Chapter 18: The Storm

Human OrphanWords: 19415

Remember Emperor Belos' real name is Roman.

And the Titans' real name is Belos

And Luz is still possessed by the Titan

It might get confusing and I apologize in advance. Lmk at the end if you have any questions...

Also a warning. This has some scenes that can be graphic. I tried my best with this.

Also, someone important dies.... Sorry....

ENJOY!!!

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"I'm home."

Emperor Belos stands up and dismisses all of the guards, leaving the room to just him and his daughter "Luz. I was worried for a moment. But my worries were cast aside when I heard that you alone, captured your, captors. I am beyond proud my dear."

The Titan grits his teeth and slowly makes his way to the throne "Wow. You really are just terrible... Roman..."

The emperor stands still, studying Luz's posture "Luz? What did you just call me?"

The Titan, still walking slowly, rolls his red eyes "Roman, Roman, Roman, Roman. Did you really think you could truly defy me and get away with it?"

The emperor takes out his staff and holds it close to him "Belos?"

"YES. Ladies and gentlemen, the human has a brain! What a miracle." The Titan now says in a sarcastic tone, stopping in his tracks.

"How- what are you doing to Luz. DONT BRING HER INTO THIS!" The emperor is growing angry, but not moving towards the Titan who granted him all his power.

The Titan smiles menacingly and grips Luz's staff tightly "You brought this upon yourself, old friend. You are to blame for your own demise."

Roman, known as emperor Belos, now looks at his possessed orphan. "Luz! I know you're in there! Fight him. Fight him off. Gain back control!"

The Titan laughs in his face "You fool! Roman, you were the one who allowed me to take control of her. By locking her memories up, she has nothing to fight for. I can't even unlock her memories. You made sure of that. Only a core memory can unlock her mind, and the key is locked in a spare room."

"A key? The library memory of that tutor! What was her name.?.? BLIGHT!" The emperor says to himself, but the Titan heard.

"Ah! The former human can really think! Congratulations Roman, you've proven that you're not a total failure!" The Titan gives the emperor a smile but with no good intentions behind it.

Roman looks at the Titan, standing in front of him, posing as the one thing he's ever really had a connection with "So. What now? What do you want! You want me to bow to you once again!"

"No, no, no, no..." The Titan looks up at the human he helped so graciously years prior. "I want you to beg for mercy."

Roman looks at the Titan with fear and resentment. "You want me to beg. I am the emperor of these Isles. I do not beg for mercy!"

The Titan takes a couple more steps towards Roman, slowly. The smile fades away from controlled Luz, and he slams the staff Luz was gifted "YOU ARE THE EMPEROR BECAUSE I GAVE YOU THE POWER!!!! NOW GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES AND BEG!!!!" The Titan casts a spell on Roman to levitate him off the throne, and towards him.

The two now face to face, look at each other with rage-filled eyes. Roman laughs in the Titans' face. "Oh, how old you've gotten old friend. Your memory must not work as well as it did when we met. I have your magic. All you have is my daughters' puny staff." Roman breaks free of the spell and vanishes out of sight.

However, the Titan does not flinch. He only smiles in his place and folds the staff away. All he does is close his eyes and listen. He listens to the magic pumping in his former bile sac. "Romannnn." The Titan says in an antagonizing way. "Come out. I've missed our chats. It's been so long."

Roman reappears and traps Luz's helpless body in one of his spells. "How dare you come here and expect me to beg!" Roman throws the Titan into a pillar, and walks up to his fallen body, only to cast another spell to freeze him in his place "How dare you to threaten me in my own castle." The emperor raises Luz's possessed body and throws the Titan who inhabits it across the room once again. "You have no power over me anymore. You gave up that right when you gave me your power."

The Titan laughs and spits out blood. He struggles to stand up but stands up anyway. "That is where you are wrong." His eyes glow a bright red as he stares into his former humans' eyes "I gave you that power and I can take it away." The emperor yells in frustration and walks up to the broken Titan. He once again casts a spell to freeze him in his place. However, the Titan continues to smile "Now easy there Roman. You wouldn't want to hurt dear Luz." The emperor grips his staff with all of his strength and releases his human. "Good human." The Titan limps to the throne and sits on it. He closes his eyes again and takes a deep breath. "I've missed the beating sound of hearts and their bile sacs. When you're a witch, you physically feel the magic." Roman walks up the platform to where the throne is situated, silently. The Titan just stares down at the emperor and grabs the staff he put away prior. He points it at Roman and casts a lightning spell. Roman screams in pain, so loud to the point, it can be heard from the castle gates.

