Crimson red illuminated the setting around the Titan as he slowly regained his consciousness. He growled at the fact that he was temporarily incapacitated by a couple of common witches. He struggles for a bit, realizing that he was trapped in a random room, tied up. Because he doesn't have his full power, he is unable to cast a spell to set himself free, due to the fact that his hands are tied and he can't draw a full spell circle. As seconds pass by, he becomes more awake and aggravated as he struggles to break free. The Titan, out of frustration, yells as loud as he can, making the castle shake. Then the door swings open and two guards rush to the Titan's side, casting two spells, freeing him from the chains that held him captive.
He stands up immediately and grabs one of the guards by the collar and screams "Tell all the guards to be on the lookout for Aldor Blight! I want him petrified along with the Clawthorne sisters and the guards helping him! I will not lose the human to a bunch of puny witches who have forgotten their places!" He throws the shaking guard onto the floor and walks out of the room with anger seeping from his ears.
The two guards run in the opposite direction to let the whole coven know to arrest Aldor and the guards he's with on sight.
The Titan walks down the halls, leaving every guard that lays their eyes on him in fear. His eyes grow brighter by the second as he storms into the throne room "KIKIMORA!" The petite creature rushes to the Titan's aid and bows "We're leaving now!" He grabs her by her collar and drags her along.
She tries to keep up with his pace, but her small legs fail her and she constantly trips and ends up being dragged along the fuming Titan. "My liege, what's with the sudden urgency? We have yet to get the citizens to the Conformatorium."
He stops and picks her up so they are at eye level. He growls and brings her close "I don't care about all of that! I want them all to pay for their treason! I want the human to suffer and watch all those who are close to her die! She has taken my power and my throne and I want it all back! But first, she needs to pay the price!" His voice echos through the whole castle, sending shivers down all and any who hear his voice. "I'm done with having fun. This needs to end NOW!"
~~
Luz opens her eyes that have the same glow as the Titans. She sits up, on the carriage floor and seems to be out of breath. The human takes a moment and tries to calm her breathing, while her eyes remain a crimson red.
Boscha looks at Amity who seems to have no expression at the moment. Then the tree-eyed witch turns to the human and studies her glowing eyes "Hey Luz. How ya been?"
Luz smiles at the witch's question and turns her gaze to the three eyes fixated on her "Boscha. Could be better." The pink-haired witch won't admit it, but she's relieved the human is awake now. All she does is smile and nod at Luz's response.
Luz laughs and Willow and Gus both jump onto the human and engulf her into a bear hug. "Luz! It's so good to see you awake!" Willow mumbles while she squeezes Luz's neck. Gus wraps his arms around her waist and yells out "Oh my Titan, I'm so happy you're awake! The Titan is literally going to kill us all!"
Luz just smiles and relaxes in her two friends' embrace "Not on my watch!" They both pull away and smile towards their friend, ignoring her obvious change in eye color. Luz then turns to the green-haired witch who seems to be a little distant, not breaking her eye contact. Luz struggles to get up but manages. She now faces Amity who stands up, meeting the human at eye level. "Amity?"
Amity just stares at the red eyes before her "Is this real? Or is this another trick from the Titan?"
Luz smiles and tilts her head, getting lost for a moment in her golden eyes "This is real. No more prisons. We're really standing here." Amity takes a step closer to Luz, still hesitant about the whole situation. Then as they both stare at each other, Amity slaps Luz in the face, surprising everyone in the back of the carriage. "Ow." Luz cups her own cheek as a red mark slowly appears.
"That's for knowing you were in a prison and not leaving." The Blight grabs her hand because it stung after making contact with Luz's face. Then as if the slap didn't make her feel better, she uses her foot to stomp on Luz's foot, making the human groan in pain "And that's for not calling me the day after our date!"
Boscha whispers to the plant witch so that neither of the girls standing could hear "Remind me never to get on Amity's bad side." Willow just nods and watches to see what's going to happen next.
