The hex-squad stood on a platform at the Titan skull when it suddenly began to shake. They all looked up in confusion. Pink strings begin to descend as they wrap around Gus, Hunter and Willow's arms.
"Huh?" Hunter looked at his arm in confusion before he, Willow and Gus were pulled up into the air. Willow tries to hold onto Hunter but they're all pulled upward.
Ghost hissed as the string wrapped around all of the Palisman and Camila as she tried to save them before it pulled them all upward.
"Mamá!" Luz called out as Camila was pulled upward before more string wraps around Amity and it pulls her up as well. "Amity!"
String wraps itself around Skara before pulling her upward. "Skara!" Cruz called out as he held onto her before she slipped out of his fingers.
A bright flash of light appeared behind the Noceda twins as they covered their eyes. As they open their eyes, they see the entrance to the In Between Realm.
"What happened?" Luz questioned
"Here again?" Cruz asked
"Hey!" A familiar voiced called out as Cruz tried to look around for them
"We were just about to enter the Archives..." Luz said as the voiced called out again in an echo.
"HEY!"
"That voice," Cruz said
"We were just about to rescue Eda and King..."
"Luz the human! Cruz the hybrid!"
Suddenly, a skeletal face with one golden eye and a small Hooty appeared in front of them. "You have to wake up."
Luz began to open her eyes as she heard a beating heart above her. She looks around sees that she's in the Emperor's throne room sitting on Belos' throne.
Luz clutched her head as she sat up from the throne. "How did I get here? And where's Cruz?" Luz asked with a groan before she looked down and noticed that she was wearing the same outfit as Belos when he was the Emperor.
Luz yelled out in fright as she fell backwards. "What is this? Is-is this a dream?" Stringbean rose up from behind Luz as she bit Luz's ear.
"Ow!" Luz cried out before noticing her Palisman. "Stringbean, it's you! You sweet little power noodle. I'm so happy to see you. Are Mamá and the others okay?"
Stringbean floated towards Luz as she chirped apologetically to Luz's question. Luz looked around with worry as she began to walk through the castle. Luz walked past the stained glass image of Belos and the hand but it showed her instead of Belos. Luz finally made it to the front door before walking out onto the bridge.
"Where is everyone?" Luz wondered as she looked over the bridge. She gasped in shock as she looked down and saw Bump along with Boscha, Mattholomule and multiple other students petrified. Emira and Edric were petrified along with Alador.
"No! No, no, no! Wh-When did this happen?" Luz asked in horror
"Don't you remember?" Amity asked resentfully as Luz looked over at her standing at the edge of the bridge with her staff.
"This is all your doing. You helped Belos meet the Collector," Amity said as she faced Luz. "Your actions led to THIS." Amity looked up at Luz angrily with tears in her eyes. "You've been the real villain this whole time!"
"Wha-listen, I-I don't know what I missed, but I'd never do this," Luz said as she took off the cloak and threw it off the bridge. "See?"
Amity looked to her left before closing her eyes shut. "I'm sorry, Luz. But I have to take you down." Amity drew a spell circle as she summoned abomination goo and rode on it towards Luz.
"Amity, please!" Luz pleaded as she dodged the goo and began to run away. Amity launched more goo at her, but Stringbean turned into a staff helping Luz to fly past an angry Amity as they flew into the castle as the doors shut. "This isn't a dream. This is a nightmare!"
Cruz's eyes shot open as he looked up to see a galaxy as stars flew past him. "Did I die?" Cruz wondered as he looked around. He was sitting on a cliff side that over looked the ocean.
"This is different." Gizmo crawled up Cruz's arm as he stopped at his head. "Gizmo! I'm glad you're okay," Cruz said happily as he scratched Gizmo's chin.
"Where are we?" From behind Cruz, the sky seemed to darken as two stars, a red and an orange one along with a blue crescent moon and an orange planet seemed to get closer to him.
Cruz turned around and saw four large figures towering over him.
"Look," the red star said. "We missed one."
"I think this one is new," the orange planet said
"A new species?" The blue moon asked
"How exciting!" The orange star said
Cruz could only look at the four and shudder. He knew. It was instinct but he knew. These four… they were the Archivists. "I know you four," Cruz said wearily. "You're the Archivists."
"Looks like someone is rather smart," the orange planet said
"This doesn't feel like a dream," Cruz said. "It feels too real."
"You *are* smart," the red star said. "Our little sibling decided to play games. We sensed them rising up again. The little Collector."
"We took the opportunity to come here," the orange planet said. "I am the Mapper. I keep track of where we've been and where we haven't been."
"I am the Huntsman," the blue moon said. "I keep the knowledge of the beasts we've caught and trap them all."
"I am the survivalist," the red star said. "I make sure that we keep all in our collection alive. And if they resist… then I'm the on who razes the worlds."
Cruz turned to look at the orange star. "Who are you?"
"Me? In the original Collector," the orange star said. "Our little sibling took my name. Their role was to take my place. For now just call me… the Origin."
"So then you're all real. You came to the Boiling Isles? But why?" Cruz asked
"We wanted to see what you were," the Huntsman said. "And to see what value you hold." Cruz couldn't see their faces, but he could feel the Huntsman's smile.
Cruz began to back up when he felt the Origin rise up behind him. "There's no reason to run," they said. "Once you're a part of our collection, you'll feel nothing."
As the Origin's hand got closer to him, Cruz's eyes began to glow causing them to freeze. "He's a Titan," the Mapper said
"I'm a hybrid," Cruz said as they slightly shuffled back.
"A War Titan," the Huntsman said. "I was sure we'd killed them all."
"I'm not the same as the ones you killed before," Cruz said when he realized he had a chance. "I'm the perfected version. I'm complete."
As the four backed up, Cruz knew that he had to escape and find a way out of this. "He's not complete," the Survivalist said as Cruz looked at them. "If he was complete, then he would've attacked us already. Remember, the War Titans were supposed to be used as weapons against us. This one is too young. He hasn't awakened all of his power. The gate is still there to hold him back."
As Cruz gripped his staff, a light began to shine from above. The Archivist all looked at the light wearily. "The light from a Titan," the Mapper hissed
"It's the same one as before," the Huntsman said angrily
"Here again to stop us," the Origin said as he reached for Cruz. "At least we can take this one with us."
Cruz smirked as he dashed up into the air. He took a deep breath before letting out a sonic roar at the Archivists knocking them back.
"I might not be strong enough to beat all four of you at once right now. But I know I can still win against any one of you. Try to take the Boiling Isles again," Cruz said as he began to fly towards the light. "I'll be waiting for you. And make no mistake, I'll be last thing any of you ever see again." Cruz flew up towards the light as he felt it clear his head and take him away from the Archivists.
In the Emperor's castle, Luz flew through the corridors before she found herself in Willow's mindscape.
"Trees?" Luz questioned before she stopped to catch her breath. Out of the corner of her eye, Luz managed to notice someone. She looked over and saw Willow kneeling in front of a tree.
"Willow!" Luz said happily as she ran over to her. "Oh Willow, I'm so happy to see you. Do you know what's going on? I just saw Amity, and—"
"You know, Luz, my life changed after I met you and your brother. I finally believed that there was this big, bright future ahead of myself," Willow said as she stood up and turned to face Luz. She was holding a sapling as wind began to pick up. "But that didn't last long, did it?"
The sapling withered and crumbled away in her palm. "You destroyed my home and any chance I had at happiness. I have no future now. *None of us do!*" Willow drew a spell circle as multiple vines began to fly towards her. Luz ran before she turned to look back to see if the vines were still coming when suddenly she was under a spotlight.
"Look, everyone. It's good ol' Luz," Gus said as he was wearing the same clothes from Grom as they stood on the stage of the Hexside gymnasium. An audience of students all cheer for Luz as she looked at them confused.
"And she… just might be… the biggest hypocrite ever." The audience began to boo at her.
"Wh-what?" Luz looked at Gus confused at why he was acting that way.
"Everyone helped you and Cruz get back to your mom. Meanwhile, because of you, I'll never see my dad again." Gus began to walk towards Luz angrily with tears in his eyes.
"Gus, no. I-I-I swear, we'll get him back," Luz said as she turned to the audience. "We'll get everyone back! I won't stop till we do."
Gus approached Luz from behind as he gave her a death stare. "Tell that to him!" Gus said as he pushed Luz off of the stage.
As Luz landed, she noticed that she was in a different place again. She looked to her left and saw that Hunter was staring at a large statue of Flapjack in the distance.
"I've always just… followed orders. I never thought about making friends or… going to school. Then I met Flapjack. He was more than a palisman. He was my best friend," Hunter said solemnly before he became angry. "And then I lost him, helping you! But you still get to have your own palisman?"
Hunter faced Luz as he became distraught. "Why, Luz? Why do you get to have it all?" Tears began to stream down Hunter's face as Amity, Willow, and Gus all stood with him. The trio stared at Luz accusingly.
