Witches, Demons, and Heroes (The Owl House x MHA)

thud! -crash

"Edalyn-!" Lilith gave chase.

thudthud!

"No prison can contain me!" Edalyn shouted as she kept rolling the bubble ward around the throne room.

Lilith had tried to keep herself composed, but even now Edalyn had a way of digging under skin and getting a reaction from her. As if they were still children and not fully grown adults with established careers and responsibilities. At least in Lilith's case.

"Stop this at once!" Lilith thrusted her hand out, lassoing the bubble and pulling it towards her. "I know we've had our-" and of course Edalyn was resisting by pulling away, "spats-" Lilith pulled harder, "but soon, we can be a family again."

"Oh yeah? Where was that when I had this-" she gestured to her half darkened gem, "to 'help' with my curse? A curse, by the way, in case you've forgotten, you put on me in the first place!"

"And I can remove it!" Lilith assured.

Edalyn's face was skeptical.

"Okay so I can't, but Emperor Belos can!"

Edalyn rolled her eyes.

"He's going to kill her." The Golden Guard was looking up at the Titan's heart.

Her first instinct was to yell at the prodigy, but she bit it down and straightened out her hair. "That was not our deal. In return for my sister's-" she paused, "recruitment into the Emperor's coven, he will heal her curse."

"And you believed him?" The Golden Guard turned his head, showing the scar on his cheek and jaw.

For a second, Lilith saw her father. The sorrow he would hide under the hope of Edalyn coming home-

"Huh, kid makes some sense for a fellow lap dog." Edalyn snorted.

ba-dump

The Titan's heart beat loudly as if signaling the abrupt opening of the throne room's doors. And the one standing there was none other than-

"Emperor Belos-!" Lilith bowed low.

"Oh great," Edalyn groaned.

"Ah, Eda the Owl Lady," Emperor Belos stepped forward. "You evaded my forces for a handful of decades but at last, here you are."

Edalyn shuddered. "Eugh," she backed away as much as the bubble would allow her. "Please tell me you don't actually have a thing for me."

"No no," Emperor Belos chuckled. "Although, I suppose you have something for me."

"Say what?" Lilith looked up. Were they...flirting!?

"Ha!" Edalyn barked another laugh. "In your dreams, bone-head! I have a particular taste and you don't meet any of my standards."

"He's talking about the portal." The Golden Guard corrected.

"The...portal?" Lilith knew it was how her sister found human garbage to sell but why would it matter?

"The portal to the Human Realm," Emperor Belos tapped his staff and the bubble around Eda dissipated. "Where is it?"

"Not telling." Edalyn turned her nose up. At the Emperor!

"Edalyn-!" Lilith whisper-scolded.

The Emperor stayed silent. He merely raised his staff and a bolt of magic surrounded her sister-

"AUGH!" Eda fell to the ground in pain.

"No-!" Lilith reached out but was stopped when the Golden Guard wrapped his staff around her. "Hey! Let go-!"

"I made one exception for you, Lilith." Emperor Belos stopped using his magic, but Edalyn remained on the ground. "And every chance given has been squandered."

ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump

The sound of the Titan's heart thundered louder than any of boiling rainstorm she had endured.

"If Eda doesn't have the portal on her, then she must have hidden somewhere." He walked to Lilith. "You must find it to make up for misleading my resources to protect your wild witch sister despite knowing the consequences."

"But I-" Lilith tried to plead before he grabbed her face, tilting it up to meet his gaze.

"Do I make myself clear, Lilith?"

When she looked into the glowing blue eyes, a deathly cold shivered its way down to her bones. His eyes narrowed, making every muscle was tense and tightened more when she finally gave her his answer. "Yes."

"Good." He pulled his hand back, seemingly normal sized again, and snapped his fingers.

The Golden Guard let go, and Lilith's palisman appeared in the Emperor's hand, holding it away from her reach.

"And to be sure you don't think yourself a clever little bird like your sister, your palisman will be in the Golden Guard's custody." He tossed it away. "Now go."

Edalyn groaned, picking herself up somewhat. Lilith spared a glance, seeing the worry on her sister's face. Surely, once he had the portal, Emperor Belos would heal her then. Yes, of course. Lilith held herself as high as she could while walking of the throne room.

