Ultrawoman Titannia - Michael_Ravencroft - The Owl House (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Chapter 1: Episode 1: "Arise, Guardian of Light!" (Part 1)

Chapter Text

Gravesfield High School, a typical high school in a typical New England town in Connecticut. You had your typical cliches and cliques. The jocks consisted of the big three, basketball, rugby, and of course, football. Then you had your cheerleaders, aka the top of the social hierarchy. Then your band kids, theater kids, science nerds, otakus – which may or may not also include the science nerds – and the goth kids.

So, where does that leave our dear girl Luz Noceda?

Well…nowhere.

You see, Luz Noceda was a sixteen-year-old, Dominican American girl, who also happened to be bilingual, and oddly enough, bisexual. She really didn’t care who knew, heck, she even wore a bi flag pin on the side of her trademark beanie. Luz wasn’t the kind of girl to fit into, well, any of these groups. She was deemed “too weird”, “too extra”, and often times she was a bit violent. But Luz wasn’t a bad girl, although you wouldn’t think so at first glance. She wore an old army-green jacket, over a purple and white striped shirt, a pair of dark navy-blue pants, and a pair of sneakers. Despite her outward appearance, she was a friendly girl, but her antics and “violent behavior” had earned her both the ire of some of her classmates, as well as the stigma of being disliked by some of the popular students.

Why was this you ask? Well, it was mostly due to the fact that Luz tended to throw herself into fights. She just did not like bullies, or anyone, really, who picked on people who were weaker than them because they knew they could. This sense of justice had been the cause of many of her fights, she stepped in and fought, sometimes one-on-one, sometimes one-v-five. As much as she would like to brag that she kicked everyone’s ass in her fights, more often than not, she either ended up getting her own butt kicked or taking the ones she was fighting down with her. She was a scrappy tomboy. But she also loved her anime and fantasy novels.

Currently, Luz was walking towards her locker, she had gotten through with class, and was going to switch out her books. As she got to her locker and put in her combination, she looked inside and glanced over her decorations. There were stickers for Dragon Claw Mega and My Demon Slayer Academia, some Funko Pops of some of her favorite anime characters, last but not least, a poster of her favorite fantasy novel series, “The Good Witch Azura”. Luz reached out and pressed her hand against the poster. She loved the book series, she loved how Azura wasn’t afraid to stand up for what she believed in, and she loved the idea of becoming a hero like her.

What’s that Japanese word? Oh, right chunibyo, Luz thought as she sighed. What’s wrong with standing up and protecting people who obviously need help? That’s how Dad…how Dad was…

It had been years since her father’s death, and even to this day she missed him. She knew her mother did as well, but every time she looked into her mother’s eyes, it looked like there was a hint of guilt in them. Luz didn’t know why she would look or feel guilty, there was nothing else she could’ve done.

Still, knowing that, and moving on are hard to do. Like I’m one to talk.

Luz closed her locker and started to make her way to the next class as she continued to think.

I know I’m not making it easier. A violent daughter, who’s bi, and some learning disabilities. And she’s raising me alone. Okay, you know what, that ends today. I’m going to start fresh, no more fighting, no more… “weirdness”…I’m just going to go through school normally without making anymore waves.

“Dillon, there you are.”

Oh crap…

Luz looked off to her right, and that’s when she saw a group of three jocks harassing some smaller kid. One of them she recognized as Lance from the rugby team, he was big, tall, and knew how to get rough on the playing field. He was dating Zoe, the head cheerleader of the GHS, and the leader of the popular girl’s clique.

Also, admittedly, kinda hot.

The one who was on their list of people to exploit today was Dillon. He was a scrawny kid, and good at math. You can probably guess as to why he was being harassed at this point.

“I need that homework Dillon, class is about to start here soon,” said Lance.

“I…I’m sorry, I didn’t do it,” said Dillon.

“Excuse me?”

“I couldn’t get to it! I had to go visit my grandma, and I only had time to do mine,” Dillon explained.

“You can visit your grandma any other day, you should’ve stayed home and finished it up!” Lance scolded.

Dillon looked down and mumbled something.

Luz stayed where she was as she squeezed the strap of her backpack tighter and tighter. C’mon Luz. You just promised yourself you weren’t going to make waves. Summer starts the day after tomorrow, don’t start anything.

“Speak up pipsqueak,” he growled.

Luz, reluctantly, turned her back to walk away.

“S-She’s sick, Lance. We don’t know how much longer she’ll be with us, so…”

Luz paused mid step when she heard that.

Lance rolled his eyes and said, “Boo-freakin-hoo. If that’s the case, then you should’ve done mine first! You could’ve sold that sob story to the teacher, and he would’ve given you a pass, but my grade is higher priority, so that should’ve been the first thing on your mind when you made that dumb choice.”

“Considering you’re the ‘star player’, he’ll probably just pass you anyway,” Dillon mumbled.

“What’d you say you little creep?!” Lance grabbed Dillon by his shirt and forced him against the lockers. “Saying I’m stupid or something?!”

“I think he is Lance,” said Lance’s teammate.

“N-No, I’m just – what I mean is–!”

“STOP RIGHT THERE!”

Lance and his two teammates, along with Dillon, looked in the direction of the voice. The rest of the students parted like the Red Sea, giving them a direct view of Luz. She was standing there with her arms crossed, a furrowed brow, and a co*cky grin on her face.

“Oh, give me a break,” Lance groaned. “Butt out, Noceda, if you know what’s good for you.”

“HA! Do not underestimate me, Lance! For I am Luz Noceda! Warrior of Peace!”

There was a long pause that saw a lot of people cringe a bit. That’s when Luz swiftly reached into her backpack, pulled out a thick math book, and co*cked back her right arm.

“NOW EAT THIS SUCKA!”

Luz threw the book like a frisbee, and miraculously enough, the book managed to sail a good distance before striking Lance in the arm and making him grunt in pain as the book slammed onto the ground. Thanks to that hit, Lance let go of Dillon. Thankfully the scrawny kid didn’t need to be told before he broke out into a sprint and ran away.

Now that he was gone, Luz threw off her backpack completely and charged right in as she co*cked back her right fist, closed in on one of Lance’s teammates, and decked him in the face. The boy was sent stumbling backwards, and while he was distracted, Luz came in with a knee strike to the second teammate, nailing him in the gut and briefly knocking the wind out of him.

Lance growled and barreled into Luz as he picked her up and threw her to the floor. This allowed his friends to recover as they stood next to him.

“Stay down, Noceda,” Lance warned.

Luz coughed from the harsh throw but managed to get back up and raised her fists. “What’s the matter, that all you got?”

Lance and his teammates growled and charged for Luz, at the same time, Luz smirked and charged in herself. Both sides clashed.

“Ay, mija…”

Camila Noceda, a woman in her early forties who worked as a veterinarian at the local Animal Hospital. Unfortunately, she was called to come down to Luz’s school after being informed that her daughter had gotten caught up in another fight. And that’s where she was right now, standing outside the principal’s office as she looked down at her daughter who was sitting in a chair just outside the office as well. Luz looked beat-up, with some scratches, bruises, and some Band-Aids and bandage wraps around her arms and face. Again, not the first time she has seen her daughter in such a state, but at least this wasn’t as bad as the other times before that.

“Hi, Mamá,” Luz greeted, timidly.

Camila sighed as she asked, “How many and why?”

“Um…three, all on the rugby team. It was a kid getting extorted,” said Luz. “To be fair, I at least managed to K. O. Lance and his other teammate…! And then the last one sucker punched me, and it was lights out after that…”

Camila sighed again as she said, “I’ll be right back. La hablaremos más tarde. (We’ll talk about this later.)”

Luz lowered her head as she replied, “Si Mamá…(Yes, Mom…)”

“Uh, Mrs. Noceda,” the receptionist called out.

Camila turned around and answered, “Yes?”

“Actually, Principal Hal wants you to speak to the School Counselor about this matter first.”

“Oh…” Camila looked back at Luz, who also had a worried expression as well. “Okay, thank you.”

The Latina woman headed to the school counselor’s office, which was a couple of doors down from the principals. Camila knocked on the door and heard someone say, “Come in”. Once she entered, Camila saw a man in a gray suit and red tie. He had his gray hair combed back and was currently looking down at something on his desk.

“Ah, Mrs. Noceda, please have a seat,” he said.

Camila sat on the chair in front of his desk. There was a plaque there that read, “Dr. Charles Reese”. She had spoken to other counselors in the school regarding Luz, but from what she remembered, he was the one that the others answered to. Which only made Camila more nervous about what this meant for Luz.

“I was told I was supposed to see you, instead of Principal Hal,” said Camila.

“Yes, Principal Hal decided to defer this situation to me instead.” Dr. Reese looked up at Camila with a neutral expression. “Luz has been getting into a lot of fights here at school, at least from what it says here in her file.”

“Oh, um, yes, she has. A-And I know she instigates it, but all the times she has, Luz has only done so because she witnessed another student getting bullied by another student,” said Camila.

“I am aware, helping someone in trouble not a bad trait, Mrs. Noceda, but when it gets to the point of physically harming herself and others, it starts to become one. There have been times here where she, quote, ‘lost the fight but saved the kid’.”

Camila rubbed the back of her head as she chuckled nervously. “She told me that, even if she doesn’t win the fight, so long as the person she tried to save gets away, then it’s a win in her book.”

Dr. Reese closed the file and brought his hands up, knitting them together in a pyramid of contemplation. “Mrs. Noceda, I have read and reread Luz’s file, and spoken to her teachers. And I must say, this behavior is starting to appear self-destructive. Luz has no friends in this school that I can see. Most, if not all, of her classmates avoid her. If anything, she’s made more enemies.”

“Dr. Reese, Luz is just trying to do the right thing. And I have told her to get a teacher instead of throwing herself into such situations, but you can’t say that what she has done isn’t good on some level. If anything, I think you and the staff need to start asking why there are so many instances where Luz feels like she has to do that,” Camila countered.

The man before her nodded his head and replied, “That is an issue I plan on bringing up to Principal Hal and the faculty. I won’t deny that Luz has shed some light on this matter, no pun intended. But her vigilante-like attitude and approach is going to end up getting herself killed.”

Camila lowered her head, that was a constant fear for her. There were days when she was wondering, whenever the school called, if that was going to be the call when she heard that Luz had got seriously hurt.

“I don’t like to dredge up the past, but you did mention to one of the counselors once that you were bullied yourself, Mrs. Noceda, and because of that, it was hard for you to make friends,” said Dr. Reese.

“…Yes, but…”

“Again, Luz has no friends, and her grades are…subpar to be frank. She’s done a few things over the years, like making a taxidermy ‘griffon’ for an art project, and somehow filled it with live spiders. And then there was the school play when she stuffed a string of salamis in her costume and pretended it was entrails spilling out.”

Camila chuckled a little under her breath. Heh-heh, her father taught her that one.

“There are more, but each one has two central themes. Luz seems to find comfort in the world of fantasy and sees herself as a ‘hero’ of sorts. I believe this is stemming from the loss of your husband, Mrs. Noceda,” said Dr. Reese.

“W-What do you mean? Losing…” Camila looked down at the floor. “Losing Manny was hard on both of us…but…”

“Forgive me for saying this. But I believe Luz’s obsession with fighting against the perceived ‘bullies’ in this school is her way of lashing out. In a way, she sees the kids she’s defending as her father and the bullies as the cancer that took his life. Unlike a disease, this is something she can prevent, an opponent she can ‘defeat’ with her own hands instead of being on the sidelines.”

Camila tensed a bit, Dr. Reese was making a point, and it did make some sense.

“I do think we need to curb this behavior sooner rather than later. The more she delves into this fantasy hero role, the worse it will be for her down the road,” said Dr. Reese as he reached into his drawer and took out a pamphlet. “Take this.”

Camila took the pamphlet and read aloud, “Reality Check Camp?”

“They can really help her, Mrs. Noceda. I suggest, for Luz’s sake, that you make the right decision here. Otherwise, we may run into some trouble with her admission next year.”

Two days had passed since that incident at school, along with a two-day suspension. Luckily, Luz managed to get most of her class finals out of the way before all that happened, so at least when school started again, she wouldn’t be held back. Still, this was not the way she was expecting to start summer vacation. Her mother had signed her up to go to this “Reality Check Camp”, telling her that it would help with her aggression and her overactive imagination. Plus, if she didn’t, there was a chance that they wouldn’t let her attend next year.

Luz weighed that option, honestly, considering how she was more or less persona non grata as far as her classmates were concerned, not being able to go back to school was not exactly unappealing. But Luz knew she couldn’t do that to her mother. That would only create more headaches, and she did promise herself she was going to try and stop making problems for her. Maybe Reality Check Camp would help her with that?

Currently, Luz was standing at the edge of the curb in front of her house. She had packed a few things, a sleeping bag, her favorite manga, and of course her favorite book.

“Luz?” The Latina turned around and saw her mother come walking out of the house after locking up. She approached Luz and gave her a few kisses on the cheek. “I know it’s for three months, but you’ll see, the time will fly by!”

Luz gripped the strap of her backpack a little hard as she said, “I’m sorry, Mom. I…I just cause problems for you.”

Camila’s expression fell when she heard her daughter say that. “Mija, no, no. It’s…You’re not a problem. You just need to…to…tone it down a bit. I don’t want you ending up like me.”

Luz raised an eyebrow at that and asked, “What do you mean? ‘End up like you’, like, how?”

Camila averted her gaze for a moment and sighed. “It’s…It’s not important. But, Luz, at least try when you’re there. Maybe you can make some real friends?”

Luz put on a little smile and nodded.

“Okay, the bus will be here in a few minutes. I’m heading off to work. Call me when you get there. Te amo, (I love you,)” Camila said.

Luz flashed a little smile and replied, “Yo también te amo, Mamá. (I love you, too, Mom.)”

After they said their goodbyes, Luz watched as her mother got into her car and drove away down the street. The teen girl glanced at her cellphone, looked down the street and made a decision.

I have a bit of time.

Luz ran to the back of the house, past her fence and into the forest behind it. She had spent a lot of time roaming around the woods, there was just something mysterious about them, almost mystical. Whether that was due to her imagination or because of something else was up in the air. Whatever the case was, Luz wanted to bid one last farewell to her “secret base” as it were.

It took a couple of minutes, but Luz eventually found her little secret hideout. It was a rundown old house, it looked like it had been there for years, but in all the times that Luz had explored the house, she could never find any clue as to who once occupied it. There were times when she thought about asking her mother about the house or seeing if her mother knew anyone who knew about it. But if she did, she might lose access to it.

“Guess after I come back, I might not be hanging around this place as much,” said Luz, wistfully.

Just then, Luz heard some rustling coming from the bushes. She turned to her left, expecting to see a little woodland creature to come scurrying out. A squirrel, maybe a racoon, aka trash panda, or maybe a possum, sweet little angels. But what Luz saw was not what she expected at all.

“Huh…?”

What came out of the bushes was a little brown feathered owl. Technically the owl creature wasn’t weird, what was weird, was the fact that this little owl was dragging a large sack by its beak. The little owl looked up at her, blinked, and then proceeded to hop – adorably – towards the house and up the porch steps.

…A little owl just came out of the bushes. Carrying a bag. A big bag. A bag that a bird its size shouldn’t be able to carry…

Luz kept watching as the little owl flapped and jumped until it managed to get the heavy sack over the edge of the porch and headed through the front door.

“W-Wait! Wait! What are you doing with that sack little cutie?!” Luz called out.

Luz ran towards the front door, and before she realized it, the door slammed behind her.

Luz was blinded by a light for a moment, but after a moment the light faded as she was able to resume her pursuit.

“Stop adorably hopping away you…you…whoa.”

Luz was not in the house, definitely not. For one thing, the interior looked like a giant tent. Second: there were many random objects inside the tent. There was a busted refrigerator, an old grandfather clock, and several other miscellaneous items that would be considered random junk. But how? She was inside the house, not a tent.

“Whoa, I thought I had a lot of weird stuff.” Luz bent down and picked up a strange object. It was a clothes hanger, with a doll’s head piercing through it, a fork for a right arm, and a plushie lizard body. “But this? This is impressive.”

“Finally, you’re back!”

Luz dropped the strange doll and gasped. There was someone else there. Carefully, Luz approached the opening in the tent, and pushed one of the flaps aside, just enough to peer outside. Standing on the other side of the tent opening was a woman in a red dress, long silver hair, a green bandanna with yellow polka dots tied to her head, and pale skin.

“Now let’s see what you got,” said the woman.

The Latina watched as the little owl flew up and landed on top of the woman’s staff. That same woman used her right hand to then twist the little owl around like a cap, and after a few turns, the little owl swiftly turned into a wooden ornament at the top of the staff, as if it had melded with the staff. Luz gasped upon witnessing this.

No way that just happened…!

The woman started to go through the sack that the little owl had brought with it. Luz watched as the mysterious woman started to go through the items. The mysterious woman pulled out a cellphone and chucked it, she then pulled out a rather large diamond ring, and then threw it away. Another item was a golden chalice that seemed to radiate a mystic, almost divine aura, but she threw that away too, calling it garbage as she did the others before it.

The last thing the mysterious woman took out was a pair of gag glasses. She put them on and as soon as she did, the springs connected to the fake eyes popped out and began dangling in front of her face.

“Now this will make me rich!” the woman exclaimed.

Luz looked at the odd woman, not sure how she thought a silly toy like that was going to make her rich. Okay, well, no idea what’s going on here, but I should probably go back the way I came and–

Suddenly, there was a crashing sound behind Luz, making her jump back and out of the tent on pure instinct. Unfortunately, this made Luz bump directly into the mysterious woman, nearly knocking her down in the process. The woman managed to catch herself before she fell, but when she did, her eyes fell directly onto Luz.

“What the – wait a second, what are you doing here?!” she exclaimed.

“Sorry! Gotta go!” Luz replied as she rushed back into the tent.

Various junk piles had somehow fallen over and were now blocking her path. Despite this, Luz climbed over the mess and saw her exit. Apparently, whatever she came through was actually a door floating in the middle of the tent with a glowing opening. Luz wasn’t about to question it as she managed to tumble down the pile and fell flat on her face. She was almost there, but suddenly, the door slammed shut. It was a wooden door, with a large yellow eye with a black slit down the middle at the top center of the door. The door folded up until it was about as big as a medium sized briefcase. The briefcase flew over Luz’s head, and straight to the entrance of the tent where the mysterious woman was.

“EEP!”

Luz, with little alternative, rushed towards the back of the tent, picked up the flap at the bottom, and crawled under it to the other side. Once she had gotten out, she ran, but had to stop when she saw that she was almost at the edge of a cliff. But from that cliff, Luz was able to see that she was not in her world anymore. Giant bones jutted out from the ground as a sprawling town littered the land below. Several creatures moved about, some grotesque, some strange, and others just plain weird looking.

“Hey!”

The Latina turned around and saw the woman again. Luz dashed around the tent and kept running. She passed several other creatures, many of them stopping to look at her, and some others weren’t giving her any attention at all. Luz managed to duck into an alley and pressed her back against the wall as she stopped to catch her breath.

“Oookay, Luz, calm down. We’re not in Connecticut anymore. I’ve somehow isekaied myself. How and why, I have no idea, but the only other explanation is that I’m dreaming, and this isn’t the PG rated kind of fantasy world I normally fantasize about,” said Luz to herself.

Just then a little fairy flew up to her. Luz jumped at the sight of it, but when she saw how cute the fairy was, she calmed down.

“Oh, hey there little friend. Are you here to help me?” Luz asked.

After asking that question, the fairy’s response was opening its mouth unnaturally wide to reveal several different sized sharp teeth as it said, “Give me your skin!”

Luz yelped and swatted the fairy to the ground as she bolted out of the alley. Unfortunately, Luz managed to run into someone, sending both herself and the other person tumbling and rolling onto the ground for a few seconds before they eventually stopped.

“Ow…s-sorry about that…”

As Luz got up, she felt something soft under her right hand. It was a strange, familiar sensation, but as she looked down to see who or what she ran into, she froze. Below her was a very pretty girl. She had long green hair, with some of it tied back into a short ponytail. The hairline around her forehead was brown, possibly her roots. The girl’s eyes were golden yellow, and her ears were…pointy. She had pointy elf ears. The girl looked to be about the same age as her, and had pale, smooth skin. Which made the redness on her face all the more prominent.

Luz glanced further down the elf girl’s body, spotting the black choker, and necklace with an amethyst gemstone hanging from it. The girl had a crop top on that was white and pink that had the word “HEX” in pink letters, a purple skirt, black leggings, and a pair of brown shoes. But that wasn’t important, what was really important was the fact that Luz’s right hand had somehow found its resting spot right atop the elf girl’s left bosom.

Oh…Okay…That explains the, uh…t-the softness…

The elf girl glared up at Luz, growled, and ordered, “Get! Off! Me! NOW!”

Luz immediately sprang to her feet as she took several steps back. The green haired elf girl got up as well, dusting herself off before shooting Luz a death glare.

“How dare you molest me in broad daylight! You have some nerve you–?!”

“Aaaaaand scoop!”

Before the elf girl knew what happened, Luz was swiftly picked up off the ground and whisked away into the air. The elf girl blinked a couple of times as she slowly turned her head towards the air and watched the retreating image of the girl she was about to chew out.

“…What just happened?”

Luz suddenly found herself weightless as the wind rushed past her ears. Within a few seconds, Luz was dropped down onto a roof somewhere. The Latina looked around, but then saw the same woman from earlier, but she was flying. On the same staff she saw the woman use earlier. The owl figure’s eyes were glowing yellow as its wings flapped, and after a moment of gawking, the woman from earlier hopped of the staff as the wings of the owl figure folded until it looked like just a fancy wooden carving.

“Wha…Wha…Wha…”

“Finally, found you,” said the woman.

“Who-Who are you?! W-What do you want with me?! Look, if you’re going to take my skin, then just do it!” Luz exclaimed as she raised her arms up.

“Your skin? Oh, ran into a fairy, didn’t ya?” The woman rolled her eyes and said, “Kid, put your arms down, I’m not going to ‘take your skin’.”

Luz slowly lowered her arms and asked, “Who…Who are you, and…where am I?”

“Heh-heh, I am Eda the Owl Lady! And I…” Eda removed her bandana, and upon doing so, revealed her own pointed ears, “…am a witch!”

Luz’s eyes widened as she looked upon this woman with newfound awe.

“Did…Did you say you’re a witch?! A real witch?!” Luz asked excitedly.

Eda twirled her staff around before hitting the butt of it against the roof, and then answered, “I am kid. And to answer your other question, you are in the Demon Realm, specifically, on the Boiling Isles. And around here I’m the most powerful witch!”

“Oooh, wow, a real witch! A real life witch! S-So you can do magic, right?! You can cast spells and – we were flying earlier, is that staff magical as well?!” Luz rambled on.

“Whoa, whoa, slow down. Jeez, normally, you humans tend to freak out whenever you’re in a strange environment,” said Eda.

“Oh, I am freaking out, but right now it’s a mixture of an excited freak out and a normal freak out,” Luz clarified.

“Huh. Anyway, I’m guessing you walked through a door and that’s why you’re here?” Eda asked.

Luz snapped out of her little freak out and managed to regain her composure enough to reply.

“Yes, I did! I was following this cute little owl dragging a sack in its beak. I followed the little guy through the door of a house, there was a flash, and now, I’m here…in the Demon Realm, apparently,” Luz explained.

Eda sighed, and then the staff was dismissed as the owl figurine at the top of the staff came to life and began flapping its wings, hovering in the air as it turned back into that little owl Luz had seen earlier.

“Owlbert, what did I tell you when going solo? Keep a low profile,” Eda scolded.

Owlbert hooted a few times.

“Well, obviously, she’s that one in a million human who doesn’t run away and instead chases after strange things,” Eda retorted.

Owlbert hooted again.

“What’s done is done, so, now the question is.” Eda turned to face Luz and crossed her arms. “What to do with you, human?”

Luz gulped as she asked, “W-What do you mean? Y-You can send me back home, right? I-I promise I won’t tell anyone what you’re doing or about this place!”

“Calm down. However, I do need you to do one thing for me before I send you back.” Eda slowly approached Luz, making her gulp once the older woman was standing in front of her. Eda leaned down, smirked, and said, “I want you to buy something!”

“…Huh?”

“C’mon, I got a few things that you might be interested in. What do ya say? Buy one item and I’ll send you home,” Eda promised.

“Do I really have a choice?” Luz asked.

“No, not really,” Eda confirmed.

“Alright, guess I’ll see what you got.”

“Nice.” Eda held out her hand, and the Owlbert returned to staff form. “By the way, what’s your name, human?”

“Oh, it’s Luz. Luz Noceda.”

“Well, then, Luz Noceda.” Eda mounted her staff, and immediately Owlbert’s eyes started to glow, along with his wings flaring out. “Hop on!”

“…Huh?”

Luz was hanging on for dear life as Eda flew them through the sky. Thankfully, for Luz, Eda seemed to notice how afraid she was and flew at a leisurely pace. This in turn allowed Luz to get a better view of the town. She could see more giant, protruding rock spikes jutting into the air, and, in the distance, she swore she could see a mountain in the shape of a skull.

“Impressed, Luz?” Eda asked.

“This…This place looks…wild,” said Luz. “I can’t believe no one’s seen this place.”

“Eh, I wouldn’t say that. Sometimes, a little of our world actually leaks into yours,” said Eda.

As Eda said that a huge griffon flew overhead, and a moment later, it opened its mouth and shot out a stream of black spiders.

“I KNEW IT!” Luz exclaimed. “Validation, baby!”

“Yep, griffons, vampires, giraffes,” Eda listed.

Luz paused, turned her head, and asked, “Did you say ‘giraffes’?”

“Oh yeah, we banished those guys. Eek, buncha freaks.” Eda lowered her altitude and brought them to a hover a few feet off the ground. But when she did, her brow furrowed. “Ah, farts…”

When they arrived at the tent that Luz had exited from when she ran, they found at least five people there. They were dressed in strange clothes, with helmets that were metal and long, giving them a bird-like appearance. Each of them had a sword sheath strapped to their belts, and all appeared to be of the same build and height. These men were drawing circles of light in the air, and after doing so, an aura of light wrapped around Eda’s tent, and her table.

Eda grabbed Luz by the collar of her jacket and pulled her into a nearby alley. She peeked from around the corner, and watched as the men in uniforms began confiscating her things.

“Well, that’s not good,” said Eda.

“What do you mean?” Luz asked.

“I mean, the thing I need to send you back, is still inside that tent,” Eda explained.

“WHAT?! W-We have to stop them!”

“Not right now. Listen, we’ll get it back. I know where they’re going to take it all. But if we’re going to get it back, we’ll need to wait until tonight.”

“W-Where am I going to do until then?” Luz asked.

“Well, you can always crash at my house, unless you want to wait here all night. FYI, the fairies are more active at night, and love to go after people sleeping on the streets,” Eda warned.

“You’re place it is!”

Without any other choice, Luz was forced to go back to Eda’s home. She couldn’t believe her luck, she was in a magical world, but also trapped in said magical world until they could get back that “portal door” that brought her here. Eda flew through the air for a few minutes before eventually arriving at her home. It was a two-story house from what she could make out, with a window at the top that was stained glass and looked like an eye. The roof was a teal blue color, with a weathervane that was gold colored and shaped like an owl. Next to the house was a stone tower, some of it looked in ruins, or was in the middle of reconstruction.

“Aren’t you worried that those people will find us?” Luz asked.

“Nope, my house has a state-of-the-art defense system,” Eda answered.

Once they dismounted the staff, Eda led Luz to the front door. It looked like an ordinary wooden door, but it also had an owl face on it.

“Hoot! Hoot! Password please,” the owl head requested.

“It talks?!” Luz gasped.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Eda, in response, poked the eyes of the owl head and said, “We don’t have time for this, Hooty. Let us in.”

“Alright, alright, jeez. You never want to have any fun. Ow! Hoot!”

Suddenly, Hooty opened his mouth wider and wider until he eventually made an opening into the house. Eda walked through first and waved for Luz to follow her. Once inside, Hooty closed his mouth and gave a burb.

“Welcome to…the Owl House,” Eda announced as she snapped her fingers.

The moment she did, several candles lit up, illuminating the inside. A mural on the ceiling started to glow, depicting a large, winged creature. The living room of the house was spacious, with a long pink couch that was up against the wall, a coffee table, a table with a lamp on it, and various items hanging from the wall, one of them being a wanted poster with Eda’s likeness on it.

“This is where I go to escape the pressures of modern life. Also, the cops, heh-heh,” Eda chuckled.

Luz looked closely at the wanted poster, and then turned to Eda and asked, “Eda…are you…are you some kind of criminal?”

Eda crossed her arms as she said, “Depends on what your definition of a ‘criminal’ is. Did I steal? Yes. Scammed? Oh yeah. Killed anyone? No. But if I’m guilty of one thing more than others, it’s that I don’t fit in. I don’t fit the mold of how witches should do magic.”

Luz’s mind clung onto those words, “I don’t fit in”.

“How…How is your way of magic bad?” Luz asked.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. You won’t be here long enough for it to be your problem, kid,” Eda assured.

“If you say so…Do you live here alone?”

Suddenly there was a thumping sound coming from the second floor. Luz turned her attention to the archway, and it was there she spotted a large shadow forming on the wall.

“I do have a roommate.”

“Who dares disturb I, the King of Demons!”

Luz’s jaw dropped, what stood in the archway was a little creature that was three feet in height. Its body was covered in dark gray fur, with its stomach covered in a lighter shade of gray fur. The top part of its head was covered in a skull and had a broken left horn, and a red collar with a gold tag on it. This creature also had a towel wrapped around its waist and was holding a rubber ducky in its left claw.

“¡Ay, qué lindo!” Luz dropped her backpack and ran straight towards the little creature, wrapping him up in her arms as she twirled around, bringing them into the living room, as she rubbed her cheek against him. “Eda he’s SOOOOOOO cute! Who’s a wittle guy? Who’s a wittle guy?”

“AAH! I’m not your little guy!” The creature exclaimed as he tried to escape her grasp. “Eda! Who is this monster?!”

Eda rolled her eyes, smirked, and drew a circle of light. A thin golden light outlined the little creature’s body as he was levitated out of Luz’s arms and onto the table.

“Calm down, King. This is Luz, and she’s going to help me with a little problem, and maybe help us out with that other issue.”

“Really? Hooray!” King cheered.

“Uh, what ‘other issue’?” Luz asked, suspicious.

“I’ll explain. Just hear me out.”

Eda drew another circle of light in the air, and when she did, the circle expanded and acted as a screen as the witch woman began her tale.

“King was once a mighty King of Demons. Until his crown of power was stolen from him and he became…”

“Well, this.”

Luz had somehow managed to get King back into her clutches and was hugging him yet again.

“You mean this wittle guy?”

“Weh!”

“The crown is being held by the evil Warden Wrath. And locked behind an impenetrable magical forcefield that only a human can break through.”

Eda dismissed her circle and added, “A human like you.”

“Wait, me? And that seems oddly specific. A barrier that only humans can get through,” Luz said.

“Well, since humans being here is an extremely rare thing, it makes sense to have that kind of barrier around it,” Eda explained.

Luz had to admit, it did make sense. If you wanted to keep people out, creating a barrier that only let in a certain type of person that you know doesn’t exist in your world would work.

“And if I’m right, Wrath will have my stuff in there, along with your means to get back home. So, either way, kid, you’ll need to go through that barrier and get that crown and the portal door,” Eda stated.

Luz sighed, she really didn’t have a choice one way or the other. If she didn’t help them, she wouldn’t be able to go back home, and she’d be trapped here forever. Not that she didn’t think this place was interesting, but having a way back home was good to have on hand. Luz put King back on the table and turned to Eda as she held out her right hand.

“Okay, Eda, I’ll help you and King get back the portal and the crown. And then you send me back. Deal?”

Eda smirked as she shook Luz’s hand and said, “Deal.”

After shaking Eda’s hand, she pulled back and realized she was still holding Eda’s hand. Luz yelped loudly as she stumbled backwards and landed on the couch, flinging her hand around until Eda’s hand let go and flew into the air. The Owl Lady snatched her missing hand out of the air and reattached it.

“Sorry, that happens sometimes.”

Chapter 2: Episode 2: "Arise, Ultrawoman Titannia!" (Part 2)

Chapter Text

It was a simple plan; nothing should’ve gone wrong. So…why did Luz find herself at the bottom of a hole? The Latina’s body ached all over. And her head hurt a bit. She checked herself to see if she was bleeding from her head or wounded someplace. But, so far, nothing.

“What…happened…?” Luz whispered. “Think, Noceda…”

(A few minutes earlier…)

Night had finally settled on the Boiling Isles, and with the rising of the moon, their heist began. Eda, King, and Luz flew under the cover of night, and there, in the distance, Luz saw the place they were heading. It was an imposing structure, to say the least. There was a wall that was at least five or so stories tall, outside of the wall were large spikes that rose up from the ground, which seemed to be a natural feature of the area. There were walkways and roads leading from the town to a bridge that took you straight to the gates of that wall, and beyond it lied the tower. It stood tall over the area, with two watchtowers on the left and right of the wall and was bathed in an ominous red glow.

Eda landed just outside the wall, hiding behind one of the structures. Luz, with King resting on her head, glanced up from where they were hiding, finding the entire thing even more imposing from ground level.

“What is this place?” Luz asked.

“This lovely place is called the Conformatorium. A place for those considered ‘unsuitable’ for society,” Eda answered.

Luz glanced to her left and saw yet another of Eda’s wanted posters.

“Whoa, these guys really do have the hots for you.”

“Yep, but we were never caught! Because we’re too slippery,” Eda remarked.

“Try to catch me when I’m covered in grease! I’m a slippery little fella!” King exclaimed as he wiggled about on Luz’s head.

The little demon fell off and landed on his feet, but not before making Luz’s beanie go askew. She fixed it, and her hair, before folding the poster and putting it in her pocket. A memento for when she returned home.

“So, what’s the plan? I mean, there is a plan, right?”

“Uh-huh!” King answered. “You and I will sneak up to the top of that tower where they’re holding my crown!”

“And this ‘portal door’, right?” Luz confirmed.

“Yeah, sure,” King nodded.

“And I’m going to make sure the warden’s distracted,” said Eda.

“Should I use a disguise or…?” Luz asked.

“Okay, let’s do this!” Eda twirled her staff around and struck the ground with it. In a matter of seconds, a platform made of magical light appeared underneath King and Luz. “Hold on tight.”

Luz and King were immediately lifted into the air, making Luz have to brace herself as she was suddenly brought high into the air. The platform arrived at an open window of the central tower, and without wasting any time, Luz grabbed King and jumped through the window just as the platform disappeared. Luz and King looked out the window and watched as Eda flew into the air.

“Meet you guys at the top of the tower!” Eda called out as she flew off to begin her distraction.

Now that they were inside, Luz had King hopped onto her shoulder. Once he did, they headed down the hallway. When they reached the other side, Luz’s eyes widened at what she saw. The were several floors, with many cells on each one of them. There was a winding walkway that started way down at the bottom, and kept going, spiraling higher and higher than even she could see.

“Whoa…”

“Hey, you.”

Luz jumped and turned around. That’s when she saw another witch woman. She didn’t look that old, possibly in her late teens to early twenties. She had a purple, shoulder-less dress, with her black hair tied into a ponytail, a yellow-colored choker, hazel green eyes, and a couple of pronounced fangs.

“How’d you get out of your cell?” she asked.

“Oh, no, no, no. I’m not a criminal,” Luz retorted.

“Not yet you’re not,” King remarked.

“Tch, neither are we. The stupid warden likes to lock people up who don’t fit in. Like, I like writing fanfics of food falling in love. I like food. I like love. Just let me write about it!”

Wait…She just likes writing fanfiction? How is that worth getting locked up?

There was another person in the cell next to the witch. He was big, had pale turquoise skin, and his head was oblong shaped, with multiple eyes, some of which were missing if the eye sockets were any indication.

“I’m here because I like eating my own eyes,” the demon said as he plucked one of his eyeballs out, ate it, and not a moment later it regenerated.

Admittedly a weird and a little disturbing, but they grow back so…not terrible.

“We are agents of free expression! They will never silence us!”

Luz looked at the cell to her right and saw what essentially was a talking head with arms and legs. The head was pale white, with ginger hair, and had a big nose.

“Yeah, she’s really into conspiracy theories,” said the witch.

“THE WORLD IS A SIMULATION! WE ARE BUT PLAYTHINGS FOR A HIGHER BEING!” she rambled on.

Luz looked at each of the prisoners in turn, and came to a conclusion, “Wait, none of these are actual crimes! None of you did anything wrong!”

“…But if I’m guilty of one thing more than others, it’s that I don’t fit in. I don’t fit the mold of how witches should do magic.”

“Noceda, you’re such a weirdo.”

“Seriously, getting into fights to ‘protect someone’. Who asked you to butt in?”

“You’re such a freak, Noceda.”

“…You’re all just a buncha weirdos…” Luz reached into her jacket pocket and took out the wanted poster of Eda. “Just like me.”

Suddenly, there were strong thudding sounds coming from behind a door a few feet ahead of them. At first, the thudding was light, like it was far away, but it was steadily getting louder, and getting closer.

“It’s the warden! Hide!” the witch warned.

Luz frantically looked around for a place to hide, but in the end chose an empty cell as she and King ducked into it. The Latina dropped the poster and quickly pulled down on the bars, shut the cell, and hurried to the far corner of the cell where it was the darkest. Just then, the door slammed open, revealing Warden Wrath himself. He was large man; he wore a white buttoned up robe over a pair of black pants and a black hooded shirt underneath. His face was obscured by a gray mask with yellow eyes, it reminded Luz of those plague masks from her history class. Warden Wrath was muscular, that much she could tell from his exposed arms.

“I can hear you,” he said in a threatening tone. “Just what are you fools whispering about?”

Luz watched as Wrath walked closer to the cells, and that’s when he looked down. The Latina followed his gaze and internally yelped. The wanted poster for Eda was on the floor. Luz hugged King close, and the little demon did the same as they both tensed up, afraid that they were about to be found out.

Wrath picked up the wanted poster and growled under his breath as he said, “Ah, the Owl Lady. Were you thinking she was going to free you?”

The warden balled up his right fist, crushing the poster before that same right hand morphed into a mallet. Angrily, Wrath smashed that hammer hand against the bars of Luz and King’s cell, startling the both of them.

“I’ll get my hands on her soon enough,” he swore.

Luz’s heart nearly stopped when she saw Wrath look in their direction, but his attention was quickly drawn by another.

“Fight against the oppressor! We must resist! We must conquer! We will never be afraid of you! You old creep!” the big nose demon exclaimed, defiantly.

Warden Wrath changed his hand back to normal as he released the wadded-up paper. He took a few steps forward and pushed the lever up to the big nosed demon’s cell door. Once the lever was thrown, the bars rose immediately.

“Hooray! I’m free! ACK!”

Wrath grabbed the little big nosed demon in his grasp and said, “Let this be a lesson to all of you! There’s no place in society for you if you don’t fit in!”

Luz’s brow furrowed, she wanted to go and help that poor demon, but she had to think of King. Getting into a fight now would mean putting his life in danger. Not only that, but their plan to retrieve his crown and the portal door would be ruined. With his threat made, Wrath walked back to the door he came in through, carrying the demon in his hand, and slammed the door shut leaving them alone. Luz quickly pushed up the bars, making them rise enough to let her through before they slammed back down.

“This isn’t right,” said Luz.

“I know, it’s a bum deal, but we can’t do anything,” said King.

“I can set these guys free,” she retorted.

“Weh?!”

Luz ran to the lever that controlled the witch’s cell, she pushed up on it as hard as she could, but the lever would not budge.

“UGH! C’mon! Seriously! Move! Dang it!” Luz grunted.

“Kid, just leave before the warden finds you and throws you in here for real. We’re lost causes. Go and enjoy your freedom,” the witch said in a depressed tone.

Luz panted as she tried to keep lifting it, but in the end, she was unable to do a thing.

“I’m sorry,” Luz apologized.

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault we’re in here,” the multi-eyed demon replied.

Luz hated feeling powerless like this. She couldn’t do a thing to help them, but at the same time, Luz knew that she had a mission to complete. The crown, the portal door, these were her priorities, but, maybe, she could ask Eda for help?

Reluctantly, Luz ran until she found another hallway and headed down it. After taking another turn she found a sign that read “Contraband Chamber”. Luz followed the signs until she arrived at a hallway that led directly to the chamber in question. Eda finally made into the tower as she floated up next to Luz.

“Hey, I just checked. The warden’s apparently busy torturing some tiny creature. So, he’ll be busy for a while.” Eda noticed that Luz wasn’t reacting much to the news. “Hey, you alright, kid?”

“Not really. I just talked to some of the people in the cells. Eda, they don’t belong in there,” Luz informed.

Eda sighed and nodded her head in agreement.

“Yeah, I know, it sucks,” said Eda.

“Eda, can you…can you help me free them?!” Luz asked.

The Owl Lady raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Free them? Why? You don’t even know them.”

“No, but I can’t just stand by and let–!” Luz paused when she remembered a talk she had had with her mother and the counselor. The Latina looked down at the ground as she balled her hands into fists. “Is…Is there something weird or wrong with wanting to protect others? To help them when they need it?”

Eda looked upon the human girl with some pity. The Owl Lady rubbed the back of her head, sighing as she thought about the right way to answer that question.

“No, kid, there’s not. Can’t say I haven’t done much of that myself, aside from protecting this little guy.” Eda crouched down and patted King on his head. “But if that’s what makes you weird, then let them think that. ‘Cause all us weirdos have at the end of the day is each other. And us weirdos have to stick together.”

Luz looked at Eda and smiled a little as she said, “Guess you’re right.”

“Heh, dang right I’m right. Now, let’s keep going.”

Luz, Eda, and King continued walking down the corridor until they arrived at a giant wooden door that had the word “CONTRABAND” carved into it in bold letters.

“My crown! It’s close! I can sense its power!” King exclaimed as he ran up to the door and began trying to open it as he latched onto the doorknob.

“He’s so cute when he’s thirsting for power,” Eda commented.

Luz giggled a little as she watched King work. After a moment, the little demon managed to break the doorknob and made the huge door crack open enough for them to get in. Without waiting, King dashed into the room, making Eda shake her head.

“C’mon, let’s get in there before he hurts himself.”

*BZZZT!*

“Ow!”

Eda and Luz entered through the door and stepped into the huge room. It had banners with a strange insignia that Luz had never seen before. The entire room itself was vacant, with an incredibly tall ceiling. At the center of this room was a big column of light, where King was trying to get through it. The little demon ran towards the light and struck it with his head, but he was thrown back and landed on his rear. King groaned in annoyance that he could not get through, but Eda and Luz walked up behind him and looked down at him.

“We have a human for this, remember?” Eda pointed out.

“Oh, yeah,” King remarked.

“Okay, Luz, you’re up.”

Luz looked at the pillar of light, took a calming breath, and walked towards it. Carefully, she pressed her left hand against the light, and when she did her hand passed through. She felt no pain, and when she retracted her hand, she saw that it was still intact. Believing that it was safe, Luz walked forward, passing through the pillar of light, and winding up on the other side. Once inside, Luz beheld a huge pile of confiscated items, it looked like a small mountain. There were a myriad of confiscated items here, so Luz stuck out her head from the barrier.

“Um, Eda, I forgot to ask. What does King’s crown look like?” Luz asked.

“Trust me, you’ll know it when you see it,” Eda replied.

Luz shrugged and went back in. She remembered what the portal door looked like, but she had no idea what that crown looked like.

She said I’d know it when I see it, but…

The Latina looked through the pile but couldn’t find the portal door. It was huge, so, for all she knew it was buried deep inside. In which case it would take a lot longer for her to get it. Luz kept up her search but stopped when she saw something catch the light near the top of the pile.

“Wait a second…is that?”

When Luz exited the barrier, she walked out with a paper crown in her hand that had the words “Burger Queen” printed on it.

There’s no way this is the crown, Luz thought.

“My crown!”

I stand corrected.

King hopped up and down excitedly as he walked up to Luz and snatched the paper crown out of her hands and placed it on his head.

“Yes! Yes! I can feel my powers returning! You there, nightmare critter!” King scampered over to a box that had not been placed behind the barrier and took a stuffed bunny out of it. “I shall call you Francois and you shall be a minion in my army of darkness! Ha-Ha!”

“B-But that crown, it’s just made out of paper.” Luz glanced to her left and looked at Eda as she asked, “It doesn’t give him any powers at all, does it?”

“Eeeeh…nope.”

Luz deadpanned, as she crossed her arms and glared at Eda.

“Ah, look at us, Luz. King and I don’t have much in this world, we only have each other. So, if that dumb crown is important to him, it’s important to me,” said Eda.

Luz looked back at King, he looked so happy over such a simple thing as a stuffed rabbit and a paper crown. Who was she to tell him that that crown wasn’t important.

“Us weirdos have to stick together,” said Luz.

“Now you’re getting it,” Eda said.

“Well, I need to go back in there.” Luz began walking towards the barrier. “I couldn’t find the portal door the first time, so–”

“Hold on a minute, kid. I wasn’t exactly…truthful about the door,” Eda interjected.

Luz stopped and turned around as she asked, “What do you mean?”

“I mean–”

Suddenly, Luz saw an imposing figure behind Eda. She immediately recognized the figure as Warden Wrath. The warden raised his right hand, transforming it into a crescent blade before swiftly slashing off Eda’s head. Eda’s head came flying towards Luz, out of pure instinct she caught the head in her hands, screaming her head off at just witnessing Eda getting murdered right in front of her, and holding Eda’s severed head. But then…

“OW! I hate it when that happens,” said Eda…Eda’s talking head.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! TALKING HEAD! TALKING HEAD!” Luz screamed. “E-E-Eda, a-are you okay?! H-How are you even alive?!”

“Don’t worry about it, kid. This just happens when you get older,” she replied.

“Finally, I have you right where I want you, Eda the Owl Lady.” Wrath walked towards them, but as he got closer to King, he grabbed the crown off his head.

“WEH!” King exclaimed.

“My guards couldn’t get you. But I knew if we took your little friend’s toy, you’d come running.”

Wrath crushed King’s crown in his grasp, and let it float down the floor where he stepped on it further.

“NOOOO!” King cried. “M-My…power.”

Luz glared at Wrath but managed to keep herself from doing something reckless in this situation.

“What do you want with me?! I never broke any of your laws…in front of you!” Eda exclaimed.

“I want you…” Suddenly, Wrath took out a bouquet of flowers and got down on one knee before Luz, well before Eda’s head, “to go out with me!”

“…Wha?”

“…What?!”

“Go boss!” One of his subordinates cheered.

Another gave him the thumbs up.

Wrath shot a thumbs up back to them and continued, “You’ve always eluded our capture. You’ve always been the one that got away. I found that alluring.”

“I hate everything you’re saying right now,” Luz commented.

“YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!” Wrath yelled as he threw the bouquet over his right shoulder and transformed his right arm.

It became a mass of tentacles for a moment before lashing out towards Luz. The tentacles, upon making contact with her, merged into a singular tentacle that raised Luz into the air. The Latina, unfortunately, dropped Eda’s head, which now rolled next to the warden.

“LET ME GO YOU CREEP!” Luz yelled.

“So, how about it, Owl Lady?” Wrath reached down with his left hand and picked Eda’s head up by her hair. “The most powerful witch of the Boiling Isles, and the feared Warden Wrath! We’d be the strongest power couple ever! I mean, it’s not like you can say no right now.”

Eda looked at Luz, and then at King. Her options were limited, but she had to think of a way out of this. Fortunately for her, Luz was a step ahead.

“OOOOOOOOOOUCH!!!!” Wrath screamed.

Eda and King looked up at Luz, who had just bitten the tentacle that was holding her. Warden Wrath immediately let her go, letting Luz fall from the air and land on her feet. Thinking quickly, Luz ran up to the warden, and swiftly, and with great precision, kicked him right between the legs. King, Eda, and the two subordinates winced when they saw Luz drive the tip of her shoe straight into his groin. At first there was no reaction, but after a couple of seconds, the warden released a high-pitched squeal as he let go of Eda’s head. Luz quickly caught Eda’s head, and the grabbed King by his collar and ran to Eda’s body.

“Boss! You, okay?! Boss?!” The subordinate asked.