"I'm sorry. But for the sake of everyone you hurt…" Amity began to say
"Please. No," Luz pleaded as she turned away with tears in her eyes.
"I challenge you to a witch's battle!"
Luz's eyes shoot open as she looked at Amity in surprise. "Wait. Say that again."
"I said, I challenge you to a witch's battle!" Amity repeated
"A-a witch's battle?" Luz began to walk towards Amity as Stringbean changed back into her Palisman form. "Bap. Boop." Luz began to squish Amity's cheeks and to play with her ears.
"You look like Amity." Luz lifted Amity's arm and touched it. "You feel like Amity." She then held up Amity's hand before looking at it suspiciously. "But you're not Amity are you?"
Luz began to laugh as she took a few steps back. "You're not her! None of you are you!"
"How dare you?" Willow said angrily. "Of course we're us!"
"It's 'I challenge you to a witch's duel', not 'witch's battle.' And the Amity I know would never misquote The Good Witch Azura." Stringbean turned back into a staff. "So come on. Attack me. I know what's going on now," Luz said with a smirk.
Angered by her words, the trio all rushed at Luz. Before they could get close to her, pink strings all held them back.
Amity then looked at Luz in surprise before gasping as light returned to her eyes. "Luz?"
"Amity, is that you? Is it really you?" Luz asked as she put a hand on Amity's cheek.
"Yes! We've all been collected, including Camila and Skara. The Collector came from the sky, and—"
"He's playing games with you, Luz," Gus said. "He's trying to keep you and Cruz away from King and Eda!"
"But if you want to save anyone, you have to wake up!" Willow said
"How?" Luz asked
"Think about it," Hunter said as Luz looked over at him. "What's the first thing you do when you wake up from a bad dream?"
Amity took off one of the hands from her staff before putting it on Luz's. "You turn on the light." As Amity lifts her hand, Luz looks down and sees that she's holding a light glyph.
The strings all pulled on the group as they became lifeless again before being pulled into the sky. Luz fell to her knees before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Luz opened her eyes as she claps her hands together activating the light glyph.
As Luz opened her eyes, she yelled in fright as she looked around and saw she was standing on a giant Rubix cube. Multiple toys are floating near it as meteors and galaxies fly past her.
Luz looked over and saw King being terrorized by puppet Tarak and Bill as all three of their eyes were glowing.
She then looked over to see Eda being surrounded by puppet Lilith, Dell, and Gwendolyn. All of their eyes were glowing the same color. "I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it!" Eda kept saying as she held onto her head.
Luz then looked over to see Cruz sitting with a blank expression on the ground as if listening to something.
Luz rushed over to Eda as she placed a light glyph in her hand before activating it. Eda looked at the light ball as the nightmare was broken. "Huh?" Eda then looked up to see puppet Lilith, Dell, and Gwendolyn fly up into the sky before disappearing.
Luz ran over to Cruz as she took his hand and put a light glyph on it as Cruz looked at the light and smirked. "That's much better," Cruz said as he looked at Luz.
Luz rushed over to King as she put a light glyph in his paw activating it as his eyes turned back to normal. King looked up at Tarak and Bill as they flew up and disappeared before looking over and seeing Luz and Cruz kneeling in front of him.
"Weh! Luz? Cruz? Luz! Cruz!" King yelled happily as he jumped into Cruz's arms while crying happy tears.
"Hey, buddy!" Luz said happily as she hugged him as well.
"We missed you," Cruz said happily as he hugged King.
From behind them, Eda stood up as she regained her bearings. "Is this… real? Is that Luz and Cruz? Are you all really here?" Eda said happily as she teared up and ran to the trio.
"Get over here, you witch!" Luz said happily
"We've missed you, mom!" Cruz said as Eda pulled them into a hug as she squealed in happiness as she began to kiss all three of them.
The Collector watched them all on a large star as they groaned with annoyance. "I thought you said this would work, Ray-Ray," the Collector said as they turned to look at Belos. "You said, it would make them all 'see the error of their ways'. But King is gonna hate me for this! Now what do we do?"
Belos let out a sigh. "Why bother teaching them anything when you could just... wipe them out?" Belos said as he picked up Francois before the Collector snatched the bunny away.
"I want to be their friend. And besides, my powers don't work on King or Cruz."
"The hybrid and the… dog?" Belos wondered
"Yeah! 'Cause he's a Titan!" The Collector said as they waved their hand and an illusion of two Titans appeared behind him before disappearing. "And Cruz is a War Titan!"
Belos' eyes widened in shock. This whole time, a living Titan had been around. Add to the fact that Cruz was a Titan. He could've abandoned Hunter's body and taken over Cruz instead.
"You worked in the castle, Ray-Ray. You've seen the big old heart, still beating too. Titans are amazing!" The Collector said as they began to float up. "When they're fully grown, they are more powerful than anyone!"
Belos had an idea. A far better host than Cruz was ripe for the picking. "You know, I just had an interesting idea," Belos said as he smiled and sat down on the bed next to the Collector.
"Yeeeeeaaah?" The Collector said feeling curious.
Belos waved Raine's hand. "No, it wouldn't work."
"What? What wouldn't work? Tell me, or I'll hold my breath for a million years!" The Collector floated upward as they held onto Raine's face. Belos chuckled as he gently put the Collector's hand down and held it.
"Well, if you insist. What if you played with those four yourself? Show them just how much fun your games are in person? Then they'll all want to be your friend."
The Collector smiled as their eyes lit up at Belos' idea. "You think?"
Belos nodded. "Mm-hmm."
"Alright!" The Collector said enthusiastically. The Collector summoned a large from below as they placed it above and began to float up towards it. "Wish me luck, Ray-Ray!"
As the Collector disappeared, Belos let out a grunt of annoyance as he knocked over Francois and began to rummage through the drawer next to the Collector's bed.
He eventually took out a blue star. "Perhaps this will be easier than I thought," Belos said with a wicked smile as his voice changed from Raine's to his own.
"Oh! I thought I'd never see either of you again!" Eda said happily as she looked at her children. "How did you get back to the Demon Realm?"
"It's a very long story," Luz said
"Way too much happened on our end and honestly I had to ask for help," Cruz added.
"There was Belos in the Human Realm."
"There was what?!" Eda and King exclaimed
"Then we saw Kikimora, she uh, was a lot to deal with," Luz said
"Don't even get me started on the Trappers. They were a headache to deal with," Cruz said
"I can imagine," King deadpanned
"And then our mom decided to—whoa! How did that happen!" Luz exclaimed when she and Cruz noticed Eda's missing arm.
"Ah, it's a much shorter story," Eda waved off
"I can probably build you a new arm," Cruz said as Eda noticed Stringbean resting on Luz's shoulder.
"Oh! Is that your Palisman?" Owlbert popped up from Eda's hair as the two Palismen greeted each other.
"Hey, hey, all I wanna do is hear all three of you talk over hot choco smilk, but first, we gotta find a way outta… whatever this is!" King said.
Suddenly, a bright flash of light appeared as a pink star manifested above them. The Collector emerged from the star as they started to float down slowly.
"I don't get it, King. I really don't get it. I thought you loved playing our games. Why do you choose these itty bitty spiders over me?" The Collector asked
"Because your games stink, squirt," Eda said as her hand changed into the harpy claw.
"And spiders are awesome!" Luz said as Stringbean turned into a staff.
"Yeah! Especially the itty bitty ones!" King argued
"You really don't get how good games work," Cruz said with a growl as Gizmo turned into a staff.
"Ah, you act like I'm doing something bad. But I'm just having fun," the Collector argued
"Trapping people and scaring them and controlling them? That's not fun, Collector," King said gently
"And everyone nearly died from the Draining Spell!" Eda pointed out
"So? Toys break all the time, you just fix them." The Collector summoned a small figure that looked like them before snapping its head off and throwing it down. As the pieces fall on the ground, they fix themselves up with ten head backwards.
"Do you... not understand what death means to mortals?" Luz asked with concern
"They're nothing but a little kid," Cruz said in a whisper as his anger at the young star child dissipated.
"Well, don't worry 'cause I don't wanna scare you anymore. I think we can all be great friends. So, let me show you some of my favorite games!" The Collector said as they began to float up into the air as stars began to gather around them.
Back in the Collector's castle, Belos was limping down the hall as he was struggling to keep control over Raine's body. A trail of black and green sludge followed behind them.
Raine's body stopped as the Collector's spell broke and the moon fell off. Raine struggled as they regained partial control of their body.
"Ah! Let. Me. Go!" Raine said as they struggled before being pushed onto the ground.
"Ugh, Raine's always been annoyingly powerful," Belos said as they took control over Raine's body again. He pulled out a blue star. "No, I think I'll keep you around a little longer." Belos flew off into the distance.
