Lilith gasped and backed off a step as Gwendolyn marched right up to her and put her hands on her hips.
"Sweet Flea, you have a lot of explaining to do! What in the Titan's name did Luz mean when she said you cursed Edalyn!? And actually helping that monster Belos by handing my granddaughter over to him and trying to capture you sister! Did you truly do those things!?" Gwen demanded.
Lilith recoiled, the feathers on her neck getting longer. "M-Mom! I can explain!"
"Good! While you're at it, you can also explain why I had to find out from Luz's girlfriend that you're cursed too!"
Everyone turned to Amity, who winced; "Sorry, I didn't realise she didn't know! Besides, I found out that she's the one who stole the portal key and the Elixirs! She's also the one behind the crystals and beasts! She's been following the advice in some quack scam artist's book to try and heal Eda!"
Now everyone turned back to Gwen with furious expressions; "You did all that!? How could any of that stuff help me! You almost got me killed! And if I'd transformed without the Elixirs, I could have killed the others! My son was here, Gwendolyn! Who knows what could have happened!?" Eda roared, her curse once again beginning to flair up.
"Master Wortlop is not a scam artist!" Gwen yelled, "And I did what I had to to save you from that awful curse! Starting with destroying that nasty poison!"
Before anyone could stop her, Gwen snapped her fingers and a large demon bird (the same one she'd been spying through) suddenly swooped down and knocked over the cauldron of Elixir, sending the orange liquid seeping into the dirt.
"No! What are you doing!?" Luz cried, running to try and salvage the Elixirs. Unfortunately it was too late; the dirt had rendered it useless.
"Are you crazy!?" King yelled; "We needed that!"
"No you didn't! According to Master Wortlop, those things are made by Healers and Potioneers who only want money!" Gwen replied haughtily.
Luz, King, and Eda all looked furious; "We make them ourselves! We don't even need to buy the ingredients thanks to our plant glyphs!" Luz cried.
"Do you think we charge our own Mom!?" King added.
Eda's curse symptoms began to get worse, and Lilith was nearly catatonic, trying to deal with all the horrible feelings of shame, misery, and anger bubbling away inside her.
Gwendolyn shook her head; "I'm sure you meant well children, but it's better to leave this to the experts."
"Experts!?" they exclaimed furiously.
Gwen ignored them and turned back to Lilith, frowning severely; "I'm still waiting for that explanation, Lilith Clawthorne! Why didn't you tell me you were cursed too!?"
Lilith stared at the mother for a long moment, eyes wide and jaw agape as the shock of the situation overcame her. But ever so slowly, her eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched as anger overcame her. "Why didn't I tell you? You actually have the nerve to ask me that!?" she snapped.
Gwendolyn gasped and everyone around her recoiled; they'd never heard Lilith speak with such venom. And she was only getting started;
"You want to know why I didn't tell you!? Tell me Mother, when would I have even had the chance!? During all the myriad of times you came to visit me!?" Lilith yelled, voice dripping with sarcasm, "Or perhaps during all the times we've talked today? Oh that's right, you only let me get one sentence in before you ignored me… for Edalyn… AGAIN! Did you know that your one hello and comment about my hair was the ONLY time you've talked to me in over a YEAR!?"
Lilith took a step forward as her rage built, and her mother stepped back fearfully; "Now Sweet Flea, that's enough! I'm your mother! You know I love you!"
"Do I!? I sure don't feel like it! And you call yourself my mother, but that sure doesn't feel like it either! A mother would have been there for me! But you were barely involved in my life even before I cursed Edalyn! It was always "Edalyn this" and "Edalyn that"! You barely even acknowledged that you had another daughter!" Lilith accused.
Gwen shook her head, fervently denying it; "That isn't true! I always loved you both equally! Your sister just needed a little more attention; you know how she is! She was always energetic and mischievous; you were calmer, better behaved, and so independent! You didn't need me as much as she did!"
Camila chimed in, severely unimpressed with that excuse; "Did you not pay her attention because she was independent, or did she have to become independent due to your neglect?"
"I-I did not neglect my daughter!" Gwen cried.
Lilith scoffed bitterly; "Oh please, you didn't even come to my Hexside Graduation, or my Coven Initiation! Even Dad and Eda came to them both! And Dad hated my decision to join the Emperor's Coven, but he still supported me!"
Eda's eyes widened; she'd attended those events in secret, wanting to see her big sister's big days, but she'd thought Lilith hadn't known! Unfortunately, her moment of thought was cut short as Lilith's feathers began to grow out more, appearing in more places as rings of black appeared around the edges of her eyes.
Luz saw this too and put her hands up soothingly; "Aunt Lilith, please try to stay calm!"
"Why!?" Lilith demanded, whipping around to face Luz; "Why should I be calm!? What right do I have to be calm, or happy, or content!?" tears began to build in her eyes; "Everyone I love hates me, or I ruined their lives, or both! My sister, my niece and nephew, my apprentice… I can't look Dad in the face because I ruined his life and let Edalyn take the blame, my own mother only gave me the time of day when she found out I cursed the child she actually loved! What possible reason do I have to be anything even close to calm!"
Luz and the others gasped softly as Lilith fell to her knees and punched the ground; "All I've done in my life is hurt and disappoint people! I thought I could make up for my sins and redeem myself, but I can't, can I? I'm never going to be anything more than a monster! An unloved monster! I… I…"
She nearly collapsed to the ground as all strength and resistance left her; "I should never have been born…"
With those final heartbreaking words, the feathers completely overtook Lilith and the woman let out a final, heart-wrenching scream before she completely transformed into her cursed state. The others looked on in horror as Lilith's beast form roared with rage and sorrow.
Lilith's cursed form was quite a bit bigger than Eda's; it was covered in long, shaggy black feathers that looked almost like Lilith's long black hair, and hard dark brown feathers on its legs, each of which was tipped with razor sharp black claws. The beast's wings were dark grey and massive, being notably raven-like compared to Eda's owl-like form, and her face had become far more monstrous that Eda's beast form, complete with longer, veiny ears with multiple spikes along the underside. Luz wasn't sure if it was because of the circumstances of the transformation or because of the nature of the beast itself, but this "Raven Beast" was far scarier looking than the Owl Beast!
The Raven Beast snarled and swiped her claws at Gwendolyn, but Hooty saved her by slamming into the back of Gwen's legs, making her fall over so the claws sailed over her head. King then used the emergency light glyph carved into his medallion to stun the Raven Beast, since light glyphs seemed to work to enrapture and calm the Owl Beast. However it didn't do more than make the Raven Beast rear back and try to stomp on him, as well as blinding the others who hadn't been prepared for the flash. The Beast missed the first stomp due to her blindness, but the second was right on target. Thankfully Luz was used to being blinded by flashes by this point and recovered fast enough to throw up a crystal barrier around King to save him, and Camila, who recovered next, cast a concussive force spell at the Raven Beast's underbelly, sending it into the sky and giving them all a chance to breath.
The Beast roared once again and prepared to dive bomb the group, but Vee flew at the beast, a look of fear and determination on her face as she flapped her wings as hard as she could. She darted to the Beast's back and landed on it, wrapping her tail around its neck and holding on tight so she could begin devouring its magic. The Raven Beast thrashed in fury, and the magic streaming out of it was pitch black and tasted rancid, making Vee choke and weaken her grip, allowing the beast to throw her off. Amity caught Vee by sending her Oracle Spirit to grab her out of the air.
While Vee's plan hadn't worked to defeat the Raven Beast, it had made it wary of her, causing it to promptly turn around and fly away at high speeds.
"She's flying towards Gravesfield!" Luz cried.
