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Chapter Text

The ground shook.

Edric gasped along with his friends and family and looked up. As he inspected his shaking surroundings, he noticed glowing pink wraps coming from the sky.

The wraps brought Edric's friends into the sky one by one. The first one to disappear was Gus. He screamed, Luz and Amity gasping at the sight. Suddenly, Amity was taken away too. Luz tried to reach for her before the wraps stole her too.

Emira frantically looked around as her teammates disappeared. Before she could do anything, Alador was taken away beside her. "Dad!" she called.

Edric just stood in shock as his father was taken away. He heard a scream from beside him, turning around to see Hunter be taken away by the glowing wraps. "Hunter!" Edric called desperately.

The last thing he saw was Emira running toward him as he was blinded by bright white light.

When Edric opened his eyes again, he saw the bright and warping colors of the old portal ahead of him. He groaned as he tried to reach into it.

"What... happened?" Edric groaned.

"Hey!"

"We were just about to enter the Archives..." Edric continued, slowly reaching further to the warping colors.

"Hey!"

"We were just about to rescue Raine and King..."

Edric spread out his fingers as the warping colors of the old portal got brighter. He was blinded yet again with an unfamiliar voice calling out to him.

"Edric! The human!" it called. "You have to wake up."

Edric could only hear the faint beating of a heart as he opened his eyes. He had no idea where it was coming from. His own heartbeat was much softer than the faint one he was hearing.

After about a minute, Edric slowly sat up. He groaned, a hand held on his throbing head. He had no idea why he felt so weird. The faint heartbeat, the pain in his head, the fuzzy memory... It just made no sense. Edric had to find out what happened to his friends and family.

Edric turned his head around. When he did, he realized why he could hear a faint heartbeat that didn't belong to him. He was in the throne room of the Empress's Castle. The place where the beating heart of the Titan was located.

"How did I get here?!" Edric wondered with panic. He quickly got to his feet and looked down. He instantly regretted it. Edric noticed he wasn't wearing his Alvanic costume. He was wearing an outfit that looked eerily similar to something he would see Eboni wear. He screamed at the sight of it, falling onto the floor.

"What is this?" Edric asked the silence. "Is this a dream? Ow!"

He felt pain in his arm. Edric looked over to see a bat with one eye and tall ears on his shoulder. He was so happy to see his Palisman. Batric was a face he didn't expect to see, though.

"Oh, Batric, you silly goober!" Edric said as his Palisman flew into his hands. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"I had to make sure you were safe!" Batric replied, flicking his tall ear.

Edric chuckled. "Thanks, buddy. Are Dad, Em, and the others okay?"

Batric shook his head with a sad squeak. "I haven't seen anyone."

Edric hesitantly looked over his shoulder. No one was there. He just sighed, got to his feet, and let Batric fly onto his shoulder. "Come on," he said. "We'll find them."

The walls of the castle were different. They weren't emerald-etched like they usually were. They were still green in color, but they were dark. This caused the hallowed halls of the castle to be dark too. Edric hated that. Not only did it make it difficult to see, but it also made the castle seem creepier than usual.

Eventually, Edric could see light. He still hadn't found anyone. He quickly turned a corner, running over to the light. Once he was right in front of it, Edric realized it came from a window. A stained-glass window. At first, he thought it was the same one of Eboni and a large claw that he always saw in the castle. But it was different. Eboni wasn't pictured in the stained-glass.

"Who is that?" Edric asked himself. Batric wasn't being very helpful, just shivering on his shoulder.

Upon further inspection, Edric could make out some things about the figure in the window. Brunette hair, rectangular glasses, golden eyes, a mole, pale skin... The figure was even wearing the same armor and cloak Edric had woken up with.

"Is that... me?"

Batric squeaked defiantly. "That can't be right," he protested. "This is the Empress's Castle. Besides, my witch would never try to wipe out everyone on the Boiling Isles."

Edric smiled. He even felt a bit of blush appear too. "Thanks, buddy..."

"Why else would I name myself after you?" Batric continued. "You're a great witch."

Edric let out a content chuckle. "I really appreciate that," he said. "Anyway, we should keep looking for the others." Batric nodded.

Edric made his way to the next light source. It came from what seemed to be the outside world. As Edric got closer, he realized he had found the entrance to the castle. The drawbridge was completely in view, leading to the forest.

Hesitantly, Edric took a deep breath and made his way out of the castle. As he walked over the drawbridge, he realized that absolutely no one was in sight. That actually made Edric's skin crawl a bit. 

"Where is everyone?" he asked. Batric didn't give an answer. Edric made his way to the side of the drawbridge. When he looked into the abyss below, he gasped with fear.

Everyone was below him. Everyone was clustered together. Everyone was frozen. Everyone looked like they were screaming. Everyone was gray all over. Everyone was stone. Everyone was petrified.

Edric made a few slow steps back. "No, no, no, no..." he let out. "What happened—"

"Ed!"

That voice was familiar. It was the voice that would comfort Edric when he needed it. It was the voice of someone he wanted to see so badly. He looked around desperately in search for his sister.

"Em?" Edric called. "Em, where are you?"

He could hear panting in the distance. Emira appeared in the entrance of the castle. She caught her breath for a moment before standing up straight. The only thing that made Edric feel weird was how she was still in her Evil Witch Cassidy costume. Why had his clothes changed and not hers?

"Ed, there you are!" Emira called with a happy smile. "I saw you in the hallway, but didn't catch your attention. I've been following you through the castle since."

Edric sighed with relief. "That's good to hear," he replied. "Are you alright? Have you seen the others?"

"No," Emira explained. "All I found was dark versions of my fake friends haunting me. When I saw—" Then she gasped. "What are you wearing?"

Edric looked down at his new armor and cloak with a whimper. "I don't know!" he shouted. "I just woke up like this! And then I looked over the drawbridge and everyone was... everyone was... petrified!"

Edric began to breathe heavily as he continued. Emira was gasping at the sight of the petrified bodies below her. "Did I do something, you think...?" Edric let out as he breathed heavily. "Did I accidentally petrify everyone? Did I... Did I ruin... everything...?"

His breath just quickened and quickened as he stopped talking. Emira walked up to her brother and firmly held onto his shaking arms.

"Ed, calm down," she advised. "This isn't your fault. I'm sure of it. We're going to get out of here and find the others, okay?"

Edric nodded with a whimper. When his sister took her hands off him, he sighed to calm down. He looked over the drawbridge again.

"But when did this happen?" Edric demanded.

"Don't you remember?"

That was Hunter's voice. Edric would recognize it anywhere. He swiftly looked over, Emira doing the same. 

Hunter was standing at the end of the drawbridge, his staff in hand. But he seemed strange. Hunter's hair was down to his neck just like when he lived in the Human Realm, but he was wearing his black shirt with three red stripes, ripped jeans, black and red sneakers, and red flannel like he would before arriving there. Edric was so confused.

"This is all your doing, Ed," Hunter continued, his blonde hair flowing in the breeze. "You helped Eboni meet the Collector. Your actions led to this."

Edric stiffened. His boyfriend told him everything he was terrified of happening ever since learning he helped Eboni. His worst nightmare was becoming true right in front of his eyes. Hunter turned to face him.

"You've been the real villain this whole time!" he shouted. Edric even thought he could see tears in Hunter's brown eyes.

"What?!" Emira exclaimed. "Didn't we just go over this?"

Edric had to admit, she was right. Right before returning to the Demon Realm, his friends told him they didn't care that he helped Eboni. They cared for him no matter what. Everything Hunter was saying completely contradicted that.

But Edric wasn't listening to his sister. "Ed?" she said nervously. He didn't listen to that either. He just frantically took his cloak off his shoulders.

"I—I would never do this!" Edric objected. He threw his cloak over the edge of the drawbridge. "S—See?"

The hands of the petrified people were rising as the cloak flew down to them. Edric watched it nervously. Despite his words, Hunter didn't listen.

"I'm sorry, Edric," he said softly. Hunter's tears fell down his face as he narrowed his eyes and created a spell circle. "But I have to take you down!"

Edric took a step back as yellow potion liquid formed behind Hunter at his command. It lifted him into the air and helped him lunge over to Ed and Em.

"Hunter, please!" Edric called desperately.

Hunter didn't listen.

He flew right past Ed and Em as they ran out of the way. Hunter stopped behind them, creating another spell circle. This spell caused the potion liquid behind him to attack the twins. Or, more specifically, Edric. They both quickly got onto their staffs to fly away.

As Edric made his way to the entrance of the castle, he looked over his shoulder. Hunter was standing on the drawbridge, turning around. He tried to attack his boyfriend with more potion liquid, but he missed. The large doors of the castle slammed shut once Ed and Em were inside.

"Ed, I don't think this is a dream," Emira said as they swiftly flew down the halls of the castle.

"You're right," Edric replied. "This is a nightmare!"

Raine gasped as they woke up. They found themself in a cell. Not just any cell. It was a cell of the Conformatorium. A cell that Raine had been in plenty of times. 

They looked around, desperately searching for King or Hale. They were the last two people Raine remembered seeing. But they were alone. King wasn't hugging their leg in his cute outfit Collector had given him. Hale wasn't brewing a new elixir or hugging Puppet Sparky nearby. Raine was alone in their dark cell.

There was only one thing they could think of doing. Raine transformed into their phoenix form, using their strong feet to bust down the bars of the cell. The rest of the Conformatorium was empty too. No one was in any other cells. There weren't any guards patrolling. This was strange.

"Hale?" Raine called. "Sparky? King!"

The only reply they got was the echo of their own voice.

Raine sighed with frustration. Their family either wasn't here or was locked up somewhere else. They had to find them. In order to do that, Raine flapped their fiery wings, getting into the air. They bolted to a nearby hallway of cells, fire following in their wake.

The cells ahead of them were empty too. Raine was getting really sick of being alone by now. When they found the doors, they kicked them open. Raine flew through them, panting as they flew higher and higher into the night sky.

When they looked up, they noticed something ahead of them. Raine gasped as a large net got closer and closer. Before they could do anything, the net trapped them, bringing them swiftly down to the ground. Raine screamed as they fell. Once they were on the ground, they slowly sat up, spotting two figures standing by the doors of the Conformatorium.

"If you think you can keep me from my family, you've got another thing coming!" Raine shouted bitterly at these mysterious figures.

"Oh, don't worry, Raine."

That was Hale's voice. Raine would recognize it anywhere. They had been with their brother long enough for the past few months. He was one of the figures. And the other one was Raine's mother. She was standing right next to Hale, her face seeming much more menacing than usual. Even if it was usually menacing.

"We're all present and accounted for," Hale continued.

"Hale! Mom!" Raine called with a smile. "Thank goodness! But do you think you could help me out? We need to find King."

"No." Raine was taken aback by Hale's response. He slightly turned around, his mother doing the same. "You'll be staying right there."

"Huh?" Raine let out. They looked around at the sound of footsteps to see two barrages of scouts surrounding them. Each one was holding a spear defensively.

"Dangerous beasts need to be kept in cages, after all," Hale said.

Raine nervously held onto the half of their missing arm. "What are you talking about?"

Hale and Mom moved out of the way. In the shadows of the Conformatorium was Ma. She still had her scar over her eye that Raine gave her when they were younger, but she had another one now. This one was even larger than the original one.

"Oh, Raine..." Ma let out, holding onto her new and bloody scar. "I forgave you..."

Raine gasped. Their worst fear was hurting their family. Anyone in their family. Even people who felt like family. Ed, Em, King, Hale, Mom, Ma... Raine's worst fear had become a reality all those years ago.

And now it happened again.

King's eyes were wide when he woke up. He was laying on the ground. It was cold. Even his soft fur couldn't warm him up. When King sat up and shook his head, he also realized that he wasn't wearing the cute clothes Collector had given him. Those were pretty warm too.

Once King's yellow eyes were fully open, he gasped. Fire sprouted on both sides of him. There were skeletons everywhere. Mostly, there were skulls. Skulls with horns and thick teeth. Titan skulls. 

King got to his paws, taking a step back. "Nice, right?" a voice said from behind him.

King yelped and jumped forward. When he turned around, he saw Bill, the leader of the Titan Trappers, wearing his Titan disguise. King hated looking at it. Especially since Bill was disguising himself as a Titan in order to trap them. King's family.

"Bill!" he shouted, narrowing his eyes. "You crazy jerk! How'd I get here?!"

"I brought you here," Bill replied. He slowly stepped forward, his arms extended. King nervously looked over his shoulder. "I wanted you to see our new collection..."

When King faced Bill again, he stopped in his tracks. The Titan Trapper tilted his head to the side. "What? Don't you recognize your siblings?"

King didn't answer. But that didn't matter. Bill continued as he stepped forward and grabbed King's shoulders. He tensed.

"But don't worry," Bill told him. "We saved the best spot for you..."

King slightly turned around. Amidst the Titan skulls and skeletons stood a long platform. Behind the platform was a symbol. The symbol showed a sun with half of its surface being deep blue. It reminded King so much of the Collector. Eerie light shined on the platform. King fully turned around, whimpering.

His greatest fear was to be taken away from his family. Raine was nowhere to be found. Hale wasn't there either. Despite her annoying voice, King wished Sparky were there. Even if she was a puppet right now. What made this fear coming true even worse was how King would be excuted by the Titan Trappers. 

That was the worst way to be taken away from his family.

Edric eventually got off his staff. Emira did the same. Batric and Daisy stayed in their staff forms, though, just being held in the twins' hands. Edric was just running through the castle with his sister, panting.

As he ran through a hallway, his surroundings changed. Instead of being in a grim castle, Edric was in a grim forest. There were bandages you'd find on an oracle ghost wrapped around each tree. Their purple glow was faded, only some of it being visible. Inside the trunks of the gray trees were picture frames. Each image was dark and faded.

It looked so much like Luz's mind. Trees, glowing bandages on the trees, and picture frames in them. The only differences were how ghosts weren't flying around, animals weren't everywhere (or anywhere, actually), and it wasn't colorful. The only bright color was the faded purple glow of the bandages. Oh, and there were zero unicorns.

"Trees?" Emira said.

Edric didn't respond. He just stopped to catch his breath. In the distance was a familiar girl with tan skin and curly brown hair. She was wearing a Hexside uniform with purple sleeves and leggings and was on her knees in front of a tree.

"Luz!" Edric called, running toward his younger friend.

Emira looked over. "What?" She gasped before following her brother. "Luz!"

Luz didn't react. She just stared at the ground, her curly hair blowing in the wind. "Luz, you have no idea how happy we are to see you!" Emira explained.

"Yeah," Edric agreed. He nervously looked over his shoulder. "But we just ran into Hunter and... So, do you know if—"

Luz slowly got to her feet. She turned around, revealing a pink flower in her hands. "You know, Ed, my life changed after I met you," she said eerily. "I thought that I had this big, bright future ahead of myself..."

The flower in Luz's hands disintegrated. She sighed, slightly lifting her head to reveal tears running down her face. Luz's eyes were glowing purple.

"But that didn't last long, did it?" she continued. Edric took a step back. Luz lowered her arms. Two spell circles appeared at her fingertips. Edric tensed at the sight of ghosts slowly breaking out of the ground all around him. "You destroyed my home and any chance I had at happiness. I have no future now... None of us do!"

Once the ghosts erupted from the ground, they roared and bolted right for Edric. Luz's eyes narrowed with anger. Edric screamed, jumping out of the way of a ghost. Emira grabbed his arm and pulled him away with her.

"Ed, come on!" she said.

Edric obeyed and followed his sister to escape the fierce ghosts. Their roars eventually disappeared. Edric turned around as he panted, confused. Emira turned around too. Suddenly, a spotlight turned on and a curtain appeared in front of the twins.

Edric turned around and covered his eyes from the spotlight. It was bright blue. He was in the middle of it. Emira wasn't even in it fully. Gus wasn't too far away, wearing the bright blue suit he wore at Grom.

"Look, everyone!" Gus said. When Edric lowered his arm, he realized he was standing on a stage. There was a big crowd watching him with faded faces. "It's good ol' Edric!"

The crowd cheered.

"Seriously?" Emira said, annoyed. "Am I invisible or something?"

"Not the time..." Edric told her through clenched teeth.

Gus stepped forward, letting out a chuckle. "And he... just might be... the biggest hypocrite ever!"

The crowd booed.

"W—What?" Edric let out. Before he could do anything, Gus walked up to him. He seemed angry as he forced him to move back.

"Everyone helped you get back to your dad..." Gus continued with narrowed eyes. "But because of you... I'll never see mine again!" Tears were in his eyes now.

Edric began to stammer. This nightmare was worse than any he'd ever had before. "Gus, no..." he began, turning around. "W—We'll get him back. We'll get e—everyone back! I won't stop till we do!"

"Tell that to her!"

Before he could do anything, Edric was pushed by Gus into the dark void below. He screamed, Emira running to the edge of the stage in the distance.

"Edric!"

Emira clutched onto her staff and jumped into the void after her brother. Luckily, Edric found solid ground. He did land on his face, but he had found solid ground nonetheless. Emira landed not too far away. She groaned.

Neither twin spoke to each other. Edric just groaned and slowly sat up. He was on the balcony of the Empress's Castle now. Amity was standing at the edge of it. Her hair was pale purple and down to her shoulders with brunette roots at the top. She was wearing the clothes she wore underneath her old Emerald Guard attire. Edric could even see the new scar on her ear from after she was possessed.

And there was a huge statue of Ghost in the distance.

"You know, I always just followed orders," Amity said. Edric got to his feet with Emira doing the same beside him. "I never thought about going to school... or making friends..."

Amity's shoulders rose. Her voice became softer as she continued. "But then I met Ghost. She was more than a Palisman. She was my best friend..." Amity swiftly turned around. Her hand was clutched over her shirt and tears filled her golden eyes. "And then I lost her! Helping you! But you still get to have your own Palisman?"

Edric didn't even think about that. He didn't think about how Amity would feel about him connecting with Batric. She had lost Ghost. Her Palisman was gone. But Edric, the person who had ruined her life, got one. It must've crushed her.

He doubted her seeing him as a brother even more at that moment.

Amity fell to her knees with a sniff. "Why, Edric...?" she let out softly. "Why do you get to have it all...?"

Edric watched with a heavy heart as Luz, Gus, and Hunter appeared in front of Amity. "I'm sorry," Hunter said with a stone-hard expression. "But for the sake of everyone you hurt..."

Emira looked over at Edric nervously as tears filled his eyes. "Ed, are you okay...?"

Edric didn't answer. But he didn't understand why he should. None of this was okay. His tears fell down his face. 

"Please... no..."

Hunter continued. "I challenge you to a witch's battle!"

Edric swore he heard that wrong. Battle? That couldn't be right. It didn't sound right. Edric gasped, his tears disappearing. 

"Wait..." he croaked. "Say that... again?"

"I said..." Hunter replied, "I challenge you to a witch's battle!"

"A witch's... battle?"

Batric turned into his alive form. Edric slowly stepped forward. Something was up. Battle wasn't the right word. He didn't remember it that way. He knew Hunter wouldn't either. At least, not the real Hunter.

Edric stopped right when he was in front of his boyfriend. He first squished his light cheeks, then flicked his ears. Hunter's earrings jingled. 

"Bap. Boop."

"What are you doing?" Emira wondered.

"Just give me a second," Edric replied. "You look like Hunter. You feel like Hunter..." He paused. "But you're not Hunter, are you? Ha! You're not him! None of you are you!"

"How dare you!" Luz shouted. "Of course we're us!"

Edric chuckled. "I'm not believing that," he replied with a smirk. "It's 'I challenge you to a witch's duel,' he corrected matter-of-factly. "Not witch's battle."

"Ohhhhhh..." Emira let out. "Nice one."

Edric winked. He remembered when he told King his favorite part of the Wizards vs. Witchcraft games. It was on the day he fought Hunter at Covention. Not long before going to the event.

"But my favorite parts are when the battles start."

"And how do they start?"

"The Almighty Alvanic will walk up to whoever he's fighting and shout, 'I challenge you to a witch's duel!' "

"I thought Alvanic was a wizard."

"His opponents are always witches. You're ruining the point, Em!"

Edric also knew that Hunter loved the games as much as he did. 

"And the Hunter I know would never misquote the Almighty Alvanic," he continued. Edric continued to smirk as Batric turned into his staff again and landed in his hand. "So, come on~ Attack me. I know what's going on now."

Hunter let out a battle cry as he lunged for Edric. Luz and Gus lunged forward too. Amity just stayed where she was. Edric had to admit that he was scared. He closed his eyes with a gasp, waiting for the clones of his friends to kill him.

But they didn't.

Edric opened his eyes when all he could hear was grunting. Emira had gasped from not too far away. Edric had to gasp too. Luz, Gus, and Hunter were wrapped in glowing pink wraps again. They were struggling to escape, their eyes closed.

Hunter gasped and opened his eyes. Edric hadn't even noticed that there was no shine in his boyfriend's brown eyes until at that moment. When Hunter gasped, the shine of his eyes returned.

"Ed...?" he let out, tears filling his eyes.

"Hunter, is that you?" Edric asked, stepping forward. "Is it really you?"

"Yes!" Hunter replied. "We've all been collected, including Alador. The Collector came from the sky and—"

"He's playing games with you, Ed!" Gus added, cutting Hunter off. "He's trying to keep you and Em away from Raine and King!"

"But if you want to save anyone," Luz said, "you have to wake up."

"How?!" Edric exclaimed.

"Think about it." Amity was staring at the floor. When she lifted her head, she was smiling. It seemed true. Edric didn't know how to feel. Didn't she resent him for getting a Palisman while she lost hers? 

"What's the first thing you do when you wake up from a bad dream?"

Amity was covered in wraps too now.

But Edric didn't have time to think. Hunter slowly took one of his hands off his staff and lowered it. Eventually, it landed in Edric's palm, resting there. He stared right into his boyfriend's brown eyes.

"You turn on the light."

Hunter slowly moved his hand off Edric's. What took its place was a light glyph.

As Edric's eyes laid on it, he smiled. He looked into Hunter's eyes again, watching all of his friends smile back at him. Even Amity. She seemed so sincere.

At that, everyone lost the shine in their eyes once more. They were swiftly taken away by their wraps and disappeared into the dark clouds above.

Edric fell to his knees, still watching the empty sky. Emira crouched down beside him, watching him nervously. But Edric ignored her. He just sniffed.

He just stared into the distance.

He just lifted his arms.

He just clashed his hands together.

He just activated the light glyph.

Edric was yet again blinded by bright white light until he woke up.

Chapter Text

When Edric opened his eyes, he realized that he wasn't on the Boiling Isles. At least, he didn't think he was. Wherever he was looked beautiful. The sky was dark and full of stars. Giggling shooting stars would fall in the distance every once in a while. All around Edric was large cubes that were full of color.

Despite his beautiful surroundings, he knew he wasn't supposed to be here.

Edric gasped once his eyes were fully open. Emira did the same beside him. When he looked down, Edric realized that he was wearing his Almighty Alvanic costume again. That was a relief. He would've hated wearing that armor for the rest of the day.

Rattling could be heard in the distance. Edric turned around. He saw Raine and King sitting down not too far away, both surrounded by puppets hovering over them. Raine was surrounded by Hale, Stormy, and Lightning while King was surrounded by Bill and Tarak from Titan Trapper Island.

King whimpered as he opened his eyes, his paws holding onto his skull. His big bright eyes were glowing. Raine's were too. Both of them looked scared, most likely haunted by these puppets of familiar faces.

"I didn't mean it..." Edric could hear Raine say. "I didn't mean it... I didn't mean it!"

Edric shared a glance with Emira. They nodded to each other before running over to Raine. They knew they were trapped in their worst nightmare, just like the twins were just moments ago. King was too, but they would deal with him in a second. 

Edric knew how to break Raine and King out of their nightmares. Hunter had told him to "turn on the light" while handing him a light glyph. When Edric activated it, Emira right next to him, they woke up. They both had extra light glyphs in their pockets. They just needed to activate them in front of Raine and King to free them.

Emira crouched down once she was next to Raine. Edric just watched as she grabbed their hand, pulled out a light glyph, and activated it. The small ball of light appeared in Raine's hand. They gasped, the glow of their eyes disappearing once they looked at the light. The puppets hovering over them disappeared into the dark sky as Ed and Em ran over to King.

Edric crouched down. He reached into his pouch, took out a light glyph, placed it in King's paw, and activated it. The little guy gasped, the glow of his eyes fading. Bill and Tarak disappeared. Edric just smiled at King as he looked over at him. Emira got to her knees.

King gasped, taking a step back. "Ed? Em?" They didn't answer, but they didn't need to. King's eyes were filled with tears as he jumped right into Edric. He squealed, forcing both twins to fall to the floor. Emira had been pushed down by Edric's back.

"Hey!"

But she couldn't be mad for long. Emira sat up again as Edric laughed, King hugging him tightly. "Hey, buddy!" he said happily.

Raine gasped in the distance. "Is that... Edric?" they let out. "Emira? Are you three really here?"

Edric looked over his shoulder as Raine ran over to them. Emira reached out a hand with a wide smile. "Get over here, you witch!"

Raine squealed in such a happy and relieved way, Edric had to cry. They had been separated for three whole months. In that time, he had cried so much about missing them. He cried about how much he thought it was his fault. But now... He was crying because they were finally reunited again.

Raine had their arms held around Ed, Em, and King so tightly, Edric thought they would never let go. Honestly, he didn't want them to. Raine gave all three of them several kisses on the forehead. Edric loved it. Once they had pulled away, he openly cried, his tears flowing down his face as he smiled.

At that, they pulled in closer. Edric just sniffed and held onto his favorite people closer than he ever did before. He was in a great hug with the best sister in the world, the witch who had taken care of him more times than he could count, and the best and most adorable Titan. It was an amazing feeling.

Edric wished he could never leave it.

Through the glowing yellow surface of the large star in front of him, Collector watched King look so happy. He had squealed and cried as he jumped into Edric's arms, forcing him and Emira to fall over. King looked so overjoyed to see the humans. Collector didn't know how to feel about it.

For the past three months, they had had so much fun playing the Vixen House with King. Collector loved learning about his best friend's adventures. They sounded like so much fun. So much fun that King missed dearly. And Collector knew that. That was why he thought the game was the perfect choice of fun. King got to remember how much fun he had while spending time with his best friend.

There was only one problem.

King had lied in order to have that amazing fun.

Collector hated thinking about it. For three whole months, he had gotten to know King. They were able to understand him. They got to understand how much he missed his friends. Collector got to help him through his feelings. He had felt like someone actually wanted to be his friend.

But it was a lie.

And Collector hated liars.

He hated being tricked.

He hated being alone.

They hated being abandoned.

They hated being used.

They hated being misunderstood.

These were all of the terrible feelings Collector was forced to hang onto for years. All he ever wanted was a friend. A true friend. One who wouldn't lie to him. One who wouldn't just push them away. When Collector had met the Titans all those years earlier, they thought they had gotten their wish.

But then that was taken away.

The Titans all disappeared. Collector never found out how. One by one, he lost a friend. Friend after friend was taken away from him. They had felt so alone. All those adorable furry creatures with skulls for heads were so welcoming. And then they were gone.

And his life just got worse after that.

During their search for the missing Titans, Collector ran into one. But this one wasn't small like the others he was used to seeing. This one was big. Huge. It was bigger than any Collector had ever seen. But it was also more powerful than any they had ever seen.

Despite trying to explain himself, the Titan accused him of making its species disappear. Collector remembered the word it had used. Extinct. They never learned what it meant. It was such a big and unfamiliar word. Even missing was difficult for Collector to remember.

Eventually, this last Titan had enough of Collector's pleas. It used its powerful magic to trap them. They had found themself in a dark place. There was light, but not much. There were shipwrecks in the brown water, hundreds of cubes flying around with glowing surfaces, and a small disk with a crescent moon on it.

Collector could see things in that disk. All they could see was what was apparently their reflection. But he didn't look normal. Collector wasn't wearing his jumpsuit and hat. He didn't seem to have hair. He didn't even seem to have skin. Collector was just a large mass of shadow with a face. And they hated it.

For years they had been stuck in that dark realm. All because that Titan thought Collector was the bad guy who had caused its species to go missing. He hadn't meant for that to happen. He knew that wasn't the case. But that hadn't done anything. Collector was left to be stuck in that dark realm for... What was the word? Cent... Center... Collector decided to just call it a long, long time.

Then they met Odalia Bleakley.

Collector had just sawn her as a friend. She promised to set him free. She had promised that if he helped her with a few things. She pinkie-swore. Collector had used pinkie-swears for his whole existence. They were more than a promise. They were a promise that you couldn't break. If you did, you were worse than any terrible person ever.

Collector was delighted to help Odalia. She had pinkie-sworn to set him free! That was all he wanted in the whole, wide world! All Collector had to do was teach her how to stay alive, help her gain rule over the Boiling Isles, and use a Draining Spell to unite the people of the Demon Realm together. Collector had so much fun completing those tasks. The Draining Spell was so fun to put together.

After another long, long time, the Day of Unity had arrived. Collector had been so excited. That was the day the Draining Spell would commence. It was the day Odalia would set them free. It was the day Collector would finally get to play games with their new best friend in person.

At least that was what he thought.

Instead that was the day Odalia broke her promise. She broke her pinkie-swear. Instead of freeing Collector, she threw him over a cliff. That was worse than pushing him away. They screamed as their disk fell into the dark abyss until the cloth thrown down with it caught on a branch.

Collector hated where he had ended up. There were skeletons everywhere. He had found himself in the place Odalia kept the bodies of dead Grimwalkers. Collector had been there to watch every horrible death of each one. But Odalia had promised that her creations had to die when they did in order for their plan to work. That was why he didn't argue.

Now Collector wished that they had.

They had just sat and watched as every Grimwalker was gruesomely murdered. They hated the sights. Especially now that they knew they had been part of why they were. Collector had also helped Eboni in her research on how to make Grimwalkers. He had helped her make each one. He had just sat and watched that happen too.

Collector thought that he would be alone with the Grimwalker bones forever. But then King showed up. Collector had recognized he was a Titan immediately. The dark gray fur, hard paws, and skull for a head was unmistakable. Collector was even happier to find out that King would set them free. They just had to stop the Draining Spell.

King had pinkie-sworn.

He had followed through with it, too. King kept his promise and set Collector free. They stopped the Draining Spell, killed Odalia for betraying them, and got ready to play Vixen House with King. He just had to get his new bestest friend. King had been on Edric's back as the human held the portal to the Human Realm together. They were about to jump through.

And Collector wasn't about to let that happen.

King was the first person that would be their friend. Their first true friend. Collector was sure of it. King was a Titan. Titans were amazing. They had been the most fun friends Collector had ever had. He just needed to protect King. To make sure he didn't go missing like the other Titans. Going to the Human Realm would make that dark possibility way too high.

For the next three months, they played. Collector got to know King. He got to learn about his amazing adventures. He got to go through those adventures with him. Collector got to understand King. They became best friends. Best friends who would never betray each other. True best friends.

But that was a lie too.

Collector learned King wanted to betray them. He was secretly plotting with Raine and Hale Whispers to put an end to them for good. And Collector didn't like that. All they wanted was a friend. A true friend. And when they finally got that, that amazing friend had betrayed them.

There was only one other friend Collector thought he could make now: Eda. Eda Clawthorne, Head of the Bard Coven, had come to Collector and told him he was in danger. He got over the fact she was moving on her own as a puppet pretty quick. That didn't matter. Collector focused more on the plan Eda had.

It was her idea to trap Edric, Emira, Raine, and King in nightmares. Collector originally didn't wanna go through with it. They knew King's dear friends weren't bad people. They were just jealous of them. Collector wanted to know how they became so close with King. They wanted that ability. That way, Collector could finally have a true friend.

But that hadn't worked.

Collector groaned with frustration as he watched King hug Raine and thevhumans with such joy. They turned to Eda. "Edaaaaaa!" they yelled. "You said that would work!"

Eda didn't seem to react. She just blinked. Collector continued. "You said that would let them see the 'error of their ways'..." They groaned again. "King's gonna be so mad at me now! Now what do we do?"

Eda got to her feet. She picked up Francois from Collector's bedside table. "Why bother teaching them anything when you could just wipe them out?"

Collector gasped and ripped Francois out of Eda's wooden hands. What did she mean? They had no idea what "wipe them out" meant. What did Eda want to do to King and his friends? She didn't want to hurt them, did she? Collector wouldn't let that be the case.

"No!" he protested. Collector calmed down and stroked Francois's soft body. "I wanna be their friends! Besides, my powers don't work on King."

Eda looked confused as Collector set Francois back on the table. "The... dog?" she said.

Collector had gotten really tired of people calling King a dog. He was obviously a Titan! The Boiling Isles was literally made of the bones of one! How did its people not know what the creatures looked like?

Collector decided to just explain that to Eda. Since the Titans had gone missing so long ago, the people of the Boiling Isles probably just hadn't seen one in person before King.

"Yeah!" Collector exclaimed, standing on his bed. "Because he's a Titan!"

Eda watched with wide golden eyes as a bright shooting star passed behind Collector. They ignored her surprise and continued.

"You've worked in the castle, Eda," he reminded her. "That heart still beating up there... Ah, Titans are amazing! And when they're full grown, they're more powerful than anyone!"

Eda softly gasped before smiling. "You know, I just had an interesting idea..." she explained.

Collector gasped and sat up. They had been laying on their bed during their excitement at talking about Titans. "What?"

"Oh, but it wouldn't work..." Eda replied, waving a hand.

"No! Tell me!" Collector flew over to Eda and rested his hands on her wooden face. "Or I'll hold my breath for a million years!"

Eda chuckled and took Collector's hands off her face. "Oh, okay. If you insist."

Collector slowly let his feet rest on the ground. He made sure his hearing was extra good to understand every word Eda said to him in the following moments.

"What if you played with them yourself?" she suggested with a bright smile. "If you showed them just how fun your games are, they'll all want to be your friends."

Collector gasped. Eda was telling them to play their favorite games with King and his friends. She said that they'd all want to be their friends that way. That was all Collector wanted!

He already knew what King and his friendship was like. But he wasn't totally sure how Edric, Emira, or Raine acted in a friendship. Collector remembered King telling them about Edric and Emira having great friends that they were in the Human Realm with. They had also been told about Raine being a great person, especially to King.

Collector knew that if these people were friends to King, especially ones so dear to him, they wanted to be friends with them, too. Collector already missed King being by their side, even if he had only left them less than a day ago. 

Making a strong friendship with him, Edric, Emira, and Raine was the only way to get him back.

"Really?" Collector asked Eda with bright emotion in his eyes.

Eda nodded with a soft "Mm-hmm."

Collector gasped again and pulled away from Eda. They were actually about to make real friends! After years and years and years of being alone, used, abandoned, and misunderstood, Collector would be around true friends! All they had to do was show them his favorite games. They already had some ideas.

King always refused to play Collector's favorite games. He only wanted to play Vixen House. But now, Collector had the perfect opportunity to show them off. His favorite games were so fun! He knew King would love them. He always knew that. But now he knew that Edric, Emira, and Raine would love them, too.

Collector stepped back and used their magic to bring the star with Edric, Emira, Raine, and King hugging shown in it over them. "Wish me luck, Eda!" Collector said with a wave. They disappeared into the star.

As he traveled through the bright portal inside the star, Collector felt determination rush inside him. He was finally gonna make friends. True friends. He was about to make his greatest wish come true.

It was only a distance away now.

Even if it couldn't have lasted more than a minute, Edric thought this amazing hug would last forever. Raine would always have their arms tightly wrapped around Ed, Em, and King, them doing the same back. Edric wished it could stay that way. It was a wonderful feeling that he had missed for three whole months.

But eventually, Raine slightly pulled away. Small, happy tears were still in their eyes as they broke the wonderful silence of their hug. Edric slowly opened his eyes and wiped away a few remaining tears underneath his glasses once Raine's arms weren't around him anymore.

"I never thought I'd see you two again," they explained before wiping away a tear. "How did you make it back to the Demon Realm?"

"That is a very long story," Emira replied. "We wouldn't know where to begin."

Edric nodded as he exchanged a glance with his sister. A very long story didn't come close to explaining their adventure of the past few days. Edric still couldn't believe that Amity had only been possessed yesterday. The whole day after that had been full of so much more craziness.

How they got back to the Demon Realm was an easy thing to explain. Edric could do that within a second. Eboni somehow followed them to the Human Realm, possessed Amity, killed Ghost, found a small tube of Titan Blood, and used it to make a portal. After Ghost sacrificed herself bringing Amity back to life after drowning, Edric went through the portal Eboni made with his friends and family.

Once in the Demon Realm, even more crazy stuff happened. Edric found out King and Collector were friends and were playing some game about his life with Emira before getting back to the Human Realm, he had gotten back to the Vixen House and found it in shambles, and everyone made their way to New Hexside. Boscha was apparently the president of this "New Hexside", pushed aside their plan to defeat Eboni and the Collector, and shut a door in their faces.

Edric had just enough of New Hexside, even when Mattholomule led him and his friends to his secret hideout there. Once Luz had found Edric's memory of Odalia's glyph combo that led to the Titan's skull in his brain, they were about to get moving again. Before they did, Luz showed Amity some picture with Ghost in it, made her sad, and ran off. Gus ran after her after revealing he knew Amity was a Grimwalker since the Day of Unity, and Amity followed.

After that, Kikimora showed up and drugged everyone else with sleeping nettles. She dropped them into a pit as they woke up before attacking them. Edric was able to get away with Emira and Alador, hiding in a ditch. In the ditch, a lot of things had been learned and exchanged.

Edric found out that his father was more like him than he thought. His whole life he thought his mom was the only person out there who was like him. After she died, Edric never thought he'd make such a strong connection with someone as he did with her. Then he was told something that changed his whole view of his father only a couple hours ago.

Alador had lost his mother at a young age, just like Edric. He had been given a gift from her that he became obsessed with, just like Edric. He had been bullied at school for his disabilities and the gift from his mother, just like Edric. Those were the only things Edric needed to know. There was someone out there who was like him. He had just never looked hard enough.

After connecting with Batric, getting to the skull, and breaking out of the nightmare the Collector had trapped him in, Edric got to where he was at that moment: trying to explain to Raine and King what had happened. Emira had been right. They had no idea where to begin.

"Well, first, there was Eboni in the Human Realm," Edric began.

"There was what?!" Raine and King exclaimed in unison.

Emira giggled at their shared shock. She nodded before adding on to her brother's words. "Then we ran into Kikimora. She was a lot to deal with."

"I can imagine..." King agreed annoyedly.

Edric nodded. "But then our dad decided to—"

He was cut off by Emira gasping. "How did that happen?!" she exclaimed. Edric followed where Emira was pointing and gasped, too. 

Raine's whole right arm was gone. About half of it seemed to be there, bandages covering it. They seemed unfazed at the twins' shared surprise, just looking at their missing arm.

"That's a shorter story," Raine explained with a nervous chuckle. They gasped before they could explain. "Is that your Palisman?"

Emira shuffled away slightly so Raine could see Batric in full view. The little guy was resting on Edric's shoulder. He leaned forward as Raine got closer. Edric shifted to the side to give Batric more room.

Scarlet appeared on Raine's shoulder. The small fox seemed entranced by Batric's presence as she leaned forward. Batric leaned forward too, letting Scarlet see him fully. Eventually, she smiled and rubbed her furry head against Batric, purring. The little guy flicked his ear with contentment before squeaking happily.

Raine chuckled as Scarlet continued to purr. "I think they like each other," they said.

"Seems so," Edric agreed. Before he could say anything else, Daisy shoved herself in between Scarlet and Batric. Both Palismen yelped and jumped. Batric swiftly flew behind Edric to hide while Scarlet disappeared behind Raine.

"Daisy!" Emira shouted, grabbing her feathery Palisman. "What'd you do that for?"

 Daisy quacked. Based off Emira's annoyed expression, Edric guessed the goose hadn't said something nice and reassuring.

"Daisy, you can't just ruin any heartfelt moment that doesn't include you," Emira scolded her Palisman. Daisy quacked again. "You're lucky you're such a cute silly goose, you know."

Daisy ruffled her feathers. Edric guessed that meant that she knew how cute she was. And that she also knew how to use that to her advantage. Honestly, Edric thought Batric was cuter.

"Well, I'd love to hear you three talking over a warm fire and cocoa's milk," King said. Edric got to his feet along with Emira and Raine, Batric on his shoulder again. "But first, we should get out of... whatever this is."

"Good plan," Emira agreed. Daisy was on her shoulder again, too.

Before they figure out anything about how to get out of wherever they were, eerie dark purple light shined onto them. A glowing portal opened, a bright purple star shining behind it. Collector appeared through it, floating above a large toy cube as the portal behind him disappeared.

"I don't get it, King," Collector said with a judging expression. "I really don't get it. You used to love playing our games. Why would you choose these itty-bitty spiders over me?"

"Because your games stink!" Raine replied, their fully-in-tact arm becoming dark red and furry, their hand turning into a claw.

Batric turned into his staff form and landed in Edric's hands. "And because spiders are awesome!"

"Spiders are underrated, if you ask me," Emira added, Daisy as her staff held in her hand.

"Yeah!" King agreed, just pointing at Collector. "Especially the itty-bitty ones!"

Collector rolled his eyes. "You act like I'm doing something bad, but I'm just having fun!" he objected.

"Trapping people and scaring them and controlling them?" King replied. "That's not fun, Collector!"

"Besides, everyone almost died from the Draining Spell," Raine added.

Collector didn't seem fazed by this information. He just smiled and teleported what seemed to be a toy of himself into his hands. "So?" Collector responded. "Toys break all the time. You just fix 'em."

Edric watched as Collector broke the toy in his hands and threw the pieces onto the ground below him. The toy eventually was put back together by small waves of light and disappeared.

Edric had to take a step back. What was Collector talking about? Did he think death was just like a toy breaking? Did he think death was just something you could fix? Edric wished it was that easy. His mom's death had taken such a toll on his life. Everything would've been so much easier if he could just fix his mother's life like you could fix a toy.

But Edric also knew how scary coming close to death was. Toys aren't conscious. They don't have emotions. In the moments before breaking, they aren't fearing for their life. They just fall, crack, and break. Mortals were different. Right before you die and when you think you will, you're scared. You could cover your face, close your eyes, scream... There were so many options.

Edric knew that feeling way too well.

There were so many instances where he almost died that happened in the past few months. In each one, Edric was scared. If he wasn't screaming, whimpering, closing his eyes, or covering his face, he was crying. They were all reactions he had to death approaching. They were all reactions he wished he didn't have to make.

Collector was immortal. Edric knew that. He figured that was how he just saw death as fixing a toy after it breaks. Collector was never scared in any instance where he could've died. He always knew he would survive. Mortals didn't live that luxury. They feared for their lives every time danger came their way.

Edric realized in that moment that Collector didn't even understand what death meant.

"Do you... not understand what death means to mortals?" he asked, straightening himself.

"Well, don't worry," Collector replied, obviously avoiding the question, " 'cause I don't wanna scare you anymore. I think we can all be great friends..."

Collector slowly rose into the air. Edric watched with wide eyes as their large shadow formed over them. Emira, Raine, and King did the same all around him.

Bright waves of yellow, blue, and purple light circled around Collector as he continued to rise. For some reason, Edric could feel the ground beneath his feet get lighter. Collector's wide eyes and smile just made him even more uncomfortable.

"Let me show you some of my favorite games..."

Eda hated everything happening right at that moment. Ever since the Day of Unity, her life had just been getting worse and worse.

After the Draining Spell stopped, Eda thought her pain was over. She wasn't dying anymore. The only issue was that Raine had lost an arm. Eda had ripped it off so they wouldn't die, too. However, that apparently didn't matter.

Raine eventually left Eda's side in order to save King from the Collector's clutches. She just had to watch as her lost love tried to save their son, failing in the process. Before Eda could actually escape and help Raine, the Collector found her. Before she could do anything, she was transformed into a puppet and taken to the Archives with the other Coven Heads.

For three whole months, Eda was stuck in a body that she couldn't control. When she became a puppet, she could hear and see everything going on around her. She just couldn't do anything about it. Eda was instead controlled by the Collector and anyone else who gave her commands.

Her least favorite part of this was that Raine visited her regularly. Eda didn't hate that because they were visiting her; it was quite the opposite. She hated the fact that she couldn't respond to anything Raine said or did. They would ask questions, tell Eda about their day, or wave their hand in front of her face. 

And all Eda could do was watch. What made it worse was how disappointed Raine looked every time they failed to get her to respond. Eda wanted to respond. She wanted to let them know that she listened to every word. But she couldn't. She was instead left to sulk with Raine about how she was stuck as a puppet.

All this time Eda didn't think her life could get any worse. She was a puppet, she couldn't talk to Raine when they visited, and she was under someone else's control all the time. Eda hated being controlled. But it turned out she was wrong about how terrible her life could get.

Eda wasn't only being controlled by Collector because she was a puppet anymore. While she was just putting away other puppets at the command of Philip, she was attacked. Eda was left to watch through her puppet eyes as green and brown goop sped over to her. It infected the inside of her wooden puppet parts, making Eda hear the disgusting sound of the goop running through her.

Before she knew it, something else was controlling her body. An evil, eerie laugh ran throughout Eda's ears as the control took over her. It belonged to Eboni. Eda knew that voice way too well. And that woman was now possessing her, giving her even less control of her body than she had before.

After sitting through a long conversation Eboni had with Collector, Eda was now limping through the halls of the Archives. While she walked, goop had been falling everywhere, leaving a trail. By that time, Eda had enough of being controlled. She was using all her strength to fight Eboni's control, making her puppet body twitch.

Eventually, Eda gasped softly and opened her eyes. The eerie laugh of Eboni running through her ears began to fade. It never disappeared, but it was very faint now. Eda felt so much better as she felt the wood of her puppet skin disappear. Collector's control over her was gone.

Even so, Eboni was still lurking inside Eda's bones.

"Let... me... go!" Eda shouted at Eboni. In response, the evil woman inside her fought back. Some invisible force seemed to punch Eda right across the face. She grunted, bolting over to the door behind her.

Another punch surged through Eda. She fell to the ground, using her arms to stabilize herself. A bit of green and brown goop fell from Eda's ear as she stared at the ground. Eboni's laughter in her ears grew louder again as her control fully returned.

Yet again, Eda didn't have control of herself. "Ugh, Edalyn has always been annoyingly powerful..." Eboni said. But the words weren't in Eboni's voice. They were in Eda's. And the words were booming all around her brain.

"No, I think I'll keep you a little longer..." Eboni continued, taking the small star she had stolen from Collector in her hand.

Eda was left to only watch as the star grew larger and flew Eboni away from the Archives.

Luz, Gus, Hunter, and Amity, now puppets, were laying on the floor of the Collection Room.

One of Hunter's arms was splayed out in front of him.

His light wooden finger moved slightly, nothing else doing the same.

Chapter Text

Even though the floor began to feel light beneath his feet, Edric was never lifted into the air against his will. He instead found himself in a whole new place. Well, not a whole new place. This new biome was still full of bright colors and giggling in the distance. The only huge difference was how you couldn't see the dark night sky full of stars. There were many bright pink walls made of building blocks blocking your view on every side.

Emira, Raine, and King were just as confused as Edric when their surroundings changed. All four of them looked around confusedly before doing anything. Raine transformed into their Phoenix Raine form fully, picked up King, and hovered slightly off the ground, small flames coming from their wings. Ed and Em just got onto their staffs.

"Where are we?" Emira asked, still looking around when she was on her staff.

"Not sure," Raine replied.

Edric just sighed when looking around did him no good. "Well, there has to be some way out of here," he said. "And the fact that Collector is no where in sight is giving me the creeps."

"Agreed," Emira replied. "Next level of business: fly around until we find the exit."

Edric, Raine, and King nodded. Raine led the way by swiftly flying down the path ahead of them. Edric and Emira following close behind.

Just flying around each twist and turn of this strange place wasn't giving them any results. Every once in a while Raine would hit a dead end, Ed and Em would stop behind them, they would groan with annoyance, and then Raine would lead the way back to the closest turn they didn't make yet.

After about the fifth time this happened, Edric was ready to go back to that strange Rubik's Cube place. That at least he had something to look at. This place just had bright pink walls and dead ends. Emira must've shared her brother's thoughts.

"Is this some sort of joke?!" she shouted exasperatedly.

Raine sighed as they stared at the pink wall ahead of them. "It must be some sort of maze," they explained. "I hate it, too, Em, but we have no choice but to search for the exit."

Emira groaned. "Great," she said. "I wouldn't be surprised if this stupid maze didn't even have an exit. Collector probably just wants us to suffer."

King shared a nervous glance with Raine. "Actually—"

Edric cut him off. "Speaking of Collector, where even is he?!" he shouted. "I'd expect him to be here somewhere."

"Didn't he say this was supposed to be one of his favorite games?" Emira asked. "This seems less like a game and more like a torture chamber."

Raine sighed annoyedly. "Let's just keep looking."

Before Edric could so much as nod, Raine zipped past him and Emira. "Hey, wait up!" his sister called. Edric struggled to catch up as Emira bolted on her staff to follow Raine.

As they flew down another long hallway with nothing but bright pink walls and a blue floor below them, Edric could hear an interesting sound. It only began about halfway to the next corner, but it was so strange, it stole all of his focus.

The sound sounded like someone eating food. Kinda. It was more like if someone was clamping their teeth together as they would when they ate food, but they weren't eating food. They were just clamping their teeth together as if they were.

Since this noise was getting louder and louder, Edric figured it was coming from behind him. And it was getting closer. He slowly turned his head around, nervous about what he would see.

Edric had no idea what he was expecting, but it definitely wasn't what he saw.

Several yards away from him, getting bigger and bigger as it approached, was what seemed to be Collector. But it wasn't the Collector Edric was used to. This version of him was just a huge head with light skin, a blue splotch on one side of his face, white hair, and a purple hat with stars on it that you would wear to bed. This huge Collector head had huge teeth that clamped down and made that weird noise.

Weirdly, it reminded Edric of that old game that his dad told him about. The game where cute little ghosts of different colors ran from a big yellow head with huge teeth that clamped together every move it made. Pac-Man, Edric remembered the title being.

Despite that memory, his nervousness didn't go down by any percent.

"Oh, my God!" Edric shouted. His scream seemed to get Emira's attention.

"Ed?" she said, looking over her shoulder. She gasped, about to say something else. Raine interrupted her.

"Holy Titan!" they screamed. 

"Looks like you got your answer, Ed!" King added.

"Yeah, but I didn't want it to be Collector's giant Pac-Man head chasing us!" Edric shouted back.

"What the heck is Pac-Man?!" Raine demanded.

"Not important!" Emira replied exasperatedly. "Raine, could you just, I don't know, fly faster?!"

Raine turned their head to look away from Pac-Man Collector as they groaned. "Anything to get away from that thing," they said.

The fiery wings of Phoenix Raine quickened their pace. Ed and Em both got their Palismen to go faster, too, helping them also get away from Pac-Man Collector. Although, it seemed like even he was going faster.

There was another long hallway after the next corner. Edric internally groaned with annoyance since he was too exhausted to do it on the outside. Surprisingly, flying fast on your staff was just as tiring as sprinting. 

What made Edric actually want to scream in anger was how the long hallway led to a dead end. This was the moment when a dead end was the opposite of what they wanted. However, Edric was still too tired to let out anything other than panting. Emira apparently wasn't.

"Are you kidding me?!" she screamed after a short pause after reaching the dead end. "This is the worst torture chamber ever!"

Edric wanted to agree with his sister verbally, but he couldn't. All his voice could still bring out was pant after pant. That didn't matter, though. Before he could let out another breath, Edric's whole world was eaten up by darkness. Literally.

A loud chomp ran through Edric's ears as his sight was filled with darkness. Based off the chomp, he figured Pac-Man Collector ate him. Emira's voice could be heard outside the dark mouth. Edric figured she just screamed his name. Instead of trying to respond, he screamed, falling off his staff. 

