The angel of the owl house

The Angel of the Owl House

Season 2: The Human Realm

Chapter 4: Evening with the Blights

Amity found herself pacing back and forth in front of her locker at Hexside. It was the first day of school after the two week break that followed the upheaval caused by the Petrification Ceremony, and Amity was determined to spend as much time as possible with her girlfriend! She'd heard all about the Basilisk incident on the newly dubbed Digale Island on Thursday, but due to being stuck helping her family with a Blight Industries Private Sale on Friday and Luz going to spend the weekend in the Human Realm with her Mami and Vee, Amity hadn't gotten a chance to see Luz since their beach date!

Thinking about the sale on Friday made the girl grumble; she'd always hated helping out with the sales, as she'd always been used as a guinea pig to demonstrate her Dad's new creations. She had intended to refuse this time, since her Mom couldn't threaten her into it any more, but her Dad had seemed really excited to show her his new Abomaton Soldier Mk I, and Amity hadn't had the heart to refuse. Though in hindsight, it would have been better for them all if she had refused; one of the Abomaton's features was hairstyling, and Amity's Mom had tried to use the opportunity to dye Amity's hair green again. Of course, Amity had spotted what she was doing immediately and refused to allow it, beginning an early demonstration of the Abomaton's combat features as it tried to restrain her and dye her hair. Sadly for her parents, Amity was able to easily dismantle the Abomaton, effectively ruining the show. As soon as the investors had left, Odalia and Amity had gotten into a huge fight, the former calling the latter selfish for not "thinking of the family" while the Amity yelled back that Odalia was the selfish one for refusing to accept her decisions regarding her own body.

Alador had broken up the fight before it could escalate, and had excused Amity's actions, saying that if a student (no matter how talented at Abomination Magic) had been able to destroy his Abomaton so easily, then it obviously wasn't ready for sale. Amity had felt both vindicated and guilty over it, and Odalia had refused to speak to her ever since… not like that was a big loss. If this had been before, Amity would have likely been slapped and grounded for months for her actions, but so long as she and her friends had the blackmail material on Odalia, the woman's hands were tied. While Odalia's nose and wrists had been healed by the family healer (sworn to secrecy) after Alador had called out her foolishness in leaving them untreated, the woman's hair was still not fit to be shown; she'd instead shaved it so it was even, then hidden it under a concealment stone as she waited for it to regrow, refusing to visit a hair salon or be seen buying a hair growth potion out of pride.

The thought of that cheered Amity up a bit more, and her mood escalated even higher when she saw Luz walking towards her in her school uniform.

"LUZ!" Amity cheered, running to her.

"HERMOSA!" Luz cheered right back, running to meet her halfway. Amity leapt into her arms and Luz giggled and spun her through the air before setting her down, whereupon Amity instead picked her up and spun her too. Both girls ended up giggling and blushing, then exchanged a kiss.

"Oh, it's so good to see you again!" Amity gushed.

"Aw, it's only been a few days! And we talked on our scrolls on Friday! Is your Mom still giving you the silent treatment?" Luz asked.

"Yeah, but who cares about that? I'm more interested in you and your Mom! How did your first weekend in the Human Realm go?" Amity asked.

"It went great! Mami, Vee, and I spent the whole weekend just hanging out and having fun. We stayed home, since everyone in Gravesfield thinks Vee is me, but we watched movies and played video games and told stories… it was a lot of fun! Vee started going to my old school in my place, and she's apparently having a good time with her friends. She was also really happy to hear that Treble is doing well!" Luz answered, still holding Amity around the waist.

Amity beamed; "I'm glad to hear it! How did your Mom react to the Selkidomus adventure?"

Luz blushed; "I, uh, might have omitted that. I only really told her and Vee that we met Treble while he was pretending to be one of the rebels, and that I'd found a place for him to live freely and safely. I kind of kept the rest to myself."

Amity tilted her head; "Is that such a good idea? Isn't it better to be honest with Camila?"

"I know, and I want to! It's just… telling Mami about the danger I get into could make her change her mind about me staying in this world. Maybe once she's a little more used to the idea…" Luz mumbled.

Amity gently grabbed Luz's chin and made her look her in the eye; "Luz, promise me you'll tell her next weekend, alright? Camila's a good Mom; she deserves to know."

"Y-Yes Hermosa…" Luz blushed, unable to say no to those beautiful golden eyes.

"Good girl." Amity smirked, kissing her again, "And if you'd like, I'll go with you. Will that make you feel better?"

Luz nodded enthusiastically; her Mami had said she could bring her friends home with her after all! She'd gone alone for the first visit (it felt more appropriate), but having her girlfriend spend the weekend with her family would be the best!

"Well, you two are as adorable as always!" said an unfamiliar voice.

Luz and Amity turned to see Willow, Gus, Skara, and Matt walking over to them, and both looked puzzled, unsure of who had spoken… at least until they got a good look at Gus.

The boy had grown to be only a fraction of an inch shorter than Willow, and was now taller than Matt. His face had also lost some of its baby fat, making him look older and more mature. He no longer looked like a child, but rather a teenager like the rest of them.

"Whoa, Gus!" Luz exclaimed; "D-Did I miss a Birthday or something!? Oh no, I didn't did I!?"

Gus laughed in his new, deeper voice; "No Luz, you didn't. It's just Witch Puberty."

Amity nodded; "So that's why you've been sick for a few days! Your puberty must have been pretty fast!"

"Yeah, it was about five days in total. It was kind of rough, but not as bad as it could have been." Gus said casually.

Luz blinked; "You started and finished Puberty in only five days!? Is all Witch Puberty that fast!?"

"It varies." Willow said, "For some witches, it takes a few months and the changes are slow so the whole process is pretty mild. For some it's a few weeks, which is a little tougher but otherwise okay. Mine was like that."

"Mine too." Matt added.

"Gus and I took a few days; it's a lot less fun when all those changes happen so fast…" Skara grimaced.

"Wow… what about you, Amity?" Luz asked.

Amity shuddered; "I was one of the unlucky ones… it happened in a few hours."

The others all shuddered along with her; "That must have been painful…" Gus said sympathetically.

"It sucked alright. It was one of the few times Mom let me stay home sick from school afterwards. The changes happened so fast that I needed an extra day just to recover." the purple-haired girl replied. "I'm guessing it works differently for angels?"

