"Already on it, Owlet!" Eda said, showing her scroll, "According to this, you're only about three hours boat ride from the Boiling Isles! We're on our way! Just hold tight! And tell those Coven creeps you're with that if they harm a hair on your heads, I'll send 'em back to Belos in body bags!"
Luz and King giggled while Hunter, Lucy, and Osran all looked mildly perturbed by Eda's threat. The call ended soon after, with Alador warning Amity that he hadn't worked the kinks out of the system yet and so it drained a lot of magic from the calling scroll. They said their goodbyes and waited patiently for rescue to arrive.
Just over three hours later, Captain Salty and his crew sailed up to the island, carrying Eda, Rasiel (in his body), Steve, Katya, Raine, Alador, and the twins. They laid anchor just off the coast and used a dinghy to get ashore, and wasted no time running to grab Amity, Luz, and King.
"My babies!" Eda cried, embracing Luz and King tightly; "Thank the Titan! I was so worried!"
"We're sorry, Mom. We didn't mean to worry you!" Luz apologised; "And I'm extra sorry I was stupid about my illness…"
"Steve and Katya already filled us in. Your Mom and I have agreed that you're grounded until you fell better. You can spend a few days resting in bed, and thinking about your health." Raine said semi-sternly, playing the role of the "strict" parent since Eda was too busy hugging her returned children.
"That's fair." Luz smiled, accepting the hug. Raine smiled at her, then joined the hug as well; just as relieved as Eda that their favourite niece and nephew had returned safe and sound.
Lilith also hugged the pair, then went and joined Alador and the twins in hugging Amity; "You did a wonderful job of protecting everyone, Amity." she complimented, making the girl blush.
"T-Thanks Mo- I mean, Miss Lilith." Amity said bashfully, almost slipping up. Nobody missed the slip, but everyone was just too happy that they were alive to be in the mood for teasing.
"It seems King has really developed his wings too. How peculiar… I've never seen wings develop this early on his species… and without the trademark holes too…" Rasiel commented, examining King's little silvery wings.
"Careful, Rasiel. There are unwanted ears about." Eda frowned, gesturing towards Hunter, Lucy, and Osran, who just awkwardly watched the reunion, now painfully aware that they were outnumbered and outgunned.
"Forget them, they already know I'm a Titan." King frowned.
"YOU'RE A WHAT!?" screamed everyone but Eda, Raine, and Rasiel.
King cringed; "Oh, right… I forgot not everyone on our side knows that yet… It's been a really long day…"
"Two days, actually." Steve muttered; "And what exactly happened after you all ended up going through the Wellspring?"
"That's a very long story. We'll tell you all about it on the way home." Luz sighed.
"Speaking of home… the Boiling Isles is a 3 hour boat ride that way, right?" Hunter asked, pointing in a seemingly random direction.
Alador shook his head; "Actually, it's precisely that direction." he corrected, pointing beyond Salty's ship.
"Oh, thank you." Hunter said politely, before suddenly grabbing Lucy and tossing her over his shoulder, then flashing to Osran, grabbing him too, and flashing towards Salty's ship. Before the rebels could do anything to stop them, Hunter got himself and his two companions properly situated on Flapjack, then took to the air; "Thanks for the directions! We'll handle reporting everything to Belos! Byeee!"
Then with a cheeky wink, Hunter flashed off into the distance, heading back to the Isles. The rebels watched the Coven Trio disappear into the distance, all of them frowning.
"I should have figured he'd run for it…" Luz muttered, "Still, Lucy did save my life so I was gonna suggest letting them go anyway. At least once Mom had made some Amnesia Tincture for them."
"Great… now Belos is going to know about King! Our family is going to be even higher on his wanted list!" Eda complained; "And Steve and Katya weren't kidding when they said the Silver Sentinel was a dead ringer for Luz! She looks like a shorter haired version of you from when we first met!"
"Yeah… it's eerie how much we have in common." Luz frowned; "Aside from the eyes and the origin story, we really were practically the same, even down to our names! But she was found by Belos… I was found by you." Luz smiled at her Mom; "I definitely got the good side in that bargain."
"You got that right!" Eda grinned, "Now let's get you kids on the ship so we can begin sailing home. I want to hear all about what's been happening."
