The angel of the owl house

Skara gasped upon seeing the witch (who was being watched, but not restrained by a large Abomination); how had she gotten here so quickly!? Had she found some other exit from the caves!?

Darius looked up upon seeing Eber and the trio enter, his face grim and unamused. He gestured for them to all step up onto the stage with the others, then once they had, he said; "Right, we're all here. Explain this "Spy" you claim to have found." he ordered, looking at Derwin.

The young man shook his head and said; "I never actually saw this spy. Skara was the one to find and report them to us."

Everyone turned to Skara, and Darius raised an eyebrow; "In that case, you explain." he ordered.

"I saw Katya talking to Kikimora on a Comm-pact down in the tunnels." Skara said, glaring at the woman, "She was talking about how to get around the oath to reveal the information she'd learned from the CATTs!"

Luz and King gasped, while the adults all looked between each other with a mix of surprise and doubt. Katya just looked like she'd been blind-sided. "W-What!? No! I would never do that! I swear, you've got it all wrong!"

"Skara, are you absolutely certain of what you saw?" Raine asked, "There's no way you could be mistaken?"

Skara shook her head; "I never forget a voice, and I saw her face with my own eyes!"

Eda and Lilith both exchanged looks, then turned to keep their eyes on Katya, who was becoming more and more distressed as she pleaded her innocence. Neither Clawthorne looked convinced by either side of the story, but they weren't going to take risks. Raine looked far more doubtful, and Darius looked outright disbelieving, but it was Luz's reaction that surprised Skara most; the young angel was actually standing almost protectively in front of Katya. She appeared conflicted, but didn't move away from the woman.

Raine silenced everyone with a whistle, then turned back to Skara and said; "Tell us everything that happened down in the tunnels. Leave nothing out." they ordered.

Skara was a bit surprised to see such a serious and stern side from the usually gentle Raine, but she obeyed them anyway and accurately reported everything that happened from the moment they entered the cave system to the moment they left it, including the full details of her run-in with the spy, her escape, and the cave-in that she insisted was caused by the spy throwing a stone at the Fool's Blood beside her in an attempt to bury her, Derwin, and Jerbo alive.

Naturally, Katya vehemently denied all of this, and insisted she was innocent. Darius, who still looked disbelieving of Skara's story, looked to Jerbo and asked; "Did you see or hear any of this?"

Jerbo reluctantly shook his head; "No sir. Skara said she heard Kikimora's voice talking to someone, then raced off down the tunnel. By the time I found the path she'd taken and caught up to her, she was already running back from her encounter."

Darius hummed then asked; "And neither you nor Derwin saw anyone else before the cave-in happened?"

Jerbo and Derwin both shook their heads, before Derwin added; "At first, I thought Skara accidentally disturbed the Fool's Blood. She was gesturing pretty enthusiastically as she mentioned a spy, so I thought she might have accidentally knocked some of the Fool's Blood off of the stalagmite beside her. It wasn't until we escaped that Skara mentioned feeling a pebble hit her leg."

"Did either of you see a pebble hit her?" Lilith asked.

Again, both shook their heads; "The only pebble I saw was made of Fool's Blood." Jerbo said.

Darius looked unimpressed; "So we have no evidence at all besides the word of one girl? A girl who raced off on her own after initially trying to go off alone and being stopped, and who may have caused a nearly lethal cave-in?"

Skara growled; "I'm not lying! I know what I saw!"

"And we know what we saw." Darius said with narrowed eyes, walking over to stand beside Katya and Luz.

"Luz! You believe me, right?" Skara asked. Luz grimaced, and Skara felt her heart drop; "Y-You… you don't believe me?" she said, shocked.

Luz quickly said; "It's not that I think you're lying! It's just… you have to be wrong."

"Indeed. Because what we saw was Katya being with us for the last hour!" Darius said, completely unimpressed.

Skara's eyes widened; "W-What!?"

Luz nodded; "It's true. Darius has been teaching me how to be diplomatic and charming, and grabbed Katya when she was coming back from her Lunch break so I'd have someone to practice on." she explained; "She was with us the whole time!"

"B-But I don't understand! I saw her!" Skara stuttered out. How could Katya have been with Luz the whole time if she'd seen her down in the tunnels!?

"If you really saw me down there, then it was an imposter." Katya said, calming down a little now that she knew she had an airtight alibi. "I won't go down into the caves; after getting locked up the first time, I'm not a big fan of dark, cramped spaces."

Everyone exchanged looks, with Lilith eventually saying; "If Skara is telling the truth, then the Katya she saw must have been an illusion or some kind of transformation."

Raine nodded in agreement; "An illusion good enough to make someone both look AND sound like someone else would require a very skilled illusionist."

"We don't have any members of the Illusion Coven currently on the island." Darius said, "So if the girl is telling the truth, it means it has to be either a Wild Witch or one of the Emperor's Coven defectors."

"No way would any Wild Witch side with Belos." Eda pointed out.

"Not unless he was threatening someone they cared about." Luz added, "I wouldn't put it past him."

The group muttered amongst themselves for a moment, wondering how to go about investigating the spy. Darius still had his doubts about Skara's story; he thought it was more likely that Skara had made the whole story up to excuse running off on her own despite Jerbo telling her not to, then almost causing the cave-in. Katya had been picked as a random scapegoat since she was one of the CATTs Skara knew and could identify, but also one that could be easily proven innocent so she wouldn't get into any real trouble. It genuinely wouldn't surprise the Abomination Coven Head; he'd heard pettier stories from some of the snobbish brats who joined his coven, fresh from school.

However, even with his strong doubts, Darius wasn't willing to voice them or dismiss the story completely, as if there really was a spy, then letting them roam free could be dangerous.

"How do we go about investigating? There are collectively about three dozen Wild Witches and Emperor's Coven defectors currently on the island, and if the girl's story is true, then they could be in disguise, so we don't even know for certain if they'd be among those two groups. We'd need to gather everyone on the island in one place, then disperse any illusions before giving everyone Blabber Serum." Darius stated.

"We don't have nearly enough serum." Lilith said. "But I could start making some; I know the recipe and I think we have the ingredients in our stores."

"I can help!" Luz volunteered.