Luz nodded; "Angels have the same physical puberty as Humans, it usually takes between a few weeks and a few months. I can't imagine doing it all in a few hours!"

Amity shrugged; "It's rare, but it happens. It's also pretty random; Edric took weeks while Emira took days. I don't know about my Mom, but I know Dad took months. There's no real rhyme or reason to it."

Luz hummed, then looked back to Gus; "Well you look great, Gus! You look really mature now, and that voice of yours sounds so cool!"

Gus chuckled, "Thanks Luz. I'm no longer the runt of the Hexsquad!"

"Hexsquad?" Luz repeated.

"That's what people around school have been calling us." Skara said, "Most of the time, cliques get named after whoever's in charge or whatever club they're a part of, like the Banshees, the HAS, and Boscha's Gang, but we're not a club and don't have a leader."

Willow nodded; "Some people called us "Luz's gang" since you're the one to bring the six of us together, but you're not really "in charge" like Boscha is of her gang. So we got called the Hexsquad!"

"It's like Hexside, but also because there are six of us!" Gus added.

Luz blinked in surprise, but clearly she was the only one in the "Hexsquad" to have not known about it. Was this a Demon Realm thing, or just a general teenager thing? Luz hadn't been a part of any groups before coming to the Demon Realm, so she didn't really know if humans or angels did the same. Still, it made her feel kind of warm and fuzzy inside to know that she and her five closest friends her age were all one big group!

"Man, I was already pumped up to start classes again, but now I feel even more pumped! I'm ready for some education!" Luz cheered.

Her friends grinned, and as one group, they went to each of their lockers in turn to get their things while talking about their weekends and what they'd been doing when not working on Digale Island (or dealing with puberty in Gus's case). When the school bell finally screamed to announce the beginning of class, they all split up with a promise to meet up during lunch.

Luz went with Skara to attend her bard track classes first, and she'd been kind of apprehensive as to how the teachers or other students might react to her now, as her friends had kept her mind focused on them that morning. However, to her immense relief, most students weren't making a big deal of it. A few were avoiding her (Skara mentioned that most of them were kids with family in the Emperor's Coven, or had aspirations of joining it themselves) and a few wanted to talk about her fight with Belos and how cool it was that she'd broken his mask (a lot of them had asked to see the broken fragment she'd taken as a trophy), but the majority hadn't acted any differently, having grown used to the unusual circumstances around Luz. The teachers were all professional too; Professor Beat's only response to the Petrification Ceremony had been to teach her a bardic spell known as the Bolero of Fire, which allowed the performer to temporarily render themselves immune to fire for as long as the song was being performed. Luz had been excited by the name, since it shared it with a song from a favourite video game of hers, but the actual melody was different.

After spending the break with the Magic-Mixers in the Room of Shortcuts and hearing all about Viney's date with Emira (the two were now officially girlfriends!), Luz then went to her construction track classes with Matt, where she immediately put her new fire magic to work! Since fire was one of the two elements that made up Construction Magic, Luz was finally able to perform some quality magic in class, greatly improving her position in the class ranking. She quickly improved her Demolition and Refining Spells, and was now able to take basic materials and turn them into more complex materials, like turning clay and earth into bricks and stone, as well as carving wood and stone into usable forms, though she still had a long way to go. That became clear to Luz when comparing herself to Matt, whose own hard work had paid off to the point that he was now the second in the class, behind only Leia, whom he was gaining on quickly.

Finally, after spending lunch with the Hexsquad and Boscha's gang, with Boscha commenting on how sickeningly cute Luz and Amity were with each other, Luz had spent her final hours of the day in the beast-keeping track. She happily told Professor Gnarl about her experience with the Selkidomus, and showed him a picture of her sitting on the beast's back with the baby. The rest of the afternoon's classes were spent trying to learn the Wild Heart spell that Viney had used, to see if it would have any effect on an angel. Sadly it was a failure, with Professor Gnarl doubting Angels had the same deep, primal energy inside them that Demons did.

After school was over, it was decided that the entire Hexsquad would go to Digale Island to hang out and help out the CATTs, especially since Willow and Gus hadn't visited it yet. They all walked back to the Owl House together, where they were met by Lilith, who was watching the house along with Hooty while the rest of the house's inhabitants were on Digale Island.

"Good afternoon everyone." Lilith greeted them with a pleasant smile; "Are you all heading to Digale Island?"

"Yep! Are there any other people waiting to come or go from the island?" Luz asked.

Since only Luz could activate the Teleportation Circle and she couldn't be expected to hang around all day, the CATTs had developed something like a bus or train schedule to keep track of the times they could arrive at or leave Digale Island. If anyone wanted to use the Teleportation Circle outside of those times, it had to be a major emergency, which meant that no one had been able to come or go over the entire weekend. There had been a LOT of people waiting on both sides of the teleporter when Luz opened it up before school…

Lilith nodded; "There are a few people waiting, but you're actually home a bit faster than expected so there's no rush. How was your first day back at school?"

"It was great! Right guys?" Luz said. Her friends agreed with varying levels of enthusiasm, though Amity noticeably didn't look at Lilith as she nodded.

"Wonderful! Well I won't keep you much longer! But I would like to talk to Amity briefly before you all go. Perhaps privately?" Lilith asked.

Amity narrowed her eyes, while Luz and the rest of the Hexsquad felt a tension grow in the air. "I don't mind waiting. Amity, do you want to talk?" Luz asked.

"Fine. You guys go on to the teleporter; I'll be there in a moment." Amity said with a fake smile.

The others nodded and headed into the house, exchanging greetings with Hooty as they went. Luz looked over her shoulder as she went, hoping the talk between Lilith and Amity would clear the air a little.

As soon as her friends were gone, Amity's smile faded and she glared at Lilith; "What do you want?" she asked sharply.

"I wanted to reiterate my previous offer to keep mentoring you. I understand my previous actions for the Emperor have strained your trust in me, but I truly want to make amends with you as well as the others. I know you probably don't want to be my apprentice any more, but there is still a lot I can teach you!" Lilith said, keeping her voice soft and polite.

Lilith had always liked Amity; she'd been an eager and promising young student who had reminded Lilith a lot of herself… though she wouldn't dare say that to the girl's face after what had happened at Volcarpalis.