Everyone agreed with that, and the rescue party took Amity, Luz, and King onto the dinghy, then back to Salty's ship so they could begin the trip home. As they sailed, Rasiel, Steve, and Katya filled them in on what had been happening in the Isles after they disappeared through the Wellspring; the rest of the rebels were forced to retreat after Kikimora accused them of murdering Osran and the siblings, causing the Oracles and the Emperor's Coven to come at them with renewed vigour, as well as reinforcements that were called from the nearby town of Cartilia. The Carbuncles helped the rebels escape then retreated back into their dens within the mines.
After escaping and reuniting with a confused and worried Rasiel, they tried to search for signs of the kids, but Rasiel correctly guessed that the Wellspring would have spat them out from a different exit, so they retreated to the Owl House to report the failure of their mission and begin searching for the kids. The CATTs had sent rescue teams to every known Wellspring on the Boiling Isles, though all were dried up and dormant. Thankfully Alador and Darius were on the isles to install the Scroll Signal Tower in Bonesborough, so they were able to immediately test it out by trying to call Luz and Amity's scrolls. This failed until they emerged from the portal from Titan Trapper Island, revealing the island must have been on the other side of the world entirely!
Once the kids knew what had happened, they in turn told them what had happened on the island. The result was… fairly explosive. Hearing that Luz had been stabbed and nearly murdered by the Trappers resulted in Eda, Lilith, AND Raine all immediately flying into a rage and transforming into their cursed forms from sheer stress, though thankfully the Owl Beast had enough self control to hold the Raven and Bat Beasts down while Eda ranted inside her own head and Rasiel grabbed some of the Elixirs they'd brought along. When they finally calmed down and returned to their witch forms, they had thanked Amity profusely for her part in helping protect Luz and King, then promptly spent the rest of the trip smothering Luz. King ended up smothered too when he reported the fate of his mother, which Luz added to by finally revealing what his father had asked her to do in her vision… and the truth about the Collector. The fact his father had asked his sister to find and destroy the heart of his mother while King himself was learning of his mother's fate was just the awful cherry on top of an exceedingly bad day, and that wasn't even getting into the fact that the Collector wasn't the monster King thought he was! Poor King felt fairly numb to it all by that point though, and eventually decided to take a bit of time to himself (though Eda only let him go from her embrace after he promised to speak to the CATTs therapist about his feelings later).
King went to the bow of the ship and stared out at the water, and it was here that Luz found him a while later, having finally wriggled free of their Mom herself so she could get some fresh air.
"Hey little brother. How are you doing?" Luz asked softly.
"I've been better." King confessed; "I'm not really sure how to feel about everything… I knew Mama was long gone, just like Dad, but hearing how she died defeating the Archivists just makes it all feel… fresh, you know? And the fact the Collector was actually innocent! I could have freed him, but I destroyed his mirror instead! I'm so confused Luz… I was so angry today! I kept wanting to hurt people, and I condemned the Collector to keep rotting in prison all because I didn't know the truth!"
The young Titan lowered his head as tears began to form in his eyes; "I don't know what to do, Luz… Am I… Am I a bad person?"
Luz shook her head vehemently; "No! Not even a little bit! You're still a little kid, King. You couldn't have known the truth about the Collector; no one did except your Dad! If you had known the truth, would you have freed the Collector?"
"Of course! He doesn't deserve to be locked up!" King cried.
"Then that proves you're a good person! We can't go back, but there are other mirrors connected to the Collector's prison! We can find one and free him through that. And when I find your mother's heart, I'll free her from limbo too… and as a bonus, Rasiel will get another piece of himself back! In the mean time, we'll keep helping the CATTs and doing our best to master our powers. We do have a whole new glyph to try out after all, and I'm pretty excited about teaching my baby brother how to fly with his own wings!" Luz smiled, gently touching one of King's little wings with one of her own.
King looked up at his sister and smiled; "Y-Yeah. I guess you're right. Nothing about what we're doing has changed. Besides, if the rest of the CATTs are going to find out what I am now, I have to get my act together! Can't have them seeing a Titan moping!"
Luz giggled; "That's the spirit! Oh, and before I forget; you're Dad asked me to deliver a message."
"He did?" King asked, surprised.