"Oh no, the humans will be defenceless against her!" Rasiel exclaimed.
"Not as defenceless as you think, unless the curse makes one bulletproof. Lilith could be shot down and killed if the police show up! Not to mention the danger of exposing magic to the Human Realm!" Camila argued, suddenly looking very worried.
"We've got to go after her!" Eda declared, taking a step forward before falling to one knee with a growl as her own curse began to force itself out. She was stressed and almost as low on magic as Lilith had been; she was going to transform any minute now!
"Mom! Oh no, we need Elixir!" King cried.
Amity and Rasiel paled; "W-We forgot to grab the bag when we ran after Gwen!"
They looked to Vee, who guiltily held up the portal key; "I-I only grabbed this. We had the cauldron, so I didn't think to get any of the Elixirs! I'll fly back and get them!"
As Vee flew off back to where she'd left the bag, a despondent Corvanc landed on Rasiel's shoulder, while the others desperately tried to keep Eda from transforming. Meanwhile Hooty could do nothing but watch and feel awful; he'd wanted to help Lulu and his family, but he'd only made things worse.
"This is all my fault…" he hooted miserably; "I just wanted to help Lulu and Eda and Luz! I love my Owl Family!"
"Hooty… we love you too; you're a weirdo like us! You were trying to help, but were tricked; we understand." Luz said softly, briefly looking up from where she was helping soothe Eda.
King frowned as those words made him think about Lilith; "Trying to help, only to get tricked… just like Lilith and Belos." he muttered. Maybe he'd been too harsh with Lilith… aside from the curse, nothing she'd done had been malicious and even the curse hadn't been intended to be as bad as it was.
Hooty also took Luz's words to heart and hurried over to Eda, where he promptly coughed up an Owl Pellet beside her, which he scratched open with his chicken talons to reveal a bottle of Elixir.
"I saved one, just in case. Now I'm going to go and save my best friend! Hold on Lulu, Hooty's coming!" he declared, running off after the Raven Beast with unnatural speed.
The others looked at him with surprise, while Eda gulped down the Elixir and sighed with relief as the curse was once again pushed back.
"That little weirdo is a Titan-send." Eda said.
"Eda! Thank goodness you're okay! We need to go after Lilith before she gets hurt, or hurts someone else!" Luz said urgently.
Eda nodded; "Hooty will be able to hold her back for a bit; he's surprisingly resourceful. Besides, we're going to need a plan if we want to stop Lilith without exposing magic to the humans."
As the Clawthorne-Noceda family began to discuss what to do, Gwendolyn looked to be shutting down completely, still kneeling on the ground and staring off into space in the direction Lilith had flown off.
"H-Have I been wrong all this time?" she whispered, slowly looking down at her tome and medallion; "I tried so many things… the Beast-Keeping Coven said the curse couldn't be tamed, and the Healing Coven said it couldn't be healed… I was so desperate… Wortlop told me they were lying so they could keep selling treatment instead of a cure… I believed him. I-I need to go and talk to him! Surely this is a misunderstanding! Surely there's something I'm missing!"
"Yes! You're missing the point!" Amity yelled; "Wortlop is a scam artist! He's been lying to you and exploiting you for snails! How have you not gotten that through your head yet!?"
Gwendolyn shook her head as tears streamed down her face; no, this couldn't have all been for nothing! 20 years, all of her savings, and the relationships with her family… she couldn't have wasted it all on a lie!
Could she?
Camila, seeing the woman on the verge of a total breakdown, went and knelt in front of her; "I know how you must be feeling right now. You did all this because you thought it was for your daughter's benefit. As a mother, you only want what's best for your child, right?"
"O-Of course!" Gwen sobbed.
"I understand what you're feeling very well. Sometimes we do what we think is best for our children, without realising that we're hurting them. We tell ourselves its for their own good, but even as we do that, we're ignoring what they want and how they feel. I did the same once… but all I succeeded in doing is pushing my daughter away, and worse, reinforcing her belief that there was something wrong with her. It took me seeing how badly my daughter was hurting and how little I was helping to finally realise my mistakes. Now you're in the same boat and you've got a choice to make; you can keep denying it and hurting your children, or you can accept your failings and try to fix them!" Camila said passionately, putting her hands on Gwen's shoulders.
Gwen looked Camila in the eye, searching the woman's face for signs of deceit or manipulation. A person she thought she could trust had just been exposed as a fraud, and she'd hurt one of her precious babies on his word; she couldn't let herself be fooled again! But this woman was an angel, just like her granddaughter; her every word had been the truth.
"I-I really was scammed, wasn't I?" Gwen asked in a small voice.
Camila nodded with a sad smile; "You were. You shouldn't feel too ashamed; I've been scammed like that too. I once sold energy drinks as part of a pyramid scheme for three years! I thought I was helping people and needed to make more money while my husband was sick, my daughter was a newborn, and I was still in veterinary school. Turns out I was being taken advantage of by people who saw an opportunity to exploit a mother."
Gwen clenched her fists and bitterly threw Wortlop's tome away and set fire to it; "I've been a fool. A Titan-damned fool!"
"Took you long enough…" Eda muttered bitterly.
The Clawthorne Matriarch stood and cautiously approached her youngest child; "Oh, my beautiful daughter… I failed you and your sister so much." she slowly put a hand on Eda's cheek, and the Owl Lady tensed but didn't move away.
"I should've listened to you. All these years, I wondered why you insisted on pushing me away… now I understand." Gwen shook her head ruefully; "I made you feel like your curse was something to be ashamed of. Something that made you lesser. I hurt you to "fix" you, and drove you away. And when you told me you'd found a way to make it manageable, I treated that method, and you by extension, like it wasn't good enough. I was being selfish without even realising it, and treating your problem like it was mine. I can never apologise enough for that…"
Eda felt a little of her resentment break away as she relaxed into her mother's touch; "Better late than never, I guess."
"Oh Witchlet… I am so, so sorry. While it was never what either of us wanted for you, this curse is a part of you now. And I love every part of you. I'm sorry I ever made you doubt that." Gwen said earnestly, gently stroking Eda's cheek.
"Thanks Mom. I appreciate that… maybe once we save Lilith, the three of us can sit down and talk things out. Being a Mom myself now, I understand you a little better. Besides, I think I need to say some things to Lily too…" Eda sighed, worry for her big sister filling her chest once more.
"I think we all have some things to say to Aunt Lilith." Luz said, petting a nodding King. "But first we need to save her! I've got a plan that could do just that without exposing us as witches and angels to the humans, but I'll need everyone's help. Are you in, Abuela?"
Gwendolyn looked a bit confused, so Camila leaned in and whispered; "That means Grandma."
The woman gave a soft little gasp in response, and she smiled brilliantly; "Of course, Little One. I'm so sorry that our first meeting has become such a disaster; I hope we can start again after this is over." she then took off Wortlop's medallion and her eyes gleamed; "How about we start with some skeet shooting!"
She tossed her medallion high into the air, and Luz grinned and blasted it with a light beam, shattering it to pieces. Everyone looked on with satisfaction, and a moment later, Vee showed up with the bag of Elixirs."
"What did I miss?" she asked curiously, having seen the light beam.
"Don't worry about it Vee. Come on over here, I've got a plan and we'll need your help too!" Luz smiled, now feeling more pumped up.
[Meanwhile]
Jacob Hopkins was having a slow day at the Gravesfield Historical Society; he was stuck watching the front desk, even though no one had come in all day. Unfortunately the Museum's owners were sticklers about him doing his actual job, rather than following his true passion; trying to research the Demon plague that resided in their sleepy little town.
