Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Please select your subjects. Select a minimum of 5 subjects. You must select and pass over half of the subjects in a category for you to achieve mastery of it. At least 1 mastery must be achieved to graduate. If you wish to select more than 25 subjects, please contact Principal Heilwig.

I was finally fourteen years of age and had a fully matured bile sac. As I would now be able to control my magic and not simply cast blindly like when I was a child, I now had to select my magic subjects.

… Well… My additional magic subjects. Everyone wanted to learn the Divine Magic of The Grand Huntsman, so all subjects related to that were already pre-picked for us.

The subjects were sorted into nine general categories with somewhere between six and ten subjects in each. One didn't have to pick all the subjects in any category, after all, but most still chose to specialize that way.

I was one of those people.

When I was done with my admissions papirs every subject in the categories ‘Beastial Studies’ and ‘Mind Magics’ had been marked alongside the ‘they/them’ pronouns option. Lastly, I signed the paper with my name: Alvar.

Choosing one's subjects was a big event in any Titan Trapper's life. This was when we picked our fighting style! How we would not only defend our brothers and sisters, but how we would fight to defeat the last titan should we be among the lucky ones to find and trap it!

I had long since decided what my fighting style should be: I would trick my opponents with illusions before taking them by surprise with a hidden pincer attack from my beastial self and my ferocious beast companion!

A beast companion I didn't have yet and using magic I didn't yet know. But that was what school was for!

《◇》

Before beginning magic school at fourteen, we learned about our clan's history and the history of the world.

Once upon a time, long, long ago, the Archivists found this world. They saw that the world was populated by giant monsters of death and destruction and sought to eliminate the threat. But the ghastly titans were immune to their Divine Magic, rendering their valiant efforts useless.

To counter this, the Archivists had one of their numbers, the Grand Huntsman himself, distract the ravenous titans by playing a dangerous game of hide and seek. And while the titans were distracted, the Archivists contacted our clan.

Back then we weren't the Titan Trappers we would one day become. Instead we lived on the moving shoulder of a still living titan!

Sick of living in constant fear of the titan leaning over, throwing half of our numbers to their death in one careless move, our clan agreed to help the Archivists achieve their noble goal. In return for our aid the Archivists taught us to perform their sacred magic and made it rain galdorstones from the cosmos, so that we may be able to cast Divine Magic even in the darkest of caves. For while the Divine Magic didn't work on titans themselves, its power was still more than enough to pierce the otherwise impenetrable scales of the titans's pets and seamounts: the vile leviathans.

One by one, our clan took down the horrendous titans, taking the skulls of their babies to make disguises to lure the rest to us and lowering their guard for an easy kill.

Our job was nearly done, and the Archivists trusted us to finish our quest without further help. They left for the next world needing their aid, leaving behind The Grand Huntsman to offer us support, should we end up needing any in the final hour of our mission.

One titan still stood. And just as we were about to finish off the dreadful creature, it used its remaining power to seal The Grand Huntsman in an incorporeal prison. One only accessed through a Divine Tablet.

The Grand Huntsman informed our clan that only the power of a titan could free him from his impalpable cage. He divined that first a connection must be made between the titan and The Grand Huntsman by having said titan set the Divine Tablet aflame with the Divine Flame.

The Divine Flame had been created in the Titan War's early beginning, before The Grand Huntsman was sent to distract the titans. Not only was the Divine Flame made using the Divine Magic but its magic had been cast by The Grand Huntsman himself!

With a willing connection made and forged in Divine Flame, The Grand Huntsman spoke of two possible paths: The titan could willingly pull The Grand Huntsman from his prison, or the titan could be ritualistically sacrificed for its blood and the cause.

‘But the last titan has already been slayed!’ Our people cried.

‘No,’ replied The Grand Huntsman from his prison. ‘He hid his egg from me before he died. Find the last titan and you can set me free.’

And so, while the Titan War was over, the hunt began anew. No longer with the aim of simply putting titans to their deaths, but with the goal of trapping one long enough to free our god.

For centuries our clan was on the hunt for the baby titan, slaying as many leviathans as we could while we waited for it to reveal itself.

Then, when Bill The Elder was a young man, The Grand Huntsman finally lost his patience, splitting the Divine Tablet of our people in two in his anger at still being trapped and leaving us unable to communicate with him. We knew a second Divine Tablet existed, but not of its whereabouts.

To appease The Grand Huntsman, Bill led the clan to gather materials from the bottom of the Boiling Seas to cover our land in. For no more would we live on the rotting corpse of a wretched beast!

But still the broken parts of our Divine Tablet was silent and would be so, till the last titan had been trapped and our god freed.

《◇》

“Hail and well met!” My Divine Magic teacher, Liam, greeted his students. His eyes were the light green sclera, green iris symbolizing that besides Divine Magic, he had only mastered Plant magic.

That being said, he had likely had a couple of classes in other categories than Plant, but not enough to be considered a master of any other category.

“Hail and well met!” We naturally replied back.

“How exciting! You finally get to experience the power of the divine for yourself!” Liam was clearly just as excited to teach us as we were to learn. “As we all know, the magic of the divine originates from the divine. As such, the first step to learning to cast it is to understand The Grand Huntsman!”

We all nodded our understanding.

“The Grand Huntsman is one of several personifications of the cosmos. Of the sun, moon, and stars. To cast Divine Magic one must gather, shape, and expel the energy of these celestial bodies. The way one successfully gathers divine energy depends on the time of day. One can only gather from the sun at day and the stars at night. And the energies of the moon can only be accessed when said celestial body can be seen in the sky.”

I took notes just as dutifully as the rest of my class.

“Each type of energy can be used to cast certain types of Divine spells with some spells allowing for the use of multiple types of cosmic energy. Sun energy is particularly good at creating Divine flames, moon energy excels at spells meant to obscure the senses, while the energies of the stars are more efficient when casting rapidly or when casting multiple spells at once.”

‘Cause the sun is constantly aflame, the moon is clearest on the darkest of nights, distracting one from everything but itself, while the stars are many. Makes sense.

“But rejoice!” Liam continued excitably, both claw-gloved hands in the air. “The Archivists gave us the means to store the energies of the cosmos despite the inferiority of our bodies. Galdorstones! By the will of the Archivists it rained with their divine crystals. Gems, not only capable of accepting the Divine energies gathered by a witch and storing it for them, but passively absorbing it as well!”

None of this came as a surprise, but we dutifully wrote it down anyway.

“And don't forget! The top five students of every year get their very own galdorstone!”

There was no way any of us would forget that. It was the whole reason why the class was as well-behaved as it was.

Still, the reminder made several students straighten their backs while smiling smug at their classmates. Like they knew they would win and just had to wait for the teachers to catch up to collect their price.

“As 'tis currently daytime,” Liam continued. “I'll start by teaching you how to gather the energies of the sun. Feel the heat of the sun through your disguise. Its blinding light. Think of how the sun brings life to the plants and keeps the cold away, keeping us alive. Can you feel it?”

I hummed in confirmation alongside my fellow students, not wanting to break my concentration.

“Then grab it and pull it into yourself. Feel how it resists staying in your body and guide it to your hand. Then let the energy leave through your hand. When done correctly you can see the energy leave as a translucent gas. I'll be walking around to see how everyone is doing, before we work on shaping it into a flame; the easiest spell to do with sun energy.”

《◇》

My Beastial Studies’ teacher, Hilda, had the expected orange irises but apparently her tertiary area of expertise - behind Divine Magic and Beastial Studies - was Potions, given her black colored sclera.

As every member of the clan was taught the magic of the cosmos, it would be rather pointless to always include it. And while some people chose to learn a little bit of every category of magic, only the two - besides Divine Magic - an individual was the most proficient with would be included in one's graduation ritual. The iris would represent the one you were the most proficient with, while the sclera told of the one thereafter.

Once I graduated, my eyes would be changed to either seashell white with orange irises or orange with seashell irises, depending on whether I was better at Beastial Studies or Mind Magic.

The eye color change symbolized that one was finally ready to join the hunt for the last titan. While we wore our titan disguises even as children, it wouldn't be truly convincing till one's eye color matched that of a titan.

And with how different a titan's eyes could look, the clan had decided to have the colors linked to one's abilities. Otherwise it might have ended up being a fashion statement, which ran the chance of everyone ending up with the same eye color. Something a titan would no doubt find suspicious.

“Today will be a theoretical lesson on leviathans, the ferocious seamounts of titans,” Hilda began the lecture. “I’ll start with the worst kind of beast rather than the most docile, to remind you all of what dangers hide in beasts. For even the most docile of creatures might lash out-” Hilda raised her voice as she suddenly jumped towards the nearest table with her clawed-gloves in front of her, scaring the boy sitting there. “-when you least expected it.”

Hilda took a moment to ensure the message had gotten through to her students before continuing. “Leviathans have impenetrable scales and an overall indomitability with their only vulnerable spot being their gills. But unlike their titan masters, leviathans aren't immune to Divine magic and their otherwise impenetrable scales are defenseless against it.”

Once again Hilda paused to ensure she had everyone's attention, and once again she had.

No one was risking their chance of getting early access to a galdorstone this early on in thier schooling.

“‘Tis obvious to even a simpleton that the Boiling Seas are, in fact, boiling hot,” Hilda continued. “What is less apparent is why. And why the Boiling Seas are boiling, is due to leviathans. For every time a leviathan breathes, they send forth from their mouths a heat so great as to make all the waters of the sea boil. And thus! As long as the Seas still boil, we know there are more of them out there!”

The warning had the desired eerie effect on us students. We had gotten rid of all but one titan, but their leviathan pets were yet a problem. Even after all these centuries of hunting them down.

“Now on to their physical features - though I'm sure you all know this already. A fully grown leviathan is around 38 kilometers in length, perfect for their roughly 32 kilometer tall masters to ride on. They have four webbed and clawed feet and a streamlined body ending in a long fin-like tail. Its long hind legs and flexible tail allow it to easily propel itself through the water, while its flexible body enables it to move sideways with ease.”

Hilda made a dramatic pause before continuing. “If they're under water, that is. For while leviathans possess both the needed lungs and legs to traverse the land, they lose much of their mobility while out of water.”

She paused before nodding to herself, seemingly declaring that part of her lesson over with.

“Another important identifier of leviathans are their glowing eyes. The intensity of the glow depends on their need, with a darker environment demanding a brighter glow. As you all must have noticed by now given the plethora of leviathan skeletons around, leviathans have horns. But the direction of the horns is an indicator of the beast's gender. Forward facing horns are seen on males, while females sprout backwards facing horns.”

And so the lesson continued.

Chapter Text

Delmira was my Mind Magic teacher it seemed. I knew her as the lorekeeper before this, but with her being one of the only Titan Trappers with seashell white irises as well as some sort of lighter off-white sclera - making her look blind, though I knew she wasn't -, she was likely perfect for the job.

Having the seashell sclera characteristic of Mind Magic was perfectly normal. But few people specialized enough in it to get the seashell irises and fewer still got both.

“Mind Magic revolves around tricking the mind,” Delmira began, stoic as ever. “Not just other people's minds, but in part your own too. You have to be convinced your illusion exists, that it. Is. Real! Yet know that it wouldn't exist without you. That it wouldn't be real without you.”

She paused for a moment for the class to take this in. “Some say that the illusions created by Mind Magic aren't real. That they have no substance to them. And generally this is true. There are two exceptions to this: Either by creating an illusion on top of another spell, convincing the mind of the caster that their magic is more powerful than it actually is or that their powers got a boost. Which then makes the spell that much more powerful, making the illusion gain substance.*”

Delmira shrugged. “Or you grant your illusion the ability to use some minor telekinesis, making it look like it can pick things up. It still technically doesn't have substance that way, but it certainly looks like it at that point.**”

The class nodded silently in agreement.

“By tricking the mind we trick the senses too.” She was back to her stern demeanor. “If you create an illusion of something breaking but don't include the sound, the mind will reject the image and stop believing in it. When the mind stops believing, the illusion falls apart. Even if you still believe in your illusion, if no one else does, it loses its power, becoming less convincing and taking increasingly more bile to uphold.”

《◇》

“‘Tis Shadow,” Hilda introduced to the class. We were outside for this lesson and apparently griffins were on today's agenda. “He is a juvenile griffin and will be aiding me in today's lesson. Griffins are generally very cuddly in a domesticated setting, but be wary of wild ones. If a griffin feels threatened or otherwise wants you to keep your distance, they will regurgitate a portion of their digestive spider swarm. These spiders - referred to as both the digestive spider and the griffin spider - live in a symbiotic relationship with the griffin. The griffin offers the spiders food and a safe home, while the spiders in turn help the griffin break its meal into smaller and more digestible sizes.”

Leaning forward and away from Shadow, Hilda fake whispered to the class: “Griffins tend to devour their food whole whenever possible, so this is of immense aid to them!”

Straightening again, Hilda reached a hand out to scratch Shadow's neck, something he was clearly pleased by. “Despite their normally symbiotic relationship, griffins are perfectly willing to expel some of their internal spiders to scare off threats. Something the griffin spiders won't ultimately survive. Additionally, griffins will regurgitate griffin spiders if they feel like there's too many of them in their intestines.”

Walking a bit to the side, Hilda gestured to one of the students to walk up to Shadow. “One at a time, I want you to touch Shadow's feathers while I explain their purpose and how to take care of them.”

《◇》

It was after school one day when I noticed Delmira talking to a group of kids outside her house. As the lorekeeper, her house was filled with all the clan's collective knowledge and it was her duty to share with all who asked.

As such, this was not an unusual sight to see. What caught my attention was her reply to their question.

“‘Tis good to know. But how does one find a leviathan? Can you lure it in somehow?” One of the curious children asked, his friends nodding along.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Delmira desperately shook her head. “Leviathans are dangerous! You are much too young to go looking for them!”

The leader of the kids immediately promised they wouldn't go looking for any leviathans. Very obviously lying in the hopes of getting the information regardless.

Delmira sighed, clearly not believing them anymore than I did. “Leviathans live deep in the Boiling Seas. You would need to take a deep sea vessel - one of the big boats which needs at least a dozen people to sail them - to get all the way out there.”

The group of only four kids was clearly saddened by this news, but the leader spoke up once more: “And you cannot simply lure one?”

With another sigh, Delmira finally answered the twice asked question. “No. We currently don't know of any way to lure a leviathan. Now scram, you hooligans! I've had enough of you today.”

But that's… that's a lie, I thought in disbelief as the kids playfully ran away. She's the lorekeeper, she's not supposed to lie! Her purpose is to share facts, not fiction! How can we know what the truth is if our beloved and trusted lorekeeper goes around telling lies?

“Delmira? Hail and well met,” I greeted her, deciding to simply ask for an explanation.

“Hail and well met, Alvar,” she greeted back with a smile and a nod. “How may I aid you today?”

“I couldn't help but overhear your discussion with the kids about leviathans and…” I hesitated, not wanting to sound disrespectful or accusatory. “‘Tis just that-. I was told in Beastial Studies that leviathans can be lured in by the smell of food. Specifically big crustaceans like the keelbreaker crab.”

I stopped before asking the question, hoping she would get the hint without me needing to actually question her.

Luckily, she understood my unspoken question and nodded in understanding. “Yes, ‘tis true. Yet, had I told them that, they would have done their best to lure one in. Something they are much too young to safely do. And not only is there the question of their own safety, but the wretched beast would have wreaked havoc on whichever part of the island it was lure to. And should I have told them the truth about how certain deep sea vessels can be steered by only four people, they would have attempted to commandeer one without the needed experience to do so! No, my dear. Sometimes one has to lie to save a life or four. I'll tell them the truth when they're old enough.”

Only the tradition of wearing full titan disguises when in public, saved me from having Delmira question my well-being as I thanked her and said my farewell.

With one conversation, my world had been turned upside-down. Not only had the lorekeeper lied, but she had admitted to doing so twice in one conversation. And the only reason I had been aware at all was because I knew the truth behind one of her lies.

… I never would have known about the second lie if she hadn't admitted to it…

What else might be lies I've never noticed?! And! While Delmira had a good reason for lying, who's to say the previous lorekeeper cared about that? Or the one before that? What if everything is a lie and we just think ‘tis the truth because the lie was originally told centuries ago and the lier isn't around to admit to it?!

People lied. I knew that. But the lorekeeper was supposed to be sharing objective truths. Not fully-fledged lies!

I took a couple of deep breaths, leaning against the nearest building and obscured from the sight of the main streets.

No. Calm down. Not everything is a lie. Griffins do have spider breath, I've seen it. I've verified its truth. And that's just what I'll have to do.

But… Can I even verify everything? It would take too long, wouldn't it? And verifying how aggressive a beast actually is could be incredibly dangerous.

Perchange…

Trust, but verify?

《◇》

“Pouligriffins, as the name suggests, are related to the common griffin,” Hilda began the day's lesson. Unlike the lesson on griffins, we were being taught inside in our regular classroom. An image of what must have been a pouligriffin was projected onto the blackboard. “The two species are closely enough related that they can have offspring with each other, but any such offspring will be born infertile. Unlike griffins they don't have any spiders or other symbiotic beasts living in their intestines and unlike griffins they don't need any either. They look relatively similar to griffins in their body structure.”

Hilda pointed to first the eyes of the beast, then its tail. “The easiest way to quickly tell the difference between the two, is the lack of a visible pupil within the eyes of a pouligriffin. As well as the tail, which is completely avian in nature, whereas a common griffin will have an only partly avian tail. Pouligriffins will also never grow as big as griffins do, but an older juvenile griffin and a fully adult pouligriffin will be roughly the same size. If, for some reason, you're still in doubt about whether the specimen in front of you is a common griffin or a pouligriffin, show it something shiny. A pouligriffin will attempt to claim it for its own while a common griffin will think nothing of it.”