Amity glared at her for a moment, then said; "I think I'll pass."

"I-I expected as much. But still, the offer is open. I will make it up to you, no matter how long it takes." Lilith replied.

"I wouldn't hold your breath. Even forgetting the part where you cursed your own sister, you still betrayed Luz and handed her over to the Emperor. Do I even need to remind you what happened to her in his hands?" Amity asked coldly.

"No." Lilith said in a small voice, looking down in shame.

The youngest Blight sneered; "Good. I'm leaving."

With that, she marched past Lilith and into the Owl House, ignoring Hooty in favour of heading straight to the tower. Lilith watched her go with a sorrowful expression as Hooty nuzzled against her to comfort her.

"Don't worry Lulu! She'll come around! She's only mad because she loves Luz so much!" Hooty said, showing some surprising wisdom.

"I know. I suppose if I loved someone the same way Amity and Luz love each other, I would be just as angry at whoever hurt them." Lilith replied. She had never felt romantic attraction to anyone, so it was hard for her to truly understand how Amity must feel towards Luz, but she could try to imagine it. However rather than be discouraged, Lilith steeled herself for another attempt! Luz was her niece (even if she'd lost the title of Auntie) and Amity was her former apprentice; Lilith would not give up trying to make amends, no matter how much Amity scorned her!

"I still have a way to go before Amity will begin trusting me again, but I'm not going to give up! I'm a Wild Witch now, and if there is one thing Eda taught me, it's that Wild Witches are tenacious!" she declared.

"Yeah! You go Lulu!" Hooty cheered.

As the House Demon was wrapping himself around Lilith in a hug, Amity was arriving at the Teleportation Circle, where she found her girlfriend, friends, and several members of the CATTs who were waiting to go to the Island.

"Everything okay, Hermosa?" Luz asked as she saw the irritated look on Amity's face.

"It is now that I'm with you again, Batata." Amity said, hugging the girl.

"Did you just call me a Sweet Potato?" Luz asked, bemused.

"Yes. Is that not a term of endearment? I got it from a Spanish book that Gus leant me." Amity blushed; "I was hoping to surprise you with my new language skills."

Luz beamed; "Aw! I think that book was probably a cook book, but you know what? I like it!" she said, kissing Amity's cheek.

The girl blushed, and that blush only grew stronger as Luz sang the melody to activate the circle and take them all to Digale Island. Upon arriving, Willow and Gus gasped in amazement at everything around them, and the entire group was greeted by a member of Darius' coven, flanked by abomination servants carrying platters filled with glasses of Glamour Rot juice.

"Welcome to Digale Island. Please give your names and take a drink before disembarking from the Teleportation Circle." the witch said.

Everyone complied, and when no one was revealed to be a Basilisk in disguise and each of them had been registered, they were finally allowed to fully step into Digale Village. There was a small crowd waiting for them too, all of whom were scheduled to return to the Boiling Isles, so Luz asked Skara, Matt, and Amity to show Willow and Gus around while she transported the others.

A few minutes later, after once again coming back, Luz found Amity still waiting for her while the others had disappeared.

"Didn't feel like going with them, Hermosa?" Luz asked.

"More like I couldn't go in two directions at once." Amity giggled. "Willow immediately shot off up the hill to the Palm Rainforest with Skara following her, while Matt wanted to show Gus some of the cool buildings he'd helped make. I decided to wait for you instead."

Luz smiled; "Well, I guess that means we've got some time to ourselves!"

"You've got that right." Amity smiled coyly, kissing Luz's cheek; "You don't need to hang around the Teleportation Circle all day, do you?"

"Nope! I'm done until later this afternoon, when the next trip is scheduled." Luz smiled, blushing faintly from Amity's kiss.

"Wonderful! Though I've been meaning to ask; can't Rasiel operate the circle too? It just needs an angel to sing the song, right?" Amity asked.

Luz shook her head; "The song is a Choir Spell. He'd need magic, and he doesn't have any without his wings."

"But what about an Angelic Blessing? You gave your Mom magic after she lost hers to the curse, and now she can cast spells again. She's not as powerful as before, but it's still something. Wouldn't the same work for Rasiel?" Amity pointed out.

Luz sighed; "That's what I thought too! I tried giving him magic the day after the Petrification Ceremony… it worked and made him feel a little more comfortable, but he still can't use magic. Without our wings, angels are basically just pointy-eared humans. It's why I needed to summon my wings, even when hidden by my concealment stone, before I could cast spells. It's weird though; giving a human a blessing would let them use magic like a witch, but it doesn't work that way for angels."

Amity frowned; "So we really do need to find his wings before he can use magic again… any luck on that front?"

"Nada." Luz said sadly; "Our only clues were Philip's Diary, which Belos destroyed, and what Godric told us. The last two Black Tombs are supposedly held on the Lost Titan, King's Mom, but we've got no clue where she ended up after she lost her life chasing off the Archivists… Our only clue is that one of them is held at a temple we'd need to use a Primordial Wellspring to get to."

"So it doesn't look like we'll be finding more of Rasiel any time soon…" Amity muttered.

"Afraid not." Luz shook her head. "But enough depressing stuff! Let's go find King and Mom, before Darius ambushes us and puts us to work!"

Amity giggled and agreed, and the two held hands as they walked through the town. If Eda was on Digale Island, she was usually either helping Raine somewhere in the village, brewing potions in the Lab, or teaching King somewhere on the beach. Since King would likely be eagerly practicing with his new glyph and applying it to his combos, Luz guessed they'd be on the beach. She turned out to be right, and as soon as Luz and Amity stepped onto the sand, they saw Eda, King, and Rasiel stood together working on King's glyph combos.

"Hey guys! How's it going? Found any cool new combos?" Luz asked with a smile.

King got a cheeky look on his face, then slapped an invisibility glyph onto himself, making him disappear. Luz and Amity could still see his footprints appearing in the sand however, so Luz was prepared for when King suddenly leapt onto her back. "I found something cool alright!"

Despite having talked and most certainly not holding his breath, King had not turned visible again, making Luz clap; "You worked out the kinks in the invisibility combo!"

