Chapter Text
Steve had thought often about what life would be like without Emperor Belos’ regime. He knew there was a rebellion against him, but he never had any desire to join it. Perhaps if he had been alone in the Isles, but it would just have put Avery at too much risk, and Steve would do anything to protect them. At any rate, he never believed the rebellion had any chance of succeeding. Belos would be a constant, he believed. But he turned out to be wrong. Zoe took down Belos without anyone noticing, and now the only thing standing between the Isles and freedom – to say nothing of Avery being reunited with their girlfriend – was her life.
Now, the two of them were readying to join the imminent battle to seize the imperial palace. Steve wished he didn’t have to participate in the war, but Avery wouldn’t be dissuaded from fighting, so he had no choice but to fight alongside them. Fortunately, he had more in his arsenal than just his gun, his glyphs, and his wits: He had morphing. He’d loaded himself up with over a dozen morphs, from small bugs to large birds. He had a variety of ways to protect Avery now, and with that power came the responsibility to use it.
It was a shameful thing for him to admit inside his own head, but at times like this, he wished that Catherine was beside him. Not Catherine as she truly was, but Catherine as he thought she had always been. Steve had spent an embarrassingly long time in denial of Catherine’s bigotry. Just like Willow with Luz, he became convinced that she had been enchanted, or replaced, or somehow had her mind influenced in some way. Catherine believed inghosts.Why didn’t she believe in nonbinary people? But in the end, Steve came to the realization that Catherine had been herself all along. He’d just ignored the signs because he wanted to believe the best of her.
He’d failed his child in not realizing the depths of Catherine’s hatred until it nearly destroyed Avery. But he would not fail again. With Avery refreshed from a very large amount of sleep, watching ridiculously cheesy soap operas on the crystal ball, and what Steve strongly suspected was the odd ever so slightly illegal energy potion or two, they were ready to fight, and Steve would ensure that the two of them would be an unstoppable team.
“Ready to get your girlfriend back?” Steve asked Avery as he checked his pistol to see if he had remembered to load it. (He had forgotten that once and ended up in the hospital for two months as a result.)
“You bet your life I am, dad,” Avery said with a confident smile. They picked up what they termed to be the ultimate weapon: a leaf blower that they’d bought at Eda’s shop. They’d converted the leaf blower into an automatic glyph gun by attaching a paint roller to the front using duct tape and installing a handle on the top of the tube by screwing it in. It would allow them to use automatic fire to burn anything in sight with fire glyphs, as if it was a flamethrower. Steve couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Remember, if you see Zoe, take a kill shot immediately. Don’t listen to a single word she says,” Steve lectured Avery. “Don’t speak a single word to her. Don’t respond to anything she says, no matter what she offers you, no matter how tempting it is.”
Avery took a glyph out of their pocket that Steve didn’t recognize. “Already way ahead of you there, dad. Invisibility glyph. She can’t tempt what she doesn’t know is there.” Steve beamed with pride. His child was so smart!
“All right, Ave,” Steve said. “Let’s kick some fairy ass!”
*****
“Let me get this straight,” Luz said slowly, thinking she may have misheard Eda. “You’re actuallylettingme fight in this battle?”
Eduardo crossed his arms. “I’m quite surprised by that decision myself, Eda. I think it might be better if she stays here instead of, you know,walking straight into the lion’s den.”
“What’s a lion?” Eda asked. Eduardo just glared at her instead of bothering to explain it. “Look, if I thought Luz was going toactuallystay, I’d have told her to stay here. But she won’t. She’ll sneak out and join the battle anyway. Am I wrong, Luz?” Luz shook her head. She didn’t have any plans to actually do that, but she knew herself. She’d end up doing it anyway, regardless of her plans to the contrary. She was incapable of sitting around while other people were in danger. “See? This way I’ll be able to watch her back.”
“NO ONE SNEAKS OUT ON MY WATCH!” Hooty said. “NONE SHALL ESCAPE THE WATCHFUL EYE OF – OH, LOOK, A BUG!”
Eduardo sighed, the sigh of a man who has had similar conversations numerous times and learned the futility of arguing when Eda was acting like this. “I must be out of my mind for letting this happen, but fine. You’resureKing will be safe in Hexside?”
“If I didn’t think he’d be safe there, I wouldn’t have sent him there,” Eda pointed out. The members of the baby classes, including King, had all been sent to Hexside, along with the students who didn’t want to fight (roughly about 40% of them) to be protected by the faculty there. It was probably the safest place in the Isles right now.
King had been reluctant to go – he wanted to stay at the Owl House to protect his sister with his “vastly superior dark power,” which Luz found touching albeit utterly incorrect – but Luz had managed to persuade him to go by convincing him that Zoe would seek him out specifically as the true sovereign of the Isles, and he needed to be in a place with minions who could defend him. There was some truth to that statement admittedly – not the true sovereign part, but the part where Zoe would try to use him as leverage against Luz.
It still amazed Luz that someone could hate her so much. Okay, sure, her bullies had hated her, but in a strange way, it hadn’t beenpersonalto them. Her suffering had just fed their sadism, made them think they wielded power. They hated her because she didn’t fit into the mold, because she did strange things, because she wasn’t white, because she was autistic, the list went on and on. At the end of the day, though, they went home and they barely thought about her, because she wasn’t worth thinking about to them. But Zoe had made Luz’s suffering her personal mission. It had consumed her. And Luz felt that was so sad. With the power that Zoe wielded, she could have accomplished so many good things, but she was wasting it on pettiness and spite.
“Well, then, let’s go and meet with your colleagues in the rebellion, and ready ourselves for war,” Eduardo suggested. Eda nodded, and then did a double take. Luz was pretty sure Eda had thought she was keeping her role in the rebellion a secret from Eduardo. Eduardo just laughed. “Oh, Eda. You actually thought I didn’t know you were in the rebellion? I mean, come on. There’s a rebellion and youaren’tpart of it? I’ve seen a lot of implausible things in this realm, but I have to draw the line somewhere!”
Eda just laughed. “Should have known better than to pull the wool overyoureyes, Eddie, shouldn’t I? Nothing gets past you. That’s why I love you so much!” She pulled him into a passionate kiss. Luz averted her eyes. Truth be told, she still had trouble seeing her mother kiss someone who wasn’t her father; seeing herfatherkiss someone who wasn’t her mother, even if it was an alternate version of him, made her even more uncomfortable.