"Lap dog~!" Edalyn just had to get in one more dig.

And Lilith took in a deep breath to keep herself from responding in kind.

...

...

Luz woke up to the smell of food. "Huh?" She felt the couch under her and a blanket on top, along with-

hooo

"Owlbert...?" She gasped and shot up. "Eda!?"

clink!

Luz flinched at the noise, but saw it was just a plate of griffin eggs and toast.

"Nope! Just your good ol' Uncle Hooty!" Hooty then put down a cup of juice. "Now eat up! Can't overthrow the emperor on an empty stomach!"

"Overthrow the-?" Luz was about to ask when a crumbled paper ball fell onto her toast. "Huh?" She looked to where it came from. "Whoa."

Izuku had apparently found all of the boards in the house and put them in the living room. Over however long, he had drawn a blueprint of the Castle, even different floors marked in color-coded layers and was now pacing in front of the chalkboard.

"-find more glyphs? No, she's getting petrified today! We don't have time to discover some secret ultra-powerful glyph! Urgh! What would Kacchan do?"

"Whoa there!" Luz hopped to her feet, steering Izuku to the couch. He had dark circles were under his eyes, his hair was somehow messier than usual, and, no offense, but he was starting to smell. "You shouldn't be pushing yourself! You're still-"

Izuku slapped her hand away. "I'm fine! Really. I already made a bunch of glyphs-" he held up a thick stack, "and thought of ways to save Eda! Some plans do include Hooty, but he's a last resort."

"Oh boy! Violence! I haven't gotten a work-out since Eda's Gory Days!"

"And we can't forget these!" King held up two purple pieces of cloth. One was a full-length cloak with a hood, which he gave to Luz, the other looked more like a long scarf. "We shall make the Isles quake with fear!" He said while lasso-ing Izuku with the scarf.

"Ah-!" Which made Izuku drop the glyphs.

Luz looked down at the cloak. It was beautifully made, not a stitch out of place from what she could see, and sitting on top of the cloak was a note.

To a young witch from her proud mentor, Eda.

She felt her eyes beginning to sting when Owlbert rubbed his head on her hand, his eyes equally as sad when looking up at her.

"But I still can't figure out how we're going to get into the Conformatorium!" Izuku finally got King to sit comfy, now pulling at the scarf in a small attempt to fidget away his anxiety. "We have to commit a crime to get in there! Like theft! Or murder!"

Luz blinked and realized something, feeling a smile on her face. "Not necessarily." She grabbed his hand. "Hooty, watch the house!"

"Okay!"

"I'm coming too!" King grabbed Izuku's leg.

"King, no," Izuku knelt down and set King on the floor. "You're just a kid, and this is going to be really dangerous."

"And Eda's my family! I-!" King threw his hand sup before tapping his little claws together. "I want her back too. Please? Let me help?"

Luz saw Izuku hesitating. Stubborn blockhead but that was why they were friends. "He'll be fine, Izuku." Luz picked up King. "If we're gonna do this, we gotta go now."

The Boiling Isles could be described in a number of ways. Spooky. Weird. Gross. Grotesque. Gruesome. Some other alliteration. But if Luz knew anything about the laws from Eda, she knew that getting thrown into the magic slammer was easy as standing on some grass despite a sign saying not to do that.

"I can't believe it was that easy." Izuku muttered into his scarf while the three of them sat in the back of a guard's wagon.

"Team Night-Light. Certified bad boys." Luz finger-gunned.

Once inside, a few glyphs were all they needed to incapacitate Warden Wrath and once the tangle of vines and branches and roots were firmly in place, Izuku led the way to the dungeon, slapping ice glyphs left and right, the cold stinging his nose and cheeks, but he pressed forward, using the scarf to shield from some of the elements.

"Whoa-!" A guard! Wait, that voice!

Izuku quickly clapped on a light glyph, creating a bright flash to get past him.

"Hya!" Luz had doubled down, trapping Steve with a plant glyph.

"Sorry-!" Izuku called out as they continued forward.

Finally, they got to the holding cells. Seeing as one was actually padlocked shut, it was not hard to deduce which one held Eda.

"Should someone watch the door?" King hopped down from Luz's back.