Now her finger pointed to the head of the beast. “This particular specimen is male, which can be identified by its lack of external ears. Just like all other avians without external ears, the male pouligriffin is still perfectly capable of hearing.”

With the flick of her finger, the crystal projector switched to a new image. By the long, featherless ears, I had to assume this was a female pouligriffin.

“During mating season, the female will locate the male, and she will judge how desirable he is based on the sound of his mating call. This is why the female has long external ears, where the male - and most other bird demons - only have internal ears. The male and female will then be bonded mates for six months, raising two to four chicks, before separating for the remaining two months of the year with the chicks staying with their mother till the year is up. During the two months of separation the female will search for a more desirable mate. If a more desirable mate isn't found, she will reunite with her old mate for the next six months before starting the process again.”

A finger swirl, and the male and female were shown side by side. “Each pouligriffin has one of four feather patterns. These two are known as glauxgriffins due to their owl-like appearance.”

One after another, Hilda showed off the other feather patterns. “These are korakigriffin. They resemble ravens. Aetosgriffins have the head of an eagle. And lastly we have hieraxgriffins; the hawk-like pouligriffin. While looking roughly as different from each other as they do the common griffin, they are in fact still the same species and even race. ‘Tis referred to as feather patterns for a reason, after all. They are perfectly capable of breeding with each other. A mating pair of two different feather patterns can even hatch a chick of a third type depending on the pattern of the grandparents.”

Hilda flicked the projection back to the original male owl-like pouligriffin. “All pouligriffins are territorial. But unlike most territorial predators, only so of their den and family. Not their hunting grounds. They are scared of loud noises and while their black eyes give them excellent night vision, it comes with the standard sensitivity to sudden bright light. Though they don't have full immunity, pouligriffins can also withstand the boiling rain for short periods at a time.”

She paused, looking sternly at us, making sure we were listening.

Of course we all were.

“Pouligriffins will - quite unconsciously and unintentionally - corrupt any and all magic done directly at it. Except that of the Grand Huntsman, of course! And indirect magic, such as magic done to strengthen the rope securing it, or giving the food ‘tis about to eat a calming effect, will work perfectly fine as well. Additionally, Potions are a viable option.”

“That being said-” Hilda had one claw-gloved finger pointed into the air. “Their territorial nature means they despise being dominated and any hints at this will trigger their fight or flight response. But they are intelligent and are often open to being befriended and entering a partnership.”

“In some rare situations pouligriffins will experience their very own type of magical outburst,” Hilda continued, her finger flickering a new image into view. One much scarier looking than any of the previous ones. “In this state the pouligriffin will grow bigger and stronger, have six wings, and emit an amber glow from its mouth and eyes, negating its usual sensitivity to sudden bright light. If you see one in this state, forget all about trying to calm it. Get away, and come back an hour or two later when it has had time to calm down.”

Chapter Text

“Today we'll be learning how to enter the mindscape and what we will encounter once in there. Next lesson, we'll, Huntsman be willing, be ready to attempt to enter each other's minds.”

The first couple of weeks after having caught Delmira lying contained plenty of uncomfortable Mind Magic lessons.

I just kept thinking about how she had lied, when I had trusted her more than my own parents to never lie. To anyone. For any reason.

Yet she had.

《◇》

Does the Grand Huntsman even exist? What if we just figured out how to gather and shape the energies of the cosmos on our own? But why would someone lie about the Huntsman?

I've seen the Divine Tablet, but ‘tis been broken since Bill The Elder was young. We cannot communicate with him anymore.

… If we ever could in the first place…

And what about titans and leviathans? Are they even evil and aggressive creatures? What if they're just defending themselves? Perchance we unknowingly trespassed on their territory several centuries ago or we broke some unspoken custom and we mistook their reaction as mindless violence.

… Perchance… we've been the bad guys all along…

No! I cannot think like that. Not without some actual proof. Or at least something that contradicts what I've been told.

《◇》

“To magically reinforce a trap, one needs to know what beast will be ensnared. Understand their instincts and how they will react to being trapped. While infusing the trap with calming pheromones matching their own species is generally more effective, some particularly aggressive species will be too blinded by their aggressiveness to notice them. Instead, having the trap move with the movements of the beast is a preferred option as it prevents the trap from getting destroyed, while still containing the beast.”

《◇》

“To take on the traits of a mighty beast, one must understand it first.” With practiced ease Hilda pulled off one of her clawed-gloves, before transforming her normal-looking hand into the clawed, hairy one of a beast. “Why does the beast have claws? What does it do with them? Why does it do it? Is it because of a need or a want? Understand why it evolved the way it did and the relationship the beast has with its - in this case - claws. Then, while imagining having the same needs and wants and relationship, pour bile where your chosen trait belongs.”

《◇》

“If you wish to, or need to, take control over a beast, you must convince its instincts that it should obey you. That you are the alpha, their parent, or otherwise a trusted ally. Pour this belief into your bile and send it towards the beast in a spell circle.”

《◇》

“There are two kinds of illusions,” Delmira began today's lesson. I hadn't caught her lying again despite my paranoia, so I had concluded it was likely just a one off.

Still. I was now fully aware of the possibility.

Hence my paranoia.

“The first is a true illusion,” Delmira explained. “It works by convincing the mind of those watching that it exists, and it can take whichever shape its creator desires.”

We nodded in near unison. We had already been taught this version of illusion casting.

“The second kind of illusion we refer to as duplication as it must always look and - to a certain extent - act like the caster,” Delmira informed us. “Natch, with this restriction comes new possibilities. With an illusionary duplicate one can implement a part of your mind in it.*”

Before anyone could raise a hand in worry, our teacher was already reassuring us: “Now, now. This is completely harmless and similar to multitasking. You'll get the split piece of your mind back once the illusion is dispelled, even if an enemy dispels it by hitting it in combat. As the split piece returns its memories are joined with your own, which is harrowing the first few times.”

She paused in her lecture to allow us to take notes.

“Additionally, having a piece of one's own mind in an illusion means it can make decisions about events the caster hadn't thought to consider,” Delmire continued. “And while you can in theory make as many duplicates as your magic allows, only a small part of your mind is capable of being split, the rest remaining with your body. As such, I'd like to warn you all that while your duplicate is you in personality, they won't have your intelligence. And should you make more than one, this low intelligence will be split between each duplicate.”

《◇》

“One can only summon a beast if said beast willingly allows it. Which means you can only summon beasts you have a personal connection with. Additionally, you have to have placed a magical marker on your beast companion beforehand. 'Tis what will allow you to call upon them from anywhere, as they are now connected to your magic.”**

《◇》

“To fully take on the body of a beast, one must also take on its instincts,” Hilda explained a month before graduation. “Which can be incredibly dangerous! The instincts of a beast have overtaken the mind of many a witch, preventing them from ever returning to their true form.”

She paused her warning to look sternly at the class. “Without aid from another witch, that is!”

“We. Must. Exercise. Vigilance!” She resumed her warning. “Embrace the instincts enough to fully become one with the beast, but not so much as to be overpowered. ‘Tis a delicate balance to keep. One which takes both skill and practice, so don't feel bad if you never manage this.”

A claw-gloved hand was raised and the student called upon. “What if you want to become a beast with magical abilities we witches cannot replicate? Like, could I get a leviathan's boiling breath and immunity to all but Divine Magic?”

Good question.

Hilda shook her head with a smile. “Foremost: One cannot simply become a full grown leviathan due to their sheer size. The smaller or bigger a creature is compared to you, the more bile it takes to become them. And if you must choose, know that smaller uses less bile. The solution for becoming a gigantic beast? Take the form of a runt or a juvenile. This is done by tweaking the usual mindset doing the transformation to that of a runt or a juvenile. Would a runt be bullied by its peers or cuddled? How would it react to this? What would a juvenile of this species be doing that its adult counterpart wouldn't be? Does it look different as a juvenile? And so on.”

“As for magical abilities a witch cannot replicate?” Hilda paused to think for a moment before answering. “Most magical abilities can be replicated by a skilled enough witch, and while in the body and instincts of a beast this will happen almost naturally. Such as a leviathan's heated breath. For those not so easily replicated, such as their general magic immunity and a pouligriffin's magic corruption? No. Those cannot be replicated.”

The question had me think up my own, and soon my own claw-gloved hand was in the air and being picked. “What about beasts symbiotic with the one you've become? If I became a griffin, would I have griffin spiders in my intestines? Or would I not be able to do the iconic spider breath?”

“Indeed. As spider griffins are beasts separate from the griffin they inhabit, becoming a griffin means being without a proper griffin digestion system. As such: Do not eat while in the form of a griffin, or you might end up with a blockage.”

I nodded and put it down in my notes like the rest of class.

But secretly, in my own mind, I did as I had become accustomed to.

So, it would be dangerous to test by eating as a griffin, but nothing stops me from attempting to regurgitate spiders. It either works or it does not.

《◇》

Two years had passed by before I knew it and it was time for me to graduate. Everything I had managed to verify had been true facts, but I still could not shrug off the feeling of being lied to about something.

Perchance I'm just being paranoid.

As expected, my irises were to become orange and my sclera seashell white, indicating my mastery in Beastial Studies over Mind Magic. I even managed to secure myself a galdorstone! Like most, I had it secured in a necklace around my neck beneath my disguise so I would always have easy access to it and the Divine energies it contained.

Now sixteen years of age, it was tradition to spend the next two years trying out various different occupations. Being an apprentice here before becoming an apprentice over there. Joining a couple of different hunts. Taking breaks from physical work to do some self-study. And just overall learning more and figuring out what you want to do with your life.

And my first goal was to find and tame my beast companion.

A predator, so it could better help me hunt and ambush. But preferably also something big enough to mount.

… Or perchance I should have more than one companion beast…

Let's just start with one and see where that goes.

《◇》

Word of mouth had always traveled fast, but never more so than the news of the last titan having appeared.

It didn't even happen as a result of a hunt! Supposedly, it just appeared without any chains or traps being applied!

But of course, the rumor mill wasn't always the most accurate way to get information. So, who knew what had actually happened.

To ensure no children were harmed should the titan decide to show its true colors, they were all ordered to observe the ritual from the many crystal telescopes of The Grand Observatory.

But of course. I was no longer considered a child.

… ‘Tis not showing any forms of aggression. Is it as I first feared? Have we always been the bad guys and titans, our innocent victims?

… Or perchance someone successfully slipped it a calming potion or something. Yeah… That's probably what happened…

Right?

Tarak was leading the ritual, as was his right as the most masterful Titan Trapper in the ways of Divine Magic. Bill might be the eldest and wisest among us, but Tarak had earned the right to the wings on his back.

“In the ashes of your old life, your destiny awaits. Carry this torch to the Tablet, and set it aflame!” Tarak told the baby titan.

And… it did…

No resistance. No questions asked. And I was certain I had been told they could talk.

It just… obeyed…

If titans can be this docile - even if ‘tis only due the effects of a potion -, why even kill them?

Or is it just because 'tis a baby? Perchance they become more aggressive with age? At which point it would be more difficult to defeat. If that's the case it makes sense to annihilate them as infants.

Even when Bill covered its sight it still didn't… react much at all. No fight reflex, nor flight. And it didn't look stiff enough for a freeze reflex either.

We were about to ritualistically sacrifice it and it just… stood there. Completely docile and… trusting…

I didn't like it.

Then chaos ensued as Bill was thrown into the crowd before a bright light blinded our sights.

Confused, not knowing the truth from lies, I decided to follow from the shadows, rather than join the fight.

For why would someone want to save a titan?

I needed to know what was going on.

Despite the slight fog and the clouded sky making the world appear gloomy, it was, in fact, still daytime. As such, I couldn't as readily cover myself in shadows of divine moon energy. I would have to use the stored moon energy in my galdorstone, which I would if I had to. But for now I had a better idea.

An inmyeonjo was a type of owl-like beast with the face of a witch and an eerie cackle.*** But importantly for me, they were silent fliers and small enough to not immediately be spotted.

Their witch face giving them a slightly easier to comprehend mindset certainly aided my choice of beast to become.

It was harder to understand words while fully in the form of a beast. But combining what little I still understood with the body language of everyone else - and Bill's high pitched tone of voice -, let me comprehend the meaning of what was being said after Tarak's titan skull had been kicked off and the battle paused.

Bill had lied to us all about the nature of titans and what summoning The Grand Huntsman would actually mean for us.

I need to know the truth!

My frustration at having been lied to all my life powered the instincts of the inmyeonjo I currently was. Their cackle was meant to do the deceiving, they were not meant to be deceived themselves. Something which irked my primitive pride.

I wanted to rip and tear the flesh of the bones of the deceiver! Devouring his meat to prove my superiority!

But I bended the direction of my instincts in a more desirable direction: Learning the truth behind the lie, so that it may never deceive me again.

Which meant following the titan and its two companions.

One didn't need to be on the ground for the teleportation circle to relocate you, which allowed me to follow them from the air and without being detected.

Normally when leaving through the circle - usually done due to a hunt - one would use either sun or moon energy to float down safely. But as outsiders, they naturally weren't able to cast Divine Magic to save themselves.

Had I still had the form of a witch, their screams would have sprung me into action to aid them. Likely by using Divine Magic to make them float safely to the ground.

But as an inmyeonjo I didn't care for their lives beyond what would satisfy my curiosity. And their deaths would serve to fill my stomach.

Or at least that's what my instincts tried to convince me of.

Luckily the… worm? figured out how to save them. First from the fall itself, then from the falling pieces of bone as they destroyed the other end of the teleportation circle.

Chapter Text

While at first I considered revealing myself immediately and simply asking the titan my questions, a couple of things stopped me.

It was clearly a baby titan and thus likely didn't know anything. Especially not, considering it was the last of its kind.

They had also just escaped being hunted by my clan. It seemed highly improbable they would share their secrets with me.

No… It would be much more effective to stalk them and let them unknowingly reveal their secrets to me.

… A decision deeply encouraged by my inmyeonjo instincts.

Curious beasts, they were. And very fond of stalking anything peeking their curiosity. They never hid while stalking as they enjoyed unnerving their quarry with their looks and eerie cackle.

I didn't truly intend to hide either. Should they see me, they would likely think of me simply as a bird hitching a ride or resting their wings on the boat.

I did intend on keeping myself from cackling, so as to not draw attention to myself.

And as I expected, no one thought anything of the inmyeonjo sitting next to several other birds on the railing.

They clearly don't know that inmyeonjo prefer forests and would never attempt to fly over the sea.

My current form prohibited me from fully understanding what was being said, but as far as I could tell they weren't saying anything that interested me.

They eventually went to sleep while still sailing. Which was when it really hit me that I was leaving my home behind.

And I had no idea of when I would come home. Or if I ever would.

The teleportation circle back had been destroyed, after all. It wouldn't be a simple matter to return.

《◇》

Something changed in their behavior shortly after we had gotten off the boat. Their confident walk changed to the skittish behavior of startled prey, who knew a predator was around. And yet it didn't appear like it was me they were afraid of.

I couldn't tell what had caused the change, but given our differences in species that wasn't too surprising.

… Then again. One of them looked like a witch, so perchance it was more of a cultural difference than one caused by species.

The next couple of hours consisted of them walking around like spooked animals and turning invisible whenever someone got into view. It didn't appear like they used Mind Magic to turn invisible, though. From what I could tell the witch used pieces of paper with runes on it to turn them invisible.

It only made me want to learn more.

Her brown irises and white scleras were probably unaltered, so I couldn't use that as a reference for what kind of magic she was casting. Not that I could have anyway. Her scleras were too light of a white to be the seashell white representing my own mastery of Mind Magic. And brown didn't represent any magic category at all.

《◇》

It was only when we arrived at an abandoned house that I realized that they weren't simply going home. They were looking for their flock.

Their clan.

Perchance this really was their home, but clearly their people were missing. Luckily, it seemed their flock had left behind instructions on how to find them, as we quickly set off again. Only having enough time to gather more clothes, mainly for the witch.

… Or perchance they hadn't. It certainly seemed like they didn't actually know where their clan was now located. They had yet to settle down, even though they had changed directions several times since we entered colder weather. Their skittish behavior hadn't changed either.

It was certainly cold up here, but as long as we kept moving my feathers would keep me warm.

《◇》

Whelp. They're clearly not good hunters. I can't believe they didn't see that trap from across the Boiling Seas! It was so obvious! The… Snow? ‘Tis snow right? I had never seen snow myself, but I had heard tales from the hunts of my clan. Either way, it acts just like sand and someone had clearly stepped on it before trying to cover it up again using a branch or something.

I mean. ‘Tis a perfectly good trap if one merely wanted meat for eating and didn't care what the trap caught. But to trap a sapient being? I would have thought it outside of the trap's capability before today.

Then again. Perchance the witch has yet to start their training. They seem to be around the fourteen years of age where one would start magic school and be done with both general schooling and survival training. But perchance they do it differently around here.

Luckily, it seemed the trap had been created by their missing flock, as they greeted the two emerging witches with no fear in their voices and instead clear relief.

And you would think that with two bonded avian companions that I would at least be noticed entering their hunting cave, if not stopped outright.

But no. I waited till everyone had entered and sat down, but otherwise I did nothing to hide my entry. And yet not a single one of them discovered my presence.

The worm creature regurgitated one of Bill's souvenir t-shirts as I perched myself on one of the taller stalagmites, keeping myself out of sight. Bill's shrine to the Huntsman was open to the public once a week and naturally Liam took his Divine Magic classes for a visit.

My form created a slight language barrier and given how unobservant they were, I decided to risk returning to my own form, while keeping my talons so as to keep my grip on the stalagmite. My inmyeonjo instincts didn't resist the change as I promised to satisfy its ravenous curiosity.

Another reason why an inmyeonjo was a safe form to take. It was relatively easy to convince its instincts to let me change back.

So, the titan didn't simply wander in. It was lured by a letter. And its name is King.

