The Angel of the Owl House
Season 2: The Human Realm
Chapter 12: Eons Spent Elsewhen
Four days passed following the end of the disastrous mission to the Knee and Titan Trapper Island, which ended in the theft of the Portal Door and Luz becoming trapped in the Demon Realm. Everyone in the CATTs had spent those four days in a rather dour mood; half out of sympathy for Luz, who'd fallen into a rotten depression, and half out of fear of Belos. They feared the Emperor now had everything he needed for the Day of Unity and could decide to attack them in Bonesborough any time he pleased, since he had no reason to hold back now that Luz couldn't escape to the Human Realm and he didn't know about Digale Island. However strangely enough, no attacks came; Eberwolf believed this was because the CATTs had grown stronger and the rebellion had been spreading across the Isles more and more, keeping Belos from having the overwhelming manpower he once had, but no one knew for sure.
Luz had spent three of those four days in bed, recovering from the Common Mold (and building quite the impressive mushroom crown). She had recovered completely now, but was still incredibly down in the dumps. She'd missed her first weekend trip home and couldn't even call her Mami to explain and apologise, which soured her mood further. However, she was determined not to become consumed by depression; Luz would find a way back to her Mami somehow!
A few other developments had occurred in the few days she'd spent in bed; Kikimora had been announced to the Isles as a traitor who tried to assassinate three Coven Officials and had since gone on the run, with Mason confirming that her mount Princess had been petrified while protecting her. Princess had since been relocated by Mason for "destruction", but was actually moved to Digale Island, where she remained encased in stone until they could decide what to do with her.
Lucy's true identity was also revealed to the entire Boiling Isles, being introduced in an island-wide broadcast as Belos adopted niece and an Angel from the same Crest Order as Luz. However, Luz's bounty was not rescinded or lowered like many of the CATTs thought it would be, meaning the EC was still after her with the same fervour as before.
Strangely though, King's identity had NOT been revealed by Belos, who seemed keen to keep that secret under his mask. The CATTs weren't sure why, especially since Eda and King had confessed that King was a Titan to a gathering of the CATTs on Digale Island the very day after they got back. Responses were… mixed and enthusiastic. King had nipped any worship in the bud by saying he didn't want it, nor did he want praise for things he hadn't done, and most people (namely the CATTs leaders, King's extended Owl Family, and the Hexsquad) had taken that to heart and were treating him with respect, but not worship. It was a bit like how they treated Luz, meaning King was becoming an honorary leader of the CATTs. Others were still keen to try and worship him and gain his favour, but his friends had become pretty good at keeping them from him and making sure they behaved themselves.
Speaking of the little Titan; King had been practicing with his glyph combos by adding the new earth glyph to his repertoire and making new combos. He'd also been attending a few sessions with the CATTs therapist, and while he didn't feel like therapy was really right for him, he did get to talk out some of his thoughts and feelings, which left the little Titan feeling better. He hadn't begun practicing with his wings yet though, wanting to save that for when his big sister was feeling better.
There was some other minor news too. Lilith successfully got a job at the Bonesborough Museum (the Owl Family and Lilith's friends had held a small party to celebrate), and the prison transfer mission Eda had gone on while the others went to the Knee had ended in success, which brought many grateful new allies to the CATTs. Lastly, Alador had further refined his signal towers (tall monoliths of golden metal and purple slime which occasionally groaned) and now only scrolls fitted with a small enchanted disk of his own design could make calls to places beyond the isles, finally allowing communication between Digale Island and the Boiling Isles. At Amity's request, he was now working on expanding it further, to other realms entirely. Lastly, there was a minor attempt to steal back the Portal by Eda, who tried to sneak into the Emperor's Castle, but her plan failed and she was forced to flee, as security at the castle had been massively increased.
Finally, as the first day of a new week came and went, Luz found herself walking home from school with Amity, Willow, and Gus whilst deep in thought. She'd been distracted most of the day, and her friends in the Hexsquad and Magic Mixers had mostly left her to it; letting her know that they were there for her if she needed them but would otherwise give her space. Luz had appreciated that, but Amity noticed she seemed less depressed and more determined. As they all stepped through the Teleportation Circle to Digale Island, Amity couldn't help but ask;
"Luz, are you alright? You've been deep in your own head all day. Are you sure you're feeling better?"
Luz looked to her girlfriend with a smile; "I am. Katya, Mom, and Tia Lily all examined me this morning and can confirm I'm in tip-top shape! I've just been thinking about stuff."
"Like getting back to the Human Realm?" Willow asked.
"Yeah. I spent enough time feeling miserable and sorry for myself, so now I want to get to work on actually solving the problem!" Luz replied.
"You're not thinking of raiding the castle for the portal door, are you?" Gus asked worriedly.
"No, that'd be too risky. Besides, now Belos could use the portal to escape to the Human Realm with the key, which would stop me getting it even if I was able to break in! I can't risk the CATTs on something like that."
"Then what's the plan?" Amity asked.
Luz smiled a little; "You'll see. But I need to talk to Mom and the other leaders first; this isn't something I can do without their help."
Amity, Willow, and Gus exchanged curious looks, wondering what Luz had in mind. They followed her to Digale HQ and headed straight to the meeting room, where they found Darius, Luna, Alador, Eda, Lilith, and Raine all waiting for the meeting to start, while King and Rasiel sat quietly in the corner, pouring over books. Luz noticed the books were on Primordial Wellsprings and Supreme Dragons; they were clearly looking into the site of the next Black Tomb, which rested with Cassiopeia's Heart and a third Supreme Dragon, accessible only through a Wellspring.
"Good afternoon, everyone!" Luz greeted as she walked in and took her seat between Eda and Raine.
"Hey Sparks. You seem chipper! First day back at school go well?" Raine asked.
"You know it! And I'm happy because I've got a plan!" Luz grinned.
The adults smirked; "Great! Seeing you down in the dumps these past few days has been kinda weird." Eda said, ruffling her daughter's hair. "But where are the rest of your buddies?"
"Skara's off with Boscha, helping set up an upcoming Grudgby match between Hexside and St. Epiderm, and Matt's taking some extra Construction Magic lessons from Mason." Luz explained. "What about you guys? Where's Eber?"
"Eber has work to do at her own coven." Darius replied; "But we had a meeting of the Coven Heads today, and we've got a bit of news."
Luz leaned forward in her seat as everyone waited for Darius to continue. "The meeting was a small one, but it did yield some useful information; firstly, Belos showed us the Portal Door and talked about how the Day of Unity was close at hand. It's only a few weeks away now… but interestingly, little Lucy is not enough to replace Luz in whatever ritual Belos has planned to unite the Demon and Divine Realms… if that is truly what Belos wants."
"So that's why the bounty on Luz wasn't reduced or removed; Belos still needs her! But why can't Lucy do whatever Belos needs Luz for?" Lilith asked.
"I asked him, and he insists that Lucy isn't powerful enough, nor does she have the Titan's power infused into her like Luz does." Darius answered; "Speaking of Titans, Belos also finally informed us Coven Heads about King, though I suspect he only did so because Osran was getting suspicious."
King turned away from the books; "So does that mean I've got people coming for me now?"
Darius shook his head; "Surprisingly, no. Belos ordered that we all keep it secret. He thinks that if the people of the Isles learn the truth about you, then they'll see it as proof that the Titan favours the CATTs and not him. He can't afford to look any weaker, so he has ordered us not to say anything. We were forced to take oaths not to speak of it to anyone who doesn't already know."
"Good thing we all know then." Alador mused.