Eda reached out and ruffled Luz’s hair. “Ah, kiddo, don’t worry. Your parents are going to have you home soon enough. Oh, and tell the other Eda congrats on snagging your momandRaine! Great catches, both of them! If I wasn’t taken…” Eduardo just sighed, having gotten used to Eda’s antics long ago.
Luz believed her. She believed that her departure was imminent. She was honestly so excited, so much that she really wasn’t feeling any fear right now about getting involved in a battle. She’d see her Amity again! And her family! Heck, she was even looking forward to seeing Edric and Emira again. It had been a long couple of months in the alternate universe, and she missed her home so much. She was even nostalgic forhigh school,and that was a definite sign that she was really, really homesick.
“Papi,” she said, and Eduardo instantaneously turned to face her. “In case I don’t have a chance to say it later…adiós.” She would not make the same mistake she said last time. She was saying goodbye.
Eduardo kissed her on the cheek. “Adiós, mi lucecita. Hasta que nos encontremos de neuvo.”Until we meet again.
*****
Amity was perfectly content with staying in the apartment and not putting herself at risk. She wasn’t a reckless individual…well, not one given to taking stupid risks anyway. Despite the guilt she was feeling for not being able to help anyone, she understood that she’d just be putting a target on her back if she went to fight. Zoe knew how much she still meant to Luz, and Amity could imagine very well all the terrible things Zoe might do to her if she got her hands on her.
Amity could not help but feel bad for Luz, though, out there fighting against the forces of the evil fairy queen. (Sure, Camila was sure that Eda would keep her safe in the Owl House, but this wasLuzshe was talking about here. She’d sneak out somehow.) Amity felt she had every right to be mad at Luz for her secrets and, yes, her manipulation. But she had come to understand that things weren’t quite as black and white as Amity had initially thought. There had been no malice behind Luz’s actions. Naivety, yes. Foolishness, most probably. But malice? No. Their conversation and Luz’s selfless decision to try to get Amity to come out of her funk, despite knowing that Amity would never fall in love with her, had led Amity to realize that Luz truly loved her. And Amity felt proud that she had inspired such love in Luz, a girl who probably thought she could love no one but the other Amity. She felt good about herself, and she liked that.
Camila had been much more reluctant to forgive Luz. Amity could understand why. Camila had thought her life was completely ordinary, and then she was abruptly dropped into a world of magic, demons, and witches, and an extraordinarily dangerous one at that. She would, of course, be more skeptical. The fact that Camila had been Luz’s biological mother in Luz’s universe just made things worse – Camila was finding it very hard to let go of the idea that Luz’s relationship with Amity was incestual. Amity agreed with Luz’s logic about why it was not, but she could definitely understand why Camila, who was the one who shared actual blood with Luz in the other universe, was more skeptical.
Still, the fact that Amity had forgiven Luz was causing Camila to try to readjust her own attitudes. Additionally, Camila was starting to realize she had hurt Luz immensely with her refusal to forgive her. True forgiveness would take time, Amity knew, but Camila would come around eventually. At the moment, Camila had stopped hating Luz, and that was good enough for now.
While Amity had been fine with staying in the house, Emma and Edmond were chomping at the bit to go out there and fight. Edmond had pointed out that he was part of the rebellion and they were relying on him. Needless to say, since this piece of news had not yet made its way to Camila yet, it only strengthened her resolve to keep them indoors where it was safe. Emma didn’t bother arguing with Camila, knowing it was completely bootless. Amity strongly suspected she was planning to sneak out when Camila wasn’t looking. She wouldn’t stop Emma if she did so, but she wouldn’t help her or lie for her either.
The silence – punctuated only by explosions in the distance – seemed to drag on endlessly until there was a knock at the door. “Were we expecting company?” Edmond asked, looking like he had as little clue of who was at the door as Amity did.
“Maybe it’s Hunter or Viney?” Amity suggested. She liked that optionwaybetter than the alternatives. And it sounded more plausible than the worst case scenarios too – surely Zoe’s forces would try to break the door down instead of knocking on it. Hunter was fighting on the front lines, as a significant portion of Lilith’s forces were only fighting because they thought he was the emperor. Viney was at Hexside, aiding in the defense of the building. Emma had fought tooth and nail to join her there, but Camila didn’t want to make Hexside a target by having her there.
“It’s her,” Edmond said, but Amity’s abysmal skill at reading tones of voices meant that she didn’t realize that Edmond was not talking about Viney until she threw open the door and found Odalia on the other side.
Odalia spread her arms outwards, hoping for a hug that she very much wasnotgetting. Amity suspected Odalia of having engineered her breakup with Luz (the fact that she just happened to gift Edmond with a grimoire that had a spell to enter someone’s mind was quite suspicious in her opinion). Even if that wasn’t the case, Amity wasn’t in the mood to deal with her social climbing, hom*ophobic biological mother.
“What are you doing here, Mrs. Blight?” Camila said, a trifle coldly. She had suspected Odalia of having had a hand in blowing up the portal, though she had nothing but suspicions to back that up. Nonetheless, the incident had lowered her already low opinion of Odalia considerably.
Odalia smiled that perfect, charming smile of hers which no doubt had smoothed over many a business deal in her time. “Why, I’m just here to protect my children from fairy riff-raff. I have no doubt that the duplicitous fiend Zoe is going to strike here. You’ll need an oracle witch of prodigious skill such as myself – no offense, dearest Edmond; you’re still in training – to defend you.”
Camila looked over at Edmond, no doubt to see if his magic was telling him if it would be a good idea. He just shrugged. In theory, having Odalia around to defend the apartment was a good thing. There was no doubt she was quite powerful and had a vested interest in seeing her children survive. And, frankly, Amity would rather have her in sight than plotting behind her back. Still, it would be a thoroughly unpleasant experience for everyone.
“You’ll forgive my ignorance on the subject of your magic, Mrs. Blight,” Camila began. “On Earth, we believe it to be a myth. But have you foreseen anything particularly bad happening if you’re not present? Because otherwise, someone of your obvious talents probably should be helping out on the front lines.”
“No,” Odalia admitted. Amity raised an eyebrow in surprise – not because she thought something bad would happen if Odalia wasn’t there, but because she had assumed she would lie about that being the case. “But I urge you to accept my offer. There are no strings attached. I merely want to see my children safe.”
Camila gave a long sigh. “All right. You can stay.”
“Most excellent,” Odalia said. She conjured a scrapbook out of thin air and sat down on a sofa. “I brought you a gift: baby pictures of Edmond and Emma!” Amity leaned forward to look at the pictures in interest. She had gotten so used to having Emma and Edmond’s hair dyed that it was somewhat surreal to see them with green hair once more, even though she knew intellectually that it was indeed their natural hair color. They’d been such adorable babies and toddlers – practically inseparable from one another, by the looks of it. Even Camila appeared won over by their sheer cuteness.