“D-Don’t l-let them e-escape!” Wrath ordered with a squeaky voice.

Luz managed to reunite Eda’s head and body, and with a couple of neck cracks, Eda was back up and running.

“Kid, that was reckless, and stupid! Great work!” Eda praised.

Luz smiled as she proclaimed, “Like I said, Eda. If I can help someone in trouble, I can’t just ignore them!”

“Danger…”

Suddenly, Luz felt something, but not only that, she heard a voice. One that wasn’t from anyone in this room.

What was…?

That wasn’t the end of the surprises as the entire building began to rumble and shake violently. There was the sound of rocks splitting and cracking, and shaking, and then came a tremendous roar that rattled everyone to their bones.

“W-What the heck was that?!” King asked.

“What did you do, Owl Lady?!” Wrath accused.

“Hey, don’t look at me! I have no idea what’s going on!” Eda retorted.

Another of Wrath’s subordinates entered the room, his eyes wide with fear as he stopped before his boss.

“Warden! We-We have a situation! A BIG, BAD SITUATION!” he said.

“Out with it! What is it?!”

“A HUGE MONSTER IS HEADING OUR WAY!”

“WHAT?!!”

Wrath drew a circle of light in the air and pointed his right finger to the far wall. That section of the wall began to glow, with each individual brick parting to form a window to the outside. Once it was open, everyone beheld the monster that the guard was speaking of.

It stood about fifty meters tall and was reptilian in form. It was bipedal, with several sharp, silver blade-like spines running down its back and to its long tail. The creature had several razor-sharp teeth, yellow eyes with turquoise irises, and a glowing yellow horn at the center of its forehead. It stood on two legs and had two arms with five fingers and sharp claws at the ends. Its hide was rough, and scaly, with the majority of it colored a dark gray, and its armored chest cavity colored a lighter shade of gray.

DEMAAGA: THE ANCIENT MOLTEN MONSTER

Luz looked upon the giant monster heading their way, and yelled, “YOU GUYS HAVE KAIJU IN YOUR WORLD?!”

“What the hell is a Kaiju?!” Eda asked.

“You know, a giant monster! Like that!” Luz pointed straight at Demaaga in the distance. “Wait…these are normal here, right?”

“NO!!!” Everyone in the room yelled.

Demaaga released another roar into the air and continued to stomp its way towards the Conformatorium.

“H-How did you mess something that big?!” Wrath asked his subordinate.

“I-I-It just came out of the ground, Sir! It just burst straight out of the dirt and rock like it had been there this whole time or something!” he replied.

Wrath looked back at the approaching monster and muttered, “No way…something that huge…was hiding under our noses this entire time?!”

“Uh…guys…we need to run,” said Luz.

“And why should we listen to you, human?!” Wrath growled.

“Because that thing is about to launch an attack! Its whole back is glowing! Look!”

Wrath and everyone turned their attention back to Demaaga. Just as Luz said, Demaaga’s entire back was glowing bright orange. A moment later, the huge beast released dozens upon dozens of fireballs from its back and had them rain down on the entire area. Several explosions went off one after the other as fires started to spread out from the resulting explosions. Some of which hit the town nearby.

“CALL FOR BACKUP! WE NEED REINFORCEMENTS! AND BEGIN EVACUATIONS!” Wrath ordered.

“YES, SIR!” the three subordinates saluted and ran off.

Wrath ran after them, but not before turning his head to look over his shoulder and stated, “This isn’t over, Eda the Owl Lady.”

Once Wrath and his men were gone, Luz turned around and was about to run into the barrier again but was stopped by Eda.

“Eda what are you doing?! I need to go back in there and get the portal door!” Luz exclaimed.

“No, you don’t, Luz…It was never there in the first place,” said Eda.

Luz stopped her struggling and turned to face the Owl Lady.

“What do you mean?”

Eda sighed as she reached into her thick, long hair and pulled out a key that had the same eye symbol as the door. Luz watched as she pressed on the eye, and within seconds the portal door materialized before them.

“Wait…how…?”

“I’m sorry, Luz. I needed your help to get King’s crown back. I had every intention of sending you back once we were done, but now that thing showed up…well…it’s better that you go now before anything else happens,” said Eda. “Sorry for lying to you, Luz. But things are getting too heated – no pun intended – and I’m not about to see a kid die!”

“Eda…”

Demaaga let out another roar as the blade spines on its back began to glow bright red now. Luz, Eda, and King thought it was about to release another barrage of fireballs, but this time was different. Instead of a fireball barrage, Demaaga unleased a powerful, molten heat ray from its mouth. Demaaga strafed the heat ray towards the Conformatorium, but as soon as it hit, a defensive barrier appeared and blocked the attack. However, the barrier was not prepared to take on this level of power as the barrier shattered to pieces. Thankfully, it managed to dilute the damage as it struck the courtyard and blew it up.

“Okay, that’s it, we’re out of here!” Eda announced as she tapped on the key and dismissed the door. She got on her staff and had King go into her hair as she turned to face Luz. “Look, I know you may not trust me after that, but–!”

Luz hurriedly got on the staff.

“Let’s go! This is getting way too dangerous!” Luz stated.

Eda took off out of the window, but unfortunately, Demaaga was a lot closer than before. The giant monster spotted them flying out of the tower, and for whatever reason, unleashed another Molten Iron Heat Ray. Eda began taking evasive action as she flew around the beam, trying to keep them from getting turned into crispy critters. The heat was intense, it practically stung their skin just being in the general vicinity of the beam, much less what it would be like getting hit by it. Demaaga switched up and began shooting more Flame Bullets from its back, making Eda have to keep up with her evasive maneuvers.

However, one of the Flame Bullets exploded close to them, and the force of the explosion sent Luz flying off the staff. Everything happened in slow motion as Luz felt herself become weightless.

“EDA!” King yelled, drawing her attention.

Eda looked over her shoulder and watched as Luz fell from the staff and began to plummet towards the ground below.

“LUZ!!!”

“EDA!!! HELP ME!!!” Luz cried out.

Eda turned her staff around and flew straight after Luz. The Owl Lady pushed Owlbert to his limits, trying to get to Luz before she hit the ground. But Demaaga was not about to let that happen as he unleashed more Flame Bullets that rained down on the entire area. Several explosions went off in the air and around the ground, resulting in shockwaves that tossed Eda back and away from Luz. Eda watched helplessly as Luz fell into a crack in the earth that formed from the explosions, where she disappeared from sight.

“Luz…”

“No…”

(Present…)

Luz got up as she rubbed her head.

“Right, that’s what happened…Kaiju attack. But where am I?”

The Latina looked around, noticing that she had somehow fallen into some natural underground cave, but the real shocker was that she wasn’t dead.

“How in the world did I survive that?” Luz hissed a bit. “Okay, my body aches, but considering I fell out of the sky and deep underground, I guess it’d be too much to ask to walk away completely unscathed. But still…I really should be dead. AH! Maybe I did die! Did…Did I go to the bad place? WAH!”

Suddenly, Luz saw a sparkling blue ball of light that made her jump back.

“Okay, you can’t have my skin!” Luz exclaimed.

The ball of light didn’t say anything, it just floated in the air.

“…Um, okay, I guess you’re not alive-alive? What are you then?”

The ball of sparkling light floated towards the opening to a tunnel and waited there.

Does it want me to follow it? A low rumble came from up top. What’s the worst that could happen? It’s either that or wait here and get crushed to death by that Kaiju stomping around…I hope Eda and King are okay…and those people in the Conformatorium…

Luz pushed aside those thoughts for now and focused on her immediate problem. She began following the orb of sparkling light, heading deeper into the tunnel. As she walked, Luz began to notice something. The walls of the tunnel started to become less natural looking and started to become more manmade. The ball of light continued to lead Luz further in until they entered a different chamber. Once inside, the ball of light flew higher into the chamber and released even more light. Luz’s eyes widened as she looked upon what was in front of her.

“A…A giant?!”

Indeed, what stood before Luz was a giant stone statue of a woman. Although, its face and features looked different from the demons and witches she saw in the town, then again, she hadn’t been here that long to determine if this was a natural thing or not. However, Luz looked around the room and saw something else. The giant statue stood upon an altar, and the chamber walls had several pictures, and from what she could tell, they were depicting a giant woman battling equally giant monsters. If the scaling was to be believed.

“Wait, does that monster know you’re here? Is it after this statue? Or…Or is the statue you?” Luz asked.

There was a blue gemstone on the center of the statue’s chest that glowed blue and pulsed in response to her answer.

“If you are there! Then, please, you need to help them! There’s a monster up there that’s about to kill a lot of people! You have to save them!” Luz pleaded.

The statue didn’t pulse that time.

“Damn it…If I could, I would! I would fight that monster myself! I can’t just stand by!” Memories flashed through Luz’s head, of a man in a hospital bed, of his smiling face as he passed on. Luz fell to her knees as she began to cry. “I…I couldn’t help him…I couldn’t do anything to help Papá…Please, I’m begging you, help them…Because…I’m not strong enough to do it…”

The orb of light descended from the ceiling and hovered before Luz. When Luz looked up, the orb of light shot towards her left arm, splitting apart into two items. The first item appeared around her left bicep, it was purple and gold, and the top of it looked as if it could be flipped open. The second item was some kind of bracer, it had the same color pattern as the item on her bicep, but this one had a blue glowing gemstone on top of it, similar in shape to the one on the statue’s chest. There were four orbs surrounding it, but each one was grayed out for some reason. Just below that was an opening, if Luz had to wager a guess, it looked big enough for a card to slip in. As Luz looked upon the brace’s gemstone, her eyes flashed blue, and immediately, her mind was hit with information on what they were.

“Titannia Spark? This is the Titannia Spark,” said Luz. “And this thing on my arm, it’s called the Mystic Guard?”

The giant’s gemstone flashed blue in response to her question. Then the Mystic Guard opened, and out from it floated a card. Luz grabbed the card, which was bathed in purple light. But once she touched it, the card became a solid object. On the card was a glossy picture of a warrior woman in a battle pose. The card had a gold frame and had sparkling purple lights behind her.

Simply holding the card filled Luz’s mind with information, and that’s when she stood up and looked up at the statue with a determined expression.

“You’re name is Titannia, Ultrawoman Titannia. I get it, you’re telling me if I use this, I can fight as you, right?” Luz asked.

Titannia’s gemstone pulsed again.

“Alright, then let’s do this!” Luz exclaimed as she inserted the card.

{/|\}AWAKEN THE POWER WITHIN! {/|\}

“Arise, Guardian of Light! ULTRAWOMAN TITANNIA!!!”

Luz tapped on the center crystal and thrust her as her body transformed into pure light and flew straight into the gemstone of the statue. The statue itself began to glow until it was shining bright white. Within seconds, the statue became a ball of light that moved towards the center of the room and blasted its way through the ceiling of the chamber.

{/|\} ARISE, TITANNIA! {/|\}

Demaaga was continuously firing at everything, but it seemed to focus the majority of its attacks at the ground near the Conformatorium. Eda was still floating in the air, lamenting that she was not able to save Luz, and after she went and tricked the kid. It was her fault that she died.

“Eda…is she…?” King asked.

“I’m sorry, kid…I should’ve just sent you home…” Eda turned to glare at Demaaga, her blood boiling as she wanted nothing more than to make this creature pay for what it did. But she wasn’t a fool. She may be the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles, but even she wasn’t powerful enough to take on a monster of this size and power. “Next time monster.”

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble. Demaaga stopped its attacks as it took a few steps back. That’s when it happened, a huge ball of light blasted through the ground and went flying straight into the air. Upon reaching the sky, the ball of light transformed into a humanoid construct. The humanoid construct flipped around in the air before it landed with a thunderous “BOOM!!!” onto the earth below. A wave of purple light particles washed over the area, subduing the raging flames that Demaaga had set. The humanoid light construct raised its right arm into the air and held out his left as the light dimmed and revealed its true form to all those present.

The giantess was purple in color, with silver lines that ran along its chest and legs, and in the middle of her chest was a blue oval gemstone that was surrounded by a golden metal harness. The giantess’ head had a smooth and metallic finish, with yellow glowing eyes, violet markings at the edges of both eyes and one stripe that ran from the middle of her forehead and back behind her head. She had golden sharp ears, and a crystal halo that encircled the top of her head. One other distinguishing feature was that this giantess also had a snake tattoo that coiled around her left and right arm. This was the Guardian of Light, Ultrawoman Titannia.

***{\|/}***

Luz found herself in a nexus world filled with sparkling purple light. The Latina could feel a rush of power coursing throughout her entire body, and when she looked forward, she saw the monster that was wreaking havoc earlier. Upon looking at the monster through the eyes of this giantess, a name popped into her head.

“Demaaga. That’s this monster’s name, huh?”

Luz looked down, and from the vision of the Ultra, she saw her giant form, Titannia’s form. She brought her hands down and looked at them, flexing her fingers and watching as Titannia mimicked her movements.

“Okay, so do you want me to fight using your body and power? But how am I supposed to fight that thing?” Luz asked.

The Titannia Spark began to flash a few times. Luz raised it up and looked at it, and just like before, a blue light shined in her eyes, and information was instantly downloaded into her mind. It was strange, the moment the information hit her brain, her body started to tingle, as if it too was learning what Titannia had just placed in her mind.

“You gave me the tools, Titannia, so, let’s use them! Hyah!”

***{\|/}***

Titannia widened her stance as she flattened the palms of her hands and got into her fighting stance.

Demaaga roared challengingly at Titannia as it charged. The reptilian Kaiju raised its right arm and swiped its claw at Titannia, but the purple Ultra raised her left arm and instantly blocked the wild swing, creating a low booming sound in the air. Demaaga took another swing with its left arm, but Titannia, once again, blocked the blow with incredible ease. The Ultra hit Demaaga with a palm-heel strike, creating a small shockwave of purple light upon impact that sent sparks flying into the air.

The purple Ultra came in with a knife hand chop, striking Demaaga in neck, and sending more sparks into the air when she hit it. Demaaga took a few steps back, and swung its tail to trip up Titannia, the Ultra backflipped out of the monster’s range, but when she stopped, she noticed that the wind generated by the tail swing created a powerful gust that spread outward and hit a few homes.

“Gotta take this further away or else more people could get hurt” thought Luz.

“HYAH!”

Titannia ran straight for Demaaga and wrapped her arms around its body. Using all her strength, Titannia pushed Demaaga. The Ancient Molten Monster roared defiantly as it found itself being forced backwards, and then began firing its Flame Bullets from its back. The fireballs angled themselves downwards as they hit on and around Titannia’s body, creating multiple explosions, and just to add to the damage, the monster began striking at Titannia’s back with its claws, making sparks erupt from her body as she grunted from the pain of the assault.

“UGH! I’M NOT GONNA STOP! YOU OVERGROWN LIZARD!”

Despite the damage and attacks, Titannia kept pushing with all her strength and ran at full speed as she cut a groove into the earth, mowing down a few trees in the process. The purple Ultra let out a loud battle cry as she shoved as hard as she could and threw Demaaga far into the distance where it landed on its back in the forest area. Titannia glanced over her shoulder, double checking to make sure that they were far enough away from the town and the Conformatorium.

Demaaga took advantage of Titannia’s distracted state and fired its Molten Iron Heat Ray at the Ultra. Titannia looked back, but unfortunately, she was struck in the chest by Demaaga’s fiery beam, causing multiple sparks to fly off her body as an explosion went off, making Titannia skid backwards on her heels.

“Ouch, that hurt…Oh shoot!”

Demaaga had got back up and rammed its body into Titannia, making her fall onto her back. The fiery Kaiju opened its mouth as it came down to bite Titannia’s head off, but the purple Ultra raised her left arm up and let Demaaga bite down on that instead. Although it hurt, it was better than her head getting bitten off. The monster growled as it kept its jaws clamped on her arm, but Titannia made it regret its decision by forming a knife hand and thrusting into the side of the monster’s long neck. Sparks flew off the point of impact, making Demaaga release Titannia’s arm as it roared with pain.

The Kaiju raised its right foot as it readied to stomp on Titannia, but the purple Ultra rolled out of the way before it could land the stomp. Titannia quickly jumped back to her feet, got back into her attack stance, and decided to show it her determination. Titannia jumped into the air and threw a spinning roundhouse kick, hitting Demaaga right in the face. While it was disoriented, Titannia began unleashing swift punches to the monster’s abdomen, along with sharp, spear hand thrusts into the neck, the joints around its arms, and sides of its body. Demaaga was not able to keep up with Titannia’s swift and fierce attacks as it was forced to back away from her, knowing that it couldn’t defeat her in a close-range fight.

Deciding to finish Titannia in one shot, Demaaga began to build up its internal heat, generating more and more energy as its whole body started to glow red hot as the air became distorted from the heat it was generating.

“So, you want to hit me with everything you got? Then let’s do this!”

“HYAH!”

Titannia formed an “X” pattern with both of her arms over her chest, and then held them out down at her sides. Purple and yellow light began to build up and gathered around Titannia’s body as she slowly raised her arms into the air. When both her arms were over Titannia’s head, she brought them down, with her right arm bent vertically straight, and her left arm resting at the crook of her right arm, forming an “L” pattern.

“LUMINTIUM BEAM!!!”

Demaaga unleashed all its power into a super Molten Iron Heat Ray that tore up the ground in its wake. At the same time, all the built-up energy focused itself into Titannia’s right forearm as her Lumintium Beam, blasted forth with bright magenta light and golden helix streams of energy. The sparkling beam of light struck against the fiery beam of Demaaga, creating a powerful shockwave that rang out through the forest. The Kaiju and Ultra kept up their attacks, not letting their dueling beams let up for a moment. Just then, Titannia’s crystal began to blink red and let out a sound that sounded like an alarm.

“Wait, that sounds bad! Okay, then let’s give this everything we got Titannia!”

Titannia’s eyes and crystal shined brighter as the Lumintium Beam glowed brighter. The doubled energy pushed against Demaaga’s Heat Ray as it quickly overpowered it with each passing second. The fire breathing Kaiju was locked into their position, so there was no way to dodge what was coming. Finally, Titannia’s Lumintium Beam hit Demaaga, causing a huge explosion that destroyed the Kaiju in a great fiery blast as Titannia shut off her beam and stood resolute before her destroyed foe. The Guardian of Light looked up and then jumped straight into the air. Titannia zipped around for a moment before disappearing in the form of a purple star in the sky.

“Welcome everyone! This is Luz Noceda! And this is my Ultra Navi section!”

“And me, her co-host, King! The King of Demons! Bow to me people behind the screen!”

“Wow, King, what a debut! I got to fight a Kaiju! And kicked its butt!”

“Yeah, but you almost died before finding that chamber.”

“Oh, right…I did…Well, never mind that! Let’s introduce today’s monster!”

DEMAAGA

“Demaaga: The Ancient Molten Monster! It has the power to generate a tremendous amount of heat from inside its own body.”

“Wow, cool! Bet it never gets cold!”

“It also has two primary attacks. The Flame Bullet: which allows it to fire numerous fireballs from the spines on its back. And the Molten Iron Heat Ray – that’s a mouthful. Anyway, this is Demaaga’s most powerful attack as Demaaga builds up its internal heat and fires it in an intense beam of blazing energy that incinerates anything it touches!”

“You mean I can’t roast marshmallows with it?”

“Not unless you want to eat charcoal.”

"WEH!"

“And now there’s this gal!”

ULTRAWOMAN TITANNIA

“Unfortunately, we don’t know much about her. She was hidden in a tomb down below the ground. But what I can tell you is that Titannia is super strong, she fights with something called ‘space martial arts’, more specifically, Cosmo Beast Style: Striking Serpent Fist. Guess that’s why she has those snake tattoos.”

“I just thought they made her look cool?"

“Well, they do make her look cool, but I guess there’s actual meaning behind them. Oh, also, I can’t forget to mention her super powerful Lumintium Beam! It’s her strongest attack, anything hit with this baby is guaranteed to be a one-hit KO!”

“What kind of word is ‘lumintium’, anyway?”

“Not sure?”

“…”

“…”

*BZZZT*

“Oops, times up! Tune in next time everyone! Thanks for watching!”

“And next time, bring me offerings!”

Chapter 3: Episdoe 3: I Know What I Have To Do!

Chapter Text

“And then that human girl appeared. Don’t know if she’s gonna stick around, but it’ll be fun to have another friend in the Hoot House! Hoot.”

Hooty was busy talking to a…well…he was talking to a fly that was just buzzing in the air. The insect, for some inexplicable reason, had been listening to Hooty talk for several minutes now, which made it question its short life choices.

“But, gee, there sure was a lot of noise and explosions earlier. Wonder what that could’ve been? Hey! Wanna speculate for hours and hours about what it could’ve bee – ACK!”

The fly had had enough with living and decided to fly into Hooty’s mouth to end its life. Hooty smacked his lips for a moment and then tilted his head before smiling.

“Mmm, who knew friendship tasted so good.”

Just then, a beam of purple light shot down from the sky right outside the Owl House. Hooty released a loud “HOOT!” upon seeing the light, and quickly shut his eyes. When the light faded, Hooty dared to open his eyes and was shocked to see that the human, Luz, was now lying on the ground and seemingly unconscious. Hooty blinked a few times before extending his body out towards Luz. The house demon pecked at her head a couple of times, which made Luz release a few groaning sounds.

“Huh? I didn’t know humans could appear in blinding flashes of light. Cool!”

Hooty looked to the skies and spotted Eda flying in on her staff, with King nestled in her large bed of hair. The witch and demon looked absolutely downtrodden for some reason, but that didn’t matter to Hooty. When they landed, Hooty extended himself to them and greeted the pair.

“Hi, Eda!”

“Not now, Hooty…it’s…it’s been a night,” said Eda.

Hooty tilted his head and asked, “What happened?”

“A giant monster appeared at the Conformatorium…and…the human girl, she fell off the staff when we were getting away,” King explained. “She’s dead…”

“Huh? Oh, then, I guess that makes this human a different one?”

Eda and King both looked at the house demon with confusion. Hooty retracted himself a little and allowed them an unobstructed view of the unconscious human girl.

“LUZ!” Eda and King yelled at the same time.

“Oh, it’s another Luz then?” Hooty asked.

“Quit, playing around, Hooty! Let’s get her inside, now!”

Luz found herself in a dark abyss, for a second, she thought that she may’ve actually gone to the bad place this time. However, that fear was dispelled when she saw a flash of purple light. The light then took the form of, surprisingly, Ultrawoman Titannia.

“Whoa…uh…Titannia, you’re…here,” said Luz.

Titannia nodded her head.

“Does this mean we did it? I think we won, right?” Luz asked.

Titannia, again, nodded her head.

Luz released a sigh of relief, happy that she could destroy the monster before it could cause any further destruction to the island.

“Guess, that’s it then. Thanks for saving my life and everything, but I guess this is it for us, huh.”

Titannia shook her head in the negative.

“Wait? It’s not? Why not?”

Titannia waved her hand, and suddenly, the abyss was filled with multicolored silhouettes of different monstrous forms. They stood in a circle, surrounding both Luz and Titannia. Luz looked upon the silhouettes with worry as she looked back at the Ultra.

“Are…Are you saying there are more Kaiju?” Luz asked, worriedly.

Unfortunately, Titannia gave a nod of confirmation.

“Seriously?! T-Then, what do I do?!” Luz asked.

Titannia floated closer to Luz and finally spoke, but it was only two words, “Wake up…”

Luz opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was Hooty’s face.

“Morning, Luz!”

“AAAAH!”

The Latina’s first instinct was to punch the house demon in the face.

“Ow! I was just saying ‘good morning’. Ow! Hoot!”

Luz sat up and said, “Shoot, I’m sorry, Hooty! I was just surprised was all. Wait…if you’re here, then, am I back at the Owl House?”

“LUZ!”

The teen girl looked towards the archway and watched as King ran into the living room and jumped onto Luz’s lap, throwing his arms around her neck as he gave her a hug.

“Whoa, King, it’s okay, buddy. I’m alright,” said Luz.

Eda was the next to enter as she leaned against the archway and sighed with relief. “You had us worried there, kid.” The Owl Lady walked towards the other couch and sat across from Luz and King. “Seriously, though, I’m glad you’re alive. Now, how the heck did you survive that?”

“Yeah!” King interjected, “You fell to the ground!”

“Well, not exactly, you see…” Luz paused for a moment. Was it really alright to tell them about what happened? It wasn’t as if Titannia said that telling anyone about her was against some kind of rules or anything. Then again, there was a chance Eda or King might know something about Titannia. “Okay, guys, what I’m about to tell you going to sound crazy, but bear with me.”

And so, Luz went into her explanation on how she survived her fall. How she followed an orb of light through a tunnel underground and wound up in a long-forgotten temple and found the ancient statue of the giant of light known as Ultrawoman Titannia. Then she explained how she and Titannia merged into one being, allowing Luz to transform into the giant so that she could fight against the Kaiju known as Demaaga.

“We flew up into the sky, and then, well, I can’t remember what happened after that, but apparently, I somehow ended up back here,” Luz finished.

King, Eda, and Hooty looked at each other for a moment, and then looked back at Luz.

“Yeah, I think you hit your head pretty hard,” said Eda.

“Yeeeeeah, I don’t see that happening,” King added.

Luz stood up from the couch and exclaimed, “Hold on! You guys can do magic, have griffons that fly through the sky, and I’m sure a number of other things I haven’t seen yet. And this is something you find hard to believe?!”

All three of them nodded at once.

Luz huffed and said, “Alright, everyone, backyard! Now! I’ll show you!”

“Calm down, calm down. Okay, you can show us, follow me then.”

Eda decided to humor the human as she led them all out the backdoor and into the backyard area of the house. Once outside, Luz walked out ahead of them, trying to put as much distance as she could between the house and herself so that she wouldn’t accidentally crush the structure when she transformed. Once Luz was at, what she believed to be, a safe distance from the Owl House, the Latina closed her eyes and concentrated. The memories that Titannia downloaded into her mind were still there, so it didn’t take her long to summon the Titannia Spark and Mystic Guard.

From where they were standing, Eda, King, and Hooty saw two flashes of purple light coming off of Luz’s left arm.

Now that Luz had her transformation items, she flipped open the Mystic Guard and took out Titannia’s card. With one swift motion, she inserted the card into the Titannia Spark, making the gemstone on top of it shine with life.

{/|\} AWAKEN THE POWER WITHIN! {/|\}

“Uh…Eda, I don’t think Luz was joking…”

“I’m, uh, starting to think your right…”

“Arise, Guardian of Light! ULTRAWOMAN TITANNIA!”

Luz thrusted her left arm into the air as sparkling purple light erupted from Luz, obscuring her body from sight.

{/|\} ARISE, TITANNIA! {/|\}

When the light finally faded, King, Hooty, and Eda gasped, mouths agape, at what they saw.

“HOOT!”

“WEH!”

“Whoa…”

Titannia had her hands against her hips, standing proudly, and a bit smugly, upon hearing the surprised gasps of the three Demon Realm residents.

“HA! Told ya I’m Titannia!”

“Huh, I thought she’d be taller,” said Hooty.

“Hyah?”

Titannia, or rather Luz, just realized something major. She wasn’t looking down on them, that is to say, she didn’t grow tall at all. If anything, Titannia was the same height as Luz was, maybe a couple of inches taller, but certainly not her giantess height.

“WHAT?! H-How?! Is this thing broken? Why didn’t I go giant?”

Titannia looked at her body, she was transformed, and she felt powerful, but her height hadn’t changed at all.

“Okay, think, Luz, think. What did you do wrong? Is this like that Unison Dance thing from Dragon Claw Z? Did I pose wrong? Did I put the card in wrong? Eda, King, Hooty, did you see anything wrong with what I did?”

Now, Luz was saying all this, but what they heard was…

“Hyah, hyah! Hyah. Hyah? Hyah?”

Eda and King immediately went to Titannia, inspecting her body as they just listened to her to her make strange sounds.

“Holy Titan, Luz, you really did turn into Titannia!” King shouted excitedly.

Eda poked the side of Titannia’s arm, it had a strange feeling to it. Not quite skin, but some other type of organic material that she hadn’t ever encountered.

“Guys, can you understand me? Great, they can’t, can they?”

Just then, the Color Timer on Titannia’s chest started to blink red, causing Eda and King to move away from her.

“Ahh! What’s happening?!” King asked.

“Luz, are you okay?” Eda asked.

Titannia waved her hands as if to tell them to be calm, and after a few more seconds, Titannia’s body glowed again. Her form disappeared into particles of purple light, leaving Luz standing in Titannia’s place.

“Huh, that was a lot shorter than last time,” said Luz.

Eda walked up to the Latina and said, “Okay, I think we need to go over all this, one more time.”

Far away from the Owl House, an investigation was underway. After the battle between Demaaga and Titannia, the Emperor’s Coven had been dispatched to the combat zone. There were also witches sent to begin reconstruction on the damaged portions of the Conformatorium, as well as the town of Bonesborough. The foot soldiers of the Emperor’s Coven, the Coven Scouts, were busy surveying the initial point of awakening for Demaaga. They had traced its trail of destruction right back to a mountainous area, where it seemed as if the creature had just burst out of the landscape.

Leading this investigation was the Head Witch of the Emperor’s Coven. She wore a white cloak, similar to the rest of her subordinates, and wore a grayish-black dress. Her hair was raven colored and flowed down her back. Her skin was pale white, with black lipstick coloring her lips, and her eyes were an icy teal color. She stood before the hole in the mountain where Demaaga emerged from, watching as her Coven Scouts were examining it and taking whatever samples they could.

“Head Witch Lilith,” one of the Scouts called out.

Lilith watched as the Coven Scout approached her and asked, “Report, Steve.”

“Ma’am, the survey team’s confirmed it. Whatever this thing was, it was here the whole time,” said Steve.

“Impossible…Are they sure?” Lilith asked.

“They found indentations in the rockface, as if the land grew around it. That’s not something that happens overnight, at least from what they said,” Steve informed.

“Did they say how long it’s been here?”

Steve flipped through the report and stated, “Well, from what they could determine, and this is just preliminary, but it looks like…thousands of years, ma’am. There are layers of rock and sediment that show this thing may’ve been around either during or before the Hecktaticous Era.”

Lilith’s eyes widened with shock. An ancient giant monster that predates the fossil record of the Boiling Isles, and what’s more it wasn’t dead. Somehow, it had been asleep for all these thousands of years, just resting in the land itself, right beneath their feet.

“So many witches and demons have explored these lands, traversed these regions, and yet, not a single one has ever come across this creature,” said Lilith.

“Guess that’s a good thing. I don’t think any of us could’ve done a thing to stop it, either back then or now,” said Steve.

Lilith turned around and glanced towards the trail of destruction that led to the Conformatorium in the distance.

“The real issue here is what made it wake up in the first place.”

“That giant woman probably has something to do with it. From what the reports say, the giant appeared from under the Conformatorium,” said Steve. “Come to think of it, that monster was heading in that direction. Maybe it was looking for her?”

Lilith patted Steve on the shoulder as she said, “A very astute observation, Steve. If we want the answers as to why the monster even woke up in the first place, I think we need to find out who or what that giant is.”

“Alright, shoulder pats for Steve.”

With that thought in mind, Lilith and her trusted subordinate, Steve, took an airship back to the Conformatorium. They found a team of witches working to close the hole, but upon her instruction, were told stop until they had investigated what was in the hole. They brought some of the witches who specialized in the moving of earth with them as they descended the large whole in the airship. All ten of them made balls of light which illuminated the hole as they lowered further and further into the hole.

Finally, after several minutes, they found the bottom. Upon landing, all ten witches disembarked from the ship and made even more balls of light. The lights started to push back the darkness and allowed them to see what was hidden by it. Lilith gasped, before her was a huge altar, and all around them were paintings that seemed to depict an epic struggle between the giant and large monsters.

“Steve…”

“Yes, Head Witch Lilith…?”

“We need to get another team down here…NOW!”

After explaining, again, Luz sat on the couch and waited for their response. Now that they had the added proof that Luz could in fact turn into Titannia, it placed a whole different context on her story, and the battle between herself and the Kaiju.

“So, this ‘Titannia’, she’s you? Or you’re her?” Eda asked, confused.

“We’re just fused, I think. I don’t really know why, but Titannia needs me in order to fight. But when I transform, it’s not like she takes control of me. She just feeds me the knowledge of how to fight into my brain. Which is how I knew how to fight or use any of those awesome attacks and fighting moves,” said Luz.

“And you’re sure humans can’t do that kind of thing?” King asked.

Luz sighed and responded, “For the tenth time, King, no. Humans cannot transform into giants. Although…”

“What?” Eda questioned.

“Well…There are legends and folklore in my world about giants, but you also said that our legends were born because some of the Demon Realm leaks into the Human Realm. But even if that were true, the only ones similar to Titannia would be mythological gods,” Luz pondered aloud.

“Well, we have giant demons, but none of them come close to the height of Titannia, the biggest ones only stand about two stories, at most. Not the colossal thing you turned into,” Eda explained.

“Yeah, and none of them can fight like you did, or shoot beams of light out of their arms,” King added.

“And you’re sure you guys don’t have any legends or stories about giants like Titannia?” Luz questioned.

“Kid, trust me, would we look so shocked if we had legends like that? Heck, we don’t even have any legends or stories about that monster you fought!”

That was true, Warden Wrath, Eda, King, they all said they never saw a Kaiju before. And the looks on their faces when they did see it were sure enough proof of that. There was still so much that Luz didn’t know about the Kaiju, and about Titannia.

“Okay, well, with all that said and done…” Eda got up from the couch and took out the portal door key from her hair. “I think it’s time you went back home.”

“Wait, what?! You’re sending me now?!”

Eda gave the Latina and confused stare as she said, “Why not? Luz, you almost died out there, and it would’ve been my fault. I should’ve sent you home the moment I found you, but instead I used you and put you in danger. I don’t mind danger, but only when it’s my butt on the line. I dragged you into our mess, and you nearly got killed ‘cause of me. Now, it’s time for you to go home.”

Luz stood up now and quickly said, “B-B-But there’s still so much we don’t know! That I don’t know! Like, who or what is Titannia? Why was there a Kaiju sleeping in the ground, and, the big question, am I like this forever? I can’t go back yet, Eda.”

Eda had to admit, the human girl had a point. Despite the fact that the monster was destroyed, she still retained the power to transform. Even if it wasn’t into the giant, Luz was still able to change. That was a lingering question.

“Okay, but where do we even start with the answers? I guarantee you, there aren’t any books in the library about what you turned into,” said Eda.

“Well, there is one place we might find answers,” said Luz.

Eda raised an eyebrow in confusion for a moment, and then it struck her.

“No way, we aren’t going.”

“But that underground temple is where I found the statue. Where Titannia and I merged. There were paintings all over it, but I didn’t really take the time to look at them because of, well, the big Kaiju that was about to kill people,” said Luz.

Eda scratched at her head as she said, “It’s not that I don’t think we might find something there, it’s just that…”

“It’s crawling with Coven Scouts right now,” King answered.

“Huh?”

King walked out of the room, and a few seconds later, he returned with a crystal ball. The little demon placed the crystal ball on the coffee table and gave it a tap. After a moment, the crystal ball glowed and began to display a person inside. He looked African American, with a yellow vest, and white shirt underneath. The man wore glasses and held a mic to his right hand, and behind him were several people moving about in a big operation.

{This is Perry Porter, coming to you live from the Conformatorium. Last night, two giant creatures fought just outside the town of Bonesborough, and now, the Emperor’s Coven is investigating the appearance of the monster and the giant. Currently, they seem to be concentrating their investigation on this spot where the female giant emerged from.}

“Wow, you guys have your own cable news. Cool! But I still don’t get it,” said Luz.

“The Emperor’s Coven is all over that site. We won’t be able to get to it with them crawling all over the place,” Eda informed. “If we’re going to do this, then we’ll need to be sneaky about it. A lot sneakier than how we got into the Conformatorium.”

“Yes, another break-in!” King exclaimed.

Eda gave the little demon a stern look as she said, “Not this time, King. We’ll need to move fast, so, for now, you’ll be staying here.”

King groaned in annoyance at being left behind, but Luz came over and gave the little demon a pat on the head.

Far in the distance, near one of the huge rib bones of the Titan. The land began to shake and rumble. Part of the rocks that formed the mountain around the giant rib bone fell away, revealing two glowing orange eyes.

It was nighttime in Bonesborough, but the Conformatorium was lit up like a Christmas tree. Work crews were busy in the rebuilding of some of the damaged parts of the tower and walls, and to parts of the city as well. Most of the light was concentrated at the giant hole where Titannia emerged from, along with the trail of destroyed land and trees where Demaaga came from. There were a couple of Coven Scouts heading towards the worksite, but suddenly stopped when they spotted someone suspicious.

“Oh no, it is I, Eda the Owl Lady. Walking around this restricted area,” Eda announced in a monotone.

One of the Scouts turned to the other and asked, “Uh, what do we do about that? I mean, she’s technically in a restricted zone, but do we even bother?”

“Hmm, you know what, let’s get her! Have you seen the bounty on her! If we turn her in, we can both retire early!” the female Scout replied.

With their plan agreed upon, the two Coven Scouts ran towards Eda. The Owl Lady ducked into an alleyway, with the two Scouts on her tail.

“Sleep spell!”

A moment later, a flash of blue light went off, followed by two thuds. There was some rustling coming from the alley for a few minutes before both of the Scouts waltzed out of the alley. Although, the clothes for one of them were a bit baggy.

“Uh, Eda, I don’t think this’ll work,” said Luz.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, that’s a problem. One sec.” Eda drew a spell circle and within a few seconds Luz’s uniform resized itself to fit her. “There ya go.”

“I love magic,” Luz commented as she flexed her hands inside of the gloves.

“Just follow my lead, kid.”

The newly disguised duo headed to the main worksite, passing through several checkpoints without any of the other Coven Scouts so much as batting an eye. Or if they were, it was kind of hard to tell due to the bird beak helmets they were wearing. Once they neared the big hole, they looked down at it and saw how the bottom was lit up.

Eda whistled and said, “Dang, kid, you really made a big entrance.”

Luz chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her head.

The Owl Lady spotted another Scout and said, “Hey there fellow Coven Scout. The two of us were called in to go down that big hole and help out with the, uh, stuff going on down there.”

There was a long pause, and for a moment, Luz thought that they may’ve been found out. But then the Scout sighed.

“Must be new recruits. Alright, head that way towards the lift with the rest of the relief crew,” said the Scout as he pointed towards said lift.

“Thanks, handsome,” Eda replied as she clicked her tongue and made a finger gun gesture.

“Uh, thank you very much!” Luz added as she followed behind Eda.

Eda and Luz managed to squeeze into the lift with the rest of the Coven Scouts, and together they descended down the long chasm. After about thirty minutes they arrived at the bottom of the hole where several Coven Scouts were busy at work. Some were taking photographs of the paintings, while others were using excavation tools, digging in specific areas while others were collecting samples here and there. Once the lift came to a stop, the doors opened and allowed them all to get off.

One of the Coven Scouts was waiting for them and said aloud, “Alright crew, name’s Steve, and today you’re going to be helping us out with digging this place up. We’ve divided this place into different sectors in order to keep things orderly. That being said, until further notice, everything you see and hear here is hush-hush.”

They were all given different sectors to go to, and thankfully, Luz and Eda were in the same one. Once they arrived, Luz and Eda were given the task of cataloging the different pictures that were taken of the wall paintings. Which worked for them as Luz was wanting to have a look at them anyway.

“So, what you think?” Eda asked.

Luz looked over the photographs of the different cave paintings. In each of them, it showed Titannia battling Kaiju, but there was something else. There were portions that had faded away, and others that were cracked and chipped due to centuries of neglect and the shifting sediment and rock.

“Looks like Titannia’s been around for a bit, but…I don’t know.” Luz glanced towards the altar where Titannia’s statue used to be. “The ancient demons and witches of your world thought it was important to build this temple around Titannia’s statue, to tell her story. But you’d think that there would be more if something as important as this was here.”

“Well, is this triggering anything? Titannia’s inside you, right? Is she getting any kind of déjà vu?”

Unfortunately, Luz couldn’t sense anything of the sort.

Maybe Titannia’s still recovering. If that’s the case, then this might not be enough to make her remember, thought Luz.

“EXCUSE ME!”

The Scouts, along with Eda and Luz, turned their gaze towards the center of the chamber and saw the leader of the Emperor’s Coven glaring down at a small demon woman. She wore a white coat with gold edges, her skin was a deep crimson color, with a turquoise claw-like hand acting as her hair and covering one of her eyes. The collar came up so high that it covered her mouth and nose, masking most of her visage. She was holding her hands behind her back as she looked up at the Head Witch, seemingly unfazed by the other woman’s incredulous expression.

“I did not stutter, Lilith. The Emperor has ordered that you wrap up your investigation of this temple in the next forty-eight hours, and then have it filled,” said the demon woman.

“Kikimora! You cannot honestly expect me to believe that the Emperor wants this all destroyed! This is the historical find of the century! A lost piece of the Demon Realm’s history is here! And you expect me to think that the Emperor wants it buried!”

“I came here on his majesty’s behalf to personally deliver that message to you, but if you don’t believe me, by all means, go and have an audience with him yourself,” Kikimora stated.

“Oh, believe me, I will! Right now!” Lilith held out her left hand, and a moment after, a staff made of white polished wood appeared in it. The staff had a raven figure carved at the top, which Luz figured was this Lilith woman’s little animal friend like Eda’s. “Steve! You’re in charge of this site until I get back! I want no stone unturned! Everything gets cataloged, photographed, and sampled! I want enough to recreate this topside if need be!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Steve saluted.

With her orders given, Lilith mounted her staff and quickly flew up and out of the chasm.

“Ooh, wow, she is ticked,” said Eda.

“Do you know her?” Luz asked.

“Eh, in a way, yeah. But never mind that right now. You heard what they said. Let’s look around as much as we can before something else happens.”

“KIKIMORA!”

“Too late,” Eda groaned.

One of the Scouts was coming down the lift but was in so much of a hurry that they fell over, scrambling to get to her.

“What is it you hangnail?” Kikimora asked in annoyance.

“Ma’am! We just got a report! Another monster was spotted in the skies! And it was heading this way!” she said.

That caught the attention of everyone in the chamber as they quickly surrounded the Scout and Kikimora.

The demon woman looked up at the Scout and said, “What do you mean ‘another one’?! And it’s flying?!”

“We got word from the Latissa station, they saw something huge fly over the city,” said the Scout.

“And you’re certain it’s heading this way?” Kikimora asked.

“If it keeps its current heading, they believe so. But it might change course! For now, they’re trying to keep pace with it in the airships!”

Luz and Eda heard all of this, but the human girl knew what she had to do. She glanced around the area and spotted the same tunnel she used to get to this chamber when she was led by the ball of light. Carefully, Luz backed out of the crowd of Scouts, with Eda following her. Once they were near the entrance to the tunnel, Luz broke out into a sprint as she ran down the tunnel. Eda summoned her staff and quickly got on it as she flew next to Luz.

“What are you doing?!” Eda asked.

“You heard them! Another Kaiju is heading this way! I have to go out and do something about it!” Luz stated.

“What about getting info on Titannia?”

“It’s not going to matter if people die in the process! I’m not just going to stand by and let another monster rampage like the last one!”

Eda sighed frustratingly as she drew a spell circle and wrapped Luz in a golden aura of light. With a flick of her wrist, Eda put Luz on the back of her staff.

“Then hang on, I can at least get you topside so you can change!”

“Thanks! Head down the tunnel and there should be a cave, and above that should be a crack where I fell through the first time!”

“On it!”

The monster flew through the skies of the Boiling Isles, on a clear course for the town of Bonesborough. The Kaiju had armored scales all over its body that were navy blue in color. Along the scale armor were rounded nodes that glowed bright orange and had yellow points of light in the center of them. The creature had two arms and legs that seemed to be a collection of six thin legs kept close together. The monster’s body was covered in spikes, with the ones running along the back of its long neck curved into the shape of blades. Its head was also armored and had four glowing orange eyes. It possessed a bisected mouth that had razor sharp teeth at the top of its jaw, and along both segments of its lower jaw. Behind the monster were twin tails that were spike tipped, which undulated up and down as the monster flew. The Kaiju’s chest had more glowing nodes, but they were slanted, giving it the appearance of having eyes on its chest.

DINOZAUR: THE ANCIENT IRON-SEVERING MONSTER

The airships bearing the insignia of the Emperor’s Coven followed the slow flying monster, about ten in total, with some flying above it and others flying on either side of it. So far, the monster had not attacked, but that didn’t mean it was not going to soon. The airships occupants noticed Bonesborough in the distance, and if the monster was heading there to wreak havoc like the last one, then it was going to cause a lot of damage to the town and many people would be killed. Bearing that in mind, all ten ships communicated with each other, and decided to commence an attack while they were still in a forest region with no civilians around.

The airships got into attack formation, with some of the Coven Scouts onboard drawing huge spell circles and channeling their magical energy into them. Once they had built up enough of a charge, the Scouts fired their spells, releasing large blasts of concentrated magical energy. Unfortunately, when compared to the huge size of the flying monster, the beams of magical energy looked like little more than a weak firecracker hitting a brick wall. Nevertheless, despite knowing that it was futile, they had hoped to at least make the monster change its direction.

The monster’s four eyes shifted back and forth between the airships before releasing an annoyed roar. That was the only warning given as some of the nodes from its body glowed and fired off something that looked akin to a missile. They were wrapped in a kind of organic armor, with flames blasting out beneath them as they flew through the air. The Organic Missiles managed to find at least three of its targets, hitting the airships and blasting them out of the sky. The flaming wreckage fell out of the air and to the ground below where they exploded a second time. The remaining salvos hit the ground below, randomly destroying parts of the forest, with one of the Organic Missiles zooming over Bonesborough and exploding against the giant rib bone in the distance.

The monster slowed itself down, allowing the airships to fly ahead of it. Once they were in range, the Kaiju opened its mouth bisected mouth. There was a high-pitched screeching sound ringing through the air when it did this, which made the Scouts on the ships wonder if it was trying to initiate some kind of sound-based attack. However, that theory went out the window when one of the ships was suddenly sliced in half in the blink of an eye. The Coven Scouts were flung from the ship as the two halves of the ship plummeted to the ground below. Then another ship was slashed in half, followed by a third, a fourth, and fifth ship.

Realizing that they had no way to see what was attacking them, and the fact that they had no way of realistically causing damage to this monster, the remaining airships flew ahead to try and warn the town and evacuate as many of the citizens as they can on their vessels.

In the distance, Eda and Luz were flying through the air. The Owl Lady and human teen witnessed the destruction of the airships, which made Luz grip the staff tight out of anger, knowing that that monster just killed those people.

“Eda, climb up as high as you can!” Luz requested.

“You’re gonna do something crazy, aren’t you?” Eda asked.

“Yeah!”

“Alright then!”

Eda angled the staff straight up, making them fly higher and higher to the point that the town looked small below. Once Luz was sure they were high enough, she patted Eda on the back.

“After this, head to the town and try and get them to get safety or whatever you can do,” said Luz.

With those words said, Luz released her hold on the staff and let herself fall backwards off of it. The wind howled around the teen’s ears as she found herself in free fall. The first time this happened she was knocked off the staff by an explosion, but this time she did it knowing that she had a way to survive the landing. Luz held out her left arm as she concentrated, and within seconds the Titannia Spark and Mystic Guard appeared once again. The Latina took out the Titannia Card and looked at it for a moment.

“Please, let me become a giant again! We have to stop that thing!” Luz quickly inserted the game card into the Titannia Spark.

{/|\} AWAKEN THE POWER WITHIN! {/|\}

“Arise, Guardian of Light! ULTRAWOMAN TITANNIA!”

{/|\} ARISE, TITANNIA! {/|\}

A sparkling sphere of light erupted and surrounded Luz’s body. The sphere grew bigger and bigger until it shattered apart, revealing the Guardian of Light, Ultrawoman Titannia. The Ultra warrior flipped around until she was right side up and started to hover in the air.

“Holy crap, you can fly! Sweet! Okay, now for that thing.”

Titannia looked straight at the monster in the distance, and the moment she did, the name of this monster appeared in her mind.

“Dinozaur, huh. Alright, Dinozaur, let’s rumble!”

“HYAH!”