Instead of snapping, Luz recovers from the pain on her face and foot, and just agrees "I'm sorry." Luz's head falls and hangs low as she avoids further eye contact, ashamed for giving into a fantasy land. "I shouldn't have given in so easily. I know that I have all of you here for me and that I was selfish to want to live in a fake reality."
But instead of staying mad, Amity wraps her arms around Luz. She hugs her tightly, never wanting to let go. She inhales deeply taking in Luz's scent. "Sorry for slapping you. And stomping on your foot. I just need you to get it through your thick skull that we all care about you too much."
Luz laughs through the stinging feeling and reciprocates the hug. The two hug each other closely when a certain witch clears her throat and interrupts the moment "As much as I ship this and would love to roast the both of you saying 'get a room'." Boscha motions to Amity and Luz's moment "We're about two minutes away from arriving and I would love to hear a plan before we inevitably meet our demise."
The two girls in love pull away and join hands. Luz rubs the back of her neck and nervously laughs "Oh? So what happened while I was under the curse? And where are we going?"
All the witches gave each other worried glances, scared to tell Luz that the Titan basically took over the Boiling Isles and sentenced Lilith and Eda to be petrified, and probably them as well because they attacked the Titan.
Gus stands up and just starts rambling about the past couple of hours that they all just went through. It was hard for Luz to keep up but she ended up understanding the whole situation at hand. He even uses some of his illusions as props for dramatic purposes. As the young illusion witch finishes, he sits down and takes a deep breath while grasping the whole situation he has gotten himself into.
"Hm. Yeah seems like we've got a bit of a situation here." Luz lets go of the Blight's hand and runs both her hands through her hair, trying to think. "Ok, so the Titan is on his way to basically petrify all of us and probably kill me to regain his power. He probably expects me to be awake at this point and expects all of you to put up a fight. Which will fail due to the entire coven bending to his will."
Willow stares into space "Well... We're dead."
"Not exactly." Luz perks up as she has a crazy idea. The four witches look at the human with confusion laced in their eyes "I say we totally throw him a curveball. Do you guys trust me?" They all nod and give Luz their full attention, for she comes up with a totally crazy idea that will probably blow up in their faces. "Ok first up, you can't tell your dad or siblings about the plan. Their reactions will only sell it." Luz tells her four friends her crazy plan. They all listen with their undivided attention.
While the five plan in the back, the three Blight's steer the carriage as the Conformatorium gates come into view. Edric and Emira both stiffen at the sight of the gates and look towards their father who has a stern look. The Blight father grips the reins tightly and takes a deep breath, knowing there's a good chance that he might not walk back out. "Alright children, put on your masks. We can't risk any chances. We may have already been made if the Titan has woken up."
Edric and Emira both join hands and give a reassuring squeeze. The twins might be trouble makers, but deep down they're just teenagers trying to find their place in this world. And today might be their last. Edric bangs on the back of the carriage, signaling for the younger witches that they have arrived and to put their masks back on.
The carriage nears the guard's post, coming to a stop so that Aldor could hopefully pass through. A guard approaches the carriage with his spear in hand. "Id and reason for your visit."
Aldor fishes for his emperor's coven Id and hands it to the guard. "I'm transporting the Emperess. Direct orders from the Titan."
The guard looks at the Id very closely, then back up at the brown-haired Blight. "And we're going to have to take a look in the back of the carriage."
"Of course. Guards, why don't you show him around the back." Aldor nudges his two kids to get up.
Ed and Em nod and walk to the back of the carriage. Emira knocks obnoxiously three times before opening the doors while Edric fidgets with his glove. With the doors swinging open, the four witches in the back remain silent with their masks on, playing their parts. Luz seemed to still be in sleeping and the guard just inspects that everything is in order.
The guard then salutes to the twins before turning back around to speak to Aldor. "Seems like everything checks out. Wait here for a moment while I inform the castle about your arrival."
