Chapter Text
Lilith sat in Belos throne, trying to calm herself down after nearly losing her daughter for the second, more permanent, time. Killing Caine didn't bring as much comfort as she thought but it was enough to let her know that it will never happen again with him dead.
"Are you okay, Lily?" Eda asked, "I still want to kill you, but it's not as fun if you're mopey."
Lilith looked up to Eda and gave the sternest, hardest glare she could muster to the younger witch.
"My daughter is on death's doorstep, do you THINK I'm okay after that? After SEEING her in a cage like an animal while her life was being drained out of her?" Lilith replied in a cold voice.
"Do you really think Luz isn't going to be okay?" Eda asked, "After everything that kid has gone through, I'm surprised she hasn't died yet. That girl is something special, Lily, she isn't going to die, she's going to be fine."
Before Lilith could respond, there was an explosion near the front of the castle.
"TITAN DAMNIT, WHAT NOW?!" They both shouted, tired of the constant attacks as of late!
They ran to the front entrance, seeing Odalia and... a very, very burnt Caine. His skin was charred so much that it was black and bits of ash fell off, his hair completely burnt off, his eyes red with blood.
"You're still alive?!" Eda and Lilith shouted in shock, seeing their uncle barely standing with several healing patches to help him move.
"I was surprised too but I don't question it." Odalia commented as she tapped her necklace summoning a large spirit.
"So long as my goal is within reach, I will not die." Caine said with a growl.
"Then I guess it's time to finish the job." Eda said.
"Agreed." Lilith said as she summoned her staff, pointing it at Caine. "This time, I'm going to make SURE nothing is left of your body."
"Your father said the same thing. He wasn't any luckier." Caine said before looking to Odalia. "Deal with Edalyn and don't hold back."
"Yes, master." Odalia said as she stepped forward, taking off her jacket to reveal a black tank top and multiple power glyph tattoos?!
"Oh, now this is a real challenge." Eda said as her eyes started glowing.
Eda had made an unspoken agreement to fight Odalia as she marched towards her. Their footsteps got faster before they were in a full sprint. They both threw a punch and their fist connected, making a powerful shockwave that shook the castle. Eda dodged a kick form Odalia and threw a punch at Odalia's jaw, knocking her across the room.
"Nice try, fat ass." Eda said, "Now get out of my castle."
Odalia pushed herself up and dusted off her shirt before charging at Eda again!
"I prefer to stay! It'll be mine when you're all dead!" She said as she sent her spirit to attack Eda.
Eda held out her hand and froze the spirit. She closed her fist, and the spirit was destroyed.
"I don't think it will."
Odalia threw a punch as Eda blocked, being pushed back as the blight mother continued to punch her back. As Eda and Odalia fought, Lilith ran at Caine with blue fire. Caine smirked as Lilith threw it at him. He took it full force and just brushed it off.
"How do you expect to defeat me when your little stunt just made me more powerful?" He asked, "You've burnt my nerves, I feel nothing."
"Then you should consider that mercy since you won't feel your body turn to ash!" Lilith shouted back.
Caine smirked.
"Bring it."
Lilith ran at him and attempted to hit him, but he dodged. He threw a punch at Lilith and hit her, causing her skin to burn.
Lilith groaned in pain before backing away.
'His burned body is using the heat from my last spell. I'll have to be careful, or he could burn my flesh if he grabs me.' Lilith thought as she fired an ice spell, launching several ice spikes at Caine.
Caine dodged them and charged at Lilith. Lilith teleported behind him and kicked him away. Caine rolled into a crouch and fired lightning, which Lilith counted with an earth wall! She jumped into the air and fired a pillar of ice at him. Caine held his hand out and melted it when it got close.
"You're strong, but you still don't have the knowledge I do." Caine said, teleporting to Lilith and grabbing her arm, burning her, "You're young and dumb, you're nothing compared to me."
"Is that so?"
Caine stood up straight and turned around to see his brother. Caine couldn't even gasp as Belos knocked him away, crashing into a wall.
'How? The poison should be effecting him by now.' Caine thought.
Too bad for him, Belos told Camila of the dagger and got checked for the poison. She made quick work removing it from his body before Luz was placed in the lake.
"Next time you try and poison me... make sure my daughter in law isn't the best Healer on the Isles." Belos said.
"Don't worry... I won't have the chance after I kill you today!" Caine said.
Caine ran at Belos, which made Belos charge at him. The two collided, causing both to be knocked back from each other. Caine held his hands out and controlled the earth, forming multiple stone fists and launching them at him as Belos formed multiple orbs compressed air and fired them! Once again, they both hit each other and knocked each other back. Caine couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"Even as adults, we're still evenly matched." Caine said.