Batric quickly turned back into his alive form. Edric fell onto what he guessed was Pac-Man Collector's tongue. It felt just as gross as a normal tongue, but worse. The tongue felt gooey, but with bubbles all around it to add to the grossness. Edric screamed and got to his feet. Luckily, his dark green and black boots shielded his feet from the disgusting tongue below them.

"Batric!" Edric called. His Palisman didn't give an answer. Edric clenched his teeth as he could slightly make out Batric shapeshifting in the close distance.

Suddenly, the inside of Pac-Man Collector's mouth slightly closed in on itself. It seemed like he was holding his breath. Edric wasn't sure what Batric had shapeshifted into, but it must've done the trick. After a few moments of the slightly closing-in-on-itself mouth existing, it opened, dropping Edric and his Palisman onto the floor.

Edric groaned as he sat up. He could hear Emira gasp nearby and her footsteps approach. When he looked up, his sister was standing over him with worry, her staff held at her side.

"Ed, are you okay?" Emira asked, getting on one knee in front of her brother. Raine was behind her now, King still held in their arms.

Edric groaned again as he held a hand up to his head, slightly pushing his hat off it. "Yeah..." he let out. "I don't really know how, though."

Edric looked over his shoulder at Pac-Man Collector again. Emira, Raine, and King gasped. The huge Collector head opened its mouth, revealing that there was now a red bump on his tongue.

"What the—" Edric began, being interrupted by a familiar squeak. He looked over to see a crab hovering next to him. It had dark gray scales and other familiar colors of its body. Batric pinched one of his new pinchers.

"Oh, Batric, you adorable genius!" Edric exclaimed, picking up his shapeshifting Palisman. 

"Naturally," Batric replied with a content squeak as Edric scratched his scaly chin.

A pop! could be heard in the distance. Edric looked over as Batric shapeshifted back into his original bat form. Collector turned back into the form Edric was used to, his mouth forcefully closed because of the bump on his tongue Batric gave him. Collector narrowed his eyes as he snapped his fingers.

Edric gasped as his surroundings changed again. Instead of being in that terrible maze of bright pink walls, he seemed to be back on that strange floating Rubik's Cube. The only difference was how the whole biome had a weird blue tint over it. Well, it was actually more cyan. After looking around a bit more, Edric realized he was in a sphere.

Emira, Raine, and King were, too. Emira's was green, Raine's was red, and King's was blue. 

"Hey, what gives?" Emira asked no one in particular. Daisy turned back into her alive form and tried to help her witch escape the green see-through sphere.

Raine tried to use their tall fiery body to escape their red sphere. "No idea," they said. "I can't seem to break this... whatever it is."

Edric heard a loud stomp in the distance. Suddenly, a huge Collector appeared nearby. Honestly, Edric wasn't sure if Collector was bigger or if he was smaller. How much bigger the toy cubes in the distance were gave him his answer.

Collector laughed, his voice echoing all around the air. Edric felt his heart pounding in his chest as Collector got closer to the floor. He was right in front of Emira's sphere and lifted an index finger. 

"Woah, woah, woah!" she exclaimed as Collector got closer. "What do you think you're doing? Get away from me!"

Collector didn't listen to Emira's pleas of protest. He just closed one eye, stuck his tongue out, raised an index finger, and flicked her sphere. Emira screamed as she rolled in her green ball. Daisy was quacking with fear as she frantically flew around the sphere.

Raine gasped as they looked over their shoulder to see Emira's sphere coming straight for them. Neither could do anything as their spheres smashed into each other. Raine fell, Emira stopping her screaming and rolling.

"Ow!" she yelled. "Dude, that hurt!" Daisy quacked angrily in agreement.

Collector didn't seem to care. He just laughed hysterically, one foot lifted into the air. 

"King, what do we do?" Edric wondered. "Actually, scratch that. "What can we do?"

King seemed to be in deep thought. Edric watched the little guy's wide yellow eyes lay on Collector raised foot. He gasped.

"I think I have an idea..."

Before Edric could do anything, King got on all fours and sprinted himself and his sphere over to Collector. "King, wait! King!"

King didn't listen. As Collector's foot began to reach the ground, he ran faster. The little guy reached Collector as his foot was about a foot from the floor. King's sphere ran into it, causing Collector to trip. King quickly stopped his sphere so he wouldn't roll too far away.

Collector screamed as he tripped, a loud thud following his thud. King seemed proud of himself and his plan in his blue sphere. Collector slightly lifted his head to stare at King, his eyes narrowed. He snapped his fingers angrily.

Edric's surroundings changed again. He still seemed to be on that weird floating Rubik's Cube, but the floor beneath him seemed to be... cut in half... Edric wasn't sure how to describe it. As he continued to just stand up straight, he could feel himself start to fall forward.

When Edric looked down, he realized the blue floor below him was a long distance away. He screamed as he started to fall, something quickly stopping him before he could get very far.

Emira was right next to Edric, her hand firmly holding onto his Almighty Alvanic costume to stop him from falling. She pulled him back as he screamed again, letting his back push against a wall.

"You seriously gotta stop almost dying during this nightmare," Emira told him annoyedly.

Edric glared at his sister. "You're telling me you didn't almost fall to your death before you realized we were high above the ground?"

"Unlike you, I was smart and used survival skills to force myself backwards."

"You do realize I don't know what being smart is, right?"

"Well, you better learn if you wanna survive Collector's games."

"Oh, excuse me—"

"Will you two stop being cliché siblings for five minutes?!" a familiar voice shouted. Edric looked over his shoulder to see King resting there.

"How long have you been there?!" he screamed.

King rolled his eyes. "Long enough to hear your dumb bickering."

Emira sighed. "Where's Raine?" she wondered, changing the subject.

"Over here!"

Edric followed Raine's voice to see them hovering nearby, waving their furry arm. "Any chance we could get a lift, Raine?" Emira called, shuffling over a bit. Edric followed suit.

"If you want me to, I'd—"

Raine was cut off by the thing Ed and Em were standing on shaking. Edric gasped as he looked over his shoulder to see Collector hovering on the other side of the colorful tower. Suddenly, it stopped shaking and started to fall apart.

"Ed..." Emira let out as the ground below her faltered.

Edric just nodded as he reached his hand out. "Daisy and Batric got our backs," he said surprisingly calmly.

Emira reached her hand out, too. Daisy and Batric quickly turned into their staff forms and flew the twins off the falling tower. They made their way over to Raine and stopped. However, the tower was falling in their direction.

"Oh, come on!" Emira shouted, swiftly flying to Raine's other side.

Raine just narrowed their eyes and stared at Collector with what seemed to be fire in their dark eyes. They spread out their large, fiery wings, clapped them together with a loud boom!, and created a giant shock wave that pushed away the large pieces of the colorful tower.

Collector gasped since the pieces were falling in his direction. As they fell to the floor with several thuds, Collector falling with them, Edric realized they looked like Jenga pieces. He guessed that he didn't notice that before since he was standing on the tower.

Raine slowly began to fly down to the ground. Ed and Em followed suit on their staffs. Edric made sure to acknowledge the presence of King still resting on his shoulder as his staff lowered.

One of the Jenga tower pieces was shoved to the side, revealing Collector underneath it. He seemed angry as he stared at Ed, Em, Raine, and King, small blush of embarrassment on his cheeks. Raine stopped lowering, so Ed and Em stopped, too. They were only a few feet off the ground.

Eventually, Collector's face softened, his blush disappearing. He sadly turned around as Edric raised a confused eyebrow. He was more than confused. Perplexed, probably. Why had Collector's mood changed so suddenly? What would he do next? Was he mad or not?

Collector just extended his arm and snapped his fingers.

Edric's surroundings changed again. But this time, they were more normal than before. He was hovering above a blue floating Rubik's Cube, there was a beautiful dark night sky in the distance full of stars, and there were giggling shooting stars that appeared every once in a while. Just like when he woke up from his nightmare.

Edric sighed with relief as he fell to the floor, Batric turning back into his alive form. Emira, Raine, and King did the same around him. King was the first to say anything after hitting the floor.

"Thank... whoever..." he tiredly let out. "I think I barfed, like, twelve times..."

Raine let out a chuckle. "How about a lucky number thirteen?"

They scooped up King in their arms and threw him into the sky as he giggled. "Raine!" he yelled, followed by a few more giggles.

Edric laughed at the exchanged with Emira until they were interrupted. He looked over his shoulder at the sound of whimpering and sniffling. In the distance, Collector was curled up, his back leaning against a large toy cube.

Edric's expression softened. For some reason, he realized that Collector wasn't trying to hurt or kill them. He just wanted to play games with them. He even played some that Edric recognized: Pac-Man, Marbles, and Jenga. And when he arrived at the Boiling Isles again, Collector was just playing a game with King. A twisted game that used civilians as puppets, but the point still stands.

Collector didn't understand that he was hurting people. He didn't even think they could die. He was just a misunderstood little kid that didn't understand everything yet. Edric could understand. 

For some reason, he knew he could get Collector to listen to him.

As Edric got to his feet and began to approach Collector, he felt a hand grab his arm and stop him in his tracks. Emira had grabbed onto him, silently telling him to forget his plan. Raine wasn't so silent about their protest.

"Ed—"

"Let him go," King said, cutting Raine off. "If anyone can put some sense into them, it's Ed."

So many emotions were running through Edric's head. Emira pulled her hand away from him with a smile as he stared at King with glittering emotion. King believed in him. He truly thought Edric could get Collector to listen and understand. He was so grateful.

With a sigh, Edric finally turned away from his friends and made his way to Collector. They were still leaning against the huge toy cube, eyes closed in what looked like... resignation. Edric's expression softened even more. He felt bad for the poor kid. Well, not kid, but— Edric decided to just stop thinking so hard.

He made sure he was facing Collector head-on before getting down on one knee. "Collector," Edric said soothingly, "you know this can't last forever."

Collector slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Edric, resignation all over his expression still. However, he then smirked and narrowed his eyes. "Why? 'Cause you know you'll lose?"

Edric was originally gonna say something, but he decided against it. Collector still didn't understand that life wasn't a game. But then another thought invaded Edric's brain. Maybe Collector already knew life wasn't a game. Maybe they just wanted it to be.

Still, Edric didn't say anything in response to Collector's sudden mood change. He just stared into their narrowed blue eyes as footsteps approached. Edric knew that Emira, Raine, and King were making their way over. Since he couldn't even see their feet in the corner of his eyes, he knew they were watching Collector behind him.

After a few semi-awkward moments of silence and staring into each other's eyes, Collector's whole demeanor softened. He pouted, the bottom of his mouth slightly sticking out. His blue eyes also widened as his eyebrows furrowed. Edric watched as Collector snapped his eyes shut and turned away from him, crossing his arms.

"I just wanted a friend who wouldn't lie to me or trick me," Collector explained, his eyes still closed. "But everyone's the same! King lied. Eboni lied. Even they lied."

"Who's they?" Edric wondered.

"The Archivists, my siblings," Collector answered, glancing over at Edric. Their eyes widened again as they looked away. Edric was a bit unsettled by how insane Collector seemed now. They were smiling widely along with their widened eyes. " 'Oh, let's play a game,' they said. 'Let's play hide-and-seek'..."

Edric gasped as he heard a strange sound overhead. It sounded like when you go to a Football game at night and the large lights around the stadium turn on. The lights you shouldn't look at if you don't want to get blinded. Edric would know. He had looked at one once and instantly regretted it as a kid.

Collector swiftly turned to face him with anger prominent on his face. But he wasn't looking at Edric. He was looking above him. Where the sound had come from.

" 'Go down there and see if the Titans wanna play!' "

Edric looked up when light shined down on him. A large image made of stars appeared in the dark night sky. The image showed him what seemed to be a planet with Collector standing on it. The rest of the planet's surface was taken up by baby Titans. Edric knew they were babies since they all looked like King.

The small glowing version of Collector in the image began to run slowly, seeming to chase a baby Titan nearby. The Collector sitting in front of Edric spoke in a much happier tone when they continued.

"So, I played, and it was great!" they explained. "The baby Titans were adorable, just like King! And they were so welcoming!"

The image changed. The planet was gone. The small Collector made of stars was much larger and floating in a dark night sky, surrounded by baby Titans. He curled up and smiled at the adorable little guys. Suddenly, as Edric continued to watch the sky above him, large hands pulled the baby Titans out of view, leaving only a bewildered and confused Collector.

"But the Archivists were scared of their power..." Collector continued. "One by one, they disappeared. Until there was one Titan left..." As the starry Collector spun around in the air, he became smaller and smaller, large narrowed eyes of anger appearing ahead of him. "...and he thought I was the bad guy!"

The image completely changed again. Now an adult Titan was shown. Based off the floating egg above its paw and the description of "one Titan left" from Collector, Edric figured that Titan was King's dad.

The Titan faced his observers with anger before reaching its free paw forward. Collector curled up, as if hiding, as the huge paw approached him and caused bright light to emerge from his body before disappearing.

"He hid his egg from me and trapped me..." Collector continued. As Edric faced them, they slowly moved their face out of the hiding spot of their arms. "But I showed all of them. Even when those trapper jerks started acting weird... even when Eboni lied to me!"

Collector got himself out of his curled-up ball and stared into the distance with blue fire in his eyes. "I found King! I found the last Titan, and he's my friend now!" Collector closed his angry eyes and grasped tightly onto his starry hat.

"Collector..." King let out hesitantly.

Edric completely understood the little guy's feelings. Collector was showing them so many emotions in so little time. They began by revealing their denial of life not being just a silly game they can play. Then they revealed their joy at the thought of the lost Titans. Then their anger at being lied to by King and Eboni. And now...

Collector was showing them how much he's been building up inside his chest.

"I know it's just pretend!" they shouted. "I don't care!" Collector got to their feet and ran up to Edric. "I'll pretend as long as I want!!"

A slight breeze ran through Edric's hair and hat as they yelled at him, but he wasn't fazed. He just dipped his head slightly. 

"But that's not what you want, is it?"

"What would you know?!" Collector countered.

Raine took a small step forward. "We know what it's like to feel alone."

"And used," Emira added.

"And abandoned..." King continued.

Edric got to his feet with a small smile. Emira, Raine, and King were standing at his sides now. "And misunderstood," he finished. "But... how about we told you how we became friends?"

Emira reached her hand out to Raine. They accepted it as Edric reached out his to King. Finally, Edric felt Raine's furry hand wrap around his. Collector just watched his companions hold hands before turning away with a small hmph.

"King already told me about your adventures..." he told them.

Edric released himself from Raine and King's grasp and reached into his pouch. He had shoved the memories Luz had pulled out of his brain in Mattholomule's hideout in there before Kikimora and Boscha drugged them with sleeping nettles.

"It's different when you can see them," Edric explained as he walked up to Collector. He pulled out a memory from his pouch of him, Emira, Raine, and King in front of the Vixen House during his first week living there. 

"So, do you want to hear our stories?"

Collector turned to face Edric as he showed them the memory. They slowly walked up to it and inspected it. Edric was honestly getting a bit nervous by how long it took Collector to respond. Luckily, he was able to hide it.

Eventually, they smiled and took the memory from Edric. "Okay..." Collector said slowly. "Okay."

Edric smiled back and got to his feet again. "Good to hear," he replied. "Raine, do you mind leading the way?"

"Sure thing," they said.

"Woo-hoo!" Emira cheered. "This is gonna be so fun!"

Eda had already gotten really tired of Eboni after only being in the air for two seconds.

Throughout her whole flight on the shooting star Eboni had stole, Eda felt her skin being touched by something disgusting. When she first looked over to see what it was, she realized it was green and brown goop. Green and brown goop that Eboni used to infect her victims.

As Eda flew through the eerie and dark air above the Boiling Isles, the goop was becoming a large disgusting pile that rested on her shoulder and part of her back. Eda hated every second of it being there. It got larger and larger by the second, which just made the gross texture touch even more of her skin than she wanted it to.

Desperately and with no success, Eda had been trying to rip the disgusting substance off her. She thought that her long yellow nails would've done some damage, but they were no help. The largest amount of goop Eda had been able to leave flying into the sky behind her was as big as her hand.

In the distance, Eda could eventually spot the Empress's Castle in front of her. It seemed much creepier than usual—for a reason she couldn't explain—but that was the least of Eda's worries. She was just left to sit on that swift blue shooting star, disgusting green and brown goop all over her, as it descended to the entrance of the castle.

Eda rolled on the dirty ground in front of the drawbridge leading to the Empress's Castle. Her shooting star flew away quickly, running into every nearby surface before completely disappearing. Eda groaned and sighed as she sat up, the gooey sounds of the goop all around her becoming infuriating.

"I said..." she let out with narrowed golden eyes as she stared into the distance. "Get out!" Eda breathed in deeply before reaching her fingers up to her lips. She whistled, the powerful waves emitting from her voice pushing Eboni's gross goop forcefully off of her.

Eda started to get up, her legs shaking. However, she hadn't gained enough strength to stand up yet, so she fell back onto her knees with loud panting coming from her. Eboni's goop slowly formed a dark creature. It stared at Eda with a creepy yet unreadable expression.

"That's fine..." Eboni hissed, turning around. Since her gooey form didn't have legs, the evil woman used her arms to lead her into the castle. "Only one vessel is big enough for what I need..."

Eda continued to pant as Eboni disappeared into the dark entrance of the castle. That was when her words really registered in her mind.

"Only one vessel is big enough for what I need..."

Eda tried to think. A big vessel? A vessel bigger than her? What was Eboni planning? Suddenly, Eda thought of a huge vessel. The biggest one that she knew of. She was living on one. A Titan. The Titan. An extinct species that now had one of its kind as a large island with life living on it. 

Eda knew the Titan's heart was in Eboni's throne room in her castle. She had been there plenty of times. Eboni must've stopped at the castle for a reason. If the big vessel she was looking for was there, then that meant...

"No..." Eda breathed. After the realization had begun to wear off, she grunted and got to her feet.

There was still huge, striking pain in Eda's legs, but she had to push past that. Eboni would become more powerful and unstoppable than ever if she succeeded. During the couple months leading to the Day of Unity, Eda had dedicated her life to stopping Eboni and her plans.

She wasn't about to stop now.

Eda continued to pant and gasp as she ran through the dark halls of the castle. There was a long trail of goop Eboni had left behind leading to the throne room, but that wasn't how she was getting there. Eda had been called there during enough Coven Head assemblies and recruitment meetings to know how to get there. It didn't matter how long she had been a Coven Head for. She was still sent to hundreds of meetings.

Eda tripped a few times because of the combination of pain in her legs and the surprisingly weak state of the castle's stairs and floor, but she wasn't about to let that stop her. Once Eda could see the large doors leading to the throne room in the distance, she quickened her pace. Her destination was in her sights. She wasn't about to fail now.

Eda forced the door open right when her fingers were wrapped around the handle. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and search for Eboni. That goopy monster was nowhere in sight. Eda stepped further into the eerie room and teleported her lute to her. It was the only weapon she currently had at her disposal.

"You know what this is, don't you?" Eboni's voice echoed about the room. Eda hated hearing it in that manner. It reminded her of when the evil woman would speak to her in her mind during her control of her. Even if it had only been a small amount of time since then, Eda wanted to forget about it.

"It's the last of many, but it still beats."

Hearing that voice without knowing where it was coming from was making Eda mad. She turned around and around, trying and failing to find Eboni's disgusting face made of green and brown goop. She stopped to calm down when she still couldn't find any trace.

But how close the voice became was what really set Eda off.

Without her even noticing, Eboni's gooey body had climbed her back and appeared on her shoulder. "It's the Titan's heart!" the evil woman exclaimed.

Eda desperately tried to run away or get Eboni off of her, but to no avail. Her final attempt was holding her lute in one hand and trying to hit Eboni with it, but she never got the chance. The disgusting creature leaned down and used its long, dirty teeth to bite deep into Eda's arm. She screamed, dropping her lute.

Once the instrument had hit the floor, the goop on Eda's shoulder started to cover her face. She desperately tried to fight it off, her gaze shifting over to the throne and the large beating heart behind it. Eboni's goopy body formed a distance away, using its arms to crawl over to the throne.

"No!" Eda tried to scream, but her mouth was already covered in goop, muffling her voice. Eventually, it covered her whole face and made Eda lose track of where she was putting her feet.

She fell to the floor, thrashing her arms all over the goop covering her face to get it off. Although, Eda knew there had to be a better way of winning this fight. Eboni was getting closer and closer to the heart; that was certain. Focusing on the goop fighting herself wasn't going to stop her. Eda had to focus on stopping Eboni.

So, she did. She focused on her final goal and calmly ripped off the goop covering her eyes and nose. When Eda had regained her vision and maneuvered where her body was laying, she realized Eboni was already almost to the top of the throne.

That was bad. Eda had to focus harder on stopping her now. She gasped, her voice muffled, as she laid eyes on her lute in her vicinity. Eda used her arms to get closer and closer to the instrument as she grunted and strained. This was taking too long. Eda just groaned with frustration as she picked up her lute.

She angrily raised it into the air before smashing it. The lute broke in half, a bright yellow shield starting to cover the walls of the throne room—including the heart.

Eda didn't have the strength to feel triumphant. She couldn't even smile. In order to try to, she aggressively ripped off the goop on her mouth and the rest of her face. Although, that didn't help. When Eda looked up, she heard a loud grunt come from Eboni. The last of her lute's magic shield had formed, but she could see something small left on the heart behind it...

The shield quickly disappeared. When it did, whatever was on the heart came into better view. Eda recognized it as disgusting green goop—just a chunk of it. It beated along with the heart it was resting on.

Suddenly, the goop formed Eboni. Her disgusting face was staring right down at Eda as her hands rested on the heart's surface. "Poor Edalyn," the evil woman said. "You tried so hard... didn't you?"

Eda gasped. She was left to watch defenselessly as Eboni's gooey hands infected the heart, her body disappearing. It wasn't even goop anymore. It looked more like bright green wood or algae that had been hardened over time. It was just as disgusting as the goop Eda still had clung to her.

The infection quickly spread. Its hard texture and form swiftly got closer and closer to Eda as it covered the whole throne room. She had started to run away, but she didn't get very far. Eda just fell back on her knees and looked over her shoulder to see the hard form speed over to her. She grunted and covered her face as it scooped her whole body up.

Eda tried to escape her new hard and weirdly prickly prison with all the strength she had left. Eboni's power over the Titan and its body was spreading. Eda didn't need to see it to know. But she knew she had to get help. She needed to know Raine was okay.

Her last thought was of Raine's beautiful tan face with a bright smile before she lost consciousness.

From high above the Boiling Isles, it would seem normal.

Vegetation growing healthy on the Titan's bones...

Scouts having bonfires and talking about their days...

Everyone who survived being turned into a puppet living peacefully...

The quietness of the Archives...

But it was far from normal.

One empty eye socket of the Titan's skull formed an eye that was too small for it.

It glowed bright blue.

An eerie glow...

Eboni's laugh while she rested on the beating heart slowly became deafening.

It became silent suddenly.

Chapter Text

Hunter didn't know how to escape his dark prison for so long. After being collected and turned into a puppet by Collector along with his friends, Hunter felt like he was in a coma. But it was different than a coma. He could see and hear everything around him, but he couldn't move or speak. Hunter had been bored for hours just staring a dark, faintly glowing floor.

At least, until he forced himself to move.

Hunter realized after a while that the transformation into a puppet made you unable to move. Every time he tried to open his mouth or even do so much as move a finger, he couldn't. Hunter was forced into a stiff state.

But eventually, he became restless. Ever since seeing his boyfriend in that terrible nightmare place, Hunter wanted to escape the Collector's control more than ever. Edric was in more trouble than ever before. He was in more trouble than when he pretended to be Amity in order to fight Eboni. And that was bad.

Even so, Hunter had to admit that being a puppet was better than when he was in Edric's nightmare. When he was stuck there, he still didn't have control of his body. But Hunter could move. He just couldn't move the way he wanted to.

He was forced to sit there and watch as he tried to kill Ed and Em. Hunter hated thinking about when he first met his boyfriend and tried to kill him willingly as is. Being forced to sit and watch as he did the same thing against his will was way worse. Luckily, Hunter was able to break through the control and tell his boyfriend how to escape his nightmare.

"You turn on the light."

That was the only sentence running through his head for the past couple hours.

At that point, Hunter knew he had to break through his puppet coma. He needed to see if Ed was okay. He needed to know if he was able to defeat Collector and Eboni. He needed to know that he was right by his side.

Hunter remembered the key to how Edric escaped his nightmare. At least, he hoped his boyfriend had escaped it with Emira. He had never actually seen it happen. Hunter decided not to think about it. What he did decide to think about was what he had given his boyfriend: a light glyph. He had been using them for months. Glyphs were the only magic the twins could create without their staffs.

And Hunter remembered what the light glyph looked like.

It took him a lot of concentration, but Hunter was finally able to get his finger to move. Since it was such a huge achievement as a puppet, he couldn't help celebrating a little. Once his small celebration was over, Hunter focused even more. He had to make a light glyph and activate it. If he didn't, he would never escape being a puppet.

Using only his single index finger and the dirtiness of the floor, Hunter drew a light glyph. He made sure to make his circle around the symbol fully before softly tapping the glyph. Since he wasn't able to lift his finger very high, Hunter was worried the glyph wouldn't work. Luckily, he was wrong.

The symbol disappeared, a tiny ball of light taking its place. The ball slowly ascended into the sky, out of Hunter's view. Bright light filled his vision before he could see again. Hunter groaned, hoping his voice was actually coming from his mouth. It was.

He gasped as he slightly sat up on the floor. Hunter looked up to see the small ball of light still floating away. "Oh, my gosh..." he let out with a smile. "It worked!"

Hunter could hear more groaning from behind him. It came from a few voices. When he looked over his shoulder, he realized his light glyph had woken Luz, Gus, and Amity up, too. They were sitting up and groaning.

Hunter had no idea where he was. There were puppets everywhere. In front of him, hanging from the ceiling with white strings around his arms was Hale. His curly white hair was a bit longer than Hunter was used to, but he would recognize his old Empress's Coven mentor anywhere.

"Mister Hale?" Hunter asked no one in particular as he rubbed his eye.

Gus screamed from behind him, making Hunter jump. "Where the heck are we?!" his youngest friend demanded.

"This must be the Archives," Luz said. 

Hunter was frantically looking around. He knew Luz, Gus, and Amity were with him... but where were Ed and Em? Hunter wasn't sure if Collector was messing with him by keeping his boyfriend from him, but it didn't seem out of character. They had tried to help Eboni wipe out the whole Boiling Isles, after all.

After a bit longer of looking around with no luck, Hunter decided to take a deep breath and calm down. Ed and Em were probably just somewhere safe with Raine and King. Gus had said that Collector was trying to keep them away from each other. The twins must've just escaped their nightmare and found the people they'd been desperately missing.

But Hunter was still doubtful deep down inside.

"Alador!" Gus exclaimed. "Luz, help me get him down."

As Hunter listened to Luz and Gus get to their feet and Stringbean and Emmiline turn into their staffs, his doubt grew at a rapid rate. Maybe the reason for that was because his friends hadn't mentioned the twins even once. Weren't they worried? Hunter couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"Guys..."

Luz, Gus, and Amity all turned to face Hunter. He swiftly turned his head, revealing his wide and worried brown eyes.

"Where are Ed and Em?"

Edric's smile grew as the Vixen House came closer and closer into view. It quickly became pretty small once he remembered that it was still trashed by the Empress's Coven. What were those scouts thinking, trashing his second home like that? Then again, they were all brainwashed by Eboni. Edric had to cut them some slack.

Emira was the first to say anything when they hit the ground. "I thought we would, I don't know, flip through these...?" she said, staring down at Collector.

Everyone ignored her statement, especially Collector. He just extended his arms at his sides with a large grin. "So, it all started at the Fox House."

"The Vixen House," Raine corrected. "Speaking of which, what happened to it?!"

"Oh, yeah," King said nervously as Raine flew into the air. They were flying around the trashed Vixen House, staring at each piece of graffiti and ruined brick with confusion. "You haven't seen it in a while..."

Edric reached into his pouch and took out the memory he had shown Collector on that floating Rubik's Cube. He couldn't help but smile as he stared at himself from months ago in the photo. Edric never understood how his dad could get so nostalgic over memories and movies from the 80's. Now he completely understood that feeling.

"Well, for Em and I, it started in the Human Realm," Edric explained to Collector, showing them the memory again. "I thought she had gone to summer camp, but..."

Emira grinned and made her way to Raine and King. They were standing a short distance away now. "But I actually had found my way here and met Raine," she explained. "Since I was so entranced by the weirdness of this place, I left their side and got arrested by Warden Wrath for being human. Yeah, weird."

Edric smirked and walked up to his sister. "And then I showed up and busted you out of prison," he told her.

"No comment," Emira replied with a playful grin.

Edric couldn't help but chuckle. He remembered how much he would dunk on Emira for having to break her out of the Conformatorium. It was honestly one of his favorite memories. Not only because it was a great thing to joke with his sister about, but also because that was the day Edric realized how much the Boiling Isles meant to him.

"Ed, you have to help me. And them. What they're in for aren't crimes. They're just weird things they like to say and do. They're just a bunch of weirdos. Like you."

"Like... me?"

"Just like you. You always thought not being able to read or act like everyone just made you awkward, Ed. But it doesn't. It just makes you awesome."

Edric had learned a valuable lesson that day. He learned to be himself. He learned to not listen to those who thought he was weird. He learned not to listen to those who made him think his disabilities made him useless and a mistake. It may have taken him months to fully learn that lesson, but Edric would never forget when it first started to take effect in his life.

"Anyway," he told Collector once his chuckling wore off, "I eventually made my way here, too and met Scarlet, Sparky, and the infamous Raine Whispers, most powerful and famous witch on the Boiling Isles."

"And the King of Demons!" King exclaimed, jumping into Edric's arms.

Edric gave King a quick pat on the head before continuing. "None of us felt like we fit in, so we decided to not fit in together."

Collector scoffed and turned around, crossing their arms. "It was that easy, huh?" they said bitterly.

"Not really," Emira replied.

Edric walked up to Collector and showed him a few more memories. The first was of Emira when that con-quest-giving wizard tried to manipulate her. "Well, we had a lot to learn," Edric told Collector as he flipped to a new memory. This one showed him and Emira during their entrance exam at Hexside.

"But eventually we met others who helped us." The next memories Edric showed were of Luz and Gus during the field trip to the Empress's Castle and the beginning of the Grudgby game against Boscha and her team.

"That game looks fun!" Collector said cheerfully, pointing at the Grudgby game memory. "I wanna go there!"

Raine made their way over, King in their furry arms. "Good choice," they said. "I'll have fun during this visit, too."

Collector looked confused at Raine's words. Emira laughed at his confusion as Daisy became her staff. "Let's just go; everything will make sense then."

Once his feet were against the top of the Grudgby stadium at Hexside, Edric felt happy. Just in a state of pure, delightful happiness. The Grudgby field looked like the least renovated part of "New Hexside." Edric loved it. It really made everything feel normal, in a way.

Collector was mesmerized as they studied their surroundings. Edric couldn't blame them. He had never been a fan of sports (even sports video games), but when he saw the Grudgby field for the first time, he thought it was really cool. Collector was obviously going through a similar thought process.

"And this is where we play a game called Grudgby," Edric explained, getting Collector's scattered attention.

"The ball can bite you and the rules are nonsense," King added cheerfully, "but it's actually kinda fun."

Raine seemed taken aback. "Nonsense?!" they exclaimed. "You act like the newer additions of magical sports at Hexside are superior. Now that is what you 'nonsense'."

"You act like you actually played Grudgby before, Raine," Edric told them jokingly, softly nudging them.

"Yeah!" Emira agreed rather loudly. "We worked our bottoms off playing against Boscha and her peeps! What Grudgby teams have you played against, Raine? Huh?"

Edric softly smacked his sister on the arm. "Don't get feisty, now, Em," he warned. "We only played Grudgby once. You do remember that Hunter used to be captain of the team, right?"

"Oh, of course, I do," Emira replied with a smirk. "How could I ever forget about your lovely boyfriend, former captain of the Hexside Grudgby team? Ya know, the one you carried in your arms after he broke his wittle ankle?"

Edric's face was getting hot as Emira continued. If there was any time he expected her to joke about him and Hunter, it wasn't while visiting memories with Collector.

"Yeah, that one," Edric said firmly after getting rid of his flushed cheeks.

Raine chuckled at the twins' usual bickering. "Well, I do know some things about Grudgby," they explained. "Eda played it with her sister after they enrolled at Hexside."

King gasped. "I remember this story!" he exclaimed. "And she was star player! Raine loves to brag about it."

"Oh, do they now?" Emira said, grinning up at Raine. Their cheeks changed to bright red quicker than Edric's did a mere moment ago.

"And, did you know..." King added after a short moment of snickering, "...Eda's older sister was her captain?"

"Really?"

Edric snorted. Not out of pettiness, but out of surprise. "Now that is a spin-off I'd watch."

Emira, Raine, and King went off to continue their session of funny moments, sports talk, and making fun of Raine's blush. Edric originally would've joined them, but he was interrupted. As Emira went to pester Raine a bit more, Edric saw a flash of bright colors in the corner of his eye.

When he looked over, confused, Edric noticed that Collector was flying away on his shooting star. Well, he wasn't flying away, just a short distance away from Edric and his friends. Collector stopped when he reached the edge of the Grudgby field, his mouth moving as if he were talking to someone.

"Guys," Edric said softly. He knew there was a much better and easier way to get the attention of his friends, but he didn't need a new way. Em, Raine, and King automatically looked over at him.

Edric just pointed. They understood right away, nodding at him. Emira got on her staff, Edric did the same, and Raine flew down with them, King in their arms.

Collector seemed pretty upset when they found their way to his side. Edric wasn't sure what that was about. All he could see in the distance next to the field were rustling bushes. Collector still seemed upset. He quickly crossed his arms and pouted angrily.

"I wanna go somewhere different," they muttered.

Edric would've made Collector elaborate on what made them so upset, but he decided to save his breath. It was much easier to just continue this trip down memory lane. Edric got on one knee and showed Collector the first new memory he took from his pouch.

This one was of the snowy and cold Knee.

No words were exchanged. Collector just nodded to Edric. That was the only explanation he needed. The next time they spoke to each other was when they got to the Knee. The winter-like breeze blowing through Edric's hair made him feel even more normal than when he was at the Grudgby field.

"I'm actually glad you chose this place, Collector," Edric explained. He was still enjoying the cool feeling of the top of the Knee as he took a few steps forward. "It's where Raine helped me make a connection with Isles."

Edric plopped down onto his knees. He reached his finger into the snow and began to draw. When he finished, an ice glyph was on the ground in front of him. When Edric activated it, a short ice platform quickly appeared.

His first trip to the Knee with Em and Raine was another one of Edric's favorite memories. Sure, it was full of embarrassment that came with either ADHD or Hunter, Vee, and Cinco, but it was also amazing. Edric would never forget it.

He would never forget when Hunter had sealed him in that glowing yellow prison.

"What do we do?"

"I'm going after them, you're staying here."

"But that thing has Em and Raine!"

"And because of you, it also has my brother and sister! Now stay put! You'll only get hurt."

He would never forget how he found the ice glyph and figured out where to search for more.

"Wait... is that..."

Edric had traced over that light glyph constellation with his finger.

"A light glyph? But what does that mean?"

And then the snowflake fell onto his hand. It dissolved into water.

"It means that magic comes from the island..."

He had drawn an ice glyph based off the snowflake and activated it.

"And magic is everywhere..."

Connecting to the Isles and learning his second spell would always hold a special place in Edric's heart.

Once the ice platform had fully formed, Collector scoffed. Edric was a bit disappointed, honestly. He had hoped a memory as special to him as this one would at least put a smile to Collector's childish face.

"A baby could do that!" they said. Collector smiled as they plopped onto the snow. "But I've never seen an itty-bitty spider do it that way. Not everyone can recognize Titan magic. He must really like you if he's shown you this much."

Edric's whole view of Collector's words changed about 50 times as he spoke. At first, all that registered was itty-bitty spider, Titan magic, and must really like you. Once all those words and phrases jumbled together became something that actually made sense, Edric stared at Emira. That was the only thing he thought of doing.

But the point still stands. Collector had just told him (while acting like it wasn't a life-changing revelation) that glyphs were Titan magic. That meant that King could probably use glyphs naturally. He was a Titan, after all.

But something else had also crossed Edric's mind. Glyphs being Titan magic actually made sense. When he had found the ice glyph, he had learned that magic (or glyphs) had come from the island. What was the Boiling Isles made of? The Titan's bones. 

Of course glyphs came from Titans. The island magic came from a Titan. A Titan is the island, making the island magic come from a Titan. Edric knew the whole reason he had never figured this out before was because of how dumb he was. But he decided not to think about that. It wasn't important.

Right when Edric's gaze had locked with his sister's, he knew she was just as shocked as he was. Maybe smarts wasn't the reason he hadn't figured this out before being directly told. Emira was smart. She knew magic came from the island/Titan. She used glyphs on a daily basis, too. Edric knew he wasn't alone in being ignorant to this information.

He was taken straight back to reality when Collector sighed. He shifted around slightly and raised his finger. A small Titan made of snow formed in front of him.

"He never bothered to tell me about it, though," Collector explained as his snow Titan formed. "Did you force him to be your friend, too? Like—what were their names? Hale and Hunter?"

"They never forced anyone to do anything!" King shouted.

Edric had to smile. He was pretty surprised that Collector thought he had forced his friends into their friendships with him. He found it funny, too. But it was still good to know King was still looking out for him.

"Yeah, people are complex," Edric explained. Emira was nodding along to his every word. "Sometimes they just need to be shown some kindness and forgiveness."

Collector got to their feet. They inspected Edric up and down with a quick nod before responding. "Kindness and forgiveness, huh?"

Edric wanted to smile and nod, but he never got the chance. The only reason he had befriended so many enemies was because of kindness and forgiveness. Even if it wasn't given at first.

Would Hunter be the totally awesome and sweet boyfriend he was now if Edric never gave him that W.V.W game at the library and forgave him?

Would Hale be the cool uncle he was now if Edric never forgave him for cursing Raine and capturing them?

Would Amity be the easily flustered and loyal friend (and somewhat little sister) she was now if Edric never tried to get to her to change sides and succeed in the end?

Edric knew what the answers to all these questions were. He was glad that he knew. It was something he would always need to know and remember.

But how didn't he get the chance to smile and nod at Collector's response? Well, they had turned and began to walk away before he could do so. Edric was actually a bit disappointed about that. He had gotten so proud of the guy!

"Do you hear that?" Collector said softly, stopping near the end of the Knee.

"Hear what?" Emira wondered.

Even if he was really confused, Edric was on high alert. Collector obviously heard something. Edric needed to get to the bottom of what that was. Although, all he heard were normal sounds. The soft breeze, rustling tree leaves, birds chirping, their feathery wings flapping...

But these sounds weren't normal.

Edric didn't know that yet.

There was a short pause before someone said anything else. Even if he couldn't see his face, Edric knew Collector was shocked in some way. Were his eyes widening? It didn't matter. His soft gasp said it all.

"Breathing..."

Edric sprung to his feet at that word. What breathing? From where? Who? Was the soft breeze not a breeze at all? Why were the birds flying away? What was amiss? Edric knew something was.

He knew right when he got his answer.

In the far distance, all the way at the other end of the island, the Titan's skull glowed. But it wasn't the whole skull. It was just one small part of it. The large, deep eye socket on the right of the skull glowed bright blue. It looked like there was an eye in the socket now. An eye that was too tiny for it. An eye that didn't belong.

And Edric had seen that menacing glowing blue eye enough times to know who it belonged to.

"Those eyes..." Collector breathed. He seemed to be having the same realization Edric was having. "Don't tell me it's..."

"Eboni."

From right when he recognized that eerie blue glowing eye, Collector was scared out of his mind.

They weren't really sure why. They didn't have any reason to be scared of Eboni. Collector was mad at her, not scared of her. But they also couldn't get what Edric had told them out of their head.

"People are complex. Sometimes they just need to be shown some kindness and forgiveness."

Was Eboni just complex? Was she just misunderstood? Did she just need someone to lead her to the right side? Based off Edric's words, Collector figured this was the case. It had to be.

Even as he was flying over the familiar terrain of the Boiling Isles, that was all that was running through Collector's mind. All those unanswered questions. All those misconceptions. All that confusion. All of it. Collector wished he could just ask Edric or Emira for advice. But he always stopped himself. They had much bigger problems at the moment.

Like how the familiar terrain of the Boiling Isles was changing at a rapid rate.

Everywhere Collector looked, they could see a strange, rapid-growing substance infect the Boiling Isles. It looked rock-hard. Collector didn't know much about under the Boiling Sea, but he remembered something called algae. Was that what this substance was?

They were never given a true answer. Emira just exclaimed, "What the heck is this stuff?!" as she frantically looked around. "Gross."

"I can second that," Raine agreed. "But I'm not sure how we can get an answer. Finding the source of it would be a good lead."

Collector whimpered. He still wasn't sure why he was scared. He couldn't get hurt from this stuff, could he? Even so, Collector knew he could just fix any injury he or any of his friends got. But the point still existed. This substance was of unknown origin. Pretty much everything about it was unknown. Even Collector's companions didn't seem to know. That was bad.

Luckily, no one seemed to notice his whimper. Collector was grateful. He had really enjoyed that trip through Ed and Em's memories. Even if those kids at Grudgby were scared of him for some reason, Collector still had fun. Life at the Vixen House sounded even better than King originally described! Collector really wished he could've been there to watch those memories play out.

But that wasn't a major issue. Even if Collector wanted to get more out of Ed or Em about their memories at the moment, he knew they wouldn't want to talk about that. They were more fixed on the source of this strange substance and what Eboni supposedly had to do with it. That glowing blue eye was no joke.

The Empress's Castle was getting closer and closer. Collector would know. That had been the only place Eboni had let him roam around. Even if just in the basement where the portal was being built. It was still a huge room with so many surfaces to play around on. Collector had loved it. At least, until he was betrayed, that is.

Edric gasped as they got closer to the castle. It was pretty close now. As Collector squinted and inspected it a bit more, they noticed that more and more of that strange substance was forming at each side of the castle. It was almost like...

"It looks like it's coming from the castle," Edric told his companions. 

"Then that's where we have to go," Emira added.

Edric looked around for a moment before gasping again. "There!" he shouted. "We can land there and see what's going on."

Emira, Raine, and King nodded in understanding. Collector would've nodded with them, but they just couldn't do it. They had no idea why. Instead they just let their shooting star descend to land where Edric was leading them.

Once all their feet were safely on the ground behind a large stone pillar starting to get covered in the strange substance, Edric peeked around the corner. Collector could hear an abundance of cracking coming from the other side of the pillar. They didn't have knowledge of what that was. So, they decided to not look with Ed.

Eventually, after one final loud Crack! Edric gasped. Without looking at his companions, he shouted, "Guys, look!"

Collector hesitated. They weren't sure what they'd see. What if it was too scary? But that was silly. Even if it was scary, Collector could just fix any problems it caused. When Em, Raine, and King looked over Edric's shoulder and gasped, too, Collector joined them.

What they saw was scarier than anything they saw before.

The strange substance had made something new form. It was huge, with glowing blue eyes all over its gross, stone-hard green body. It looked a bit like a Titan. It had long horns on its head, large wings at its sides, and a head that looked somewhat like a skull. But this thing was scarier than any Titan. Even more than King's dad when he trapped Collector all those years ago.

When the creature spoke, Eboni's loud, booming voice came out.

"Finally!" the evil woman shouted to the sky with triumph. "Now I can cleanse this perdition... myself!"

The creature opened its mouth as a small blue orb of energy formed in it. Eventually, the orb formed a large beam of energy and struck the ground in front of it. The ground became covered in the strange substance quickly. Eboni fired several more beams, covering even more of the Boiling Isles in her strange substance.

"Is that Eboni?" Raine asked as they walked away from the pillar. Ed, Em, and King followed suit. Collector's attention was focused on something else...

"But how did she get here without a body?" Emira added.

But Collector wasn't listening. Eboni firing more and more beams was ringing in his ears as he stepped forward. Something clinked beneath his foot. Collector whimpered with fear as he looked down. On the ground right where his foot had been was a sphere. It was bright yellow and shiny.

When Collector picked up the sphere, he realized it wasn't a full sphere. It was just round on most edges. It was an earring. And it was very familiar. Collector remembered seeing it and its identical pair hanging from the pointy, pale ears of a certain puppet. One he had seen quite recently.

Eda's earring.

This just made Collector so much more confused. Where was Eda? Why had she left only one of her earrings behind? Especially on the ground in front of the Empress's Castle. Even if Collector didn't have a straight answer to any of their questions, they knew Eboni was responsible for Eda's disappearance. They weren't sure how. But they were sure that something had to be done.

Eboni had done so many wrong things. She had lied to Collector for so many long, long times and eventually betrayed them. She had tried to hurt everyone on the Boiling Isles with the Draining Spell. She had put Ed, Em, Raine, and King in so much disarray. They were Collector's friends. And they didn't like it when someone messed with their friends.

Eboni had done so many wrong things like when Hunter tried to get Edric dissected.

Eboni had done so many wrong things like when Hale cursed Raine.

Something had to be done.

The right thing had to be done.

And Collector was going to get it done.

"What do we do?" King wondered as Eboni continued to cover the Boiling Isles in the strange substance. "There's no way we can stop that!"

"Yes, there is," Collector countered, his grip hardening on Eda's earring. He softly placed it back on the ground as his whole body glowed. "And I know how."

Collector zipped away with a puff of smoke in his wake. He didn't even stay to see the look on his friends' faces. He had a mission that he had to complete. And fast.

Several large arms made of the strange substance formed around Collector as he flew up to Eboni. They tried to grab him. But he was too quick. Collector just effortlessly destroyed the arms with his magic. They were annoying and getting in the way. But that didn't matter. As he destroyed the last arm, Collector quickened his pace.

Eboni looked confused as she stopped firing a beam. Once Collector was right in front of her, a huge cloud of smoke covered them, followed by bright light. Collector got into the position he needed to be in. His friends were probably so confused. But that was okay. They would learn soon enough.

"No..." Edric breathed from the ground in the distance. "What's he doing?"

The smoke dispersed. Collector knew they were in full view. That was good. Their friends could see how much they had learned now. Especially Ed! This was perfect! Ed was the one Collector had to thank. He had taught them a great lesson. A lesson that they were using to their advantage right now.

Eboni blinked as Collector hugged her snout. She seemed to still be in shock after receiving kindness and forgiveness for probably the first time. How had Ed never thought of this before? He was the whole reason Collector thought to forgive Eboni. They didn't even have to use words. Just a small hug was enough. 

After another few moments of their arms wrapping around Eboni's skull, Collector let go. They gave their new friend a kind smile before turning around, starting to fly back to their other friends. Ed would be so proud of them! He had to be. They had learned to use kindness and forgiveness! Collector certainly would be proud of themself. 

"Ed, look!" he called cheerfully. "We can all be buddies now!"

Collector wasn't sure what he heard, but something fired up behind him.

"Collector!"

Edric swiftly got onto his staff and flew to Collector.

"No!"

Collector had to frown. Ed looked so worried when he began to get closer and closer. Why? Collector had forgiven Eboni, just like Ed did to Hunter and Hale. Had he done something wrong? Should he have been kinder and more forgiving? There was no other way Ed would be so worried.

Collector must've done the right thing.

...Right?

Collector slowly turned around. Eboni's mouth was forming another glowing blue orb of energy. It was getting brighter and brighter the more Collector looked at it. Then the beam started to form.

What was Eboni doing? Collector had forgiven her! Did he do poorly? He was supposed to have learned something, not made a terrible mistake!

When Collector started to cover his face and close their eyes, they felt something hold onto them tightly. It felt like they were wrapped in a warm hug. But Collector wasn't comforted. Eboni's beam could be heard nearby. But they weren't sure how nearby. Collector honestly prayed it had been off to the side somewhere.

When they slowly opened their eyes, they gasped. Ed was right in front of Collector, his one arm wrapped around them. His other was on his other side. Ed's eyes were closed and his hat was flowing in the wind. 

Collector was still so confused. They still had so many questions and thought Ed was the only person who could answer them.

"B—But..." he began. "I thought I was doing the right thing!"

Ed groaned softly as he opened his golden eyes. His face softened as he smiled and looked at Collector. "No, no..." Ed replied softly. "No, you did good, Collector. This is just a bit more complicated." Ed continued to smile as he turned to look at his other arm. "But don't worry. I think it missed... me..."

Collector's eyes widened. A small bit of the strange substance was glowing on Ed's fingers. Had Eboni's beam hit him there? What would that do? For some reason, Collector knew it wouldn't be good.

The substance grew quickly. Ed's gaze never left it as it quickly covered his whole arm. Eventually, a bit of the strange substance grew on Ed's cheek. He clenched his teeth and snapped his eyes shut. Ed grunted and whimpered as his hat fell off and flew down to the ground. 

Em, Raine, and King didn't seem to have a reaction to this whole thing. If they did, it was inaudible, making Collector unable to know what it was. They were left to watch as Ed's whole body slowly became completely covered in the glowing strange substance. He lowered his arm and got closer to Collector.

"Ed... what..." Collector was at a loss for words. He had no way to understand what was happening. Ed didn't seem to know either. "What's... happening...?"

Ed didn't give an answer. Only one side of his face wasn't glowing and completely covered in the substance. There was also what looked like water coming from his eyes. But that didn't make sense. Collector didn't think water could come from your eyes. It didn't seem normal. Was that another side effect of getting struck by one of Eboni's beams?

"Raine, King..." Ed softly let out, completely ignoring Collector. "It looks like we're gonna be split up again..." Collector didn't know what their reaction was to that either. Or even what his reaction was.

Split up? What was Ed talking about? Was this like when Raine was captured? Or when King sent Ed and Em to the Human Realm with their friends? But that didn't make sense. Ed wasn't getting captured or leaving. At least Collector didn't think he was. But what about Em? Were the twins not getting split up?

"Em..." Ed continued, starting to give Collector one of their answers. "...probably the first time in a while. I should probably be used to this feeling by now, but..." A smile crossed Ed's face. "...I still don't know what to say..."

Right when Ed finished speaking, the rest of his face was submerged in the glowing substance. Collector could feel the hard surface against his fingers slightly. It felt awful. The fact that what used to be Ed's head was now making a cracking sound as it moved away made him even more uncomfortable. But he was also frozen in place.

Ed's body slowly turned into hundreds of small balls of light. The transformation started at his glowing head. Collector's whole face was being penetraded by the bright light. It honestly made him scared. What was happening to Ed?

Ed's whole body was almost gone. His arms were the only thing left. As they began to turn into light, Collector quickly grabbed onto the awful surface of the substance. Maybe that would help Ed come back. It didn't make any more sense than Ed disappearing at all, but Collector was willing to try.

Their plan didn't work. Ed's hands still disappeared, turning into balls of light. Collector was desperate now. Ed's whole form was gone now. They had no idea where it was. They needed to know where Ed was. He couldn't just be... gone. There was no possible way.

As the last ball of light began to float away, Collector clenched their fists. The light was the last of Ed. At least the last they saw of him. In another desperate attempt at getting Ed back, Collector grabbed onto the last ball of light tightly and held it close to their chest. There was nowhere else it belonged. They slowly descended to the ground.

Once Collector's knees were safe on the ground, he noticed Batric was in staff form and fell onto the ground ahead of him. The Palisman was laid next to Ed's hat. 

Collector tightened his grip on the ball of light as he still processed everything. Ed just disappeared. The last Collector saw of him was the light in his hands. So many questions had been left unanswered. One was more prominent than the rest. Collector needed it answered. He knew the only people who could answer it were Em, Raine, and King. He slowly looked over his shoulder at them.

"Where'd he go?"

Chapter Text

"Where are Ed and Em?"

The first long pause of silence after his question had unsettled Hunter enough. But when he asked it again, his friends' nervously silent responses made him even more uncomfortable.

"Guys, I'm serious," Hunter added, getting to his feet. "We all last saw Ed and Em in the nightmares Collector trapped us in, right? We just have to figure out where they are."

After a much shorter moment of silence, Hunter finally got an audible response. "Well, that's the thing..." Luz said with a nervous smile. "We don't know."