Odalia flipped a page and Amity was startled to see a picture of Odalia holding a baby. But this baby didn’t have green hair. She had brown hair, Alador’s hair, presumably. It was Amity. Amity was looking at herself as a baby in Odalia’s arms. And Odalia had an incredible feeling of love in her eyes. She loved Amity, and Amity was stolen from her. Amity knew – she didn’t just surmise, sheknew– that despite this love, Odalia’s worst impulses, prejudices, and perfectionist nature would have made Amity’s life a living hell. She’d seen what it did to Amity Blight, after all. But it was hard to remember that when she was seeing that love in Odalia’s eyes, love that was echoed in her expression now.
“You were always your father’s daughter,” Odalia said, her voice distant. “His intellectual peer, his true heir. You were always meant for greater things. I feel bad that you haven’t been able to achieve those things, stuck on Earth as you were.”
Camila’s hackles were raised considerably by that comment, and she clenched her fists. “Amity is an incredible girl! She is kind and compassionate. Her grades are superlative, she has many friends – ”
Odalia’s eye twitched and she stood up. “And girlfriends? How many ofthosehas she had? Mrs. Serrano, I cannot understand why you would let your daughters indulge in suchperversion.”And there we go, Amity thought. Sure, Odalia loved her, but love wasn’t enough. She loved her daughter, the one who was stolen from her, the one she thought she could mold. Amity was not that person, and she never would be.
“If it’s any consolation,” Edmond said in a joking tone, “I’ve had enough boyfriends to make up for the deficit!”
Odalia smacked him across the face.
Amity let out a gasp. She didn’t think that Odalia would dare to strike Edmond, not while she was still trying to worm her way into their lives, gain their affections. Some part of her had thought that she wouldn’t go that far at all under any circ*mstances. It was a naïve part of her, yes, but it was there. “Don’t you treat him like that!” she shouted, and she summoned an abomination so large that it had to bend its head so it wouldn’t smack into the ceiling.
“You are my children,” Odalia said, her voice cold. With the twirl of a finger, she dispelled Amity’s abomination. “I will discipline you howsoever I choose. If Zoe will not strip you of your hom*osexuality, then I will find a way to do it myself. I have indulged your pretentions of freedom for far too long.”
There was a click as Camila pulled out a pistol which Eda had given her to protect Amity and pointed it at Odalia’s face. “Get out,” she snarled at her. “These people arenotyour children. They aremine.You’re just a disgusting hom*ophobic bitch, and I want you out of my apartment right now, or I’ll shoot you just like I shot Warden Wrath!”
Odalia pulled a crystal out of her pocket and cast a blue spell circle over it. The crystal started glowing. It hurt Amity’s eyes to look at it. “Drop the weapon,” Odalia commanded to Camila, who instantly obeyed, looking confused about why she had done it, and more than a little frightened.
“Oh, sh*t, that’s a Mesmerism Crystal,” Edmond told his sisters. “I read about it in one of my textbooks. They’re super rare, highly illegal. They can be used to control people.”
Odalia advanced on Camila, the crystal glowing even brighter in her hand, a hungry look in her eyes. “You’ll surrender your children to me. You never had children. You were just their nanny.”
“I…I…” Camila swayed on her feet. “I don’t…no, my children…”
“YOU NEVER HAD CHILDREN!” Odalia thundered. “THEY WERE ALWAYS MINE! You were just looking after them while I was temporarily indisposed.”
Camila clutched her head, looking like the disconnect between Odalia’s mind control and her own will was causing her immense pain. “That’s not…no…they’re mine…”
Odalia got closer and closer to Camila, until the crystal was right in front of her eyes. “These are not your children. You do not love them. You do not know them. You do not remember them.”
“I…?” Camila muttered. “I don’t…who…what?” She looked over at her children with not a trace of recognition in her eyes, and Amity’s heart sank. Camila had lost the battle of wills, and now Odalia was in control. Fear raced through the core of Amity’s being. She was going to lose her freedom, her memories, maybe even her hom*osexuality! She had to do something.
“You won’t get away with this!” Amity shouted. “We’re not going to give in. We’re not going with you – you might as well kill us.”
“I don’t know who you people are, or what you’re doing in my apartment,” Camila said, her voice slurred, “but there’s no need for these dramatics. Just go with your mother.”
Amity reached out to hit Odalia, but she grabbed her arm and squeezed her wrist until Amity could hear the bones crack and a surge of pain went through her. “You’ve lost here, child. The sooner you surrender, the less pain you’ll be in. I will make you all normal and whole. Or the consequences will be dire.” She raised the crystal in front of Camila’s eyes once more. “Pick up your weapon, and if I don’t make a crow call in an hour’s time, shoot yourself in the head with it.”
Camila picked up the pistol and nodded jerkily. She didn’t appear to have any cognizance of her surroundings in any way whatsoever. Despite herself, Amity couldn’t help but be disappointed. She’d have thought that her strong-willed mother would have been more resistant to mind control, especially since she was being controlled to do something inherently against her nature. But alas, that seemed not to be the case.
“Now, children, do I have your word that you’ll a good boy and girls for your mommy?” Odalia said, her voice a mockery of affection. The three of them just nodded. No one seemed to trust themselves to speak. There was no other way to save Camila. If they attacked Odalia, she would just make Camila shoot herself right then and there.
Odalia gave them a savage grin. “Excellent. You’ll thank me one day, you know. You’ll soon have proper spouses. You’ll be worthy heirs to the Blight name. This individuality thing issucha fad. We’ll havethatstamped out of you soon enough!”
A gunshot rang out and blood sprayed all over Amity’s jacket. Amity screamed and screamed and screamed, and it took her a good fifteen seconds worth of screaming before she realized that while it had been Camila who had fired the shot, she hadn’t shot herself. Instead, she had shot Odalia in the back of the head. Odalia was killed instantly. The bullet went through her skull and out the other side, blowing off a good portion of Odalia’s face in the process.
Camila grinned at them. “I bet you didn’t know your mother dabbled in the theater when she was younger, did you?” Her grin faded when she saw that they had believed what had clearly been an act entirely. “Hey, you didn’treallythink I’d forget the three of you, did you? Not even dark magic like hers could make me do that.”