Titannia flew straight towards the monster as full speed. Dinozaur spotted her and immediately fired off its Organic Missiles, unleashing a full barrage at the Ultra. Titannia took evasive maneuvers, ascending into the air as the missiles seemed to be tracking her. The warrior of light quickly charged her arms and placed them in an “L” formation.

“LUMINTIUM BEAM!”

Titannia fired her Lumintium Beam at the incoming Organic Missiles, destroying in them and setting off multiple explosions in the air. Dinozaur looked up, wondering if its attack managed to hit the Ultra, but before it could wonder if that was the case or not, Titannia dropped through the flames and smoke. She led with both of her feet as she struck Dinozaur in the back, sending the flying monster straight to the ground with a thundering boom sound echoing through the air. Titannia backflipped in midair and landed on the ground close to where Dinozaur landed and got into her attack stance, ready for the monster to rise.

Once Dinozaur managed to get back on its feet, Titannia charged in for the attack. However, Dinozaur opened its mouth, and that same screeching sound could be heard in the air again. Titannia stopped in her tracks when she heard the strange sound Dinozaur was making.

“What the heck is that sound it’s making?”

Suddenly, Titannia was struck by something invisible as sparks flew off her body. The giant of light was struck again, this time at her left thigh, causing more sparks to erupt from the impact. Titannia quickly raised her arms up, in an effort to defend herself, but the invisible assailant kept striking her. It felt like a razor-sharp whip was lashing at her body, and unfortunately, like the fight with Demaaga, Luz could feel the impact and pain of it.

“AAH! That hurts! What is that thing doing?!”

For a moment, Titannia saw something. A glimmer, or more like a sheen off of something metallic. It looked long and was whipping back and forth. Deciding to get out of range, if she could, Titannia jumped backwards until she put a fairly wide gap between herself and Dinozaur. Once she had, Dinozaur stopped doing whatever it was doing as the screeching sound stopped.

“Okay, whatever that thing did, it stopped. So, if I can’t get in close, I’ll just attack it from here!”

Titannia made an “X” formation with her arms before holding them out to her sides, she raised her arms over her head before bringing them down, bending her right arm and resting her left forearm in the crook of her right, creating an “L” formation as her energy gathered to her right forearm.

“LUMINTIUM BEAM!”

The Ultra warrior fired another beam attack, but as the beam sailed towards Dinozaur, its mouth opened again, and that screeching sound was released. As soon as the beam got close, that same invisible weapon began rapidly slashing at Titannia’s Ultra Beam attack. It was as if the beam was getting swatted at, like slapping water.

“You gotta be kidding me! This thing can mess with my beam! Huh…wait a minute…”

Titannia looked closer, and now with the added light of her beam attack, she could see it more clearly. Dinozaur was using some kind of extremely thin whip-like tongue. The shrill, high-pitched noise it was emitting was from the vibrations of that tongue oscillating at superspeed.

“So, some kind of high frequency whip weapon. It’s vibrating so fast that it can cut through almost anything. No wonder it cut down those airships so easily, and why those hits hurt so much. Ugh, if you didn’t have a tough body, Tee, we’d probably be dead.”

Titannia stopped her beam attack, there was no point in continuing it if the monster was just going to cut it down. When she stopped, Dinozaur took the initiative and began releasing more of its Organic Missile salvos on Titannia. The Guardian of Light quickly began dodging the missiles, letting them explode harmlessly against the ground around her, however, there were some that were heading straight towards the town.

“NO!”

The Ultra warrior broke into a full sprint, tearing up the ground from her sudden acceleration. She managed to get out in front of the town and was prepared to use her body as a shield, but that’s when Titannia made Luz aware of a defensive technique. Titannia slammed her palms together as lavender light began to spark between them. When the missiles neared, Titannia thrusted both of her hands forward.

“Grand Wall!”

A crystal shaped construct wall of light appeared before Titannia, expanding until it was large enough to protect not just herself but the town. The missiles exploded against the defensive wall and thankfully was holding up. Dinozaur began unleashing a barrage of its Organic Missiles, making it hard for Titannia to leave that spot for fear of letting the missiles strike the town behind her. The giant woman glanced down and noticed that there were some witches and demons looking up at her with some fear.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET OUT OF HERE!”

“Hyah! HYAH!”

The citizens seemed afraid, and since she couldn’t speak normally when she was Titannia, Luz was at a loss as to how to get them to move.

“HEY, GET A MOVE ON!” Titannia and the citizens watched as Eda the Owl Lady came flying towards them as she addressed the people. “SHE CAN’T HOLD THAT FOREVER! MOVE YOUR BUTTS SO TITANNIA CAN FIGHT THAT THING!”

Titannia vigorously nodded her head, showing that that was what she wanted them to do. Both the gesture and Eda’s words were enough to get the people running out of the danger zone. Once they were gone, Eda looked up at the giant of light.

“YOU GOT THIS!” Eda yelled as she flew out of the area.

“Thanks, Eda! I’m not going to let this thing beat me! We will protect these people!”

“HYAH!”

Titannia propelled her Great Wall forward, making the remainder of the Organic Missiles explode against it, and shrouding the area between Titannia and Dinozaur in thick black smoke. Unfortunately, the excess use of her energy made her Color Timer start to blink red.

“Okay, lesson learned, be more mindful of how much energy I use. But how am I supposed to beat this thing? If I get too close, it’ll just use that whip tongue. And at this distance, I’ll just get blasted with missiles. Could really use an idea here, Tee.”

Just then, Luz’s mind flashed with the image of the snake tattoos on her arms, the mark of the Cosmo Beast Style: Striking Serpent Fist. The memory of a technique of this Space Martial Art shined brighter than the others, and the power of this memory flowed into Luz’s body as she learned the technique.

“Okay, Tee, let’s give this a shot!”

“HYAH!”

Titannia’s body started to glow with purple light. As this happened, the tattoos on both of her arms glowed bright white as images of those snake tattoos appeared behind her. Titannia waved her hands around, gathering the energy that rose from her body to her flat palms. Once the energy had gathered, Titannia took her fighting stance as the energy transformed into two blades of bright purple light that surrounded both of her hands.

With the blades formed, Titannia jumped straight into the air as she flew straight towards Dinozaur. The Kaiju fired more of its Organic Missiles at Titannia, but as soon as the missiles neared her, Titannia slashed them with her hand blades in quick succession as she flew past them, igniting several explosions behind her as she continued on her path for Dinozaur. The Iron-Severing Kaiju opened its mouth and lashed out with its Dislocation Scooptaser. However, Titannia dropped out of the sky and landed on the ground a few meters away from Dinozaur as she started slashing the air out in front of her. Each swipe managed to counter Dinozaur’s Dislocation Scooptaser, but Titannia didn’t stop there. She charged in as she kept deflecting each hit from the invisible weapon.

Dinozaur was backing up, realizing that Titannia wasn’t backing down from its attacks and was going full steam ahead. The two serpent tattoo images appeared on either side of Titannia as they hissed loudly before shooting straight into the hand blades and caused them to glow brighter and crackle with even more power.

“STRIKING SERPENT FIST: FANG BLADE SLASH!!!”

Titannia formed an “X” with her arms as the added power started cutting through the Dislocation Scooptaser. Once Titannia was upon Dinozaur, she slashed with both her hands, creating two large purple energy crescents that caused a huge amount of sparks to fly from Dinozaur. The beast took a few steps back as two purple glowing gashes formed on its chest, sparks continuing to fly from its wound before it fell to the side. Titannia turned her back to the monster just as a large explosion went off behind her, casting dark shadows on the giant of light as her Crystal Halo, Color Timer, and eyes shined in the night.

Once the flames died down, Titannia released the energy from around her hands. The Guardian of Light looked up and then jumped straight into the air. Titannia zipped around for a moment before disappearing in the form of a purple star in the sky.

Unlike last time, Luz reappeared at the edge of Bonesborough. She quickly threw off her disguise to make it easier for Eda to find her. That took several minutes as the town was still in a semi-state of chaos after the battle was over, but thankfully it was over. Eventually, Eda did manage to find Luz and the two of them headed back to the Owl House. King immediately clung to the human girl, a little shaken since he could hear the explosions and monster roars all the way to the Owl House. But after explaining and assuring that the monster was dead, King calmed down. The witch woman and teen human plopped onto the couch together, with King sitting between them, as they let out a sigh.

“Well, that was an eventful night,” said Eda.

“Oh yeah…I just wish I could’ve seen more of that temple, though,” Luz lamented.

“Unfortunately, if what that Kikimora woman said is true, it’ll be gone in two days. And Lilith is going to be scouring that whole place from top to bottom before that happens. I don’t think we’ll be able to go back there again. Sorry, kid.”

“I guess it’s alright, for now. Nothing really triggered Titannia’s memories. So, maybe there wasn’t really anything there? Or if there is, that Lilith woman might find it.”

Eda reached into her hair again and pulled out the portal key as she said, “Alright, well, what do you want to do?”

“You’re asking me?” Luz asked.

“Honestly, I think sending you back home would be the better decision here. You got a family back in your world, and you should go back to them,” Eda said. “But I’m leaving it up to you. This time, it’s your choice.”

Luz looked at the portal key, thinking hard on what she needed to do. But really, she knew what she needed to do.

“This is just me theorizing, but…I don’t think this is the end.”

“What do you mean?” King asked.

“Yesterday, a monster woke up. And today, another monster woke up and attacked. Those murals on the walls of the temple showed that Titannia fought against multiple Kaiju in the past. What if not all of them were destroyed? What if some of them just went to sleep?” Luz speculated.

Eda had to admit, that was a good theory, and a frightening one at that.

“Wait a minute, if that’s true, what put them all to sleep in the first place? And what turned Titannia into a statue?” King questioned.

“A lot of questions, and not many answers,” Eda commented. “And you might be right, kid. There could be more of those, uh, Kai-ju, sleeping undisturbed for the last few centuries.”

Luz nodded and said, “And if that’s the case, I have to stay here and fight against them. You guys don’t have any kind of anti-Kaiju weapons, and right now Titannia and I are the only ones who can take them down. Plus…I really don’t know what I’m going to do with the power to turn into a giant woman in my world. We don’t exactly have any Kaiju walking around that I can use this power on.”

“But what about your parents? You’re telling me they’re not going to be worried about you?” Eda questioned.

“I was actually supposed to be away at a summer camp for the next three months. So, why not let me stay for these three months and protect the Boiling Isles? And when camp’s over I can make little trips back and forth between the Human Realm and Demon Realm with that door of yours,” Luz suggested.

Eda pondered the idea for a bit. The Demon Realm was facing a threat from a forgotten era, and the only one who could really do anything about it was this human teenager sitting in her living room who happened to merge with the one being who could fight them.

“Alright, then from here on out, you’re a new tenant of the Owl House, Luz.”

“Yes!” Luz exclaimed as she fist pumped. “Oh, and to throw off suspicions about why you have a human living in your house, you can make me your witch apprentice!”

“Huh? My apprentice?” Eda asked, confused.

“I’ve always wanted to learn magic, to be hero like my idol, Good Witch Azura! Plus, who knows, learning magic might help me with my monster busting later?”

“Heh, okay.” Eda stood up from the couch and turned to face Luz as she held out her right hand. “Then I hope you’ll be ready to work, ‘apprentice’.”

Luz stood up as well and shook Eda’s hand vigorously.

“Oh, you know it!” There was a popping sound and Luz stopped shaking Eda’s hand. When she looked down, she saw that said hand was detached from Eda’s arm. “AAAAH!”

King watched as Luz panicked and fell backwards onto the floor as he said, “Yeah, you’re definitely gonna need to get used to that.”

After that little freakout, Luz was set up inside, what had been, a storage room. She laid out her sleeping bag and put her backpack against the wall behind her, intent on unpacking fully tomorrow. She had slipped into a tank top and boxers for her nightwear and plopped onto her sleeping bag, feeling the exhaustion of the last couple of days finally start to hit her. Luz heard a knock at her door and sat up to see King standing in the doorway with this new stuffed bunny, Francois.

“Your sleep cocoon looks comfortable,” King commented.

Luz smiled at the little demon and patted her sleeping bag in a silent affirmation for him to come and sleep next to her. King didn’t hesitate to take her up on the invitation as he found a spot on the sleeping bag and curled up with Francois before dozing off. Luz figured the little demon was probably a little scared, considering that two Kaiju had attacked his home in the last two days.

He probably feels safer with me here, thought Luz.

The Latina took out her phone and noticed that her mother had texted her a couple of times, asking how camp was so far. A small pit in Luz’s stomach formed. Her mother thought she was at summer camp, being taught how to be less weird, but instead, Luz stumbled upon a world where everything was nothing but weird. And now she had the ability to transform into a giant warrior woman.

The less she knows the better.

[Sorry for not replying right away, Mami. I’ve been adjusting to how things work here at camp. Like you said, this summer may not be how hoped it would be, but I think I’ll like it here. Te amo, Mamá.]

Luz yawned loudly as she placed her phone next to her and drifted off to sleep. Wondering what adventures awaited her in this new world.

“Welcome everyone! This is Luz Noceda! And this my Ultra Navi section!”

“And me, her co-host, the King of Demons! Where are my offerings?!"

“Calm down, King. I’ll get you some offerings at the end of the segment, cool?”

“Really? Yay! You’re all off the hook…for now!”

“Oh boy…Anyway, today’s episode has left me with more questions than answers. I’m still bummed that I won’t be able to see all those paintings about Titannia’s past.”

“Yeah, too bad another of those monsters showed up.”

“Speaking of which, today’s monster is this looker!”

DINOZAUR

“The Ancient Iron-Serving Monster, Dinozaur! This guy was a real piece of work. Not only can it fly, but it can also shoot out these Organic Missiles from the glowing spots on its body.”

“And there were a lot of them.”

“Oooh yeah, so many. But those are nothing compared to its nastier weapon, the Dislocation Scooptaser! A near two-dimensional tongue at that can vibrate at fast speeds. The tongue can extend to ten thousand meters in length but is only one angstrom (0.1 nanometers) wide.”

“Say what?”

“Basically, it’s tongue is so thin and vibrates so fast that it’s practically invisible to the naked eye and can cut through nearly anything.”

“Ah, now I get it! That must’ve hurt getting hit by that thing.”

“Ugh, tell me about it. I can still feel the stinging sensation from those hits.”

“And what about that attack you used to defeat it?”

“Oh, that was another one of the Titannia’s Cosmos Beast Style. Striking Serpent Fist: Snake Fang Slash. By channeling the energy of her Cosmo Beast into her hands, Titannia can create blades of light like a snake’s fangs over her hands and slash through her opponents like a hot knife through butter.”

“Mmm, okay, I want my offerings to be breakfast related!”

“Now that you mention it, I haven’t eaten anything since getting here. I could go for some breakfast too.”

*BZZZT!*

“And that’s it for this segment, see you next time!”

Chapter 4: Episode 4: The Power of Friendship!

Chapter Text

Luz’s time in the Demon Realm was…uneventful for the last five days. After arriving on the Boiling Isles, the human teen had stumbled upon an ancient underground temple, where she bonded with and became the Warrior of Light, Ultrawoman Titannia. There were many questions surrounding Titannia and the temple she had found her in. And just as many concerning the Kaiju that had appeared twice over. However, since then, almost a whole week had passed, and not a single Kaiju attack had occurred. Not like it was a bad thing, no Kaiju attacks meant no one was getting hurt.

Still, it left Luz bored out of her skull. To offset the boredom, Eda decided to put the human teen to work at her stall hawking things from the Human Realm. One human’s trash is a demon or witch’s treasure, she supposed. And thanks to Luz’s knowledge about the items, Eda knew exactly what they did and their worth. Which meant she now knew how to lie about their function to customers and hike up the price on an item that would otherwise be worth pennies or at the very least, nothing. This wasn’t her only gig; on weekends she would help deliver potions that Eda made to the various customers of the town of Bonesborough.

In between these jobs, Luz would go to the backyard and practice her fighting moves. The “Cosmo Beast Style” martial arts were engrained into her body and mind, when she became Titannia the techniques and movements flowed more easily, but in her human form, she had to concentrate a little more. So, Luz determined that it was better to practice them while in human form, that way, when she fought a Kaiju, she could more easily use the techniques in or out of the transformation.

Never thought I’d be a kung fu fighter, thought Luz.

Luz threw a few jabs, flowing her arms like a snake would as she pretended to weave around her imaginary enemy’s attack, to strike them for their aggression. She dipped low, and swept at the legs, and then curled up into ready stance, like a snake coiling up for their next attack. It was hard work, and Luz normally wasn’t that good when it came to Phys Ed classes. “Weak nerd arms” and all that. But since the last Kaiju battle, she had been keeping up this regimen, and steadily, she could tell that her body was building up some muscle.

“Kid, that’s enough of that, time to head into town!” Eda called out.

“Okay, Eda!” Luz replied.

Luz headed over to the house, but stopped when Hooty appeared before her, with a towel draped over his body.

“Oh, thanks, Hooty.”

“No problem, Luz. Hoot! Looking good with all those funny moves,” said Hooty.

Luz rolled her eyes as she wiped the sweat from her face and arms.

“They’re not ‘funny moves’, Hooty. They’re some kind of martial art. Don’t you guys have anything like that here?” Luz asked.

“If we do, I never seen it. If you ever need someone to workout with, just let me know! I’m up for anything.”

Oh, that I’m sure of.

“Maybe next time, thanks again.”

“Oh, wait, I forgot to give you your water bottle. GA-HACK!” Hooty started coughing, which made Luz back away a little as her eyes widened. “GAH-HA! ACK! One sec, Luz, kinda stuck there. BLARGH-HA-ACK!”

Luz watched as Hooty finally coughed up a water bottle, which was dripping with…stuff. The Latina gingerly bent down and grabbed the bottle with the tips of her right thumb and index finger as she flashed Hooty a forced smile.

“T-Thanks, Hooty…j-just what I needed,” said Luz.

“Your pal Hooty’s always got your back, hoot-hoot!”

After that, Hooty stretched himself back to the front of the Owl House. Luz looked back at the still dripping bottle, grimaced more, and then walked back into the house before tossing the water bottle into the sink.

He means well, Luz, in his own very weird, Hooty way, he means well, she told herself.

After heading upstairs and changing out of her workout clothes and into her regular ones, Luz met up with Eda and King out front. Once there, all three of them mounted on Eda’s staff and took off into the air. As they flew through the air, Luz spotted the Boiling Sea. A couple of days ago, she found out exactly why they called it the “Boiling Sea” and why this giant corpse landmass was called the “Boiling Isles” when they went on a trip to the beach to search for any washed-up human stuff.

“Ooh, the water looks so nice, why don’t we take a swim?” Luz asked.

Eda and King looked at her, then at each other, and laughed hard.

“Yeah, let’s, I lived a good life,” Eda joked.

“After you, Luz,” King implored.

Luz shrugged and replied, “Okay, I’ll head in first!”

Eda and King kept laughing, at least until they noticed Luz stripping down to her sports underwear.

“She’s not really going to jump into the water, right?” King asked, worriedly.

“CANNON BALL!” Luz exclaimed.

“YEAH, SHE IS!” Eda yelled as she hurriedly drew a spell circle.

Luz ran to the edge of the water before jumping as high as she could, tucking her legs in as she prepared to do a cannonball. However, before Luz hit the water, a bubble of golden light surrounded her, preventing the teen from splashing down in the water. Luz looked around in confusion before turning her head to see Eda with her hand glowing, showing that she was the one who stopped her. With a flick of the wrist, Eda brought Luz back to where she and King were standing before releasing the bubble and letting Luz plop onto the sand.

“Are you crazy?!” Eda admonished.

“What? I was just going for a swim,” said Luz. “Is there something I’m not getting here?”

“Do you know why we call this place the ‘Boiling Isles’?” Eda questioned.

“Now that you mention it, no.”

“It’s ‘cause of the water, it’s so hot that it’ll make your flesh melt off in seconds,” King explained.

“EEP!” Luz yelped as she hugged her body. “I almost boiled myself alive?!”

“And that’s why we call it the ‘Boiling Sea’,” Eda confirmed.

Guess I can say farewell to any beach side fun, lame, thought Luz.

While in the town of Bonesborough, and manning Eda’s stall, she got to see a plethora of witches and demons alike. Seeing them go about their daily lives, watching them use magic out in the open like it was just commonplace. Because it just was, magic was something real and tangible here. And now, Luz had it. Well, at least she thought she did. Titannia had to be magical on some level, considering all she could do. On that note…

“So, uh, Eda, when do you think you’re gonna get around to teaching me magic?” Luz asked.

“Oh, right, that was going to be your cover story. Being my apprentice or something?”

“Yeah, yeah! C’mon, Eda, it’s been a whole week since I’ve been here, and there hasn’t been a single Kaiju attack. This is the perfect chance to teach me while there aren’t any crazy monster shenanigans going on!”

Eda hummed as she thought about it. Luz was right, there had not been any Kaiju attacks for seven days straight. Many of the islanders thought that that was all the Kaiju that were left, but Eda wasn’t so sure about that.

“I think you need to focus more on you-know-who’s powers before you start learning any kind of magic, kid,” Eda suggested.

“I have! I’ve been practicing her fighting style in the backyard every morning, and I’ve gotten really good at it. And while I haven’t exactly figured out how to go giant form outside of an actual battle, I have at least gotten a feel for that form’s abilities,” Luz countered.

Eda rolled her eyes as she placed a few items on the stall’s table.

“True, but who knows, you might discover something new if you keep up that training.”

Luz groaned in annoyance, in a way, Eda was right, and at the same time, she suspected that the foxy witch woman was trying to just kick the can down the road. Either way, all she could do was hope at this point.

A few hours passed, and they had a steady stream of customers since then. By noon, the crowd had died down, and Eda was busy counting her money from their sales.

“Eda, I’m going to take a walk?” Luz asked.

“Yeah, go ahead. Just remember…”

“I know, keep my hat on.”

Luz moved from behind the stall table and began wandering around town. Per Eda’s suggestion, Luz was told to keep her beanie on while out in the streets. Humans were extremely rare, while there were some records of humans coming here in the past, and of course the copious amount of junk that would wash up on the shores of the Isles, it was still very, very rare for an actual human being to be in the Demon Realm. Because of Luz’s rarity, Eda cautioned Luz that there might be witches and demons who would want to kidnap her for less than innocent reasons. With that mind, Luz made sure her beanie cap was properly covering her ears and did her best to not draw attention to herself.

In the week she had spent here, and thanks to King’s little lessons, Luz had learned how to identify the different types of demons. Demons had three sub-categories of Bug, Beast, and Biped.

Bug types – which apparently Hooty was one of – did have some capability of using magic, same with Beasts which encompassed creatures like griffons and other such animals. The last of the three, Biped, referred to demons that generally walked on two legs, sometimes more than one two, but what really separated them from the other two categories was their ability to cast magic spells like witches.

Witches, in this case, looked very similar to humans, although their hair and eye color varied and wasn’t just limited to the typical dark browns, blues, greens, or even grays. Some seemed to run the full gambit of the color spectrum in some cases. But the defining physical feature of a witch was their pointed ears. Luz wasn’t going to lie, at first, if she hadn’t been told otherwise, she would’ve called them all elves. But considering that Eda had explained that all of Earth’s myths came from the Demon Realm, perhaps that also meant the concept of an elf was derived from the Demon Realm witches? And the term “witch” became less of a name for a race and rather a name that referred to female practitioner of magic.

Really, if it weren’t for the pointy elf ears, Luz would’ve considered any of the witches here to pass as human. And so, the inverse was possible, thanks to covering her ears, no one gave her a second glance, believing her to be just another teen witch girl among the many others.

Hiding in plain sight, Luz thought.

Luz continued to walk, eventually just wandering further out of town, lost in thought. When they had infiltrated the excavation site of the temple, Eda and Luz had overheard that the entire underground temple was to be buried and forgotten. And true to their word, the hole where they found the temple was completely caved in. Luz, Eda, and King had traveled back to the chasm where Luz accidentally discovered the cave tunnel to the temple, but also found that it too had collapsed. Even if they found a way to dig out the tunnel, it was doubtful that the paintings and ancient writings were intact anymore. Luz placed her right hand over her chest, as if trying to make contact with Titannia’s spirit.

“Titannia, please, if there’s something I’m not understanding, or some road I should be going down, please tell me. ‘Cause I feel like I’m just going around in circles at this point,” said Luz.

“You can do it! You. Can. Do it!”

Luz blinked.

“…Mysterious voice of encouragement?”

Luz wandered off the trail in search of the mysterious voice, wandering off the beaten path and heading deeper into the forest. After making her way through the bushes, Luz believed she spotted the owner of that voice. It was a girl, about the same age as herself.

The witch girl had short, dark navy-blue hair. Her eyes were bright green, and in front of them were a pair of round orange glasses. From what she could tell, the witch girl had a stout physique, she wore a golden yellow coat over a dark shirt. Along with a pair of gray pants, and a pair of brown boots. The witch girl was currently sitting on a rock, looking very bewildered for some reason. Luz didn’t know the cause of it but felt a need to stay and listen.

“Aw, who am I kidding…I’ve been in the Abomination classes for years…and I’m still at the bottom of the barrel…” The witch girl sighed heavily as she looked down at the ground. “I should just drop out or something…but then Dad and Papa would be disappointed in me.”

Luz watched as the witch girl got up from the rock she was sitting on. After a quick scanning glance, which made Luz duck further down into the bushes, the witch girl drew a green spell circle in the air. She then lightly swiped her hand through it, and as soon as she did, the ground suddenly sprouted vines that slowly wound upwards, weaving together until they formed an archway. With another spell circle, the witch girl made several beautiful flowers bloom on it.

“Whoa,” Luz whispered in awe.

“Willow, what are you doing?”

The witch girl, Willow, quickly turned around and saw another witch girl standing a few feet away from her. Luz looked upon the new witch, she looked to be about the same height as herself, had green hair, with the exception being the base of her hairline which was brown. The new witch’s eyes were golden in color and had a scrutinizing gaze about them. This girl was wearing a black choker, and necklace with an amethyst gemstone hanging from it. The girl had a crop top on that was white and pink that had the word “HEX” in pink letters, a purple skirt, black leggings, and a pair of brown shoes on…

Wait, why do I feel like I recognize her?

“Oh…Hi, Amity,” Willow greeted in a lackluster tone, and with a twinge of annoyance.

Amity sighed as she approached Willow and inspected the archway that was created. The green haired witch plucked one of the flowers off the archway, gave a look, and then tossed it aside without a second thought.

“You really need to focus on your Abomination magic, Willow. It’s been two years since you’ve entered Hexside, and you’re still at the bottom of the class,” Amity reminded.

“I know…”

Amity sighed as she remarked, “I’m telling you this for your own good, Willow. You know being in the Abomination track means you don’t use the other magic types. Unless you’re going for the Emperor’s Coven tryouts. But you’d need to fill out the right forms before that. But I know you’re not, so, please don’t do this again. You’re lucky it was just me, anyone else might’ve reported you to Principal Bump.”

“Thanks, Amity,” Willow replied in a monotone.

The green haired witch girl walked closer to Willow and patted her on the shoulder.

“Hey, you can get there. I am the top student in our class. I know you can get it if you apply the same dedication to…this,” Amity waved at the archway, “and apply it to your Abomination magic, then you’ll be right up there with the rest of the class.”

Luz wasn’t sure if Amity was trying to encourage Willow or bring her down. It was like a strange combination of both. Either way, Luz didn’t like the condescending tone that Amity had while talking to Willow, who was clearly not liking what she was saying.

“Like I said, I’ll pretend that I didn’t see you use Plant magic. But next time, please, focus on your Abomination magic, otherwise you’re never going to shake off that nickname ‘Half-a-Witch Willow’,” Amity warned as she headed off in the opposite direction.

“Vale, guau, ¡es una total idiota! (Okay, wow, she’s a total jerk!)” Luz whispered.

Once Amity was out of sight, Willow’s brow furrowed as she stamped her foot hard against the ground.

“‘If you apply the same dedication to your Abomination magic skills, I’m sure you’ll be right up there with the rest of the class’, ‘You really need to focus on Abomination magic, Willow’, ‘Please focus on Abomination magic or you’re never going to shake off that nickname, Half-a-Witch Willow!’” The bespectacled witch exclaimed in a mocking tone. “I can’t stand Amity!”

Luz watched as Willow clenched her fists, and as she did, they both started to glow with a faint green aura.

“I HATE Abomination classes and I HATE being called ‘Half-a-Witch’! I just…I just…GRRRAAAAAH!!!”

Suddenly the vine archway started to undulate, and a moment later, the ground erupted with dozens of thorn covered vines that whipped and lashed out in random directions.

Oh, boy, she’s ticked!

Some of the vines shot out in Luz’s direction, forcing the Latina to jump backwards away from their reach. But it seemed as if the vines had a mind of their own as they chased after her. Luz furrowed her brow and got into the same fighting stance as Titannia. She didn’t dare attack the vines, with their thorns and all, she’d do more damage to herself rather than the vines. So, instead, Luz focused on weaving and dodging around the vines, just like a snake, moving fluidly and without wasted effort. The vines themselves seemed to have a hard time keeping up with her moves, unsure of where she was going with each weave and missing every strike.

HA! Practicing the Striking Serpent Fist was definitely the right call! I’m dancing circles around these vines!

“You’re gonna to have to do better than that if you want to – ¡¿que?! (what the?!)”

Luz looked down and saw that her right foot had been ensnared by another vine that had slithered across the forest floor and wrapped around her left ankle while she was focused on the others attacking her.

“Ah…well played…WAH!”

The Latina’s left leg was jerked out from under her, throwing Luz to the ground where she landed on her back. She groaned painfully, but Luz wasn’t given too long to contemplate that impact as the vine swiftly dragged her back to where the rest of them were. Luz raised her arms as she was forcefully pulled through the bushes and now was on the other side where the rest of the earthly tendrils writhed. Another one had shot out from the rest of the wriggling mass and wrapped around her right ankle now, making it so that she couldn’t escape, and then raised into the air and had her dangle upside down.

“AAAAH! I’VE SEEN ENOUGH ANIME TO KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING!” Luz screamed.

Willow turned around and looked up at Luz, her eyes were now pools of intense, glowing green light. Luz thought that this was the end, in more ways than one. She didn’t think that this was how she was going to go out, of all the possible ways, this had to rank at the bottom between, “Yeah right” and “Like that would ever happen”.

But as luck would have it, fate determined that it wasn’t her time yet. Willow’s eyes quickly went back to normal, with the teen witch looking very apologetic and remorseful when she saw Luz dangling overhead.

“Oh, no!” Willow exclaimed.

The vines that were wriggling around and undulating like agitated vipers suddenly went calm and lax, with the exception of the two that were keeping Luz held aloft. Willow quickly waved her hands, willing the vines to let Luz down gently onto her back.

“I am so sorry! Are you alright?!” Willow asked.

“Y-Yeah, yeah, I’m good. It’s just a few scratches, I’ll live,” Luz assured.

“I really am sorry…I lost control…Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Totalmente bien. (Totally alright.) Don’t worry about it…um…Willow right?”

The green-eyed witch blinked and replied, “Well, yes, that is my name. But…do I know you?”

“Uh, not really. I sorta-kinda overheard you and that other girl talking,” Luz confessed.

Willow sighed heavily as she drew another spell circle and made the vines and the archway she had conjured earlier return to the earth before sitting back on her rock.

“I guess you’re going to report me now, huh?” Willow asked.

Luz got up off the ground and looked at Willow with confusion.

“Why?”

“Because I’m in the Abomination track, and you’re not allowed to use magic outside of your chosen track,” Willow explained. “…Huh, you’re the same age as me, and you don’t know that?”

Luz rubbed the back of her head as she explained, “I’m still learning some things about the Boiling Isles, so not really.”

That piqued Willow’s curiosity as she turned to look in Luz’s direction.

“Okay, what do you mean by ‘you’re still learning’?”

The Latina contemplated whether or not she should tell the witch girl what she really was. Eda did warn Luz about revealing her true identity as a human, that some witches would probably snatch her up as a rare creature. But as Luz looked upon this witch girl, she didn’t get any kind of vibe that Willow was one of those types of witches to look out for.

It would be nice to have someone else to talk to, aside from Eda, King, and Hooty, Luz thought.

“To tell you the truth…” Luz pulled up the edges of her beanie, putting her round ears on full display. “…I’m not from around here.”

Willow immediately shot to her feet as she gasped in shock. Her eyes were completely fixated on the round ears of the human before her as she slowly approached Luz.

“Oh. My. Titan! A human! A real-life human is here in the Demon Realm! I can’t believe this! How did you get here?! How long have you been here?! Why are you here?!” Willow questioned as she walked around and inspected Luz.

“Oh, uh, well, a full nine days now, I think. It’s been interesting, to say the least. As far as the how, that’s another story. As to the ‘why’, no particular reason other than a love of magic,” Luz answered.

Willow chuckled as she took a step back.

“Well, if you haven’t been welcomed already, welcome to the Boiling Isles, um…what is your name?” Willow asked.

“Oh, sorry, forgot the intro.” Luz held out her hand and said, “I’m Luz, Luz Noceda.”

Willow happily shook Luz’s hand.

“Willow Park.” After shaking Luz’s hand, Willow went back to sit on her rock. “I hope you’ve enjoyed it here so far, despite the…Kaiju problems we’ve been having lately.”

Luz shook her head in surprise and asked, “Wait, you know what a Kaiju is?!”

“Well, I only know because of my friend, Augustus. He’s a huge human enthusiast and is completely enamored with everything having to do with humans and their culture. It was actually Augustus who showed me a book from the Human Realm that had the word ‘Kaiju’ in it, which apparently means ‘giant monster’. My condolences, you guys must have to deal with those things so much more than we do,” said Willow.

“Heh, not really. Kaiju are just supposed to be made up creatures, stuff for movies and tv shows. But…for some reason, it looks like you have them here. The witch I’m staying with says you guys have never seen one until recently,” said Luz.

Willow nodded.

“Yeah, trust me, if things like that were walking around the Demon Realm, people wouldn’t be as freaked out as they are right now. Well, freaked out because of them, and that giant woman who destroyed them.”

Luz gulped.

“And…do you not like her?”

“I mean, she fought and defeated two of those Kaiju. And she protected some people during the last Kaiju attack. So, she can’t really be bad if she’s doing that right?” Willow asked.

Luz released an internal sigh of relief, thankful that at least Willow did not see Titannia as a monster alongside the Kaiju. Not that she had plans to show Willow her secret identity, but it at least eased her mind knowing that the witch teen might not react poorly to finding out, hopefully.

“R-Right, right. I mean, she’s only attacked the Kaiju when they’ve appeared. Can’t be all bad,” Luz agreed. “A-Anyway, switching gears, what was up with that girl from earlier? Amity?”

Willow rolled her eyes at the mere mention of that witch’s name.

“Amity Blight, she’s from a prestigious witch family. And she’s the top student at my school, Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. I was placed in the Abomination class by my dads, mostly because being in the Abomination track yields greater opportunities in the future,” Willow explained.

Huh, sounds like one the houses in that Cynthia Coven book series, Luz pondered.

Willow took Luz’s silence as confusion and explained, “Sorry, I’m sure you don’t know what I’m talking about. Here in the Demon Realm, we have nine different types of magic, and each one has its own specific abilities some are self-explanatory and others not so much.”

Luz watched as Willow got off the rock and drew a spell circle with her right index finger. A moment later, a vine sprouted from the ground between them, and once it reached Willow’s eye level, the tip of the vine bloomed into a flower.

“One of the nine is Plant magic, which as you can see, allows witches control over all types of flora…as for Abominations…”

Willow drew another spell circle with her left hand and pointed it at the ground in that same direction. Luz watched as some purple-pinkish slime started to rise from the ground. It bubbled on the surface for a few seconds and then started to take form. As Luz watched this, she noticed that Willow was struggling much more doing this than she did with summoning the vine. After some effort, Willow managed to create a ball of the slime, but afterwards released it and let the slime return to the earth.

“Abomination magic allows witches to control an ooze like substance that’s prevalent in almost every area of the Boiling Isles. It’s very versatile, very malleable, and the limits on its use are only that of the caster’s imagination,” said Willow.

“Wow,” Luz gasped in awe. “What are the other types?!”

“There’s Oracle, which allows you to see the future and summon spirits. Beast Keeping lets you command different demon beasts, and sometimes lets you take on some of their traits. Illusion, well, let’s you create illusions. Potions, you make potions with different magical effects. Bard combines magic and music together. Healing allows you to learn different kinds of healing spells. And Construction focuses on shaping and reforming the dirt and rock we stand on.”

Luz was honestly very excited; she’d learned more about the Demon Realm’s magic with Willow than she had with Eda. Which is kind of sad since Eda was the most powerful witch on the Isles, so she claimed.

“Okay, so…from what I just saw, you clearly have a greater affinity for Plant magic. So, why not just change classes? I saw how you struggled making that slime ball, but you were hardly breaking a sweat with that vine, and those other plants from earlier,” Luz suggested.

Willow released a deep sigh.

“I could…but I don’t want to disappoint my Dad and Papa. They wanted me in this track so I could have a better future.”

Luz walked up to Willow and gently placed her right hand on the witch’s shoulder.

“But if you haven’t made any progress in two years, then why bother continuing to do the same thing over and over again, hoping that it’ll turn out better? That’s the definition of insanity,” Luz stated.

Willow chuckled as she replied, “I know, but maybe something will click, maybe. Anyway, enough about my problems. Why don’t we hang out a little? Are you free?”

“Yep! Let’s do it!”

Willow smiled happily as she and Luz headed back towards town. However, as they ran, neither one of the two witch girls were aware of a strange undulation under dirt.

Willow and Luz had a lot more fun than they were expecting. The bespectacled witch girl showed Luz to some of the local stores that had different types of witch wear, of which Luz had to try on, getting more and more excited as she adopted some of the local witch fashions. Sadly, it was just window shopping, and Luz didn’t want to impose on Willow to buy her anything. Definitely not a good way to start a potential friendship, now that she thought about it, Willow was the only friend she had ever made.

Shaking off that depressing thought, Luz continued to follow her new friend around, being careful not to let out the secret that she was in fact a human being. After about an hour, the two girls stopped at an outdoor café, thankfully, they had some simple human-ish dishes that Luz could eat.

“You really can’t eat much here?” Willow asked.

“Not so much that I can’t eat them, more like I can’t digest them. Found that out the hard way a few days ago…ugh,” Luz recalled.

“Ooh, sorry you had to find that out the hard way. Well, have you figured out what you can eat here?”

“Griffon eggs are surprisingly very close to regular chicken eggs from the Human Realm, albeit a little bigger than normal chicken eggs, but still easy for me to digest. And much to my surprise, you guys also have some human world food stuff that I can eat, although getting it is a little tricky,” Luz explained.

“Huh, I’ll remember that for the next time we hang out,” Willow noted.

Luz blinked in surprise.

“You really want to hang out again?” Luz asked.

The witch teen shrugged and replied, “Why not? I like hanging out with you. Today was a lot of fun for me. I love hanging out with Augustus too, but there are just some things you can’t discuss or do with a boy around that you can do with another girl.”

Luz put on a mischievous grin as she leaned against the table and asked, “Aaah, so, does that mean you and Augustus are, you know…?”

Willow raised an eyebrow for a moment, but then caught on to what Luz was implying and shook her head.

“No, no. We aren’t like that. He’s been by best friend for two years now, plus he’s younger than me. He skipped a few grades because he’s very intelligent,” Willow then whispered, “Some think he might be an Illusion witch prodigy, but he doesn’t like to think of himself like that.”

“Oh, wow, I definitely want to meet him now! A human enthusiast and a possible prodigy?! I think we’d hit off really well,” Luz remarked.

“Heh-heh, you would make his whole life if he met you. Meeting a human is one of his life goals. I’ll make sure to introduce you sometime.” After mentioning Augustus, Willow put on the same grin that Luz had a moment ago. “Since we’re on the topic, do you like anyone?”

Luz blushed; her earlier confidence diminished upon being asked that. The Latina rubbed the back of her head as she looked away from the witch teen in front of her. Willow noticed the change in Luz’s demeanor, and started to worry that she may’ve hit a sore subject.

“Oh no, I’m sorry! Is-Is it a touchy subject?” Willow inquired.

“No…No, it’s not that…it’s just…”

“Eww, what the hell Noceda, you actually thought I swung that way? Even if I did, why would I go out with a ‘Luzzer’ like you?”

“What you ‘like’ me? Dream on, Noceda. You got shot down by the girls, now you want to try your luck with the guys? Heh, wow that’s hilarious! And on that note, why would I ever go out with a dyke like you?”

Luz sighed heavily.

“I’ve had some bad experiences when people find out…”

“Find out what?”

“…I’m…I’m bisexual,” said Luz. “Sorry, I’ll understand if you don’t feel comfortable being around me.”

Luz dared to raise her head and noticed a look of utter confusion on Willow’s face.

“Uh, why would I not want to be around you for that?” Willow questioned.

“Oh, uh, sorry, again. Some people get put off when I tell them that. I don’t run into a lot of people who are accepting in that way.” Luz was now the one confused, now that she thought about it. “Are you queer too?”

“Everyone is here in some way.”

“Huh?”

Willow tilted her head to the side and explained, “Well, I guess from a human’s point of view, it wouldn’t make sense. But the majority of the Demon Realm’s inhabitants are straight, pan, bi, gay, nonbinary, aromantic, asexual, sometimes a combination of both. I can go on, but I think you get the point. I’m pan, by the way.”

“And…no one looks at you funny for it?”

“Why?”

“I uh…it’s just, in my world, people like me are sometimes discriminated against…labeled as ‘abnormal’, amongst other things,” Luz admitted. “It’s not as bad as it was a long time ago, but things could be better.”

“Wow…that’s seriously stupid.” Willow stated. “And people have done that to you?”

Luz unfortunately nodded.

Willow furrowed her brow and reached out across the table to take Luz’s right hand into her left.

“You don’t have to worry about that here. Nothing like that exists in the Demon Realm. I mean, look around, Luz. Look how different everyone is.”

Luz took a moment to really look at the people of the Isles as they went about their business. Willow had a point, there were so many diverse people, some were more creature-like in form than humanoid, and yet none of them showed any signs of discrimination towards each other. She never heard a demon disparage a witch or vice versa, and now that she looked closer, Luz could see that there were a few couples amongst the crowd. Many of them were either comprised of a man and woman, Luz saw two girls – one a demon and the other a witch – locked arm in arm as a couple.

“I know you said you had two dads earlier, but…I guess it really didn’t sink in until now,” said Luz.

Willow smiled and removed her hand from Luz.

“Feel free to woo whoever you like,” Willow replied.

Luz’s “suave” smile returned as she glanced at Willow.

“Oh, is that an invitation, mi linda amiga (my cute friend)?” Luz playfully flirted.

Willow smirked as she leaned back and said, “Oh, I don’t think you could handle me, Luz Noceda. But seriously, thanks, but I’ll have to pass. I’d rather be friends, and I don’t have many of those aside from Augustus, I’d like to have more though.”

Luz groaned.

“Rejected already…” Luz began to laugh, feeling happy that she was able to talk so openly about this, and even though she got rejected, it wasn’t on the basis of Willow disliking Luz because of her orientation, she just genuinely wanted to be friends with Luz. “…Strangely, that was the happiest rejection I’ve ever had. Sure, Willow, I’m just happy to have a friend.”

“Then…” Willow took her cup of “Apple Blood Lite” and held it up towards Luz. “To new friends?”

Luz smiled and raised her cup, clinking it against Willow’s.

“To new friends. ¡Salud (cheers)!”

“Well, well, well…what do we have here?”

Willow’s happy disposition immediately took a nosedive the moment she heard that voice. Luz watched as Willow’s brow furrowed, her eyes narrowing as she barely turned her head to look over her shoulder. The Latina looked to see who it was that had approached them. From what she could see, there were four witches, and one who was possibly a demon-witch hybrid.”

The first one, who seemed to be the leader of the quartet, was the demon-witch. She had pale blue eyes, an additional eye in the middle of her forehead, and light tanned skin. Her hair was magenta in color, with the sides of her head buzz cut, and had a ponytail. She wore a sleeveless black crop top that covered her chest, collar, and the lower portion of her neck, and exposed most of her stomach and lower back. The demon-witch had a pair of gold bracelets around her wrists and gold-colored earrings, whether they were just for aesthetic purposes or had some kind of magical functionality was up for debate. Going lower, she had baggie khaki colored cargo pants, and pair of black shoes.

The second had dark brown skin, and gray colored eyes. Her hair, which she wore in a ponytail, was two tone mauve and pinkish gray. She wore a red blouse that had a stylish ruffle around the hem of the shirt and around the cuffs, gray pants, and black boots.

The third stood a head taller than the others. She had short cut light green hair, and green eyes. Her top was a sleeveless white shirt with stylish plant designs woven into them, a black skirt, and matching shoes.

The fourth and final member of the quartet had dark brown skin similar to the second witch, but a shade lighter than her. Dark wavy hair flowed halfway down her back, and a side bang. Her eyes were brown in color, and in front of them were a pair of square shaped glasses. Her outfit consisted of a blue shirt with whimsical designs woven in gold thread. Her lower half had black shorts, and a pair of simple white shoes.

“Um…who are you?” Luz asked.

“You don’t know me?” the triclops asked as if being insulted.

“She’s knew around here Boscha, she’s…from Palm Stings,” Willow half-lied.

Boscha rolled all three of her eyes as she replied, “Remember my name, new girl. It’s Boscha, Boscha Barbtalone. The girl on my right is Skara Grimamore.”

“Hi!” Skara replied in a surprisingly bubbly tone.

“My tall friend is Amelia Snow, and her name is Cat Askal,” Boscha finished. “So, how do you know ‘Half-A-Witch’?”

Luz now understood why Willow had a sour disposition when Boscha and her crew showed up. Where that Amity girl seemed to have a strange combination of condensing and encouraging, Boscha seemed like your typical alpha girl, bully type. It didn’t negate that Amity was technically still bullying Willow, even if it came across as passive.

“She just moved here about a week ago, but we just met,” Willow answered for Luz. “Now, is there something you need, specifically?”

Boscha chuckled as she replied, “Oh, just curious as to who else would want to hang out with you.”

The triclops walked around Willow and leaned on the table, doing her best to block Willow from Luz’s view.

“Word to the wise, new girl, better to steer clear of her. She’s not exactly the best witch around. You’ll just get dragged down by her.” Boscha hummed as she looked at Luz for a moment. “Hmm, say, you want to hang out with us? Believe me, your rep will thank you for it.”

Luz had run into Boscha’s type more times than she could count. Both on the receiving end, and the one defending others from it. Unfortunately, even in another dimension, people like that existed. The Latina smirked as she leaned back in her chair and looked up at the triclops.

“Sorry, but I’ll pass on the invite, Boscha. I’m not one to care about reputations and all that. ‘Sides, I’d be a pretty cruddy friend to up and leave her alone,” Luz retorted.

Boscha was stunned, and so were her friends. Luz figured this was the first time anyone probably stood up to Boscha at all. It was always fun to see that reaction, but Luz did worry a little. Bullies back home were one thing, she was a scrapper, and managed to hold her own a few times. Now that she knew how to use the Striking Serpent Fist from Titannia, Luz believed if she had to fight those bullies again back home, the outcomes would be severely different. But considering that these bullies were witches and had magic powers, her ability to take any of them on was called into question.

“Did you seriously just say no to me?” Boscha inquired.

“I did, so, please leave, we were having a good time until you brought down the vibe,” Luz stated.

Boscha growled, showing her teeth and…were those fangs?

Huh, never really noticed, but Willow and Eda have some fangs too.

“I am Boscha Barbtalone, I am the daughter of one of the most prestigious witch families on the Boiling Isles, and you have the nerve to brush me aside like that?!” Boscha growled as she reached out and took a fistful of Luz’s shirt and hoisted her off the chair and at eye level with her. “I think I need to teach you some manners, new girl.”

“Boscha, that’s enough!” Willow exclaimed as she quickly bolted from her seat.

The triclops glanced over her shoulder and shot a look that dared Willow to respond.

“And what are you going to do about it, ‘Half-A-Witch’?” Boscha dared.

Willow closed her hands into fists as she proclaimed, “You. Me. A witch’s duel, right now.”