In the room behind him, puppet versions of Amity, Hunter, Gus, Willow and Skara were lying on the ground. One of Amity's fingers began to twitch.
Harpy Eda carried King as she, Luz and Cruz all flew down a long corridor. Luz looked back in shock as the Collector chased them down as a giant Pac-Man.
As they ate Luz, they suddenly spit her out in pain as their tongue was stung by Stringbean's tail. The Collector turned back to normal in annoyance before snapping their fingers.
The four were trapped in marbles. Eda and Cruz banged on the marbles to try and break them as the Collector towered over them. The Collector aimed a marble at the four before launching it at them and knocking them away.
King looked back to see the others recovering from being knocked back before looking over at the Collector laughing. He began to run over to the Collector before sprinting on all fours as he rolled under the Collector's foot knocking them over. The Collector looked up with an annoyed look before snapping their fingers.
The four found themselves on a giant Jenga tower. Eda flew in the air as King rode on Cruz's shoulder as he and Luz balanced themselves on a block. The Collector floated over to one of the blocks before knocking it over.
As the tower began to fall, Cruz and Luz got on their staffs to save themselves. As the tower headed towards Eda, she used her wings to send a powerful gust of wind knocking the tower back to the Collector. The Collector was startled when the tower fell on them.
They climbed out of the blocks and looked up at the four with annoyance before their face softened with sadness. Luz and Cruz noticed the look on their face with confusion as the Collector snapped their finger and returned everyone back to the rubix cube world.
They all sighed as they all collapsed on the ground. "Thank… whoever," King said in relief. "I think I barfed, like, twelve times."
"Wanna make it a lucky number thirteen?" Eda said with a smile as she picked King up and tossed him in the air.
"Eda!" King said as he landed in Eda's arms and began to laugh.
Luz and Cruz then heard the Collector crying as they looked over to see them sitting in a corner with their hands hugging their legs. Luz and Cruz began to walk towards them.
"Kids…" Eda began to say with worry
"Eda, let them go," King said. "If anyone can talk some sense into them, it's those two."
The twins smiled at them as they approached the Collector. They both kneeled in front of them.
"Collector," Luz said gently. "You know this can't last forever."
The Collector sniffled as they wiped their tears from their sleeves. "Why, 'cause you know you'll lose?" The Collector said confidently as they looked up at everyone.
"There's no winning or losing this one, kid," Cruz said as his face softened.
The Collector's face saddened again. "I just wanted a friend who wouldn't lie to me, or trick me. But everyone's the same!" The Collector said angrily. "King lied, Belos lied, even they lied."
"Who's they?" Luz asked
"The Archivist, my siblings," the Collector said as Cruz frowned at the memory of the four dragging his mind to speak to them. "'Oh, let's play a game', they said." The Collector clenched their fist angrily. "'Let's play hide and seek!'"
They all turned around when they heard thunder rumbling behind them.
"You go down there and see if the Titans want to play!" They all saw the Collector going to the Boiling Isles after speaking to the four Archivists that Cruz had encountered.
"So I played, and it was great." The Collector was shown playing with the little baby Titans. "The baby titans were the cutest, just like King! And they were all so welcoming! But the Archivists were scared of their power, so one by one, they disappeared, until there was one Titan left."
The Archivists lowered their hands as they kidnapped and presumably killed all of the baby Titans. The image of a Titan's eyes showed up behind the Collector as they looked at them angrily.
"And he thought I was the bad guy!" The stars showed the Titan hiding away an egg behind the symbol that was on King's collar before trapping the Collector away. "He hid his egg from me and trapped me."
They all turned back to look at the Collector. "But I showed all of them. Even when those trapper jerks started acting weird. Even when Belos lied to me! I found King! I found the last Titan, and he's my friend now!"
"Collector…" King began
"I know it's just pretend. I don't care. I'll pretend as long as I want," the Collector said as he stood up angrily causing a small breeze to pass by Luz and Cruz.
"But that's not what you want, is it?" Luz said understanding the Collector's position.
"What do you know?" The Collector said angrily
"We know what it's like to feel alone," Eda said
"And abandoned," King added in
"And rejected," Cruz said
"And misunderstood. Hey, what if we showed you how we became friends?" Luz asked
"King already told me about your adventures."
"It's different when you can see them." Luz pulled out a stack of photos before presenting one to him. "What do you think? Can we tell you our stories?"
Back in the Archives room, Amity's puppet hand is carving the light glyph on the ground before activating it. As the light floated upward, the puppet spell broke on Amity as she began to sit up.
"Oh my gosh, it worked!" Amity said happily. She began to look around the room before noticing puppet Amelia and puppet Lilith. "Miss Lilith?"
The others soon began to wake up as the puppet spell broke for them too.
"Ugh. Did anyone else hear four Collectors?" Skara asked as she rubbed her left eye.
Gus looked up and saw puppet Bill staring at him before he screamed. "Where the heck are we?" He asked
"These must be the archives," Willow said
Gus then noticed that Camila was still in her puppet form. "Camila! Willow, help me get her down."
As Gus and Willow took out their staffs, Amity and Skara looked around hoping to see their partners. "Guys," Amity said as Hunter, Willow and Gus turned to look at her. "Where's Luz?"
"Cruz is missing too," Skara added with worry. The four Collector voices were still ringing. She didn't like how they spoke to her about the isles.
At the Owl House, a shooting star was flying past it before landing in front of it. The Collector hopped off the star as it disappeared. Luz and Cruz landed on their staffs as Eda flew behind them holding King.
"Wow, I thought we would just, like… flip through these," Luz said holding the stack of photos.
"Oh come on, Luz," Cruz said. "Where's the fun in that?"
"So it all started at the Bird House," the Collector said
"The Owl House," Eda said with slight irritation. "Speaking of which, what happened to it?" Eda flew up to the house and inspected it.
"You, uh, haven't been here in a while," King said
"Oh, yeah. It's been like this for a while now," Cruz added.
Luz looked at a photo of she took of the Owl House. Half of her face could be seen sticking her tongue out with Eda standing in front of the door crossing her arms. King was sitting on top of Hooty as Cruz was sitting above the entrance. He was still human in the photo.
"For Cruz and me, it started in the Human Realm. Things were not great, but we found our way here. Then we met Owlbert, Hooty and Eda the Owl Lady," Luz said as King jumped in her arms.
"And the King of Demons!" King said happily
"None of us felt like we fit in. So we decided to not fit in together," Luz said
"Best decision we made," Cruz said happily as Eda ruffled his hair.
The Collector scoffed as he crossed his arms. "It was that easy, huh?"
"Not really," Luz said as she walked up to them and showed the Collector a photo of the puppets that were used to trick her. "I had a lot to learn." She showed a picture of her and Cruz's first day at Hexside. Another photo showed Cruz fighting with Obron.
"But after a little while, we met more people who helped us." She showed a picture of Gus, Willow and Skara before showing a picture of her, Willow and Amity against Boscha and the Banshees.
"Whoa! That game looks fun. I wanna go there!" The Collector said happily
They all flew towards Hexside as they landed on the scoreboard.
"This is where we play a game called Grudgby," Luz said as they overlooked the field.
"The ball can bite you, the rules are nonsense, but it's still kinda fun," King explained
"Nonsense?" Eda said with slight annoyance. "Ha! Hexside lets you play any magic sport these days. Grudgby was all we had and we made the best of it."
"And you were the star player. We know," Luz said as she put a hand on Eda's head.
"You don't stop mentioning that," Cruz said with a chuckle
"Did you know that Lilith was their captain?" King asked
"Really," Luz said in amazement. "Now that's a spinoff I'd watch."
As the four spoke, the Collector looked around more seriously before spotting Matt, Jerbo and Celine all hiding. They smiled before flying over to them using his star.
"Hi, I'm the Collector. Wanna be my Grudgby buddies?" The Collector asked as his eyes begin to glow.
"It-it's him!" Mattholomule said in a panic. "Run! Go, go, go, go, go!" The three screamed as they run off. As they run off, Eda, King, Luz and Cruz make their way over to the Collector as his grin turned into a frown.
"I wanna go somewhere different," the Collector said as Luz handed them a picture of the Knee.
Eda was carrying King as they all made their way to the top of the Knee. "I'm really glad you picked this place, Collector," Luz said as they over looked the Knee and the Isles. "It's really special to me. It's where Eda helped me make a connection with the Isles."
"Luz always did have a special way to connect with the Isles," Cruz said. "I always looked at magic with logic if anything."
Luz drew an ice glyph before activating it. The Collector scoffed. "A baby could do that. Still, I've never seen an itty-bitty spider do it that way. Not everyone can recognize Titan magic."
The four all looked at each other when the Collector recognized the glyph as Titan magic. "He must really like you if he showed you this much. He never told me about it, though."
The Collector created a small snow sculpture of a Titan. "Then again, you have a War Titan with you so it makes sense."