My decision to change form was immediately rewarded, as I once again understood their words.

Huh. None of them knew it was a titan…

I've never considered that before. But given how 'tis the last titan and was hatched as such. How would it have known what it was?

But no terror followed the shock of the revelation. They didn't fear the titan, nor did they attempt to trap him.

It was just… one of them… a member of their clan. One of the older witches even began to worship it!

Worshiping a titan?!

And apparently the baby titan preferred he/him pronouns despite biologically being capable of parthenogenesis.

Guess he did the opposite I did when it came to gender identity. The thought made me feel guilty; I had only ever thought of him as an it.

Clearly, if King could decide he wanted to use different pronouns, he had to be more sapient than my clan had believed. I really should have thought of him as a them/they till I knew his prefered pronouns like I did with witches.

“Don't worry Luz,-” They had moved to just outside the cave, but instead of following them and either losing my ability to understand their words or risk being seen, I simply exchanged my ears for that of an owl.

… What was there to say, the owl companion had clearly inspired me.

Either way, as I couldn't see them speak, I didn't know which one of them was ‘Luz’.

“-we're not putting him in danger,” continued the voice of the gray haired witch. “He's a Clawthorne and technically your nephew. Remember? Dear sister?”

“Right. Of course!” Replied the worshipful one, who was apparently the sister of the gray haired one, who was in turn the mother of the apparently adopted titan. The worshipful one laughed gleefully. “I'm a god's aunt!”

The thought of a titan being considered both someone's son and nephew was incredibly odd. But then again. He's much more sapient and civilized than I ever thought possible. Than any of us ever thought possible!

I frowned. Except perchance Bill. He might have known and decided not to share to keep his power.

The aunt entered my view once again and began looking around their items, mumbling about her new god's potential wrath and ensuring it was never aimed at her or the rest of her clan.

With the exception of thinking him a god, this was a much more expected reaction to learning the little guy was a titan.

The teenage witch was now discussing a future hunt with the gray haired one. A hunt seemingly against another witch - one named Belos - judging by the suggestion that the teenager might be captured and questioned for information on their hunting strategy.

“Smart thinking, Owl Lady!” The teenager declared.

Owl Lady? Is that her title? Like Bill, The Elder, wisest hunter of them all? Or Tarak, The Divine Master?

It didn't even take a minute before my respect for The Owl Lady for having earned a title was turned to disappointment.

Aaand we're back to adults lying to kids to protect them instead of trusting their ability to stay safe.

At least she cares for their safety and well-being. Unlike Bill, who apparently only ever cared about himself.

Eda - why did the titan call her by name if she's his mom? -, The Owl Lady, the teenage witch - who preferred she/her pronouns and who I suspected was the ‘Luz’ mentioned earlier -, and the companion owl, Owlbert, - who could apparently do some partial shapeshifting - left for a ‘heist’ - whatever that was. And without the presence of her sister - with the title of Owl Lady I concluded Eda prefered she/her pronouns as well - there was no one to rein in the aunt's worshiping.

But… when she offered ‘dark deeds, carried out in your name’ he told her no. He even sounded like the offer made him uncomfortable.

King's reaction went against everything I had been taught!

And yet it had happened…

He even began comforting the worshipful one when her offerings failed!

How much of my life has been a lie?!

King asked for alone time, and the moment his aunt had turned around to carry the worm and its birdhouse inside, he began to walk away.

I waited a moment till the attention of the aunt, worm, and white raven companion was turned away from the opening, before returning to the form of an inmyeonjo and flying after the baby titan.

《◇》

I found Steve's words just as profound as it seemed King did.

Luckily I had taken my own form but with owl ears - it worked splendidly last time - and hidden behind the nearby wall the moment Steve addressed the baby titan. Simply leaning up against the wall from the other side was enough to make the people walking around dismiss me.

The sight of those people made me passively wonder why so many witches walked around with beastial traits. Was it a fashion statement? Or was some other cultural difference occurring?

But the majority of my attention was focused on King's conversation with Steve. And how some of those questions and statements rattled my inner spirit.*

“I got what I wanted, but… It's not what I thought it was,” the witch confessed.

And I too, in a way, had gotten what I had wanted. The last titan had been found. I could easily have grabbed him when he left the hunting cave alone. I had the deepest desire of every Titan Trapper in my hands.

And yet… I now knew. It wasn't what I thought it was. Titans, or at least this one, didn't act like I had been told. King was kind and considerate. He didn't have the rumored ravenous appetite. And from what I had seen, he never ordered anyone around like he was better than them.

Steve talking about Belos claiming to know about the wants of, presumably, the titan making up the Boiling Isles, reminded me of Bill doing the same. Claiming to know the desires of The Grand Huntsman and what rewards he would give for having them fulfilled.

“Maybe the titan doesn't even know what he wants,” Steve suggested. “Maybe he's just sooome normal guy, you know?”

The Grand Huntsman surely knew he wanted to be free once again. But maybe he didn't know what would come after that.

Maybe he didn't want to be worshiped anymore than it seemed King wanted.

…Maybe he didn't even really exist and was simply made up by Bill or a previous lorekeeper or someone else with an ulterior motive.

No. I don't have any evidence to support this. I, and the rest of my clan, can cast Divine Magic. It'll have to be enough proof of his existence.

I couldn't just let go of my god.

My belief was one of the few things I had left of my home…

Chapter Text

The trip with Steve opened my eyes. King and Steve showed kindness and empathy to everyone they met on the same level as I had seen many a time from my sisters and brothers.

… They also didn't notice King's aunt and the worm attempting to catch up to them, just barely missing them at times.

The ‘ravenous appetite’ cannot be true. He's barely even eating, I mentally concluded from my hiding spot in the nearest tree.

Unless one of their biggest predators had a tendency to attack from above, landbound species didn't possess an instinct to regularly look up, meaning I could take my own, but owl eared, form without worry.

Steve and King had stopped their travel for a meal and the baby titan had only eaten a couple of pieces before he seemingly gave up the endeavor.

And yet he just admitted to once having wanted to rule the world.

But… no more?

“Wants can change,” Steve replied. “So can people.”

Yes, I can see that. I once desired the capture and death of the last titan, in order for The Grand Huntsman to be freed in return for all he has done for my clan. And now I just want to know the truth. About titans, my clan, The Grand Huntsman, if I'm able.

And it seems… Titans can change too.

Perchance… Rather than age making them aggressive. Titans are only power-hungry in their youth?

“I don't want people to see me as a big scary monster anymore,” King confessed.

A power-hungry phase King is clearly over.

“Me neither,” Steve said as they took off their mask, revealing a horn at one temple.

They follow the current fashion, it seems.

With both King and Steve speaking their desire to become better people, I felt ready to reveal myself. To explain to King that, while I still wanted to learn more, I no longer wished him any harm.

But then the aunt and bird worm ruined the moment before I could.

The white raven can partially shapeshift as well? And in the same way? Are they of the same species and their different appearance simply due to having different patterns? Like with pouligriffins?

Suddenly and with barely any warning, the worm attacked Steve - who I had finally discovered preferred he/him pronouns. But before I could jump to his rescue, I realized he didn't need any. The worshipful one was quick to calm down the worm, Hootsifer. And while Hootsifer was still suspicious of Steve, a witch with hair of floating titan rot arrived, distracting the worm.

They must be a master of Titan Rot Manipulation. From what I've heard, only masters can turn parts of their body into titan rot. And to do so this casually?

The Titan Rot Master - for surely that was their title -, who the others recognized as Darius, double checked Steve's stance on Belos, before informing the gathering that Eda had convinced someone named Raine - a fellow they/them preferer - that the group - sans Steve - should be allowed to join the rebellion against Belos they were a part of.

And the plan to stop him.

With agreements secured from them all, The Titan Rot Master told them all to gather around so they could transport them to where they would meet up with Luz and Eda.

Not without me!

Quickly I took my inmyeonjo form and flew into the whirlpool of titan rot now surrounding them. Something I wouldn't have dared if the innate curiosity of my new form hadn't given me additional courage and determination to do what needed to be done to satisfy the need to know.

As we reappeared from the titan rot whirlpool I quickly ascended, hoping to remain undiscovered.

But the placements of all the trees had shifted around. And these new trees were of different sorts than the one I had previously hidden in.

Still. I found myself the branch with the most cover. Then, after having ensured I had successfully remained undetected, I retook the familiar form of my owl eared self.

Already at the meeting spot, the group was introduced to Amber, Derwin, and Katya, with everyone once again recognizing Eberwolf and Raine.

The moment I spotted Amber and Eberwolf I knew I had to stay perfectly quiet if I wanted to remain undetected. Their ears told me of excellent hearing and a mastery of Beastial Studies at least on my own level, if not surpassing it. And while Steve clearly had some skill with Beastial Traits as well, he currently possessed regular witch ears.

Barely any time passed after introductions were done before a pair of carts arrived, one shortly before the other. The first was revealed to contain Eda, who was quickly freed from her restraints. The second contained Luz, the teenager, who was quick to jump to Eda's unneeded defense, seemingly not knowing what was going on.

As interesting - and at times amusing - as the following conversation was, it unfortunately didn’t tell me anything about titans.

I did learn Darius was a he/him, though!

《◇》

I returned to my beastial disguise as the gathering began moving again. This time their destination was a building, one that clearly wasn't someone's home.

And more importantly, one not so easily snuck into.

The hunting cave - on virtue of being a cave - had no door and a rather tall opening, making it easy to enter unseen.

But with an average size door? Not so easily done. The size meant I would be noticed should I simply fly in over their heads as they entered themselves, while entering after them meant the door would visibly and most likely even audibly - given the ears of Amber and Eberwolf - be giving me away.

I considered using Mind Magic to either convince the minds of anyone watching or listening that I wasn't actually there, or to disguise myself as one of them and hope they didn't notice the doppelganger.

But using Mind Magic while fully in the body of a beast wasn't something I was capable of. I would have to turn back to either mainly or completely my own form, which would make me too big to easily do the prior option without being discovered through touch. And I thought the doppelganger idea had too high a chance of discovery.

I did want to reveal myself to them anyway. If they take offense to an inmyeonjo entering, well… I would already be inside and I would just reveal myself and explain my purpose. The baby titan has shown himself to be kind and compassionate and from what I've observed, they should follow his lead.

And if they truly take offense to me? I cannot defeat this many opponents without the aid of traps and guerrilla tactics, but I'm fairly certain I can at least escape.

My window was closing - or rather, the door was - so I had to make a decision and stick to it.

I flew through the door on silent, but visible, inmyeonjo wings as it closed behind me. Darius, who was the one closing the door, didn't notice me flying over the animated titan rot on his head.

Eberwolf, on the other hand, didn't just notice me, they knew I wasn't actually an inmyeonjo. They had likely clocked that my current species, while aggressively curious, would never dare getting this close to a flock of a different species. Not unless the inmyeonjo's own flock outnumbered them enough to make them confident.

And I was very much on my own.

“ State your purpose or I'll rip your throat out! ” They growled from their beastial throat.

I didn't know why they didn't say it with actual words. Maybe they want to give me a chance to keep my disguise from the rest? With the exception of Amber and Steve, they don't appear to have been taught Beastial Studies, after all. And 'tis very likely they only took the class on Beastial Traits and don't know the language.

Alas. Looks can be deceiving. Maybe they all know what they're saying.

Either way, I figured it was best to respond in kind.

“ I want to learn about titans! ” I cackled in reply as I landed on the coat of arms hanging high above the door.

Eberwolf clearly didn't expect that reply as they immediately dropped the growl and threatening posture to instead tilt their head in surprised curiosity.

“ I was taught by my clan that titans are giant monsters of death and destruction, ” I continued cackling, seeing as they hadn't responded negatively. “ But your people worship them! And I've now realized that, at least, not all titans are evil. I want to know all I can about titans! I want to figure out the truth! ”

It was quiet for a moment as Eberwolf considered my words while everyone else looked between the two of us.

It appears Amber and Steve doesn't understand either. They must not have chosen to take the Beastial Language class. I mentally shrugged. Some people just want the awesomeness of having beastial traits. ‘Tis one of the reasons why we can mix and match our chosen classes.

Darius's confusion did seem to indicate he understood some of what was said. Perchance he took the class only to leave it partway through?

“Isn't ___ ___ bird ___ ___ ship?” Luz broke the silence, making me jump slightly in surprise at having been recognized. My form didn't allow me to understand the entire sentence, but her body language told part of the story as well.

Eberwolf narrowed their eyes and growled: “ You followed them. ” It was less a question and more a demand for an explanation. Like they already knew the answer was yes.

“ Indeed, ” I admitted. “ They visited my island and revealed the truth about titans to me. I followed them in hopes of learning more. Alas, due to how my clan treated them as they left, I didn't feel safe immediately revealing myself. ”

“ And if I demand you reveal yourself? ” They barked.

No growl. ‘Tis an improvement!

“ I would, ” I declared, my talons nervously gripping and releasing their grip on the coat of arms.

Eberwolf considered it for a brief moment before giving the demand. “ I don't fully trust you. I want to see how they react to your true self. ”

As much as that statement made me anxious, I still convinced my inmyeonjo instincts that I wanted to know the answer as well, allowing me to take back my own form.

Something the coat of arms wasn't happy about, but it stayed up and I successfully changed my grip from talons to hands and feet covered in my titan disguise.

“““You!””” Hootsifer, King, and Luz shouted as one before getting into fighting stances.

The titan opened his mouth to roar as the witch put her hand inside her clothes - I didn't know if the piece had a specific name as I rarely ever wore anything but my titan disguise -, only for her to realize she was out of rune papers.

Ultimately the worm was the quickest to attack. But as I had observed its preferred tactics while they were running from my clan, I anticipated the headbutt and used some moon energy from the nighttime environment to allow me to float out of the way.

“If I wanted to kill him, I would have done it when he left the cave all alone!” I shouted in the hopes it would make them stop attacking.

If not, I was perfectly ready to use a bigger burst of moon energy to shroud the place in shadows before quickly making my escape.

The room froze. First at my words - though not all of them knew who I was talking about -, then seemingly at something I was doing.

“What?” I questioned.

“You're flying!” Darius exclaimed, seemingly confused by something.

“Floating,” I corrected him, before giving him a small nod. “But indeed.”

“What? But? Huh? How?” Darius stuttered in response.

Not knowing what had confused him so, I simply tilted my head, reflecting my own confusion.

“You must be one of those Titan Trappers the kids told us about,” Eda declared.

“Indeed,” I confirmed, before quickly explaining what I had already told Eberwolf. “But I don't believe what I've been told about titans anymore! Bill undoubtedly lied about a lot of things and while following you around I realized that titans can be kind and compassionate. That they aren't just giant monsters of death and destruction like I'd been told. You consider them worthy of worship, where I've only ever heard of them spoken of as violent and evil.”

I took a deep breath after that spiel before finishing my plea in a lower volume: “I just want to know the truth about titans. And about everything really. And I thought following you would give me some of those answers.” I looked directly at the baby titan as I finished.

“Don't we all?” Steve said, as sagely as always. “Want the truth, I mean.”

“So…” Eda dragged out the word. “Just to be clear. You don't want to trap or kill titans anymore…?”

I shook my head. “No, I don't. I haven't completely figured out if it would be a good idea to release The Grand Huntsman or not. Again, I don't know what parts were lies or not. But releasing him can actually be done without a sacrificial ritual. You just need titans blood, or you can choose to search for the whole Divine Tablet and have the last titan willingly pull him out of his prison. Not that I know where the whole one is.”

As they had clearly decided not to continue attacking me, I decided not to hold anything back in my answer, and that it was safe to lower myself to the ground.

“How do we know we can trust you?” Luz demanded in righteous anger. “We can't know what it is you really want!”

I nodded my understanding of her point. People had lied to me as well. “King said it best himself: ‘I don't want people to see me as a big scary monster anymore’. I might not have known I was the bad guy. But now that I know, I would like to change.”

“Speaking of changing-” King spoke up. “-couldn't you at least have changed out of that?” He swung a claw up and down in my direction.

“Huh?” I tilted my head, before suddenly realizing why he was asking. “Oh. Right. Apologies.” I took the skull off my head. An action which surprised those who hadn't seen my people's disguises before. “Alas, I don't possess anything to change into. We… aren't ever seen in public wearing anything else…”

This seemed to raise several eyebrows - understanding enough seeing as none of them had likely ever hunted one prey above all, as was the way of Titan Trappers.

Then The Owl Lady shrugged and spoke up: “No problem, Birdie. I'm sure we can find you a set of clothes.”

“That's it?!” Darius exclaimed, looking shocked at Eda. “That's all it takes for you to-”

Eda cut him off with her own words and a dismissive hand gesture. “Luz redeems her villains all the time. This is nothing unusual.”

“You do?” I asked in amazement. The teenager blushed as she half smiled and rubbed the back of her neck. “Amazing!”

“So!” Raine clapped their hands, getting everyone's attention. “Why don't we see what clothes we have laying around and then you can pick what you want to wear, Mister…?”

“Mister?” I repeated. “My apologies. I'm unfamiliar with the term.”

This was again something shocking to them, it would appear.

“It's a polite way of addressing a guy, typically followed by one's last name,” Luz explained. “As I'm an unmarried girl my teachers call me Miss Noceda and my friend Gus, Mister Porter.”

That didn't explain much of anything. “Last name? Why would you have more than one?”

Luz’s eyes flickered confused to those around her, before she shrugged. “To know who you're talking about when multiple people have the same name. And to show off who your family is, I guess.”

That only confused me even more. “Who would name their child a name already in use? And do you not consider every member of your clan your brothers and sisters? Your family?”

“Oh!” Luz exclaimed in sudden understanding. “I suppose your clan's small enough that no one needs to have the same name. But there's too many people on the Boiling Isles and in the Human Realm too for people to use unique names for everyone without giving people odd sounding names. And we're certainly too many for us to know everyone else enough to consider them family.”

