King was floating in the air as he opened his eyes.
"But-but you said. You said you'd let me out! I hate it here!" The Collector whined as he talked to Belos through the mirror.
"Just a little longer. We have to wait 'till after the Draining Spell," Belos told him
King floated towards the voices and saw the Collector as he floated around an orb with stars.
"You better not be fibbing. You pinky swore me," the Collector said assertively.
"Patience, Collector, you can trust me," Belos said
King scoffed at him but the Collector heard him. "Who's there?!"
"Weh?!" King suddenly woke up in Willow's lap breathing heavily.
"It's okay, King. It's okay," Willow said reassuring him.
King looked over and saw Luz looking worried as Amity tried to comfort her. Gus was inspecting his mirror as Skara paced around the ship with worry.
All of the Palismen besides Willow's were huddled together in a pile as they were shaking.
At the helm of the ship, Hunter was pulling levers as he tried to adjust their speed.
"I know how to fly a ship," Alador said with irritation
"Then fly faster! We're barely halfway there. Cruz could be in trouble!" Skara said frantically
"Maybe if I took the wheel…" Hunter began as Alador looked at him with suspicion.
"Very eager to return to Belos, eh, Golden Guard?"
"At least I've never built him an army!"
"Watch your tone with me, young man. Cruz also helped me make those Abomatons," Alador said angrily as he let go of the steering wheel.
As he let go of it, the ship began to tilt causing Gus to fall out of his seat.
"Hey, here's a bright idea: don't distract the pilot!" Gus said with annoyance
"He started it!" Hunter argued as he, Gus, Alador, and Skara all began to argue.
King and Willow watched them all sadly from the back of the ship.
"I can't believe he's going to face Belos alone," King said. "And I'm powerless to help him." King looked over to the arguing witches and then looked over to Luz as she looked ahead towards the skull. "We can't even manage to help each other."
Willow lifted up Clover before nodding to her. Clover chirped before flying off towards the other Palismen.
The Palismen all pushed a crate full of food over towards the witches as Ghost meowed to get their attention. Gus' stomach growled when he noticed the food.
"Look, we're all exhausted and terrified. Let's focus our energy on helping Cruz instead of fighting each other," Amity said as Luz smiled at her and they all nodded.
As they all took snacks from the crate, Gus sat down next to Hunter as they fist-bumped as an apology. Alador then placed a hand on Hunter's shoulder as he gestured towards the steering wheel, letting him steer.
As Amity and Luz sat down, Amity was rubbing her hands together. Her hand was suddenly enveloped in abomination goo in the shape of mittens.
"Aww. This is just like when I was a kid," Amity said before realizing something. "Wait. Is this why you call me Mittens?" Alador smiled at her as continued to eat his bread. Luz gushed at Amity's interaction with her dad.
"That was amazing!" King said as Clover flew back Willow's hand.
"There's always a way to help. You just have to look for the right opportunity," Willow said
"Thank, Willow. I'll…" King yawned. "…remember that." King laid back down before falling asleep.
At the Titan head, a multitude of Coven witches all entered into a large arena being divided into the Coven colors. Belos walked out onto a platform as all of the witches turned to look up.
Belos smiled as a large projection of himself rose up and the crowd began to cheer.
"Children of the Isles! For too long, our world has been home to an insidious pox. A corruption that defiles the Titan's blessings. But today, that changes," Belos said as he reached up towards the sun as the moon rose up to it.
"United with the Titan, and the power of the eclipse, we shall wipe out wild magic forever. Paradise awaits!" Belos' projection fades as the crowd cheered. Up at the stand, six of the Coven Heads walked out as they began to take their places.
Underneath the stage, Raine watched the other Coven Heads walk up to the platform as Lilith, Eda, and Hooty all took a deep breath as the invisibility glyph wore off. Lilith looked down and saw Katya and Derwin rise their mask up as they gave her a thumbs up.