"Not that it's meant much lately," Cruz grumbled under his breath.
"Did you force him to be your friend, too? Like, uh… what are their names… Lilith, Amity, and Skara?"
"They didn't force anyone to do anything," King said with slight annoyance.
"Yeah, people are complex. And sometimes they just need a little kindness and forgiveness," Luz explained
"It really depends on the person. But most of the time that's how you can make friends and help people," Cruz added.
The Collector looked down at the ice that Luz had made before looking at the group. "Kindness and forgiveness, huh?"
The sound of heavy breathing draws the attention of the Collector and Cruz.
"Did you hear that?" The Collector asked
"Don't like it at all," Cruz said
"Hear what?" Luz asked
The breathing continues as trees begin to move, the water begins to draw back and birds begin to fly away. "Breathing…" the Collector said in disbelief
Belos' glowing blue eyes start to shine from the Titan's skull. "Those eyes… don't tell me it's…"
"Belos," Luz said with anger
"That roach is still around," Cruz said with venom.
The five flew over Bonesborough as they saw multiple green branches spreading through out the city.
"It's coming from the castle!" Luz said as they all flew towards it.
Green branches extend over the castle as it forms into a giant monster rising up with Belos' glowing eyes.
"Finaly!" Belos said with a growl. "I can cleanse this perdition... MYSELF!"
Belos begins to unleash blue fire from his mouth as everything it touched rotted and turned into green branches.
"Is that Belos?" Eda asked
"I swear he doesn't know how to stay down!" Cruz said angrily. "I should've shot his head."
"How'd he get here without a body?" Luz wondered.
The Collector stepped forward before stepping on Raine's earring. He picked up the earring with worry.
"What do we do?" King asked. "There's no way we can stop that!"
"Yes there is," the Collector said as they began to glow. "And I know how."
The Collector began to fly towards Belos' face as he used magic to cut off branches that rose up. As they were about to hit Belos, they stopped inches from his face.
"No, what is he doing?" Luz wondered
"Really hope they don't try the new lesson right now," Cruz said
"I get it now. You just need kindness and forgiveness, huh?" The Collector said as they hugged Belos' skull. Eda, King, Luz and Cruz all had looked on in disbelief as Belos blinked in confusion.
The Collector let go of Belos' face as they turned to look at the others. "Luz, Cruz, look! We can all be buddies now!"
As Belos was preparing to attack the Collector, Luz and Cruz looked on in horror as they got on their staffs.
"Collector!" Luz yelled out as she flew towards him
"Not the time, kid!" Cruz said as he followed after his sister.
"No!" King called out as the twins flew up towards the Collector.
As Belos' beam is about to hit the Collector, it collides with a purple and gold flash of light. As the light disperses, the Collector looked up and saw Luz and Cruz shielding him.
"Huh? But I thought I was doing the right thing."
"No, no, you did good, Collector. But this is a little more complicated," Luz said
"There's always going to be some exceptions to that rule," Cruz explained
"Don't worry, I think it… missed… us." Luz and Cruz looked over to their hands and saw that the green mold that Belos had begun to spread throughout Bonesborough was spreading down their hands and beginning to take over their bodies.
"Oh, man," Cruz said weakly
Eda and King looked on in horror. Luz groaned as the moss reached her shoulder causing her hat to fall.
Cruz clenched his teeth as the moss began to spread up to his face.
"Luz, Cruz… what's happening?" The Collector asked as the twins began to glow gold as more and more moss began to cover their bodies.
"Eda, King. Looks like we're gonna be split up again," Luz said as Eda and King looked at her and Cruz with horrified expressions. "I feel like I should be used to this feeling by now, but... I still don't know what to say."
"I'm so grateful for everything you've done for us," Cruz said. "You guys were the best family we could've asked for."
As they give their final piece, the moss covered their faces completely as they split into tiny balls of light and scatter through out the wind.
The Collector extended their hands as they grab onto two small balls of light. With their owners gone, Stringbean and Gizmo turn into staffs as they clatter onto the ground.
The Collector landed before turning to Eda and King. "Where'd they go?" The Collector asked as Eda and King looked on in horror as they two family members are now gone.
The balls of light travel past Hexside where the students look at the mold with worry. As the balls of light reach the Archives, Gus, Willow, Hunter, Amity and Skara all looked at the light in confusion.
"What is this?" Amity asked. As she and Skara touched the light, deep down they knew what the light meant. Puppet Camila cried, she knew what fate had become of her children.
At the castle, the Collector looked around for the mission Noceda twins. "Luz? Cruz? Yoo-hoo! You can come out now," the Collector said as Eda and King looked in horror processing everything. "Well, it's okay. They just broke, so I'll fix them."
The Collector snapped their fingers, but their spell dissipated. "What? Why isn't it working? The Archivists aren't here. They couldn't have taken them."
Belos aimed another beam at the Collector. As the beam was about to hit, King jumped in front of it before unleashing a roar as a barrier popped up and protected them. He had grown in size as his eyes were glowing purple as more fangs appeared from his mouth.
Tears stream down his face as he roared at Belos. "Owl Lady, you know where Luz and Cruz are, right?"
"Back up, kid," Eda said as she gently pushed the Collector back. "I don't think I can control myself right now."
Eda roared as she grew in size and reverted to the Owl Beast form. Her eyes were glowing orange as she grew an extra set of wings. Eda let out a roar as she picked up King as they flew up towards Belos. King unleashed another roar as they avoided an attack from Belos.
The Collector backed up in fear as he tripped and his grip loosened causing the balls of light to fly away.
"They're really gone," the Collector said sadly
As the balls of light fly away, they reached the In Between Realm before sinking into the water as Luz and Cruz's bodies reappeared.
"Oh. I know what I should have said... I should have thanked them," Luz thought as tears flowed from her eyes.
"I guess… in the end, even with this blood, I couldn't help anyone," Cruz thought to himself.
Suddenly, a hand reached into the water as it pulled up the twins. The twins looked up as they saw the same skull face from their dream with the little Hooty coming out of their eye.
"Oh, this is familiar," Cruz said in disbelief
"King?" Luz question as the Titan chuckled
"No. But he does get his good looks from me," the Titan said flicking his beard.
"Oh, Titan," Luz said in shock
"Oh, me!" The Titan said playfully. "Nice to meet you, Luz the Human. And it's good to see you again, Cruz. Didn't expect to see you again so soon."
"Not really a planned visit," Cruz said
"You can't actually be the Titan Titan, right? You're the Boiling Isles, and that Titan is all…"
"Dead-looking," the Titan finished for her
Luz began to sink into the water. "Does that mean we're also…"
"Ah, no, nope, no. Don't wanna do that," the Titan said as they picked her up from the water. "If you go under without a portal, you really will be dead-looking."
"I can't believe this. You're King's dad!" Luz said happily
"I think King said it best once. I am both King and Queen, best of both things," the Titan said with a chuckle. "But Dad works fine."
"Anything else we can call you?" Cruz wondered
"Well I did look into your world from time to time. I quite liked a name that humans had given. You can call me Hyperion."
"What is this place?" Luz wondered
"This is the space in between. Well, in between a lot of places," Hyperion said. "And I've been stuck here for quite some time. But at least I can keep an eye on my child. And those who have been kind to him."
Hyperion held a cube that showed King being hugged by Luz. Another image showed King with a toilet paper tube on his nose. The image changed to King sitting on Cruz's shoulder as they tested the J-Units. The final image showed King with Eda, Luz and Cruz before the Day of Unity.
"Kindness isn't something I'd use to describe someone who's killed before," Cruz said as Obron's words rang throughout his head.
"I'm not so kind either," Luz said looking ashamed. "When I saw the Collector fly up to Belos, I hoped with all my heart I would see them blast him away, and…" Luz let out a sigh
"Hey, I can relate," Hyperion said looking at Luz with sympathy. "I was willing to do anything to keep my kid safe. But I attacked the wrong person. Dragged the Collector down here for nothing."
"Does that make us as bad as… Belos?" Luz asked as Cruz looked down with worry.
Hyperion chuckled at Luz's question. "What? Have you been drinking Eda's homemade apple blood?"
"I did that only once," Cruz said as he looked away
"Well, Belos says he's trying to save humanity. And we're saying we want to save our families. So isn't that the same thing? Don't… don't these feelings come from the same place?"
"You assume Belos's goal comes from a genuine place. But that man doesn't care about anything but his need to be the hero in his own delusion. And because of that, he fears what he can't control."
"And now that fear is going to win," Luz said
Hyperion looked at Luz with concern before noticing a green glow coming from their chest. "Ah, dang."
Luz and Cruz gasped when they saw mold coming from Hyperion's chest. "I thought I had more time left. But Belos will have full control soon... You two ready to stop him?"
"What? What can we do?" Luz questioned
"You two have already helped King so much. So let me use my last bit of life to help you." Hyperion extended his hand as it was covered in glyphs that radiated power.
