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The Day of Unity has begun.
Luz and her friends faced Belos—or rather, Philip, in hopes that it would be possible to stop his plan. Everyone gave their best, but it was in vain, as they slowly realized that Philip was much stronger than they were, especially in that form.
“Luz, watch out!” Amity shouted, but unfortunately, Luz didn’t have time to react fast enough to dodge Philip’s attack and was thrown off the bridge and fell onto the ground. “Luz!”
“I am fine! Don’t worry, keep fighting!”
Amity hesitated for a moment, but nodded and turned back to help their friends. Luz looked around and saw some stairs. She was about to get up and run to try and help the others, but then…
“Luz!” A voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked behind her and saw King running towards her with his arms outstretched, “Are you hurt?”
“N…No, don’t worry, King…”
“Damn it!”, Luz thought. It seemed like an impossible situation for them. She tried to get up. “Isn’t there anything we can do?!”
“It’s pointless.” Luz looked forward, behind King, and saw Kikimora in the Abomatron, weakened by the Draining Spell. She stared at Luz and King, who stared back, listening to her. Belos can't stop the spell any more than they can. Only the Collector has that power.
“Who… is the Collector?”, asked King, slowly approaching her.
“Neither witch nor demon, a child from the stars.” Kikimora answered, looking away and looking at his arm with the clan mark on it.
A child?
“Belos only talked to him when he thought no one was around, but I was always listening. Belos was afraid of him.”
“Take us to him!” Luz speaks quickly. King nods, also waiting to go and help.
“If it means kicking the Emperor’s butt,” Kikimora, with her Abomatron, strands up slowly and shows a staircase leading downwards behind her, “gladly.” Quickly, Luz, along with King, rushed down the stairs, with Kikimora following behind. She can’t waste any time as her friends hold Philip.
Reaching the deepest part of the Titan’s Head, Luz and King saw several masks and broken skeletons on the floor. It was a horrible sight. “What is this place?”, King asks, a little startled.
“Where the failure ends up.” Replied Kikimora. Luz swallowed dryly. The two looked around and spotted something on the ground and walked over to it. A crescent-shaped mirror. Hesitating, King stared at that glass object and touches it. It begins to glow and a black shadow emerges from it.
“Leave me alone! I don’t associate with fibbers.” The shadowy entity begins to speak. Was that the Collector? He looks around and seems to be a bit confused, for some reason.
“Wait. I can see you—” He points at Luz, and seems to completely ignore Kikimora who was behind them, “but I know there’s someone else there, I can feel it! But why can’t I see you?”
Both Luz and King were confused too. Luz looks at King and notices that his collar was glowing. Does that symbol make him invisible to the Collector? King notices this too and takes the collar off his neck. The Collector jumps in surprise and approaches him from the ground. “You look like that bully who put me here! No way, are you his little Titan baby? I always wanted to play with you, but your dumb pops hid you.” He said, using King’s shadow and transforming into several different figures as he spoke. “Hey, do you like hide and seek? I’ll hide first!”
“Mr. Collector!” Luz interrupts him and gets his attention. “Please. We need your help. Belos is up there fighting with my friends and everyone on the Boiling Isles is in danger, we need you.”
“Yes, we need you to stop the Draining Spell, please!”
“Mister? You two are sooooo boring…” The Collector exasperated sighs. Luz was about to panic and run out of ideas until King stops and starts talking.
“Well, you know what’s better than hide and seek? A game called… ‘The Owl House!’” he says.
“Ooh, how do you play?” The Collector asks curiously, looking like he was quite interested in this ‘new game’.
“Oh, it’s so fun, like, the most fun! And I can show you if you want. We’re gonna need a lot of players, like, a whole island’s worth of players.”
“Uh… that!” Luz understood and internally thanked King, “Ah, The Owl House. Wow, how I love that game! But, uh… aw, shucks.
“W-What’s wrong?”
“Well, gee, everyone’s gonna perish from this ding-dang Draining Spell.” King said, in a disappointed tone, “Guess we can’t play that awesome game after all. Man, it was fun though.” King turned around and walked away, looking like he was going to leave, but the Collector was quick and appeared on the floor, stopping him.
“Wait, if you’re a Titan, you can let me out. I can stop the spell! And we can play together!”
A light of hope has come to Luz and King. “Golly, you would do that?”, exclaimed King.