"Me too! Eda's already been teaching me potions all afternoon!" King also volunteered.

Eda nodded; "Between Lilith, myself, and the kids, we should be able to make enough by dinner time. That'd be the best bet."

"So we spike the food with Blabber Serum?" Skara asked.

Raine shook their head; "No, that would be a bad idea. It would damage everyone's trust in us as leaders if we force it on all of them. We'll just use dinner as an excuse to get everyone together. We're trying to keep this place secret and safe, so we keep a careful record of everyone who comes and goes from the island, which means we'll be able to tell immediately if someone is missing. Once they're together, we'll dispel any illusions then explain the situation and ask everyone to take Blabber Serum one at a time."

That was met with agreement from everyone, and the meeting soon broke up. Eber decided to take Derwin back to the Surveyor Base Camp and order a halt to all cave surveys for the day. They kept records of the people who went into the caves just like they did for the island itself, so closing the caves for the day and checking the people who came out would hopefully let them catch anyone not supposed to be there, or expose anyone with a doppelganger. The Clawthorne sisters took Luz and King to the potions laboratory that had been built in the village so they could get to work on the Blabber Serum, while Raine planned to take Katya with them on an inspection of the village, since the young woman was still a bit shaken by the accusation and the idea that a traitor had used her face.

Before the two could leave, Skara approached Katya and said; "I'm sorry for accusing you like that. I didn't want to believe you were a traitor, but I couldn't doubt my eyes and ears."

Katya smiled; "I forgive you, Skara. If I'd been in your place and had seen the spy disguising themselves as you, I'd have probably done the same thing. No hard feelings, okay?"

"Yeah! Thanks Katya. By the way…" Skara leaned in with a conspiratorial grin; "… when is the next chapter of your story going to be done? Leek and Onion were just about to face off for Green Bean's love! I've got to see who wins! I haven't been this invested in a pairing since Lumity!"

Katya grinned; "All good things come to those who wait. It'll be a few days yet."

Skara pouted, but then smiled and waved to the older girl as she left with Raine. That left just Darius, Jerbo, and herself together in the meeting hall.

"So what should we do? The caves are closed… maybe I could go help Luz? I'm not a potions student, but Boscha taught me a few tricks." Skara wondered aloud.

"You will be assisting me. I have paperwork that needs doing for my coven." Darius said, deciding to keep Skara where he could see her just in case his earlier impression of her was correct. He looked to Jerbo and said "Jerbo, was it? You can help the brewing team. Use that plant magic of yours to help grow the ingredients, so our entire stock isn't wasted."

Skara pouted but didn't argue (Darius already looked annoyed with the whole situation, and she didn't want to add to it), while Jerbo reluctantly nodded and watched as Darius escorted Skara away to wherever he kept his paperwork. He was a bit confused by why Darius would ask him to help the potion brewers; Skara was the one who had some experience, while he was the one who would be interested in helping with Abomination Coven business. He didn't buy the excuse about the plants, since Luz and King would be able to use glyph magic to make them far more easily than he could. He thought about it as he left to meet up with the brewing team, and the more he went over the details of the meeting, the more his confusion turned into annoyance.

He'd noticed that Darius always framed the spy incident as "the girl's story" and questioned its veracity. It didn't take much thinking after that for Jerbo to realise that Darius didn't believe Skara, and was probably having her do paperwork with him as some kind of thinly veiled punishment or to keep an eye on her.

Jerbo scowled; that didn't sit right with him. He'd had his issues with Skara, but he didn't believe for an instant that she'd lie, especially about something important. The quiet moment they'd shared, in which Skara had spoken of her regrets, made Jerbo certain of that. These thoughts refused to leave his mind, even as he met up with Luz and the rest of the Clawthornes so he could help them with the brewing.

Brewing with the Clawthornes was an interesting experience, and definitely helped Jerbo's mood improve even if they didn't take his mind off of Darius and Skara. Luz hummed and sang as they brewed, while Lilith and Eda bickered and teased one another whilst arguing over precise measurements and methods, all while King sat at his own little cauldron in the corner, throwing together the ingredients of the Blabber Serum like a child playing with their dinner yet still somehow making it correctly. It was almost surreal for the boy, who stuck close to Luz during that process. She helpfully walked him through how to prepare and combine the ingredients, and Jerbo actually managed to make a cauldron of Blabber Serum for himself! Luz proved to be a pretty good teacher!

But still, his mind wandered until he eventually asked for a break and went for a walk down on the beach. Something was still bothering him about the spy situation; had that fake Katya really just been an illusion? Jerbo was no Illusionist, but even he knew that creating an illusion that made one look AND sound like someone else was not that easy, and the fact it had fooled even Skara's sharp ears meant the user was very skilled. Jerbo knew talent like that was very rare; Gus, Edric, and Emira were the only people he knew who were that good, and all three could be reasonably called prodigies.

Suddenly, Lilith's words came to him; "If Skara is telling the truth, then the Katya she saw must have been an illusion or some kind of transformation."

Jerbo gasped; that was it! Now he knew why the situation was bothering him! It was familiar! Now he had a hunch, and if his hunch was right, everyone on the island was in massive danger! Bringing everyone together at dinner would be a potential disaster!

Urgently, he grabbed his scroll and called a friend, thanking his lucky stars that she'd come to the island earlier; "Viney? It's Jerbo; sorry to bother you but I've got a question about beasts…"

[Later that Evening]

It was a great relief to Skara when she heard the loud announcement that an island-wide dinner was about to be held out on the beach. She'd been stuck in an office attached to the meeting hall, helping Darius do paperwork all afternoon and it was the most mind-numbingly boring task she'd ever been saddled with. It was all work for the Abomination Coven too, so it wasn't even helping the CATTs (beyond keeping Darius' cover), which made it all the more frustrating. Darius had also been rather dull company, saying "We're not here for idle chit-chat." whenever she tried to fill the silence.

She actually sighed with joyous relief when the announcement came (posts with Demonic Speaker Horns were set up in all the populated areas to act as an island wide alert system), asking everyone to come down to the beach for a large communal dinner, meant as a celebration for the establishment of their new base.

Darius looked up from his work and said; "Well, time to see if this story of yours is true after all."