Skara, Cat, and Amelia gasped when they heard Willow challenge Boscha. In the whole two years since Willow’s enrollment into Hexside, not once as the bespectacled witch teen challenged Boscha. The triclops released Luz, letting her plop to the ground on her rear.

“Heh, you know what, let’s do it. I’ve been wanting to put you in your place for years, Park. Maybe this will be the kick in the ass you need to finally understand how much you actually suck,” said Boscha.

“We’ll see about that, Barbtalone!”

Luz gulped.

Oh no…

A few minutes after that encounter, both sides had entered a clearing in the forest, far from the prying eyes of the rest of the townsfolk, and far enough away that they could unleash as much magic as they wanted to and not have to worry too much about collateral damage. Boscha was on one side of the clearing, stretching her arms and legs as her three friends gave her a pep talk. Meanwhile, Luz and Willow were on the other side of the clearing, with the former looking worriedly at the latter.

“Willow, why did you challenge her?!” Luz asked.

“She was going to hurt you, I had to do something,” Willow answered. “Last I checked, humans can’t use magic. If she attacked you with magic, then she could’ve seriously hurt you. Remember, she thinks you’re a witch, not a human.

Willow briefly glanced in Boscha’s direction.

“Although, for some reason, I feel like it wouldn’t matter even if she did know that.”

“I’m sorry…” Luz hung her head low as she rubbed her left arm in shame. “You’re in this mess because I shot my mouth off…I just…I just can’t stand it when people like Boscha pick on others. Guess even in the Demon Realm, I’m causing problems…”

Willow smiled at her new friend and patted both of Luz’s shoulders.

“No, one way or another, this was going to happen. Sooner than me or her were expecting, but definitely was going to happen eventually,” Willow explained.

“So…how are you going to fight her then? How strong is she?”

Willow’s smile wavered a little as she explained, “Well…like Amity is the top student of the Abomination class, Boscha is the top student of the Potions class, her other friend, Skara, is also the top student of the Bard class. The three of them are from prestigious families and are strong when it comes to their particular magic types. Plus, Boscha plays for our Grudgby sports team, and is the captain of the team. So, she’s physically strong on top of magically strong.”

Luz gulped hard, realizing just how bad this was. She didn’t just get Willow into a mess; it was a disaster about to happen. Her new friend was about to go up against a strong witch, and it was all her fault.

“Willow, you are going to use your Plant magic…right?” Luz asked.

Willow didn’t answer.

“You are right?”

Willow’s only response was to take a deep breath, exhale, and then turn around to walk towards the center of the clearing. Seeing this, Boscha stopped her stretches, cracked her neck and knuckles, and proceeded to go and meet Willow in the center. Both teen witches stopped once they were about five feet from each other, staring each other down as they readied to duel.

Skara drew a red spell circle, and as she did, a bell and a construct hammer formed in her right hand.

“Let the duuuuuuuueeellllll…BEGIN!”

Skara struck the construct hammer against the bell, making it ring with a loud “DING” sound.

Boscha wasted no time attacking Willow as she drew a spell circle and conjured a fireball into her hands. The triclops hurled the burning orb at Willow, making the turquoise haired witch dive to the right to avoid getting directly hit. Willow countered by drawing her own spell circle, and…summoned Abomination slime.

Luz watched as her friend struggled to make the slime rise to the surface, but even so, Willow persisted. She didn’t form anything complicated, instead, she focused the slime to form whip-like tentacles which she had commanded to attack Boscha. The triclops smirked and backflipped out of the tentacles’ range, displaying her impressive physical prowess.

“Oh, shoot…she wasn’t kidding about that Boscha girl being athletic,” Luz commented.

Willow was still struggling, which was reflected in the Abomination goo tentacles bubbling in an unstable fashion. Nevertheless, Willow attacked again, sending more of the slime tentacles at Boscha. The magenta haired witch dodged them yet again, but then drew a spell circle. From that circle, she materialized two vials held between her fingers. Once she had successfully dodged Willow’s attack, Boscha jumped into the air and tossed the two vials like a couple of ninja kunai. The two vials struck the ground in front of Willow, resulting in a strong dual explosion that threw Willow a couple of feet away and onto her back.

“WILLOW!” Luz exclaimed.

The bespectacled witch teen coughed, feeling a little disoriented from the explosion, and struggling to stay standing up as she wobbled back and forth.

Ugh…was…were those…?

“Heh, the first was an explosive potion, the second one was a concussion potion. Creates a shockwave strong enough to scramble your brain, making it hard to think,” Boscha explained.

Willow raised her right hand and slapped herself across the face, trying to force her brain to jump start to clear the disorientation. That seemed to help some, at least enough for Willow to draw two spell circles and summon more Abomination slime.

“This is a fight she can’t win.”

Luz turned around and spotted someone emerging from the bushes. The Latina furrowed her brow she noticed that the person who approached her was Amity Blight.

“Amity!” Boscha exclaimed happily. “Did you come to see me kick Park’s butt?!”

Amity stopped walking as she stood next to Luz and replied, “I’m just here to make sure this duel doesn’t get out of hand, Boscha. I do have a responsibility as the top student of the Abomination track.”

“Heh, classic Ams! Alright, then you’ll be my official witness!” Boscha shouted.

Willow glanced in Amity’s direction, both annoyed and anxious at her arrival.

“What are you doing here?!” Luz asked.

“Didn’t I just say…” Amity turned to the girl who had come with Willow, and when she did, her eyes widened with shock as she pointed at Luz. “YOU!”

“Me?”

“Yes, you! You’re the girl who groped me last week!” Amity accused.

“SHE DID WHAT?!” Boscha exclaimed with a blushing face.

Willow blushed as well, but also chuckled at the thought that Luz might’ve accidentally groped Amity.

Luz blushed, now she recalled why Amity seemed familiar She was the witch she fell on top of when she was running away from Eda, the same witch she accidentally fell on top of and touched her breast.

“I am so, sorry about that! But never mind that for right now, there’s a more important issue! Why are you here?!” Luz asked again.

Amity rolled her eyes; she was going to get a proper apology from this girl later. But she did agree, there was a more important issue at hand.

“Like I mentioned earlier, I’m here as the top student of the Abomination track. As such, it’s my duty to keep watch over duels between students, and act as referee and witness to ensure both parties don’t injure themselves,” Amity explained.

Luz kind of understood what Amity was saying, but this was still clearly not good. Her presence seemed to make Willow more uneasy, which was evidenced by the fact that the Abomination slime Willow was using becoming more unstable than it was before Amity’s arrival.

Just what about Amity makes Willow so nervous?

Willow let out a war cry as she made the goo restabilize and form around her hands before going back into the fight. Boscha wasn’t worried, if anything, she seemed more determined now that Amity was here. With another drawn spell circle, Boscha summoned four vials, two held between the fingers of each hand. Willow attacked with the tentacle from her arm, but Boscha, once again, backflipped out of its range. But she didn’t stop there, Boscha jumped high into the air before tossing the first vial from her left hand. The vial shattered upon contact with the ground, causing the liquid to release electrical sparks.

“Oh no…!”

The liquid unleashed bolts of lightning within a ten-foot radius of where the liquid splattered, forcing Willow to back away before she got electrocuted. When Boscha landed, she drew a spell circle and had the lightning condensed into a ball before firing it in a single stream. Willow hurriedly used the Abomination goo around her arms to form a shield just as the bolt arrived. Thankfully, the shield managed to take the brunt of the lightning bolt, but caused the shield to explode, scattering the goo, and throwing Willow to the ground. Boscha didn’t let up as she tossed one vial from her right hand, and another from her left hand. The two vials exploded near Willow, tossing her into the air for a few seconds before hitting the ground hard.

“Hmm, seems like this fight’s taken a turn for the worse for Willow,” Amity commented.

“Ya think?! Willow was doing fine until you showed up! Now Boscha’s hyped up, and Willow…she’s…”

“No, she wasn’t doing fine. Willow was going to lose this fight, and that was before I showed up. That’s just how it is, she’s the worst at Abomination magic, and she went into the duel intent on using Abomination magic. When she loses, Willow will have no one to blame but herself,” Amity stated.

Luz gritted her teeth, and was about to tell off Amity, but another series of explosions tore her attention back to the fight. When she looked, Willow was groaning, rising on her hands and knees as Boscha stood a few feet away, more vials in hand as she crossed her arms and laughed mockingly at Willow.

“Wow, I knew you sucked, ‘Half-A-Witch’, but didn’t think you sucked this hard,” Boscha taunted. “Face it, you’ll always be just ‘Half-A-Witch’. Accept your place and give up now before I embarrass you more.”

Amity’s brow creased as she waited for Willow to speak, crossing her own arms as she listened. Willow was gripping the earth with both of her hands, digging her fingers into the dirt out of frustration.

Who am I kidding…? I never stood a chance…

“DON’T GIVE UP, WILLOW!!!” Luz screamed.

All the witches turned their attention to the Latina.

“YEAH, YOU SUCK AT ABOMINATION MAGIC! EVEN I CAN TELL! BUT SO WHAT?! YOU ARE STRONG, WILLOW! AND SO IS YOUR MAGIC! FORGET ABOUT AMITY, FORGET ABOUT WHAT BOSCHA SAYS! I GOT YOUR BACK ALL THE WAY! NOW, SHOW THAT WITCH WHAT A REAL WITCH CAN DO!” Luz yelled as loud as she could, her voice echoing through the woods.

Boscha blinked all three of her eyes as she asked, “Is that girl stupid or something?”

Suddenly, the ground started to rumble around Boscha and Willow. That’s when the bespectacled witch teen started to rise, getting into a kneeling position before rising to her full height. Her coat was fluttering as a green aura outlined Willow’s body.

“Thank you, Luz…even if I get in trouble, even if you say I’m terrible at Abomination magic, the one thing no one here will ever deny…”

Boscha flinched when Willow’s head rose, and her eyes were now glowing bright green.

“I am not ‘Half-A-Witch’! I! AM! A! WITCH!!!!” Willow proclaimed.

Suddenly, dozens of plant vines sprouted around Willow, undulating, moving about like an octopus about to attack. Boscha was caught off guard by the sudden vines, and so was punished for it when one of them lashed out at her and struck the triclops in the stomach. The demon-witch was sent flying a few feet away before rolling to a stop on the ground.

“YES, WILLOW, QUEEN!” Luz exclaimed happily.

Amity, well, she said nothing, but for some reason smirked.

Boscha gritted her teeth as she dismissed the vials in her hand and used both of her hands to draw a huge spell circle. With a thrust of both of her hands, Boscha unleashed a roaring blast of intense flames in Willow’s direction. The vines that Willow had conjured quickly gathered in front of her, forming a wall just as the flames hit them. The flames burned the vines to cinders, causing the triclops to grin in triumph. However, something else sprouted from the ground, more vines, but this time brown in color, they actually looked more akin to tree roots.

“Keep making more vines, ‘Half-A-Witch’! I’ll just keep burning them again and again!” Boscha declared as she fired another flame blast.

The column of flames slammed against the brown vines, but much to Boscha and her friends’ complete shock, they didn’t burn.

“What the heck?!”

Willow had the vines move aside so she could look at Boscha directly.

“These aren’t vines, Boscha. These are the roots of the Barncoa tree. The very same kind of trees Fire Hornets make their hives in, which makes it completely fire resistant,” Willow explained. “So, keep up the flame attacks, they’re not going to touch me!”

“GRRRR!”

“This duel has only just started Boscha!”

No sooner had Willow uttered that declaration did the entire area start to rumble violently, causing the girls to brace for fear of getting thrown to the ground.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW, PARK?!” Boscha accused.

“T-THIS ISN’T ME!” Willow retorted.

That’s when all the girls heard the bellowing of a great beast that echoed throughout the entire forest.

“Oh, don’t tell me…?”

(A few minutes earlier…)

“Okay, so, what the heck are we doing out here?” Severine asked.

“We were told to investigate the strange quakes in this area,” said Steve.

The Coven Scout, Steve, and his current partner, Severine, were sent out on a patrolling mission. They had received reports about unusual seismic activity in the forests outside of Bonesborough. Some Construction Coven witches were sent out ahead of them, while Steve and Severine were sent to supervise and verify if this was “Kaiju” related or not.

“Can’t be helped, Rine, you read the reports. If these Kaiju things are hiding underneath us, we have to check out anything weird or out of the ordinary. The Isles don’t shift often, but now, with these things, we have to check and see if there’s a Kaiju lurking there or not,” Steve explained.

Severine shivered at the thought.

“These ‘Kaiju’ things, give me the creeps. The idea that they could be sleeping right underneath our feet, it’s crazy,” said Severine.

“Which is why we have to investigate these things. Better safe than sorry.”

Steve and Severine eventually made it to the survey sight, where they met up with a few dozen Construction Coven witches and demons who were awaiting their arrival. To ensure that the survey was going well, the Head Witch of the Construction Coven was sent as well. He was a tall, burly man with rippling muscles from his years of honing his strength. He had a bald head, a thick gray beard and mustache, tan skin tone, and teal-colored eyes. His outfit consisted of a gray vest, with a brown short sleeved shirt underneath, brown pants, tan colored boots, and a dark gray cape. Around his waist was a black belt with a gold buckle, and holstered in that belt was his hammer with the symbol of the Construction Coven engraved on it.

“Head Witch Mason, we’re here,” Steve announced.

Mason grunted and replied, “Good, we can get underway. I’ve had my team begin the survey, but so far they haven’t found anything.”

“You guys aren’t digging or anything, right?” Severine asked.

“No, we don’t want to risk stirring whatever beast may be lying dormant under the rock and sediment. So, we’re using some new thingmajig from Blight Industries.”

“Blight Industries? The weapons manufacturer?”

“Apparently there are a lot of different companies on the Isles that are trying to show their stuff when it comes to detecting these Kaiju. Blight Industries is taking the first crack at it, but we’ll see if their contraption is good or not,” said Mason.

Steve and Severine looked at the survey team and the devices they were using. It was a splice of Abomination and technology, a large control center with some kind of imaging screen and a control panel. One of the Construction Coven witches was manning the control center, while the others were wearing an apparatus on their backs, and holding box a with a long rod, and at the end of the rod was a rounded disk that they swept over the areas they walked.

“From what we were told, those things use the natural magic in the ground, sending waves of it down into the ground and whatever they bounce off creates an image on that thing,” said Mason.

“Oh, so, kind of like how bats use sound to find their way around in the dark?” Steve asked.

“Yes, but sound makes vibrations, and if this thing is sensitive to them, it could wake up. But magic waves should have less of an effect on it, at least that’s what some have speculated,” Mason grunted.

Steve and Severine grimaced. They really did not know much about Kaiju, and it was frustrating. They had no idea what could set them off, wake them up, or even if they could be reasoned with at all. There were some rumors going around that the Beast Keeping Coven wanted the chance to try and tame a Kaiju if one emerged, but something told them that that was a fool’s errand. Kaiju, at least the ones they’ve seen so far, looked nothing like, nor acted like, any demon beast they’ve ever seen.

“Head Witch Mason! I think I got something!” the witch at the control center announced.

Mason, Steve, and Severine rushed to the control center and watched the screen. From what they could see, images were starting to form on the screen, but they looked strange. There appeared to be something coiling under the ground, and those coiling somethings were concentrated around a large spherical object of some kind.

“What is that?” Severine asked.

“I can’t make it out completely ma’am, it’s just round in appearance, but also seems dense, not hollow,” said the witch.

“How far down?” Mason asked.

“Judging from where we are relative to it…I’d say…a several hundred feet deep,” the witch replied.

Suddenly, the rumbling got stronger, making everyone brace themselves. The screen showed more and more coiling tendrils start to gather around the underground sphere, and that’s when the screen showed those same tendrils moving upward.

Mason’s eyes widened as he yelled, “EVERYONE, EVACUATE THE AREA, NOW!”

The Construction Coven witches who were scanning immediately began summoning their Palismans and quickly mounted their staffs as they ascended into the air. Mason, Severine, Steve, and the witch at the control center all started to run as the shaking got stronger and stronger. The four managed to get to the airship and hurriedly took off. Their departure was just in time as the entire ground collapsed while green tendrils blasted through the dirt and rock, upturning trees earth with their rising.

“We need to contact HQ – NOW!”

(Present…)

All the girls looked up and watched as a few airships and witches were seen flying overhead, and at a rapid pace, as if they were trying to get away from something. And there was only one thing that could cause a massive exodus like that.

“IT’S A KAIJU!” Luz yelled.

“A what?!” Boscha asked.

“ANOTHER GIANT MONSTER!” the Latina clarified.

“This is bad, we can’t stay here! This duel is officially cancelled! We need to get out of here!” Amity stated.

Unfortunately, the witches and human realized they were already too close. There were rhythmic foot stomps that were steadily growing stronger and louder with each thundering stomp. The group of girls heard what sounded like trees snapping and breaking apart and turned their heads in that direction. When they did, all seven of them beheld the newest Kaiju to threaten their home.

It stood about fifty-eight meters tall, from the tip of its spine to the bottom of its feet. The creature’s body was a twisted amalgamation of dirt, solid rock, and plant vines, all tightly woven and compacted together to form its body. To Luz, it resembled the depictions of a Spinosaurus. Its claws were made of hardened gemstones, most likely taken from deep in the ground. Its spine was a giant leaf that had red markings on it, which almost reminded Luz of veins. Along both sides of the leaf spine were hundreds of flower buds that had yet to bloom. The creature’s tail was long, and whipped back and forth, giving the creature a total length of thirty-eight meters. The monster had glowing green eyes that shined brightly from its head, and inside its mouth it had rows of sharp teeth made of black obsidian crystal to match its claws. Some of the vines that the creature was comprised of were sticking out, writhing about it like tentacles. Its snout was long, and filled with razor sharp teeth, and along both sides of its head were six red glowing eyes with yellow slit irises.

MANDRAGAURUS: THE ANCIENT FLORA MONSTER

Mandragaurus roared yet again, forcing the girls to cover their ears from the sheer volume of it. The Kaiju raised its right leg and took a step forward, crushing the trees and earth beneath its gargantuan foot. Everyone started to run, all of them were running in a group, forgetting for the moment that they were adversaries and focusing more on surviving this ordeal. For some reason, Mandragaurus seemed to notice their movement, and had its vine tentacles shoot out from its body and in their direction.

The witches and human were running like the wind, but when one of them managed to look over their shoulder, they screamed.

“IT’S AFTER US!” Skara yelled.

The witches turned their heads and saw that several thorny vines were coming straight at them. Amity, thinking quickly, drew a spell circle and shouted, “GET DOWN!!!” Everyone stopped and ducked just as Amity fired off a huge purple fireball straight at the incoming vine. The fireball hit its target, causing a strong explosion to erupt. However, the threat wasn’t over as more of the vines started to gather. Skara hurriedly drew a spell circle and summoned her harp, with a single pluck of the strings, she unleashed several sonic magic crescents at the vines, slashing them to pieces.

Boscha got up as well and started unleashing her own flame attacks alongside Amity. Some of the vines moved to attacking long distance, shooting sharp thorns at them. A couple managed to slash Amity as she attacked them, but Cat sprang into action, using her Healing magic to patch Amity up.

“Don’t waste your magic on scratches, Cat! Save it in case one of us gets really hurt!” Amity stated.

“Dammit! We can’t get out of here like this! Amelia, can’t you do something about this?!” Boscha incredulously asked.

Amelia drew multiple spell circles, each time trying to exert her magical power to command the vines that were attacking to go away, or at the very least stop so that they could put some distance between them. But each time she tried; her circles shattered like glass.

“I-I can’t! They may be plants, but that monster’s will is too strong! I can’t take control of the plants!” Amelia replied.

“Willow, new girl, what about–?!” Amity paused when she realized that Luz and Willow were not there. “Where are Willow and that other girl?!”

“I don’t know! I lost track of them when that monster attacked with that big vine earlier!” Skara mentioned.

“Who needs ‘em, we can get out of this ourselves!” Boscha insisted.

Willow…

Willow and Luz groaned, having rolled down a hill when they got out of the way of the vine, and landed roughly atop each other.

“Ow, that hurt…Luz, are you okay?” Willow asked.

“I think so…I landed on something soft,” she replied.

“Yeah, me.”

Luz blinked and realized that her head had landed squarely on Willow’s ample chest.

“OH, C’MON! HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN TWICE?!” Luz hurriedly got off Willow. “What is this, some kind of anime?! Sorry, I really didn’t mean to do that!”

“I was the one who pulled you out of the way, you don’t need to apologize,” said Willow as she got up and dusted herself off. “Forgetting that, how are we supposed to get out of here?”

Just then, the girls heard several explosions taking place just over the hill.

“Sounds like they’re in trouble,” said Luz.

“Dang it, and the Emperor’s Coven hightailed out of here…they don’t know we’re down here…” Willow was panicking a little, but she tried to keep it together. She had to protect Luz, her new friend was human and had no magic to protect herself with. “Don’t worry, Luz! I’ll make sure you get out of here alive! I won’t let my new friend get hurt!”

Luz smiled upon hearing Willow’s resolve to keep her safe, but right now, the only one who could save them all was herself. But doing so would reveal – at least to Willow – her identity as Titannia.

“Willow, I know how we can get out of this, but…what I’m going to do might scare you. So, I won’t blame you if you never want to associate yourself with me after this,” said Luz.

“Luz, I already said I’m not going to abandon you! Especially not after what you did for me back there!” Willow grabbed Luz’s right hand and held it tight. “You and I are friends, best friends!”

Luz smiled broadly and nodded her head as she slipped out of Willow’s grasp.

“Okay, well…don’t freak out too much.” Just then Luz thrusted out her left arm, and immediately upon doing so, the Titannia Spark and Mystic Guard appeared.

“Wha…?”

“Hold on, things are about to get crazy.”

Luz opened the Mystic Guard and took out the Ultra Titannia Card and inserted it into the Titannia Spark.

{/|\} AWAKEN THE POWER WITHIN! {/|\}

“Arise, Guardian of Light! ULTRAWOMAN TITANNIA!”

{/|\} ARISE, TITANNIA! {/|\}

Willow shut her eyes as an intense column of sparkling purple light burst to life before her. The turquoise haired witch dared to squint her eyes to see what had happened to her friend, but she got her answer when the light finally dimmed and revealed none other than the being that had battled against the Kaiju, Ultrawoman Titannia.

“Luz…?”

Titannia, as if hearing Willow, looked down, nodded, and answered, “Hyah!”

Without another word, Titannia immediately jumped into the air. She looked down at where the other witches were fighting off the vines. Titannia gathered her cosmic light energy into her hands, and after taking careful aim, began shooting energy bolts at that exploded upon hitting the vines around the girls. A large vine rose and were about to slam down on the witches. But Titannia quickly dropped out of the sky and formed her Grand Wall barrier, blocking the vine from hitting them.

Titannia glanced down at the group of witches and shouted, “Hyah! Hyaha!” while jerking her head in the opposite direction.

“It’s that the giant woman!” Skara exclaimed.

“She’s here to save us,” said Boscha.

Amity just stared up in awe, now in the presence of the being that fought against the two monsters that had almost destroyed her town.

“Hyah! Hyah!” Titannia exclaimed.

“What is she saying?!” Amelia asked. “Is trying to talk to us?!”

Amity looked around, noticing that the giant was gesturing for them to get away, in other words.

“She’s telling us to run!” Amity shouted. “She can’t fight that thing if we’re nearby!”

“Hyah!” Titannia replied.

“Still not sure how I feel about Amity, but at least she understood me!”

“OVER HERE!” Amity and the others looked ahead and saw Willow flagging them down. “HURRY UP AND RUN!”

The witches bolted for where Willow was, and once together they began running at full speed away from the battle.

“Hey, where’s that new girl?!” Amity asked.

“Uh…I had her run ahead to get help,” Willow lied.

“Okay, big guy, just you and me now!”

Titannia glared at the monster, and it glared back at her. The moment it did, Luz felt something, the same sensation she felt when she fought Dinozaur and Deemaga.

“Your name’s Mandragaurus, looks like he’s made of plants and rocks. In that case, let’s do some pruning!”

Titannia pushed against the vine her Grand Wall and got into her fighting stance as she channeled the power of the Cosmo Beast Style. The twin snake tattoos on her arms began to take on construct forms as they wound around her arms and formed fang shaped blades over her hands. Mandragaurus roared challengingly at Titannia before spinning around and attacking her with a tail whip. Titannia quickly jumped out of the way of the attack, and then came down with both Fang Blades. Her attack was successful as she managed to slice the tail off the beast at the base. The creature stumbled forwards a bit, the loss of its tail throwing off its balance. Strangely, the monster didn’t seem to cry out in pain. Titannia learned why when she saw the severed end of the tail begin go sprout hundreds upon thousands of vines that quickly weaved themselves together, forming a brand-new tail.

“Ooookay, that’s going to be annoying…”

Titannia dashed towards Mandragaurus, and slashed again with the Fang Blades, cutting it at the left shoulder. A deep gash was created from her slash, but almost as soon as she made it, the gash stitched itself back together. Frustrated, Titannia slashed again, and again, but each time the wounds on the plant monster would just regenerate. Mandragaurus had indulged Titannia long enough, as it roared and slashed at her with its obsidian claws. The dino plant Kaiju landed its heavy blow against Titannia’s chest, sending her skidding backwards as sparks flew from her body.

The titanic beast didn’t stop as it pressed the attack, coming in with a wide claw swipe from its right. Titannia managed to block that attack, causing the ground beneath her feet to rumble from the impact. However, Mandragaurus came in with an uppercut, slashing her across the chest again with its left claw. The blow sent Titannia into the air, but Mandragaurus wasn’t done yet. The Ancient Flora Monster launched two of its large vines from its body, wrapped them around Titannia’s ankles, and then reeled her back while in midair.

Titannia was then smashed into the ground, raised into the air, and then thrown back again. Mandragaurus repeated this three times before Titannia managed to use the Fang Blades to cut herself free, she flipped around in midair before landing to a skidding halt. The Guardian of Light dismissed her blades and ran at the monster, leaping at the halfway point as she led with her right knee, hitting Mandragaurus right in the snout. When she landed, Titannia threw a sweeping kick to knock it down, but when she did, her attack stopped.

“Oh…heh-heh…sturdy legs.”

Mandragaurus roared as it reared its head back and snapped its jaws over Titannia’s right shoulder, causing the Ultra to let out a cry of pain. The Ancient Flora Monster picked up Titannia with its jaws, and then tossed her aside like a ragdoll. Titannia rolled across the forest for a few seconds before managing to get back to her feet. However, as she did, something started to happen. The many flower buds on Mandragaurus’s leaf fin were now starting to bloom. Each of the buds blossomed into, honestly, beautiful yellow flowers that sparkled in the sunlight. Then they started to glow.

“Now what?”

Titannia watched as particles of yellow light started to gather to the flowers, causing the entire leaf fin to glow bright yellow with stored up energy. That’s when Mandragaurus’s mouth started to glow as well, as that same energy was building up in there. In the next moment, Mandragaurus opened its mouth and roared as a column sized beam of light shot out its mouth. Titannia, thinking quickly, dodged to the right, rolling on the ground as the beam sailed over her. The beam continued to fire until it fizzled out into the distance.

“It has a solar beam attack, because of course it does,” Luz complained. “Well, if I can’t prune you, I’ll just have to burn you!”

Titannia made an “X” formation with her arms before holding them out to her sides, she raised her arms over her head before bringing them down, bending her right arm and resting her left forearm in the crook of her right, creating an “L” formation as her energy gathered to her right forearm. At the same time, Mandragaurus charged up its energy, gathering more light particles to its sail fin, and funneling it straight into the Kaiju’s mouth.

“LUMINTIUM BEAM!”

The two beam attacks fired at the same time and clashed against each other. A powerful shockwave erupted from the impact as both beams fought each other for supremacy, with Mandragaurus practically rooting itself to where it stood, while Titannia dug her heels into the earth. Titannia wasn’t about to give up as she focused more of her energy into the Lumintium Beam, causing it to increase in size and power as it managed to overpower Mandragaurus’s Floral Photon Ray, and managed to push it all the way back until a powerful explosion erupted from Mandragaurus. Titannia ended her beam attack as she panted from the effort.

“Gotcha.”

In the distance, the group of witches managed to make it to a hill that overlooked the forest, and from their vantage point, they were able to see the entirety of Titannia’s battle. Willow was worried about her new human friend, and so she stopped here on the hill to see how the battle progressed. It was a little dangerous, but she couldn’t help but feel anxious. The other witches stood with her, not because they were worried, but mostly because they wanted to witness the battle between Titannia and the newest Kaiju to rise from the Titan’s body.

“I’ve only seen footage of that giant’s fights on Penstagram, this is totally going up on my account,” said Boscha as she recorded the battle.

The others kept on watching as the Kaiju and Titannia fired two powerful beam attacks. The shockwave generated from it managed to knock them off their feet and onto their rears, but Boscha managed to keep recording despite that. When they got up, Titannia and Mandragaurus were still in the middle of their beam struggle, but that’s when Titannia’s beam increased in size and power and overtook Mandragaurus’s beam until it made contact with the Kaiju and exploded.

“She did it!” Amity exclaimed in relief.

Willow sighed with relief, but stopped when she noticed something glowing within the smoke. It may’ve been a trick of her eyes, perhaps some residual energy from their clashing attacks? But the longer it remained, the less Willow was sure it was a trick.

“Borrowing this!” Willow snatched Boscha’s Scroll.

“Hey, what the hell, Park?!” Boscha snapped.

Willow ignored Boscha and used her bully’s Scroll to zoom in on the light that was still glowing in the smoke, and that’s when she saw it.

“Oh, no! It’s not dead!”

The group watched as the smoke cleared, showing the source of the light. It was a rounded sphere made up of a membrane-like material. At the center of the pale green membrane was a nucleus that was glowing a bright shade of green, and along with the glow was the sound of something akin to a heartbeat.

MANDRAGAURUS CORE

As soon as the monster’s core was exposed, the forest came alive. The ground shook violently as massive vines broke out of the dirt and quickly wrapped themselves around Titannia, binding her arms, legs, and body, and anchoring her to that spot. The Guardian of Light tried to break her bonds, but the vines were incredibly strong. As soon as Titannia was bound, vines started rise from the ground beneath Mandragaurus Core. The vines began tearing up chunks of dirt and rock as the Mandragaurus Core reformed its original body, although it was only half formed, prioritizing its head, body, and leaf fin. As soon as the leaf fin was reformed, the flowers bloomed once again, and drew in light energy particles.

Titannia fought harder against the vines, but it was proving to be a futile effort on her part. That’s when Mandragaurus opened its mouth and fired its Floral Photon Ray. The beam of intense light sailed across the way and struck Titannia, creating a powerful explosion that broke her out of her bonds, but at the same time caused a lot of damage to her body. The Ultra crashed onto the ground, splayed out as her Color Timer started to blink red.

Willow and the others gasped upon seeing Titannia take that beam attack. But the bespectacled witch furrowed her brow, she wasn’t about to let her new friend die, even if there wasn’t a lot she could do, she wanted to try. Willow tossed Boscha’s Scroll back to the triclops, and quickly drew a spell circle with both of her hands.

“What are you doing?!” Amity asked as she gripped Willow’s shoulder.

“What I can!” she answered. “I’m going to help, Titannia!”

“Are you crazy?!”

“Maybe!”

Without another word, Willow jumped off the hill, and as soon as she did, a wave of vines erupted from the ground. Once Willow landed on them, she began riding the vines like a tidal wave, moving her at a much faster rate of speed than her own legs could carry her.

“WILLOW!!!” Amity yelled. “Dammit…!”

Amity drew her own spell circle and then turned to the rest of her friends.

“Stay here, I’m going after her!”

“What?! Amity, don’t put yourself in danger because Park has a death wish!” Boscha argued.

Amity ignored Boscha and summoned forth Abomination goo, mimicking Willow in creating a wave and riding it at great speeds towards the battle.

“Ow…that freakin’ hurt…” Titannia struggled to get back to her feet. Taking the blast head on had done a lot of damage to her, but through sheer will, she managed to get to a kneeling position. “So, this thing has a core, that’s why it didn’t care when I sliced it apart, I wasn’t hurting the core, just the shell.”

Titannia took a moment to try and summon more energy, but her Color Timer was already blinking its warning signal that she was nearly out of energy.

“Dang it, if use another Lumintium Beam, I’ll just change back before I can even hit it, so…what can I do?” Luz thought aloud.

“TITANNIA!!!”

The Guardian of Light looked down and that’s when she saw Willow now looking up at her from a pillar made of vines.

“WILLOW?!”
“HYAH?!”

“LISTEN! YOU STOOD BY ME AND HELPED ME WHEN I NEEDED YOU! AND NOW I’M GOING TO HELP YOU!” Willow turned to face the direction of Mandragaurus as she widened her stance. “WHEN YOU SEE YOUR OPENING, HIT IT WITH EVERYTHING YOU GOT!”

“Willow…” Titannia clenched her fists as she groaned and stood to her full height. “Okay! We’ll beat this thing together!”

“HYAH! HYAH!”

Willow nodded, she didn’t understand what Titannia said, but it wasn’t something she heard that told her that Titannia understood, but more like a feeling.

Within the nexus universe of Titannia’s body, Luz was determined to take this thing down, but she didn’t she didn’t know what attack she could use to take it down in one shot other than her beam attack. That’s when something flashed through Luz’s mind, her eyes shined bright purple for a moment as she felt new knowledge being given to her. That’s when the Latina smirked.

“That’s what I’m talking about Titannia! Let’s do this!”

Titannia moved out in front of Willow, making sure her friend was behind her to keep her safe. Mandragaurus began gathering energy once again, building more than it had before in an attempt to destroy Titannia with its next shot.

Willow widened her stance as she flexed both of her index fingers, channeling her magical energy to the tips of both fingers and making them glow bright green. The teen witch’s eyes started to glow bright green as well, she slowly started to draw her spell circle, with the trails of green light shimmered brightly in the air before her.

At the same time, Titannia’s snake tattoos began to glow. The Guardian of Light widened her stance as she brought both fists to her sides before thrusting them out in front of her, right fist over left fist. Titannia then opened her fists, flexing out her fingers as she began slowly moving her arms in a clockwise motion. As she did this, the two snake constructs appeared from her tattoos, and started to move in a circular pattern behind her.

Mandragaurus didn’t care for whatever Titannia was doing, it was going to kill the Ultra here and now. Using all its stored-up power, Mandragaurus fired a full powered Floral Photon Ray at Titannia as the ground was torn apart in the wake of the beam. Despite this, neither Titannia nor Willow made any effort to get out of the way of the attack, instead, deciding to face it. At the same time, Amity just now appeared behind them, watching with wide eyes as the beam of light was fast approaching.

Titannia quickly brought her hands together just as the Floral Photon Ray got close to her. The powerful light beam was caught by her hands, and threatened to push her back, but the Guardian of Light planted her feet and withstood the force of the blast, she would not be moved by this creature’s attack. Mandragaurus kept up its attack, believing that at some point Titannia would falter and its beam would destroy her. However, what it didn’t notice was that its beam was being slowly condensed at the space between Titannia’s hands. The twin snakes kept spinning around behind Titannia, as if to show that her technique was still going.

After about a full minute of continuous fire, Mandragaurus’s beam fizzled out again, having used up all the charged energy it had gathered. And much to its shock, all of that energy was now condensed into a brightly glowing sphere that was now suspended between Titannia’s hands.

“NOW WILLOW!!!”
“HYAAAH!!!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!” Willow roared as she completed her spell circle.

With all her might and strength, Willow expanded her spell circle and shot it towards Mandragaurus. The circle of green light flew at great speed until it struck the Kaiju. Willow released another primal scream as her hands and eyes glowed a brighter shade of green light. Gritting her teeth, Willow began parting her hands to the sides, and as she did, Mandragaurus’s body started to tremble.

The vines that comprised its body started to snap in a cascading event one after the other. The creature tried to stitch itself back together, but Willow was not about to let it do that again. The bespectacled witch, as if trying to tear something apart with her bare hands, threw her arms out violently to the sides. And at the same time, a line of green light bisected the Mandragaurus’s body, tearing it open, with both halves lying to the side as Mandragaurus Core was exposed.

“DO IT!!! TITANNIAAAAAAA!!!!”

“STRIKING SERPENT FIST: REBOUND COUNTER!!!”

Titannia’s eyes shined with bright light as she twirled her hands around, bringing the ball of energy to her right side.

“NOW EAT THIS SUCKA!!!”

Titannia thrusted both of her hands forward, firing the condensed ball of energy at Mandragaurus Core. At the same time, the twin snake constructs flew after the ball of energy, moving around it in helix formation until they merged with the energy orb, coating it in their own power, and adding to it. Mandragaurus tried to reform its shell, with some of the vines reaching out to reconnect to the other halves, but Willow exerted her magic and will onto the Kaiju, unwilling to allow that to happen.

That’s when the sphere of power hit its target, striking Mandragaurus Core, and unleashing a mighty explosion. The two halves of Mandragaurus Core’s shell were burned away, and at the same time, so too was Mandragaurus Core itself. The massive explosion thundered throughout the forest, sending up a huge column of black smoke that wafted into the air, signaling the end of Mandragaurus.

Titannia’s shoulders rose and fell, showing that the giant woman was panting from her efforts. The Guardian of Light turned around and looked down at Willow. The witch teen was hunched over, hands on her knees as she panted from the herculean effort she had just performed.

“Hyah?”

Willow heard Titannia and slowly raised her body, showing that her entire face, and no doubt body, was dripping with sweat. Still, the bespectacled witch raised fist towards Titannia, and gave the Ultra a thumbs up. All that just before her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fell backwards.

“Willow!”
“Hyah!”

Just then, a wave of purple slime shot out and scooped up Willow before she could fall off her vine pillar. Titannia watched as Willow was brought before Amity, who was still atop her wave of Abomination slime, having transformed it into a platform.

“Willow! Hey, Willow, say something!” Amity urged.

The green haired witch brought her ear against Willow’s chest, listening closely.

*Ba-dump*

Amity’s eyes widened as she looked up at the giant woman.

“You’re Titannia, right?! That’s what Willow called you! Her heart’s still beating, but she needs help! Please, if you understand me, help us!” Amity pleaded.

Titannia nodded and replied, “Hyah!”

Amity watched as Titannia got down to a kneeling position and held out her right hand. With her left, Titannia motioned for her to get into her hand. Amity hesitated for a moment, but she remembered how Willow had risked her life to aid Titannia in the battle and worked alongside her. If Willow was willing to do that, and Titannia was willing to return the favor, she was going to take it. Using her Abomination goo to float them into Titannia’s hand.

“There’re some other witches, over in that direction! Can you pick them up as well?!” Amity asked.

“Hyah,” Titannia responded.

The Guardian of Light rose into the air and floated in the direction where Amity pointed. Using her enhanced vision, Titannia was able to spot Boscha, Skara, Amelia, and Cat. The giant of light landed before the hill and stretched out her left hand like a platform for the four witches.

“Uh…Amity…?” Boscha nervously called out.

“Hurry and get into her hand! We need to get back to town!” Amity ordered.

With a little reluctance, the four witches climbed into Titannia’s hand. The witches held on as Titannia flew fast through the air, keeping the safety of her passengers in mind as she made sure not to fly too fast for risk any of them falling out of her hands.

In no time at all, Titannia arrived at the edge of Bonesborough, but when she did, she saw that there were many Emperor’s Coven airships and Scouts there. From what she could tell, it looked as if they were gearing up to go and battle Mandragaurus and begin evacuation of the town.

Titannia landed just a few feet from the town, and slowly walked towards Bonesborough, but many of the Coven Scouts were already drawing spell circles and had the cannons on the combat airships ready and pointed in her direction. This made Titannia stop, as she did not want them firing on her not with the witches still cupped in her hands.

That’s when Amity ran from the center of Titannia’s palm and to the edge of her fingers as she cried out, “DON’T ATTACK! TITANNIA’S IS HELPING US!”

The Coven Scouts, thankfully, took notice of the witches that were in Titannia’s hands, making them dismiss their spell circles and aim their cannons away from her. Once Titannia was sure they weren’t going to attack, she took another step forward and knelt before the small army of Coven Scouts. She flattened her palms against the ground the best she could, allowing for her passengers to disembark. Amity used her Abomination slime to carry Willow off Titannia’s hand and to the nearest group of Scouts.

“She needs medical attention! NOW!” Amity demanded.

The Scout nodded and yelled for a healer to come over ASAP.

Amity turned around and looked up at the giant, took a step forward, and said, “Thank you!”

Titannia nodded to Amity before looking up and then jumping straight into the air. Titannia zipped around for a moment before disappearing in the form of a purple star in the sky.

Meanwhile, Eda was at the back of the crowd with King, blinking at the spectacle they had just witnessed. That’s when Luz appeared from an alleyway, letting out a tired sigh as she joined her mentor.

The Owl Lady looked at her young apprentice and said, “Dang, kid, I left you alone for an hour and a half and a Kaiju attacks.”

(2 Days Later…)

Luz was slumped against the couch as she sighed heavily. King was lying across her lap, napping as he usually did. A full two days had passed since her battle with Mandragaurus, but during that whole time, Luz was constantly worried about Willow. She had thought about going to go and see the witch teen but feared that Willow didn’t want to associate with her after that terrifying ordeal.

Who wants a friend that’s basically a danger magnet? Luz thought.

Eda walked past the archway to the living room, and noticed Luz was still in her melancholy state.

“Jeez, Luz, just go see the girl. She stuck her neck out for you to help you clench the win against that monster, I doubt she hates you or anything,” Eda assured.

“I guess…I’m just afraid to find out. If I don’t go see her, then it’s not over, but if I do, then she might say she doesn’t want to be friends anymore…at least this way, I can maintain that illusion.”

“Denial, good coping mechanism, works wonders for me somedays,” Eda commented.

Just then, the door to the house opened, and Hooty stretched his body inside.

“Heya, Hoot House! We got a visitor! Hoot!” Hooty announced.

“Hooty, I told you, no solicitors.”

“Oh, I guess solicitors know who Luz is then. My bad, I’ll throw her into the trees!”

Luz bolted from the sofa, sending King flying off her lap with an audible “WEH!!!” before landing on the other side of the coffee table.

“Wait! Hooty, stop! You said ‘she’ knows me?! Bring her in!” Luz exclaimed.

Hooty did as Luz asked and brought the rest of his body inside, showing none other than Willow Park, who was wrapped up in Hooty’s body. The house demon set Willow on her feet before unwrapping her and retreating into the door, closing it shut behind her.

“He, uh…he nearly ate me,” said Willow with a blank stare.

“Yeah, he’ll do that, just be glad he didn’t invite you to his tea parties.” Eda let out a shiver of fear when she mentioned that.

“Willow! Y-You’re alright! I mean, are you alright, right?” Luz asked, still concerned for Willow’s wellbeing.

Willow snapped out of that stupor from that experience and happily smiled at the human girl.

“Heh, better than alright!” Willow rushed towards Luz, grabbing her hands as she joyfully exclaimed, “I’m out of the Abomination classes!”

“Oh, really?! That’s great! Wait…if you’re out of the Abomination classes…does that mean you’re in trouble for using Plant magic?!”

Willow shook her head in the negative.

“You won’t believe what happened. After I got out of the Healing Coven Hospital, my dads told me to never do something that crazy again. And just FYI, I just drained my magic severely when I helped you out, but nothing life threatening. Anyway, when I went back to Hexside, Principal Bump told me to go and see him in his office. Apparently, footage of my duel with Boscha is all over the official Penstagram page for the school, and he asked me to show him my magic.”

“Okay…”

“Long story short, I did, and Principal Bump immediately transferred me out of the Abomination track, and now I’m officially part of the Plant track!” Willow squealed in absolute joy.

“Willow that’s – ACK – amazing!” Without warning, Willow wrapped her arms around Luz, bringing the human into a big bear hug as the bespectacled witch hoisted Luz up and began dancing around in place with Luz still in her arms. “I-I’m so – GAH – happy for you – oh, my ribs!”

Willow finally released Luz, rubbed the back of her head sheepishly as she said, “Sorry, sorry! I’m just really, really, really happy! And I wouldn’t have had that happen if it wasn’t for you! You made me realize I needed to embrace who I am, and I’m a Plant witch! I want to learn and use Plant magic! You really are a good friend, Luz.”

“You’re welcome, Willow, but…uh…are you sure you still want to be friends with me? I mean…even after what you saw me turn into?” Luz questioned.

Willow tapped her chin and replied, “I will admit, I’d like an explanation about the whole turning-into-a-giant-woman thing. But other than that, yeah, I am!”

Luz’s eyes widened as her heart swelled, some tears threatened to come flowing down her face, but somehow, she managed to hold them back. Eda walked up next to her apprentice and lightly hip checked Luz.

“So, you gonna introduce me to the new girl?” Eda asked.

“Oh – OH! Sorry. Willow Park, this is Eda the Owl Lady. Eda, this…this is my friend, Willow Park,” Luz announced.

Willow looked upon the infamous Owl Lady and nervously chuckled.

“I’ll be honest, I thought you were joking about living with the Owl Lady, but…in a strange way, it makes complete sense.”

“Ahem!”

Eda, Luz, and Willow looked down at Luz’s left, and there they saw King. The small demon looked up at the taller women and shot Luz an annoyed glare.

“Oh, sorry! Willow, this little guy is King.”

“King, as in the King of Demons! WEH!”

Suddenly, Luz scooped up King into her arms and began smothering him with kisses and hugs.

“And he’s the cutest little Demon King in the Demon Realm,” Luz gushed.

“AH! Luz, not in front of a potential minion! Stop!” King whined.

Willow couldn’t help but laugh at the scene before her. She didn’t know what adventures awaited her now that she was friends with Luz the human. But at the same time, not knowing was exciting. The Boiling Isles was changing with the appearance of Luz, the Kaiju, and Titannia, what kind of change that would lead to, well, she was more than willing to stand at Luz’s side and see it firsthand.

Now that I think about it…who uploaded that footage to the school?

“UGH!!! I can’t believe it! Who posted this to the school’s Penstagram account?!” Boscha demanded.

Boscha, Skara, Cat, Amelia, and Amity, were currently hanging out at the ladder’s mansion. They were gathered in Amity’s room, still dressed in their school uniforms as they discussed the matters of the day, in this case, the topic of how Boscha’s duel with Willow was posted to Penstagram.

“I swear, Boscha, it wasn’t us,” said Skara.

“Yeah, we didn’t even have our Scrolls out,” Cat added.

“Well, someone recorded the duel! Ugh, now people are gonna think I lost to ‘Half-A-Witch’! The duel was interrupted by a Kaiju, so there’s no way it’s valid! Right, Amity?!” Boscha asked.

Amity was only half listening as she stared out into the sky as she leaned on her balcony’s railing.

“Huh? Oh, you’re right. The duel is invalid since the Kaiju interrupted us,” Amity confirmed.

“See! I told you!” Boscha clenched her fist as she declared, “Next time, Park is going down!”

Amity gave a roll of her eyes. In all honesty, there were times when hearing Boscha’s complaints grated on her nerves, but she endured it, like always. As for how that footage made it onto the school’s Penstagram account? Well…

Amity got into school earlier than usual that day and headed straight to Principal Bump’s office. She knocked on the door and she was told to enter. Once inside, she saw the man engrossed in his writing and sitting behind his desk. He was an older man, wearing black robes with a golden mantle draped over his shoulders and collar. He had boney fingers and long fingernails. The top half of his head was covered by an imp mask, allowing his blue colored eyes to be seen.

“Ah, Amity Blight, to what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked.

“I’m certain you’re aware of Willow Park’s flagrant use of Plant magic, despite being in the Abomination track, correct?” Amity asked.

Principal Bump stopped his writing and leaned back in his chair.

“I am.”

“I was wondering on what you planned to do to her once she returns to school?”

Principal Bump raised a curious eyebrow and said, “Well, as per the school rules, using magic outside your chosen magic track is grounds for detention, or even possible suspension.”

“I see.”

“…Do you disapprove, Ms. Blight?” he asked.

“Rules are rules, Principal Bump. But I would like to offer an alternative solution,” said Amity.

“Oh, well then, go on. I’m all ears.”

Amity took a seat in the chair across from his desk, sitting in it neatly as she looked the principal in the eyes.

“I am the top student of the Abomination track, and for the last two years I have been in the same classes as Willow Park. And as the top student, I have to say…her skill in Abomination is abysmal. Extremely abysmal. It is in my opinion as a practicing Abomination witch that Willow Park is not a good fit for the Abomination track. You can even confirm with Professor Hermuculus if you’d like,” said Amity.