"That won't be necessary." Aldor snaps at the guard, seeming a little too anxious. "The Titan himself will be arriving shortly, so there's no point."
The guard stares at the Blight before casting a spell circle, summoning a clipboard "Hm." The anticipation is killing Aldor while the guard looks at the papers "Seems like you're right. It is still protocol to inform the castle about any new inmates. That especially includes the arrival of the Emperess."
Aldor clears his throat to sound more confident and regain his voice "Well I don't see why you would do that considering the Titan is already on his way here. He won't even receive the message. Why waste your time and ours?" The Blight is now sitting up straight, trying to come off as confident and use his higher ranking as leverage.
The guard keeps glancing at the clipboard and back at the Blight, skeptically. "I guess you have a point. Sorry to hold you up, Mr. Blight." The guard casts another spell circle, making the clipboard disappear.
Edric and Emira take their places next to their father, while he internally sighs in relief. "It's quite alright. I'll let the Titan know personally of your well-adapting attitude. He will be very pleased." Aldor whips the reigns and the carriage moves across the bridge, and into the Conformatorium. With a safe amount of distance, Aldor sighs and speaks to his two children "That was a close one. Now let's go find your mother."
The guard watches as the carriage moves across the bridge. He waits a couple of minutes before he gives in to his gut feeling and goes back to his post, and dials the castle on his communicator. It rings a couple of times before a voice of another guard answers. "This is Kyle, soldier 626, stationed at the Conformatorium gates. I would like to inform the castle that Aldor Blight has just arrived with the Emperess, and is heading in through the gates as we speak."
"Please hold." Kyle the guard waits for a moment when the guard on the other line comes back sounding a bit frantic "Um did you say, Aldor Blight?"
"Yes, that is correct. Aldor Blight has just arrived with Emperess Luz."
"Kyle, the Titan just announced his bounty. He and the guards with him are all wanted alive for treason against the Isles and for the kidnapping of Emperess Luz!"
The guard grips his spear tightly "Don't worry. Well put the whole place on lockdown and I'll alert every guard on duty." He hangs up the phone and looks out towards the gate to see the carriage is no longer there. He unlocks a box and slams his fist down on the alarm button and flips the announcements on "Attention all guards on duty. Aldor Blight and his guards are now enemies of the Boiling Isles. The Titan wants all of them alive and the safety of the Emperess ensured. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill." He slams a lever down, and closes all of the gates in and out of the prison, making sure that they are trapped inside.
The alarms sound the moment the carriage is parked in the loading section of the prison. Red lights are flashing, a deafening siren echoing against the walls. Now that the gang is physically in the building, they have very little time. Aldor rushes to the back of the carriage with the twins and throws the doors open. He quickly realizes Luz is still asleep, but his youngest child has returned. "Amity! Oh, thank the Titan you're ok!"
Amity rushes out of the carriage and jumps into her father's arms. "I'm okay dad, but we have to get going! Sounds like we're unwelcome here." They bask in the hug for a little bit then separate. Amity then turns and goes to her friends waiting for further instructions.
While the four younger witches carefully levitate Luz out, Edric turns to his father concerned "What now? Our plan was for Luz to wake up?" Emira turns to her other half and shrugs in worry. Her brother was right, was all that for nothing?
"I-" Aldor looks at Luz's still body. He scratches his head, trying to come up with a plan b. He starts to pace as his fingers play with strands of his messy hair, showing how untidy and unprepared the high-ranking witch was "Plan B. We need to free the Clawthorne sisters. They are the only two witches that stand a chance with us while the human is cursed."
Emira nods and takes mental notes of her father's plan "Wait." Aldor stops his pacing and looks at his eldest daughter "What about mom? Do we drag her into this as well?"