"Indeed." Darius nodded; "Though I also got to see the Little Prince and Princess for the first time since their mission too. Belos has kept them out of the public eye since his big announcement about Lucy's identity, and I think I know why; Lucy appears to be weakening again. She looks pale and sickly, and I might be wrong, but she appeared to look guilty when the Portal Door was brought up."
"Serves her right!" Eda scoffed; "She only ascended because of Luz's blessings and the Titan magic from the Wellspring! But after betraying Luz when she was at her weakest, I bet Orion and Cassiopeia took their magic back from her!"
King nodded in agreement, while the others muttered darkly. Only Gus and Luz didn't; the former looked upset that the friend he'd made in the desert had gone on to hurt one of his best friends so badly, while Luz looked conflicted about the whole affair, as part of her still couldn't believe Lucy had done such an underhanded thing. Luz prided herself on being a decent judge of character, and she'd been completely blind-sided by the theft.
Strangely, Darius also looked conflicted; "Do not be so harsh on the Little Prince and Princess. Remember, they are mere children who genuinely believe their "Uncle" is a good man. They owe their lives to him; it will be difficult to convince them that he is evil."
Amity raised an eyebrow; "Aren't you normally the "Little Prince's" biggest critic? Why defend him and his sister?"
Darius sighed; "Because they are just foolish little children who don't know what they've gotten themselves into. The boy is… the replacement of my dear friend and mentor, the previous Golden Guard. Michael was a good man but he began to have doubts about Belos, and the next thing I knew he was gone, supposedly killed in action during that fake angel plot. Then a few years ago, Belos elevates his own nephew to his position… Seeing someone so devoted to Belos wearing my mentor's mask is infuriating."
Luz gasped softly; "The fake angel plot was what made Cassiel flee the Demon Realm! It feels like everything keeps coming back to her."
"I wouldn't be surprised. She touched a great many lives in the years she spent here. Eber's and mine included." Darius confessed.
Everyone looked at him with shock; "You knew Cassiel!?" Luz cried, "D-Do you know what happened to her!? Is she related to Lucy?"
Darius shook his head; "I don't know what happened and I don't think she's related to Lucy. It's not a story I like to tell, but the short version is that Cassiel was a dear friend of Eber and I when we attended Hexside. She was also friends with Vitimir, though I never knew how close they supposedly were. One day, she went with Michael, the previous Golden Guard, and another friend named Em, to meet the Emperor… the next thing we knew, Michael was dead and Belos claimed a fake Angel had tried to kill him. Cassiel came to see us one last time to say goodbye, but refused to tell us what happened with Belos. She said she didn't want to paint a target on our backs. Then she left the Demon Realm for good; that's all I know."
Luz stared at Darius with wide eyes; "A-And you're sure Lucy is unrelated to her?"
Darius nodded; "Cassiel left 15 years ago, and Lucy can't be older than 12 or 13. There's no way Cassiel came back either, so there's no way she'd have brought and then lost a daughter! Belos would have had to kill her to get a hold of her child, and trust me when I say that if Belos and Cassiel had fought, the entire realm would have known about it. Cassiel was fierce when it came to her loved ones."
"I see… so the fake angel report was likely to cover up that Cassiel was a real angel that wouldn't side with Belos… I've always wondered about that…" Luz muttered to herself. "Thank you for telling me this, Darius. And for the record, I think something strange is going on with Lucy; I just can't imagine her stealing from me while I was bleeding out!"
"Are you sure, Owlet?" Eda asked.
"I am." Luz nodded; "She's a fellow Angel from Crest Kindness, and even if Belos has twisted her to his side, I don't think she'd do something so cruel after I risked my life to save hers."
Rasiel piped up; "For what it's worth, there is something unusual about her. I've never heard of a red-eyed Angel, and it's an odd coincidence than a second angel from Crest Kindness would be born as a stunted Cherub. I think there's something going on with her that we don't yet understand."
The others began to mutter and discuss the situation; Luna and Lilith wondered if Lucy had been artificially created like the revived Basilisks. Willow wondered if she was actual a witch turned into an angel through a prototype version of the Day of Unity, which would allegedly turn them all into Angels by unifying their world with the Divine Realm. Gus felt that she was a real angel and Belos had hurt her somehow in her infancy to stunt her magic, and Amity and Alador both theorised that she might be some breed of Basilisk that was evolved with angelic magic, similar to Vee. The others had no theories, but Raine and Eda both suggested capturing her if possible, to ensure Belos didn't have a back up angel for his plans. King wanted good old fashioned revenge for the sorrow she'd caused his sister, and Luz simply wanted to get to the bottom of the growing pile of mysteries.
As they discussed their theories, Darius sighed and shook his head; "We're getting off topic. Luz, you said you had a plan?"
Luz snapped back to attention and nodded; "Oh right, my plan! Long story short, I want to create a brand new portal!"
That caught the others' attention and they all turned to listen to her. "This whole problem started because Belos couldn't get the original portal that Philip Wittebane created, so sent his people to get Titan Blood to make a new one! Well we've lost the portal now, but we have access to Titan Blood thanks to King! That means we can make a new portal ourselves!" Luz explained.
King nodded; "I'm happy to give my blood! But do you actually know how to make a Portal between Realms?"
"W-Well no. I was thinking of maybe adding your blood to some Harmonic Crystals and trying to make a kind of Teleportation Circle between the realms." Luz said, clearly unsure of herself.
Rasiel shook his head; "That could probably work, but you'd need to already be in the Human Realm to make the other side of the circle."
"Dang it, I forgot that step… Rasiel, the Divine Realm has portals to the Human Realm; do you know how to make one?" Luz asked.
The Ancient Seraphim closed his eyes for a moment, then grimaced; "I think I used to know… it feels like I know how to make one, but when I try to remember, it fades from my mind just like my personal memories. I guess my knowledge of portals is either connected to a deeply personal memory, or was intentionally removed so I couldn't escape this realm on my own."
"So we aren't getting any answers from you until we find the next Black Tomb, and only if it contains your memories…" Raine frowned, "How goes the search for that by the way?"
King groaned and flopped over; "Badly. We know we need to go through a Wellspring to find it and we've got a Wellspring to jump into now that the one on the Knee has woken up, but we've got no way of knowing where we'll pop out! Or even how to travel through them safely! We almost died last time!"
"We're currently looking through ancient tomes for clues on how to control where we emerge." Rasiel said, lifting a book Lilith had managed to smuggle them from her new job at the museum; "But we've had no luck."
"Aw farts!" Luz whined, putting her head on the table; "And the only person who knew about both portals and the Black Tombs was Philip Wittebane! But he was a human from 400 years ago! He's long gone and Belos destroyed his diary!"
Eda put a comforting hand on her daughter's back; "Hey now, don't lose hope so quickly! If some human could figure out how to make the portal, then all of us working together are bound to figure it out!"
"But he took years to make it!" Luz pointed out; "If only Belos hadn't destroyed his diary, we'd have had a cheat sheet on how to make it!"
The others looked at the dejected angel with sad eyes. Willow turned to Amity; "You work at the Bonesborough Library; is there any chance there are other copies of the diary in storage somewhere?"
Amity shook her head sadly; "It was a unique, hand-written item. Things like that wouldn't have normally been copied. Though it was also a historical relic… Lilith, is it possible that the museum would have a copy? Replicas of important historical items are on display there after all."
Now it was Lilith's turn to sadly shake her head; "I'm sorry, but I've already done a full inventory as part of my Assistant Curator position and no such item was found. I'm afraid the diary of a random human visitor wouldn't have been considered noteworthy enough for an exhibit, so no copy would have been made."