"We can't risk getting caught," Izuku picked up King for emphasis as Luz used an ice glyph to break the padlock and open one of the double doors. Once inside, Izuku carefully placed a light glyph, just enough to not lock them in should the doors close properly.

"Eda?" Luz tentatively called out.

"Luz?"

Izuku casted another light glyph, and there sat Eda, hands enclosed in metal and shackles, with another around her neck to keep her in place.

'This...' Izuku felt a chill. It burned the frost on his cheeks and reignited the ache in his chest. 'This isn't right. It's wrong...! She's not a villain!'

"Eda!" Luz all but leapt forward, followed by King, the three embracing each other.

hooo

"Well dang," Eda tried to laugh as Owlbert nuzzled into her cheek. "Who else did you bring? Are Gus and Willow hiding in your hair, kid?" And turned her attention to him.

"I-" Izuku stammered, trying not to cry. "I'm sorry. Eda. For-"

"Hey, hey!" Eda motioned with her shackled hands. "None of that mushy sorry talk, got it?" She shook like a wet dog, a few things flying out of her hair, including something with a distinct metallic tink! "You guys have got to get out of here."

"But we're here to save you!" Luz put a fire glyph on the end of the chain, but it dissipated without so much as an ember. "Just hold tight and-"

"Luz," Eda used her foot to get the metallic object, revealing the portal key. "I made a deal with you, remember? You help me, I help you go home. I'm a lot of things, but I'm a witch of my word." She clicked it. "And if I taught you anything, then you should be keeping your promises too."

The portal opened, showing the path outside the old abandoned house out in the woods by Luz's house. Home was right there. They can leave. Mrs. Noceda could call his mom, he might need to stay over for another night or two, and his mom would hug him tight and all of this would literally be behind them.

But Eda would still be here. Not the first to suffer like this. And if they leave now...

"No." Izuku grabbed the key and clicked the portal closed.

"Hey!" Eda stomped her foot, her gem getting darker. "I'm trying to protect you, ya dingdongs! I can't do it if I turn into the Owl Beast forever, and I definitelycan't if I'm petrified into stone!"

"And weirdos stick together!" Izuku still did not know the context behind Luz's words, but there was a closeness in them judging by Eda's reaction. "We're saving you, and if that means defeating Belos then-"

"No!" Eda interrupted. "I don't know why, but Belos wants the portal. You really want to help? Then take the portal," she slid the key to Luz, "and use a fire glyph to destroy it once you're in the Human Realm."

A siren began to blare, filling the room in ominous red light followed by a rumbling. They looked up, seeing a hatch being opened in the ceiling.

"No no no!" Luz was pulling at the chains now.

"Go!" Eda shoved Luz and King back with all her might, the chains glowing blue and becoming a cage while the platform began to raise itself up to the new opening.

"Eda!" King used Izuku as a springboard to try and hold on. "Take me with you!"

In the scramble to catch King, Izuku and Luz were also hanging on to the edge of the platform, the floor getting further by the second, Owlbert doing his best to peck at the magical bars of the cage-

zap!

Apparently it was anti-magic, zapping him away like a bug zapper.

Eda, her hands now free, leaned forward. One hand held Luz's and King's, the other for Izuku. She held tight, smiling despite the tears in her eyes. "I love you kids."

And she pushed them away.

thud!

"No!" Luz tried to get back up, but the platform seemed to pick up speed, shutting the opening with another rumbling, creaking clamor of noise. They were left in a dark and cold silence-

pop!

"Ah-!" Lilith's voice yelped.

The door!

Izuku went to his feet, putting himself in front of Lilith with Luz, King, and Owlbert behind him.

Lilith shook off the stun of the light glyph trap, seeing the three of them. "We don't have much time but we need to talk-"

"Talk to the glyph, witch!" Luz held up one of her glyphs.

"Wait-!" Izuku stopped his her and looked to Lilith, studying her eyes. He had seen a number of looks in them. A stern teacher, an excitable scholar, but when it came to Eda, to her own sister, Izuku tried to recall anything resembling fondness. His mind went to the Covention and their duel. "Why."

"Why...?" Lilith echoed.

"Why did you do it?" King was hiding behind Luz's leg.

"Why did you curse Eda?" Luz seemed to have a good enough relationship with Owlbert, seeing he transformed into staff form for her to point threatingly.