"Whoo!" Eda stretched as she detached her arm before putting back in its place. "That last stretch was a long one."
"Hey, pay attention. The other Coven Heads think they're gonna be royalty after today. And they'll do anything to make that happen," Raine said with worry. "The cloaking stone won't cover your voice, so make sure not to speak. Also—"
"The curse will do its thing," Eda said as she put her hand on Raine's shoulder. "I got this, Rainstorm. Don't worry."
Raine pulled away from Eda as they closed their eyes. "Don't. Don't tell me… not to worry." Raine grabbed onto Eda's arm sadly as they rubbed Bard Coven Sigil.
Lilith ran up to Eda as she hugged her with tears in her eyes. "Edalyn, please be careful! If you need help, just, uh, flap your arms."
"Or scream real loud!" Hooty suggested
"Or… or…"
As tears began to well up in Lilith's eyes, Eda delicately held onto her face. "Don't worry, Lily. With this spell declared… I promise I'll be back."
"That's not a spell. Doesn't even rhyme," Lilith said as the two placed their foreheads together. Hooty rose up with tears in his eyes as Eda kissed his forehead for reassurance.
As she activated the concealment stone, Eda began to walk up the stairs as she turned to look at Lilith, Hooty and Raine.
Eda remembered her old friends. Lilith, Raine, Principal Bump, Alador, Darius, and Perry Porter before they all faded leaving only Lilith and Raine standing at her side. Eda winked at them before walking up the stairs and joined the other Coven Heads.
As she stood between Darius and Eberwolf, Belos turned to look at them. "Oh! I forgot to mention, I decided to switch up the arrangement," Belos said as Darius and Eda looked shocked.
Eberwolf was shoved to the side by Adrian's tail. Adrian stood next to Eda as he looked disheveled.
"Don't say a word about my appearance. I will not be taking notes at this time," Adrian said
Terra walked over to the spot next to Eda before shoving Darius away. "Hello, sprout!" Terra said with a devious smile as Eda looked at her nervously.
Belos raised his arm into the air as he drew a large glyph-like circuit around the Coven Heads and around himself. He then raised his staff into the air before activating it.
"Goodbye, Boiling Isles," Belos said in a low voice as he slammed his staff onto the ground as the sun and moon came together. The glyph circuit sends light to the Coven Heads in a pillar of light as all of the Coven Sigils begin to glow.
Belos then turned himself into goo as he sunk into the ground before reappearing in the center of the Titan's head.
"We did it!" The Collector cheered as he appeared next to Belos. "It's done, it's done! Now you can set me free and we can play new games!"
"I'm afraid that impossible," Belos said as he began to walk away as the Collector looked shocked.
"Uh, excuse-a-what now?" The Collector questioned as Belos set his mirror down. "B-but you said you'd use the Titan blood to help free me."
"And I'm sorry, but I just realized I only have enough Titan's Blood to open the portal." Belos took off his cloak as he set it down before tying his hair up into a ponytail similar to how he looked back in the Deadwardian era along with the same clothes.
Belos then took out the portal key before cracking the eye and draining the last bit of Titan blood into his device as it powered up the portal.
"But you said we were friends!" The Collector said angrily. "W-we pinky swore! You lied! Liar! Liar! Liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar! Liar!"
Belos cut him off as he threw a blanket over the Collector's mirror causing him to disappear.
Kikimora then walked in on her Abomatron as she lowered the orb holding Cruz in it.
"Emperor, congratulations on this momentous day," Kikimora said as her Abomatron kneeled in front of him. "I come bearing a gift." Kikimora presented the orb to Belos. "You had been looking for the Golden Guard… and here he is! Perhaps this act is worthy of me returning to my old post. Or… if you're looking for a new right hand..."
"Have you as my right hand?" Belos questioned cynically as he walked up to her. "I'd sooner cut off my whole arm."
"But, uh, I just want to help," Kikimora pleaded.
