The angel of the owl house

The Angel of the Owl House

Season 2: The Human Realm

Chapter 3: Gatherings and Gales

Following the battle with the Golden Guard and Silver Sentinel, and Luz's successful completion of her trial for Eberwolf and her rebels within the Beast-Keeping Coven, Luz and her companions had found themselves being towed by the Selkidomus they'd saved to a massive island made from a Titan's arm, which was hidden within the treacherous and normally impassable Maelstrom Strait, surrounded by whirlpools and a massive cyclone wall. It was only thanks to the Selkidomus that they were able to get through it safely.

Valtora gave some instructions to Eber, who passed them onto the Selkidomus, leading the helpful beast to swim to the Island's south-facing beaches and pull the ship ashore. It was a bit of a rough ride for the people on board, but the Loving Leopard was soon fully beached.

"Right, everybody disembark. Luz, I'll need some help from you to set up a rudimentary dry dock so I can get to work on repairing the ship. If we're quick and use magic, the repairs should be done before midnight, and we can get home by morning." Valtora ordered, grabbing a rope ladder and unfurling it down to the ground.

Viney, Salty, and his crew immediately climbed down, while Luz flew down with King and Eber on her shoulders, leaving Valtora to show off her athleticism by just leaping off the boat and landing on the sandy beach below.

Valtora took a look at the frozen over holes in the ship's hull, then examined the damaged propellers, before smiling; "Yep! I was right; the explosion of the Frigate didn't do too much damage; it just severed part of the rudder chain and some of the bolts holding on the propeller assembly so it can't turn properly. The cuts are clean though, so I should be able to weld them back together! We'll be home by morning!"

"Why not just camp here tonight and sail in the morning?" Rasiel asked, "Surely its safer than sailing at night?"

"Aye, but I swore to my Meesha that I'd have Viney back home so we can spend a day together as a family before she goes back to school. My wife has a rare day off from the hospital, so I don't want to ruin that!" Valtora said seriously, acting as if it were life or death.

No one could question the Beast-Keeper's love for her wife (considering she literally named her ship after her), so they decided not to comment. Instead, everyone but Luz and Valtora began to explore the beach. While they were exploring, Luz helped construct a dry dock by slowly growing trees to prop the ship upright, then create walkways of vines and bark planks so Valtora could get everywhere she needed to both examine the ship and began patching it up. Valtora briefly boarded the ship again, then came back with a box of carpentry tools, mechanic tools, and a blow torch… or at least, items that looked like they had the same functions as those tools. The "blow torch" was actually a sleepy looking lizard with a tongue made of fire, while things like the wood saw were made from the jaw bones and teeth of some unknown monster.

"Right! Leave the cutting and carving to me, Luz! I just need you to grow more wood for me to make patches for the hull, and maybe use some of that flame and light beam stuff of yours to help weld the metal pieces back together! Think you can handle that?" Valtora asked.

"Aye Aye, Captain!" Luz saluted with a tired smile. She honestly could use more of a rest after the fight, but she wasn't going to complain.

As she and Valtora got to work, Salty and his crew came over to help too, cleaning off demonic barnacles from the ship's hull, swabbing the deck, and assisting in carving the wood Luz grew into usable planks. They even began to sing sea shanties, and roped Luz into singing along, filling the evening air with song.

Viney played with the Mother Selkidomus and her baby not far away, so she could assist her mother if need be, while King, Rasiel, and Eber continued to explore the beach until they were satisfied they'd largely seen everything. Eber used Beast-Keeping magic to mimic the echolocation abilities of bats and similar beasts, allowing her to detect things from greater distances, so they didn't actually need to see everything to know what was present. After a while, they decided to head in-land (after letting the others know), and Eber carried King on her back as she ran full-pelt around the Titan Arm Island.

Eber prided herself on her agility, and at full speed when using her own Wild Heart Spell (which made her look far more like a Dire Wolf), she could run from one of the Boiling Isles' palms to the other in just five hours. This Titan was slightly smaller and it was only one arm, so it only took an hour and a half of running and echolocation for the Beast-Keeping Coven Head to have mentally mapped out 90% of the Island.

The upper part of the arm to the south east was almost entirely underwater, and was now a large reef, while the surface sections were all beach. The rest of the upper arm that was above sea-level was largely covered in grasslands, flowers, and sand dunes, making it a rather beautiful place, ideal for vacations. At the elbow, the Titan's forearm began to slowly ascend upwards, creating an incline like a mildly steep hill (though thanks to the size of the titan, the top of this incline was still several kilometres above the sea). The base of the hill was grassland, turning rocky and almost mountainous the higher it got. Then there was the hand of the Titan, which unlike the Boiling Isles' palm deserts, was covered in a rainforest-like biome, with tall, snow tipped finger mountains surrounding it.

There was no sign of civilisation or sapient life anywhere on the island, with only wild animals and a few unintelligent Beast Demons roaming around. The island's isolation from the rest of the world by the Maelstrom Strait had kept Witches and intelligent Demons from settling in the place, and the lack of any obvious predators had resulted in the island's wildlife being fairly docile. There was also apparently no Primordial Wellspring, so the unintelligent demons on the island hadn't evolved and gained sapience like those on the Boiling Isles.

As Eber returned to the beach with King (who'd been fairly quiet) and Rasiel, she spoke with the Angel Spirit.

"Titan Island isolated, no dangers, only Selkidomus get us here… perfect place for Rebel Den!" Eber said, grinning widely.

"It truly is ideal as a hideout! There's no land route, the sea route is blocked by whirlpools, and the sky route is blocked by the cyclone wall. We only got here with the Selkidomus' help, so there's no way the Emperor or his forces will be able to get here." Rasiel agreed. "It'll be a perfect refuge for people fleeing the Emperor too."

"Great idea! But won't it be tough getting here from the Boiling Isles and back? Valtora's ship isn't very big so we can't bring that many people, and I don't think the Selkidomus could tow anything bigger." King pointed out.

Rasiel waved off his concern; "That's not a problem. We can just build a Teleportation Circle."

King and Eber both stared at him in shock; "Y-You can make something like that!?" King exclaimed.

