What up!? I'm back with chapter 13, and I've gutted and rewrote this one at least 5 times. Gonna be kinda mixing and chopping up two episodes with this one, so we'll see how that goes. Anyways, I hope the last chapter was enjoyable to read, and I hope the same can be said about this chapter. Technically this would be taking place after Episode 18, which would make sense since Luz was absent in that one. I regret not writing it into the last chapter, but what can I do?

I'll let you all read now, leave a review if you like it and if you hate it leave a bad review and make me witness finality.

Caiatl stared into the maw of the Leviathan. Voices of the past could be heard in her head as looked. Those close to her spoke, even Calus did. She quickly dismissed the voices as bad memories as her train of thought was interrupted by a centurion entering the bridge.

"Empress, we've noticed a significant drop in our forces leaving their posts and going to the Leviathan. This report has pleased the War Council."

Caiatl looked over her shoulder, "Good. No more of our men will be fleeing to join Calus. I have made certain of that." She responded. "You may leave now, centurion. I thank you for your report." Caiatl noticed that the centurion stood unmoved, as if they still had something to say, "Speak."

"We did lose one more transport. Val Vu'lam was aboard this one. I do not know why one of his position would denounce his loyalty to you, Empress. But recent reports of those stationed on the Leviathan turning on their officers and killing them. That only makes me think that-"

"Vu'lam has filled the position as their leader now." Caiatl sighed, "I have several theories as to why they have turned traitor to the empire. Though I can only discern the main reason is the persuasion from the propaganda."

"Should we begin another siege on the Leviathan to wipe these traitors out?" The centurion clenched a fist.

"No, we have to allocate our resources elsewhere. Defeating Calus is our objective now. When the time comes, we will crush them." Caiatl responded.

"Yes, Empress. Glory to the Cabal." The centurion bowed and exited the bridge.

Satuur entered the bridge shortly after, he walked over to Caiatl, getting close to her ear, "Empress, I've gathered a strike force of some of our most elite soldiers. They and a surplus of reserve forces await your command. I've made sure to assemble those who would follow you without question." He said quietly.

"Where are they now?" Caiatl asked.

"They are amassed in a hangar aboard the ship. No one else but the War Council knows of this, I am certain of this."

"Perfect. Now all we have to do is wait for the Human and her companions to do their part."

"And if they don't?"

Caiatl looked down, "Then we'll have no other choice but to attack. Whether they are safe or not."

Back in the Demon Realm, everything was normal, at least for the standards of the realm. Luz and the others had plans of their own, but over at the Emperor's Castle, something much more sinister was to be planned. Kikimora entered the throne room, her expression was urgent, but she walked up to Belos slowly. She bowed in front of him, holding her head down, "Emperor Belos. The Conformatorium has been-"

"Yes, yes. The Conformatorium has been raided. By none other than the Isles' very own Owl Lady and her Human companion." Belos responded, laying his head on his hand. "In fact, I have already arranged a meeting with Calus himself. He should be arriving soon."

"You already knew, my lord?"

"I know everything that transpires on the Isles, Kikimora. Unlike you." Kikimora was taken aback by Belos's statement, "But that is fine, my little assistant. Not everyone can be as knowledgeable as me. Despite that, you are still…useful."

Kikimora lifted her head, "I…thank you, Emperor Belos." She said with a hint of contempt in her voice. "What should we do, my lord?"

"Unfortunately, you won't have much of a role in what I have planned." Kikimora lowered her head in disappointment, "But I can tell you what you will be doing." The little demon lifted her head back up, "Go and fetch the Golden Guard for me. He'll be taking charge in this little operation."

"But, Emperor Belos. The Golden Guard hasn't been present for the past-"

"For the past few days, I know. But he's come back crawling to me because why?" Belos chuckled, "Because I'm all he has. Now go. Your job isn't to sit around and ask questions."

"And when you're done with Hunter, be sure to pick up the shipment of Abomatons we ordered from the Blights. They will be most needed for the coming day. That is all, dismissed." Belos waved her away.

And when you're done with that, be sure to pick up the shipment of Abomatons we ordered from the Blights. They will be most needed for the coming day. That is all, dismissed." Belos waved her away.

Belos took his mask off to catch some air. He sighed, "Aliens, witches. What will I do with them all? Perhaps I'll leave them all to rot once I am finished with this wretched realm. Although, the war brought here by Calus and the other alien leader could prove to be just as destructive as the Day of Unity. If I could somehow combine both…yes."

After some time, Calus barged into the throne room, furious at the world. "Time and time again! You have proven this alliance is nothing!"

Belos leant forward, "Whatever do you mean, Calus?"

"Your easily infiltrated institutions, the people who know no better, the weakling magic wielders that 'helped' my forces. Do you have no agency over this realm?!"

Belos shook his head, "I wasn't aware that I was the only one who should uphold my end of the alliance. What about the incompetence of your soldiers to squash the puniest of Witches? I've heard of their failure at your base. They couldn't even dispose of children."

Calus gritted his teeth together, "One of them was your precious 'Golden Guard' I am told. Perhaps they were only holding back in fear of killing the star of your little empire and ruining everything."

Belos laughed, "Oh, I know. His adventure into your base, his participation in the battle against your gladiators in the arena. It's a shame I'll have to get rid of him before leaving."

"I care not for your internal conflicts. My Loyalists have held back for the time being. But if another incident arises. I'm afraid the outcome will not be so contained. This realm may just end up burning." Calus chuckled, "Or perhaps eaten."

Belos knew that was what he wanted, but he couldn't fathom the thought of someone else doing it for him, "I'm sure that is an outcome neither of us want."

"Then keep your people in check, Belos. It would be in your best interest to kill those that interfere with us." Calus turned around and walked out of the throne room.

"I assure you, they will be dealt with!" Belos yelled out. As soon as Calus walked through the door, one of his arms took a monstrous, dark green gooey form and smashed the wall next to the door. Belos returned to his throne and sat.