Skara frowned; "It is! This will prove it!"

"Let's just hope we don't lose the trust of our people by pulling this stunt. You realise that if there is no spy, everyone is going to be looking at you as the problem." Darius warned.

"What is your problem with me!? What have I done to tick you off so much!?" Skara demanded, finally losing her temper.

Darius stood from his desk and walked towards the door; "I dislike children who get too big for their britches, especially when they've had a silver spoon in their mouths since birth. You are smug in your abilities… perhaps rightly so, but until you show you are as skilled as you claim to be and not here solely because of your connections to Luz, Raine, or Severin, I have no patience for it. I have enough of a headache dealing with the Little Prince, without adding a Little Princess to that."

Skara frowned; "You'll see! You'll see that I'm not just some spoiled princess! I'm not some rotten brat! Not any more…"

Darius raised an eyebrow; "Is that so? Then let us go catch us a spy, Little Cadence."

With that he swept out of the room, his cape fluttering as he went. Skara followed a moment behind, desperately hoping everything would go well. The two left the meeting hall and headed down to the beach, where they found a trio of long tables had been set out, as well as two long benches for each one. Plates and cutlery had been set up, and a field kitchen had been assembled nearby, where a group of CATTs with culinary skills had whipped up a delicious smelling meal, with different dishes to suit the myriad of different tastes. People were arriving from all corners of the island to take seats at one of the tables, while Abominations made of sand and grass served everyone drinks in anticipation of a toast.

Skara recognised the Abominations as Jerbo's work, and spotted the boy talking quietly to Luz, King, and Eda. She walked over to them and smiled.

"Hey guys. I hope your afternoon was more fun than mine." Skara greeted with a weary smile.

Luz gave her a hug; "I'm sorry you got stuck doing paperwork with Darius! He can be a real task master and perfectionist!" she said, remembering her own brief lessons with him earlier. "But don't worry, he'll be eating his words soon enough."

"I hope so. I know what I saw… but what if no one believes me?" Skara asked, beginning to feel insecure.

"Don't you worry, kid." Eda grinned, "Jerbo here came up with a little plan. If dispelling illusions won't reveal the spy, then his idea should."

"Yeah! We've been brewing all afternoon to get it done!" King cheerfully added; "It was way more fun than Blabber Serum! For bonus points, we got to stick Lilith with making the actual Blabber Serum!"

The little Titan high-fived a cackling Eda, while Luz put her hands on her hips; "I know you're still mad at Lilith, and you have a right to be, but do you have to give her so much grief when she's trying her best to make up for it?"

"Luz, she cursed me and handed you over to Belos." Eda deadpanned.

"I know… I just feel bad for her, you know? She's trying to make up for her mistakes. That should mean something." Luz frowned, blushing slightly.

Skara rolled her eyes with a smile; "There's that bleeding heart of yours again. You really need to get that looked at, you know?"

Eda and King chuckled while Luz stuck her tongue out, making Skara smirk and say; "Save that for Amity."

Eda cackled and Luz went beet red, while King just looked confused. As the trio of Clawthornes dealt with that situation, Skara turned to Jerbo; "So what is this plan of yours?"

Jerbo grinned and tapped the side of his nose; "That's a little surprise. Trust me though; if my hunch is right, then we won't even need Blabber Serum! And even if I'm wrong, we still have the original plan."

Now Skara felt even more curious, but she decided to respect Jerbo's wish to keep it as a surprise. After a few minutes, everyone had arrived and taken seats at their benches, with only a few spaces left at the head of the middle table, which was meant for the CATTs' leaders, King, Skara, Jerbo, and Lilith, and at the other ends of the three tables, meant for the cooks. Raine walked over to Eda and Luz and said; "Everyone is present and accounted for. Every person who stepped through that Teleportation Circle today is here. If there is a spy, they're here."

"Show time! You ready, kids?" Eda grinned.

Luz nodded and handed King to Skara, "You guys take a seat with Lilith. We "leaders" are going to make a little speech first." she said, making air quotes with her fingers when she called herself a leader. It wasn't a title she felt she deserved after all, but she wasn't going to question what people wanted.

Skara, King, and Jerbo nodded, then went over to Lilith and joined her in their seats, while Luz went with Eda and Raine. They joined Darius and Eber, who were stood in front of the tables, and the five leaders stood together in a line. Darius raised a glass and tapped it with a little fork, getting everyone's attention like he was at a fancy dinner.

"Everyone, may I have your attention please?" he requested, causing a hush to come over the CATTs. "We are gathered here today in celebration of the successful establishment of our new home base. A place were we can be safe from Belos and his tyranny, while fighting so that those on the Boiling Isles may also enjoy such safety. While not all of our number could be here this evening, it is thanks to each and everyone of us that this haven has been constructed so quickly! In just two days, we have created a home on this once undiscovered island. Please join me in giving thanks to the Titan to whom this land once belonged."

Darius handed his glass and fork to an abomination servant, then put his hands together. Everyone else mimicked the gesture and offered a prayer of thanks to the Titan of the Island, with Luz and King especially wishing them peace wherever their soul had ended up. After that solemn moment, Eda spoke up (since not everyone could understand Eber and Raine was still too shy for public displays like this).

"Now that we've given our thanks, it's time to get down to business! And by business, I mean party! We've got some good eats today, to celebrate a job well done! To go with that celebration, my apprentice here is going to treat you all to a nice little song before we eat!" Eda grinned, nodding to Luz.

The girl smiled nervously and gave a short curtsey to the gathered CATTs, all of whom were curious to hear an Arch-Angel's song, especially since it was known she was in the bard track at Hexside. Raine summoned their Palisman in violin form while Eda summoned an old cittern, and the two began to play a song together; one that the few Bards in the crowd (namely Skara, Katya, Amber, and Derwin) recognised as the Revealing Revel; a bardic song that dispelled illusions. Luz began to sing the rarely heard words to the song, and everyone relaxed and enjoyed the pleasant song. Skara enjoyed it also, but like Darius and Eber, her eyes were focused on the crowd, scanning them for any signs of changing appearances. A few people changed slightly, becoming a bit more unkempt looking as their Concealment Stones malfunctioned for a moment (thankfully most people were too into the song to notice), but no one changed enough for the illusions to be an attempt at hiding their identities. When the song came to an end, Skara found herself being disappointed for two reasons; the end of the music, and the lack of a spy reveal. She bit her lip nervously as she looked back at the others, catching Darius' eye as the man kept a painfully blank expression.