King suddenly reappeared with a proud grin; "You got it, sister! Turns out the wind glyph was the missing piece after all! Now I can stay invisible for as long as I'm concentrating!" he said, showing Luz and Amity the completed version of the combo.

"Aside from replacing his old wind combo, that's all he's managed to master so far." Eda said, "He's been trying to figure out how to use it to fly, but it hasn't really worked out so far. How was school, Owlet?"

"Good! It was great being back with everyone, right Amity?" Luz said.

Amity nodded; "It was definitely nice going back to our old routine, plus I can now leave the house all day without having to make excuses to my mother."

Eda nodded in understanding; "I know the feeling, Boots! But forget about her for now. Luz, Rasiel's got some stuff to talk to you about, regarding the glyphs!"

"You do?" she asked, looking to the Ancient Seraphim.

Rasiel nodded; "Indeed. I've been exploring the island and thinking about some things regarding the glyphs. You finding the wind glyph here is no coincidence; I believe the Titan of this island is showing you their glyphs too."

Luz and Amity's eyes widened; "Really!? I assumed it was King's Dad who showed me the wind glyph!"

"So did me and Mom." King said, "But Rasiel says a Titan only ever has four glyphs."

Luz looked confused, so Rasiel had her and Amity sit down on the sand so he could explain. Once they were comfortable, he drew the light, plant, ice, and fire glyphs in the sand, tapping them one by one to activate them.

"You probably don't remember because of what happened right after, but Godric actually told you this already; all Titans possess exactly four glyphs, representing four of the eight elements. No more, no less. The exact reason why is a mystery, though it's likely just a quirk of their evolution." Rasiel began. "Each Titan's glyphs are unique to them too, even if they represent the same element. For example, if two Titans possess the light glyph, then their designs would be totally unique even if they did the exact same things. Now this is important because when a Titan is born, they receive three of their parent or parents' glyphs at random, though with new designs that differ from their parents'. Their fourth glyph is different; it will be the glyph of an element that neither of their parents possess. I think this is to ensure that all the elements are represented within Titan civilisation, and none of them end up being forgotten or bred out of their species."

Luz listened carefully, then said; "So because I already learned four glyphs from King's Dad, it isn't possible for me to learn more from him?"

"That's right. A Titan can't bestow another Titan's glyphs; only their own. Also, I'm not 100% certain on this, but I think you need to be on or very close to a Titan to receive a glyph from them. Which means…" Rasiel trailed off, letting Luz come to the conclusion herself.

"Which means I learned the wind glyph from the Digale Island Titan." she finished with a contemplative look.

Rasiel nodded, as Amity raised a good point; "If that's true, then why is this Titan sharing their glyphs too? Luz told me that King's Dad shared his glyphs because Luz was helping protect King. Why would the Digale Island Titan do the same?"

"We've come up with a couple of theories." Eda chimed in; "We figure that it's either because the Titan of Digale Island could sense King's Dad's glyphs on Luz and decided to share their own as well, or perhaps the spirits of the Titans talked to each other and King's Dad convinced them to share… It's either that, or this island was once part of King's Mom."

An uncomfortable silence passed over the group as Luz felt a knot form in her stomach. She looked at King, who'd gone very quiet all of a sudden; he didn't looked shocked, so they'd likely already discussed this possibility with him while Luz was at school. Still, he looked conflicted; King had come to terms with the knowledge that his Dad was gone, and according to the records left by Zachael, his Mom was certainly gone too, having lost her life to the Archivists whilst driving them off. Luz remembered back to the day they'd found Digale Island; Rasiel had claimed the Titan had likely died around the time the Archivists had been attacking. She then remembered the strange whisper she'd heard inside her head whilst carving the Teleportation Circle into the stone of the Titan…

"Angel… Sister… King…"

Luz had dismissed it as a figment of her imagination or King's sleepy mutterings, but now she wasn't so sure. Was Digale Island a part of King's Mom? Was she giving Luz her glyphs to protect her child, just as her mate had done? Luz didn't know for sure, and she didn't want to add to her little brother's burdens, so she changed the subject.

"It doesn't matter why they're helping us. Let's just be thankful to them for entrusting us with their power." Luz said, putting her hand on the beach; "King and I will use your power for good! Thank you, Digale Island Titan! Also, I hope you don't mind the name! I was kind of put on the spot when making it!"

Eda, Amity, and Rasiel all chuckled at Luz's sheepish smile, while King felt a warmth in his chest as a gentle breeze brushed through his fur.

After that, King decided he'd had enough of the sombre atmosphere and demanded that Luz and Eda help him with his attempts to fly, and they both happily agreed. Amity and Rasiel sat side by side as they watched and laughed at the Clawthornes' aerial dance; Eda zipping about on Owlbert, Luz fluttering around with her wings, and King attempting a rudimentary form of flight by using wind glyphs to blast him back and forth across the sky, keeping one of his Safety Hover combos on him at all times for when he inevitably fell. They made quite the entertaining trio to watch; Eda was swift and daring, Luz was elegant and graceful, and King was like a balloon that was whizzing back and forth uncontrollably (and having a blast whilst doing it).

Amity's ribs were sore from laughing after only a few minutes, and Rasiel wasn't much better off. However, despite all the enjoyment, one question niggled at the back of Amity's mind. As the Clawthornes took a momentary break for King to draw some more glyphs, Amity took the opportunity to get her breath back and actually ask Rasiel her question.

"Rasiel, you mentioned before that when a new Titan is born, they inherit three elements from their parents, then get a fourth one that neither parent had, right?" she asked.

"That's right." Rasiel nodded.

"Then what happens if the parents have all eight glyphs between them? If each Titan can have four, then what happens if they mate with another Titan who has the other four. If there are only eight types of glyph, how would the baby get a glyph that neither parent has?"

Rasiel's eyes widened; "I… I actually haven't the faintest idea. Because of their size and power, the Titan population never went beyond the thousands due to lack of space and resources to sustain a larger population, but even with that small number, it must have happened at least once before…"

The ancient angel scratched his chin, then shrugged; "Honestly, my best guess would simply be that the baby would inherit a fourth glyph from their parent. Probably so they inherited two from each parent."

Amity nodded, accepting that answer before asking another question; "I know Luz wanted to avoid the topic of Digale Island potentially being part of King's Mom, the Lost Titan… but do you think it's likely?"