"Are you sure you wanna give this power to us?" Luz asked
"She's right. I haven't been able to help anyone. You gave me a second chance back then, but I haven't been able to do anything with it," Cruz said as he clenched his fist.
"You have to forget about that," Hyperion said. "I didn't give you that boost because I wanted you to do anything with it. Like I told you back then, I'm not some god that's giving you some kind of mission. I just wanted to help you since you were kind to King."
Cruz looked up at him in surprise. He'd gotten it in his head that a War Titan was made only to fight and fix all of their problems. But here was the Titan that had given him his blood, telling him to just forget it all.
"Guess I was just being dumb," Cruz said with a chuckle. "But is giving us your power the best way?"
"Well, you two are the ones here, and you seem like a good witch and a good Titan. But I can't give you anything unless you choose to accept it," Hyperion said. "So the question is, will you choose yourselves?"
Luz and Cruz looked at each other before nodding. As they were about to grab onto his hand, Cruz had a thought.
"What's going to happen once this power runs out?"
"Once it runs out, then it's all gone," Hyperion said. "The glyphs will be gone and you and King will be the last Titans around. Your blood has changed to be unique. It's not tied to mine anymore."
"But you'll be gone for good?" Luz asked
Hyperion nodded as Cruz clenched his fist. "Then what about your spirit? Can't you move it to a new body? I know that if you tried to move to your old body it would just die again, so what about a shared body. Even if it's only temporary?"
"That's something I could do, but I don't think anyone could actually share it without me forcing them out."
"Then just use my body!" Cruz said. "I'll share it with you! I'm a Titan just like you are, it could work if it's my body!"
Hyperion looked at Cruz with surprise before smiling at him. "Alright, that could work."
Cruz looked at Luz with a smile as he nodded to her. She knew that Cruz was ready to make this sacrifice so that King could talk to his dad at least once.
The twins took Hyperion's hands as they were surrounded by a golden orb before they began to float up.
"Now, Belos will be able to control everything, so you have to defeat him fast", Hyperion said as Luz realized something
"But—"
"Like I said, my power won't last forever, so use your time wisely."
"Oh, but what about—"
"Eda the Owl Lady? Send her my regards, big fan." Hyperion gave a salute
"You'll be able to tell her yourself," Cruz said. "Along with someone else."
"He's right! King, what about King? Don't you wanna say something to him in case the plan doesn't work?"
Hyperion thought about it for a moment before whispering into Luz and Cruz's ears.
The twins were happy when they heard Hyperion's message to his son. "Oh. He'll love that," Luz said as they looked up and saw the giant skeletal body of Hyperion looming over them.
The twin's eyes widen in shock as they see Hyperion sink into the water. "Goodbye for now, Luz, Cruz," Hyperion said as his skull sunk into the water.
Back at the castle, Eda and King continue to fight Belos in a state of rage as the Collector hid from the battle. A blast from Belos knocked Luz and Cruz's staffs to clatter near the Collector. He ran up to Eda and King as they roared at Belos.
"No, please stop! Run away!" The Collector said as he began to snap his fingers. They looked at their hand when nothing happened. "Why isn't anything working?" The Collector saw that moss was starting to grow on their hands.
"I don't want anyone else to go away. I don't want anyone else to go missing! I'm sorry for everything!" The Collector began to cry as he felt his face.
"What is this stuff? Wh-why won't it stop?" He then looked down and saw mold growing on Eda's claws. The Collector began to desperately brush it off. "No! No, no, no, no! Get off of her!"
The Collector looked over at Belos in fear when he prepared to crush them under his hand. As the hand was about to hit them, a large purple burst of magic shot a hole through his hand before a large thunder cloud formed over his head and lightning struck him.
A pair of light glyphs came from the smoke as a pair of figures could be seen standing there resembling Titans.
Stringbean and Gizmo woke up as they went over to the figures.
"Huh? It can't be…" the Collector said as Eda and King began to slightly calm down and looked at the figure with a growing hope.
The smoke cleared as Luz and Cruz held onto their staffs before turning to the others.
"We're back!" Luz exclaimed enthusiastically. Having taken in Hyperion's magic, Luz now had the appearance of a Titan. She had purple fur covering her arms, ribs showing on her sides. Her fingers showed the same bones that Cruz had after drinking Titan blood for the first time.
Her clothes had transformed to match the same color as her fur. Horns were poking out from under her hat. Her eyes had changed to gold with black sclera.
"I-wait-uh. Couldn't keep us away from… hang on. Ugh! I still can't think of anything to say!" Luz in frustration
"You really need to work on your one liners, Luz," Cruz said as his horns had grown a bit thicker along with his clothes acting like folded wings.
Eda squealed happily as she reverted to her harpy form again with tears in her eyes. "It's Luz and Cruz, all right!"
The twins turned as Belos began to roar in fury, causing everything to start shaking. Luz and Cruz stood in front of Eda, King, and the Collector defensively before Luz created a golden barrier around them.
The barrier shot up before flying erratically causing Eda, King and the Collector to scream before it stopped.
"Whoa! Overshot it a little," Luz said as she laughed. "Still getting used to these powers."
Eda glared at her unimpressed
"You've gotta control it better than that, sis," Cruz said as he made a spell circle as another thundercloud shot lightning at Belos.
As Belos let out a roar, the Archives began to shake dangerously. "Oh no, everyone's still in the Archives," Eda said with worry
"Leave them to me," the Collector said as he jumped onto a star and began to fly towards the Archives. He then noticed that the mold that was growing on his hands was beginning to get worse. "Come on, you can at least do this."
Eda, King, Luz and Cruz flew down to that stage where the Day of Unity had started as more and more mold approached them from all sides.
The twins stepped forward as they prepared a pair of spell circles. As Cruz had finished his own, Luz had started to struggled to make a spell circle using Titan powers.
Eda held onto Luz's hand as she looked up to her. "Concentrate. Think of what you want and…"
Luz created a large spell circle as she and Cruz manifested a large golden shield. Luz, Eda and Cruz pushed against the mold that hit the shield causing it to disperse and be replaced by red grass.
"Yes!" Luz celebrated with a chuckle
Cruz looked down at his hand as he smiled at it. His head felt much more clear now than it did before.
More moss showed up from the sides, King jumped up to Luz's shoulder as she and Cruz turned to it.
"Luz! Cruz! On three!" King said
"One-" Cruz began
"Two-" Luz said
"Weh!" The three all yelled as they unleashed sonic screams as most of the moss was cleared up and turned into red grass. King nuzzled against Luz's face as more moss began to engulf the stage.
"Eda!" Luz yelled out as she and Cruz flew upward with King as Eda began to follow after them. Eda grabbed onto Luz's hand as they all spun and created a giant spell circle. A giant light glyph appeared as it destroyed all of the moss and turned it into red grass.
The four then noticed a looming shadow as they looked up and saw the Titan's left arm rising up.
"Can't stay down can he," Cruz said with annoyance
"Hold on," Luz said as she and Cruz created another barrier as they all began to fly up the arm as they climbed higher and higher.
In the Archives, the hex-squad was using glyphs that Camila continued to draw as they rescued the people turned into puppets.
As Amity used a plant glyph to rescue a puppet, a rock began to fall towards her. As it was about to reach her, Willow used a fire glyph to destroy it as Amity turned to look at her with gratitude.
Hunter ran up to Camila as she handed him multiple glyphs. Gus was carrying Amelia before a rock hit the bottom of his staff causing him to fall down and his staff to turn back into his Palisman in a panic.
As Gus was heading to the ground, he used a safety hover glyph to stop himself as Hunter used an ice glyph to created a ramp for his Palisman to safely land on the ground.
Hunter carried Amelia off as Gus headed off to help more people. As Belos made the skull roar, it broke off from the Archives causing it to start to fall down. As it was falling, pink strings wrapped around the top. As Willow was about to fall down, Hunter dashed over to her before they all looked up.
They saw the Collector struggling to hold up the castle. They all stare at him in shock as he smiled at them.
"The Collector?" Hunter said
"Is he…" Willow questioned
"He's helping!" Gus said happily
"Let's pick up the pace then," Skara said as she used multiple vine glyphs.
Back outside, the orb continued to rise up further and further up. As they rose up past the hand, the twins released the orb.
"Hah!" The four looked down and saw the Boiling Isles in its entirety. "Wow…" the four said in awe.
Luz looked down as the glow of the Titan symbol began to fade away. She then looked down and saw the glow coming from the Titans center.
"We have to cut Belos off from the Titan's power," Luz said
"We can't keep letting him use this power," Cruz said
"What are you two thinking?" Eda asked
Luz chuckled. "Come on Eda, you know where magic comes from."
Eda grinned widely as she looked at the three with pride.
"From the heart!" The four said in unison.