"You want to help?" Belos asked as he grabbed the Collector's mirror before levitating Kikimora with his staff before pushing her out of the room. "Go find a hole to wither away in."
Kikimora looked shocked as he left her before walking to the edge of a bridge.
"And you," Belos said as he uncovered the mirror as the Collector appeared
"I gave you the Draining Spell. I taught you magic stronger than anybody's!" The Collector said furiously.
"And that's why I won't release you," Belos said as the Collector looked shocked. "Can't have you giving that to anyone else. Goodbye." Belos let go of the mirror as it began to fall down and the Collector with it.
"You're a liar, liar, pants on fire!" The Collector screamed as his voice began to fade.
Belos walked back into the room with the portal as he looked at the orb. "Of course she'd mess up such a simple task." Belos dispelled the orb as Cruz sat on the ground looking up at him.
"I didn't expect this," Belos said as he gestured to Cruz. "I was expecting your sister. Did you think I would spare you if you looked human?"
"Believe it or not, this is what I looked like when I first got here," Cruz said as he stood up.
"A shame. It seems this world has corrupted another innocent soul," Belos said. "You know, I half expect you to attack me."
"My sister would've attacked you with no hesitation. But I'm different."
"Are you saying you're willing to see things my way?"
"Oh, not at all. I'm going to kill you, don't think I won't. I'm just not going to recklessly attack you."
Belos chuckled as he looked back towards the portal. "You and your sister are quite confident. However, you're decades away from being able to catch up to me."
When he looked back to Cruz, he saw that he was gone. Suddenly, Cruz appeared next to him as he reeled his fist back with his gauntlet. As Cruz made impact, the large explosive hit sent Belos crashing into the wall.
"Would you look at that? I caught up to you," Cruz said as he summoned his staff.
Belos stood up from the ground as he scowled at Cruz. "I gave you far too little credit. You're more skilled than I thought."
Cruz smirked at him as Belos began to stand up. "You know, you and I are quite similar," Belos said as dusted himself off.
"How do you figure?"
"We both have a sibling who we want nothing more than to protect. You are willing to do anything to save your sister and I was willing to do anything to save my brother. Alas, I failed to do that. And besides that, we are both quite astute when it comes to creating things. Your staff for instance, and my own Coven system."
"I'll admit that we're both similar in that sense," Cruz said as he held up his staff in front of him. "The main difference is that I'm willing to accept this world for the beauty that it holds. And you… well you could never accept it."
"You wanted to change it. You wanted to get rid of it. I'm guessing that when your brother didn't agree with your views you didn't like that. You probably fought with him and killed him."
"I was trying to save his soul," Belos said angrily as Cruz chuckled.
"You couldn't have saved him because there was nothing to save him from. No. You just wanted to force your ideals onto him even after he'd seen that they were wrong."
Belos let out a long sigh. "It looks like these witches have completely warped your mind. I can only hope that your sister's mind hasn't been corrupted as well."
Cruz's eyes began to glow with a low hue. "You won't be going near her," Cruz snarled at him as he began to spin his staff. As Cruz slammed his staff onto the ground, lightning shot out towards Belos as he raised his staff to block it.
Belos looked over to his hand as he saw the static before smiling. "I'm impressed. I had no idea you had already started to combine glyphs. You and your sister seem to have a strange intuition with these. It took me years to figure that out. Almost like the Titan himself didn't want me to have that knowledge."
"Of course he didn't want you to have them. You've done nothing but abuse them since you found them. You're such a hypocrite, Belos. You say that you'll end all of the witches but you've been using magic to keep a firm rule over them," Cruz said as a large patch of green formed on Belos' face.
Cruz smirked at him. "Look at you. You're barely even human anymore. You've been eating Palismen for so long that you're turning into goop. By comparison, I'm more human than you are!"
"Do you truly believe that? I know what you look like without that stone. You have lost your way and have given up your humanity. Putting you out of your misery would be for the best for both you and your sister," Belos said as he held up his staff. "Hopefully at least she can be saved."