“Oh.” I didn't know what this ‘Human Realm’ referred to, but I assumed it was either some place outside of the Boiling Isles or the specific part we were currently in. “And you said Miss is for girls and Mister is for guys?”

“Mmhmm.” She both hummed and nodded her agreement. “But we can just use your first name after Mister instead. Or maybe just your name, if you prefer that.”

“What about Raine? If Miss is for girls and Mister is for guys?”

“I would be Mx Whispers,” Raine replied.

“Mx…” I considered the word. “I like it.”

“You use they/them pronouns too?!” Luz was suddenly moving towards me in a hurry and I reflexively sidestepped the incoming attack from her, which never actually came.

No. Instead her eyes, which had been filled with excitement, were now filled with guilt.

“Sorry about that,” she apologized as she took a step back. “I didn't mean to scare you! People just aren't as open about that sort of thing where I'm from, so I'm sort of always excited when I get to see people just openly accept who they are!” Luz explained. “But you never answered my question!”

“Uh… Yes. I do prefer they/them pronouns.”

She quietly squealed in response while jumping from foot to foot with her arms tuckered into her chest.

‘Tis gonna be one titan filled adventure, that much is certain.

My eyes flickered towards King before adding: Literally.

Chapter Text

With a deep, dramatic breath, which her hands seemingly mimicked, Luz calmed herself from her excitement. “I don't know how many of our names you caught and I suppose it's more polite to introduce yourself before you ask for someone else's name. I'm Luz Noceda, but you can just call me Luz. This is my little brother King Clawthorne and his mom Eda Clawthorne.”

She waved her hand towards the baby titan and The Owl Lady as she introduced them. King waved a greeting, which I returned, while Eda did some weird hand gestures with her thumbs and index fingers spread as she shook them around.

She continued introducing everyone with most responding with either a wave or a ‘hi’ of some sort.

“Lilith Clawthorne, Eda's sister, and Hooty,” Luz finished the introduction.

“Wait. I thought its name was Hootsifer?” I commented confused.

“Hey!” The worm sounded offended. “I'm a big boy, not an ‘it’! And only Lulu may call me Hootsifer!”

“My apologies.” I lowered my head slightly to show my sincerity. “And who may this Lulu be, if I may ask?”

“That would be me,” Lilith replied.

“But…?” My head was once again tilted in confusion. “Why call people something that isn't their name?”

“It's called a nickname!” Luz began explaining. “It's something you call someone to show them you care about them! Typically it's based on their actual name, like how Hooty calls Lilith Lulu, and Eda sometimes calls her Lily, and I call her my cool aunt Lilith, and Lilith calls Hooty Hootsifer. But some nicknames are used by many people. Like how all my friends call Gus, well, Gus! His real name is Augustus! And then there's the kind of pet names lovers give-”

Eda had her hand in front of Luz’s mouth, stopping her rambling explanation. “Maaaybe we should try not to overwhelm the kid. What do you say?”

Luz nodded her agreement and Eda moved her hand again.

“Soooo…” King dragged the word out. “Mind telling us your name?”

“Oh, my apologies. Alvar is my one and only name,” I replied. “Hail and well met!”

“Well met indeed,” Raine repeated, seemingly amused. “Now let's see about getting you some clothes.”

《◇》

Wearing clothes of a different culture was odd. Lightweight. Open. Freeing.

Exposed.

I could feel the air rush over my skin whenever someone moved, which felt most wonderful.

And yet, I wasn't hiding behind my full body disguise anymore. It made me feel like a vole in an open field, fearing the arrival of a pouligriffin.

Pouligriffins loved the taste of poor, defenseless voles.

“Alvar?” Eda beckoned me closer with a nod of her head. She, Luz, and King were in the bed area of the building.

Or at least I assumed those things were three beds on top of each other.

Luz was sitting on one of the lower beds, staring intensely at a piece of log, while King sat on the floor in front of her, holding a stuffed rabbit. Eda had been sitting next to Luz when she called me over, but moved to her feet as I arrived.

“I was wondering if you could do me a favor,” Eda said once I was close enough.

“Certainly!” I replied with a smile.

It always did feel nice to know people trusted you to do things!

But Eda paused at my quick response, before narrowing her eyes in warning. “Be careful not to give open-ended offers like that. I could have, and once I would have, taken advantage and made you do something particularly difficult or disgusting with such a favor. Either you hear the favor first before you agree to it, you establish some form of limits before you agree, or you demand a favor of equal value in return.”

My head pulled back in shock at that. Doing favors was a part of daily life back home and no one had ever been taken advantage of to my knowledge.

But I knew how to react when a teacher said something unexpected. “I think you'll find that I didn't actually promise to do it yet. I simply stated that I could do you a favor. Not that I would.”

That reply sent Eda grinning almost maniacally as she clapped me on my back. “Ha! Well done! I can't believe I didn't notice that one!”

Using the hand on my back she moved me to sit down on the lower bed opposite to the bed where Luz was still sitting. The teenager had stopped staring at the piece of log and was instead curiously watching the two of us.

Probably just as curious as I was to find out what Eda wanted me to do for her.

After a quick look at what the rest of the group was doing - resting, planning, and looking at maps it seemed - Eda explained the favor in a lower tone of voice. “I don't know how much you know about what's going on on the Boiling Isles, but things are a bit dicey at the moment. Best not to add anything more to the situation. Like what King really is.”

“Weh?!” Came the surprised sound from King.

Eda leaned down to put a hand on the skull of the baby titan. “I know you wanna help, but we gotta keep this stuff a secret between the six of us for now. You may be a titan, but you're still just a little guy.”

Said little guy began frowning - or as close to it as his skull face would allow - at his mother's demands, but didn't argue. Luz seemed to consider Eda's words for a bit before nodding.

Then Eda turned her eyes to me.

“I won't lie,” I established my limit just as Eda had taught me to. Only then did I agree to her request. “But I won't bring it up myself.”

Eda shrugged, seemingly satisfied. “Good enough!” Then she moved back to her place next to Luz. “Figured it out yet?”

“Oh! Uhm. Yeah. I think I know what I wanna do,” Luz replied before carefully beginning to carve.

“Not gonna tell me what?” Eda teased with a smirk.

“Nope!” Luz said with a pop on the p and a smile on her lips. “You'll just have to wait and see!”

It was silent for a while, making me consider leaving for the main area. But I wouldn't be of any aid over there, and these three had yet to even hint that they wanted me gone.

So, I decided to simply watch Luz’s careful carving for now.

She has her tongue sticking out of her mouth! Isn't she afraid she's gonna bite it?

“Hey? Mx Alvar?” King looked up at me from his position on the floor. I gave him my full attention. “You wouldn't happen to know what your clan did to me? With the fire and all that?”

“To free The Grand Huntsman a connection must first be made between, well, you and The Grand Huntsman. Setting the Divine Tablet aflame with the Divine Flame established the connection. The next and last step is to either use your blood - hence the attempt to sacrifice you - or have you pull The Grand Huntsman free through the whole Divine Tablet,” I explained.

“Divine Flame?” King repeated, sounding confused. “Didn't it just come from the candle on that Bill guy's head?”

My first instinct was to defend the honor of The Elder, the wisest hunter of us all. He wasn't just some guy!

But then I considered King's point of view: Bill would have placed the ritual dagger deep into his back if Luz and Hooty hadn't stopped him.

My righteous fury deflated. “The Divine Flame was made using not just Divine Magic-” I paused for a second to use a bit of stored sun energy from my galdorstone - hiding beneath the ‘t-shirt’ I was now wearing - to create an iconic blue flame in one hand. “-but its magic had been cast by The Grand Huntsman himself. Hence why it was needed to create the connection. The Elder has the honor of guarding the Divine Flame and he does so by carrying it around with him.” I extinguished the flame in my hand.

The many questions I got after that explanation - not just from King, but Luz as well - let me know I had to start from the very beginning.

With the creation of my clan.

《◇》

“Alright. Let's get this briefing over with,” Darius declared after breakfast the next morning.

The summary of the upcoming conflict was easy enough to understand: This Belos was gonna use Divine Magic, specifically eclipse energy - a much rarer but also more powerful type of cosmic energy, mainly used for draining and splicing -, to drain out people's magic quickly enough as to leave them permanently comatose if completely drained. The sigils told the spell who to target and the coven heads acted as conduit. There needed to be a coven head representing each of the nine chambers in a witch's bile sac, also known as the nine spell phlegms. Each coven head would need to have their respective spell phlegms be the largest one in their bile sac to tell the spell ‘you need to drain magic from here as well’.

Like the heart, a witch's bile sac was a muscle, and the type of magic a witch used the most would end up having the largest spell phlegm in the bile sac.

And with a conduit for each spell phlegm, the spell would drain the magic from every spell phlegm in every bile sac it targeted.

What confused me the most, was why people had gotten these sigils in the first place. But there was clearly a time pressure, so I decided not to ask what everyone else probably already knew.

It was their fight, not mine, so I intended to just listen.

Darius groaned in frustration, as Eda didn't understand his hint. “The curse, Eda!”

“That's right! My curse warps magic!” Eda exclaimed excitedly as she understood what Darius meant.

A curse which warps magic?

I had never heard of a curse like that, but pouligriffins did something similar to magic cast directly on them. The magic corruption didn't affect Divine Magic, which the draining spell itself would be made with. But as the spell drained people of their magic bile - with the goal of eventually damaging the bile regeneration organ usually protected by one's bile - more and more non-Divine Magic would be inside the spell, allowing more and more to become corrupted.

If Eda's curse worked in any way similar to a pouligriffin's natural anti-magic defenses, I felt fairly confident their plan would work. It would take time and would look like it wouldn't work till just before the spell was done draining, but it would then disrupt it completely.

My interest was peaked, but they didn't really elaborate on Eda's curse other than to add that her sister had been cursed with the same curse simi-recently.

The ‘one final time’ thing made it sound like Eda had just volunteered for a suicide mission, which I didn't like the thought of.

But if the plan worked, it sounded like it would save a lot of people. So, in a way, I could understand the decision.

With the plan seemingly agreed upon and the applause for Eda over with, I decided to speak up: “If I may ask, what exactly does this curse do?”

Eda, Luz, King, Lilith, and Hooty began talking about their experiences with the owl beast and its curse and the more they talked, the more things felt familiar.

“You said something about it looking different in your mind than when you become the ‘owl beast’. What does it look like in your mind?” I questioned.

“Well…” Eda thought for a moment. “It still has the griffin bodystructure: Wings, four legs, you know. It has the head of an owl and it's more gray than I become the owl beast myself. Oh! And it doesn't have these looong ears I get either.”

I nodded. “And where a common griffin has a feathered lion's tail, the ‘owl beast’ has a fully avian tail.”

Eda's eyes widened in surprise as she turned to look at her equally as shocked sister.

They didn't appear to be the only ones surprised either.

Eda turned her head back to me, but before she could say anything, I asked my own question: “Do they not teach you about pouligriffins around here?”

“It would appear they don't, I'm afraid,” Lilith spoke with clear interest. “Maybe you could inform us of what you know? Enlighten us!” Then, as almost an afterthought: “Please.”

I thought back to my lesson on the beast. It had been almost two years, but as a pouligriffin was one of the beasts I considered taking as my beastial companion, I still remembered most of it.

“Pouligriffins are related to griffins, unsurprisingly. They don't have nor do they need griffin spiders in their intestines, so unlike griffins they can't regurgitate them. Hmm… Spells cast at them - or apparently through them - will end up warped and corrupted. Except the magic of The Grand Huntsman. Naturally. Potions work on them just fine as well as other forms of indirect magic.”

I had everyone's attention. Luz and Lilith looked especially excited about my impromptu lesson.

“If the owl beast is indeed a pouligriffin, your plan will certainly work,” I informed them. “The ritual spell Belos plans to cast is Divine Magic - or Cosmic Magic for you nonbelievers -, something the corrupting ability of pouligriffins cannot affect.”

My listeners wanted to interrupt my contradiction, but I continued before they could. “What it will affect, is all the magic bile the draining spell will suck out of people. As the draining spell is filled with increasingly more bile, more and more of the spell will be corrupted. It will take time and will almost certainly look like it wouldn't work at all, till just before the spell is done draining. And then, at seemingly the last moment, the spell would be disrupted completely and the day saved.”

“What about Eda?” Luz questioned. “Doing this won't have some sort of negative effect on Eda, will it?”

I considered the question for a moment but couldn't think of a reason why it would. With the magic bile of an entire isle - one with a population apparently several times my own clan - there wasn't even the possibility that the spell didn't drain enough magic bile for Eda's curse to truly corrupt it, making the plan fail.

No. I was certain their plan would succeed.

“Nope. It'll just look scary for a couple of minutes near the end, but she won't be in any true danger, and she'll pop right back after a short rest,” I reassured her.

“Good,” Luz nodded in relief. And she wasn't the only one relieved at my words. “That's good.”

“You want to hear more about pouligriffins?”

They did, and I mentioned their territory and reactions to sudden bright light or loud sound. Their love for shiny things. That they could survive the boiling rain for a time and the reason why the females had long external ears.

I skipped the details on their mating cycles. I didn't think they would find it all that relevant at the moment.

While not as fascinated by my words as the other two, Eda was still intensely listening, nodding in recognition of most of what I had said.

“Pouligriffins have four distinct feather patterns. For example, the ‘owl beast’ is also known as a glauxgriffin due to its owl-like appearance, but ‘tis still a pouligriffin,” I explained.

“And if it's more raven-like in appearance?” Lilith asked, her eyes widened by all the new knowledge.

“‘Tis a korakigriffin,” I replied. “If I may postulate: ‘Tis the form the ‘owl beast’ took in your mind when you split your sister's curse between you?”

“It is indeed!” Lilith said with a nod and a big smile before adjusting her glasses with one finger.

“Fascinating!” I exclaimed with an excited smile. “While the magic of the curse itself might have been split between the two of you, the archived beast was cloned instead! Otherwise you would have had a glauxgriffin in your mind as well!”

“Fascinating indeed!” Lilith agreed, her smile just as big as mine and reaching her eyes.

Eda snorted at us, so we railed in our excitement.

“Aetosgriffins have the head of an eagle and hieraxgriffins the head of a hawk,” I finished off naming the different feather patterns, before going to my next topic. “Much like witches, when particularly overwhelmed by emotions pouligriffins can experience a form of magical outburst. But instead of uncontrollably expending the bile in the largest spell phlegm, pouligriffins grow bigger and stronger. Their two wings become six, their eyes and mouths will glow amber, they lose their sensitivity to sudden bright light, while their overwhelming emotional state prevents them from fearing sudden loud noises.”

Various levels of surprise was written in the body language of everyone around me.

I get the feeling... That this hasn't happened to them yet. Or maybe something about the beasts being cursed into their bodies prevents them from being overwhelmed by their emotions to such a degree.

“We're advised that if you see a pouligriffin in this state, you should focus on getting away from it. If you want, you can come back an hour or two later once it has had time to calm down. But forget all about trying to calm it. There's too big a chance it'll kill you - intentionally or not - in its rampage,” I finished the lecture off with the warning I had gotten myself.

Chapter Text

I intended to give them a moment to consider all the information I had just given them, before I asked for additional information. If I was particularly fortunate I hoped to be permitted an opportunity to study their curse further!

Though I doubted the latter would happen. After all, it took a certain amount of trust to permit someone inside their mindscape, even if one demanded the presence of a trusted chaperone.

And as much as they seemed to trust me, I knew it was more due to my clan's lack of interest in the conflicts of the Boiling Isles than anything else.

But just as I had decided to ask, Darius declared we had to start getting the ‘airships’ ready if we wanted to get ‘there’ in time.

And I just had to know what that was and how they worked.

It wasn't like I would have gotten permission anyway. Better to wait with that question till more trust had been built between us.

《◇》

As cool as the mere concept of flying ships was, when it came to actually traveling to our destination, I didn't board one myself.

Why? King wasn't. As simple as that.

Katya gave King and Luz a ride on her palisman - an animated creature carved from wood, something I had never even heard of before! - and I followed them in my inmyeonjo form.

The ‘security escort’, Katya had dropped Luz and King off with, appeared to be Luz’s friends. While King appeared to have no such hesitations, I didn't really feel comfortable revealing myself in the middle of a happy reunion.

However. I needed to know when they began introducing me, so I knew when to reveal myself. I took my original form by reminding my instincts I couldn't ask questions - should I need to - as an inmyeonjo, but kept the internal owl-like ears.

What kind of a title is ‘The Human’? I pondered from my perch on a nearby tree branch, where I waited for either Luz or King to begin introducing me. I'll have to ask her what ‘tis about.

At first the scarred witch's obvious lies irked me. But Luz’s unintentional reveal - she had clearly forgotten my presence and hadn't realized I was sitting in the nearest tree - of Hunter being a grimwalker calmed my annoyance.

Hunter being a grimwalker was his - Gus had nicely revealed Hunter's preferred pronouns to me - own personal business and he had all the right to hide it if he wanted to.

… I just had to remember that personal secrets existed. My paranoia over possibly being lied to meant I had a harder time telling when people had a decent reason to lie. Like, when it was no one else's business to know but your own.

“Listen, I don't know if I'm a witch or a human. All I know is that I'm a copy of someone Belos made… disappear,” Hunter whispered to Luz.

Huh? Is ‘human’ a species then? Must be a close cousin of witches if Luz is one. She certainly looks more like a witch than a pouligriffin looks like a griffin.

The rest of their conversation didn't make any sense to me though. Which was probably a good thing, as I was actively eavesdropping on them…

“So,” Gus began once Hunter and Luz were done with their private conversation and had joined the other three again. “What's the plan, Luz? The mission!”