“It was…a really convincing performance,” Emma said, her voice trembling. Camila reached out and hugged Emma, then hugged her other two children in turn. “I really thought she’d gotten to you…”
“I’m so sorry, mija,” Camila said. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. But you’re safe now.” She grabbed a healing potion from her pocket and gave it to Amity, who downed it, healing her wrist. Those things were awesome. She wished they were a thing on Earth.
“Why didn’t the wards hold her off?” Amity wondered and looked over at Edmond.
Edmond was silent for a few moments in contemplation. “I think it’s because the wards block off those with hostile intent, and Odalia didn’t have that – she thought she was helping us. Also, it’s possible that she didn’t plan on attacking us when she got through the wards and only snapped when she got in here.”
“It’s a good thing her magic failed her,” Camila said. “I felt a pull to do the things she was suggesting, but I resisted, and I really didn’t find it all that difficult, either.”
“Oracle magic works best when the subject is willing to do the things suggested,” Edmond explained. “It really can’t make someone do something against their innermost self, like giving us up.”
Camila walked over to the window and looked outside. In the distance, Amity could see explosions and pulses of just about every color in the visible spectrum, and a few she was pretty sure were only visible to witches to boot, emanating from the area of the imperial palace. “We need to go and fight,” Camila decided. “If Odalia can get past the wards, who knows who else can? There’s one person responsible for all of our pain right now. Let’s go get her.”
Amity hadn’t heard a better idea in ages.
*****
War was said to be a glorious thing. That was the official viewpoint of the Emperor’s Coven. To wage war in the name of the Titan was the highest honor of all. But Willow took one look at the carnage occurring around the outer gates of the imperial palace and she knew it was all a lie. Witches, demons, and fae were dying by the dozens. There was nothing glorious or honorable about their deaths. They’d get hit by a spell and explode or turn to stone or burn or any one of a hundred absolutely terrible fates. Everything she was seeing would haunt her nightmares for years to come.
But that wasn’t the worst part about it. The worst part about it was that it was her fault. If she hadn’t been so ridiculously paranoid – she remembered holding a knife toher own throatand shuddered – then Amity would have fallen in love with Luz and Zoe would have left everyone alone. Maybe. Probably. She’d probably have settled for having Luz live the rest of her life knowing that she’d awoken Amity and that they’d be separated forever. But instead, they’d had to resort to this, and she was responsible.
Willow, however, was not the sort of witch who wallowed in guilt. She believed in turning her anger, even at herself, into useful action. That’s why she and Boscha had eagerly volunteered to fight at the front lines, eager to get revenge on the woman who had nearly forced Boscha into an arranged marriage. Her fathers had demanded she stay home. She’d smiled and nodded and agreed and sneaked out almost immediately thereafter. She’d be in one hell of a lot of trouble when she got back, but it didn’t matter. The only way to ensure her future was to fight for it.
“So you’re here too,” a voice said from next to her, almost shouting to be heard over the fury of the war around her.
Willow turned to face Gus. “Hey,” she said, trying to strike a casual tone.
“Hey,” Gus responded, and Willow was surprised to hear that his own tone was nearly as casual, albeit still possessing some tension. He was making a concerted effort to be more friendly. “Have you seen Luz?”
“Surely Mr. Noceda would make sure she stayed in the Owl House – oh, wait, what am I saying, she obviously sneaked out, didn’t she?” Luz was Luz no matter what dimension she was in, after all. Willow wished she’d understood that sooner. It could have saved everyone a lot of heartache, especially Amity and Luz herself.
Gus cast a spell and illusion clones of himself peppered the vicinity, drawing the attention of the enemy witches around them. As they wasted their spells against the intangible clones, Willow fired thorns through their heads with neat, clinical precision. It wasn’t her first time killing. Titan willing, it would be the last. Striking their enemies to wound simply wouldn’t do, not with healing witches able to get them back on their feet in no time.
A flurry of loud bangs erupted and Willow instinctively ducked. Several members of the rebellion were firing what looked like some sort of bizarre variant of a crossbow – a human weapon? – at various figures inside the gates. The gigantic noise made her ears hurt. She didn’t understand how humans could stand such noise if this was what they used in their own wars. And if they couldn’t, why did they keephavingthem? A question to ask Gus another time, if they were ever on real speaking terms again.
Witches had fired spell after spell at the outer gates, but they remained stubbornly intact. Which made sense. Belos didn’t want just anyone knocking down their doors. Lilith ran forward, toting a very long, thin tube like human weapon. She aimed it at the gates and fired it. A fireball erupted from the end of the weapon and smashed into the gates…which remained stubbornly intact. “Damn it!” Lilith shouted, and threw the weapon on the ground. “It’d take a construction witch of some skill to pierce through those gates…”
Just then, a very thin beam of brown light lanced through the air. Slowly, meticulously, the beam struck against the parts of the gates weakened by the explosion. It took several minutes, but Amity’s spell eventually caused enough of the gate to disintegrate to allow people through, albeit one at a time. Lilith’s eyes widened. “Amity, that’sveryimpressive. You have a great future ahead of you…no matter what track you choose. Or combination thereof, because, honestly, this whole no mixing magic thing was always ridiculous.”
Amity’s siblings and mother stepped forward. Edmond spotted Hunter nearby and the two of them were hugging and kissing like there was no tomorrow. Honestly, the whole thing was so undignified. She and Boscha would never act like that. Okay, that was a lie. They totally would have if they’d been able to and probably would in the future.
“I’m sorry to have to inform you that Odalia Blight attacked me, and I was forced to kill her in self-defense,” Camila announced.
Lilith did not look remotely bothered by that news. “How terribly tragic,” she said in an utterly deadpan tone. “She’ll be missed. By someone. Maybe. Actually, probably not, now that I think about it.” She looked at Camila carefully. “Are you all right?” she added in a much more genuine tone.
Camila shook her head. “But that’s a later problem. We’re here to help. I may not have magic, but I’m a pretty good shot considering my lack of training. Just tell me what you want us to do.”
“What I’dlikeyou to do is return to your home,” Lilith said, somewhat acerbically. “But since I sense that’s no longer in the cards, just follow us and be very careful. Our spies inside the palace inform us that Zoe is staying in the throne room. She obviously doesn’t believe in doing her own dirty work.” She shook her head disapprovingly. “Belos was many things, but a coward was not one of them. Our primary objective is to kill Zoe. Once Zoe dies, it’s likely that most of her forces will surrender, though not entirely certain, so be cautious.”
Camila nodded and gave an awkward salute. Lilith winced. “Please don’t do that again. Do you have any idea where my niece is?”
Amity gave a soft laugh. “If I know Luz, she’ll have found a way inside the palace already.”