Ever since he'd witnessed the true nature of the two Noceda Girls, he'd been watching their house carefully. Hopkins had put up disposable cameras to document their comings and goings (one of which had been discovered, to his annoyance, so he hadn't been able to go and check the others), and he'd also put more snare traps in the woods in hopes of snagging one of them again! It had worked once, so it had to work a second time, right? Sadly his observations hadn't exposed anything interesting; just that only one of the girls was usually home, and the second only appeared on the weekends. Where she went in the meantime was lost on Hopkins, or even if it was the same one who disappeared each time; for all he knew, they alternated!
Hopkins was updating his blog with his latest theories on the subject (he suspected one of the Demon girls remained on Mars with the rest of her kind, while the other stayed as their spy on Earth), when he suddenly heard screaming coming from outside. Frowning, he hopped to his feet and walked out to see what the commotion was about, then promptly gasped at what he saw. A giant griffin-like bird monster was flying overhead, roaring and shrieking as some kind of long worm-like creature was trying to wrap itself around it like a snake. The worm-like creature was, oddly enough, coming from a little bird house running around on chicken legs, and it appeared to be… hooting?
Hopkins almost couldn't believe his luck; real demons! And two of them to boot, out in public! Now he'd finally have all the evidence he needed to make his claims believable! Still, the griffin monster looked eerily similar to the owl-like beast he'd seen before; the one with the face of that vagabond Eda. It was clearly a different creature, but it definitely had a strong resemblance! Shaking that thought off, Hopkins rushed into his office and donned his specially purchased Anti-Demon armour, which took the form of a heavy breastplate, large spiked pauldrons, a horned helmet, and a red cape. He also grabbed an ornate sword he'd bought at a Covention, as well as a curved knife that he intended to use to take the monster's pelt once he'd brought it down! As the only Demon Expert in town, he was surely the only one who could save it from the beast!
"Look out Gravesfield! Your hero is on his way!" he grinned to himself, running out onto the streets and heading in the direction of the two demons, who had flown towards the town park. People were running and screaming in the opposite direction, but just as many others were stopping to gawk or even going towards the park to watch the scene. Thanks to the crowd going both directions, Hopkins barely managed to push through to the park in time to see the Raven Beast knock the strange worm demon off of it and into a pond, where it was forced to drag itself out with a waterlogged hoot. Now that Hopkins had a closer look, the worm had an owl-like face too… just what kind of bizarre demon was it!? From the number of claw marks on it and the amount of ruffled feathers on the Raven Beast, it looked like the two had been fighting for quite a while!
"Hoot… Hoot…" Hooty panted, "You're really strong, Lulu! But don't worry! I'll still save you from your curse!"
The Raven Beast snarled at him and continued to circle around the park, occasionally dive-bombing the few humans who hadn't fled. However each time she tried, Hooty would extend himself out rapidly and smack into the Raven Beast's neck or stomach, dazing her and protecting the humans. Despite the dangerous situation, a lot of them seemed to be treating the whole thing like some kind of show. Hopkins scoffed at them all; they were too stupid to realise they were in danger!
Ironically, he didn't realise that his own get-up was half the reason for that. Seeing a man in armour wielding a sword and running after a giant monster and some kind of odd mascot character made most people assume it was all just a TV Show being filmed.
Pushing himself through the crowd of gawkers and into the park proper, Hopkins pointed his sword at the Raven Beast and declared; "Come down here and face me, Demon! I'll slay you and reveal the truth of your kind to all of Gravesfield, and then the world!"
The Raven Beast took notice of him and snarled, swooping down to attack him. Her claws were sharp enough to shred his cheap armour and sword like tissue paper, but before she could actually reach him, she was once again knocked back by Hooty. The House Demon headbutted her as hard as he could, and while this saved Hopkins, it angered Lilith and focused her rage back on him. The Raven Beast roared and bit down on his neck, making Hooty flail around and screech, his little chicken legs running around in terror.
Hopkins grinned as he saw an opportunity and raised his sword high; "I'll slay both you monsters!"
"We cannot allow that!"
A voice echoed across the park, supernaturally amplified so it seemed to be coming from all directions at once. A beam of light shot out of the sky and struck Hopkins' sword, snapping the blade off at the hilt and making him cry out in shock and fury; he'd spent a week's wages on this sword!
"Good people of Gravesfield, don't be alarmed!" said the voice; "You are about to be saved by…"
Five colourful plumes of smoke suddenly burst out of the ground in the centre of the park, obscuring everyone's view of the entire area with a miasma of red, yellow, black, pink, and white. The smoke quickly dissipated though and revealed five figures.
"… The Magi-Rangers!"
Hopkins gaped in shock as he stared at the five people who now stood in together in the park, each posing dramatically. They were wearing colour-coded jumpsuits with bird-themed helmets that looked like they'd jumped straight out of a Power Rangers or Super Sentai series.
Hooty was surprised too, but he immediately recognised all of them as Eda, Luz, Amity, King, and Vee, hiding behind illusions.
Behind her disguise, Luz was grinning widely; this was her master plan to stop Lilith without exposing magic to the humans; pretend the entire thing was nothing but a TV set! Humans were naturally sceptical of magic, and as soon as they were given a believable explanation for fantastical things, they'd swallow it hook, line, and sinker! Since the Raven Beast was a giant monster and Hooty looked like a mascot puppet, it was even easier to sell that image! Hiding herself and the others as Power Ranger Knock-offs using Concealing Stones also ensured they could fight and bring Lilith down without too much attention!
Gwendolyn, her Mami, and Rasiel were also hiding nearby; Gwendolyn was hiding under an illusion, ready to administer an elixir as soon as Lilith was brought down, Camila was using illusion magic to produce the smoke effects and create the image of camera crews set up on the rooftops around the park, while Rasiel kept the police at bay with paper towels that had been covered in an illusion to look like legal documents giving them the right to film in the park.
Several kids in the park were already cheering, and Luz just knew they'd love what was coming next!
"Okay Mom, follow the script!" Luz whispered.
Eda, who'd been the mystery speaker a moment ago, blushed beneath her disguise and whined; "This is embarrassing, Owlet!"
"It's for Aunt Lilith!" Luz reminded her.
Eda groaned and stepped forward. She performed a dramatic pose and showed off her uniform, which was coloured red and had an owl-themed helmet; "I am Magi-Ranger Red Owl!" she announced, barely hiding her embarrassment.
King, who was disguised as a teenage human, performed his own pose, showing off his black uniform and crow-themed helmet; "I am Magi-Ranger Black Crow!" he declared, far more enthusiastic than his Mom.
Vee was next, feeling totally bewildered; "I am Magi-Ranger Yellow Canary?" she announced, awkwardly posing.
Next was Amity, who actually enjoyed the cosplay illusion more than she was letting on; "I am Magi-Ranger Pink Dove!" she cried, posing with flair.
Luz was the last one, and by far the most excited. This plan was also a chance to fulfil a childhood fantasy of hers after all! "And I am Magi-Ranger White Sparrow!"
The five of them then did a team pose, accompanied by explosions of smoke in their signature colours appearing behind them. Eda then pointed at the Raven Beast, who was growling softly at them; "We will lift the curse that the foul Emperor Belos has placed on you, Sister! Then you will return to being Magi-Ranger Blue Raven!"
As soon as she said those words and finished setting up the scene, all five of the "Magi-Rangers" essentially dropped the act and got to work. Luz, Eda, and Amity all ran at the Raven Beast with the intent of dragging her down to the ground and restraining her, while King ran to help the injured Hooty and Vee began to evacuate the people still in the park, using the excuse that they needed to "get off the set".
"I'm confused." Hooty said as King used his Healing Glyph Combo to repair the damage that the Raven Beast had done to him.