The spell dissipates and Roman is left on the floor, trying to regain a steady breath. "Enough with your childish games Belos. What do you want." Roman holds his abdomen in pain as he recovers.

The Titan smiles and crosses his legs on the throne, getting comfortable to the chair. "You know what I want." Belos slams the staff causing the emperor to levitate towards the throne to where their faces are a foot apart "I want my power back." He then throws Roman into the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Roman tries to push himself back up but the Titan gets up and steps on his back, pushing him back down. "Sever your bond, or I will do it for you." Roman tries to pull out his staff to create a powerful spell, but the Titan sees this and acts first. Next thing you know, the Titan raises Luz's staff that is a copy of the emperors, and slices Roman's hand clean off. "Try that again and things won't end well for you. Now, DO AS YOU'RE TOLD!!!!"

~~

Lilith, Eda, Steve, and King all arrive at the castle in a hurry. Lilith arrives at the gates ready to bust in and stop the Titan, and whatever his plans are. Before she pushes them open, she stops and looks around confused. "Where are all of the guards?"

Steve finally notices Lilith's observation and shrugs. Eda doesn't care, and just blasts the gates open with her staff "Who cares. Makes it easier for us." Eda turns to her sister and cellmate "Ok plan. Steve, you have to find greenie while Lilly and I go and find Luz. Good"

Steve and Lilith both look at Eda unsure of the situation. "Edalyn, Somethings up. I think we have to do a stealth mission." Lilith says while searching for any signs of life around the castle.

"We don't have time. The Titan is getting comfortable in the human's body. Who knows what damage he's already caused. It's now or never sis." Eda holds out her hand for her older sister to grab.

Lilith hesitantly grabs it, showing that she's on board. Steve grabs his staff, which has no palisman, and holds it up, showing the Clawthorne sisters he's ready for what's to come. "King should come with me. I'm sure Amity wouldn't mind a fluffy companion.'

Eda nods towards the ex-soldier and takes King out of her hair. They all nod and go into the castle.

Steve heads straight for the spare rooms. He knows if Amity is anywhere in this castle, it's there. He frantically searches each room, looking for a young green-haired witch. "Amity!!!!" Steve yells through the halls, hoping a door would open. As Steve is looking through every room, he hears banging on a single door. "Amity!?!?!?!" There was a muffled sound coming from one of the rooms. Steve kicked the door open, only to reveal two emperor guards, restraining the Blight child. Steve immediately casts a circle spell to send a precise fire spell at one of the guards, knocking him out. The conscience guard drops Amity and casts a fire spell back at Steve. Steve doges this attack and grabs the guard by his cape, and lifts him off the ground "What are you doing Brian? This is Aldor and Odalia's kid!!!" The guard stays silent. Steve shakes him, trying to get his former soldier companion to talk. Steve grows impatient and takes off Brian's mask, only to reveal a blank face and glowing red eyes. Steve takes notice of this and knocks the guard out. He drops the guard and goes over to Amity to see if she's alright. "Hey kiddo, are you ok?"

Amity stares at the two unconscious guards in shock. She looks up at Steve "I- I'm fine. Where's Luz? Is she ok?"

Steve holds out his hand and smiles at the Blight "That's why we're here. Let's go save our human!" The two join hands and walk out, towards the throne room to meet up with the Clawthorne sisters.

All the witches meet up at the throne room doors. They are all out of breath from knocking out, possessed guards with glowing eyes. Eda breaks the tension "Well, either emperor butt brain is doing this or the Titan is. Either way, it can't be good."

Suddenly, a flash of light beamed through the cracks of the doors, and a large bang erupted the castle. No damage was done, but the entire Boiling Isles felt the shake. Lilith and Eda took a deep breath and readied their staff for battle. Steve stood in front of Amity and King, ready to defend them to his last breath.