Lilith paused, holding her hand to her chest, eyes looking down and away. "There is no excuse for what I've done." Her voice was low. "One day or one lifetime, it was ultimately my decision to put that curse on my sister, but Edalyn is the one who had to live with." She looked up at them, but the haughtiness of her official status as Headwitch was nowhere to be seen. "I refuse to lose more family and if you feel the same way, then we must act quickly."

"And why should we trust you?" Luz was still eyeing her warily.

Lilith closed her eyes again, her face fallen into a stone-cold expression of resolve. "Because I know a spell that will be able to help ease her suffering."

Izuku looked at Luz. She did not trust Lilith, a sentiment Izuku shared, but they trusted each other. Whatever happened next, they were going to get through it together.

The portal door was still on the ground, sitting almost forgotten until Izuku picked it up. "King, how sharp are your claws?"

"Sharp enough to scratch someone's eyes out!" King held up his little deadly weapons.

"Good." Izuku gave him the portal and a couple glyphs. "I got a job for you."

"Then let's go." Luz walked past Lilith, King following.

Izuku gestured for Lilith to go ahead of him.

"Thank you, for hearing me out." Lilith spoke to him silently.

"Thank me later when we beat Belos," Izuku responded, looking through his collection of glyphs.

...

...

"I should just destroy it," Hunter held the white raven staff. "It's the will of the Titan. Palismen are made of wild magic, and wild magic is-" he held it in two hands, raising it to break it over his knee, but ended up stomping his foot as he let out a heavy sigh. "Why did Uncle let Lilith keep you?" He looked at the creature sitting atop the staff, hoping it would answer him, but silence was his only response.

...

...

The bowels of the Conformatorium were nothing but dark crumbling hallways, red tendrils of what looked like vines or muscle fibers. If the heart was still beating, and it did, loudly, did it mean the Isles itself was trying to repair itself? Treating anything in its way like a graft? Or how mollusks create pearls by coating some irritant with layers and layers of-

"Izuku." Luz nudged him.

"Sorry." Izuku shook his head. They had, with Luz's knowledge of the absurd legal system, gotten into the Conformatorium with little issue and no lasting moral dilemmas. And now with Lilith guiding them, they were physically getting closer and closer to saving Eda. Izuku glanced one more time though. They needed to get to Eda, break her out, and give Lilith enough time to do -"Wait." He stopped walking.

"What is it?" King asked.

"We have enough glyphs to level a city," Izuku held up his stack. "If this leads to the stage then," he looked around at the empty hall, "where are the guards?"

It made no sense. This place had just been crawling with scouts trying to keep them away. The fact they had just walked in without any issue was now beginning to raise alarm bells.

Luz gasped and quickly shifted on her feet, pointing Owlbert at Lilith. "It's a trap!"

Izuku looked to Lilith for any sign of betrayal, but her expression did not line up with the smile she had not even a full day ago. She looked just as surprised as they were.

"Indeed."

A different voice, familiar in its deceptively soft cadence, spoke from the darkness, sending a chill down Izuku's spine.

Some of the red tendrils began moving, grabbing Lilith and King and pulling them up.

"No-!" Izuku reached forward but was stopped by one tendril grabbing his ankle. "Ew-ew-ew-ew-ew!"

whack! "Nope!" Luz was hitting one wrapped around hers with Owlbert. "Get! A-!-way!"

"Now now," Emperor Belos' voice echoed once more. With a snapping sound, possibly his fingers, fires ignited with a fwoom! The darkness was no more, at least enough to let them see a fair distance around them and Izuku did not know whether he wanted the darkness back or not. Within the new light, Emperor Belos was sitting upon a throne made of some creature's skull. The mere fact he had such a thing brought up a number of questions, but more concerning was how casually Belos sat, patiently even, leaning to rest his chin on loosely held fist as if he had been waiting for guests during lunch. "I would like a word with you two."

Izuku and Luz could only watch as Lilith and King were taken away, leaving them alone with the Emperor.

Meanwhile, atop the stage, Hunter stood by, guarding the Owl Lady until the petrification would begin. All Hunter knew was to stay visible, a symbol of the Emperor's presence even if the Emperor himself was attending business elsewhere. Here, he could see members of both the Illusion and Oracle Covens hard at work, making sure the whole event would broadcasted all over the Boiling Isles for every witch, wild or otherwise, to see.