“Wait, you’re not tricking me into doing your chores like Philip, are you?”
“Us? Like Philip? Never!” Luz nervously said.
“Yeah, never! Pinky swear!” King offers his pinky finger out to him, and Luz does the same. The Collector laughs. Then a growl was heard, and the ground began to shake. They immediately knew it was Philip upstairs and began to get a little more nervous.
“I'll even let you out right now. W-What do I need to do? D-Do-Do you need my... blood?”
“No, silly! But… I will need something.” The Collector said, his shadow moving closer to Luz. “I’ll need a physical form, and that’s where you come in, human.”
“Me?” Luz points at herself.
“I’ll need her body to be able to leave completely. Phillip said he had someone who would do it, but now that he lied to me, I don’t think that person will show up. Then you will have to help me so that I can help you, and then we can play! So, are you in?” The Collector explained and asked Luz. She hesitated. Would it really be right to do this? What if something went wrong? But also, her friends and the whole island depended on her, and she had to hurry. There was no way. She had to save everyone. This was the only way.
“Lo siento, Amity, Eda, Willow, Gus, Hunter, Mama... I have to do this.”
“…Okay. I accept!” The Collector smiled. He put his hand through the mirror with his pinky. Taking a deep breath, Luz and King approached him and put their fingers on the mirror, more precisely where his pinky was. The mirror began to glow brightly. On the ground appeared his face with the sun, stars, and the phases of the moon around it. In Luz’s hand, a shadow began to appear that traveled all the way down to her body.
“Luz!” King yelled, but it was in vain. Luz screamed and fell to her knees on the ground as the shadow consumed more of her body. Her hair changed color to a pure white, and slowly the color of his skin changed as well. Half blue, half orange. Her face and eyes glowed as the Collector could be heard, laughing loudly. The crescent-shaped mirror cracked and fell to the ground. Luz's body glowed so brightly that King and Kikimora had to shield their eyes.
And then, silence.
###
Everyone was exhausted. Amity, Willow, Gus, and especially Hunter, who was on the ground, weakened by the Draining Spell, could no longer fight. Philip stood in front of them. He raised his hand, turning it into a scythe, ready to attack. However, just when everyone is protecting themselves from the attack, closing their eyes, and preparing for the worst... it doesn't come. Slowly, they open their eyes.
“Whatcha playing?” A hooded person stared at them while holding the end of the scythe. This person looked like…
“…Luz?” Amity asked, clearly as confused as the other, or even more. Why was she like this? How did she stop the attack? Those questions fell aside as Philip immediately realized who it was, slowly backing up.
“Collector?” Philip says, causing the Collector to glare at him. They didn’t look happy at all. “You’re free, just as promised.”
“As promised? I remember someone throwing me off a bridge. I’m not angry though, thanks to the human who helped me.” The moment they mentioned the “human”, everyone behind them froze, worried and wondering what exactly happened while they were fighting. Amity, especially.
“Say, you wanna play tag?” The Collector, with a smile, twirls their finger and pulls Philip closer. “I’m it.” They tap Philip’s nose lightly, causing him to be launched against the wall, above the door, reducing him to a puddle of mud, to the shock and surprise of the others.
The Collector laughs, covering his mouth. “Too slow.” they say. Then, they turn their attention to the others, and ask, “You guys look slow too. Do you need a head start?”
Stuck, they were unable to respond as the Collector approached them. Luckily, King appeared in front of them, blocking the path. “Woah woah, Collector. Buddy, pal! Remember what we talked about? You gotta help all my friends outside, or, uh, we won't get to play "Owl House".” King looks back, trying to get the message across to the others.
"Ah... Owl House. I love this game. The memories last a lifetime!" Amity started, and the others followed.
"I play it every day!"
"I play it every hour"
Hunter was so scared that he couldn't form a sentence. He only smiled and squealed nervously.
“I’ll explain the rules later, but remember, we need a lot of players.” The Collector walks forward and everyone clears the way. They look outside and see the crowd of people, slowly dying from the spell.
“Hmm. “Okay!” And with a simple "boop", he stops the Draining Spell by simply moving the moon beside the sun with a touch of their finger. Everyone affected by the spell begins to wake up.