"The only reason we were even as kids was because mom would always pull me off before I could beat you." Belos said, "She isn't here now."
Belos held his hand out and clenched it, making the earth around Caine trap him in a sphere of stone! Caine used his own magic and destroyed his prison. Caine blasted fire at Belos, who held up his staff to block it. Belos created a shield to protect himself before the gravity around Caine increased, forcing him to the ground!
"Don't forget about me, uncle!" Lilith shouted with her hand out, using a gravity spell.
"I didn't." He said, teleporting away and behind Lilith.
He put his arm around Lilith's neck, slightly burning her and causing her pain.
"Now Philip, tell your little lap dog over there to stand down and give up or..." He tightened the hold on Lilith, "I snap her neck."
Belos growled, before looking over at Eda, who seemed to notice that Lilith was in trouble.
"Edalyn, stand down." Belos said.
"Wait?! Why?! I'm winning here!" Eda shouted as she had Odalia on the ground, her foot on her back as she was pulling the Blight's arms back! "I'm about to snap her shoulder joints!"
"Edalyn, please, just sat and down." Belos said as he slowly lowered his staff to the ground.
"See, this is why family is a weakness." Caine said, as the family stopped fighting.
Odalia walked up to Lilith and smirked, delivering a strong slap, that was extra powerful with the power glyphs.
"Not so strong, are you?" Odalia asked.
"Now then... you didn't think I would be honest and let her live, would you?" Caine asked, "No, I'm still going to kill her, but first I'm going to kill you and her sister, then her whore of a wife."
Caine performed a spell and Eda and Belos were paralyzed. He pressed his hand over Lilith's eye, causing her to scream in pain as her eye was burned. Belos seethed with rage, but wasn't able to do anything to stop it with the spell. Odalia and Caine laughed as Lilith cried in pain... until the power to the castle began going out. The castle began shaking and the ground cracked.
"What... what is going on?" Odalia asked.
Belos thought about what was under them and remembered... the lake. A hand burst through the floor, pure white and glowing, like something that only was seen by a celestial being. The hand went back into the floor and the rest of them burst out of the floor, floating in the air with their hair replaced by pure magic, their body glowing white, barely able to make out detail of their face, but Lilith knew.
"L-L-Lucenda?"
Luz looked at Caine.
"Well if it isn't the little prin-"
Caine was cut off as Luz held out a hand and blasted him with pure magic, vaporizing him, leaving nothing behind, not even ash. Luz turned her attention to Odalia, who began to shake in fear. Luz snapped her fingers and Odalia felt pain. Slowly, Odalia's skin began to melt, followed by her muscles, then her nervous system, then her bones. The only thing left in the Odalia puddle, was a sentient brain. She will feel constant pain for all eternity, aware of everything, but unable to do anything. Three adults could only look in shock of what Luz just did, unable to fully comprehend the level of magic she just did or that she was some sort of magic goddess now.
"L-Lucenda?" Lilith stuttered as Luz turned to her.
A simply blink and Luz was in front of Lilith, holding a hand up and healing her burned eye.
"Lucenda, do you... do you recognize me?"
Luz stayed quiet and still. The ground began shaking again, making Belos run and pull Lilith away as the floor began to collapse.
"Something's wrong." He said.
'She was strong before going into the lake.' Titan said, 'Being in there with her power level, for an extended period of time... she's a harbinger for pure magic. Nothing, not even I have been able to do that.'
Luz slowly floated towards the door, with pieces of the castle coming apart and following her, making the castle become unstable.
"She's breaking apart the castle!" Eda said, "If something isn't done, she might take the Isles with her!"
'The power in her is too powerful, if she can't turn it off, then she'll become a ticking time bomb.' Titan said.
"A BOMB?!" Eda, Lilith, and Belos shouted in shock as Camila, Hunter, King rushed into the room.
"What's going on?! Why is everything shaking?!" king shouted in worry.
"And what the hell is that?!" Hunter shouted as he points to Luz.
"That's Luz, and right now, we need to stop her from leaving this castle." Eda said.
"That's Luz?!" Hunter and King shouted in shock.
"Mija?!" Camila shouted, making Luz stop for a moment.
Luz turned around and looked at the group. She tilted her head a little in confusion.
"Can she not speak?" Eda asked.
"Apparently not." Lilith said.
"But she can hear us, she reacted to you and Camila when you called out to her. Maybe we can still reach her." Belos suggested.
As she floated there, like a lost spirit, the castle and ground began to break apart fly towards her, crumbling to energy as they got to her.
"It's charging her!" Eda said, "We need to stop her now!"
Belos and Hunter used their staffs and tried to make a spell to stop her. They created a shield around Luz to stop her from absorbing anything else as she looked at the shield in confusion. She slowly moved a finger to it and cracked it severely with a single touch!