Aldor hadn't even thought about Odalia and what his actions would mean for his wife. In fact, now that he's thinking about it, because of this he has jeopardized his entire family. With Luz still cursed and the Clawthrone sisters imprisoned, they don't stand a fighting chance against the Titan. With the flashing lights and the announcements on repeat, the Blight can't think straight. He looks at his children and just sees fear in their eyes as he panics.
Just as Aldor begins to break down, about twelve guards rush in and surround the carriage. Their spears all point to Aldor and the disguised teens. Amity stands over Luz's body protectively while the rest all turn their backs to the Emperess and get in a fighting stance.
"Halt! In the name of Emperess Luz and the Titan, we order you to surrender!"
They do not falter though, holding their ground, readying their spell casting. The Blight father stands protectively in front of the children, assessing the situation he has gotten himself into. Just a few hours ago he was a well-respected member of the emperor's coven, and now he is a wanted fugitive. "Whatever happens children, I am extremely proud of you all."
But before anyone could finish their spell circle, all of the opposing guards fly up into the air, and slam back into the ground, knocking all of them out instantly. Behind them were three grown witches walking towards the carriage. Odalia, Eda, and Lilith all stood with smug looks plastered across their faces. Edric and Emira throw their masks off and run to hug Odalia for saving them, leaving Aldor feeling more nervous than before.
Odalia welcomes her twins with arms open wide and holds them tightly. While she is lost in the moment she suddenly wraps her head around everything "Wait! What are you two doing here!" She shoots her head up towards her husband "What are they doing here! And how did you manage to become the most wanted witch in only two hours!" The witch is staring daggers at the brown-haired witch as his sweat falls from his forehead.
"Uh well, you see. My dear, I was going to get the Emperess." He gestures to Luz and Odalia catches sight of her third-youngest child as she removes her mask.
Aldor tries to continue but Odalia cuts him off, wide-eyed "Amity!?" She looks at her husband and her twins and scolds them all "Out of every single witch on the Boiling Isles, you brought the human's one definite weakness? You brought Amity!"
Aldor was now stumped. But instead of apologizing, he acts like a child and starts to point out Odalia's rash behavior "Well you released the Clawthorne's! That makes you a criminal and at fault here as well!"
"But I didn't bring our children!" The witch is gritting her teeth, showing her fangs, scaring Willow, Boscha, and Gus.
While Odalia and Aldor fight, Eda swoops through and brings them back to reality for a moment "While I love a good marriage fight. Trust me I really do. I think we should focus on the Titan who will be arriving soon to petrify us all."
"We're not finished here." Odalia whips her head away from her husband and turns towards the two sister's "Ok what's the plan?"
Lilith steps forward "Well the plan was to wake Luz up, but that doesn't seem to have worked. I say we get out while we still can. We could hide and keep a low profile. Maybe even go to the human realm at this point."
Eda furrows her eyebrows and punches her sister in the shoulder, producing a yelp "You just want to jump ship! Wow Lilly you're just a coward aren't ya!"
"I am not a coward!" Lilith punches her sister in the shoulder in response to her insult "I'm just trying to keep us all alive! We don't stand a chance!"
"So what, we just leave the Boiling Isles to that crazy bozo!" Eda throws her hands up in surrender position with her usual sarcastic tone laced in her voice "Oh the big bad Titan possessed my dead ex-boyfriend, guess we gotta hop realms then!"
"DON'T YOU DARE DISRESPECT STEVE!" Lilith says with all her might, turning red from the rage her sister just caused.
Odalia takes this opportunity to walk over to Aldor and start yelling at him. Now all the adults are yelling at each other and probably drawing attention with their childish behavior.
Amity just fiddles with Luz's glove, producing a ghost of a smile on the human's face, as she tries to stay in her 'character'. The witch smiles at her failed attempts and whispers in the human's ear, under all this chaos "Are you sure this is going to work?"
Amity tries her best to stand close to Luz, blocking her mouth from moving so no one could really see that she's actually awake "Trust me. I won't let the Titan hurt anyone ever again." Luz opens one eye that still glows a crimson red and winks at the witch standing above her. Amity smiles and pecks the girl on the lips before she quickly closes her eyes again, not wanting to blow her cover.