"Me too. This was some crazy idea of Luz's. But hey, it's working! The Humans don't seem to realise what's really going on!" King replied, gesturing at the people around them, who were cheering and using their phones to record the show.
Hooty sighed with relief as his cuts closed, then hooted; "Do I get to be a Magi-Ranger too!? I'll be Magi-Ranger Hooty House!"
"Hooty isn't a colour and House isn't a bird." King pointed out.
"Aw, but Eda already took Owl…" he pouted.
King rolled his eyes behind his illusory mask; "Fine, whatever. Come on; this'll be easier with your help."
As King picked Hooty up and strapped his birdhouse to his back, Hopkins was gaping in disbelief at what he was seeing.
"Just a show!? How can anyone be stupid enough to believe this!?" he growled to himself; "Those cameras weren't there a second ago, I'm sure of it!"
His rant to himself was interrupted when Vee, disguised as Yellow Canary, ran over to him and said; "Sorry sir, but we really need all civilians to vacate the park. Don't worry, the show will be over soon! Also, please be careful with those knives! We don't want any of our actors getting hurt!"
Hopkins spluttered; actors!? As if he'd believe that! However as the girl ran off to alert the next group of people to get out of the park, something clicked inside his head; the girl's voice was familiar! It sounded a lot like the Noceda girl's!
Narrowing his eyes on her, Hopkins examined the girl's silhouette more closely; the yellow jumpsuit she was wearing wasn't quite skintight, but it was close enough that he could get a very good look at her frame and general body type, which were also notably similar to the Noceda girl's… not identical, but enough that the suit could excuse any differences.
"I knew it! They're no super heroes! They're the demons! They must be putting on this show to distract us all from their attack on the town!" he ranted. Well, he wasn't going to let them get away with that! He'd let them bring down their out of control monster, then swoop in and defeat it and them in one swoop! His sword may have been broken, but he still had his knife!
Unaware of Hopkins' rantings, Vee kept urging people to leave the park, ever mindful of the battle between the others and the Raven Beast. Most people were willing to leave without too much fuss so long as she let them take a selfie with her first, and the few that weren't were convinced after a warning that some of the "special effects" could be dangerous to them. She stayed in-character through all of it, and actually began to have some fun pretending to be a super-hero; she could kind of understand why Luz had wanted to go with this plan!
She was just about to go and clear out the next group when she noticed someone she hadn't expected; Masha. Vee's best friend (and crush, as much as she tried to deny it when Mama or Luz brought it up) was sat on a high branch of the tree that they often hung out under whenever they all met up, and was eagerly watching the battle going on, using their phone to record everything. Heart lurching, Vee ran to them as fast as she could and shouted up at them.
"Excuse me, Citizen! We really need everyone out of the park! It's dangerous on the set! Please climb down and move to a safe distance!" Vee yelled.
Masha, who hadn't been looking at her, suddenly got a strange look on their face and looked down at Vee.
"Luz? Is that you?" they asked.
Vee cursed; since she'd created this disguise by mimicking Luz's illusory costume and altering the colours and helmet, her voice ended up being the same as Luz's, which meant it was also the same voice Masha and her other friends were used to!
Deciding it wasn't worth it to lie right now, Vee nodded and said; "Masha, I need you to come down! Seriously, it's not safe!"
Masha grinned; "Oh wow, this is a side to you I've never seen! Is this like a local drama production, or did you go and become a TV star when I wasn't looking?"
"Masha, I'll explain everything later! But seriously, you need to get down or you could get-"
"INCOMING!"
Masha and Vee both whipped around to see the Raven Beast flying right at them, having been clipped by a light beam from Luz and forced to make a crash landing. Eda and Amity were flying after her with their staves (Owlbert being turned red and Ghost being disguised as a pink dove to match Amity's disguise) and trying to lasso the beast back towards them and prevent her from hitting Masha. They managed to succeed in pulling the beast down a bit and avoiding a direct hit with the human, but their efforts instead resulted in the Raven Beast slamming into the tree trunk beneath Masha, snapping it like a twig and causing Masha to scream as they fell from their perch. They thankfully landed softly on the Raven Beast's back, but the beast recovered quickly and immediately took to the sky again, forcing Masha to hold on for dear life lest they fall to their death.
They screamed in terror as the Raven Beast flew away, and Vee cried out; "Masha! No!"
Without stopping to think for even a moment, Vee shed her disguise completely and took on her true, Quetzalcoatl Basilisk form, before flying after Masha and the Raven Beast. Eda and Amity followed with her on their staves, while Luz flew in with her wings and King even took flight using Hooty, who extended his neck and spun it around like a helicopter's propeller to allow the disguised Titan to fly.
"She's trying to escape!" Luz yelled, "We need to stop her and tie her down! Then we can save that human and give Lilith the Elixir!"
The actual fight with the Raven Beast hadn't been too difficult for the extended family so far; she was strong, fast, and had deadly claws, but she didn't have any usable magic, while the others all had spells, glyphs, and their own abilities to fly, not to mention greater numbers. If it weren't for the fact they had to be mindful of the humans and collateral damage, they could have defeated the beast easily!
"We need to get that human off of her before we can really nail her though! Otherwise we might hurt them!" Eda yelled back.
"Leave that to me!" Vee declared, a fierce determination bubbling up inside her. "I just need a boost to get closer to Miss Lilith! She's faster than me!"
King nodded and pulled out one of his glyph combos; "The wind glyph might not work here right now, but my old wind combo should work! I knew this thing would come in handy!"
He slapped the glyph note between his claws and created a gust of wind from his palm that he aimed at Vee's back. The wind caught the little Basilisk's wings and gave her just the extra push she needed to dart forward even faster and finally get close to the Raven Beast. She grabbed its tail feathers and used them to drag herself onto the creature's back and slither up to the still-screaming Masha.
She gently took her best friend's arm, and Masha spun around with wide-eyes, shocked by the creature she was looking at.
"W-What!?"
"It's okay!" Vee assured her; "I'm here to save you! Just hold on tight!"
Still terrified out of their mind but seeing no other options, Masha nodded fearfully and allowed Vee to wrap her arms around their waist, then jump off of the Raven Beast, flicking her tail down hard in the process and cracking it against the Raven Beast's back, right between its wings. This made the beast roar in pain and slow its pace, allowing the others to catch up more easily.
"That wasn't a prop or special effect!" Masha gasped; "That was real!"
They turned to get a better look at Vee; "You're real too, aren't you!"
Vee nodded with a sad frown; it looked like at least one human would know the truth after today… "I'm real, Masha."
Something in the way she'd spoken made Masha's eyes widen a fraction; the serpentine girl's voice wasn't familiar, but there was something in her tone and the way she'd said their name, as well as the look on her face…
"Wait…? Luz?" they said, eyes widening further. They looked around at the ground and couldn't see any signs of the Yellow Canary they'd been talking to before, and they didn't believe for an instant that the Luz they knew would run off and abandon them! So that could only mean this flying creature WAS Luz!
Vee gasped in surprise and almost dropped Masha, but managed to keep her grip; "I-I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, now I know it's you! You're a terrible liar!" Masha gasped; "I can't believe it… Luz, you're some kind of magic winged shapeshifter!? That's amazing!"
"W-What!?" Vee cried; "Y-You're okay with this!?"
Masha nodded enthusiastically, grinning wider and wider the longer they looked at Vee; "Are you kidding me!? You're incredible! You're supernatural, which you know I love, and your true form, or at least I'm guessing it's your true form, is awesome! You're absolutely adorable!"
Vee squeaked in surprise; "A-Adorable!? B-But I thought you'd think I was ugly like this!"