As Hunter neared the throne room, he caught the attention of Calus, who had the look of rage in his eyes. He formed a small scythe made out of egregore from his hand. Hunter looked on in confusion and shock, unable to move as Calus moved the scythe closer to him. Calus contemplated ending his life right then and there, but somewhere in his mind, he took pity on the boy, being reminded of Caiatl in a way, seeing a fearful contempt in his eyes. The Cabal continued on, degenerating the scythe, dropping small spores of the fungus on the ground.

Hunter hurried to enter the room. He was shaken up, but still managed to bow before Belos. "You wanted to see me, Unc- Emperor Belos?"

Belos noticed Hunter's distress, but ignored it, "I've noticed you haven't been here the past few days. I wonder why? But yes, Hunter. Your expertise is most needed. The Owl Lady and her perverse friends have grown…bold over the past few days. I've heard reports from spies about dangerous activity going on with our Loyalists allies."

Belos stood up and paced back and forth in front of his throne, "The Day of Unity grows near. The most important point in history of the Isles and all Witchkind. My spies have informed me of the constant prodding of the Loyalists by the Owl Lady and her accomplices will cause them to do something rash, and most likely on the Day of Unity itself. That would ruin the day for everyone, and we don't want that, do we?" Hunter shook his head. "Good. I expected no other reaction from you."

Hunter stood up, under his mask he was sweating, hoping the spies didn't catch him with Luz and the others. Although he kept his chill, "What would you have me do, Emperor Belos?"

"I need you to go to where they reside. Have them arrested, then imprison them. All of them. Have our scouts ransack their home and confiscate all of their possessions."

"I…don't know where they live, my lord." Hunter responded.

Belos chuckled, "Oh, I was under the impression that you already knew." Hunter was visibly unnerved. He shook his head in disagreement. "Well then, since you don't know where they are, then I suppose I'll turn over the duty to one of our guard captains."

"No!" Hunter cleared his throat, "Excuse me, my lord. I mean, no, that won't be necessary. I may have a hunch as to where they live. Will I be going alone?"

"Of course not, you'll have backup with you. It won't be much, but I am sure you all will make do." Darius and Eberwolf entered the room, "I am certain that you'll have an easy time capturing our perpetrators."

Darius bowed, "Greetings, Emperor Belos. What a surprise to be summoned by you." Eberwolf barked to greet Belos.

"I appreciate your urgency in arriving here, Darius." Belos responded.

"Oh, I wouldn't miss the opportunity to serve you for anything, my lord." Darius looked to his side, spotting Hunter, "I take it that whatever it is we're here for, Hunter is involved with it?"

"Yes, he will fill you in on your assignment. And remember, this is his mission, follow his every order. You all are dismissed. I expect nothing but positive results. Run along now." Belos said, putting his mask back on his face. "I'll know if you didn't complete your objective, down to the very last detail." He shooed them away with a hand gesture. They all bowed and left the throne room.

Outside of the throne room, Raine waited for the others, "So, you actually came, Raine." Darius said.

Raine nodded, "Why of course. After recent events, I wouldn't miss a meetup with you all for anything." Hunter was going to question Raine's presence, but refrained.

"It's good to have you here then," Darius responded.

As they walked the hallways, everyone suddenly loosened up. Hunter let out a deep breath, "I felt like I was about to drown in my own sweat back there."

"Is that so?" Darius asked smugly. "Now, what is this assignment that is so important we had to stop what we were doing?"

"Right. Emperor Belos wants us to go and capture the Owl Lady and her companions, it seems simple enough, I think." Hunter responded.

Raine stopped in their tracks, "Capture Eda?! I know she has been quite the nuisance lately but, why now?"

Hunter shrugged, "It's for the better of the Isles, he says. I can't say he's exactly wrong, they've been provoking those Loyalists and stuff lately. I'm just following orders, y'know?"

Darius walked in front of Hunter, continuing backwards, "And you haven't been doing the exact same thing, hm? We know you haven't been back to the castle in a while. Where were you?"

Hunter scratched his head, "N-nowhere! Well…I was at Hexside for a little bit and I may have run Adrian Graye Vernworth out of there. But that's about it!" He walked around Darius. Eberwolf growled in disagreement.

"Don't play coy with me, Hunter. Are you sure that's all?" Darius asked. Hunter shook his head, "So you're telling me that wasn't you at the Bonesborough Brawl arena on that one day the Loyalists were there?"

"Yep, I'm sure of it! Whoever you saw, it must've been an impostor! Or a clone! Most likely a clone…of me." Hunter said nervously.

Yes…clones." Darius squinted his eyes with suspicion. He leant over to Raine, "This is an unexpected turn of events, but this is our definite chance to get closer to Eda. Then we can continue with stopping the Day of Unity."

Raine whispered into Darius's ear, "Are you sure the boy can be trusted though? What if he informs Belos about what we're doing?"

"There's no certainty that he'll stay silent, but I am sure that he will come to see things our way. Although, it already seems like he does see things our way. Me and Eber have seen him fight with Eda's Human first hand."

Raine nodded, "And our Loyalist problem?"

Darius placed a hand on his face, "Hopefully they aren't in the way of things and mind their own business. But I suppose we'll have to modify our plans accordingly if they do get involved with us."

"What are you guys talking about back there?" Hunter asked.

"Eh, nothing that concerns you, boy." Darius responded. "Me and Eberwolf will catch up after we've finished talking with Raine. Don't leave without us."

Hunter rolled his eyes under his mask, "Whatever." He walked off and leant on a wall waiting for the others.

"It's a shame Belos didn't tell you to come along with us." Darius said.

"But he certainly didn't say I couldn't be there," Raine responded. Darius raised an eyebrow in confusion. Raine continued, "If you all will be 'arresting' Eda and the others. Then it would be a shame if someone came and rescued them."