"Well I can't, not without magic, but I can teach Luz how to do it. They're a bit difficult to construct, but still easier than the Panacea Mirror." Rasiel said casually, "They're quite common in Angel society. I assume from your reactions that they're rarer here in the Demon Realm?"

Eber nodded; "Portals very rare. Emperor only one can make, but only small. Transport between places in Boiling Isles."

Rasiel hummed; "I guess that makes sense. Teleportation Circles as I know them require angelic alchemy and Harmonic Synchronisation, which is only achievable through Choir Magic."

"Okay, I understood maybe half of those words." King said.

"Choir Magic is the angelic equivalent to Bardic magic. While Witches and Demons prefer to use instruments, Angels prefer their voices. We also harmonise with each other to make the spells more effective. Choir Magic is the basis of all our transportation and portal magic. It's possible Belos is the only one to make them due to him being an angel too, or he could be using a different, Demon Realm method that he's keeping to himself." Rasiel explained.

Eber and King just nodded along, and soon they found themselves back at the beach. It had gotten dark now, but by the look of the Loving Leopard, repairs were almost complete. They'd patched all the holes in the hull with new planks, and fixed both the rudder chain and propeller, and were now finishing up repairs by welding a metal plate over a hole in the furnace.

"Hey guys!" Luz waved to them, "We're almost done here so we'll be sailing home in about twenty minutes! How did your explorations go?"

King smiled; "Great! There's not a lot here, but Eberwolf and Rasiel have a plan!"

Luz tilted her head curiously, and since Valtora had the last repairs well in hand, the young angel joined Salty's Crew and Viney in sitting with the returning explorers and listening to what they had to say. Luz was excited by the idea of having a secret rebel base that only they can reach, while Viney was interested to see if there were any animal species native to the island that couldn't be found on the Boiling Isles. However Viney did have one concern.

"Creating a Teleportation Circle would be awesome, but wouldn't it also be a risk? Part of what makes this place so great is that no one can get here without the Selkidomus' help. If we make a circle, won't anyone be able to come along and use it?" Viney asked.

"Technically, anyone could stow away on your mother's ship to get here too. Besides, we wouldn't even need to hide the circle; only an angel's Choir Magic can open it. That means only Luz and Belos, assuming he's capable of singing AND knows the right song." Rasiel countered.

Luz hummed; "It sounds ideal! So how would we make it?"

Rasiel held up three fingers; "Aside from you and your magic, we'd need three things; Harmonic Crystals created through angelic alchemy, a hard stone base to carve the circle in, and an outdoor space big enough. The latter two shouldn't be too hard, and the Harmonic Crystals are finicky but doable. It would take maybe a day to make them, carve the circles, and set up the spell, and that's really taking your time."

He then explained the process in a bit more detail. Firstly, the Teleportation Circles had to come in pairs and could ONLY move things between itself and its linked circle. It also needed to be outside, as otherwise the people using it would smash through any ceilings. The spell circle carved onto the stone base (which was to make sure the circles didn't wear out too fast) were the anchor for the spell, and four Harmonic Crystals would be placed at key points on the circle; with three smaller crystals recording the X, Y, and Z axis coordinates of the circle and the fourth, larger crystal acting as the master crystal that harmonised the others. Once a circle and its crystals were in place, Luz would have to use Bardic/Choir magic to sing a melody of her choosing, which the Harmonic Crystals would synchronise with. If she did this again with the second circle, the two circles would be synchronised with each other, and whenever Luz sang the necessary melody with Choir magic, anything on the activated circle would be warped to the other one, along with Luz herself.

It sounded complicated to Luz and her friends, but Rasiel was confident that it wouldn't be too hard for her, especially after the multi-level process of creating the Panacea Mirror. To angels, Teleportation Circles really were minor things, especially compared to Portals between Realms (which even Rasiel had no idea how to make); the Ancient Seraphim compared them to the difference between a Demon Realm Cart and Camila's car, or a powered Dingy to a full ship.

Since the circle would need to be set up on both sides, Luz was tempted to start work on it right away, but Valtora, who'd just finished the last of the repairs, came over and said; "It's best to talk it over with Head Witch Darius, and the CATTs leaders first. They'd have the final say, and would want to decide where the circles were built."

Luz and the others couldn't argue with that, so they resolved to wait until Eber had spoken to the others before doing anything.

"Anyway, the Loving Leopard is now seaworthy and can sail under her own power again! All aboard so we can get home!" Valtora grinned.

Everyone cheered and immediately used the rope ladder to climb back up onto the ship. Luz used vines to once again connect them to the Selkidomus for the return journey to through the strait, then banished the trees and vines she'd used to make the dry dock. The Mother Selkidomus then pulled them off the beach and they were once again sailing the oceans. The trip back through the strait was as rough as the last time, and Luz once again put up a barrier just in case, but thankfully they got through it safe and sound, and as soon as they were out of range of the whirlpools, Luz undid the vines so the ship could sail under its own power and the Selkidomus and its baby were free.

However all the barriers, fighting, and help repairing the ship had really drained Luz by this point, so Viney basically picked the tiny Arch-Angel up and slung her over her muscular shoulders before heading below deck to put her to sleep in her Mama's unused bunk. King went with them and curled up beside Luz, both completely asleep within seconds.

Back up on deck, Eber spoke to the Selkidomus and arranged for her to return to the Simmering Shoals to await their return, since they'd need her to get back through the strait at least one more time. The Selkidomus would remain at her old den for three days, and if they hadn't returned within that time, she and her baby would return to the Titan Arm Island alone, taking refuge there and leaving them without their way through the whirlpools.

After that, Viney and Valtora both turned in for the night themselves, trusting Salty and his crew to sail the ship under Eber's supervision, as she needed little sleep and Salty and his crew were used to long voyages through the night. By the time they all awoke, they were only a few minutes away from docking back in Bonesborough, the sun rising slowly to the east. Valtora took over sailing, and brought the Loving Leopard into port at the same exact dock as she'd used before leaving. Luz cast an illusion over Eberwolf to make her look like King again, just in case any of the Emperor's Scouts were around, then disembarked with King, Eber, and Rasiel, leaving Viney and the others onboard.