The doors swung open to show Luz glowing in red, absorbing and bonding with the Titans bile sac. The emperor was lifeless on the ground, with Luz's staff impaled through his chest. Luz turns around in a god-like complex, with pinkish-purple glowing eyes. The Titan still had control of the human, and it didn't look like he wanted to give up control anytime soon. "Ah, the gangs all here. Good just in time. As you can see, I have reunited with my magic." Luz walks back, over the emperor's body, and on the throne, finally in sync with the beat that engulfs the silence. The Titan casts a spell to fix the debris that was caused earlier. "I'm sorry for the mess. The 'Emperor' was.... unhelpful and I needed to give him the push he needed. Unfortunately, that led to his demise, but you know, details."

The four witches stare at the scene in front of them in terror. Eda is in full rage, while Lilith is filled with horror. But Steve and Amity are heartbroken for Luz. Amity steps in front of Steve and the Clawthorne sisters "Um Titan Belos? It seems that you already dealt with.... with the emperor. How is Luz's healing going? Will we have her back soon?" Steve grabs Amity and pulls her back behind him. Amity already knew what the Titans' answer was going to be, but she just wanted confirmation.

The Titan smiles "Steve. Step aside and let the Blight girl step closer. Don't kill the mood of this joyous occasion!"

Steve tightens his grip on the girl in a protective way "She asked you a question first."

The Titans smile did not falter "Hmm. Well to be completely honest, Luz doesn't need any healing. In fact, she never did. Your emperor, past tense, of course, locked away her mind and enchanted the lock. I can't unlock it and I never planned on doing so in the first place." The Titan raises his finger to form a spell and command eight guards to carry out the fallen emperor.

As the guards leave with the corpse, Eda steps forward angry "You coward! You used a child for your own gain. You're going to pay for that."

"Oh? And how is that." The Titan rises from the throne and walks to the group of witches. He doesn't look upset, only amused "As you can see, a moment ago I had the same issue with Roman. And look where that got him. What makes you think, you can beat me? Before you answer I should warn you that I have all the magic the past emperor possessed, so I'm more powerful than all of you combined. But please, show me how I will pay." Eda and Lilith both raise their staff but make no move. The Titan laughs "That's what I thought."

Lilith made the first move and cast a spell to restrain Luz's body. Eda then joined in and proceeded to cast the same spell. While the two sisters restrained the human, Steve walked up and held his staff-spear at the Titan "Let. Her. Go."

The Titan once again smiles "Listen, I will only give you one chance. Stop all this nonsense spell casting, and rejoice with me. For today, I am reborn into a new life."

Steve lets a tear fall from his face as he whispers "I'm sorry Luz. I know you would want me to do this." Steve raises his staff, ready to strike down the crazed Titan. He knew deep in his heart, Luz would want him to put an end to a crazy ruler, even if it meant her life. Eda and Lilith's eyes widen as they hold the spell but scream for Steve to stop. Amity looks away in fear.

The Titans eyes glow red, and as Steve throws his staff towards the human, she disappears. Steve stares in horror, for he knows he just made things worse. The Titan reappears next to Steve and whispers obnoxiously, to the extent where everyone could hear "Ya missed me." The Titan then casts a spell to manipulate the stone below Steve and encases the lower half of his body so he can't move. Then he casts Lilith and Eda into the wall, causing two different dents. The Titan now turns to Amity who holds King. His eyes go back to the pinkish-purple hue, and he smiles. "Sorry Blight. I really don't like hurting Luz's friends but they leave me no choice."

Amity puts King down and walks up to Luz's body, that's being controlled "Luz. I know you're in there. Can you hear me?"

The glow dims a bit, but it's noticeable by Amity. Before she can continue, Eda charges at the Titan with full force. She shoots multiple shocks of lightning towards him, but he just redirects them back with ease. Lilith joins in and the sisters charge from both sides. The Titans' eyes regain their strong glow and he grabs Amity close to him. "Now now. I don't feel like fighting so much and I don't think the Blight girl will be a long-lasting shield so why don't we all just calm down."

Eda and Lilith stand next to each other, trying to figure out their next move. Amity however knows what to do. She's seen this in Luz's mind. She just has to dig deep to reach Luz "Luz... I know you're in there. You have to fight him off. I know you can. Be like Azura, and never give up on yourself and your friends."

The glow once again dims, and the Titan pushes Amity away. He grabs his head in pain. "NO! I HAVE NOT COME THIS FAR TO BE PUSHED ASIDE AGAIN BY A HUMAN!" He casts a spell to restrain every witch in the room.