There was a round of applause as Luz, Eda, and Raine all bowed to their audience. When she straightened up again, the still blushing Luz smiled at everyone and said; "Thank you all. I hope our short performance was a nice opening to the wonderful meal we've prepared! Now as one last thing before we eat, I'd like to propose a toast with something special!"

She nodded to Jerbo, and the boy subtly cast a spell, causing several of his soil abominations to come running out from the kitchen area holding bottles of some kind of purple liquid. It looked almost like wine of some kind, but as the abominations began to serve it to everyone, Luz explained; "This is something that my Mom, Brother, and I cooked up together! It uses a rare fruit that is quite expensive these days; usually only the stuffed shirt nobles who serve Belos get to eat it or drink wine made from it, but King and I were able to grow some! We only made juice though, we didn't want everyone getting sloshed before the meal could start!" Luz joked.

There were some good natured chuckles from the CATTs as everyone's glasses were filled. A few people looked slightly worried about the purple juice, but Luz helpfully reassured them; "Don't worry; the juice isn't harmful to any species of Witch or Demons. It won't hurt you no matter who or what you are!"

Coming from an angel, everyone had no choice but to believe her, so they held their glasses high as Luz and the CATTs leaders raised their own.

"A toast! To the CATTs!" Luz declared.

"TO THE CATTS!" everyone cheered, before as one, they all lifted their glasses to their lips and took a sip.

Skara smacked her lips, finding the fruity liquid to be quite sweet with a hint of tartness. The taste was reminiscent of diluted Apple Blood, with a rich berry flavour mixed in that was a mix of Demon Realm Scareberries and Human Realm Raspberries (which had begun being cultivated in the Demon Realm, after Eda had brought some through years ago). Skara found it quite tasty, and that was the general consensus among the CATTs.

Once everyone had taken a sip, Luz smiled widely and gestured for Jerbo to stand up and join her. "I hope you all enjoyed that! Now that we've all had some, I'm sure you're all wondering why we decided to give you this little taste. Well to explain it, let me introduce you all to Jerbo Nelumbo, the son of Councilman Cal Nelumbo; he's one of the pioneers of the Multi-Track Program at Hexside, and was the one to suggest this particular fruit. He'll tell you all about it!"

Luz stepped back and allowed Jerbo to stand in front of the curious crowd with a grin. "Good evening everyone. Don't worry, I'm sure you won't be kept from your evening meals for much longer. I wanted to take a moment to properly introduce the juice that the Clawthorne family made for you all. It is a pure juice extract made from a rare fruit called Newtangerines. They're a purple, citrus fruit that is quite rare in the modern era, but in the ancient past it was a famous fruit whose juice was given by witches and demons to their guests when welcoming them into their home. It seemed appropriate to toast our new home!"

There were some cheers and shouts of agreement from the CATTs, who were in largely good spirits. Jerbo grinned wider; "But the reason this juice was given was because in those ancient days, this fruit was known by two other names. The first is Glamour Rot. You can probably guess what it does based on that name, but if not, the second name will make it clear…"

As he spoke, one of the Emperor's Coven Defectors began to shiver, feeling a sudden chill spread through their body. Steve and the other defectors turned to look at them, since it was a warm evening and it seemed odd for someone to be shivering. The defector in question was even wearing their full uniform still, minus the mask, revealing their face which was that of a fairly plain maroon haired witch. He shuddered more, and to the shock of everyone around him, his skin began to turn slimy and scaly, while darkening to a reddish brown.

Jerbo took notice and finished his sentence with a vindicated grin; "That second name? It's Basilisk's Bane! It's juice isn't poisonous, but it reacts with a Basilisk's stomach acid in a way that temporarily neutralises all magic inside them, including their ability to disguise themselves and devour magic! It was given as a welcome drink in an era in which Basilisks disguising themselves to infiltrate people's homes was a common occurrence!"

Everyone around the slowly transforming Emperor's Coven Defector jumped to their feet and backed off, terrified of having their magic devoured by the Basilisk the Defector had been revealed to be. An uproar came across the CATTs as Jerbo joined Luz, King, and the CATTs Leaders in rushing forward to surround the Basilisk.

"Don't worry, everyone! It can't eat your magic at the moment! Not while the juice is still in its body!" Jerbo shouted. That reassured people, but not enough to risk getting close to the thought-to-be extinct creature. Only Skara and Lilith actually stepped forward to join them.

The Basilisk had transformed fully back into their own form now, revealing themselves to be a large, serpentine creature, quite a bit smaller than Subject Zero; the Greater Basilisk but also a fair bit bigger than Vee. It's scales were a dull reddish brown, with some mottled light creamy brown patches around its mouth and underbelly, while its hair and fins were a similarly dull maroon colour. Unlike Vee, its eyes were oblong shaped and a swampy green, with no irises and only wide pupils like a frog's. Its ears were similar to Vee's, though longer and droopier, and its face was slightly longer and more serpentine with no real discernible neck between it and its torso. As the creature had transformed back, its clothes had disappeared since they were part of its disguise, causing an Emperor's Coven Comm-Pact to fall out of its pocket, which Luz immediately snagged and held aloft

"See!? I was right! There WAS a spy!" Skara cheered, feeling totally vindicated.

Jerbo nodded; "After the meeting earlier, something about this whole situation was bothering me. I couldn't think of anyone on the island who could be a traitor and was that good at Illusion magic, so I thought it might be something different! It felt familiar, and then I remembered the incident at school with the fake inspector! Luz had told me and our other friends about the other Basilisks made by the Emperor's Coven, so I realised that the spy could be one of those Basilisks! That's why I called Viney to ask about how to neutralise their powers!"