"Thanks for all your help, Viney and Valtora! You too Salty!" Luz said politely. "What will you guys do now?"

"Arrr, with Cap'n Valtora's permission, me crew and I will linger. If ye be sailing back to the island later, we'll be there to help!" Salty said, his crew of sailors nodding behind him.

"Viney and I will be spending the day with my Meesha, but I've already given Salty permission to use my ship to take you back to the island if you decide to sail there again today." Valtora replied, before adding; "I'll also talk to her about the CATTs. She's on board with my helping Head Witch Eber's rebellion, so she should be okay with that too."

Viney nodded, then whispered to Luz; "And I'll take your advice and talk to Emira. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to call her while my Mom is putting the moves on Mama." she said with a cheeky wink, making Luz giggle.

Luz then asked; "You two won't be in trouble for beating up the scouts, will you?"

Eber shook her head; "Eber write letter; give permission to Sea Friend to deal with Selkidomus as she want. Sea Friend told them, they attack anyway. Scouts defy Eber's order, big trouble."

"Oh! So you'll give Valtora written orders to back up what she told the scouts! Then if they get mad, she can say they attacked her despite her having permission!" Luz grinned, remembering the story Viney had told them the previous night while sailing.

Eber nodded with a mischievous smirk; "Scouts deserted too. BIG big trouble. No problem from them."

"Perfect! Well we better get back home! Thanks again for everything guys! Have fun with your Mama and Wife!" the young angel said, beginning to walk away while waving. King, Eber, and Rasiel waved as well, and the group went their separate ways.

Luz eagerly took to the skies and flew to the Owl House, where Hooty greeted them.

"Hi Guys! It's great to see you! Hoot!" Hooty said cheerfully, extending from his door to greet them.

"It's great to see you too, Hoo-Whoa!" Luz gasped, looking at the House Demon; "What happened to you!?"

Hooty was looking rough; he had bruises and angry red swellings all over him. "Oh, this? Nothing much, I just went on an awesome adventure with Lulu! I took on some Fire Bees!"

Eber shuddered; "The Bird Worm scares Eber."

"He has that effect on everyone, you get used to it." Rasiel replied.

"Who the heck is Lulu?" King asked.

"That would be me."

Lilith poked her head out the living room window; "Hootsifer and I had a bit of a misadventure yesterday. Come on in, Raine is making breakfast and Eda is still trying to wake up, so I'll tell you all about it while we wait, then you can tell us about your trip."

Luz and King both felt their stomachs rumble at the mention of breakfast and happily ran inside, Luz stopping only to pet Hooty and apply some healing magic to his wounds, much to the Demon's happiness. The kids ran right through into the kitchen, while Rasiel and Eber followed behind at a slower pace. Rasiel went to reclaim his body, which was still sat on the couch where he'd left it, and scowled when he saw make-up had been applied to his face and a jaunty noble lady's hat had been placed on his head.

"Do I even want to know?" Rasiel asked with a sigh.

Lilith chuckled; "After the misadventure yesterday, Hooty wanted to have a tea party and I couldn't refuse him. You might have been roped in as "Lady Lord Raspberry of Caplacier." If it makes you feel any better, that eyeshadow is definitely your shade."

Eber snickered and Rasiel groaned; "Fantastic." he said in a deadpan, merging with his body again and reanimating it. He stood and stretched, then began heading to the bathroom; "I'm going to go and "De-Fabulous" myself before Luz and King see me like this and get any ideas."

He disappeared from the room and Lilith and Eber exchanged grins, then headed into the kitchen. They arrived to see Raine (wearing a "Kiss the Cook" apron from the Human Realm) being hugged by Luz and King.

"I'm glad you're both home safe and sound. Your Mom was very worried when she tried to call you last night and found she couldn't. She'd forgotten the range limit." Raine said, keeping their tone pleasant so the two wouldn't think they were in trouble.

"It turned out to be a tougher day than we expected. The Golden Goof accidentally blew up his own ship!" Luz smirked.

"But we'll tell you that later! King want num-nums!" the little Demon demanded.

Raine chuckled; "Sit at the table and breakfast will be served in a moment, your majesty." they said with a smirk.

King and Luz took their seats, and Lilith and Eber sat across from them. Raine dished them all up some Orc Bacon, Griffin Eggs, and slices of Ghoast, then sat with a mug of Apple Blood (the diluted, soft variety) as Lilith told them about her adventure with Hooty. Raine had spent the previous day talking logistics with Darius, and Eda had decided to go back to selling human junk and potions, leaving Lilith with nothing to do. She'd wanted to do something to help the cause and begin redeeming herself to Eda and the rest of the family, so Lilith had decided to brew a Scrying Potion that could be used to spy on a place rather than a person, letting them see inside the Emperor's Castle (and since it wasn't technically Oracle Magic, they didn't need to worry about Belos' angelic immunity to it).

Things had gone well at first, with Hooty following Lilith because he'd wanted to help, though Lilith thought he was keeping an eye on her for Eda. Determined to prove she was trustworthy and useful, Lilith had been a little too liberal with her magic while gathering the ingredients (as she hadn't wanted to waste their limited funds on buying them, or take any from Eda's stores), and used up all the magic Luz had given her, leaving her nearly powerless right after she'd angered some Fire Bees. Hooty had come to her rescue, and the two had become friends. The Scrying Potion had also been completed, and one bottle each had been prepared for Luz, King, Eda, and Raine, to use whenever they wished.

"Awesome work, Lilith!" Luz praised, happily accepting the bottle of purple potion, "We can use these when we need to see the Emperor's plans! But how do they work without Oracle Magic?"

"Unlike normal scrying done with spirits, this potion works by creating a one-way magic mirror between the user and their desired location. It's sort of like making a window that connects wherever you want, and you can see through it but nothing on the other side can see it or you." Lilith explained happily.

Luz was amazed, while King, still having his issues with Lilith, just took his bottle with a muttered; "I will accept your offering."