They were surrounded by a golden orb again before it began to rocket down as it headed towards the Titan's heart. The monster Belos shot flames at them as the orb burst through the flames and the monster.
Inside of the castle, Raine was whistling their version of Raine's Rhapsody as they stopped the moss from reaching them. Suddenly, a beam of purple light shoots down in front of them as they look up at it in fear.
"Who's there?" Raine asked as their glasses had fallen off.
They saw a figure run up to them. "Stay away!" Raine said with fear before the figure placed a gentle hand on their cheek, before putting their glasses back on.
"It's okay Raine, I got you," Eda said gently as she pulled Raine out of the moss and hugged them.
"I am… still not used to this new look, but it doesn't matter," Raine said as Eda kissed Raine on the cheeks. "I'm just happy you're here."
Raine then noticed Luz and Cruz's new looks. "Luz? Cruz? You two look… fluffier? How long was I out?"
Luz then noticed that the light on their chest was growing weaker. "We don't have much time. Let's end this."
"We're putting that miserable roach out of our misery," Cruz said
"Finally," Raine said as they all burst through the doors to the throne room.
They looked down to see Belos integrating himself into the Titan's heart. The twins glared as they rushed at him.
Cruz used a fire spell to burn up all the moss in the room as Luz used an ice spell to freeze the floor and prevent more moss from forming.
They then jumped on their staffs flying towards Belos as Luz made ice steps leading up to Belos before they grabbed onto his ribcage as multiple glyphs circled their arms before they stated to pull.
"You can't defeat me!" Belos said as multiple hands began to head towards the twins.
Eda flew in and sliced through the hands as Raine whistled at the moss and King unleashed sonic roars.
"Do not underestimate us, Belos," Luz began to say. "For I am the good witch Luz."
"I am the War Titan Cruz."
"Children of the Human Realm."
"Student of the Demon Realm."
"And warriors of peace!"
The twins eyes began to glow as more glyphs surrounded their arms and feet. Belos began to yell in agony as everything began to shake again.
"NOW EAT THIS, SUCKA!" The twins yelled out as they ripped Belos from the heart.
A light burst out from the monster as it stopped moving. The Titan's hand stopped rising up as the glow in the skull's eye dimmed before disappearing.
The monster began to turn to stone before it started to turn to dust. All of the moss began to die as it scattered into the wind.
At the Archives, the Collector set the castle down as they land before falling off the star in exhaustion. The mold on his hand dissipates as Amity begins to approach him.
The Collector recoiled in fear before Amity offered out a hand to him. The Collector looked up and happily took it as tears formed in his eyes.
They all rush outside to see that the moss had all died off and was now disappearing and being replaced with red grass.
Back at Hexside, Cat and Mattholomule cautiously looked outside as the moss disappeared. They stepped outside as they smiled when they saw that the battle was now over.
Back at the castle, the mold had all dissipated. Eda, Raine and King all burst out from some moss as they let out a sigh of relief.
Luz and Cruz stood looking over to the distance as in front of them was the small remains of Belos' goo form. It formed together to look like Philip back when they met him in the Deadwardian era.
"Luz, Cruz. I'm… I'm free. Thank goodness you two saved me from," Belos looked over to the side as he tried to make an excuse. "From that horrible curse."
The twins did nothing but glare at the monstrosity in front of them.
"Yes, I-I was cursed with a terrible, terrible sickness by-by dark magic, just like your mentor."
As he spoke, the sky began to darken as rain clouds began to roll in.
"It forced me to do all those horrible things, but-but now, I'm free."
A rain drop hit Belos' hand as he groaned in pain with the part that was hit turning into sludge. More rain began to fall as he turned more and more into goo.
"AH! Qui-Quickly, now!" Belos began to crawl towards the twins as he begged for mercy. "Don't-don't you want… to make peace, you two?"
The twins remained unfazed as the rain simply turned into sparkled when it touched them.
"Don't just stand there!" Belos hissed as he fell to the ground turning completely to goo as he started to crawl to the twins.
Luz closed her eyes as she turned away from him. Cruz continued to look down at Belos as if he were nothing more than garbage that needed to be burned.
"You'll be just as bad, just as conniving, just as evil, and just as unforgivable as those witches!"
Belos held onto Luz's leg as more rain continued to fall down. "We're humans. We're better than this!"
Luz stepped back as a scowling Raine, Eda and King stepped forward. "Well, we ain't!" Eda said as Belos who had been reduced to a skull looked at them in shock.
"Don't worry, Belos," Cruz said as Belos looked up at his icy cold eyes. "The Titan has big plans for you."
Eda, Raine and King all raised their feet as they began to stomp on Belos' skull repeatedly as he finally died once and for all. The rain clouds began to clear up.
"That was… extremely satisfying," Raine said
"Ew, it's on my claws!" King groaned as he lifted up his left foot to get rid of the goo.
As Raine feels the sunlight, they make the leaf they'd made as an umbrella disappear. There's a large golden light that appeared behind the three.
"Huh?"
They turn to see that Luz and Cruz were floating up in the air as the symbols on their chest was glowing and spreading upward. Luz opened her eyes as they glow in a golden hue as the Titan powers she borrowed were released.
The light manifested into a Titan as it was surrounded by glyphs. The Titan manifestation roared as Eda, King and Raine looked at it shock.
"Is that…" Raine began to say
"I think it is," Eda said as she turned to look at King. "Dang kid. You do have tall genes."
King's eyes sparkle in amazement as the manifestation of Hyperion roared again. It quickly looked over at Cruz before flying into his body as the glow surrounded Cruz before dying down.
Luz had returned to her normal Azura costume. As she opened her eyes, Luz realized she didn't have her powers anymore as she began to fall down.
Eda and King both rushed towards her before Cruz grabbed onto Luz's hand he used his body to shield her from the impact.
Eda and King reached the two as they saw that Cruz had used his new wings to soften the blow from the impact.
"Why didn't you use your wings?" Eda asked. "And how do you have wings?!"
"Honestly, no idea. I guess Titans grow wings when they're older. Makes sense when we saw Hyperion. And I have no idea how to use these wings yet."
Luz then remembered something as she looked over at King.
"Oh! Your dad had a message for you," Luz said as she whispered in his ear.
"I loaf you? I loaf you," King said as he chuckled. "Bread pun!" King started to laugh as the three joined him.
"Isn't it amazing? We did it. After everything, after all that, we stuck together," Luz said happily
"Yeah, we did alright," Eda said
"I'll say," King said happily
"Did it work?" Luz asked after a second as she turned to Cruz
"Did what work?" Eda asked
"I think so. Let me try something," Cruz said as he closed his eyes. After a second he opened them again and smiled.
"Yep! It worked. He's resting in my mind for now, but he's still alive."
"Who is?" King asked
"Hyperion," Cruz told him. "Your dad's soul is living in my mind now until I can figure out how to get him a new host body."
Eda and King looked at Cruz in shock as he closed his eyes and laid on the ground.
At the Archives, Camila, Gus, Amity, Hunter, Willow, Skara and the Collector are all standing on the balcony as they overlook the rising sun. The Archives were now resting on the Titan's skull as its left arm was rising up into the air.
"And that's how we saved the Boiling Isles," Luz narrated. A bird landed on a tree as it was now standing sideways since the left arm was now rising into the air.
"Well… as much as we could. We were so relieved to see everyone safely released from the Archives. They were spared the worst of it, at least."
At the Archives, Lilith put puppet Steve next to the Collector as he released him from the spell. Steve looked at himself in relief before picking up Lilith for a hug.
"Because of that, everyone got to reunite with their families and loved ones."
Alador stood in a corner as he looked around for any of his family members. "Dad!" Amity yelled as she ran up to Alador and hugged him.
Odalia is standing nearby crossing her arms as the two of them ignore her. Gus is looking around worriedly for his dad before he happily spotted him. Gus spread his arms as he created four illusions of himself.
Perry is looking around worriedly for his son when Gus and his illusions approached him and surrounded him. Perry tried to hug a Gus before he disappeared and tried again before succeeding with the third Gus. Perry kissed Gus on the cheek as the father and son smiled happily at each other.
Willow was standing next to Hunter as she looked around for her dads. Hunter then pointed forward as Willow runs towards her dads. The three happily hug each other as they set Willow down. Harvey laughs as he cries tears of joy before kissing his husband.
Hunter smiled at the family being reunited before he looked down as he placed his right hand on his chest as he realized that unlike the others, there was no one waiting for him.
"And if someone thought they had no one waiting for them, well, they were in for a nice surprise."
Hunter's hair is suddenly ruffled as he turned to the person with an annoyed expression before looking in shock at seeing Darius and Eberwolf. Darius then took his hand back before pointing at Hunter's shirt. Hunter happily starts to explain wolves as Darius and Eberwolf listen to him.
At Hexside, the students celebrated the return of Principal Bump. As he lands, his long hair settles as Amelia is sitting on his staff with him.