Darius smirked, "I think I catch your drift, Whispers." Hunter called out to Darius and Eberwolf, urging them to hurry up. "We'll be in touch when we're ready." Raine acknowledged this and walked away from the two.

As the group continued out of the castle, Hunter ordered a large group of Coven scouts to back them up. On their way there, they gathered carriages to place their targets into. Soon, they were off to complete their mission.

After the Coven heads left, Belos had his peace disturbed by the Collector looming over his throne. "Hey, Belos!" Collector said in a playful voice.

"Collector, to what do I owe the pleasure? I haven't seen too much of you recently."

Collector put on a sad expression, dropping the silhouettes of tears from his form, "I've been making plans to play with a new friend lately. But he's been so slow when it comes to actually doing anything. I don't know if he even wants to play anymore."

Belos was intrigued, "A new friend? That person wouldn't happen to be Calus, would it?" Collector nodded, "Interesting. I wonder, what is it that you and Calus have been planning, Collector?"

"Nothin' much, really. He promised that once I'm free, we can play all the games we want. Ooh! When I first found him on his ship, it looked really cool! I didn't want to ask at first, but I really wanted to play there when I saw it! It was massive!" Collector took the form of the Leviathan, but instead his face replaced its maw, "I wonder if it's still there."

Belos furrowed his brow in confusion, "Ship? Still there? Collector, how, and where exactly did you find Calus?"

"Well, I opened a portal into space and-"

"I am still somewhat infuriated you did not tell me of this second portal," Belos said. Collector simply shrugged, "Is this portal still there? What is stopping you from opening a portal now?"

"Woah, woah. Hold your giraffes, buddy. This happened forever ago, I used up a lot of my power back then to open that little portal, which in hindsight was somewhat big. There was still a Titan or two roaming the Demon Realm back then, I'm pretty sure." Collector thought to himself for a second, "And yeah, I think the portal is still there. I haven't seen it for myself in a while though."

Belos was both frustrated and interested. Despite his interest, he scoffed away his thoughts, "It hardly matters now anyway. My exit from the realm will be soon. The portal door only needs Titan's Blood to be finished, and the universe will be rid of all Witches, Demons and Magic for the rest of time." He began walking away from his throne.

"And then I'll be free, right?!" Collector exclaimed as he scurried to face Belos.

Belos turned away from the Collector, "Of course. Unlike your new friend, Calus, I will actually set you free, my friend. I only need you to help see the Day of Unity through." He continued out of his throne room, heading to the entrance of the castle where an airship waited for him. Belos took a final look at his castle before boarding and taking off, en route to the Head of the Titan, where the Day of Unity would be taking place.

Much later in the day, Luz and the others arrived back at the Owl House. It was seemingly unscathed or unbothered by any type of disasters common to the realm. They were all greeted by an ecstatic Hooty.

"Oh my Titan! I missed you guys so much!" The demon tightly wrapped himself around all of them, "It's felt like centuries since I've seen you all!"

"Hooty! It's been…a little over half…a day!" Luz said with a strained voice. "You can let us go now."

Hooty relinquished his grip on the four. "That doesn't matter! I missed you guys!"

Eda dusted herself off, "Yeah, we missed you too ya sap." She looked around the area, "You haven't noticed any suspicious activity around the house have you?"

"I did hear some rustling in the bushes. I would have checked to see what it was, but I was afraid there was a Snaggleback!" Hooty said with a frightful tone, cowering away from the others.

Luz walked forward, "Hooty, the Snaggleback is as harmless as you are." She rubbed Hooty on the head. She suddenly remembered how Hooty greeted them earlier and backed away, "Well, maybe you can do a bit more harm than the Snaggleback."

"If there's nothing wrong then I say we should get to planning on how we're going to lure Goldie out." Eda said, walking to the door and opening it. Everyone followed behind her and walked in, "Hooty, keep watch for any suspicious characters." She closed the door, then opened it back up again, "And remember, whatever or whoever it is, the only thing they're afraid of is you." Hooty nodded, and she closed the door behind her.

Everyone sat down in the living room. There was a short silence until Eda spoke, "Okay, I say…we do another prison break to get the attention of the Emperor's Coven." She smashed a first on her palm, "That'll really show it to 'em."

"Eda, who would we even be breaking out of prison?" Lilith asked.

"No one, Lilith. We'd just be doing it for the hell of it and for the sake of this working." Eda responded.

Luz shook her head, "No, no. We already did that twice, they'd be expecting it at this point. There has to be another way." She placed a hand on her chin. After a short while, she snapped her fingers and stood up, "What if…we wait?! We let them come to us!"

"Kid, I doubt they even know where we are right now. Even then, why would we sit here and wait for them to get the jump on us? We'd just be sitting ducks at that point." Eda responded.

"Yeah, you're right." Luz said, sitting back down. "What could we do then?"

"If you'd allow me to interject. I think that Luz has an idea that could, in theory, work." Lilith said. "We already have Hootstifer on watchout for us, so we should be good on that end."

"And getting away?" Eda asked.

"Ah, that is where you have me stumped." Lilith responded with a disappointed tone.

"Well, it's official. We have no plan, so by de facto vote, we have to blow something up!" Eda exclaimed as she laid back with her arms behind her head.

Hooty extended himself into the window of the house, "Hoot! Hoot! Visito- Intruders detected!"

Eda's eyes widened, "Are you kidding?!" She yelled.

"Huh, it sounds like my plan worked. Wait, my plan actually worked?" Luz flicked her hand, "Totally unintentional."

"We have to hide! Downstairs, now!" Eda exclaimed. "Hooty, you keep them away if they get too close. We'll come back for you-at some point." The others all ran downstairs as Hooty retreated back to the front of the house.

As the others ran, a knock could be heard on the door. Luz stopped behind the others to check if they would say anything. Whoever was at the door knocked again, "Oh hey!" Hooty yelled happily. "What are you doing here?!"