Masha scoffed; "No way! Don't get me wrong, your human disguise was a cutie too, but this is actually way more more style." they winked, "You've gotta tell me all about you! And your magical friends too!"
Vee looked over her shoulder to where her companions were surrounding the Raven Beast. She then looked back to Masha and said; "I'll introduce you to them and explain everything, but I should get you to safety first and finish evacuating the civilians, just in case."
"Got it. I'll help out too; you don't want anyone else exposing your secrets!" Masha agreed. Vee smiled and the two landed near the fallen tree, where Vee used her water magic to whip up some mist to hide her as she transformed back into her Yellow Canary disguise. Once that was done, she and Masha continued the evacuation of the park.
Meanwhile, Luz and the others had completely surrounded Lilith, whose cursed form couldn't fly as fast thanks to Vee's tail strike. The Raven Beast hissed and snarled, feeling cornered, and began to slash its claws back and forth in a wild frenzy to try and kill its attackers. Luz quickly created illusory clones of all of them to distract it, while Eda flew above the frenzied beast.
"Sorry about this Lily, but it's for your own good!" she cried, spinning Owlbert to make a giant spell circle which blasted a huge wave of golden magic down on the Raven Beast's back. The force of the spell sent the beast crashing into the ground, where the others immediately began holding it down.
"Lulu, I'm sorry for helping cause this! I just wanted to make you happy!" Hooty cried, hopping off King's back now that he didn't need to fly any more, and promptly wrapping himself around the Raven Beast's wing so she couldn't fly away.
Amity then used her earth and abomination magic to turn the ground beneath the Raven Beast into a swampy marsh, while tendrils of abomination slime shot out of it and bound one of her rear legs; "I'm here for you Lilith! You were there for me when Odalia was willing to hurt me and even forgave me for being such a brat to you! Now I'll do my duty as your apprentice and help save you!" she declared.
King then used his plant glyphs to conjure vines that further tied the Raven Beast's torso to the ground, while using his Monster Glyph Combo to create two large arms that held the beast's other rear leg. "I want you back too! I'm still mad about what you did to Mom and Luz, but you're still my Auntie, right!? You were trying to make things right, and I didn't let you… but I'm willing to start! I'll be the King of Nephews!"
Next was Luz, who used crystalline tree roots to bind the Raven Beast's neck down to the ground, while freezing one of the beast's front legs into the swamp Amity had made; "We all want you back! We all love you, Tia Lily! I forgive you for taking me to Belos; you were tricked and doing what you thought was right! I don't blame you at all! And we can work through the curse issue together as a family!"
Then it was Eda's turn, who conjured some earth Hooty golems to bind the beast's final free limb, then jumped onto the back of the creature's head and held her tightly, speaking softly into her ears; "Do you hear us in there, Lily? You're surrounded by people who are pretty dang happy you were born, including me! We've had our problems; we've fought and done stupid stuff and hurt each other… but even so, you're still my big sister and the aunt to my kids! We love you, even with all the stuff that you did. I'm sorry I didn't tell you that more, or acknowledge that you were really trying to make amends. Now open up these big ears of yours and listen, 'cause Mom's got some things to say!"
The instant Eda's words had left her mouth, Gwendolyn swooped in on the back of her staff and landed in front of the Raven Beast, who immediately screeched and thrashed even harder in its restraints as it tried to get at the woman who was the source of so much of its rage. Gwen didn't even flinch, and instead knelt in front of the beast's head and gently took it in her hands.
"My Sweet Flea… words cannot express how much I've failed you, and how sorry I am." Gwen said, tears already appearing in her eyes; "I neglected you so much… I told myself you were self-sufficient and that you didn't need me, but I never realised you only became that way because I didn't give you the attention you deserve."
The Raven Beast stopped its snarling and went still in Gwen's arms, her large black eyes beginning to glisten as her mother continued; "After Edalyn was born, you were so good with her. You cared for her so much and seemed like such a little grown-up… at times, you were almost like her mother yourself! I allowed that to fool me into thinking you'd already grown passed the need for your mother; I thought you were mature enough to not need me, instead of realising you were growing up too fast and still needed a loving mother to help care for you… If I'd done my job as your mother, perhaps you wouldn't have cursed Edalyn and none of this heartbreaking mess would have happened… and worst of all… worst of all, I…!"
She struggled to get the words out as she began to cry in earnest; "Worst of all, I let you feel like I didn't love you. That alone is a sin that I can never live down. I can never take that back, or take back the pain I caused you and your sister with my foolishness… but I can make sure I never make that mistake again."
The Raven Beast was crying now too, and Gwen reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a bottle of Elixir; "Will you let me try and make it up to you, Sweet Flea?" she uncorked the bottle and offers its contents to the Raven Beast, "Will you let your mother show you how much she really loves you?"
Deep within the Raven Beast's consciousness, Gwen's voice resonated with Lilith. Her words, and the words of the others, had reached the heart of the woman within the beast, and it swelled with their love. For a few short moments, Lilith was able to use that love to fuel her and force the Raven Beast to open its mouth, allowing Gwendolyn to pour the Elixir in with a joyful smile. Eda then forced the beast's mouth shut so it couldn't spit the potion out when Lilith lost her control over it, and faced with choking or swallowing, the beast had no choice. It gulped down the Elixir and its eyes immediately began to glow gold.
A huge wave of golden magic surrounded the Raven Beast, forcing Eda, Gwen, and the others to release their restraints and back off, allowing the magic to pour into the sky in the form of a massive golden pillar. The pillar then erupted into a bird-shaped mass of magic, and the silhouette of the Raven Beast was replaced by that of Lilith. The witch then floated back down to the ground in her true form, and the light dissipated, allowing Eda and Gwen to rush forward and catch Lilith before she could collapse to the ground.
"You see Mom? My kids know how to make some mean Elixir!" Eda smiled.
Gwen smiled softly in return and Lilith, who was briefly hazy following her first full transformation, quickly gathered her wits and broke into sobs; "Mom! Eda! I'm so sorry! I hurt you both, but I couldn't stop myself! I-I couldn't do anything!"
"Shh Sweet Flea. Hush now." Gwen said soothingly; "It's okay. Everything is okay now! I'm here for you, just as I should have been from the beginning."
Lilith sniffled; "Y-You meant it? What you said before?"
"Of course! I was many things, but a liar wasn't one of them." Gwen said, stroking Lilith's hair.
"We all meant the things we said." Eda nodded, "Right kids?"
Luz, King, Hooty, and Amity all nodded. They were still hidden behind their illusions, but Lilith could still tell which was which from their colours and voices.
"Thank you. All of you." Lilith smiled tearfully, on the verge of sobbing again. The only thing that stopped her was the knowledge that they were in a public place and surrounded by humans, all of whom were now clapping and cheering at the completion of the "show". Lilith looked at them with confusion.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"That's a long story. We'll tell you when we're out of here." Luz replied, reaching down to rub her back; "But welcome back, Tia Lily."
The return of the beloved nickname made Lilith beam, and she hugged the girl tightly. She looked at King, daring to hope for a hug from him too, and he nervously said; "M-Maybe when we get out of here. This form is just an illusion, so it'll look weird for you to hug it."
Lilith could accept that, and allowed her Mother and Sister to help her to her feet. At that moment, Rasiel came over (covered in an illusion to make it look like he was wearing common human clothing) and loudly said; "Excellent work, team! That scene went perfectly! We won't need any retakes of that one!"
He then added in a low whisper; "The police bought the fake papers, but they're calling their superiors to double check, so we might want to get out of here before we're discovered!"
Everyone nodded (except for a confused Lilith) and began making their way out of the park as quickly as they could. Vee soon joined them, as did Masha, getting some questioning looks from the others.