"So, you're Hunter, the Golden Guard," The Owl Lady sized him up. "Y'know, Izuku talked a lot about you. Said you were a pretty cool guy. Smart, capable, and pretty nice."

Hunter remained silent.

"Tough crowd." The Owl Lady rolled her eyes.

This was the Titan's will.

"Weh!" The coven scouts brought forth Lilith and the wild witch's pet demon dog, tossing them into the cage with the Owl Lady. The demon dog Hunter could understand, but Headwitch Lilith? Some part of him wanted to feel something to see Lilith in such a state. The responsibility of the Coven would go to him, and he would be able to personally oversee training and organization of the Emperor's Coven. This was the Titan's will. Lilith had defied the Titan, defied his uncle, and now she was going to face the consequences. But...

The scouts were about to close the anti-magic field, when a thought struck Hunter once more about the Titan's will.

"Wait." Hunter stepped forward. He looked at Lilith, seeing her disdain for him clear as day in her eyes. With a tap of his staff, Lilith's appeared. The hate in her eyes softened, first to confusion, then surprise, and finally relief when Hunter had gently tossed the staff to her. "Here."

"Michaelis!" Lilith caught her palisman. It seemed to be aware of her touch, awakening once in her grasp and becoming a dopey little raven.

"The Emperor might not be merciful, but..." Hunter clenched his staff tighter, "he made an exception once." Hunter stepped aside, letting the scouts close the anti-magic cage.

He saw how much she doted on her palisman, even in the face of what could be their final moments. Looking at the wild witch, he saw her own face softened. Still irked, her brows furrowed, but nowhere near the defiant hostility from before.

But it was the Titan's will that they be turned to stone, and by his uncle's orders, they would be together.

"What's happening to Eda isn't right!" A girl's voice had suddenly shouted, loud and clear. She had hijacked one of the Illusion coven reporters, holding the microphone as she spoke into the scrying glass. "She may not always follow the rules but that doesn't mean she deserves to be petrified!" At her words, the crowd murmured in what sounded like agreement. "The Emperor should let Eda go!"

"Pfft," Hunter scoffed under his mask. "Who's actually going to-?"

"Let Eda go! Let Eda go! Let Eda go!" The crowd began to chant. Raising their hands clenched tightly into fists. While some wore sleeves or gloves, the wrists he could see wore coven brands.

"Dammit," Hunter hissed under his breath. Was she an Illusion witch? They were charismatic, or did she somehow put them under a spell with her words like Hooter Crane could? "Close off the gates! If they start casting spells-"

thud!

"Ow!"

Did someone just throw a rock!?

"Ha!" Eda could not help but laugh seeing the 'genius' Izuku raved about get hit.

"Edalyn." Lilith used that tone.

"Whaat? Is it a crime to laugh now?" Eda waved it off, but King saw it as an opening to do the parallel arm thing. "Knowing you, you'd probably make having fun illegal."

"I-!" Lilith groaned and sighed. "Can you take this seriously?"

Eda did not respond. 'Titan have mercy on Belos,' she thought while holding King a little tighter. 'Because if I get out this, I won't.'

The statue glowed, green light building up.

"Get down!" Eda turned, putting herself between King and the beam, even throwing her little munchkin to Lilith as soon as the bolt hit- "AUGH!"

"Eda!"

Back in the bowels under the stage, the tense stand-off between the three had reached its boiling point.

Izuku grabbed onto Owlbert as Luz slammed the staff down. Owlbert pulled them up out of their restraints and into the air. They landed a bit roughly but with both their hands on the staff, a bright flash of magic lit up the hall once more.

fwooo-cra-cra-crack!

A trail of ice began to emerge, trailing a few feet before fire erupted alongside it, both elements snuffing each other out with a pathetic sizzle.

"Huh?" Luz blinked.

"Uh-" Izuku looked to Belos, seeing he had no reaction.

"Magic needs intention." Belos sounded calm. "If you have no clear idea of what you want it to do, then it will not work. Allow me to demonstrate." He melted!? Like Grom, Belos became a sort of thick liquid-like substance and slithered-

"Behind us!" Izuku pulled Owlbert away, spinning on his heel and aiming the end of the staff at the twisting form of Belos.