“Amity sent me a message this morning. It just says ‘grounded - come quick!’.” Luz pulled out a little yellow, circular thing to seemingly emphasize her point, but her companions didn't pay any particular attention to it before she pocketed it again. “So, we need to go save her before we join up with the others at the castle.”

“OoOoh,” King cooed at her. “So this is a romantic rescue mission!”

“What?!” Luz exclaimed in a panic, before nervously rubbing the back of her neck. “I mean. Yeah… I guess it is. If she really needs rescuing, that is.” Her stance turned prideful and confident as she crossed her arms. “My girlfriend's pretty tough, you know. She can handle herself! For the most part, at least.”

“Ahhaaa…” The yet to have been named witch wearing glasses was the one to drag out the sound in a knowing manner. “I suppose we should get going then. See if Amity really needs our help or not.”

“Right!” Luz nodded once in agreement before immediately changing her mind about her answer. “Wait! I haven't even introduced you guys yet! Guys, this is Alvar.” She turned around to introduce me, only to realize I wasn't actually there. “Alvar?”

Despite both her and King knowing I had been in my inmyeonjo form on the way here, neither seemed to be able to spot me sitting in my mostly witch-shaped form in a nearby tree.

I wasn't even truly attempting to hide!

Taking this as a hint as bright as the sun telling me to reveal myself, I exchanged my owl-like ears for external witch ears before using some stored moon energy to float down from my perch.

“I was starting to think you wanted me to stay hidden,” I commented once I landed. “My name is Alvar. Hail and well met!” I did a slight bow with my left arm in front of my body, just to be extra polite.

… And hopefully make a better first impression than last time I revealed myself.

Hunter seemed uncomfortable with my presence but the rest took my arrival with grace.

“There you are!” Luz exclaimed happily. “Guys, as I was saying: This is Alvar. They're-” For some reason Luz felt the need to emphasize my preferred pronoun. “-from a clan of Titan Trappers located on the other side of the world and only accessible by a teleportation… thingamajig that King destroyed, so their clan couldn't follow us. But Alvar here followed us anyway and doesn't believe that all titans are evil and destructive monsters like their clan does.”

As I had already said the customary greeting, I simply waved hello once Luz was done introducing me.

“This here is Hunter. He used to be The Golden Guard before he realized Belos was evil and joined us instead.” The scarred witch gave me a cautious nod in greeting. “This is Willow. She's a Plant magic genius!” The glasses-wearing witch rolled her eyes at Luz but with a happy smile on her lips at her introduction. “And finally, this is Gus! He's a master of Illusions! They're my best friends!”

“‘Tis a pleasure to meet all of you.” I gave them a deep nod alongside my words to show the sincerity of them. “Though I believe becoming further acquainted will have to wait. Something about a possible damsel in distress?”

While Luz nodded solemnly at my reminder, Gus and Willow tried to hold in their laughter.

I tilted my head in confusion. “May I ask what you two find so humorous?”

“Sorry! It's just-” Willow began before pointing at me. “You speak so politely and fancy, yet you're wearing one of Eda's Bad Girl Coven t-shirts. It just took me by surprise, that's all!”

Gus nodded in agreement.

“Ah. I see. I suppose one might find that humorous.”

I didn't, actually. I didn't understand the fashion of the Boiling Isles at all. Much less what was humorous about a gift freely given.

But we were in a time crunch and I had asked enough questions about their culture already.

Some other time.

《◇》

Rescuing the damsel in distress went smoother than expected after having observed the lackluster hunting skills of the people of the Boiling Isles.

Perchance they focus more on open combat than traditional hunting encourages. They certainly appear decent in a fight, even if all their other survival skills are lacking.

Luz’s girlfriend then gave us our next quest: Inform her parents of Belos's plans and stop them from further aiding him.

“Stay here King,” Luz told King as we began moving into the Blight Factory - not that I fully understood what that name entailed. “It's safer. If anyone asks, you're guarding the perimeter.”

“But-” Alas, Luz ran off before he could truly protest.

My goal wasn't to defeat Belos, though I would likely end up aiding them with his defeat. Still, that wasn't my fight. My chosen purpose was to understand titans and what made people worship them.

As such, I stayed with King when the rest ran off.

“You're not gonna…?” The young titan questioned.

I shook my head.

“Thanks. For staying, I mean.” Then his eyes suddenly widened without truly looking at anything. “Weh?”

I turned around to see if I could spot whatever he had spotted, but found nothing of interest when I looked.

“Who is that? HelloOo?” When I turned back around, King was looking frantically everywhere in panicked movements.

“What is it?” I asked as I kneeled down to get a better look at him.

He didn't reply and kept up his frantic head turns.

Looking into someone's mind was usually only done with permission. But a situation like this - where he needed help, yet couldn't hear my words - called for an exception.

I looked into King's mind.

Just his surface thoughts. Those easily manipulated by Mind Magic. His mindscape and the memories within couldn't be touched with this spell. One needed to move one's physical body into another's mind to do so, which took much more energy and skill than this.

I could certainly do it. I had done so in class before. But it was unnecessary for this and an invasion of privacy I would rather avoid.

Eavesdropping was one thing. It was something else to walk through someone's memories.

“ - his game. I-I wanna play a new game! ”

Rather than hearing King's voice, the voice of an unfamiliar, frustrated child overshadowed the confused thoughts of the baby titan. But I only caught the very last part of whatever they said to King, and then the presence left. Leaving a confused King behind.

“What just happened?” King was once again present enough to converse with me. “Why are your eyes glowing blue?”

Seeing as it was now over, I quickly left his surface thoughts, now confused for more than one reason.

“I didn't know what was happening to you, and when you didn't respond to my words, I took the liberty to scan your surface thoughts,” I explained. “Mind reading makes a witch's eyes glow blue in a most visible manner, which discourages people from using it without prior permission. My sincerest apologies for invading your privacy when it appears to have been unnecessary.” I gave a deep nod with my apology.

“Weh?” He looked shocked for a moment before shaking it off. “That's okay. You were just trying to help. Any idea on who that was? You heard them too, didn't you?”

I nodded. “I caught the last of it. Something about wanting to play a new game.”

King nodded as he began to pace in thought. He didn't make it far before he stepped on something, looked around, and found a whole trail of it.

“Let's follow it.” King was already through the bush and the crack in the wall behind it as he spoke. “Waiting around doesn't help us defeat Belos, but maybe whoever made this could.”

I naturally followed the baby titan, curious as always.

“I think it might have been The Grand Huntsman you heard,” I suggested as I reached his side and matched his pace. “The ritual connected the two of you, and The Grand Huntsman is an immortal. Who's to say he doesn't have an eternal body of a child alongside his Divine powers. Looks can be deceiving, after all.”

After considering it for a moment, King shrugged. “Sounds reasonable enough. I was even thinking something along those lines myself.”

《◇》

Gaining beastial traits or taking on another form wasn't an effective way to fight Titan Rot Golems. And with no mind of their own, Mind Magic was completely useless against them. In more normal circumstances my chosen strategy was to use Mind Magic on the creator, which in turn would affect the Golem.

But these Golems took their orders from an equally mindless box, rendering that tactic worthless.

While the majority of my current prowl were dealing with the largest of the Titan Rot Golems, I stood back to defend King against several of the ‘average’ sized ones, while he roared away the rest.

They were still a good deal bigger than what I regularly encountered at home.

If anyone is gonna take this titan, ‘tis me!

While normally digmauls were ambush predators, the spiked, bony club at the end of my long tail was perfect for bashing into Golems. To stop myself from being completely sweeped away with the instincts of the beast, I refused to take its form entirely. While my head had taken its cat ears, it otherwise retained its witch features. My torso was likewise that of a witch, while my arms and legs were mixed with those of a witch and the short powerful legs of the ferocious cat beast.

Had I truly taken the form of a digmaul I would have been unable to convince my instincts not to kill King. Unlike inmyeonjo, digmauls didn't care to satisfy their curiosity if it didn't come with the possibility of oblivious prey.

The form of a digmaul was not only one I could easily get stuck in, but also one which would have made me take the life of my clan's most desired prey.

Something I now refused to do.

《◇》

Things were going down the finger of a titan fast all of a sudden.

Luz had been taken. We were attacked by Belos's forces. The airship crashed. King was knocked unconscious. Still under attack as the draining spell began affecting Hunter and Alador.

As I was unable to take a form big enough to fly with the baby titan, Gus carried his unconscious form while I flew alongside them as an inmyeonjo.

And then the battle against Belos was violent enough that I didn't even notice King slipping away. I had enough going on with using my Mind Magic to enhance the magic of my allies while avoiding as many hits from the monster in front of me as possible.

And then he was there.

“What's ya playing?”

The Grand Huntsman himself.

Chapter Text

He looked just as depicted and yet, not as expected.

His face, exactly as Bill's shrine had shown. A yellow sun partly covered by a blue moon. His scleras were yellow and his irises bright red, much like those of my people to master the magic of Earth and Music. His clothes, following the cosmic scheme of his kin.

And yet…

As I had suggested to King, he had a child-like body and voice. But not in the expected ‘immortal trapped in an eternally young body’ kind of way. His clothes, while cosmic themed, were pajamas. He even wore a nightcap!

… He's an alien god. Maybe that's just what they like to wear…

I had never claimed to be an expert in fashion, after all. Quite the opposite in fact.

‘What's ya playing?’ He had asked. We weren't playing, we were fighting for our lives. Everyone could see that!

But a child wouldn't be able to understand the difference…

But that was impossible! Completely absurd! The Grand Huntsman was as old as my clan was! Older in fact!

He couldn't possibly still be a child.

“Collector!” Belos called out, backing away as much as he could while The Grand Huntsman had a hold of him. This got him the attention of my god - his smile had disappeared before he even turned around -, but Belos pressed on. “You're free! Just as promised.”

“As promised?” The Grand Huntsman put a finger on the side of his chin, making a falsely thoughtful pose. “I remember someone throwing me off a bridge.”

… What?!

With one sentence Belos had gone from ‘not my problem, but I'll help if I can’ to ‘archenemy’.

“I'm not angry, though,” The Grand Huntsman continued in a happy tone.

That's okay. I'll be angry on your behalf, divine one.

“Say? You wanna play tag?” He asked Belos, dragging him close, before the voice of The Grand Huntsman turned dark. “I'm it.”

Belos was slime now.

The Grand Huntsman laughed. “Too slow!”

Of course. How foolish of me to want to defend a god.

I couldn't help but be satisfied by the outcome.

My god was real and really a god. The Huntsman hadn't been a lie.

Titans, though. Something about what I had been told about them had been a lie.

“You guys look slow too,” The Grand Huntsman said as he turned around. “Do you need a head start?”

… You… wanna kill us too…?

I could barely even comprehend the thought.

And suddenly King was back and The Grand Huntsman knew him. Was happy to see him.

Not at all what I had been told.

And King defended us from him. From the destructive force of The Grand Huntsman.

When the others talked about The Owl House game, I knew not of what they spoke. But even if I had, at that moment I had no words.

I fell to one knee and lowered my head as his focus landed on me.

“Oh. You're one of those guys,” came the disappointed voice of my god.

“What?” My own voice was only a whisper, easily drowned out by King, as I reflexively looked up to see the frown on the face of The Grand Huntsman.

Does The Grand Huntsman desire to be worshiped as little as King does?

I moved to the side with the rest as The Grand Huntsman moved towards us, looking out behind where we once stood.

He seemed to consider whether or not to actually stop the spell, before moving the moon with a high pitched “Okay!” and a single finger.

For that was the power of a god.

A god, who wasn't as merciful and giving as I had been promised.

King had freed him. Willingly. And freeing The Grand Huntsman was supposed to be highly rewarded by him.

And he had seemingly considered simply not fulfilling King's request.

King's request that no one else may die.

Merciful, The Grand Huntsman was not, it seemed.

But still. He did it. He stopped the draining spell and saved the lives of countless people.

The Grand Huntsman hummed in thought. “Heh, if we're gonna play Owl House. We're gonna need an Owl House!”

Then my merciless god began tearing the place apart with us in it.

And as much as I tried to stay, King's roar sent us all flying through the ‘portal’ into the unnaturally cold ‘human rain’.

《◇》

The ‘portal’ seemed to function much like my people's teleportation circles, but instead of activating it, one had to walk through it.

And much like how King had destroyed the teleportation circle to my home, the portal back was now broken and useless.

Luz was standing in front of the door to what had once been the portal to the Boiling Isles. Just staring into a broken house.

Finally she turned around, looking emotionlessly at the rest of us.

Gus broke down crying. After a moment Hunter moved to hug him. Willow was closer, but still frozen in shock.

We were all exhausted. Physically and emotionally.

Shaking her head, Luz walked over to help her girlfriend stand up. Silently encouraging the rest of us to do the same.

“Come on guys. My home's not far from here,” Luz said before leading us through the forest, away from the broken house.

We walked in silence only filled by the cold, unboiling rain.

Then we were at Luz’s home. It seemed like Luz and her mom hadn't seen each other for a while.

But what did I know? I hadn't known Luz long enough to know whether this was normal for her or not.

After the tearfilled reunion we were welcomed into their home.

… And once again Luz felt the need to emphasize my preferred pronouns as she introduced me.

Must be a cultural thing. She did say not many people use they/them pronouns where she's from.

She looked nervous as she did it this time as well.

Luz also reassured us that Vee, the basilisk, wouldn't drain our magic. Something Vee quickly confirmed as well.

Their voices sounded like they were telling the truth. As with all ‘facts’ I had been told in my life, I chose to trust but verify.

With the introductions completed Camila - as she had asked to be called - seemed to register that we had just exited a battle and might still be hurt.

“Thanks mamá,” Luz said after she hissed as her mom washed the still bleeding wound on her eyebrow with some sort of cloth.

“Of course, mija.” Camila gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead before moving back a bit to pick up, open, and put something on the still bleeding wound on her eyebrow.

“Why don't you just use magic?” I had to ask.

“Humans don't have magic,” Luz replied.

“I've seen you cast magic,” I retorted in return.

“Oh. Right. Glyphs don't work in the Human Realm for some reason,” Luz explained, pulling out one of her remaining pieces of paper and attempting to activate it. It didn't react. “And even if they did, I don't know a healing one.” 

“Huh. Mind if I take a look at that?”

She shrugged before handing me the paper in question. “Sure. Go for it.”

The ‘glyph’, as she had called it, was both familiar and not. I had never seen this particular rune before, but we had learned about runes following the same style of design in our history class.

I nodded in satisfaction. “That explains it. The Titan Rune Language only works when it can draw on the magic passively released from the titan it originates from. Essentially this ‘glyph’-” I waved the piece of paper. “-only works when on the Boiling Isles or near some other piece of that specific titan. A pure piece of titan, I mean. Titan Rot and so on is too diluted to emanate the needed magic.”

“Titan Rot?” Luz questioned.

“The substance Amity uses…?”

“Abomination slime?” Amity supplied.

I just shrugged. It wasn't that big of a surprise that they had a different name for it. “I do wonder why you could still cast magic while on my island, Luz. That shouldn't have been possible. Or were you using different runes back then?”

She shook her head. “Hooty had our remaining Titan Blood in his storage stomach for safekeeping.”

I nodded before getting back to my original question as my sight turned to the actual witches in our midst. “And given how not a single one of you has healed yourself either, I take it none of you know any Healing spells.”

They didn't.

“And as the Boiling Isles doesn't worship The Grand Huntsman - though I'm no longer sure how much he actually deserves it -” I felt the need to add. “I take it none of you have been taught the magic of the cosmos.”

They hadn't.

“Well then!” I did an overly dramatic bow. “If that's the case, then I'll happily be your magical healer today. Let's start with you, Luz.”

While the world outside was gloomy, it was actually around time to partake in the midday meal. Additionally I could feel that the side of the planet we were on wasn't facing the moon - if the Human Realm even had one. This meant all my healing moon energy was drawn from my galdorstone. As well as the little bit of star energy I added to prevent scarring.

Taking off the protective covering over her eyebrow, the wound it had concealed was now completely gone.

“How does cosmic magic work?” Luz asked as I added a hint of sun energy to my healing to help with her exhaustion from the fight.

“Rather than using bile, you use ambient energies, arriving to our planet from the cosmos,” I explained. “But since, unlike The Grand Huntsman, our bodies cannot store cosmic energies, you can only use the type of energies which are available around you at the moment. Right now the moon is down and the only way for me to access its healing energies is through my galdorstone.”

I paused in my healing to pull up and show off the galdorstone hanging on the necklace around my neck, previously hidden by my t-shirt. All but Camila and Vee had their eyes widened at the sight.

“You have a galdorstone?!” Gus exclaimed.

I nodded before putting it back under my t-shirt to allow it direct contact with my skin without me having to hold it.

“Galdorstones naturally absorb and store cosmic energy, you see,” I continued my explanation. “As such, while all the current ambient energies are all sun energy, I still have access to moon, star, and, on account of earlier today, solar eclipse energy. Eclipse energy is much rarer and more powerful than the other types, so I'll have to use it sparsely.”

“That's…” Gus sounded confused. “All you use galdorstones for?”

“Indeed.” I didn't know what exactly he wanted with his question.

“You don't… use it to power up your Beast Keeping magic or something?”

“Oh! No.” So, ‘tis what he was searching for. “The Archivists, older siblings of The Grand Huntsman, had it rain galdorstones from the cosmos to aid us in mastering their Divine Magic. It would be blasphemous to use it for something other than its intended purpose. Additionally, everything a galdorstone could do for my Bestial Magic my Mind Magic could do just as well. Mind you, ‘tis quite tricky to convince one's own mind that you're more powerful, though ‘tis entirely possible. And much preferable to the nasty power-hungry side effect which comes with using a galdorstone in such a way.”

“Oh…” Gus seemed to relax from some sort of unspoken worry. “You wouldn't happen to know why galdorstones can't boost Illusion magic, do you?”