“No, no, I trust your judgement.”

“Very well. But as the footage shows, Willow Park has exceptional skill and talent when it comes to Plant magic. Would it not be more prudent to – instead of punishing her – switch her to a different track altogether?” Amity suggested.

“Hmm…” Principal Bump rubbed his chin as he contemplated this. “Well…”

“I have read the school charter, and you are well within your rights to transfer students out of a magic track if it is determined their magic aptitude for their original chosen track is lacking,” she said.

Principal Bump nodded in agreement.

“Well, you do have a point there. But rarely has such a thing been done. Most students stick with their chosen magic track.”

“As I said, it’s at your discretion.”

Principal Bump took notice of Amity’s body language, despite having a good poker face, he noticed how her hands were gripping the hem of her tunic quite tightly.

“Before I can render my verdict as to her punishment or lack thereof, I’ll need to speak with Miss Park first. I’m sorry if you were expecting an answer right away, Miss Blight,” said Principal Bump.

Amity shook her head.

“No, you are the Principal of Hexside, and I am just a student who has come to voice her opinion regarding another student.” Amity rose from her seat and was about to walk out of the room.

“Miss Blight, off the record, why do you believe I should transfer Miss Park into the Plant track?” he asked.

Amity stopped but kept her back turned towards Principal Bump.

“…Off the record?”

“Indeed.”

“…” Amity let go the hem of her tunic and released a long sigh. “Willow’s a powerful witch, Principal Bump, possibly as strong as me or stronger. The problem is, she was just placed in the wrong magic track. She shouldn’t have to suffer being looked down on or called ‘Half-A-Witch’ by others…or me…because of that.”

Amity hoped this would be the start of a new beginning for Willow. There wasn’t a lot she could do for her, but hopefully this would help, even if Willow never knew it was her. But other than that, there was something else that occupied her thoughts.

The scene of Willow and the giant woman Willow called “Titannia”. She was up against an impossible creature, and yet, despite how injured she was, the giant didn’t give up. And when Willow offered her assistance, instead of looking down on her as if she was lesser than, Titannia gladly accepted Willow’s help, and together the two of them took down that Kaiju.

And when Willow was in need of help, Titannia understood her, and brought them back to safety. Many on the Isles weren’t sure how they should feel about Titannia, Amity included. But after today, well, she couldn’t speak for everyone else, but as far as she was concerned, Titannia was a hero. She was…amazing.

“Titannia, just who are you?”

“Welcome everyone to the Ultra Navi! This is Luz Noceda!”

“And me, her co-host, the King of Demons! I’m still waiting for my offerings!”

“Calm down, King. Here, have a cupcake.”

(King grabs cupcakes)

“Finally! An offering fit for a king! You’re all off the hook for now! NOM! NOM! NOM!”

“Oookay, so, while King is busy nomming on his offerings, I’ll take this time to introduce our guest! Everyone, give a round of applause for Willow Park!”

“Hi, everyone…! Heh, this is a little embarrassing, I’ve never co-hosted anything before.”

“You’re doing great! Don’t worry! Anyway, wanna tell them the Kaiju we’re viewing this week?”

“Oh, okay, sure! Today’s monster is…!”

MANDRAGAURUS

“Mandragaurus, the Ancient Flora Monster. He was a really tough Kaiju for you to face off against.”

“No, doubt. This guy could regenerate every time I cut him! And when we were up close, he would hit me with those Obsidian Claws and Obsidian Fangs of his, those hurt!”

“I figured. But I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as when you got hit with that beam attack.”

“You’re right about that. Mandragaurus’s Floral Photon Ray, it uses special flowers that bloom on that big leaf fin on its back to gather particles of light, and then fires them out of its mouth.”

“But of course, this whole plant monster is just the outer shell. The true brain behind the monster was Mandragaurus Core.”

“Thankfully, with the power of friendship, we took that sucka down!”

“Heh, well, friendship, magic, and that thing you did to blow it up in the end. What was it called?”

“Oh, right! That was yet another technique courtesy of the Cosmo Beast Style, Striking Serpent Fist! It’s called the Rebound Counter! Basically, it lets me use my own energy and power of the Cosmo Beast Style to create a kind of ‘focal point’ where I can absorb and condense the attack of an enemy. And once I’ve gathered all of it, I shoot it back at them with double the power and double the damage!”

“Yet another Kaiju that came from underground. Just how many are there?”

“Wish I knew, but no matter what, I’ll make sure to protect the people of the Boiling Isles!”

“Well, you won’t be doing it alone, from now I’ll help you! Even if I can’t turn into a giant.”

“Hey, always happy to have get a member for Team Titannia!”

*BZZZT!*

“And that’s our time! Until next time, this Luz!”

“And this is Willow!”

“We’ll see you next time!”

Chapter 5: Episode 5: The Human Expert Gus! The Devil of the Seas Awakens!

Chapter Text

A meeting was called at the palace of Emperor Belos. A gathering of all the nine Coven Heads, the leaders of the Abomination, Construction, Potion, Oracle, Illusion, Beast Keeping, Healing, Bard, and Plant. They came at the behest of the Emperor, because the threat that faced their world was too great to ignore anymore. Not after three Kaiju appeared one after the other, at least a week or two apart from each other.

A single flying carriage flew through the air, flanked by two airships as escorts. The Coven Heads were covered in long cloaks, with their faces obscured by the shadows of their hoods. The only thing to indicate which Coven they were affiliated with was by the colored stripe on their white cloaks, and the medallions that kept their cloaks clasped together.

The Emperor’s castle was built in a deep chasm. Below this chasm were hundreds of sharp rocks, ensuring that if anyone fell it would lead to a very unpleasant demise. The castle itself was built upon a huge stone block that reached all the way down to the bottom of the chasm, there were even some windows that allowed one to look out into the distance. The walls were taller than the castle, save for the castle’s central tower that poked above the walls. There were barracks lined up on the back wall of the chasm, along with training areas fit for the Emperor’s Coven. The main landing area for the castle rested several yards away from the castle, making it so that the only way to get inside was via a retractable bridge that connected to the other end of the chasm.

The airships and carriage touched down on the landing area, with the airships’ ramps deploying and allowing the Coven Scouts to immediately file out and get into position. Once they were, the Coven Heads disembarked from their carriage. They assembled at the edge of the landing and watched as the retractable bridge extended and connected to the landing. The Coven Heads and their Coven Scout guards stood on the bridge and waited for it to retract back to the castle. At the other end stood the Head of the Emperor’s Coven, Lilith Clawthorne, and the Emperor’s lefthand woman, Kikimora.

“The Emperor sends his thanks for answering his summons so quickly,” Kikimora greeted.

“Please, follow us. His majesty awaits,” said Lilith.

The group was brought inside the palace and led through several winding hallways before ending up at the throne room. There was a long table set up for their meeting, and Emperor himself was sitting at the head of the table. He wore a golden mask that had two long, curved horns coming out of the sides of the mask, and it also possessed a long, bird-like beak. His white cloak was trimmed with gold, and both forearms were covered in gold-colored gauntlets. The eye holes of the mask were black as night, with barely any visible sign of an eye to be seen. This was the man known as Emperor Belos, the ruler of the Boiling Isles, and the most powerful witch to ever live.

“Welcome, my Coven Heads. Please, take your seats,” he stated.

The nine Coven Heads took their designated seats, which were marked by the Coven Sigils. Once seated, they removed their hoods to show their faces. One that was in attendance was Mason, the Head of the Construction Coven. Across from him was an elderly witch woman with plant leaves growing out of her head, her name was Terra Snapdragon, the Head of the Plant Coven. To her right was a well-groomed witch man with blue eyes. His name was Adrian Graye Venworth, the Head of the Illusionist Coven. Across from Adrian was a tan skinned witch, with rounded glasses, mint green short cut hair, and green eyes. Their name was Raine Whispers, and they were the recently promoted Head of the Bard Coven. The previous head had retired, but the announcement had not been made yet, so for the time being Raine kept his face hidden.

To Raine’s left was a tall woman, wearing a white headdress that was a half-circle shape, and had a light-blue covering over the upper half of her head and eyes. Her name was Hettie Cutburn, the Head of the Healing Coven. Across from Hettie was a demon that had his mouth covered by a yellow scarf. His white hair was stringy and long, his skin a sickly shade of greenish-gray, and had diamond shaped pink pupils with yellow sclera. His name was Vitimir, the Head of the Potions Coven. To Vitimir’s right was another demon, He had white hair that ended in sharp claws, a mustache that circled to the back of his head, light-purple skin, and possessed ice blue eyes with indigo sclera. He was known as Osran, the Head of the Oracle Coven. Across from Osran was another well-groomed man, with dark skin, but his hair was alive, as if it was made of Abomination slime, because it was made of the slime. He was Darius Deamonne, the Head of the Abomination Coven. And resting soundly curled up in the middle of the table was the Head of the Beast Keeping Coven. They were a demon, with a wild mane of auburn hair to match their tail, while orange fur covered the rest of their body.

“I presume you all know why it is that I have summoned you here, correct?” Belos inquired.

“The emergence of these, Kaiju,” said Darius.

“And the appearance of this being called ‘Titannia’,” Vitimir added.

“Honestly, I find it disgraceful that they gave that giant such a name,” said Kikimora. “They liken this giant woman to our great Titan! It’s nothing short of blasphemy.”

“Now, Kikimora, it’s just a name. No one is saying that this ‘Titannia’ is the Titan or connected to the Titan,” Raine interjected. “And at least it gives us something to call her in the meantime.”

“Well, I don’t think we can completely dismiss that idea,” Mason stated. “This Titannia has boasted powers unlike anything we have ever encountered. Let’s just state the obvious, up until now, Titannia has been the only one able to destroy these Kaiju. These things are so big, and powerful, that our magic barely has any effect on them.”

“Are you saying that the Emperor couldn’t fell one of these beasts?” Terra snapped. “You had best watch yourself, Mason.”

Belos raised his hand and the others looked his way.

“I hold no illusions regarding my ability to kill one of these beasts. From what I have read of the field reports, they are exceptionally big, and mustering up enough magical energy to deal such a beast a fatal blow would no doubt drain me before the next monster appeared. Kill one but have no strength for the next. That is not a feasible strategy,” said Belos.

Hettie nodded and said, “Very wise milord. The Isles cannot lose you, for you may be our last line of defense. But that being said, the Kaiju have caused many injuries and deaths. If not for Titannia keeping the fights out of the more majorly populated areas, we would be seeing an untold number of deaths. Any one of those creatures could wipe out a town on their own and leave nothing but devastation in their wake.”

The Head of the Healing Coven drew a spell circle and manifested several documents before each Coven Head.

“These are the casualties from the battles that our Coven Scouts have engaged in. Now take that and multiply it times a thousand, we’re looking at the mass genocide of our people if we do not stop these things,” Hettie implored.

“But what caused them to appear?!” Adrian asked. “They seem to just keep popping up out of nowhere!”

“Ahem.” Lilith cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the other Coven Heads. “From what I was able to discern from the ruins we found underground. It would seem that these ‘Kaiju’ – as they’re being called – existed long before recorded history. Quite possibly all the way back to the formation of the Isles themselves.”

Lilith drew a spell circle and created a holographic image of a crudely drawn Kaiju.

“For whatever reason, some kind of cataclysmic event, possibly the one that brought the Titan itself down, also affected the Kaiju. But instead of death, they merely fell into a dormant state of slumber for thousands of years.”

The Kaiju image showed itself going to sleep, and how the land started to form around it.

“For whatever reason, the Kaiju are waking up. Thankfully not all at once, but without knowing where exactly in the ground they are located, or what could trigger their awakening, we can only take reactive measures. Also, the paintings in the ruins seemed to suggest that Titannia was their natural enemy, as there were pictures showing her doing battle with the monsters,” Lilith informed.

“Not only that, but it seems that the giant has intelligence.” Darius added. “There have been at least two occasions where this Titannia protected civilians. The first time when the flying Kaiju appeared. And the most recent was transporting some young witches. All of which were unharmed. In fact, at least one of those witches was said to have aided Titannia in the elimination of the Kaiju.”

“I have that report here,” Lilith spoke up. “The witchling in question was one ‘Willow Park’. According to my protégé, she used her Plant magic to quite literally rip the plant Kaiju apart, just long enough for Titannia to deal it the fatal blow. But it must be noted that the girl did incur serious strain to her body and bile sac from overexerting her magical power.”

“That is impressive, but more importantly, I think it shows that Titannia is able to understand us and cooperate with us,” Raine pointed out.

“True, but Lilith’s words reinforce the point I made earlier,” Hettie remarked, “mainly that we do not possess the magical power to defeat these creatures.”

“What of the Beast Keeping Coven? Have they devised a method by which we can possibly control them?” Osran asked. “Or at least, found out anything from their remains?”

All eyes shifted to the napping Eberwolf. The demon man-beast seemed to have heard them speaking about them, because they lifted their head, tilted it to the side for a moment, and then shook their head in the negative.

“I have spoken at length with Eber about this. But controlling a beast that size runs into the same problem as defeating one. Too much magical energy, even with multiple casters,” Darius clarified. “And as far as what they are, from what samples their Coven has been able to obtain, they don’t belong to any category of demon beast in recorded history, or even our modern-day demon beasts. And their hides are unusually resilient, which appears to be the reason they can shrug off our magical attacks so easily.”

“Honestly, I can’t believe no one saw this coming. Osran, what are you and your Oracle witches doing?! You should be keeping us informed about threats like this far in advance!” Terra exclaimed.

Osran furrowed his brow a little as he sighed.

“The future has been hard to see lately. When I look into the future, aside from short glimpses of it, something is shrouding the sight of myself and other Oracle witches. At this point, we cannot act as an early warning system,” Osran lamented.

“That’s great,” Mason remarked. “So, we don’t even know when the next attack will come. But what concerns me is the fact that these monsters are located underground. For all we know, another one of these monsters could be sleeping right underneath a city or town right now.”

Mason’s words made everyone go silent as that possibility just popped into their head. Up till now the Kaiju have been waking up in random, uninhabited areas like forests or rocky areas. If a Kaiju was slumbering beneath a city right now, and if their size remains consistent, they could see an entire city or town wiped out in an instant. The damage and loss of life would be catastrophic, and they would have no way to warn the citizens until it was too late.

“And now my dear Coven Heads, this is where the crux of this meeting comes into play.” Belos steepled his fingers together as he leaned his elbows onto the table. “What shall our response be to the Kaiju. The citizens are looking to their Emperor and Coven Heads to protect them, to make them feel safe in this time of uncertainty. We must deal with this Kaiju threat swiftly, before a mass panic ensues.”

Two weeks had passed since the last Kaiju emerged, and so far everything was quiet. The name “Titannia” was on everyone’s lips since then. Social media was ablaze with witches and demons debating the origins of Titannia, as well as her motives, and her allegiance. Considering that Titannia (Luz) saved Willow, Amity, Boscha and her crew, people now knew that Titannia was intelligent, and could understand normal language. Even if it seemed that the giant couldn’t communicate back, she did understand, and could interact. These facts fueled the imaginations of every single Boiling Islander, as they kept asking who Titannia was, and just as importantly, what her connection was to the Kaiju.

“Questions that I’d love to have answered myself,” said Luz as she scrolled through Eda’s Penstagram account. “I’m still amazed that you guys have social media.”

“Of course, we do. We’re not savages,” Eda commented. “While we’re on the subject, Titannia give ya anymore nuggets of information?”

Luz sprawled herself out on the couch as she let out a long sigh.

“No, she hasn’t. It’s like the only time she does give me information is during a fight. And it’s mostly connected to her abilities, and the names of these Kaiju. Not so much about herself,” Luz explained.

“Huh, secretive type, well, don’t worry ‘bout it. Maybe you have to gain her trust a little more or something,” said Eda.

“Or maybe, you have to show her who’s boss!” King exclaimed as he crawled onto Luz’s stomach.

Luz petted King on the head as she smiled at him.

“I don’t think that’s a good route to go. But in the meantime…” Luz turned her attention to Eda in the loveseat, a cattish grin forming on her lips. “You could teach me a little magic~”

Eda put down the newspaper and gave Luz a side eye glance.

“Nice try, kid. But master your own weird magic, giant powers first,” Eda retorted.

“Booo…” Luz flipped around and looked at the Scroll again. “Well, at least someone on this Penstagram’s got good taste.”

“That being?”

“This user called ‘Firebird’, they seem to have some out there theories about Titannia, and they also seem to think that…” Luz’s eyes widened with shock as she immediately sat up and flung King off her stomach from the motion. “He suspects that Titannia is human?!”

Eda ripped the paper she was reading in half out of surprise as she turned to look at Luz.

“Wait, what?!” Eda exclaimed.

“Okay, who blabbed?” King accused.

Eda and King gathered on either side of Luz, there was a video post from “Firebird” under the same post that accused Titannia of being human, and Luz pressed it.

{Hello everyone, Firebird here,} the video greeted in a distorted voice. {I’m sure you clicked this video because you were curious of my post. Well, I admit, it is a little confusing. I mean, humans can’t turn into giants, they have no magic. But what if Titannia is a different type of human?}

The video shifted, showing the world of the Boiling Isles. And next to that was, what looked like, a comic book?

{Humans tell tales of beings from faraway places. Not unlike our own Boiling Isles. In these stories, these beings from other worlds possess technology so advanced it might as well be magic! And in other stories, these otherworldly beings sometimes look exactly like humans, but possess unbelievable powers! I propose Titannia is actually a being from beyond the stars! From a race of beings that have tremendous power! Now I can hear you all saying, “Firebird, that doesn’t mean Titannia’s a human. She could just as well be something else!” And you would be right, but her shape and appearance say otherwise.}

The holographic image shifted, now showing a perfect replica of Titannia, but colored a light blue. And next to the replica was a generic female witch model and a generic human female model.

{Humans and witches, on the outside, are very similar to each other. Except for our ears, as you all know, humans have rounded ears as opposed to our pointed ears. A very simple detail, but sometimes one that goes unnoticed unless you’re paying attention. Now, what if I told you that perhaps Titannia has the power to change their form? We never know exactly where she goes after defeating a Kaiju, and she just seems to appear whenever a Kaiju rampages. I believe she can change her size and shape! Of course, it’s just a theory, heck, Titannia could just be hiding out in the forests or mountains somewhere when she takes off. Anyway, let’s get a discussion going people!}

“Huh, this ‘Firebird’s’ pretty sharp,” Eda commented.

Luz wasn’t sure if she liked how sharp they were. If Firebird got enough people thinking that Titannia might be a human, they might start to suspect her. Although Luz has been passing herself off as a witch, it would only take one of them snatching off her beanie to reveal her as a human. The witches and demons could see her as a threat living amongst them, and then that would bring some heat on Eda, King, and Hooty. Not that those three didn’t already have some heat, considering Eda was a wanted criminal.

Still not clear on her crimes, but after that Warden Wrath thing, I’m less inclined to believe they were that bad, Luz thought. Never mind that, I gotta find out who this “Firebird” is before people start looking my way!

“Alright, I need to find out who this Firebird is, and see if I can convince them to amend their theory!” Luz proclaimed.

King and Eda looked at Luz with raised eyebrows.

“You do realize that this Firebird could be somewhere clear across the island, right? Plus, even if you manage to track down a location, you may not even be able to find the person you’re looking for,” said Eda.

“Yeah, like finding a piece of hay in a needle stack,” King commented.

“Don’t you mean a needle in a haystack?” Luz asked.

“No, we actually have games where people dive into a stack of needles to find a single piece of hay,” King clarified.

Luz blinked, and then again.

“Boiling Isles questionable sense of entertainment aside, I gotta start somewhere!”

*Knock, knock!*

Luz, Eda, and King looked at the door with confusion, as they were not expecting anyone today. The Latina put down the Scroll, walked to the door, and opened it. To her surprise, Willow was the one standing at the door. She was wearing her Hexside school uniform, which consisted of a charcoal-gray tunic, green leggings and sleeves to denote her Plant magic specialty.

“Uh, Willow, not that I’m not happy to see you, but what’s up?” Luz asked.

“I came by to see if you wanted to hangout,” Willow informed.

“Love to but can’t! I need to find out who this ‘Firebird’ person is before they accidentally dox me!”

Willow blinked and asked, “Did you say, ‘Firebird’?”

“Yes.”

Willow sighed as she facepalmed herself.

“Okay, if you’re looking for Firebird, then I know who and where they are,” said Willow.

“You do?!” Luz immediately grabbed Willow by the shoulders. “Willow, I could kiss you right now! Let’s go!”

“Wait up, you’re gonna need something to deal with conspiracy theorists like that. They can be a bit unstable,” Eda warned.

Luz rolled her eyes.

“Eda, I’ll be fine. Don’t forget, I can fight now,” Luz retorted.

Eda drew a spell circle and summoned a box filled with potion vials, which she now held in her arms and presented it to Luz. The box had several vials filled with a rainbow of different colored liquids, all of which Luz was sure did different things.

“Still, if you wanna pass yourself off as a witch, it wouldn’t hurt to have one or two on you. At least that way you can pass yourself off as a Potion witch in case anyone asks,” Eda informed. “Plus, a good witch is always resourceful.”

“Eda does have a point. Even Boscha has a few vials on her just in case, and she is in the Potion track at school,” Willow added.

“Okay, okay. Do you at least have anything that’s nonlethal? Like a flashbang?” Luz asked.

Eda looked at her vials and said, “I have plenty that give off a bright flash, followed by a really big bang! Ah-ha!”

Luz sighed.

“Seriously, Eda, do you have anything that won’t injure, maim, or possibly kill anyone in that box?”

Eda deadpanned and drew a spell circle. Dozens of vials floated out of the box until only five remained. Luz looked at the five vials, and then back at her mentor.

“Really?”

“Take ‘em or leave ‘em, kid.”

Luz decided to take them. She pocketed all five vials, and once she had, both her and Willow left the house in search of Firebird. When she was gone, Eda drew another spell circle and made the rest of the vials and box vanish. The older witch woman walked back to the love seat and plopped down in it. Prompting King to speak up.

“You really should teach her something,” said King. “If you don’t, you’ll lose her and that’s when I swoop in.”

Eda glanced at her roommate and said, “First off, I’m not gonna Luz her. Second: what would you teach her? How to get lost the sleeve of a shirt?”

“That only happened one time!” King proclaimed as he jumped off the couch and onto the coffee table. “I’ll teach her all about demons! How to command them, how to raise an army and conquer the world with ‘em!”

“Uh-huh? Is that before or after they manage to get you out of the sleeve?” Eda mocked.

King made a squeak of rage that only made Eda laugh when she heard it.

Willow and Luz headed into town, moving into a different section than she normally traveled. This was more of a residential area. Luz had seen this area a few times, but never went into it, mostly because Eda’s deliveries were more scattered about the town or were assigned to certain delivery spots. The bespectacled witch brought Luz to a house, it was fairly nice, not lavish, but if she had to put a label on it, probably upper middle class?

“So, who lives here?”

“Remember I told you about my friend who is a human enthusiast?” Willow asked.

“Yeeesss.”

“He lives here,” Willow answered. “I’ll explain more inside.”

Willow walked up to the front door and gave it a few knocks. When she did, the door opened and revealed an older dark-skinned man, with black curly hair, and a pair of glasses on his face. Luz titled her head a little as she continued to stare at the man, feeling as if she had seen him somewhere before.

“Hello, Mr. Porter,” Willow greeted.

“Oh, Willow, did you come to see Augustus?” he asked.

“Yep, I wasn’t planning on visiting, so, sorry for dropping in so suddenly.”

“Not a problem, I need to head out anyway. And who’s your friend?”

Willow glanced over her shoulder, seeing Luz who was now waving at the man.

“Oh, my name’s Luz. I actually moved here not too long ago, and Willow and I hit it off. She wanted to introduce me to another friend of hers, and here we are. This is going to sound completely random, but I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before,” said Luz.

Mr. Porter chuckled as he straightened his bowtie and remarked, “I’m not surprised you feel that way. You’ve probably seen my face on the crystal ball a few times. My full name is Perry Porter, and I’m a reporter for the Bonesborough News.”

Luz did a double take as she exclaimed, “That’s right! I’ve seen you reporting on the Kaiju attacks!”

“Indeed, I have, and speaking of which, I’ll be off to do an investigation. Tell Augustus I’ll be home later,” said Perry.

Luz and Willow nodded as they stepped aside and let Perry through. Once in the front yard, Perry summoned his Palisman in staff form, got on it, and flew into the distance.

“C’mon, let’s head in.”

Luz followed Willow inside, closing the door as they made their way to the stairs and went up to the second floor. It was there that they stopped in front of a door that had some human paraphernalia plastered onto it. Nothing outrageous, mostly some random stuff. Stickers, posters, and some old toys from kids’ meals past. Willow knocked on the door a couple of times and then called out to her friend.

“Augustus, it’s me. I need to talk to you,” Willow announced.

There was some scrambling from the other side of the door. Luz briefly wondered what kind of person this Augustus would be.

He’s friends with Willow so he can’t be all bad. Hopefully he won’t end up being like some of those crazy conspiracy theorists. I mean, some of them have a point, and others are just completely…well…stupid is harsh, but I can’t think of anything better.

Just then, the door opened and revealed the person behind Firebird. Augustus Porter was younger than Luz expected, about two years or so younger than Luz or Willow. He was still in his school uniform, which matched Willows with the exception of his leggings and sleeves, which were a light-blue color. If Luz recalled this color-coding system correctly, she believed that meant he was an Illusionist. He her resembled his father, Perry, but instead of having green eyes, Augustus had gray eyes.

“Willow, did you see my latest post?! I really think I’m onto something here and–!” Augustus stopped when he finally took notice of Luz. “Uh, who’s this?”

“Let’s talk inside,” said Willow.

Augustus gave Luz a suspicious look, but relented to Willow’s judgement as he ushered the two girls inside. Most boys Augustus’s age would get flustered having two girls in his room, but one of those girls was his best friend, and Luz was sure he hadn’t formed an opinion on how he felt about her yet.

When Luz entered the room, she understood why Willow said he was an enthusiast. There were tons of human related knickknacks all over the room. Posters of teen idols, movie posters, books, comic books, and for some reason Augustus had one of those devices that optometrists use to check your vision. Luz wondered how something like that got here, but that was a question for another day.

“So, what’s up?” Augustus asked. “And no offense, but who are you?”

“Oh, sorry, I’m sure you’re a little uncomfortable since you don’t know who I am. My name’s Luz Noceda, and I wanted to talk to you about your whole ‘Titannia’s a human’ theory,” said Luz.

Augustus gasped as she quickly said, “Are you a Firebird follower?! Wait, how did you know…? Willow!”

“Sorry, but I knew she was someone that you needed to talk to right away,” said Willow.

“Why’s that?”

Luz leaned closer to Willow and whispered, “He’s not going to freak out a lot or try something funny because I’m human…will he?”

“No, trust me,” Willow whispered back. “Augustus, Luz is going to show you something. But I need you to be cool. Okay?”

“Willow, of course I can be spool – uh – cool,” Augustus assured.

Luz glanced at the young witch teen, and then released a sigh. The teen Latina reached up and slowly removed her beanie cap. When she did, Luz wiggled her round ears a little.

“Ta-da~”

Augustus mouth hung open as he stared up at Luz’s ears. The young teen rubbed his eyes a few times, making sure that what he was seeing was real and not a trick of his mind.

“No way…is…are you…you’re a human!” Augustus exclaimed.

“Yep, you can touch my ears if you want to make sure,” Luz offered.

Luz bent down a little and tilted her head to the left. Augustus carefully reached up with his right hand and touched the curve of Luz’s left ear. The young teen gasped and pulled back his hand, verifying that this was not an illusion spell. Luz’s ears were real, which meant he was looking at a real life human.

“There’s a human in my room…T-There’s a h-human in my…”

*THUD!*

“AAH! I killed him!” Luz exclaimed as she saw Augustus pass out.

Willow looked down at her friend and giggled a little.

“Looks like meeting his first human was a little too much for him.”

Augustus’s head was swimming as he blinked his eyes a few times. The young Illusionist groaned as he leaned up, holding his head as he tried to remember what happened.

“You okay, Augustus?” Willow asked.

Augustus turned to his right and noticed Willow sitting there and looking at him with concern.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine. Wow, I just had the craziest dream. I dreamt you brought a human into my room! Crazy, huh?”

“Oooh, you’re not crazy.” Augustus’s left eye twitched when he heard a familiar, yet unfamiliar, voice. The young Illusionist slowly turned his head to the left, and there, sitting backwards in a chair and smiling at him, was the human girl who he thought was a figment of his imagination. But there she was, sitting, and smiling at him. “Hola amigo.”

“AAAAH!!!” Augustus backed away and then nearly fell off his bed, but a quick levitation spell from Willow made sure that Augustus didn’t knock himself out again.

“Please, don’t hit your head, again,” said Willow.

After being placed back in his bed, Augustus continued to stare at Luz with wide eyes.

“You’re really real! You’re a human! A real life human!” Augustus exclaimed. “This is amazing! Willow, when – how – did you find a human?!”

“I–”

“Tell me no one else knows!” Augustus got off the bed and grabbed Luz by the shoulders as he looked at her with worry. “Have you been approached by any weird witches or demons lately?!”

Luz blinked, looked Augustus up and down, and responded, “Well, define ‘weird’?”

“Anyone show any interest in you that seems really interested in you?!” Augustus clarified.

“Well, you’re kinda ticking off that box right now, Augustus,” said Luz with a smirk.

Augustus quickly released Luz and sat back down as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Sorry, sorry, but…wow! I can’t believe it! A real human! I-I have so many questions for you! Ah, dang it, where’s my notebook?!”

“As happy as I would be to answer your questions, I actually need to talk to you about something important,” said Luz.

“Y-Yeah, of course, anything!”

“Think you can revise that whole ‘Titannia is a human’ thing? Or put out a different theory?” Luz asked.

Augustus blinked and remarked, “Why exactly? I mean, you being here kind of validates my theory! Not that I’m saying you specifically are Titannia, but it opens the door for it all to be possible!”

“Except I am.”

“What?”

“Titannia.”

“You?”

“Me.”

“Are Titannia.”

“Yep.”

Augustus turned his head to look at Willow, expecting his friend to be giggling or tell him that it was a joke. But it was the opposite.

“She’s not lying, Augustus. As amazing it sounds, I saw Luz transform into Titannia with my own eyes,” Willow confirmed.

Augustus looked at Luz again, and to prove she was not lying, Luz called upon the Titannia Spark and Mystic Guard with a flash of light and had both appear on her left arm.

“I was right!” Augustus exclaimed.

“Yeah, and that’s kind of the problem. There’s a lot that I don’t know about when it comes to Titannia, and right now, with the Kaiju popping up randomly, I don’t want people to think I’m something they need to be afraid of,” said Luz.

Augustus put on a serious expression as he walked over to his desk, took out a notebook, and sat back down with a pencil in hand.

“Tell me everything, I want to know more about you,” said Augustus.

“I’d actually like to know more about this whole Titannia thing, too,” Willow added.

Luz rubbed the back of her head; she hadn’t gotten around to telling Willow about what she did know about Titannia yet. She supposed now was as good a time as any. So, Luz began her explanation of how she came to the Demon Realm. Her first meeting with Eda the Owl Lady, breaking into the Conformatorium, and accidentally stumbling upon the ancient underground temple. She explained her first transformation and merging with Titannia, the giant of light. The fights she had thus far, and that she was just as clueless about Titannia’s origins as everyone else in this world. The whole time that Luz was speaking, Gus was jotting down notes, while Willow listened intently to her new friend’s explanation.

“And that pretty much catches us all up to now. So, like I said, I don’t know who or what Titannia is. I get these flashes from her during battles, but it’s only to help me during a fight. She hasn’t really given me anymore information like where she came from, or what she is,” Luz finished.

“…Wow, Luz, that’s…wow,” Willow gasped.

“Huh, so Titannia was hidden underground in the form of a statue and asked you to merge with her so that you can fight the Kaiju. Interesting…that does beg the question of what she was doing there,” Augustus thought aloud. “Yeah, I can see why you got freaked out about my theory.”

“Yeah, I’m not saying you have to take down your account or anything, but maybe shift it away from humans. In exchange, maybe I can help you with any human related questions you might have?”

Augustus thought about it for a moment, and gave his answer, “Nah, it’s okay. I’ll think of something else to say.”

“Really?” Luz questioned.

“You sure, Augustus?” Willow asked.

“Yeah, it wouldn’t feel right. Like I’m blackmailing you or something. But…I’d like if it we’d be friends, I’ve always wanted to be friends with a human,” said Augustus.

Luz smiled happily as she replied, “Of course!”

“Great! And, I don’t think you have to worry too much about my theory.”

“Why’s that?”

Augustus took out his Scroll and showed it to the girls.

“Not well received…”

Luz looked at the comments as Willow walked around from the other side of the bed to stand next to Luz and see what she was seeing. Both girls grimaced as they read the comments from Augustus’s latest post.

{Boss_Champion88: Ugh, please. A human that can turn into a giant? Now I’ve heard it all. #getalifeloser}

{HumanFanatic34: Preposterous! “Beings from beyond the stars”, what a concept! Go back to writing human fanfiction!}

{WitchChick127: Hey, check out my FanOnly account! Got some good stuff for ya!}

The comments went on like that, each less encouraging than the last. Now Luz was feeling bad about having to come all the way here and ask him to recant his theory, especially after seeing so many people pile on him like that.

“…Hey, Gus, maybe…maybe you could–?”

“No.”

“What?”

Augustus put his Scroll down as he shook his head.

“I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to tell me that it’s okay to expose you as Titannia, and that you’ll transform live to prove it, right?” Augustus asked rhetorically.

“Uh…well…”

“Luz, you can’t do that, not with people still on edge about the Kaiju,” said Willow.

“Exactly. The Kaiju are one thing, but you’re something entirely different. Plus, if you do that, people will start asking a bunch of questions that you don’t even have answers to yourself.” Augustus crossed his arms and then smirked. “So, why don’t we help you out?”

“What? Really?” Luz asked excitedly.

“Whatever’s going on with you and this Titannia, could be the key to finding out why there’s Kaiju in the Boiling Isles, plus, solving an ancient mystery sounds right up my alley,” Gus stated.

Willow hummed, smiled, and remarked, “I’d like to know more too. And it gives us more of an excuse to hang out, don’t you think?”

Luz felt like she wanted to tear up. Not only did she find friends in the Demon Realm, but friends who were willing to help her solve the mystery of Ultrawoman Titannia.

“Uh, Luz, are you alright?” Augustus asked.

“Y-Yeah, why?” Luz inquired.

“You’re kind of crying a little,” Willow pointed out.

Luz reached up to her face and finally noticed that she was crying. The teen Latina rubbed her eyes again and again, but it seemed that the tears of joy weren’t stopping just yet.

“I’m sorry, I…I just…I never had any real friends before, I’m sorry for getting like this,” Luz apologized.

Willow and Augustus’s expressions fell, without really thinking about it, both witches got on either side of Luz and hugged her. Which only made her cry more, but neither did she dislike it or wanted them to stop.

(Boiling Sea, about the same time…)

“Put yer backs into it lads!” the grizzled captain barked. “Don’t make me have to keelhaul ya to motivate ya!”

The captain and the crew of his large ship were out fishing, casting their wide nets out into the Boiling Sea in order to bring in a huge catch of fish to sell in the markets. The recent Kaiju incidents have shaken the Boiling Isles, and understandably his crew was afraid as well, either for their families or just afraid to return to land right now.

“The net’s heavy captain!” one of the sailors announced.

“Good, bring ‘er up! That’ll be our third catch of the day!” the captain exclaimed.

The sailors went to work, using a combination of their physical strength, a pulley system, and magic to haul the huge net out of the scalding hot water.

“Captain, do we really need to return to port?” another sailor asked.

“Aye, of course we do. Can’t sell our fish if we don’t bring it to port now can we? And we can’t resupply either,” the captain retorted.

“Y-Yeah, yer right, Captain…it’s just that…”

“What? Are ya ‘fraid of those monsters showin’ up?”

The demon sailor gulped and replied, “They’ve been popping out of the ground recently, and–!”

“Aye, enough of this! Look, those creatures are popping out of the ground! We’re out at sea. So long as they don’t trample a port town, we’ll be safe from any big monsters,” said the captain. “Now quit being a yellow-bellied eel and get on that net so we can–!”

Suddenly, the net stopped coming up. The stop was so sudden that it caused the whole ship to jerk back. The sailors were thrown onto their backs from the stop, and all were confused as to why that had happened.

“What was that?!” the captain asked.

“I don’t know Captain! The net stopped!”

“Are we too heavy in the net?” the captain walked to the stern of his ship and looked over the railing to the net that was still stuck in the water.

“Perhaps we got snagged on a rock below?” another sailor suggested.

“Aye…we were doin’ so good today, I don’t want to lose a good haul like this. Ready the diving equipment, let’s get down there and see if we can’t–!”

The captain stopped his order when an unnaturally loud sound echoed from below the water. Everyone on the boat held their breath as they waited for the sound to dissipate. The sound was so strong that it caused the water around them to ripple, which was all the indication that they needed to tell them that something was beneath them.

“Cut the net…NOW!” the captain ordered.

The captain was not about to risk the lives of his crew right now. He was now less afraid of losing his catch, and more afraid that they might’ve caught a sea beast of some kind, and that they might have just royally ticked it off. Several crew members pulled out their knives and began cutting at the net. The nets were specially made, just like the boats, to withstand the intense heat of the Boiling Sea. Likewise, sailors came equipped with special knives and axes that were made to cut these enchanted nets. It took a few slashes of their knives and swings of the axes, but after a minute, the net broke free, and was dropped into the boiling waters.

“ALL AHEAD FULL! GET US OUT OF HERE!” the captain yelled to the helmsman.

“ALL AHEAD FULL! AYE CAPTAIN!”

The sailor in charge of the boiler hurriedly tossed heaps of coal into the furnace, and even tossed in a fireball for good measure. The engine ignited, and the helmsman pushed the lever forward, making the ship take off towards the mainland. The ship blasted through the water as fast as it possibly could. The crew member in charge of the boiler decided that this was not enough speed and decided to feed the furnace with more coal and fire magic, trying to get as much speed out of their ship as he possibly could. At this point, if they got into port, there was no way they could slow down, but the crew could give two flying flips right now. So long as they made it to shore, they could worry about that later.

“CAPTAIN, WHATEVER IT IS, IT’S FOLLOWING US!!!”

The captain and several of his crew climbed to the upper deck and watched as a huge wave started rising, and then gave chase. They briefly caught a glimpse of glowing yellow eyes within the waters, along with some flashes of red, but that was all they could see. Whatever was in the water was huge, and it was coming right for them.

“CAPTAIN, THE DOCKS ARE COMING UP!!” the helmsman yelled.

“DON’T YA DARE STOP! WE’RE GETTIN’ TO SHORE EVEN IF WE HAVE TA FLING THIS OLD GIRL ONTO THE PIER!” the captain yelled back.

The docks were indeed getting closer, but what was more disconcerting was the fact that whatever was chasing them was not stopping at all. Normally a sea dwelling creature would stop once it knew it was going to reach the docks, but sometimes if they were really angry, they would ignore that and keep chasing the ship that wronged them. It didn’t matter, there were Emperor’s Coven ships docked there, surely by now they should’ve seen them and the wave and were getting ready to attack whatever was coming after them.

“WE’RE ALMOST THERE!!!” the captain ordered.

Just then, the wave suddenly died down, as whatever caused it seemed to submerge deeper underwater. The crew of the ship wished they could take this as a good sign, but every part of the captain told him that something worse was about to happen. And it did. Without warning, a green liquid beam of energy breached the surface of the water and made a strafing motion from the right to the left. The beam was shot an angle, and when it reached the ship, the liquid beam sliced the ship in half. The moment this happened, the half that contained the boiler exploded violently, destroying that half of the ship. But then the waters rose again, which swallowed the last half of the whip beneath waves, ensuring that there were no survivors.

The Scouts that were stationed at the docks gasped in horror when the ship sank, but that wasn’t the end of it. The wave of Boiling Sea water kept coming towards them. The Scouts immediately put out a call and ordered all the available Scouts skilled in Construction magic to band together and form a wall to break the wave before it hit shore. That much scalding hot water splashing onto land would kill dozens of people and injure many more. Multiple Coven Scouts appeared, along with the local witches and demons who could use Construction magic. They gathered at the docks and together, drew a combined spell circle that caused the earth to rumble. A few seconds after, a huge wall rose forth, rising higher and higher. There was no way this would protect the whole town, but it could at least mitigate the damage done, they hoped. Everyone braced for the wave to crash against the stone wall, but then the roaring of the wave stopped.

Unfortunately, that was not the end of their worries. Another greenish beam of liquid energy pierced through one side of the wall, and then strafed across the entire wall before disappearing. That beam sliced through the wall as if it was nothing, and at the same time, caused the wall to melt. The upper part of the wall began to fall, and every witch and demon there hurriedly ran to get away from it. They made it just in time before the upper half hit the ground with a thundering “BOOM!!” sound, kicking up a dust cloud in the process. That’s when they heard another thundering sound, something like footsteps and the sloshing of water.

The people looked around but couldn’t see anything. But that’s when something strange happened, the wind shifted, and blew the dust cloud towards the sea. That’s when the dust cloud moved around something invisible, somewhat outlining a giant something standing there. A roar ripped through the air as two yellow lights flashed where the silhouette was seen. Afterwards, another greenish liquid energy beam fired from thin air, cutting through the buildings, streets, and anything else unlucky enough to be in its path.

Another thundering step hit the ground, causing the buildings to shake, and the people to fall. Another roar came from the invisible force as a building was crushed under something heavy. Ye another liquid beam blasted out of nowhere, cutting through the town with deadly precision. The people were screaming and running, but without being able to see the cause of the mayhem, people were scrambling to just get as far from the Boiling Sea as possible.

“Sorry about that you guys, I…I didn’t mean to get all emotional like that,” said Luz.

“You don’t have anything to apologize for, Luz,” Willow assured.

“Better to let it out than to keep it all in,” Augustus agreed. “So, since you’re here. Why don’t we go over the basics of what you do know about Titannia, and we can see where we go from there?”

Luz nodded, it wasn’t like she was making any headway herself, having some friends who knew the history of the Demon Realm would be a boon to her finding out who Titannia is. Or was? It was kind of hard to determine which tense to use considering she was alive inside of Luz.

“Hey, do you mind if I call you ‘Gus’? I used to know an Augustus back in the Human World, and we called him ‘Gus’ as a nickname,” said Luz.

“A nickname? A human nickname?! Call me it! Please!” Gus exclaimed happily.

Willow chuckled, ‘Gus’ was definitely the time of his life right now. And now Luz had another friend, and so did she.

Suddenly, both Willow and Gus’s Scrolls released a shrill noise. It reminded Luz of those emergency alert tests she would get on her phone. And the bad thing was, Luz doubted that this was any kind of test. Both teens hurriedly whipped out their Scrolls and saw a news alert on Penstagram.

{This is an emergency alert! There is an attack on the city of Anteropolis! All citizens of Anteropolis are hereby ordered to evacuate as soon as possible! Likewise, the neighboring town of Bonesborough should be prepared to do the same! We will continue giving updates regarding this latest attack!}

“Oh no…another Kaiju attack!” Luz exclaimed. “Uh, uh, where’s Anteropolis?!”

“It’s a port town to the south of us, but I don’t know how you’re going to get there?!” Gus exclaimed.

“Oh, don’t worry about that…I do have one problem…getting somewhere in time to transform…”

Willow smirked as she glanced at Gus and said, “Too bad we don’t know any good Illusionists who could, oh, I don’t know, put up a good illusion to hide Luz’s transformation.”

Gus smirked back at Willow as he crossed his arms.

“Backyard, now.”

Gus led Willow and Luz out into his backyard, it was a little small, but Luz didn’t think that would be a problem considering she’ll be flying here in a second.

“Which way is south?!” Luz asked.

Willow pointed Luz in the right direction.

Once she had, Luz pointed her body to where Willow indicated and said, “Alright, do your thing, Gus!”

The young Illusionist kept up his smirk as he pretended to crack his knuckles.

“Alright, time to work some magic,” Gus exclaimed.

Gus concentrated his magic on the tips of his right and left index fingers, and together, he drew a wide spell circle. He waved his hands outwards, making the spell circle expand until it completely encompassed his backyard. The air distorted for just a moment before returning to normal, but the ring of blue magical energy was still visible.

“Okay, you can do whatever you need to do! I cast a glamour spell over the backyard, it should extend high enough to hide you,” said Gus.

“Thank you, Gus! Just hold it for a little while longer!”

Luz summoned the Titannia Spark and Mystic Guard, and immediately was engulfed in a flash of purple light. Within the starry nexus, Luz opened the Mystic Guard and took out the Titannia Ultra Card. Once in hand she inserted it into the Titannia Spark.

Luz opened the Mystic Guard and took out the Ultra Titannia Card and inserted it into the Titannia Spark and pressed down on the center crystal.

{/|\} AWAKEN THE POWER WITHIN! {/|\}

“Arise, Guardian of Light! ULTRAWOMAN TITANNIA!”

{/|\} ARISE, TITANNIA! {/|\}

Gus and Willow shut their eyes as column of purple light shined before them. Thankfully, outside of the backyard, no one could see the light as it rose into the air and manifested into the form of Ultrawoman Titannia. Now in her Ultra form, Titannia took off with a sonic boom. Once she was gone, Gus cancelled his spell and released a sigh.

“…WOW!”

“Yeah, that’s never not going to be surprising to see,” said Willow. “Let’s head back inside and see if we can find an account that’s live streaming the attack!”

“Let’s go!”

Titannia flew through the air at great speeds, honestly this was the first time Luz had gone full speed with Titannia. Thankfully Titannia was just as fast in the air as she was on the ground. The only concern Luz had right now was passing Anteropolis.

Well, if I hit the open ocean then I definitely went too far, thought Luz.

The giant of light didn’t have to fly too long as she hurriedly stopped in the air, and spotted a town, and sure enough, people were running and screaming. She could hear them thanks to Titannia’s enhanced hearing, the only problem is she couldn’t see what it was that was causing them to run. Just then, a green stream of liquid energy blasted out of thin air and carved through the town like it was nothing.

Okay, what the heck?! This one’s invisible?! Okay, okay, just wait for it…

Titannia focused her vision, then the stream fired again, and Titannia had her target.

THERE!

Titannia focused her energy into her right hand and fired an energy bolt straight to where the stream was coming from. The energy bolt managed to hit it, exploding against something unseen, but there was definitely something there. Emboldened, Titannia flew at where the energy bolt exploded and fired a few more at the same spot. The bolts managed to hit, but just then the bolts hit the waters. Titannia dropped to the ground, and got into a defensive stance, watching, and waiting for something to happen. Just then, Titannia felt something strike her in the midsection, and then another strike hit her in the face. Titannia stumbled backwards a bit and shook her head. The attacks were strong, but she managed to stay standing.

Ugh, this is stupid! How am I supposed to fight a monster I can’t see?!

Another liquid energy beam appeared from thin air. The beam strafed across Titannia’s back, causing sparks to fly from her body as the giant of light was thrown to the ground. Titannia managed to get back on her feet but was starting to wonder how she was going to fight a monster she couldn’t see.

C’mon, Titannia, throw me a bone here!

As if to answer her question, Luz felt something, like Titannia was telling her to…

You want me to close my eyes?

The starry nexus around her flashed, as if indicating that that’s what Titannia wanted her to do. Luz released a long exhale as she widened her stance and closed her eyes. Titannia mimicked Luz’s actions, but instead of closing her eyes, Titannia’s glowing eyes went dark. The unseen creature started to move around, watching Titannia curiously. The giant of light blocked out her sight, focusing instead on hearing and feeling. Just then, Luz felt something, and it was moving around her. The sounds of footsteps were clearer to her now.

There!

Titannia spun on her heel and delivered a roundhouse kick to the invisible enemy. The kick was strong, as the invisible enemy hit the ground hard and knocked the monster out of its invisible state, allowing Titannia to finally catch a glimpse of her opponent. The monster finally stood up, showing its whole form to the Ultra, and from what Luz could tell, it was fish-like in appearance.