"Besides," Amity added, "wouldn't they be with Raine and King? Surely they escaped their nightmares and found them."

Everyone nodded and agreed with Amity's words. But Hunter was still doubtful. He had no idea why. What reason did he have to believe Ed and Em weren't safe with Raine and King? Even if there wasn't any logic reasoning for his thoughts, the doubt just got worse and worse.

Hunter hadn't even realized he was pacing. But the confused and unsettled looks he got from his friends as he did so was not helping. He began by muttering awful things that could've happened to Edric to himself. That eventually changed to silence as his mind raced.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity of walking back and forth, Hunter was held in place by Luz in front of him. "Hunter, listen to me," she said firmly. Hunter was actually a bit shocked to see his old friend so serious. Then again, nothing was light-hearted about their situation.

"We will find Ed and Em," Luz continued. "You hear me? We will. Nothing will stop us until we do. But if we want to do that, we have to keep calm. Do you think Ed wants you to feel so worked up, Hunter?"

Hunter looked to the side for a moment. He knew Luz meant well. Her question did help him feel better, but it also just made him more worried about his boyfriend. Hunter wanted Edric's loving smile in front of his eyes more than anything in the world. But if he wanted that to happen, he needed to stay focused.

"No," Hunter replied with a small smile. "He really wouldn't."

"Exactly." Luz turned to face Gus and Amity. "Now that that's settled, we should probably come up with a plan. Ya know, a way to find Ed and Em. It's not like us hoping for them to come back will make them magically appear in this room."

Amity let out a soft chuckle. "Well, that could happen."

Luz glared at the purple-haired girl with a smirk. "Yes, but it's very unlikely." Hunter was heavily acknowledging how his old friend sounded like she was flirting. Amity just smirked back.

"Well, I think we should focus on getting Alador down from... up there," Gus suggested. Hunter to face the puppet of Alador his youngest friend was pointing to.

"Good idea," Luz agreed. "We'll have to make a light glyph to wake him up, though. If only we had some paper..."

"Or Ed and Em."

Everyone stared daggers at Amity after her comment. Her face quickly became red before she shook it off. She nervously coughed and regained her composure.

"I mean, um..." Amity fiddled with the neck of her ripped Hecate costume. "Yeah. Paper would be really helpful."

Hunter sighed and stared at the floor. He remembered what he did to wake himself up. He had drawn a light glyph using the dusty condition of the floor of the Archives. If that was the only way to make glyphs...

Hunter squinted and got down on one knee. He carefully inspected the floor below him to realize that it was still really dusty. Why Collector didn't have it cleaned regularly, Hunter would never know.

"What are you thinking?" Luz wondered. "I don't see how the floor can help us."

"It can." Hunter got to his feet and wiped off some dust from his Dementer costume. "While I was still a puppet, I was able to draw a light glyph using the dust on the floor."

Gus gasped with realization. "And that light glyph woke us up, too..."

"Wow," Luz breathed. She walked over to Hunter and gave him a soft punch on the arm. "Pretty powerful glyph you made there, Wittebane."

Hunter chuckled as he rubbed his arm. "I guess so."

"How did you even manage to move a muscle?" Amity questioned. "I remember how stiff I was as a puppet. After Eboni's control, I sort of... hate not having control of my own body..."

Amity began to shiver with fear. Even if everyone was worried about finding Ed and Em, escaping the Archives, and saving Alador from his puppet form, no one would forget the horrible experience Amity faced in the Human Realm. Hunter always shivered at the thought of it.

Eboni's voice drowning out Amity's as she spoke...

The glowing blue eyes replacing her original magenta ones...

The gross green-and-brown antlers sprouting from Amity's faded purple hair...

And then those glowing balls of light drifting away into the night crossed Hunter's mind.

He decided not to think about it.

Luz made her way to Amity as she nervously folded her arms over each other. The tan girl rested her hand on Amity's shoulder and gave her a soft smile. Amity couldn't help but smile back.

Gus nervously scratched his head and let out a, "So..." He waited everyone was staring at him before he continued. "About Alador?"

"I'll get him down," Luz decided. She held out her hand so Stringbean could turn into her staff.

"I'll help you," Gus added as his own staff appeared in his hand.

Amity began to make her way to Hunter as Luz and Gus got on their staffs. Since there wasn't anything else that decided to cross his mind, Hunter was left thinking about how much he missed Edric again.

He missed being by his side.

He missed talking with him.

He missed making up those dumb theories with him during the club fair.

He missed watching those flowers drift away into the night sky.

He missed kissing him right before the Day of Unity.

He missed dancing in the rain with him.

He missed all those dates they went on in the Human Realm.

He even missed fighting Kikimora together.

But most of all...

I miss him.

Hunter knew that if he thought about this for any longer he'd die of longing. Luckily, the sight of bright yellow light in the corner of his eye quickly brought him back to reality.

"Huh?" Amity let out, looking up.

Hunter decided to look up, too. When he did, he noticed hundreds and hundreds of glowing balls of light drifted down to him. It was as if someone was on their staff above Hunter and activated hundreds of light glyphs. At that thought, he looked over at Luz and Gus. But they were just as shocked as him to see them.

The light only reminded him of one thing. Back in the Human Realm, when an unmoving Amity was laying on Luz's lap, hundreds balls of light emerged from her chest. Hundreds balls of light that were originally a small white cat with a scar over her eye named Ghost.

But that just gave Hunter more questions than answers. Was this Ghost's spirit coming to visit them? If not, where was it coming from? Had someone else died? If so, who? At that, Hunter wanted to stop his mind from racing. He figured it would be better if he didn't know the answer to that question.

"What is this?" was all Hunter let out. He was trying to pinpoint exactly where the light was coming from, but to no avail. All he saw was dark night sky.

Amity gasped from not too far away. "Guys, look!" she called. When Hunter turned around, he noticed she was pointing to where Alador was placed.

Luz and Gus swiftly flew over to the puppet on their staffs. Hunter made his way to Amity's side to inspect Alador further. Luz and Gus seemed to be doing the same from the air. What had caught Amity's attention so easily?

"What is that?" Gus wondered, squinting as he stared into Alador's shiny puppet eyes.

Luz gasped and backed up on her staff. Hunter was a bit concerned. What had troubled his old friend? What did she see?

"Crying..."

The word was so quiet when it came out of Luz's mouth that it took Hunter a minute to process it. When he finally got over his confusion, he was shocked. Did Luz mean that Alador was crying? But that didn't make any sense.

Hunter remembered how awful it was to be a puppet. He couldn't move at all until he used all his inner strength to do so. He hadn't thought about being able to cry. It didn't make sense if you could. Puppets have emotionless faces. When you're a puppet, you can't even blink.

How would tears have the ability to appear?

In order to make sure Luz wasn't seeing things, Hunter stepped closer to Alador's puppet body. Upon further inspection, he realized his old friend's revelation was true. He had to gasp. It was that shocking.

Tears were indeed falling from Alador's eyes.

But that was all he was doing. Hunter noticed that Alador's expression was just as emotionless as the rest of the puppets in the room. The only thing different about him was the crying, which Hunter still didn't understand. His friends seemed to share his confusion.

"How is that possible?" Gus exclaimed, slightly crouching down on his staff.

Luz tried to inspect Alador a bit further before shaking her head with a sigh. "I don't know," she admitted. "But that doesn't matter right now. We need to focus on getting him down. Tears or no tears."

Gus nodded as he flew closer to Alador. Luz flew over to the puppet's other side and held her arms around Alador as Gus carefully undid the knots on the strings holding him up. 

Hunter's mind was still racing, even as his friends got Alador down. Where had the tears come from? Where had those balls of light come from? Did Alador's crying have something to do with the light? What did it even mean? The only idea Hunter could come up with was that someone had died, turning into hundreds of balls of light just like Ghost. But the only question was...

Who had died?

"Ed? Ed! Yoo-hoo! You can come out now!"

No answer.

Collector was getting a bit unsettled. Ed had been missing for a couple minutes now. And those couple minutes had been occupied with Collector desperately calling for his missing friend.

Em, Raine, and King hadn't moved at all the past couple minutes. Collector had never looked over his shoulder at them, so he wasn't sure what they were doing. Were they standing in shock? Exchanging nervous glances? Looking around for Ed? Collector hoped they were looking for him, too.

The only other sound that could be heard during the past couple minutes was the wind blowing. It was soft, coming out as a gentle whisper that tried to calm the tension caused by Ed's disappearance. Collector found the sound soothing in a way, but it wasn't giving him an answer to where his friend went.

Ed's wizard hat, which was sitting right next to his motionless staff, flowed softly in the wind. Collector had a difficult time watching it. They were getting more nervous the longer their calls were left unanswered. The only things keeping them going were the hope inside their chest and the small ball of light in their tight grip.

"It's okay..." Collector told themself, a nervous smile creeping onto their lips. "He just broke, so I'll fix him."

Collector was used to fixing everything with the snap of a finger. They accidentally dropped a toy and it fell apart? No problem! Snap! They were lost and needed to find their way home (wherever that was now)? No biggie! Snap! They created a Draining Spell that was supposedly "dangerous" to everyone on the Boiling Isles? Just move the moon! It's not hard!

But this was different. When Collector lifted their hand and snapped their fingers, nothing happened. Ed didn't come back. Batric didn't get out of his staff form. Eboni didn't disappear. Em, Raine, and King still didn't show any kind of movement.

This was bad.

Collector nervously looked around before snapping their fingers again. Nothing happened still. Colorful blue light wiggled around their pale skin, but that was normal. Collector was used to that happening when they snapped their fingers. But what they weren't used to was nothing getting fixed.

"What?" Another failed attempt at fixing Ed. Collector even felt himself gulp. He began to stammer as he continued. "W—Why isn't it working?"

None of this made sense. It didn't make any more sense when Ed was still glowing and covered in that strange substance. In fact, then, it was even more confusing. Collector's mind was racing. None of his questions were being answered. Ed wasn't responding to his calls. And his magic wasn't fixing anything.

Collector picked up Ed's hat and stared down at it from his lap. He was very careful not to lose the glowing ball of light in his hand. "The Archivists aren't here..." Collector reminded himself. His siblings were the least of his worries. "They couldn't have taken him."

As he was still trying to come up with possible solutions to why his magic wasn't bringing Ed back, Collector heard a roar mixed with gurgling sound nearby. It was sinister. When he looked up, he noticed that the sound came from Eboni. She powered up another large, blue blast in her mouth before firing it.

Collector's first reaction was to cover his face. He wasn't sure why. When he did that mere minutes ago, Ed had disappeared saving him. He didn't want that happening to anyone else. But Collector panicked. The first thought that ran through his head was to cover his face with Ed's hat and close his eyes.

"RAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

Collector didn't recognize that roar. It didn't come from Eboni. It was way too masculine. But it was also way too... angry. Whoever roared was furious. Their voice was loud and clear, echoing throughout the whole Isles. But the more Collector thought about it, they realized who it came from.

It came from the voice they had talked to for the past three months.

The voice that played Vixen House with them and had fun.

The voice that missed Ed, Em, and Raine more than anything.

The voice of Collector's best friend.

King.

When Collector looked up, they noticed a glowing yellow dome was around them. It was large, covering five times the size of their whole body. Pictured all over the dome was a symbol. It looked similar to that "glyph" Ed had drawn on the Knee. But it wasn't the same. It had a different shape and didn't look like anything they had seen before.

Eboni's blast fiercely struck the dome. The glowing yellow surface was covered with bright blue smoke for a moment before the whole thing disappeared. Not just the blast. The whole dome disappeared.

Once the dome was gone, Collector realized King wasn't too far away from them. He was on all fours, his dark fur sticking straight up all over his body. Not just on his back. The fur on his legs was sticking up, too.

Even from a distance, Collector could make out every different thing about King. His fur wasn't just sticking up everywhere. He didn't just feel way angrier than they had ever seen him. His usually yellow eyes were glowing bright blue now. Mixed with the angry expression on his skull, King seemed way more threatening than he was supposed to.

But Collector noticed something else.

King roared again. His large, glowing blue eyes were staring right at Eboni. As Collector tried to get a closer look at their usually cuddly friend, they noticed water was streaming from his angry eyes. It was just like when Ed disappeared. Water had emerged from his eyes, too.

Collector still didn't understand. How could water—especially when it could burn your flesh—fall from your eyes? Ed's glowing cheeks hadn't seemed burned. Neither did King's. But the water still fell. Collector knew they weren't seeing things.

He didn't like seeing his best friend like that. King was so angry, so driven by his hatred for Eboni that he probably wanted to fire one of her own blasts at her. Collector could understand hating Eboni. She was someone who had betrayed him and destroyed his trust more than once. But Ed had told him to be kind and forgive...

Collector had tried so hard to befriend Eboni. But when he did, she fired another bright blast, forcing Ed to save him. And that caused his disappearance. In order to escape this terrible memories from just a few minutes ago, Collector got to his feet. He needed answers.

And he knew two people who could give them to him.

"Raine, Em, you know where Ed is, right?" Collector asked nervously. He looked up at the tall figure of Phoenix Raine, waiting for an answer. They just closed their eyes and leaned down, pushing him away softly with their large paw-like hand.

"Back up, kid," Raine ordered. Their usually soft voice sounded rather menacing. It was as if they were annoyed by Collector. Had he done something wrong? "I don't think I can control myself right now..."

Raine's dark teal hair that burned with flames at the edges ruffled up as they drooped their head. Even though Collector was much shorter than them, they couldn't even see their face. When Raine swiftly looked up, their eyes glowed bright red, their expression just as furious as King's.

Suddenly, Raine began to transform. Collector didn't understand how. They remembered King telling them about how they could only transform into Phoenix Raine or the Fox Beast. But this new form wasn't either. It seemed like a fiercer, angrier mix of both.

Raine grew by about twice the size of their Phoenix Raine form. And that was tall. In normal form, Raine was about 5'11. When they transformed into Phoenix Raine, they were probably about 6'6. But now, with their new transformation, they were eight feet tall at least.

This new form had the same bulk as the Fox Beast, but the same fiery pattern on its fur as Phoenix Raine. The creature had long dark teal hair that seemed almost black, flames exploding from every corner of it, running down its back. Raine's huge wings were made of flames. As Phoenix Raine, they just had fire sprouting from them. Now the whole shape was bright orange and exposing the dark floor to its glow.

Raine screeched to the sky, their long tongue adding large emphasis to the angry sound. They swiftly flew into the air, leaving dust and fire in their wake. Before they faced Eboni and her fierce beams, Raine let King jump onto their furry back. The two Whispers roared as they flew to Eboni, a loud "RAAAAAHHHH!!!" from King ringing through Collector's ears.

Em had just been standing in shock this whole time. She watched as King protected Collector and Raine transformed into that huge creature. She watched everything. Collector was reluctant to talk to her. They had no idea what was running through her mind. They didn't know enough about humans to know what would happen. But they did know one thing.

They had to get Ed back. 

And there no one better to ask than his twin sister.

"Em..." Collector let out as a faint whisper as he tugged on Em's black and purple dress. "You know where Ed went... don't... you...?"

Em didn't seem to be listening. She just stared into the distance, mouth gaped, eyes wide, and her brain occupied. But eventually she turned to face Collector. Not before closing her eyes and sighing in an annoyed tone that scared Collector, though.

"Collector... I think you should stay away," Em told him. "Things could get pretty messy. This isn't the first time I've been separated from my brother, but..." She paused to reach her hand out and close her eyes once more. Her staff formed in her grip. "Mama's gonna get a little payback..."

Without another word, Em got onto her staff and zipped away. Collector was shocked. He watched as the older twin circled Eboni and King roared from Raine's back again. The large fiery creature they had turned into flew out of the way of another beam from Eboni.

Collector was stunned. In so little time they had watched King, Raine, and Em all take out their anger on Eboni. And they knew there was only one thing they could be so mad about.

Ed's disappearance.

Collector still didn't get any answers. Where had he gone? Why couldn't they bring him back? Why did Em, Raine, and King act like they couldn't get him back? Of course, they could... right? Collector didn't see why they couldn't. They just didn't know how to get him back yet. 

But the sight of Em, Raine, and King fighting Eboni so fiercely still scared Collector too much to think. They clutched Ed's hat close to their chest, the light stuck in their one fist as they took a few steps back. But these steps were interrupted. Suddenly, Collector tripped over some of the strange substance underneath their feet and almost fell on their face. Luckily, they were able to catch themself. 

But Collector needed both hands to do that.

They dropped Ed's hat as they fell, letting it plop onto the ground next to them. Collector thought that was all they dropped. But when they looked up, they realized their one hand was wide open, glowing light illuminating onto it and slowly disappearing.

The last ball of light that Ed had disappeared as escaped Collector's grip. They hopelessly watched as the light drifted away into the night sky. They hopelessly watched as the last of Ed slowly disappeared. They hopelessly watched as the truth hit them like one of Eboni's bright blue blasts.

"Besides, everyone almost died from the Draining Spell."

"So? Toys break all the time. You just fix 'em."

"Do you... not understand what death means to mortals?"

The last few words bounced around Collector's brain and got louder and louder until they couldn't take it anymore. Finally, three words stuck deep inside their head.

Died... break... death...

Died, break, and death. Collector only recognized one of those words. They broke toys all the time. Just a snap of their fingers and boom! Problem solved. Raine talked about the Draining Spell when they used the word died. Collector had stopped it easily. Just swiped the moon away from the sun effortlessly. Just like that.

But the last word was what stuck with them.

Death.

Ed had used that word. He hadn't been talking about the Draining Spell or toys. He had said the word as if it went way back for him. The only problem was... Collector never understood what it meant. But now... the meaning hit them right across the face and pinned them to the ground. It was echoing through their head, driving the truth right through them.

Death was permanent. It wasn't like breaking a toy. It was much worse than that. Death had to do with the Draining Spell. That was why King wanted them to stop it so desperately. That was why Em, Raine, and King were so shocked to see Ed disappear. Collector didn't understand then. But now they did.

They watched with wide and sad eyes as the last they'd ever see of Ed disappeared into the starry night sky.

"He's really gone..."

Splash!

The sound of water was all Edric could hear. He didn't know where it was coming from. Heck, he didn't even know where he was. All he knew was that the water was close and loud. The splash sounded like it came from all around him. 

As the sound of the water around him started to fade away, Edric slowly opened his eyes. He felt so... strange. His body didn't seem to be anywhere. The splash of water sounded like it was right above him. It sounded like the splash you would make when you jump into a pool. 

But that didn't make sense. Edric didn't feel like he was falling deeper and deeper into water. He wasn't even holding his breath. If he was underwater, he would've quickly held his breath to avoid drowning. But nothing of the sort was happening. He didn't even feel wet.

But that didn't answer Edric's biggest question: How did he get here? All he remembered was uniting with Raine and King, talking to Collector and teaching him stuff, the blue eye in the empty socket of the Titan's skull, and that giant monster that resembled a Titan Eboni seemed to have become. But everything after that was a blur.

As he stared into the dark world around him filled with shades of brown and yellow, Edric tried to piece together the last few things that could've gotten him here. He remembered trying to figure out what to do about Eboni. He remembered Collector was about to defeat her. He remembered that he didn't do that. He remembered...

And then it hit him.

That large blast.

Collector's confusion.

The bright blue light covering all of Edric's vision.

That strange substance infecting more and more of his body...

Edric still wasn't sure how he got here. Did he die? Was this the afterlife? Did Eboni's blast merely teleport him here? He couldn't be sure. All Edric knew for certain was that he was separated from Raine and King... again.

They had just reunited. He could never forget how warming it was to be in their embrace again. He remembered how warm it felt to just travel across the Isles in order to reminisce. Edric remembered how happy Collector was to see those memories. But now... he wouldn't see that happiness.

Edric had been separated from Raine and King too many times already. So many times that he hated remembering. But this time was  different. There was one major factor in all this that made it so much harder to endure.

Edric was separated from Em, too.

He remembered each time he was separated from Raine and King. When Raine got captured, the Draining Spell, when King pushed him and his friends through the portal. Each time, Emira was right by his side. They had never gotten separated. 

When Raine was captured by Hale, Edric had cried for a whole hour in his sister's arms. She had even accompanied him on the mission to rescue them. When Raine agreed to take Eda's place during the Day of Unity, Edric was right by his sister's side through saving his boyfriend and fighting Eboni. When King pushed him through the portal with his friends, Em had been pushed through, too. He had spent as much time with her during those three months in the Human Realm as he did with any of his other friends.

Edric had been by his sister's side way longer than Raine and King. They were literally born on the same day. They were twins. Twins that looked out for each other. Twins that played around like the wild siblings that they were. Twins that hated being apart for too long. That was why Edric hated it so much when Em was shipped off to her summer camp. At least, when he thought she was.

For the past sixteen years, they had spent every moment of every day together. Edric remembered every time Emira would help him with schoolwork. It never helped him very much—since he could barely read any of it—but she would still try as much as she could to make him get it.

Edric would cherish her dedication forever.

He remembered middle school. The three years of his life that he wished he could take back. Those years had been when Edric's self-esteem was at its lowest. Middle schoolers were brutal. They would always shut him down whenever he embarrassed himself in class. They would always poke fun at him for his disabilities and the video games he loved so much. 

But he would never forget one thing.

Emira was always there for him. Whenever kids would start to make fun of him, she would always be right there to defend him. She would always show them not to mess with her "little bro" if they didn't want to deal with her. By high school, everyone learned that lesson. But... that didn't stop the bullying. Luckily, Edric never forgot how much Em stuck up for him.

He would always cherish her protectiveness.

Every single thing they had been through together was running around his mind like a freight train. From the past few months, during their time on the Boiling Isles, all those years ago... Everything was building up inside Edric's brain. And he loved it. He loved imagining all the kid versions of himself and Em in his head. They would be running around together, playing pranks on each other, laughing, playfully pushing each other around... A small smile slowly began to form on his face.

But that quickly disappeared.

Edric realized something in that moment. He desperately missed all those times with Em. Most of them were from when he was a kid. Of course, while they lived in the Vixen House, they would joke around and play pranks every so often. But it still wasn't as lively as it used to be. Edric wished he would've spent more time joking around with Em about something that wasn't about love or the people they knew. He wished they had joked around more about just... each other.

He remembered when Em would always make fun of his laugh. She always said when they were younger that he laughed like a dolphin. Edric remembered chuckling with her about it before replying that she screamed like a teapot. He loved bickering like that. But... Em hadn't made fun of his dolphin laugh for years. He figured that was because it had disappeared over time. But Edric honestly wished she had found something else to laugh at him for. Maybe his scruffy brown hair? The fact that he couldn't say rural? Every time his voice cracked? Any of those would've been just as funny as his dolphin laugh.

But now she would never get the chance to.

They were separated, possibly forever. Edric couldn't forget that. He remembered the shocked expression on her face as the strange substance overtook him. What was running through her head? Was Em also remembering how much she joked around with him? Did she wish she had done it more recently? Was her mind racing as much as his currently was? The sad truth was... Edric would never know. He was gone. He wouldn't be able to see her smile, her grin, or hear her jokes ever again.

He remembered when Raine got captured. He remembered what they said to him. He remembered what they had told Em. He even remembered what he had told her through his tears.

"Alright, kids, listen to me. I'm going away, and I don't know if I can bounce back this time. Watch over King, remember to feed Sparky..."

"Please... no..."

"And Edric, Emira... thank you... for being in my life."

Raine had thanked them. They had told them how much they changed their life. Edric would never forget that.

He remembered the Day of Unity. He remembered what King had told him before pushing him through the portal with his friends. It was a goodbye. A... thank you.

"We gotta stick together... We have to stick together!"

"I'm sorry... Not this time. But I can keep you safe."

"No!"

"Ed, you and Em were the best older siblings I could've ever asked for..."

King had thanked him. He had thanked Em, too. He had thanked them. He had thanked them for changing his life. He had thanked them for being siblings to him. Edric would never forget that.

Finally, he remembered every time he had cried. Every time Em had comforted him. Every time she told him everything was okay. Every time she had helped him calm down. Every time she had told him not to hold in his feelings. She had helped him so much...

When Raine was captured...

"Ed. It's okay. Let it out. I'm not going anywhere."

When he escaped Eboni's mind...

"Just let it out for now, okay, Ed? Don't stop until it's all gone."

When he had a panic attack in his room...

"Deep breaths. Calm, slow, deep breaths. Leave some time in between them. Repeat after me. Breath in... then breathe out... take a quick break... and repeat."

All those years ago when his mom died... Edric remembered everything. Em always told him that she loved comforting him. She said that she hated seeing him cry more than anything. If that was true... what was she thinking now?

Edric remembered what he said as the strange substance took over him. He remembered his last words. He remembered everything.

"Raine, King... It looks like we're gonna be split up again... Em... probably the first time in a while. I should probably be used to this feeling by now, but... I still don't know what to say..."

He hadn't known what to say. But now... now he knew. All these memories had been taunting him for so long. Did they come from those voices in his head? The ones that were made up of his insecurities? Probably. All they wanted was for him to suffer.

Oh, I know what I should have said... Edric thought as tears finally formed in his eyes again. I should've thanked them...

The tears didn't fall down Edric's face, which was strange. They had just... fallen off it. Not that it mattered. He just closed his eyes and let himself fall deeper into... whatever he was falling through. Honestly, he wasn't sure.

Splash!

Another splash of water could be heard. But this one was much farther away. Edric didn't question it. It didn't matter. Instead, he just fell farther and farther down. Until he felt something on his arm. It was like a hand grabbing it. He was brought higher up so swiftly that he couldn't even think.

When Edric was brought up to the surface, he actually felt wet. Water fell from his clothes and hair as he stood up. He could also feel water swirling around his feet. In order to understand what was going on, he slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes, hoping to find whoever had pulled him up.

Once his vision cleared up and the water on his glasses dripped away mostly, Edric could see... someone in front of him. The figure was taller than him, making only their top half visible. Their head was white and gray and looked like it was hard as stone. Horns and tusks were sprouting out of it, which resembled King's skull way too well. The figure also had large yellow eyes just like King. Well... one large yellow eye. The other eye socket was empty except for... a tiny red Sparky sprouting out of it? Edric was so confused.

The figure blinked as he continued to stare up at them. "King...?" Edric wondered. Based off all the similarities to King and how tall the figure was, he guessed they were an older King.

"Oh, no..." the figure replied with laughter accompanying it. They closed their eye and turned away from Edric. "But he does get his good looks... from me."

Edric looked down slightly to see the bottom half of the figure. He had a long, scruffy gray beard underneath his skull and large wings on his back. He wore a pale robe, a Rainestorm Coven t-shirt, and pants with a glyph pattern all over them. If Edric didn't know any better, he would've thought this guy was your local middle-aged dad who always watched football games on an armchair. 

This guy said King got his good looks from him, right? Edric thought to himself. And he's wearing what a dad would wear. A dad...

He gasped. "Oh... Titan."

"Oh, me!" the Titan replied cheerfully. "Nice to meet you, Edric, the human."

Edric was still processing everything as he slowly shook hands (paws?) with the Titan. The Titan. King's dad. How, he still had no idea. But it was very interesting to actually meet him for the first time. 

"You can't actually be the Titan Titan," Edric said nervously. "That Titan is all, uh..."

The Titan's expression softened. "Dead-looking?"

Edric frowned and wrapped his arms around himself. "Does that mean that I'm also..." he wondered as he got onto knee. He started to fall through the water.

"Oh, no! Nope!" The Titan quickly picked Edric up and set his feet back on the swirling water. "Don't wanna do that! If you go down there without a portal, you really will be dead-looking."

Edric sighed before smiling again. "I just still can't believe this," he explained. "You're King's dad!"

"I think King said it best once," the Titan replied. " 'I am both King and Queen, best of both things.' " He laughed for a moment before relaxing and putting his paws in the pockets of his glyph pants. "But Dad works fine."

Edric turned his head and looked around. He had been so shocked by the sight of King's dad that he hadn't actually thought about where he was. He recognized this place. He recognized the black sky overhead, the gross water beneath his feet, the walls of gold and brown, and the glowing cubes that emerged from the water every so often.

He had been here before. When Em had helped him make that makeshift portal to visit Dad all those months ago, Edric had made it here. He remembered meeting X and Zee. He remembered talking to his dad. He remembered everything.

And he instantly regretted thinking about it.

But Edric also remembered something else. He remembered that he never actually knew what this place was. He always wondered that since first arriving there. But he never got an answer. Could the Titan give him that?

"What is this place?" Edric asked.

"This is the place in between..." King's dad paused. "Well, in between a lot of places. And I've been stuck here for quite some time." A glowing cube appeared in front of him. He grabbed it and held it firmly in his paws. "But at least I can still keep an eye on my child..."

Edric watched as the surface of the cube in the Titan's paws revealed several images. He wasn't shocked it could do that. He had looked through those cubes tons of times the first time he was here. The first image was of King and Em.

Edric didn't recognize the image at first. Based off the pile of paper and pencil in his sister's hands, he guessed it was from the day she and King had joined that writing competition all those months ago. He had spent his own time playing W.V.W. It was a fun day.

Emira and King were sitting together in a purple box. Originally, their backs were to each other, frustration prominent on Em's face. Then the image shifted. The two of them were hugging, King letting out his usual giggle.

"...and those who have been kind to him."

Edric watched as the image completely changed. Now he was with King in the kitchen of the Vixen House. King had a piece of toast on his head and a toilet paper roll on his snout. His legs were shaking with excitement and Edric had just been smiling down at him.

He remembered this. The cube was showing him one of Edric and King's comedy hours. Oh, how he missed those. They had been so fun. Edric just wished that he hadn't been separated from King for three whole months. A comedy hour every once in a while in the Human Realm would've brought so many smiles to his face.

The final image was of Edric, Emira, Raine, and King on the Day of Unity. It was right before their plan to stop it had commenced. The only motion shown in the image was the wind blowing around them.

Edric turned away from the Titan as he let go of the cube. He had just processed that he had called him kind. Edric wanted to believe that, he really did. But he couldn't. Only one thing was running through his head.

"I'm not so kind..." he explained. "When I saw the Collector fly up to Eboni, I wished with all my heart that I would see them blast her away, and—" Edric stopped himself and sighed.

"Hey, I can relate," King's dad said. "I was willing to do anything to keep my kid safe. But I attacked the wrong person, dragged the Collector down here for nothing."

Edric knew he had made mistakes. He couldn't even remember every one he had made. Every time he embarrassed himself at school, every wrong thing he'd said, every lie he'd told, every grudge he'd held... He knew how bad it felt to make a mistake. Especially one that bad.

"Does that... make us as bad as Eboni?" he wondered.

"What?!" The Titan laughed for a moment in his surprise. "Have you been drinking Raine's homemade apple blood?"

Edric was about to say something about how much he loved Raine's cooking, but he stopped himself. He had to focus. "Well, she says she wants to protect humanity. And we're saying we're trying to save our families. So, isn't that the same thing?" he asked. "Don't these feelings come from the same place?"

"You say that as if Eboni's goals come from a genuine place," the Titan replied. "But that woman doesn't care about anything except being the hero in her own delusion. And because of that, she's afraid of what she can't control."

"And now that fear is going to win..."

Edric knew that was true. He hated to admit it, but he knew deep down who would win this fight. He had fought Eboni at least three times by now. Each time those battles had caused awful things to happen. The first time, Edric had destroyed Raine's portal so she wouldn't get it. The second time, he had been pushed through the portal and was stuck in the Human Realm for months afterward. And the most recent time, when Eboni possessed Amity, Ghost had sacrificed herself to save her witch.

And each time, Edric felt more and more guilty.

Each terrible event had been his fault. The portal being destroyed? He had made the decision. Being pushed through the portal? He had willingly faced Eboni and escaped her. Ghost's death? He had brought them to that point to begin with.

Even worse, Eboni was never defeated any of those times. She lived on each time. Edric hated that truth. He just wished he had never been so stupid all his life. Maybe then he could've defeated Eboni. Maybe then he wouldn't be without Em, Raine, and King now. 

Edric just continued to stare at the watery floor. He didn't meet the Titan's gaze until he heard a gasp come from him. "Ah, dang," he let out.

Edric gasped when he saw a hole in the Titan's chest. It was surrounded by glowing green algae and ripped through Raine's image on his t-shirt. It was a pretty gross sight, but Edric tried to get a closer look at it anyway. The algae looked like that strange substance Eboni was infecting the Boiling Isles with.

"I thought I had more time left," King's dad explained. "But Eboni will have full control soon." After a short pause, he turned to Edric and smiled. "Ready to stop her?"

"What?!" Edric gasped. "What can I do?"

"You've already helped King so much," the Titan replied. "Let me use my last bit of life to help you."

The Titan's paw glowed with the same glyph pattern as his pants when he reached it out to Edric. He still stood in shock. After all those mistakes, all that ignorance, and all that guilt, King's dad still wanted to give him the power to defeat Eboni? It didn't make sense.

"Are you sure you want to give this power... to me?" Edric asked, wording out his confusion clearly.

The Titan leaned down and stared right into his eyes. "Well, you're the one here and you seem like a good witch," he explained. "But I can't give you anything unless you choose to accept it. So, the question is... will you choose yourself?"

It took Edric a few moments to process those words. Not only did King's dad see past all his mistakes and flaws, but he also believed in him. Edric's biggest wish may be to be understood, but he also loved it when someone believed in him.

The biggest thing Edric believed all his life was that he couldn't do anything right. He was told that everywhere he turned. He made mistakes. He couldn't read as well as other people because of his dyslexia. He always got bullied because of how often he embarrassed himself. Because of all that, having someone believe in him felt amazing.

Emira believed in him. She always did.

His dad believed in him. He always did.

His mom believed in him. She may be gone now, but Edric would never forget her and her love for him.

Raine believed in him. Ever since they met, they had.

King believed in him. That little guy could hold so much love for his... brother inside him.

Hunter believed in him. They may have not always liked each other, but Edric knew his boyfriend did for so long now.

Luz believed in him. She only believed in herself because of Edric bringing her spirits up.

Gus believed in him. Despite being the youngest of all his friends, Edric knew how mature he was.

Even Amity believed in him. Edric had seen her as a little sister for months now. Whether she saw him as a brother back was unknown to him, but he knew how much their friendship meant to her.

Edric couldn't believe how many amazing people he had met in his life. He wouldn't be where he was today without all these people who believed in him more than he did.

Their belief in him was all he needed to answer the Titan's question.

"Will you choose yourself?"

Yes.

Edric narrowed his eyes with determination as he reached his hand out to the Titan's glowing paw. Bright light quickly surrounded his arm as he gasped and looked around. Edric let go of the Titan as the bright light formed a glowing bubble around him. It slowly rose closer and closer to the black sky.

"Now, Eboni will have control of everything, so you have to defeat her fast," the Titan explained as Edric frantically looked around.

"But—"

"And my power won't last forever," King's dad continued, completely ignoring Edric, "so use your time wisely."

"But what about—"

"Raine Whispers?" The Titan waved his paw. "Send them my regards. Big fan."

Edric didn't have time for this. King needed to hear from his dad. This was the only way he could! He hit his bubble to bring it down to the Titan. His arms drifted through its surface and grabbed onto his paw.

"No! What about King?" Edric felt so desperate, his grip around King's dad tightened. "Don't you wanna say something to him?"

The Titan turned his head to think for a moment. His eyes widened before pulling Edric closer to whisper into his ear. Once the message for him was fully said, Edric couldn't help crying just a little bit. King's dad really had been watching him.

He wiped away a tear with a sniff before replying. "Oh... yeah..." Edric said softly. "Yeah, he'll love that."

When he went to look at the Titan again, Edric didn't find him. At least, not how he had seen him. He gasped and looked up, noticing that the Titan was now in his realistic form: a huge skeleton with no clothes, large wings, and a striking resemblance to King.

The skeleton was on one knee and shook the whole in-between realm as it looked down at Edric. Once it did, its whole body quickly got submerged into the water with only the skull remaining.

"Goodbye, Edric," the Titan's voice said, booming all over the realm. When it finished speaking, the skull disappeared into the water, blinding light accompanying it.

Edric turned away and closed his eyes with a heavy heart before the light could blind him.

Chapter Text

It had taken many more light glyphs than expected to wake Alador. He sensed escaping his awful puppet state a few minutes before actually waking up, but he was still unconscious. And the nervous expressions he got from Ed and Em's friends weren't comforting at all.

Gus was the closest. He was leaned over right above Alador, a small ball of light floating atop his hand. He seemed much calmer than the rest of his friends, but nervousness was still shown in his eyes. As Alador finally started to see clearly, the young witch clasped his hand over the light to get rid of it.

"He's waking up!" Gus announced.

Alador groaned as he tried to sit up. He was currently seeing being a puppet as like being confined to a soft chair for weeks without moving a muscle. After that experience, he was sure he needed some form of physical therapy.

Gus reached his hand out. Alador slowly but gladly accepted it and was finally able to sit up straight. He grunted as he stared at the floor. Gus continued to help him up.

"Wha—What's happening?" Alador wondered tiredly. "Where are Ed and Em?"

Everyone around him stiffened at the question. Luz and Amity shared a nervous glance, Gus bit his lip, and Hunter stared at the floor sadly. Alador had been trying to ignore his feelings of worry for his kids—ever since still being a puppet, actually—since he thought he was overthinking it. But now... he was a more concerned father than ever.

Alador got to his feet with urgency. He was about to say something else to the teenagers around him until the whole room shook. He nervously looked up to watch the curved edges of the Archives' roof shake. This room was in a much worse shape than Alador realized.

"That doesn't sound good..." Luz said, stating the obvious. Hunter seemed to agree with Alador's thoughts.

The blond took an almost-empty potion he had found on the way to the Vixen House from his belt. "It doesn't matter," he explained. "We have to find Ed and Em before anything else."

Alador couldn't agree more. If anyone was as ready to save his kids as him, it was none other than Hunter, Edric's boyfriend. He watched expectantly as Hunter controlled the little liquid there was in the potion.

The bright yellow liquid was quickly brought to right above Hunter's head. He seemed to be concentrating hard to let it rise higher, but to no avail. The large cluster of potion liquid fell as quickly as it rose. Hunter was brought down to his knees with a grunt, yellow liquid blending in with his blond hair.

"What's wrong with my magic?" Hunter's concentration was completely gone from his face, Alador could tell. He seemed tired, his brown eyes wide with fear and lack of sleep.

Alador felt so dumb. How had he not noticed the problem before? He was so focused on finding Ed and Em, he didn't focus on the kids he was currently accompanying. They were all tired. Ever since fighting Eboni/Amity in the Human Realm, none of them had stopped moving and fighting. The trip to the Vixen House, the trip to New Hexside, searching through Edric's memories, getting locked up again and again, Luz's stress, Edric's guilt, fighting Kikimora...

All of that and much more had happened in the span of a day.

And no one had gotten any rest during it.

Alador knew the answer to Hunter's question. His wide brown eyes and the stiffness of his old puppet state were enough clues. Alador helped him to his feet.

"Can't you tell?" he told him. "You're exhausted. You all are. None of you have gotten rest in days."

"But we can't just leave everyone like this!" Luz protested, motioning to the unmoving puppets lining every wall around them.

Amity looked to the side for a moment. It was a long moment. It was like she was thinking long and hard about the right thing to say. Or like she had something big on her mind. "And what about Ed and Em?"

Hunter bit his lip worriedly at her words. Alador could relate to his fear, wanting to tell him that Ed and Em would be brought back to them. The only problem was that he didn't know if that was true. But he also that these kids couldn't live in fear forever. And they also couldn't leave these innocent people hanging as puppets where they were.

Alador quickly grabbed Hunter with his arm and pulled him close, catching the blond off-guard. He just stood there, his cheek squished against Alador's.

"Well, I know one thing for certain," Alador began confidently. He felt like he was starting some motivational speech for these kids on a stage. "Or two. Ed and Em are Blights. You know what that means?"

Luz, Gus, and Amity all waited for Alador to continue expectantly as he let go of Hunter. "They're both way too strong to let any of this negativity push them the wrong way." His audience smiled and exchanged excited glances. 

"Em would just hide her true feelings until she couldn't hold it in anymore," Alador continued. His next words seemed stuck in his throat for a moment. "And Ed..." For some reason, the thought of his son made Alador feel broken. But it didn't make sense. Sure, he didn't know if he or his sister were safe, but that was it. He didn't know. The hole in his heart at the thought of Edric felt like something that would appear after something terrible happened to him. Something that Alador was certain happened.

He quickly wiped his eyes and sniffed as tears started to form. Alador still wasn't sure what that sadness that appeared when he thought about Edric was about, but he figured it was just a product of his worry. He didn't know if he or Emira were safe, after all.

"They'll be okay," Alador said softly, mostly to himself. Luz, Gus, Hunter, and Amity could still hear him, though. In order to finally get to his point, he pulled out a notepad and pencil from his pockets. Two things that he had honestly forgotten he had with him.

Amity gasped at the sight of the items. "A pencil and paper?" she said. "Are those for..."

Even though she trailed off, any sane person could guess what Amity was about to say. Alador just nodded and started drawing. 

"I think I know how we can help. Even without your magic."

Everything all at once was a bit too much for Collector.

The past few minutes were all the same. Eboni would fire a beam, Em would activate a glyph and attack her with it, and King would roar on Raine's back. Collector hated watching it for so long. Even if he knew it would never happen, he just wanted Ed back.

Collector understood that he knew too little. He had learned so much in just the past hour. And most of it was from Ed. Even if that included his death.

Collector wanted to see Ed again. He wanted him to teach him something else. Maybe like how to deal with death? He could really use that right about now. Even if he couldn't get that, Collector just wanted Ed. He wanted to know he was okay. He wanted to know he wasn't gone. But most of all...

He wanted this endless fighting to stop.

Collector didn't like Eboni right about now. She was firing beam after beam at Em, Raine, and King without letting them talk some sense into her. She was also the whole reason they were so angry. She had taken Ed away. She was the reason he was gone now.

The fighting was still in full swing. It hadn't stopped for a moment. Collector just whimpered and hid by a stone block. They didn't want to be a part of this fighting anymore. It was way too much to handle.

Even from a distance, everything going on was still in clear view. Em flew right by Eboni on her staff and pulled out a glyph from her skirt. She threw it at Eboni with a battle cry before flying away swiftly. The glyph shined several shades of yellow light into Eboni's eyes, blinding her for a moment. But that was it. A moment. The monster just shook her head to rid her vision of the bright light.

As Em made another round around Eboni, Raine flew up to her. King was still on their back and opened his mouth. Another ear-piercing roar came from him, large sound waves attacking Eboni. Raine quickly flew away to avoid the beam she was about to fire.

But they were too late.

Eboni's bright blue beam fired right on top of Raine, even as they tried to evade it. It seemed much larger than all the other ones she had fired. Em had just finished her last round around Eboni as the beam fired. She screamed as she was thrown off her staff.

Collector whimpered again at the sight of all this. Raine's large, furry body hit the ground with a thud, the fire of their wings flowing in a strange way. King fell of their back and grunted, his fur somehow looking angrier as he groaned. Em rolled on the ground as she fell, her staff a short distance away. But it was still too far of a distance. She groaned as she sat up, frantically looking for her staff and Palisman.

A small thunk could be heard close by. Really close by. Collector looked down to see Ed's staff not too far away. They figured it had flown over to them as Em, Raine, and King fell. At the sight of it, Collector didn't think they could take it anymore. Any of it. They felt such a weird feeling in their eyes, it was unnerving. They were throbbing a little bit, making it difficult to see. 

But that didn't matter. Collector shook their head with a grunt to get rid of the weird feeling. They didn't want to deal with anything else. Least of all something else strange. When they looked up, they noticed that Raine and King were starting to get up, ready to fight Eboni again. Em had found her staff, but she still didn't have it in her grasp. She strained as she desperately tried to reach for Daisy's staff form, her arms seeming so weak.

Collector tightened their grip on Ed's hat. This needed to stop. All of this. The endless fighting, the anger, the pain, all of it. Ed never would've wanted any of this to happen on his behalf. He wanted Eboni defeated, sure, but not out of grief-infested anger. 

Collector inhaled and then exhaled before running over to their friends. They had dropped Ed's hat in the process, but that didn't matter. It was the least of Collector's worries. They were worried about one thing and one thing only.

As they stopped in front of Raine and King, they seemed even angrier than before. They never made eye contact with Collector. They just stared up at Eboni with what could've been fire in their glowing eyes. Collector knew that if they wanted to stop this, they had to act now.

Although, despite all their determination mere moments ago, Collector was more terrified than ever.

"No! Stop fighting! Run away!" he ordered desperately. Raine and King still never made eye contact. They roared at Eboni, but that was about it. Collector had enough of it already. Not enough to be angry, though.

He snapped his fingers again. This wasn't a desperate attempt to get Ed back anymore. It was a desperate attempt to get Raine and King to listen. Collector knew controlling people was wrong. It wasn't kind or forgiving. But... it was all he could think of. But it didn't matter. His magic still did nothing.

"Why isn't anything working?" Collector stared down at his hands. They were shaking so badly, he thought he was hallucinating. But he wasn't hallucinating. Collector's hands were shaking as if they had been numb for too long. When some of the strange substance appeared on them, he swore he was hallucinating.

But he wasn't.

Something on Collector's shoulder made him jump. He yelped as he turned, noticing Em beside him. She had her staff held in one hand, her other reached out to him. Collector wished he hadn't yelped or jumped. Em seemed so worried.

"Collector, it's okay," she told him, getting on one knee. "It's just me."

Collector wanted to agree with his friend. But he couldn't. None of this was okay. Eboni was still causing anger and tension, Raine and King were still riled up and angry... and now the strange substance was infecting him, too.

Collector didn't respond to Em. He just snapped his fingers a couple more times with nothing new. Raine and King still wouldn't listen to him, and Eboni was still here.

Em put her hand on Collector's shoulder again as his fingers continued to snap desperately. He whimpered as he did so until she touched him. "Collector, that's not gonna bring Ed back," she said softly. "You can't make him come back. He's..." Whatever she was about to say seemed caught in her throat. But Collector knew what she meant.

He's gone.

"I know!" they shouted a bit too loudly back. Collector tried to calm down, but several awful feelings were running through them. There was something... something going on with their eyes. Their hands were still shaking, too, and everything seemed like it had stopped except for their conversation with Em.

"I know this won't get him back! I know I can't get him back!" As Collector continued, his eyes got worse. His vision started to get blurry. Even so, Em's wide and worried eyes were still visible. "I don't want anyone else to go away! I don't want anyone else to go missing! I'm sorry for everything!"

Em's expression softened, but Collector could hardly see it. "Collector..."

But they didn't continue. They didn't just feel anything strange in their eyes anymore. There was a strange feeling on their cheeks. Collector softly gasped and rubbed their hand against their cheek. It felt... wet. As both of their hands ran up and down their face, they realized water was falling down from their eyes. The same water that came from Ed. The same water that came from King. The same water that Collector still didn't understand.

"W—what is this stuff...?" they wondered softly, the water mixing in with the strange substance on their hands. Collector fell to their knees and tried to get rid of the water. "Why won't it stop...?"

Em set her staff and rested both hands on Collector's shoulders. They looked up at her. "Collector, I'm sorry," she told him sincerely. "I shouldn't have let you stay away. I should've told you the truth a long time ago. If I did, you would already know what this is."

Collector sniffed as Em wiped some water off his cheek. "B—but..." They inhaled and exhaled again to calm down. "What is it?"

"Those are tears, Collector," Em told him. "They usually appear when you're sad. They can come out when you're mad, too. I should've let mine come out more, I'll be honest. I always held them in while someone else let them out in front of me."

Collector gasped and thought he understood what Em was saying. "Ed...?"

Em nodded slowly. "Yes," she replied. "You actually remind me a lot of him right now. He would cry a lot when he was a kid. Even recently. I just..." Collector thought he could've been seeing things, but tears seemed to be falling from her eyes, too, as she paused. "I wish he was here..."

Collector turned away from Em as more tears fell onto his cheeks. Em's were running down her own face. "Me too," he agreed, his voice sounding so broken, he couldn't believe it.

Collector turned to face Raine and King, but he wasn't looking at them. He stared at the ground. But that didn't stop him from eventually looking at them. Collector some of the strange substance creeping up to Raine's large paws. They didn't even seem to notice. But Collector noticed. And he planned to hold what he had told Em true.

"No! No, no, no!" he ordered desperately. The tears were running faster and faster, and Collector slowly chipping away at the substance didn't help at all. "Get off of them!"

Em looked over and quickly wiped her tears away. She narrowed her eyes and faced Eboni head-on. "I have had enough of you hurting my family!" she screamed, getting to her feet. Collector wanted to tell her to stop, but he was too focused on Raine to do that. Although, Em seemed to get the message. She gasped.

Collector heard a soft roar come from above. He knew it came from Eboni. It was too far away to come from Raine or King. He swiftly looked over his shoulder with a whimper. Em slowly backed up and fell as Eboni raised one of her clawed hands. It was so huge and menacing, Collector knew that it could crush him within seconds.

Em quickly sat up straight as Eboni's hand plummeted down. Collector watched the huge, dark green structure get closer and closer. It was terrifying. Em was terrified, too. Even Raine and King seemed scared.

As the hand got closer and closer, Raine brought their wings of fire up to above their head, King hid below them, Collector whimpered and wrapped his arms around Em, and she did the same, protecting him as much as she could.

She wasn't able to protect Ed, so now she has to protect me.

Crash!

Collector thought it was the end. Even if they couldn't die, they sure felt like they would at that moment. Eboni's hand was about to crush them. It was much larger than any of them. The large boom that followed should've been evidence enough.

But when Collector slowly opened their eyes, they realized they weren't dead. No one was. Em was still protecting them, and Raine and King were still in their angry forms behind them. Em gasped as she looked up. She quickly looked around, Collector doing the same. They noticed that they were a bit further into the ground now. It was like being in a small ditch. The rim of the ditch was covered in dark green and gold light, small particles of the colors dancing around them.

Eboni roared from overhead. Collector looked up to notice that the hand she had tried to crush them with had a hole in the middle of it, smoke emerging from it. The rim of the hole was also covered in dark green and gold light.

Collector didn't understand. What was going on? What protected them? What saved them? Eboni was just shocked as her enemies. But when Collector looked straight ahead, they saw something that seemed to be their answer.

A cluster of dust and smoke was in the close distance, a figure standing in the middle of it. Collector couldn't see who it was yet, but they figured that was had saved them.

As the smoke and dust around started to part, the figure became more visible. Instead of being a shadow, Collector could actually make out a distinct shape. The figure was actually kind of tall. They wore a black and really dark green outfit that seemed very fluffy from far away. It actually seemed pretty similar to Ed's outfit. The figure also wore a wizard hat atop their head with horns coming out of it. Between the squiggly horns was a ball of light that a light glyph would create.

The figure's hair was shaggy at the bottom, the length length down to their shoulders. It looked like a sort of mullet. As Collector got a bit of a closer look at the figure, they noticed how much they resembled a Titan. There were bones all over the legs and arms of the figure, and the horns atop their head gave it away even more. But the figure also resembled something—or someone—else...

"No..." Collector said as they got to their feet. Raine, King, and Em seemed just as in disbelief as them. "It can't be..."

So many glowing glyphs danced around the figure. All the light, ice, plant, and fire glyphs you could imagine surrounded them. So many, in fact, that it was a huge clue to who the figure was. They lowered their head a bit, their arms no longer at their sides. Collector figured they were just as shocked as they were.

At their side, they noticed Batric turn into his alive form. The little bat flicked his ear happily before flying over to the figure. Once he was at their side, Batric turned into his staff form, the figure catching it in their hand covered in tiny Titan bones.

The figure finally seemed confident and slowly turned around, revealing themselves. The pale face that was a bit darker than normal, glasses, and mole under his left eye were unmistakable. However, the only huge difference Collector could find—other than all the Titan resemblance—was that his friend's shaggy hair was dark green instead of brunette. 

"I'm back!" Ed announced, his dark golden eyes wide with determination and his grin so nice to look at.