“Well…” Amity begins, thinking carefully about her words, after seeing what they’re capable of. “I-It’s done, right? N-Now… about Luz…”
“Huh?” The Collector turns and faces the lavender-haired girl. “Oh, the human? Oh no, I can’t let her out yet.”
"...Huh?!", was what everyone was thinking. Amity turned pale.
“I mean, then we won't be able to play, will we? Besides, I can't risk you breaking your promise, after what Philip did, King.” They explained, "But don't worry, she's right here," they tapped their finger on their head, "and she can see everything. That way we can have a lot of fun!” The moment they said this, King realized what a mistake this could have been. The Draining Spell has stopped, but now they have a new problem to prevent.
The Collector put their hands on his chin, thinking about something, causing the others to become slightly concerned. Until they began to laugh. Quite a bit. “If we’re gonna play Owl House… we’re gonna need an Owl House!” He began to float in the air, and disassemble everything around them, preparing to start the game. Everyone could only stare as they smiled, having a great time.
“We’re gonna have a blast, everyone!”
The ground began to be destroyed as well, causing them to move away. Willow, realizing the danger, began to look around for some sort of exit. Looking back, her eyes spotted the portal turned on. This was it!
“I think there is a way out.” She warns the others, pointing to the spot. Everyone sees it and starts running to safety... except for Amity and King, who was on her shoulders. Willow looks back and tries to call her, holding her arm. “Amity, let’s go!”
“Luz. She... we can't just leave her like this! We were so close to getting her back, I can't lose her like this again!” She says, her voice weak and her eyes already forming tears.
As soon as they reach the portal, it begins to flicker, but the light returns when Hunter opens the door. It was raining, but it was harmless. “It's human rain. It's okay,” Gus says, looking at Hunter, but he also noticed the absence of his friends, and they both look back. “You two, come quick!” Hunter shouted.
Willow noticed that the portal was falling apart and tried to hold the pieces together with the plant vines. She was trying, but the Collector pulling made it difficult. “A-Amity, King, let's go quickly!”
“Willow...I-I have to save Luz... we’re going to find another way.” As they spoke, the Collector realized what was happening and started to drag King away, but Amity grabbed him, with Willow, trying to hold her back with the vines so she wouldn't be taken together.
“King! You promised you'd play with me! You pinky-swore!”
“Amity.” King called her, "You need to go. Luz wouldn't want you in that danger either. I failed to keep her safe, and I don't want to risk all of you, too.”
“N-No...”
“Don't worry. I will rescue her, no matter what it takes. Luz will be fine!” Before Amity can respond, King inhales deeply and uses his sonic shout, losing his grip to Amity and causing her, Willow, Gus, and Hunter to get knocked into the portal and Human Realm altogether. Amity quickly gets up and runs to open the door again, but nothing happens, leaving the group trapped and helpless. Everyone is in shock, Gus begins to cry, and Amity stares at the inside of the empty house that previously led to the Demon Realm.
They didn't know what else to do now.
Willow slowly gets up. Even though they are lost, they have escaped and must continue. “Guys, let's see if we can find a place to stay.” Hunter nods and helps Gus, still crying, to stand up. Willow looks at Amity and moves toward her. Putting her hand on her shoulder, she tries to comfort her. “We'll be able to save Luz and everyone else. We’re going to get back somehow, okay?”
It was not okay, and she knew it herself. Amity didn't say anything and didn't even turn around. After all, who could blame her? The plan to stop the spell had "worked," but it ended up unleashing a possibly far worse threat, and even managed to take Luz’s body. Was there still hope? No one there knew, but they couldn't stand still. After a few seconds, Amity nods slowly, still with tears in her eyes.
The group continued through the small forest, following an open path, until they came to a house. There was light coming from inside, it looked like someone was there. It might be a bad idea to go and talk to a human right now that they are lost. What if they notice your ears? What if they panic? What if something happened to them?
But in this situation, they just needed to have a place to rest and think about something. Taking a deep breath, Willow went and knocked on the door. She waited for any response and all she could hear was the sound of rain. However, she heard footsteps approaching. Everyone's heart beat faster each time the sound of footsteps increased. Then a woman opened the door. She had dark skin and short brown hair. They thought she noticed that something was wrong, whether it was the fact that there were four children in the rain, the bruises on their bodies, or the expressions on everyone's faces.
"Hello, miss... Can you help us?"