Luz backtracked, catching eyes from Eda, "Kid, what are you doing?! Get down here!" She hissed. Luz dismissed Eda as respectfully as she could, taking cover behind a door frame in the living room.

At the door was Willow and Gus, "Hey, is Luz here-or anyone for that matter? No one's picked up any of our calls in a while," Willow asked.

"Oh, well, everyone is supposed to be hiding because I told them there are intruders around. But don't tell them I told you that. It'd give them away." Hooty whispered to them.

They both looked around, "I…don't see anyone?" Gus said, confused.

"Right! So what did you want?" Hooty asked.

"We just wanted to check up on you guys. We were worried something had happened." Willow answered.

"They're fine! Probably far, far away by now though!" Hooty exclaimed.

"Can you check for us, please, Hooty?" Gus asked.

"I guess, but if anyone asks-I did this against my will." Willow and Gus nodded bemusedly. Hooty extended back through the window, "False alarm everybody! There aren't any intruders!" Hooty yelled.

Luz walked from out of her cover, and the others came running back, "Who is it then?" Lilith asked.

"Oh, just Willow and Gus." Hooty replied.

Luz facepalmed, "Hooty, how'd you get those two of all people mixed up for intruders?" She walked to the door and opened it. She was greeted with no one, much to her surprise. "Hooty, I thought you said Willow and Gus were at the door?"

"Kid, look out!" Eda yelled as an abomination arm went through the door frame. Luz luckily ducked before she could get hit. Hooty wasn't so lucky, letting out a loud 'Ow!' after getting hit in his side, and retreating back into the door. Eda ran over to Luz to help her up, she looked up and saw Darius and Eberwolf standing in the distance. She groaned, "Why, of all the days did this have to be the day?!"

"Eda the Owl Lady and co. Please surrender peacefully, or else we'll have to use excessive force! And would you hurry it up?! I have to be somewhere very important later!" Darius ordered as he wiped some of Hooty's feathers off his arms. Eberwolf growled ferociously, trying to intimidate the others. Coven scouts surrounded the door, and Hunter walked forward.

Eda looked at their assailants as she helped Luz off the ground, "Looks like the high and mighty Coven heads were relegated to babysitting duty, huh?"

"They're not babysitting me!" Hunter yelled angrily, "Look, on direct orders from Emperor Belos, you and everybody associated with you are hereby under arrest!" Hunter said as he pointed at the two.

Eda and Luz looked at each other, they both nodded and put their hands out intending to turn themselves in. Lilith and King did the same, Hooty also tried, but remembered he has no hands.

Hunter was confused, he took a step back, "Wait, really? You're just gonna-"

"Yep, turn us in, throw us in the slammer, do whatever you got to do, Blondie." Eda said.

Hunter scratched his hair, "Uh, okay." He proceeded to order the scouts to arrest the four, they drew spell circles around their hands that bound them together. "Alright, follow me!" The group began walking away.

"Wait, what about me?!" Hooty yelled. Everyone else looked back as Hooty stretched out his body to catch up.

"No offense but…you're kind of stuck in a door. I don't think you'll be coming with us." Hunter responded.

"But wait, I can!" Hooty started to pull himself out of the door.

Luz leant over to Hunter, "You might want to look away. This can get really ugly." Despite Luz's warning, Hunter watched in horror as Hooty forced his body out of the door. Hooty popped out and fell on the ground below. He laughed as he played in the mud, though the others weren't as pleased as him. "Hey uh, do you mind getting his birdhouse from inside?" Luz asked. Hunter obliged and ran into the house, making sure he avoided Hooty's 'dismembered body' as much as he could. Hunter ran out with the birdhouse and dropped it in front of Hooty, telling him to get in it hastily. "Psst. You'll have to help him in," Luz whispered. Hunter groaned, as he knelt down to help Hooty. The others giggled quietly as they watched Hunter struggle, even the Coven heads let out a little chuckle.

Hunter was finally able to get Hooty into his birdhouse, "There! Can we go now?!" Hunter yelled irritably. The others nodded, and Hunter picked up Hooty's birdhouse. "Ugh, I think I accidentally stepped on something that isn't mine. Whatever, let's move out!"

Hunter then stopped. He looked to the scouts, intending to carry out the rest of his orders of looting the Owl House. But he couldn't, overwhelmed by his own morals and doing the evil deeds Belos wanted him to do. Instead, he took off his mask and dropped it to the ground, something had told him to leave and to not look back, and he did so. Eberwolf noticed this and tried to run after him, but was called back by Darius.

Eberwolf turned to Darius and let out a somber growl as he watched Hunter Run away. Darius was able to tell how his partner felt, "I know, he's distressed. I'm sure once he knows that we're not here to harm him, then he'll come around, one way or another. For now, let's just focus on the task at hand. I'll contact Raine and the others as we walk. Hopefully they're close by." Darius and Eberwolf fell behind as they contacted their associates, informing them of the route they were taking and the amount of scouts with them. They were told that they'd be arriving soon. All they would have to do now was wait. With that, the scouts shrugged, and the prisoner transports were off on their trail.

Calus returned to Firebase Ares to finish having his mind and body examined by Psions to find the root cause of his headaches. They determined that it was his body rejecting the magic and that he should refrain from harnessing anymore, but Calus determined that his body would adapt to the pain.

Despite the area bustling with Cabal, there was a particular silence that Calus loathed. He was anticipating something, but he didn't know what. The absence of anything happening had him paranoid, on edge. He arrived in the makeshift command center where the Psions confer with each other and plan the next moves of the Loyalists.

In charge of these Psions was Vruzra. She bowed in the presence of Calus. "Emperor Calus. To what do we owe the pleasure?" She asked.

"Have Za'aurk and the expedition teams reported back yet?"

"Yes, my lord. They've found the blue substance they were searching for, and in little time."

"And what of the Basilisks I ordered them to find?"

"We haven't heard anything on that topic, my lord."

"Unfortunate." Calus sighed, "Something awaits us. I can feel it."