Rasiel nodded; "I'm not 100% certain, but I think it's the most likely possibility."

"Then couldn't there be a Black Tomb here? Or a Primordial Wellspring?"

The Ancient Seraphim smiled; "You had the same thought I did. I've been spending my nights exploring the island and its tunnels for signs of a temple or tomb. There is no Wellspring here, so I know it isn't where Zara and Godric's mate are, but the fourth tomb could still be here. I can say with certainty that there's nothing on the surface, and my explorations of the tunnels are looking dire." he sighed heavily; "I don't believe I'll find a tomb here. Still, with any luck I may find a clue to the location of the next tomb. I'm happy to have a physical body again, but I long to reclaim my magic and memories."

Amity certainly hoped he got them back too; Rasiel had done a lot to help them all, even without magic. His knowledge had been indispensable and had helped Luz save Eda. Without him, Eda would be petrified and Luz would have probably left the Demon Realm. Amity didn't even want to think about it!

"I'll do everything I can to help you find your missing parts, Rasiel." Amity said earnestly, "I owe you that much."

Rasiel gave her a heartfelt smile, and patted her on the head; his little saviour had a very interesting lady by her side! He certainly approved! After that, the two went back to watching the impromptu flying lesson. Amity spent the rest of the afternoon there, chatting with Rasiel and watching her girlfriend try to help her little brother fly. Eventually the rest of the Hexsquad came back from their explorations, and Amity listened as Willow excitedly gushed about all the amazing plants in the Rainforest (some of which weren't native to the Boiling Isles), while Gus and Matt had ended up taking a tour of both the village and the caves, guided by Steve. Skara had ended up finding Treble and bringing him along too, and the Basilisk happily talked to them about the job he'd been given. To make it up to Katya for impersonating her and painting her as a spy, Treble had become Katya's assistant and followed her around the island doing odd jobs. He was making himself useful, and had even begun learning how to play a cittern like Eda's, though he didn't have the active magic necessary to perform Bardic Magic.

The afternoon ended without King learning to fly, much to his chagrin, but their little group had still had fun. They'd all been invited to stay for dinner, but only Matt accepted (since his brother and father were both currently on the island) and the others opted to go home. Amity would have preferred to stay, but she'd actually gotten a message from her Dad asking her to come home for dinner, and while she could easily ignore her Mom, she'd feel guilty ignoring her Dad. So as soon as they were back on the Boiling Isles, Amity said her goodbyes and gave Luz a kiss, then summoned Ghost and flew home.

When she arrived back at Blight Manor, she was met by an Abomination Butler, who escorted her to the dining room, where the rest of the family was already seated and waiting for her. Her parents sat on opposite ends of the long table, with Edric and Emira sat together along the middle with a seat prepared for Amity opposite them.

"Ah, you're finally here Mittens." Odalia said with her usual faux smile; "Take a seat. Your father and I have an important announcement."

Amity narrowed her eyes, knowing that any important announcement from her mother was bound to be a headache, but she sat down regardless. As soon as she was seated, Odalia smiled a bit wider, then addressed her children; "After the debacle at last week's private sale, your father has been hard at work improving the design. The result is the new Abomaton Soldier Mk II! A far more powerful combat unit that is more than a match for any regular witch or demon. Perhaps even a match for an angel!"

Amity snorted while the twins grinned; Odalia was definitely thinking of a specific angel, and all three of them knew that was a long shot. Unless the Abomaton was also as powerful as the Emperor or had access to some kind of angelic weakness that even Amity didn't know about, they were confident it wouldn't be an issue for Luz.

"Now, to show our confidence in this new creation, and to reaffirm to the Emperor's Coven that the Blight Family is firmly on their side and not feigning neutrality like the rest of Bonesborough, or worse, working with those filthy rebels, your father and I have decided to host a grand ball! One that will double as a sales event and demonstration for the new Abomaton." Odalia declared. "Invitations have already been sent out to key players in the Emperor's Coven and the various Coven Heads, as well as noble families from across the isles. The event will be this Friday evening."

Amity exchanged looks with Edric and Emira; those two had both joined the CATTs along with her, and had been to Digale Island, so they were likely already thinking of ways to sabotage the sales or cause a scene at the ball. Personally, Amity disliked the Blight Family Balls that her Mom insisted on throwing at least once a year; they were dull affairs and her Mom always went full control freak.

"We have already received confirmation from the castle that both the Golden Guard and Silver Sentinel have agreed to attend as representatives from the Emperor, so the event is guaranteed to be prestigious! As such, your father and I need all three of you on your best behaviour! No pranks, no disruptions, no scandals, no illusions, and no rebel sentiments. There will be no uninvited guests or plus ones either." Odalia said sharply, eyes focused on the twins through most of her warning, before they darted to Amity for those last few parts.

"Yes Mom." the three Blight Children droned, barely keeping themselves from rolling their eyes.

Odalia smiled, satisfied with that, then clapped her hands to have the abomination butlers bring in their food. The family ate in silence as they usually did, and Amity couldn't help but contrast it with the exuberant and energetic meals she'd had at the Noceda home, or the Owl House; where it was never quiet and never dull. She and her siblings ate as fast as good manners would allow, while occasionally meeting each other's eyes and smiling, or looking over to their Dad, who'd been silent through the whole "talk". The poor man looked half-dead, and kept dozing off, forcing an abomination stood beside him to keep poking him back awake.

Once they'd eaten, the kids asked to be excused. "Edric and Emira, you may go. Amity stay, your father and I would like to talk to you."

Amity narrowed her eyes and the twins shot her sympathetic looks as they got up and left. As soon as they were gone, Odalia said; "Amity, I trust we won't have another repeat of last Friday's sale?"

"So long as you don't use the presentation as an attempt to dye my hair green again." Amity retorted.

Odalia frowned severely; "Amity, this little rebel act was cute at first, but its getting out of hand. You are hurting this family."

"No, I'm hurting your sense of style." Amity rolled her eyes; "You want me to match you, but we both know I've always taken after Dad. I've got his eyes, my natural hair colour is brown like his, and I'm better with Abomination Magic than Oracle Magic."

"Which is another conversation we need to have!" Odalia said irritably; "Professor Trium reports that you are only the second best student in your year in the Oracle Track!"