Collector couldn't look away. Now that Ed was in full view, he couldn't imagine how different he was. His outfit was now much fluffier and darker than usual, seeming like it was made of King's fur. The top of his hat also looked a lot like King's tail. The bones lining Ed's fingers and legs did make him look a bit menacing, but Collector still knew who he truly was underneath.

Ed seemed pretty confident in his new Titan form until his grin disappeared and his wide, dark eyes faltered. "Oh, wait. No! I gotta—" he muttered, messing with his hair and hat. "Couldn't keep me away from—" He paused again. "Wait. Hang on..." Ed groaned. "Ugh! I still can't think of anything to say!"

"Ed!" Em's call was so full of happiness, Collector could've thought she had seen the most beautiful thing in the world. But then again, currently, Ed probably was the best thing she could see.

Raine shrieked happily from behind Collector. They transformed back into their Phoenix Raine form, King smiling in their arms. "It's Ed, alright!" they confirmed.

Ed seemed so happy to see his family, too. The family he had been separated from for what felt like forever. After being alone for several long, long times, Collector knew what that feeling was like. He had been separated from the Titans. Ed had been separated from his dear family. Now they both knew how it felt.

Eboni roared again from above. Her roar sounded like a gurgle, as if she were snorkeling underwater. Her giant head was aimed up at the sky, her roar being called up to the stars. Collector was pretty unnerved by her still, but it seemed that Ed had a plan.

He took several steps back in order to be in front of Em, Raine, King, and Collector. Ed concentrated as Batric's eye glowed atop his staff. Once bright light finally emerged from the bat's head, he created a large spell circle that covered all five of them. When the circle disappeared, a glowing yellow sphere shielded them off from the outside world. Its surface was covered in glyphs.

Collector looked down as the sphere slowly rose into the air. His feet were also rising from the bottom of the glowing sphere, which was a bit unsettling. Ed looked straight ahead, his furry arms extended at his sides, as the strange symbol on his chest shined brightly. Collector hadn't paid much attention to the symbol until that moment. It looked like a circle with a few lines attached to it.

When the bright light of Ed's symbol disappeared, the sphere moved somewhere other than up. Dark green and gold light followed in its wake as it bolted across the Boiling Isles. When it abruptly stopped, Collector ran into Em, everyone else doing the same. Even Ed bumped into the glowing yellow wall.

"Whew!" Ed exclaimed nervously once he found his footing again. "Overshot it a little... Still getting used to these powers."

If Ed meant to say any more, he didn't have time to. The Head of the Titan roared, the Archives moving along with it. However, before very long, one horn that was stabilizing the Archives inched down, causing the structure to falter. Collector clenched their teeth. How could they have trapped everyone in there?

How could they be so blind?

"Oh, no," Raine said, obviously sharing Collector's worries. "Everyone's still in the Archives."

Despite how scary all of this was, all the mistakes they had made, and the long time it took for Ed to return, Collector knew—somehow—that they could redeem themself. And they knew exactly how to.

Collector swiftly took out their shooting star and rested it in front of them. "Leave 'em to me!" they promised, getting onto the surface of the star. It took them through Ed's sphere and through the air to get to the Archives.

As the Archives atop the Titan's skull got closer, Collector heard something crack nearby. They looked down to see that the strange substance was getting to their wrists. Instead of letting that affect them, they clenched their fist.

"Come on..." Collector told themself. "You can at least do this."

The only thing keeping them going other than their motivational words was the Archives in the distance.

Edric was pretty sad to see Collector go, but honestly, he was just happy to just be back. He was with his favorite people again. He had Raine, the best mentor ever who was and always will be a third parent to him. He had King, the cutest little brother he could've ever asked for.

And of course, he had Em.

Edric was so happy to be with his sister again. After living through those memories in the in-between realm and missing her face and smile, being reunited was such a relief. Edric hoped with all his heart that they would never get separated again.

But currently, there was another problem. Edric loved being alive again, he really did, but he still had a lot to deal with before everything could be back to normal. Eboni still had control over the Titan. She was still infecting the Isles. And that was an issue.

Even if they were hard to control, Edric loved using his new Titan powers. It was like using glyphs and the power of staff but on a whole new level. All he had to do was focus, think of what he wanted to do, and create a spell circle. It was that easy!

So, that's what he did.

Edric focused on the platform the Coven Heads had been placed on during the Day of Unity, focused, and used his new, totally awesome abilities. The glowing yellow sphere covered in glyphs sped to the platform, disappearing in a puff of smoke when it landed. Luckily, Em, Raine, and King were just as unharmed as Edric when they made it.

Eboni's infection was worse than he anticipated. Instead of just a strange substance that covered the Titan's bones, that substance now formed small creatures made of green goo. The substance still infected the ribs of the Titan, too, which Edric's companions seemed unsettled by.

But he could handle this.

Edric ran to the edge of the platform and quickly stopped. He grunted as he reached his hand out, ready to cast a spell. The end of his skeletal finger started to spark with dark green, but no spell came out of it. Luckily, as Edric's strength slowly started to ebb away, a familiar crimson paw held his hand in place.

"Concentrate," Raine advised, being their usual great-mentor self. Edric nodded and concentrated. "Think of what you want... and..."

Edric smiled widely as Raine helped him lift his glowing hand into the air. They made the spell circle together and watched as it destroyed the gooey creatures together. In order to fully perform the spell, Edric had to control it with his staff, which Raine also helped him do. When the spell was finally complete, the gooey creatures were destroyed and were replaced by lush red grass.

Edric had never been so entranced by something so beautiful in his life. Not when he watched the body of the Titan with Raine, Em, and King, not even when he had watched the sunset with his family when he was six. The red grass of the once again anew Boiling Isles was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"Yes!" Edric exclaimed, clenching his fist triumphantly.

However, his celebration was very short-lived. Roaring could be heard overhead as more gooey creatures, trying to attack them. Edric gasped. Although, King jumping onto his shoulder brought him joy once more.

"Ed!" King called. "One..."

Edric nodded as he understood what his little brother was telling him. He was in Titan form, after all.

"Two..."

And on the count of three, the most powerful power of them all was unleashed.

"WEH!"

Then again.

Edric had way too much fun using his sound waves to defeat the gooey creatures with King. It was an amazing power. He was definitely gonna miss it when his Titan powers finally left him.

After the third powerful WEH!, Edric rubbed his cheek against King's. As brothers, it was an amazing gesture. Although, this brotherly moment was quickly interrupted by more gooey creatures.

But luckily, Edric had a plan.

"Raine! Em!" he called, getting onto his staff.

Raine and Em followed him and King into the air, Em on her staff, and Raine using their fiery wings.

While in the middle of the air, Edric jumped off his staff, letting it get ahead of him. He quickly grabbed onto it with his one hand, reaching out to his sister with his other. Emira accepted his silent request and entwined her fingers with Edric's. 

Right after grabbing on, she let go of her staff, letting Daisy turn back into her alive form. The little duck quacked cheerfully. 

Once Emira's hand was free, she reached out to Raine, letting them join in their chain. Once everyone was connected, Edric let Batric control where they went. His Palisman spun them around, creating a spell circle.

As the four of them made their way over to each other, Emira shouted, "Wa-hoo!" Edric just laughed, joining in on her excitement. The twins landed in Raine's lap, smiling up at their mentor. King smiled, too.

In order to finally finish the job, Edric worked with Em and Raine to raise his staff into the air. It glowed with bright yellow light as it activated Edric's spell. On command, a large light glyph appeared in the sky, exploding to transform every last gooey creature into a blade of red grass.

The sight was amazing. Particles of light had emerged from the explosion, seeming like stars falling from the sky. Edric loved watching it. 

But there was another problem.

The whole Titan shook. When Edric looked over, he noticed that its left arm was rising into the air as if it were reaching for the stars. And that wasn't good. Eboni seemed to have more control of the skeleton than he thought.

"Hold on..." Edric said as he created another sphere made of glyphs.

The sphere zigzagged through the air, letting Edric leave the body of the Isles behind him.

Chapter Text

As Collector got closer and closer to the Archives, he could hear sounds of... what sounded like battle close by.

Just what he needed.

More fighting.

But that didn't matter now. Collector narrowed his eyes with newfound determination and forced his shooting star to go faster. If he wanted to save everyone he wrongly trapped in the Archives, he couldn't waste any time.

The strange substance was growing faster and faster on Collector's arms the further he went. It was slowly but surely getting up to his elbows. That was anything but a good sign. The green goop made cracking sounds each time it grew, which used to unsettle Collector. But now it was just annoying.

"You don't have control over me, Odalia," Collector hissed to the quickly-growing substance, which was quite unlike him. That didn't matter, though. "Ed, Em, Raine, and King are way better friends than you ever could be."

As if in retaliation, the substance grew in size. It didn't run up Collector's arms further this time. It just became bigger. He ignored it as his shooting star picked up the pace.

As Collector found himself right above the Archives, he realized the "fighting" he heard wasn't really fighting. At least, not against anyone. Luz, Gus, Hunter, and Amity were saving the puppets hanging all around the walls. Collector had no idea how they escaped their own puppet states, but he decided not to think about it. He shouldn't have put them in those states to begin with.

The Archives faltered slightly, causing a puppet of a teenage girl to fall from her strings. Luckily, Hunter activated a glyph in the nick of time and caught her with plants that sprouted from the paper. He brought the girl to him with a grunt and caught her in his arms.

Hunter's celebration of just a smile was interrupted by part of the Archives' walls falling. He noticed it, but only after it started to get closer and closer to him. Hunter winced and closed his eyes as a huge blast of fire destroyed the stone.

Hunter looked over his shoulder to see Luz. She had a puppet clutched in her one arm, her other aiming toward where the part of the wall coming straight for her friend used to be. She must've been the one who destroyed it. Hunter smiled at her before running off.

In the air, Gus was standing on his staff, a puppet hung over her shoulder. He was going very slowly, obviously being cautious. But that didn't help him in the long run. Another much smaller part of the Archives' wall fell onto Gus's staff, throwing him off it. His chameleon Palisman turned back into her alive form and cried as she fell.

Amity, who was running across the Archives, gasped as she watched Gus and his Palisman fall. She quickly realized the small chameleon was the only one who needed saving, though. Gus swiftly pulled out a glyph as he fell and activated it on his chest. Its magic stopped him in his tracks before letting him land on the floor unharmed.

Gus's Palisman continued to cry as she fell closer and closer to the floor. Amity activated one of her glyphs and created an ice platform with it. It was shaped like a slide, letting the chameleon have fun as she reached the floor.

Gus quickly made his way to his Palisman as the ice melted. Amity took the puppet over his shoulder from him as he took her glyphs. The small chameleon turned back into staff form and let Gus get on. He watched Amity run away with the puppet before smiling and swiftly flying to a few still hanging up.

Ed and Em's father, Alador, was with their friends, drawing glyphs in the middle of the room. Every so often, one of the teenagers would come over and take a few pieces of paper from him. Currently, they still had a lot and had no problems saving puppets.

Suddenly, half of one of the Titan's horns broke off. Not just a bit of it. Half of it. Every person who wasn't in puppet form started to fall. Collector couldn't stand by and do nothing. They had no idea why they hadn't tried saving them already. They figured they were just so happy to see Ed and Em's friends were safe, they couldn't think about anything else.

The Titan roared as its horn chipped off. As Collector got to their feet and focused on their magic on forming glowing purple wraps around them, they noticed one of the Titan's arms was raised high into the air. It definitely wasn't like that before. But Collector couldn't think about that. They had to focus on saving lives.

Their glowing wraps grew much faster than the strange substance on their arms ever did. They swiftly wrapped around every edge of the Archives' structure, firmly holding it in place. Several screams could be heard from the room below Collector.

The loudest and most noticeable came from Luz. Collector didn't have the strength to open their eyes yet, so they didn't know exactly what was happening to them. They just heard Luz's scream abruptly stop, a swirl of magic, and several gasps. Amity was the only one who didn't gasp. She let out a "Huh?"

Collector was still throwing all their strength into keeping the Archives where they needed to be, but they had to do something. Ed and Em's friends couldn't just watch them save them and not get some sort of explanation. Even if that explanation was just a glance.

Collector slowly opened their eyes and smiled, their whole body shaking. They couldn't let out a single word, but they didn't need to. Ed and Em's friends seemed to get the message.

"The Collector?" Amity said.

"Is he..." Luz began, starting to get to her feet.

"He's helping!"

Luz and Amity shared a quick glance after Gus's words. When they finally smiled up at Collector, they couldn't help but smile back. Ed and Em's friends were happy to see them. They were happy to know that Collector didn't want to hurt them anymore. They were happy to know that they weren't a threat.

Suddenly, the Archives faltered again. Collector's wraps tried to take them down with them, but they weren't about to stand for that. They gave with all their might to stabilize the Archives atop the Titan's skull, loud grunting coming from them. Collector just ignored it and focused.

They felt the wraps tighten around their fingers to make the Archives easier to hold. With the force of what seemed like the Titan itself, Collector pulled. They pulled hard on the faltering Archives below them. As they strained with the weight, they forced their shooting star to move back. Once moved, the Archives were finally back in their original placement, only shaking a little bit atop the Titan's broken horn.

Collector smiled down at Ed and Em's friends again, glad that they had succeeded. They smiled back. It was good to know that they appreciated their saving them.

It was all the reassurance Collector needed to continue holding onto the massive Archives.

"Haha!"

Edric laughed with Em, Raine, and King as his sphere disappeared. It dissolved into several specks of yellow light once it brought the four of them to where they needed to go.

Once the specks had fully vanished, Edric relaxed on his staff. When he glanced to the side, he noticed that Emira had settled down next to him. Daisy hadn't transformed into her staff form again, which left his sister to sit on his. Edric would usually be annoyed, but he just couldn't bring himself to feel that way. After being dead and coming back to life? Annoyance was the last emotion he wanted to feel.

Edric decided to admire the beauty of the Boiling Isles once his laughter had ceased and his shoulders relaxed. The sight was stunning, just as he remembered it. Even in the darkness of the night, he could make out every single beautiful thing that he remembered admiring with Em, Raine, and King after his sister's wizard con quest.

The Titan's bones were stiffly laying in the Boiling Sea, ripples of water shown at their edges. From high above, every house, creature, blade of grass... everything on the Isles looked like a tiny blob in the distance. Despite how creepy and wrong the infectious strange substance Eboni had created looked on the body of the Titan, it actually added to the beauty of it all. Edric found that pretty ironic.

"Wow..." Raine breathed, obviously sharing his thoughts.

Edric wanted to smile up at them and tell them how much it reminded him of the first time they did something like this. He wanted to tell Em the same thing and laugh with her about her ignorance from all those months ago. He wanted to reveal his old dolphin laugh and have her tease him. He wanted King to join in on the teasing and possibly make him blush. It would really make Edric feel normal.

But he didn't have time for any of that.

As much as he loved being with his family again and sharing memories with them, they had much bigger problems. The symbol on Edric's dark, furry chest flickered to remind him. It was like an alarm on his phone in a way. Except the bright symbol didn't make a loud bell noise. It just flickered, making a sound that sounded like a robot powering down. 

Edric stared at the symbol before watching the Titan again. He narrowed his dark eyes with determination. Eboni was still down there. As much as her infection made the bones look beautiful, it didn't belong. Edric knew that. Eboni had made him suffer more than anyone else had. She made him have his first and only panic attack. She made him go through way more guilt than he ever thought he could comprehend.

Eboni needed to be stopped before anything else.

"We need to cut Eboni off from the Titan's power," Edric explained, never making eye contact with any of his companions.

Emira tilted her head. "What are you thinking?"

Despite all the stakes, Edric mustered a laugh. This was still a time of remembrance. He closed his eyes and turned to face his sister. "Come on, Em!" His eyes fluttered open as he grinned. "You know where magic comes from..."

Emira gasped, her golden eyes shining with realization. She turned to Raine, Edric following suit. They both knew what he was referring to. It was a day he would never forget. Raine's bright grin when the twins looked at them just proved they remembered, too.

The conversation had taken place on the day Edric had discovered his first glyph. 

His first glyph. 

The light glyph.

The day his life changed forever.

"Humans think that magic just comes from thin air, but that's stupid. Everything comes from something. So, kids, tell me, where do you think magic comes from?"

"Uh..."

Emira had gasped as Edric struggled to come up with an answer.

"From the heart?"

Edric still remembered how her eyes sparkled.

"Actually... you're right!"

Edric would never forget that lesson. He knew Em and Raine wouldn't either. Their reactions to his reference were enough proof.

No more explanation was needed. Edric just smiled, grabbed Em and Raine's hands, and started to jump into the air. Batric didn't need to be told to do anything. His staff form just followed Edric as he moved and formed the glowing sphere of glyphs around them again.

"From the heart!"

The words seemed like a spell was being cast by them, especially since Edric didn't say them alone. Em and Raine had said them at the same time. As if on cue, the glowing sphere around them warped and swiftly bolted them closer and closer to the Isles, dark green and yellow light in their wake.

Eboni had no idea what was coming for her. A green eye located on the chest on her gross monster form shifted to look at them. Her gooey head turned to face them, a soft, confused gurgle coming from her.

Edric couldn't help but smirk as he got closer. Eboni was so confused. The super villain of his life had no idea the amount of fury that was coming for her. Edric could imagine every single word he would say, every single accusation he would make... right when he ripped that evil smirk off her disgusting face.

But that's when he realized how carried away he was getting. Eboni was evil, sure, but Edric knew he should leave the revenge and ripping off her smirk for when the time was right. And he still had some life-saving to do. And torturing. And monologuing. That was what the Almighty Alvanic did before defeating every evil witch he fought. Why couldn't Edric?

"Step on it, Batric," he whispered, wanting this over faster. His Palisman immediately understood. The sphere sped up and struck Eboni right where it hurt.

The heart.

Her large monster form roared. It roared so loudly and in so much pain, Edric smiled wider. But it quickly disappeared. What was he doing? He hated Eboni, but it seemed like that hate was overtaking him. He quickly shoved those feelings away and focused on the task at hand. Eboni still wasn't defeated quite yet.

The sphere sped right through Eboni and went for the infested Empress's Castle. Edric focused harder than he ever had before to force the trajectory to slow down. Edric's Titan form was very powerful, so powerful, using it too recklessly could completely pulverize his companions. And he didn't want that to happen. Luckily, no pulverizing had happened. The sphere just dissolved in yellow smoke as they struck the ground.

Whistling ran through Edric's ears as he stood up straight. He wasn't sure where it came from, but he knew one thing. He recognized the voice. It was raspy, but not an old kind of raspy. It was more a cool-and-oddly-motherly kind of raspy. A voice that belonged to one witch and one witch only.

"Eda!" Raine gasped. Their massive form frantically looked around. Edric was searching for Eda, too, as to relax his beloved mentor. When he finally strained his ears to listen rather than look, he realized where she was. The massive ginger hair in the distance confirmed his suspicions.

Edric nudged Raine's shoulder and pointed. They gasped again and smiled so widely, you'd think they were seeing stars. Without a second thought, they sprinted toward their lost love, excited sparks of fire following in their wake.

Emira walked up to her brother's side and watched as Raine ran off. "Man, are you gonna be like that when you see Hunter again?" she wondered with a smirk.

"Shut up." 

Emira giggled and went to follow Raine. Edric gripped his staff harder in his hand and followed close behind.

As he got closer, Edric realized Eda's eyes were completely covered in the strange substance. She gasped and abruptly stopped her whistling, breathing heavily and searching for the new arrivals.

"Wha— Huh?!" Eda frantically called. "Who's there?"

Raine leaned down and frowned as they stared at Eda. When they reached their furry hand up to her face, she stiffened. "Stay away!" she ordered.

Raine didn't listen. They instead lifted their hand and wiped the substance off Eda's face. With her vision now cleared, she stopped struggling and gasped.

"Raine...?" she slowly let out. Eda looked so shocked, Edric thought she was contemplating whether Raine was real or not.

"Yeah..." Raine replied, their voice quivering with joy. "It's me." They ripped Eda out of her gooey prison, and they embraced her. "I gotcha."

Edric was a bit unsettled by the sight of their hug. Of course, Eda and Raine's reunion was adorable. But how it looked at the time was just weird. For context, Raine was usually a few inches shorter than Eda. She was quite tall. But Raine's Phoenix form also made them much taller. They were probably about 7 feet, making 6'2 Eda seem tiny.

She pulled away, her expression showing her confusion. "I'm... still not sure about this new look..." Eda admitted. But then she smiled again, sitting on the ground. She rubbed Raine's face against her, and they didn't argue. "I'm so happy you're here."

Edric wasn't happy to ruin their moment, but he knew he had to. They didn't have much time left. Eda pulled away from Raine and gasped when she laid eyes on him.

"Ed?" she gasped. Raine helped her back to her feet as she scratched her head. "You look... fluffier? How long was I out for?"

Edric was about to giggle until he was interrupted. The symbol on his chest flickered again, the robot-powering-down sound running through his ears. He started to walk up to the infected wall ahead of them. Somehow, he knew Eboni was behind that wall.

"Come on," Edric told his comrades. "We don't have much time. Let's end this..."

"Finally!" Eda agreed.

With just a bit of focusing and shouting, Edric shot forward and blew up the wall in front of him. Surprisingly, he hadn't faltered or even tripped. His Titan powers must've destroyed his awkwardness. He was confident, his staff held ahead of him defensively, his companions by his sides.

And, just as he predicted, Eboni was behind the wall, her gross body attached to the Titan's beating heart.

Edric narrowed his eyes and snarled. He was done with this woman. He was done with her ruining his life. He was done with her ruining the lives of everyone he loved. He was done with her giving him nightmares. He was done with her making him cry so many times. And most of all?

He was done with her existence.

Edric focused. He knew what he wanted to do and exactly how he would do it. He began to run forward, created a glowing spell circle with his staff, and let its flames of creation swell around him. The spell formed ice beneath his feet that lead all the way to Eboni. Edric twirled as he ran, forming a fleet of ice stairs leading to the heart. He just had to get there.

The ice clanked beneath Edric's feet as he ran and got onto his staff. On silent command, Batric lead his witch to Eboni at the speed of light. His staff disappeared as he got off it and landed at the top of his ice stairs. He finally grabbed Eboni's ribs and pulled hard.

Eboni was stuck to the Titan's heart. She was stuck to it so strongly that Edric struggled with how much strength it took to even try to pull her off. His arms already felt like noodles.

"You can't defeat me," Eboni told him.

Edric gasped as his eyes snapped open. He even began to believe Eboni for a moment. Tiny arms made from the strange substance formed all around him and tried to grab him. He was about to fight them off, but he didn't need to. The arms were sliced in half before he could even think, smoke billowing from where they were cut open.

When Edric looked up, he smiled wider than ever before. Raine was flying high above him, grinning. They were the one who destroyed the arms. They had saved him. Again. Edric couldn't be more grateful. As more arms tried to form and grab him, Raine flapped their fiery wings and zipped right by him, decimating them instantly.

Raine wasn't the only one defeating any threat that came his way, either. Only a few feet away, Eda faced more of those gooey creatures Edric had faced with King head on. When they tried to attack her, she whistled, the magic sound waves of her voice snapping their gross exterior out of existence.

Emira and King were doing just as well. When more disgusting creatures came to attack them, neither were fazed. King just shuffled his paws excitedly before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Several loud and powerful "WEH!"s echoed through the whole room. Emira just ripped a glyph out of her pocket, grinned, and laughed as she activated it and destroyed dozens of creatures. The first she used was a fire glyph, decimating monsters as flawlessly as Raine had.

Edric had to smirk. Eboni thought he couldn't defeat her? Ha! So be it. It was time to show her who was boss with the most powerful magic of them all... video game references. And first-day-on-the-Boiling-Isles references. Edric remembered his speech from all those months ago like it was yesterday.

"Don't underestimate me, Eboni..."

"Do not underestimate me, Warden Wrath!"

"For I am the Almighty Edric..."

"For I am Edric, the human..."

"...child of the Human Realm, student of the Demon Realm..."

The strength it took to pull Eboni off the heart got smaller and smaller.

"...and warrior of peace!"

"Warrior of peace..."

The dramatic pause is always the best part...

But this dramatic pause was different. 

Edric grunted as his eyes snapped open again. Each eye was glowing bright yellow. The whole thing. Iris, pupil, the outer layer... It glowed so bright, it would blind you.

Eboni roared. But not just her form stuck on the Titan's heart. Edric heard her monster form right outside roar, too. In fact, a much louder roar deafened everything else. Edric knew that must've come from the Titan itself. The whole room shook as the roar ran through every wall.

But Edric didn't care. He just pulled... and pulled... and pulled. His balance started to waver on the ice stairs, but he was stabilized quickly. Glyphs swirled all around his legs, their power holding him up. A huge surge of energy ran through their furry forms, too. Edric's legs felt stronger than ever.

Fighting could be heard at every part of the room, not just from the heart. Raine flew down from the air to rip open gooey creatures. Eda whistled to destroy just as gross ones. King "WEH!"ed a few more close by. And Emira finished off the last set with an ice glyph. It pierced through every single one of their disgusting bodies, decimating them all at one time.

Edric felt more than a grunt bubble inside his throat. It felt more like a roar. But his teeth were clenched together, making it still come off as a grunt. He pulled harder on Eboni's ribs, the muscles inside his arms feeling like they would explode. Glyphs danced around each tuft of dark gray fur and bone.

And then a burst of uncontrolled strength ran through Edric's veins like wildfire.

He remembered the best part of the Almighty Alvanic's speeches. The big finale.

Crack!

Rip!

Roar!

And finally...

"NOW EAT THIS SUCKAAAAAAA!!!"

Bright white light blinded Edric as he was flung backward, Eboni's ribs still in between his fingers.

Roars pierced the air in every direction Collector's ears were able to listen. They felt so overwhelmed, he thought they would blow right out of his head. Luckily, the roaring was cut off half-way through its awfully loud tantrum.

Collector strained as he tried to open his eyes. He was still putting all his strength into holding the Archives up, but he had to know what that roaring came from. The quieter one—though it was far from quiet—sounded like Eboni. At least, it sounded like that awful monster Eboni Collector remembered seeing last.

And the other roar? That one was a weird one to explain. It was a loud roar. It ran through the whole Isles. Swaying the trees, disrupting the birds... it even tried to throw Collector off his feet at one point. He had caught himself, fortunately, but it was pretty scary when it happened. 

Collector just couldn't comprehend where it had come from. He had one idea, but it just seemed so bizarre and impossible, he couldn't possibly consider it. But it also made too much sense. Collector remembered the roar. He had spent enough time with the creatures who made the roar to know what they sounded like. 

The Titan.

It sounded way too crazy to be true, but Collector saw no other option. The roar was too familiar... and loud. What other roar would unsettle the whole island like that than the one of the island itself? Eboni did have control of it now. Well... that's what Collector thought, anyway.

When the Titan's roar died out along with the quieter one, the weight of the Archives seemed to dissolve. Confused, Collector looked down. From where he was, it was difficult to see the Titan's skull, but one thing was certain from his view: the glowing blue eye in its empty eye socket disappeared. 

Collector had to gasp. Eboni didn't have control anymore. If she did, the eye would still be glowing. Was she dead, or just taken off the Titan's heart? Collector wasn't sure, and currently, he didn't have any way to know. Although, soon more evidence of her deduction from the control of the Titan was shown.

Once the shock of the glowing eye fading had dispersed, Collector went back to looking forward, all their strength seeping into holding the Archives up. Although, when they took their gaze off the Titan's skull, they noticed that the gooey monster form of Eboni right in front of the Empress's Castle froze. It abruptly stopped moving, its mouth open as if it had been cut off mid-roar.

Was that monster Eboni the one who made the quieter roar? Collector thought that made sense. They eventually realized that the monster Eboni wasn't just frozen. It was decaying. As its huge form just stayed unmoving, it slowly turned from a bright shade of green to a dim shade of gray. Once its whole body was misty gray, it slowly disappeared into smoke.

Collector couldn't even begin to explain how much pain they were in. As they watched the monster Eboni slowly decay, the Archives just seemed to get heavier and heavier. They had to put it down. They had to. Luckily, with the blue glow of the eye gone and Eboni's monster form dissolved in several clouds of smoke, they knew everything was okay now.

Collector shakily sighed as they slowly placed the Archives atop the Titan's skull like a crown. Once the heavy weight was finally off their shoulders, they just wanted to lay down and forget that anything but their sweet dreams existed. It would've been nice, but Collector knew they still had business to take care of. Instead, they let their shooting star lead them into the Archives.

As the large room with no puppets lining the walls anymore got closer and closer, Collector remembered that Ed and Em's friends were still there. It was a pretty big thing to forget, but that wasn't what they were worried about. It didn't make much sense, but Collector thought they would blame them for Ed's death not long ago. It was technically their fault. Sure, it didn't make sense for his friends to know about what happened, but it was still one of their biggest fears at the moment.

But they didn't have time to think about that. Collector needed to lie down and catch their breath. Even if just for a moment. They just wanted to rest for a second, clear their mind, and calm down. They had spent so much time holding the Archives that their strength seemed completely non-existant. Luckily, right when their shooting star hit the floor, it disappeared, letting them lay splayed out like a starfish.

Even more weight seemed taken off Collector's shoulders as he lay on the floor of the Archives, breathing heavily. As his eyes flickered open and looked around, he noticed that the strange substance growing on his arms was gray and decaying just as quickly as Eboni had. Collector wanted to smile, sigh, and fall asleep at that moment, but he couldn't. Now that his eyes were open, he noticed Ed and Em's friends staring at them.

Hunter stood stiff for a second before stepping forward. Collector wanted to scream and run away. That was when he realized his life was over. If anyone would resent him for being the reason Ed died not that long ago, it was his boyfriend.

Collector softly whimpered and covered his face as Hunter leaned down. He didn't want to be scared. He still didn't really understand why he was in the first place. How would Hunter know about Ed's initial death? It didn't make sense. But that didn't matter. Collector still expected some form of confrontation. 

Nothing seemed to happen for a moment. No one stirred. The wind just blew. The breaking sound of the decaying substance all around the Isles could be heard. But no one around Collector seemed to have moved.

He nervously opened his one eye to see what was happening. Once Collector was looking straight ahead, he noticed Hunter was leaned down right in front of him. But he didn't look mad. He didn't looked vengeful. He looked... kind... and forgiving. Hunter smiled as he stared into Collector's eyes and reached out to him.

Collector felt small tears form in his eyes. He expected vengeance to be desired, answers to be wished for, reunions to be anticipated. He didn't expect kindness and forgiveness to be given to him on a silver platter. He couldn't have asked for more.

A true smile joined Collector's tears as he accepted Hunter's hand. With no strange substance infecting his arms and no heavy Archives to hold up, he felt so free. It had taken a bit to get used to no longer having so much weight on them, but Collector eventually managed.

Once his feet were firmly set on the ground and his body stopped shaking, Collector smiled at his new companions. He had been around Ed, Em, Raine, and King for so long, he actually felt ready to make new friends. Ed and Em's friends felt like a great way to start.

Hunter seemed to understand. "Thanks for what you did back there, Collector," he said. "I don't know what we'd do without you."

Collector wanted to say You're welcome and end it at that, but he couldn't find the words. Hunter seemed so thankful... so kind... so forgiving... It was difficult to comprehend. Despite the lessons Collector had learned from his friends, he still didn't know how to make friends. Years of loneliness in that awful prison really messed up his experience.

Instead, Hunter's other friends joined in his thanks. "Collector, dude, that was awesome!" Gus told him. "I mean, after that whole puppet stuff, I really thought you were out to get us. But holding up the falling Archives? That took some real guts."

Collector winced as Gus smacked his arm. It didn't hurt too bad, but he didn't understand why he did it. Was it a sign of affection? The Titans hadn't done anything like that. Then again, they had lived several long, long times ago. Friendship stuff must've changed in several ways since then. 

"Oh, sorry," Gus quickly apologized, noticing Collector wince. "Didn't mean to scare you, little dude."

Luz sighed and walked up to Collector beside Gus. "What Gus means is that you really surprised us when you stopped the Archives from falling," she explained. "I would've been face-planted into the floor if you didn't save us."

"No, you wouldn't," Amity said with a chuckle. "I would've saved you before that happened. I was actually gonna before Collector saved us."

"Oh, shut up, Amity," Luz scolded with a smirk. It seemed much less like a scolding with her expression. "You're so flawless, we know."

Amity giggled, but before she could reply, a man who was much older than everyone else stepped forward. He reminded Collector much of Ed, with his shaggy brunette hair and golden eyes. That was what told him it was his and Em's father, Alador.

"Alright, settle down, kids," he said calmly to Ed and Em's friends. "Let's let the poor kid say something, shall we?" Alador knelt down and smiled at Collector. "How are you feeling, Collector?"

Collector desperately tried to come up with a single word, but nothing seemed right. After a bunch of stuttering, he settled with, "G-good..."

"You were very brave when you held up the Archives," Alador continued. "We would've been toast if it weren't for you."

"T-toast..." Collector let out, thinking over the word. He didn't recognize it, but he thought it may be useful for later. Alador seemed confused as he watched Collector think before laughing quite loudly. 

Collector felt himself blush. What happened? Did he do something wrong? He hoped he didn't. But what would Alador be laughing so hysterically about?

"Don't worry about it, kid," he finally said once his laughter ceased. "I just want you to relax, alright? You did a good job today and you deserve a break. How does that sound?"

Collector really didn't know what to say. He could see so much of Ed and Em in Alador that he couldn't think. Kindness and forgiveness really seemed to run in the family.

But he had to answer. Collector had so many ideas of what to say or do, but he couldn't decide which to pick. Without making a real decision, he jumped forward and wrapped his arms around Alador in a big bear hug. Collector hadn't even realized how hard he was squeezing Ed and Em's dad. 

Still, the right words never came out of his mouth. That was when Collector realized there were no right words. No word he decided to use was perfect. No word ever would be. Instead, he squeezed Alador harder and gasped softly. He gasped several times as more and more tears formed in their eyes. But they weren't sad. They were happy tears.

The only kind Em didn't tell him about.

Alador seemed so shocked by Collector's actions that he sat there, stunned, for a while. Eventually, his arms were around Collector's back, several others joining in on the hug.

Collector didn't understand why they chose to hug Alador. They had so many options, and that was what they did? It didn't make too much sense, but eventually, they realized it was the right choice. Collector had only felt this warm of feelings a few times before. When they met the Titans, when they first met Odalia—which they regretted now, obviously—when King set them free, when Ed taught them about kindness and forgiveness, when he came back to life...

And that very moment.

Collector didn't want it to fade. They wanted this large warm hug of so many arms to last forever. However, they knew that was impossible. They just wished it was a possibility. Hunter was the one who interrupted it after about 5 minutes.

"Guys..." he softly said. Everyone softened their grasp on the tight hug to see whatever Hunter was talking about. As Alador's arms loosened around them, Collector looked over their shoulder.

The sun was peeping over the horizon. It cast such a huge and radiant light, Collector didn't want to look away. The mix of yellow, orange, and white worked so well. It started to get into their eyes, but they ignored it. The sun was too beautiful to look away from.

Everyone definitely agreed. Luz, Gus, Hunter, and Amity got to their feet and slowly took a few steps forward to watch the sunrise from the edge of the Archives.

Alador smiled and scratched Collector's white hair. Well, he tried to, but he mostly just shuffled their hat around their head. They still enjoyed it, though, and giggled through every second.

"Do you want to join them?" Alador wondered. "I understand if you'd rather stay in our hug. I can sense you really liked it."

Collector held in a laugh. Alador wasn't wrong. They loved the hug. It was a warm feeling they wished didn't have to disappear. But they also wanted to watch the sunrise. Not just for the beautiful show, though. They also just wanted to be with their new friends.

"I'd... like to join them," Collector said, still struggling to find the right words. "I-if that's okay."

Alador smiled wider. "Go ahead."

Collector slowly but surely got to their feet and ran up to their new friends. Just as expected, the view was still delightful. Not only because of the sunrise either. Along with the smoke from the decaying strange substance running through the air, the view was extra beautiful.

They just wished they didn't have to leave the spot they were currently in.

Despite how notorious he was for tripping over nothing, never watching where he was going, and barely ever knowing the difference between duck, the animal, and duck, the command, Edric didn't trip and fall after ripping Eboni off the Titan's heart. He landed perfectly, feeling like a superhero in Marvel movies in his stance.

The strange substance was decaying off the Boiling Isles quickly already, but it got much faster when Edric landed. As soon as his skeletal feet landed on the infected floor of the Empress's Castle, every inch of infection disappeared. There were no remains. It didn't even turn to smoke. It was just... gone.

This happened to the whole castle. It wasn't like the entirety of the strange substance was all that disappeared either. The whole castle disappeared within a second. The emerald-green walls, the glittering green gems lining them, every glowing stained-glass window of Eboni... It was all gone.

Good riddance, Edric wanted to say, but he had a lot more on his mind. For one, one thing of the Empress's Castle still remained. Other than Em, Raine, King, and Eda, of course. They were safe, still recovering from everything that had just happened. Maybe recovering wasn't the right word. Comprehending made more sense.

The final remain of the Empress's Castle was perhaps the worst of all. It was the most disgusting, traumatizing, and ugliest part of it Edric could possibly think of: Eboni. 

Yup. Even after pulling her off the Titan's heart, which Edric initially thought would kill her, she was still here. Eboni had only been cut off from her control of the Titan. Life? Not so much. She wasn't in a conscious form at the moment, but Edric sensed she would be in one soon. Currently, she was a pile of disgusting green goop. 

As Eda could be heard gasping in the near distance (Edric wasn't sure what that was about), he got to his feet. Edric sensed the life running through that goop not too far away from him. He wasn't sure how, but he guessed it was a Titan power. Or, at least, a power King's dad had given him.

As expected, the green goop started to form a familiar shape. It was only until a few moments later when it actually became familiar, though. The long dark brown hair, old-fashioned black and green dress, and blue eyes were unmistakable. Edric only got a glimpse of his mortal enemy before turning his head away and staring at the ground. He couldn't meet her gaze. Not if he wanted his plan to work.

Odalia moaned in a very deep tone that didn't sound like a woman—or even human, for that matter—as she got to her feet. Even if Edric wasn't looking at her, he knew she was watching him with sympathy. It was definitely an act. He had been fooled one time too many. This monster wasn't about to mess with his head ever again.

"E-Ed..." Odalia let out, her voice her usual French accent once more. Edric shifted his head slightly. "Ed, I... I'm free..."

Oh, don't even start, he wanted to say. Using his nickname as a part of her manipulation was the last thing Edric wanted Odalia to do. She had done it when she possessed Amity. She had used it any time she really wanted to mess with him. Including now, apparently. But now he knew. Edric knew every trick in Odalia's book.

Edric finally lifted his head and stared right into Odalia's ice-cold blue eyes. He made sure to show no emotion. He didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing him get angry or vengeful. She wasn't worth his time.

The wind blew fiercely through Edric's hair, hat, and outfit. Odalia winced as her dark brown hair flew around frantically.

"Thank you for saving me from..." Odalia paused and nervously looked to the side. Edric really wanted to raise an eyebrow indignantly, but he held his expression firm. "From that horrible, horrible curse."

Edric wanted to scoff, roll his eyes, shake his head, or just kill her then and there for that. Did Odalia seriously think trying to convince him she had a condition similar to Raine's would work? She was nothing like Raine. Edric had a whole list of reasons, but it would take too long to get through the whole thing. 

Instead of doing any of those deserved spiteful things to Odalia, Edric resisted the urge. He just continued to watch as she tried and failed to get a single emotion out of him.

"Yes. I was cursed with a terrible, terrible sickness by... by dark magic, just like your mentor." Edric didn't understand why Odalia was still trying. It was obvious she was coming up with these lies on a whim based off her expressions and tone. Pretending to be just like Raine made it so much worse. 

Odalia's lips twitched as she formed a smile, pointing forward. "It forced me to do all those awful things... but now I'm free..." She tried her hardest to sound soft and sincere. She tried so hard, it was sad. Edric wished he could end this suffering right then.

But luckily...

It was time.

Odalia was about to say something before she was cut off. A raindrop fell on her reached-out hand, revealing her green goop beneath. She screamed, grabbing her arm and lunging back. Edric wanted to smirk. He wanted to do it so bad. But he restrained himself still. It wasn't the right time for that.

No one even noticed the rain clouds form. But Edric did. Mostly because he had summoned them. It was a pretty cool power the Titan had given him. Edric really wished he could've said a thank you to King's dad before never seeing him again. It was quite an unfortunate missed opportunity.

The Boiling Rain fell so fast once the clouds fully formed. Odalia was taken over by so many emotions, Edric wanted to laugh. He still held back, though. She deserved nothing but emotionless reactions to her demise.

More and more green goop was revealed beneath Odalia's skin as she groaned and fell to her knees. Edric was lucky. Well, not lucky, per se, but he was pretty lucky. The rain just bounced off his hat and clothes, never even scanning his hair or skin. He did hope Em, Raine, King, and Eda were safe, though. His hopes were kept up with lack of screaming going on behind him.

Odalia's forehead was leaking green goop as she crawled over to Edric. She looked so pathetic. "D-don't... you want to... make... peace... Edric?" she let out between gasps. 

No response.

"Don't just stand there..." Odalia's whole face was only green goop now. She looked and sounded so much more like the Eboni Edric was used to. He actually liked that. Didn't matter, though. He looked away from her gaze, completely missing when she became nothing but the monster form Eboni had taken off the Titan's heart. It was so disgusting.

"You'll be just as bad, just as conniving, just as evil, and just as unforgivable as those witches!" Eboni declared as she reached her arm out to Edric. She was reduced to a gross set of arms, a head, and a torso, though, so she could only reach his leg. "We're human... We're better than this!"

Edric had had just about enough. Manipulation? Check. Using his nickname? Check, and a terrible idea. Coming up with the worst lies ever made up? Oh, triple check that. Yeah, Edric was pretty sure Eboni had checked off all his boxes. He was ready for her to be over and done with right about then.

He slowly took a few steps back, making sure Eboni had no hold on his leg. Edric looked down on her so disappointedly, he would win a contest. She seemed so shocked by how disappointed he was. Why? Because she was a hypocrite.

Emira made her way to Edric's side. If he wasn't too busy staring at Eboni, he would've smiled at his sister. Especially since she had crossed her arms and stared at Eboni with just as much disappointment as he was. She was the only one who could go up against him in that contest. Edric did not have the time to smile at her, though. 

Raine, King, and Eda made their way around to them to face Eboni head-on. Eda was holding a huge leaf above their heads to protect them from the rain, Raine and King just walking underneath it. Eboni seemed just as shocked to see them so mad at her.

"Well, we ain't!" Raine told Eboni so firmly, Edric thought he would fall over. Luckily, he retained his balance and continued to watch what happened next unfold in front of him. 

"Huh...?" Eboni let out a confused gurgle. She was reduced to just a head and a pool of goop now. If she wanted to say anything more, she couldn't. Because she was squished. Raine and Eda had stomped on her several times in a row with their boots while King just trampled all over her gooey remains with his paws. Emira eventually joined in, giving Eboni a few final that's what you get for making my brother cry so many times stomps with her Evil Witch Cassidy boots.

Edric would've watched and smiled further, but he was stopped by a powerful force.

"That..." Eda paused as she breathed in the fresh air. "...extremely satisfying."

King was still stomping on the small bits of Eboni left until he stopped and shook his paw. "Ah! It's on my claws! Blech!"

Emira started to giggle as she looked over her shoulder. Her voice stopped letting anything out other than a gasp when she noticed what was behind her. Raine, King, and Eda looked over their own shoulders, gasping, too.

Edric was slowly being lifted into the air by an invisible force. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but he figured it had something to do with the Titan. Energy surged through every inch of his body until his eyes burst open. They were yet again shining so brightly they would blind you, shining down on Edric's family below.

He felt something huge and powerful in his chest. It felt a bit hot, too. It suddenly felt like fire was exploding inside Edric's whole nervous system, which made him want to scream. But he couldn't. He was unable to move. He was just left to float as the fire flew up to his throat. It made him gurgle as it tried to escaped through his mouth. When it succeeded, Edric thought he roared. He hadn't. The fire inside him roared. At least, what it had formed did.

The glowing yellow fire was sparking in the form of a large creature with horns, wings, long claws, and a skull. It was a Titan. The Titan. King's dad. The one Edric had a whole conversation with. His strength was quickly disappearing as the fiery form of the Titan continued to flare and shine.

"Is that..." Eda gasped from far below.

"I think it is," Emira replied. 

"Dang, kid," Raine said with a joyful smile to King. "You do have tall genes."

King stared at the fiery form of his dad in awe as it continued to glow. Edric wanted to see the little guy's face. He knew it would look so adorable. But the longer the fiery Titan was flaming, the weaker Edric felt. It was like the fire it was made of was every organ keeping him alive. Every second it existed, the more organs it took away. Maybe that wasn't the nicest analogy...

Eventually, when every bone in Edric's body felt like sticks, the Titan's fiery form flew away. It was gone within seconds. Luckily, the fire wasn't actually his organs. Edric was still very much alive when the Titan disappeared. He was also not in Titan form anymore. And was ten feet in the air. And about to fall to his death when he opened his eyes. Feeling pretty weak did not help when screaming and plummeting to the ground.

"Ed!" Em, Raine, and King screamed in unison when Edric began to fall. All three of them ran forward as quickly as they could to catch him. When they knew they wouldn't make it in time, they lunged forward, skidding across the grass once Edric fell in each of their arms all at once.

Edric was happy to be on solid ground with his favorite people again, but he was very unhappy that his strength hadn't returned yet. He was breathing heavier than he ever had before, which seemed to soften some expressions. Edric was able to take a few deep breaths to steady his breathing before speaking, though.

"Oh!" he exclaimed after taking a minute of deep breaths to think of what to say. "Your dad had a message for you." Edric turned to King and whispered his dad's message into his ear.

King was still breathing heavily—less than Edric was, though—as he took in his dad's message. "I... loaf... you?" he repeated. Then he laughed the most heartfelt laugh Edric had ever heard from him. "I loaf you!" Another moment of laughter. "Bread pun!"

Right when the Titan had given him the message, Edric knew he had been watching everything. His past comedy hours with King were still such good memories. Especially the bread puns. They were both King's and Edric's favorite. And the Titan knew that. He really was a great dad.

Emira and Raine joined in on the boys' laughter. Even though they weren't the biggest fans of their comedy hours, they still knew how to have fun as a family. Even if that was just laughing together. Edric saw it as a perfect family bonding tactic. 

Em certainly had experience with it. She remembered the times she would laugh with her mom and dad as much as Edric did. He had been there each time, too, of course. They were amazing moments. Even after Mom died... they were still great. Edric was so happy to share that with his second family, too.

Edric sighed after about another 30 seconds of laughter. His body was starting to feel normal again. "Wow..." he breathed, staring at the beautiful sky above their heads. The rain clouds had cleared up by now, just like Edric had planned. "We did it. After everything, after all that... I can't believe we did it."

Emira looked over at her brother from his left side. Raine, who was beside her, smiled at him, too. When Edric looked over his right shoulder, he noticed King was staring at him with just as bright of a smile. He just wanted to stare up at the stars with them and name all the constellations. Only problem: the stars hide during the day.

"We did it, alright," Raine said, resting their arms behind their head against the grass.

"I'll say," King agreed with a sigh. 

Emira took a very deep breath before speaking, too. "And remind me never to do it again."

"Em!"

"What?!" she prompted. "That was exhausting!"

Edric had to laugh. Not only because his sister's reaction was funny, but also because he agreed with her. All those mental breakdowns, panic attacks, arguments with the voices in his head, and difficult battles were very exhausting. Despite how much fun he had had and the memories he had made, Edric would never want to do everything over again.

Emira finally sighed with relief before closing her eyes. She put one arm on her chest, the other behind Edric's head. He shifted himself around in order to use her hand as a sort of pillow as he folded his hands over each other.

Edric closed his eyes. He breathed in deeply, letting the smell of fresh air and grass fill his nose. This was the happiest he had ever felt. He was with his favorite people, Eboni was gone for good, and most importantly...

He was happy.

Chapter Text

And that's how we saved the Boiling Isles. Well, as much as we could.

I had never felt so proud in my life. Not when I came out to my dad, not when I connected with Batric, not even when I got my first A+ on a spelling test somehow. That was also my only A+ on a spelling test, but that's besides the point.

The feeling of laying on the red grass, the bright sun beating down on my skin, Em, Raine, and King at my sides, and my strength slowly returning made me the proudest I've ever been. No more Eboni to try and kill me. No more Eboni to give me nightmares. No more Eboni to make me feel guilty. No more Eboni. Period.

And that was the only reason I needed to be happy at that moment. Well, other than saving the whole Demon Realm. That was pretty cool, too. I still remember the night after Hunter and I started dating; when I was looking out the window of my room I shared with Em in the Vixen House. I remembered feeling like I'd saved the world instead of gotten a boyfriend. And now that I actually did save the world... I felt even better.

But I guess I should get into the as much as we could part. You're probably thinking, What happened? Aren't the Isles normal now that Eboni's gone? What did you do now, Ed? And to that, I'd say, "Depends what your definition of normal is."

If your definition of normal is no Eboni, lush red grass, an Archives-shaped crown atop the Titan's skull, its one arm raised way higher than it's supposed to be, and confusion everywhere you go, then, yeah, the Boiling Isles are pretty normal now. 

My definition is a little bit different. Well, my definition of normal is usually the opposite of Edric Blight. As for the Boiling Isles, my definition of normal is a nice and calm night at the Vixen House I'm used to with my favorite people. And I mean all of my favorite people. Not just Em, Raine, and King. I'd want to spend time with my dad. I'd want to spend time with Hunter. I'd want to spend time with Luz, Gus, and Amity. Heck, I'd even want to spend time with Collector. I would say Eda, too, but Raine wanted to spend more time with her than I did.

However, I couldn't get my definition of normal. At least, not at first. When I first got to the Vixen House after everything, it was still almost completely empty, Empress's Coven graffiti still all over the walls. It still wasn't the Vixen House I was used to. But that wasn't a huge problem. It was still my second home, no matter what Eboni and her stupid coven did to it.

But enough about me. No one wants to hear the newest episode in the Edric Blight awkwardly talks about his life podcast. We'll get into that later. In the mean time, there is a lot to talk about when it comes to important stuff like restoring the Isles back to its former state.

But there's another important thing to talk about, too.

We were so relieved to see everyone safely released from the Archives. At least, I was. When I saw Hunter again at the Vixen House, he told me all about how he saved all the imprisoned puppets with Luz, Gus, Amity, and my dad. I loved listening to him talk—not just because he's my awesome boyfriend, but also because I was so happy to hear everyone was safe and no longer a puppet.

They were spared the worst of it, at least. Because of that, everyone was able to reunite with their families and loved ones.

Speaking of Hunter, he had told me a pretty funny story about his own reunions. At least, my dorky brain found it funny. Right before he started talking, I knew Hunter was about to tell me about reuniting with Vee, Cinco, and his mom. They were the three people he missed the most during our time in the Human Realm, after all.

But they weren't the only ones my boyfriend had reunited with.

In the Vixen House, I was just sitting there, listening to Hunter's story, until he told me something he wasn't expecting. Apparently, he had only found his mom in the Archives, which made sense since Vee and Cinco were at Hexside last we saw them. But his mom wasn't the only one in his family that he saw. 

Hunter told me that after explaining to his mom what had happened the last three months, another familiar face approached him. It was one he didn't want to see: tall, long blond hair with streaks of gray and white running through it, brown eyes, and a crooked smile.

Right from Hunter's description, I knew who he had crossed paths with. He had run into the certified Worst Father of the Year—or past sixteen years—Philip Wittebane, his father.

I had anticipated the worst right when Hunter mentioned his dad. If you still somehow aren't sure of how bad of a guy he is, I'll quickly tell you all the awful things he did to my lovely boyfriend and the rest of his family. Philip forced his wife into work right after opening his company, left the responsibility of taking care of newborn twins on a two-year-old (Hunter), forced him to take part in presentations of the Wittebane Factory's products, forced Cinco to sell smaller products on the streets, made Vee feel like she couldn't do anything right her whole life, forced all three of them to wear "sophisticated" and uncomfortable clothes, and never even thought once to give them free will. There are many more awful deeds to list, but I'll stop there. 

