke up. "Based on what happened last time, do you think he'll try to separate Luz from us again? I mean, he can't take on all of us at once. Can he?"

Amity clenched her teeth. "If he does, I'm not falling for it again. There's no way I'm letting Luz out of my sight this time."

Eda nodded. "You got that right. He's gonna need to do a lot more than that before to get me to take my eyes off my kid."

Hunter then spoke up. "Lilith said wendigos can imitate voices, right? Do you think it's possible Dysley might try and use that to lure Luz or one of us to him?"

The human witch shook her head. "No. He can mask his voice, but not his scent. So even if he did try that, I'll still know it's him, and I think he knows that too."

Willow scratched her head. "So that won't work either, but other options are there? Dysley is definitely planning something. He wouldn't have gotten those powers if he wasn't. What is it though?"

"Maybe we need to look at this from a different angle." Alador said. "We know Dysley wants to fight Luz and prove his point, but he also wants an audience while doing it. Let's try focusing on that part."

Gus nodded. "Good idea. Okay, so last time he tried to capture Luz and take her to a place where he could try and contain her. Is that how you said it, Anna?"

"Yes." The redhead replied. "He was convinced that Luz couldn't be trusted, and wanted to show it to everyone. He was determined to not let lycanthropy stain the Demon Realm again."

"Right." Raine said. "And I think it's safe to say that goal hasn't changed. He wants to 'save' the world from lycanthropy, and wants to be seen doing it."

"But we'll all be ready for him when he gets here!" Hooty said. "There's no way he's dragging Luz away from us!"

His face then scrunched as he thought about something. "Or maybe he'll do it the other way around."

"What do you mean?" Emira asked.

"Maybe he's thinking of a way for Luz to come to him!"

The human witch scoffed. "Yeah, right! There's no way in hell I'm willingly going anywhere near psycho!"

Suddenly, her eyes widened, and her face started going pale. A terrifying thought had entered her mind. One that made too much sense.

"Unless…"

"What?" Amity said, taking her hand. "What is it?"

"Unless he had something to use as leverage to get me to do what he wants, and there's only one way he can do that."

Suddenly, everyone else's faces formed the same look of horror. They all were realizing what Luz was saying.

"Oh, dios mío." Camila said. "He's going to put innocent people in danger to get to you!"

"No!" Vee shouted. "No, he can't be planning that! Hurting people won't help his case! He should know that!"

Anna tensed and tried to hold back tears. "That's not how he sees it. In his mind, he's right no matter what, and he's the hero no matter what. It doesn't matter what kind of horrible things he does, even if it means…cannibalizing others. To him, it's necessary to his cause."

"Oh, titan!" King shouted. "Then that means everyone in town is in danger! We gotta get down there and warn them!"

Luz's eyes further widened in horror, and her breathing became more frantic as another thought entered her mind. "But if that's what Dysley's planning, then he'd know we'd try and warn the people before nightfall. And that means…"

She threw herself off the couch and sprinted out the front door as fast as she could. Her family called out after her, but she didn't hear them. She ran to the beginning of the path that led downhill. And when she did and looked down at Bonesborough, her heart stopped as her worst fears were confirmed. There were pillars of smoke coming from multiple buildings in town, smoke that was attached to fire, and just barely she could see people running through the streets in terror.

Pretty soon her family and Anna joined her side, and they too froze in terror at the sight in front of them. Dysley had made his move earlier than they were expecting, and Titan only knew how much damage he had already caused. One thing was for sure however. Between this and killing his own group, Dysley had gone way too far. He had become the very thing he claimed he wanted to stop, all because he refused to accept any reality but his own, just like Belos.

The human witch clenched her fists as she remembered all the pain and suffering the Emperor had brought. No. She wasn't going to let that happen again. Not on her watch. She began to move forward again, but someone grabbed her arm. She turned to see Amity giving her a gentle but firm look.

"Get your stuff ready first." She said. "We can't take any chances with this and need to be as prepared as possible."

Luz was reluctant at first. She didn't want to waste a second when there were people who needed her help, but she knew her fiancé was tight. Charging into things head first had never gone well for her, and this would be no exception. So she silently nodded in agreement.

Amity then turned to the others. "Same goes for you guys. Get yourselves ready. We're going monster hunting."