"Hey-!" Luz pulled back as she spun with him.

Belos held up a hand, a dot of red magic at his fingertip. A burning sensation enveloped Izuku again, making him suck in a breath to keep from yelping out, hearing Luz gasp at the same time. The burning sensation continued and pulled.

"AH-!" Izuku was thrown one way while Luz was thrown the other. He hit the wall hard, hearing something crumble and move. He saw one of the statues moving, the giant axe falling. "Luz!" Izuku quickly put down a plant glyph, a mass of bark-covered vines sprouting up and stopping it just in time.

Luz was about to say something but then pointed Owlbert. Izuku quickly ducked while getting to his feet, hearing fire fwoosh by and hit something behind him while running towards Luz. He saw a fleshy clawed hand emerging and trying to grab her, stopped by him throwing an ice glyph. Luz grabbed and pulled him, the two hopping onto Owlbert just in time to avoid the ground itself growing spikes right under their feet.

Luz steered the staff, Izuku had the glyphs, clapping on a light one to try and emulate Hunter's teleport trick by blinding the giant worm monster Belos just summoned.

"Nonono-!"/"Move!" Izuku clapped a fire glyph and tossed the paper as they clumsily dove and twisted out of the way of the worm monster's mouth. The worm ate the fire glyph, seeing the glyph burning itself onto the worm monster's skin from the inside-

BOOOM!

The force of the explosion knocked them off balance and back onto the ground.

ba-dump

Izuku swore he could hear Belos somewhere in the dark. Quickly, he helped Luz up to her feet, the two going back-to-back, careful with the glyph in his hand.

Something moved. "Ah-!" Luz had been dragged down by more hands.

"Luz-!" Izuku almost froze when he saw Belos approaching.

BA-DUMP BA-DUMP BA-DUMP

"I thought you would have some sense about you." Belos glared down at them with a single glowing blue eye. "A man of reason, of logic, not bound by frivolous matters such as..." he looked directly at Luz.

Izuku had a fire glyph in his hand. "DIE!" Swinging a wide right hook and slamming the glyph onto that stupid golden mask before he even realizing what he was doing.

BOOOM!

"ARGH!" Belos stumbled back, clutching at his face.

One of the antler-horn thingies had come off, dropping to the ground with a hollow clatter.

Izuku stepped back too, only stopping when he felt Luz behind him. Belos was still standing, holding his face.

In another flash, Belos turned sharply, practically teleporting in front of Izuku, but Izuku did not back down. The left side of the mask had been burned to a deep brown, almost black, the break of the antler-horn thing had left a long crack going well below the glowing blue eye glaring down at Izuku, looming over him like death itself. But death was death, and Belos was just proven to be a mere man.

"I like your spirit." Belos, surprisingly or perhaps not, used a softer tone. After almost a lifetime of explosions and shouting, such quiet was unnerving. "But the longer you sit here trying to fight a humble messenger of the Titan, the longer it takes to rescue The Owl Lady."

Izuku could hear a heart beating in his ears. It could be his own. it could the giant heart from the throne room. Either way, Izuku knew Belos was right.

"Okay!" Luz suddenly shouted, clicking the portal key to summon it. Izuku dared to look away from Belos, seeing Luz giving the portal door a hug, whispering an apology. "Izuku," her voice broke a bit, "just give him what he wants."

Izuku clenched his fists in a show of defiance, turning his attention back to Belos before stepping away, keeping his head low. Luz, now free of those clawed hands, handed over the portal with only the slightest bit of hesitation, her hand still reaching for it as Belos took it from her.

"A wise woman," Belos laughed to himself as he took the portal. "Go on then, little ones. Go be heroes."

Izuku took to walking backwards, guided by Luz's hand on his arm. They heard something akin to electricity buzzing erratically high above them, no doubt on the stage. Once they stepped onto the platform, Izuku spoke.

"Things are going to change, Belos." Izuku grabbed Luz's hand and held tight. "You want to know why?"

Belos made the smallest of nods as if giving them permission to speak.

"Because we are here!" Luz used Owlbert to activate the giant fire and light glyphs Izuku had King carve onto the back of the portal door.