Vruzra held a hand out, "My lord?"

Calus clutched his head as he fell to the side, holding himself up on a nearby wall. He started to catch visions of the future, "I see…bodies that litter the ground. Fire that spreads far and wide. Flesh and bones rended and sucked dry of any life there previously was. Above it all…the Leviathan and the ships of my former empire, the very ships I've damned for their brutish nature."

Calus was able to stand back up on his own, "The future had never been so clear…yet so opaque." He rubbed his head, coming off of a headache, "Vruzra, tell Za'aurk to expedite his mission! Abandon the Basilisks, I only need the substance. I must consult with Qexal and Ilzat." Vruzra nodded as Calus walked away and turned to complete her task immediately.

Vruzra contacted the Primus, who was able to establish communications through the two time periods. "What is it that you want, Psion? We are busy."

"Emperor Calus has requested that you expedite your arrival. And he says to abandon your search for the Basilisks, I am not sure why. He only requires the blue substance."

"Ah, the Titan's Blood as the Witches call it. I've had a lesson from some of the residents here. It was involuntary, unfortunately." Za'aurk nodded, "Right, I'm calling off the other search teams. I believe we've collected a significant amount of blood. Inform Emperor Calus that we will be returning shortly. Za'aurk out." The Primus ended the transmission.

At the Blight Industries factory, Kikimora had just arrived with her airship to retrieve the Abomatons needed for the Day of Unity.

Odalia checked off the Abomatons on a clipboard as they boarded the airship. As she checked them off she made conversation with the little demon, "I was devastated to hear of your demotion, Kikimora."

At the wheel of the ship, Kikimora was visibly upset, "Please stop talking to me."

"Personally, I liked you better than that Golden Guard. If only there was a way to show your true worth to Emperor Belos." She said obnoxiously. Kikimora mocked her and ordered the scout with her to close the ramp to the ship, and she took off for the Head.

Meanwhile, the Blight siblings were planning how to convince their parents to stop sending Abomatons to the Emperor's Coven. They were behind an old taken apart Abomaton eavesdropping on Odalia. They popped their heads up to watch her, "She's not gonna believe you." Emira said.

"Even if she did, she won't care." Edric added.

"Well someone has to tell mom about the Draining Spell," Amity told them. "Or else she and dad are helping Belos hurt people." She pulled her siblings down as their father, Alador, approached Odalia.

"I've got that little gremlin on the hook. She'll be a perfect test subject for our new product." Odalia said as she watched the airship fly away.

Alador looked on as his wife walked toward him, "Don't you think it's odd that they need this much security for the Day of Unity?" He asked with concern. "They already have those aliens who almost destroyed the town a few weeks ago." He scratched his head, "Perhaps we should reconsider this deal."

Odalia looked at Alador with contempt, "Blights always uphold their end of the deal, dear. Or should I reconsider ours?" She grasped the stone around her neck as it began to glow, "It might be time for the kids to play a more active role in Blight Industries. I could start the paperwork right now," She threatened. Defeated, Alador turned around and walked away, Odalia followed him, looking over her shoulder.

Smiling, Amity held a hand back to get the attention of Edric and Emiram "Hey guys. Dad might listen," She whispered. Not getting an answer, she looked back and poked her head out, "Guys?"

Odalia then revealed herself, "Hiding behind trash, Amity?" Behind her was an Abomaton holding Edric and Emira in its hand. "To think my children are so painfully predictable in their deceit. You're grounded." Amity could only look at her mother with anger in her eyes, as the Abomaton grabbed her too and carried the kids to Blight manor.

Waking up from a nap she was taking, Luz noticed the carriages carrying her and the others had abruptly stopped, "W-where are we?" She tried to stretch her arms, forgetting she was restrained. She looked at Eda who was sound asleep, "Eda, wake up. We've stopped!" She exclaimed.

Eda also woke up, "Stopped? Where?" She clumsily walked over to the back of the carriage, looking out from behind the bars. She was only able to make out a few dead trees and bark, with no Darius or Eberwolf in sight. And instead of seeing the scouts, she could only hear them.

"Where have Darius and Eberwolf gone?" One of the scouts asked.

"Great, first the Golden Guard runs off on us, now them." Another guard said.

"Do we just…keep going?"

"No, no. Who knows what would happen if we returned without them?"

The scouts all spread out to search for Darius and Eberwolf. As they were distracted, three masked individuals swooped in to free the others. With the sound of music, the locks on the carriages were broken, and the doors opened. The music also broke the magical cuffs that restrained the others. They were all able to break out of their respective carriages and stretch.

Two of the scouts noticed the prisoners being broken out and ran over to deal with them, before the pair were both promptly put to sleep by Bard magic by another masked person. The masked individuals took the hands of those they freed, and ran. Unfortunately for them the rest of the scouts noticed and took chase. Three of the masked people stayed behind to deal with the scouts, while the others continued running.

After getting a fair distance away from their pursuers, they all stopped. "Who are you?" Luz asked the masked person.

They took their mask off, revealing themselves to be Raine. "Raine?!" Eda yelled.

Raine shushed Eda, "Yes, it's me." They looked over their shoulder, "Please keep your voice down, you don't know who may be near. We'll have time to catch up later, just follow me."

After some time, Raine and the others safely reached the BATs hideout in Latissa. He led them all inside the building and inside were BATs members Amber, Katya and Derwin, who had lost and dealt with the scouts from before. They all greeted and introduced each other before all sitting around a table in the middle of the cluttered room.

There was an awkward silence as everyone settled in, like they all were waiting their turn to talk. Eda broke the silence, "So, Raine. What's so important that you had to bring us here?"

"It'd be best if we waited for Darius and Eberwolf to arrive." Raine responded, "I am curious, though. It isn't much like you to willingly get captured, Eda. What is it that you all had planned?"

Eda tapped Luz's shoulder, who was busy daydreaming. "Kid! You're the one who came up with the plan, tell 'em."