Once Lilith's story was done, Rasiel returned (sans make-up and hat) and Raine filled them in on what they'd gotten up to with Darius, which was largely discussing their forces, where they were based, what they'd achieved, and what their current objectives were. It was largely logistics and organisational talk, and only Eberwolf and Rasiel had any real interest; Luz tried to pay attention but found her mind wandering, while King had completely zoned out. Raine didn't blame them though; they'd been bored too!

It was then that Eda arrived, groggy and still half-asleep. She didn't register anyone around her at first, but then Luz and King both beamed at her.

"Morning Mom!" they said together.

Eda blinked, then her eyes widened as she was suddenly completely awake. "Kids!" she greeted happily, hugging the two; "You're back! Aw man, the Empty Nest Syndrome hits hard when you're not here at night! How'd it go with the Selkidomus and the Emperor's stooges? Did you do good?" she asked, after kissing the tops of their heads.

"Yeah! Luz and I whooped their butts!" King said proudly.

"It was really tough though! And we made an awesome discovery! Listen to this…" Luz nodded eagerly, before going into a full account of what had happened once they reached the Simmering Shoals. Eda, Lilith, and Raine were extremely proud to hear that not only had they saved the Selkidomus and her baby, but also defeated the Golden Guard and Silver Sentinel! They all made sure to tell them so too, making King preen at the praise while Luz blushed and squirmed in her seat, feeling shy over their repeated compliments. But then there was the discovery of the Titan Arm Island, and Eber's idea to make the place their home base, on top of Rasiel's idea for a Teleportation Circle to get them there.

"Seriously!?" Eda exclaimed, "You found an undiscovered Titan!?"

"No one has ever breached the Maelstrom Strait; there hasn't been a single record of someone surviving it! This is the discovery of the century!" Lilith added excitedly.

"And it would provide us with the ultimate safe house! Even if we lost the rebellion completely, we could resettle there and start a new life entirely! This could be just what we need!" Raine grinned, "Hold on, let me call Darius; he'll want to hear this!"

Raine pulled out their scroll and called the Abomination Coven Head, who immediately promised to rush over from the Bonesborough safehouse he was staying at. He was there in minutes, panting as he rushed through Hooty's door and into the Owl House.

He took one look at Luz and King and said; "Tell me more about this island."

"I can do you one better and show you!" Luz grinned, lifting the bottle of Scrying Potion. "King and Eber saw more of the island than I did, so they can use this to show you it!"

Eber barked in approval, and Eda grinned; "Great idea, Owlet! Here." she grabbed a large clean dish and placed it on the table, "Pour it in here!"

Luz obediently uncorked the bottle and poured the purple liquid into the dish, after which Eberwolf closed her eyes and focused on the places she wanted to show, before dipping a claw into the centre of the potion. The surface of the potion rippled and showed the Titan Arm Island as Eber had first seen it from the Loving Leopard. The group who'd yet to see it oohed and ahhed in amazement as Eber continued to show them different views of the island's different regions, until the potion ran out of strength and the images disappeared.

"Marvellous! This is perfect! I propose we begin work to establish a Home Base on this Island immediately!" Darius declared, smiling wide.

Eda, Raine, and Eber (the other three leaders of their rebel alliance) all agreed in an instant, then Darius turned to Luz and King; "Excellent work you two! I don't offer praise lightly, but completing your task, humbling the Little Prince, finding some sailors to be our new recruits, AND discovering a perfect location for us to set up a safe place to live away from the Emperor? You do good work! I'm starting to almost believe the Titan really does favour you both!"

Luz and King exchanged knowing grins; Darius and Eber hadn't been told the truth about King yet, so they had no idea how accurate Darius' words had been.

With it now being decided that a new base would be established on the island, the four leaders of the CATTs (no matter how much Darius disliked the name) began to discuss how to handle it. It involved a lot of technical talk about supplies and construction and logistics that Luz and King found boring, so Eda (who also found it boring) tasked Lilith with handling her part in the meeting and took the kids off with Rasiel to begin work on the Teleportation Circle.

Since they needed a sturdy and secure place under the open sky, and one that not just anyone could wander into, Eda suggested they set it up on the top of the Owl House's stone tower. Rasiel inspected the place and deemed it sufficient, then began to teach Luz how to carve the circle. It didn't take long to carve thanks to Luz's light beams (empowered with a little of the fire glyph's destruction aspect) and her uncanny ability to draw perfect circles, meaning they were able to swiftly move down to the basement lab to begin work on transmuting the Harmonic Crystals. That was a complex task that required a lot of alchemical processes, angelic magic, and some moderately uncommon minerals that Eda thankfully had in her stores, and creating a full set of eight crystals, four for each of the two circles, which took Luz the better part of the morning. Eda had spent that time teaching King some more of her own potions craft, which the little Titan enjoyed greatly, even if they couldn't do anything too flashy in case they disrupted the angels at work.

After the crystals were complete, Luz finished setting up the Owl House Teleportation Circle. It was actually a new experience for her to cast traditional Choir Magic after being so used to Bardic Magic, but it was an interesting experience! The three smaller crystals floated in a triangular formation around the teleportation circle as Luz sang a melody to the larger crystal, which floated in the centre, and once she'd finished, the crystals disappeared into the circle itself, which began to glow softly, awaiting the completion of its partner circle.

With one circle complete, Luz, Eda, and King went on a field trip to complete the second one. They grabbed some lunch in Bonesborough and then headed to the docks, where Salty was happy to take them out to the Simmering Shoals again. As they prepared for the journey journey, King showed off his glyph combos to his amazed and very proud Mom, while Luz called Amity, Willow, and Gus to fill them in on what was happening since she'd only sent them brief texts of explanation so far. All of them were eager to see the Island, and Amity was especially missing her. The lavender-haired girl had also had some news to share with Luz too;

"You won't believe it, but Viney called Emira this morning and asked her to meet her in town! She was having breakfast with her Mothers at some cafe or something, and wanted Emira to join her!" Amity gossiped, her smile clear in the sound of her voice. "And guess what happened next!"

"Viney asked her out." Luz said knowingly.

"She did! Emira came home maybe half an hour ago and was freaking out! She kept squealing into her pillow! It was great! I got to tease her for being hopelessly in love for a change!" Amity giggled.