“Then it’s all the more imperative we get to Zoe before she does,” Lilith said. “The last thing we want is her takinganotherdeal.”
Lilith led her forces, Willow included, inside the palace. This was the first time Willow had ever been inside the imperial palace, and despite the fact she knew it was a tool of not one but two totalitarian regimes, she could not help but be impressed. The architecture was far more luxurious than anything she was used to. Marble floors, golden accents, high ceilings decorated with frescos of Belos conducting impressive feats of magic, the palace put any other building in the Isles to shame.
Willow didn’t have much time to notice the surroundings, however, because the battle continued almost instantly upon arriving in the hallowed halls. Spells lanced through the air with abandon. It was impossible to see who was doing all the hexing amidst all the chaos. The halls were infested with fae soldiers. They looked like witches at first glance, but their skin was constantly shifting colors in mesmerizing patterns – literally, as Willow had to be pulled away by looking at them by Boscha after getting caught looking at them for too long.
Gus’s illusion magic was less helpful in the crowded halls than it had been outside the palace. No one really cared about targeting him specifically. They sliced their way through his illusions, yes, but only because they were targeting everything in sight. Moreover, Willow could tell that his prepubescent bile sac was struggling to keep up such an output. Sooner or later, he’d collapse. But this was his choice. Willow could not stop him.
“Bet you thought you’d never be fighting side by side with me, eh, Porter?” Boscha called out to Gus in a somewhat teasing tone, though not maliciously so. Willow was happy that Boscha and Gus had, if not reconciled, at least taken the first step in that direction.
“Yeah, it’s a bit of a surprise,” Gus conceded. Boscha’s abominations had been particularly useful at going up against the fae soldiers, as they didn’t have brains with which to entrance and they didn’t have any fear either. They just kept on smashing until they or their targets were destroyed. “I wish Avery was here. Their glyphs’d be really helpful here. Can’t blame them for sitting this one out, though. Not after Grom.”
Willow spotted someone emerging from a hallway out of the corner of her eye, and saw that they were aiming a spell directly at Gus’s head. “GUS, LOOK OUT!” she shouted, and tackled him. The spell that would have struck him head on instead hit an unfortunate rebel, who turned into a glass statue. A stray spell almost instantly struck him and caused him to disintegrate into a shower of shards.
“You saved my life,” Gus said, his voice filled with awe.
“Well, yeah,” Willow said, genuinely confused about why he was so surprised. “You’re my friend.”
Gus gave her a huge smile. “Well, I guess you’re mine too again after that.” Willow could practically feel her face lighting up from that. “Just don’t betray my trust again, okay?”
“Gus, I swear to you, I’ll do so much better in the future,” Willow promised. She didn’t need an Everlasting Oath to keep that promise. She’d make it so herself. “Thanks for giving me another chance.” She walked over to him and hugged him.I won’t waste this second chance,Willow promised herself. From that point onward, she was going to be the best friend anyone could ever be. No more secrets.
“How touching,” a voice said from next to them, and a soldier that Willow had assumed was one of their own suddenly transformed into the form of Queen Zoe herself. For once, Zoe was not hiding behind a disguise or glamor. She was in her true form: That of a perfectly average looking elderly woman with white hair and pointy ears. If Willow had spotted her on the street, she never would have given her a second glance.
Zoe snapped her fingers and everyone in the room was paralyzed instantaneously. “The friends reunited. Not that it will do you any good. It’s so kind of you all to come here. You’ve made my job so much easier. Willow, Gus, Camila…”
“I don’t believe in fairies!” Camila shouted. Willow had absolutely no idea why she said that. It was easily the most blatant lie she’d ever heard. “Damn it! That should have worked! Stupid inaccurate human mythology…”
“Lilith,” Zoe went on, as if Camila had not spoken. “A fine fight you’ve put up here, but ultimately futile.” She turned to face Amity, and gave a warm smile to her. “And last, but certainly not least, Amity. You’ve seen Luz Noceda’s dishonesty and cowardice firsthand. Surely you understand the necessity of making her suffer. You’ve wanted that yourself, haven’t you?”
“Fairest and fallen,” Amity said, her voice laced with hatred, sounding as if she was quoting something, “greetings and defiance.” Zoe blinked, seeming nonplussed by this statement. “I’m not going to be fooled by your lies. Luz made mistakes, and, yes, she shouldn’t have lied to me. But you chose to put my counterpart in an enchanted sleep. You manipulated her into breaking my heart. Everything I’ve suffered since I came here has been atyourhands, tool of the Lone Power, and I willnotbe persuaded otherwise.”
Zoe made a fist and Amity’s throat was constrained. She was somehow choking her telekinetically. She came so close to killing Amity, but just as Amity was about to die, Zoe stopped and Amity coughed up blood and threw up, her vomit projecting onto the wall because she could not move to put it on the floor. “I tried to give you a kind way out, but you rejected it. So be it. This farce is about to come to a close.”
She waved a hand and everyone but Willow, Gus, Boscha, Lilith, Hunter, Camila, and Camila’s children just dropped dead, including her own troops. There was no display of gore or anything comparable. One moment, the soldiers were alive, and the next they were dead. “There’s nothing more fun than killing people,” Zoe said, her voice light and airy. “But don’t worry yet. You’re not going to die…unless I don’t get what I want.” She waved her hand again and everything went black.
*****
Luz had to concede that without Eda around, she probably wouldn’t have made it into the imperial palace in the first place. The whole place appeared locked tighter than a drum at first glance, but Eda knew the whole place top to bottom, no doubt from the reports she’d gotten from Lilith. There was a network of secret tunnels running from the palace to throughout Bonesborough. Only the most elite agents in the Emperor’s Coven knew about them, including Lilith. It was not outside the realm of possibility that Zoe herself was unaware of them, although it was definitely too risky to make that assumption.
“I broke in about a year ago to steal the Healing Hat,” Eda explained as they made their way through the tunnels. They had entered through a tunnel a few miles away from the Owl House, one that Lilith, back when she had been loyal to Belos, had installed in the hopes that it would facilitate capturing Eda.
“Oh, sothat’swhy I haven’t heard anything about the curse!” Luz realized. She felt stupid for not making that realization earlier. In her own timeline, Eda had been struggling immensely by the curse at this point and eventually nearly succumbed to it. But the Healing Hat must have completely cured her.
“Yeah, sorry I didn’t mention it,” Eda admitted. “I guess I assumed you knew.”