Cruz's eyes widened slightly as red lightning began to spark from Belos' staff. Cruz began to spin his staff as lightning began to from his own. As Belos shot off the red lightning, Cruz fired his own lightning that matched Belos' spell.
The two spell clashed as they began to cancel each other out before finally fizzling out. Belos' eyes widened in shock as his spell was countered.
"But… how? You should not be able to stop that spell! How did you do it?!"
"That's where the two of us are different, Belos. Once you perfected the petrification spell, you stopped researching it. But me, I kept experimenting with it. I found new ways to use it. New spell that branched off from it. And I even found a way to counter it. You can petrify living things, but you can't petrify energy."
Cruz spun his staff as a glyph combo began to circle his wrists. "That's your fatal flaw, Belos. You're too cocky. That made you complacent." Cruz slammed his staff down as a golden ring appeared above Belos.
Belos felt a weight push him down as he struggled to try and stand. He looked up to Cruz as he grit his teeth. "What is this?! What kind of spell is this?!"
"It's gravity," Cruz said as he looked down at Belos. "Can you feel it, Philip? That is the weight of your sins. All of the people you've murdered are now ready to drag you down for all that you've done."
Belos looked up at Cruz with hatred as his body began to bubble up.
"Oh, that's not good," Cruz said as Belos' body began to change into the same monster from inside of his mind.
Belos looked over at Cruz as his spell began to dissipate. "I have no sins!" Belos roared as he began to stand up.
"You've murdered countless people, including your brother! How is that not a sin, you fool!" Cruz yelled back as he spun his staff
"You can never understand what I had to do to save humanity! You're nothing more than a corrupted fool!"
"Look at yourself! You look like a pile of sludge!" Belos lunged at Cruz as he dashed up into the air before shooting lighting down at him.
As Belos reeled back, he swung his arms around almost hitting the portal as its power source began to flicker.
"Watch the door, you roach!" Cruz dashed behind Belos before slamming his staff onto the ground. A stone pillar shot out as it pushed Belos through the door and onto the bridge.
Belos looked back towards Cruz as he walked out onto the bridge. He could feel a chill run down his spine as he looked into Cruz's glowing eyes.
"Humans don't belong here!" Belos roared at him
"Don't worry. I'll send you to the place you belong," Cruz said before looking up. He saw through the Titan's eye that the eclipse had begun and there was a yellow streak of magic going towards it.
Cruz grit his teeth as he looked back at Belos. "You are going to stop the Draining Spell! Right. Now!"
As Belos lunged at Cruz, he was stopped by vines as they began to pull him back.
Cruz looked over in shock to see, Willow, Gus, Hunter, Luz, Amity, King and Skara.
"We're here to help!" Willow said proudly
"Did you think we were going to let you do this alone?" Skara asked
Cruz smiled as he looked over at his friends and girlfriend. "You guys are the greatest!" Cruz said happily as Belos began to get back up.
"We need him to stop the Draining Spell, but he's all berserk right now." As Belos starts to break free, Willow summons more vines to hold him down before Cruz teleports above him.
Cruz dropped down onto Belos as he pierced his shoulder using the butt of his staff. Cruz quickly spun a spell circle as lightning began to course through his staff and throughout Belos' body.
As Belos struggled, he started to smash the bridge apart as pieces of the wall in the cave began to fall down.
Amity quickly summoned abomination goo to protect herself and Luz.
Gus took King and walked over to a flight of stairs as he set him down.
"It's about to get real scary. You stay here," Gus said
"But I can help!" King argued as Belos broke free from the vines as Skara launched multiple magic arrows using her harp.
"Gus!" Willow called out
"On my way!" Gus said as he ran back to the others.
As King tired to follow after him, a slight earthquake shook him as he fell down the stairs. He looked up and saw the others fighting Belos from down below.