Luz nearly melted at the sound of her laughter; "Keep giggling like that and you'll be teasing me for the same thing!" she flirted.

Amity paused, and Luz was sure she was blushing; "Oh Luz… just for that, I'm going to have to make you blush when I next see you!" Amity flirted right back.

"I'm looking forward to it! Did Emira mention anything else about Viney?" Luz asked, wondering if Emira would have told her siblings about Viney's secret demon features.

"I don't think so? It was mostly a lot of squealing and gushing about something fluffy and adorable? I figure Viney must have brought along Puddles or an animal she was taking care of." Amity said.

Luz smirked; so Viney HAD told Emira! And it looked like it had gone well! The young angel rubbed her hands together in anticipation; she'd be getting unlimited Puddles petting whenever she wanted now! That bet had been one of her smarter ideas!

She and Amity chatted a bit longer, but then it was time to set sail, so the call had to end before Luz went out of range. A few hours and a nice easy voyage later, and the Simmering Shoals were in sight, as were the Selkidomus and her child. Eber hadn't come with them, so Luz couldn't speak to the Selkidomus in the beast's own language, nor could she understand her growls and barks, but she understood her body language and the Selkidomus could still largely understand her, so it wasn't too much trouble for them to get the Selkidomus and her baby to swim with them to the Maelstrom Strait. However, unlike last time, Luz didn't bother tying the ship to the Selkidomus. The reason for this became clear once they arrived on the edge of the Maelstrom Strait.

"We'll ride through the strait on the Selkidomus' back, so the ship doesn't need to come through too." Luz explained to Salty and his crew; "We're setting up the Teleportation Circle, so we'll use it to get home. Not bringing the ship means the Selkidomus won't need to take you guys back out again, then come in again on her own."

"Arrr, that be wise. No need to face the storm when we be dropping you off and sailing home again! We'll drop anchor and wait in these waters until ye let us know we can leave. Just in case the circle doesn't work! Titan Speed to ye, Luz and King!" Salty replied, saluting with his crab claw. Luz and King grinned and saluted right back, then went with Eda and Rasiel to sit on the Selkidomus' back. Luz then covered them all with a barrier, just in case, and the Selkidomus weaved through the whirlpools and swam right through the cyclone wall to reach the Titan Arm Island.

Eda reacted with just as much awe as the others had upon first seeing it, and Rasiel, who hadn't had a body last time he visited, took note of the climate; "Hmm, it's fairly moderate here. A bit colder than the Boiling Isles, though I suppose we are further north. I suspect the tips of the fingers would be colder than the Knee!"

Luz shivered at the thought; "Let's avoid there for now then. We need a good place to begin carving the second circle."

Eda nodded; "Yeah, somewhere down here on the upper arm would be best. Do you remember seeing any good stone down here, King?"

The little Titan nodded; "There's a good spot in the field just a little ways from here. I'll show you!"

He then scurried off as fast as he could, and Luz, Eda, and Rasiel ran after him, the exercise getting their blood pumping again after so long on the ship. King led them to a small section of field just a kilometre away from the beginning of the incline, which had several large boulders and slabs of stone, a few of which were even big and sturdy enough for the Owl House to sit on!

"This one seems perfect," Rasiel said, stamping on one slab of flat grey stone, "It's a good location and the stone is strong. Ideal for carving the circle."

"Awesome! I'll get to it!" Luz said, already preparing her light glyphs. She got on her knees and began to carve the circle, while Eda and King watched. The latter turned to his Mom with a question.

"Hey Mom, how exactly do trees and stones show up on a Titan's body anyway? Do grown-up Titans have rocks in their body?"

"Well, remember that one of the Titan's five humours is Earth? That earth is actually the Titan's flesh that has begun to decay, becoming like the dirt we saw in the Human Realm. It's the weakest of the five humours magically, but the magic in it is still great nutrition for plants and bugs. Sometimes, if the weather and atmosphere is right and the conditions are met, pieces of the Titan's flesh, or earth, can become fossilised and turn into stone." Eda explained; "As for the trees and plant-life, seeds dropped by birds who come to feed on the Titan's body take root as the flesh turns to earth, resulting in all the vegetation."

King's eyes shone with interest; "Whoa… my people are amazing!"

Rasiel smirked; "You always thought you were a King of Demons. But in reality, Titans are more like the Gods of Demons, and the source of life for countless creatures. I guess you're even more amazing than you thought you were!"

King puffed his chest out with pride over that, but then felt something squirming in his stomach. Just a few weeks ago, the reveal that he was basically a member of a God Race would have made him brag and boast and demand tribute from all those around him, but now? Now it made him nervous. He looked to his sister, an Angel, who had become a symbol to the Rebellion largely because she was seen as a servant of the Titans. King wondered how they'd treat him if they knew the truth; only the residents of the Owl House (sans Lilith whom King didn't trust yet) and Luz's closest friends knew that he was a Titan, and the idea of letting more people find out filled him with dread.

He'd be worshipped for certain, praised and given all the tributes he could want! But he didn't know if he wanted that any more. Things had changed so much in recent weeks, and the reality of his situation felt so much more intense.

Feeling a little shy as his emotions caught up with him, King scurried up Luz's back as she worked and nestled into her hood. "Is it okay if I stay here with you for a bit, Luz?" he asked in a small voice.

The others realised that being on this new Titan Island must be emotional for the little guy, so they smiled sympathetically. "Of course, Little Brother." Luz said, barely pausing in her work. She wanted to cuddle and fuss him, but it would only embarrass him at the moment.

"Thanks, Big Sister." King replied, closing his eyes to take a nap.

At that moment, as King nestled against the back of her neck and her light beams carved into the stone of the Titan Arm, Luz felt a pulse inside her head and chest. Her heart beat a tiny bit faster, and a whisper echoed through her mind.

"Angel… Sister… King…"

"W-What?" she gasped, looking around.

"You okay there, Owlet?" Eda asked, seeing her expression.

"Did either of you say something just now?" Luz replied.