“I tried to steal the hat myself,” Luz told her. “Right around now, actually. It didn’t go so well.” A gargantuan understatement if she ever heard one. “But it all worked out in the end! You shared the curse with Lilith and later you got some symbiosis with it – you can change into a harpy beast at will now!”
Eda groaned. “I can’tbelieveI missed out on that! That sounds totally badass!”
“Itdoessound quite…interesting,” Eduardo said under his breath. Luz pantomimed throwing up. “God, it’s bad enough whenMamigets like that over the Harpy Beast,” she muttered.
Eda ruffled Luz’s hair affectionately. “I’m gonna miss you so much, Luz. I’m so happy you found me in your world. Sounds like no matter the universe, I was always meant to be your mom in some way.”
“You were,” Luz said. There was not a doubt in her mind. Maybe there wasn’t such a thing as true love, but everythinghadto happen for a reason, and the fact that two versions of Luz had found their way into the Boiling Isles in some way waswaytoo unlikely to be just mere coincidence. Luz wasn’t sure what she was meant to do, but she knew it would be important – if Zoe could be believed (and who even knew anymore with her) she was going to lead the Isles away from disaster.
What could that disaster be? Luz had no idea. But she had some hints. While in Seattle during spring break, Amity had had a run-in with a human Lilith was later able to identify as Arend Havik, CEO of the Morningstar private military company. Havik had made threats to Amity, mentioned her mother’s nickname for her – which Amity believed he could only know if he was in cahoots with Odalia – and hadn’t shown his face since. But Lilith was reasonably certain that Havik was Belos’ son. If Havik was going to start a war to take the throne…the consequences could be cataclysmic.
Luz, generally speaking, had a good opinion of humanity. But she knew that if humanity was suddenly faced with the knowledge that everything they thought they knew was wrong, that witches and demons and monsters out of nightmares were real, thatmagicwas real, the reaction of a lot of them – not all, nowhere close, but a lot – would be to throw everything they had at the Isles until everyone there was dead. And there was definitely a lot to throw.
But that was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a later problem. Luz would deal with that when the time came. For now, she would hopefully be able to sneak into Zoe’s throne room and kill her quickly. The idea of killing someone in cold blood still made Luz queasy to even think about, but she was pretty sure she’d make an exception for Zoe, who had made her life utterly miserable for months, and deserved it entirely.
“Just got to round this corner, and we’re inside the palace,” Eda said, sounding almost perky. “You know, I never broke into places with you – er, her. Sorry, messed up there for a sec. Maybe I should do that more often. Fun mother-daughter bonding time.”
“Or perhaps you could do something less, I don’t know,illegal?”Eduardo suggested. Luz and Eda looked at each other. “Nah,” they both said simultaneously. Eduardo just chuckled. He was used to his family being criminals. He’d come to terms with that, clearly.
“I still don’t understand how Eda becameprime minister,”Eduardo complained. “Or how King became king!”
“Lilith did some research into human governance and thought parliamentary democracy would be best for the Isles,” Luz explained. “She tried to become leader of the OWL Party, but they voted Eda in instead. And as for King, I think you underestimate him. He’s done a super job as king. He hasn’t abused his power. Well, beyond demanding stuffed animals as tribute.” She grinned at the thought of seeing King Clawthorne-Noceda again, and all his favorite minions.
Luz could tell when they had reached the palace, because the tunnel abruptly became a lot fancier, all stone instead of brick, with marble floors. Even in the depths of the palace’s catacombs, Belos had splurged on decorations quite a bit. “Okay, so we need to go down this corridor and –
PAIN.
FEAR.
EMPTINESS.
The emotions lanced through Luz’s entire being until they were everything she could feel. She was undergoing some sort of psychic assault, but that knowledge didn’t exactly help her any as the FEAR PAIN EMPTINESS PAIN FEAR EMPTINESS surged through her. Every step cost her something. By the looks of it, the psychic attack was specifically targeted towards her, but this fact only dimly resonated in her. The PAIN FEAR EMPTINESS was filling every corner of her being, and she slumped to the ground. Eda carried her, and the physical contact helped drive away the EMPTINESS PAIN FEAR.
And then things got worse.
you don’t matter you’re not important you’re no one and nothing and no one will ever love you. why should they? you're pathetic weak stupid horrible a waste of space why are you even alive? you can’t win so why are you even bothering to try? you're pathetic, luz noceda. everyone hates you. you should just stop trying. just lie down and end it.
what's the point of going forward? you're nothing. a small tiny girl in a vast universe that is so much more important than you. stop lying to yourself. stop pretending you matter. nothing. you're nothing. you're broken. a stupid girl who thinks she's a good person. but you're not.
selfish. you're a liar. you don't deserve this. your friends your family amity you don't deserve anything at all. you don't deserve your father. he doesn't love you. no one loves you. no one can love you and no one ever will. amity doesn’t love you. eda doesn’t love you. your mami hates you. everyone will always hate you and you deserve to be hated.
Let me take the wheel,another voice echoed in Luz’s mind. It sounded like hers, but it wasn’t hers. It was rougher and deeper and older. “Lucia?” Luz croaked. Even getting the words past her mouth seemed to sap every ounce of energy.Let me take the wheel, Luz. This is why you made me! Give me control. I’ll give it back, I promise!
It’s yours,Luz thought, and then the fog in her mind was gone, and she felt…different. Full of energy, and anger, like she’d drank a huge amount of coffee. The psychic assault bombarded her head, but it felt like it was happening to someone else. It felt more physical than mental, really. “You think you can takemedown with these thoughts?!” Lucia shouted as she jumped out of Eda’s arms and shook her fist in the air. “Bitch, you can’t doanythingto me I haven’t already done to myself! I’ve thought all of these thoughts before, and I’ve beaten them back every single time, because that’s what Ido!That’s who Iam!I am Lucia Noceda, Zoe, and I will protect Luz at all costs!”
She turned to face Eduardo and Eda, a huge smirk on her face. “Might want to pitch in right now,” she drawled, sounding utterly blasé. “Luz could use some support.”
“Um, I have no idea what’s going on,” Eduardo admitted, sounding scared.
Eda looked intrigued by the whole thing. “Every witch has an inner self. There are ways one can communicate with it. But it sounds like Luz’s exposure to the Titan’s ambient magic allowed her to develop one, even though she’s human. And that’s who’s here right now, am I right?”
“Yep!” Lucia said with a cheery wave. “Lucia Noceda, at your service. Don’t worry! I’ll give the reins back as soon it’s safe. I’m not some body snatcher. Hey, Luz, remember when we watched Invasion of the Body Snatchers? You had nightmares for weeks!”Do youhaveto tell them that?Luz complained inside her head.Now they’re gonna think I’m a wimp!