“As with most Mind Magic, creating illusions works by convincing a mind that something is true. One can use Mind Magic to convince someone they are better at magic, giving them a confidence boost which then makes them better at magic. Galdorstones can do something similar, yet opposed. It can also enhance someone's magic, but instead of doing it through the power of belief, it works by exciting one's bile sac and the bile within. Easier to use, faster production, and such. Most useful to the majority of the magic categories.”

I shrugged. “However. How effective your Mind Magic, including your illusions, are, depends more so on your mind and willpower than your bile. You force your will upon the world and make it change. Your will can only do so much. Mind Magic can make things levitate, but never more than you believe you can move. And more, easier to use, or faster generating bile won't give you more willpower. As such, a galdorstone won't be of any help there.”

Gus hummed thoughtfully at that, but didn't have any further questions.

One by one I healed what injuries we had and added a hint of sun energy to each person to help them with their exhaustion and to encourage the bile sacs of the witches to replenish faster. We had used a lot of magic in that fight.

Hunter, the secret grimwalker, I used more than just a hint of sun energy. It seemed his body wanted six parts sun energy to four parts moon energy to heal with the same speed as the rest. Which, given it was the middle of the day, was actually preferable. The clouds weren't enough to stop the majority of the sun energy from reaching us, after all.

The galdorstone in his chest had clearly been drained by the spell, but not to any truly worrying degree. Galdorstones regenerated their power naturally, after all.

Chapter Text

“Hmm…”

“What's wrong, mamá?” Luz asked, having heard the worried humming from her mother as the woman reentered the kitchen.

“Nothing big, mija,” Camila reassured. “I was just trying to figure out sleeping arrangements. After all you've been through, I don't think it would be a good idea for any of you to sleep alone. But with the limited space in the car, I was only able to buy two additional beds before the store closed. We have that thin mattress from back when you wanted to try camping in the backyard, but that still means two of you would end up sleeping on sofas, but one is in the basement while the other is in the living room, meaning either someone sleeps alone or we have to split you into three groups. Which isn't preferable either!”

I wasn't entirely sure how Camila had enough breath for all of that.

“Part of my training includes being able to fall asleep in trees and caves, ma'am,” Hunter commented. “Sleeping inside on the floor would cause me no trouble.”

“Likewise,” I said with a respectful nod towards Hunter. “Though, respectfully, I shall spend the night as an inmyeonjo. Sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings… I much prefer having the ability to fly away from danger at a moment's notice. Irrational as ‘tis to occur in your home.”

Camila said nothing for several, drawn-out seconds. She took a deep breath. Then: “What's an enmuonho?”

“Eeh-myon-joh,” I corrected. “‘Tis an inmyeonjo.” Then I took my witch-faced owl form and flew to perch on the back of the chair I had been sitting on.

“Oh… So… You would ___ a perch ___ some ___?” Camila slowly concluded.

I returned to my witch form and nodded.

“Okay then.” Camila was back in planning mode. “Vee and Luz can take the bunk bed. We can set up the new beds on the floor next to it for Willow and Amity. Then Gus can have the sofa in the basement, while we put the camping mattress next to it for Hunter. And… ohm… would you rather be with the boys or the girls, Alvar?”

“The girls are crowded enough as ‘tis," I pointed out. “I'll sleep in the basement. But thank you for asking.”

《◇》

Days passed and I learned about a world I never knew existed.

My sensitive inmyeonjo ears ensured I woke up when Hunter did. My chosen perch of a well woven net hanging from the ceiling wasn't far from his own nest, after all. We woke up and patrolled the house both inside - ensuring the windows and doors hadn't been breached during the night - and outside - I checked from the air while Hunter patrolled the front- and backyard. Then either Camila would wake up to prepare for work or Willow would be the next one up, as she needed to do her morning exercises.

Hunter would always join Willow in the backyard, where she created heavy vines to sling around to build her strength. I was tempted at first myself, but quickly concluded it wasn't the right kind of training for me.

Unlike the people of the Boiling Isles, Titan Trappers didn't prefer open combat. We would track, hunt, lure, and trap our prey. Outsmart them and be where they didn't expect us to be. Attack from somewhere unexpected.

That was the path of a warrior of my clan.

That first morning I was introduced to Flapjack and taught more about palismen. After everyone had eaten breakfast, we investigated the house the portal had been connected to for clues as to how it worked, only to discover nothing of value. And in the afternoon Camila returned from work, having stopped on the way home to buy everyone new clothes, promising we would go on a proper shopping trip during the end of the week.

As apparently other people didn't wear the same thing all day, everyday. They even seemed to think wearing the same set of clothes everyday meant it was never cleaned!

Preposterous! Titan Trappers would clean their disguises with the cleansing energy of the sun at the end of every day! This would both prevent it from smelling and - most importantly - preserve it, so that it may be used daily and still remain in pristine condition for the next generation of Titan Trappers.

The day after that, Luz explained her need to ‘come out’ to her mom and all that entailed. Which was when I was finally informed the portal hadn't simply taken us to another part of the planet, but to a completely different realm!

Like the realm The Grand Huntsman had been stuck in for centuries!

I panicked a bit hearing that, even though it wasn't the realm he had been imprisoned in. But at least the whole ‘coming out’ thing went well for Luz.

Whenever I had a moment alone, I pondered on The Grand Huntsman, the other Archivists, and their fight against titans. How much - if any - of what I had been told was true? How did the war between them actually begin? Did The Grand Huntsman even want all titans dead? He had been happy to see King, so maybe it had actually just been specific ones and my clan had misunderstood. Or maybe he did want all titans dead, but by willingly freeing him, King had befriended him.

And the most important question of all: Was The Grand Huntsman actually deserving of worship?

He had unfathomable power, worthy of the title of god! Alas, he had also been quick to desire our deaths as a part of a game.

Who's to say he wasn't an evil god?

Are evil gods still worthy of worship? Will they strike you down if you don't?

King, on the other hand.

Still just a baby, but he would one day grow to have rivaling powers. And unlike The Grand Huntsman, he had proven himself to have mercy.

In some ways, King was much more worthy of worship than the god I had always praised.

The Boiling Isles had always believed it.

Alas, King didn't want to be worshiped. I had seen his reactions to Lilith doing so and heard his conversations with Steve the Sage.

Worship can be subtle too, I concluded. Undying loyalty can be expressed without using actual words. Without visibly kneeling before a deity.

《◇》

Camila declared Luz didn't need to go back to school the first week back and that Vee could keep going in her place, on the condition that Luz would study up on all she had missed.

Apparently the basilisk had pretended to be Luz while she was in the Demon Realm.

In-between studying Luz would join us in the house of the portal, contemplating new ideas to get back home.

As roughly a week had passed, Camila declared that if we were going to spend so much time there we should spend some of it fixing it up and making it into an actual ‘clubhouse’. Which was apparently a term for a place kids spend a lot of time at with their friends without any parents to supervise them.

Which seemed fitting.

With the aid of magic, it only took a couple of days to completely refurbish. When it came to decorating we simply fastened the plans and ideas to the wall at first. Only for Amity to suggest the place needed something a bit more personal and less office looking.

Which led to them drawing their families. Something I refused to participate in.

I had parents, yes. I knew who they were and I had lived in their house all my life. But my clan had raised me just as much as my parents had. My parents were my parents, but the clan was my family.

They had their flaws, alas they were still my family. To draw only my parents would be a disservice to my clan.

And there was no way I would attempt to draw them all!

And in a way. These guys were my clan and family at the moment.

… They were oddly sentimental when I told them so… Cooing at me before making a group hug with me in the middle.

When that was over, Hunter and I patrolled the outside as the others drew their families.

《◇》

The shopping trip was fascinating. The ‘car’ to the ‘mall’ wasn't alive and didn't try to eat us. I followed it from the air to leave room inside for the rest. The mall had many ‘stores’ inside a single enormous building, where you could ‘buy’ anything your heart desired.

The concept of ‘money’ was a foreign one to me. On Titan Trapper Island if I wanted something which wasn't hard to make and hadn't taken a lot of time, I could simply ask the maker and be given the object. If it was harder and/or took more time, I would either offer my services for a time or barter for it with something else.

After we had gotten clothes and other ‘essentials’ - I didn't get why clothes were counted as an essential - we visited the ‘bookstore’. Camila thought it was a brilliant idea for us to learn about the Human Realm through books. I picked an encyclopedia on the local ‘animals’, which was their board term for beasts.

《◇》

Willow had cut Hunter's hair at some point during the night.

I couldn't think of a good way to ask if that was some sort of courtship ritual, so I just complimented them on a job well done like the rest did.

《◇》

“How's the food?” Camila asked as always during dinner.

We all replied that it tasted good.

“If you don't like it, Alvar, you can heat up some of the leftovers in the fridge,” Camila suggested.

“How did you-?!”

“You have no poker face, Alvar,” Luz ‘explained’.

I just looked at her confused.

“Right. You don't know what poker is.” She paused to consider her wording. “You - and Hunter too for that matter - have spent so much time wearing a literal mask that you don't know how to hide your emotions when you aren't wearing one.”

I couldn't argue with that.

《◇》

“Can one of you kids give me a hand in the kitchen?” Camila asked while we were watching an ‘episode’ of a ‘cartoon’ on the ‘TV’ shortly before dinner a couple of days later.

While the rest looked reluctantly at each other - it was a good episode -, I simply did as requested and popped off a hand with a bit of stored star energy.

“Here you go Camila,” I said as I handed her my right hand with my left. “What exactly do you need it for?”

She just stared wordlessly at my offered hand.

“Something wrong?” I questioned after a moment.

“You can take off your hand,” Luz said in an odd tone.

It took me a moment to realize why that would seem peculiar to them. “Oh. Apologies.” I put my hand back where it belonged and removed the star energy clinging to the two halves, making them fuse back together. “I suppose without Cosmic Magic you can't remove body parts without severe consequences.”

Having met The Grand Huntsman - however briefly - it no longer felt as natural to call it Divine Magic, so I had taken to referring to it by its less popular name.

“As such, it seems fair to conclude you meant something else when you asked for a hand, Camila,” I said.

“Hmm… Yes,” Camila slowly agreed. “I just wanted someone to peel the potatoes…”

I was just about to volunteer my aid, when Luz interrupted: “Eda can pull off her hands and feet and even her head due to the owl beast. Do you think it's related?”

I turned my head to look at her as I answered. “Really? Indeed ‘tis related. Lilith got the curse in the form of a scroll, an obvious designator of The Imperious Scholar. All the Archivists have their own way of archiving creatures, you see, and The Imperious Scholar turns them into scrolls to keep them safe for all eternity. They must have archived a glauxgriffin but gotten interrupted or something before they could collect it. Which then centuries later fell into Lilith's hands.”

I gave a slight shrug. “While no one but the Archivists themselves know exactly what energies are used to archive creatures, all signs do point to there being a decent amount of star energy present. Which is what I used to pull off my hand just now. And star energy would be what allows Eda and the owl beast, as well as Lilith and the raven beast, to be two different individuals sharing one body. The stars are many. But collectively, they are stars.”

Luz didn't have any further questions, so I followed Camila into the kitchen to peel the potatoes.

Chapter Text

“Are you having trouble sleeping, Hunter?” Luz asked as we finished breakfast one morning. “You've had dark circles under your eyes since I met you, but I'm pretty sure they've gotten darker than usual.”

Hunter shrugged. “I'm actually sleeping more than ever. But you're right. I do feel more tired than I should. But not the usual ‘yawning and foggy mind’ kind of tired. It sits more in my body, specifically my chest. I'm probably just sick, though.” He shrugged again, but his tone of voice informed me he didn't truly believe his own words. It was just something he said to stop us from worrying.

“Your chest?” I questioned. I knew what sat in the chest of a grimwalker. The Grand Huntsman had taught my people about their creation centuries ago. And while I didn't personally know the details, the alternative use for a galdorstone had caught my attention. And of course I had sensed it when I healed him back when we first arrived.

Hunter nodded before rubbing where a witch's heart would be. “Right here.”

“Hmm…” No one said anything as I considered what could be wrong with his galdorstone. But ultimately I had to conclude I didn't know enough to draw a conclusion. “Mind if I give you a check up?”

Hunter looked uncomfortable but eventually gave me a hesitant nod as permission.

I got up from my chair and pulled ambient sun energy to my hands, as Hunter pushed his chair back from the kitchen table to give me more room to work. Pushing the sun energy into Hunter's chest I checked on the state of his galdorstone.

It was less filled than the pitiful amount remaining when I had checked back when we first arrived in the Human Realm. Not by a lot. Alas, unlike what I had assumed previously, his galdorstone hadn't regained cosmic energies on the same level as my own galdorstone did.

Why is that?

I moved the sun energy around in his chest, hoping to locate what was giving his galdorstone trouble.

I hope ‘tis not cracked.

I had no idea how to fix a galdorstone. No one on my island did. If the healing energy of the moon or the life encouraging energy of the sun could fix stone and crystal, we would have made the Divine Tablet whole again long ago.

After a couple of seconds of searching, I could confidently conclude that, at least it wasn't cracked.

What then?

I pushed a bit of sun energy into the galdorstone itself, thinking I might discover a problem further in.

But quite the opposite happened. Suddenly my control over the Cosmic Magic went from swimming in water to flying through the sky as the galdorstone greedily began sucking in sun energy. I still had control of the energy I had pushed inside, though, just as I would have with my own galdorstone.

“Huh.” I nodded to myself.

There was nothing wrong with Hunter's galdorstone. It was simply hidden in his chest, making it harder for ambient cosmic energy to reach it.

I looked up as I relinquished control of the energy I had placed in Hunter's galdorstone. “Can you move over there for a moment?” I asked him, pointing to the sink in front of the kitchen window.

He shrugged as he got up from his chair.

Once in direct sunlight, I took another look at his galdorstone. And just as I had hoped, the direct sunlight contained enough cosmic energy to not just fuel what Hunter needed to function, but it was even enough to slowly - oh so painfully slowly - recharge his galdorstone.

With one last nod to myself, I stopped my examination, gave Hunter back his personal space, and looked him in the eyes.

Now to say this without revealing to everyone else that he is a grimwalker.

“‘Tis a side-effect of the draining spell,” I explained, which wasn't a complete lie. But if he had been a witch his bile sac would have completely recovered by now, as the draining spell had been interrupted before it could start harming the bile regeneration protected by the bile itself.

“‘Tis fairly simple to treat,” I continued. “Direct sunlight will result in more… magic in your body, which is what you're currently lacking and why you're feeling off.” I didn't want to actually lie even as I kept his secret for him, so I refrained from pretending he had any bile to speak off and replenish. But at the same time I knew informing them of Hunter's need for cosmic energies would only lead to unwanted questions.

Therefore, the broad term of ‘magic’ was used.

“I can't tell you exactly how long it will take you to fully recover your magic,” I continued. “-I’ll have to check your progress during your recovery. And I would suggest you take your…shirt? Off during this to allow the sunlight to better reach you, which will speed up the process.”

Hunter's eyes widened at my suggestion, his body froze, and his head slowly turned to look at the people at the table behind me as his cheeks and ears turned red.

Confused, I turned around. Majority of our little clan had teasing smiles aimed at Hunter, while Camila looked at him with the concerned eyes of a Healer.

Willow seemed to mimic Hunter's reaction.

It took me another couple of seconds to understand how my suggestion could be interpreted.

“Oh, no! Apologies!” I quickly said as I turned back to look at Hunter. “No one needs to see you without a shirt on, if you do not wish it! You can have the backyard, and we'll ‘pull the curtains’ so no one may look at you whilst you recover.”

Titan Trapper Island had wooden window shutters to protect against the sun, so having ‘curtains’ was still a new concept to me.

Hunter looked down at his feet at that, his arms crossed, and his hands rubbing them for comfort. It was silent for a moment.

“I… I'm not ready for people to see me shirtless,” Hunter eventually admitted.

“Me neither!” I said, before placing a hand on his back to gently lead him to the backyard for his treatment.

“Wait!” Hunter said, making me stop my movements to look at him. “I don't have magic! I've never been able to cast a spell circle. Any magic I've ever done has happened through a staff.” Hunter looked nervously between Willow, Gus, Amity, and I.

“Yeah, I figured,” I deadpanned. “But I wasn't going to say anything about it. Not only is it obvious from the scan I just did, you and Luz really need to improve your situational awareness. You decided to have a secret conversation right underneath the tree in which I was patiently awaiting your sweet reunion to be completed so I could be properly introduced. I wasn't even trying to hide! If either of you had looked up you would have seen me!”

… So, maybe I wasn't quite over my frustration with my little clan and their preference for open combat over traditional hunting tactics.

“You…” Hunter gulped as he looked at me in panic. “... know…?”

“Yes,” I deadpanned once again, before lightening up. “Actually, I do believe you would excel at Cosmic Magic due to your body's natural ability to store cosmic energies. You would have to be careful not to over exhaust yourself, but you can always just use ambient energies like the rest of us or get your own galdorstone amulet.”

Hunter went from being panicked and overwhelmed, to staring with wide eyes in wonder. “I… can learn magic?”

I shrugged. “Let's test it, shall we?”

The record had told us of grimwalkers. Told to us by The Grand Huntsman himself back before the Divine Tablet broke in two. Alas, not everything about them was known, and this was purely a theory of mine.

I guided Hunter on how to feel and gather sun energy, followed by how to shape it into a flame and make it burst from his hand. Soon enough a bright blue flame rested on his palm.

With congratulations done, I exhorted him to the backyard - demanding the rest give me a moment alone with my patient. Here I had to reassure him that I didn't care about him being a grimwalker beyond what it meant for his health.

I felt like I was missing something on that front, but I gave him the reassurance he subconsciously requested.

Then I filled Hunter in on the details on his almost empty galdorstone, which I hadn't wanted to say where the rest could hear to respect his privacy, before I instructed him to try and use his newly learned technique to draw sun energy into the galdorstone in his chest.