The monster had yellow and gold-colored scales. It stood on two legs, with a single ivory talon on each of its three toes. The monster had two arms, with three digits that ended in an ivory white claw, and under its arms were something that looked akin to the suckers of an octopus, four on each arm. The Kaiju had a thin head, with a long nose that widened at the tip, and opened like a nozzle. It also had a reddish fin on top of its head, with a red gemstone shining in the middle of its forehead. And on its back were two larger fins, and going further down was a long tail.

The moment Luz laid eyes on the monster; the name of the creature instantly popped into her head.

MAGA-JAPPA: THE ANCIENT AQUATIC HAZERDOUS MONSTER

Maga-Jappa. Sneaky, but now it’s my turn!

Titannia readied to attack Maga-Jappa, but the Kaiju took the initiative. Maga-Jappa raised its arms up and stretched them out. Immediately upon doing so, the suction cup like suckers on its arms started to create a powerful vortex. Titannia was starting to get pulled in, not sure what was happening, but if it wanted her then she was not going to let that happen. Titannia dug her heels into the ground, trying to keep herself from getting drawn in. Unfortunately, Maga-Jappa’s vortex was stronger than Titannia thought as it drew her into a Kaiju sized bear hug.

UGH! If you think I’m going to let you Kaiju-handle me, you’re–!

Luz didn’t get to finish her thought as Maga-Jappa opened its mouth and released an extremely putrid vapor right in her face.

¡DIOS MÍO, ESO ESTÁ TAN RANCIO! (Oh, good God, that is so rancid!) UGH, OH – AUGH!

Titannia stumbled backwards a bit, her head spinning as she continued to reel from the ungodly awful smell that had just assaulted her sense of smell. And that was the opening Maga-Jappa needed. The aquatic Kaiju swiped at Titannia, causing sparks to fly from her. Maga-Jappa struck again, and again, causing Titannia to back up more and more. That’s when Maga-Jappa dipped its head back and then the green, liquid energy beam came blasting forth from the nozzle nose on its face. The beam struck Titannia right in the chest, sending her flying backwards and pushed her with a tremendous amount of force straight towards the Boiling Sea.

OH NO!!!

Titannia couldn’t correct her course as she was shot right into the Boiling Sea with a great big splash. The moment Titannia hit the waters, Luz began to panic. Eda protected her from getting boiled alive when she almost did a cannonball into it, but now she was being submerged deeper into the water by Maga-Jappa’s beam attack.

AAAAAAAAH!!! I’M GOING TO GET BOILED ALIVE! I’M BOILING ALIVE! I’M…I’M…not dead…?

Luz felt pain in her chest from the multiple attacks by Maga-Jappa, and she did feel a slight stinging sensation around her entire body.

Huh…okay, apparently I can breathe underwater…and I can survive the Boiling Sea.

Titannia looked at her the surface of her body and noticed that there were small sparks coming off her.

Okay, so maybe not completely survive, it’s damaging me, but slowly. Oh, man, that hurt…I’ll just…

A huge splash hit the water as Maga-Jappa entered the waters. Now in its element, Maga-Jappa was much faster and was heading straight for her. Maga-Jappa attacked Titannia, striking her from the side, and then turned around sharply to attack again, hitting Titannia from the back. Maga-Jappa was running circles around her, and she was not accustomed to fighting underwater.

This is so annoying! C’mon, Titannia, you got to have some crazy technique to counter this, right?!

Suddenly, another vision popped into Luz’s mind. A vision that showed her a new technique of the Cosmo Beast Style. Maga-Jappa watched from a distance, preparing to end Titannia, but something strange happened. Titannia began moving her arms around, and as she did this, the tattoos on her arms started to glow brighter and brighter. Maga-Jappa blinked its eyes as something began to form around Titannia. Her cosmic energy started to flare from her body, growing bigger and bigger, and then it took shape. Her aura finally took full form, becoming a huge construct snake that hissed at Maga-Jappa.

Maga-Jappa roared back that the snake construct and headed straight for Titannia. The Guardian of Light thrusted with her right hand forward, making the snake construct surge forth, unhindered by the resistance of the water as it exceeded the speed of Maga-Jappa. The Kaiju was not prepared for this as the snake construct struck it hard, sending it spinning backwards. Titannia didn’t stop as she decided to give the monster a taste of its own medicine. With a thrust of her left arm, Titannia redirected the construct to turn around and come down from above the still spinning Maga-Jappa, the blow was swift and powerful as the snake struck again, ceasing the Kaiju’s spin as sparks flew from its tough hide.

Titannia spun around and thrusted her right arm again, and then the left. She repeated this motion multiple times, each time causing the snake to wind back and hit Maga-Jappa, not only damaging the Kaiju, but disorienting it to the point that couldn’t tell up from down at this point. Titannia felt the stinging around her body intensifying, even with the construct aura around her, it wasn’t filtering out the boiling seawater as much as she thought.

Let’s end this Titannia!

“HYAH!”

Titannia raised up both of her arms, keeping her hands flat as she positioned them inwards, like that of a snake baring its fangs and ready to strike. As if on cue, the snake construct curled up around Titannia, getting into a striking position as it opened its wide mouth, baring its fangs which now glowed an intense purple color.

“COSMO BEAST STLYE! STRIKING SERPENT FIST!”

Maga-Jappa finally managed to get its bearings and noticed Titannia about to attack. The aquatic Kaiju quickly fired its liquid energy beam straight towards the Ultra, but that wasn’t about to deter Titannia.

“SNAKE BITE!!!”

The snake construct let out a fierce hiss as its eyes blazed with bright purple energy. The construct launched itself forward, ignoring the fact that Maga-Jappa’s beam attack was on a collision course with it. The construct opened its wide mouth just as the beam got near it, but when it hit, Maga-Jappa’s liquid energy beam seemed to disperse from the intense cosmic energy of Titannia’s attack. Maga-Jappa started to look panicked and immediately cut off its beam in favor of going invisible. Once it disappeared, Maga-Jappa hurriedly swam away, believing that Titannia couldn’t hit what she couldn’t see.

That’s not going to work on me a second time!

Titannia closed her eyes and focused her mind. Feeling the flow of the water, using her power to expand her spacial awareness and locate Maga-Jappa. That’s when Titannia’s head jerked to the left, and she swiftly redirected the construct in that direction. The snake construct managed to catch up with Maga-Jappa, and while still in its invisible state, the construct opened its mouth again and snapped it jaws around the midsection of Maga-Jappa’s body, sinking its fangs into the beast. Maga-Jappa roared in pain as its invisibility deactivated. But Titannia wasn’t done yet, she quickly raised her arms upwards, making the snake construct rise higher and higher until it broke the surface of the water. The snake construct continued to take Maga-Jappa higher into the air before the spot where its fangs had penetrated Maga-Jappa’s hide started glowing even brighter before the energy released and caused a massive explosion in the air, ending Maga-Jappa.

The snake construct disappeared not long after the explosion. Some of the people who were still in the town and unable to evacuate during the attack, came out and headed to the harbor. They had witnessed part of the battle when Titannia arrived and battled Maga-Jappa, having saw how the Kaiju sent Titannia into the Boiling Sea. But then they saw a large snake-like creature rise out of the water with Maga-Jappa in its mouth before exploding in the air not too long after Titannia was sent into the sea. Now they wondered if Titannia was even alive. There were few creatures that could survive the flesh melting waters of the Boiling Sea, the only ones that could survive were fish, amphibians, and some aquatic mammals that lived in the sea.

However, their worries were alleviated as something burst forth from the water, revealing itself to be none other than Ultrawoman Titannia. She hovered in the air for a few seconds, spotting the people down below and giving them a nod as if saying, “Everything’s okay now.” She then pointed herself towards the sky and took off with a sonic boom, going further into the distance until she was a shining purple star.

The following day was met with a lot of cleanup work in the town of Anteropolis. There were certainly a lot of casualties from Maga-Jappa’s attack, but there were still many more saved thanks to Luz and Titannia’s interception of the Kaiju. Still, Luz was saddened when she found out that a ship had been destroyed out at sea. It honestly frustrated her that she couldn’t get to the city in time to prevent so many people from getting hurt or dying. Currently, the Latina was at the Owl House, with Gus and Willow sitting in the living room with her. Gus and Willow were still getting used to the fact that Luz lived with the infamous Owl Lady, and it would take them much, much longer to get used to Hooty, but then again, Eda and King have lived in the Owl House for a while now and they were still getting used to him.

“I just wish I knew that attack happened sooner, I could’ve saved those people,” Luz sighed in frustration.

“Luz don’t blame yourself for that. You had no idea that that Kaiju was attacking Anteropolis until the alerts came in,” said Willow.

“She’s right, no one expected a Kaiju to come out of the Boiling Sea! I mean, your human comics and books have that kind of stuff in them, but we never expected Kaiju to be sleeping underground, much less probably napping underwater,” Gus added.

Eda walked over and mussed Luz’s hair as she said, “Listen to Goops and Willow here. The only reason you’ve been able to keep the death count so low until now is because the last three Kaiju have appeared in forest or rocky places away from the town, or you were close when they woke up. At this point it’s just down to luck.”

Luz sighed again and shook her head.

“I get it, but that doesn’t help the next town that gets attacked. What if a Kaiju appears on the other side of the Isles and by the time we find out it has, an entire town is wiped out?” Luz pointed out. “Titannia’s fast and can get there in time, but if I don’t know the attack’s happening then…”

Eda rubbed the back of her head as she sighed as well. Honestly, she was kind of annoying her. Not what Luz was feeling, but the fact that she was feeling it because of Titannia. The unknown giant led Luz into that temple and gave her the choice of merging with the giant in order to protect everyone here. In some ways, Eda kind of resented the giant of light for putting this kind of burden on a young girl like Luz. Now her ward felt responsible for the lives she wasn’t able to save.

“Hey,” Gus spoke up. “Even the best heroes of all time can’t save everyone. You’re not a goddess or anything, Luz, you’re just you. And even though we don’t know what Titannia is, I don’t essentially think she’s a god either – no offense if you’re listening!”

Luz chuckled, but from what she could sense, Titannia didn’t take offense at all.

“Point is, focus on the lives you can save. There are going to be times when you can’t stop the Kaiju from hurting a lot people before you show up to stop it. But in that case, focus on protecting the ones who are still alive and looking for someone to save them!”

Luz smiled as she said, “Gracias, amigo. You’re right, I can’t save everyone, but I will protect as many people as I can!”

“HEY, HEY!” King yelled as he scampered into the living room, carrying a crystal ball between his claws. “The Emperor’s about to make an announcement!”

King placed the crystal ball in the middle of the coffee table. When the orb lit up, everyone saw Gus’s dad, Perry, speaking.

{This is Perry Porter, coming to you live from the Emperor’s castle. Following the latest sea-based Kaiju attack, the Emperor has decided to give a public address regarding how he and the Nine Covens are going to combat these unknown monsters, and possibly how we are to regard the being known as Titannia. Oh, the Emperor’s at the veranda, let’s listen in.}

Luz, Gus, Eda, Willow, and King watched as the Emperor appeared on his veranda, flanked by the Heads of the Nine Covens. Once he was at the railing, a mike was brought in by one of the Coven Scouts before said Scout backed away.

{People of the Boiling Isles. As you are no doubt aware, we have recently suffered yet another attack by these vicious creatures that have been going by the name “Kaiju”. Until yesterday, we only assumed that the threat was only beneath our feet, but with this latest attack, it would appear that assumption was wrong. I will not lie to you my subjects, I cannot tell how many of these monsters there are, but I fear that yesterday’s attack was not the last of them. We have now determined that the Kaiju slumber somewhere deep under the ground, and apparently, some even slumber beneath the waters of the Boiling Sea. We know not their numbers, and they all have various abilities that make them extremely dangerous, not counting their massive size. In the history of the Demon Realm, our people have never faced a challenge like this before, this threat is without precedence, and conventional means of dispatching them have proven to be ineffective.}

The Emperor paused, possibly to gauge the reactions of the people in the crowd below, but it was also possible he was pausing to allow the people listening at home to absorb this knowledge. Luz had to admit, it was frightening to think about. There could be dozens upon dozens of Kaiju sleeping underground, or just off the shores of the Isles, and they wouldn’t know when the next attack would come.

{However, despite this monumental hurdle, we WILL endure! The Titan has not forsaken us, my subjects! We must show our perseverance now more than ever! And that is why, as of today, I am announcing the formation of a brand-new Coven. An Anti-Kaiju Coven, whose sole purpose will be the study, detection, and elimination of this menace! As I said earlier, this foe we face is unconventional, so, we must take an unconventional approach to match it. That is why this Coven will be led by the Head of the Emperor’s Coven, Lilith Clawthorne!}

Eda grimaced a little when Lilith Clawthorne took a step forward, and then bowed as she stood next to Emperor Belos.

{In addition, this new Coven will be formed from the new generation of witches and demons of the Boiling Isles. Seeing as it is the youth that have caught on to what these creatures resemble, I believe that they may be our best chance at finding solutions that we are not able to think of. Starting at the beginning of next week, Lilith Clawthorne will be heading to each of the five magic schools on the Boiling Isles. Select the best students you have, bring forth your most talented prospects, and if they show their worth, they may join this new Coven, and when this scourge is driven off our shores, they will have earned their right to join my Emperor’s Coven! For the future of the Boiling Isles!}

The crowd below cheered wildly for the creation of this new Anti-Kaiju Coven. Luz smiled a little, this was good news, it meant that now they were going to at least try and fight back against the Kaiju in a different way.

“Wait, the Emperor said Head Witch Lilith would be coming to each of the magic schools!” Gus exclaimed. “That means we could be part of that Anti-Kaiju Coven!”

Willow looked at Gus and asked, “Wait, you mean me too?”

“Willow, you helped Luz defeat that plant Kaiju by – literally – tearing it apart!”

The bespectacled witch blushed as she twiddled her thumbs in embarrassment.

“T-That was different, I was just trying to help Luz out,” said Willow. “I wasn’t trying out for a spot in some Anti-Kaiju Coven.”

“Maybe not, but you helped me out big time,” Luz remarked. “And I think I want to join up too.”

“Yes!” Gus shouted.

“Whoa, hold on now,” Eda interjected. “Look, I’m all for creating some kind of team to stop these things, but I wouldn’t exactly trust a Coven headed by her.”

To this, Eda pointed at the crystal ball that showed Lilith.

“Besides that, you’re not a student at any of the magic schools, kiddo.”

“…Yeeaaah…that’s true,” Luz admitted.

“So? All we have to do is just sneak her into the school during the tryouts, make sure her ears are hidden, and Luz can get in. This’ll make it easier for you to get to the action and stop the Kaiju from hurting more people,” said Gus.

Eda raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms.

“I applaud your deception, Goops, but I still have my reservations about this,” Eda stated.

“I think it’ll work! Having Titannia on their team will help make sure those Kaiju know their place!” King exclaimed.

Luz smirked as she stood up and clenched her right fist.

“Alright, starting from today, we’ll work on training ourselves for the day of the tryouts to become members of the Anti-Kaiju Coven!” Luz proclaimed.

“YEAH!” Willow and Gus cheered.

Eda still didn’t like this, but she also couldn’t deny that having Luz on the Anti-Kaiju Coven team would allow her to be in the know when it came to Kaiju attacks, and it would allow her to be right there in the action to stop the monsters. But even so, there was just something about the formation of this new Coven that didn’t sit right with her.

What exactly are you planning, Belos?

“Welcome to my Ultra Navi! I’m Luz Noceda, and today we have another special guest helping me out! Introducing Gus Porter!”

“Hey everyone! The Master Illusionist, Gus Porter is here to add some flare to this Ultra Navi!”

“Ooh, nice! I just realized you’re now the fourth person to know I’m Titannia.”

“Heh, don’t worry, Luz. If there’s one thing you can be sure of, is that I know how to keep a secret.”

“Good to know, Gus-man. Now, wanna introduce the Kaiju of the week?”

“Yeah, introducing–!”

MAGA-JAPPA: THE ANCIENT AQUATIC HAZERDOUS MONSTER

“This guy’s an amphibious Kaiju, and it has the ability to turn completely invisible!”

“Ugh, that was a pain, but at least I figured out a way to see it without seeing it.”

“That was pretty sweet. But then it hit you with that nasty beam attack.”

“Ah, yes, its Maga-Water Flow. It takes in water and shoots it out in the form of a focused, pressurized stream of water, infusing it with energy to turn it into a liquid energy beam.”

“Yeah, it probably didn’t help either that the water it used was water from the Boiling Sea, which is hot enough to melt your flesh off in seconds. And you’re lucky Titannia’s tough, that thing was cutting through stone and buildings like nothing.”

“Yeah, but Maga-Jappa was tough too. I shot it with energy bolts more than once, and it didn’t seem to faze it. And then it drew me in with its Maga-Suction.”

“Yep and gave you a face full of that even nastier odor, the, uh, well, Maga-Odor. I didn’t even know you could smell while you were Titannia.”

“Trust me, I wish I couldn’t. I don’t need to breathe underwater, but I can still smell something that bad, ugh, so not fair.”

“And what was that attack you used to defeat it in the end?”

“Oh, that was the Cosmo Beast Style, Striking Serpent Fist: Snake Bite! I basically release a lot of Titannia’s energy to create a snake construct around me that attacks swift and hard. With the finishing attack using the construct’s fangs to pierce the enemy and shoot a burst of Titannia’s energy into it. Basically, like how snakes destroy their prey from the inside out with their venom.”

“That’s really cool! Do you think Titannia has anymore techniques she can use?!”

“I don’t know, since she’s not the talkative type. But considering we’ll more than likely face more Kaiju down the road, it’s a possibility.”

*BZZZT!*

“And that’s time! This is Luz!”

“And Gus!”

“And we’ll see you next time!”

Chapter 6: Episode 6: Operation Hexside!

Chapter Text

One week had passed since Emperor Belos announced the formation of the Anti-Kaiju Coven. The five different premier magic schools of the Boiling Isles were already in the process of selecting their best and brightest students from the different magic tracks. The selection process was on a voluntary basis, but the Principals of each of the schools could select certain students they knew were the best fit, and on the day Head Witch Lilith arrived, she would evaluate the caliber of that particular school’s selections.

To that end, Luz, Willow, and Gus were currently in the middle of training, and who better to train them than the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles.

Vines sprouted from the ground and lashed out towards Eda, but the Owl Lady remained where she was and drew a large spell circle with her staff. With a swipe of her staff, Eda layered a magical aura over all the incoming vines, and with another swipe set them ablaze. In mere moments the vines were reduced to ashes before her, and Eda smirked as she saw the shocked look on Willow’s face. However, that was just a feint as the ground below Eda rumbled, and within seconds the earth beneath her feet crumbled and gave way to a large plant beast. The petals of the flower had sharp teeth and another mouth at the center. The flower rose into the air and snapped its jaws around Eda.

But Willow’s victory was cut short as the flower burst apart after a quick blast of magical energy. A second wave sliced through the stem of the plant and exploded when it hit the ground below. Eda landed on the ground and twirled her staff with a flourish before hitting the ground with the butt of the staff itself.

“Not bad, Specs. You have a lot of raw power, and you seem to have a deep knowledge of Plants, you sure you haven’t considered trying your hand at Construction magic? You’d be a real double threat,” Eda suggested.

“Eh, I have, but I just feel I have a better connection with this type of magic,” Willow admitted.

“You know your strengths, and that’s important. And considering you tore a Kaiju in half, I doubt you need me tellin’ ya different,” Eda mentioned.

Willow bashfully rubbed the back of her after being reminded of her incredible feat against Mandragaurus.

“On that note, don’t let your guard down.”

“Huh? WHAAA!”

Willow swiftly found her legs encased in rock, and as soon as she hit the ground, another chunk of rock separated from the earth and latched onto both of her hands like a pair of cuffs.

“But don’t get distracted,” Eda advised.

“Yes. Ms. Eda,” Willow groaned.

Eda heard the faintest sound of movement coming from behind her, and due to that sound, Eda quickly sidestepped to the right, just in time to miss Luz coming in with a flying roundhouse kick. The Latina landed on the ground, coming a rolling stop as she quickly recovered and got back into her fighting stance. Eda was about to counterattack, but that’s when Luz’s body started to glow with a faint cyan aura outlining her body. Within seconds a huge puff of cyan smoke bloomed into existence and obscured Luz for a few seconds. When the cloud dispersed, it was revealed that there were now multiple Luzs, at least fifteen in total that now surrounded Eda.

“Huh, interesting,” Eda noted.

“We figured we could take you down better if we worked together,” said one of the Luzs.

“And so, Gus and I came up with this combo move,” stated another.

All of the Luzs entered into the Striking Serpent Fist attack stance as they announced in unison, “The Snake Pit!”

“Catchy, and I will admit, that fighting style of yours would be a problem for any witch in close quarters. Especially when you consider most witches aren’t going to expect their opponent to immediately go straight into fighting with their fists,” Eda observed.

The Luzs smirked and charged towards Eda, but the Owl Lady was ready. Eda twirled her staff around, channeling magical energy through it as golden lightning started to arc from the circle of light she was creating above her head. The Owl Lady spun her staff once in place, sweeping it out in a large arch as the circle above her slammed down to the ground, keeping her at the center. The ring exploded outwards, releasing a strong blast of magical energy that made all the Luz clones poof away, except for one. Luz was thrown onto her back by the blast and rolled around until she landed next to Willow.

“Hey, Willow,” Luz greeted.

“Hey, Luz,” Willow replied.

The energy that Eda released caused a shockwave that displaced some loose soil and sent a cloud of it outwards. Eda glanced about and that’s when she noticed that one of the trees had the dust going through it instead of around it. Eda drew another spell circle and slammed her hand against the ground. A surge of golden light shot straight towards the “tree” was, and then split off to carve out a large rectangle. Eda raised her hand and made the slab of earth quickly spring up. The result ended up breaking the illusion that Gus cast on himself to make himself blend in with the surroundings and launched him several feet into the air. Unfortunately, his landing spot was quickly becoming apparent to both Luz and Willow.

“AAAAAAAHHH!!!” Gus yelled.

“NONONONONONONONO!” the girls yelled.

Eda sighed and drew yet another spell circle, wrapping Gus in her golden aura and stopped him in midair, mere inches away from having a violent crash landing atop them. All three teens sighed with relief, but then Eda released Gus and let him plop onto Luz and Willow.

“So, what did we learn?” Eda asked.

“That you’re the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles,” the teens droned in unison.

“Aah, music to my ears.” Eda dismissed her staff and had Owlbert perch himself on her shoulder.

King, who had been watching and eating snacks from the sidelines ran up to them, pointed at them, and went, “Haha, you got beat, again.”

“Thank you for the reminder, King,” Luz groaned as she picked herself up.

Eda waved her hand and had the rock cuffs on Willow’s arms and legs break apart. “Now, Luz, what I said before about that fighting style, still stands. But if you use it too much, you run the risk of people making connections to you and Titannia.”

“If that happens, I can just say I copied the way Titannia fights,” Luz remarked.

“Hmm, well, that could fly.” Eda then looked at Gus. “And Goops, your illusions are good, very good. But in a fight, be sure to stay mobile. Hide your movements with your illusions so that you can switch positions. Despite what people may say about Illusion magic, it has its uses, especially in the middle of a fight. Confusing and distracting your opponent, so your best option is to stay moving. But doing so means have to be aware of what’s going on at all times.”

“Noted,” Gus grunted.

“And I’m going to say it again, still don’t like the idea of you kids joining this new Coven,” Eda added.

“We get it, Eda,” Luz acknowledged. “But like I said, this might be our best chance to actually do something to stop these monsters. If I’m in that Coven, then I can get to these sites where the Kaiju appear faster. Plus, whatever information that that Lilith women managed to save from that temple could be made available to us as members of the Anti-Kaiju Coven…blaugh. That’s such a bland name.”

“Oh, what if we rename it when we join it?” Gus suggested.

“Oh yeah, let’s do it! All Kaiju fighting organizations have cool names! Oh-oh! Let’s make an acronym!” Luz blurted out.

“Naming workshop later!” Gus announced.

Eda shook her head as she crossed her arms. She turned her attention to Willow and said, “Those two are really into this.”

Willow chuckled and replied, “I guess, for Gus, as terrible as it is, this is something that his knowledge of ‘human media’ can actually do some good. And, of course, for Luz, she’s been given a chance to protect people.”

“Eh, true.” Eda walked up to Luz and Gus, who were currently discussing names, and said, “Not that this discussion isn’t riveting, but I think you kids have been overlooking the most important factor here.”

“Which is?” Luz and Gus asked.

“Luz getting into this Coven in the first place. They’re only recruiting from one of the schools, and if it ends up being Hexside, you and Specs have a chance at getting in, but Luz isn’t a student at Hexside.” Eda smirked as she rubbed her chin. “Unless of course you’re planning on crashing the tryouts, in which case, I got the perfect idea of how to do it. Luz, how comfortable are you with explosions, screaming banshees, and a toaster?”

The Latina did not want to know where Eda was going with that.

“Uh, thanks, but no thanks, Eda. And, actually, Gus and I have been discussing that very thing,” Luz announced.

“Oh no, I was wondering what you two were up to in your little secret meetings,” Willow sighed in worry. “So, what is it?”

Luz and Gus grinned as the former stated, “I’m going to sneak in and pretend to be a student of Hexside!”

“WHAT?!” Willow exclaimed in shock.

“You see, since Luz needs to be a student of Hexside in order to even be selected for the new Anti-Kaiju Coven – that is a mouthful – we’ll have Luz masquerade as a student at our school,” Gus explained.

Willow pressed her index and middle finger of her right hand against her forehead as she shook her head. “Okay, so, how? Luz is a human and can’t do magic.”

“Well maybe I could if someone would teach me,” Luz stated as she glanced at Eda.

Eda rolled her eyes.

“Not to worry. You see, we’ll ‘borrow’ a uniform from the school, and after I use a spell to change it to the Potion track colors, Luz can move around as a Potion track student, and that way no one will look at her funny if she doesn’t draw a spell circle,” Gus explained.

Eda hummed as she said, “Huh, that’s true. Most times I was fifty-fifty in casting spells or using potions I brewed when I was in Hexside.” Luz, Gus, and Willow looked at Eda with surprise. “What?” she asked.

“Well, uh…how to put this without sounding…harsh?” Gus speculated.

“I think they find it hard to believe you ever went to school,” King answered for them.

“King!” Luz exclaimed. “That’s not exactly right…”

“We just thought…maybe you were self-taught,” said Willow.

“Eh, no problem. And you’re half right. I did go to Hexside once upon a time, but eventually I figured out I was literally too cool for school and left. After that, I delved into studying as much about magic as I could.”

“Huh, well, that clears some things up,” said Luz.

“Anyway, we just need to have Luz pose as a Hexside student long enough to establish herself there and get selected,” Gus further explained.

Willow didn’t like the idea. “Gus, what happens when they figure out that Luz isn’t a student? Or worse, figure out she’s human? Best case scenario, they kick her out and ban her from coming near Hexside. Worst case, they hand Luz over to the Emperor’s Coven for trying to infiltrate the school and get selected for the new Coven. It’ll look more suspicious than if Ms. Eda just enrolled her normally,” she warned.

“Pfft, fat chance of that happening. I…don’t exactly have the best of reps when I was at Hexside,” said Eda.

“You could try,” Willow suggested.

“Tell me, is Principal Bump still in charge?”

“Yes.”

“Then, yeah, not happening. However, I applaud your deception game,” Eda praised.

“Thank you, and I’ll just have to impress them with my skills and knowledge after that. I’ll make it so they’d be foolish not to recruit me, human or not. It’s fiendishly clever,” Luz stated.

Eda wiped a small tear from her eye as a smile spread across her face. “I’m so proud of you.”

Willow sighed heavily in dismay. “This is going to end in disaster, for sure. Stealing a uniform, sneaking Luz into the school, and posing as a student. Now I know why you two didn’t include me in that meeting.”

Luz walked up to Willow and gently grabbed both her hands and held them between her own. “Please, Willow, between you and Gus, this can work! This is to help protect the people of the Boiling Isles! And hopefully get me one step closer to figuring who or what Titannia is.”

Willow stared into those puppy dog eyes that Luz as giving her, and in the end, she gave up. “Okay, but I reserve the right to say, ‘I told you so’, when this goes sideways.”

“It won’t go sideways, but you have a deal,” Luz assured.

King crawled up Eda’s back and into her hair, once inside, he poked out his head and asked, “This is going to end up being a complete disaster, isn’t it?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely.”

(2 Days Later…)

It took some time, but Gus and Willow eventually managed to “borrow” a uniform for Luz to wear. Currently, Luz was changing into the uniform in the woods outside of the school. Gus had created a glamour field to hide Luz while she changed.

“Okay, I’m decent now!” Luz announced.

Gus and Willow turned around as the young Illusionist brought down the glamour spell. Once it was released, the two witches beheld Luz in her new outfit. It was similar to their uniform, except the sleeves and pants were bright white, an indication that the uniform had not yet been colored to a specific magic track.

“How do I look?” Luz asked.

“You might want to keep the cap on,” Willow suggested.

“Right, right, disguise.” Luz put her cap back on and posed again. “Still good?”

“One second.” Gus drew a spell circle and then pointed his finger at Luz. A moment after casting the spell, Luz’s white leggings and sleeves shifted to yellow. “Now we’re good. You’re officially a Potion track student.”

Luz giddily giggled as she danced in place. “Eeeee! I can’t believe I’m actually going to a real-life magic school!”

“Just remember, since we’ll be in different classes a majority of the time, Gus and I won’t always be around to help you out. So, try and keep a low profile if possible. Just take this time to see how things work around here,” Willow suggested. “We have plenty of time to figure out how to get you into those tryouts.”

“Got it! Low profile,” Luz repeated.

“I mean it, otherwise I’m personally going to pull you out, understood” Willow stated with finality.

Luz and Gus gulped and nodded vigorously; they knew Willow meant it, so they were not about to argue this point. After establishing this condition, Luz, Gus, and Willow walked out of the woods and into the front courtyard of the school. As soon as they stepped foot outside of the forest, Luz’s eyes widened in awe, and Willow and Gus knew that their new friend was completely captivated.

“Welcome, Luz, to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics,” Willow announced as she waved her hand towards her alma mater.

Luz gazed upon the school, it looked something out of a Cynthia Coven book, with its gothic design, and tall spires which gave the school a castle-like appearance. There were various witch and demon teens walking to the school. Some were hanging out with their friend groups, and others were by themselves, practicing their specific magic. She had seen a few of them at the market whenever she was working at Eda’s stall, but now she could see that there were many more teen witches and demons, and all of them ranged in appearance, shape, and form.

“If you like the outside, you’ll love the inside,” said Gus.

The Latina could hardly contain her grin as Willow and Gus led her up the steps and through the large pair of double doors. As soon as they were past the doors, Luz gasped for the second time. The gothic architecture continued to the inside, with large arching hallways, rotundas, and huge columns. The trio continued to walk along the halls, showing off the lockers to Luz.

“Wow, they look alive,” said Luz as she moved to touch it.

“They are alive,” Gus confirmed.

“Wait, wha?” Luz touched the locker, and immediately, the locker’s singular eye opened and its mouth, filled with long, sharp teeth, opened, and gave a short growl at the human. The Latina immediately jumped back in surprise at the living locker. “Yowza wowza! You keep things in there?”

“Just make sure to never leave your lunch in there, ever,” Gus warned.

“Noted.”

“Another thing to remember. Don’t mix magic,” Willow added. “I know it can be tempting, but it’s the rules. Potion track witches can’t use Plant magic, Plant track witches can’t use Illusion magic, and so on and so forth.”

“Not gonna lie, that seems a bit…stifling,” Luz observed. “I mean, considering what Eda said about combining Construction and Plant, it sounds like a powerful combo, both being earth-based elements and all that.”

“I’m not denying that it does sound like a good combination,” said Willow. “But again, I’m more comfortable with Plant magic. And if you do mix magic, you’ll be placed in the Detention track.”

“And if you do it again, then you go straight to the Detention Pit,” Gus elaborated.

“Do I even want to know what the ‘Detention Pit’ is?” Luz asked.

“No,” Gus and Willow answered.

“Okay, other than that, we’ll still have some classes together, right?”

Gus drew a spell circle and conjured a piece of paper. “I copied this class schedule after taking a peek at a few other Potion track witches’ schedules and made up one that would not only be convincing, but also ensure that you have at least one or two classes with me or Willow.”

“…Should I be concerned at the level of which you thought this out or impressed and relieved that you have?” Willow questioned.

“Jury’s still out,” Gus admitted as he handed Luz her class schedule.

“Gus this is great! I can’t wait to see my classes,” said Luz.

“Hmm, you’re new.” Willow and Gus froze and put on nervous smiles. Luz felt that someone was behind her, and when she turned around, she saw an elderly man. He was dressed in grayish-black robes, with some gold accents. He had a mantle over his shoulders, with a sash draped over the mantle. The old man also wore a mauve colored mask that made it look as if a small demon was eating half his head. “Yet, I don’t recall seeing you.”

“Uh…” Luz droned as she tried to think of something.

“Oh, Principal Bump, this is our friend, Luz! S-She’s new, just moved from Palm Stings last week,” Willow explained.

“Oh, I see. Apologies, you must’ve interviewed with a different teacher. Sorry you arrived at such a turbulent time, but then again, with these Kaijus lurking underground in unknown locations, nowhere is really safe. Nonetheless, I hope you do enjoy your time here in Hexside,” said Principal Bump.

“Eh, heh, no problem, Princi-B – er – Principal Bump, sir!” Luz responded.

Principal Bump held out his hand and said, “May I?”

Luz looked down at the schedule in her hand and handed it to the Principal. Bump looked over her schedule for a moment, hummed, and then handed it back to her.

“Why don’t you have your books with you?” he asked.

“Oh, uh, well, my house got damaged in the first Kaiju attack. Yep, all my books and school supplies, poof!” Luz gestured with her hands. “I’ve been waiting for new books and supplies, but it’s taking a while.”

“Hmm, yes, things have been moving slowly thanks to these Kaiju attacks. Well, let your teachers know your situation before your classes begin.”

“Yes, sir!” Luz acknowledged.

With that, Principal Bump nodded and started to walk off.

“Whew, that was close,” said Gus.

“So, that was really the Principal?” Luz asked.

“Yes, Principal Hieronymus Bump, he’s been the principal of our school for many years now. Despite how he appears, he’s pretty progressive in certain aspects,” Willow explained.

“Hmm, you don’t say…?” Luz broke away from her friends and ran to catch up with Principal Bump. “Sir! Principal Bump!”

Principal Bump stopped and turned around to face Luz. “Yes?”

“I heard that each of the magic schools are selecting students who will be presented as candidates for the Anti-Kaiju Coven! I was hoping I could try out for it,” said Luz.

“Hmm, unfortunately, I have already made my decisions regarding at least some of the candidates. I have chosen our top students from the Abomination, Bard, and Potion tracks. I have a couple of candidates in mind to represent our Plant and Illusionist tracks, but as far as Construction, Healing, Beast Keeping, and Oracle, there are still open spots for those.”

“Oh…”

Principal Bump could see the disappointment in Luz’s expression and asked, “Why do you want to join the Anti-Kaiju Coven? I have asked the three other candidates, and explained the dangers, and they’ve accepted them for their own reasons. But why do you want to join?”

“Because I want to protect everyone! The Kaiju will kill so many people if they aren’t stopped! And…I feel like I have a duty to protect the Boiling Isles!” Luz proclaimed.

Principal Bump rubbed his chin, and then smiled a little. “I like your enthusiasm. But as I stated I have chosen our Potion track representative.” The Principal of Hexside turned his back to Luz and began walking away, but paused and added, “However, should your skills match your enthusiasm, the witch who represents that track might change.”

Luz’s eyes widened with hope, and that’s when Gus and Willow appeared at her sides.

“Did you guys here that?!” Luz asked.

“Yeah, we did, this is great!” Gus exclaimed.

“Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, the first day has barely started,” Willow cautioned.

“Don’t worry, Willow! I’ll impress Principal Bump before the end of this week!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

“Aah! What was that?!” Luz asked.

“The bell, I’ll take you to the Potions classroom since it’s on my way to my classroom,” said Willow.

“Thanks, see ya at lunch, Gus,” said Luz as she saluted her friend.

As promised, Willow led Luz to the classroom. After bidding farewell to her friend, Luz spoke the demon teacher. After giving the same explanation she gave to Principal Bump, the teacher gave her spare textbook and had Luz take a seat. The Latina took her seat, eager to get started learning about magic, even it was just Potions.

“You!” someone hissed to her left.

Luz turned her head and smiled nervously. Sitting a few inches to her left was the triclops demon-witch, Boscha.

“Oh…hey…Boscha, right?” Luz greeted.

Boscha growled a little as she said, “Don’t think I forgot about you from last time. I got my eyes on you.”

Oh…joy. Ah, whatever. Still not going to dampen my spirits! I’ll impress Bump before the end of this week!

(Another 2 Days Later…)

“…I suu-huh-huh-huuuuck…!” Luz complained.

Luz had had quite the last two days. Her first foray into magic school was…less than exciting. Mostly due to the fact that the lack of diversity was grading on her often times hyperactive mind. It wasn’t that she didn’t like learning about Potion magic, it was almost like cooking or chemistry, but with more fun effects like creating a smoke bomb, creating flashes of light, summon whirlwinds, and summon tentacles from puddles of liquid. Luz had seen way too much anime to know how that potion could be used in nefarious ways and vowed to stay away from it.

After accidentally groping that Amity girl, and accidentally groping Willow, I’m not about to take my chances with that potion, Luz had thought.

Unfortunately, as stated earlier, the lack of diversity was getting to her. There were a few classes that broke up the monotony, these were – what you might call – “Practical Magic” classes. Things that were either used in everyday life like history, or the use of certain magic tools. Gus ensured that the classes had the minimal amount of magic use so that Willow or Gus could help Luz out if need be when they had those classes together. But the majority of a student’s time in school was apparently dedicated to a singular track of magic.

Which, again, Luz didn’t dislike making potions, but when she saw other students freely using their magic in their chosen tracks, it was so cool. And the only thing she could do was watch. Meanwhile, she had the power to transform into a fifty-meter-tall giant woman who was apparently a martial artist and could shoot beams of cosmic energy out of her hands. But outing herself as Titannia was not in the works right now.

“Eh…okay, so it’s been a rough couple of days,” said Willow.

“You still have time to impress Principal Bump,” Gus assured.

“Not after my last little mishap,” Luz groaned.

The incident in question came from Luz trying to ask several students about how their magic works for their particular track. Of course, this was seen as odd, given most of the students have a basic understanding of how each of the different magic tracks operate. And word eventually reached Principal Bump, and Luz was given a warning not to attempt to mix magic.

“He seems a little uptight since we first met,” Luz noted.

“Apparently we’re supposed to have some sort of inspector from the Emperor’s Coven arriving soon,” said Gus.

“Wait, they’re doing the tryouts now?!”

“No, from what I’ve heard, it’s a kind of…pre-screening, if you will,” Willow explained. “To see if the candidates are ‘adequate’, is what the teachers are saying. And Principal Bump is also looking to use this as a means to get more funding for Hexside, so he’s a little on edge.”

“I guess I need to figure out how to impress this inspector person too…” Luz slumped in her seat and drank some juice. “Hmm, Apple Blood Lite is pretty good.”

“Blight, you cheater!” someone yelled.

Luz, Gus, and Willow, along with others, turned their attention to a table off to the side. It was there that Luz saw Boscha and her crew, along with Amity Blight, the proverbial “cool kids” table. A witch that had the same uniform colors as Amity had walked up to their table, and apparently started yelling at the green haired witch teen.

“Excuse?” Boscha questioned incredulously. “How dare you call Amity a cheater!”

“If I may ask, what exactly are you accusing me of cheating at?” Amity asked calmly.

“I heard that you, Skara, and Boscha got handpicked by Bump to represent three of the nine tracks! I mean, it’s no surprise that you were chosen,” said the witch.

“Well, it’s obvious why. Boscha, Skara, and I are the top students in our respective tracks. Why wouldn’t Principal Bump choose us,” Amity retorted.

The witch girl slammed her hands on their table, but Amity continued to stare at her unflinchingly. “I heard that Blight Industries just signed a huge contract with the Emperor’s Coven to be the exclusive manufacturer and outfitter of the Anti-Kaiju Coven – damn that’s a mouthful – for weapons, armor, and whatever else is needed. Admit it, the only real reason why you’re picked is because of that, pretty sure those two were picked too because they’re parents associate with yours!”

Luz glanced at Willow and asked, “Wait, what’s he talking about? Is Amity that rich?”

“Amity’s family business revolves around the manufacturing of home defense products, but they specialize in weapons. Her father is a brilliant inventor, and he’s been touted as a genius when it comes to melding technology and Abomination magic together to create some unique weapons and devices. There are other companies like there’s, but none carry the same level of quality and ability as Blight Industries,” Willow begrudgingly admitted.

“I guess it would make sense that they’d want the best inventor in the Boiling Isles to make weapons and armor for the new Coven. We are going up against giant monsters after all, we need some high-quality gear to fight back with,” said Gus.

“So…you think he’s right?” Luz asked.

“No, as much as I don’t want to sing their praises, Amity, Skara, and Boscha are the best in their tracks. There’s a reason why Boscha carries herself with authority, she has the power and skills to back up her talk, same with Amity and Skara,” Willow added.

Luz smirked and lightly elbowed Willow in the side. “Yeah, but you’re no pushover either. If it wasn’t for Mandragaurus showing up, I’m willing to bet you would’ve wrecked Boscha for sure.”

Willow giggled, she was feeling pretty strong, and still was. Honestly, Willow wouldn’t mind a rematch with Boscha, this time using her Plant magic at full power.

“So, you’re saying that my friends and I only got picked because of our parents’ business dealings. In that case, do you want to have a witch’s duel?” Amity proposed.

“Uh…I…” the witch boy started to stammer.

“Because, if it is as you say, we only got picked because of our parents, then we should be lacking in skill. I’d be happy to put that notion to rest right now if you want, and make things clear to everyone,” Amity continued.

Boscha crossed her arms and smirked, she loved watching the guy squirm where he stood, while Skara was a little nervous about being called out like that.

“I…I…”

“Go on then, challenge me. Make it official right here and now in front of everyone in the lunchroom. Since you want to make this into a spectacle and all.”

The witch boy seemed to have lost his vigor and immediately turned around and walked out of the lunchroom.

“Yikes, that was embarrassing for him,” Luz commented.

“Well, now that that drama’s over, we should start figuring out a way to get you in front of the inspector,” Gus suggested.

Just then the screaming bell for the end of lunch sounded off. The teen witches all got up and emptied their trays as they began their journeys to their next classes. Luz bid farewell to Gus and Willow as she headed to another thrilling round of Potion classes. As she was about to turn the corner, Luz stopped, hearing some familiar voices.

“Ha, what a loser! He went and said all that, and then he runs away, pathetic,” Boscha mocked.

“That wasn’t exactly nice,” Skara admitted.

“We should prepare ourselves to deal with that level of scorn and jealousy,” Amity stated.

“Let them, it’ll only be that much more embarrassing for them when we’re the ones defending the Isles,” Boscha boasted.

Amity sighed and replied, “I’m heading to class, I’ll see you later.”

“See ya, Ams,” Boscha replied.

“Later, Amity,” Skara added.

After watching Boscha and Skara leave, Amity turned the corner of the hallway, and then bumped into Luz, sending them both to the floor.

“Augh! Watch where you’re – Oh.” Amity narrowed her gaze slightly as she looked upon the human in front of her. “I remember you. You were the girl who was with Willow when that plant Kaiju attacked us.”

“Oh, heh, you remember me.” Luz got up and tried to act suave. “Guess I’m just one of those people you can’t get out of your head, huh?”

Amity rolled her eyes and was about to get up, but that’s when she saw Luz’s hand stretched out towards her.

“My name’s Luz, Luz Noceda, and you’re Amity Blight right?” Luz asked.

Amity looked at the offered hand, but instead got up on her own. “Yes, I am.”

Luz put away the offered hand and said, “Sooo…kinda heard what happened in the lunchroom earlier. Is it true?”

“What, that I got in because my parents signed a contract?” Amity asked.

“No, no! Just that you were selected.”

“It is.”

“Well, I was wondering, why did you want to be part of the new Coven?” Luz asked.

Amity paused, that was a first, no one had bothered to ask her for her reasons. “Why, were you looking to join as well?”

“Yeah, but I was just wondering what motivates you, just thought it’d be nice to know since we might be working together someday,” Luz clarified.

Amity huffed as she patted down her uniform and replied, “It’s a great honor, why not?”

“Well, you’re essentially putting yourself at risk to fight against giant monsters,” Luz answered.

“That is the risk, and yet, you want to join too. So, I’ll ask you the same question. Why?”

Luz smiled as she replied, “Because, I want to protect people. These Kaiju are a threat to the lives of everyone here. For whatever reason, they’re sleeping beneath our feet, waiting to wake up and attack. And if nothing is done, people will die, like the Good Witch Azura once said, ‘‘Tis a noble task to use one’s power to protect the innocent!’”

Amity’s eyes widened a little when she heard that quote but managed to shake off her reaction. “I see. Defending our home from monsters is a noble task, and one worth fighting for. Luz, was it?”

Luz nodded.

“I can see why Willow decided to be friends with you. Well, whether or not we see each other in the formation of the new Coven, I hope that optimism carries you forward. Seeing as how you’re in the Potion track, you’ll have to show that you’re more talented than Boscha, and that’s not going to be an easy task as I’m sure you’re aware,” Amity pointed out.

Luz knew full well, especially after watching Willow’s duel with Boscha, the triclops had skill, power, and tenacity.

“Now, as the top student of the Abomination track, I feel that I must also inform you that you should be heading to class right now. Yours is down that hall, and mine’s over there. So, you had better get moving or you’ll be late,” Amity informed.

“Oh, right! Class!” Luz exclaimed as she dashed around the corner, but then returned and added, “It was nice talking to you! You’re actually pretty nice to talk to and not all jerky like Boscha, okay, thanks, bye!”

Amity blinked and then shook her head. “Weird girl.”

Luz ran as fast as she could so as to not be late to the class, however, as she did, she stopped. That’s when Luz saw the Oracle track witch, Selene, putting away her crystal ball. She was a demon girl with a crescent moon shaped head, Luz had been calling her “Luna” for the past couple of days, but later found out what her real name was. Although Selene did answer to the name “Luna”, so it did confuse her as to why the demon teen didn’t correct her. To which Selene answered, “Eh, you’re not the first person to call me that, so I just embrace it as a nickname.”

Once Selene had put the crystal ball into its holster, she merrily walked away while waving “hi” to Luz. The Latina waved back, and once Selene was out of sight, Luz began to eye the shelf of crystal balls. She was already warned once not to mix magic, but after seeing some of the things that the Oracle track witches could do, Luz couldn’t help but be intrigued by what she could do with a crystal ball. Luz glanced up and down the hallway a few times to ensure that there wasn’t anyone around. Once she was sure, she walked up to the shelf and picked up a random crystal ball. As soon as she touched it, the glass orb came to life and released a violet glow. Luz stared in fascination at the glass sphere for a moment, but then a ghostly apparition rose from the ball and appeared before Luz.

“You will be in trouble very soon,” the apparition warned.

“Wow!…Wait, what did you just say?”

“Ahem!”

Luz flinched. She slowly turned around, and to her dismay, she spotted none other than Principal Bump. “Wow, you are very stealthy.”

Bump narrowed his gaze at her. “Come with me.”

It wasn’t a request, it was an order, made clear by how Principal Bump drew a spell circle that wrapped Luz in a magical aura and lifted her a few inches off the ground. Bump started to walk down the hall, using his magic to keep her close. The Latina felt like a balloon being carried around by a kid.

“Principal Bump, please, I wasn’t mixing magic! I just wanted to see how it worked!” Luz pleaded.

“Luz, I want to give you a chance, but right now is a crucial time. The inspector will be here soon, and I can’t have any incidents while they are here,” Principal Bump explained.

“Where are you taking me anyway?”

“Someplace you can’t cause too much trouble.”