King maneuvers his way to the human, to hug her leg "Luz? It's King. You got my crown back for me, and then we had a sleepover. We were cuddle buddies!"

Eda takes this chance to help Luz overcome the Titan "Hey! Remember kid, I still owe you a trip to the human realm. Now you don't want to miss out on that do you?" Eda smiles.

Steve picks up on what they're doing and joins in "Hey Kiddo! Remember the prank on Lilith we pulled together! We both ran so fast, you didn't even realize your shoes fell off."

Luz's eyes flickered from red to pink, to purple. Then they finally changed to chestnut brown. "Guys? Wh- what have I done..." Luz looks at her hands, remembering everything. Including the actions of the Titan taking her adoptive father's life. She falls to her knees and holds herself and starts to ball. Then her eyes turn back to the red glow and the Titan takes back control "NO!! I AM IN CONTROL! I AM THE TITAN!"

The Titan stomps up to Steve and casts a spell to tighten the pressure of the stone encasing him. He starts to have trouble breathing but manages to speak a little more "Hey Kiddo. I'm sorry for everything. I want you to know that this isn't your fault. I love you, Luz."

The Titan steps back and holds his head once again "As Roman said. Love is a weakness." The Titan finishes the spell and released his grip. Steve falls to the ground, producing a cry from Lilith. Eda stares at Steve with pain only to be found in her eyes.

Luz's eyes flicker once again back to the chestnut brown. She stares in horror. "No... No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no." She runs up to Steve's fading body and kneels next to him and holds his head. Tears are flowing like a waterfall down the broken humans face "STEVE I- I DIDN'T- I CAN'T-"

Steve uses every ounce of life left in his body "It's not your fault kiddo. Remember, love is your greatest strength. I love you, and I will live throughout the love you show everyone." With this sentence, Steve takes his last breath and dies in the humans' arms.

"NOOOOOOOO" Luz cries out. She holds the guard close to her heart, while the three witches watch, still restrained in the Titans spell. However, the Titan uses Luz's vulnerability to take back control of her body. Her eyes turn red and she wipes away the tears falling down her cheek. "Foolish witches! By coming here, you've only put your own lives in jeopardy."

Amity does not give up "Luz you have to fight him." She pleads with the broken human "It's your body, your mind. You have the upper hand. Use your emotions to overcome his influence!!"

Luz's voice is heard, but the Titans' eyes still glow "I can't. I'm all alone. I've killed the only family I've ever had! I'm weak. I'm just a human."

"No! He did that! He took advantage of you and your vulnerability! And you're not alone! You've never been alone." Amity is now crying, trying to get her human back "You have Lilith, Eda, King, Willow, Gus. You will always have them and you will always have me! Luz, I love you! I always have! Ever since our first book club a month ago, you've made my life ten times better. You showed me your glyphs and I was so mesmerized by their beauty and yours! I was so upset when I won the bet because I wouldn't have the guts to ask you to Grom myself. You need to fight him off, not just for yourself but for everyone who loves you."

The Titan and Luz are in a full battle for control of Luz's body. The Titan screams "NO. I WILL NOT BE DENIED MY NEW LIFE!!!"

"You lived your life!" Luz's eyes flicker from every color. Luz manages to gain control and lifts her finger to cast a spell "I Luz, Empress of the Boiling Isles, enchant my mind to be an eternal prison. You will never gain control of anybody, ever again. The only life you will live is a prisoner in a human's mind! You will only be a forgotten voice, in the void of my mind." With that, Luz zaps herself with her newfound power. Luz's eyes fade so no glow radiates from them. The restraining spell is lifted, and all three witches are freed. Luz turns to them and falls to the ground and cries. She screams in pain, for the loss of her father and closest friend. She remembers every detail, every breath when the Titan was in control. Amity walks up to the fallen human and brings her in for a hug. Luz holds Amity as if her life depended on it. Luz cries into the Blights shoulder, struggling to breathe.

Lilith makes her way to Steve and cries over her fallen friend. King runs up to Eda and gives her a hug. Eda embraces the hug and stares at the broken scene. The Owl Lady walks up to the broken human embraced in the green-haired witch's arms and joins in on the hug. Lilith, with tears running down her face, gets up and follows her sister's actions. "Luz. You're not alone. We're your family. Never forget that." Eda says with tears escaping from her eyes.

*****

Dark chapter, I know. Hope you liked it though!!!!! ;)