Raine sighed; "So the diary and its secrets are lost to time…"
"Time…" Gus repeated, his eyes suddenly widening; "That's it! Time! We can make a Time Machine!"
Everyone looked at him in confusion; "A Time Machine? What manner of device is that?" Luna asked.
"A human invention that lets people travel to and from both the ancient past and the far future! I read all about them in a book Eda sold me!" Gus grinned, reaching into his school bag and pulling out a copy of Cosmic Frontier, Book 1. The Demon Realm natives (plus Rasiel), all looked at the book with interest and Alador looked outright covetous, but Luz just groaned.
"Gus, that book is science fiction. Time Machines aren't real." Luz said, making Gus's face fall.
"Aw, really? I was sure that was the key! With a Time Machine, you could go back in time and meet Philip himself! Then he could teach you how to make a portal personally!" Gus sighed, "I'm sorry for getting everyone's hopes up."
Willow patted the boy's back, while Luz gave him an appreciative smile; her friend's heart was in the right place… and his idea wasn't totally without merit in a world of magic.
"Time Machines may not exist, but what about Time Magic? Are there spells for time travelling?" Luz asked.
"Of course not." Darius frowned; "Magic like that doesn't exist!"
Luz pouted, but Eda, Lilith, and Rasiel all raised their hands and said; "Well, actually…" at the same time, much to the delight of Luz and the surprise of the others.
"You know something!?" Luz asked excitedly, as she and the other kids looked eagerly at the adults.
"I do. Time Magic does exist; specifically the kind that can send people forward and back in time." Rasiel said; "In the Divine Realm, it is a hideously difficult form of Divination Magic. It allows one to detach their spirit from their corporeal flesh, sort of like I can do, and then use magic to send it forward or back in time via the power of Celestial Bodies. The Time Traveller becomes an intangible, imperceptible ghost in the time period of their choosing, allowing them to see, hear, and smell anything from that era. However they cannot touch anything nor can they be detected by anything, meaning they cannot meddle with past events."
Luz's eyes sparkled upon hearing that; "That sounds perfect! I could use that to travel back in time and watch Philip make the portal!"
Rasiel winced; "It would be perfect if you could do it. But like I said, it's both Divination Magic and EXTREMELY difficult to cast. You'd need an Angel to show you how to connect to the Celestial Bodies of the Universe like any other kind of Divination Magic, and then you'd need to perform a complex ritual. Even if you had another Angel nearby who could help you form the connection, you'd still have to cast the spell and I don't know how. I'm sorry."
Once again, Luz and her friends wilted in disappointment, while the adults looked more intrigued that such magic even existed. But then Luz looked to Eda and Lilith with eyes full of rapidly diminishing hope.
"What about you guys? You were gonna say something too, right?" she asked.
Eda nodded; "There is technically an old urban legend that Lily and I searched for when we were kids. Time Pools."
Alador and Darius scoffed, while Luna looked confused and Raine gasped; "Oh, I remember those old searches! That's a blast from the past!"
"What are Time Pools?" Amity asked.
Eda opened her mouth to answer, but Alador cut her off; "They're an old wives tale. Supposedly some amount of Titan Magic turns puddles into windows through time. But they aren't real."
The kids once again looked downcast, and Eda glared at Alador; "Hey now, they might exist! Even Lily was convinced they did, right?" she said, looking to her older sister.
To Alador's surprise, Lilith actually nodded; "Theoretically, it is possible. Rasiel confirmed time magic exists, and based on the theory on how Time Pools are formed, it could explain why physical matter was able to travel through time. You see, in the Premysteric Era, it was theorised that coagulated Titan Blood mixed with the magical algae of the Boiling Sea created temporary portals through time!"
Rasiel rubbed his chin; "A kind of algae is one of the components to the ritual used in Divination Magic, I'm sure of it. With the incredible power of a Titan mixed in, sending a person's body back in time with their spirit really could be possible!"
The CATTs began to get excited, though Alador and Darius remained sceptical; "Are you truly saying these Time Pools are real?" Darius crossed his arms.
"It's plausible." Rasiel nodded; "Titan Blood on its own can be used to make portals in space, so why could it not make portals in time too, given the proper conditions? Of course, I don't have the faintest idea of how to find or make one of these pools."
Lilith smiled; "Well, I actually might have a solution for that! Back when Eda was dragging me along on those searches-"
"You loved them! You had more fun than I did!" Eda interrupted with a smirk.
"Hush you. As I was saying, during those searches I was able to cobble together a device meant to detect the conditions needed to form a Time Pool! It worked in theory, but I never managed to find a power source that was both potent and stable enough." Lilith finished.
"Potent and stable, like say a Titan's Blood? Or an Arch-Angel's blessing?" Amity grinned, gesturing towards King and Luz. Both kids were practically vibrating with excitement.
"I'll donate my blood! I was already gonna give some for the portal, so I don't mind giving extra!" King volunteered immediately.
"And I can give a blessing! Though I'm not sure how it works with things and not people." Luz added.
"In that case, we can really do this! We can find a Time Pool!" Lilith beamed, getting excited herself. This would not only help her niece out massively, but if she could get a glimpse at the Deadwardian Era that Philip lived in, she could make an amazing exhibit for the museum! They'd be killing two birds with one stone!
"Let's get to it then! I've already lost one weekend visit to Mami and Vee; I don't want to lose another!" Luz declared.
The others nodded in agreement and they all swiftly came up with a plan. Luz, Eda, and Lilith would be the ones to go through to the past, while King, Rasiel, and Raine would help them find the pool and guard it while they were on the over side, making sure it didn't close. Darius would handle CATTs business in the meantime, while Alador had Amity assist him with his own projects. Willow and Gus would also remain behind, since the adults agreed that time travel was dangerous and not something most children should take part in, which they begrudgingly accepted. Instead, Gus would help Alador and Amity by using Illusions to create blueprints for their creations, and Willow would help Luna cultivate plants for their potion supplies. Once their plan was set, they all got to work.
Their first stop was the Digale Island Hospital, where the healers of the CATTs kept everyone healthy. Viney was volunteering there and helped one of the more experienced healers draw blood from King. They filled three vials with his azure blood, one of which was given to Luz and hidden in her satchel alongside her Palisman Egg, while another was given to Eda for safekeeping, before the last one was given to Lilith for her device.
The Time Pool locator turned out to be similar in appearance to a meteorological device; looking like the spinning devices used to measure wind speed, but it had a little glass ball on the bottom that contained the power source. A long cable then connected the spinning part to some kind of monitoring device, and as the wind of the Demon Realm blew through the device and made it spin, the cable would glow and the monitor would give readings that only Lilith really understood. Those first readings proved vital however, as not only did it give them a place to start searching and direction to look in, it also confirmed to Lilith that the Time Pools (or at least the conditions to make them) really did exist!
With the functioning locator in hand, Lilith led her family on quite the expedition through the isles. It turned into a hike that lasted two days, which they all started to consider like a family vacation (though Luz felt a little guilty that she was basically skipping school again after just one day back from being sick). It was a fun time despite this though; Raine taught Luz a bit more about her Ocarina and Bardic Magic whenever Eda was teaching King some more potions, and when Eda and Raine wanted some cuddling time while Rasiel was helping Lilith take readings from the locator, Luz would teach King how to fly with his little wings, while he in turn showed Luz some ways to use the earth glyph she'd recently discovered. Even Lilith (who was enjoying the expedition anyway) was drawn into more conventional fun by her sister and the kids, letting Rasiel and Raine take over the navigation so she could play too.