Luz grinned and stooped to whisper in his ear. King listened carefully, eyes widening slightly as he began to repeat her; "I… loaf… you? I loaf you…" he began to giggle; "I loaf you! Ha ha Bread Pun!"
The two siblings began to laugh together, enjoying a happy moment after all the chaos of the last two days. It was this sight that Eda saw as she walked over, smiling widely.
"Good to see you both cheered up! I know a lot has happened and you're both stressed, so if you kids need anything, you know you can count on us." Eda smiled, putting her arms around the two.
"We know Mom." they said together, smiling.
"We've got a game plan! Help the CATTs, stop Belos, help King's Mama, and free the Collector!" Luz said, before her eyes began to droop; "And get better…"
"Let's make that one the first objective." Eda said, getting an enthusiastic nod from King. "You're not going back to school until you're better. I'll talk to the CATTs and make sure I've got some time away from missions."
"No, don't do that! You're one of the leaders! You're too important to play hooky watching over me while I sleep all day!" Luz said.
"Don't be silly, you're way more important than whatever dumb missions Darius and Eber will cook up for me!" Eda argued.
"Mom's right." King said, crossing his arms; "You need someone to look after you when you're sick!"
Luz couldn't deny that; she had no idea how long the medicine in her system would last, and she was already beginning to feel worse again, so she really did need someone to take care of her for a few days… but everyone in the Demon Realm was too busy with the rebellion!
"How about I go spend a few extra days with Mami in the Human Realm? It'd probably do Mami some good to take a couple more days off anyway, so I can rest, spend time with her and Vee, and she gets some extra time off!" Luz suggested.
Eda and King both nodded approvingly; "Sounds good to me! Let's go now!" Eda said.
Luz smiled and reached into her shirt to get the Portal Key, only to frown when she found it wasn't around her neck. She then checked her pockets and didn't find it there either, making her begin to panic. She next searched inside her hair, even though she hadn't mastered that spell yet, but found no sign of the key.
"Oh no… Amity! Do you have the Portal Key!?" Luz cried.
Amity shook her head; "No, it should be around your neck!"
Luz shook her head; "It's not there! I don't have it!"
"What!? D-Did you drop it somewhere!?" Eda yelled, beginning to look around on the deck of the ship.
"When is the last time you saw it!?" King asked urgently.
Luz began to hyperventilate; "I-I don't remember! I know I had it on the Knee, but I haven't thought about it since then!"
"You definitely had it when you were stabbed by that jerk, Bill!" Amity said; "I remember feeling it under your shirt when I was putting pressure on the wound."
"And she hasn't been out of our sight since she was healed! She must have lost the key sometime between the two of us going to fight the Trappers and her being healed!" King frowned.
The young Arch-Angel gasped; "It was around my neck, so it wouldn't have fallen off! The only way it could have gone missing is if it was taken by Rakusa, Osran, or Lucy!"
"Rakusa wouldn't have taken it; he would have no way of knowing what it was! And I don't think Osran even knew you had it so…" Amity's voice trailed off as everyone on the ship came to the same conclusion.
"Lucy stole the Portal Key… I-Is that why Hunter flew off with her and Osran so fast!?" Luz gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. "N-No… NO!"
If Lucy stole the key, then Belos would have the portal! Which means Luz now had nowhere to run to! She had no way of escaping, and worse; no way of seeing her Mami and sister! She'd promised to come home every weekend, and now she couldn't! She didn't even have the means to call home and tell her Mami the situation, since scrolls couldn't call another realm unless the portal was open and nearby!
Luz fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face; she had saved Lucy's life… but then Lucy had saved hers too. They were even now, with no debts to stop the other angel from turning on her in the name of Belos!
"I can't go back… I can't see Mami or Vee again! What am I going to do!? What am I going to do!?" Luz began to sob.
Eda, King, and Amity immediately moved to embrace her, while the rest of the CATTs exchanged dejected looks. Their mission had been to stop Belos getting Titan Blood and making a new portal, but now he would have the key to summon the original portal, he would know about King and his own Titan Blood, and he would have Lucy, a newly awakened angel on the verge of full maturity… In one fell swoop, the Emperor would have virtually all that he needed to complete his Day of Unity Plan.