Eduardo still looked very disturbed by the whole thing. “Luz has dissociative identity disorder?”
“No,” Eda said firmly. “I don’t know what that is, but no. Look, everyone compartmentalizes their mental self from time to time. Witches – and Luz, apparently – are just very, very good at it. She’s not a separate person; she’s just another aspect of Luz.”
“It’s okay, dad,” Lucia said softly. “I’m me. I’m still Luz. You can still call me that if you want.”
Eduardo nodded curtly. “Yeah, I think that’d be best.”
The three of them trudged through the corridors. Luz gave mental thanks to Lucia for saving her. She didn’t acknowledge it. Luz understood why. The thoughts had dragged her down too. It would take a while for her to get over them. But all in all, every step away from the psychic assault seemed to get her feeling better.I think I’m better now,Luz told Lucia.Let’s switch back.
Lucia hesitated for just a second, but that moment filled Luz with more fear than she’d felt in a long time. But after that second was gone, Lucia allowed Luz to step back into the driver’s seat of her mind. “I’m back,” she said softly.
Eduardo reached out and hugged her tightly. “Oh, mija, don’t do that again, please. You scared the living daylights out of me.”
“I’m sorry, papi,” Luz said, meaning it entirely. “Zoe set up a psychic assault for me. She kept telling me…all sorts of bad things. Things I...” She stopped. She could go on, but she wouldn’t. it would just cause her unnecessary pain.
“I understand,” Eduardo said with a kiss to the forehead. It was clear that he did understand, perhaps more than Luz was comfortable with. Other Luz must have thought similar things. Luz was glad she had a dad to confide in. She would miss having that luxury when she went home.
They rounded another corner and then a gunshot rang out, the bullet nearly hitting Eda in the head and blasting a hole through her voluminous hair. “Jesus!” Steve Harrington swore, emerging from the shadows with a huge pistol in one of his hands and an iron sword in the other. “Oh, God, Eda, I’m so sorry! I almost killed you!” Avery stepped out of the shadows next, holding what looked like a flamethrower at first glance, and then a leaf-blower at second glance, and what Luz realized was a glyph flamethrower at third glance.
“Hey, what’s a little almost killing people between friends?” Eda said casually. “I guess you’re here for the same reason we are.”
“If you’re here to kill Zoe, then the answer is hell yeah,” Steve said. “I got a blacksmith to make me some iron bullets – I’m going to shoot that fairy in the face the moment I see her.”
“Not if I blast her to blazes before you do,” Avery vowed. “I’m going to get my girlfriend back, and I’m not going to let anything stand in my way.”
Even though the echoes of the thoughts Zoe had placed upon her were still reverberating through Luz’s brain, she couldn’t help but grin at their self-confidence. “Actually, now that you’re here, I’ve had an idea about how to take down Zoe,” Luz said. She had literally just come up with the idea, but if people wanted to think she had the plan prepared for ages, they were perfectly entitled to think that.
She whispered the plan into his ear. She didn’t want to risk anyone overhearing. The fewer people who knew the plan, the fewer people could be tortured or brainwashed into giving it away. “Sneaky,” Steve commented. “I like it!”
“I like it too!” Eda said, and Luz groaned. “Sorry, kiddo. The ears, remember?” She pointed at her pointy ears. “Don’t worry, kiddo. I got your back.”
Steve tossed the pistol on the ground and then shifted the sword so that he was holding it in two hands. “Let’s kill her once and for all.”
*****
Camila opened her eyes, and immediately wished she hadn’t. She was in a cage suspended in the air in the middle of what had to be Zoe’s throne room. Zoe was sitting on the throne, her glamor back, which was a bad sign, because it had to mean she was getting stronger. Camila’s fellow hostages were also suspended from their own individual cages. None of them looked like they’d been injured in any way, but Camila knew that could change at any time.
There was no doubt in her mind now. Zoe was pure evil. Luz may have made some ridiculously bad choices, but she never would have made them were it not for Zoe. Camila still had deep reservations towards the girl another her raised, as well as lingering resentment, but it was nowhere near the absurd levels of hatred Zoe clearly had for Luz. For pity’s sake, the girl was only fourteen years old. How couldanyonehate a child that much?
When she had the chance, she would tell Luz she had forgiven her. The actual truth of that statement was irrelevant, and indeed, it would be some time before Camila could let go of her negative emotions towards Luz. But Luz deserved to think Camila had forgiven her, especially since she was hopefully going to be returning to her own dimension forever. Camila didn’t want to think about the alternatives, but they kept on running through her head anyway.
The only positive thing she could think of was that even if she died horrendously or got put into an enchanted sleep forever just like her daughter’s counterpart, Vee would be safe and well looked after. The MacKinnons would raise her as their own, she was absolutely certain of that. She wouldn’t have trusted them with Vee otherwise. But she just wished she had a chance to see her third daughter one last time before what could be her last moments.
A trapdoor opened in the floor and Eda and Eduardo both stepped out. Eduardo fired a large pistol that looked custom made straight at Zoe’s head, but Zoe froze the bullets in mid air and sent them falling to the ground. With the twitch of her finger, she threw Eduardo into another empty cage. Eda ran at Zoe, who looked taken aback for a second by the physical approach, but only for that long. She repeated the process and locked her in a cage. Luz and Steve stepped out of the trapdoor next. Steve flourished an impressive looking broadsword, while Luz formed fireballs in both her hands with glyphs.
“My dear Luz,” Zoe purred. “It’s so lovely to see you again. I hope you liked the little present I left behind for you in the catacombs.”
Luz smiled at her. “A present? For me? You shouldn’t have!” She winked at Zoe, looking completely unfazed by whatever Zoe had tried to do to her.
Zoe’s face went slack. “You didn’t feel it? That should havebrokenyou. How is that possible? How are you not broken?”
Luz stroked her chin, pretending to be lost in thought. The two of them inched their way closer to the throne. Zoe let them approach, quivering with anger. “Gee, no clue. Maybe it’s because…you’re an idiot? Or I’m just stronger than you?”
“STRONGER THANME?!”Zoe screeched, and the words caused the very earth to shake.
“Well, yeah,” Luz said and experimentally tossed a fireball over at Zoe’s head. Zoe simply tanked the flame and it dissipated in seconds. “I mean, I’m the one who’s destined to get you kicked out of office, right? How’d I do that if I wasn’t stronger than you?”