Finally on the dawn of the third day as they reached the coast of the Titan's Right Shoulder following a meandering trip up and down the Right Arm and Right Ribs, Lilith spotted something that caught her attention. Running up to a seemingly random tree, she slashed the trunk with a small scimitar she'd conjured, then took some of the cut bark and put it in a test tube connected to her locator. Her family watched her curiously, and the eldest Clawthorne giggled almost girlishly as the bark burned away and she got some fresh readings.
"Ha! Exactly what I thought! This is the bark of a Wrinkling Oak!" she declared.
Luz blinked and peered at the tree; it didn't look like the Wrinkling Oaks that Willow had shown her once; it looked too young!
"Are you sure, Tia Lily? It doesn't look wrinkly." she said.
Lilith smirked; "That's because something is keeping them locked in time! Chronomatic Magical Residue from the Time Pools can interfere in the ageing process of certain types of flora!"
"Care to repeat that in common, Sis?" Eda snarked.
"She's saying that magic from the Time Pools are keeping the trees from ageing properly." Raine explained in simple terms; "Which means they must be very close."
"Chronomatic Magical Residue breaks down extraordinarily fast. It cannot travel more than thirty paces from its source." Rasiel helpfully added, though Luz, King, and Eda just looked confused.
Lilith got more excited however and began pouring over her notes and the locator; "Residue of this density in these atmospheric conditions means we just need to account for the local plague patterns and the conversion from the old boiling units to the Empirical system… oh, and that quake in the 30s that shifted the Isles and disrupted algae growth… Accounting for all of that…"
She walked through the trees towards the edge of the forest; "… the Time Pools should be… here!"
Lilith pushed aside some foliage, then suddenly frowned. The others peeked passed her and saw that there was nothing there; Lilith had led them to a small cove that contained sand and the Boiling Sea, but nothing else of note.
"T-This isn't right!" Lilith cried, rushing out onto the beach with the others following behind her; "I triple-checked all my calculations! My equipment was refined and tested thoroughly!"
"Is there some kind of magical interference?" Raine asked as the others split up and began wandering the beach.
"I don't know! King's Titan Blood was fresh, so it can't be that! Maybe the algae isn't blooming right now? Are we too early or too late?" Lilith began to devolve into mutterings as she poured over her equipment and notes, while Rasiel stood beside her and double-checked them himself.
Meanwhile, King and Luz began to wander around the beach, both disappointed. Eda watched them as they began dejectedly kicking at the sand.
"Hey kids, don't let one failure get to you. The locator reacted, so the Time Pools have to be real! We just need to start the search again from scratch." she said, trying to keep their spirits up.
"But we wasted two whole days and got nothing for it!" King complained, "At this rate, it'd be faster to just train up the CATTs and then attack Belos at his castle and steal the old portal back!"
Luz opened her mouth to say that would be too dangerous, but her words became a cry of shock as King suddenly disappeared into the sand, having stomped into what appeared to be quicksand. Eda and Luz both cried out his name, and Luz rushed to the spot he sank into.
"Eda, tie a rope around me! I'm going after him!" Luz ordered, using wind magic to make an air bubble around her head. Eda immediately conjured a rope around Luz's waist and the young angel dove into the "quicksand".
To Luz's shock, it didn't feel like sand at all; it felt like regular water and gave her a bizarre sense of vertigo as she leapt through it, almost as if the entire world was flipping upside down. She suddenly emerged to find herself once again on the beach, but this time it was dark and her surroundings were completely different. The Titan Earth around her still looked like rotting flesh, with pustules of Titan Blood rising up out of the ground, and some kind of erupting volcano in the distance. Luz gasped at the sight of it, then heard a familiar scream of "WEH!"
She turned and saw King running for his life away from a large, dinosaur-like Demon. It had clawed forepaws and hooves on its rear legs, and large spikes running down it's back. It's face was almost beak-like, and it had massive ears! Luz recognised it from her beast-keeping classes; it was a Stonesleeper! An ancient form of Demon that has barely changed since prehistoric times, sort of like Human Realm Crocodiles. They were rare in modern times, but they were still known to exist in the wilder parts of the world.
"King! Over here!" Luz cried out.
King saw her and immediately ran towards her, his wings still too small to fly as fast as his legs could carry him. He jumped right into Luz's arms, with the Stonesleeper hot on his trail, but Luz blinded it with a sudden flash of light and then dove back into the pool she'd emerged from. She and King went screaming back to the present, where Eda caught them both easily.
"Kids! Are you okay!? What happened!?" Eda asked urgently as the others rushed over to check on them.
King was too busy catching his breath, but Luz answered with a broad grin; "Lilith did it! We found the Time Pools!"
The others gasped, and one by one they stuck their heads into the pool the kids had gone into. When Lilith pulled her head out again, she beamed; "A Stonesleeper from the Hecktaceous Period! I did it! I really did find the Time Pools! No wonder we couldn't find them before; they're completely invisible from the surface!"
"This is the discovery of a life time! Genuine portals through time!" Raine gasped excitedly; "Who knows what we could discover with this!"
"A great deal, I imagine." Rasiel smiled; "Now we just need to find one that leads to the Deadwardian Era."
"Alright, split up everyone! And start sticking your head in weird time holes!" King declared, before grabbing a stick from the nearby forest and using it to try and find more Time Pools. The others followed his lead and they all began searching for the correct Time Pool. Every time they found a hole, they'd stick their heads inside it to see what was on the other side, and upon seeing it wasn't the correct time period, they'd stab their stick next to the pool then go off to find another stick and another pool.
It took about an hour, but Eda eventually found herself looking at a version of Bonesborough from 400 years ago! She recognised the Deadwardian architecture from the exhibit dioramas that Lilith had been eagerly showing her in recent days, so returned to the others with a triumphant grin.
"Got it! I found that Wittebane guy's era! We should be good to go!" Eda declared proudly.
The others grinned and came over, each sticking their heads through the pool to confirm. "Great work, Mom! Next stop, 400 years ago!"
"This will be a truly unprecedented exploration! But we mustn't all jump in willy-nilly. If the tide comes in, we could be trapped! There's also the possibility of paradoxes and the bloody fly effect… and if the algae dries out too fast, the pool could close! We must take precautions!" Lilith declared.
"What sort of precautions?" Raine asked.
"Well first, and I hate to say this, but King should remain on this side of the pool. If the pools start to close and dry up, we'll need him to apply more Titan Blood to the algae to keep them open." Lilith explained.
King pouted for a moment, but ultimately agreed; "Fine… seeing a bunch of old stuff isn't worth getting trapped in the past. I'll hang out here and make sure the pool stays open."
"Thanks buddy." Luz said, scooping him up and kissing his skull while tickling his belly, much to King's pleasure.
"I will remain too. Without magic, I may end up being a liability in such a supposedly savage era. Which reminds me; Luz, be sure to keep your angelic nature a secret! This is before Belos convinced the Isles that Angels were good, so you might end up being hunted if the truth is discovered!" Rasiel warned.
Luz gulped and hid her wings, something she hadn't done in quite a while. She also fished out her old concealment stone to turn her hair brown. "Alright, one ordinary witchling coming right up!"
Rasiel nodded approvingly, then added; "If you absolutely must reveal yourself, then don't let anyone know just how powerful you actually are. Remember; an Angel would be hunted, but an Arch-Angel would have the entire Isles aiming for their head!"
"R-Right, good point. I think I'll try and leave any fighting to Mom and Tia Lily." Luz said nervously.