Eda and Rasiel shook their heads, making Luz frown. Had she imagined it? Or had King muttered something she'd missed while drifting off for his nap? Luz didn't know for certain, but she put it out of her mind and got back to work; it was probably nothing anyway.

It took only a short while to get the stone fully carved and the Harmonic Crystals in place. Once the circle was set up, Luz used her Choir Magic to harmonise with the crystals and activate the spell, while synchronising them with the other circle. Once she'd sung the same melody as she had at the Owl House, the crystals disappeared into the completed circle, which glowed just like its partner had. The glow then intensified, becoming a solid gold light for several seconds, before vanishing entirely.

"The synchronising is complete. Now you just have to sing the melody and anything on this circle should be instantly transported to the other one." Rasiel said.

"Let's test it with something before we try it out ourselves." Luz suggested, not wanting to even think about would could happen if she'd messed it up.

"How would we check that the test worked? Your scrolls can't contact the isles from this far away." Rasiel pointed out.

"We'll use this." Eda said, pulling out a Comm-pact. "These things don't have a range limit."

Luz eyed it curiously; "Then why do we not use these for all calls instead of scrolls?"

"Because they work a little like these circles of yours." Eda explained; "They're either built in pairs and can only connect to each other, or are built alongside a master Comm-pact which can receive calls from all the lesser ones in the set. They're also owned strictly by the Emperor's Coven. Lilith swiped this one from Kikimora back at the Petrification Ceremony. It connects to the one she already had."

"So we can use this to call Lilith!" Luz cheered; "Let's try sending something then!"

"You got it! We'll try this." Eda said, taking off one of her large golden earrings and putting it in the circle. She then nodded to Luz, who sang the melody. In an instant, the Harmonic crystals manifested from the circle, with the small ones spinning around it and the large one glowing brightly above it. There was a bright flash, and a beam of golden light shot into the sky, before the crystals disappeared again. The earring was absent now, so Eda opened up her comm-pact out her and called Lilith, asking her to go up to the tower and check the circle there. Lilith had actually already been at the circle, and reported back that she and the others had heard the circle activate, and when she arrived up there to investigate, she had indeed found Eda's earring safe and sound.

"Looks like it works! Who wants to be the first to try it out!" Eda said, keeping Lilith on the line.

"Let me. I can't be killed, so I won't be in danger." Rasiel volunteered, stepping onto the circle.

Luz was a bit more nervous this time, but Rasiel just nodded confidently at her and she sang the melody. Rasiel disappeared in a beam of light, and an instant later, Lilith's voice spoke from Eda's comm-pact.

"Rasiel just showed up in a big beam of gold light!"

"I'm in one piece and unharmed. The teleportation spell felt just like it should. It's safe; you did well, Luz." Rasiel told her.

The younger angel sighed with relief; "Thank the Seraphim and the Titan! Okay, let's all head back together!"

Eda agreed, and the two ladies waved goodbye to the Selkidomus, who would be remaining inside the Maelstrom Strait for her own safety and that of her child from now on. The beast gave a loud roar of farewell, and Luz, Eda, and the napping King stepped onto the Teleportation Circle. Luz sang the activation melody, and they were transported to the Owl House.

It was an unusual feeling; golden light blinded them and they felt their bodies began to tingle, while their feet felt like they were floating off the ground for a moment. It lasted for less than a second before the tingling faded and their feet touched solid ground again, and the golden light faded to reveal they were now atop the Owl House's stone tower, and Lilith and Rasiel were waiting for them, the former holding Eda's earring.

"Another success!" Eda declared, "Good job, Owlet!"

"Thanks Mom! I'm not done yet though! Let me check that it works both ways while you go get Raine, Eber, and Darius." Luz said, deciding to let King keep napping in her hood, since he hadn't stirred during the teleport.

Eda agreed and took her earring back from Lilith before going to get the others. While she did that, Luz teleported back to the island, and then back to the Owl House once again, confirming that the circles had truly been completed correctly. She then returned to the island once more so she was close enough to use her scroll to call Salty and let him know that he and his crew could sail home safely. She had just hung up and returned to the Owl House again when Eda returned with the others.

"Done already?" Darius asked.

"Yep! I tested it and everything!" Luz chirped.

Darius nodded with satisfaction and checked the time; it was now the early evening (around 6pm). "You got it done inside a day, just like Rasiel said. Impressive. Now let's check this island out in person; I've already got people on standby to begin moving in."

Everyone stepped back into the circle (which was large enough that it could contain about twenty people if they were huddled together) and Luz activated it, warping them back to the Titan Arm Island.

Darius, Raine, and Lilith looked around at it for the first time, awestruck. "This is incredible!" Raine gasped.

"It's a bit smaller than the Boiling Isles' right arm, but it's still massive! And we have it all to ourselves!" Lilith cheered, "This isn't a bad location for the teleportation circle either. We could build a whole town here!"

"Indeed. Good quality stone, a lot of space, and the rainforest up in the palm. If we can clear some farmland and find iron deposits, we'll have everything we need to be self-sufficient." Darius said, stroking his chin with a pleased expression. "To think that the Selkidomus mission would end with such a massive boon…"

Eber barked in agreement; "Lots of space for Pack and Beasts too! Good new home! Safe new home!"

"I'm glad everything worked out! What do we do now?" Luz asked.

"You, little angel, have earned a rest." Darius said, looking at her kindly; "We'll begin establishing the base tomorrow, while you take a day off. Have fun, take that Little Blight on a date or something; do whatever teenagers do in this day and age."

Luz smiled gratefully, while Eda smirked; "Awfully nice of you, Darry-Boy! I thought you might put her to work again!"

Darius scoffed while Raine shook their head in exasperation; "Darius isn't a monster, Eda."

"Quite. I can be perfectly respectful and kind to those who prove themselves deserving." Darius said haughtily; "Your little angelic apprentice has proven herself to be deserving. I'm not so sure about you, though." he added that last part as a light-hearted jab, making Eda snort.

"Whatever you say, Darry-Boy."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Never!"

While those two bickered and their friends laughed, Raine suggested; "Why don't we celebrate this success with a meal? We could have a barbecue down on the beach! We haven't done that since we were in our twenties, right Eda?"