BOOMBOOMBOOOOM!

Like a giant firework, flames and light filled the hallway as Luz and Izuku took off flying once more. A plume of smoke followed them up to the stage, which had its own eruption of noise to greet them. Spinning around, Izuku threw Luz towards the three headed statue, keeping a grip on Owlbert. Rolling into the fall, Luz slapped down an ice glyph, created a spiked pillar large enough to break one of the heads off the statue. Another sudden eruption of noise, the crowd...cheering?

Yes, cheering!

"Let Eda go! Let Eda go! Let Eda go!" The crowd chanted.

"Let them go, now!" Izuku pointed Owlbert at Kikimora, feeling a surge of energy in the palisman's glowing eyes.

The red demon tensed up and made the cage disappear before running off, giving Izuku a good view of the partially petrified Eda. She had collapsed onto the ground, the entire back half of her hair had turned to stone, some of it had been creeping to the back of her limbs.

"Is she okay?" Izuku saw her move sluggishly when roused by King and Lilith, who was casting some spell. Izuku would have been suspicious, but the stone was creeping away from Eda's body at least.

"Whaa-?" Eda blinked, not unlike a night of excessive apple blood consumption.

"The petrification wasn't complete," Lilith replied. "But for the curse-"

"Stop them!" The Golden Guard ordered. At his command, dozens of scouts began to swarm the stage. He aimed his staff, red magic began to glow.

"Switch!" Izuku tossed Owlbert to Luz and replaced it with some glyphs. He saw King was still clinging to Eda, with Lilith moving one hand away.

riiip!

"Let's fly!" Eda, with much shorter hair now, grabbed Luz and King before hopping onto Owlbert.

Lilith grabbed Izuku, sending a burst of light out as the five of them flew off.

"No!" Hunter aimed his staff when the flash dissipated, but he saw Izuku looking back. He hated to admit, but his aim became unsteady until they flew too far for a reliable shot to be made. He lowered his staff, hearing the crowd suddenly become quiet.

Turning around, Hunter saw his Uncle and gasped.

The Emperor's mask had been burnt and broken. If the mask was this damaged, how was he underneath?

"Uncle-!"

"Children of the Isles!" The Emperor began to speak, and Hunter knelt on instinct. "The Titan commands that the Owl Lady be left alive! Soon, her curse shall consume her ability to even perform the simplest of spells!"

The crowd murmured once more. The girl from before could momentarily sway them, but in the end, it was his Uncle they would listen to.

"Her story shall be a cautionary tale of the dangers of wild magic, and the dire punishment of using it."

Hunter stayed by his uncle's side as they made their leave. It was his duty as the Golden Guard, the right-hand man of the Emperor, his purpose as family.

This was Hunter's punishment for not protecting his uncle.

'Those glyphs,' Hunter thought, seeing the crowd mumble amongst themselves and recalling Izuku's habit. 'I need to know more about them. But that would mean...'

...

...

Another hasty flight landed them in front of the Owl House, Eda making an ungraceful landing which consisted of more crashing and sliding onto the ground.

thud!

"Ow-ow-ow," Luz groaned.

"Here," Izuku hopped off Lilith's staff and helped Luz up. When he crouched down, his injury from the night before flare dup. He bit down the wince, trying to stay standing. He looked at Eda, seeing feathers popping up at a rapid rate.

"Eda-!" Luz had a one tracked mind at times, but Eda was the one in a worst state. "Don't worry, we'll get your elixir-"

"Luz," Izuku shook his head, gently pulling her away to make room for Lilith. He knew she would have questions, but Izuku also figured Lilith would manage to answer them soon enough. Maybe. If he was right, then he already had an idea to the spell Lilith planned to use.

Lilith knelt down and pressed her forehead to Eda's, the owl Lady's eyes resembling the Owl Beast by the second.

"With this spell declared, let the pain be shared."

The stars were drowned by an explosion of light.

Izuku shielded his eyes with one arm, holding Luz close with the other as she held King until they were sure the spell had ended. When the light faded and they could see properly again, their eyes adjusting back to the dim starry lit night, there stood the Clawthorne sisters, no feather to be seen.

"Eda!" Luz and King ran to hug her. This caught the sisters' attention, revealing they each had one gray eye. For Eda it was her left, for Lilith, her right.