Eda then turned to Raine; "You coming too, Raine Storm?"
They shook their head; "No, I'll stay behind with King and Rasiel. A human from that era probably wouldn't be very accepting of someone like me, and I'd hate to make him unwilling to help Luz with her portal."
The others all scowled, but Luz sadly couldn't deny Raine was correct. Modern Humans were barely starting to accept people like Raine; one from 400 years ago would likely not even understand what Raine was!
Putting that aside, it was decided that Luz, Eda, and Lilith would travel to the past while Raine, Rasiel, and King would remain in the present and make sure the Time Pools stayed open. It was still only a little ways past Dawn, so they had most of the day before the tides started coming in; plenty of time, but they wanted to avoid wasting it where possible.
The two groups said their goodbyes to one another, then one by one, Luz, Eda, and Lilith leapt into the Time Pool and re-emerged on the Titan's Right Shoulder back in the Deadwardian Era. They looked South-West towards Bonesborough in the distance and smiled at the sight of the old town. It was a lot smaller than the Bonesborough they all knew, and the architecture was quite different, as it had been knocked down and rebuilt countless times between now and the future they'd come from.
Luz gasped in delight; "It's like a Babyborough!"
"This probably isn't long after the town was first founded! We need to be careful; remember that this is the Savage Ages! People here are likely uncivilised and dangerous!" Lilith warned.
Luz suddenly looked apprehensive, but Eda scoffed; "Yeah right. Don't forget that Belos is the one to spout all that junk about the Savage Ages! I bet it was just more lies to turn people against Wild Magic!"
Lilith opened her mouth to retort, but stopped herself. Honestly, Eda had a good point… "Well, only one way to find out! Onward!"
The trio made there way towards Bonesborough, flying with Owlbert and Corvanc. As they flew, Eda briefly disappeared and returned a few minutes later with a stolen washing line full of clothes for them to use to make disguises, since their clothing was pretty different from the styles of the Deadwardian Era. Eda kept her red dress but added a long travel cape and hood to hide her distinctive hair, while Lilith covered her head with a scarf and a straw hat. Luz, whose clothes were the most outlandish, being her favourite human outfit, ducked behind a tree to change completely. She re-emerged in a simple cream coloured dress with lilac accents, which made her look a lot like a young maiden from a renaissance fair.
"I always wanted to cosplay like this at one of those events!" Luz commented as she wove some enchantments into the dress so her wings could pop out if she needed them. "Glad they had something in my size, but we'll have to be sure to return them later!"
Eda smirked; "Yeah yeah. Now let's find that human!"
Now disguised, they headed into Bonesborough proper and began to look around. Aside from the old-fashioned architecture and clothing everyone wore, it wasn't too different from the Bonesborough they were all used to. The people were actually very friendly and to the delight of both Luz and Eda, everyone was freely casting magic unhampered by sigils or restraints. Every type of magic was on display and no one seemed bothered by others mixing magic! Eda loved it, and Luz was especially glad to see everyone helping one another so openly! It was almost idyllic, and Lilith was sure to document everything she saw in her little notebook, while Corvanc sat on her shoulder and cawed occasionally to draw Lilith's attention to something interesting nearby.
They continued to explore the town for about half an hour, but saw no signs of a human. As such, Luz finally decided to bite the bullet and start asking people directly. The first few people she spoke to just shook their heads and claimed not to know anything about any humans, much to Luz's disappointment, but then she approached a man leaning beside a noticeboard, who'd been watching her curiously for the last few minutes.
"Excuse me, but I don't suppose you'd know anything about a Human that frequents these parts? He'd have round ears and no magic of his own, and probably wearing strange clothes? Goes by the name of Philip Wittebane?" Luz asked.
The man, who appeared to be from the same species as Warden Wrath, chuckled at her; "You're a bit too small and soft looking to be a Bounty Hunter. Does your Mommy know you're chasing some extra snails?" he asked mockingly.
"Bounty? Philip is wanted!?" Luz exclaimed.
Hearing her daughter's shout, Eda walked over and eyed the man coldly; "Everything okay, Luz?"
"Mom! This guy knows something about Philip!" Luz explained, making the man blink in surprise.
"Huh, so your Mommy does know. You really gonna let your kid go after that Human?" the man asked.
"Of course. But we didn't know he was a criminal." Eda frowned, exchanging looks with Luz.
The man scoffed; "Don't rightly know if he's a criminal. The bounty was put up by Red Fang and Green Fang. Apparently their brother went on an expedition with the Human and never returned, so they've put up bounties all over the place."
Eda smirked; "Interesting. Think you can give us a tip? We'll cut you in on any rewards!" she lied.
"Not a chance! I'm not getting mixed up with those two thugs! Plus there are rumours that they're working for the Bloody Buzzard! Ain't no one in Bonesborough gonna mess with the Buzzard! You should take your kid and forget all about the human! He'll be dead soon anyway." the Demon scowled.
Eda frowned; she'd never heard of any Bloody Buzzard, and she was pretty well-versed in the criminal history of Bonesborough. She'd styled her Owl Lady persona on some of the most well-known ones after all, to help keep her safe via fear while she was just getting started surviving on her own. Seeing as the Demon wasn't willing to be cooperative, Luz opened her satchel and pulled out the small bag of snails she always kept on her. She reached in and grabbed ten snails and offered them to the Demon.
"I'll give you these if you can point is in the right direction. We won't get involved with this Buzzard person, and if we run afoul of them, they'll never know you helped us. I promise." she offered.
The man scowled at her, but saw the snails and eyed them covetously. After a moment of thought, he sighed and nodded.
"Fine, but you didn't hear this from me! Rumour has it that the Buzzard stole something from the Human and so he's gone to the Knee. The rumours say he's after Titan Blood from Eclipse Lake, to use as a weapon against the Buzzard."
Luz and Eda grinned at one another; if Philip was at Eclipse Lake, then they knew just where to find him! Luz even knew a way in from the air thanks to her recent trip there!
"Thanks so much for the help! Here's your payment, plus a little extra." Luz beamed, handing the Demon 15 snails. She then looked to her Mom and said; "Let's go find Tia Lily!"
Eda nodded and the two raced off, leaving the bewildered demon to examine the snails he'd been given. They certainly looked real, though the design was slightly different than he was used to. Still, he was pleased with the reward and shouted after Luz; "Be careful Kid! Red Fang and Green Fang already have a head start! They won't make it easy for you!"
Luz waved and shouted her thanks, then continued to follow Eda in search of Lilith. They soon found her making some unusually detailed notes about the particular design of a cobblestone road, and filled her in on Philip's location. With a destination in mind, they immediately hopped onto Owlbert and Corvanc and flew out of town, heading south towards the Knee. As they flew, Luz asked Lilith if she knew anything about this "Bloody Buzzard", being the historian of the trio, but Lilith was clueless.
"I'm fairly well-versed in the history of Bonesborough; I once wrote an entire almanac of famous figures from the founding of the town to the modern day, but I never heard anything about a Bloody Buzzard… Come to think of it, I never heard of Philip Wittebane either. There were rumours of a human settling in the town, but nothing I found out about him painted him as historically significant." Lilith explained.
Luz hummed; "How strange! You'd think Philip and the Buzzard would be bigger news, considering one made a portal and the other is so terrifying!"
"Maybe they're terrifying enough that no one wanted to make records on them?" Eda suggested.
Luz wasn't so sure; something about this Buzzard situation was twigging something in her mind. Why would this person want to put a bounty on Philip? What trouble could a human cause for witches and demons?