"They know. They figured it out. I'll explain later." Vee said hastily. Again, everyone nodded and they got out of there as fast as they could, continuing to play the role of actors by waving and posing for pictures with a few kids, before ducking out of the park and into an alley, then making a run for it as soon as the coast was clear. They soon met up with Camila, who had snuck away from her own vantage point after dismissing the illusions of the camera crews. She took one look at Masha, then decided not to question them until they were safely back at the Noceda House.
The group hurried through back alleys to avoid being noticed by the people of Gravesfield, and actually made it nearly all the way back to Camila's house, before they found that the day still had one more surprise in store for them. It turned out they had been followed, and said follower suddenly jumped out in front of them, blocking their path.
It was Jacob Hopkins, whom they only knew as the weird guy in armour who'd threatened the Raven Beast with a sword. Everyone had largely forgotten about him in the chaos of dealing with the Raven Beast, and his fellow humans had just assumed he was part of the show thanks to his armour.
"Hold it right there, you monsters!" he cried, brandishing his knife at them.
"Dude, if you want an autograph you're gonna have to drop the knife and pick up some cash!" Eda scowled.
"I don't want your autograph, Demon!" Hopkins snarled, pointing his knife at her; "I'm not fooled by your clever disguises! I know the truth! You're all real monsters and demons! I saw that one-" he pointed the knife at Vee, "-transform into a snake monster! I know she's a real demon and I know none of that stuff you did today were special effects!"
The group paled and began to exchange worried looks (though most of their faces were still hidden by illusions), but their worries were wiped away by Hopkins' next sentence; "I know it was all your creepy witch and demon magic, meant to lure humans under your spell so you can harvest our teeth for your time machine!"
Luz inhaled sharply while the others stared at the man, dumbfounded. Vee muttered; "You… don't actually know anything about us, do you?"
"I know enough!" Hopkins growled, "I wanted to take that bird monster's pelt, but since you turned it back into this…" he looked at Lilith; "pointy eared… witch, I'm guessing? I'll need some other proof! I'll defeat all of you monsters and save humanity, then take you-" he pointed at Vee, "-as my proof! Say goodbye to your friends and prepare for a life in cages, demon!"
Vee instinctively whimpered, and Masha pulled her behind them, while Luz and Camila surged forward. Without a moment's hesitation, Luz shot a beam of red magic at Hopkins' knife, disintegrating it. She then shot two more blasts, doing the same to his armour and helmet. Camila then grabbed him by the collar and glared at him like only a furious mother could.
"You listen to me, Mister! This family has had a very long and emotional day, and we do not have the time nor the inclination to listen to your delusions! Now back the heck down, before I show you that an angel can be far more terrifying than any demon!" she declared, her voice echoing with divine magic as her wings flared out behind her.
"Y-You're not a real angel!" Hopkins cried fearfully; "An angel wouldn't side with demons! An angel would smite them and work with Humanity against them!"
Camila's eyes narrowed and her expression became one of hatred, actually startling Luz, who'd never seen a look like that on her mother's face.
"You don't know the first thing about angels or demons!" Camila hissed lowly, before shoving him away, "Now walk away, before you get hurt."
"N-No! You can't do this! I won't let you! I'm the hero here! I'm the good guy!" Hopkins cried.
Camila conjured a sandal, and Luz immediately cringed as her mother's expression became icy cold; "Yeah, a lot of bad guys say that."
She then slammed the sandal hard into Hopkins' face and he made a funny little yelp as he crumpled like wet tissue paper, hitting the ground unconscious.
Eda whistled, impressed by Camila's swing; "Dang Cammie, you've got an arm on you! That guy's gonna have one heck of a shiner when he wakes up."
Camila smirked; "He'll likely need a shower too." she said, picking him up like a sack of potatoes and dumping him in one of the alley's dumpsters.
Rasiel eyed his fellow angel, then looked to the human in their midst, and then the costumes most of his friends were wearing. "This has been the strangest day of my life." he muttered.
Amity laughed and lightly slapped him on the back; "Mine too! Guess this is what happens when you join the Noceda-Clawthorne family!"
"I only know like, a tenth of what's going on, but if things are like this with you guys all the time, I have a feeling life is never going to be boring!" Masha grinned.
"I hope you say the same once you know all of it…" Vee whispered to herself.
With Hopkins dealt with for the time being, the group finally made it back to the Noceda House. They sat Lilith down in the middle of the couch, then had Eda, Gwendolyn, Luz, and Amity squeezed in around her, with King and Hooty on their laps. Masha opted to sit on the floor with Vee, while Camila went to make some calming tea with help from Rasiel. Once everyone had some tea in their hands, Luz and the others finally dropped their illusions.
Masha gasped with delight as they laid eyes on King; the adorable skull-faced dog-like creature matched their aesthetic perfectly! However before Masha could say a word about King, their eyes were drawn to Luz… the REAL Luz.
"Wait, what!?" they cried, pointing at her, then looking back at Vee (who was in Basilisk form); "You have an identical twin!?"
Vee shook her head guiltily; "N-No… Masha, the truth is that I'm not Luz. My name is Vee, and I impersonated the real Luz so I could take her place at Camp Reality Check and at school, while she went to the Demon Realm."
Masha gaped; "S-So you're not Luz? That girl over there is the real Luz?"
"Yeah… I'm really sorry for lying to you all this time…" Vee said, her head lowered with shame. Masha hated to see the adorable snake-like creature so sad.
"Hey Lu- I mean, Vee… I've got to ask two questions, okay? First, has every time I've spoken to "Luz" been you?" they asked.
Vee looked to Luz, who nodded and said; "I think I saw you around school, but we never talked."
"That's a yes then." Vee answered.
Masha nodded, then said; "Okay, second question. How much of the you I've been hanging out with has been the real you? Personality wise I mean. How much of you has been the real Vee and how much has been you impersonating Luz?"
"When I first imitated Luz, I only knew her face, her voice, and the fact she was an angel. I didn't know her personality at all, so I was always "myself" when with you and the others." Vee replied.
Masha listened carefully, then smiled brightly; "Oh thank goddess for that! I'd have been pretty bummed if my best friend was just imitating another girl! Okay, I'm still real curious about what you are, and this Demon and Witch stuff, and the fact Mrs Noceda is an angel… and I'm guessing the real Luz is too…" they looked at the real Luz, who tilted her body a bit so her shrunken wings could be seen by Masha, confirming their suspicions, "… but honestly, the biggest thing I cared about was my best friend still being my best friend. You can tell me about all the rest of that stuff when you're comfortable with it, okay?"
Vee stared at Masha in complete shock; "Y-You're serious? You're not mad?"
"Nope. I'm not gonna blame you for hiding your real self, especially since you're not human. I wish I could say jerks like that guy in the alley were rare in our world, but they're honestly pretty common. Hiding yourselves was just keeping you safe, and I'll never criticise you for that." Masha said, giving Vee a side hug.
Vee nearly burst into happy tears at her best friend's acceptance, and hugged them tightly, making Masha grin and pet her hair. The rest of the gathered family smiled at her, and Camila and Luz felt especially fond of Vee's gothic friend.
"Thank you for this, Masha. We truly appreciate it." Camila said.
"Yeah! And for the record, I'm cool with telling you everything. You've accepted us, so I say we trust you!" Luz declared.
"Thanks Camila, and you too Luz. Wow that feels weird to say after all these months…" Masha chuckled wryly, "But we can leave that for another time."
They gave Vee another quick squeeze, then drained her tea cup and got to her feet; "It looks like you've still got important family stuff to work out, and I don't want to intrude, so I'll head home for today. We'll talk more tomorrow, right Vee?"