The bickering continues when a loud explosion is heard, knocking down the large doors to the loading docks. Smoke fills the room, blurring the vision of all the witches that stood in it. The only thing anyone could see was the approaching red glowing eyes.
As the smoke cleared, the gang realized that they were completely surrounded by armed emperor guards and the Titan himself. His usual smile was absent from his face, instead, rage and annoyance took their place. He was breathing heavily as if he just finished running a race. They all expected a smart remark like how easy it was to catch them, but it never came.
He snapped his fingers and instantly all the guards cast one big spell, creating binds to restrict the gang and capture them once and for all. "Bring the Emperess to me! And petrify the rest! I'm done with all of these distractions!"
Luz uses all of her strength not to just get up and charge at the Titan. If she wanted her plan to work, she needed her friends to be captured and for her to be alone with the Titan to finally put an end to him.
The guards did as they were told and rounded up the Blight family along with the Clawthorne sisters. They also took Boscha, Willow, and Gus along to be permanently dealt with. All their disguises were quickly discarded and they were left in a guard's uniform with no cape or mask. They were all escorted to the main stage where one by one they will be petrified and put on display in the Conformatorium hall to haunt the incoming inmates to come.
The Titan remained angry, with his eyes keeping their red hue. Kikimora stands next to him, terrified to speak at all. Luz was being levitated by a couple of the guards directly in front of the Titan so he could keep a close eye on the human. All the prisoners were chained like wild animals, and thrown to the ground where they now all rest on their knees, awaiting their horrible fate.
The Titan finally sighs, and smiles, sending shivers down all of the guard's spines as they see his sharp fangs showing. Kikimora avoids looking at the Titan and just looks at Luz sympathetically, upset to see the human cursed while her former co-worker is not only dead but now being possessed. "Now, that wasn't so hard was it?" His eyes land on each witch, making direct eye contact with all of them only for a moment. However, his eyes linger on a certain witch who seems to be completely fine with everything that is unraveling. He steps in front of Amity and bends down so they are both at eye level "You seem awfully quiet Miss. Blight. Snail for your thoughts?"
Amity looks at the Titan with a smug look and spits on his face. Eda snorts and bursts out laughing while every single witch looks completely shocked, including the guards. Even Edric and Emira stare at their little sister with disbelief, low key very proud. "Why don't you go back to being a rotting corpse."
The Titan slowly wipes the spit off of his face, standing straight back up and turning around to face the guards. "Congratulations Miss. Blight, you will start off this celebration. Guards!" He motions towards two guards who hesitantly make their way to the youngest Blight. Odalia and Aldor both scream, begging for the Titan to show mercy, but the Titan was done. He wanted all those who opposed him out of the picture for good.
The two guards escorted Amity to the platform and chained her down so she couldn't move. The Titan walked over to her and laughed "Any last words?"
Amity just smiles "I should be asking you the same thing."
The Titan raises an eyebrow, confused as to why the witch didn't seem scared that these were her last moments breathing. Suddenly Amity disappeared, along with all of the prisoners and guards, leaving a very confused Titan whose eyes beamed a bright red. He turns around to see a very angry human staring at him with the same eyes. But this time, Luz had a burning sensation in the pit of her stomach, one could only identify as intense hatred.
The Titan stands in fear, stumbling on his words and trying to think "Wait! You- I cursed you! You shouldn't be here!" His whole character was falling apart as Luz took long and slow steps towards the creature taking control of Steve's fallen body. He quickly goes to create a spell circle but is interrupted by Luz holding up her pointer finger and staying silent, taunting the Titan "This- This isn't possible! I made sure to give you everything you ever wanted! I knew your every want and desire!" He picks up a spear that was left behind and attempts to charge at Luz, who casts a spell to turn the spear into a snake. The Titan throws the snake and takes a step back, falling onto his back, trying to crawl back and away from Luz "You can't take this away from me! All of this is my magic, my property!"