So, of course, when Hunter told me what happened, I was both shocked, proud, and disgusted. Oh, wait, you don't know what happened. Don't worry! Since I can't tell you everything Hunter told me, I'll just summarize it in a conversation where every sentence is totally serious and not funny at all. Don't take that from me, though.

I imagine Philip walking up to Hunter, trying to act all sophisticated, while he actually just looked stupid. Evelyn would probably try to tell him off, but Hunter convinces her to let him talk. He had a plan. I knew that much.

"Hey, kiddo!" Philip would say with his dumb voice. "Man, you've grown these past few months. And your hair! It's gotten longer. And your clothes..."

Hunter would look at down at his Dementer costume before crossing his arms and staring at Philip. "It's called a costume, Dad." He would say the last word in a bitter tone. I knew he would to that man in particular.

"I knew that," Philip would reply, trying to act like he knew everything. Hunter and I can agree how bull that is. "Anyway, so you've dumped your human boyfriend by now, haven't you? At least told Luz Noceda to bug off? Your time away must've taught you something about being in our family."

Okay, I'm not sure Philip would actually say all of that directly to Hunter's face, but he could. If he did say stuff like that, Hunter would definitely go back to wanting to punch his dad across the face. His mom probably would get riled up, too. She learned how stupid Philip was long ago.

"No, I haven't," Hunter would say, probably struggling to control his temper. I know I would've. "Thanks for asking."

Philip would probably reveal his awful grin at that moment, thinking he'd actually gotten Hunter "to his senses" somehow. Spoiler alert: he didn't. "Well, I'm sure you'll do so eventually," he would say. "Say, how about a quick hug goodbye to your old man? You've missed me, I can tell."

I can imagine tons of I'm boutta end this man's whole career memes running through Hunter's head. Or would that be more my head? Oh, it doesn't matter! At the Vixen House, my boyfriend told me that he leaned in for the hug Philip was asking for. That shocked me until he told me that he didn't follow through with it. Before Hunter could even wrap his arms around his father, he juked him and hugged his mom instead.

Now that was the boy I love so much.

Philip must've been stunned. He would make that loud, dramatic gasp that most people would make as a joke to something that wasn't that shocking. But he wouldn't be joking. He would actually be shocked that Hunter loved his mom more than him, despite her actually making an effort to be a good parent.

"Yeah, I don't think so," Hunter would say first with a smirk, then a serious expression. "My 'old man' never wanted to spend a moment of time with me if it weren't about money or status. I don't think I'd want to hug someone like that."

Philip would dramatically gasp again. Then he would look from Evelyn to Hunter and back again several times. And he would seem to get all angry before letting out a hmph! and walking off. His imaginary tail would probably be between his legs, too.

I remembered laughing with Hunter for a long minute about that. I thought it was pretty funny. I mean, watching him tell Philip off right before the Day of Unity had been really fun, but did he actually succeed to getting his father to bug off? Well, no. At least, until now. I figured I wouldn't see much of Philip Wittebane ever again.

I'll have you know that I never saw Luz, Gus, or Amity at the Vixen House. Hunter told me they were all spending time with their families after reuniting with them. Luz and Gus made sense with that explanation, but Amity? As a Grimwalker, she didn't have parents. She didn't even have siblings. Eboni was the only parent she ever knew. But since she was awful in that role and dead now... what family did Amity have to spend time with?

I'll get into that, don't worry.

As for Luz and Gus, while Hunter didn't directly tell me how reuniting with their parents went, I could guess and use my imagination. I'll start with Luz.

One thing that I was sure about when it came to Amity was that she was practically glued to Luz since using Ghost's magic again. I wasn't about to argue with that since they are very cute together. But based off that, I could assume that Amity waited with Luz as they searched for her mom. Since she didn't have any family, it made sense.

Once Luz's mom showed up, I could see Amity noticing her first. Ya know, just to make her smile at Luz lovingly like she always did. Man, do I love those two. They remind me of myself and Hunter in a way. Then, once Luz actually noticed her mom, she would run over to her and leave Amity's side. She would probably understand, though.

Luz would jump right into her mom's arms, holding onto her tightly. Maybe they would spin a bit, too. Luz often spun around when she was happy or excited. Reuniting with her mom after three months would be a pretty valid reason to be happy. 

And then there's Gus. He didn't have a significant other to wait with, but he certainly had someone to look for. By himself, he would look around the Archives with his dad before finally noticing him. Knowing Gus, I could see him creating several illusions of himself to show his dad as they reunited. 

If I'm right on that, I could also see my playful illusionist friend walking over to his dad, all his clones in tow. Gus's dad would probably be confused at first before remembering who his son is and smiling. Maybe he would try to hug every Gus around him until he found the real one? I think that would be cute. Since I wasn't there, I can only imagine. Once his dad finds the real Gus, he'll hug him and pick him up, possibly giving a kiss on the cheek. I would know. My dad kissed me on the cheek all the time when I was 12.

And then... there was Amity. As I said, she's a Grimwalker. She doesn't have parents. She doesn't have siblings. She doesn't have family. Well... at least, that's what she thought. I'll just say this: If someone thought they didn't have anyone waiting for them, let's just say they'd be in for a nice surprise. 

At first, I didn't think Amity had anyone to reunite with other than those she lived in the Human Realm with (ya know, me). Me and Em had Raine and King, Luz had her mom, Gus had his dad, and Hunter had his mom and siblings. But Amity? The answer isn't as mysterious as you think. 

The truth is, it didn't take me long to realize who Amity reunited with. Okay, that's a total lie. I had my suspicions, but I didn't know for sure until she told me later. When and where did she do that? 

You'll find out.

Amity did have loved ones waiting for her. They were people she bonded with more than I thought she did. They were actually pretty important people in her life. I wasn't too close with them myself, but I still trusted them to be good substitutes as family for Amity. Who? Darius and Eberwolf, that's who.

Was that reveal stupid? Probably. I tend to do that. But I'm not lying. Despite thinking she had no one, Amity wasn't alone. I could imagine Darius sneaking up on her, maybe scratching her new purple hair. Eberwolf would jump on his shoulder, revealing himself to Amity, too. Once a huge, heartful smile would appear on her face, she would probably go on to Darius about sewing, wolves, her Hecate costume, her purple hair, you name it! Amity had so many things to talk to Darius about. To be honest, I was happy for her.

Sure, I have my own thoughts on Amity, but that's not important. Maybe I have seen her as a little sister since being trapped in Eboni's mind. The truth is, I don't know why I see her that way. Is it because we bicker with each other like siblings? Possibly. Because of how much pain we went through together? Maybe. Because she always needed a healthy relationship in her life? Ehh. As for the real reason, I don't know. All I know is that I care for and want to protect her like a big brother would do to his little sister.

I'm starting to sound a lot like Em.

I'm getting off topic! Where was I? Right, the state of the Boiling Isles. While I was walking with Em, Raine, King, and Eda to the Vixen House, I noticed some things. Why were we walking instead of flying on staffs? Because. We all wanted to check on everyone in the shops and just around the Isles. But we also just wanted some exercise. I know, me, Edric Blight, best video game player of all time, wants exercise? Yes, gamers can like exercise. We exist.

Anyway, as I walked through the market and shops, I realized how terribly Eboni had left it. I mean, it's not like I'm considering her actually caring about shops and merchants when she's blasting up the Boiling Isles, but still. It was an awful sight to me. Just because they were so nice, Raine wanted to help Morton put his sign back up. Gotta give the guy some credit since his elixir sales had kept Raine from turning into the Fox Beast so many times. I had to thank him for that. And I did!

Still, there was a lot of rebuilding to be done. Helping Morton put up his sign was a kind effort, but it wasn't the solution to every difficulty of rebuilding the whole Isles. We would've helped more, but I just wanted to get to the Vixen House. I wanted to settle down before getting to work again. Come on, I had gone through dying and coming back to life. You gotta cut me some slack for being a bit lazy.

But not everyone was keen to change things. I had only heard it from Darius a while after settling down, but apparently he and Eber had just finished fending some other Coven Heads from the somehow in tact throne of Eboni. Terra Snapdragon, Adrian Graye, and Vitimir to be exact. They all wanted the power of ruling to themselves, despite Eboni being gone and everyone else wanting anarchy to end. I did, anyway. Darius and Eber obviously did, too.

After destroying part of the throne with abomination goop (good riddance), Darius and Eber had finally gotten the three Coven Heads to stay away. It was good to know, especially from the legends themselves. I'm not sure if that actually happened, but I wouldn't put it past Terra and Adrian. I don't know Vitimir well, but if he stooped to their level, he must be just as bad.

But we were willing to give it a shot. All of us. I'd only reunited with a few people after arriving at the Vixen House, but I heard enough to know the whole Isles was ready to adjust to Eboni's rule being over. After 50 long years, I think even her former coven scouts were willing. Steve told me that was the case, anyway. I trust his word.

I guess I should get into everything that happened once I got to the Vixen House. I said how I talked to Hunter and Darius a few times, but I think it makes more sense to get into everything. I'll get on that.

Immediately after opening the door (which still seemed strange without Sparky in it), I took a moment to breathe in the familiar scent of the Vixen House. I had done this when I first arrived from the Human Realm with my friends, too. Yesterday, I think? Wait. Did everything happen within the span of two days? Oh, okay. Time really does fly, I guess. Damn.

The smell of the Vixen House still smelled like mud and the Empress's Coven, but it seemed more normal than when I first arrived at the Demon Realm the day before. I figured that was because I felt more normal. With Eboni gone and the Isles getting restored, I actually felt like anything but the emotions I'd been feeling recently. Guilt? Sadness? Anger? Puh-lease! 

And everyone else seemed to agree with me. Raine was probably was the most excited to be back inside the Vixen House. They were so overjoyed, you'd think that they'd lived there forever or something. It sure feels like forever. I can't with time, man. How long since I first arrived in the Demon Realm? 5 or 6 months? How? I couldn't tell you. I've lost track.

King was also very excited to be back in the Vixen House. The first thing he did was jump into Raine's arms and squeal, "We're back!" Raine didn't reply. They just laughed and hugged the little guy tighter. I had to smile as I watched with Em and Eda. Okay, that's not true. Sorta. Eda was by Raine. Me and Em watched from the doorway. 

"Can you believe it, Ed?" Emira said. I wasn't really listening. I hadn't actually heard her until she kicked me in the shin. And, I'll be fully honest with you, Em's kicks hurt. I would know. I've had to endure them for the past 16 years. You'd think I didn't even have a shin by now.

"Helloooo?" Emira called as I was still recovering from her painful kick. "Is hollow head awake yet?"

"I am now, thank you very much," I replied. I would've said something much angrier, but, honestly, I didn't have the strength to. Someone had kicked me. "What were you saying?"

"Can you believe it, Ed?" my sister repeated from earlier, acting like my pain didn't exist. I was still wincing as she spoke, by the way.

Luckily, as I watched Raine and Eda laugh and take turns tickling King, I mustered a smile. A true one. "I really can't," I told Em. "We got here, what? 5 months ago?"

"Something like that." Emira glanced to the side. "Can you believe this all happened because neither of us wanted to go to summer camp?"

"No, not really," I said. "Can you believe I met Raine when they tried to burn my first W.V.W. game?"

"Can you believe I met Raine before you?"

"Can you believe I'm not listening to you gloat anymore?"

Emira giggled. She grabbed my wrist and forced me over to Raine, King, and Eda. Raine was laying Eda down softly in their den. "Come on, little bro."

I usually would've used my usual "I'm two minutes younger than you!" but I didn't even notice Em use her dumb nickname on me. I was too focused on how adorable Raine and Eda were. I sat down next to Emira right by Raine's den as Raine let Eda rest in their den. They rested themself beside her once she was settled in, smiling softly.

I could've thought to myself about how sincere and loving Raine's smile was or how peaceful Eda looked as she lay in their den, but I didn't get time to. King screeched, "Cannonball!" and jumped into the air, landing in the sticks Raine's den was made of. It didn't seem nice to jump in, but King seemed fine when his head popped out. I laughed with Em about how silly our little brother was. Raine even mustered a giggle.

When my laughter started to disperse, I glanced towards the door. I had no reason to, but I'm so glad I did. In the open doorway that was still without a Sparky, someone I've been longing to see for almost 24 hours appeared. His glittering brown eyes, curvy blond hair with a single wavy strand hanging out, and a black and gold Dementer costume were a sight I've missed.

As soon as he saw me, Hunter smiled so widely, his goofy tooth gap was visible. I was overjoyed to see his cheeky smile. I missed it while he was trapped in the Archives. My handsome boyfriend ran right for me, his arms outstretched. Neither of us said a word; we just squealed softly because of how happy we were.

Right when my arms wrapped around Hunter's back and his wrapped around mine for a bear hug, I felt my feet lift off the ground. I didn't think much of it, but I guess it was about time Hunter lifted me into the air instead of the other way around. He didn't spin me around like I always did with him, but my brief time in the air was stellar. 

When my green and black boots finally rested on the wooded floor of the Vixen House once more, I stared right into Hunter's soft gaze for a moment. We just smiled at each other as seen by everyone around us, but I also made a silent agreement with him. We both knew what he wanted to do. We hadn't done it in about a month, and I missed the magical, otherworldly feeling I got every time it happened.

After one final second of staring into each other's gaze, our lips touched. I loved every time I kissed Hunter more than anything else, but this time felt the most sweet. It was the shortest so far, too, but I didn't mind. I hadn't seen him for only a little less than a day and it already felt like forever. Dying and coming back to life does that to you. It makes every second feels twice as fast. You miss so much, an hour feels like a day. The sensation of Hunter's kiss in that moment felt like the life I had lost for a while. I longed for it.

When we pulled away, I found my eyes meeting Hunter's again. He smiled so purely, you'd think I was puffy cloud amidst clear blue sky instead of his favorite boyfriend. Then again, I felt like a puffy cloud. My teeth stuck out a bit as I smiled at him.

I glanced to the side again. Hunter hadn't come alone. Emira was also by my side, but I mostly ignored her. My eyes were currently focused on the face of the man I've known my whole life. The one I've loved and connected with my whole life. Am I a Mama's Boy even now? You bet I am! But does that mean I don't love seeing my dad's smile? Of course not.

As I slowly took my arms off Hunter, Dad reached his arms out slightly. He was offering a hug to his favorite twins. The ones he had taken care of for the past 16 years, no matter the stress or loneliness. I missed him as much as I missed my boyfriend. Maybe even more. I didn't even see Dad when I was in my nightmare. That meant I had been without him longer than Hunter.

At that thought, I jumped right into my dad's arms, letting him spin me around. I didn't notice until when my feet were touching the ground again that Em had been spun around with me. Maybe that was why I felt so light a moment ago. I wasn't the only one my father was paying attention to. Not that it mattered. I loved being with just my father and sister as much as being with anyone else. It had been just us for the past 8 years.

I realized when I pulled away from Dad that I wasn't paying much attention to anything other than myself and those I was embracing. When Em and I let go of Dad, we realized that Raine and King were right behind him. When my dad turned to face them, Raine immediately began sweating. They still managed a huge smile, but I could tell they were struggling. I couldn't help laughing just a little bit. 

Also, did I mention Hale was there? Yeah, he arrived with Hunter and embraced Raine immediately. I didn't notice him until after pulling away from my dad. Oops.

Dad didn't leave Raine sweaty and nervous for long. He easily pulled them in for a small and sweet hug on his one side with King, pulling me and Em in on the other. I giggled as my cheek was squished into my dad's. I was just so happy to see both my families finally meet. After all that time... Dad had never met Raine and King until that very moment. Wow. Everything that happened in the past 5 months just feels so distant. Am I okay?

No, I'm not okay. How do I know that? Because I somehow didn't notice Collector was there, either. The little guy had been hiding from me the whole time! After all that bonding before I died a while ago... What the heck! Well, that's besides the point, I guess. Back to what really matters.

Collector—the little sneaky guy that he is—got on his tippy toes to tap Hale on the shoulder. Raine's brother turned around and crouched down to Collector's level. "What's up, fella?" he wondered.

"I—I..." Collector hesitated. "I, um..."

I glanced to the side to watch my dad urge him to go on. I wasn't sure what they had gone through, but based off Collector's instant smile when his eyes laid on my dad, I could tell they had connected in some way. He took a deep breath before attempting to speak to Hale again.

"I have a surprise for you," Collector said, an innocent present on his childish face.

Hale nodded. "Alright," he said. "What is it?"

Collector didn't say another word. He just reached his hands out as if he was holding something despite nothing being there. Eventually, stars sparkled around his hands, creating something that looked like a tiny house. It was a tiny house—a tiny house with puppet Sparky inside it covered with shooting stars and trees. Hale gasped at the sight of it, getting to his knees.

"Sparkity?" he breathed. I remembered how much Hale and Sparky had bonded after he betrayed the Empress's Coven, giving each other the nicknames "Sparkity" and "Haley Hale." Man, that also feels so long ago. Why does time work like this?

Hale lifted his hand and slowly reached out to Sparky's face. Right when his hand touched her forehead, bright light covered the whole room, disappearing in smoke and parting to reveal Sparky. She wasn't a puppet anymore, and her eyelashes seemed... different. They were much longer and covered in sparkles. When she fully opened her wide and shiny eyes, you could tell how dramatic her reveal really was.

Sparky just squeaked when she smiled. Her fluffy rosette ears rose, showing her excitement even more. If I didn't know any better, I'd think Hale was crying. Oh, wait. No. He was crying. He really was that happy to see Sparky. Honestly, I was happy for him. They really were best friends.

"Haley Hale!" Sparky finally screeched cheerfully, swiftly wrapping her long tube body all around Hale until he was upside down. Tears could be seen falling down her own face when it touched Hale's. I smiled wider.

Em, Hunter, and Dad, who were at my sides, all stared at Sparky and Hale's reunion with a mix of confusion, disgust, and discomfort. I could understand why, but I didn't care. I loved it. I just continued to smile and pulled my family closer to me. They deserved to feel my happiness.

Now, there's one shy, little guy that I haven't mentioned much yet. You know him, you love him, and you probably want to adopt him a little bit, too.

As for Collector, he and I made a pinky promise to keep trying our best. I knew he would follow it, even before we made it. The little guy was the most determined kid I've seen about anything, even friendship. Then again, he's also immortal and thousands of years old. He's still a kid. I don't care.

Once Sparky finally let go of Hale, everything started to die down. Most of us were starting to say our goodbyes soon enough, and Collector was the first. He began by tapping King on his furry shoulder.

"Weh?" King said, turning around to face his best friend.

Collector scrunched up his face and winced before quickly speaking. "I have a big surprise for you!" he announced. He swiftly reached his arms out to King, a stuffed pink rabbit with one of his button eyes darker than the other in his hands.

King gasped and snatched the rabbit from Collector, excitedly twirling it through the air. "Francois!" he sing-songed.

Collector seemed happy for his best friend, especially when he hugged Francois tightly, but he still seemed sad. He hesitated before speaking again. King looked up.

"Hey... I, uh..." Collector took another deep breath. "I think I have a lot of growing up to do still," he explained. "So, I think it'd be best if I lived among the stars for a while. I promise to be really good at friendship when I come back."

Collector stared right into my eyes as he said that. I smiled right back at him and winked. He smiled and started to make his way to the door. No one argued with his decision, but King ran up to Collector before he could leave.

My adorable little brother handed his best friend Francois with nothing but a, "Weh!" Collector gasped when the rabbit was in his hands again. Before he could say anything, King surprised him with a hug and caught him off-guard. I think I could even hear King whisper, "I hope to see you again."

Collector's eyes shined with so many bright emotions, I couldn't count them. Even universes apart, I knew those two would be the bestest of friends.

Collector said goodbye to everyone before using one of his shooting stars to disappear into the sky. I stood right by King as he left, the little guy waving his paw in farewell frantically. I went to pick him up before I realized he was crying. They were definitely happy tears, but King needed a hug. Leave it to me! I squeezed him in a hug, my little Titan brother crying right into my shoulder.

We would all miss Collector, that's for sure.

Everyone else stayed at the Vixen House for a few hours, at least. I spent most of my time with Hunter, but before we could do our favorite boyfriend activity—cuddling—I had a discovery to make.

When King's tears died down and he ran off to find Raine, I was alone in the doorway. A frown found its way to my face. I was sad. Why? I realized something in that moment. I had my theories for a while, but I had to make sure. If what I suspected was true, I didn't think I'd ever be the same.

I took a couple steps outside of the Vixen House, letting the afternoon air into my nose. It smelled beautiful and fresh, but I wasn't worried about that. I had a discovery to make. I reached into my pocket and took out a light glyph. The same light glyph I've been looking at for the past 5 months. I took a deep breath and slowly lifted my finger up to the symbol.

When I softly tapped the paper, for the first time in 5 months (those failed attempts in the Human Realm don't count), nothing happened. No ball of light formed and illuminated into my face. Just like I suspected.

Small tears started to well up in my eyes as I clutched the glyph in between my fingers. When the Titan finally passed on, so did the powers of the glyphs. And that hurt me way more than it should've. A whole new hole formed in my heart at that discovery. The last time something that extreme happened was when my mom died. Of course, losing glyphs didn't hurt as much as losing her did, but still. Glyphs are just as dear to me as she was.

I opened my teary eyes slightly to stare at the light glyph again. As I stared at it for a moment, a hand rested itself on top of mine. I knew it wasn't my hand that wasn't holding the glyph. It was still at my side. When I looked over, I realized that Em was there, her hand resting atop my own. She was staring right at me, giving me the smile that always made me happy no matter how sad I was or how much I had just cried. Yup, it was one of those smiles.

"Ed, are you okay?" she wondered.

I hardened my grip on the glyph. I tried my best to keep my tears from falling, but I don't exactly have effective strategies when it comes to that kind of thing. I sniffed as I nodded, slightly whimpered. Emira didn't seem convinced. She frowned, resting both of her hands on my shoulders.

"What's wrong?"

I sniffed again, reluctant to answer. I knew hiding things from my sister would never go well, though, so I showed her the clutched glyph in my hand. "This," I whispered.

Emira didn't seem to understand. She reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a glyph of her own. She stared down at it for a moment before softly tapping it with her finger. She gasped when nothing happened, slowly turning her head to face me.

I could barely bear seeing her face. I sniffed several times in a row to control my tears, but it was no use. A tear fell down my cheek anyway. Emira softly wiped it away and used the soft touch of her skin to make me look at her. It wasn't forceful, but I knew to obey. 

"Ed, it's okay," she told me. "We'll survive without glyphs. We just have to move on. We'll adapt. We'll grow. We'll change. Witches evolved in how to use magic in the past, didn't they?"

I sniffed again and wiped my eyes with my sleeve. "Yeah..." I paused for a moment before continuing. "It's just... glyphs helped me find my place when I... when I didn't have any other way."

Em smiled and kissed my cheek. Okay, she has never done that before. "I know," she told me. "I know. It's hard to let go. Glyphs are a part of you. I get that. They're a part of me, too. But we have to move on. Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah..." I managed to let out. When I stared at the glyph in my hand again, I noticed how it waved in the wind. "Yeah," I said, smiling at Em. She nodded and pointed at the glyph with her head. I knew what she wanted me to do, and I was ready. 

I stared up at the beautiful sky, reached my hand out, and slowly opened my fingers, letting the glyph drift away through the air. As I watched it go, I smiled more, my tears dissolving into a figment of the past. 

"Feeling better?" Emira asked softly.

I nodded. "Yeah," I replied. "I feel great."

I was about to say something else until I was interrupted by a familiar blur of dark gray fur circling my neck. I did get a few scratches, though, since my silly Palisman was carrying something as he circled me.

"Reporting for duty!" Batric exclaimed as I realized he was holding my hat in his claws. His ear also flicked excitedly.

I smirked as I took my hat from him. "And what duty are you reporting for, exactly?" I joked.

"Whatever you want me to do!" Batric replied cheerfully. "You're the boss!"

I giggled, Emira joining in. When I looked over at her, I noticed that Daisy was resting on her shoulder. I smiled at them before my gaze shifted to the distant horizon. It may have only been afternoon, but the sun's rays made the sky look as beautiful as a sunset. I loved it.

I realized something else in that moment. Something that didn't make me sad. Something that made me happier than ever. It was probably the best news you could ever give someone.

Em stood with her arms crossed, Daisy on her shoulder not too far behind me as I watched the beautiful sky. I shared a glance with her for a second where we both smiled, both realizing that great news. The best news.

As the sun's rays started to get brighter and make the sky look even prettier than Amity's purple hair, I really let it sink in. The truth, the beautiful sight, the great news, everything. I knew in my heart that everything was good. I held Batric in staff form firmly in my hand as I put my hat back on. Once I was back to being the Almighty Edric that had defeated Eboni, I felt stronger than I ever did before.

What had I realized? What's the great news? Well, it's simple.

A whole chapter of my life was over...

...but a new one was just beginning.

Chapter Text

Four years later...

"Ed~"

Edric didn't stir.

"Ed!"

When Edric gasped and practically jumped out of bed, he instantly realized Emira was standing right beside his bunk. She stared at him with her usual frown and disappointed stance that he always woke up to. There was also a buzzing running through Edric's ears that seemed to make his bed vibrate. He looked over to see it came from his phone.

"Frankenstein finally decided to wake up," Emira sighed, rolling her eyes. "Your phone's been going off for the past twenty minutes. I'd think you'd at least have some sense on a day like today."

Edric groaned. "Yeah, yeah. Keep on complaining." He picked up his phone and shut off the alarm without looking at it. "I like my sleep. You've known that for the past 19 years."

"20 years, bonehead," Emira corrected him. "Did you seriously forget what today is?"

Right when his sister first responded to his statement, Edric's eyes widened. Somehow, someway, he had forgotten what that day was. Of course he would. Leave Edric Blight to be the one to forget an annual event just as that. If only he just looked at his reminder before turning it off. Then he wouldn't have looked like as much of an idiot.

"Happy birthday, Ed," Emira added, scratching her brother's hair. He playfully waved her away. "Another year of not being able to drink. Next year, though!"

Edric chuckled. "You want to drink?" he chided. "Alchohol grosses me out."

Emira shrugged. "It's something new," she replied. "Of course you wouldn't like trying new things, Mr. I didn't get my drivers' license until last year."

"Hey! I told you not to get on me about that!" Edric countered. "Driving is scary!"

"Uh-huh." A smirk overcame his sister's face. "It's kinda like flying on a staff."

"Driving is nothing like flying a staff," Edric objected. "Batric already knows where I wanna go before I even tell him. I just have to speed him up or slow him down every once in a while. When I drive, I have to use the pedals, focus on the road, use the steering wheel correctly—"

Emira kicked him in the shin to shut him up. Edric's yelp of pain should've made her sympathetic, but it obviously didn't. She just said, "Alright, that's enough."

"Hey! What the heck?!" Edric exclaimed.

"I've had enough of your complaining," she told him. "In any case, you should really get onto changing and packing. We've got a whole new year of college ahead of us, and I know how much you'd forget if I didn't remind you. If you can't even remember your birthday, how are you supposed to remember moving back into school?"

Edric groaned. "As much as I love the Boiling Isles, going there for school every year now is awful."

"You survived two years," Emira reminded him, picking up an empty box by the closet. "You can survive two more. Besides, isn't college better than middle and high school combined so far?"

Edric smiled at that. Middle and high school, the seven years of bullying, embarrassment, bad grades, and crying he had faced and wished to forget. Well, technically five years since his last two had been after Eboni's death. Mostly. They still sucked a bit, though. Human school. Ugh.

Not that Edric would ever like his birthday being in August. Late August.

"I guess you're right," he sighed. Edric got to his feet and stretched. It helped him wake up his whole body. He began to make his way to the bathroom before stopping. He looked over his shoulder at Em, who was putting some old photos into her box. "Hey, Em?"

"Hm?"

"This is Luz and Amity's first year, right?"

"Of what?" Emira asked, making eye contact with her brother. "College?"

"Yeah."

Emira sighed deeply with relief. "Oh, good," she said. "I thought you meant their first year of dating at first. Then you would really be a bonehead."

Edric rolled his eyes. "Just answer the question."

"Yes, this is Luz and Amity's first year of college," Emira explained. "With us."

Edric grinned at the last part. "All I needed to know," he said before leaving their shared room.

"Don't you even think about what I know you're thinking about, Ed!" Emira called after him. "No terrible plans that will inevitably go wrong!"

"Got it!"

"Stop lying to me!"

Edric chuckled to himself once he was in the bathroom. He was planning on making terrible plans that would inevitably go wrong. It was his thing. Especially when it came to his friends. Especially when it came to those two specifically...

Edric looked in the mirror and straightened himself. Even though he had been looking at his reflection every day, he was still shocked at how much he had grown ever since saving the Boiling Isles. His brunette hair was still it's usual scruffy self, it was just a bit shorter since he got a haircut recently. It also had several dark green streaks in it that Edric had decided to dye in about two years before. Emira had some of her own dyed dark green streaks in her hair. It was a twin thing, of course.

He smiled as he felt his chin and below his nose. Ever since he turned 17, Edric noticed that he was getting some facial hair. Even on his 20th birthday it was very small and not even much of a goatee, but he still saw it as a major step forward. Ya know, becoming a man and all that. Every guy wanted that. Edric was no different.

Finally, Edric had gotten new glasses. He had them ever since his 19th birthday (since Raine still was the best mentor ever) and wore them every day ever since. Sure, they weren't anything special, just round yellow glasses, but his old pair wasn't too special either. Black rectangular glasses were probably the most boring kind. Okay, yeah, the one lens was also cracked, but Edric didn't care. Everyone knew how clumsy Raine was, and they all just laughed about how they dropped the box before even giving it to Ed. He still wore them and refused to get a new pair. Raine got them. He couldn't just get rid of them. Besides, he could still see with them on. His left side was just a little hard to see through. Not too big of a deal.

Edric took a deep breath, really taking in that 20th birthday air. "20 years old. Wow!" It was still hard to believe, especially after him forgetting the fact. "You really are a big boy now, Ed. Wait, no, that's cheesy. Oh, it doesn't matter! I've grown so much the past four years. I mean, just look at me!" He felt around his mouth again. "I'll get to that mustache in no time."

"No, you won't!"

"Shut it, Em!"

"You'll stay my little brother for-ever!"

Edric groaned and covered his face with his hand. Yes, Em still called him little bro. She had made it pretty clear she would never stop doing it. Honestly, he didn't mind, but he always acted like it was the worst torture ever. She didn't seem to mind that either.

Edric smiled at his (what he would call handsome) reflection again. "20 years old. You're 20 years old, Ed." He whistled. "Big number. You're a junior in college, you can drive, and you still live with your dad. Not that you'll ever stop living with him. I love Dad. He's, well, my dad. With more kids that are technically his, he's still the same old Dad who's known me and Em since we were little. And I still love him."

Edric's expression softened as he finished his short monolog. When he looked over at his stack of clothes, he remembered what he had come into the bathroom to do. He was supposed to change, not monolog like a movie character. Not that his life didn't feel like a movie, though.

Edric put on his black t-shirt with three dark green stripes on it, puffy jeans with symbols that represented some of his favorite people (Raine, Hunter, and Amity to be exact) stitched on by Amity, and black jacket with bat wings covering the comfortable fabric. He rolled up the sleeves. As a final touch, Edric put on his favorite birthday present he had received ever. 

He remembered the exact moment exactly. To keep it simple, it was his 18th birthday. Hunter—being the awesome boyfriend he was—had given Edric a ton of gifts just like every other year. This one was special, though. It was a necklace. At first, it would seem heavy and difficult to wear since it was golden and big, but it actually wasn't. Why did Edric love it so much, though? Well, the necklace had a message on it. No, it wasn't one of those necklaces with half a heart and message on it that matched with someone else's. Edric never liked those. It had the short, sweet, and special message of H+E on it. That stood for Hunter and Edric, obviously.

Edric stared at his reflection again once his clothes and necklace were on. He smiled and said, "We ready for 20 years old, a third year of college, and just living life for another day? Of course we are." He brushed his hair, teeth, and put on his favorite black and green sneakers (another birthday gift from Hunter. Were they worn out? A little bit. Did Edric care? Nope) before making his way back to his room. Emira was just closing a box when he entered.

"Welcome back, slowpoke," she greeted him. She pointed to a box set in the middle of the room. "Get to packing, big boy."

Edric rolled his eyes with a smirk and picked up his box.

Packing was the easy part. Getting rid of so many dear memories wasn't so easy.

Okay, maybe getting rid of wasn't the best term. Edric was actually packing two boxes. One for the stuff he would bring with him to college for another year, and the other was for stuff he would leave at his house. Stuff that brought back memories. Memories that would stay in his room with his billboard of photos.

For the past four years, Emira had been bringing around a Polaroid camera; the same one she had used to make that scrapbook with Luz in the Human Realm. With it, the older twin would take so many pictures during every occasion that it would annoy Edric a bit. Even so, Em's idea to use the printed pictures to make a billboard of memories was something he loved. As he packed, Edric would smile and smile at those photos.

Once he put his school picture from his senior year of high school in his take to college box (he still couldn't believe how much facial hair he had even back then), Edric closed it. He straightened himself, sighed, stretched, and breathed in with content. He was feeling more and more like a 20-year-old by the minute.

"Alright, I think I'm done," Edric announced. "Should I get Dad?"

Emira didn't answer for a while. When Edric turned to her, he realized something small was in her hands. "Em?"

She took a deep breath before replying. "I think you should put something else to your box," Emira said, turning to face her brother. He still couldn't see what she was holding.

Edric rolled his eyes jokingly. "Which box?" he asked. "My take to college box or my leave with the rest of the memories box? You really need to be less vague if you want me to—"

Edric didn't get to finish. Emira cut him off by setting whatever she was holding in one hand and slowly unfolding her fingers. You'd think she was a dramatic actor in a play. Not that it mattered. Edric gasped when he realized what his sister was holding.

It was the figurine of his favorite video game character for the past 12 years: the Almighty Alvanic.

Edric practically snatched the figure from his sister's hand. "Where'd you find him?" he wondered. "I thought I lost this precious guy."

"Well, he was just sitting next to my middle school photos," Emira replied. "I found Cassidy, too." She pointed to another figurine still on the table with long black hair and a black and purple dress and witch hat.

Edric stared into Alvanic's fiery green eyes. His green and black outfit really made them stand out. But he already knew that. Any true W.V.W. fan would've. Edric especially. He could still imagine the wizard saying, "I challenge you to a witch's duel!" to Cassidy, Dementer, or any other witch he was about to fight.

"Into the leave with the rest of the memories box you go, buddy," Edric finally said. Emira nodded, picking up the Evil Witch Cassidy figurine.

Edric got to his knees and reopened the box. He hardened his grip on Alvanic as he stared at its contents. Even though he had just packed this box of memories, it seemed like he hadn't touched it in years. Just like an old box of memories.

Everything inside it brought back something that Edric loved to think about. Raine's old maroon and white Grudgby jacket with gray squares at the elbows reminded him of every memory he ever had with them. His Tamagotchi reminded him of Hunter and every text they would send each other, every emoji sequence that made up a message sideways. His Grom crown with glittering pink gems on it reminded him of dancing with his boyfriend and how amazing it felt. How long ago that was. How long ago all of those memories were.

And those were just a few examples of what was in that box. It would take way too much time to recall every memory inside it. Edric decided to just focus on the present. He sighed. Not with despair or remorse, but pride. He slowly set the Alvanic figurine atop the rest of the box's contents before closing the box again.

Edric looked over his shoulder once he was on his feet again. Emira was just closing her own box of memories. Instead of speaking to her, he just smiled and turned his head back around. Edric picked up his box of memories and set it on his desk. As he straightened himself, he skimmed through his billboard of memories.

The billboard wasn't only showcasing photos Emira had taken with her Poloroid camera. The twins had put some other stuff on it, too. Next to the photos of their graduation (Ed's with him and X on it and Em's with her and Zee) and their family field trip to the zoo (they had fun with the giraffes) were the certificates they had been given. Despite going to college in the Demon Realm, Edric had finished high school in the Human Realm with his sister. When they made that decision, X and Zee had insisted on enrolling there since they wanted to spend more time with their siblings. Well, and that X decided that he wanted to be a zoologist and Zee decided to be a nurse made them need to go to some form of schooling, too. Both of them decided they would only visit the Boiling Isles. That was also probably why they agreed so quickly when Alador had offered to legally adopt them. X and Zee Blight were here to stay. Their certificates were in the basement, though, since they decided to sleep there after getting adopted.

Besides Em's favorite high school writing assignment that she got an A+ on plus extra praise from her English teacher and a small thing held close to Edric's heart, the billboard was cluttered with photos. Edric's favorite had to be his newest Grom photo. It was from when he was 17. Even though they were going to school in the Human Realm then, Principal Bump had allowed Ed and Em to attend that year's Grom. They were so glad they had agreed. If they didn't come, they wouldn't have seen Amity finally ask Luz out and Luz's hearty reply. It was a yes, of course. Edric would never get over it. In the photo, he was grinning with a finger gun below his chin, Hunter making a duck face with a peace sign. Behind them, Gus was singing into his microphone, Luz was adjusting Amity's collar of her dress, her new girlfriend was blushing like crazy, Em was giving Luz bunny ears, and X and Zee were watching and laughing. (They had been invited by Principal Bump, too.)

All the other photos were so many other dear memories. There was Raine, King, and Sparky playing catch, Raine introducing Alador to apple blood for the first time, Sparky traumatizing a poor barista during her first visit to the Human Realm, and even some older ones like the Grom photo with Raine and King and watching a shooting star pass by with Hunter on the roof of the Vixen House. (Yes, that had actually happened. Emira had only drawn it because she thought it was absolutely adorable. Edric couldn't agree more. The Poloroid photo wasn't her drawing, though. Had she been stalking them in order to take a cute photo? You bet she was!)

But there was one part of the billboard Edric loved most. It was the small thing that was held close to his heart. What was that? Well, in between the photo of him and Hunter watching a shooting star and the one of Raine, King, and Sparky playing catch sat a light glyph. It was drawn on a post-it note, and Edric had only added it because he still missed using it and all the other glyphs and combos. He could still use Batric and his staff to cast spells, but it just wasn't the same. Edric missed glyphs more than so many other things. He softly tapped the symbol with the tips of his fingers for nostalgia's sake.

As his expression softened and he thought tears would probably form, Emira made her way over to her brother. Edric looked at her as she rested her arm on his shoulders. He closed his eyes and softly smiled, placing his hand on hers.

Footsteps could be heard in the doorway. They were approaching. Edric heard his dad's voice. "There you two are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" Alador explained. "Anyway, could you help me clean up the living room? Your sister left quite the mess. She must've left in a hurry."

Edric didn't do so much as glance at his father, but based off the short pause after his greeting, he guessed even Em was reluctant to answer. Maybe Alador had already realized that. "We'll be just a minute, Dad," the older twin finally said.

When Edric slightly glanced over his shoulder, he noticed Alador smile more and lean against the doorway. His arms were crossed, too. In the past four years, his dark brown hair had started to gray, but Edric still refused to call his dad old. Even with more kids under his belt (two of them being 20 now), Alador still seemed as young as he did four years earlier. Edric thought that way, anyway. His father also still wore his favorite pride pin, which was extra supportive since X started dating Elijah about two years before. Zee was also beginning to realize her disinterest in romance and Em was dating Viney, too...

Edric was struggling to keep track of all that even now.

"Oh, you're off to another year of college," Alador said as if he still couldn't believe that fact. It wasn't shocking that he would think that way. As he paused and cleared his throat, Emira took her arm off Edric and stepped away from him a bit. "Healing... Illusions... Those are your majors, right, Em?"

Emira giggled and took out a form with several unchecked boxes on it. At the top, it read, "Boiling Isles University" and "Human/Demon Realm Exchange Program." Yes, they attended both. They were pretty much the same school anyway. The Human/Demon Realm Exchange Program was just open to a lot more grades than just college classes. Not that Edric cared. He was separated from that chaos on campus during the year. Only two of the boxes on Emira's form were checked. Beside them read, "Healing and its Many Properties" and "Illusion Trick Mastery."

"Right on point, Dad," Emira announced, showing her dad the form. A quack could be heard as Daisy flew onto her shoulder. The older twin giggled as she stroked the attention-seeking goose's feathers. "Ever since Viney introduced me to Healing Magic last year, I couldn't escape the classes. Oh, she's so helpful."

"You're daydreaming about her again, Em," Edric told her with a smirk. "It's crazy to think that Emira Blight, teenage boy enthusiast, ended up dating a mischievous girl who used to be in the Dentention Track."

Emira playfully shoved him. "Says you," she replied. "It's really crazy that Edric Blight, Mr. romance is dumb; how could you like it at all, Em?, got himself a boyfriend that he's obsessed with four years ago. Can you believe that? Four years? When's your anniversary again?"

"Passed this year," Edric reminded her. "Back then, I was just like Zee. Maybe it's just a matter of time before she finds the one."

"I wouldn't think like that." Emira lovingly glanced at the graduation photo with her and Zee in it, a bisexual heart pin sticking it to the billboard. She had come out to their dad not long after asking out Viney. "I think Aro/Ace fits Zee. She can change her mind eventually, but, honestly, with all the romance in this family, she's a bit of a breath of fresh air."

Edric shrugged. "Just saying. Finding the perfect version of Hunter in your life is an awesome feeling."

"Or Viney," Emira offered.

"Or Elijah."

Emira laughed loudly.

Alador made his way over to his twins and set a hand on Emira's shoulder. "Alright, that's enough," he said. "As I was going to say, what majors did you pick again, Ed? I can't quite recall."

Edric chuckled as he opened a drawer of his desk. As he took out his own major form, Batric stirred in his tiny spot on his bunk. He let out a soft squeak as his wings flapped.

"Come on, Dad, you know me..." Edric began, still holding his form beside him, out of sight of his father and sister. He watched Emira roll her eyes as he paused. "I picked all of 'em!" When Edric finally revealed his form, every single box was checked. He hadn't changed ever since joining every track on his first day at Hexside. Batric squeaked and landed on his shoulder.

"All of them, huh?" Alador said, walking over to his son. He inspected his form, confirming that everything from "The Confusing Life of Humans" to "Explosive Potion Making" were checked off. "How is that even possible without your glyphs? It's hard to believe Em can even do two."

"Hey!"

Edric giggled and softly stroked Batric's furry head. "Well, it's been tough, but Batric and I found our own way of doing things," he explained. "It's not that big of a deal."

"You think you're so special." Emira blew a raspberry. "I can do as much as you can with Daisy! She may be bossy, but she's also very helpful. I'm just not as indecisive."

"Oh, please!" Edric exclaimed back. "You're not even close to my level." He laughed so wholeheartedly, he wasn't sure how he managed it. His voice did crack a little bit, though.

"You laugh like such a dolphin," Emira muttered. Edric couldn't help but laugh more. He added in some snickers, too.

When Edric's laughter finally dispersed, he looked over at his billboard again. His box of memories was also still on his desk, which made his expression soften. There was one part of going back to college he loved more than any other.

Edric sighed and stared at his completely-checked-off major form with a soft smile. "Although, I guess..." He quietly chuckled. "It'll just be nice to see everybody again... after all this time."

"Edric," Alador said, his face practically expressionless.

Emira sighed. It eventually turned into her trademarked groan. "Ed, are you seriously this dense?" she wondered annoyedly. "We just saw them last week!"

"But that doesn't count!" he countered. "We were studying for finals!"

"We also saw them the week before that, bonehead," Emira reminded him. "How many dates have you gone on with Hunter this summer? How many? Huh?"

Edric nervously scratched his head, struggling to come up with more counter-arguments. "Oh, well..."

"See? You got nothing."

"Shut up! Last week feels like forever ago!"

"Maybe your brain is just outta wack! That makes a lot of sense."

"You're out of wack!"

Alador giggled as his twins continued to argue about such a small thing. They hadn't changed at all the past four years.

As she perched herself on X's pale hand, Scarlet's fluffy ear flicked. X and Zee were standing right outside Ed and Em's room, listening in on their usual bickering. Not that Scarlet wasn't used to it. She had lived with them in the Vixen House for so long. She knew them as well as Raine did.

Zee giggled as she listened to Ed and Em's argument. Scarlet understood her amusement. Those twins just did that to you. The older basilisk continued to listen in, even as X turned away from her and leaned closer to the fox Palisman on his hand.

"It's time..." the younger basilisk breathed. "Go get the others."

Scarlet nodded and straightened her agile legs. X leaned down to get his hand closer to the floor, but the little fox didn't really need it. She could jump as far as a cat.

X and Zee watched as Scarlet made her way to the open window at the end of the hall. She crouched down, prepared, and leaped, landing on the sun-baked windowsill. The little fox had to take a second to take in the morning sun before looking over at the basilisks. Truly, she didn't really want to leave them yet.

"Go, Scarlet," Zee insisted. X nodded in approval beside her. "We'll personally escort Ed and Em to their little surprise."

X giggled, trying to keep it under his breath. "Little..." He giggled a bit more.

Scarlet flicked her ear in farewell as she nodded. Before leaving, she closed her eyes and focused. It only took a moment before her glowing red magic paw steps appeared, but it still took some concentration. After a final flick of her fluffy tail, Scarlet jumped out of the window, using her magic paw steps to run through the air. They led her to the abandoned house.

Well, it wasn't really the abandoned house anymore. As Scarlet ran past the sign right by the path leading to the house, she noticed it read, "Sold to the Blights!" Some colorful stickers decorated it, too. Scarlet didn't think much of it, just continuing to approach the beige door of the house.

About a year or two before, Ed, Em, and the rest of their friends finally finished fixing up the old place. Since they weren't trying and failing to make a portal as well anymore, the job was much easier. Someone else had taken up the work of that. The old house now had clean and painted white walls, a beige door that didn't creak so much, and nice and smooth stairs leading to the door that didn't try to kill you. There weren't any nails or possum nests inside anymore either since, well, there wasn't an inside anymore. 

When Scarlet got right up to the door, its doorknob shined bright yellow, getting right into her eyes. The little fox just blinked a few times to control the light. She had gone through the portal before, so this didn't surprise her. When the door's beige color transformed into bright magenta with a glowing yellow star in the middle, it opened. Scarlet jumped down to the top of the stairs leading to the door so that she didn't get smacked.

"Welcome to the Boiling Isles!" Collector's voice exclaimed when the door fully opened. Instead of seeing the inside of the old house, you saw bright white light. Collector had made it that way when they first made the portal. It was their last gift before finally leaving for the stars. "Enjoy your stay!"

Scarlet jumped into the air, her magic paw steps catching her before she could hit the floor. She took one last glance at the beautiful Human Realm before running through the portal. The last thing she saw was blinding light before making it to her home.

Chapter Text

Even though it wasn't a scent, the smell of panic was running through the air of Luz Noceda's room. Even Stringbean was concerned, watching her witch run about the room with her fingers scrunching up her brown hair and her The Good Witch Azura sneakers stomping all over the floorboards. Luz was whimpering, too, an open scroll buzzing and following her.

Stringbean flicked her forked tongue with alarm. "Luz, calm down!" she finally hollered. "It's okay! It's all okay!"

"No, it's not!" Luz argued, ripping the scroll out of the air. "Today is Ed and Em's birthday, and I completely forgot! Good friends don't forget their best friends' birthdays, Stringbean!"

Stringbean rolled her eyes and wrapped her slippery body around Luz's wrist. "So what?!" she demanded. "This is the only time in the past four years that you've forgotten their birthday! It's not like you forget every year."

"That's the problem!" Luz began to pace, forcing Stringbean to release herself from her wrist. She hissed with annoyance. "I have never forgotten Ed and Em's birthday! What if I do it again next year? And the year after that? And the next year? And the next year? And the next—"

Stringbean swiftly flew right up to her witch and slapped her with her tail. Luz stood, stunned, for a moment before hissing through her teeth with pain. 

"What was that for?" she asked her annoyed Palisman, sounding a lot more pained than angry.

Stringbean flicked her tongue and hissed, saying things that Luz wouldn't want to repeat. "Calm down," the little snake said once her fit resolved. "You act like one year of forgetting a birthday is going to make your brain forget they even exist."

"Two birthdays, technically—"

"Not the point." Stringbean hissed softly in something like a sigh. "Luz, look. Sure, you forgot Ed and Em's birthday, but Penstagram gave you plenty of reminders minutes after you woke up. They'll never even know you forgot. What you need to do is focus on getting their surprise ready with your friends."

Luz stared at the floor, comprehending what Stringbean told her. Her Palisman was right. This year was special when it came to her best friends' birthday, and she planned to make it even better. Eventually, she held her wrist out to Stringbean so she could wrap herself around it again.

"You're right, you adorable slither noodle," Luz said as she felt scales against her skin. "This is the birthday Ed and Em will never forget." She grabbed her scroll and opened Amity's contact. "All I have to do is arrange plans with Amity to check on—"

When Luz opened up her past messages via Penstagram with her girlfriend, she didn't expect to read what she did. Her brown eyes widened to the size of the sun at the sight of another thing she completely forgot about.

Amity: morning, light

Luz: Good morning!

Luz: What's up, Ams?

Amity: I was just wondering if we could do something special tomorrow

Luz: Oh?

Luz: Like what?

Amity: well, i know tomorrow's really busy cuz of Ed and Em's birthday and everything

Amity: but Spirit was just acting so... familiar recently

Luz: Where are you going with this?

Amity: oh, i suck at explaining stuff like this

Luz: Take your time Ams XD

Amity: could we visit Ghost's grave tomorrow?

Amity: like on the way to meeting up with Hale

Amity: since we planned on doing that

Amity: tomorrow

Luz: :O

Luz: Sure!

Amity: thanks Luz

Luz: ❤️

Luz: Whatever you wanna do

Amity: ❤️

Amity: see you tomorrow then?

Amity: i should be carving Palismen with Raine's mom in the morning

Amity: you'll know where to find me

Luz: Yea, we're all good!

Luz: I love you, Ams 🥰🤗

Amity: :)

Amity: love u too Luz

Amity: ❤️

The further down Luz scrolled through her messages with Amity the previous day, the more guilty she felt. For some reason, she forgot that they had planned to visit Ghost's grave that day! That tradition was so important to her and Luz had forgotten! She saw herself as such an awful girlfriend in that moment.

She groaned and slid down the wall right beside her bedroom door until her bum hit the wood floor. Luz felt like crying; she had messed up so bad. Since Palismen kinda had that ability, Stringbean softened her expression, feeling Luz's guilt and pain. She softly rested herself on her shoulders.

"I can't believe this!" Luz exclaimed. "I forgot about our plans! I forgot about everything! Amity will kill me when she finds out! I'm the worst girlfriend ever!"

When she plopped her head on her knees, Stringbean hissed with concern. Her tail rattled. "You are not the worst girlfriend ever!" she insisted. "Just make sure Amity doesn't find out! If you leave right now, you can find her in the woods with Raine's mom, and then you can—"

"Luz!"

She immediately stiffened at that familiar call of her name.

"Are you awake?"

"No time!" Luz hissed through clenched teeth to Stringbean. She swiftly rested her on her shoulder and got to her feet. She intentionally left her scroll on her dresser, several green Flyer Derby flags taking its place in her grip. "Coming, Mama!"

Stringbean had tried to ask Luz several questions as she ran down the stairs, but she kept getting shushed by her witch. When she jumped over the last few stairs and ran into the kitchen where her mom was, Luz quickly grabbed basically anything safe to eat at the moment on the counter. She even grabbed some toast from the Human Realm since she loved how Alador made it.

"What's the rush, Luz?" Camila wondered. She drank a bit of her coffee (gift from Alador). "I didn't think you had anything today. Wink wink."

Luz sighed as she took a bite of toast. "Mama, stop." She turned around to face her mother directly, making sure she could hear her next words. "I didn't think I did either. Well, other than the party, of course. But I promised Amity we would do something today, and I completely forgot! I'm the worst—girlfriend—ever."

"Well, I doubt that," Camila replied. "Besides, I wasn't talking about Ed and Em's party. Don't you have something else you need to attend to?"