Putting that thought aside for when they found Philip, the trio soon arrived at the Knee. With help from Luz's wind magic, they were able to fly directly through the fierce winds that usually kept people from easily flying to the Knee and forced them to take the foot path, and landed near the ruins of Caplacier, where Eda's sharp eyes had spotted a plume of smoke. Upon landing, they found the remains of a camp fire, and a spot where two large people had slept.
"So one's been here recently." Luz muttered as she cast a Beast-Keeping spell on herself, allowing her to scan the ground for hidden tracks. It was a fairly clear day, but there was a brisk wind that disturbed the surface of the snow and hid any tracks from conventional vision. After examining the ground for a moment, Luz frowned.
"The tracks leading from the camp aren't human or witch; they belong to a pair of Biped Demons." she commented.
Eda scowled; "If I was a betting woman, and I am, I'd wager those tracks belong to Red Fang and Green Fang. That guy in town did say those two were ahead of us."
Luz nodded and followed the tracks with her eyes; "These tracks head towards the mines that lead to Eclipse Lake."
"Which means we're behind. Luz, can you guide us to the cave skylight above the lake?" Lilith asked.
"I can. We should hurry; I'm seeing other tracks too… the Bounty Hunters ruined them so I can't identify them properly, but they look like they belong to something big!" Luz said, eyeing the tracks nervously.
The Clawthorne Sisters nodded and once again got back on their staves and began flying over the mines. Luz didn't know the exact spot that Eclipse Lake could be found, but she did remember where they entered the mines and the path they'd taken to reach the lake, so she was able to lead them in the rough direction needed while also using another Beast-Keeping spell to enhance her sense of smell, allowing her to sniff out the Titan Blood that supposedly filled the lake. After a few minutes of sniffing and flying, Luz gasped and pointed in the right direction, revealing a hole in the mountain below. They flew close to the hole and suddenly heard a man's scream, followed by the sound of an explosion and the roar of a beast.
"Uh oh! That big thing must have found Philip first!" Luz cried.
"Then let's rescue him! That'll be a good way to convince him to help us!" Eda smirked.
They flew through the hole into the cavern of Eclipse Lake and immediately saw a human being assaulted by a rather large and angry Slitherbeast. The human, undoubtedly Philip Wittebane, was a rather skinny fellow with a pointed nose, blue eyes, and very long, shaggy brown hair with a matching beard, the former of which was tied into a rough ponytail. His clothing was English style attire consisting of a gray waistcoat beneath a long navy overcoat with a white cravat, as well as brown britches, white socks, and old fashioned black shoes with golden buckles. He also carried a messenger bag and wore dull off-white gloves over his hands. He looked worn and haggard, and there were scratches and cuts all over him, including a few that looked fairly old, which combined with the dirt on his clothes made it clear he'd had a rough time of it.
The Slitherbeast roared and lunged at him, and Philip once again shrieked and leapt back. He ended up hitting his back against the wall of the cavern, cornering himself.
"B-Back! Back you Devil!" he demanded, fumbling for something in his pocket.
"Don't worry sir, we'll help you!" Luz yelled as she swooped in on the back of her Mom's staff. She leapt off the staff and landed on top of the Slitherbeast's head, then conjured her Ocarina and began to channel Bardic and Beast-Keeping Magic to perform a calming song. The Slitherbeast's eyes glowed red and gold under the effects of the song and it began to calm down, its roars becoming quieter and its thrashing becoming less intense.
Luz smiled and stopped playing, then stooped to rub the beast's head and whisper some comforting words. Unfortunately, Philip was still spooked by the beast and hadn't stopped rummaging through his pockets, eventually finding what he was looking for. He pulled out a slip of parchment with the familiar glyph of fire drawn on it, and pointed it at the Slitherbeast. The parchment erupted into a fireball and was blasted at the Slitherbeast, burning the side of its face and causing it to rear back in pain and rage, knocking Luz off its head.
"Luz!" Eda cried, flying to catch her adoptive daughter. She caught the girl before she hit the ground, then turned to glare furiously at Philip, who was using the opportunity to flee for the entrance to the cavern. "Idiot! She'd calmed the beast down and now you've ticked it off again!"
"Yes yes, terribly sorry." Philip yelled, sounding very unapologetic; "Since you've decided to so gallantly rescue me, I don't suppose you'd mind finishing it off while I make my escape?"
Eda growled and cast a spell at Philip. It shot over his head and hit the cavern entrance he was running for, causing a part of it to crumble down and block the exit with rubble. Philip turned to glare at Eda, who smirked at him coldly; "Oh no you don't! You don't get to land us in a heap of trouble and then run for it!"
Before Philip could retort, the Slitherbeast began running for him. After the human's attack had ignited its fur, the Slitherbeast had briefly jumped into Eclipse Lake (which was filled by about two feet of blue Titan Blood) and used the liquid to douse the flames. Now it's white fur was stained blue, and its maw was drooling with the desire to eat the man that had angered it. It leapt at him with its fangs and teeth bared, and Philip let out a shriek as he dove out of the way, dropping a plant glyph as he went and causing a tree to burst from the ground and hit the Slitherbeast in the stomach, launching it into the air. It happened to be launched in Eda's direction, but Lilith protected her by blasting the Slitherbeast with a beam of silvery blue magic, causing the beast to hit the wall of the cavern and flop to the ground with a groan.
Slowly, the Slitherbeast stood and shook itself, then began running at Philip again. The man tried to run around the lake, but tripped on a stone and hit the ground with a yelp, leaving him helpless. The Slitherbeast raised its claw to rip him open, but Luz got to him first.
"Oh no you don't!" she cried, shooting a light beam at the Slitherbeast. It hit the beast's claw and made it recoil with a growl of pain and turn to look at Luz, who then began playing a new song on her ocarina. This time she began playing a sleeping song to lull the Slitherbeast into a deep and restful slumber. Seeing the beast begin to doze off, Philip reached into his pocket for another glyph, but Lilith suddenly landed beside him and grabbed his arm, glaring at him fiercely.
"Don't even think about it!" she hissed quietly.
"You don't mean to slay the beast?" Philip scowled.
"Of course not! This is its territory! We can't just go marching into another's home and killing them when they get upset!" Lilith scolded.
Philip actually scoffed at that, but made no attempts to attack the now sleeping Slitherbeast. Instead he just watched as Luz made sure the beast was totally asleep, before she began using healing magic on its burns.
"Now you're healing it!?" he exclaimed.
Eda walked over and put a hand over his mouth before he could wake the beast, while Luz said; "Slitherbeasts only attack if someone else hurts them first or goes into their territory; if we leave and heal its injuries, it won't come looking for us again. If we just left it, it would wake up angry and hunt down whoever hurt it… namely you."
Philip gulped; "Ah… well, carry on then." he said awkwardly.
Eda and Lilith both glared at him, but Luz just smiled politely and continued her work. Once the Slitherbeast was fully healed, Luz hummed another quick Bardic tune to reinforce the sleeping spell she'd cast, then tiptoed away from it and signalled that it was time to leave. Eda, putting her hand back over Philip's mouth again, shoved him onto Owlbert's staff and then took off through the cavern roof, while Luz hopped on Corvanc with Lilith and followed her out. They quickly flew back to the abandoned campsite, where Eda finally dumped Philip down in the snow.
"Right, that's one pasty nerd saved! Now you owe us." Eda said coldly, crossing her arms as Philip spluttered and wiped the snow from his face. She was still mad that Philip's stupid glyph attack almost got Luz hurt!