After a lengthy walk, Luz was brought before a door. Bump released Luz from his magical hold and set her down on her feet as he opened the door. Inside was a demon teacher, he had a long oblong head, and six eyes, each with a pair of glasses on them. Across from him, sitting the front row desks, were three other teens, well, two teens and a dog? The first of the three was a dog, or demon that looked like a dog. The demon had square shaped glasses on, brown fur, and had sleeves over his forelimbs, along with the standard hood of the uniform. The second, and tallest of the three, was a boy. He was lanky and had brown hair with matching brown eyes. The third and last was a girl, she had her hair tied back in a bun, which was held in place by a spikey hairband, in her right ear she had a fishhook for an earring, and her eyes were forest green color. All three glanced in her direction and gazed at her with suspicion.

All three were wearing the same colors of charcoal gray, which confused Luz as she had learned what each color represented when it came to the different magic tracks, but she didn’t recall what gray meant.

Luz was pushed into the room, and then whirled around and asked, “What is this place?”

“The Detention track room,” Principal Bump informed.

“Detention?!”

“Be glad it’s here and not the Detention Pit. Until further notice, you will report to this class.”

“B-But, Principal Bump, I can’t try out for the Coven if I’m in here!” Luz argued.

“Sorry, Luz, but this how it has to be.” Principal Bump drew another spell circle, and immediately after, Luz’s uniform changed and now matched the other students in the Detention track. Afterwards, he shut the door behind him, leaving Luz with the rest of the detention group.

Luz sighed as she walked to the front desks and sat beside the witch girl with the fishhook earring.

Great…I’m not even officially a student and I ended up in detention…history repeating itself, Luz thought.

The Latina glanced at the others, smiled, and said, “Hey there.” She was ignored, but that didn’t stop her from trying. “I like the spikeies in your hair.”

“Hey, no talking!” the teacher scolded. “Unless you guys want to clean the classroom, again.”

Luz furrowed her brow and stood up. “Hey, don’t blame them! I’m the one who started talking!”

“Ooh, a hero. Well then, hero, you can clean.”

The teacher drew a spell circle and summoned a mop and bucket that appeared in Luz’s right and left hand. Luz huffed, but nonetheless began working on cleaning the room. This was making Luz remember all those times she was sent to the Principal’s office, and how she was placed in detention numerous times for her attempts at protecting others from getting hurt by the bullies at her school. It did involve some fist fighting, so, there was that, but still.

Oh boy, if I had Titannia’s Cosmo Beast Style, I would’ve won all those fights. Luz sighed. Guess I better come up with a new plan if I’m going to be stuck here. Good thing I’m not officially enrolled.

It took many long minutes, but Luz was able to finish up her work. She was cleaning the last spot near the window, and she wondered if Gus and Willow knew where she was right now, her next class would’ve had her in a Practical Magic Applications class with Gus, so he would no doubt be wondering where she was and relay that to Willow. As Luz finished up, she turned around and was surprised to see the witch girl standing behind her.

“Wah!”

“Shh!” she hissed.

Luz looked over her shoulder and just now realized that, except for the teacher, they were the only two people in the classroom. Which was odd because there were two others, and she didn’t hear the door open or close at that time. The witch girl motioned for Luz to follow her. Curious, Luz put the mop down and followed the witch to the chalkboard. The detention student took a piece of chalk and drew a door with a keyhole. And after pretending to unlock the “door” with the piece of chalk, fantastically enough, the piece of the chalkboard that had the door drawing on it opened like a real door. Luz had to stifle a gasp as she watched the witch crawl into the door and then motioned for her to follow again. The human teen didn’t need to be asked twice as she quickly entered through the created door and fell into someplace new, a short corridor that led to a door with a “KEEP OUT” sign hanging on it.

After Luz entered the new location, the door behind her closed and melded back into the chalkboard as if nothing happened. “What is this place?” she asked.

The witch girl got close to Luz, squinted her eyes, and stated, “This is the last room you’ll ever see alive…!”

Luz was just about ready to turn into Titannia and smash through the school to get away, secret identity be damned right now. But then the witch smiled and chuckled.

“Ha, I’m just messin’ with ya. Name’s Viney Arwin.”

“I’m…terrified. Um, I mean, I’m Luz Noceda,” she replied.

“Thanks for sticking up for us back there, not many people would do that,” said Viney.

“I just don’t like it when people are being jerks to others for no reason. I kinda have a reputation for sticking my nose into problems back at my old school. Old habits die hard,” Luz joked.

Viney smiled and then punched Luz in the arm. “Well, I’m glad it didn’t in this case. C’mon, there’s something I want to show you.” Viney walked to the other end of the short corridor, with Luz right behind her. “You’re one of us troublemakers, Luz, so that means you get special access to…”

Luz watched as Viney opened the door, and she gasped yet again. Past the door was a large room with a spiral walkway, and all around the room were multiple doors of various shapes and sizes. Some were on the walls, others on the ceiling, and a few were even on the floor.

“The Secret Room of Shortcuts!” Viney announced.

“Whoa…”

“Hey, Jerbo, Barkus! You can stop hiding now!” Viney called out.

One of the doors opened and showed the dog demon and boy witch from earlier.

“How do we know she’s cool, man? How do we know she won’t turn us in? What do you think, Barkus?” Jerbo inquired.

*Bark!* went Barkus.

“Barkus says, ‘Your aura is strong and silly, like baby’s laughter.’ Welcome!”

“EEEEEE! I love secret rooms! Where do the doors go?” Luz didn’t wait for an explanation as she opened the first door she could find.

When she pushed on the door, it apparently carved a door on the other side of a wall of lockers. A door opened that took up the middle space between the lockers. Luz made sure to keep it to a crack, and from what she could see, the door opened into the hallway of the school.

“Wow…eep!” Luz nearly closed the door as she noticed Principal Bump and someone else walking by. The other person was wearing a gray colored uniform and bore the symbol that Luz had known to associate with the Emperor’s Coven. “The inspector.”

“Very happy to have you here, Inspector,” said Principal Bump.

“Indeed, the Emperor’s Coven cannot wait to see whom you have selected so far for the Anti-Kaiju Coven,” the Inspector replied.

“Well, we have our best waiting in the auditorium, please follow me.”

Luz sighed as she closed the door.

“Hey, Luz, you alright?” Viney asked.

“Oh, uh, yeah, yeah…Say, where’s that door lead?!” Luz asked as she ran to said door without waiting for a reply.

“No! Luz! Not that door!” Viney warned.

Luz opened the door, paused, and then hurriedly closed the door. When she turned, her face was bright red, and her nose bled from one nostril. It was then that Luz noticed the sign that read, “DO NOT OPEN! NO BOYS ALLOWED! THAT MEANS YOU, JERBO AND BARKUS!”

“So…uh…that’s uh…that’s the door to the–”

“Yes,” Vine confirmed.

“How does that keep happening to me?”

“How does what keep happening?” Jerbo asked.

“No questions!”

*Bark!*

Jerbo translated, “Barkus says, ‘Now your aura is pink and flustered’.”

Luz took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Okay, so what is this place?”

“Well, as you’ve discovered, it’s a room that has doors that lead to different parts of the school. Jerbo, Barkus, and I discovered it after being thrown into the Detention track. The witch who made it is known as…” Viney directed Luz’s attention to a wall that had a portrait, which was covered in a multitude of graffiti to the point that the original image couldn’t be seen clearly. “Lord Calamity!”

Jerbo walked to the portrait and added, “They started this Troublemaker Wall, and we added our names in their honor.”

“Heh, wow, this place is amazing. Magical schools are so cool!” Luz exclaimed. “I bet you guys can get up to some real trouble in here, huh?”

Viney chuckled and replied, “Well, yeah, of course we could. But we can do soo much more.”

To this, Viney pointed upwards. Luz followed where Viney was pointing and saw Barkus sitting in front of a cracked open door. Curious, she ran up the spiraling walkway and stood behind Barkus to see what he was doing. On the other side of the door was a professor, and from what Luz could tell it was the Oracle professor, and she seemed to be in the middle of a class.

“Remember, seeing the end of a life is the beginning of reading a fortune. We have to work backwards from it to see the truth,” the professor explained as she made a paper fortuneteller.

Barkus, who had a piece of paper before him, reconstructed the same paper fortuneteller as the Oracle professor.

“Whoa.”

Barkus quietly closed the door, and together he and Luz descended the walkway and went back to Jerbo and Viney, now sitting in a circle.

“We’re not allowed to study any kind of magic, so we study every kind of magic, in secret,” Viney stated.

“You guys actually like school?” Luz asked.

“Yeeeah, maybe a little too much,” Viney admitted.

“One time, I tried mixing Plant magic with Abominations. Bump was not thrilled,” said Jerbo. “Barkus mixed Potions with Oracle magic. It did not go well.”

“I mixed Healing and Beast Keeping, which was slightly unconventional. But Puddles was a great assistant dang it!” Viney insisted.

“Puddles?” Luz questioned.

“She’s a griffon, and one of my best friends,” Viney clarified.

“Ooh! I totally want to see her!”

Jerbo was curious, so he asked, “We overheard Bump saying you were mixing magic, but you also said something about a ‘tryout’. You don’t mean the tryouts for the Anti-Kaiju Coven – ugh, what a mouthful.”

“Yes, that was my whole entire reason for coming to Hexside, but now that I’m here…that’s not happening,” Luz answered.

*Bark!*

“Barkus asked, ‘Why’s that?’”

Luz glanced between the three assembled witches. In a way, they were similar to Willow and Gus, they were different, and strong in their own ways. But their different ways of thinking landed them here, but it didn’t stop them from wanting to learn more. So, Luz decided to take a chance, at least with one thing. Luz reached up and took off her beanie cap, and as soon as she did, all three of the Hexside students gasped.

“I’m not a witch or demon like you guys, I’m human. For certain reasons that were beyond my control, I wound up in the Demon Realm. I got caught up in one of the Kaiju attacks and was saved by Ultrawoman Titannia. I saw so many people get hurt because of the Kaiju, and well, if they somehow found a way to get to my world, we’d be in trouble. So, I decided to try and join the AKC to help fight against them and prevent them from hurting anyone here or in my world,” Luz kinda, sorta lied.

Viney, Jerbo, and Barkus still seemed stunned by the fact that Luz was a human this whole time.

“So, wait, how did you even get into this school?” Viney asked.

“Eh…heh-heh…I basically had some friends I made here help me out with that,” Luz admitted.

“And you’ve been pretending to be a Hexside student this whole time?!” Jerbo exclaimed.

Luz nodded.

There was a pregnant pause before Barkus let out a few barks, which ended up with the other two witches nodding in agreement with whatever he said.

“Well, Luz, you’re even more of a troublemaker than we thought!” Viney laughed as she gave Luz a strong pat on the back. “Dude, you literally snuck into school to learn magic, and to join the AKC to stop the monsters. That’s really cool!”

*Bark! Bark!*

“Barkus says, ‘You have a noble spirit, and penchant for mischief. I am glad that we have met, Luz Noceda!’” Jerbo translated. “Same here. Although, I don’t think I could join that Coven.”

“Really, I think you three would be perfect,” said Luz. “If this new Coven needs people who can think outside the box and can offer solutions that others haven’t thought of, why not a few troublemakers?”

“Huh, you do have a point. It would be cool if we could. But not likely.” Viney smiled as she stood up, drew a spell circle, and summoned a spray can. “Wanna add your name to the Troublemaker Wall?”

“Do I?!”

*RAAAAAARRAAAASSAGG!!!*

All four troublemakers went still when they heard that noise.

“Uh…what was that?”

(A couple of minutes earlier…)

Amity was on stage as she displayed her use of Abomination magic, creating multiple golems, and even forming them into solid constructs such as chairs, shields, swords, staffs, and other items. Once she was done, Amity took a bow as Principal Bump and the inspector clapped.

“I am still trying to work on the more advanced technique of morphing my own body into Abomination goo, but I’m certain I will learn the technique soon,” Amity informed.

“Excellent, quite the array of students you’ve brought before me, Principal Bump.”

Skara and Boscha, who were on the stage and stood behind Amity to her left and right, bowed as well in acknowledgment of the inspector’s praise.

“Thank you, Inspector. I’m sure Head Witch Lilith will find them to be an invaluable addition to the formation of the new Coven. I’m still in the process of locating other promising students who wish to join, but I have no doubts by the time of her arrival, we’ll be ready,” Principal Bump assured.

“Hmm, good, good. But let’s see if your students can put up more of a fight than the others,” said the inspector as she tossed her clipboard aside and strode to the foot of the stage.

“Oh yes, yes…Wait, what?”

The inspector slammed her hands onto the stage, suddenly her head began to shift and change. Transforming into a kind of serpent-like face with frills on the side of her head.

“What is…” Amity questioned as she had the Abomination ready itself.

“Amity, what’s she doing?” Skara asked as she too got ready for, well, she didn’t know what.

“Whoa, whoa, what’s going on here?!” Boscha shouted as she held three vials between each finger of both hands.

The inspector continued to morph until her body was elongated, becoming more like a serpent. She grew larger and larger to the point that she now towered over the stage and the witches on it.

“With all these Kaiju attacks, and this new Coven nonsense, each of the schools has been showing off their best witches and given me plenty of good meals to enjoy!” The inspector hissed. “First Glandus, and now, Hexside will be next on the list!”

“Girls! Get off the stage!” Principal Bump shouted.

“No, we’ll handle this! If we can’t even stop a monster like this, then what chance do we have against a Kaiju!” Amity proclaimed.

“Damn right, Ams!” Boscha agreed.

Skara steeled her nerves and shouted, “You’re right! We can’t back down here!” Skara showed off her magical strength by strumming her harp, creating a magical shockwave that blasted forth towards the monster snake creature.

The fake inspector grinned and opened her wide mouth. A kind of suction started to happen as the shockwave diminished and within seconds fizzled out as the particles of magical energy that comprised it were devoured by the snake-like monster.

“Hmm, delicious,” the fake inspector hummed.

Skara suddenly felt weak and went down one knee, feeling dizzy.

“Skara, what’s wrong?!” Amity asked with concern.

“I…I don’t know…I just…feel weak all of a sudden,” Skara replied.

“Damn you! TAKE THIS!” Boscha yelled as she threw all six vials in the monster’s direction.

The fake inspector used her arms to bat away the vials just hard enough to send them flying in the opposite direction, where all six smashed against a wall and exploded one after the other. Boscha wasn’t done as she hurriedly drew a spell circle and summoned two huge fireballs. The snake-like monster grinned and opened its mouth again. The suction force started up, and just like Skara’s magical shockwave, the fireballs fizzled out and turned into particles of raw magical energy. And as soon as the snake beast absorbed them, Boscha suddenly dropped to her knees as well, feeling very tired.

“W-What…What did she do to me…?” Boscha questioned.

Amity growled and had the Abomination fly to her, reconfiguring the goo into a pair of spiked gauntlets. The green-haired witch believed that this monster could only absorb energy-based spells, so attacking it at close range would be a better option. Amity released a battle cry as she charged for the fake inspector, co*cking back her right fist in preparation to knock the monster out.

“I love it when my meal comes to me,” the fake inspector cackled.

Once again, the monster opened its mouth. Amity felt the suction force and stopped in her tracks. But it was too late, she could feel herself getting weaker by the second. The Abomination gauntlets became unstable and in a matter seconds turned into goo that splashed onto the floor. Amity dropped to her hands and knees, feeling her magic getting drained, and along with it, her strength, and stamina. She had made a major miscalculation. This thing didn’t need them to cast spells in order to drain their magic, it could just do it even without them casting the spells at all.

The beast turned around and eyed the other students, preparing to devour their magic next. However, Principal Bump drew a spell circle and yelled, “EVERYONE, EVACUATE THE SCHOOL!”

The snake creature opened her maw and began absorbing Principal Bump’s magical energy, the old witch felt himself growing weaker, and the spell circle he drew became wobbly before getting sucked into the mouth of the snake monster.

“Oh…only three-hundred years until retirement…” Bump moaned before falling to the floor in a state of unconsciousness.

*RAAAAAARRAAAASSAGG!!!* The beast roared as it slithered up the aisle and smashed through the doors to the auditorium and began hunting down the students that ran, draining any faculty member or student that crossed her path.

Luz had cracked one of the doors open and watched as the snake creature started draining the magical energy of a few students, rendering them weak and feeble. Viney peeked behind Luz and gasped as she pulled Luz back and slammed the door shut.

“What was that?!” Luz asked.

“A Greater Basilisk! My cousin at St. Epiderm told me about them, they’re, like, natural predators to witches and demons, syphoning their magical energy and making them as weak as a newborn griffon! But this doesn’t make sense, they’re supposed to be extinct!” Viney explained.

“You don’t think that that thing rose from the ground like the Kaiju, do you?” Jerbo asked.

I don’t think so, otherwise Titannia would’ve made me aware of its name, Luz thought.

“Regardless, we need to stop that thing before it devours the magic of everyone in the school!” Luz stated.

*Bark! Bark!* (“Luz, you’re immune to the magic stealing abilities of the Greater Basilisk, but we’ll be drained as well. We won’t be able to help you!”)

“I know Barkus, but we can’t just – wait, did I just understand you?!” Luz gasped.

“Hang around Barkus long enough and you eventually understand what he’s saying, but you caught that pretty quickly, not bad. Still, he’s right,” Jerbo answered.

Luz had an idea, but she wasn’t sure if it would work. Plus, she would need to get away long enough to try. That’s when Luz heard screaming coming from another door. She ran up the spiraling walkway and heard the screams again. She opened the door she believed the screaming was coming from, and when Luz opened the door, she saw Gus and Willow on the other side. The Greater Basilisk was busy devouring the magic of a group of kindergarten witches and demons, while Gus and Willow were about to step in. That’s when Luz opened the door fully, grabbed both of her friends, and pulled them back into the Shortcut Room before closing the door.

“Wha!? Luz?! How did – When did–?!” Willow stammered.

“How did you do that?!” Gus asked.

“Secret magic room of doors.” Luz looked down and said, “Viney, Jerbo, Barkus, come up!” The trio of troublemakers ran up the walkway and now joined the others. “Look, that thing can absorb magical energy. But it can’t absorb what I don’t have.” Luz looked around the room with multiple doors, thinking of a plan to take down the Greater Basilisk. “Hmm, I think I have an idea. Viney, Jerbo, Barkus, you guys have a good idea where most of these doors go, right?”

The three nodded in unison.

“Good, then here’s the plan…”

The Greater Basilisk kept slithering about, on the prowl for its next meal. Hexside’s magic had been very delicious to devour, and she did want more, but the Greater Basilisk also knew that she couldn’t keep lingering her for much longer. Getting too greedy would only provide the Emperor’s Coven time needed to surround the school, and while she was confident she could slip away unseen, their added presence would just make the task a tad more difficult than it needed to be.

“Guess I’ll take my leave then – WHAT THE – AAAAAH!!” the Greater Basilisk screamed.

The creature’s tail was suddenly wrapped in a large vine and was hoisted straight up to the ceiling before being slammed back down onto the floor. That same vine whipped the Greater Basilisk to the sides of the walls twice before throwing her back down to the floor. The Greater Basilisk groaned in pain as she shook her head and turned around to see what foolish witch thought throwing her around like a ragdoll was a wise move. However, when she did, the Greater Basilisk realized that no one was there. She slithered to the intersection of the hallways and glanced down all four of them but didn’t see anyone.

“From humblest beginnings, a hero emerges…!”

The Greater Basilisk turned around and looked down the same hallway where it was a moment ago. There stood a figure clad in a black robe, with their hood raised and covering their face with the shadow that it cast.

“I have come from a distant land seeking to learn the ways of magic and wonder! I am–!”

The Greater Basilisk hissed and opened her mouth to drain the magic of this robed stranger. However, as the Greater Basilisk kept using its draining power, she found that she wasn’t absorbing anything.

“W-What’s this? Why can’t I taste your magic?!” the Greater Basilisk exclaimed in confusion.

“Foolish creature, as if I’d divulge my secrets to you! Now, face the wrath of my brand of magic!” the stranger declared as they raised their hand into the air.

Just then, a loud roaring screech filled the hallways. That’s when the Greater Basilisk was attacked from behind as a large griffon flew into her and threw the snake creature to the ground. The two beasts rolled around on the floor for a moment before the griffon kicked the Greater Basilisk off and flew into the air. The Greater Basilisk snarled at the griffon; her attention placed solely on the flying beast. That’s when two Abomination and vine wrapped arms came out of nowhere, grabbed the Greater Basilisk by her trunk, and threw her down another hallway.

The Greater Basilisk felt woozy from the impact, but when she looked to see what had grabbed her, again, there was nothing. The stranger was still there, and so the snake beast grabbed one of the lockers and hurled it with all her strength at the stranger. The locker flew into the distance and crashed against the stranger, only for the stranger’s body to evaporate into a cloud of cyan smoke.

“An illusion?! That’s not possible! I would’ve tasted Illusion magic!”

“As I said, I have the most powerful magic of all, Greater Basilisk. Something that not even you can absorb!”

The Greater Basilisk turned her head down to the opposite hallway and saw the stranger again. Then she looked to her right and saw the stranger again, and then to her left, the stranger was also there.

“The magic of friendsh–!”

The Greater Basilisk tossed another locker at the stranger, only for that one to poof away. The second, third, and fourth ones did the same thing when she threw more lockers at them. The Greater Basilisk roared in both anger and annoyance at how this unknown person was evading her. Unbeknownst to the Greater Basilisk, the stranger was Luz. She was now hiding around the corner, thinking of her next move. There was one other thing she hadn’t tried yet. Luz opened her cloak a little and revealed her Titannia Spark and Mystic Guard.

The only time I seem to go giant is when I fight against a Kaiju. When I transform and there’s no Kaiju, stay the same height but I still become Titannia. The first time I tried, I could only stay in that form for about…fifteen maybe twenty seconds?

Luz debated another topic as well. The Kaiju she had been facing were all focused on one thing: destruction. This Greater Basilisk was a creature that fed on magic, was intelligent, and could speak. If she did transform, would it be right to use Titannia’s power to destroy the Greater Basilisk? Luz glanced down at the Titannia Spark, the gemstone button at the center of the device flashed briefly as if Titannia was speaking to her.

You don’t want to destroy her either, do you? Okay, then lend me your power long enough to take her down!

Luz reached into the Mystic Guard and took out Titannia’s Ultra Card.

“Let’s make this quick.”

Luz inserted the card and pressed on the button.

{/|\} AWAKEN THE POWER WITHIN! {/|\}

“Arise, Guardian of Light! Ultrawoman Titannia!”

{/|\} ARISE, TITANNIA! {/|\}

The Greater Basilisk heard something coming from one of the other hallways. That’s when she saw a flash of purple light. Wasting no time, the Greater Basilisk slithered as fast as she could down the hallway and rounded the corner just in time to crash into the one she had been chasing, sending both of them to the floor as the Greater Basilisk pinned her prey.

“Finally! Now let’s take a look at who you are!” The Greater Basilisk reached down with her right hand and ripped the cloak off. When she did, the snake creature gasped in shock. “W-W-W-W-WHAT?! Y-Y-YOU’RE TITANNIA?!”

“Hyah!” Titannia shouted as she used her strength to lift the Basilisk off her and threw the creature as if she weighed nothing.

The Greater Basilisk crash landed at the far end of the hallway, groaning in pain from the impact. She wasn’t living under a rock; the Greater Basilisk knew full well who and what Ultrawoman Titannia was. The being who had the power to slay Kaiju, and at current that had been four in total. But it didn’t make sense, Titannia was a giant, and somehow she was regular witch sized now? The Greater Basilisk managed to get up and that’s when she saw Titannia rip off the rest of the cloak and revealed her full body to the Greater Basilisk. The snake beast knew full well that she stood no chance against a being who could slay Kaiju, she might as well be a bug compared to her.

Titannia wasn’t about to let the Greater Basilisk get away, she immediately dashed down the hallway, using her great speed to swiftly close the gap between them. The Greater Basilisk made a desperate attempt to absorb Titannia’s power by opening her mouth and activating her ability. But, just as she figured, whatever Titannia’s power came from, it was not based in magic.

The Guardian of Light scanned the area with her Ultra Vision, and thanks to this Luz was able to see things she didn’t earlier. Like the doorways that led to the Secret Room of Shortcuts. Titannia swiftly picked up the Greater Basilisk and threw her towards the ceiling. At the same time, she knocked furiously against the door on the floor and yelled, “HYAH, HYAH!”

Thankfully, the door was opened, revealing Viney. “TITANNIA?!” she gasped.

Just then, the Greater Basilisk hit the ceiling, and began falling back down.

Titannia pointed upwards, alerting Viney to incoming Greater Basilisk. The dual track witch looked up and immediately understood what Titannia asked of her.

“JERBO, WILLOW, THE DOOR!” Viney yelled.

Down below, Willow and Jerbo used their Plant magic to open one of the larger doors on the floor. Viney moved out of the way just in time to have the Greater Basilisk fall straight down through the door.

“Hyah!” Titannia exclaimed as she nodded and took off for her alternate destination.

Titannia zoomed through the halls, stopping just before she got to the auditorium. Her Color Timer started to flash red, and a moment later, her transformation ended, returning Luz to her normal state. The Latina quickly rounded the corner and ran past the busted doors to the auditorium just in time for the Greater Basilisk to come crashing down from the opened door above. The snake-like creature hit the stage floor with a powerful “THUMP!”, causing her to grunt loudly in pain from the impact. The Greater Basilisk groaned, but then felt her right hand getting pulled by someone. She turned her head and that’s when she saw a dog demon boy. He splashed some liquid on her palm, and then held it. A moment after doing so, Barkus’ eyes glowed with ethereal light as he began barking.

“W-What’s he doing?! What’s he saying?!” the Greater Basilisk asked with dread.

Luz ran down the aisle, jumped onto the stage, and grabbed one of the ropes as she swung around to gain some momentum. “He said, ‘Your future’s looking bleak!’”

The Latina released the rope as she came down with an ax kick right on the Greater Basilisk’s stomach. The speed and momentum from Luz’s swing added to the force of her kick, not only knocking the air out of the Greater Basilisk, but also making the snake creature expel all the magical energy she had absorbed all at once. The magic was released in the form of blue orbs of energy that flew around the room, the witches that were in the room, Skara, Boscha, Amity, and Principal Bump, had their energy returned immediately. The other wisps of magical energy started to spread out, passing through the walls like ghosts as they returned to their original owners, a greater amount of those wisps fled the school and spread out, seeking the witches and demons they belonged to.

The Greater Basilisk moaned and groaned for a moment but went unconscious as soon as the last magic wisp left her mouth. Luz breathed a sigh of relief as she wiped her brow and smiled victoriously. That’s when a vine grew down from the ceiling and acted as a rope for Viney, Willow, Gus, and Jerbo to slide down on to join Luz.

“Luz that was amazing! You kicked her ass!” Viney cheered.

“That was totally crazy, but so cool!” Jerbo shouted.

*Bark! Bark!* (“Even without magic, you showed great courage and skill! Great work, Luz!”)

Willow walked up to her friend and patted her on the back. “A crazy plan, from a crazy girl. What else do you expect?”

“Maybe we should start our own Anti-Kaiju Coven,” Gus suggested.

“AHEM!”

All the teens froze in place as they turned and saw Principal Bump, along with Amity, Boscha, and Skara. Luz started patting her head, and just realized something.

“Uh…guys, am I wearing my cap right now?” Luz asked.

“Nope, *Bark*!” they answered.

“Oh…farts.”

“I don’t even know where to begin,” Principal Bump stated in even tone. “The fact that there’s a secret room?” Bump pointed up towards the ceiling where the door to the Shortcut Room was still open. “The fact that the Detention track students, and two other students, managed to take down this creature?” Bump then pointed to the still unconscious Greater Basilisk. “Or, and probably the most glaringly obvious…THE FACT THAT MS. NOCEDA IS ACTUALLY A HUMAN AND HAS BEEN POSING AS A STUDENT FOR THE LAST TWO DAYS! I need explanations, all around, NOW!”

Luz furrowed her brow, sighed, and took a step forward, separating herself from the group. “Principal Bump, did I lie about being a student? Yes. Did I lie about being a witch? Technically, I never said I was one, but in the end, yes. But what I didn’t lie to you about was my willingness to fight the Kaiju and stop them. They’re dangerous, not only to the people of the Demon Realm, but if they somehow find a way to cross over into the Human Realm, then my world won’t stand a chance against them. This was the only way I could think of to become part of the only possible team that was going to take them on.”

Principal Bump put his hands behind his back and shifted his gaze to Willow and Gus. “Ms. Park, Mr. Porter, you two don’t seem surprised to find out that Luz is a human.”

“I believe that’s because they already knew,” said Amity as she stepped up next to Principal Bump. “My friends and I have met this person before outside of school. Although, at that time, we didn’t know she was human, but I am willing to bet that Willow and Augustus knew, if not then than certainly before this.”

“Tch, I knew there was something about that girl I didn’t like,” Boscha snidely remarked.

“Wow, a real human,” Skara awed.

“Principal Bump–!” Willow began.

“Don’t blame–!” Gus started.

“Stop, I put you two up to this, it’s my fault!” Luz interrupted. “Principal Bump, I convinced Willow and Gus to bring me into the school. So, if anyone’s to blame, it’s me. You can put me in jail or whatever the punishment is for this kind of thing.”

Principal Bump took a step forward, eyeing the array of students, and the human teen before him. “You’re willing to risk punishment for impersonating a student, and trespassing on school grounds? You’re truly willing to take that and whatever else on their behalf? Considering that the three behind you were mixing magic?”

“Did they mix magic? Yeah, they did, but look what happened, Bump. They’ve been using that secret room not to cause trouble, but because they want to learn more. They want to learn more about magic and mixing their magic is part of that learning process! Honestly, if it wasn’t for all of us working together, we wouldn’t have been able to take down the Greater Basilisk!” Luz stated.

Viney furrowed her brow, walked up behind Luz and firmly clasped her shoulder. “It wasn’t just us, but also Titannia.”

“Excuse me?”

“Wait, Titannia was here?! In the school?!” Amity questioned. “H-How?! She’s would’ve demolished the school.”

“I don’t know how, but she was regular person sized, she helped us take down basilisk. But before she showed up, Luz came up with the plan to use the hidden doors to fight the Greater Basilisk from different angles and sides. The basilisk couldn’t even figure out where the attacks were coming from because Luz put herself in harm’s way to distract her so that we could all act without getting our magic drained! Titannia, and Luz, if it wasn’t for either of them, we wouldn’t have won,” Viney stated.

*Bark! Bark! Bark-Bark! Bark!* (She fights with the heart of a liger!)

Jerbo, Willow, and Gus nodded in agreement with the others and now stood next to Luz in a show of comradery. Luz felt like she wanted to cry right now. But she managed to keep that in check considering who was watching them, and the decision that had yet to be made.

Principal Bump had remained silent throughout their little speeches, scrutinizing the lot of them.

“Principal Bump, do you want me to call the Emperor’s Coven and have them take care of this mess?” Boscha offered, clearly lumping Luz in with said “mess”.

“Not yet, Ms. Barbtalone,” he answered. Bump’s neutral expression started to shift as his lips curled into a smile. “You’re quite the young lady, Ms. Noceda. To put your life in danger, come up with a creative plan, and rally my students to help bring down this creature. Titannia’s involvement notwithstanding, your plan was creative and in the end still worked. I’ve rendered my decision.”

The six, along with Amity, Skara, and Boscha, held their breath as they waited to hear what Principal Bump had decided.

“For effectively defeating the Greater Basilisk, I’d like to offer the five of you the chance to represent Hexside School for the formation of the Anti-Kaiju Coven, huh, doesn’t really roll off the tongue that well,” said Principal Bump.

“Seriously?!” Boscha exclaimed.

Luz smiled, although Bump said, “the five of you”, it still meant that the others could be part of the new Coven.

“But, Principal Bump, we mixed magic to help us defeat the Basilisk…isn’t that against the rules either way?” Viney asked.

“If this new Coven is meant to be filled with individuals who can think outside the box and come up with unconventional solutions to defeat the Kaiju, then we’re going to need unconventional witches amongst the ranks, mixed magic or not. To that end, which tracks would you like to join?” Bump offered.

“Beast Keeping and Healing, please!” Viney exclaimed.

*Bark!*

Jerbo, strangely, was silent. In fact, he looked a little fidgety.

“Jerbo, what’s up? Tell Principal Bump which tracks you want to join,” Viney implored.

“…Guys, I know you might sound disappointed, but…I don’t want to join that Coven,” Jerbo admitted. “Look, I…I want to study Abomination and Plant magic, but I just don’t think I can handle fighting giant monsters. The basilisk was one thing but going up against monsters a hundred times that size, and with powers we’ve never encountered…Sorry, I know it sounds cowardly, but I don’t feel like it’s the right fit for me.”

Luz turned around, smiled, and gently placed her hand on Jerbo’s shoulder. “You’re not a coward, Jerbo. It is scary that we’ll be fighting giant monsters, and not everyone’s cut out to do something like that. So, don’t push yourself into something you don’t feel ready for.”

“Ms. Noceda is correct, Mr. Rencliff. Knowing one’s strengths and limitations is the mark of a capable witch, just as much as knowing how far to push your limits. Your path is yours to choose,” said Principal Bump as he snapped his fingers.

At that moment, Jerbo, Barkus, and Viney’s uniforms changed colors. No longer the charcoal gray color from the before. Viney’s sleeves were blue while her leggings were orange, Barkus’s sleeves were now purple and yellow, and Jerbo’s leggings turned pink while his sleeves turned green, all indications of their new dual tracks.

“But if you three cause a ruckus again, I’m feeding you to the Choosy Hat,” Bump warned.

“Uh, ‘Choosy Hat’?” Luz questioned.

“Don’t ask, *Bark*,” everyone answered in unison.

“What about Luz?” Willow asked.

“Well, she’s not a student, so I can’t expel her. For now, I’ll escort her off school grounds personally. And since you all here will be representing Hexside as candidates for the Anti-Kaiju Coven, your first task will be to secure the Greater Basilisk and contact the Emperor’s Coven to come and take it away,” Principal Bump ordered. “Luz Noceda, please follow me.”

Luz sighed and nodded as she began following the Principal, leaving Gus and Willow to worry about her.

It was a long walk out of the school, and for some reason, Luz felt like that was on purpose. Principal Bump had remained silent for most of their walk, which was unnerving as Luz half expected the school Principal to start yelling at her and admonishing her for her actions. And it wasn’t as if she could blame him. Even compared to her incidents at school back in the Human Realm, she never went and did something like infiltrate a school. Luz chuckled a little, only in a place like the Demon Realm could she pull such a stunt. Although she was sad that she lost chance to become part of the Anti-Kaiju Coven, at least her friends now had a chance to join, and she even helped out three new friends get into the magic tracks of their choice.

So, all in all, not exactly failed mission, Luz thought.

“Tell me, Ms. Noceda, how is it that you came to enter the Demon Realm?” Principal Bump asked.

Luz opened her mouth to respond but paused. She wasn’t exactly sure if knowledge of a portal to the Human Realm was considered good or bad. Gus and Willow seemed surprised to hear that Eda had such a portal, but their surprise came from knowing that one existed in the first place, and not because it was something that Eda wasn’t supposed to have. Although, to be fair, Eda probably wasn’t supposed to have the portal given her track record.

“Hmm, I guess that’s a bit of a sensitive topic. Very well, answer me this then. Who are you staying with, or maybe where are you staying at? I can’t imagine a human who stumbled into the Demon Realm can find lodging easily. Even if you cover up your ears, I doubt you use the same currency as we do, so securing a place to stay would prove difficult,” Principal Bump asked.

It seemed that Principal Bump was at least concerned about her situation.

“Um, actually…I’m living with someone. Her name’s Eda,” Luz answered.

“Ugh, say no more. If Edalyn’s involved, then I can wager a guess that she’s partially responsible for you being here. Even outside of school, she’s still causing me some kind of grief,” Principal Bump sighed as he shook his head.

The two of them reached the back doors to the school, luckily they avoided being seen by many of the faculty and students, which was probably why Principal Bump took her this way.

“So…what happens now?” Luz asked.

“What happens now is me banning you from ever setting foot on Hexside grounds ever again,” Principal Bump answered.

Luz lowered her head. “I…I under–”

“Don’t interrupt me.” Principal Bump cut off, making Luz go silent. “I was going to say, ‘that’s what I would do normally’, but these aren’t exactly normal circ*mstances now are they?”

Luz slowly raised her head as she looked upon the old Principal.

“You risked your life for the students at my school, and you want to defend a world that’s not even your own. You didn’t infiltrate my school with malicious intent, but rather with the best of intentions. And that is why, I’m banning you temporarily, following an assessment.”

Luz blinked in confusion. “W-What kind of ‘assessment’?”

“Luz, I don’t know what kind of future we’re heading into with the appearance of these Kaiju, and this Titannia giant. But something tells me we’re going to need someone as chaotic as you for these coming chaotic times.” Principal Bump stated. “Plus, I believe the new Coven can benefit from your bravery, your tenacity, and selflessness. But in order to do so, you need to be enrolled in a school to be part of it. So, here’s the deal, Ms. Noceda.”

Luz gulped, waiting with bated breath to know what Principal Bump was planning.

“Head Witch Lilith won’t be coming to Hexside until the end of next week. You have until then to come back and show me that you have mastered at least one spell, non-potions related mind you,” Principal Bump offered.

“REALLY?!” Luz exclaimed with joy.

“Don’t get too overjoyed, Ms. Noceda. I’m willing to enroll you if you show you can do one spell. But in the end, it’ll be on you and the others to impress Head Witch Lilith.” Principal Bump drew a spell circle, and in the next moment, Luz’s beanie cap poofed onto her head. “Until then, I’d keep your human status as low profile as possible.”

“Thank you, Principal Bump! Thank you!” Luz replied happily.

Principal Bump drew one more spell circle, and that’s when he summoned a portrait, one that Luz recognized. It was the same one from the Secret Room of Shortcuts. The graffitied portrait of Lord Chaos. “You remind of another student from long ago, quite the chaotic one.” Bump waved his hand over the portrait, magically wiping away the graffiti and revealing the true image of the portrait. It was a young Potions track witch with gold eyes and a large head of long, orange hair. “But you seem to have a better sense of where to direct that chaos.”

“Is that…Eda?” Luz gasped.

“Mmm-hmm. Now, off with you. Whoa now!” Principal Bump was suddenly hugged by Luz. “Okay, that’s enough of that. Run along, or I really will feed you to the Choosy Hat.”

Luz released Principal Bump and started running off towards the woods as she yelled, “THANK YOU, PRINCIPAL BUMP! I’LL SEE YOU SOON!”

The Hexside Principal grinned as he watched Luz disappear into the woods. “Well, time to get this mess cleaned up.”

“AAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

Principal Bump turned around and that’s when saw a stood getting chased by a witch hat.

“NOW…I…FEEEED!!!”

“THE CHOOSY HAT! IT BROKE FREE!”

Far off the shore of the mainland, to an area known as the “Wing”, which were actually the giant, protruding wing bones of the Titan, something strange was occurring. One of the giant bones started to crack open, little by little. And as that happened, the storm clouds started to form overhead.

The clouds grew dark and heavy, and lightning began shooting from them. One of the lightning bolts struck the area where the crack was forming and widened it just a tad. And that’s when a single glowing eye peered through the crack, followed by a horrible screeching sound that was masked by the rumbling of the thunder.

Chapter 7: Episode 7: Shine with everlasting light!

Chapter Text

Luz had been given an ultimatum of sorts, a way for her to become part of the Anti-Kaiju Coven thanks to Principal Bump. Or at the very least show off what she can do and contribute to the new Coven, even as a human. However, there was one caveat. Principal Bump would allow Luz to join Hexside as an official student, but she must first show that she can cast at least one spell, not counting Potions magic. Which, Luz couldn’t blame him for discounting, it was something that could be taught with or without magic from the bit she did learn while in Hexside. But this stipulation was more than likely due to Principal Bump wanting Luz to know more, considering the kind of foes they would be up against.

So, for three days straight, Luz had been trying to figure out a spell to learn that she could possibly cast. But whenever she did go through a book about how to cast a specific spell, it didn’t make much sense. It talked a lot about “visualization”, and drawing a spell circle, which was the primary way many witches and demons used magic. Of course, Luz tried this on her own several times, but nothing happened.

“UGH! Why!”

*BAM!*

“Can’t!”

*BAM!*

“I!”

*BAM!*

“Cast!”

*BAM!*

“A spell?!”

King walked into the living room and saw Luz pounding her head against the coffee table as he brought in some materials. “Eda still not teaching you spells?”

“Nooo…I even asked her to teach me any kind of spell! I didn’t even care if it’s the darkest of evils so long as it’s something I can use! But then she comes around and says, ‘I don’t think someone who can turn into a towering giant that can blow up mountains should learn a spell like that.’ Which I can’t argue with to be honest…”

“Well, where Eda fails, I shall succeed!” King proclaimed.

Luz gasped as she turned around with sparkling eyes. “Are you going to teach me a spell, King?!”

“Nope!” King stated.

The Latina deflated.

“But I will teach you something just as important! Get out your magic rectangle thingy, you’ll want to record this for future reference,” King noted as he scurried to the opposite wall.

Luz just realized that King seemed to have been busy getting things arranged while she was nose deep in spell books. He had moved a large trunk against one of the walls and had something square shaped leaning on top of it and covered in a sheet. Luz took out her cellphone and began to record a video, curious to see what King was going to teach her. Once the little demon had hopped onto the trunk, he gripped the sheet that was covering the square shaped something.

“Human, Luz! You’ve been so obsessed with learning magic and learning about Titannia – which is important – but you are fundamentally lacking in knowledge of my kind. Prepare yourself for…” With a dramatic flair, King pulled off the sheet and revealed a board that had various pictures of different types of demons. “Demons 101!”

“Ooh,” Luz gasped.

King took out a little beret with a tassel on it and began his lecture. “Demons like me are grim tricksters of the twilight! Creatures of sulfur and bone!”

“And cute little paws,” Luz commented.

King sighed and added, “And cute little paws, true. We live only to create chaos and misery! Our only weaknesses are purified water, and passive aggressive comments, sometimes.”

“Aww, you guys are sensitive.”

“Even demons have inner demons.” King moved to one of the pictures and ripped it off with his paw and pointed to the new picture with a pen. It depicted one that had a lanky form yet possessed lean muscle. Pink fur, black claws, black eyes, and a large mouth with razor sharp teeth. And upon its back was a huge shell with spikes growing from the top of it like a demonic hermit crab. “And the most powerful demon of all is the Snaggle Back! He is a–!”

“Bad boy!” Luz began editing the video on her phone as she added emojis, filters, and some stylized words.

“Luz, pay attention! This information could end up saving your life someday,” King urged.

“Sorry, sorry. Totally paying attention. This is my ‘paying attention’ face.” Luz’s expression changed to something serious as she nodded and hummed.

That’s when lightning flashed and thunder roared in the sky above, drawing Luz’s attention away from the lesion.

“Uh-oh, looks like it’s going to rain,” said King.

“I love the rain!” Luz exclaimed as she got up to go outside.

“Whoa, wait!”

Luz was already out the door. The skies were overcast with large gray clouds. Luz could smell the wet dirt in the air that heralded the arrival of every rainstorm. The teen Latina did a little twirl as she strolled into front lawn of the Owl House.

“I always love feeling the first few drops in my hair,” said Luz as he removed her beanie. The teen stopped and squatted in front of a flower, and she smiled at the plant. “I bet you do too little buddy.”

A raindrop fell from the sky and landed on the flower, which instantly shriveled and withered as if it had been burned.

“WHAT?!” Luz yelled in shock.

That’s when Eda came running towards the house and screamed out, “BOILING RAIN!”

The moment Eda announced this, the rain began to fall in earnest. Luz quickly put her beanie back on just as the raindrops hit and began yelping as some of the droplets hit her exposed skin, causing a painful stinging sensation as if she had been burned. Eda swiftly grabbed Luz by her right arm and pulled her along as she dived straight into the open door with her ward. There was a crashing sound as both Eda and Luz were sent tumbling onto the floor, where Luz ended up colliding into King’s display.

“Whew, that was close, but the important thing is you didn’t get hurt,” said Eda.

“Nope…” Luz groaned as she found herself in an awkward, and painful position on the floor. “…not hurt at all.” Then a random coffee mug hit Luz on the head. “Ow.”

(A few minutes later…)

After cleaning up the living room, Luz and King sat on the front porch of the house, staying under the awning to prevent themselves from getting hit by the rain. Across from them in the middle of the front yard was Eda, she had conjured a small, half dome barrier over herself to act as an umbrella while she molded a sphere of light between her hands. King noticed that Luz’s arm had a small injury on it. The little demon reached under his beret and had Luz give him her arm. That’s when King placed a bandage over the injury, and then placed another bandage on the bridge of his nose.

“Look, now we’re Boo-Boo-Buddies,” said King.

Luz squealed with glee as she tipped over and looked up at King with a big smile. “Oh my gosh, I love you so much!” After her little gush moment, Luz turned her attention back to Eda and the weather. “Seriously, wow, a boiling rainstorm on the Boiling Isles. The weather here is so fun,” Luz commented.

“Yeah, we don’t have ‘weather’ here, we have plagues.” Eda corrected. “Gorenados, shale hail, painbows~!”

“It’s like a rainbow but looking at it turns you inside out!” King explained.

Luz’s right eye twitched and made a mental note to never look at a rainbow while she was here, at all, ever.

“So, until the boiling rain stops, no one’s going outside,” Eda stated.

“And if the rain doesn’t get you…” King pulled out a book and showed off a picture of the demon he had spoken of earlier. “The Snaggle Back will! They wander the rains, feeding on boiled tourists.”

Eda rolled her eyes. “Well, whatever the case, this force field spell should protect the house from boiling rains. And made-up demons.”

“Well hurry it up with that force field! That rain is getting close to my precious stucco!” Hooty urged.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”

Eda took her staff and merged the tip of it with the sphere of light. With a twirl of her staff, Eda cast the spell. The shield that protected her began to expand outwards, and within seconds the golden light shield managed to encompass the entire house. After covering the house, the barrier became more form fitting to the house itself. Once the barrier had been created, Eda walked back to meet them.

“Whoa…that woman is everything I want to be! Magical, sassy, surprisingly foxy for her age.” Luz stood up, but when she did, a thought occurred to her. “Hey, why do they call you the ‘Owl Lady’ anyway?”

“Because I’m so wise,” Eda replied.

“‘Cause she coughs up rat bones,” Hooty remarked.

“I think it’s because she gets distracted by shiny objects,” King informed.

“I do no–!”

King pulled out the same pen he had earlier and pressed a button on it. The fake gemstone at the top of the pen started to glow bright, and once it did, Eda’s eyes were fixated on it.

“It sparkles and shimmers and shines and delights! I must have it for my nesssssst!” Eda declared as she lunged for the pen.

And like a bullfighter taunting a charging bull, King quickly lowered the pen, making Eda dive over him and land on the ground with a “THUMP!”

“You have a nest?! I want a nest! Nest party!” Luz insisted as she went to help Eda up.

Once the Owl Lady was back on her feet, Eda began to wobble. “Whoa, oh man. That spell really took it outta me.”

“Uh-oh, moving a little slow. Age finally catching up to ya?” King teased.

Eda responded by pulling down King’s beret over his head.

“AAH! DARKNESS!” King yelled as he wrestled to get the beret off his head.

Luz gasped as she realized that this situation was exactly what she needed. The Latina helped her little friend out of the beret and said, “King, this is perfect! We’ll be stuck inside all day! This is the perfect chance for me to get Eda to finally teach me a spell! She’s trapped and there’s no excuse she can give to get out of it, HA!”

As Luz started to head back in, King asked, “Wait, but weren’t we going to finish our lesson? I was going to let you scratch a demon’s tummy. Me.”

“Oh…” Luz turned around and gave an apologetic look. “King, I’m sorry. I’d love to buddy. But I really need Eda to teach me a spell or else I can’t get into that new Coven or gain access to whatever information that they might’ve got from the ruins.”

King hung his head low; he understood the importance of what Luz was trying to do. But he had grown fond of her, and he wanted to share what he knew with Luz. It wasn’t often he found anyone who would spend time and listen to him other than Eda, and he also knew that her time spent with them wouldn’t be for much longer if she was constantly with that Anti-Kaiju Coven.

While King was contemplating this, Eda went behind a screen and quickly changed to her lounge wear in a flash of magical light. The Owl Lady plopped herself onto the couch and turned on the crystal ball, which was now tuning into the news.