Steve charged at the fairy queen, who twitched her finger and slammed him against a wall, knocking him unconscious. Luz didn’t appear to notice this. “I will not be goaded into giving you information you do not deserve,” Zoe said, trying to keep her voice even and serene. “I am as strong as I need to be, and soon, I will be strong enough to destroy everyone you’ve ever loved.”
Luz laughed at her. Just laughed in her face with no fear whatsoever. Camila could not believe what she was hearing, the sheercourage. Shehad been the one to teach Luz that, she realized. “Or, you know, you could surrender. I’m a nice person. I don’t want anyone to die, not even my most hated enemies. Not even you.”
“You are a despicable, cowardly, selfish waste of space,” Zoe spat at her. “I would sooner surrender to your brother, the King ofNothing.”
“Sounds like projection to me,” Luz said airily.
Zoe blinked. Then she did it several more times. “What?”
“Yeah, sounds to me likeyou’rethe coward. You’re the selfish one. Now, I’ve made some mistakes. I’ll cop up to that. Not wanting to tell mom about the Isles – did that. Taking your deal – oh, yeah,thatwas a big mistake. Lying to everyone, lying to dad, lying toAmity…I did that too. ButnothingI have, will, or would ever do couldpossiblycompare to what you’ve done. You put aninnocent childinto an enchanted sleep out of pure spite.”
Luz kept on walking forward. Zoe practically vibrated with fury, but made no attempts to stop her. “You forced me into this deal because you wanted to hurt me. What I did, I did because I was trying to help people. I tried to do the right thing. You’re just pure evil. And I’m done playing your game, falling for your lies.”
Zoe snapped her fingers and Camila’s cage disintegrated, causing her to fall to the ground with a thud and a gigantic surge of pain which seemed to indicate that several of her bones were broken. “You haven’tbegunto start playing my game,” Zoe snarled at her. “I will torture her. I will torture them all unless you –”
A loud shout interrupted Zoe and she turned to face Avery, who had emerged from the trapdoor with what looked like a leaf blower in their hands. They fired a continuous stream of fire via fire glyphs at Zoe. At first, she shrugged off the fire, but then it became harder and harder for her to do that, and her attempts to heal herself kept failing and failing, and then she disintegrated into a pile of ash.
“YES! WE DID IT!” Avery said, and jumped over towards Luz, who took a step back, looking disgusted and frightened. “AVERY, IT’S STILL ME!” she screamed at them. Avery looked like they were about to throw up. Okay, then. Camila wasn’t sure whatthatwas about.
“But ifyou’restill you, then that means…” they trailed off as they saw the pile of ashes reform itself into Zoe’s body. Damn it. Camila should have known better than to think it would be that easy.
Zoe smacked Avery across the face with enough force to knock them unconscious. “A clever gambit,” she said calmly. “But not clever enough. You’re all out of tricks, Luz Noceda. It’s time for another deal. Give yourself over to me eternally…or watch all your loved one’s suffer and die. What do you choose?”
And Luz…smiled.
“I choosemorphing,” she said, and then her body changed, clothes and all, into that of Steve Harrington. Camila gasped. It had been Steve talking to Zoe the whole time! So if Luz was Steve, then that meant…
Before she could finish the sentence, Luz appeared out of thin air and rammed Steve’s sword through Zoe’s chest and out the other side. The fairy queen let out an unearthly shriek, one that would haunt Camila’s nightmares for the rest of her life. Luz grabbed Zoe and slammed her by the head against the throne over and over again until she was unconscious. She slapped a healing glyph on Camila and she could walk again.
“Luz, I’m so sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have blamed you for what thismonsterdid.”
“Thank you, mami,” Luz whispered. She morphed into a basilisk, absorbed just enough magic to disintegrate the cages, then morphed back into a half-human. Luz’s loved ones fell to the ground with just as much pain and injuries as Camila had suffered. Fortunately, Eda managed to summon healing potions from her home and got everyone healed. With more magic, Eda tied up and gagged the still unconscious and now obviously dying Zoe.
“You did it!” Eduardo shouted.
“Yeah, papi,” Luz said, her voice sad. “I did it.” Camila knew exactly why she was sad. She would soon go home and never see her father again. She did not envy Luz’s situation right now.
Willow and Gus engulfed Luz in a group hug. Willow motioned for Boscha to join them. At Gus’s nod, the ex-bully joined the hug, looking awkward but happy. “Thanks, Luz,” Willow said. “Without you, I never would have been friends with Gus again after he found out about Boscha.” Luz opened her mouth to speak. “And, no, don’t blame yourself for that. He’d have found out eventually anyway.”
It was Eda’s turn to hug Luz next. “You give ‘em hell in your universe, you hear me? I won’t settle for anything less!”
“I won’t let you down, mom,” Luz vowed.
Amity walked over to Luz and gave her a warm smile. “I’m so sorry you had to go through all this, Luz,” she said, sounding genuinely sad. “If I’d known…”
“Hey, no, don’t do this,” Luz said. “It was my fault. I lied to you. I manipulated you. That was my choice. I own that. But I meant what I said. You, Amity Serrano, are extraordinary, and anyone at all would be lucky to have you in her life.” She gave Amity a chaste kiss on the cheek. Amity returned it. Neither of them blushed for once.
Avery nodded at Luz. They appeared to be at a loss for words. Which made sense. They probably had the most reason out of any one of them, save maybe Amity, to resent her. “Thanks for going to Grom to support me,” they said eventually. “I think that made all the difference.”
“Your mom is an asshole and you should forget every single word she ever said to you,” Luz said fervently. “I havenevercared about your gender, not you or my Avery. There’s so much more to you than that.”
Lilith hugged Luz next, somewhat awkwardly, but with true genuine affection. “Thanks to your efforts,” she said, “the Isles is going to be free. Remember that when the bad thoughts get you down.”
“I will,” Luz promised her, and then, finally, she was facing Eduardo. Her words seemed to fail her. “Papi…te quiero.”
“Te quiero, mi lucecita,” Eduardo whispered. He grabbed her and held her. Luz pressed her face into his chest and there were tears flowing down her cheeks, but she was smiling too. She was smiling, Camila knew, because she’d finally gotten the closure she’d long sought and she’d always have her memories of Eduardo to comfort her when the pain of losing him got too much.
Lilith removed the iron sword from Zoe, who didn’t even regain consciousness. She swung the sword in one swift movement. Zoe’s head bounced when it hit the floor. And even though nothing physically changed in Luz when Lilith killed Zoe, Camila could instantly tell that she was looking at Eda’s daughter for the first time.
They had won.
It was over.