Luz had to think for a moment. She really hoped she hadn't forgotten anything else, but her mom's words made her nervous. She had forgotten Ed and Em's birthday until she got bombarded with Penstagram pings, she had forgotten to meet up with Amity to visit Ghost's grave until she looked through her messages with her awesome girlfriend, and now her mom was talking as if she were forgetting something else. Luz silently swore her mom wouldn't make her feel even worse. She couldn't have forgotten anything else.

"No?" was all she said.

Camila softly chuckled and drank more coffee. "Really?" she countered. That just made Luz more nervous. "Nothing? Not even anything that has to do with the..." She paused. Luz began to sweat with anticipation. "...Emerald Entrails?"

Luz's eyes widened as realization hit her like the bully it had been all morning. She just wanted to scream, pull her hair out, crawl into a dark corner of her room, and never come out. Ever. She didn't want to face another thing she forgot. 

But she had to. About a week before, Luz had had a little meeting with her team. She was the captain after all. During the meeting, they decided to do a little surprise for Ed and Em at their party (Em wasn't at the meeting since Luz was who had originally came up with the idea). Everyone was on board with it, eventually deciding to do some extra practice of their routine for their surprise. When was the extra practice? That morning. Amity said she wouldn't be at the practice since she had to help Lightning Whispers with some stuff, which made everyone else agree to do the routine without her. Luz was sad to hear that, but she couldn't argue. Besides, now they had other plans, too. Why was life so busy for her?

Luz felt like crying again. She had messed up so bad that day. Instead of bawling like a baby, she decided to just groan and rest her face on her mom's shoulder. Camila softly patted her on the back in comfort.

"You forgot, didn't you?" she asked.

Luz just groaned in response. She heard some more coffee being drank, so she figured her mom understood what she meant. After a few more seconds, she took a deep breath and straightened herself. If Luz wanted to make up for her forgetfulness, she had to do it as soon as possible. 

"Well, at least now I know everything I have to do today," Luz said, picking up her unfinished toast on the counter. She stuffed the rest in her mouth and held out her hand. Stringbean immediately understood and turned into her staff. "If I want to get it all over with, I need to leave right now."

Camila's expression softened as she set her coffee down and made her way to her daughter. She kissed her on the forehead and hugged her. "Tell Amity I'm thinking of her," she said. "She told me why you're meeting today."

Luz smiled when her mom released herself from their hug. "I will," she assured her.

When everything was finally settled, Luz made her way to the door. She got on her staff, but she turned to her mom before leaving. "See you at the party?"

Camila nodded. "See you at the party, cariño."

Luz smiled at the Spanish her mom learned before nodding. "Bye, mami." She slapped her staff to get Stringbean to step on it. Once she left the vicinity of her house, it was just a speck behind her.

Even though it wasn't necessary, Luz thought she could get some extra practice in on her way to the Grudgby field. She remembered what they had planned for the routine, so she decided to try some of those difficult twists and turns. If Stringbean was conscious in her staff form, she'd probably tell Luz to stop being silly and leave her energy for the practice she had planned. She wouldn't have listened. She was having too much fun. Giggling filled the air of Bonesborough.

As Luz's eyes spotted Hexside in the distance, tiny blobs gathered in the Grudgby field that must've been her team, she realized why she had grabbed those Flyer Derby flags on her way out of her room. Originally, she just wanted to hold something other than her Penstagram scroll, but she realized there may have been another reason.

Did some part of Luz's brain actually remember her meeting with the team and try to remind the other parts in that way? It didn't work how it wanted it to, but Luz still found it strange. She reached into the pocket of her large golden pants Amity had made her and took out the flags. She clutched them tightly as she flew down to the Grudgby field.

Gus, Viney, and Willow weren't even fazed when Luz appeared. She tried to make her entrance cool and flashy, but her team obviously didn't care. She figured she should've expected that.

"I was starting to think we would have to practice by ourselves," Viney said jokingly. "Not that it would look bad since I'm in it."

Willow playfully punched her arm. "Yeah, yeah, we've heard enough about your awesomeness this morning," she said. Viney nervously chuckled. "So, Luz, should we get started? I promised to help with the kindergarteners later, and I don't want to keep the little darlings waiting."

"We all have a lot on our plates," Gus told Luz. "I promised Raine I would teach a few classes at the exchange program. Wouldn't want to keep the headmaster waiting too long."

"Oh, I didn't know—"

Luz was cut off by Viney. "And Evelyn said she wanted me to help with her little project," she explained. "I promised I would help; just had to deal with this first."

"If you guys had so much to deal with," Luz began, "why did you agree to do this? I'm sure we could've done this last week, too."

Gus rested a hand on her shoulder. "You see, Luz, we agreed to do this because we care about Ed and Em. They're birthday is special, especially when they never got to celebrate it like this before." Luz didn't really know where this was going, but she decided to just listen. "For the last three years, they've been too busy fixing up the Isles on their birthday to have a party. Now that they finally have the chance, it wouldn't be fair to pass up this opportunity."

"Exactly," Viney agreed. Willow nodded beside her. "I wouldn't be anywhere in life without Ed and Em. If I never met Ed, he would've never been able to convince Bump to let me join two tracks. I don't know what I'd do if that never happened. As for Em..."

Everyone groaned and sighed. They knew where this was going.

Viney stared at them with daggers. "Hey!" she complained. "Can I not go on about my love life? Ed and Hunter do it all the time!"

"That's the point," Gus told her. "I've dealt with those two for long enough. Do you think I want to deal with you and Em doing the same thing?"

Viney huffed. "Whatever. In any case, if I never met Em, she never would've helped me so much in healing classes during our last couple years at Hexside. If we never met, I never would've realized my feelings." Before anyone could complain, she added, "And that's all. Is she awesome? Sure. Will I go on and on about it like those idiots do? Nope."

Willow giggled. "Well, Viney has a point. If I never met Ed and Em, I don't think I'd ever leave Boscha's gang. Titan, it was horrible." Luz exchanged a glance with Gus. She had had enough of Boscha and her goons, that's for sure. It was hard to believe Willow was one of them at one point, though. Nonetheless, it was true.

"I only accepted Boscha's offer because someone saw me. She thought I was cool. That was all I ever wanted." Willow softened as she stared into the distance. "My dads were originally gonna put me into the abomination track. I begged and begged them not to, which worked surprisingly. That was the whole reason Boscha liked me. I was good at plant magic. Sure, I never liked bullying people—like you, Luz—but I kinda just went along with it. Then Ed and Em came along. They convinced Hunter to change, so I figured I could, too.

"I guess I owe it to you, too, Luz," Willow said, taking Luz by surprise. "Joining the Emerald Entrails was the first time I ever rebelled against Boscha. I wasn't sure when was the right time. Well, until you announced the team in front of the whole school. Right when I saw Amity's sick sky skills, I knew I wanted to join. Truth is, I've been interested in Flyer Derby since I was a little kid."

Luz gasped when Willow showed her a postcard. It had a picture of her favorite professional Flyer Derby team on it, signed by a name she recognized. Stabitha Jenkins was written in black pen in the corner of the postcard.

"You met Stabitha Jenkins?!" Luz squealed, making Willow jump.

Her friend nodded with giggling accompanying it. "Yeah, I did," she confirmed. "It was a long time ago, but I've kept her signature ever since. It's special to me."

"Of course it is!" Luz agreed. "Willow, that's awesome! I'm pretty jealous, though. I've been obsessed with that team for years, and I've never met them. Let alone Stabitha Jenkins. She's my favorite player!"

"Sorry, Luz," Willow said. "Guess we should visit her together sometime."

Luz squealed a bit more as she nodded. "Yes, yes, yeeeeees! You have to take me! Oh, my Titan, meeting her has been my dream for so long, I can't even—"

Gus cleared his throat, cutting Luz off. She slowly looked over at him, Willow smirking at her. 

"I guess I could go on about how Ed and Em changed my life and all that," Gus said, holding out his hand so Emmiline could turn into his staff, "but we have a routine to practice. Right, Captain?"

Luz nodded and took a step away from Willow. "Right!" she agreed. She raised her hand so Stringbean could jump into it in staff form, Willow and Viney doing the same with theirs. "Let's go, team!"

The routine wasn't the craziest thing ever, but Luz was proud of it. As they flew higher and higher into the air, she grabbed some fireworks that were left on the bleachers. She had placed them there for practice during the meeting where they decided to do this. Luz had the fireworks in one hand, her other firmly on her staff.

Gus was the one who started the routine. He flew right over the Grudgby field, about mid-way through the air. He was standing on his staff instead of sitting just as he always did, giving him the perfect leverage. Luz knew how cool her younger friend always looked on his staff, which is why she chose him to start them off. 

To start the routine, Gus flew right over the Grudgby field, performing a few cool flips on his way over. Even his staff flipped over a couple times, making the show extra cool, Luz thought. Once his journey over the field was over, Gus flew higher and higher above it and stopped when he reached the middle. When he did, he spun and spun until he reached the other side. Luz clapped for him with Willow and Viney when he was done.

Willow and Viney were next. To start off the next part of the routine, they both skidded across the edges of the field, then flew straight up, leaving leaves and grass blowing fiercely in their wake. When Willow and Viney made it above the height of the bleachers, they fell backwards, straightening their flight as they flew downward. Once they were flying side by side, they held out a hand to each other, grabbing on tightly. Once their fingers were entwined, they spun around and around until they reached the end of the field, laughing. They let go and flew straight up, out of view.

Luz clapped for her friends as she flew onto the field. Gus nodded to her as she left. As she was the semi-final part of the routine, Luz wanted to look awesome. So, she tried her best to. She began to fly over the field straight through the middle. Once she was at the very edge, she flew straight up, flipped twice, and waved a hand to her team. They understood immediately.

She got quick to work getting the fireworks ready.

Gus, Willow, and Viney did tricks upon tricks as they made their way to Luz in the middle of the field. When the fireworks were ready, she activated them, threw them behind her to go off, and signaled for her team to get into position. Luckily, they got into the formation they decided on as quickly as Luz hoped they would. She would've let out a sigh of relief if she weren't practicing.

They had just gotten into formation when the fireworks went off. Just as Luz planned. She was at the bottom, holding up Willow and Viney. Both girls held out their staffs with one hand, holding up Gus with the other. He was standing at the top, his staff held over him with both hands.

The fireworks set off, but they weren't just regular fireworks. They revealed booms and bright colors that made up two words in the clear blue sky. Happy Birthday! was brightly shown above the Emerald Entrails in different shades of blue and green. Luz picked those because they were the colors that reminded her of Ed and Em the most.

When the fireworks exploded behind them, the four of them all hollered in unison: "Surprise!" Luz decided that they would yell that to Ed and Em at their party, so why not do it during practice? Everyone else there would do it, too, anyway.

After a few more practice sessions of the routine, they were exhausted. Luz flew down to the ground with her friends, warded off an audience that was gathering larger and larger the more they practiced, and sat down. Gus, Willow, and Viney were as tired as she was, taking turns drinking water that Luz had brought from her last visit to the Human Realm. It was during a date with Amity. She would go into further detail to her friends, but just the thought of her girlfriend made her realize how much time practice took.

Luz took her water from Viney when she was done and got to her feet. "That was awesome practice, guys," she said. "However, I have some business I have to attend to. As far as I know, you do, too."

"Yup," Gus said. He sighed. "Raine is probably panicking because of my absence. You know how they are."

Willow straightened herself with a deep sigh. "I'm not sure how restless those kindergarteners are, but probably a lot. Oh, the poor babies."

"Yeah. Poor..." Luz had to giggle at Viney's reaction. She couldn't help thinking about how overworked she was dealing with those kids four years ago. Poor girl's eyes were red if Luz remembered right. "In any case, I should be heading to the Wittebane Factory. Or, what used to be the Wittebane Factory."

"What did Evelyn rename it again?" Willow wondered. "Man, a new husband must make you rewire your whole life."

Gus nodded. "Can't blame her, though," he said. "I mean, can you believe being married to Philip? Titan, that must've been rough."

"True," Luz agreed. "Imagine having him as a father. I'm glad Hunter doesn't want to talk about him anymore. I definitely wouldn't."

"Yeah," her friends said.

"Luz, don't you have a girlfriend to meet up with?" Gus added. "I would hate for you to keep her waiting."

Luz clicked her tongue. "Right!" Since she didn't want to waste any more time, she held out for her staff and got on it. "See you guys at the party?"

"See you," Gus said.

"Don't get too entranced by Amity, okay?" Viney advised.

"Have fun!" Willow told her cheerfully.

Luz smiled. She made sure to ignore Viney's comment, though. "See you at the party." She slapped Stringbean to get her off the ground, leaving the Grudgby field behind her as she flew.

She was on her way to the Whispers's.

As far as Amity could tell, everything was perfect. 

She woke up early so no one else in her family was awake, the whole house was dark, she was already wearing her favorite abomination-patterned work shirt and shorts, black leggings, and tall black moon heels, and she felt amazing. As she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and tied her purple hair up in a ponytail, Amity couldn't help but smile. As the perfect final touch, she stuck the bright magenta crystal hair-clip Luz had given her in between her scalp and ponytail to keep her hair secure.

Yup, everything was perfect.

"Perfect," Amity whispered to herself. Since Ed and Em's room wasn't far away from the bathroom, she made sure to keep her voice down. Even though she knew her siblings could sleep through literally anything, she wanted to be extra careful. She needed today to be as perfect as her morning already was. "Perfect," she repeated.

It was hard to believe anything could be perfect in Amity's life after all the pain she had suffered. But in the past four years... everything changed. Amity had matured. She had grown. She had learned to look past her scary Grimwalker origins and focus on what really matters: the present. That was the first and most important lesson her father figures had taught her. Yes, father figures.

Amity would never forget when her life changed forever. When it changed in a way she had wished for but never fully expected. She had received perhaps the best birthday gift on what she had classified as her 15th birthday. As a Grimwalker, Amity didn't actually have a birthday. Her friends helped her pick one. It wasn't the day she always celebrated it with Eboni back in the day, which was Olive Bleakley's birthday. Amity wanted to be her own person. That meant to have her own birthday. No more Eboni or Olive to hold her down. She was finally herself.

That birthday was the day Amity would never forget. She always thought her friends were the only family she needed. They would just give her gift after gift, just as any friend would do on a birthday. But that wasn't how that day went. While Amity was given amazing and beautiful gifts from each of her friends, but the best one came from someone else. The most special one. The one that she would never forget.

Alador had given her the best gift of all. The best one she had ever been given. Even Luz couldn't top it, and that was really saying something. It was a piece of paper. That may not sound like much, but it was so much more than you'd think. Alador had made that paper. At the bottom of the page, it read, "Sign here:" with a blank rectangle next to the words. Amity didn't have to read the rest of the document. She was told what it meant.

Amity Blight. That was her name now. That paper was to officially bring her into the Blight family. Alador was her father. Ed and Em were her siblings. Her annoying and unbearable older siblings, but her siblings. Eventually, X and Zee became her siblings, too. Amity couldn't be happier. She had a family. She belonged somewhere. She was someone's daughter. Someone's sister. She had seen Ed as something of a brother ever since living in the Human Realm with him for the first time. It was hard to believe they were actually siblings now. Em was a great sister, too. Reliable, helpful, kind. Annoying, sure, but also awesome. Amity loved them.

For the past three years of her life, she would live in the Blight household. She would visit the Boiling Isles when they would visit the Boiling Isles. She would have family gatherings when they had family gatherings. She would joke when they would joke. She would make memories when they would make memories. And she wouldn't have it any other way. Amity was delighted to have her own room, her own bed, her own place. She had a billboard hung up over her desk that showcased her favorite memories. Luz had gotten her into the habit of taking pictures of everything, so having one was a must. Amity loved waking up to those photos and memories watching over her.

Even the ones that made her sad.

One older photo Amity had hung up with a thumbtack was from her first day on the Flyer Derby team. She had hung up the one with her whole team, too, but that one didn't make her sad. The one that made her sad was of just her and her staff. Just her and her Palisman. Just her and Ghost.

Amity missed that sassy white cat every day. She missed sleeping with her fur in her arms. She missed waking up to her purring and stroking herself on her legs. She missed the flick of her tail she would show when she was annoyed. She missed telling her everything. She missed sharing secrets and gossip. She missed enjoying joyrides around the Human Realm. She missed making memories. But ever since that awful Halloween...

Amity hated thinking about it. She hated remembering how it felt when Eboni was possessing her. When she watched everything and heard everything but couldn't do anything about it. When she was left to watch those slimy spikes pierce right through Ghost. When she was left to drown in that deep water. She hated remembering the last she saw of her best friend. Ghost was curled up in her arms, purring. She was sad. She told her she had to go. It was her time. Amity didn't want her to. She wanted to stay hugging her forever.

There was only one thing that made her happy when remembering awful moments like those. As Amity stared at her reflection in the mirror, a small figure jumped onto the sink. It was slim and agile. It had long legs, fluffy ears, a long tail, vibrant blue eyes that could sink into your soul, and white fur with a large patch of gray tabby on its back. It was her new Palisman, Spirit.

Spirit had Ghost's old sass but on a whole new level. He was bossy, acted like he was king of every room he waltzed into, treated everyone else like peasants, and demanded treats and pets every second. Amity was annoyed of him at times, but she could never hate him. Spirit was just a male cat. His blue eyes were distracting and Amity could understand him. How could she not treat him like royalty? Besides, she would never forget the day she carved him.

She would never forget why his name was Spirit. You'd think that was so because spirit was another word for ghost, but there was another reason. Spirit was Amity's first real project after learning to carve Palismen. Raine's mother, Lightning Whispers, was a great help since she knew the basics, and had been the one to teach Amity everything she knew. She had watched over her every move with the chisel that carved Spirit's scruffy features. She made sure Amity got it right. She made sure everything went smoothly. It did. Amity was eternally grateful.

She remembered the moment Spirit's wooden body springed to life. The green wood transformed into colors of white and gray. It formed a cat's form with distracting blue eyes that stared right into her soul. Amity remembered the feeling like it was yesterday. But she remembered seeing something else in Spirit's eyes. It was a face. A familiar face. A familiar face of white fur, a large purple eye, and a scar over the other closed one. Amity gasped when she saw it. At that moment, a voice sprouted deep inside her soul. 

I'll always be with you.

What? she had whispered.

Spirit...

What?

I'll always be with you. I love you. I'll never forget you.

Ghost?

Spirit...

My spirit will watch over you.

What?

Suddenly, whispering voices repeated and repeated the same word.

Spirit...

Spirit...

Spirit...

Then, a deep, monotone male voice drowned out the others.

My name is Spirit. I promised to watch over you, Amity. I plan to keep that promise.

Finally, a familiar phrase finished off the whispering.

My Spirit will watch over you.

Spirit wasn't just a new Palisman for Amity to take care of and love. He was carved by not her hands and chisel alone. Ghost had helped create him. Her spirit was inside him. Her eyes were hidden behind those distracting blue lenses. Behind all that sass and bossiness and royalty complex, Ghost was in there. She was watching over her witch. Just like she had promised. Passing some of her magic onto Amity when she died was just the first step. 

It was done now.

Amity would've reminisced longer, but Spirit's annoyed meow told her to pet him or he wouldn't shut up. She sighed and reached over. That bossy boy purred as he let Amity stroke his furry head. She would've groaned or sighed or frowned, but she couldn't bring herself to. He was too cute. Besides, Ghost was behind those blue eyes. She couldn't get mad at Ghost. Even if it was just her spirit.

As she continued to stroke Spirit, Amity stared at her reflection once more. She saw more than a clone of Olive Bleakley. She saw more than a Grimwalker. She saw more than an 18-year-old witch in her first year of college with her siblings and girlfriend. She saw Amity Blight. She saw a confident girl with bright purple hair no one could remove. She saw a Palisman carver who loved her job. She saw a Hexside graduate from every track (Did she join all of them even though she was only interested in abominations to just spend time with Luz? Maybe). She saw a powerful witch. She saw Amity Blight.

"Alright, Spirit," Amity said finally. Her Palisman looked up at her when she stopped stroking him. "Are you ready to visit big sister? We promised Luz we would."

Spirit huffed. "Yeah, whatever." He stretched over the sink with a loud yawn. "Now, where are my treats? I deserve some credit after that sick purring."

"Yeah, yeah," Amity replied as she rolled her eyes. She had prepared for this. She took out a tiny bag of cat food from her pocket and spilled some into her hand. She held it out for Spirit to eat. He was apparently very hungry since he swallowed each piece whole in one bite. "Calm down! Man, you weren't holding back."

Spirit swallowed and belched. "I get hungry when I sleep."

Amity rolled her eyes again and held her hand out. "Come on," she said. When Spirit jumped onto her palm, she rested him on her shoulder. His long gray and striped tail was swinging back and forth on her back. "We gotta go see Lightning before visiting big sister. Okay?"

Spirit belched again.

"Okay."

Since she was a considerate daughter and sister, Amity made sure every part of the house was perfect. There wasn't a mess for Alador to clean up, there wasn't a glossed-over piece of food for X to trip on, there wasn't an uneven stack of papers to annoy Zee, there wasn't a single speck of unrest for Em to deal with, and there wasn't even an ounce of stuff for Ed to mess up and ruin. Everything was perfect. Just like Amity liked it.

"Welcome to the Boiling Isles!" She loved listening to Collector's voice every time she opened the portal. Amity saw it as a sign that the little guy was still around. It was like he wasn't learning how to grow up in the stars still. "Watch your step!"

With a final deep breath, Amity stepped through the portal.

The Isles were just as vacant as they always were this early in the morning. No children giggling and running through the streets, no one riding their staffs in the air, and no one selling stupid stuff in your face every second. It was nice, honestly. So nice that Amity decided to walk to the Whispers'. Sure, riding on her staff was much easier and faster, but she knew the way, and she had so much time, she could probably eat some breakfast on her way there and still have hours before the party.

About halfway through their walk, Spirit decided to take a nap. Being in staff form is basically just a very energizing cat nap for him, so that was the perfect time to sleep. Amity didn't mind. At least she didn't have to deal with any more of that boy's complaining and demands.

The rest of the walk was as peaceful as you could get on the Boiling Isles. Even that early in the morning, birds squawk in annoyingly high-pitched voices, demons eat each other, and some Slitherbeast yawns on the Knee like they're trying to wake everyone within a 100 mile radius up. Amity didn't mind it, though. She actually found it relaxing. She may mostly live in the Human Realm now, but in a way, the Demon Realm was still her home.

Finally, Amity's heels touched the grass of the Whispers' property. Lightning and Stormy's humble abode wasn't anything special, but Amity liked it. It reminded her of the Blight house. It was just a bit... stormier.

The house was baked in shades of blue, gray, and white, just like the sky on a warm spring day. The stones that formed the path leading to the door were shaped like clouds. The door itself was blue, a long, yellow lightning bolt running down the middle. You'd think the place was built on a cloud if you weren't there to see it. Obviously, the Whispers' had a bit of a theme.

Amity politely knocked on the door. She actually wasn't sure if anyone inside was awake, but they had to be. She couldn't have woken up this early and walked all the way here just for no one to hear her arrive. Amity was beginning to rethink her whole plan.

Suddenly, the striking door swung open. The familiar face of Lightning Whispers was on the other side. You couldn't mistake her for anyone else with her huge scar across the one side of her face and pale hair. Amity made sure to smile and straighten herself as if this were their first encounter. Of course, it wasn't.

"Amity!" Lightning exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her. Amity stiffened since she could feel the shaking from the older woman's scars infect her own body. "I'm so happy to see you!" Even Spirit shivered as Lightning parted their hug.

"Good morning, Mrs. Whispers," Amity greeted. "How are we to go about... our plans?"

Lightning gasped. "Oh, we'll get into that," she assured her. "I only have a few kiddies signed up today for carving, but we don't have to worry about that yet. You're early! How about we have some tea and talk? Oh, that father of yours knows how to teach a woman to live!"

"Oh, I don't know about all that." Amity nervously scratched her head. "I wouldn't want to bother you. We could just go over our plans one more time and then I'll—"

"Nonsense!" Amity was cut off by Lightning leading her by her arm into the house. "I insist. You're not bothering me at all."

As her eyes rested on the comfy chairs that felt like clouds in the lively living room, Amity realized she would love to talk and drink tea. She decided to stay subtle, though. "Well, I guess if you don't mind..." she said as she sat down.

"Not at all!" Lightning assured her. "I'll get to work on that tea."

Amity sighed, closed her eyes, and rested her back against the soft chair. She had been in this house plenty of times, so she already knew how quickly those chairs could take you to new heights. Their cushions were as soft as Ghost's fur on a really good day. And that translates to softer and mistier than a puffy cloud you can touch. Amity loved it. She knew everyone else did, too.

Years and years ago, Lightning Whispers had been attacked by the Fox Beast, ripping out her right eye and paralyzing her whole arm. That caused her to be unable to perform tasks she previously enjoyed such as carving anything. Palismen were just a popular carving choice. The idea hadn't crossed Amity's mind for a while, but she wasn't even sure if Lightning could make tea without injuring herself. Luckily, when the thought struck her, the hot herbal tea was brought to her with no injuries prominent on its creator.

Lightning sat down in a soft chair across from Amity. "Goodness, you've never been this early," she realized as Amity blew on her tea to cool it down. "There's so much to talk about! What exactly made you decide to come by before sunrise?"

"Well, it's my older siblings' birthdays, as you know," Amity began. Lightning nodded, taking a drink of her tea. "Emira always wakes up relatively early, so I wanted to leave before even she stirred. I decided to come by since I usually do in the mornings. I wasn't even sure you would be awake."

Lightning sighed with what seemed like exhaustion. It was the same kind of exhaustion a new mother would experience. "Raine wouldn't let Stormy and I sleep," she explained. "That child was so excited about today, my goodness. You know how they are. Especially about your siblings."

"Ohhhhhh, yeah," Amity agreed. "I know how far back they go now. It's kinda like me and Darius in a way."

Lightning sounded like she was choking on her tea. "How is he?" she wondered, seeming like nothing happened. "Without a coven to deal with, life must be odd."

"Oh, it is." Amity sighed. Thinking about Darius, especially for this long, always exhausted her. "He keeps complaining about how different everything is. Me and Eberwolf face the worst of it. Always 'I miss having authority! These ding-dang humans always getting in our business!' "

"Ding-dang humans, huh?" Lightning echoed with a grin. "Multiple? Or one in particular?"

Amity began to choke on her own tea. "You—You heard?"

"Everyone heard, Amity!" Lightning laughed for a while before continuing. "Only a few know. I'm one of them."

Amity softly chuckled. Spirit's ear flicked, stroking her cheek. "Hot gossip?"

"Oh, it's the best kind of gossip," Lightning assured her. "I wasn't much for it in my younger years, but now? I don't have enough gossip! But this gossip? I would take it over even a cup of tea with someone like you."

"So, how much do you know?"

"Enough." Lightning drank some more tea. "Everyone in Bonesborough knows sir Darius Deamonne is not one for feelings. But everyone also knows that some have been... taking over recently."

Amity let out a hearty, "Ha!" "Taking over is an understatement," she corrected. "I even mention him, Darius goes bright red, punches something, and goes on complaining. It's a ploy. He's too scared to talk. I gotta make him see the truth."

"The truth?" Lightning raised a gray eyebrow.

"Yeah." Amity drank more tea dramatically. "Darius and my dad are meant for each other."

Lightning laughed. "Is that so?"

Amity nodded. "How'd you realize your feelings for Stormy?" she wondered. "Did massive projects, plans, meetings, and casual get-togethers over the span of four years start something?"

"It wasn't that easy," Lightning explained. "Stormy and I were partners. We always were. We went to school together. But Darius and Alador? Oh, their love story is a much darker storm cloud."

Amity giggled. "Really? That doesn't matter. Ed, Em, and I have already been plotting. What's the best way to make dad double? Got any advice?"

"I just might..."

"Let's hear it."

The next few hours went just like that. Amity enjoyed talking, laughing, and gossiping with Lightning Whispers, but she knew it couldn't last forever. Eventually, they had to go outside and get to carving. Lightning gave Amity her black and purple apron with her tools in it, which helped her get into the realm of Palisman carving. 

"Okay..." Lightning began, skimming through a list of kids who wanted to come by. Amity tapped the stone she was sitting on with her chisel impatiently. Spirit was still sleeping beside her.

"Fiona had family plans come up, so she's coming next week..." Lightning muttered. "Zirk is sick with the fire flu. He said he'd contact us when he feels better. Well, it seems like only one child is still supposed to come by today."

"Who?" Amity wondered.

Lightning searched through the name part of her list. "Braxes," she replied. "Warden Wrath told me last week that today was the only free day in their schedule. The perfect day to get a Palisman!"

"Of course," Amity said unenthusiasticly. She began to play with some Palistrom wood. "Did he have any requests?"

"Amity, you know they give you requests when they arrive." Lightning paused to think. "You're waiting for Luz? She'll come by. She's a good girl."

Amity scraped her black nail across the wood in her hands. "I know. It's just..." She sighed. "What if she forgot our plans?"

"She didn't." Lightning got on one knee and rested a hand on Amity's shoulder. "I know she didn't. Didn't you say she had plans already?"

"Yes, she had to practice with the team, but—"

"Amity." For some reason, the tone Lightning used made her stare right into her eyes. They were green, but just as stormy and distracting as Spirit's. She glanced behind Amity, probably at her Palisman's sleeping form. "Luz would never forget. This tradition is important to you. She knows that. You know that. Don't worry about it. Worrying leads to anxiety and stress, which is never good."

Amity sighed. Her eyes were getting a bit watery, so she wiped them off. "Yeah..." She sighed again. "Yeah, you're right."

Lightning smiled. When she stood back up, a familiar deep voice could be heard in the distance.

"Amity!"

Braxes, a small demon with red skin and a mouth for a face who had grown in the past four years, ran right up to Amity, jumping into her lap. He hugged her tightly with deep giggling accompanying it. She couldn't help but giggle, too. He was hilarious to talk to.

"Hey, Braxes," Amity said. She poked the demon's forehead playfully. "Are you ready to get a Palisman?"

"Yay!"

Amity chuckled. "Alright, then."

"Get off, son." Braxes's father picked him up and set him on the grass. He seemed disappointed. "Sorry about him. Excited, that's all."

"It's fine," Amity assured him. "I've dealt with worse."

Once Braxes was staring right at her with anticipation, she smiled and picked up the Palistrom wood again. She set it softly on her lap, making sure Braxes could see. 

"Alright, Brax. What do you want your Palisman to be?"

Braxes seemed deep in thought. Finally, he gasped. "Froggy!"

"Froggy?" Amity was confused.

"Froggy!" Braxes repeated. "Froggy was book Hunter read to us. Said it was from... boy... friend... Yes. Boy. Friend."

"Ed..." Amity breathed. She sighed, barely believing her brother had given his boyfriend a silly human book to read to Braxes and kids his age. Now Froggy was implanted in their brains. "Alright. Froggy it is."

Amity knew what the character looked like. Alador told her Ed and Em's mom used to read it to them when they were young. It was their favorite. At least it was Ed's favorite. He had tried to read it a few times, but failed miserably because of his dyslexia. It was a funny thought. Titan, now it was getting implanted into her brain.

She decided to clear her mind by getting to work. Using the sharp end of her chisel, her hands, and her memory, she effortlessly carved the wood into Froggy. Lightning watched her every move, slice, and scrape. She was making sure nothing went awry. She was making sure Amity was doing okay. Luckily, she was. Everything was perfect, in fact.

After some final touches, Amity was done carving. The wood in her hands was now in the shape of a frog. It looked like it was sleeping, just like it would in staff form.

"Here you go, Braxes," Amity said, handing the demon the Palisman.

He gasped with delight as he held the wood. "Froggy! Yay!" Suddenly, his whole demeanor changed. "Wait... Why Froggy not move? I thought Palismen talked and read mind?"

"Oh, they do," Amity reassured him. "Just wait a second. Rest him in your hands like this. Now wait."

The Palisman sprouted to life. Froggy's skin was bright green, spots of yellow shades covering it. He looked a traffic light in the Human Realm without red. Nope, that wasn't true. The bottom of the frog's feet were red. He really was a traffic light. Well, he wasn't, but he wasn't a boy either.

"Sp... Spring..." Braxes whispered.

"What?"

"Spring," he repeated. "Spring! Name? I thought was Froggy."

The Palisman let out a ribbit of discontent.

"Oh." Braxes cheered up quickly. "Daddy! Daddy! His name is Spring!"

Another discontent ribbit.

"Girl? You girl?" Spring stomped her foot. Amity figured that was an annoyed yes. She giggled as Spirit jumped onto her shoulder. He must've woken up from his nap not too long ago. "I love you, Springy."

Spring still sounded annoyed, but her ribbit was content this time.

Amity smiled as Braxes showed Spring off to his father. She loved making kids this happy. Bonding with a Palisman did that to you. She knew the feeling. She had felt it. Twice. If anyone knew what gaining a best friend like that felt like, it was her. Giving others that terrific feeling... it was awesome. Amity wouldn't have it any other way.

"Aaaaaaaaams!"

Amity knew that voice. She recognized that energetic, optimistic, and excited voice. The one she had been waiting for all morning. 

Luz landed on the grass not too far from where Amity was sitting. She looked over her shoulder to watch her beautiful girlfriend glide across the grass, glowing purple ghosts guiding her. They were fading in and out of the ground as they flew.

"Hey, Ams!" Luz hollered with a joyous wave of her hand. "Pretty carving skills there!"

Amity blushed the longer her girlfriend talked. She couldn't wait any longer. She looked over her shoulder at Lightning. She was about to ask her question, but the older woman cut her off.

"Go," she said. "I'll talk to Braxes and Wrath. Have fun."

Amity nodded with a sincere smile. She was ready to visit her best friend with her girlfriend by her side. She was ready to make memories. She was ready to celebrate the special birthday of her siblings. She was ready to have a great day.

Luz's ghosts were already gone when Amity ran to her. She just stood among the grass, looking over her shoulder as footsteps approached. Luz held up a hand, her signature smile across her face. 

Amity skidded to a stop and entwined fingers with Luz. Her light. Her everything. "Ready for an adventure?" she wondered with a grin.

"What?" Luz? Adventure? Never! (Was Amity lying? Completely.) "What adventure?"

Luz tightened her grip on Amity's hand and stared into her eyes. Brown stared into gold for what felt like forever. Amity wished it was forever. It was a great feeling.

"This adventure."

Without warning, Luz jumped forward, taking Amity with her. Her body told her to scream, but she managed to hold it in. Instead of toppling down the side of a cliff like she thought she would, Amity's heels sunk deep into the rocks, letting her skid down and down instead of dying.

She gasped as the ground got closer and closer. When Amity looked over her shoulder, she saw Luz whooing and whooping as she descended by her side. Amity smiled. She was entranced by Luz's laughter. Her joy. Her beauty. All she ever wanted. Ever. She realized she was entranced. Too entranced. Well. Too late now.

"Adventure!" Luz squealed. "Right?!"

"Yeah!" Amity called back.

She wanted to laugh along with her joyous girlfriend, but Amity realized the wind and her descent were both getting more fierce and crazy. That wasn't a good sign. She knew it wasn't. Especially when Luz looked nervous. The ground was getting closer. It was getting closer too fast.

"Uh... Luz?"

"Yeah, I get it!" she called back. "Hold on!"

The breath was taken right out of her as Luz wrapped her arms around her. Amity knew it was the only way to slow them down and save them, but still. Luz didn't have to steal all her air. She forgave her, though. 

Suddenly, Amity's feet weren't on the ground anymore. Her heels were pulled right out of the rocks. At the speed of light, her movement stopped. Luz's Azura sneakers skidded to a halt, forcing Amity's whole body to flop in Luz's arms. She was too stunned to move, but she was able to glance at her girlfriend. Luz's mouth opened as she gazed at something in front of her.

"Found it," she said. "Look at that, Ams."

Amity didn't look ahead of her. She stared at Luz as she softly set her down. Her heels sunk into the dirt slowly, allowing her to finally relax her shoulders. Amity couldn't stop watching Luz, but she frowned when she took her arms off her. 

But then she noticed what was ahead. 

A stone was stuck in the ground ahead of them. It had an arch shape at the top, the rest of the stone's edges smooth all the way to the ground. As Amity stepped closer, the carved image on the front of the stone came into full view.

The full body image of a cat was carved on the stone with a chisel. This cat wasn't colored; it was as gray as the stone itself. Amity remembered carving it. She had made it with her bare hands. The hardest part to carve was the message at the bottom, though.

Thank you for finding me - A.

Amity got to her knees beside Luz. Her fingers traced the words on the grave softly. She remembered every scar she had accidentally given herself. Every scream she had held in. Every pain she had inflicted. Amity hated remembering it, but she had to. Carving those words was hard. So, so hard. She hated making them. But she had to. This memorial had to be made. Amity didn't regret that much.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. When Amity looked over, Luz was staring right at her. Her glittering brown eyes were comforting, even if pain was hidden underneath. Amity knew her girlfriend hated seeing her like this. Sorrowful, grieving... She wasn't as happy as she was riding that cliff. She was no where near the smiles she had shown on the way. Not anymore.

"She's watching over you, Ams," Luz assured her. "She always has been. Why else would you still have her magic? Why else would Spirit have her spirit inside him? It's proof. She's watching. Not from up there." She paused, resting her fingertips where Amity's Galderstone heart would be. "She's in there."

Amity softly gasped. She felt a surge of energy right when Luz's fingers touched her. It was like a small flame. One more look and she knew. Amity learned a long time ago that Ghost was watching her. She never knew she was truly living inside her heart. Not Spirit. Not the puffy clouds. Her heart.

Once the flame's energy died out for the time being, Amity got to her feet. Luz followed suit, staring at her girlfriend with sincerity. She knew she was. She didn't have to look. She look what her gaze looked like. Amity knew her. She knew how she was. She knew better than anyone.

"We visited big sister..." Amity murmured.

"What?" Luz asked with a chuckle.

Spirit flicked his tail with a yawn. "Big sister..." His eyes flickered open and closed. Amity could tell he was starting to fall asleep.

"No, no nap for you," she told him. Spirit groaned and flicked his ears. "We have some flying to do."

Luz began to reach her hand out, but Amity stopped her. She gasped.

"Not yet, though."

"What are you thinking?" Luz wondered.

Amity let go of her girlfriend's arm and grabbed her other. She ran her hand softly down her tan skin until she reached her fingers. When pale and tan intertwined, Amity smiled. She stared into Luz's deep brown eyes for what felt like, yet again, forever.

"Let's take a walk." When Luz didn't answer, she added, "Just us."

Luz laughed. "Who else?"

Amity giggled and tightened her grip on Luz's hand. A rattling sound overtook her hearing. Stringbean had appeared on her girlfriend's shoulder, her forked tongue sticking out. Spirit hissed and tried to swat her away, but Amity held him back. Luz laughed.

Amity felt warm. She felt safe. She felt loved. Those were three feelings she had been craving her whole life. The Empress's Castle never felt warm. It was cold and empty. Eboni certainly didn't make her feel safe. She had almost killed her so many times just for failing missions. Loved was so huge of an overstatement, Amity couldn't believe it. Eboni told her she loved her. Plenty of times. But she was lying.

Family doesn't lie. True family doesn't lie.

Ed loved her. He had had breakdown after breakdown just because he was wasn't sure if she was safe. Only true family would do that.

Em loved her. She was the biggest step in the right direction of Amity's life. She helped her take out her green hair and bring her purple hair in. She had helped her and Luz settle in to the Human Realm. She had been the one to show Amity who she really was. Only true family would do that.

Alador loved her. He brought her into his family with open arms. He decided to let her become his daughter. He already had one, but that didn't stop him. He wanted Amity. He wanted her. He wanted her as a daughter. Eboni didn't even want a niece. Alador gave her somewhere to belong. Only true family would do that.

Darius loved her. He taught her how to sew. He taught her about abomination magic. He helped her make friends. He was the first person she really would've called dad. She wanted to accept him as a second father next to Alador. They just had to get together. Darius was the first to turn Amity's life around permanently. Only true family would do that.

Luz loved her. She was the first to make her feel butterflies. She was the first to make her want to love someone. She was the first to make her feel love. She was the first one to make her truly happy with someone. She was the one she wanted to spend eternity with. She was the one she truly loved. She was the first to make her truly feel warm, safe, and loved. Only true family would do that.

For the first 14 years of her life, Amity thought she had a true family. She thought Eboni was the only family she needed. She was wrong. Eboni wasn't family. She used her. Amity was just a tool in her schemes. True family doesn't use each other. They're not tools. True family loves each other. They're mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, boyfriends, girlfriends... Everyone in your family you can think of.

Take Amity's family for example.

She had Alador and Darius for fathers, Ed and X as brothers, Em and Zee as sisters, and Luz as an awesome girlfriend. Ed had Alador and his mom for parents, X for a brother, Em, Amity, and Zee for sisters, and Hunter as a boyfriend. Em had Alador and her mom for parents, Ed and X as brothers, Amity and Zee as sisters, and Viney as a girlfriend. X had Alador as a father, Ed as a brother, Em, Amity, and Zee as sisters, and Elijah as a partner. Zee had Alador as a father, Ed and X as brothers, and Em and Amity as sisters. 

They were a true family.

Eboni stood no match.

Amity knew where she belonged. She belonged there, in that moment, her fingers entwined with Luz's, taking a walk to get ready to meet Hale. That was where she belonged. She didn't belong with Eboni. That was her past. She was her own person now.

She was Amity Blight.

Chapter Text

From the moment he woke up, Hunter knew that day had to go perfectly.

It was Ed and Em's birthday. It was a day he looked forward to every year. Sure, that was mostly because it was a massive excuse to give his boyfriend gifts, but that wasn't the point. That specific year was special. Hunter knew that more than anyone.

So, naturally, his family tried their best to ruin it.

Okay, that was a total lie. Hunter loved his family. They were just very annoying at times. More specifically, his siblings. More specifically, Cinco.

Vee hadn't been home for long when Hunter woke up. She was the first to finish breakfast and barely even said goodbye to her own twin. Apparently she had promised Raine to teach a class at the Human/Demon Realm Exchange Program and couldn't keep them waiting. Hunter understood that. He knew how Raine was.

But Vee not being present meant he was left to deal with Cinco himself. Hunter had to deal with his younger siblings alone for most of his life, including their annoying sides, but Cinco was by far the worst. Vee, being the older one, had at least matured a little bit over the years. Hunter assumed that was because of her bond with Raine and King ever since the Bonesborough Brawl. He was proud of her. But Cinco was a different story.

Hunter's brother had always been a bit of a jokester. His favorite activity was pulling pranks and causing mischief, usually dragging Vee along years ago. She had been living her own life a lot more recently, but that didn't mean her brother had changed. Cinco still took any chance at all to get a good laugh or make Hunter annoyed. It didn't matter how many dates he went on with Ed or many college classes he took. His mischievous brother was always there to bother him.

That morning was no different. Hunter had barely even gotten dressed when he basically had a heart attack. He was just leaving the bathroom after getting his curvy blond hair to look nice and just preparing for a special day. He was not ready to find his little brother standing right outside and scaring him half to death.

"Hey, big bro!" Cinco said casually once Hunter was on the floor. He frowned as his brother helped him up. "I scared you pretty bad, huh?"

Hunter sighed. "Nope. Not at all." He ran his fingers through his hair to make it look nice again.

"Well, anyway, what are your thoughts on griffin eggs for breakfast?" Hunter was a bit taken aback by the question as he wasn't expecting it. By the tone in Cinco's voice, he could guess that he wasn't thrilled. "Mom said it was a special for your boyfriend's day."

Hunter blinked. "Oh. That's..." He paused to think of the right words before smiling. "...nice of her."

"Well, don't get too excited." Cinco already started to head downstairs. "We have to help Mom with her little project right after. Big bummer."

Hunter chuckled. "You mean you guys have to help Mom. I'm meeting with Hale, then coming by later."

"What?" Cinco actually seemed disappointed. "But helping Mom is so boring! Please don't leave me with Vee! She's the most boring."

"Sorry, little bro," Hunter replied with a shrug. "Duty calls."

Cinco groaned as they made their way downstairs. Hunter couldn't help letting out a chuckle or two. As annoying as his brother could be, messing with him back was very satisfying.

The rest of Hunter's family were already in the kitchen when he made it there with Cinco. Vee was waiting for her food patiently at the table while Evelyn was getting it ready. Next to her was someone who Hunter had gotten used to living with for about a year now. It was a man about the same age as his father. He looked a lot like Hunter, but they weren't related. Well, kind of.

Once Evelyn had officially escaped Philip and decided to live with her kids without him, she made her own schedule. She took full control of the Wittebane Factory and the company when Philip left, even renaming it. She worked on a schedule that worked well for her, instead of one where she hid in the basement the whole day and never saw her children once. 

She also gave herself enough time to herself. Evelyn had so much time on her hands now, she would take Hunter, Vee, and Cinco to town every weekend to just spend time together as a family. When they were busy with their own stuff, she would still be out and about. Hunter's mom was barely ever bored. When she wasn't working, preparing wages for her employees, spending time with her kids, or just being a good mom in general, she was spending time with herself. Evelyn liked to go for jogs every morning for about 30 minutes, practice magic from time to time that didn't have to do with her work on her own, and go partying. Hunter's mom wasn't much for partying too hard, but she did like to go out from time to time when her kids were busy and she didn't have anything else to do. 

Three and a half years ago, she had gone to a party that changed her life forever.

Hunter remembered the story. He knew the outcome of that party. It was a time of his life he would never forget. It was almost as memorable as when Edric first confessed his feelings for him. Hunter's heart would always be held closer to that memory, though. For obvious reasons.

Evelyn originally hadn't thought of this party as much. It was just another fun break-away from her work and children to feel free, dance, make friends, and have fun, most importantly. But it was more than that. More specifically, in the making friends department.

Evelyn had met a certain someone at that party. Based off what she had told Hunter, she had first seen him at the counter of the bar. This man she had met was just having a velvet drink where he sat, his blond hair splayed over his face. Hunter's mom described it as curvy, only one strand sticking out the front... just like his.

"Hey, there," Evelyn probably said. (Hunter thought about this conversation all the time, so he had imagined what his mother and her new friend said thoroughly.)

The man probably stopped drinking his drink just to reply. "Hello," he answered. "What got a pretty lady like you to end up at a place like this?"

"Oh, nothing much." Hunter always imagined his mother taking a drink from the bar and drinking a bit even if she hadn't ordered it. She was an absolute boss like that. "Work, being a single mother, that kind of stuff."

The man would raise a curious eyebrow. "A single mom, eh? How many kids?"

"Three. A son, then twins."

The man probably nodded, acting all prestigious. "I see..." He would probably take another drink. "What kind of man would leave a pretty lady like you to deal with that?"

Evelyn would smirk and chuckle in the middle of a drink. This was Hunter's favorite part of the story. "One that forces you to work when you're sick, fire your whole team without your permission, make you neglect your children, and almost end the world." She wouldn't give the man time to respond before adding, "If only I had left his side earlier," with a sigh.

"Forgive my nosiness," the man probably replied, "but what's your name?"

"Evelyn. Evelyn Wittebane."

The man would smirk. "Are you sure about that last part?"

"Oh, no." Evelyn would take another drink proudly. "I would go back to my maiden name, but it just doesn't feel right. My children are Wittebanes. I am, too, as their mother."

"Well..." The man would pause before continuing. "I'm Caleb. Caleb White."

Evelyn probably stared at Caleb with critical yellow eyes. "You know, Caleb, I have two sons and a daughter," she would reply. "Further, you remind me of my eldest. You look a lot like him."

"Really?" Caleb probably smirked throughout the whole conversation. "What's he like?"

"Oh, my Hunter is a lot of things." Hunter knew how much his mom talked about him to friends. It was one of the only things he bragged to Vee and Cinco about. As the older brother, he thought he deserved it. "Responsible, mature, trustworthy, hard-working, resilient, loving... Really all you could want for a son. He even took care of his siblings when my ex and I didn't."

Caleb would nod again. "Evelyn, you said I looked a lot like your son," he recalled. "Hunter, you said his name was? I take it he's blond? Brown eyes?"

"He has a single blond strand sticking out, too," Evelyn would add. "Honestly, you look like what I'd imagine an adult version of him to look like. Well, if he weren't almost an adult already. He's 17 now, you know. Oh, they grow up so fast..."

Caleb probably chuckled. "I can imagine." Hunter wasn't sure why, but he always imagined Caleb frowning as he paused after that. Even after getting to know him better, he wasn't sure why. "I never had kids. Not even a wife. Not that I longed for one. It's not my top priority. But, Evelyn... Oh, I don't why I'm trying. Could we... meet up? I'd love to meet your kids. Get to know them. Get to know you. If that's alright."

"Sure." Hunter also wasn't sure why he imagined his mother being so calm. Of course, she had become much of a girlboss and queen at living a great life ever since Eboni's death and Philip's departure from their lives, but it still didn't make too much sense. Not that it mattered. 

"I'd be happy to see you again, Caleb White," Evelyn would have said as they shook hands. "What do you say about next week? Tuesday? My factory? The old Wittebane Factory? You know where that is?"

"Of course." Caleb probably picked up his drink as he got to his feet. "It'll be a pleasure to see you again, Evelyn. By the way, Wittebane doesn't suit you. Wanna start again?"

"I'll consider it."

Hunter loved hearing that story. Sure, his mom only told him, Vee, and Cinco about it once, but he still loved it. Was it a funny conversation and interaction to imagine? Absolutely. Was that the only reason Hunter loved it, though? Absolutely not. He loved it because he did meet Caleb White the Tuesday after. And then saw him many times after. Days. Weeks. Months. Eventually, he saw that man who looked so similar to him for years.

"Good morning, boys," he said with a smile. It was a smile that you could mistake for a smirk the first few times you looked at it, but Hunter knew better after three and a half years. Now, instead of only seeing Caleb a Tuesday after he met his mother, he saw him every day. Not just as his mom's friend she met at a party, but as family. A father.

"Mornin', Dad," Hunter replied as he made his way to the table. Cinco followed close behind, sitting next to Vee instead of his brother. Hunter would've been offended, but he didn't care. He had already dealt with Cinco enough that day.

Now, you may think Hunter wouldn't be comfortable calling someone Dad after his horrible first experience. But it's far from it. Caleb was nothing like Philip. Sure, Hunter was a bit uncomfortable with him being around so often when he started dating his mom, but eventually, he learned how similar they actually were. Not just in appearance. They were similar in personality and interests, too.

One day in particular had changed his whole perspective on his stepdad.

Caleb White had been dating Evelyn for six months. It was when he had been around more and more often. He didn't live with them or anything, but it still made Hunter feel awkward. Some guy his mom met at some party who happened to look a lot like him becomes her boyfriend and the first thing he does is hang around every other day as if he belongs there? You'd be lying if you said you wouldn't be uncomfortable in that situation.

On that particular day, Hunter was in the basement of their house. He was experimenting on some potion projects since it was what he did when he wanted to be alone. Caleb had been trying way too hard to get to know him and his siblings that day based off his memory, so Hunter needed to be alone. He didn't expect that alone time to last for so little time, though.

"Hey, kiddo," a monotone voice that Hunter regretted recognizing at the time said in the stairwell behind him. He had heard the footsteps come down the stairs moments before, but he ignored them to focus on his experiments. That caused him to drop his work, spilling yellow potion liquid all over the stone floor. Hunter just wanted to punch something. More specifically, Caleb.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Caleb hollered, his footsteps getting louder as he approached. Hunter frantically got to work picking up his work since he didn't want help. Specifically from his mom's boyfriend. Although, before everything was picked up, Caleb was knelt next to him. "Do you want help with that?"

"No, thank you," Hunter scowled. "I've got it."

Despite his rude tone, Caleb didn't seem angry or even disappointed. He seemed curious and strategious. Hunter all those years ago was annoyed, but Hunter on his boyfriend's 20th birthday remembered that his stepdad was just trying to get to know him. And it was working.

"Potions?" Caleb said, pointing to an almost-empty potion in Hunter's hand he had just picked up. "What were you working on?"