Anyway they looked at it, the entire mission was a resounding failure…
[Later]
Kikimora cursed quietly as she had Princess touchdown on the landing platform of the Emperor's Castle. The Emperor was waiting for her alongside a small squad of scouts and Abomaton Mk I's, and the narrowing of his eyes displayed his foul mood… a foul mood Kiki was sure was about to grow fouler.
"You return late, alone, and empty-handed." Belos declared angrily as she climbed down from her mount; "I expect an explanation, Kikimora… and it best be good!"
Kikimora immediately knelt before the Emperor, keeping her head low; "I have nothing to offer but my deepest, most sincere apologies… and a fair explanation for my failure."
"Ah, so we are skipping straight to the excuses, are we? Pick your words carefully, Kikimora; they may be your last!" Belos thundered.
The demon gulped and hastily said; "We succeeded in finding Eclipse Lake AND reawakening the supply of Titan Blood! I was on the cusp of bringing you a great success, my Emperor! But I was betrayed by schemers and rebels!"
"Betrayed by schemers and rebels? Ah, so the infernal CATTs discovered the mining operation and interfered?" Belos asked, crossing his arms.
"Yes, my Emperor. But they were not alone; the Angel Noceda was there, supported by a traitor from the Bard Coven and our own Emperor's Coven, as well as the youngest Blight and some kind of dog. Worst still, they were supported by the Golden Guard and Silver Sentinel!" Kikimora cried very convincingly.
Belos' eyes flashed dangerously; "You accuse my two most loyal elites of secretly working with the rebels!?"
Kikimora gulped and quickly changed tactics; "Oh, I have no doubts they are not on the side of the rebels, your Highness! I believe they could not stand that I might succeed in something that they failed in, and merely worked with the rebels to undermine me, with the goal of betraying them at the last minute. In fact, they fought the rebels, but they fought me as well."
"I see, so that is the excuse you're going with… and when my elites return, I assume they will have a different story to tell. But what of Osran? What story will he tell?" Belos asked.
Kikimora pretended to be heartbroken; "None, my Emperor. Neither he nor those two foolish children will be returning. The Silver Sentinel caused Eclipse Lake to become destabilised while battling the youngest Blight, and it became a maelstrom. Osran and I attempted to save the Angel and your Elites from it, but the Golden Guard's incompetence sabotaged our attempts. The Angel, both Elites, and Osran were all consumed by the Maelstrom despite my best efforts!"
Belos narrowed his eyes once more and took a step towards Kikimora; "You say they all fell into the Maelstrom of the lake!?"
"Y-Yes, my Emperor." Kiki quaked with fear at his fury; "I spent the best part of today trying to find signs of them, but the lake has been completely despoiled. Their bodies were consumed entirely, and the lake is tainted with Titan Bile. I wasn't able to extract any usable blood because of it either… I fear the Angel, Osran, and those two young fools are gone for good, along with the youngest Blight."
Belos glared at Kikimora for a moment, before seemingly relaxing; "You say the blood was tainted with bile? Tell me, was their signs of bone or breath as well?"
Kikimora blinked; "Actually, yes sire. Spikes of bone emerged from the lakebed, and there were gas pockets."
"Then they are likely still alive." Belos said, making Kikimora gasp.
"What!? But there were no bodies!" she cried.
"Because Eclipse Lake was once a Primordial Wellspring. When last I saw it, all but the blood had become dormant, but it seems my sentinel's battle with the Blight reawakened it. Wellsprings serve as gateways to each other; they likely re-emerged from it elsewhere on the Boiling Isles, or the Titan's mate." Belos explained, now sounding almost smug.
He stared at Kikimora as she paled, no doubt already suspecting her attempts to deceive him. However neither knew quite how quickly she would be exposed.
"It was the Titan's mate, actually."
Kikimora's heart seized upon hearing that familiar annoying voice, and she looked up to see Hunter, Lucy, and Osran descending on the back of Hunter's staff (which he'd cast an illusion over to look like his artificial staff).
"Ah, my Golden Guard returns along side my missing Coven Head and…" Belos' eyes widened as he looked at Lucy, whom everyone else was now staring at with shock; "… Lucy. You are unmasked, despite my orders."
Lucy hopped off Hunter's staff and knelt before Belos; "Forgive me, Uncle. My mask was destroyed in battle with the rebels."