"That's not enough!" Eda shouted as she summoned her staff, spinning it to aid to the power of the barrier. "Lily, I swear I won't kill you if you stop Luz from killing us!"
"I... I might be able to reach her and get her to stop, but I need a way there." Lilith said.
"I can help with that." Eda said, making a large spell circle and making large bits of wood make a few platforms, "I don't know how long I can hold these before she absorbs them, and trying to do this while keeping the barrier up is draining my energy, so hurry!"
Lilith ran and jumped between the platforms in order to get to Luz. Luz noticed this and held out a hand. Lilith stopped moving as Luz made her float towards her. Luz ran a hand over the barrier and broke it with the light touch, knocking Hunter, Belos, and Eda down at the power displayed. Luz observed her, interested in the witch before her. Lilith skin began to crack at her close range to Luz... she's absorbing Lilith. Lilith isn't too sure that it's intentional, as Luz just seems curious more than anything.
"Lucenda, it's me, please, snap out of this!" Lilith said.
Luz said nothing as Lilith's left arm began to break apart and get absorbed. Lilith used all her strength to raise her right arm and make a spell circle. As her left arm and part of her body was broken down, she made a light spell.
"Do... do you remember this?" Lilith asked, holding the light spell to Luz's eyes, "Do you remember the day you made this? It was just a month before you had to flee."
Luz stared at it as everything stopped.
"Now... watch me, Lucenda." Lilith said to her four year old daughter.
Lilith made a spell circle and a small blue ball of light. Luz's eye shined as she looked at it.
"Wow."
"Now, you try." Lilith said.
"But... am I strong enough?"
"My little light, you are going to be the strongest witch to ever live, you're able to do anything." Lilith said, "Besides, you are light personified, it's in your nature. I believe in you dear."
Luz smiled and made a light blue spell circle. A ball of light formed, and she looked at it.
"I... I did it!"
"Good job honey!" Lilith said, hugging Luz, giving her a kiss to the head, "I'm so proud of you."
Luz blinked and looked at the light spell and the area getting destroyed, and her mom being slowly destroyed.
"M... mom?" Luz said, before screaming in pain, "It's... it's too much! It hurts!"
Lilith reached out and touched Luz's cheek, ignoring the pain she's getting from the being of pure magic.
"Lucenda... you need to stop this." Lilith said.
"I... I can't! I can't stop it!" Luz said, crying in pain.
"Yes you can." Lilith said, "I believe in you."
Lilith kissed Luz's head. Luz struggled against the pain and used her magic to shove Lilith back to the rest of the family. Eda caught Lilith, as she stopped getting broken down.
"Lilith!" Camila said, struggling to stand and rush over to heal her.
Luz held herself as bent over, struggling to stop what she was doing as the ground was moving away and towards her at the same time.
'Stop. Stop! Stop it!' Luz thought to herself, wanting this to end so she would stop hurting her family.
"How do I stop!" Luz said.
'Focus.'
"W-w-what... who... who said that!?" Luz asked.
'Fear not, I am Titan, I can help you.' Titan said, 'You are strong, you can stop this, but you need to focus.'
"O-o-okay." Luz said.
'What do you wish to do?'
"I... I want to stop this, I want everything to go back to the way it was." Luz said, "I... I don't want to hurt my family."
'Then do it.' Titan said.
Luz looked at her moms, one crying as the other one was clearly dying. She looked at the ground, which was being destroyed. She looked at the world, which may die if she doesn't do this.
"I...this is my power." Luz said, "It doesn't control me, I command it. I am going to fix my mistake, I am not going to let this world die!"
Luz held her arms out and let out a powerful burst of magic. When the burst came into contact with something damaged, it was fixed. The burst fixed the castle, it fixed the damage she did caused, it passed Lilith and Lilith watched as her body began to repair itself, regrowing her limb. Luz began to float to the ground and returned to normal, before collapsing to her knees. Lilith and Camila ran over to her and hugged her.
"I... I'm so sorry!" Luz said, "I... I wasn't able to control myself!"
"Shhh. It's alright, Luz. We know and we don't blame you for anything you did." Camila said.
"I... I'm a monster." Luz said, "I feel that power in me still, it wants to get back out."
"No, you're not a monster." Lilith said as she caressed Luz's hair. "That power within you, though it's uncontrollable at the moment, is a gift that can do a lot of good if you can control it. You are not, and you will never be, a monster. I promise."
Luz cried harder at Lilith's words, hugging her and Camila closer as she was so happy to have them by her side. To have all of her family by her side as they all came to turn the embrace into a family hug. It was something she needed her entire life, it was something she wanted her entire life... no matter how much life got in the way, nothing would take this from her again... she'll make sure of that.