Raine, who hadn't been in on the Juice plot (only Jerbo, Luz, King, and Eda had been), gasped as they realised something; "Our original plan was to find the spy by gathering everyone together and asking them to take Blabber Serum! But if the spy was a Basilisk, they could have felt cornered and immediately started eating everyone's magic before we could fight back! We'd be caught unawares and potentially helpless!"

"It could have been the end of the CATTs!" Lilith exclaimed.

Those words had all of the CATTs preparing spell circles and drawing whatever weapons they had, pointing them at the Basilisk, who had coiled around themselves fearfully. Eber growled softly at it, while Darius could only shake his head; "It appears I was mistaken. Very well, we can address that later; first we apprehend this creature!" he declared, before creating a massive scimitar out of Abomination goo.

The Basilisk shrieked in a hissing voice that sounded vaguely masculine; "No! I don't want to die!"

Using its coiled, serpentine tail, it suddenly sprang over the heads of the people immediately surrounding it and fled, making its way towards the water. Darius remodelled his scimitar into a spear and tossed it at the creature, though it slithered out of the way too quickly, making Darius miss. It easily darted and slithered through the crowd of CATTs, hissing and snarling to intimidate the few who tried to grab it physically, using its slick body to slide out of the grip of anyone who succeeded, and continued heading to the Boiling Sea. The rest of the CATTs wanted to cast spells at it, but so long as it was in their midst, it was too dangerous to fling spells; they could hit their own allies! Thanks to that, the Basilisk burst from the crowd and made it to the water, diving into the Boiling Sea without a hint of hesitation. There was some surprise from the CATTs, but not Luz or Jerbo, the former already knowing that Basilisks were semi-aquatic and the latter having been told by Viney the day before.

The Basilisk used its powerful tail to swim away as fast as it could, heading south-east towards the hurricane wall that surrounded the entire island.

"It's getting away!" Skara yelled.

"It'll never survive the Maelstrom Strait. Even if by some miracle it pierces the hurricane, the whirlpools will swallow it and drag in beneath the sea. Once its pulled down, it'll be crushed by the pressure." Lilith replied.

Luz didn't like the sound of that; this Basilisk was one of Vee's fellow captives, and one of the last of their race! She wouldn't let it die!

"I'm going after it!" Luz declared, growing her wings to full size and taking flight. She began flying after it, but before she'd cleared the beach, Skara yelled after her.

"Wait! Take me too! I started this hunt and I want to end it!" she declared.

Luz, not having time to argue nor the inclination too, shrugged and flew behind Skara, wrapping her arms around the girl's waist from behind, then hoisting her up as she once again took to the skies. Thankfully Skara was fairly light, perhaps even more so than Amity, so carrying her wasn't too much of a problem. With the girl in her arms, Luz darted through the air in pursuit of the Basilisk, who remained fairly close to the surface as it swam away.

Skara summoned her harp and began to play tunes, which transformed into literal magical notes, just like the kind seen in sheet music, that shot into the water around the Basilisk, trying to steer it away from the hurricane wall that they were all rapidly approaching. This wasn't working however, as the few magical notes to hit the Basilisk itself did nothing but sting mildly, since Skara wanted to capture and not kill it. With the hurricane right ahead of them, Skara tried one final last ditch effort to capture the Basilisk by playing a tune that conjured a musical bar that stretched down into the water like a net. Sadly the Basilisk slipped through and dove deeper under the water, hoping to escape by going under the hurricane wall.

Unfortunately for the terrified creature, even as deep as it swam, the hurricane still sucked it up and the Basilisk screamed in terror as it was ripped out of the water by the turbulent winds, becoming trapped inside the hurricane wall. Luz and Skara looked on in horror as the Basilisk was whipped around in the spiralling gales.

"We need to save it!" Luz yelled over the roar of the wind and sea.

"We can't get any closer!" Skara yelled back, "Even without the wind, if we get closer, the boiling water whipped up by the hurricane will hit us!"

"Don't worry! I'll take care of that! Just hang on!" the young Arch-Angel cried, before conjuring a crystal barrier around the two of them. The barrier protected them from the water, but Luz knew that the minute she dove into the hurricane itself, she would be blown around just like the Basilisk; she didn't have the Selkidomus to hang onto this time, and even if she stopped to go and get the beast to help her, the Basilisk was now up too high.

Luz flew as close as she dared, trying to get to wherever the Basilisk was being blown about, but being forced to back off whenever she felt her barrier begin to get sucked in. She whined in frustration; "Dang it, I can't get any closer!"

Skara frowned and wracked her brain, before gasping as an idea came to her; "I think I can help! Let me try something!"

Luz nodded and Skara closed her eyes and began to play her harp again, weaving bardic magic into her fingers as she produced a beautiful melody. The melody caused Luz and her barrier to glow faintly red, and the young angel felt the pull of the wind on her grow weaker.

"What is this?" she wondered aloud.

"Wind magic!" Skara said, not pausing in her playing; "Wind is one of the elemental components of Bardic Magic! You taught me that yourself in class once, remember?"

Luz nodded; it was in one of the first classes they'd had together following the Greater Basilisk attack. Luz had been making a point of telling all her friends about elemental magic and encouraging them to try out the elements that made up their preferred magic types. She'd assumed Skara wouldn't bother learning wind magic however, as she was already amazing at Bardic Magic and preferred to use it to cast other types of spells, rather than using other spells to cast Bardic Magic. However by the look of things, Skara had figured out how to use Bardic Magic to produce Wind Magic, rather than the other way around like normal elemental casting.

"This is incredible!" Luz gasped, "I think I can fly through the hurricane! At least a little!"

"Good! Then get going, I can't keep this up for long!" Skara yelled, already struggling to maintain her focus while playing.

Luz didn't need to be told twice, and she dove into the hurricane. Her barrier protected the two of them from the worst of it, but it only gave Luz a little more control over where she flew; it was nowhere near enough to pass through the hurricane. Still, it was enough for her to fly to where the poor Basilisk was being blown, using the wind to speed up her wings as she flew. When she caught up with the Basilisk, Luz cast another barrier spell, this time snagging the Basilisk and protecting it from the wind. Maintaining her grip on it with her magic, Luz yelled to Skara.

"Give it all you've got! I need just a little more power to break free of the wind currents!"