Once again, everyone gasped at hearing the infamous "Silent Sentinel" speaking, while also having the same face (and voice) as the so-called Rebellious Angel. Belos opened his mouth to reprimand her, but she looked him in the eye and he saw her purple irises, and then watched as she spread her wings behind her… they weren't fully grown, but they were no longer the stunted wings of a Cherub and shone with a silver light.
"It appears you have undergone a transformation. I look forward to hearing all about it. I'm sure your tale differs greatly compared to Kikimora's." Belos said, looking between the new arrivals and Kiki, who gulped fearfully.
"Oh, I'm sure it does. Her story probably doesn't mention how she almost killed me after I saved her from being taken hostage… or how she tried to assassinate the three of us by dropping us into the Primordial Wellspring!" Hunter sneered.
Kikimora went pale as Belos' eyes narrowed on her hatefully; "Is this true?" he asked, his voice soft and deadly.
"It is." Lucy said demurely.
"She cast the spell that sent us into the pit herself. She hoped to kill us and take the angel for herself." Osran added, glaring at Kikimora with cold fury.
Slowly, Belos raised his hand and summoned his staff, making Kikimora flinch back in terror.
"M-My Emperor, they are lying!" Kikimora pleaded, only for Lucy to pin her with a cold stare.
"An Angel cannot lie. I watched as you allowed your beast to attack and nearly kill my brother, leading to his capture, and I watched as you burned Head Witch Osran's book to drop us into the Wellspring! You almost killed us, the Angel, AND the son of the Boiling Isles!" Lucy declared.
There was another round of gasps, and Belos' looked at his niece with shocked eyes. "The Son of the Boiling Isles!?"
"The strange Demon Dog that Luz and the Owl Lady have; he was actually an infant Titan! It's a long story, but we ran into a horde of Titan Trappers and they confirmed it… right before trying to kill him, and us." Hunter explained.
Osran watched Belos' eyes closely, but the Emperor recovered from his shock quickly; "So you know. Naturally I was aware of him from the start, but I kept my silence so the rebels wouldn't learn what he is and make use of him. It was the Titan's will that his child remain anonymous, but now that you are aware of him, I suppose that cat is out of the bag. He is the reason I had such a high bounty on the Owl Lady even before Young Luz came under her sway."
The Head of the Oracle Coven had to give Belos credit; he was cunning, but he didn't believe for a second that the Emperor was telling the truth. He'd seen the shock in his eyes, and it wasn't shock that they now knew something he already knew himself! Osran would need to think on this.
Belos hastily changed the subject; "But we can discuss the Titan's child another time, I believe we have a traitor to deal with first…"
He turned back to Kikimora, finding that while everyone was distracted, she'd begun edging back towards Princess. She froze as she found everyone's eyes on her once again, but then Belos' staff began to spark with red magic and she made a break for it. She tried to get onto Princess's saddle again, but Belos shot a spell at her, which Princess instinctively blocked with the hand on her tail. To the horror of Kikimora, Princess's tail hand turned to stone; Belos intended to petrify her and probably broadcast her stone body to the isles as a message!
Belos shot another blast of petrifying magic, and this time Princess grabbed Kikimora with her tongue and tossed her away, leading to the Clasping Amphithere being struck in the head by the spell, slowly turning entirely to stone. Kikimora landed close to one of the airships on the landing platform, and giving one last forlorn look to her petrified mount, she fled aboard the ship. Belos moved to destroy it immediately, blasting apart the balloon and ordering his guards to surround the airship while the others took off to prevent Kikimora from escaping aboard them.
This proved fruitless however, as the guards searched the damaged airship and found no signs of Kikimora, while several scouts on one that had taken off were suddenly thrown overboard. The crafty little demon had immediately jumped from one ship to another without anyone realising it and had hid until the ship was airborne, whereupon she commandeered it. Taking control of the ship, Kikimora began to fly away at high speed. Belos and his men fired spells at it, damaging it and causing it to begin crash landing just outside the castle grounds.
"Men, go to the wreckage and recover the traitor or her corpse." Belos ordered coldly.
Every scout on the landing platform gave a salute and ran to fulfil his orders, while Belos turned back to Osran, Hunter, and Lucy; "The three of you will come with me to the throne room and report everything."