Afterwards I pulled the curtains and left to give him privacy, returning once an hour - with my eyes closed till he had put his shirt back on - to check on his progress.

His galdorstone was fully charged by the time the sun had gone down.

《◇》

We had been in the Human Realm for two weeks now and we were nowhere closer to figuring out how to get back.

As a part of my new routine I would explore the forest around the clubhouse whenever the rest were doing their own things. And since I'd read about the local ‘animals’, I had taken the form of a white-tailed deer to explore. Like with the inmyeonjo, the instincts of the deer were easy to manipulate into letting me return to my witch form.

For the inmyeonjo I just had to convince myself that my curiosity was easier to satisfy as a witch. Usually I just reminded myself I would regain the ability to ask questions.

A white-tailed deer didn't care about satisfying its curiosity, as doing so could lead them to a vicious predator. But they were also ‘generally solitary’ animals. They would spend their time separately from their herd for the majority of the day, but gather at foraging areas for grazing and stay with the herd during winter. As such, all I had to do to convince my deer instincts to allow me to be a witch was to think of returning to my current herd. A herd which wouldn't allow me to enter the house as a deer.

Despite their relatively small size due to my age, the antlers had still taken some acclimating. The heightened senses were much easier in comparison. Even if an inmyeonjo's sense of smell wasn't anything in comparison to the white-tailed deer, I had taken the nose of beasts with powerful olfactory organs numerous times before.

And it was this olfactory sense which had me stop in my tracks.

What is that smell?

I had smelled it before, but not often enough that I could immediately place it.

It was a foul smell. Both wooden and organic in nature. Yet… Decaying in an unfamiliar way. Like how I imagined a timberwolf* with an infected wound might smell.

My deer instincts screamed at me to get away from the unknown smell and I had no choice but to obey and flee, my tail raised as a warning of nearby danger as I sprinted away.

Only once my instincts had deemed me safe could I wrestle back control of my body, convincing myself I had to warn my herd.

But as a witch I knew there was nothing for me to warn them about. I had smelled something new and as the prey animal I had been, I had panicked.

But now I was mighty curious as to what I had smelled.

As an inmyeonjo I had olfactory organs as powerful as your average witch. ‘Tis to say: Not particularly powerful.

But they had silent wings to allow for fast and undetected movement. And as I already knew roughly where the scent originated, I might not even need a good sense of smell to locate it.

《◇》

What is that?

Had I been in my witch form, I never would have noticed anything. But my inmyeonjo form was built to hunt using the ability to spot the movements of tiny beasts from the sky, high above the ground.

The creature in question looked like a sick and/or mutated deer mouse. It was so thin all its bones were visible and its fur was falling off in patches revealing a sickening, greenish goo, making it hard to identify as specifically a deer mouse. And oddest of it all: It had a pair of long - for its tiny size -, two pronged antlers on the top of its head.

I had read the book on the local fauna, front to back. None of the local rodents - mice or not - was supposed to have antlers or horns of any kind.

Which asked the question: What was it?

One thing was for sure: The greenish goo oozing from its body had to be where the smell originated.

But I needed to know more! Both as an inmyeonjo, but as a witch too.

So, I followed it, while doing my best to remain unseen.

The mouse creature wandered through the forest for some undetermined amount of time - time didn't mean much to an inmyeonjo, so I couldn't keep track of it - before stumbling on a Human Realm road. Here it began following the road and eventually it stumbled upon the dead body of an opossum.

It had been an exciting thing to discover that those actually existed.** Playing dead? What an odd survival strategy.

Now, a deer mouse would certainly eat carrion if it found some unguarded like this. Alas, ‘tis not what it did.

The greenish goo - which had miraculously never dropped a single drop throughout the entire journey - gathered in the air above the mouse creature, seemingly sucking out its remaining life, before diving into the carcass.

The skeleton of an average, antlerless deer mouse fell lifeless to the ground as the opossum reanimated and jumped to its feet, now with greenish goo patches of its own.

And a new pair of two pronged antlers on the top of its head.

It finally clicked.

Belos!

Chapter Text

Despite my reservations about The Grand Huntsman, Belos was still my archenemy. For should I end up deciding to switch my loyalty to another deity, King would be where my loyalty lay.

And King opposed Belos. As did my current clan.

There was no doubt in my mind that Belos was my enemy.

Alas. From what I had observed, Belos was a mighty foe. My training informed me gaining assistance with this hunt would be wise.

I had two problems with that:

What if we couldn't locate Belos after I had left to get my clan? I could and would natch cast the tracking spell, allowing me to easily find a beast or witch previously located for a full day, but I had to be prepared for Belos to both notice me doing so and dispelling it.

And getting assistance meant potentially putting them in danger. And as King's last act, before we got separated, was to - potentially - sacrifice himself to keep us - specifically Luz - safe… I couldn't possibly put anyone else in danger.

And I can't forget their preferred fighting style. No. This calls for subtlety. I can't outpower Belos, alone or not. If we had been able to outpower him collectively enough for our advantage in numbers to begin mattering, we would have won the last battle we had against him. Instead we had to be saved by the interference of The Grand Huntsman.

No. If we want any chance of winning against Belos, we need to outsmart him. Something the rest clearly haven't been trained in.

I continued to secretly observe opossum Belos as I made my plan.

It was a relatively simple plan: Lure him into a trap. Once restrained by the trap, kill him. Specifically with fire as his goo body didn't look like it could tolerate getting too dry.

And… well… Fire killed most things.

My inmyeonjo instincts were driven by curiosity, yes. But the need to protect the flock from danger was all-consuming as well, allowing me to think up plans to kill the predator in question without distractions from my instincts.

With the main plan decided on, I began thinking up contingencies in case each step went wrong.

If I couldn't lure him into a trap, I would hunt him down and catch him with a magically enforced, airtight net his slime body would be unable to escape from.

If he somehow escaped my trap I would rain cosmic flames from the energy of the evening sun till he dried, shriveled, and turned to ash and soot.

And if fire wasn't sufficient to kill him, I would use the sparse eclipse energy I had stored in my galdorstone to rip his spirit from his body.

But I would prefer not to have to use such a rare energy type if I could avoid it.

With my plan decided and contingencies in place, I began pondering on Belos's instincts to create the perfect lure and trap for him. What I knew about his past and goals from listening to those around me, but his survival instincts first and foremost.

Before he became this, he was a human like Luz, and he desires to kill all beings capable of using magic. He can't do any of that at the moment, but it speaks of aggression and a tendency to attack preemptively. Once trapped he'll fight viciously to escape, so I'll have to make the trap move with his movements.

When outside a host body, he appears to be small, much smaller than last we saw him. Alas, ‘tis possible he can change his size as well as his shape, or that he'll get a magical outburst of some sort which allows him to temporarily enlarge himself. Making sure the trap can not only follow his movements but stretch to accompany sudden growth would be a wise preparation to take.

As for the lure itself. Food doesn't appear to entice him or I would have seen him eat something by now.

I had left for the forest shortly after lunch and I had certainly missed dinner by now. Even if the hunt prevented me from feeling any hunger.

A mate would be just as uninteresting and definitely suspicious in this case. Shelter might be an option, but I doubt he cares about the well-being of his host.

… A new host perhaps. One in better condition than his current one. Perhaps a more ferocious species than an opossum as well?

I wasn't entirely sure whether a new host had to be dead, though I decided to err on the side of caution.

This lure, which would turn into a trap once Belos touched it, was no more complicated than what I was used to.

Normally the lure was a berry, a carcass, or a plant. It would be entirely stationary, except if the plant needed to sway with the wind, and the major challenge was to make it smell right. The hardest was if the beast was a predator which only ate living prey. Then one would have to truly animate the lure, make it smell correctly, and have it make the right sounds. Though I had never needed to make a lure like that.

Flying a suitable distance in front of opossum Belos, I located a perfect spot for my trap. The trees were further apart, though not so much as to make it a meadow or a clearing, making my lure easy to spot.

Returning to my witch form to answer the question of whether my plan would work, I drew a spell circle in the air. The Beastial Magic was first infused with the instincts needed for the trap: Aggression, a tendency to attack preemptively, and a vicious fighter. Trapped by a strong and airtight, yet fluid and elastic field of my magic.

Then I covered the trap with the lure and the instincts needed for it: The need for a new, stronger, and overall better body. The scent of a newly killed beast and the venom that killed it.

I didn't know how an actual coyote smelled, so I had it smell similar to a cerberus, hoping it was either close enough or that Belos didn't have a good enough nose to inform him of its scent in the first place.

Then I took my inmyeonjo form again to hide in the trees.

I didn't have to wait long.

The lure and trap worked exactly as intended.

Belos saw the ‘dead coyote’ looked around - but not up - for other predators before getting near it and discarding his opossum host for the new one.

As his goo body touched the lure it disappeared and activated the trap hidden underneath it. Once trapped by a force field made by Beastial Magic, Belos exploded in size as he fought to escape.

But as I had predicted that and created the trap to withstand such an attempt, it had no trouble keeping him trapped.

I waited for a bit up in the tree. Curiosity and caution demanded I wait to see if he had any other tricks and for him to tire himself out.

… That… was anticlimactic… I truly believed he would have something else to attempt. Everyone talked about him as if he was a powerful spellcaster, yet I hadn't seen him cast a single spell besides the one for his current goo form.

Either everyone was lied to about his actual battle prowess, or something has left him weakened.

Luz had told us the story of how she had tricked Belos into getting a sigil himself shortly before we arrived. But as it had been a sigil of ‘the Emperor's Coven’ it shouldn't be affecting his spellcasting without the draining spell in effect.

The reason doesn't matter, he has been successfully caught. ‘Tis time to ensure he stays dead this time.

I cackled in glee, something which drew Belos's attention to me as I flew down from my perch. Oh, how I'll enjoy this!

No matter from which angle I looked, Belos had wronged my god. Whether that god be The Grand Huntsman or King.

And as a born and raised Titan Trapper, that was something I couldn't allow to pass uncontested and unpunished.

I returned to my witch form and used Cosmic Magic to create blue flames from both hands.

He tried to beg for mercy, but I didn't grant it to him. I didn't listen, nor did I hesitate.

With one hand radiating fire on each side of the evil goo monster, Belos was quickly reduced to the ash and soot I had desired.

The trap was made to contain him. It didn't offer any protection against the heat.

Pulling the sun energy from my hands I checked the spot for any gooey remains and found none. To be fully certain he was truly gone, I then took my inmyeonjo form and pretended to fly away, only to circle around and observe the area for changes for several long minutes.

Nothing happened and I felt comfortable declaring my hunt a success and Belos fully deceased.

《◇》

I had barely stepped inside the house - once again a witch - when I was suddenly in the middle of a group hug with everyone asking where I'd been. They had all clearly been worried about me when I didn't come back in time for dinner. Camila had wanted to go look for me while the kids insisted I could take care of myself and had probably just lost track of time.

“Oh, I knew I was late for dinner,” I clarified as I was led to the table for said dinner, which the rest appeared almost done with.

I believe they might have waited some time for me, before assuming I would arrive much too late for it to make sense.

“But one does not stop in the middle of a hunt,” I continued. “Especially not if one has located a one of a kind prey.”

Camila and Vee looked uncomfortable for some reason, while the rest seemed interested in hearing what I had to say.

“What kind of prey were you hunting?” Luz asked in a tone of reserved judgment. Like there was a right or wrong answer to that question.

She doesn't truly believe I was hunting a titan, does she? I thought there was none in the Human Realm, so why would she even be worried about that?

“Belos,” I replied nonchalantly. Everyone gasped dramatically, but I simply continued talking. “It would appear getting thrown into a wall wasn't enough to kill him, though it did appear to have weakened him. He could no longer hold his own form and had to resort to possessing the corpses of animals. After having observed him for a time, I created a lure-trap in the form of a recently deceased coyote, which he fell for. Kinda pathetic, really. I certainly expected him to have bested my trap one way or another. Once he was trapped, I burned his gooey body till not a single drop of it remained.”

Having served myself during my storytelling, I took a bite as I finished.

It was silent for a couple of seconds.

“I don't believe you.” It was Hunter.

I hummed in thought as I considered how to prove my words. All material evidence had been burned away, but that wasn't the only way to prove one's words.

“Gus. You're a master of illusions, correct?” He nodded in reply to my question. “Did you ever learn how to enter another's mindscape?”

“Uhm… Yeah. I did.”

“Then I give you all full permission to enter my mindscape to watch the hunt through my memories.”

《◇》

It always felt weird to have someone run around in your mindscape.

If you didn't focus on it, it would feel like an itch in your mind. Something which didn't belong there and you wanted to scratch away, even as your hand couldn't physically touch the right area.

Someone studied in Mind Magic could focus on that itch, allowing them to identify exactly who was in there, what they were doing, and control their inner self to keep the intruders away from certain areas.

Or simply expel them from your mind if that was preferred.

As Gus took people - including Vee and Camila - into my mindscape two at a time, I focused inward and had my inner self appear near them, ready to guide them to the right memory.

Once outside my mind again, they all expressed how grateful they were for my actions during my recent hunt.

I simply questioned what my title should be. My clan would give people a title once they had done something to earn it. And with Belos having been such a powerful foe at one point, I felt like I had deserved one.

“Well…” Luz began in thought. “You come from a clan of Titan Trappers, but you have sworn off ever going after a titan. And you just took down a tyrant using a trap. So, why not Alvar, The Tyrant Trapper?”

“I love it!”

Chapter Text

We were in the clubhouse, once again brainstorming how to get back to the Demon Realm.

“Phillip's diary mentioned how natural portals between the two realms are created when Titan's Blood ends up in water,” Amity said out loud, though she appeared to be talking to herself. “But of course that's the problem in the first place. We don't have any Titan's Blood.”

The reminder darkened the atmosphere, but I was distracted by this new piece of information. “Do you, by any chance, know how that works?”

Amity looked up at me before shaking her head. “Sorry. I don't.”

I nodded, and Amity went back to look at the paper she was writing her brainstorm on.

Titan's Blood is powerful beyond comprehension, but why would it react to water by creating a portal? And why would the portal it created lead to the Human Realm specifically?

… Portals are bridges between two distant places and to create a portal one must have a destination in mind. Titan's Blood could be both the energy source as well as a connection to the Demon Realm. If that's the case, then water would have to be the indicator that the other side should lead to the Human Realm…

“Luz?” She gave me her attention. “Does water have any special connection to the Human Realm?”

She narrowed her eyes in thought. “I don't think so… I mean, we do have an awful lot of it. About 70 or so procent of the planet is covered in water. But the Demon Realm seemed to have about the same amount of water, so that isn't all that special.” Luz shrugged.

“It might seem that way, but more than half the planet is actually covered with sky-high mountains too tall for life to thrive there,” I informed the human with several of the others backing up my statement. “As a realm, we do not have as much water as it may at first appear.”

“In that case,” I continued my thought process out loud. “The Titan's Blood would have been both the energy source and an anchor to the Demon Realm, while the water pointed the created portal to the Human Realm. The most simple portal we can create must therefore have those three components: An energy source powerful enough to create the portal. Something connected to the realm we are in, and something connected to the realm we want to get to.”

“And once again, we don't have any Titan's Blood,” Hunter reminded us. “And I certainly don't think Human Realm ‘batteries’ are gonna have enough power to open a portal.”

I shook my head. “Even if it did, it likely has to be a magical energy source to create a portal.”

Disappointed, the conversation fell silent.

A powerful and magical energy source…

Could we maybe make one? It would take some time to fill it with a suitable amount of our magic, but perhaps we could.

What would we fill with magic? It would have to be able to contain and store our magic.

Like my galdorstone!

But galdorstones can't store bile, just cosmic energies. Still doable, though.

I pushed a bit of sun energy into my galdorstone to scout its fullness.

I forgot I had eclipse energy in there.

… Eclipse energy is powerful. I don't know how it compares to Titan's Blood, but I do ween, ‘tis powerful enough to create a portal.

My body began shaking in barely contained excitement as I considered the thought.

Eclipse energy is known for its proficiency in splicing things and turning one thing into another. We don't want to accidentally destroy one part of either realm or change anything in either. We simply want to turn ‘us in the Human Realm’ into ‘us in the Demon Realm’, which should be possible.

Though, perchance I should add a bit of star energy to the spell to indicate that the two realms should still be separated and whole. Luz lives here so we definitely want to be able to return with the place remaining unchanged.

So. Eclipse energy as the main energy source with star energy to guide the spell where eclipse energy might otherwise falter. Then we just need something to represent each of the two realms.

Water could be used for the Human Realm, but what about the Demon Realm? As mentioned aplenty, we don't have any Titan's Blood.

… But we do have witch's blood! With eclipse energy we don't need the magical power of Titan's Blood, we just need something from the Demon Realm!

And while we could use water for the Human Realm aspect, if we're using witch's blood the dualism of using human's blood would further power the portal, making it last longer.

And since we're using the blood of a witch and a human and we have a fitting pair of lovers with us, using their blood specifically would enhance the spell even further! It might even make the portal completely permanent if they're a perfect match!

Not that I would mention that part in case the portal didn't last past a year.

But if this worked and it still worked after a year, I would certainly inform them of their suitability.

For now I would inform my current clan of how we were going home.

《◇》

Having explained my theory, the rest were eager to test it out. I summoned a pair of hunting knives - my skinning and boning knives - from my hammerspace - currently almost completely filled with my titan disguise, though it still contained my survival kit and tools - and disinfected them with a flame created by sun energy.

After handing Luz and Amity a knife each, I took off my galdorstone amulet to hold the underside of the crystal in front of me with both of my hands.

“I'm going to do my best to shape the eclipse and star energy to make us a portal to the Demon Realm,” I informed the others. “When I give you the go ahead, I want you both to bleed on the galdorstone. Preferably we want both of your blood to hit the crystal at the same time, but either way, this should work.”