"Ooh, that's a wonderful idea! I should go and collect Hootsifer so he can join in too." Lilith smiled.

Eber barked her approval too, and Rasiel smiled; "I've never had barbecue before. Intriguing!"

Darius and Eda briefly stopped their bickering to give a thumbs up, so Raine turned to Luz; "What do you think Sparks? Sound good to you?"

"Yeah!" Luz cheered, not having had a barbecue on the beach since her Papi passed away. "Let's do it! Owl House Barbecue!"

Her yell of joy caused King to stir from his nap, and upon realising what the excitement was about, he quickly joined in with Luz in cheering for a barbecue.

For the rest of the night, the residents of the Owl House (plus Darius and Eberwolf) celebrated the completion of the Selkidomus mission and the discovery of the Titan Arm Island. Luz briefly returned to the Boiling Isles with Lilith and Raine to collect Hooty and the food and supplies need for the barbecue, as well as to put up a barrier around the Owl House to protect it while Hooty was away. She briefly considered asking to call her friends and invite them to join them, but one look at King's face made her decide against it; he was still a little emotional over the new Titan and the reality of mortality for his species, so she decided to keep the party to a smaller, family affair (plus their new allies). The little party was just what they needed to unwind from all the stress that had built up over the past few weeks, and they all enjoyed a pleasant evening on the beach with good food and good company. It cheered King up as well, and by the time Eda tucked him and Luz into their nests for the night, he was back to his usual impish self.

Since they needed Luz to use the teleportation circle, the party on the beach was over the minute Eda saw the girl's eyes begin to droop from tiredness, so they'd all come back to the Owl House. Darius and Eber watched Eda carry the girl (who'd nearly fallen asleep the instant they'd gotten back) and the little Demon child up stairs, then politely excused themselves for the night and headed home.

As the two Coven Heads walked down the forest path from the Owl House to Bonesborough, Eber barked to Darius; "Nostalgia strong today."

Darius nodded; "Indeed. Arguing with Eda while Raine and Lilith watch, and you egg us on? It was just like our days at Hexside."

"Little Light too." Eber barked, a bittersweetness to her tone.

Her fellow Coven Head closed his eyes with a sigh; "Her too. She acts quite a bit differently, but her looks… she really is a dead-ringer for Cassiel."

Eber whined, and Darius opened his eyes again; "Cassiel told us that angels from the same order looked alike, but I never realised the resemblance was that strong. It was like looking at a 15 year old Cassiel again. It makes me wonder how she and Em are doing."

"Little Light not Angel Friend's Pup?" Eber asked.

Darius shook his head; "I probed Edalyn for answers once she'd had a few glasses of Apple Blood. Luz's mother didn't leave the Divine Realm until she was 18, and her name is Camila. It seems it truly was just a coincidence that two different Kindness Angels appeared in the Boiling Isles…"

Eber was silent for a moment, then barked; "Little Light still good. Brings back nice memories. Helps people."

Darius smiled and nodded; "I can agree to that. She humbled the Little Prince as well; with any luck, it'll make him more bearable."

Eber gave a doubtful grumble, which made Darius chuckle as the two continued home.

[Two Days Later]

The day after the construction of the Teleportation Circles was a true day off for Luz, just as Darius and the others had said. She'd woken up after sleeping in for the first time in weeks, and after she'd had breakfast, she'd found herself in the unusual position of having virtually nothing to do. There was no school and Eda wouldn't teach her anything or give her any work to do! In fact, her only job was activating the Teleportation Circle, which the adults were using to ferry people and supplies to and from the island.

However even with the myriad of witches, demons, and supplies coming and going, Luz still found herself with a lot of time on her hands, so devoted it to calling her friends and inviting them to come to the Island too to spend time with them. Amity had come over in a heartbeat, as had Edric (since Emira was off on her date with Viney), but the others had been busy spending time with their families. Oddly, Gus hadn't even answered her call, instead declining the call and sending a text message saying he wasn't feeling so good and would hopefully talk to her when he was feeling better.

Edric had kept King company, having a boys day which they spent exploring the island and getting up to some mostly good-spirited mischief, while Luz had taken Darius' suggestion and spent the day off on a beach date with Amity. It was a real Human Realm-style beach date too, as Luz had used her ice magic to dam off a section of the Boiling Sea, then cool it down until it was safe to swim in, much to Amity's amusement. The two girls enjoyed playing for the rest of the day, and the workers establishing the new base would occasionally come down to join them, taking a dip in the cooled section of the sea to refresh themselves.

It was like a slice of a real Summer Vacation, making Luz laugh at the irony of it only happening AFTER her Summer Vacation was technically over!

While the girls had been playing and being romantic on the beach (Amity had made good on her promise to make Luz blush many times, the first of which had simply been stepping out in her swimsuit), the CATTs' new home base was growing rapidly. Darius had called in some favours from some friends in the Construction Coven, who had producing houses and other buildings, constructing a small village around the Teleportation Circle, which became the equivalent of the new settlement's town square. The houses were simple, and largely served as living quarters for the rebels, and the wild witches they were hiding from the Emperor. There were also storehouses and stables for supplies and the Beast-Keepers' tamed allies, as well as a training hall and a small fort that had been dubbed HQ, though that was a few weeks away from being ready, even with Construction Magic. It was mostly structures that would be of immediate use to the rebels, but Luz and Amity had already heard Raine and Darius discuss adding more structures to make it a real village, like shops and centres for recreational activities.

By the end of the day, the area around the Teleportation Circle had become a small hamlet, and many of the wild witches and Conformatorium escapees who'd either joined or taken refuge with the CATTs had begun moving in. Raine's three founding members; Katya, Amber, and Derwin were among the first to move to the island full time, seeing as they and many of their other allies had been living in the now abandoned Bonesborough Precinct of the Emperor's Coven, which was due to be demolished as part of the truce agreement.

The only other developments that day had been the discovery of a cave system on the underside of the Titan's forearm, with a usable entrance at the base of the elbow. Beast-Keepers led by Eber, as well as Abominations made by Darius' subordinates were being sent in to survey the place for use as emergency shelters and potential mines.