Luz snapped out of her trance and refocused, "Right! So, you're Raine, huh? It's so cool to finally meet you! I'm Luz." She held her hand out to shake hands. Raine responded with a likewise and a handshake, then allowed Luz to continue, "Okay, it's a very long story, but to sum up our plan. We just need to get everyone on the Isles to a safe place, a very safe place where no one will get hurt." Raine tilted their head and raised an eyebrow, confused. "The reason for that is- and stay with me now, is because there's going to be a battle, maybe even a war between these two factions of aliens. It sounds crazy now, but there's an absolutely real threat to the Isles."

Raine closed their eyes, silently nodding, "I believe you." The others were shocked, "What? I'm a Coven Head, I don't know everything that goes on, but I know most things. And I know of this 'Loyalist' group that has been toting around the Isles. We haven't heard much from them since the Coven Day parade, but I am certain that they have been collaborating with the Emperor's Coven. We don't know what their goals are, but they both need to go."

"Is there anything you can do to help us, Raine?" Luz asked.

"The best I can do is…bring it up with Belos. He is the only one with enough reach and influence to inform everyone on the Isles to evacuate and hide. But there is no telling if he will help, or even care for that matter. Perhaps we can talk it over with the others when they arrive. For now we'll wait." Everyone went their separate ways to do their own things.

Luz walked over to the bunk beds in the corner of the room, pulling out her phone. She got a message from Amity saying 'Grounded. Come quick.'

Eda noticed Luz was worried and walked over, "What's got you so down, Luz?" She wrapped an arm around her as Luz showed Eda Amity's message, "What kinda language is that?"

"The language of love, Eda. But it's unfinished." She looked back down at the device, clutching it tightly. She showed it to Eda, "It just says grounded. Come quick."

"How about after this we go on a rescue mission for her, huh?" Eda asked. Luz smiled and nodded in response.

Soon after, Darius and Eberwolf arrived at the hideout. "Sorry we're late, everyone, we had to take the scenic route here. No matter where we went, we were swarmed by the Emperor's Coven asking for autographs and about the Day of Unity." He let out a small sigh, "Speaking of," Darius gathered the others all around the table in the middle.

Luz asked what they were gathered there to discuss, and Darius told everyone to sit down. "What we're discussing is the Day of Unity. It's approaching, and it is a much more dire threat than we think."

"The Day of Unity? Isn't that just going to merge the Demon Realm with the Human Realm? Why would we want to stop that?" Lilith asked.

"It seems Belos kept his plans under tight security if even you didn't know about this, Lilith. No, that's not what the Day of Unity is at all," Darius replied. He pulled out a scroll and opened it across the small table, on it was a circle of the nine colors of all the Covens. Raine and Darius went over their plans to stop the Day of Unity, or the Draining Spell. They explained how they had only a tight window of time to stop it, and how they would go about interrupting the ritual.

After some time, everyone was finished discussing the plans for stopping the Draining Spell.

"So, the Day of Unity is actually a spell to drain the magic of all Witches with a Coven sigil, huh?" Eda asked. Darius and Raine both nodded in acknowledgment. "And I'll be swapping places with Raine to disrupt the ritual with my curse. Seems simple enough. It's a good thing you brought us on board!"

Raine looked at Luz, "Now with that out of the way. Luz, now that the others are here. I believe now is a great time to discuss what you have to say about our alien visitors?"

"Man, all this Day of Unity stuff. It's…a lot to take in. Not to mention it puts a big wrench in our plans," Luz responded.

Darius raised an eyebrow, "Your plans?"

"I'm sure you know of the Loyalists that have been going around. They're not exactly wreaking havoc across the Isles, but they're also not up to any type of good. Well it turns out the daughter of the leader of the Loyalists wants him-for a lack of better words; dead and gone. Fast forward some negotiations with her War Council, now she's currently waiting on me to tell her everyone is in a safe place so she can attack the Loyalists and take them down," Luz explained. "Now that I know the Draining Spell is taking place soon, and the threat of a war is looming over the Isles, I just don't know what to do." She looked down, drowning in her own dismay.

Darius rubbed his chin, "Interesting." Darius summoned small Abomination imitations of Cabal on the scroll, "What if…instead of going with our plan. The Draining Spell is instead interrupted by our alien friends."

"What are you saying, Darius?" Raine asked.

Darius then spawned imitations of all the Coven heads standing in their respective spots, "I'm saying, what if we let the ritual play out as planned. And then at the right time, we have them strike to disrupt it. It could be a backup plan of sorts. We only have a day to prepare."

Raine piggybacked off Darius, "And even if we informed Belos, he'd only dismiss us as being crazy and continue with the spell anyway."

Darius continued, "But if we were to somehow lead both groups there, we could end it, hopefully postponing or outright stopping the spell for good."

"We would be able to kill two birds with one stone. If things go right, that is." Eda added.

"That could work. Getting Caiatl there will be a piece of cake. But leading the Loyalists there? I don't know how we would do that," Luz said. Darius asked who Caiatl is, Luz responded by explaining how they met Caiatl, and eventually befriended her.

"Surely Belos would have them there for extra security?" Raine asked.

"After their spectacular failure at the Coven Day parade, I doubt it. But he doesn't have much of a choice at this point, between the Abomatons from Blight Industries, or the Loyalists," Darius responded.

Luz instantly thought of Amity after hearing the Blight name, she wondered if she was safe, hoping nothing bad was happening to her. "Here's hoping Odalia keeps her grubby hands out of this. Though I doubt she will," Luz said.

"Yes, hopefully Alador can keep her at bay," Darius added.

"Luz, if I may ask. Do you have any way of contacting this Caiatl?" Raine asked, reaching a hand out.

"I do, actually." Luz held out the earpiece Caiatl gave her, "She says it's a relic from the Human Realm, or the Human Realm from her realm. It's a little convoluted if you're not in the loop."