"Yes, I'm behind Celine. You know, the girl whose been in the Oracle Track since leaving Kindergarten? The one with years of experience? The fact I'm already second place after not even being there for a full two months yet should be enough for you!" Amity growled, losing her temper.

"That is not good enough, Amity! You are a Blight, and-"

"I'm still only a witch!" Amity interrupted, getting to her feet; "Despite what you might think, Mom, we Blights aren't some family of super witches! Expecting us to be perfect in every way and be the best at everything we do is just setting us up for failure!"

Odalia got to her feet too and snarled; "You never had any trouble before you started hanging around with those bad influences!"

"Of course I was! I was miserable! I'm not doing any worse in school now than I was back then, but now I'm actually happy and not working myself to the bone to satisfy you! My friends are the only reason I'm still sane!"

"Amity, your "friends" are actively rebelling against the Emperor!"

"So what!? Don't pretend you're super loyal to the Emperor's Coven! If you didn't hate Luz for what she did at Skara's birthday, I bet you'd be trying to sell Dad's new Abomatons to the rebels too!"

That put Odalia on the back foot. Not only did it remind her that Amity still had leverage over her, but it also wasn't really a lie. The Arch-Angel child was as powerful as the Emperor and was now heading a surprisingly large rebel force. If it weren't for her personal pride and distaste for the girl, Odalia really would have been trying to sell Abomatons to her and the CATTs. After all, what was better than selling weapons to one side of a war? Selling them to both sides of course!

Still, Odalia wouldn't admit that. Instead she pinched the bridge of her nose and gave a theatrical sigh; "Honestly Mittens, you have no idea what you're talking about. Alador dear, can't you say something to her?"

"Huh?" Alador said sleepily, clearly not having paid attention to a word any of them had said, "What are we talking about?"

"My hair, my grades, and my friends." Amity replied.

Alador blinked, then focused on Amity's hair. He then smiled; "Oh, of course. You dyed your hair. I like it; it's abomination coloured." he said honestly.

Amity smiled smugly; "Thank you, Dad. At least somebody gets it."

Odalia fumed, while Alador then asked; "What's this about your grades?"

"I'm the top student in my year when it comes to Abominations and general studies. I'm only second best in the oracle track though." Amity replied.

Alador beamed; "Well done, Mittens! That's excellent!"

Again, Amity smirked while Odalia protested; "Second place is second best! We are Blights! We should be the Top of all we do!"

Alador just looked confused; "But Dear, weren't you only the Number 4 student on the oracle track at school? And I wasn't always the Number 1 in the abomination track; I swapped back and forth between first and second best with Darius."

Odalia blushed, and Amity smiled wider; "I think I've made my point."

"No you haven't! Alador, can you truly approve of our daughter hanging out with rebels and hooligans!? She still insists on playing around with that angel girl, who has the largest bounty in the history of the Empire!" Odalia shouted.

"Oh right, Edalyn's kid." Alador nodded absent-mindedly, before turning to Amity; "Are you sure you can't get me a hair sample or something from her? I want to know why she can't use abomination magic."

"No, Dad." Amity frowned, "Besides, what Mom doesn't realise, is that all the friends she picked for me are also hanging out with Luz now."

"What!?" Odalia gasped.

"That's right; Skara is part of our friend group now, and even Boscha is sort of neutral with her now. Heck, I actually get along better with both Skara and Boscha now that Luz is in the picture." Amity revealed.

Odalia sat back in her seat, completely shocked and inwardly fuming. Once again she had been outplayed, and thanks to the blackmail material (and the very real threat that the Arch-Angel would come after her), she couldn't even try to force Amity back into obedience.

Instead, she spluttered for a few moments then angrily yelled; "Get out of my sight! Go to your room! And make sure you lose the attitude before the Ball on Friday!"

"Whatever you say, Mom." Amity replied with a roll of her eyes, before marching out of the dining room and heading to her bedroom.

Once the girl was gone, Odalia glared at her husband; "Would it have killed you to support me!?"

Alador frowned; "Support you in what? Amity is doing better than both of us were at her age, she's the top of her class, has a Palisman, and is making friends with several of the top students in her year! She's met every expectation you've set for her; it's your own fault that you keep moving the goalposts!"

"She is hanging out with rebels and bad influences!" Odalia snapped. "She's completely out of control!"

"And whose fault is that, Odalia?" Alador snapped back, pushing his dinner away and standing up, storming over to his wife; "You tried to threaten her friends and ended up being beaten and outplayed. Now Edalyn's girl and the Park girl both have you by the throat! You can't threaten her any more."

Odalia sneered up at him; "Then perhaps that will have to change! Once this ball is complete, our reputation will be assured! They can release their silly blackmail and it would do nothing to us once we have the contract with the Emperor's Coven! Besides, there won't be any shame in being defeated by an angel that even the Emperor had trouble with!"

Alador eyed his wife for a moment, then said; "And what do you think would happen to that contract if it's revealed that you held a knife to the Angel's throat? The girl is wanted alive and unharmed; you nearly killed her. Not to mention the fact that if you do decide to ignore the blackmail and try to force Amity to obey you again, it won't work."

"I have other ways of maintaining control." Odalia said ominously.

Alador's eyes flashed for a moment and he leaned in close to his wife's ear; "I've followed you through a lot, Odalia… but if you threaten to hurt our children again, I will resign…"

The abomination butler following him suddenly turned its arm into an axe blade and embedded it into the table in front of Odalia; "… do I make myself clear?"

A tremble of fear went through Odalia, while her heart also quickened slightly; "Crystal." she breathed.

"Good. Now I'll speak to Amity and try to keep this family together. Do try not to ruin my hard work." Alador said, purposely mimicking Odalia's manner of speaking as he walked away.

The dining room door slammed shut behind him and Odalia sighed; "Honestly Alador, so dramatic… but that fierceness when he gets going…" she smiled to herself; "…that's half the reason I married him."