Skara grunted and continued to play as she always had, but poured more magic into it, intensifying the glow around Luz and her barrier. Luz then began to flap her wings hard as she fought against the hurricane to escape. Still, it wasn't quite enough and Luz found herself being dragged back by the gales.

"More! We're being pulled in!" Luz screamed, flapping her wings with all her might. She'd have tried adding her own bardic skills to the mix, but between flying and maintaining two barriers, she couldn't focus on singing too.

"I am not getting sucked into this stupid hurricane! I am not going to be some useless, spoiled brat!" Skara growled to herself, magic and emotion overflowing inside her. Her eyes began to glow with red magic, and her fingertips each glowed with a red aura of bardic magic as they practically danced across the strings of her harp. Her song went from gentle and melodious to fast, hard, and powerful; like a lullaby becoming a power ballad, and the wind magic aura around Luz and her barrier intensified, momentarily growing strong enough to allow Luz full control of where she flew without worrying about the wind.

"GO!" Skara screamed.

Luz flew as fast as she could, nearly straining her wing joints with how hard she was working them. Both girls screamed out a battle cry as they nearly escaped the hurricane's currents, and right before they finally got away, the red light around Luz's barrier seemed to intensify. It became a brief flash that made Luz yelp and blink hard, but it was not enough to stop her from flying, and the girl shot clear out of the hurricane.

She was flying so hard and so fast that by the time she realised she was free of the wind, Luz had flown herself, Skara, and the Basilisk halfway back to the Titan Arm Island.

"Ha ha! We did it!" Skara cheered even as she panted, her fingers feeling numb from her rapid playing; "We got the Basilisk AND escaped the hurricane!"

"That's not all…" Luz whispered reverently, still blinking hard from the bright flash; "I think I've just found a new glyph!"

The bardic girl gasped in amazement; "Seriously!?"

Luz nodded; "Yeah! Let's get back to dry land and deal with the Basilisk, then I can show you. King is going to be so excited!"

With that, the angel dropped the barrier around herself and Skara, but maintained the one around the Basilisk, using it like a cell to keep it contained. The poor thing was terrified after its harrowing experience, and had curled in on itself, so Luz was sure to fly gently before landing on the beach.

She set Skara down then landed herself, and the two girls were immediately surrounded by the CATTs. Eda and King leapt at Luz, the former hugging her tightly and the latter crawling into her hood to hug her from behind.

"Owlet! Thank goodness you're okay! When you two went into the hurricane, we were terrified you wouldn't be getting out!" Eda cried, kissing Luz's hair over and over.

"Sorry to worry you, Mom. But don't worry; thanks to Skara's awesome playing, we escaped and even caught the Basilisk!" Luz smiled.

"Indeed! Excellent work, Sparks! And you as well, Skara! If not for your warning, we might never have known there was a spy!"

Skara puffed her chest out proudly, preparing to boast of her accomplishment and rub it into Darius' face. It was clear from his expression that he was expecting it too… but that made Skara pause. Instead, she just smiled and humbly said; "I'm glad to have helped. I was serious when I chose to join the CATTs; I want to stop Belos, not just play around."

Darius looked surprised, then smiled and chuckled at the girl; "It appears I misjudged you, Little Cadence. I'm man enough to admit I was wrong, both about the spy… and about you. Perhaps you're not a spoiled little princess after all. Good work."

Skara beamed, and both Luz and Jerbo patted her on the back. Darius then turned to the gathered CATTs and freely announced everything that had happened earlier, with Skara finding the spy and their plans to catch and expose them. Some of the CATTs were a little upset that the celebration dinner had been arranged partly under false pretences, but Raine assured them all that such a celebration was always planned; it was just brought forward for the sake of exposing the spy in their midst.

"We owe you one too, Jerbo." Raine then said, nodding to the boy; "Your idea with the juice and the toast was well done."

"Thank you, Mx. Whispers." Jerbo said, then nodded to Luz, Skara, Eda, and King; "But we all played our part. This victory took all of us."

"Then let's have a round of applause for Jerbo, Skara, Luz, Eda, and King!" Raine declared, and the CATTs all cheered loudly and began to clap. Eda felt a little guilty, since all she'd done was help distil the juice of the Newtangerines that Luz and King grew with their glyphs, but she wasn't going to quibble over that now.

Once the applause was done, one of the CATTs pointed to the Basilisk (still cowering in Luz's barrier), and yelled; "What do we do with that thing?"

"Do we kill it?" another asked.

The Basilisk shrieked in terror, and Luz quickly shook her head; "NO! No, we don't need to hurt them! This poor creature was created in a lab by Belos, and turned into a weapon and tool! Let me talk to them!"

There was some muttering, but most of the CATTs either agreed outright or looked to one of the other leaders. Eber, Eda, and Raine immediately nodded along with Luz's request, and while Darius looked doubtful, he acquiesced to the others.

"We'll leave it to you, Owlet. As for the rest of you lot; it's dinner time so sit your butts down! Last one seated is on dishwashing duty!" Eda yelled.

That got everyone moving, and soon it was just the CATTs five leaders, Skara, King, and Jerbo stood around the trapped Basilisk. Luz carefully knelt down in front of it and spoke through the barrier.

"Hello. My name is Luz Noceda-Clawthorne. I'm not going to hurt you, or let anyone else hurt you." she assured it. "Can you tell me your name?"

The Basilisk, still shaking in fear, looked up at her; "S-Subject Number Three." it answered.

"Subject Three, huh? I've met two of your fellows; Subject Zero and Subject Five." Luz replied.

The mention of Subject Zero made the Basilisk cringe, but the mention of Vee had it perking up again; "Five? You saw Subject Five? She was the little one… the baby. Is she safe? Is she alive?"

Luz nodded and summoned her scroll to show Subject Three a picture that she'd taken on Monday, before coming back to the Demon Realm. It was a big group photo of Luz, Camila, Vee, and everyone who'd gone to the Human Realm with Luz. It showed Vee smiling and being held against Camila's left side, in her true Quetzalcoatl Basilisk form. Subject Three gasped softly.

"Number Five… she looks different… but happy." Subject Three whispered.