"Excellent. Can you contact her for us?"

"Yeah, but; we aren't ready yet."

"No, we aren't. I would like to talk to her though." Raine responded.

"Hm, sure. Let me see how to get this thing working." Luz examined the earpiece, expecting a giant button, "Uh, earpiece on!" She yelled, to no avail. "On please!" The earpiece still remained inactive. She laughed awkwardly as she tried getting it to work, "Activate," She whispered. On the side of the device, she noticed a button that perfectly blended in with the surface of it, "Stupid!" She yelled as she pressed the button, activating the earpiece.

Luz put the device in her ear, "Hello? Is this thing on?"

On Caiatl's ship, a communications channel was raised. Caiatl ordered her officers to put it through, "Luz, I can hear you. I suppose you are ready now?"

"Hey, Caiatl. No, we're not exactly ready yet. We ran into some complications with the plan as we got back."

Caiatl furrowed her brow, "Complications? What do you mean?!"

"Do you mind talking to a friend of mine? It's better if they explain this instead of me."

Caiatl sighed, "Put them through. I will hear them out."

Luz gave the earpiece to Raine. They put it in their ear, "Hello? Can you hear me?" The earpiece suddenly fell out of Raine's ear.

"Yes, this is Empress Caiatl of the Cabal Ascendancy. Speak your mind." Caiatl got no response from the other side. "I implore you to not waste my or your time."

Raine put the earpiece back in their ear, this time holding it with a finger, "Yes, sorry! It is apparent that this device wasn't made for my ears specifically. Greetings, my name is Raine. Raine Whispers! I suppose you are Caiatl?"

"Indeed, Empress of the Cabal. Introductions shall be in order for another time. For now, I wish to hear what you have to tell me, Raine."

"Thank you, Empress. Currently, our Isles are in turmoil. Well, not now, but soon they will be, as the emperor of the Isles wants to completely suck dry the magic of all Witchkind. Without sparing too many details, we wanted to know if you could help us in stopping this?"

Caiatl took a moment to think to herself, not knowing how to process the information. "If I help you with this, it will interfere with our plans of stopping Calus." She shook her head, "I am not sure if I can manage a war on two fronts without a full scale attack. Even if I were able to, I made a promise to Luz that my soldiers would try to avoid unnecessary casualties."

Raine looked at Luz, "I…understand. We theorized on leading the Loyalists to where the Draining Spell would take place, but after hearing you, I am starting to think that is a bad idea."

"Unless ordered by Calus, I doubt the Loyalists would fall for any type of trickery. Although it is moot, I respect your strategy. But do not worry, my forces can handle the Loyalists. Once I am certain they have been weakened, I can dispatch a small task force to help your situation. I will warn you, our help cannot be guaranteed, but if possible, we will surely deliver. Should we not be able to help, I advise you to come up with a backup plan."

"I am sure things will go as planned, Empress. Thank you for your ears in this time of need."

"You need only tell me when and where this 'Draining Spell' will be taking place. I will try to fit my attack into your plan."

"We have a day before the Draining Spell happens. We know what we're doing, though. We just thought it'd be nice to have some backup in case things go haywire."

"I see. I will mobilize my troops within the day. We'll hit the Loyalists, and if we're able to, then we'll assist you. If it would make things easier, I can send an operative to help strategize with you."

"No thank you. We'd rather stay out of the way and discreet."

"Understandable. I wish you all luck in your moment of great struggle." The communications channel on the ship closed.

Raine took the earpiece out of this ear and gave it back to Luz. They looked down, then back up at everyone else, "She said she'll help. But only if she can weaken the Loyalists first. It seems they are her top priority, which I can't blame her."

"So the original plan's still going through as usual?" Eda asked.

"Of course. Empress Caiatl's would simply be someone we could fall back on if things don't go right. But I am sure that we will be successful." Raine responded. "Belos will be stopped, and we'll save the Isles. No matter what. With that, this concludes the first meeting of the CATS!"

"The what?" Darius asked.

"The CATs! Covens Against the Throne!" Raine responded. Darius shook his head in disagreement. "Well, we're technically not just Bards Against the Throne anymore. So it works."

"I like it!" Luz raised her hand. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"No!" Darius exclaimed. Everyone ignored his dissent and instead embraced the group's new name. Instead of fighting back, Darius simply groaned and facepalmed, walking away from the group.

Everyone dispersed from the table and went to do their own things. Luz, Eda and King went back to the bunk beds to sit down. Luz laid herself across the bed and covered her face. Eda sat next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Cheer up, kid. Things'll get better for us, I promise."

"I'm sure of that, but there's just so much going on. The Day of Unity, the Cabal. I feel so small in all of this. I can't even tell what's real and what isn't sometimes." Luz responded.

"Tell you what." Eda pulled a box out of her hair. On the top it was labeled 'Eda's Longest Toenails'. She handed the box to Luz, "How about you take your mind off all this, just for the moment." Luz visibly gagged at the top, expecting something she didn't want to see, but she was instead pleasantly surprised once she opened the box. "It's Palistrom wood! I thought you'd want to carve your own Palisman," Eda said as she pulled a small chisel out of her hair. She slid it over to Luz, "What do you say?"

Luz looked away from the wood, "I shouldn't. The Day of Unity is in a day. I have to focus on stopping Belos and Calus from-" She whimpered as Eda pulled her into a hug.

"You goob. Hey, this isn't all on you." Eda said.

King interjected, "Yeah, we have teammates now. Meow meow," He said as he made a cat-like gesture.

"What if the Palisman doesn't like me?" Luz asked.

"By my count, you've befriended more enemies than friends than I have claws on my paw," King responded.

"What about Amity?" Luz asked as a tear rolled down her face.

Eda looked up, "First thing tomorrow we'll go save her. I can't be there because of our plan, but I'm sure you'll handle it with no problems, right?" Luz nodded her head slowly.