Vee nodded enthusiastically, getting up to show her friend out; "Of course! Luz and her girlfriend Amity are here for the weekend, so if you come back tomorrow, we can explain everything to you."
"That'll be awesome! For the record, I won't tell Gray and Rebecca, but I think they'd be cool with it too. But I'll leave that up to you. Nice meeting you all!" Masha said, waving to the others.
The others all waved back, with Eda saying; "You're alright, Kid. Get Luz to bring you to the Demon Realm sometime; I bet you'd fit right in."
Masha grinned; "Demon Realm? Oh I am so in! Until next time!"
With that, they opened the Noceda's front door and stepped out, before quickly turning around and pecking Vee on the cheek. Vee squeaked adorably, and Masha whispered flirtatiously; "You're still a cutie. In fact, don't tell Luz this, but I actually think you're cuter in this form."
Vee could do nothing but stare dumbly at Masha as her cheeks reddened. Masha giggled and skipped off down the garden path and away from the Noceda House, waving goodbye as they went. When they were out of sight, Vee finally closed the door and turned around, only to find everyone else looking at her with knowing smiles. She blushed and hid her face behind her wings, making Luz coo at her.
"Aw Vee! You and Masha are adorable! I'm so happy for you!"
"T-Thanks. But that's enough about me. Miss Lilith is the important one right now." Vee blushed, just barely peeking her eyes out above her wings.
Lilith shook her head with a smile; "You are just as important as me or anyone else, Vee."
Vee smiled, and Gwendolyn gently squeezed Lilith's hand and said; "That goes for you too, Sweet Flea. You are just as important and just as loved as Edalyn. I'm sorry that I made you feel otherwise for all these years."
"Thank you, Mom." Lilith said, leaning in to her mother, "That means a lot to me."
"We meant what we said back at the park too." Eda said, one arm around Lilith and the other around Luz, with King on her lap; "We love you, even if we didn't always get along with you. I for one am pretty dang happy you were born! Life would have been so boring and lonely without you!"
"You can say that even after I cursed you?" Lilith asked in disbelief.
"I'll be honest, the curse is a pretty big sticking point. But I'm done letting it rule my life. I have my kids, the love of my life, and a lot of friends. I even have Mom back now… you may have given me the curse, but I was the one who let it take so much from me. I won't let it take you from me too." Eda said earnestly, before smirking; "Besides, you only meant for it to last a day, right? Then it's also proof that perfect prissy Lily can make mistakes!" she added teasingly.
Lilith pouted, but it was mostly for show; deep down she felt nothing but overwhelming love and joy.
Luz then added; "I understand what it's like to make big mistakes and make everything worse, when you're only trying to help or make things better. You made a big mistake, but then just like Abuela, you basically dedicated your life to fixing it. Sure you went about it the wrong way, but it's the thought that counts, right? And also like Abuela, you came around in the end. I want you to be Tia Lily again; I think I have from the beginning… I just wasn't ready. But like Mom said, I'm happy you were born, so please don't wish something like that ever again!"
Then it was King's turn to speak up, and he did so in the form of a question; "When you took Luz to Belos, did you really think you were doing the right thing?"
Lilith nodded reluctantly; "Yes. I believed in Belos… I trusted him with all I had. I'd cursed Eda because of his advice to make whatever sacrifices one needed to achieve greatness, and I devoted myself to him when he promised he could cure her. I let him fill my ears with his poison, and convinced myself that the curse was corrupting Eda and in turn corrupting Luz, and that by bringing her to him, I was helping her. But I never knew he would hurt her, or use her as an excuse to kill Eda. If I had, I never would have done it; I'd have lied like I did with the Palismen in the Bat Queen's forest."
King listened to her response carefully, then sighed; "You got scammed, just like Grandma. And then you were so deep in the fantasy that you denied the truth even when it slapped you in the face… just like I did when Rasiel told me I was a Titan."
"You're a what now!?" Gwen gasped.
"Story for later, Mom." Eda hushed her.
King looked up at Lilith; "I denied the truth and Luz ended up hurting herself by lying to keep me happy. I don't even have the excuse of saying I thought I was helping… so I guess what I'm getting at is, I forgive you for what you did. I'd kinda like to start again from the beginning, Tia Lily." he said, a little blush on his cheeks as he shyly said those last two words.
Lilith's eyes shone even as tears built in them and her lips turned up into a quivering smile; "T-Thank you, my nephew. Words can't express what that means to me."
King held out his arms; "Then maybe a hug? I am the King of Hugs!"
Lilith burst into a combination of happy tears and joyful laughs as she scooped King up and hugged him tightly. Eda pulled Luz into her lap in his place, then the two joined the hug, with Gwendolyn following straight after. Hooty smiled with tear-filled eyes of his own, until all five Clawthornes looked at him and gestured for him to join. He promptly burst into noisy sobs and wrapped himself around all of them, squeezing them as tightly as he dared.
Camila, Vee, Amity, and Rasiel watched the Clawthorne family hug with smiles on their faces, and when they finally separated, Rasiel reached into his shirt pocket and pulled our Corvanc, who had been hiding with him during the fight, unwilling to fight his partner, and had since fallen asleep. The moment he stirred awake and saw Lilith, he cawed with delight and flew onto her shoulder to nuzzle her and begin preening her hair, while Lilith thanked him and kissed his head.
With things now calmed down and the family closer than ever, Camila invited them all to stay for a big Noceda-Clawthorne family dinner, with Amity, Hooty, and Rasiel included among that number. By Camila's words; each of them was basically a Noceda-Clawthorne anyway at this point, or a part of the "Owl Family" as they'd also become known, so they had every right to be at their family dinner. All three appreciated it greatly, and the entire family worked together to make a big meal and eat together, spending a wonderful evening just chatting. Gwendolyn took the chance to finally introduce herself properly to Luz, and the two bonded over the stories of their adventures on the isles. Gwen was made aware of all of Luz, King, and Eda's adventures, as well as the true nature of King and Rasiel; both of which surprised her greatly. However she ultimately didn't care, and accepted her grandson regardless of his species, and saw Rasiel as the close family friend he'd become. She also mended things with Amity, who was more than happy to give a second chance to a mother who actually wanted to make things right! Amity and Luz also made plans with Vee in preparation for Masha's visit the next day, and how they'd explain things to her.
It was an energetic and joy-filled experience for them all, and as the evening marched on, Lilith and Camila found themselves stood together in the kitchen, drinking tea together as they watched Luz and Amity try to explain the complicated lore of the Good Witch Azura to Vee.
"You know, if Luz and Amity learn from even half the mistakes of their parents, they'll be phenomenal mothers someday." Camila commented, smiling fondly at her girls. Amity may not be her daughter, but she would inevitably be her daughter-in-law some day, so Camila already thought of her as one of her girls.
"You're right. They have some good AND bad influences to learn from too." Lilith smiled; "You and Eda are wonderful mothers yourselves, and Mom did something not many could and admitted they were wrong."
"That's not so difficult when you have amazing children." Camila said.
Lilith laughed; "True! I'm a little jealous of that fact. I've no interest in a romantic partner, so I doubt I'll ever have kids of my own."
Camila tilted her head; "Do you really need a partner to be a parent? I know for a fact there are spells for single parent conception. They were forbidden in the Crest Orders due to our population control, but I doubt the Demon Realm has that issue."
"W-Well, I suppose that's true. But I don't think I'd be cut out for it. Babies are also a little… much, for me." Lilith admitted.
"Then consider adoption." Camila said simply; "There are plenty of children out there in need of love and care. I think you'd be quite a good mother, once you were in a more emotionally secure place."