As Odalia was dealing with her mixed feelings of annoyance and desire, her husband marched through the house to his youngest daughter's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Amity answered. Alador opened the door and stepped in, looking around at Amity's room. The old Emperor's Coven posters of Belos and Lilith were gone, and a lot more pictures were plastered on the walls, showing Amity with her various friends. Alador recognised Luz (the most common subject of the pictures), as well as Willow, Skara, and Boscha, but there were also others too; two boys he didn't recognise (though one reminded him of Perry Porter from back at school), a little skull-headed demon dog of some kind, a tall man with golden hair and beard, and some girls in Grudgby uniforms. That last one made Alador frown; he'd never made time to watch any of Amity's games when she was one of the Hexside Banshees… he didn't even know why she'd quit the team, other than Odalia whining about the loss of prestige.

"I've really been slacking as a father…" he whispered to himself.

"Dad?" Amity piped up, watching him curiously from where she was sitting on the windowsill, petting Ghost in her lap. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Mittens. I'm fine. I'm sorry about what happened at dinner; ignore your Mom, I'm proud of what you've achieved." Alador smiled.

Amity smiled back; "Thanks Dad. That means a lot. I used to wish Mom would be proud of me too… now I don't even care what she thinks."

Alador nodded sadly; "Neither of us have been great parents to you, have we?"

Amity bit her lip and averted her eyes, wanting to deny it but not feeling it was right to. "Y-You're not that bad."

Alador snorted; "That's not true. I've barely been in your life. Heck, you're Palisman has been with us for months and I don't think I've even said hello since the day you brought her home. Her name is Ghost, right?"

"That's right." Amity said, holding Ghost out towards her Dad. The white cat Palisman graciously allowed Alador to pet her for a bit.

"You know it's funny; your siblings have dogs, you have a cat, and I…" Alador reached into his pocket and pulled out his snoozing Palisman; "… have a mouse!"

Alador's Palisman was really more of a palm-sized grey rat with purple abomination-coloured spots and the same eyes as his partner. The Palisman also had Alador's brown hair on top of his head, and had been given little replica goggles like Alador's too.

"Aw! Moustrosity!" Amity cooed, taking the little Rat Palisman, who happily squeaked as Amity nuzzled him. His name (given by a teenager Alador) was a pun on Mouse and Monstrosity, since he thought it was like an abomination. "I haven't seen this little guy in ages! He almost never leaves your lab!"

"Your Mom doesn't like him. She thinks he makes the house look dirty. She almost drowned him trying to wash off the purple spots, before I caught her and explained that they're part of his body." Alador said, shaking his head ruefully as Ghost jumped onto his shoulders.

Amity frowned as she cuddled Moustrosity; "I guess Mom's just like that to everyone."

Alador winced; "I kind of want to tell you that she's not so bad, but I guess that rings hollow after what she did at Skara's party."

"Yeah." Amity agreed; "Thanks for not helping her with that, by the way."

"As if I would help her assault a pair of children. Though if Edalyn's girl and the Park girl were even a little bit as strong back then as the Angel is now, I doubt I'd have been any help to your mother anyway." he chuckled. He was confident in his skills, but he wasn't close to Belos in power.

Amity looked at her father for a moment, still petting his Palisman as she hesitated to ask the question that had been bothering her for so long. Eventually she found the courage and asked; "How did you two even end up together? You're nothing alike."

Alador took a seat on the windowsill beside his daughter and smiled sadly; "Believe it or not, we genuinely fell in love. Odalia has always been… forward thinking. I guess it comes with being an Oracle. She wanted to join the Emperor's Coven, but the last spot that year were taken by Lilith Clawthorne, and when that dream fell apart, she instead helped me found Blight Industries. She was the last of her family's noble lineage, and transferred it to the Blights so we would have a good start." his words became wistful as he looked at his daughter; "I'd have been lost without her… but somewhere along the line, we went from husband and wife to business partners, and our own children became mere employees…"

"Dad…" Amity whispered, reaching out to touch his shoulder. Alador appreciated the gesture.

"I'll try to keep your mother off your back, and off the twins' back too. Things have been busy lately, but I promise that as soon as this stupid Ball is over, I'll take some time off and spend some time with you and the twins. I'm missing too much of your life, and it's clear Odalia would rather be a boss than a parent. So I'll make up for my mistakes." Alador promised.

Amity smiled widely and hugged the man; "Thanks Dad! It'll be nice to have you around more. There's a lot in my life I want to tell you about, and I know Edric and Emira feel the same."

"I'm looking forward to hearing all about it. Now…" he got to his feet and handed Ghost back to Amity, while taking Moustrosity back and setting him down on top of his head; "… would you like to come and see my work on the Mk II?"

Amity eagerly hopped to her feet; "That would be great!"

Her father smiled happily and put a hand on her back, guiding her out of the room and out of the house, heading down the hill behind their manor to the factory of Blight Industries. There Alador showed Amity right to his research and development laboratory, which was full of vials of abomination goo, gold and brass mechanical parts, chemicals and potions of all sorts, and the kinds of tools that Amity would kill to get her hands on when working with her own abominations. There were also full abominations and prototype Abomatons Mk I's in various states of completion, as well as one tall, imposing abomination kept under a sheet.

"This is my pride and joy! The finest thing I've ever created!" Alador said, grabbing the bottom of the sheet, before sheepishly adding; "Excluding you and your siblings of course, Mittens."

Amity rolled her eyes with a smile, then watched as her father pulled off the sheet with a loud "Behold! The Abomaton Mk II!"

The lavender-haired girl gasped as she looked up at the hulking brute of an abomination. The Mk I had been a mere abomination outfitted with a brass breastplate and pauldrons, with rings of brass metal around its wrists, knees, and feet; it had been strong, but nothing too worrisome… the Mk II was in a whole different league! Not only was it almost a full head taller, but it had a lot more armour and a large purple glowing core, as well as vibrantly glowing eyes. Just at a glance, Amity could tell it was like a whole different creation.

"This thing is incredible!" Amity gasped.

"It is! Shape-memory alloy allows its armour a degree of transformation, so they can morph into rudimentary vehicles for short range transportation as well as regenerate damage. They also have a wide range of weapons they can produce by shapeshifting their slime, and thanks to the secret of my power cores, they can even produce magical weaponry such as cannons! Plus, they can produce a magical forcefield to both protect it and trap enemies! They are my ultimate combat abominations and incorporate all the individual abomination-based weapons and security measures I've developed for Blight Industries! Not only that, but I've made their slime extremely resistant to outside magic." Alador explained with overwhelming pride. He then playfully nudged his daughter with his elbow; "I bet even you'd struggle to tear this one apart!"