Hunter was about to snap, but he held his breath. Even at the time, he knew getting angry wasn't worth it. Caleb wasn't antagonizing him. He was being soft and curious. Even Hunter of the past knew he had to hear him out.

"Just some extra potion practice and projects," Hunter explained, trying his best not to show his annoyance. "I'm gonna try out for the Boiling Isles University soon, so I have to get in as much practice as I can."

"Wow. You're 17, right?" Hunter was a bit taken aback by the question, but he tried to remind himself that Caleb was just trying to get to know him. He needed to calm down. "I'm sorry for calling you kid and kiddo," Caleb added when Hunter nodded. "You're gonna be an adult next year. It's rude of me. I'm just trying to get to know you and your siblings. I don't know if me and your mom will ever go big, but if we do, I want you to accept me. You don't have to, though. I mean, I'm just a random guy your mom's dating who happens to look a lot like you. I wouldn't accept me either."

Hunter realized in that moment exactly how harsh he had been. He had been so rude to Caleb, acting like he had been harassing him instead of asking questions and getting to know him. He was a nice guy deep down, but Hunter never even tried to hear him out. He figured that if he started, he could learn more about his mom's boyfriend than he ever thought he would before. He was right.

"I guess I have been wondering how you felt about us looking so similar." Hunter continued not to make eye contact with Caleb, but he figured he should probably start soon. "You're not, like, my lost uncle or something, right?"

Caleb laughed. That was when Hunter finally decided to look into his eyes. They were even brown, just like his. "Oh, no. No, no." Caleb had to take full control of his laughter before he could say more. "No... I haven't met your dad. I've just heard of him from the Bonesborough News and gossip. I hear he wasn't the best guy?"

"Nope," Hunter confirmed. "The worst father you could imagine. I shiver every time I think of him. I'm guessing Mom told you about the awful stuff he forced her to do?"

"What, like ignoring her kids because of work?" Caleb shook his head sadly. "Somewhat. All I heard was that he thought what was best for the company was best for the family. He forced your mom to work all day and then barely took care of you and your siblings, yes?"

Hunter sighed. He was closing up a couple potions as the thought of his dad came to mind fully. He really hated talking about him, but he decided it was a good way for Caleb to get to know him. That was all he was trying to do, anyway. "Yeah. Yeah, he did." He sighed again.

Caleb didn't need to ask his next question for Hunter to imagine the worst moments of his life. Right when he asked, "He forced you to do some things, huh?" Hunter thought of all the things he hated thinking about. He remembered Vee and Cinco as very young children. He remembered being only about 5 or 6 years old and having to take full responsibility for them. He remembered having to participate in presentations for the factory even if he didn't want to. Philip forced him to. There was no getting out of it.

Hunter wanted to tell all of this to Caleb at the time, but he was also worried that he would see him as a helpless kid. Yeah, he had to take care of twins ever since he was 2. Boo-hoo. Shapen up, Hunter! He thought that was the reaction he would get.

He said it anyway.

"I had to take care of Vee and Cinco ever since I was 2," Hunter explained.

Caleb's brown eyes widened. "Two?" he echoed. "Like, two, two?"

Hunter nodded. "Dad forced Mom into work right after she recovered from their birth, didn't care for us much, and left me to deal with the responsibility." It felt good to tell someone other than his closest friends about this, but it felt weird, too. He still wasn't sure how Caleb would react. "I helped them learn to speak, walk, cast spells, mix potions, read, listen to me... I walked them through Kindergarten at Hexside, too."

"Wow, I really underestimated how awful your father was," Caleb realized. "That's too much to put on someone so young. Although, I'm proud of you, Hunter. That taught you to be responsible, resilient, and patient. It probably also taught you a lot about Vee and Cinco, didn't it? I learned a lot about my brother when I went through that kinda thing."

Hunter swore that he heard Caleb wrong. He thought that he had heard the words, ...when I went through that kinda thing, but that couldn't be right. The two of them weren't that similar... were they?

"What do you mean?"

Caleb shifted himself on the basement floor and cleared his throat. "I have a little brother," he began. "He lives across the Isles now, but I know him better than anyone else does. My parents died when I was 6 and he was still 3. I had to mature at a young age, just like you did. I had to take care of a younger sibling all by myself. I didn't have anyone to help me. I just had to learn about my brother and help him live through life. I taught him every spell, word, and even dance move he knows. I usually go to parties to pull some moves, you know. Your mother's seen a few."

Hunter had to take a moment to take that all in. "So, you're an orphan?" Caleb nodded. "And you had to take care of your little brother all by yourself? So... Are you saying that we're more alike than just appearance?"

Caleb chuckled the most purely he had their whole conversation thus far. "I guess so." He sighed and got to his feet. "Well, it was nice talking to you, Hunter. Good luck on your projects. I took potion classes in school, too, you know. I wasn't too good at regular magic, so it was all I had."

Hunter was about to reply, but Caleb's figure had already disappeared up the stairs before he got the chance.

He remembered that day every time he found his stepdad in his gaze. It was the first time that he learned to trust him, get to know him, and understand him. Hunter realized through the years that he didn't care how similar they looked or their childhoods were. They had a bond that grew more and more by the day.

He wasn't the only one either. Vee and Cinco had shown several signs of bonds with Caleb. Hunter learned through the years that his stepdad loved animals just as much as Vee did and was just as much of a jokester as Cinco was. Apparently, Caleb would go bird-watching with Vee and her Palisman, Petunia the hummingbird, every other week and added to Cinco's "potential prank ideas" notebook every day. The second tradition worried Hunter a bit, but he decided not to worry about it. (Did Caleb and Hunter have a tradition, too? Of course they did. They talked and bonded about past memories just about every day. It was a great experience. Hunter loved learning about his stepdad's brother the best.)

And then there was the day two and a half years before when their lives really changed forever. Hunter remembered it as one of the most memorable days of his life. Evelyn and Caleb had gone on one of their weekly dates; just running around and laying in a flower field, if Hunter remembered correctly. He remembered his mother wearing a beautiful cherry red dress, which always told him it was a special day. Even if his own mother wearing the dress hadn't been expecting it.

Hunter had already known about what would happen because Caleb had told him about it. He trusted him with the information. Hunter didn't mind. He thought it was a great decision. His mother bursting through the door in her dress with glittering golden eyes and a gorgeous ring on her finger made him believe it even more. Caleb had proposed to her on that date, and Evelyn had said yes. Hunter was proud, and he knew his siblings were, too. Their different yet similar reactions at the wedding a few months later showed him all he needed to know.

Life after the wedding just got better and better. Caleb moved in and quickly received the title of Evelyn's husband. She had taken his last name, too, now being known as Evelyn White. Hunter thought it was a good change. Was he Hunter White now, too? Were Vee and Cinco Whites? Well, duh. Who would want to keep the last name of a jerk like Philip? No sane person, Hunter knew. Besides, he thought Hunter White fit him just fine.

It was a little odd at first, but Hunter, Vee, and Cinco got used to calling Caleb Dad fairly quickly. All three of them agreed that he fit the role better than Philip ever did, so it was an easy shift. Hunter still could hardly believe he wanted to be far away from Caleb at one point. How crazy he had been then. Now he barely even called him his stepdad. He was Dad. Nothing more. Nothing less. 

That morning was nothing different.

Cinco's stomach rumbled. He clutched his arms over it with a wince and a groan or two. "Is breakfast ready yet?" he wondered softly. "I'm starving.

"Well, since it's a certain someone's special day..." Caleb paused to wink at Hunter, which made him blush. He knew what he was going to say next. He covered his face with his hands just to prepare. "...I decided to make griffin eggs. Isn't that right, Hunter?"

Hunter slowly nodded, trying his best to hide his blushing and embarrassment.

He didn't have to have his eyes open to know that Vee and Cinco were sharing a smirky glance, though. "Griffin eggs..." Cinco chuckled under his breath. "I think I know someone who likes to eat that stuff. Don't you, Vee?"

"Cinco," Evelyn said sternly. She glared at her younger son, getting him to shut his mouth as fast as any other mother could. "Stop teasing your brother. I'm just trying to have a calm, nice morning to prepare for a very special day. Now, if you could wait for your food patiently, that would be very much appreciated."

Hunter opened his eyes at the perfect time to watch Cinco pout and cross his arms. He wanted to laugh, but he held it in to avoid further teasing. When he was done with the food, Caleb brought Hunter his first, kissed him on the cheek, told him to enjoy his food and day, and moved on to Vee and Cinco. Hunter loved his stepdad so much. He was loving and kind, two traits he had missed in a father for 17 whole years. He was so grateful for having Caleb instead of Philip now.

Vee declined her food when her stepdad tried to give it to her, which seemed to concern him. "What's the problem, sweetie?" he asked softly.

"Oh, nothing's wrong, Dad," Vee assured him. "I just promised Raine I would teach a class or two at the exchange program this morning and I didn't want to keep them waiting. You know how they are."

When Vee started to get to her feet and pick up her bag, Caleb stopped her. "Are you sure?" he asked. "Do you want to bring some eggs to go? I'm sure it won't hurt, will it? I just don't want you to—"

"Caleb, stop pestering her," Evelyn told her husband. Hunter noticed that Vee was beginning to sweat, so he was glad his mom had stopped her from getting any more uncomfortable. "If Vee wants to eat, she'll eat. Isn't that right?"

Vee nodded as she rested her bag strap over her shoulder. "I don't need anything, Mom. I'll just get food from Raine if they have any." She made her way to the door before stopping. "See you guys at the party!"

Hunter waved goodbye to his sister, the rest of his family doing the same. Caleb rested the last two plates on the table as he sighed and sat down. Evelyn made her way over, sat down, kissed her husband, and moved some blond hair out of his face.

"I know what you were doing," she told him. "It was nice of you. But still. Vee knows how to take care of herself. She's 18 now. So is Cinco. She even has Masha to help her. Do you really think she needs a father bothering her every two seconds?"

Caleb hesitated and pecked at his food. "Well, no, but—"

"Exactly." Evelyn poked her husband on the nose before turning to her food. "Now eat your special griffin eggs, Mr. Chef."

"Couldn't agree more, Mom," Cinco agreed. Hunter couldn't help but giggle.

He may of not enjoyed griffin eggs as much as his boyfriend, but Hunter had to admit that Caleb's cooking was pretty good. It was much better than what he had attempted back in the Human Realm. He cringed at the memory of those disasters he had made to make Edric feel better.

When his food was gone, Hunter got to his feet and put his plate away. "And where are you off to?" Evelyn asked as he began to get some of his stuff put together.

"Just going to meet up with Hale, Mom." Hunter got to his feet and crossed his arms. "Don't worry, though, I'll come by to check on your progress. I promise."

"You better," Evelyn said. "I didn't go through all that hard work just for two out of three of my children to abandon me. And, believe me, Cinco isn't the one I wanted to be stuck with."

"Hey!"

Hunter chuckled. "I'll be there."

As he made his way to the door just like Vee had not that long before, Caleb gasped and scrambled to make sure he didn't ruin his leftovers. "Oh, Hunter, wait!" Hunter stopped in his tracks and turned to face his stepdad. "One more thing before you go. Follow me," he added as he headed towards the other side of the house. Towards the factory entrance in the back.

Hunter followed his stepdad all the way to the factory, but his intrigue was also disappearing quicker by the second. Hale didn't worry as easily as Raine did, but he still didn't want to keep him waiting too long. He hoped that whatever Caleb had to show him was quick.

Eventually, Caleb stopped at the exit door of the factory. He didn't walk through, though, just leaning down and picking something up from a small table beside it. Hunter really didn't understand why they had to walk through the whole factory, but he decided to leave the complaining to Cinco.

"Here," Caleb said, handing Hunter whatever he had picked up. Once the object was in his grasp, he realized it was a thick book with a bright and full-of-color cover. An engraving of the Titan's skeleton was shown on the cover, beautiful skies and blue bursts of energy and magic shown around it. The title of the book seemed to be Boiling Isles History: Reimagined since those were the words printed at the top.

"I want you to give this to Hale," Caleb explained. "He's been working on that thing with Raine and your mother for years now. Even after Eboni's tyranny, not everyone on the Isles knows the truth of its history. That was their mission. I remember Raine saying that they wanted its pages to be read and taught at the exchange program, and Hale decided to give it to them. Me and Evelyn didn't know when was the perfect time, but now seems good enough."

Hunter hadn't even realized the small words of researched and studied by Evelyn White and Raine & Hale Whispers at the very bottom of the cover. "Whoa, really? That's awesome."

"And that's not all," Caleb said, resting a hand on the door behind him. "I've got another surprise for you."

Hunter was confused as his stepdad slowly opened the exit door of the factory, but when the light from outside died down, he understood. A large vessel of a vehicle was parked right outside: an airship. It was mostly black and gray on the sides, but there were bursts of yellow and gold from every direction. Large yellow wings made of potion liquid sprouted from its sides, and a large head of the exact same material was on the front. It was supposed to resemble a bird. Hunter knew that much.

Caleb knocked on the metal side of the airship. "Pretty neat, huh?" he said. "Say, Hunter, how were you planning on meeting up with Hale?"

Hunter couldn't bring himself to reply. Any time he tried, only stuttering and mumbling came out of his mouth. His stepdad laughed and stepped aside. He pulled out a remote and pressed a button, causing a ramp to emerge from the airship. Hunter took a nervous step forward even though he wasn't scared or hesitant. He couldn't wait to fly that airship.

Caleb rested his arms and head on the side of the airship once Hunter was on board and had his hands on the wheel. "I'll see you at the party," his stepdad said casually.

"Wait. You're not helping Mom with her project?"

Caleb sighed. "No. It's her thing," he explained. "I was never too good at magic or machinery. I decided to just help Steve and some of his old scout buddies set up at the Vixen House. Thought I could be useful that way."

"You're plenty useful, Dad," Hunter assured him. Caleb just shrugged and stepped away from the airship.

"Fly away, big bird."

Hunter just rolled his eyes and got the airship going. His mom and Amity had both given him some side classes that taught him how for about a year. They were pretty helpful. He was able to get off the ground and his wings flapping without trouble.

Caleb became a small blur in the distance quickly. Hunter looked over the side of the airship and waved farewell. He saw his stepdad's hand wave back, even though he didn't expect to from that far away.

Hunter tightened his grip on the wheel and narrowed his eyes. His hefty brown gloves crunched, but he ignored the sound. Small wings could be heard flapping behind him, and he knew they came from Flapjack. The little cardinal flew over to his witch and landed on his shoulder.

"Big bird scares me," Flapjack said. "He's not replacing me, is he?"

Hunter chuckled. "Of course not, Flap. We just need him to meet Hale." His Palisman nodded, but he could tell he wasn't fully convinced. Hunter just sighed and focused on the horizon ahead of him. "Time to help this bird fly."

The speed of the large yellow wings picked up as they left the factory behind them in a puff of smoke.

"You're such a child."

Hale loved saying that phrase. He had been saying it all morning to one person in particular that he loved saying it to. Yes, it was to make fun of them, but it was a fun activity. Raine obviously didn't find it very fun, though.

"I am not," they insisted for the millionth time. Hale rolled his eyes jokingly. "I just want to get out of here as quickly as possible. What if Gus and Vee are already at the exchange program? What if their only waiting on me and getting more impatient by the second?"

Hale walked up to his twin and shoved some books in their arms. Raine tried to protest, but he just continued to do so. "I think you're forgetting something, Rainy Days," he said. "You're the headmaster. You make the rules. Besides, Gus and Vee have their own stuff to take care of. You shouldn't be so worried all the time."

"You're just saying that because you don't have a school to run," Raine argued. "Especially one of that size. It's stressful. I'm lucky that I have such great teachers and helpers like Gus and Vee and the Looking Glass Graveyard Guardian. They're the only ones holding me together."

"You need to get out more."

Raine groaned as they set some boxes on a chair. "I've already told you, Hale," they began. "Not everyone has the time to fly laps around the whole Isles in their Phoenix form five times a day. It's not meant to be used that way, anyway!"

"Then how is it meant to be used?" Hale countered. "To show everyone how tall and flashy you are? To get Eda to fall in love with you even more?"

Raine paused and softly touched the golden earring on their ear for a moment. Once they obviously realized Hale was waiting for a response, they cleared their throat and turned around.

"Your Phoenix form is meant to be used when you need to fly somewhere or be in battle," they explained matter-of-factly. "It's not meant for joyrides."

"That doesn't mean that it can't be," Hale replied, not seeing the point.

He loved his new Phoenix form. Well, it wasn't exactly new anymore, but Hale still saw it as a new addition to his life. It was different from Raine's, but also similar. When he transformed, white fire sprouted from his hair, arms, and large wings, left behind in his wake as he flew. Instead of red and black fur forming all over his body, Hale was covered in white, black, and gray fur. He figured that was because he mostly wore those colors, but also because they fit him more. Raine was fiery, Hale was icy. It was as simple as that. 

"I personally love joyrides!" a high-pitched, squeaky voice said from behind Hale. Sparky's long, furry neck emerged from his pack. "They're so joyful!"

"See?" Hale told Raine with a smirk. "Sparkity agrees with me."

"That's because you're besties," Raine replied, raising an annoyed eyebrow. "Anyway, don't we all have business to attend to? I have to—"

"Much to attend to, indeed, Raindrop!"

Hale turned around as stomping footsteps loomed down the stairs. He instantly recognized them as belonging to his mother, Stormy, along with the voice that had interrupted Raine. The older woman's short and stout figure with long and fluffy gray hair came into view as she got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Good morning, Mother," Hale greeted courteously, even bowing slightly. It was a bit of a given for him after serving Eboni for so long.

"Good morning, Hale," Stormy replied. She didn't say any more to her son, moving on to Raine. Hale just smirked, hoping to get on them some more once his mother started talking. "What are you even doing here, Raine? Don't you and my grandson have stuff to work on today?"

Raine nervously chuckled. "Yes, we do, but King stayed behind at the Vixen House. He's helping with setting up there while I stopped by here," they explained. "I just needed to pick up some supplies for the exchange program that Hale and Sparky got for me."

"I see." Stormy glanced to the side before facing Hale again. "And what do you have going on today?"

Hale straightened himself, adding to his courteous behavior even more. "The construction of the Boiling Isles History Museum is currently underway," he replied cheerfully. "I already hired some workers to help me, but I just wanted to go over the blueprints one more time with them today. You know, extra precautions."

"Perfect Hale is at it again," Raine muttered under their breath.

Hale rolled his eyes at his twin and took out the blueprints of the museum to show his mother. He had gone over those ideas and designs with himself so many times, he could barely keep track. When the Empress's Castle was still around, it was technically the Boiling Isles History Museum of the past. Of course, it wasn't, since the "history" it was sharing was all lies spread by Eboni and her coven. And Hale had been the one to help spread those lies and tell the false history when he was head witch. Ugh, he hated thinking about that. 

Finally, after four years of Eboni being defeated and the Isles being rebuilt, Hale decided to take it upon himself to build a new history museum at the heart of the Titan to spread the real history of the island. Well, he had had the idea for years, but now he was actually making progress. Evelyn and her new husband Caleb promised they would help with blueprints and making a history book that would be on sale as well. Hale wasn't sure when he would receive it, but he hoped it was soon. That history book was the best way to come up with more ideas for the museum and spread truth in another way. Amity Blight also promised to help Hale by sharing some pointers she knew about the history of the Isles. She was the clone of Olive Bleakley, who apparently was a huge part of Boiling Isles history. Hale was happy to have her along.

"Very nice, very nice," Stormy said as she looked over the blueprints her son was showing. "So, when exactly do you think this project will be complete?"

Hale smiled as he folded up his blueprints and put them away. "I'm hoping for some time in the next two years, Mother," he explained. "I'm really going for next year, but I don't wanna push myself."

"Good on you, Hailstorm," Stormy praised him. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and moved on to Raine. "I heard you were in a hurry, Raindrop. Shouldn't you be heading out?"

"I should," Raine confirmed, picking up the box Hale had given them. "I need to head to the exchange program and see how everyone is doing. Oh, Gus and Vee have probably started their classes without me..."

Hale sighed and said, "You're such a child."

"Oh, my Titan..." Raine just groaned and made their way out the door. Once they were outside, they turned into their Phoenix Raine form, bright fire flaring out of their hair and wings. "See you at the party?" they asked hesitantly.

Stormy nodded, but Hale said, "Nope. I'm gonna pick you up from your little exchange program with Eda later. Don't get all lovey eyed around your wife, you hear?"

"Yeah, whatever." 

Raine didn't say another word before bolting off into the distance with fire in their wake.

"I suppose you're heading out, too?" Stormy wondered.

Hale just shrugged. "I guess. I need to check on how my workers are doing and go over the blueprints with them again."

"Go then," Stormy told him with another kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you at the humans' party."

Hale nodded and turned into his Phoenix form just like Raine did. He had to admit, he didn't look much like a phoenix. He looked more like an ice phoenix. Whenever he transformed, he had longer white hair with gray and white flames blazing at the bottom. His wings were also covered in gray and white, the fire coming from them the same colors. His whole body was covered with gray and white fur, all the way up to his neck. Hale's paws were huge, with claws the color of a snowy horizon attached. He saw himself as more of a hybrid between a phoenix, a white rabbit like his Palisman, and a polar bear. It was a weird combination, but Hale thought of it as being a perfect match for him.

He waved farewell to his mother before booming into the sky. Sparky giggled from Hale's pack, which gave him an idea.

He didn't care what Raine said. Joyrides were fun. The museum construction site wasn't too far away, but Hale didn't care. He wanted to do flips and tricks and spins on his way there as if he were having a joyride across the Isles like he always did. Sparky was having so much fun, her long neck waving around with squeals and "Woo-hoos!" as she flew through the air. Hale smiled at the sight of her.

"This is amazing!" Sparky screeched as Hale picked up speed. The construction site was close, and he did want to get there relatively quickly. Just not like Raine did to every little event.

"Glad you're happy, Sparkity!" he called to his bestie. Sparky didn't seem to hear. She just continued to scream and squeal with enjoyment. Hale sighed with a smile as he descended.

A loud thump! followed Hale's descent to the ground. He was worried it would jeopardize the hard work already done to the museum, but he was far enough away for no damage to be done. He sighed with deep relief.

"Aw, it's over already?"

Hale stroked his bestie on the chin. "Sorry, Sparkity, but we have work to do."

Sparky sighed sadly, which made Hale feel bad. He promised to take her on another joyride after he finished what he had to do to lift her spirits. It must've worked since her usually excited and happy nature returned.

Construction of the museum was going well, just as Hale hoped it was. His workers were already there like he requested and were hard at work. Most of Hale's workers were from the old Construction Coven when covens were still around since they were the best builders. One of those was Mattholomule, who seemed to be overlooking the work of a crane from the Human Realm. Alador Blight had work in the construction field in the Human Realm, so he was also a big help. Although, of course, he couldn't work that day since he had to focus on the birthday of Ed and Em. Father responsibilities and all that.

Hale changed back to his normal form as he walked through the construction site since he didn't want to scare anyone. He always did that when he forgot he was still in Phoenix form. It was pretty scary when it comes up behind you, all things considered.

"Nice work, Matt," Hale said as he rested his hand on Mattholomule's shoulder. He was definitely his youngest worker, but also his most resilient. He was determined to do as much work as possible using both construction and illusion magic, prove his worth, and even show off his mustache he had achieved in the past year.

"All is under control, Hale," Mattholomule assured him with a salute. "Part of the Empress Eboni's Reign section of the museum is already under construction. Your blueprints were very helpful with designs, all being used to construct the more recent of Boiling Isles history."

"That's awe—" Hale stopped himself as he finally took in everything Matt told him. "Wait, the what is what?"

Mattholomule looked over at Hale with a confused expression. He guessed that the young worker didn't understand why he was confused. "We started construction on the Empress Eboni's Reign section because it was one of the more recent ones you designed," he explained. "I decided we should work backwards from most recent to most in the past. The After the War section is also being worked on. We should be able to get both done by next month. Is that alright, or are we going too slowly? I could make arrangements so that we finish by next week, but—"

"Wait a minute," Hale interrupted him, not realizing that he was squeezing Mattholomule's shoulder. "You should be done by next month? How long do you think before we will be completely done?"

"Oh, about six months," Matt said casually. "Gus doesn't think I can, but I will show him—"

Hale squeezed harder, making his young worker wince. He took his hand off him to think over what he just heard. "So... you think we'll be finished within the next six months?!"

"Yes." Mattholomule didn't seem fazed. He just took a pen from his ear and began writing on a clipboard. "My notes say next six months right there. We want to get one section done per month. After the War first, then Empress Eboni's Reign, The Lives of Olive and Odalia Bleakley, The Adaptation of Magic, and finally In the Beginning. The final month will be final touches and making sure everything is ready for the grand opening."

Hale was frozen as he listened to his young worker's words. His team was preparing to be finished with the whole museum in six months. He couldn't believe it. He told his mother two years! That was a huge difference! Hale had apparently overlooked how hard-working and determined his workers were.

"Are you sure you wouldn't be overworking yourselves?" Hale wondered. "I mean, we could come up with a much better schedule where we'd be finished next year—"

"Oh, there's no need," Mattholomule assured him. "We're not overworking ourselves; I've made sure of it. Everyone will be working different days for different hours every day, including myself. Alador and I decided to be the curators for construction together, the job shifting between the two of us."

"Oh, that's..." Hale began to trail off. "...really responsible of you."

Matt snorted. "I know, right?" He cleared his throat and went through some more notes on his clipboard. "Besides, everyone decided on their own schedules. That way, we can work whenever it works for us and still get the job done quickly and efficiently! Isn't that right, Kiki?"

Hale turned around to see Kikimora carrying some wooden planks across the top of a moving platform. Ever since Eboni was defeated, the biped demon didn't have anywhere else to go. So, naturally, Hale forced her to work for him. Oh, how good it felt to have her under his control again. Amity agreed with him every time they laughed about it together.

Kiki groaned as she almost dropped the wooden boards she was carrying. "Yeah, whatever," she hissed at Mattholomule. Hale couldn't help but chuckle as she struggled to walk across the platform.

"Six months, huh?" Hale asked. Mattholomule nodded. "I guess I don't have to go over the blueprints again like I thought."

"No, not at all," Matt confirmed with a shake of his head. "We've all got those things implanted in our brains. All you gotta worry about is how we're doing and how many joyrides you'll take."

"Joyride?!" Sparky exclaimed at the sound of the word.

"Not yet, Sparky," Hale told her. She frowned. He turned to Matt again. "I guess you're right. Even I don't have my own blueprints memorized. I should work on that."

"Don't worry about it," Mattholomule told him with a pat on the shoulder. "We've got it covered. All good."

Hale sighed with a smile. "Good to know. Let me know if anything comes up."

"Will do!" Mattholomule called after him as he began to walk away. "Kiki, chop chop! After the War won't get itself built!"

Hale sighed again as he made his way to where he first showed off his blueprints. He splayed them on the platform sadly. He was proud of Mattholomule and all his workers, but he just didn't expect them to have come up with all those plans and schedules without him, memorize his blueprints when he didn't, and basically confirm that he wasn't needed. He was just an overlooker now. Hale didn't know what to think of that.

"Ooh! Someone's jelly!" Sparky giggled.

"Am not," Hale told her. "I just didn't know that my team doesn't need me. They'll be done with this museum in six months while I thought we still had at least a year."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Hale knew Sparky was trying to make him feel better. She always did that. She was a good bestie. "I mean, you wanted to spread the real history of the Isles with the world. The quicker the museum gets built, the quicker you can do that."

"That's true, but what about that history book I worked on with Evelyn and Caleb?" Hale countered. "I still haven't gotten it, and that's a huge way to spread history, too. What if the museum is finished before I get to publish the history book? That will go against my plans even more."

"Hey, don't be hard on the Whites," Sparky replied. "They'll get that book to you soon. You know they will. To take your mind off being sad, how about we go for another joyride?"

Hale sighed. "Oh, I would, Sparkity, but I have to wait for Luz and Amity. We were gonna pick up Eda at the factory together. Oh, and Hunter's coming, too. I have to talk to him about some things."

Sparky gasped. "Maybe you could ask him about the book!" she suggested cheerfully. "Evelyn and Caleb are his parents, aren't they?"

"I guess I could," Hale agreed. "Oh, I can't stay sad for long with you around, Sparkity."

Sparky giggled. "All in a day's work, Haley Hale!"

Hale laughed as he ran his fingers through Sparky's fur. It was thin, but also soft and comforting. It was perfect for making Hale feel even better. Sparky stuck her tongue out cheerfully to add to his enjoyment.

And then...

"Hale!"

Hale looked over his shoulder to see Luz and Amity running right for him. They were holding hands, Luz's free one raised to wave at Hale.

"Hey, girls," he greeted them casually. 

"Museum seems to be coming along nicely," Amity pointed out. "How long before it'll be done?"

"Within the next six months according to Mattholomule," Hale replied. 

"That soon?" Luz couldn't seem to believe it. Hale couldn't blame her. "Dang, I guess history will spread like wildfire."

Amity nodded as her girlfriend spoke. "Real history, too. For once..." The purple-haired girl sighed. "Sorry, I've just had enough of thinking of the history Eboni was trying to spread."

"Can't blame you," Hale told her. "I had to promote those lies, for Titan's sake!"

Luz and Amity laughed with him. "It was really cool of you to come up with this, Hale," Luz said. "Now everyone on the Isles will know the truth. Besides, Amity helped with your blueprints. This museum has gotta make it big."

"Thanks, Luz," Amity replied with a hint of blush. 

"Well, I'm still waiting for Hunter, girls," Hale explained. "Once he gets here, we can head to the factory."

"Why is Hunter coming?" Luz wondered. "Wouldn't he be at the factory anyway?"

"I asked him to meet up so we could discuss a few things," Hale said. "Sorry for not telling you."

"You're all good," Amity assured him. "Hunter's cool."

"I wasn't denying that," Hale told her. "Unless you were on bad terms recently?"

"Not recently," Amity replied. "The last time was probably when I was still the Emerald Guard."

"You mean when Hunter kicked you in the face?"

"I told you not to talk about that..."

"Oh, Eclipse Lake was a crazy time."

"Didn't you have to take care of a sick Ed?"

"I did! Your brother is weird when he's sick."

"He isn't regularly?"

"I never said that."

"Is that a bird airship?"

"What?"

"What?"

Believe it or not, when Hale turned around and looked up, he saw a giant black and yellow airship with large wings and a bird head on the front made out of potion liquid. He didn't need to see the pilot to see who it belonged to. The airship made a huge gust of wind come their way, so Hale held his arm over his face and squinted. Luz and Amity looked like they were about to blow away. 

As the wind slowed down, the airship parked itself on a platform right next to the construction site. Its wings stopped flapping and rested at its sides as it stopped moving. The door to get on and off it opened, revealing a familiar boy with curvy blond hair with a single strand sticking out, a navy work shirt, a black belt, baggy gray jeans, and red sneakers with stitchings of lightning bolts and stars on them.

Hunter was smirking with a book held under his arm and a rope above his head that he was holding onto. Without warning, he jumped off the airship and used the rope like a zip line off the side. Hale jumped as he jumped right over to him. He managed to catch Hunter, but just barely. They both spun around, Hale smiling more and more as he forgot his shock.

"That was quite the entrance," he told him. 

"You got that right," Hunter agreed. "Dad lent the airship to me when I left the factory."

"What's with the book?" Luz asked, pointing to the book under Hunter's arm. 

Hunter didn't answer the question at first. He just said, "Oh, Luz, Amity, hi! I didn't know you were meeting up with Hale, too. I mean, I assume that's what you're doing."

"You didn't tell him about us, either?" Amity asked Hale.

He nervously scratched his head. "I may have forgotten that, too..."

Amity facepalmed. Luz just sighed. Hunter rolled his eyes. "Classic Hale," he said.

"Hey! It is not classic Hale!" Hale objected. "That's classic Raine if anything."

"No, it's pretty classic Haley Hale," Sparky added.

"Sparkity, not you, too!"

Everyone laughed at him.

"Anyway," Amity said to end the laughter. "What's with the book, Hunter?"

"Oh, this?" Hunter took the book out from under his arm. "This is for Hale."

Hale gasped as he took the book from Hunter. It was thick and heavy with bright and dark colors on the cover. It was coming from Hunter, and there was only one book it could be. 

"The Boiling Isles History book..."

"It's the history book!" Sparky confirmed. "I told you, Haley Hale!"

Hale laughed. "You did, Sparkity. You're so smart." He hugged Hunter, the history book resting against his back. "Tell your parents I said thank you, will you?"

"I will," Hunter promised. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

"Oh, it can wait a bit longer," Hale said. "I'll tell you at the party."

"Oh, okay."

"In any case, if we don't go pick Eda up now," Hale explained, "Raine will probably kill me. You know how they are." Everyone nodded. "When should your mother be working on her little project, Hunter?"

He had to think for a moment, but Hunter replied with, "Right about now."

"Perfect." Hale tucked the history book underneath his arm and called for Mattholomule to come over.

"Yeah, Hale?"

"Go over this with the rest of the team, will you?" Hale requested, handing the young worker the book. "I know you know what you're doing, but this will give you some extra pointers. It's broken up just like the museum."

Mattholomule saluted. "You got it, Hale." Then he flicked his hair and made Luz, Amity, and Hunter groan and sigh before walking off.

"Can we leave now?" Amity asked. "I need to get that out of my memory..."

Hale chuckled. "Sure, I just need to get ready first."

"Ready? How?" Luz wondered.

"Like this." 

Hale jumped into the air and spun around to reveal his Phoenix form again. Luz, Amity, and Hunter gasped, got on their staffs, and joined him in the air.

"I can't get over how cool that looks," Hunter said. "It's almost as cool as Raine's!"

"Gee, thanks," Hale sighed with a smirk.

"I mean, no offense, Hale," Luz began, "but Raine looks much more like a Phoenix than you do. You're much more... icy."

"I'll take it," Hale replied. "Anyway, let's get going. You guys are okay with having a minor setback on our way there, aren't you?"

"What kind of setback?"

"Joyride!" Hale screeched.

"Woo-hoooooooooooo!" Sparky added.

Luz, Amity, and Hunter laughed as Hale flipped and spun around in the air. When he began to pick up speed and Sparky screeched louder, they panicked and tried to follow.

Hale felt free. He was ready for the day. He was ready for anything.

White Industries, here I come.

Chapter Text

Eda was enjoying her morning. Her day started in one of the best ways it probably could. She got out of bed, took care of her normal morning routines, got dressed, and hummed as she carried boxes and supplies about her room, her Palisman Owlbert struggling to catch up.

Okay, that probably isn't what most people would think of as one of the best ways a morning could start, but Eda felt very confident about her thoughts.

Life was good. In the past four years, so many parts of Eda's life had changed in ways that she would never forget. One of the more note-worthy changes was how she wasn't Head of the Bard Coven anymore. How? Well, there wasn't a Bard Coven at all anymore. Or any coven for that matter.

After Eboni's death, the entirety of the Boiling Isles made a conscious decision to eradicate the coven system. There was no use for it anymore. Even those who used to be coven scouts for Eboni learned that she only spread lies and even more lies about wild magic and the "dangers" it led to. Everyone knew that covens were bogus and had no right to exist anymore.

Even so, Eda knew that Hexside and several other schools still used the track system. At first, that would seem like those schools were still enforcing Eboni's past laws, but far from it. Principal Bump—before he retired—held a meeting between his fellow principals of the Boiling Isles four years ago to decide what to do of the track system. Eventually, they decided to keep the system but with no limits to how many tracks a student can be in. If they wanted to study anywhere between one type of magic to all of them, it didn't matter! 

Eda was glad to leave her Coven Head days behind her. Sure, she had gotten plenty used to using bard magic during her time as Coven Head and even years before, but it wasn't her dream. Ever since she was a kid, Eda wanted to study every kind of magic. The only problem (or two) was that she went to school during the early years of Eboni's reign and went to St. Epiderm for most of her school life, a school that went a bit too far when it came to following the rules. Eda was happier than you'd ever think she could be when she met Raine and transferred to Hexside with her sister.

Even then, she was in the potion track. Eda wasn't the biggest on potion magic, but she did love going to potion classes. For one, she went to class with her sister Lilith at both of her schools despite their two-year difference in age. Lily, being a know-it-all and nerd, had taught Eda way more than her teachers ever did, and had even gotten her to rise even higher than her. When she met Raine, she realized for the first time what studying other types of magic could mean for her. What it could do. She had already practiced extra subjects on her own and even taught Raine a bard trick they didn't know, but after graduation, Eda learned everything she could about every type of magic. Bard was the only one that really stuck with her. Playing her lute for Raine on their many dates had helped her so much.

Even though she had studied magic and covens years after graduation, Eda still hated them. Covens, that is. Learning about the history of the covens was her least favorite part of school. It just told her more and more lies Eboni had spread that she believed less and less by the day. The only reason she had even joined the Bard Coven was to get more intel on Eboni and what she was planning for the Day of Unity. Eda hadn't signed up for breaking up with Raine, not seeing them for years after, and almost dying at every turn! All that was never on her bingo card.

Covens had taken a heavy toll on the Boiling Isles and its history. No one was denying that. There was only one problem with the eradicated system that still remained even years later: sigils. When you first join a coven, a sigil would be magically placed on your wrist, restricting your magic to just that of your coven. It was a horrible barrier, especially since no one knew how to remove one.

That's right. For four whole years, no one on the Boiling Isles knew how to remove a sigil from their wrist. Even famous inventor and abomination-creator Evelyn White was stumped for a while. Well, until she dedicated her entire career to finding a way. The truth was, Evelyn had found a way. Two years ago. The only problem was that it needed to be properly tested before it could be shown to the public. She only knew it could work because it had removed the Abomination Coven sigil on her own wrist. The whole Isles was restless as it waited for the announcement of the only way to remove a coven sigil known. Finally, two years after a way was discovered, Evelyn told some of her closest friends and co-workers it was ready to be tested. Eda was one of them.

Eda was excited to test Evelyn's discovery. She had worked with that intuitive woman for years after Eboni's death since she was so fascinated by her work. White Industries, the company she ran with her husband Caleb, was known for finding new and exciting ways to answer the island's deepest questions and solve its biggest problems. Currently, the deep question was Can coven sigils safely and properly be removed without trouble? and the big problem was how almost everyone who had previously been a part of a coven was still branded.

That day was filled with so much. It was Ed and Em's 20th birthday and anyone and everyone was working hard to set up and get ready for the party. Raine had hurried out of the house in a fit of anxiety just because they had an errand to run before heading to their exchange program. And Eda was getting ready to head out to meet Evelyn at her factory to test her discovery.

Well, Eda actually did a bit more in the morning than getting ready and organizing her room. Not only did her career change, but her whole life did, too.

Eda had lived in plenty of residences in her lifetime. During her childhood, she lived with her parents and sister in her old home. When she went to St. Epiderm, she lived in a dorm with her sister. When she transferred to Hexside, she lived with her parents again. When she graduated and saved up enough snails, she moved out and lived on her own in her own place for a few years, even during her time as Coven Head. When she got captured by Darius and Eber, she lived with them in their secret hideout, which eventually became the CATs' hideout. When Collector was freed, she was stuck as a puppet for months. Then, right after Eboni was defeated, she lived with Raine in the Vixen House for a while.

What happened after that? Well... a lot.

The truth was, Eda had lived with Raine in the Vixen House for more than just a few days. Much longer, actually. At first, she just lived there because she was trying to get used to how different life would be before going back to her place. Spoiler alert: she never went back to her place.

Eda never intended to stay at the Vixen House for that long. It just happened. Originally, she was just spending time with Raine since they hadn't gotten a chance to do that in years. She got to spend tons of time with King, too, and give him tons of belly scratches. He loved those. Then, it felt like when she was dating Raine all those years ago again. Eda had gotten a new lute from Raine for her birthday a couple years before since she broke her old one fighting Eboni. She had played it tons of times while living with them. That was what reminded her of when they used to date. And then it just escalated from there. 

Eda wasn't quite sure how it really happened. How the best day of her life actually happened. She just remembered a sunny morning when she was sitting on the grass outside the Vixen House with Raine. They were talking, bonding. They were just enjoying themselves. And then... words slipped out. They held hands. Eda still remembered how warm the touch of Raine's fingers felt. She hadn't felt like that in so long.

She still remembered what they said to each other. The questions they'd asked. The statements they'd made. The confidence in their voices. The excitement for the future. The near future.

"Hey, Eda?" Raine had said as they stared at the clouds, fingers entwined tightly.

"Yeah?"

Raine paused to watch a huge cloud drift across the blue sky. "Do you ever wonder... what life would be like if we'd done things differently?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well..." Raine hissed through their teeth as if they were thinking of the right words way too hard. Eda softened her gaze as she stared at their confused face. "I don't know. What if we had just... never broken up?"

Eda shook her head to break out of her loving trance when she realized Raine had actually asked a question. "Oh, uh..." She shook her head again. "You'd have to get Eboni out of the equation first—"

"Forget about that," Raine interrupted her. They looked like a whole new person when they talked like that. It took Eda off-guard. "Forget about Eboni. Forget about my curse. Forget everything that kept us apart. Just... remember what it was like when we were still dating. Then imagine what life would be like if we still did now. Can you do that?"

Eda didn't reply for a while. She just turned away from Raine and stared at the clouds above her. They looked like so many different things—animals, mountains, even coven sigils—but they were distracting. Eda had to close her eyes in order to imagine. It was her only option.

The first thing that came to mind was instruments. Eda saw a lute in skinny, pale hands. They softly strummed the instrument and played a soft, beautiful tune. The music was so beautiful, it seemed to turn the grass redder, the trees higher, the plants and flowers more abundant, and even make the person more beautiful. When Eda imagined who was playing, she saw herself, her ginger hair tied in a ponytail, her yellow eyes glittering, her face beautiful.

As she continued to strum the lute's strings, another instrument joined in. It sounded like another string instrument, but Eda couldn't tell what it was yet. Finally, when her imagination shifted to the person sitting beside her, she saw tan arms holding a viola and bow to their shoulder. They softly stroked the strings back and forth with the bow at first before speeding up. When the music quickened, the magic of Eda's instrument got stronger. The grass got taller, the sky got brighter, the clouds were spread out across every inch of blue above them. When her imagination shifted up to the other person's face, Eda saw Raine, their smile soft, sweet, and full of pride.

Finally, Eda opened her eyes slowly, breaking out of her imagination. "Yeah. Yeah, I can imagine it."

"What did you imagine?"

"I saw..." Eda paused and smiled as she saw Raine's soft smile as they played the viola in the image. "We were sitting on the grass together, both playing our instruments. The longer we played, the more powerful the magic got. Everything around us got bigger, better. It was as if our love was enough to give the whole world strength. If that makes sense."

Raine nodded. They nervously fidgeted with their fingers. "I know what you mean," they finally replied. "I imagined something similar. Well, without the music. Okay, maybe it wasn't that similar." They smiled innocently, seeming like they were hoping for Eda to forgive their awkwardness. She smiled wider. "I saw us together under something beautiful. It was covered in beautiful flowers, their petals falling all around us. You were wearing a pretty suit. It was pretty similar to what I wore to Grom Ed and Em's first year here, just blue instead of brown."

"You were wearing a dress, weren't you?" Eda wondered with a smirk.

Raine's whole face got bright red. Eda restrained herself from bursting out laughing. "I really like them..."

Eda laughed softly and softly rubbed her thumb against Raine's hand that was firm around hers. "What else did you see?"

"I saw people gathered all around us," Raine continued. "I saw them sitting in comfy chairs that looked like clouds in a way. My moms had definitely provided them. In those chairs were friends, family, those who we're close with. They were happy, watching us with glee and excitement. I knew that what was happening was huge and an amazing development of our lives—"

"Rainestorm," Eda interrupted them. Raine gasped and turned to her. "Are you describing a wedding?"

Raine's face got red again. They looked so cute when they blushed, Eda noted. "Um..."

"Rainestorm." Eda had to stop herself from smiling too much and giggling. "Are you trying to subtly propose to me?"

Raine's face got redder. They groaned and held their free arm over their face. Eda smiled.

"You do realize I was gonna say yes, right?" When she said that, Raine moved their arm below their eyes and they widened. "I'm just teasing you. Yeah, you could've just asked, but you're cute when you're embarrassed. So, I like this outcome better."

"Shut up," Raine said with a laugh. 

"What's our wedding plan, Rainestorm?"

Raine told her. They went on and on about what the invitations could look like, what they would do, the activities, the honeymoon, everything. Eda remembered it like it was yesterday. She remembered it like it was the best day ever. The wedding, that is. The truth was, their wedding was the best day ever.

It had been just like Raine had described on that sunny morning. They worked together to pick out a blue suit for Eda to wear and a long, beautiful dress for Raine. The outfits they had found were perfect, and they were finally ready for the big day. Everyone they knew and liked were invited, every last person showing up. Eda even remembered every word that was said. Every conversation. Every greeting. Every congratulations. Every goodbye.

Every vow.

Raine and Eda had said I do in the most sincere ways possible, Eda smiled every time she thought about it. Raine got awkward and blushed, Eda got smirky and confident. Everyone in the audience slightly giggled at the sight as they confirmed their vows and prepared for the best part. 

Eda remembered every second of it. She remembered Raine's lips on hers, their contentment with what was finally happening. When Eda was finally done gathering all the boxes she needed, she sighed and looked over her shoulder. Hanging on the wall by the door to the room she shared with Raine now was a picture taken during their kiss at the wedding. She smiled at the sight of it and softly ran her fingers over Raine's figure in the picture. Oh, did they look awesome in that dress.

Nothing was the same after that wedding. Nothing would ever be the same. Raine and Eda were partners, they lived together in the Vixen House, King saw her as a mother, Hale was her brother-in-law, Stormy and Lightning were her mothers-in-law, and even Ed and Em seemed like children to her. Heck, even Luz, Gus, Hunter, and Amity began to.

Suddenly, just as Eda sighed and set a box full of supplies for the party on the bed, she heard a loud crash from downstairs. She hoped it wasn't anything serious, but she had to check it out. Running down the stairs with a hint of urgency, she tried to think of any possible explanations for what could've happened. Each one seemed crazy, and she decided to stop thinking about that.

When Eda walked into the kitchen, she saw a familiar small furry body on the floor, pots, pans, and silverware all around it, even on its head. Eda didn't need to see the face to know who was the culprit. She ripped the pan off his face, the young Titan shaking his head and prying crumbs out of his fur.

"King, what happened?" Eda prompted. "You weren't trying to cook in here, were you? Luz's mom is dealing with the food, remember?"

King groaned as he threw a very sparkly crumb off his fur. "I know that," he said. "I wasn't trying to cook. I was just trying to reach that box of tape up there." He pointed to a tiny box of tape on a cupboard above the kitchen counter. "Why Raine put it in the kitchen—and somewhere I can't reach—I'll never know. I just got tall enough to touch the counter!"

Eda laughed and picked King up. "Don't worry, big boy," she teased. "I'll get you that tape."

She effortlessly reached over the cupboard and grabbed the box, handing it to her son. King stared at the tape as if it was some priceless artifact and played with it in his paws. Eda rolled her eyes as he gasped and hummed.

"What do you need tape for, anyway?" she wondered. "Last time I checked, this place wasn't falling apart."

"It's not," King assured her. "Steve just sent a Penstagram message to Raine this morning and I saw it. He was asking them if they had a few things he was missing to set up the party. One of those was tape."

"What else did he ask for?"

King tapped his paw against his skull as if he was in deep thought. "Oh! He wanted ink, tape, sprinkles, and extra beetles," he explained.

"Extra beetles?" Of course, extra beetles for a birthday party wasn't strange in the Boiling Isles, but Eda was still shocked. This party was for Ed and Em. Alador had sent out an instruction list since he wanted it to be the best birthday they'd ever had. Eda didn't remember extra beetles being on that list. "Why would Steve need all that stuff?"

King shrugged. He jumped out of Eda's arms and walked into the living room. She followed. Without another word, he began to dig into the couch and put his paws in every little thing Eda wouldn't have wanted him to put them into. Finally, after about a minute, King had a paw-ful of beetles. It could even gross a witch or demon out.

Eda managed to look away as King continued to hold up the beetles in his paw and jumped onto the table in front of the couch. It was very easy for him since he was so small. The little guy had grown in the past four years, but not too much. He had gotten taller and scruffier, but he could still barely hold onto the kitchen counter long enough to get on top of it. His horns had gotten longer, too, so when Eda held him, she had to avoid poking her eye out. That was probably the most annoying part of King being that size.

He set his paw-ful of beetles down on the table and straightened out everything else on there. Eda got closer and leaned down to make out what King was organizing. Laying beside him was a scroll opened to a Penstagram chat. Steve's name and picture was at the top of the page, so Eda could easily guess it was his messages with Raine. King had mentioned a list earlier. Laid out in front of him were the beetles and tape he recently acquired, two small containers of ink, and a tall thing of rainbow sprinkles.

"I'm guessing getting ready for the party is in order?" Eda said. "Steve has it all under control."

King didn't look up at Eda as he silently counted out the beetles he scooped out of the couch cushions. "Seems that way," he confirmed. "Steve isn't alone, though. Some of his old scout buddies are helping him. And, of course, yours truly now." He softly knocked his paw on his skull a couple times.

Eda giggled and played with King's neck fur. "And you're doing great, buddy."

Evidently content with himself, the little Titan rounded up his items, picked them up, and jumped off the table. Eda didn't know where he was off to now, but she decided not to question it. Just in case he scouted out any beetles from the deepest and darkest parts of the Vixen House again.

In the meantime, she decided to finally prepare to set off on her own adventure. Evelyn didn't give her old friend an exact time for the test, but Eda figured it was soon. She didn't want to keep her waiting. Since she had already gotten dressed and didn't need anything else for her trip, there was only one thing left to do.

Eda held two fingers up to her lips and blew. She whistled. At the sound of her rhythmic call, a small and swift owl flew into the room from the near corridor. It circled Eda's head a few times before perching on her shoulder and nuzzling up to her with a smile.

"Good to see you, too, Owlbert," Eda said to her Palisman. When she finished a small conversation with him about why they didn't talk earlier, she reached her hand out. Owlbert understood immediately and landed in staff form in her grip.

Eda went to open the Sparky-vacant front door when King spoke again. He was back on the couch now, a plastic bag in his paws with the items Steve asked for in it. "Where are you off to?" he wondered.

"Oh, just a little test project for Evelyn," Eda explained. "It's important."

King's large yellow eyes brightened at his mother's news. He set his bag down and sat on all fours, his fluffy tail wagging excitedly. "Did she finally finish the final device to remove sigils?" he pondered. "Raine and I talked about how she had to be done soon recently."

"Yeah, she's done," Eda admitted. Evelyn has obviously stated to keep the test private until after, but she was sure her friend wouldn't mind. It was just King. What rumors was he going to spread? "Just don't tell anyone, okay, buddy?"

King nodded and gestured zipping his mouth closed with his paw.

Eda smiled and made her way out the door. King called, "See you at the party!" as she closed it behind her.

Once Eda's velvet heels touched the red grass outside the Vixen House, she got on her staff. Owlbert flew her into the air immediately, but she decided to let him go slow at first. She wasn't much for slow flying, as she preferred to be wild and free, but she figured it was necessary for the beginning of her journey.

After slowly passing over a few houses that were either leaning over or eating each other, Eda decided that her "slow and soft era" was over. "Step on it, Owlbert," she said. Already, she could see White Industries from where she was floating, but when her speed picked up and she effortlessly soared over the Boiling Isles, she arrived at her destination immediately.

A younger Eda would have been at least a little scared of accidentally running right into the factory because of how fast she were flying. Now? She knew how to stop herself. She knew how to slow down. She knew how to control her landing. But most of all, she knew how to have fun.

When her feet touched the ground once more, Eda sighed and let Owlbert break free from his staff form. The little owl hooted happily and landed on her shoulder. She gave him a scratch on the chin before heading towards the entrance of the factory.

Waiting for her there, leaned against the wall in front of the door was a familiar face. With his messy, curly blue hair and tan skin, Eda recognized Cinco White immediately. He seemed bored leaning against the wall like that and checking his watch every once in a while. He was so distracted that he didn't notice Eda when she first walked up to him.