Despite enjoying her day off and loving her date with Amity, when Luz awoke the day after, she felt pretty eager to get back to helping people! She only had today and tomorrow before she returned to the Human Realm for the weekend, and Luz really wanted to get as much work done for the CATTs as possible, since she'd be unable to operate the teleportation circle for the whole weekend while she was away.

After washing and dressing, Luz headed downstairs, where she found the rest of the Owl Family (aside from the still snoozing King) around the breakfast table.

"Good morning!" she chirped happily.

"Morning Owlet!" her Mom said, kissing the girl's forehead as she took her seat.

"Good morning Sparks." Raine added, passing her a plate.

"Good morning, Luz." Lilith and Rasiel greeted together, barely looking up from the map they were pouring over.

"What are you two doing?" Luz asked them as she tucked into her food.

"Charting out the new island and preparing a full geographical survey." Lilith replied.

"Ooh, nerd stuff! Can I help?" Luz asked.

Eda smirked and ruffled her hair; "Actually, you'll be helping Raine and I today. Darius and Eber got on our case about being lax in our recruiting, so we decided to go to the families whose kids or other members had helped at the Petrification Ceremony and see if we can get them to join the CATTs."

Raine nodded; "As we're the leaders of the CATTs, and you're basically the face of our rebellion, we thought it best if the three of us go in person."

Luz went over the list in her head, then said; "So we'll be visiting the Parks, Mr Porter, the Blights, the Alembics, the Cadences, the Tholomules, Barcus and Jerbo's families, and the parents of Bo and the Banshees?"

She'd skipped Viney's folks; the Leonis family, since they were already part of the rebellion.

"Pretty much, though we're not going near the Alembics or Blights. Amity and the Twins are already on our side, but after what you did to her at Skara's party, Odalia would sooner give all her money away to the poor than come and help us." Eda said, smirking happily at the memory.

"And Callisto Alembic tried to sell you out to the Emperor once already; its best not to trust her." Raine added, making Luz shudder and Eda scowl as they recalled that incident.

Counting on her fingers, Luz realised that still left them with a whopping nine families to visit! "I guess that's our morning decided!" she said, shovelling down the last few bites; "Let's get this show on the road!"

Eda and Raine both smiled, and since they'd finished their food already, they stood and got ready to head out. They left Rasiel and Lilith to watch the house (and King, who was still sleeping off his energetic day playing with Edric), then walked to Bonesborough.

To make things simple, they visited each house on their list in the order they came across them, so the first house they visited belonged to Bo's family, the Curborns. Bo's parents, a male and female witch from the Illusion and Construction Covens respectively, were quiet and friendly people who politely listened to Raine (who was designated as "the talker" of the trio) as they made their case for why the CATTs were necessary, and if they'd be willing to join. Both of them discussed it for a moment, and then agreed; they'd been devotees of the Titan since they could walk, and saw Luz's ascension and curing of Petrification as proof of her having the Titan's favour and not Belos. They both agreed to an Everlasting Oath (which only prevented them from betraying the CATTs' secrets) and gave their contact information to Raine, who promised to be in contact soon.

That gave them a very strong start, and the trio were smiling as they headed to the next house, belonging to Amelia Eden and her two parents. Her Mom was a female witch, while her other parent was a gender-neutral witch with some inherited demon features in the form of two extra arms. Sadly, both were members of the Plant Coven and nearly threw the trio out of their home for fear of what would happen if Terra Snapdragon, the head of their coven, got even a whiff of treason from them. Amelia herself had to reluctantly apologise that she'd been forbidden from helping too, and Luz had understood even if she was disappointed.

Cat's family, the Lisleds, also refused to join. Cat lived with her single mother and her aunt and uncle, all of whom were witches with similar features to her. Her mother was part of the Potions Coven, while her aunt and uncle were in the Healing Coven, and while they sympathised with the CATTs, they didn't want to get involved in a civil war, especially since their lives were pretty good under the Emperor's rule.

"Well this isn't going well. Three families and only one willing to join up." Eda scowled as they left the Lisled home, "You'd think overthrowing a tyrant would be more popular!"

"Not everyone knows that side of Belos, Eda." Raine said, taking her hand with a gentle smile; "To us he's a monster and victimiser, but to many others, he brought order to the wild Savage Ages and gave us decades of peace. A lot of people don't want to go against him for that reason."

"A lot will be afraid too." Luz added with a sad frown; "Belos is powerful and has a huge army! Most people would be terrified to go up against that!"

Eda still grumbled and muttered; "I did, even when I was on my own! I could have won too, if not for the stupid curse…"

"Not everyone can be as amazing as you, Mom." Luz said.

Eda snorted; "Bah, enough of my belly-aching. We've still got six families to go! Whose next?"

The answer turned out to be Jerbo's parents; the Nelumbo family, and it was another wasted trip, though not for the reason the trio expected. Jerbo's father was a member of the Potions Coven and a sitting member of the Bonesborough Council, who had spoken out in defence of the CATTs in previous meetings and was fully on their side, while his mother was a member of the Abominations Coven and already a part of Darius' faction of rebels! They'd been very proud of Jerbo when he'd helped with the other kids at the Conformatorium too.

After that was Barcus' parents; for whom Luz had to translate since both were Canine Demons. Barcus' mother was a Direwolf, which were large, intelligent wolves that could grow or shrink from dog size to horse size by tensing their muscles, and his father was a Dog Lycan, basically making him a werewolf-like being that never transformed out of beast form, and which were considered the Canine equivalent to the Feline Cait Sith. His father was a member of the Beast-Keeping Coven and was more than happy to join the rebels, while Barcus' mother (technically a wild witch, but one that was ignored as many believed her to be a mere beast and not intelligent) was also willing to join after Barcus vouched for Luz.

Having three out of five families joining them (or already having joined them) really lifted Eda's spirits, especially since the last four families were shoo-ins in her mind! The Parks and Perry Porter were the parents of Luz's best friends, Severin Cadence was one of Raine's oldest friends, and the Tholomules were already half on their side thanks to Matt and Steve!