"It's pointless," Kikimora said as King turned to look at her. "Belos can't stop the spell any more than they can. Only the Collector has that power."
"Who… is the Collector?"
"Neither witch nor demon, a child from the stars. Belos only talked to him when he thought no one was around, but I was always listening. Belos was afraid of him."
"An opportunity," King realized. "Take me to him!"
"If it means kicking the Emperor's butt… gladly." Kikimora's Abomatron stood up as she began to lead King down the stairs.
Amity created a rope out of abomination goo as she began to restrain Belos. Gus quickly ran up to Belos as he created a spell circle and aimed it at him.
"Alright, Belos, time to calm down a little."
As the spell activates, Belos broke free from the restraint and began to writhe around in pain. He accidentally shattered a pillar. As it was about to fall, Willow grabbed it as Cruz shattered it using his gauntlets.
Belos began to have flashbacks to his past actions. As Gus was about to be hit by Belos, Hunter dashed to him and pulled Gus out of the way.
Gus blinks as he looked shocked from the memories he'd just seen. Belos speeds his way towards Hunter before stoping in front of him as he changed his face back to his human form.
"Hunter, why are you hurting me? I only wanted to help you!"
"You're… you're lying!" Hunter said as Belos spotted Flapjack
"Caleb?!" Belos screeched as his face morphed back into a monster.
Cruz appeared between the two as he stuck his hand out and blasted Belos back using wind as Skara began to play her harp as a lightning storm appeared above him and shot him.
As Belos regained his bearing, he saw Amity try and restrain him again as he knocked her away.
"Amity!" Luz called out as she caught her as Belos lunged at them. Cruz quickly held him down using gravity as Willow restrained him using vines.
Belos begins to lash out in every direction as he sliced through Willow's vines and pushed her back against a wall.
Cruz tried to avoid the attacks but narrowly missed as one sliced at his face giving him a large scar over his left eye. Cruz opened his eyes as he saw blood but pulled out a healing glyph to try and not lose it.
As Luz ran up to Belos, she shot off multiple fire balls at him as he knocked her towards the wall with Amity and Willow nicking her eyebrow leaving a small scar.
Gus, Hunter, and Skara ran up to them as they tried to protect them as Hunter collapsed as he clutched his arm.
Cruz quickly teleported in front of the others as he held out his arms to protect them.
As Belos raised his arm into a scythe to attack them, everyone besides Cruz closed their eyes as Cruz held his staff defensively in front of himself.
Before Belos could make contact, a hand had stopped his attack holding him back.
Everyone opened their eyes as they saw a small child with star pattern clothes and a nightcap. Half of their face was blue while the other half was a normal color.
"Whatcha playin'?" The child asked
Belos began to back up as he tried to hide his horror. "Collector! You're free… just as promised…"
The Collector turned to look at Belos with a glare.
"As promised? I remember someone throwing me off a bridge. I'm not angry though. Say, you wanna play tag?" The Collector twirled their finger as Belos was pulled close to his face. "I'm it."
The Collector tapped on Belos' nose as they sent him flying above the door as he was smashed into a pile of goo. Everyone looked at the scene with horror.
The Collector laughed. "Too slow!" They looked back towards the others as they backed up slightly. "You guys look slow too. Do you need a head start?" The Collector asked before noticing Cruz.
"Hey! You're a hybrid! You're part Titan aren't you?" The Collector asked as Cruz looked at them in shock as he took a step back as the Collector began to walk closer to him.
Suddenly, King ran up between the Collector and the others.
"Whoa, whoa, Collector! Buddy, pal!"
"King!" The Collector said happily
"Remember what we talked about? You gotta help all my friends outside, or, uh, we won't get to play 'Owl House'," King said as he looked back at the others
"Uh... Owl House? Uh, gosh!" Luz said as she began to chuckle nervously. "I love that game!"
"The memories last a lifetime!" Amity said
"I play it everyday!" Willow said
"I play it every hour!" Gus added in
"It's the best game ever!" Skara said as Hunter squealed nervously and Cruz held up his staff.