Amity nodded; without even trying to use her magic on it, she knew it would take everything she had to beat this thing. With Ghost helping her, it would be a bit more doable, but even that was because Amity had some insider knowledge of her father's creations…

If the Emperor's Coven bought these things and mobilised them against the CATTs, it would be catastrophic. Luz and the others needed to be warned! These things needed to be destroyed!

Even knowing that, Amity couldn't help but hesitate; her Dad looked so proud of his creations! But this was a matter of life and death.

"They're really amazing, Dad. How many have you got built already?" Amity asked casually.

"Only three at the moment; I built this one on my own and my team have managed to build two more while practicing my designs." he answered, pointing over to the blueprints on his work bench; "We'll be refining the manufacturing process over the next few days leading up to the Blight Ball, so I bet we'll have about… 7 more by then? That'll make a nice even ten. If we get the contract from the Emperor's Coven, we'll move into full production and the factory will churn out dozens a day!" Alador grinned.

Amity gulped, and pretended to smile at her father's achievement. Under no circumstances could these Abomatons be released onto the island! She would need to talk to the CATTs.

[The Next Day]

Before going to bed after the visit to the factory, Amity had texted Luz and asked to meet with the leaders of the CATTs on Digale Island the next day, and had given a short explanation as to why she needed to talk to them, though she'd kept the fine details to herself so as not to worry Luz too much so late in the evening. When they'd met up at school the following morning, Amity had still refused to explain everything until they were safely on Digale Island, away from any prying ears. That had ended up worrying Luz and the rest of the Hexsquad a lot more, since it was unlike Amity to be so nervous without also being a blushing mess, which made it seem far more serious.

It was the tensest day at school that Amity could ever remember having, and when school finally ended, she grabbed Edric and Emira and dragged them along too, the three Blights flying the Hexsquad back to the Owl House at record speed. This time they were met by the trio of Katya, Amber, and Derwin, who were watching the Owl House while Hooty was in his portable mode with Lilith.

"Afternoon, kids. Raine, Eda, and the bosses are all waiting for you in the Meeting Hall." Katya greeted.

"I hope whatever you've gathered them for is good, because Darry-Boy seems to be in a real bad mood today." Amber added.

"Calling him Darry-Boy probably doesn't help that situation either, Amber." Derwin said with a deadpan expression. Amber just stuck her tongue out in response.

"Trust me, he'll want to hear this." Amity said, barely stopping to acknowledge the trio as she basically dragged the others through the house to the Teleportation Circle.

Luz warped them all to Digale Island, then sent them on ahead while she warped back the people waiting to return. Like yesterday, Amity opted to wait for her instead, and her siblings and the Hexsquad waited with her. Once that little detour was taken care of, the group finally reached the meeting hall, where they found Eda, Raine, Eber, Darius, Lilith, Hooty, King, and Rasiel all waiting for them around a large table on the stage.

"Ah, you've finally arrived." Darius said, eyeing Amity as Luz exchanged her usual hugs and kisses with her Mom and Brother. "You say you have important information for us, Baby Blight? I hope it's good, I'm already going to have to give up a portion of my week to attend your family's little Ball."

"The Ball is related to what I have to tell you all. And believe me, it's important." Amity said seriously.

"A Ball?" Luz asked.

"Yep. Mom and Dad are throwing one to schmooze the Emperor's Coven." Emira said casually; "They're unveiling some new Blight Industries invention; the Abomaton Mk II. Amity ruined the Mk I presentation last week."

Eda grinned; "Well done, Boots!"

Amity shook her head vehemently; "No, messing up that presentation was a mistake! It exposed the flaws in the Mk I, and Dad improved it… massively. He showed me the new Mk II last night, and it's seriously dangerous."

The twins blinked; "He showed you the new design? But he never lets people outside his production staff look at them before the big unveiling." Edric said.

"Mom and I got into a fight at dinner, and Dad showed it to me to try and cheer me up." Amity explained; "But forget about that; Dad already has 3 of them and will have 10 by the time of the Ball on Friday. If the Emperor's Coven agrees to a contract, and they'd be nuts not to, he'll be pumping out hundreds per week."

Everyone frowned; Amity was fairly down-to-earth, so if she was worried about these Abomatons, they had to be a serious threat. Raine looked to Darius and asked; "Are these things likely to be as serious as they sound?"

Darius nodded reluctantly; "Alador is a hack… but he's not without talent. And aside from myself, the only other person I'd trust to be qualified enough to rate his work accurately would be Baby Blight here."

"Then it's a good thing Amity warned us. Amity, can you tell us what these things are capable of?" Lilith asked.

Amity frowned at her, but nodded and obediently recounted the exact specifications of the Abomaton Mk II, both from the things her father had told her and from what she'd been able to extrapolate from seeing and examining it. Darius frowned, begrudgingly respecting Alador's skill, while the others all looked very worried.

"How are we supposed to fight back against something like that!?" Gus panicked.

"We're not. I think that's the point. I doubt the average witch would be able to stop one of those things." Matt replied.

"Dad really outdid himself with this one." Edric commented.

"Bah! I bet we could beat them easily! Right Luz, Mom?" King said dismissively.

Luz and Eda looked at one another; "We could probably beat them… in small numbers." Eda said, sounding less confident than she wished.

"But even if we could mow them down easily, they'll be more than a match for most of the CATTs!" Luz frowned.

There were some more mutterings from around the table, before Rasiel said; "It seems that our only option then is to prevent more of these things from being created and destroy any existing models."

Eber barked; "Smart. We raid factory. Destroy machines, destroy plans, destroy weapons."

"Easier said than done!" Emira crossed her arms; "Mom has seriously beefed up security, and the Emperor's Coven is going to be there. I heard from her this morning that the coven is even adding their own people too! Going in spells blazing will get people seriously hurt!"

Amity nodded; "Emira is right; plus destroying the factory is risky! The machinery is volatile and if it isn't disabled correctly, it could explode and take half of Bonesborough with it!"

"Yeah, let's avoid blowing up the town. We all kind of live there!" Willow said nervously.

"Then what about a stealth mission?" Luz suggested; "We sneak in at night and quietly destroy the plans and Abomatons, then sabotage the factory. In and out without anyone noticing us."