"Hey, Cinco," she said.

He jumped, but quickly regained his composure. Eda knew Cinco wasn't one to get scared, as he normally tried to act tough and pretend he wasn't afraid of anything. As he fixed his hair and adjusted his choker, Eda couldn't help but giggle. Who did he think he was fooling?

"Hi, Eda," Cinco greeted her casually. "My mom's on the top floor. Darius is with her already."

Eda blinked. "Oh. Cool." When she didn't move, Cinco looked up at her with an eyebrow raised. She quickly shook her head. "Okay, and what are you doing? Aren't you helping, too?"

"I will," he explained. "Mom just told me to greet everyone helping as they arrived. I complained too much about being bored, so she gave me something to do."

Eda laughed. "Classic Mom," she agreed. "My mother would do stuff like that all the time."

"Yeah." Cinco's gaze shifted from Eda to the door a couple times. "So... are you gonna go or not?"

"Oh, of course," Eda said, making her way to the door. "Don't worry, by the way. Moms can make you do cool things, too." And then she left Cinco behind in front of the door.

When Eda made it up to the top floor, she found Evelyn and Darius talking about something in the middle of the large room, a clipboard in Evelyn's hands. Eda searched around for Caleb when she couldn't find him, but he was no where to be found. Of course, she didn't think about it too much, but she was surprised. Caleb usually helped his wife with her projects.

As Eda got Owlbert to go into staff form again and set him by Darius and Evelyn's Palismen by the doorway, Evelyn looked up from her clipboard and trailed off from her conversation. She waited for Eda to finish putting Owlbert away before saying anything.

"Hey, Eda," Evelyn greeted her with a polite wave.

"Eda?" Darius followed Evelyn's gaze and relaxed when he noticed his former fellow Coven Head. "Oh, hey."

Eda waved as she walked up to her friends. "What are you guys doing?" she wondered.

"I was just telling Darius about how I made my newest invention," Evelyn told her. "Ya know, the one you're here to test."

"She's been going on about it for thirty minutes," Darius added. "I don't think I can take it any longer."

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "I really thought you wouldn't act like this for once."

"Yeah, but I've dealt with you and your crazy inventions ever since we were students at Hexside," Darius reminded her. "You weren't this obsessed about them back then, at least."

Eda giggled. "I don't know..." She softly shoved Darius into Evelyn. She laughed. "I'm pretty sure she's always been this obsessed. And with a project this big? No wonder she's so enthusiastic."

"See?" Evelyn smirked and leaned on Darius's shoulder. "Someone appreciates my hard work."

"Of course I appreciate it!"

"Then why are you so against me talking about it?"

"Because you talk too much about it!" Darius said. "Just tone it down a little bit."

Evelyn sighed. "Maybe I should've put you on 'greeting the guests' duty," she said. "Even Cinco would enjoy hearing about my invention."

"That boy doesn't enjoy anything except jokes and looking cool," Eda argued.

"Those things, too." Both women laughed together.

Darius sighed. "Lunatics..." he murmured.

For the next few minutes, Evelyn went on to Eda about all the previous tests she had gone through for her new way of removing coven sigils and how the test they were about to run would work while Darius greeted everyone coming in with Cinco. He told his friends that was what he would be doing since he didn't want to deal with more of Evelyn's obsession. Eda didn't mind. She actually loved hearing about how helpful she was going to be from her dear friend. They were about to fix the biggest growing problem of the Boiling Isles since the portal to the Human Realm, for Titan's sake! Eda was happier to help more than ever.

After the first few minutes, everyone filed in quickly. First came Jerbo, then Masha, then Viney, and so on. Eda was actually surprised how little adults were helping. She and Darius were the only ones, besides Evelyn. During her conversations with Ed and Em's friends as she waited for everyone to come, she realized that they were more intent on removing sigils than most adults. Despite being few of the only witches and demons to be without them, they were also heavily affected. Maybe even more than those with sigils.

"The Day of Unity took quite a toll on my family," one student said. "I was so scared I would lose them because of those stupid tattoos."

"Hexside could not have been more miserable," Viney explained. "Who do you think was strong enough to keep going? To keep fighting? Us! All because of sigils. I'm so glad to participate in getting rid of them."

Eda understood. If she was being honest, the main reason she wanted to help remove sigils forever was so she could practice wild magic again. For the long moments before Evelyn announced they were ready to start, Eda couldn't help staring at her wrist, softly feeling her sigil with her thumb. She remembered her days as a Hexside student; all the trouble she would get in with Raine. All they ever wanted to do was run around and practice every magic they weren't supposed to practice in the craziest ways possible. 

Ever since she joined the Bard Coven, she couldn't do that anymore. And she missed it so much. Eda just wanted to feel free again. To experience life the same way her younger self did. Even though it never would be exactly the same because of Raine losing all their magic, Eda couldn't wait for that dumb "tattoo" and music and red to disappear from her skin.

Then everything could finally be... normal. Well, as normal as it can be on the Boiling Isles.

"Alright, everyone!" Evelyn's voice boomed around the large room, forcing Eda to look up from her wrist. "It seems to me that we're ready to get this baby pumpin'! As for how we're gonna do that, don't worry; I'll tell you.

"Masha, Viney, Cinco; go over there," Evelyn ordered, pointing to a corner with a small pile of tubes clustered on the floor. "Pick up those tubes and connect them to each other. That's the only way this will work." Then she turned to another group of students. "Bo, Courtney, Garrett; you three go over there and connect those tubes. Each one is essential for this to work." The three students nodded and made their way to their corner.

"Eda, Darius, Jerbo, you're with me. In short, the others will hold and connect the tubes while we supervise everything. If anything goes wrong and tries to kill us, quickly shut everything down and escort everyone out," Evelyn explained. She turned to a tall young man in a lab coat. "Jerbo, you can take this." It was a clipboard. "I've already taken tons of notes, but I want you to jot down the final result and what I may need to work on or improve if it doesn't work. You're smart. Don't worry about writing down something wrong."

Jerbo smiled with excitement and took a pencil from behind his ear. "Thank you, Evelyn."

"Oh, don't say that," she told him. After letting out a short giggle to herself, Evelyn turned to Eda and Darius. "As for you two, you share the same job as me. Make sure nothing goes wrong, no one dies, and sigils are finally gone forever. You can also marvel at how brilliant I am if you want." She grinned.

Darius rolled his eyes, but Eda laughed. "I'll keep that in mind," she said.

Evelyn stepped forward—most likely to pick up her new invention. As she left her side, Eda's gaze followed her friend. And something in the middle of the room caught her attention.

"What about that kid?" she asked when Evelyn made it back, a huge, mechanical glove on her hand now. 

"Oh, he's my test subject," Evelyn explained. "He told me all about how he regretted joining the Illusionist Coven at Covention one year at such a young age. When I told him about this, he volunteered to be the test subject without me even asking him."

Eda's eyes shifted to the kid again. He was about average height, with messy brown hair and a nervous posture. He was clutching his wrist with his other hand tightly, so Eda figured he didn't want to look at it until his sigil was gone. She could understand that, staring at her own wrist once more. 

Evelyn turned to the kid and gestured with her hand for him to sit down. He obliged, resting himself in a chair in the middle of the room. At that, Evelyn tightened the glove on her hand and connected it to the nearest tube to her. She silently checked on the two groups of students in their corners. Both assured her they were ready. She nodded and put her signature goggles atop her head.

"Alright, everyone," Evelyn began, "get yourselves ready. Cinco, Masha, Viney, Courtney, Bo, Garrett, hold a tube. Each of you gets one tube." They nodded and each grabbed a tube, holding it securely in their hands. "Jerbo, take any notes you see fit to. Eda, Darius, keep your eyes on everyone. Make sure nothing goes wrong. If that's all settled—" She paused dramatically to pop her goggles over her eyes. "—then we're ready to rumble."

Evelyn walked up to the nervous kid in the chair, all eyes on her. Everyone had been anticipating this moment for so long, they couldn't help but focus their gazes on the woman of the hour. And, honestly, Eda thought her old friend enjoyed it. 

When she was right in front of the kid, he jumped and stared up at her. With a swift and polite hand movement from Evelyn, the kid relaxed his shoulders and moved his hand off his wrist. He only moved it further up his arm, but it still did its job well. When he moved his arm closer to Evelyn, she leaned forward, softly resting her massive glove on his sigiled wrist.

Anticipation filled the air. Suspense was rising. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Everyone just stood there, waiting for the best thing ever to grace the Boiling Isles in years to finally commence. Suddenly, a light flashed. Eda originally didn't know where it came from until she looked at the boy in the chair. He gasped, staring intently at Evelyn's glove. She could tell it had come from that.

The light was blue, and it shocked everyone. Even the room seemed shocked. The lights dimmed. The tubes began to glow. As the radiant blue light slowly radiated through every tube and shined on the faces of those around it, Viney closed her eyes. Eda couldn't tell if it was to protect them from the light or just for dramatic effect, but it didn't matter. Every other student holding a tube just followed her example, closing their eyes and standing still, tube in hand.

Darius stepped forward as the radiant light got closer to Evelyn and the boy in the chair. Eda wanted to smirk and rag on him about how he said he wasn't going to marvel, but she couldn't. She was too entranced by the beauty of the process herself. The mix of dimmed lights, radiant blue light illuminating everything in the room as it danced, and silence was a perfect way of enchantment. Eda was stuck staring, eyes wide, feet planted right where they were in the floor. Jerbo couldn't even write down any notes. It was that beautiful.

Finally, after so many long, beautiful moments, the light reached Evelyn's tube. It leaped all the way up to her glove, making the top of it shine brighter than any other light you've ever laid eyes on. The boy in the chair gasped and closed his eyes as the light covered the whole room. Everyone else did the same, other than Evelyn. When the light cleared, the room's lights were back to normal, and the radiant blue glow of the tubes was gone. Evelyn slowly moved her glove away from the kid's wrist. A tiny burst of dark blue smoke was gone when she originally moved it, but when it dispersed, the sigil was gone.

The whole room rejoiced. The boy in the chair was definitely the calmest, just smiling widely and looking up at Evelyn as she took her goggles off. "Thank you!" he said. 

Evelyn nodded. "It's what I do," she replied.

As for the rest of the room, it was a wave of excitement and congratulations. After her mini-conversation with the now sigil-free boy, Evelyn was sneak-attacked by her son. Cinco gave her a hug and squeezed her tight. She returned the favor and smiled. The other students who held tubes hugged each other, squealed, rambled, told off Eboni to themselves, and a whole bunch of other excited, happy gestures.

Not that they were the only ones either. Darius was beyond shocked and excited. He hadn't even smiled yet. He just grabbed Eda, shook her, and then stared right into her eyes. He seemed embarrassed when they made eye contact. She smirked.

"What happened to the calm, collected Darius who rolled his eyes at everything?" she teased him.

Darius shoved her playfully. "Oh, shut up," he said. Then the whole conversation changed drastically. "But, Eda, don't you know what this means?"

"Of course I—"

"We won't have our sigils anymore!" Eda frowned. Darius continued. "We'll be free! Eboni will finally be gone gone. Then maybe I can finally impress Alador so much with my new magic that he'll finally see how hard I work and how I..."

Eda wouldn't have listened anymore anyway, but she didn't have much of a choice. She heard a soft clang. It was the sound of someone knocking on a window. But they had to be a really small person. No one of normal size could knock on a window that softly.

When she turned around, Eda realized that it wasn't a person at all. A small fox stood on the windowsill, her fluffy tail flicking. She would recognize her anywhere.

"Scarlet!" Eda pressed her hand against the window and leaned in to speak to Raine's Palisman. "What are you doing here?"

Of course, Eda couldn't understand Scarlet's squeaks and purrs. She wasn't her Palisman. But she didn't need to. The small fox moved to the side and gestured with her tail to look at the ground below. Eda leaned closer to get a better look. Believe it or not, in front of White Industries stood Luz, Amity, Hunter, and Hale in his Phoenix form. They were waving. And Hale was waiting.

It was time.

Eda smiled and stared right at Scarlet. "Thank you, you little rascal." She would've opened the window and scratched her on the chin, but she didn't want to draw too much attention on herself. Scarlet didn't seem to mind. She just nodded and jumped off the windowsill. From what Eda could see, she used her magic paw steps to join Hale and Ed and Em's friends once more.

"Evelyn?" Every eye in the room turned to face Eda, expecting her next words sometime soon. She straightened herself, cleared her throat, and lifted her chin. "I think we have visitors."

Once outside, Eda walked up to Hale first. She knew that he had come to pick her up and take her to Boiling Isles University. Then she would see Raine again. She was so excited, she could barely speak.

"Took your sweet time, huh?"

Hale snorted. "And how long did it take you to get out here?" he countered.

"Don't blame me! Evelyn is the lady of the operation, not me!" Eda assured him.

Evelyn was not too far away with Cinco and Hunter. The brothers were horseplaying, but Eda could tell Cinco was enjoying it much more than Hunter was. Evelyn just laughed and smiled as she watched her sons toy with each other.

Eda was about to say something to Hale when she was interrupted by two heavily excited teen girls. "Did it work? Can I get my sigil removed?" Amity demanded.

"How did it go?" Luz added. "Will Evelyn let me use her invention? At least hold it? I want to hold it!"

"Okay, okay!" Eda said, getting the girls to listen to her. "Calm down. Yes, it did work. Evelyn said she'll be ready to announce it to the whole Isles tomorrow, then hold a massive event of removing sigils and getting together the following day."

Amity sighed with relief. "Thank the Titan," she said. She went to stare at her wrist. Eda was shocked to find no sigil. She just saw a small white symbol. It had cat ears and ended in the same way a certain cat's tail did. She also noticed that Luz had a matching one underneath her shirt sleeve.

"What's that?" Eda wondered. "Doesn't look like any sigil I've ever seen."

Amity giggled. "Oh, this isn't a sigil," she assured her. "It's a tattoo. It was Ed's idea. A way to remember Ghost. I have so many different ways by now, I can't even count."

"And we all have matching ones!" Luz added excitedly. She lifted her sleeve to show off her own Ghost tattoo. "As in Ed, Em, Hunter, Gus, Amity, and me."

"Wow," Eda said. She actually was much more moved by the sentiment than she let on. She didn't know much about Amity and her late Palisman, but she did know that it was hard to move on from loss. A tattoo to remember Ghost by was a great idea. "But what about your sigil? I thought you still had it."

"I do," Amity said. "It's just covered by the tattoo. I wasn't sure if Evelyn would ever succeed in her findings, so I had to take chances. But now that I know she did, I'm hoping she can still remove it. I may not be able to see it, but I know it's there. Everything would be so much easier without it..."

Luz swiftly hugged her girlfriend and kissed her on the cheek. "Evelyn will remove it," she told Amity. "It's the final step before your past life is gone forever. You're not the Emerald Guard anymore, Eboni's dead, covens don't exist, you have a new Palisman, a new family, an awesome girlfriend, great friends, and you're even on the Flyer Derby team! Now you just gotta get rid of that sigil!"

"Don't forget about carving Palismen and dying my hair," Amity reminded Luz.

She giggled. "Yeah, whatever."

Eda laughed as she listened to the girlfriends chat and joke. She remembered talking to Raine like that. It was a great feeling, especially at that age.

Hale softly nudged her. "Hey, you ready to go? Listening to them is fun, I know, but we can't keep Raine waiting. You might know that better than me."

"Yeah, maybe." Eda reached out her hand for Owlbert to turn into her staff. "Alright, I'm ready."

"I'll lead the way."

Hale sprang into the air, his giant gray-and-white wings leading him into flight. Eda sat on her staff and followed her brother-in-law. As she left, she waved farewell to her friends. They all knew where she was going. She had told them before coming outside.

I'm coming, Raine, she thought. We have a party to attend.

"DoN't GeT aLl LoVeY-eYeD aRoUnD yOuR wIfE, yOu HeAr?"

Raine groaned when they finished quoting the last thing Hale said to them before leaving their moms' house. Why did he have to be so cocky? Raine loved Eda—of course they did—but they would never get lovey-eyed around her or whatever. Well, there was that time when she tried to teach at the exchange program— Why was Raine thinking like this? Hale wasn't right! They shook their head to clear it.

The exchange program was close. Raine could see it from where they were currently flying. The huge, fat oak tree with branches that supported every different "classroom" was visible now. Raine couldn't help but smile. They hadn't even built the exchange program, which made them feel guilty every once in a while, but they were so proud of it they couldn't be mad at themself for long.

The Demon Realm/Human Realm Exchange Program had been a huge passion project of Raine's ever since the Boiling Isles began to get rebuilt. Hale and Eda were major helps—giving them ideas and making blueprints and plans with them—but they could only give the award of Most Passionate to Get the Project Completed to two specific people: Ed and Em.

Raine had to refrain themself from telling those crazy twins how much they loved them so many times during the construction of the exchange program. Ed and Em were so passionate about the project ever since Raine first told them about it. They got straight to work with the staffs, and Em had been the one to come up with the oak tree idea.

The exchange program was built right behind Boiling Isles University, their backs touching. Em had come up with that idea, too. "I really want to see the outcome of my brilliant ideas every day," she told Raine. "I know for a fact that Ed and I are gonna be attending the University during college, so where else is a good spot?" Raine couldn't agree more. Ed, Em, and their friends would always visit in between classes, and they were always welcome. Of course, today they had a full schedule, but Raine would definitely miss them until the party.

They had gotten so used to having those kids around, it was crazy. Raine didn't care that they didn't live in the Vixen House with them anymore. They visited every day at least once, showing off their report cards, school projects, crazy ideas, and new spells they learned with their staffs. Once, Edric had shown up being able to speak the words of a whole page of a book he was reading in school from memory! Raine had clapped so hard for him for that. He was learning how to get over his dyslexia by the day, and they couldn’t be prouder. Raine would never be able to get over that the twins were taller than them now, though. Both of them! Why were they so short?

Ignoring the fact that Raine was shorter than two young adults more than 20 years younger than them, they often thought of how much both Ed and Em had grown in the past four years. Heck, even ever since they first met. Not only was Edric learning how to deal with his dyslexia and ADHD, but he was also slowly overcoming his fear of failure. He often feared that he wouldn't be able to learn how to cast spells with his staff years ago. Now, he could do it without issue and used it to help Raine with the construction of the exchange program.

And then there was Em. That girl's favorite activity of the past four years had to have been showing off her good grades to Raine. She flexed over a plethora of A essays, straight-A report cards, and even her writing degree. Raine was so proud of her. Even better, Emira was finally learning how to cope with imperfection and messiness. Edric was definitely the most helpful with that, and Raine was honestly a bit surprised.

In short, those twins have come a long way, and Raine had been there every step of the way. And now they were going to give them a 20th birthday they would never forget.

But first, check up on the exchange program.

When Raine was just about in front of the exchange program, they landed and went back to their normal form. Of course, they could've landed in a classroom since they were easily accessible, but there was no need. For one, the ground was much easier for them, and two, there was a pleasant surprise waiting for them there.

"Raine, hey!" Vee greeted them with an excited wave of her hand as their wings disappeared. Gus was beside her.

"When did you two show up?" they wondered.

Gus shrugged. "Oh, a few minutes ago," he said. "Kinda surprised that you weren't here yet, though. I assumed you would be worried sick about us or something."

"Same!" Vee agreed. "No offense, Raine, but you probably know it's true."

Raine rolled their eyes. Hale had bothered them enough for one day. "Is the Looking Glass Graveyard Guardian here, too?" they asked. "You two aren't my only teachers, you know."

"We know," Gus said. "Anyway, he's already in his classroom teaching some kindergarteners. You can't hear him?"

Raine raised a curious eyebrow and looked up. Believe it or not, the old guardian of the Looking Glass Graveyard was in his Illusionist Magic classroom as he usually was and showed off some tricks to kids. They were all very short and sweet, even exploding into blue smoke from time to time.

"No, I guess I didn't," Raine replied to Gus. 

Vee looked like she was about to launch into the sky, she was jumping up and down so much. "Can we go to our classrooms, now?" she eagerly asked Raine. "I have an excellent lesson planned for the kiddies today."

"Sure." Raine giggled. "How about you, Gus? Do you have a lesson planned?"

"Of course I do. An illusionist is never without a plan." He pulled out a sack and reached his hand ominously into it. "And neither is an ambassador to the Human Realm." Raine watched as he went up to his classroom.

Even though Raine's plan always was to check up on their teachers and see how they were doing, they quickly realized that couldn't be the only thing they did while waiting for Eda and Hale. So, they slightly altered their original plan. They would check up on their teachers first, then head up to their office on the highest branch and see if they had anything to work on up there. Of course, busy work wasn't their favorite thing in the world, but as the headmaster of a school/exchange program, it was just something you had to deal with.

Raine headed to Vee's classroom first. The guardian's was the closest to the ground, but they figured they already checked up on him enough while talking to Gus and Vee. And out of those two, Vee's was closest.

After taking the plant magic and construction magic operated elevator (another great Em idea) to get to Vee's classroom, Raine leaned against the bark in the corner, just spectating as she taught. About five or six kindergarteners were watching Vee with wide, awed eyes. She seemed so delighted to teach them about the ways of "wild magic," Raine couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, guys," Vee was saying as Raine leaned against the bark. "You remember our lesson from yesterday, right? Who can summarize it for me?"

Every student raised their hand. Raine smiled wider. Engagement was always high in their classes, but it still made them happier than so many other things. Vee picked a brownish demon in the front with a long nose and wide eyes.

"Uh..." It paused with a sniff before finally answering Vee's question. "You told us how Eboni made, uh, this thing called the 'coven system,' which, uh, restricted magic and forced several witches to—"

"And there were so many witches and demons against it!" a girl with a squeaky voice and small blond pigtails nudged in, interrupting the brownish creature. "That was my favorite part. And those who were against it were called 'wild witches,' practicing more than one kind of magic when they weren't supposed to."

"Very good!" Vee clapped her hands together. "Before we get into our new lesson, riddle me this. Who was the most famous wild witch?"

"Raine Whispers!"

Every kid in front of Vee screamed Raine's name at the top of their lungs and pointed right at them in the corner. They almost fell over and blushed uncontrollably. Especially when Vee turned to face them and gasped.

"Um... y-yes, guys!" Vee said, somehow fine with the fact that Raine had been in the room without her knowing. "That's correct! Raine Whispers was—and still kinda is—the most famous wild witch. They were a known criminal for a long time and hid from the Empress's Coven in their house, the Vixen House. Have you heard that name before?"

As the kids nodded and said any variation of yes they could think of, Raine decided that they had been embarrassed enough for one day... again. They went back into the elevator and made their way to Gus's classroom with a little bit of blush still prominent on their face. They hadn't even seen Eda yet! Oh, what was wrong with them?

Gus had already started his lesson when Raine got there. That wasn't unusual, as he was a very hands-on teacher and didn't like to wait around to begin his lessons. Since they didn't want to get overly embarrassed again, Raine stayed in the elevator so they could make a quick escape to their office if needed.

"Human Realm artifacts are many and plenty," Gus was saying. He was holding his sack from earlier and showed it to the five or so kids sitting in front of him dramatically. "At Hexside, I used to be the president of the Human Appreciation Society. So, human stuff is a bit of my thing."

A kid in the back with curly green fur raised their hand. Gus called on them. "Don't you have human friends, too?" they asked.

"Yeah, I do!" Gus replied. "Ed and Em are probably the most famous humans ever, and they taught me more about the Human Realm than I ever could learn through research."

The kids made several noises that ranged from awes to wows. Raine smiled. Ed and Em were getting the recognition they deserve even when they weren't present.

"Anyway," Gus said, changing the subject, "who wants to see my favorite Human Realm artifact to date?"

Every kid got to their feet and excitedly tried to reach for Gus's sack. He laughed and waved at them to sit down. 

"Sit down, sit down," he urged. Gus quickly went back to dramatically holding his sack. "Ever since I first became president of the HAS, this artifact has intrigued me and urged me to study it. And that artifact is..." Gus gasped and pulled out a small, red paperclip. "The Pay-per-clorp!"

The kids stared with wide eyes and gasps as Gus leaned down and let them each look at and feel the paperclip one at a time. 

"Okay, I lied," Gus admitted. "It's actually called the paperclip. However, I thought it was the Pay-per-clorp ever since this one washed up at my dad's house. Pretty cool, huh?"

The kids nodded, never looking away from the tiny device of holding papers together. Raine smiled wider and decided they had seen enough. Gus's lesson was obviously doing great. They didn't have to oversee it any longer. They pressed a few mossy buttons and made their way to their office.

Raine actually didn't have much paperwork when they sat down at their desk. All they had to do was look at some drawings and letters kids had sent them—their favorite kind of paperwork. Students enjoyed their lessons so much; learning about both the Human and Demon Realms equally. A teacher could make their lesson fun and memorable by starting it with a review like Vee, or add little activities into it like Gus.

But Raine's favorite type of lesson had to be all of them. They couldn't pick just one! The kids always enjoyed them by the day and learned so much, they had to make Raine a thank you gift. The one they were currently looking at was of them hugging about ten kids that told them excitedly about what they learned that day.

By the time Raine was done, they had a pile of drawings and letters on one side of their desk with very little busy work on the other side. They were just about ready to pass out at the thought of doing any actual work now. Where were Eda and Hale? What was taking them so long? Raine didn't think they would find out for a while yet. 

But then...

Raine!

That wasn't just anyone calling their name. Raine instantly sat up and looked around their office. "Scarlet?" they called. "Where are you?"

Over here! Scarlet replied.

That didn't help Raine very much, as they still couldn't find her. "Okay, but where?"

Behind the door!

Raine sighed as they stared at the closed door leading to the outside world. "And what are you doing out there?" they wondered. "Are Eda and Hale here?"

Yeah! Scarlet said. They're waiting in front of the exchange program. So, could you, like, get out here? I wanna do the staff spin!

"You sure you can handle the staff spin?" Raine urged. "You usually get a little dizzy afterwards."

Just shut up and get out here! Staff spin!

Raine laughed. "Okay, then."

They got up out of their seat and swiftly opened the door. Raine already sensed where Scarlet was, so they quickly grabbed their staff in the air as she transformed, spun it around a few times in the air, then landed it, a wide smile on their face, and their new hooked hand on their hip. Yet again, that had been Em's idea.

Just as Scarlet promised, Eda and Hale were waiting on the ground. Eda was holding her staff at her side and waved up at Raine. She was smirking, and her face said something like, You ready for an adventure? Raine nodded to their own question and made their way to the elevator again. 

When they got to the ground and joined their family, Hale immediately bashed his big paw against Raine's back (he was in Phoenix form still) and knocked the wind out of them. He laughed as if nothing happened. Luckily, Eda caught them and Raine's face got hot. Why did she have to look so pretty all the time?

"Took you long enough," Eda told them. "Did you get distracted by the kiddies?"

Raine laughed as they stood up straight. Not that they would complain being in Eda's arms for a little longer. "Maybe just a little bit."

Eda laughed with them, but Hale interrupted them. "I don't mean to be that guy," he said, "but we should get going. I was just telling Eda that Steve texted me and said they needed help prepping the party. It's getting later by the minute."

"Alright, then." Raine transformed into their Phoenix form. They inched further away from Eda when they realized the flames on their wings were getting a bit too close to her face. "Ready for an adventure?"

"Always." Eda sat on her staff.

"Adventure is a bit of a stretch," Hale was saying. "We're only going to the Vixen House—"

Raine and Eda already took off since they didn't want to listen to his matter-of-fact nature longer than they had to. Hale hastily flapped his fiery wings and followed them through the air.

Raine loved moments like this. They were flying through the hair, wind in their hair, feeling free, and Eda was beside them. Anything was better with her there. Raine still didn't understand how they'd survived so many years without her by their side. Life was strange like that.

Let life be strange, Raine told themself. I have better plans.

Chapter Text

"Lookin' good, everyone! This party is already looking great!"

King couldn't help pacing. Not out of unrest, but out of excitement. The preparations for Ed and Em's birthday were already almost done, and he was in charge of it! He just knew that his big brother and sister were going to love it. Raine kept telling him that anyway.

Out of his immense excitement and joy, King's tail was flapping around mindlessly. It only did that when he was really happy. Usually when he was getting belly scratches or compliments about his looks. But he wasn't happy about either of those things. He was happy because he was planning a birthday party for two of his favorite people and it was almost time.

"It's looking great, bud."

King jumped. He hadn't expected to hear anyone from behind him. Most of those helping were in his field of view. He had noticed Luz, Amity, Gus, and Hunter arriving not too long before, but the voice behind him didn't sound like any of them. Besides, all four of them were in King's field of view, too.

When King finally turned around, he gasped. Not out of irritation or shock, but of glee. "Raine!" King jumped right into their arms so hard, he was sure they almost fell over. However, Raine was able to keep their balance, just spinning around in order to do so.

"Where have you been?" King demanded. His tail wagged harder. "The cake was getting cold."

Raine chuckled. "I'm sure it was." They glanced in the direction of Steve and the cake with a wink before turning to King again. "In any case, I had to pick up Eda and Hale."

"Hey," Hale said casually, popping out of the shadows.

Eda just waved, appearing at Raine's other side. King wagged his tail probably faster than the speed of light at the sight of his mother.

"But before that," Raine continued, "I was checking in with Vee and Gus at the exchange program. And before that—"

"Rainestorm, do you really think King cares about all that?" Eda interrupted her partner, motioning to their bright-eyed son. "I'm pretty sure he still has a party to plan."

Raine blushed and laughed nervously. "Yeah, right." They put King back down on the ground and crouched down a little to be closer to his level. "What else is there to do, buddy?"

King searched around the party's current festivities. Steve and some of his old scout buddies were decorating the cake, Camila and the fairies were finishing off Ed and Em's birthday outfits, the Flyer Derby team was discussing their routine, everyone else present was finishing putting up decorations... To King, everything seemed to be going to plan.

"Uh... nothing, I don't think," King summarized. Raine seemed confused, raising an eyebrow. "I guess someone could go over the checklist again, but—"

"Checklist?!"

King zipped around to face the speaker. Unsurprisingly, it was Hale. His uncle always got overly excited about plans and checklists and rules. King couldn't even begin to tell you why. He was just... like that.

And he wasn't the only one to stare right at him either. Eda and Raine did the same. Since so many pairs of eyes were staring at him, Hale nervously chuckled and blushed. 

"Sorry," he said nervously. He scratched the back of his head. "Did you say 'checklist,' King?"

"Very smooth, brother," Raine murmured. Hale just grumbled.

King shrugged and turned back to everyone that was helping set up. "Yup," he replied calmly. "Alador gave us a checklist of things to make this party perfect. This was his and Raine's idea, after all." Raine slightly blushed at the comment. "All we really have left to do is go over the checklist again."

"I can do it!" Hale raised his hand expectantly.

King giggled and jumped up and down just as expectantly. Easily understanding, Hale picked him up and held him securely in his arms. Even after four years of growing and evolving, King still felt just like a baby Titan who loved belly scratches and praise more than anything.

Raine chuckled. Eda made her way over to them and curled her arm around their waist. "Well, I guess we'll leave you two to it," they said. "Eda and I are gonna check up on some of our peeps here."

"Sounds good," Hale responded.

King watched as his parents walked away, over to the Flyer Derby team. Raine waved to him while Eda blew a kiss. King smiled, even though it wasn't quite noticeable because of his skull. Then he looked up at Hale.

"Alright, where's this checklist at?" he wondered.

King pointed to Steve, who was talking to Camila in the distance. Hale nodded and began to step forward. 

Steve noticed them right away. The ex-Coven scout trailed off from whatever he was doing and looked over at them. A smile slowly crept onto his lips. 

"Hale!" he called, happily waving at his friend.

Camila looked over her shoulder with a "Hm?" At the sight of Hale and King, she smiled and waved. "Hello, Hale. And King." She cooed him and played with his paws. King giggled playfully.

"Hey, guys." Hale set King down on the long table before continuing with the conversation. His eyes wandered to the cake. It looked amazing. "How is everything coming along?"

"Great!" Steve announced. He made his way over to the cake. "I'd say this baby is one of my best works. Alador gave me the recipe and everything."

Camila nodded. "He said it was one of Ed and Em's favorites at their birthday parties in the Human Realm," she added. "Luz has already told me so many times that she can't wait to dig in."

"That's good to hear," Hale replied. "How about everything else? Decorations? The outfits? The big surprise when they come through the portal?"

"All good!" Steve assured him. "Camila and the fairies outdid themselves with the suit and dress."

Camila waved her hand in denial. "Oh, Steve, stop. They're not that great," she insisted.

"Sure, they are! I'm sure Ed and Em will love them."

"Same here," Hale agreed. "I haven't even seen them and I know Steve's right."

"As for everything else," Steve added, "everyone else seems to have it under control. Luz, Gus, Amity, Willow, and Viney are discussing their Flyer Derby routine, Darius and Eber are making sure every decoration is perfect, and Vee, Cinco, and Masha are working on the music."

Hale nodded along as his friend spoke. "Man, King must've really planned this whole thing out." When he didn't answer, he added, "I'm certain Ed and Em will love it."

"Agreed," Steve said.

Camila just nodded with a hum.

As for King, he wasn't really paying attention anymore. He had many things to worry about. Not even just planning, the party itself, or how Ed and Em will react. Besides, he wasn't exactly worried about any of those things. What he was worried about were all the surprises he had for them.

Of course, the party in itself was a huge surprise, but there were other, smaller things that were much more than that. Small things that King really cared about. Small things that he knew Ed and Em really cared about. But still. It was pretty scary, thinking about their reactions.

There was only way he knew of getting his thoughts out.

King walked over to the edge of the long clothed table he was standing on and jumped off. He made sure to hold onto the edge with his front paws before jumping onto the grass just like Raine had taught him to. Once his paws touched the ground, he made his way to the sunset. To the night sky. To the stars.

To where his best friend was.

King grunted as he sat down. His paws dangled off the edge of the tall cliff the Vixen House overlooked. The Boiling Sea howled below him, but he wasn't paying attention. He just sighed and stared up at the sky full of stars. It was beautiful. The stars twinkled and danced in his vision, which King smiled to. That was what always told him they were listening.

"H-Hey, Collector," King nervously began. He realized pretty quickly that he hadn't planned this conversation out. He usually did when staring up at the stars and talking to Collector. But then he remembered that it didn't matter. He was trying to get his thoughts out. It was almost time for Ed and Em to show up. He had to hurry.

The stars slightly twinkled again. That was a good sign. That usually meant Collector was patiently waiting for King to continue. He was a great friend like that. A chaotic, playful friend, too, but a great friend nonetheless.

"It's Ed and Em's birthday, in case you forgot," King continued. "I have everything planned out, and everyone keeps telling me they'll love it, but I still feel... off. You haven't forgotten our plans? You remember what to do?"

The stars twinkled in the same way Collector would always giggle.

King giggled right back. "Good," he replied. "It's not just that I'm worried about, either, though. I'm really worried about this..." He got up on his paws and crouched down. He drew in the sand with his claw, a small circle with a symbol that looked like a Titan in the middle visible now. When King tapped it, a very small ball of light slowly ascended in the air. It was about the size of a dust particle. All you could see was the smallest sign of light at all.

"A light glyph," King said, holding one paw still under the light. "I made one, Collector." The stars didn't move. "I was gonna surprise Ed and Em with it, but... it's so small. You can barely even see it. My dad's were a lot more powerful. Why would I even try showing them this? It would never replace the old one."

King closed his eyes in defeat. For a moment, he thought his conversation with Collector was over. But then, a feeling as soft as snow touched his nose. A feeling so soft you would think you imagined it. King blinked out of surprise and looked up. The stars did nothing but twinkle, but he could feel Collector's presence. He had touched his nose. Gotten his attention. And King was ready to listen.

The stars twinkled again. But they were in a sort of pattern. They didn't just represent giggles anymore. They were a code. A code for words. King had heard about something called Morse code from Ed and Em a while back, and he had invented something similar between him and Collector in the past four years. It was really their only way of communicating after they returned to the stars.

"Make it... bigger?" King managed to make out. "I should make the glyph bigger? But how would that help?" The stars twinkled. "My powers aren't that strong yet... Wait! That's why my light glyphs are really small?"

The stars twinkled in a way that seemed like nodding. King rolled his eyes and snorted. "Oh, Collector, you rascal!" He laughed a bit more, but eventually he calmed down and stared at the ground. He shifted his paw in the grass as he smiled. "And... thanks, Collector. I couldn't have done any of this without you."

They were pretty subtle with their next answer. A giant thumbs-up made of bright stars appeared in the sky. King smiled wider as it disappeared. Good to know Collector was still their old silly and fun self. 

"King!"

King turned around with a jolt at the sound of Raine's voice. The portal was glowing. Ed and Em were on their way.

He gasped and ran forward, pushing everyone backward and into their places. He made sure everything was perfect before turning to the portal. His tail was wagging excitedly.

And then the doorknob twisted.

"Ed! Hurry up!"

Edric sighed and rolled his eyes as he washed his hands. Em always had to act so dramatic. All he was doing was going to the bathroom, and it's not like there was a deadline for getting to their own birthday party. Even so, his sister just had to yell at him.

When his hands were finally clean, Edric shut the water off, dried them with a towel, and ran his fingers through his hair one more time. He had to make sure it looked good. Besides, his birthday was one of those days when he wanted to look his best. Especially in front of Hunter. Then his green streaks will look perfect for present-opening pictures. 

When he was finally happy with his appearance, Edric took a deep breath and stared right into his reflection's eyes. "Ready for this party, Ed?" he asked himself. "Of course you are. Just go out there and see your favorite people."

"Ed!"

He groaned. "Coming, Em!"

When Edric jumped over the last few stairs, he saw Em, X, Zee, and Alador in the kitchen waiting for him. He didn't sigh or groan at the sight of any of them, but Em was tapping her foot relentlessly. He managed to restrain himself.

"Took you long enough," she said.

Before Edric could reply, Alador rested a hand on his shoulder. "How about we leave the cliché sibling bickering for after we get to the party?" he suggested.

X and Zee giggled and snorted. Emira stuck her tongue out. Edric stuck his out right back. Despite being 20 now, their teenage sibling instincts would never leave them.

Alador sighed and made his way to the door. "Just come on," he said with the wave of his hand. "They're probably waiting."

The five of them headed to the side house in a bit of a hurry. X and Zee were giggling the whole time while Ed and Em were silent yet obviously excited. It was finally party time. They just had to open that door one more time.

Alador did the honors. He slowly reached forward, grabbed the handle, twisted it, and pulled the door back. Bright, twirling lights greeted them. Collector's voice boomed from what seemed like all directions. "Welcome to the Boiling Isles! Watch your step!"

"Are you four ready?" Alador asked.

No one directly answered him. X and Zee just grabbed each other's hand and ran right up to the portal. "Hurry, hurry!" X said with the wave of his hand before dragging Zee in with him.

"What's the rush, guys?" Edric wondered with a smirk, walking up to the portal. "No one's gonna care if we're a little late."

Emira walked up to him and put a hand on her hip. "I would."

"And when did I ask you?"

Suddenly, Edric felt something grab his hand. He winced, Emira doing the same beside him. "Oh, hush, you two," Alador said. He had grabbed both of their hands, now leading them through the portal. "Besides, today is special. Now, cover your eyes before you ruin the surprise."

"Okay, okay..." Edric said, resting his hand over his eyes. Emira just sighed in annoyance as she followed suit.

When Edric's feet rested on grass again, he knew he was in the Demon Realm. He was back again. Right back where this whole crazy journey started. But it was different this time. There was some sort of surprise waiting for him and he still wasn't sure what it was.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now," Alador finally said.

Edric wasn't exactly sure what he thought he would see. Emira must have been a lot faster than him at opening her eyes because before he had even moved, she softly gasped and took a couple steps. He had to see what was awaiting him now. He slowly put his hand down and gasped.

"Surprise!" 

So many voices said that simple word all at the same time. King was at the very front of the huge crowd, arms high and his tail wagging excitedly. There were so many people, Edric didn't even want to try and count them all. But what really caught his attention had to be the Flyer Derby team. They performed a fun routine in the air before forming a sort of triangle. Fireworks flashed the words "Happy Birthday!" behind them when they were finished.

Everyone was cheering, clapping, or laughing. Nothing had really even happened yet! Edric was speechless. Everyone went out of their ways to do this for them? Wow. His other birthdays of the past few years were awesome, but this? This was a whole new level. 

The Flyer Derby team got down to the ground pretty quick after their little routine. Luz and Gus had joined Hunter and Amity by everyone else in about a minute. Luz and Amity giggled and hugged. Hunter gave Gus a high-five, then turned to Edric. They barely even made eye contact before he ran up to him.

Normally, Edric would've smiled just as widely as his boyfriend as he ran up to him, but he just couldn't bring himself to. Not because he wasn't happy to see him or anything. Of course not. He was just too speechless. Practically the whole population of the Isles had set up and planned this sick surprise party for them. His handsome and smiling boyfriend was just about the last thing on his mind at the moment.

Hunter threw himself right into Edric, but he still managed not to react. He was just too distracted. His boyfriend didn't seem to mind, though. He just tightened their hug, straightened himself, and gave him a hearty kiss on the cheek. Despite how shocked and distracted he was, Edric did wrap his arms around Hunter to complete the hug. He couldn't leave him hanging completely.

"What is this?" Edric asked like an idiot. It was a genuine question, but he knew everything he asked made him sound like an idiot. It just came naturally. 

He looked to Hunter for answers, but he just smiled wider.

Emira took a few steps forward, standing beside Edric and Hunter. "Is this supposed to be some big surprise we don’t think we deserve?" she asked.

"You bet it is!"

From the shadows of wherever the rest of the Flyer Derby team had gone into hiding, Viney appeared. She was smirking, and once she straightened herself, she rested a hand on her hip. She looked so much like Emira, Edric wanted to roll his eyes in annoyance.

Emira's mood instantly skyrocketed into a mix of excitement and joy. She always got like that at the sight of her girlfriend. To think she had gotten crushes on so many boys during middle and high school. It was crazy. "Vines!"

"Em!"

Emira jumped right into Viney's arms, forcing her to spin around in order to keep her balance. They briefly kissed, but, honestly, Edric didn't want to watch. He knew he definitely acted the exact same way with Hunter, but watching others act that way was just weird. At least, to him.

"That still doesn't really answer my question," Edric pointed out. Hunter repositioned himself so that he was standing beside him, one arm over his shoulders. "What is this?"

"Well, we wanted to make it up to you." Hunter took his arm off his boyfriend and joined Luz, Gus, and Amity not too far away. They had stepped forward to join them. 

"After doing some research, I learned that Spanish cultures have this thing called a 'King-ceañera' on birthdays," Luz added. She smiled up to Amity brightly.

She just giggled in response. "So, we decided to surprise you with one," Amity explained. "It was truly Alador's idea."

Gus butted in, "And during our research, we found out it was a lot less haunting than our birthdays." He nervously laughed.

"Damn," Emira said, now held in Viney's arms casually. Edric had to shake his head and rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. When did that happen? "You guys actually did all this? Just for us? We can't even drink yet!"

Viney shrugged. "We did," she replied. "It was tough and took tons of time and planning, but I think we handled it. Didn't we, Hale?"

"Certainly!" Hale was rummaging through a long scroll of paper on a dining table. He eventually picked it up and showed it off. "I made sure we followed Alador's instructions perfectly! He gave us the total rundown of how to do this right. Didn't you, Alador?"

"I did," Edric's dad confirmed. "How did everything turn out? I assume you went through everything at least three times before we arrived?"

Hale skimmed through the scroll one more time. "Five times, actually," he corrected. "It's just how I roll. As for how everything turned out..."

Hale slowly turned to face Steve with a smirk, who was standing not too far away behind a long picnic table. He seemed confused for a moment before gasping and rushing over to a huge cake. Ed and Em both stepped closer to get a closer look. Alador just observed from a distance.

"Camila helped me bake this," Steve explained. He stared at the cake as if it were his child. "Alador gave us a standard recipe from some of your birthday parties of the past that we added our own spin to."

Steve cut a small piece off the cake and picked it up. He stared with everyone watching with a wide smile as a whole armada of bugs crawled out of the cake and all over his arm and face. He was completely unfazed.

"Cool!" Emira said.

Edric stuck his finger into the icing and took a taste. He hummed with satisfaction once he swallowed. "This is actually pretty good," he concluded. "Minus the bugs."

Camila sighed. "You humans..."

"I think you did amazing, Mama," Luz said, appearing right next to her mom. She hugged her arm. "Aren't you gonna show them the outfits? They look even better!"

Camila laughed and stroked her daughter's hair. "Aren't you the one who begged me to have first bite of the cake?"

"I'm pretty sure Ed stole that title..." Emira muttered. Edric narrowed his eyes at her.

Luz just stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry. "Whatever," she said, letting go of Camila. "Just show them the outfits!"

"Oh, alright. Alright."

Camila made a spell circle, getting the attention of a few nearby fairies with sharp teeth and a weird taste for human (or witch) skin. Edric would know. He had some experience. When they realized Camila was giving them a command, they flapped their wings and carried two big pieces of fabric over to her. 

The first fabric was a dress. It was very long and made out of many obviously stitched-together squares that were several different shades of purple. The trim seemed to be as white as bones. Hmm... The fabric held beside it was a matching suit. It was also made of stitched-together purple squares. The only big difference was one final touch.

The Echo Mouse from the Boiling Isles Library crawled up the suit and quickly stitched what seemed to be a bow made of fingers onto the front. When it was done, it turned with a smile and gave a thumbs-up. Edric replied with a nervous thumbs-up right back.

"And everything else should also be perfect," Hale finished saying to Alador. "What are your thoughts?"

Alador's thoughts seemed to be a mix of This is disgusting; seek help and If only I could be anywhere else but here... Instead of saying either of those things, though, he just turned to face the crowd, nervously smiled, and gave a thumbs-up. Like father, like son. 

"Great work, everyone..." he nervously replied.

Emira nervously glanced between the outfits and Hale for a moment. "Should we change now, or..."

"Not yet!"

From the complete other side of the festivities, King squirmed out of Raine's arms and ran up to Ed and Em. He jumped into Edric's grasp since he was the closest. Emira didn't seem to mind.

"You can't do anything yet!" King insisted. "I have some surprises for you first!"

Edric shared a glance with Emira, then looked at Raine. They were beside them now, too. "Surprises?"

Raine nodded. "You'll love them, don't worry," they assured them.

Edric still wasn't too convinced. King's surprises usually ended in someone crying. And not out of joy... But, he still loved the little guy, so he gave him a chance.

King jumped out of his arms and onto the ground. He crouched once there and started drawing something on the ground with his claw. It wasn't small, either. He began by drawing a big circle, then some sort of symbol in the middle.

It reminded Edric of something...

The symbol resembled a Titan. When King looked over his shoulder with a smile, Edric smiled back. He assumed Emira did, too. Then, King turned back around and tapped his drawing with his two front paws. It glowed bright yellow before disappearing.

And then a small ball of light began to slowly float into the air from where it was.

Ed and Em gasped in awe, Edric holding the light in his hands. It was a light glyph. A real light glyph.

"But... how is this possible?" Edric wondered. "I thought glyphs stopped working after the Titan passed on."

"They did," Raine agreed. "The Titan's glyphs, that is. King has some of his own, being a Titan and all. And he hasn't passed on, has he?"

Emira gasped again. "Ed, do you see what this means?"

"Of course!"

The twins held hands and squealed in unison. Just as they used to when they were kids. It was a great feeling. Especially since something this life-changing happened. 

Glyphs were back. Edric could use one of the most special parts of his life again. This was the best birthday gift he had ever received.

"King, this is amazing!" he said, turning to the little guy again. "When did you discover this?"

King shrugged. "Oh, about a week ago," he replied. "But since it was so close to your birthday, I knew I had to wait."

"Looks like you two have a new glyph language to try out, huh?" Raine added with a smirk.

"Yes!" Emira exclaimed.

"Oh, my god!" Edric agreed. "Yes!!!"

Raine giggled as King jumped up and down out of excitement. They must've been happy to know that the twins loved the surprise.

Mid-jump, King must've realized something. He gasped, interrupting everyone else's excitement, too.

"Oh! And one more thing!" he said, running through the crowd to get to the edge of the nearby cliff.

Edric was confused at first, but then Hunter appeared at his side again. He wrapped his arms around his. "Come on," he said. "You'll love this."

Edric chuckled. "If it's anything like the last surprise, I better."

"Come on, slowpokes." Emira smacked her brother on the arm, her fingers interlocked with Viney's. "Are you always this slow?"

As they walked away, Edric stuck his tongue out and moved closer to Hunter. His boyfriend laughed. He smiled back. Then, they followed the girls.

When King reached the edge of the cliff, he looked over his shoulder at the surrounding crowd of everyone watching him. "The Collector was in the area and, well, he wanted to do something special for the occasion," he explained. "Look!"

As if on cue, a shooting star flew across the sky, glowing blue. As it flew, several stars like fireworks blew up around it, spreading colors all across the sky. When Edric looked around, everyone's faces were exploding with color.

It was beautiful.

With a sigh, Hunter rested his head on Edric's shoulder. He closed his eyes for a short moment before staring up at his boyfriend.

"Happy birthday," Hunter said, basically whispering.

Edric smiled. "You do have some presents for me later, don't you?"

Hunter sighed. Out of annoyance, this time. "You and your presents!" Then he smiled again. "Of course I do. But I won't give them to you if you're gonna act like that."

"Aw," Edric said. "Fair."

Then Hunter closed his eyes again and relaxed. Edric rested his head on his as he watched Collector's display shine with color and beauty. It was just what he needed.

Everyone had their own way of admiring the show. In the distance, Amity tried to be subtle about watching it with Luz. She tried to slowly rest her arm over her shoulders, but her girlfriend noticed pretty quickly. In retaliation, Luz wrapped her hand around Amity's waist and pulled her close. A bit too quickly. The purple-haired girl looked like all the wind was taken out of her. Luz didn't notice. She just watched the sky with a smile.

Gus, with no significant other by his side, stared in awe at the show, a hand hanging over his eyes. He seemed completely distracted because of it. Not for long, though. Suddenly, Mattholomule shoved his way through the crowd and jumped onto Gus's back. He didn't seem fazed, though, so he just forced his boyfriend's feet to the ground and ruffled his hair playfully. Matt didn't seem pleased. At least, Edric didn't think he was. Gus certainly was, though, smirking triumphantly.

Raine was trying their very best to stare at the beautiful sights without interruption, but they were... distracted. Eda decided to be a bit... playful, so she smirked, winked, and stared right at her partner. They couldn't ignore it, so Raine had to look right at her. They blushed, then managed to calm down and just smile. Edric had to smile, too. He loved his mentor so much.

Emira and Viney were probably the normalest out of everyone. They just held hands, made comments to each other about the beautiful show, and laughed every once in a while. Edric couldn't believe it.

But then he made eye contact with his sister and he knew what he had to do. Raine and King were right there. They did all this for them and more. It was the perfect time to say what they had been holding in all day.

"Raine, King..." Emira began.

"Thank you," Edric said, turning to them. "For everything."

Emira crossed her arms. "I was gonna say that!" she complained.

"Shoulda been faster," Edric argued with a smirk.

Before Emira could reply, Raine put a hand and a hook on the twins' shoulders. "Right back at you, kiddos," they said.

Edric hopefully reached his hand out. "Weirdos?" he said.

Emira put her hand over his. "Weirdos," she agreed. Then, she stared at Raine and King expectantly.

They understood. Raine and King both put a hand and claw on the twins'. 

"Weirdos."

Edric could've stayed there forever. He probably would've if Emira had let him. Instead, she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Ed, look," she said, pointing to Collector's light show.

When Edric looked, he realized that the bright colors were fading. The show was almost over. He didn't have much time left to do one final thing...

"They're almost gone," he breathed, stepping forward. In order to do what had to be done, he ran up to the edge of the cliff and turned to face his beloved friends and family behind him. "Alright, everyone. On the count of three. One, two... three!"

"Byeeeeeeee!!"

The End