That made Lilith think; "Huh… maybe you're right. I wonder…"
Camila smirked and nudged her with her elbow; "You never know, you might find someone in need of a mother pretty close to home."
Lilith looked at the other woman in confusion as Camila nodded towards Amity. Lilith gasped softly, especially as she realised that she actually really liked the idea. Amity was probably the person she'd felt the closest to "maternal" with… Luz and King gave her similar feelings, but they were undoubtedly Edalyn's children (and Camila's in Luz's case).
"Luz and Amity told me all about Odalia and the Blight Ball. I could tell Amity cares a lot about you from the way she talked about how you defended her." Camila said. "I think she values her apprenticeship with you more than she lets on. Like King, she was just too hurt from recent events to admit it."
Lilith suddenly gulped, if finally sinking in that Camila knew what she'd done to Luz now. "Camila, I-"
"No more apologies." Camila cut her off; "You made a mistake and you're trying to fix it. Luz has also forgiven you, and I won't question her judgement. I think you're a good person Lilith." her expression darkened for a moment; "It is Belos and Belos alone that I want to see suffer for what he's done."
The former Head Witch nodded grimly, fully agreeing. "Thank you, Camila. I see where Luz gets her kindness from. But about Amity… do you really think she'd want someone like me as a Mom?"
"I do. She might not even realise it herself, but I'm sure that if you continue to grow your relationship through this apprenticeship and the CATTs, you might just find yourself becoming "Mom" to her, just like Eda and Luz." the Angel replied, smiling pleasantly.
Lilith smiled back, feeling her heart lighten; she really did like that idea! She wouldn't push Amity or even ask her directly; she'd just be there for her like a mother should! She too could learn from the mistakes of her own parents, and give Amity the mother figure she deserved!
Shortly thereafter, it was time for everyone to go back home. Luz and Amity would be staying with Camila and Vee for the rest of the weekend, but Eda, King, Lilith, Gwendolyn, Hooty, and Rasiel would be returning home to the Boiling Isles. Vee returned the portal key to Eda and they all exchanged hugs, goodbyes, and well-wishes. Eda's group wished Vee luck with Masha, and Luz promised to spend more time with her Abuela when she got back to the Demon Realm. With that, and one final walk through the dark forest back to the abandoned house, Eda's group returned to the Owl House.
They arrived in the basement, where the portal door had been left and began heading up to the house.
"Well that was a long day! I should check in with Raine and make sure they know we're home safely." Eda said.
"Oh good, it'll be nice to see them again! We've got some catching up to do!" Gwen smiled, before scowling as she said; "And speaking of "catching up", I think I better pay a visit to Wortlop. I'll teach him to scam an old woman!"
"Uh, you might be a bit late to the party on that one, Ma'am." said a voice as the group entered the living room.
The group came face to face with Derwin, Amber, and Katya, who were looking after a pale and exhausted looking Raine. The Bard was sat with their feet in a large bucket of hot water, with a moist towel on their forehead and Derwin stood behind them, massaging their shoulders. Katya had been the one to speak, and she had a big grin on her face as she saw them all.
"Whoa, what happened to you, Raine Storm? You look like you got chewed up and spat out by a Slitherbeast!" Eda said, hurrying over to check on them.
"Ugh, I feel like it too… the curse is awful!" Raine whined.
"The curse? You transformed too?" Lilith questioned.
Raine nodded, then winced as the movement made their pain worse; "You too, huh? How are you standing; my bones ache so much it hurts to exist!?"
"The Elixirs numb the pain of the transformation." Eda answered for her sister; "I'd wager the transformation hurt, but then turning back felt fine?"
"That's accurate. So you didn't use an Elixir, Raine?" Lilith asked. "Why not?"
"And what does this have to do with Wortlop?" Rasiel asked.
Amber grinned; "It's a funny story actually!" she chirped, "We got back from town earlier and saw Hooty's note about going to see Wortlop with Gwendy. We recognised the name since we'd been trying to recruit him to the CATTs, but he'd been avoiding us. Raine had a bad feeling, so we decided to look into it."
"We eventually tracked down someone in Bonesborough who could tell us where he lived. It was another person he'd scammed." Derwin continued; "We went to his grotto and overheard the truth. "Wortlop" was just a disguise; it was three gremlins in a suit, with a fourth one pretending to be a sick patient so they could sell their scam!"
"Why those little-!?" Eda stopped herself before she cursed in front of King; "I'm going to teach those gremlins a lesson!"
Katya smirked; "Like I said, you're a bit late. We overheard them bragging about how they'd scammed Gwendy out of her life savings, and well… Raine was a little tired from our errands, and in kind of a bad mood too. Before we knew it, they transformed into their cursed form and jumped into the grotto! We didn't have any Elixirs and we couldn't risk them getting out and attacking Bonesborough, so we just sealed the Grotto behind them until Raine turned back on their own."
Lilith blinked; "You can transform back without the Elixir?"
"Of course. How do you think I turned back after my first transformation?" Eda asked. "It can happen when the beast runs out of strength, or when I regained enough strength or willpower to fight it back. But as the curse gets stronger, the longer that takes. By the time I split my curse with you two, the curse needed the Elixir to turn back."
Gwendolyn, who'd learned Raine split the curse when she'd heard the story at dinner, smiled as she said; "Does that mean Raine's cursed form ate Wortlop?"
"I still taste raw gremlin meat… urp, it's not good…" Raine groaned.
"Oh yeah, Gremlins do NOT taste good. You know in my experience, cooking them actually makes them worse." Eda grinned, sitting on the couch and gently lowering Raine so they were on her lap. They seemed to appreciate it, especially when Eda summoned a vial of Elixir and fed it to them, helping sooth the pain in their bones.
Gwendolyn smiled at the domestic scene, then cleared her throat; "I should be going."
"Nah, it's late and you've still got some catching up to do with me and Lily, right? Stay the night and hang out with us tomorrow. We can show you Digale Island and the CATTs. It'll be like old times." Eda offered. "Oh wait, we need Luz for that… well she'll be home tomorrow night anyway, so if you stay late we can still show you!"
Lilith nodded enthusiastically; "Oh yes! Mother, please stay with us for the night! I still have so much I want to talk to you about! And you still need to spend some time with Raine too!"
Said bard had dozed off now that they were comfortable, but the sight just made Gwen and Lilith smile; "Oh alright. But I really need to go home tomorrow; It's been too long since I've seen your father too… Speaking of, you should both come home for a visit too."
Lilith agreed immediately, while Eda frowned; "I don't know if I'm ready for that…"
"Edalyn, you know the incident wasn't your fault, don't you?" Gwen frowned.
Eda didn't answer and just averted her eyes. That made her mother and sister sigh, and the latter said; "Sister, I know you're not ready yet, but you should really consider it. Dad misses you, and you know your kids will want to meet their grandpa!"
She gestured to King, who had sat down beside Eda and conked out after his long day teaching glyphs and fighting the Raven Beast. Eda smiled and pet his head, then said; "I'll think about it…"
Knowing that was the best they'd get (and that it was huge progress in itself), Gwen and Lilith nodded with smiles and sat down to have some late evening tea with Raine's apprentices, while Eda closed her eyes and pet King's head and Raine's hair. If Luz had been there too, snuggled up with them, it would be the perfect moment of bliss for Eda.
"You've gone soft, Owl Lady…" she whispered to herself with a smirk. But as she thought of her lover, mother, and sister, all of whom she'd reconciled with, all the new friends she'd made, and her beloved son and daughter, she decided that she wouldn't change a thing.
"Not even you…" she whispered to the Owl Beast, deep within her. For a split second, Eda thought she felt the curse loosen its grip on her, before she fell fast asleep amidst her family.