Luz finally had enough and casts another spell, shutting the Titan up and freezing him in place "Do you ever shut up!" Luz takes a knee, looking down upon the mighty Titan with pity "You almost won. But you forgot a couple of things." The Titan's eyes glow a brighter red, knowing Luz won't show any mercy and he can't get his way out of this "You gave me your magic, and you taught me how to use it. You also gave me the courage to go on a date and fall in love. You got so lost in your own ego, that you didn't take into account that I'm a lot stronger than I look." Luz smiles while her eyes dim but keep their crimson red. She throws the Titan onto the platform and summons the petrification machine.
The Titan tries to plead, tries to beg, but Luz didn't allow another word to fall out of his mouth. She walks up to the Titan one last time and whispers into his ear "This is for Steve." She punches him in the face, causing a whimper from the evil Titan. "Hope you enjoy being a coat rack for the rest of eternity." Luz steps off the platform and activates the machine, finally turning the Titan trapped in Steve's body into stone, silencing him once and for all.
With Steve now stone, Luz falls to her knees and lets her tears trickle down her cheek, for she finally defeated the Titan. Once again, the human is alone on the platform, crying tears of joy and sorrow, a weight lifted from her chest. She stares at the statue and is reminded of only the good times. The times with Steve as himself.
~~
***Flashback***
"I can't believe I convinced you to let me leave the castle! Kind of impressed with myself." Luz beams with excitement as she skips in the woods with her protector by her side.
Steve is on edge, going over every single thing that could go possibly wrong "I can't believe I'm doing this. Belos is going to petrify me so fast!"
Luz rolls her eyes "Oh hush! You're not going to get petrified! At least not on my watch! Anyway, where to first?"
"I've got a special place in mind."
The two walk for a while towards Bonesburrow. This was Luz's first time sneaking out of the castle with Steve. So the witch wanted to make her first journey to the town memorable. He took his human to the library for her first visit. Luz entered the building excited at first, then quickly frowned at the sight of all the books.
"Steve." Luz looked all around, then back at her best friend "Why would you bring me here? We have one of these at the castle."
Steve just laughs and grabs the human by the arm, and drags her further into the library "Yes there is one in the castle, but the one we have doesn't have this." Steve went past the fiction section and went into the mysteries section. His eyes were beaming with anticipation, hoping he would make Luz happy.
As Luz sluggishly read the aisle sign, her eyes shined, and her lips parted to show all of her teeth in a wide smile "Mysteries of other realm's! Amphibia, Etheria, and- The HUMAN REALM!" Luz's mouth was wide open, speechless.
Steve was still a little nervous, so he started to ramble a bit "Now I know it's not a carnival or anything, but I know how our library is only about the history of the Boiling Isles and magic strategies, but I just thought you would like to know more about your realm and where you came from. And if you get bored, there are countless more books on other things. AND if you ever need an escape from your studies with Kiki, you could just come here." Steve looks at his human "You like it?"
"Do I like it?" Luz looks at her protector and back at the rows and rows of books before her on other realms. "Steve, I love it! Thank you thank you thank you!" Luz jumps into Steve's arms and hugs his neck tightly. "I'm going to read every single book in this building!"
Steve laughs and hugs his human back "Hey and when you're older and you enter your rebellious phase, maybe you could read some fiction!"
Luz laughs into the crook of his neck and releases her grip "Yeah right! That will be the day the Titian himself comes and talks to me!"
The two laugh and start to pick out books from the human section of the library. That day Luz learned so many new things that she never even dreamed of. Steve learned a great deal as well, learning so many new details on why humans can't do magic and how they even function in their day-to-day lives. They just sat together, laughing in the moment, learning. It was the first time Luz looked at Steve like an older brother and knew they were going to be an unstoppable team in the foreseeable future.