"Honestly, must you all be so barbarous!" Philip growled, getting to his feet; "I had all that quite under control before you showed up!"
"Sure you did." Eda muttered darkly as Luz hurried forward.
"Mom, be nice!" she hissed, before giving Philip a warm smile; "I'm sorry about that! Mom gets a little cranky sometimes. You're Philip Wittebane right? The Human?"
"Ah, so you've heard of me? Have you come all this way to gawk? Or are you perhaps after that evil monster's bounty on my head!?" Philip demanded, suddenly pulling out another fire glyph and brandishing a fireball. "You'll find I am not without defences even if I don't have your magic!" he spat venomously.
Eda and Lilith both readied their staves, but Luz got between then and Philip whilst raising her hands in surrender.
"No! We didn't come to gawk or turn you in for a bounty! We need your help!" Luz cried.
Philip raised an eyebrow; "And what could you Witches possibly need my help with? Can't you just magic up whatever solutions you need?"
Luz shook her head; "We need something only you can do! We need to know how to make a portal!"
That certainly got Philip's attention. His pale blue eyes grew wide for a moment, before they narrowed on Luz. There was something cold in those eyes that made Luz shiver, which only got worse when Philip spoke.
"No." he said frostily, before turning on his heel and walking away. Luz was stunned, and Lilith was equally shocked by the sudden dismissal. Eda was angry however, and stalked forward to grab the man by his coat and drag him back.
She spun him around and went to grab his collar, but Philip pointed his fireball at her in retaliation. The two glared at one another hatefully, before Eda snarled; "Hey, we just saved your life! You owe us!"
"I already said I had it handled, so I owe you nothing! Now let me go!" Philip demanded.
"Not until you help us!" Eda growled stubbornly, golden magic began to form around her staff.
For a moment, it looked like Eda and Philip were really going to come to blows, but Luz hurried forward and used the light glyph to create a bright flash, making both of them stagger back. She then used ice magic to snuff out Philip's fireball while also using plant magic to grab Owlbert with a vine and yank him from Eda's grasp. By the time both of them rubbed the spots out of their vision, Luz was glaring at them both, Owlbert on her shoulder.
"That's enough! There's no point in fighting!" she yelled to them both. Luz then turned to Eda; "Mom, I know you're mad and trying to help, but threatening him isn't going to get us anywhere!"
Eda scowled and crossed her arms petulantly, while Lilith gave her an unimpressed look. Luz then turned to Philip and bowed her head; "I'm sorry about that. Mom was just trying to help me get back to my original home. You see, I was actually born in the Human Realm like you and our own portal was recently stolen." she said honestly.
Philip blinked; "You are from the Human Realm!?"
"Yes! My Papi was a human! I only came to the Demon Realm in the last few months, but now I've lost my way back! I was hoping you could help me make a new portal." Luz explained.
The human stroked his beard for a moment, and there was something about the gleam in his eyes that made Luz nervous. She got the distinct impression that he really didn't like her…
"And why should I care about any of this?" Philip eventually asked; "Why should I help a witch get back to the Human Realm? You're where you belong now, aren't you?"
Luz bit her lip; how could she explain herself without lying or revealing she was an angel!? In the end, she decided to side step the issue altogether by simply pleading with Philip.
"Please, I'll do anything for your help! There must be something you want that I can help you with!" she implored.
Philip groaned; "You're going to make this annoying, aren't you? Fine, I'll consider it… but you'll need to do some work for me! You can start by warming me up; I came here in a hurry and didn't have time to grab proper furs, so I'm practically frozen and my fire glyphs aren't exactly fit for minor warmth."
Eda and Lilith both glared, but Luz took this as an opening and smiled; "Of course! And you'd be surprised! Fire glyphs can do more than just start fires! Fire is the element of warmth, so if you know how to use it…"
Luz conjured a fire glyph in the air and made it radiate heat towards Philip, making him sigh with relief even as his eyes grew wide at her magic.
"… then you'll be amazed by what you can do!"
Philip took a step towards Luz; "Astounding! I thought I was the only one who used Picto-Glyphs!"
"There aren't many of us who use them. My little brother and I are the only other people who can use them like this! We've tried teaching others, and they can sort of do it, but they don't have the natural ability like we do. Almost all my magic revolves around them!" Luz explained with a big smile.
That made Philip hum and begin stroking his chin; "Come to think of it… I heard legends that the Titan of this Boiling Isles possessed the power of Plants, Ice, Fire, and Light… Over the years I have spent here, I've found glyphs of the first three, but not Light. I can't help but notice that you used a few light spells; does that mean you have the light glyph?"
Luz nodded and raised her hand, conjuring an image of the light glyph; "I found them all within a few months, but they were tough. I had to fight an Ice Wyrm to get one of them! That was my first trip to the Knee!"
Philip only half-listened to her recounting the battle with Zara as he pulled out his diary and began drawing the light glyph on one of its unused pages, before activating it and created a ball of light. He smiled upon seeing it, then looked back to Luz with a nod of actual appreciation; "A warrior and a scholar. Truly impressive."
Luz beamed; she couldn't believe she'd taught Philip something new! Considering his diary had been a huge help to her in the future, it felt a little like she was repaying a debt.
As Philip continued to practice drawing and activated light glyphs, making sure he had the pattern memorised, Luz, Eda, and Lilith watched him with varying levels of curiosity and impatience. Eda looked like she wanted to say something, but was staying quiet since Luz looked like she was handling the situation better than she could, but the woman was getting annoyed with Philip's attitude. Eventually she cleared her throat to get his attention, and he turned back to her.
"Ah, right. I suppose since you did help warm me and taught me the glyph I was missing, I could potentially consider offering my help." Philip said casually.
"Potentially? Quit jerking us around!" Eda growled.
"Edalyn, that's enough!" Lilith hissed, "Let Luz handle this! Remember, this is for her!"
Eda growled under her breath, while Philip raised an eyebrow; "Edalyn, is it? At least I finally know one of your names. You know, it's quite rude to come to me demanding my assistance and then not even bothering to introduce yourselves."
Eda looked ready to punch him out of anger, but Luz once again stood between them. "I'm terribly sorry, Philip. My name is Luz Noceda." she said, omitting Clawthorne since it was the name of a semi-famous clan that existed for centuries, and there was a chance Philip would recognise it. "You obviously know my Mom's name now, and this is Lilith, or as I call her, my Cool Tia Lily!" she finished, gesturing to Lilith, who beamed at the extra adjective added to her name.
"Luz, Edalyn, and Lilith. I'll be sure to remember them." Philip smiled smugly, "Now remind me what it is you wanted again?"
"Help to make a portal. We know you're working to make one and were hoping to see your notes or get some advice from you to reconstruct the one we lost." Luz explained.
Philip briefly turned his back on the ladies and continued to stroke his beard. He was muttering something that Eda and Lilith couldn't make out, but Luz could just barely hear a few words.
"… coincidence… never said anything about others… knows the glyphs though… Titan Blood…? …could be useful… Bloody Buzzard…! … get it back… Caleb!"
Luz blinked; so Philip was aware of the Buzzard too. But who was Caleb? Was that the name of the Buzzard?
Philip eventually stopped his muttering and turned back to face them; "Considering the help you've offered, I would normally be happy to assist you. However I'm afraid I won't be able to."
"What? Why!?" Lilith cried.
"Please Philip, you're my only hope!" Luz implored, reaching out and grabbing one of his hands between both of hers.