Boscha and Cat push through the crowd as they hug their friend as tears of relief stream down their eyes.
"Still, there was a lot of work to be done..."
Morton, Tibbles, and more witches looked at their stands and the destruction that was left. Darius and Eberwolf looked up at the Titan's left arm.
"And not everyone was keen to change things." Vitimir, Terra and Adrian stood over Belos' abandoned throne with a mischievous look on their faces.
The shadows of Darius and Eberwolf loomed over them. Darius turned his hand into an abomination as he threatened them along with Eberwolf. The three backed away nervously before Vitimir returned to try and touch the edge of the throne before it was melted by Darius' abomination goo.
In Latissa, four scouts tried to move a tree but were unsuccessful. Yellow energy surrounded the tree as Steve and the CATs stared down the scouts. They all looked at each other before taking their masks off as Steve shook their hands.
"But we were ready to give it a shot. All of us."
In the Owl House, Eda fixed her nest as she laid Raine down before laying next to them. King quickly jumped into the next as they all laughed.
A blue glow from outside got their attention as the Collector peeked in from the door. Following him inside was Lilith wearing a hood up.
As the Clawthorne sisters reunite, Camila, Amity and Skara walk into the Owl House.
Amity and Skara quickly run up to their partners. Amity and Luz share a kiss as Cruz lifted Skara up happily before kissing her on the lips as well.
Camila walked up to Luz as she taps her on the shoulder. Amity backed up a bit as Camila hugged her daughter before pulling in Cruz for a hug as well.
Eda extends her hand out nervously to Camila as King sits on her shoulder also extending his hand out. Camila pulls the two in for a hug.
The Collector walks up to Lilith as they hold up a blue star that turns into Hooty. Lilith kneeled down and touched puppet Hooty before turning him back to normal. Hooty has long eyelashes and a blush for some reason as his eyes open with sparkles before beaming at seeing Lilith. She cried as she smiled at her friend.
Hooty extended out of his bird nest as the Collector and Eda were startled back as he wrapped himself happily around Lilith.
Amity and Skara looked disturbed while Camila looked confused. Luz and Cruz pulled them all in for a hug.
"As for the Collector…."
The Collector approached King nervously as he held Francois. He then smiled as he turned the bunny to face King.
"He, Cruz and I made a pinky promise to keep trying our best."
King's eyes lit up immediately as he saw the stuffed bunny before jumping out of the nest and hugging it with a spin.
"He said he had a lot of growing up to do, so he decided to return to the stars."
The Collector looked over his shoulder with a smile before turning away with a frown as he began to walk away. King noticed this before looking down at Francois.
"Wait!" King called out as the Collector turned to look at him.
King walked up to the Collector as he placed his left claw on the Collector's right hand. He then placed Francois and pulled him into a hug.
"No one argued, but I think I heard King whisper, 'I hope I see you again.'"
As everyone talked amongst themselves, Luz and Cruz stood at the doorway smiling at them before they frowned and stepped outside.
"We got our happy ending, but Cruz and I realized something in that moment."
The twins stepped outside as they felt the wind before taking out a light glyph. When she tapped it, nothing happened.
"Since Hyperion was sleeping now, the powers of the glyph had disappeared until his return. We had learned the language of the Titans, but for now, we had no one to speak them to."
Tears formed in Luz's eyes as she clenched her right fist holding it up to her heart. "It had helped us find our place when we had no other way. Until the day came we could speak it again, we would never forget it."
Luz let go of the light glyph as it flowed in the wind. "A whole chapter of our lives was over…"
Stringbean floated next to Luz holding her hat as Gizmo ran up to Cruz and nestled next to his neck. Luz put on her hat as Cruz put his mask back on.
The Palismen turned into staffs as the twins looked out into the distance. "…But a new one was just beginning."
Four years had passed, Luz was in her room as she picked up her Azura figure and placed it in a box with more of her things. The box had Eda's varsity jacket, her Grom crown and a few of her Azura books.
She then put the box on her desk that had the letter LA carved into it. A college acceptance letter was pined to the board on her wall along with the dorm number and key.
She had multiple pictures hanging on the wall. A picture of the twins along with Vee and Nero graduating high school. A writing scholarship hung on the wall along with a picture of the Noceda family at the zoo with the giraffes. Amity and Luz stood behind a tree as Hooty traumatized a poor barista.
Old photos of Grom along with the Emerald Entrails, Amity and Luz sitting on the roof of the Owl House were next to the photos of King playing catch with Hooty and Eda. Another photo showed Eda introducing Camila to Apple blood.
A final pair of photos showed Cruz sitting in his new lab as he got help from Ford and Terri for their joint projects on multi-versal travel.
Luz touched a light glyph that hung in her room as nothing happened. Camila walked into her room as she leaned on the doorway.
"!Ahí estás tu! ¿Puedes ayudarme a envolver a estos maduros? (There you are! Can you help me wrap these maduros?)"
"I'll… be right there," Luz said
Camila let out a sigh. "I can't believe you're already leaving for college. Remind me, what major did you pick again?"
"Come on Mamá, you know me. I picked all of 'em," Luz said happily as she showed Camila her list of courses that had all of the majors checked.
Over the last four years, Luz had changed a bit. Her hair was shorter in a fluffier style. She now wore a purple and white shirt with a purple jacket with a snake on it. She wore a pair of baggy yellow pants with different patches on it. A music and potions patch was on her right leg and an abomination and an infinity symbol was on her left leg.
She had on a pair of purple and white sneakers with diamonds on them. She wore Amity's eclipse necklace along with a new earring on her right ear.
Camila chuckled as she stepped closer to Luz. "All of 'em? How is that even possible? Aren't your glyphs weaker now?"
Luz pet Stringbean on the head. "It's been tough, but me and Stringbean figured out our own way of doing things." Luz smiled as she held her list of courses in her hand. "And it'll be nice to finally see everyone again, after all this time."
"Luz…" Camila began before she smirked. "You saw them last week."
From outside, an older Vee and Nero listened in to Luz laughing as Owlbert was perched on Vee's hand.
Nero had followed in Cruz's footsteps and begun to work with science, leaning more towards technology while Cruz focused on medicine in the Human Realm.
His hair had grown a bit longer and he had started to work out a bit more. He wore a dark green shirt with a black vest over it. He had on a blue necklace that was shaped like a star that he'd gotten from his red headed friend from camp.
"That doesn't count. I was studying for finals."
"It's time," Vee said as she turned to Owlbert. "Go get the others."
Owlbert hooted in agreement as he flew out of the house. Owlbert flew to the old house. It had been purchased by the Noceda family and remodeled to be more welcoming. Owlbert flew to the doorknob as he activated the portal.
"Welcome to the Boiling Isles! Watch your step!" The Collector's voice said as Owlbert flew through the portal.
As he flew through the air, an older Willow flew past him wearing her Emerald Entrails uniform. She had become a professional Flyer Derby player. The two then dove down towards the forest.
In the forest, an older Hunter is carving an axolotl Palisman. As he finished carving it, he hands it to an older Braxus who is studying healing and beast keeping tracks at Hexside. Braxus holds up the Palisman happily to show Hunter and Wrath.
As Willow landed on the forest floor, Hunter turned to look at her as a bluejay Palisman named Waffle is siting on his shoulder.
Hunter then glanced over to the Bat Queen as she and her children are sitting in a garden with Dell and Gwendolyn. Dell gives Hunter a thumbs up as Hunter smiled at him before following after Willow.
The two slid down a hill before Hunter started to lose his balance, Willow quickly grabs him and pulls him in tight as they land on the ground safely. The two opened their eyes with a surprised expression as they both smiled warmly before Willow set Hunter down.
Willow walks up to a grave as Clover appeared next to her. She draws a spell circle as the grave for Flapjack is decorated with forget-me-not flowers.
As she finished decorating the gravesite, Hunter, Willow and Owlbert fly towards Bonesborough.
Boscha was running a stand for Grudgby equipment as a side job when her seasons as a professional Grudgby player died down. An older Morton waved at them as they flew past them.
The trio flew towards the library that had started to go through reconstruction. Matt was overseeing the construction as Kikimora pulled up wooden beams. Multiple J-Units were helping out with the construction to ease the pain on the workers.
Willow, Hunter and Owlbert run up to Lilith as she sees the plans to add a museum wing to the library with Hooty being the curator. She'd written a little reminder at the top to write to Flora to brag to her.
As Willow and Hunter reached her, a large amount of wind blows them back slightly as Hooty begins to flap in the wind.
A cat themed abomination blimp lands on the steps of the library as an older Amity steps out holding a book in one hand and a rope in the other. Amity swung towards Lilith as she caught her before spinning her happily. Amity handed the book to Lilith who then handed it to Mattholomule who flicked his hair back.
Lilith then grew wings as she turned into her harpy form resembling a raven and flew into the air with Willow, Hunter, Amity, and Owlbert.