Luz nodded; "My Mami basically adopted her. We gave her some angelic magic and she evolved into a Quetzalcoatl Basilisk. She's safe now, and happy. We're protecting her so Belos and the Emperor's Coven can never get her again."

She snapped her fingers and the barrier vanished, freeing the Basilisk. The others looked ready to act if Subject Three tried to run, but Luz just smiled and held out her hand; "She told me about you and Subject Four too. How you escaped together before splitting up. You were very brave, but I guess you got caught?"

Subject Three nodded; "We were free for only a couple of days. The Emperor caught us… Subject Zero was the last one to be found. The Emperor said an angel defeated her… was that you?"

"Yes. Jerbo, Skara, and I, as well as some more friends, defeated her when she attacked our school. Is she okay? I-Is she suffering?" Luz asked. Ever since learning about Vee, a part of her had feared for Subject Zero; she was a monster, but Luz didn't want her to suffer at Belos' hands.

Thankfully, Subject Three shook their head; "She is still crazy, but we weren't suffering. After we were recaptured, the Emperor wanted us trained and taught. They gave us people to devour the magic from, and made us study and learn. Gave us strange potions that made our heads fuzzy, then clear. They made us smarter."

Luz nodded as she listened; that explained why Subject Three seemed almost as smart as Vee, when Vee had described them as "struggling with their mind at times."

"They did not hurt us, besides putting these new rings on us." Subject Three finished, holding up their tail to show a new tail ring, similar to the one Luz had cut from Vee. It was black with a purple stone that looked like an Oracle Stone, similar to the one in Luz's ring and King's collar.

"Can the Emperor track you through that?" Luz asked.

Subject Three nodded; "They could, but it stopped working when you teleported us here. Kikimora can still tell its attached, but can't tell where I am."

"If it works on Oracle Magic, then either it can't contact anyone across the salty sea, or Luz's angelic magic scared off the spirit inside it." Eda said.

"Well then, I might as well finish the job." Luz smiled. She gently took the Basilisk's tail, making them flinch, and after promising she wouldn't hurt them, she carefully cut the ring in half and removed it, before vaporising it in an instant.

Subject Three stared at her in shock for a moment, then the Comm-pact Luz had grabbed earlier began to vibrate. Luz hummed; part of the tracking rings must use the same magic as the comm-pacts, and that's how Kikimora knew when it was removed. The angel stood and moved so that Kikimora would only be able to see the ocean once Luz answered the call. She then opened the Comm-pact and Kikimora's face appeared.

"Subject Three, what is going on? Your tracking ring has been disabled and… you!" Kikimora gasped as she registered who she was looking at.

"Yep, me. Unfortunately for you, Kikimora, your spy was caught. Don't worry though, I'll take good care of them. Tell Belos to get ready to kiss his throne goodbye!" Luz smirked.

"I will do no such thing, you corrupted little-"

The Emperor's former assistant was cut off by Luz closing the Comm-pact, then melting it in a blast of fire. Subject Three stared at the molten remains of the comm-pact, which Luz then froze into a chunk of ice to dispose of later.

"A-Am I free?"

"Yes. You were coerced into spying on us, so you don't deserve to be locked up again. Would you be willing to make another Everlasting Oath that you won't do anything at all to hurt innocent people? If you do, I'm sure I can convince the CATTs to let you live here safely, just like Vee is in the Human Realm. I can give you an Angelic Blessing too, so you can have magic without preying on people." Luz replied, not even bothering to ask the others. She'd convince them later… somehow.

"Vee?" Subject Three repeated.

"Oh, that's Subject Five's new name. We should probably give you one too… Do you have a preferred gender?" Luz asked.

"I prefer male, but I don't care that much. Are you really going to give me a name?" he asked back.

Luz nodded; "Sure! A person should have a real name! Hmm, what to call you…? Maybe Malingale? He's a character in my favourite book series and started out as a villain, but only because he was being forced to work for the bad guys!"

The Basilisk didn't like the sound of that, so the others began suggesting names.

"Jean-Luc!" King suggested.

"Maybe Basil?" Raine offered.

"How about Grimson? 'Cause he's kinda red and kinda grim!" Eda grinned.

"I think Newton would suit him!" Jerbo said.

Darius blinked; "Wasn't he an enemy spy a minute ago? Now we're naming him like a pet!? Also, we're getting ahead of ourselves! He hasn't actually agreed to the oath yet!"

Eber, completely ignoring her old friend, barked "Chameleon!"

Subject Three didn't really like any of those names (nor did he understand Eber's), and since Skara was the only one not to suggest one yet, he looked to her. She rubbed her chin and hummed, then grinned and suggested;

"How about Treble?"

"Treble?" Subject Three repeated.

"Yep! It's a symbol used in music." Skara said, picking up a stick and drawing it in the sand; "The "Tre" part is also close to Tres, which is the number Three in Spanish! Plus the whole word sounds a bit like trouble, which feels kind of fitting! My dad called me Trouble as an affectionate nickname sometimes when I played pranks on him as a kid."

The Basilisk seemed to like it, and Luz looked to Skara with a coy smirk; "And how do you know any Spanish? I don't remember teaching you that!"

Skara smirked back; "Your girlfriend taught me some. The bard track shares a study hall period with the abomination track in the afternoon, when you're off in the beast-keeping track, and Amity uses me to practice the Spanish you teach her."

Luz gave a dreamy sigh; "Oh Hermosa… I really need to do something nice for her again sometime soon."

Darius' eye twitched; "Can we please get back to naming the Basilisk so we can then get back to deciding what to do with him!? Our tangents are having tangents!"

"Oops! Sorry Darius!" Luz said as the others chuckled at the man's annoyance. "So what do you think, Subject Three? Do you like Treble?"

The Basilisk thought a bit more, then smiled and nodded; "Yes! I think I'd like to be called Treble. Thank you for my name!" he said, bowing his head to Skara.

"You're welcome! Now are you going to be good and swear that oath to Luz? If you do, the CATTs can offer you sanctuary!" Skara smiled at him.

"Will I have to fight for you instead?" Treble asked.

Everyone shook their heads; "Our people fight because they want to. No one is here against their will." Raine said.

"A-And you'd really let me stay here after what I tried to do?"