{We’ve been monitoring a plague of boiling rain that started off the coast and has now started to move into the mainland. Reports have been coming in of increased lightning strikes along with the rain, and residents have been advised to stay inside for their safety. We will continue to update you with any changes.}

“Yeesh, this one looks bad,” Eda commented. “Might need to reinforce the shield later just to be safe.”

“Eeeedaaaaaa~” Luz sang as she approached the Owl Lady. “Have I ever told how shiny and cool your fang looks today?”

“Whatever it is. No,” Eda deadpanned.

“And your hair is like, girrrrl,” Luz complimented.

“I’m not teaching you magic tonight. I’m sleepy.” Eda pulled off the blanket that was draped on the back of the couch and wrapped herself in it. “I’m a sleepy little owl.”

Luz groaned loudly as she got down on her knees before her mentor. “Edaaaaa, c’moooooon! Bump only gave me until the end of next week to learn a new spell before that Lilith woman arrives at Hexside! And that was three days ago!”

Eda chuckled. “Heh, yeah, can’t say that didn’t surprise me. But I guess Bumpikins is starting to get less rigid in his old age. Now that’s powerful magic if you ask me.”

Luz rubbed the back of her head bashfully. “Aww, thanks Eda – Wait! Don’t change the subject!”

“Sleepy owl, sleepy time.” Eda wrapped herself up in the blanket, bringing it over her head to block out any light, and certain humans. A few seconds passed with nothing happening, but then Eda started to hear something clicking, and it was a familiar clicking. “Sparkle thing!” Eda gasped as she poked her head out from under the blanket.

Luz was holding the glowing clicker pen that King had earlier. The Latina casually clicked the gemstone light off and on, pretending to pay no mind to Eda, but wore a sly smile. “Oooh, this? You want this, Eda?”

The Owl Lady, eyes fixed on the pen, hopped out of the blanket, and perched on the sofa’s armrest on all fours like an animal. Her gaze completely focused on the pen to the point that as Luz waved the pen up, down, and side to side, Eda’s head followed it.

“You waaaant it?” Luz asked in a taunting tone.

Eda nodded vigorously as she raised her arms to grab it. But at the last second, Luz pulled the pen back, causing Eda to tip over and fall onto the floor.

“Nope. Here’s the deal, Eda. Teach me one spell, and I’ll give you your ‘sparkle thing’,” Luz bargained.

“…I respect your cunning, but I also hate you for it.” Eda groaned as she rose to her feet, a couple of bones popping as she did. “Alright, guess we’ve pushed this back long enough. Let’s do this.”

“YES!” Luz exclaimed as she fist pumped the air.

“Alright, alright. Sit down and listen up.”

Luz swiftly pushed the coffee table out of the way to make more room, and practically teleported to the middle of the floor, rocking back and forth with a childlike enthusiasm as she awaited her first real lesson in magic. Eda summoned her staff and stood a couple of feet away from the human teen. King sighed, gathered some paper and crayons, and began drawing while Eda began her lesson.

“Okay, if you really wanna learn this stuff, then listen closely and don’t…make…me…” Eda started to doze off, but as she slumped she quickly woke up. “Myself! Don’t make me repeat myself. We’ll begin with some basic things, like a witch’s staff. Witches’ Staffs have power imbedded into them. They provide numerous functions like being able to fly and enhance your magic spells.” Eda tossed her staff aside and used her left hand to draw a spell circle. “And as far as spells go, I’ll teach you one that’s relatively simple enough for any witch to cast. Tonight, I will teach you how to conjure light.”

Luz watched as Eda completed her spell circle, and once it was finished, an orb of light shimmered into existence. The orb floated down from the air and stopped in front of Luz before popping like a balloon.

“Bah,” King scoffed. “Who needs that when you could be learning all the fun ways a demon can kill you!” To emphasize his point, King held up one his drawings of some random creature with large teeth eating someone. “Look how teethy. Bite! Bite!”

“Shh! King, I need to focus,” Luz remarked as she returned her attention to Eda.

“Now humans think magic is made out of thin air, but that’s stupid. Everything comes from somewhere, just like your big giant friend’s power comes from…well…not sure what, but I’m sure it’s something. So, with that in mind, let me ask you,” Eda lightly tapped Luz in the middle of her forehead as she inquired, “Where do you think magic comes from?”

Luz really thought about it, but then there was something like a strong heartbeat in her chest. But it wasn’t her own.

Titannia, are you trying to tell me the answer? Luz thought.

“From the heart?” Luz asked.

“…Actually, you’re right!” Eda exclaimed.

Luz raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“No, really.” Eda reached into her large head of hair and pulled out a rolled-up sheet of paper. After Eda unfurled it, Luz saw that it was a diagram of a witch’s heart, and attached to the heart was a large, greenish organ that Luz had never seen before. “It comes from a sac of magic bile that’s attached to a witch’s heart.”

“And everyone has this?!” Luz asked in shock.

“Yep.”

“Gross!…Can I keep that?”

“No.” Eda placed the paper back in her hair and continued the lesson. “Now, everything depends on the spell circle. The bigger the circle, the more powerful the spell becomes.” Eda demonstrated again by drawing an even bigger circle than she did earlier, resulting in a bigger orb of light that popped a couple of seconds after it emerged.

Now it made sense why her friends, and every other witch and demon, drew circles of light before casting their spells. And why it seemed that their spells got stronger when the circles got bigger. But with that question answered, it now raised a more important one.

“Wait, so…if I don’t have a bile sac like witches do, then how can I cast magic spells?” Luz asked.

Eda raised her right index finger in preparation to explain, but she paused as she gave the question further thought. “You know…I’m not actually sure.”

“WHAT?!” Luz yelled.

“I know witches used to do magic differently in the past, but I never bothered to figure out how,” Eda answered.

“B-But then, ugh! Okay, so, maybe we could hit the books and find out? We still have some time, and with the weather – err – plague as bad as it is, we don’t have much else to do,” said Luz.

Eda popped her back, groaned, and remarked, “Well, good luck to you, but for now, I’m beat.”

“W-Wait!” Luz quickly took out her cellphone. “Show me how you did the light spell again,! I’ll record it this time. Please? One more spell won’t kill you.”

Eda rolled her eyes, she was already tired, but relented. “Fine. Now you see…” The Owl Lady began drawing the spell circle, but it looked unstable. “…the spell circle is…is…” The circle broke down, and then Eda collapsed, face first, onto the floor.

“…Well, looks like one more spell killed Eda,” King commented.

“AAAH!” Luz cried out as she put her phone away and hurriedly rolled Eda over. “AAH! My obsession with learning a spell knocked out Eda! I’m a monster! I’m worse than the Kaiju!”

King walked up to Eda, and then smacked her in the face with his paw. “Bap! Yep, she’s out cold. Bap!” King smacked her again. “Just making sure.”

“We should get help! I’ll go get help!”

Luz ran towards the door, flung it open, but was quickly stopped by King as he grabbed onto her jacket.

“BOILING! RAIN! Unless you plan on changing into Titannia, you’re not going last long out there!” King argued.

“No, let her try. It’ll be funny,” Hooty remarked.

King deadpanned and slammed the door to shut Hooty up.

“But what if Eda’s dead?!” That fear was dispelled when she heard Eda mumbling and grumbling. “Oh…”

“Remember when she got her head cut off a couple of weeks ago? That woman can survive anything,” King stated. “She’s probably just tired from staying up all night chasing shrews and voles.”

“…Well, we can’t just leave her on the floor.”

King looked up at Luz, and then to the unconscious witch on the floor. “Ugh…”

It was a somewhat arduous task as Luz and King dragged Eda’s unconscious body up the stairs. There was one time when she and King accidentally dropped Eda against the stairs, and she tumbled down the stairs. They vowed to never tell Eda about that. After carefully getting Eda back up the stairs, they headed to her bedroom. Once inside, Luz noticed that Eda really did have a nest. Luz looked inside the nest, and grimaced when she saw a shrew’s skeleton in the nest. She moved the skeleton aside, and with King’s help, got the Owl Lady into the nest.

“Sorry for pushing you, Eda. Please don’t kill me when you wake up,” Luz begged.

“Should I bap her again?” King asked.

“Let’s just let her sleep, you little goober,” said Luz. “C’mon, let’s go downstairs.”

As Luz left the room, she heard King go “Bap!” and shook her head knowing that what he did.

Luz went back to the living room as she practiced drawing a spell circle with her finger. But unfortunately, no matter how many times she did it, no circle of light formed. It really did seem like the only way for her to use magic was to have a magic bile sac, and she doubted that a transplant would be a good idea. Luz was going to have a tough enough time explaining why she could turn into a giant woman, the last thing she needed was her mother asking why she had a scar on her chest near her heart.

While Luz was practicing, King was busy drawing up pictures to add to self-published books on demons. Another volume had been created that was exclusively for Kaiju, and inside of it was listed the ones that Luz had battled previously. Like Deemaga, Mandragsaurus, Dinozaur, and Maga-Jappa. And thanks to Luz’s descriptions of their battles, he was able to fill it with all their known abilities.

“Man, how is this going to work?” Luz complained.

“Hey, maybe you should take a break? Maybe a lesson about…” King quickly held up a drawing of a fish looking demon with arms. “Smoochy Pie, the Sweetie Baby! He’s…a lot more intimidating than his name implies…”

“King, I appreciate you’re trying to help, but I need to try figure out how I’m going to cast this spell before the end of the week,” Luz retorted.

King sighed heavily as he sat down on a pile of books. “…Hey, will you stop living here if you do?”

Luz paused and looked down at King. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean…if you learn this spell, and join that Coven, you’ll be like those Coven Scouts. Always working, and never be here,” King pointed out. “N-Not like I’m saying I’d miss you or anything…it’s just…Weh!”

Luz came up from behind King and wrapped her arms around him as she hugged the little demon.

“Oh, King, you don’t have to worry about that. You guys are important to me, and I won’t stay away from you,” said Luz. “It’s just this whole Kaiju and Titannia thing is important, and so long as Titannia and I are together, I need to do my best to protect everyone. That includes you and Eda.”

King lowered his gaze and smiled a little as he patted Luz’s arm. “Okay, I get it. How about this? If I promise to help you figure out how to do this spell, you think we can finish our lesson?”

Luz released King and replied, “Oh yeah! You do this, and we’ll spend the entire week learning about demons! Notes and all.”

“Heh-heh! Okay, Eda said witches used to do magic differently. So, there has to be a way, right? And I have a theory.” King took out a crayon and a drawing pad and began drawing some images. Once he was done, he showed the picture of a bottle, a plus sign, an image of Eda, and the word “MAGIC!” at the bottom. “Everyday I notice Eda sneaking drinks of this special elixir, see? Then she always gets a boost of energy, see? I think that’s where she gets her powers! And I know where to get some.”

“Really?!”

“Sí,” King answered.

Luz picked up King and began twirling him around in excitement. “Thank you so much, King! You’re a prince!”

“King. I’m ‘King’,” he corrected.

“Right.”

Luz waited patiently in the kitchen per King’s instructions. He went upstairs to get the elixir that was supposedly the source of Eda’s magical power. As she sat there, Luz started to wonder about something.

“Hmm…will this have an adverse effect on me since I have Titannia living inside of me? Or will it give her a power boost?! Oh, that would be even better! Then I can fight Kaiju more easily! Or it could give me too much power and tear me apart from the inside out…or make me explode…” Luz shuddered.

“GOT IT!”

Luz looked up and watched as King entered the kitchen with the bottle of gold glowing elixir. He hopped onto the table and handed the elixir over to Luz who eagerly accepted it.

“Finally, I’m going to be able to learn magic, and cast a spell!” Luz popped the cork off the bottle and raised it to the air. “Bottoms up.”

Luz slowly brought the elixir to her lips and tilted it back as the liquid started to move towards the opening. However, before a drop could make it into her mouth, a fierce crash of thunder and lightning erupted outside, shaking the entire house. Luz yelped in surprise as the bottle flew out of her hand and shattered against the floor.

“NOOO! The golden elixir is gone! This is a disaster!” Luz exclaimed.

“Ooh…uh…well…that happened,” King commented. “Uh, maybe it’ll still work if you lick it off the floor?”

“How desperate do you think I am?” Luz asked.

“Was that a serious question?” King replied with a deadpan tone.

“…Good point. Five second rule!”

Before Luz could do that, the lights started to flicker rapidly before going out completely. The thunder kept roaring outside, the wind howled, and the lightning continued to flash brightly outside. The storm sounded like it was getting worse, but what struck Luz as strange was why the lights went out in the first place. As far as she could tell, the Boiling Isles didn’t use electricity like they did in the Human Realm. It was mostly all magic powered or powered by something else magic based.

“Why did the lights go out?” Luz asked.

“Hooty controls the lights. He probably just fell asleep or something,” King explained.

Just then a loud crashing noise sounded off from the living room, along with Hooty crying out desperately.

“HOOT! HOOOOOT! HOOT! OH, HOOOOT!”

“HOOTY!” Luz yelled.

King hopped onto Luz’s shoulder as the Latina dashed through the kitchen and into the living room. When the two of them entered, Luz and King gasped in shock. The door had been broken off its hinges and laid on the floor between the archway of the front door. But that wasn’t all that was there. A huge, shadowy beast with glowing golden eyes peered at them from outside the house. The creature raked its claws on the door, creating four long claw marks with ease. The beast made a growling-hissing noise before swiftly running off out of sight.

Luz ran over to the door where Hooty was attached to, and quickly got down on her knees to check on the house demon. “Hooty! Hooty! Are you in there?!” Luz poked the house demon’s beak, which caused his tongue to poke out a few times on each push. She opened one his eyelids, and at least from what she could see, they weren’t dilated. Of course, what she did know to check for was thanks in part to her mother’s work as a veterinarian, but she wasn’t sure if she could apply the same logic to a demon that was part of a house.

“Whatever did this escaped into the boiling rain! What could survive that?!” Luz questioned.

King examined the damage to the house where Hooty was attacked, looking over the claw marks and other evidence that the beast left behind, and that’s when an idea popped into his head. “Oh my gosh! The Snaggle Back! It feeds during the rains! It must’ve stumbled across our house and seen us inside!”

A beastly cry echoed in the night, forcing Luz and King to run outside. They made sure not to go past the boundary line of the barrier, but they didn’t need to go far. When they looked up, they saw that same shadowy, beastly figure leap across and crash through the window.

“This…is…terrifying. SO WHY DO YOU LOOK SO HAPPY?!” Luz asked.

King looked as giddy as a child who found a new toy, and the wagging of his tail just further noted how excited he was. “Tee-hee-hee-hee! Because this could be a lesson! This would be a great way for you to see a wild demon up close and personal.”

“I kinda already was up close with a dangerous demon already, not exactly keen on having it happen twice in a short period of time,” Luz retorted. “Anyway, we need to get rid of that thing before it attacks Eda! She’s out cold and can’t defend herself!”

“True, you did knock her out with all your requests for asking her to teach you a spell,” King pointed out.

“Not helping!”

Luz and King reentered the house and armed themselves to fight the creature. King duct taped a pillow to his chest, and Luz called upon her Mystic Guard and Titannia Spark. She recalled the time before when she transformed into mini-Titannia to fight against the Greater Basilisk. Although the transformation didn’t last long, it did last long enough for Luz to overpower the Greater Basilisk and stop it. Luz figured she could do the same here if things got too out of hand with the Snaggle Back. And King…well he went armed with Francois.

The duo headed to the stairs and gulped at the same time. The storm outside was raging fiercer than before, and Luz was growing more worried about it. But she had to remain focused on the threat inside rather than outside. Luz and King ascended the stairs, with the Latina using her cellphone’s flashlight to illuminate their way. They slowly crept down the hallway, checking around each corner for any signs of the beast. They entered the hallway where Eda’s room was, and as Luz shined her light down the hallway, the door to Eda’s room opened and released an eerie creaking sound.

Yeah, this is raising a lot of horror movie red flags right now, Luz thought.

But it wasn’t as if they had a choice in the matter. With a boiling rainstorm outside, and a monster inside the house, the only option was to fight the monster or get killed. Luz and King approached the door and opened it slowly. Luz shined her light into the room. The inside was completely ransacked, and the windows to Eda’s room had been shattered, leaving a gaping hole and broken glass all over the floor. And unfortunately, their fears had been confirmed as Eda was not in her nest.

“OH NO!” Luz exclaimed in shock.

“She’s been Snaggle Backed!” King shouted.

Luz ran to the nest and gasped when she saw the multiple slash marks that riddled the inside of the nest. “No, no, no! King! You’re the demon expert, what can we do to stop the Snaggle Back?!”

“I’ll go get my demon book!” King announced as he ran into the hallway.

“Wait, no! King! That’s a classic horror movie mistake! Don’t ever split up!” Luz warned as she ran off for her little friend.

“WEEEH!” King shrieked.

Luz stormed into the hallway and gasped. Down the hallway was the shadowy beast they had seen earlier. The beast released another snarling-hissing sound as it slowly approached. Luz looked down and saw King on the floor, trying to back away from the monster as it advanced on him.

“NO! LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Luz cried out as she bolted towards King.

The beast broke into a sprint, determined to devour its prey. Luz managed to reach King first, but not with enough time to get them out of the way as the creature lunged for them both. Luz acting on instinct, raised her arms up in a desperate attempt to protect herself and King from the monster. However, before the beast could pounce on them, the Mystic Guard on Luz’s left bicep started to glow, and a moment later, a purple, shimmering shield appeared out in front of them. The beast collided with the shield, and upon impact, the shield reacted. A burst of energy was released from the shield and threw the unknown creature back to the other end of the hallway where it collided with the wall. Luz and King opened their eyes and were amazed to see the shield.

“I didn’t know it could do that!” King shouted in awe.

“I didn’t know it could do that either! I thought it was just something to hold Titannia’s Ultra Card!” Luz then tapped the side of her head. “Although, it probably should’ve been obvious with a name like ‘Mystic Guard’.”

The beast snarled as its eyes fixated on its new threat, but then scurried off. Luz took out her Titannia Ultra Card, she knew the time limit would be short, but all she really needed was a few seconds to pummel the beast into submission, and in the worst case scenario, shoot it with her Lumintium Beam.

“King, get somewhere safe. I’m going after it,” Luz ordered.

“But–!”

“Don’t argue with me on this, King. I can fight that thing easier if I know you’re out of harms way,” Luz interrupted.

King looked like he wanted to argue further, but he knew she was right. Another shrieking-hissing sound rang through the house. Luz narrowed her gaze and took off in the direction the beast went. With little options left, King went in opposite direction. He kept going until he found the hall closet and thought it was as good a hiding place as any. The King of Demons opened the door, but when he did, he saw a figure hiding amongst the coats.

“How did you get here so quickly?! No matter! As the King of Demons, I shall smite you myself! There’s nowhere for you to run…!” King declared as he pulled back the coats. “…Snaggle Back?”

The creature before him did indeed resemble the Snaggle Back in his book, but not exactly. This Snaggle Back didn’t have long sharp claws or teeth, he did possess a shell, but the spikes were few, short, and seemed somewhat blunt. Overall, this Snaggle Back looked like a small pink monkey creature.

“Wow, you are a lot shorter in person,” King commented.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I just needed a place to hide from the rain!” the Snaggle Back replied in a meek voice.

“Why did you break down our door and attack Luz?! That’s not cool, man! Bad Snaggle Back!” King admonished.

“B-B-But I-I didn’t do any of that stuff! I just snuck in through a broken window just a moment ago!”

“Wait…just now? So, then, if you’re not the one Luz is chasing then what–?”

Just then the ceiling was smashed open, and a clawed hand reached down through the hole and picked up the Snaggle Back.

“OH NO! A TWIST!” the Snaggle Back cried out as he was dragged into the darkness above.

King was at a loss for words, if the Snaggle Back wasn’t the one responsible for Eda’s disappearance, and attacking Hooty, then what was in their house? And what of Luz? Did the monster manage to eat her as well before she got the chance to transform? Suddenly, heavy thumping sounds could be heard from above. The sounds kept going and then stopped once they reached the closet door. Something huge broke its way through the ceiling and landed in front of the closet door. King gulped when he saw that it was the beast from earlier. It snarl-hissed and slowly stalked towards King, forcing the little demon to back up until he hit the wall.

“I-I am the King of Demons! A-A-And as such, I order you to cough up my friends!” King demanded.

The beast’s response was to raise its right claw and take a swipe at King. The little demon managed to duck under the claw swipe just in the nick of time. His diminutive size proved useful as he managed to run under the beast’s huge body and into the hallway. King continued to run, with the beast hot on his tail. He quickly turned a corner, frantically thinking about where to run next, but that’s when two hands reached forth and grabbed King out of the hallway and into Eda’s room.

King struggled for a moment, but stopped when he realized it was Luz. The sounds of the beast approaching made him and Luz go still as they listened closely. The beast continued to stalk around the area for a few more moments before moving on and leaving them alone. Luz and King released a sigh of relief as the former let go of the little demon.

“Luz! You’re alright!” King exclaimed.

“I almost wasn’t. I was going to transform, but that thing was quick and knocked me down before I got the chance. I used the shield again, but that only drove it away. I was looking for it until I heard you yelling,” Luz explained. “If it wasn’t for the fact that I only stay in mini-Titannia form for a few seconds, I’d change right now.” That’s when Luz spotted something on the floor. “Hey, what’s that?”

King looked down and saw a piece of paper. After he picked it up, King read aloud, “‘Keeps the curse at bay’. Wait…oh no!”

“Oh no what?” Luz asked.

“When I got that bottle for you, it had a ripped tag on it.” King reached into his collar and took out the other half of the torn tag and completed the sentence. “‘A bottle a day keeps the curse at bay’! I was wrong the whole time! That’s no Snaggle Back, the creature is–!”

A claw smashed through the door, and in the next moment, the beast’s entire broke down doors. Now that the creature wasn’t cast in shadows, Luz and King could get a good look at it. The creature had gray feathers that covered the majority of its torso. Its forelegs were covered in white fur and had dull gold-colored claws on each of its five fingers. The beast’s hind legs were avian in appearance, with the top half covered in charcoal gray feathers, and brown scaly talons. But what drew their attention more than its monstrous appearance, was its face. The face of the monster looked exactly like Eda’s, but more beastly, with sharp teeth, elongated sharp ears, and black eyes. Her silver hair ran down her back, and two long bangs draped down from her ears.

“EDA?!” Luz gasped.

Eda growled and rose up on her hindlegs before swiping at Luz. After realizing that it was Eda, Luz hesitated to insert the Ultra Card into her Titannia Spark, and quickly fell backwards to avoid the claw swipe. Eda readied for a second attack, but when Luz hit the floor her cellphone dropped struck against the wooden floor. When that happened, the phone’s camera function was activated and released a bright flash. As soon as the flash went off, Eda’s eyes quickly dilated. Eda instantly let out a cry of pain as she shut her eyes and covered them.

Luz took this chance as she grabbed King and jumped out the window that led to a small balcony. King and Luz hugged the wall as they heard Eda roaming around the room, sniffing for them. Luz glanced around and found a can leaf stalk growing from it. Thinking quickly, Luz grabbed the can, waited for Eda to turn her head, and chucked it as far as she could. Beast Eda turned her head sharply in the direction of where the can hit and immediately rushed off to find the cause.

“Okay…this is a problem,” said Luz. “I can’t use mini-Titannia form to fight the monster because the monster is Eda! But why is she like that?!”

“Don’t you see?! That elixir I gave you earlier wasn’t the source of Eda’s power! It was meant to keep her from turning into that thing! She’s…She’s turned into a nightmare and it’s all my fault…” King whimpered. “I’m so sorry…Luz. All I wanted to do was to have you be into demons just as much as you are into magic and this Titannia stuff…I don’t have many friends, and no one pays that much attention to me. I thought maybe if I taught you about demons that finally someone would care about creatures like me.”

Luz understood what he meant. Her general “weirdness” and her tendency to get in the middle of conflicts and protect people didn’t quite endear her to others. As a result, it made her an outcast. So, she knew exactly what King was feeling. The Latina smiled and pulled out the glow pen, which she handed to King.

“Well, I think now’s a good time to finish our lesson. Don’t you think?” Luz suggested.

“Huh?”

“Eda’s turned into a demon, so who knows more about demons then the best teacher in the world,” said Luz.

King smiled and gratefully took the pen. Then he jumped into Luz’s arms, giggling with happiness before he grabbed a few leaves to draw on. “Let’s see, she was bigger, covered in feathers, and had giant black eyes. Demons with black eyes are usually sensitive to light.” King eyed Luz’s recovered cellphone, and that’s when he had an idea. “That’s it! Luz, use your human wonder rectangle!”

Luz took out her phone and grimaced when she noticed that camera flash was busted. “Ugh, I can’t. The fall jacked up the camera’s flash.”

“What about that light spell?” King suggested.

“King, I can’t do magic like Eda, Gus, or Willow. I don’t have a bile sac like witches do,” Luz complained. “But I guess it’s our only option at this point. Let me check the recording again, maybe there’s something I missed?”

The Latina turned on the video of Eda performing the light spell, hoping that there might be something there that could help her understand. As the video played, it began to glitch out. However, as it did, something strange appeared. A symbol formed in the middle of Eda’s spell circle.

“Wait, what? There’s a symbol in the spell circle,” said Luz.

King moved closer and asked, “Where?”

“Let me see the pen for a sec.” King gave back the pen while Luz grabbed a leaf and placed it over the screen. She began drawing the pattern she saw on the phone, tracing it until it formed a circle with a bird-like resemblance and then gave a little tap. “There, see?”

After being tapped, the symbol began to glow bright yellow. The leaf that it was drawn on began to curl inwards as if the symbol was using it to fuel the reaction. A moment later, a small orb of light formed before the human and demon. Luz’s eyes widened to the size of saucer plates as she beheld the beautiful shining orb in front of her. This was a product of her own creation, this was magic, magic that she herself performed. The Latina’s hands shook as she cupped the orb of light under her hands and raised it up to meet her gaze.

“It’s…It’s beautiful,” Luz gasped in awe.

That’s when the realization struck her.

“I just did magic…I just did magic!” Luz quickly shot to her feet and proclaimed, “I just did magic!!!”

As Luz celebrated her first real spell, the Titannia Spark’s crystal faintly glowed with the same symbol, and the gemstone above the center crystal, which was grayed out, suddenly turned yellow.

In the skies above, something stirred among the thick black clouds. The wingbeats of a giant avian beast flapped, and its cries were screeching and powerful, one could barely tell it apart from the crashing thunder. But it was there. It had spent many dies building up the necessary energy to create this storm, and now that it was on the mainland, it could unleash its great fury upon the entirety of the Boiling Isles.

However, as the beast readied itself, it paused and went into hover. It could sense something. The emergence of a power. A power that threatened its existence. And it needed to be killed.

The giant avian monster screeched once again as it flew in the direction its senses were telling it. And as it did, the storm moved with it.

King, who had been hanging onto Luz as she celebrated this great achievement, dismounted from her arm, and retorted, “Luz, I’m glad you learned a spell, but we’re not going to stop Eda with something that small!”

“I know, I know! But this is great! I can finally get back to Hexisde and join the Anti-Kaiju Coven!” Luz exclaimed in joy.

King wanted to be more excited for Luz, really, but considering Eda was still an issue, the celebration needed to be put on hold. Unfortunately, things were about to get worse.

Lightning bolts descended from the sky and struck down upon the Owl House, causing Luz and King to fall onto their rears in fear when they saw the bolt nearly hit them.

“What the heck?!” Luz exclaimed.

Another round of lightning bolts began to pelt the area, some hit the Boiling Sea, others hit the forests and set some trees on fire. Others arced towards Bonesborough, hitting the town square, or shooting through people’s homes. The winds started to pick up speed, and the thunder’s boom shook more violently than before.

“AAH! It’s like the storm is trying to kill us!” King yelled.

“This isn’t normal?!”

“NO!”

The cry of a huge beast could be heard, at first they thought it was Beast Eda, but it sounded bigger, way, way bigger. And it echoed from far overhead. Luz and King shifted their gaze towards the stormy skies, and during some of the lightning flashes, they were able to see the shadowy silhouette of a Kaiju.

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me?! A Kaiju?! Now?!” Luz complained.

“Great, a monster version of Eda inside the house, and a giant monster outside the house. Can it get any worse?” King asked.

“NO! Don’t say that!”

The shrieking-hiss of Beast Eda echoed forth into the air. Luz and King turned their heads to see Beast Eda on the roof of the Owl House. Her head was turned skyward as she howled, shrieked, and growled at the Kaiju that was flying above them.

“You don’t think she’s going to…?”

“I really hope she’s not about to–!”

Beast Eda spread her wings and took off, passing through the barrier as she began her ascent.

“AAAH! EDA, ARE YOU NUTS?!” Luz screamed.

“In that state, she probably sees the Kaiju as a threat to her territory! She’s going up there to try and fight it!” King explained.

“No way in heck is that happening!”

Luz quickly raised the Titannia Spark and released its energy, bringing her into the starry nexus. She took out the Titannia Ultra Card and inserted it into the Titannia Spark.

{/|\} AWAKEN THE POWER WITHIN! {/|\}

“Arise, Guardian of Light! ULTRAWOMAN TITANNIA!”

{/|\} ARISE, TITANNIA! {/|\}

A beam of purple light shot out of the barrier and quickly transformed into the form of the giant hero, Ultrawoman Titannia. Even with the weather conditions as they were, Titannia was still able to spot Beast Eda as she fought against the turbulent winds to reach the Kaiju. Titannia quickly reached out and caught Beast Eda between her hands. She could feel the transformed Owl Lady squirming and clawing at her hands. Thankfully, Titannia’s body was far too tough for something as small as Eda to cause her arm. Although, the same could not be said of the Kaiju that was still above them.

“Dang it! This wind is making it hard to stay level,” said Luz as she tried to keep herself steady while keeping Eda safe.

The Kaiju sensed Titannia and began its descent from the clouds. Once it broke through the cloud cover, Titannia was able to get a good view of her foe. The Kaiju looked like a bird and dragon combined. It had long rust-colored scales that acted as its feathers, with shades of gunmetal gray color on random scale-feathers The arms of its wings covered in a hard, exoskeletal armor that was same gunmetal gray coloring. The underbelly of the Kaiju was covered in rigid, salmon pink scales that ran the length from its neck, all the way to the tip of its tail. The Kaiju’s legs had the same positioning as that of a bird. The scales that covered its arm its short arms talons matched the same coloration as the ones on its underbelly. The Kaiju’s head was sharp and dragon-like, with four horns. It possessed beady white eyes and rows of sharp teeth.

RAIBASSER: THE ANCIENT LIGHTNING BIRD MONSTER

“Raibasser, so you’re the one responsible for this storm! Aah! Eda, quit squirming around!”

Raibasser gazed upon its foe from high above and flared its wings. Yellow lightning began to emanate from its body as it reached the clouds above. That same lightning flashed and arced across the clouds before finally shooting towards Titannia. The Guardian of Light couldn’t open her hands to form her shield, so she did the next best thing she could. She turned her back to the incoming lightning and let it hit. Multiple explosions went off on Titannia’s back as sparks flew out from her. The Ultrawoman was sent into a tailspin as she descended towards the ground. But before she could land the wrong way, Titannia managed to correct herself and landed in a kneeling stance as the ground cracked and under her weight.

Unfortunately, Raibasser wasn’t about to let Titannia off that easily. The Lightning Bird Monster unleashed yet another series of lightning strikes from its body. The bolts rained down upon her, sparking dozens of explosions as Titannia did her best to withstand the onslaught. Raibasser wasn’t done just yet, its wings started to glow yellow, and with a flap of its wings, a cascade of energy infused scale-feathers were shot at her. Titannia hurriedly rolled out of the way of the Bassa-Feather Shoot as each scale-feather hit the ground and exploded one after the other.

Titannia stopped rolling, and got back to her feet, panting as she tried to figure out what she could do. “There’s got to be some way I can pin Eda down so we can fry that chicken…Wait, maybe I can?” Titannia dashed towards the Owl House and stopped in front of it. She placed Eda down on the ground, keeping the transformed witch covered by her giant hands. Titannia concentrated, and within seconds managed to form her own barrier around Eda. “Yes!”

Beast Eda rammed her body against the barrier a few times, and even slashed at it with her talons, but thankfully the barrier was holding, for now.

“Sorry, Eda. Just stay put and we’ll figure out a way to bring you back.”

Now no longer fearful of Eda’s situation, Titannia shot up into the air and towards Raibasser. The powerful winds and boiling rain still made it difficult for Titannia to steer correctly, but as she approached Raibasser, she thrusted both of her hands forward and fired multiple energy bolts at the monster. Raibasser wasn’t about to be shot down like that. With another mighty flap of its wings, Raibasser quickly ascended into the sky, effortlessly dodging Titannia’s light beams. The giant avian Kaiju circled around and fired another barrage of its Bassa-Feather Shoot.

Titannia countered by raising her Grand Wall, which did help in blocking the initial barrage, but failed to stop the second attack. Raibasser yet again released bolts of lightning from its body and had them rain down on Titannia. The Ultrawoman turned her body in the direction of the lightning and managed to block them with the Grand Wall, but then the lightning bolts coalesced, merging into one mega lightning bolt that shot down and struck Titannia. Her shield shattered in an instant as the Gurdian of Light was hit with the powerful lightning bolt.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!” Luz screamed as she felt the electrocuting volts coursing through Titannia and into her as well. Despite Titannia taking the majority of the pain, some of it did transfer to Luz within the Starry Nexus, and even just a small amount of it was excruciating.

Raibasser flew down from the sky and slashed at Titannia with its talons, but as it passed, the Kaiju circled back fast and slashed Titannia again. The avian Kaiju was demonstrating why the skies were its domain by continuously attacking Titannia and leaving her no room to counterattack. Finally, Raibasser swooped in and struck Titannia with its right wing, throwing the Guardian of Light straight down into the where she landed with a thunderous “BOOM!” Raibasser released a screech of victory as it announced its dominance over the hero.

Meanwhile, Titannia grunted and moaned as she rolled onto her front and pushed up until she was at a kneeling stance. Her Color Timer started to flash red, indicating that her time was almost up.

“Dang it, how can I beat that thing?! It’s fast in the air, and that lightning…ugh…c’mon, Luz, c’mon, Titannia.” Titannia slammed the ground with her fist before rising to her feet with determination as she gazed up at the hovering Raibasser. “I’m not giving up that easily!”

As soon as Luz had spoken those words the light glyph appeared before her in the Starry Nexus.

“What the…that glyph, it’s here?”

“…Reach…”

Luz heard a voice, a voice she recognized. “Wait…was that you, Titannia?”

“…Reach…”

The Latina looked upon the glowing light glyph as her gaze narrowed. Without any more hesitation, Luz did as Titannia asked. Luz thrusted her right hand forward and watched as it disappeared into the glyph before her. As she did, Luz felt something on the other side.

“…Pull…”

Luz pulled back, and when she did, the light glyph flashed. When the light faded, Luz found herself holding a new Ultra Card. The card shimmered for a moment before that shimmer faded and showed the new image on the card. It looked like Titannia, but also different.

“Wait, Titannia, are you saying that the glyph can grant you a new power?!” The Titannia Spark’s center crystal flashed as if saying “yes”. “Alright, then let’s do this!”

Luz inserted the new Ultra Card into the Titannia Spark and hit the center crystal.

{/|\} ILLUMINATE THE PATH FORWARD! {/|\}

“Shine with everlasting light! ULTRAWOMAN TITANNIA!”

{/|\} ARISE, SHINING TITANNIA! {/|\}

Titannia’s body suddenly shined with brilliant golden light. A pillar of that light began to form around her and shot straight into the sky. Raibasser had to move out of the way as the light shot higher and higher until it punched a huge hole in the clouds, allowing the twinkling night sky to show. The pillar of golden light dispersed into particles of light that cascaded down towards the ground slowly. And down below, Titannia’s new form had been revealed.

A mantle formed from where her Color Timer was, expanding outwards in a curve as it circled her shoulders and back. The purple coloring of her body had been changed to yellow-gold, but her Cosmo Beast tattoos remained. Her waist developed a kind of silver belt, with the center of the belt missing, and replaced with a crystal blue orb. Titannia now had thigh armor that flared out to appear almost wing-like. The tips of each of her fingers were coated with the same silver metal that was around her waist, along with the tip of each foot. Along Titannia’s sides, the center of her body, side of her thighs, and down the middle of her legs, were strips of sparkling light that matched sparkling appearance of the thigh armor and mantle.

That wasn’t the extent of the changes, even her head changed. Where before, Titannia had an oval-ish shaped head, but now the top of her head formed frills, while the gold pointed ears on the sides of her head flared outwards. The crystal ornament that was attached to her head had changed its shape, now it was a four-pointed star, with the gaps between the star had diamond shaped crystals. This was the power of light truly given form, this was…

“Shining Titannia!”

“Hyah!” Titannia shouted as she entered her fighting stance.

Raibasser screeched in irritation but was not going to give up on destroying its enemy. The avian Kaiju called forth its lightning and began raining down its lightning bolts once again. All the lightning bolts shot down on Shining Titannia’s position, but the Guardian of Light didn’t evade. She quickly raised her right hand into the air and let the lightning come to her. All the electrical bolts started to bend and curve until they all struck Titannia’s right hand. Raibasser released a screech of surprise as it watched Titannia manipulate its lightning.

Shining Titannia made a fist, and then waved her hand, tossing the lightning bolts aside as all of them struck the ground and exploded without so much as harming her. Shining Titannia widened her stance and then launched herself into the air. Raibasser was about to take off in the opposite direction, but Shining Titannia was already right in front of the monster. The Guardian of Light co*cked back her right fist and punched the beast right in the chest, causing sparks to shoot out from the point of impact. Raibasser tried to maintain its altitude was it was pushed back by Shining Titannia’s punch, but she wasn’t about to give it a chance.

“Oh no, you had your shot, now it’s my turn! Aurum Particle Assault!”

Shining Titannia’s body glowed until it broke down into a storm of shimmering particles. The shimmering particles began attacking Raibasser, surrounding it like a swarm of angry bees. Raibasser flew higher in an attempt to get away from the particles, but Raibasser was not going to escape the Aurum Particle Assault that easily. The particles flew at high speed, easily able to keep up with the flight speed of Raibasser. The golden particles began attacking once again, causing multiple explosions that sent sparks flying out from its body. Raibasser called on its lightning and Bassa-Feather Shoot to try and hit the particles, but Shining Titannia’s particles merely rode the lightning, took control of it, and redirected it to hit Raibasser. The avian Kaiju shrieked as its own lightning was turned against it as the bolts struck its body.

Shining Titannia reformed above the avian Kaiju, with the crescent moon at her back. The Guardian of Light slashed the air with her left hand and formed a golden crescent blade. With her right hand, Shining Titannia grabbed the end of the crescent, and twirled it around like a sword.

“ Light-Wave Crescent! ”

Shining Titannia tossed the Light-Wave Crescent as it flew straight for Raibasser. The Kaiju was still recovering from the earlier assault, which didn’t allow it any time to avoid the incoming attack. The crescent flew and slashed through the right wing of Raibasser, causing it to screech in pain as it lost the ability to stay in the air. The avian Kaiju tried desperately to maintain its altitude, but that was easier said than done as it used its remaining wing to try and stay airborne. However, it was all for not as Raibasser crash landed.

“Let’s end this, Titannia!”

“HYAH!”

Shining Titannia raised both of her hands into the air and used the tips of her index and middle fingers to draw a wide circle of light.

“The bigger the circle, the more powerful the spell! Right, Eda?!”

Once the circle was complete, Shining Titannia held out both her arms as the circle began to gather more and more energy. That’s when Shining Titannia brought both her hands together into a pyramid formation and thrusted them forward.

“RADIANT BUSTER!!!”

The circle of light shined like a star as it fired down a huge ray of golden light. Raibasser looked up and just in time to become bathed in the golden light of Shining Titannia’s Radiant Buster. The beam of light shined down on Raibasser from the heavens above, breaking down its body until a powerful explosion went off that ended the Kaiju’s existence. The moment the monster was eliminated, a bright flash of light went off that lit up the night.

Beast Eda looked upon the light, and shrieked in pain as she was overwhelmed by that light and was completely knocked out. The destruction of Raibasser also brought about the end of the storm as the remaining dark clouds all disappeared within mere seconds of its elimination.

Shining Titannia’s form shimmered as she transformed into light, zipping around in a golden state before shifting to purple. The purple stream of light landed in front of the Owl House, revealing Luz. When she looked at the Titannia Spark, she realized that the grayed-out gemstone at the top of the center gemstone was now yellow. Now this made Luz wonder, if the yellow gemstone was indicating the acquisition of the Shining Titannia form, did the other three mean that Titannia had three more forms she could change into? But that was a question for another time, right now Eda was her priority.

(An Hour Later…)

Eda opened her eyes and found herself lying in her nest. She quickly sat up and found that there was a long straw in her mouth. The Owl Lady pulled out the straw but realized that part of her face was still in its beast state. Startled, Eda put the straw back in her mouth and began drinking. Thankfully, upon drinking the golden elixir, Eda’s face quickly returned to normal, and the gemstone on her chest, which was partially blackened, changed back to its original yellow, golden color.

“Ugh…w-what happened? Oh, I have the worst headache! And…And my mouth…tastes like roadkill! Auhg – BLAGGGH!!!”

Eda threw up a huge owl pellet. The pellet wiggled for a second and then cracked open down the middle, revealing the Snaggle Back that Eda ate earlier when she was in beast form.

“I’m just…gonna lie here for a minute…” The Snaggle Back announced in a bewildered state.

Eda finally took notice of the elixir she had just drank and knitted her brow. “I was looking for that.”

“Actually, we found an extra one in your closet,” said King as he walked up to Eda’s nest.

“King? KIIIING?! You stole my elixir?! I outta break every bone in your–?!”

“Shh,” King interrupted. “Look, over there.”

Eda quelled her rage as she looked to where King was pointing. Her eyes opened wide when she saw Luz surrounded by orbs of light. The human teen was drawing something on a piece of paper, and a moment after she finished, she tapped the paper, and another orb of light was created. Eda watched as the orb floated up, joining the multitude of other orbs that were hovering above them.

“Wow…how…how is doing that?” Eda asked in astonishment.

“I don’t know, but she did it on her own. She fought against a Kaiju while you were…like that…and used that symbol to change Titannia into something more powerful!” King told her.

“Wait, what?! A Kaiju attacked?! And what happened to the boiling rain?! What the heck did I miss?!” Eda asked.

Luz got up and walked over to Eda and began the explanation. “When we realized it was you, we tried to think of a way to help you. But a Kaiju showed up, and it got you all riled up to the point that you became territorial and tried to attack the Kaiju.”

“You gotta be kidding me,” Eda moaned.

“Heh, ‘fraid not. Beast version you actually thought it could take on that behemoth. So, Luz transformed into Titannia to stop you. Unfortunately, she was getting her butt kicked because she was protecting you,” King elaborated.

“King,” Luz lightly scolded.

“What? That’s what happened,” King retorted.

“Anyway, I was in a tight spot, but then I saw this…glyph symbol. Titannia spoke to me, like really spoke to me. And she told me to reach through the glyph and I pulled out a new Ultra Card. I used it, and it changed Titannia into a whole new form! We were way more powerful and managed to beat that thing. When I destroyed the Kaiju, the storm ended, which means it was the cause of it. The light that I created must’ve been too much because you were knocked out,” Luz finished.

King lowered his head as he began tapping the tips of his claws together. “Hey…I kinda messed a buncha things up back there…and I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“Well, you better be!” Eda scolded. “I got a long list of disgusting chores with your name on them!” Eda sighed as she let her anger go for the second time. “But it’s not entirely your fault. I haven’t been completely honest with you guys.”

Luz sat on her knees as she gave Eda a sympathetic look. “It’s okay, Eda, we’ll listen.”

Eda nodded. “When I was younger…I-I was cursed. I don’t know exactly how it happened; all I know is that if I don’t take my elixir…I become the thing you two saw earlier. The Owl Beast. And that, my kiddos, is why people call me the ‘Owl Lady’. No one likes having a curse, but, eh, if you take the right steps it’s manageable.”

“Eda, whoa…are you going to be okay?” Luz asked with concern.

Eda sat up on the edge of her nest and assured Luz, “There’s nothing for you to worry about. It’s all under control. And so long as no one steals my elixir – KING! – then I’m fine. But, hey, look at this! You learned your first spell, congrats, kid.”

“I had a little encouragement from a great teacher,” said Luz as she glanced down at King.

“Oh, you,” King bashfully replied.

“HEY! HEEEEY! IS ANYONE THERE? HELLOOOO! HOOT? I’M ON THE FLOOR! IT’S COOOOOLD!” Hooty cried out.

“That voice…That horrible voice!” King complained as he marched out of the room to go downstairs.

“We’ll take care of him. You stay in bed.” Luz bent down and picked up the Snaggle Back. “C’mon you goopy fella, we’ll set you free now.”

“Oh wow…oh…I think my tail was digested…”

Eda shook her head as she smiled. With her two kids gone, Eda curled up in her nest. The exhaustion of her transformation, and the ordeal as a whole, made sleep come quickly to the Owl Lady. Her eyelids grew heavy, and before she knew it, Eda had drifted off to slumber.

~*~*~*~

Eda found herself in vast realm of darkness, and before her was an all too familiar wooden door.

“Oh no, not that this memory again,” Eda lamented.

The wooden door opened and revealed glaring light, and within that light was a figure made of undulating shadows, with two wide, glowing white eyes.

“You! You’re the one who cursed me, aren’t you?!” Eda accused.

The figure remained silent. As if mocking her.

“Who are you?! WHO ARE YOU?!”

~*~*~*~

Eda awoke with a start. That dream, that memory, would never leave her. And yet, she knew that it was the missing piece to discovering who or what cursed her.

While Eda was resting, Luz managed to get Hooty reattached to the house, and as an added bonus, put a few band-aids on his claw marks.

“Welcome to the Boo-Boo Buddy club, Hooty,” said Luz.

“Finally, I get to be a part of something!” Hooty exclaimed in joy.

While Luz was busy with Hooty, King was busy writing down notes as he listened to the Snaggle Back’s description of Eda’s body when he was eaten earlier.

“And then she had teeth in her stomach. Teeth in her stomach! Can you believe that?” Snaggle Back asked.

“Oh, yeah. This will make a great addition to my demon book. Along with that new Kaiju,” said King as he showed off a picture he drew of Owl Beast Eda.

“That book is filled with so many interesting things. Like this!” Snaggle Back raised the book and flipped it to the page that was about him. “I’m one of the strongest demons on the Boiling Isles, huh?”

“Yeaaaaah, I’m gonna have to edit that.”

“…Oh.”

“It’s Ultra Navi time! With me, Luz!”

“And me, the King of Demons!”

“Whew, well, that was some night we had. Not only did we get roped into a horror movie situation, but I also had to fight a Kaiju.”

“How was I supposed to know that that elixir was for a curse?”

“Honest mistake, buddy. Don’t worry. The important thing is, we’re all okay.”

“True. And now, let’s introduce the newest Kaiju…!”

RAIBASSER: THE ANCIENT LIGHTNING BIRD MONSTER

“This Kaiju is a fast flyer and has the ability to manipulate and release bolts of lightning! Ouch.”

“Not only that, that thing could control storms! Good thing you managed to destroy it before it made it any further.”

“Yeesh, yeah, that would’ve been a disaster.”

“And what was it that you did to beat it?”

“Oh, yeah. That was Titannia’s new form! Shining Titannia! She uses the power of light itself to enhance her speed and power. Aurum Particle Assault breaks Titannia down into hundreds of thousands of sparkling particles that allow me to swarm my opponent and hit them with burning light.”

“And that other attack? The one with the blade?”

“Oh, that was my Light-Wave Boomerang. I basically create a crescent of light and throw it at them. Cuts right through ‘em. And lastly, my Radiant Buster! Which concentrates a massive amount of light energy and fires it in a wide pillar blast.”

“Sweet, so now that you have this power, and the spell, you can join the Anti-Kaiju Coven?”

“We’ll see. I still gotta show that Lilith woman what I can do.”

BZZZT!

“And that’s time! This is Luz–!”

“And King!”

“We’ll see you next time!”

“And bring me offerings!”