Eda let go of Luz and put her hands on her shoulders, coming face to face with her. "Plenty of witches and demons would have ditched this rock already. But you keep learning, and you keep fighting. What's not to like, huh?" She winked at Luz. "Take some time to yourself. Me and the others will do our part, while you do yours. We're all in this together, heck, even Caiatl is."

"Thanks, Eda." Luz sniffed as her face turned red. "I think I'm ready to carve." She looked down at her Palistrom wood with a hopeful expression.

As night fell over the Demon Realm, the Loyalists welcomed Za'aurk and his expedition detachment back to the present. Calus was at the forefront of them all, eager to see what the Primus had returned with. "Za'aurk, what riches do you return with?" Calus asked with spread arms.

"Admittedly, more than I thought we would find. You said to abandon our search for the Basilisks, so I obliged. But we did in fact find the reservoir of Titan blood." Behind Za'aurk was a two small hovering device carrying dozens of cylindrical containers filled with Titan blood. He placed a hand on top of one of the containers. "What is it that you wish to do with this blood, my lord?"

"What I wish to do?" Calus laughed boisterously. "Oh, many things, my dear Za'aurk. But the Leviathan is one of my chief concerns."

"My lord, the Leviathan is lost. I hardly think worrying about it now should be a concern."

"But I am not worried, Za'aurk." The Primus tilted his head. "Our Psions have received messages from it, saying it has been 'liberated' by devout followers of mine and I am sure it is in good hands. I want this blood taken there. These followers of mine have restarted our previous cloning operations on the Leviathan. Ever since I learned of this, I've wondered. What if Cabal was mixed with Titan?"

"Who knows what could happen if we crossed genetics like that? Gahlran was pure Cabal DNA, and he was a complete and utter fail-"

"Be silent, Za'aurk!" Calus barked. "The past is a door that must stay locked in the presence of others. Especially a past of failures. We will not know if we do not try."

Za'aurk nodded, "What of Caiatl's blockade?"

"We need not to worry. Defectors from Caiatl's legion were able to pilfer some transmat technology from her ships. A transmat zone was established while you were away. I care not for the specifics, only as long as it works."

"Hm, who am I to argue with you, Emperor Calus?" Za'aurk responded. "Should I return to the Leviathan to watch over these experiments?"

"There is no need, Za'aurk. Qexal and Ilzat have already been assigned to the task. They estimate that within a day, a batch of a hundred clones should be ready." He turned away from the Primus, "We'll use them to take control of this world, and if they resist, we'll have them wreak havoc on this realm. Let them show their potential for the future."

"And what will I do?"

"I still have plans for this realm. My collection of all the magical powers is still incomplete. Soon, you will be of use. Everything is being set in motion, simply play your part as Primus." Calus departed the scene, leaving Za'aurk alone.

Za'aurk was indifferent, but decided against arguing, for even if he had won in theory, he would have still lost to Calus's ego in reality. He hauled the carts of Titan blood over to a transmat device and watched as a Psion operator activated it.

The carts engulfed in an orange energy, and sent out of the Demon Realm and straight to the labs in the Leviathan's underbelly. Qexal and Ilzat immediately put their Psion and Cabal subordinates to work. Cabal carried the containers, while Psions drained the blood into tanks housing unborn, growing Cabal bodies.

Valus Vu'lam, who had turned traitor from Caiatl's legions, approached Qexal and Ilzat. He watched as the Titan blood was mixed with the substance growing the Cabal. He thought he had imagined watching one of their hands twitch, but was quickly reeled into the reality that they were all twitching. "What is this?" He asked in awe.

"Evolution." Qexal and Ilzat responded in concert. The bodies stopped twitching and returned to a normal floating pose.

"Vu'lam, prepare your soldiers. Emperor Calus tells of a terrible event happening soon." Qexal ordered. "We will stay and make sure the cloning proceeds smoothly." Vu'lam bowed his head and went to address his men.

"What could stop this now?" Ilzat asked. Qexal simply shook his head in response to his brother. The two stayed silent as they continued watching the children of Calus's aspirations being born.

And that's it, I hope you all enjoyed chapter 13 of MoO. It's a little shorter compared to the previous chapters since this is sort of just setting things up for the next chapter, but I hope the mish-mash of episodes wasn't difficult to follow as things were somewhat backwards and story beats were switched around.

Now I have a lot to say here so if you don't want to read a wall of text, you can ignore this. I wish I was able to find a better way to fit the Cabal into the other episodes, especially Hollow Mind, but I kind of wrote myself into a corner with the earlier chapters when I wasn't so sure what I would do in the future and I don't wanna retcon anything TOO hard. But unfortunately, some amount of retconning is a necessary evil when it's obvious you didn't plan ahead too far, which is my fault. Not to mention I missed a LOT of important character building moments for characters like Eda, Raine, Hunter, Amity and even though she's the main character, Luz. Jeez, and especially King, I totally feel like I didn't do TOH characters too much justice, which is a shame. Truthfully when it comes to the development of TOH characters, I've relied on the reader's knowledge of the show, which is a bad thing for people who have never watched the show. This is my first major fic though, so of course there will be flaws, many flaws, but since chapter 1, I feel like I've improved a significant amount, so despite all the things I've listed above, I am still very satisfied with how everything is going. Maybe I'll reprise or reboot this fic in the future to better fit the Cabal into TOH because I honestly am disappointed with their absence in some places. Perhaps I'll make an entirely different one involving TOH and Destiny. Yap session over. Thanks for reading my little tirade.

Also, big thanks again to Mr. Penguin for your constructive and nice reviews. Other than random bursts of energy and motivation, they've been inspiring me to keep writing this fic. 'Preciate it.

Finally, I think The Final Shape is a phenomenal expansion, beating out even Witch Queen for me. I won't say too much because whatever I have to say has probably already been said already, a lot. Just know that I like everything about it, save for the glitches and bugs ofc. And R.I.P. Cayde.