The trio bowed their heads and obediently followed Belos back to his throne room, where they were made to kneel before him as he sat on his throne beneath the beating heart of the Boiling Isles Titan. They then gave a full and accurate report of everything, which included Hunter and Lucy confessing that they snuck out of the castle. The only detail they didn't reveal was that Hunter's staff was actually a Palisman, which was something Osran opted to keep secret as well due to his new doubts about Belos.
Belos listened to everything in cold silence, interrupted only by a poor scout who'd had the unfortunate job of coming and reporting that Kikimora had escaped the airship crash and was now on the run. Belos had angrily placed a bounty of 5 million snails on her head for treason, then sent the scout packing so he could continue hearing the report from Titan Trapper Island. When they were done, Belos glared at the trio.
"So let me get this straight; you achieved nothing beyond Lucy's partial ascension? An ascension defined by "Divine Darkness" and not light?" Belos asked dangerously.
"W-We did also discover the identity of the Titan's child!" Hunter pointed out.
"Which I already knew." Belos lied, "So all you did was foolishly reveal that fact in front of numerous scouts and a confirmed traitor."
"B-But surely it's a good thing that I can use magic now! I-I can continue maturing, and then I can take the place of Luz in the Day of Unity! We won't need to worry about capturing her!" Lucy piped up.
Belos glared at her coldly; "While I am proud of your ascension, my pride is tempered by disappointment with your disobedience. I restricted you to the castle for your safety and you repaid me by disobeying and leaving, an act that endangered another Angel by forcing her to save you with a blessing!" he scolded angrily. "And more to the point, you almost got that fellow Angel killed, which would have doomed the Day of Unity! I require an Angel of far greater power than you possess! Your ascension may have granted you power of your own, but it is not enough!"
Lucy bowed her head in shame; "I-I am sorry, Uncle. I just wanted to please you…"
"Had you merely obeyed me, I would be most pleased with you. But disobedience that leads to such… disappointing results… cannot be rewarded or overlooked. Return to your rooms; I will deal with you and Hunter later." Belos ordered.
The two siblings bowed their heads dejectedly and stood to leave, but Lucy paused as the voice of her spirit echoed in her head.
"Do not flee yet, Mistress. You have a boon to give your Master."
"A boon? What do you mean?" Lucy thought.
"I read your mind when we bonded, and saw the things you desired. One of those things was within reach, so I took the liberty of retrieving it. Look in your pocket." whispered the spirit.
Confused, Lucy slowly reached into her pocket and her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she pulled out the Portal Key. Her newly bonded spirit must have stolen it from Luz when removing the Cursed Blade Fragment!
"Uncle!" she suddenly cried, turning back to Belos and kneeling to him once again; "I understand I disappointed you, but I beg you let me speak a moment longer. I have a gift that may make up for my failures."
Belos scoffed; "Do you have Luz Noceda stashed in your back pocket?" he asked sarcastically.
Lucy shook her head; "No, but I have the next best thing."
She showed Belos the key, pressing it's eyes as she did so, causing the Portal Door to appear and unfold beside her. "I give you the Portal to the Human Realm."
Hunter and Osran both gaped at the summoned door, while Belos practically leapt to his feet and ran forward. He snatched the key from Lucy and used it to open the door and peek through, taking in the sights of a blue sky and green trees. He stared at the scene for several long moments, just breathing in the scent of the other world, before slowly (and reluctantly) closing the door and having it fold up into its briefcase form once again.
"Lucy… you may consider yourself and your brother forgiven for all your failures. You have done very well, and made me very proud." Belos said, reaching down and ruffling Lucy's hair softly. It was the first gentle touch Lucy could remember from her Uncle in a long time, and it filled her with joy. When Belos let go, Hunter ran forward and hugged her, whispering his own pride for her into her ear, and Lucy drank it in, along with the proud looks Osran was giving her.
But as she enjoyed the pride and praise, a voice in her heart spoke words of doubt… Unintentionally, she had stolen something precious from Luz while she was in a state of weakness, and something about that didn't sit right with her.
"It was necessary, right? So why does this feel so wrong…?" she thought, as her angelic wings began to shine a little less brightly.