Izuku, a bit more awkwardly, stepped forward too. Lilith seemed to assume he was going to join the group hug, stepped back, gesturing for him to go on ahead. Instead, Izuku faced her, which she was not expecting.

"I..." Izuku began to say.

"Wait." Lilith interrupted. "I had planned on staying in the Emperor's Coven to ensure nothing like this would ever happen again. But now," she looked at her hand. "Now I'm not sure what to do."

"We stop Belos." Izuku said with no hesitation.

Eda put a hand to his forehead. "You got a fever there, kid?" Eda smirked a bit but something in her eyes had a different expression. "Aren't you and Luz a pair of goody goodies?"

Izuku gently waved her hand away. "As long as Belos is in power, people are going to be wrongly villainized," he looked at Eda. "Whatever the Day of Unity is, we need to stop him before then."

Luz held up the cracked and broken antler-horn. "And now we know for sure it's possible." Izuku briefly wondered where on her person she was hiding it.

"But how are we gonna do that if Eda doesn't have magic?" King gestured, even tracing a circle. "She was the strongest witch on the Isles!"

"I still have my magic!" Eda tapped Owlbert for emphasis. "Just," she looked at her half darkened gem, "gotta be careful with the rest of it." and pulled at the new shortened ends of her hair.

Izuku found he was looking at Luz, and she looked back. There were bags under her eyes, some scratches on her cheek, and dirt smudged her clothes. Still, she smiled. They were together, safe, and that was what mattered.

"We also have glyphs," Luz held up a glyph and put it in Eda's hand, "and we can learn them together."

Eda tapped the glyph. The paper curled in on itself, becoming a ball of light, floating just over her palm. When she raised her hand, the ball of light followed, going up and up, into the night sky.

"I'm looking forward to it," Lilith put a hand on Izuku's shoulder. The gesture would have made Izuku happy if not for the conflicting image of her sinister smile the night before.

Inside, Eda sat Lilith on the couch while Luz took Izuku's hand and more or less dragged him upstairs.

"Owow-where are we-?" Izuku had half a mind to ask but the exhaustion was creeping up, not to mention his injury was still stinging. He almost bumped into Luz when she stopped at a door.

"Ta-da!" Luz opened it, revealing a small and somewhat organized room, as organized as it can be with mountains of stuff of unknown origin lining the walls, but there seemed to be a system. In the middle of the room sat a small table, where a couple of pictures were displayed, and on the floor was a sleeping bag somewhere in a pile of blankets. "This is my room! You can stay here with me!" She dragged him to the window, squishing the both of them as she opened it up, showing the sea. "Better view of the water, lots of stuff around to reuse, with Eda's permission of course-

Izuku blinked. Luz had been talking but he could not hear words. He looked out to the landscape, feeling the breeze on his face. The night sky of the Boiling Isles was purple. Without the light pollution of a modern city, countless stars were visible, the brighter ones were red, fainter ones were blue. The sky was simply glowing, softly, quietly. The blood red plants and trees faded into a darker shade in the corners of his vision. Similarly, all the pinkish purple of the boiling sea now looked like a crystalline blue, almost like glass, fuzzing with the tears welling in his eyes as his legs gave out from underneath him.

"Izuku-!" Luz tried to catch him, but they both ended up on the floor. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Luz brushed some of his hair away from his face, almost hissing when she felt his skin.

"You're burning up!" Luz gasped. "E-!" She clapped her hand over her mouth. Eda was already exhausted because of Luz's stupid decisions! "Uhhh, don't worry! I'm sure there's something we can use to fix you up good as new!" She saw he was holding his stomach. Slightly cringing at the impoliteness, Luz felt the fabric, feeling a stiff patch.

The blast of magic from the Golden Guard flashed in her mind again. He pushed himself today despite it for her and now he was-

"I-" Izuku wheezed.

"Huh?" Luz scooted a little closer.

"I-I'm sorry-" Izuku's voice shook.

Luz patted his head. "It's okay," she made a block with an ice glyph, wrapping the scarf around it to make a sort of ice pack, helping him hold it where he needed it. "I'm here."

Izuku shivered, not so silently crying.

It took all of Luz's remaining strength to keep from doing the same.