Philip's lip briefly curled into a sneer, before his forced his expression into a more pleasant one; "The truth is, I completed my portal over a year ago. Unfortunately, it and the notes I wrote on creating it have been stolen by an evil witch, who has been trying to kill me for years now." Philip explained.
Luz gasped; "The portal was stolen from you!? Was it by those guys who are chasing you? Red Fang and Green Fang? Or was it the Bloody Buzzard!?"
Philip looked surprised by her knowledge; "It was in fact the Buzzard. I'm surprised you know of that degenerate! But yes, the Bloody Buzzard stole the portal in our last encounter to stop me getting home, and while I have tried to reconstruct a new one, it requires difficult magic that I was barely able to pull off the first time. Plus the sparse notes I wrote in my diary weren't detailed enough to create a proper portal; only the half-formed shell of one. I need the notes that evil creature stole to complete it!"
As annoying as that news was to the trio from the future, it was also a small relief. It meant that even if the diary hadn't been destroyed, they likely wouldn't have been able to use it to make a complete portal! Not unless Philip had retrieved his notes and put them in the diary before he donated it!
"If this Buzzard stole the portal and the notes, we can help you get it back! My family and I are pretty strong, so I bet we can beat the Buzzard!" Luz grinned, "Then I can make a copy of your notes and you can take back the originals and the portal! Everybody wins!"
"You really think the three of you can help me defeat the Bloody Buzzard?" Philip asked.
Eda marched forward and put an arm around Luz's shoulder with a grin; "You can bet on it! Lily and I can kick butt better than any buzzard, and as hard as it is to believe, this little pipsqueak is actually a lot stronger than us!"
"Mom! That's not true!" Luz argued bashfully.
"Of course it is! With all those glyphs of yours, you're way stronger than us now. If we didn't have the experience advantage, you'd blow us out of the water!" Eda said unashamedly. She was laying it on a little thick, but she knew Luz had been having confidence and depression issues since losing the portal, so she was being a good Mom and boosting her up.
"Edalyn is correct; you are a lot more powerful than the average witch. I'm sure the three of us, along with Philip, can defeat the buzzard and get back his portal." Lilith agreed.
Luz blushed at the compliments, while Philip rolled his eyes; "Yes yes, I'm sure you're all quite talented. I'm not exactly tripping over people seeking my fellowship, so I'm in no place to be picky. If you really help me get my portal and notes back, and put an end to that evil witch, then I'll let you make copies of my notes."
Philip stepped forward and offered his gloved hand to Luz; "Do we have an accord, Luz Noceda?"
Luz happily took his hand and shook it; "We do, Philip Wittebane! Now we should get out of here; we're pretty sure those bounty hunters are here somewhere."
"Good idea; the Buzzard is based in Bonesborough, so let us return there immediately. I don't suppose your "Tia" would be willing to offer me a ride?" Philip asked.
Lilith nodded and got on Corvanc, leaving more than enough room for Philip behind her, while Luz climbed on Owlbert with Eda. Eda smirked at Philip and said; "What, don't want to ride with me?" she asked mockingly.
Philip glowered at her; "I doubt I'd arrive safely by flying with you."
That got a cackle from Eda, and the party took to the air and began flying from the Knee to Bonesborough. It was a fairly short flight, but as they flew, Philip looked over his shoulder and paled, then whispered into Lilith's ear.
"I don't mean to alarm you, but our departure from the Knee has not gone unnoticed! We are being followed!"
Lilith scowled and conjured a mirror, pretending to use it to look at her own reflection whilst actually using it to peek behind her. Sure enough, two hooded figures riding staves were flying after them, keeping to the clouds as much as possible to avoid being seen. Frowning, Lilith flew closer to Eda and Luz to fill them in on the situation.
"That has to be Red Fang and Green Fang!" Luz said urgently; "If they see us working together with Philip, they'll attack right away! They could also warn the Buzzard!"
Eda nodded; "Let's land outside of town and deal with them. If they follow us all the way to the Buzzard, we'll have to deal with three opponents. Four vs three is still in our favour, but it's always smart to make things easier for ourselves!"
Luz and Lilith both agreed, so Eda led them over Bonesborough towards the clearing in which the Owl House would one day be built. Eda had told Luz once that the stone tower had been built in the clearing by her father, Dell, as a workshop to carve Palismen, but it had been abandoned by him after he was injured by the Owl Beast. Eda had then built the Owl House itself over several years after running away from home, so she knew the layout of the area extremely well, making it the ideal place to set up a trap to deal with the Bounty Hunters. Once they landed, Eda loudly declared;
"Alright, we brought you back to town, so our job is over! You're on your own now, Human!"
She winked to Luz and Lilith so they knew it was an act, but Philip still reacted with outrage; "You're going to abandon me!?"
"You've already paid us, so we've got what we want from you! Byeee!" Eda smirked, beginning to fly off again.
Lilith dropped Philip off in the clearing and flew after her sister, while a stunned Philip watched on as they disappeared beyond the trees. He hadn't paid them at all yet, so he was terribly confused. He was no fool however, and soon figured out what was going on and hid a smirk; these witches were more cunning than he thought.
Playing along, he shouted various insults and curses at them, which made Eda snort in amusement even as Luz went bright red at the language he was using. Once Eda and Lilith were sure they were out of sight, they cast invisibility spells on themselves and Luz to keep them from the Bounty Hunters' sight, then flew back to the clearing and hid in the nearby bushes to keep an eye on Philip, who was still pretending to stalk around and curse.
Only a few moments later, two figures descended from the sky and landed on either side of Philip, who yelped in fear and began backing away from them.
"R-Red Fang! Green Fang!" he stuttered fearfully.
The two Bounty Hunters were nearly identical twins, who tore off the warm winter cloaks they were wearing to reveal their true forms. Both were hulking, grey-skinned demons wearing sleeveless tunics, black pants, and black cowls with fur-lined collars. They also had a single eye each, and lipless mouths with a large overbite. Red Fang had dull reddish brown gloves and boots, a dark red tunic, and a large red fang sticking up from the bottom left side of his jaw. Similarly, Green Fang had his titular green fang on the bottom right side, and his tunic was dark green while his gloves and boots were a greenish shade of grey. Both also had belt buckles that somewhat resembled Titan skulls, and wielded identical Bat Palisman Staves.
"Finally caught up to you, worm!" Red Fang growled, clenching his fists.
"The Buzzard's info was good! We tracked you all the way to the Knee with her intel! Didn't think you'd be escaping it alive, especially after we set the Slitherbeast on you, but you always were a slippery bugger!" Green Fang added, grinning maliciously.
"N-Now Gentlemen, surely this is going too far! I already told you, I'd pay you for your help once my mission was completed! I'd already have your money if that Buzzard hadn't robbed me!" Philip argued.
"That's a load of garbage! You paid those three lasses who saved you on the Knee!" Red Fang snarled.
"Yeah! Besides, this ain't about the money any more! We found out the truth from the Buzzard! You led our brother Blue Fang to his death!" Green Fang said, taking a threatening step forward.
Philip shook his head; "I-I did no such thing! I told all three of you the risks of that expedition before we even set out! It's not my fault he's the only one who didn't abandon me in my hour of need! If you'd both stayed too, perhaps all of us would be alive right now!"
Red Fang and Green Fang both looked incensed; "Or if our brother had ditched your sorry carcass, he'd still be alive and only you'd be dead! Well it doesn't matter now!" Red Fang declared.
Green Fang nodded; "Yeah! We'll have revenge and all the snails we could ask for once we deliver your head to the Buzzard! Or maybe we'll take you alive… I'm sure she'd pay extra to gut you herself!"