Luz nodded; "What you tried to do was really bad, but thanks to Vee, I understand your situation. You weren't given a choice, were you? It was do what Kikimora ordered, or spend the rest of your life in a cage… or worse, right?"

Treble nodded slowly, making Luz smile and pat him on the head; "Then we can't fairly judge you. Besides, we've got members of our own group who started off working for the bad guys and had a change of heart. It would be unfair to condemn you and not them."

The others nodded in agreement, and Darius actually found himself coming around too; Luz had a point after all. Lilith, Steve, and numerous other defectors from the Emperor's Coven, and even their own covens, were once loyal to the Emperor and switched sides; if they were given a chance, then it was fair that Treble was too.

Faced with this argument and feeling warmed by the kindly angel's smile, Treble gave his own wide, serpentine smile. He looked a bit like a smiling puppy, and both Luz and Skara cooed at the adorable sight.

"You are very strange… but I like you." Treble said earnestly. "You saved my life when you could have left me to die in that big wind."

"I'm a big weirdo, just like you and the rest of these guys!" Luz laughed; "And we weirdos need to stick together!"

Treble nodded; "Then I'd like to accept your offer. I will swear your oath."

Luz beamed and gently took his hand as she had Skara draw the spell circle. Treble swore not to betray Luz's trust and not to knowingly or willingly do anything to endanger the CATTs and their allies, or aid their enemies in the Emperor's Coven. Once the oath was over, Raine smiled and said;

"I'll go inform the rest of the CATTs so no one freaks out or gets the wrong idea. Not everyone is going to be happy about this, but they should accept it… with time."

The others agreed, and Darius and Eber decided to follow Raine to offer their support, leaving Treble behind with the Clawthornes and kids.

Jerbo said; "Still, it's pretty amazing you were able to help Luz fly through that hurricane, Skara! It looked like you used wind magic!"

"I did! I whipped up wind around us that blew in the opposite direction of the wind blowing at us, to cancel it out a bit. It was rough, but it worked." Skara explained.

That made Luz gasp; "Oh! That reminds me! King, you won't believe what happened while we were escaping the hurricane!"

King began to wiggle eagerly; "What!? What happened!?"

Luz took the stick Skara had used a minute ago and drew the glyph that had been embedded into her mind. King gasped, seeing the new design. He eagerly pressed it, and it glowed with a silvery grey light before producing a burst of wind.

"The wind glyph! We've found the wind glyph!" King cheered.

"That's the fifth one you've found!" Eda grinned; "I wonder how you'll change if you bond with this one! And what combos King will be able to whip up!"

Jerbo and Skara both looked interested to see where this would lead too, but before Luz and King could begin to experiment with drawing the new glyph, Lilith came over to let them know that Raine and the other Coven Heads had smoothed things over with the CATTs.

"They've told everyone the situation and since Treble has taken an oath, the others are choosing to trust him. Or rather, trust all of you who trust him." Lilith said. "Now you should all come and eat! The food is still hot and everyone is clamouring to start! I had the cooks prepare a plate for Treble too."

"You did?" Treble blinked.

Lilith grinned; "I had a feeling that Luz would end up taking you in, so I had the cooks prepare it as soon as Luz and Skara flew off after you."

Treble was surprised, while Luz and Skara felt cheered by her confidence in them. They all followed her back to the tables, where everyone had shuffled along so Treble's place had been moved to beside Luz and the others. There were a few less pleased looks, but overall the CATTs were willing to accept the Basilisk as a fellow refugee hiding from the Emperor.

With no more announcements, songs, or toasts to be made, the food was finally served and everyone got to tuck in. It was delicious, and well worth the wait, with slightly different dishes being served so that every witch and demon had a meal that was appetizing for their species. It started off like a fine-dining experience, but it soon became more casual, and a party atmosphere formed (especially by those deep in their cups). Steve came over to talk to Eda and Lilith, and reported that he'd investigated the situation around the scout that Treble had been impersonating. It turned out that they were actually a real defector and one of the few whose identity had been discovered at the Conformatorium. As a result, he'd been poisoned in his home by agents of the Emperor's Coven and was now in the Bonesborough Hospital, recovering. Since Treble had replaced him, and his family weren't involved with the CATTs, the news hadn't spread until Steve looked into it. Now the man was in the care of Meesha Leonis, Viney's mother and the chief healer at the Bonesborough Hospital.

The party continued on after that, with many toasting to the health of the poisoned scout. That had gotten a few glares thrown Treble's way, but the Basilisk cleverly asked for a glass of the Glamour Rot juice, which he chugged down with a smile; his way of showing he could be trusted. That earned him a bit of respect and acceptance, and plans were already being drawn up to have everyone Luz brought through the Teleportation Circle drink some before they were allowed on the island.

As the evening progressed a bit, a mildly tipsy Eda raised her glass for another toast (and another excuse to get everyone to drink and party more).

"Alright everybody, get your glasses filled! We're gonna toast our island again!" she cheered.

The other drunken CATTs cheered too, but an equally tipsy Amber protested. She got to her feet, stood on the table and shouted; "It's always "The Island" this and "The Island" that… are we just gonna keep calling it "The Island"? Let's give it a proper name!"

Salty, who was one of the new CATTs helping out on the Island, raised his claw; "I second that! Law of the sea says that the finders be the keepers! Ye who found the island, names it! Cap'n Luz!"

He turned towards the angel, who blinked in surprise; "Ye found this place, so ye name it! What's it gonna be!?"

Suddenly feeling like she'd been put on the spot (especially with hundreds of people now staring at her expectantly), Luz wracked her brain for an answer. All she could think of was something to do with wind! The Island was surrounded by a hurricane wall, and she'd found the wind glyph here…

"How about… Digale Island! You know, like Gale winds." she suggested.

There was a moment of silence, followed by a loud cheer as the CATTs agreed to her suggestion. Darius (who alongside Raine was the only fully sober adult present) nodded in agreement and announced; "Then henceforth, this island shall be known as Digale Island, and our new base will be Digale Village!"

And like that, the CATTs new base had a name, and the Basilisk known as Treble had a home. The CATTs were beginning to really establish themselves; now it was time to begin taking the fight to the Emperor's Coven.