They all fly towards Hexside. An older Skara is seen sitting outside with a multitude of her bard students as she plays her harp before she sees Owlbert flying past her. She quickly dismissed her students as she joined the others.
A student runs outside as they're holding a plant-potion hybrid spell. Barcus pats their back to try and make them feel better. The old illusion teacher welcomes students in as the new principal. Bump waved to them all as he's gardening and enjoying his retirement.
Nearby Hexside, Cruz sat in his new lab as he had a multitude of potions all being made at the same time. Multiple J-Units, including Jean-Luc, are helping him out with his research into making the Boiling Isles a much safer place for everyone.
He had gotten taller in the four years. He'd grown a few inches. His horns were now tougher resembling steel with his wings haven grown sturdier. He was wearing a sleeveless black shirt with a vest over it. It had multiple pockets on it along with his black pants with his holsters and pockets lines with different tools he might need. His old Mechanical Witch mask was hanging on the wall along with his old gauntlets and spell gloves.
After they had returned to the Human Realm, Cruz had accepted the offer from Ford and become his research assistant along with his grand-nephew Dipper. It had given him enough credits to attend high school at the bare minimum and focus all of his attention on rebuilding the isles.
He had helped Raine, Darius and Eberwolf to establish an elected council in charge of the isles where the people could speak and choose what needed to be made. A unanimous decision had been reached for Cruz's proposition to create guilds.
The people would all come together to use their different covens to create jobs for people and to work together where jobs needed multiple different types of magic. It was a good way for all the witches to help each other where one type of magic was lacking in versatility.
Another project of Cruz's was being closely guarded by two smaller juggernaut units. An artificial body with Titan blood from the J-Units and a bit of his own mixed in was lying in a tank. It was going to serve as the new body for Hyperion. The project had gotten some backlash at the beginning but most people understood that it was going to be used to save the life of someone they'd all looked up to. King was the most excited seeing as he was going to be able to see his dad.
A year after Belos' death, Hyperion had woken up and agreed to the new project after speaking to King for the first time.
Cruz had given over all his notes about removing the coven sigils to Darius, Alador and their research team. Cruz looked out his window and saw the group fly past before he opened his window and joined them as he climbed on his staff.
At the hospital, Alador put on a metal glove as Darius, Jerbo, Raine and Eberwolf watched over him. Bo, Viney, Emira and the healing coven witch that had given Eda her stone stood behind the witch with an Afro that had gotten his Sigil at the covention as Alador placed the glove on his wrist.
They all pooled their magic together as the glove began to glow before a puff of smoke came from it. As Alador removed the glove, they saw that the Sigil was gone. Darius shook Alador in excitement before he looked away in embarrassment.
Raine was speaking with Jerbo about the project when he pointed out Owlbert calling out to them from the window. As they look out the window, Raine and the others all go outside to join them.
Darius ruffled Hunter's hair as Willow laughed. Amity ran up to her dad and gave him and Emira a hug before Raine joined them and they flew off.
They all flew towards the center of the Titan where the castle once stood. Now a giant tree stood as it was converted to the University of Wild Magic. As Lilith and Raine landed, Owlbert continued to fly upwards. He flew past Edric as he entertained multiple students and the old illusion master as he taught the students about the looking glass ruins. Gus was now a teacher at the university teaching students about the Human Realm as part of the Human-Witch exchange program.
Owlbert flew up to the headmaster's door as it burst open with Eda twirling her staff. She had a hook for a hand. Cruz had offered to make her a better hand but Eda said that a hook was more fun. Ivy and Tres were lying on a branch next to her office as Tres was playing with Eda's cittern. Eda smiled as she joined the others.
As they flew towards the Owl House, they flew past the prison where Odalia was sitting in a cell after she'd been found guilty of helping Belos with most of his plans and her plans to take over the companies of Skara and Boscha's parents. They hadn't taken too kindly to it and had beaten Odalia before she was locked away for life.
At the Owl House, an older and slightly taller King was directing multiple people as they prepared for a party. Suddenly, the portal door began to power up again as he turned to look at it.
"Hurry, hurry," Vee said as she stepped through the portal
"Come on, you guys," Nero said as he and Vee morphed to their regular forms.
"What's the rush, you two?" Luz asked as she was dragged through the portal. "No one's gonna be mad if we're a little late." Luz was covering her eyes with her hand as Camila guided her.
"Yes, but today is special," Camila said
"Okay, okay," Luz said as she uncovered her eyes and gasped as Stringbean appeared next to her.
"Surprise!" Everyone yelled out as they stood in front of a banner that read "HAPPY KING-CEAÑERA"
Luz saw Bump siting as he and the Blight twins applauded. Raine and the CATs were applauding for her Cruz, Skara and the rest of the Hex-Squad were cheering for her as Amity ran up Luz before hugging her and giving her a kiss.
"What is this?" Luz asked in shock
"Well~ Since you spent your fifteenth birthday helping us rebuild the Isles…" Eda began to say
"…And sixteenth, and seventeenth," King added
"We wanted to make it up to you," Amity said as she stepped back
"Camila told us all about your quinceañeras from the Human Realm," Willow said
"And they sounded a lot less haunted than our birthdays," Gus added in.
"Cruz told me about them before, but they sound like so much fun," Skara said
"But what about Cruz?" Luz asked as she looked at her brother. "We're twins."
"Did you forget? My birthday is a day later, hermana. Forget about me for a second and just enjoy the party," Cruz said with a grin as Skara wrapped her arm around his side.
"I made sure we followed Camila's instructions perfectly!" Lilith said proudly as she unrolled a scroll.
"I… um…" Camila looked over to see Hooty and the Snaggleback acting as piñata titled "Pain-Yata". The Bat Queen's children worked with the Echo mouse to make a dress for Luz. Steve cut a piece of the Good Witch Azura themed cake as spiders began to spill out before engulfing him.
Camila looked concerned. "Good work everyone. Muy bueno."
"And look, look!" King said with excitement as he ran up to her and began to draw on the ground. He drew glyph that looked like a diamond with a circle in the center with a line going down the center and another going across it at the bottom. The top of the glyph had a circle with a pattern that looked like two horns.
When he tapped it, it turned into a small light glyph that started to float upward.
Luz gasped as she held the glyph. "King's powers are getting stronger," Eda said. "Yeah, and it looks like they're different from his dad's. But hey, you've got a whole new glyph language to try out."
"Until Hyperion gets his new body, we'll be helping King figure out his own language," Cruz said as he snapped his finger as a ball of light formed in his palm. "Haven't figured out how to teach my own language yet."
Luz smiled at them all. "Guys…"
"We've got another surprise," King said. "The Collector was in the area and well, he wanted to do something… special for the occasion. Look!"
They all walked up to the cliff as the Collector's magic began to form in the sky. A blue star flew in the air as pink magic began to shine in different directions.
Amity walked up holding onto Luz. Cruz and Skara walked up as they held hands. Hunter and Willow watched the light show as Hunter put his arm on Willow's shoulder before she pulled him by the waist surprising him. Gus watched with amazement as Eda winked at Raine.
"Eda, King, Cruz thank you," Luz said as she smiled at them. "For everything."
"Right back at ya, kiddo," Eda said as she smiled at her adoptive daughter
"Weirdos?" Luz asked as she offered her hand.
"Weirdos," the three said to her in unison
Luz then gasped as she looked up. "They're nearly gone," Luz said as she ran forward and faced everyone. "Okay everyone, on the count of three. One, two, three!"
"Bye~eee!"
It had been two years since then, Cruz and Skara headed into the woods as Cruz wanted to show Skara something.
"Come on, love. What did you want to show me?" Skara asked
"In a second, mi corazón. It'll ruin the surprise if I tell you," Cruz said as he parted the leaves.
Skara looked past the leaves and saw a beach. As she walked out onto the sand, she looked around in confusion.
"I don't get it," Skara said. "What's supposed to be here?"
"Look up there," Cruz said as she looked up and saw the clouds covering the night sky. Suddenly, the clouds parted as the sky was covered in millions of stars almost as if an entire galaxy was lying bare.
"It's beautiful…" Skara said in awe
"Skara…" Cruz said. When she turned around, Skara gasped as she saw Cruz kneeling on one knee with a ring box in his hand as he opened it with a brilliant golden ring in the center. "We've been together for quite a while now. I've never been happier than I'm with you. Will you make the rest of my life even happier and marry me?"
Skara looked at Cruz in shock as she smiled with tears in her eyes before jumping into Cruz's arms. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes! A million times yes!"
Cruz smiled as he spun Skara around before kissing her on the lips before she hugged him again. Cruz looked over towards the sand and saw his younger self poking his head out as his face was completely red. Cruz smiled remembering that day and the spoilers he'd gotten. He knew the past would be in good hands. He only needed to focus on his bright new future.