"I'll explain the rules later, but remember, we need lots of players," King said
As the Collector began to walk towards the opening, everyone moved to the side as they looked outside with a groan. They enlarged their eyes as they saw everyone unconscious due to the Draining Spell.
"Hmm. Okay! Boop!" The Collector placed their finger on the moon before moving it to the side and ending the Draining Spell.
Willow and Gus noticed that the veins on Hunter's wrist had stopped glowing. Outside, everyone groaned as they began to wake up.
"Hmm." Everyone looked at the Collector suspiciously as they looked back at them before chuckling. "If we're gonna play Owl House, we're gonna need an Owl House!" The Collector said as they started floating. As they slap their hands together, parts of the cave begin to break apart as everyone looks at them with shock.
"We're gonna have a blast, everyone!"
As the bridge starts to break apart, Willow noticed the portal. "I think there's a way out!"
They all follow Willow before Luz stops and looks back towards the isles.
"Luz, come on!" Amity said as she tried to pull her towards the portal
"Everyone-Eda, I-I can't just leave them!" Luz said
"Luz, please!" Amity pleaded as she had tears welling up in her eyes.
Luz relents after a second as she and the others all run towards the portal.
As Willow, Gus, Skara, Cruz and Hunter reach the remnants of Belos, Hunter hesitated as he tried to step over him.
"Hunter!" Gus called out. Hunter overcame his hesitation as he ran over the goo. Unknown to him and everyone else, a small drop of goo fell on him as it moved to hide in his clothes.
As they reach the portal it flickers before stabilizing and Hunter opened the door.
As he does, it shows the cube dimension before showing the human realm raining.
"It's human rain. It's okay," Gus said as he, Willow, Hunter and Skara all ran inside.
As Amity ran towards the portal she turned back and saw that Luz and Cruz had activated multiple plant glyphs as they held the portal together.
"Luz, what are you doing?" Amity asked
"Cruz, you have to cross over!" Skara called out to him
"We… we have to get Eda!" Luz said. "We'll find a way back to you!"
"We have to save them!" Cruz said. "It's the only way to make up for what I did!"
The Collector turned and noticed them. "Go! Go, go, go! We can't hold the portal much longer!" Luz said as King suddenly began to be pulled up as Luz grabbed onto him. "King!"
"King! You promised you'd play with me!" The Collector said as they began to get angry. "You pinky swore!" The Collector dragged King up using their pinky.
"Luz!" Amity yelled as she began to run towards them.
"Cruz!" Skara called out as she crossed the portal again and ran towards the twins.
"We gotta stick together. We gotta stick together!" Luz said as she tried to hold onto King.
"I'm not letting my little brother go!" Cruz said as he held onto King's other paw.
"I'm sorry, not this time. But I can keep you two safe," King said after thinking for a second
"No!" Luz said with tears in her eyes
"Don't you give up!" Cruz said as tears began to stream down his eyes.
"Luz… Cruz… I'm so happy I had you two as my older siblings." King took a deep breath before letting out a large sonic roar and knocking the twins back into their partners and through the portal and into the human realm.
"No! King!" Luz yelled as she ran towards the portal.
As she is about to reach the portal, the door closed. As she opened it, hoping that the portal would still work, she saw that the door lead to nothing more than an empty house. She tried it two more times before looking back at the others with tears in her eyes as they all looked shocked. Gus broke down as he began to cry.
Inside the Noceda residence, Camilla was cooking for Vee and Nero as she read a news article about a girl stuck in a dimension of frogs. They then heard a sudden knock at the door.
As Camila opened the door, she was shocked to see Luz and Cruz along with five other teens looking disheveled.
"Hey, mom. We're back," Luz said
"Sorry it took us so long," Cruz said as tears welled up in his and Luz's eyes. Camila immediately embraced her two children for the first time in months.