“Then you should probably cut yourselves first and turn your hands on the signal,” Gus suggested.

The two lovers looked at each other, before their eyes were filled with determination as they nodded.

With a wince each, their hands were cut and bleeding.

I began shaping the energies in the galdorstone.

Change our position from one realm to another, I told the eclipse energy as I shaped it.

Make the two realms one and the same in this one spot, yet separate in all others, I ordered the star energy as I shaped it.

“Now,” I calmly commanded the girls.

They turned their hands and their blood dripped onto the galdorstone as one.

From the Human Realm to the Demon Realm, I informed the eclipse energy as I shaped it with the two types of blood.

Let us be one and yet different, I pleaded of the star energy as I shaped it with the blood of lovers from different realms.

The galdorstone absorbed their blood like a dry sponge before glowing like it never had before.

“Did it work?” Luz asked after another moment of silence.

“Indeed…” I said, even as there was no portal to be seen. “I can feel it. The portal is simply condensed inside the galdorstone. I only need to-”

I pulled the portal out of the galdorstone, telling it where to go and to enlarge once it arrived there. The glow disappeared from the galdorstone as a perfectly circular portal appeared near a wall inside the clubhouse. The other side of the portal was tilted slightly yellow by the portal itself, but the leaves of the tree were still visibly pink on thither side.

“We did it,” Luz said, stunned. Like she didn't quite believe it. “WE DID IT!” She shouted.

Soon enough, we were all celebrating.

《◇》

Instead of going straight through the portal, once I had reassured everyone of its permanency, it was decided that we needed to give Camila and Vee a proper farewell before we left.

From what I could tell from the connection between the portal and the galdorstone, the two couldn't be far apart, and if separated the portal would jump and shrink back into the galdorstone to be with its energy source and destination indicators. And as long as it was inside the galdorstone, both sides of the portal were inaccessible.

As for the energy fueling the portal, it was simultaneously a part of the portal itself and yet still contained within the confines of the galdorstone. The eclipse and star energy was there and yet I could feel how they were no longer free for me to use.

I would have to suffice with only having access to sun and moon energies till nightfall.

At least the rare and powerful eclipse energy had gone to a cause worthy of it.

And with all we had done to make the portal last, it didn't appear to burn through its fuel fast, if at all.

I glanced at the two lovers as we half walked, half danced through the forest back towards Luz’s home in our happiness.

Maybe those two are more suitable for each other than I expected.

《◇》

Camila insisted on joining us, while Vee volunteered to stay behind.

Luz, Amity, Gus, and Willow recognized the pink tree and suggested we check out their school first as it was so incredibly close by it would be moronic not to. They had called the tree The Grom Tree, and I had to ask what a tree had done to gain a title, which they had excitedly explained. Given the location's connection to the two lovers, I immediately understood why the portal had sent us here.

Now that I had been on both sides of the portal, I could tell that while it wasn't connected to any specific location in the realm my galdorstone was in, it had a specific location in mind for the destination. If we started in the Human Realm the portal would always lead to The Grom Tree. And if we started in the Demon Realm it would lead to our clubhouse.

The destination indicators were lovers' blood. Natch, the specific location would be somewhere special to their love, and as such, the destinations of the portal would certainly one day change. As for right now, The Grom Tree symbolized their love, while the clubhouse represented Luz’s original arrival in the Demon Realm, and thus their eventual meeting.

When we got to the school, we discovered that it had apparently been turned into an improvised fortress for children and teenagers, with all the adults having been turned into puppets by The Grand Huntsman and teleported to The Archive House above the skull of the Boiling Isles titan.

I couldn't believe my eyes, seeing how unruly these people were! There was no organization, no discipline or sense of consequences!

These people are not acting their age. They're acting like infants!

Had all the adults of my own island disappeared, I could guarantee life would have resumed roughly as always. We had all been trained in surviving unexpected situations.

Something the people of the Boiling Isles didn't consider worthy of their time to teach their youths.

I did not like the ‘New Hexside’ part of our journey.

《◇》

The place caved in, separating Luz, Camila, and I from Amity and Matt. Each group left with their own opponent to fight.

Then suddenly Luz called for a retreat as she turned herself and her mom invisible. With one last slam from the spiked, bony club at the end of my digmaul tail, I got distance from my opponent and once again took the form of an inmyeonjo. Hoping to lead them away from Luz and Camila, I flew in another direction till the odd Titan Rot Golem and its master had lost sight of me.

Then I turned back around and gave my eyesight a paw trail tracking ability, once I had returned to where I had last seen the two.

This ability only worked when you knew where a beast - or witch or human - had previously been, and as such wouldn't have been helpful to me back when I was tracking Belos by scent.

But this time I knew where they had been and could track their footsteps from there.

Unfortunately it seemed Kikimora had circled back around as well, as we found the human pair at roughly the same time.

Chapter Text

After the teleportation to the skull of the Boiling Isles titan, created based on Luz’s memory, it was a simple matter of a short flight directly upwards to get to The Archive House. Once there we found King - dressed in similar clothes to The Grand Huntsman - trying to tell The Grand Huntsman a story, only for the god to constantly interrupt him.

Luz took the lead here and was supported by a surprised King. He seemed happy to see her and yet worried for her safety, though he didn't mention either. It simply sat in his body language as a stiffness just before a jump.

Then, as it was revealed that The Grand Huntsman didn't understand the concept of death, Eda appeared from a hidden corner to support the two. Eda too was happy to see Luz and only barely refrained from running towards her for a hug. Her walk appeared casual to all but the experienced, but surely both Luz and King could feel her nerves in the group hug she gave them as a part of her speech to The Grand Huntsman.

The Grand Huntsman seemed surprised The Old Lady wasn't in her owl beast form for some reason, but Eda simply said she finally got back control again.

Luz convinced the god to allow them to show him how they became friends rather than simply hear about it, and Camila was quick to demand/suggest she joined them too. She claimed she wanted to know the stories herself, but I felt sure everyone could hear the parental worry in her voice.

Amity was about to suggest she join as well but The Grand Huntsman had grown impatient and swooped up the four of them and flown off on a two dimensional star.

“What do we do now?” Hunter questioned after a moment.

“We find out where they put our families,” Willow commanded before leading the charge deeper into The Archive House.

It didn't take long before we found a room filled with puppets.

“So…” I began slowly. “How do we wake them up? Do we just wait for The Grand Huntsman to come back?”

My studies of Cosmic Magic hadn't prepared me for this scenario.

“Think about it,” Hunter began, realization in his voice. “What's the first thing you do when you wake up from a bad sleep?”

“You turn on the light!” Amity replied with excited realization in hers.

《◇》

The Grand Huntsman was seemingly annoyed in a pouting way that we had freed everyone without him, but was quickly pacified by Eda. Then he began undoing the changes he had made to the isles and helped people get down to the ground far below us.

We helped too, natch.

《◇》

“I actually considered ripping Eda's arm off during the draining spell,” Raine revealed as we were recounting what had happened since we last saw each other. We were back in the house Hooty, King, and Luz had originally stopped by, back when I followed them unseen from the air. It was apparently named The Owl House.

The title made sense. There was a lot of owl imagery.

Hooty had vomited completely dry furniture shortly after we arrived, which I promptly decided not to question for the sake of my own sanity.

“But I remembered your reassurance that the plan would work,” Raine continued. “That it would look like it wouldn't, till just before the end. Just as dramatic as Eda herself.” They winked at Eda, who responded with a slight blush.

《◇》

It was the middle of the night before the excitement of the day had worn off and Camila stated she and Luz had to get back home to get some sleep and inform Vee of our successful mission. Luz was quick to offer for both Hunter and I to stay at her house as long as we wanted. Something Camila quickly backed up and Eda counter offered with her own house.

Hunter wanted to stay with Luz, feeling more comfortable around her and Camila than he did Eda.

I had heard King lived in The Owl House.

I decided to gratefully accept Eda's offer.

After sending Camila, Luz, and Hunter back to The Human Realm using my galdorstone portal and them promising to come for dinner the next day with the rest of the inhabitants of The Owl House, the remaining people began leaving for their own homes as well. King gave The Grand Huntsman a bunny plush before the god left for The Archive House for the night.

I was then introduced to Luz’s room where I was told I could sleep.

Natch, I perched on the windowsill as I slept.

《◇》

A couple of days passed as the people of the Boiling Isles recovered and began finding their new normal.

King acted surprisingly cat-like a lot of the time.

The Grand Huntsman came by daily to play with King and every time it became clearer and clearer to me that The Grand Huntsman didn't simply possess the body of a child due to his immortality.

No. The Grand Huntsman was actually a child.

Gods probably just mature slower. They're immortal, after all. They can take their time.

The young god learned at one point during those days that our only way to and from the Human Realm was through the portal connected to my galdorstone, and he immediately decided to make us a new door variant.

He didn't seem to do this out of the kindness of his heart, but it was unclear whether he did it as an apology for his behavior or as a way to barter for our friendship.

《◇》

Having lived with Eda and Lilith for several days now, I felt more confident one of the two would allow me to look closer at their curses.

I concluded it was more possible that Eda might accept my request, so I asked her first: “May I be permitted to enter your mindscape, Eda? I wish to study your curse more closely, if I may. Natch you may demand for me to be escorted by anyone of your pick. The mindscape is precious to a witch and I would never-”

“Cut it, Birdie,” Eda interrupted my request. I wasn't certain exactly when Eda had decided to nickname me Birdie, but it was surely a reference to my favorite form. I was quite honored that she liked me enough to nickname me, though I wasn't confident enough in my understanding of the foreign custom to reciprocate myself and give her a nickname in return.*

“I get it,” Eda said with an eyeroll. “If you want to enter my mindscape to check out the owl beast for yourself, you're more than welcome to. And I know enough Illusion magic to know what you're doing while you're in there, so don't worry about getting a babysitter. I'll even tell the owl beast you're coming, so it doesn't get surprised or anything.”

“Oh… All correct then.” I nodded before drawing the circle on the ground around my feet. Then I willed myself into Eda's mind.

A mindscape would always contain an environment representing something safe. Home, a secret hideout, a favorite hobby, or something similar. As such, it came as no surprise that Eda's mindscape was a replica of her home.

Granted, the replica had no door to the outside nor any stairs, a seemingly infinite number of rooms and just as many memory portraits on the doors to said rooms, but such was the nature of mindscapes.

I had no intention of entering any of Eda's memories. I was simply looking for the glauxgriffin she called the owl beast. Much like the inner Eda, I expected him to be wandering these eternal halls.

《◇》

“Ah?!” Exclaimed Luz as I left Eda's mind about half an hour later. The human hadn't been there when I entered the mind of The Owl Lady, so her presence surprised me. Though, seemingly not as much as my own presence surprised her. “Where did you come from?!”

I shrugged with a mischievous smile. “Eda's mind.”

“So…?” Eda began. “Discover anything interesting in there?”

I turned to look at her as I nodded. “Indeed! The owl beast was wonderfully compliant and let me cast all the spells I wished on him. As I suspected this is a simple ‘two people in one body’ kind of situation, where the two individuals are bound together with Cosmic Magic. The binding is mainly powered with star energy, which stays in the body better than the other types of cosmic energies and is what allows you to pull your limbs off without severe consequences.”

Just to emphasize the fact that I actually knew what I was talking about, I then proceeded to take off my hand, wave it, before putting it back where it belonged.

“What complicates the situation,” I continued. “Is the pouligriffin's natural anti-magic defenses. If the owl beast had been anything but a pouligriffin, you never would have lost your magic.”

“Really…?” Eda said with slight interest. The kind that said ‘interesting bit of factoid, but not something actually useful to me’.

A glance at Luz showed me a much more excited face.

I nodded. “Anyway. Now that I've had time to study the bond between you, I feel confident I can split you apart. The spell does need eclipse energy and all of mine is tied up in the portal we made to return to the Demon Realm. Thus I'm unable to split the two of you at this very moment. What I-” I was cut off.

“You can cure Eda's curse?!” Luz shouted.

Eda simply stared blankly at the wall behind me.

I shrugged again as I nodded. “Indeed. Once I have access to the needed eclipse energy. Either solar or lunar. Both would work for this. Solar is rarer and more powerful, but lunar is good enough for something like this, where we are simply splitting an amalgamation who were originally two different individuals in the first place.”

It was silent for a couple of seconds. Then Eda shook her head and spoke up: “As much as I want my magic back, I've gotten quite used to the birdbrain. It would be… odd… to…”

She was clearly struggling to word her feelings, but fortunately I had already gotten the spark of her meaning and had a solution ready.

“You don't have to say more, Eda,” I reassured her. “As I was attempting to say before I was interrupted, I do have something I can do for you right now. And we don't have to completely split the two of you if neither one is willing. I can…”

I paused to look for the right word, only to find my lexicon lagging. Just one word couldn't describe the process. “... separate your bile and magical pathways from the anti-magic defenses of the owl beast, while still keeping you in the same body. I would only be using star energy to do this, rather than eclipse energy like I suggested before. Eclipse energy is for splitting or changing something from one state to another, where star energy can separate things while keeping them together.”

I pulled off my hand again, this time showing Luz and Eda the two areas where it had been connected. I also wiggled my fingers to show my hand's continued motor control. “I'm not bleeding to death and I still have full control over my hand. Because according to my hand - my blood vessels and nerves - ‘tis still connected to my arm and my body. The star energy allows for separation even as the two parts stay together.”

I put my hand back on again. “Which is what I suggest we do to allow you to use magic again. The owl beast would still share your body, and you would continue to have access to your harpy form. Magic aimed at you would corrupt, but any magic originating from yourself would be cast without being affected by the owl beast.”

Luz nearly deafened me with her excitement, and Eda's enthusiastic plea for me to do it was nearly as loud.

At least Eda was quick to pretend to be calm and collected - and thus not as loud - even if she was still clearly just as excited.

Chapter Text

With their bile and magical pathways separated, yet still united, from the anti-magic defenses of their respective pouligriffins by the wonder that was star energy, Lilith and Eda had regained their magic. Magic that they were now using for every little thing, simply due to the joy of having access to it once more.

Though in Eda's case, due to her sigil, this was mostly Bard magic and the more general spells like simple levitation.

Days passed and The Grand Huntsman came by to say his farewell. He had come to realize that he had much growing up to do and that it would be better for everyone that he did it amongst his own people. Out there in the vast cosmos.

I nodded. “Well met and farewell,” I spoke my clan's customary send-off. “I do believe ‘tis about time I return to my own people as well. I have learned a tremendous amount about the world, titans, and you, Grand Huntsman, and ‘tis time for me to share this newfound knowledge with my people.”

“How are you gonna get back?” King questioned. “We destroyed the portal-thingy to your island, remember?”

“And what if your people don't believe you?” Luz added. “They've hated titans for so long, I can't imagine they'd believe you based on just your words.”

“Then I'll join you!” The Grand Huntsman declared with a floating twirl. “That way they'd have to believe you!”

My eyes opened wide at the thought of my clan's deity joining me for a trip to convince my people, titans weren't giant monsters of death and destruction as we had always been told.

“Then I'll come too!” King declared himself. “That way, they'll have to believe we're friends!”

“Don't leave me out of this!” Luz added with an excited smile. “I wanna come too!”

《◇》

With The Grand Huntsman on our side - literally, and wasn't that a weird thought -, we had no trouble locating and arriving on Titan Trapper Island. And convincing my clan that titans weren't evil and destructive were easy with the presence of both our god and a kind, baby titan.

When The Grand Huntsman first heard the groveling voice of Bill, he mentioned out loud that he remembered him. And that Bill's behavior while talking to The Grand Huntsman back when The Elder was young was the main reason the young god had broken the Divine Tablet in two and stopped all communication.

… But apparently the clan had always been ‘jerks’. Bill's ‘weird’ behavior was simply the last straw.

It was clear to all that Bill had more than lost the prestige his title of Elder had given him.

In other news: As The Grand Huntsman would soon be leaving and as our clan no longer wished any harm to titans and would rather protect the baby instead, we had held a vote on a new name for our clan.

Our clan was now King's Counsel, our island the Island of The Huntsman, and our people were King's Counselors.

No longer would we devote our lives to hunting titans above all! Instead we would seek to guide and aid King and his future descendants, should he have any.

《◇》

“What are your plans now?” Luz asked as we were walking through the streets of my home. The Grand Huntsman had already left for the cosmos, but had made us a new teleporter before he left for easy access to the Boiling Isles. As such, King and Luz had plans to stay for a couple of days and had asked me to show them around.

I shrugged. “While the hunt for titans is over, I still wish to have a companion beast of my own. And I still wish to go on hunts for dangerous beasts. Barring that, I do not know. Fortunately I still have two years till I have to decide on a permanent trade for myself. I am in no rush to decide.”

“A companion beast? You mean, like a pet?” Luz questioned.

I shook my head. “While some certainly treat their companion beasts like pets, mine would be a hunting companion. So, we may be able to attack our opponent from either side in an unexpected pincer maneuver.”

“Oh… Smart thinking.” The human nodded in satisfaction. “Any idea what kind of beast you want?”

I shrugged. “A predator, as we are to hunt together. Preferably something with the ability to fly as I'm quite fond of being in my inmyeonjo form. I don't have a specific beast in mind, however.”

“What beast do you think would fit me best?” King spoke up, seemingly a bit annoyed he hadn't been a part of the conversation for a couple of minutes, though he did his best to hide this. “I tried to tame a trash slug once, but once I ran out of food it tried to eat me. So perhaps something easier to train. But it still needs to be an awesome beast or it won't be worth it!”

“The titans of old used leviathans as their seamounts,” I mentioned. “Much like with titans, my clan has had a tendency to slay any leviathans we encounter, so unfortunately I'm unable to inform you of how easy it is to tame one. As for their awesomeness: Their heated breaths are the reason the Boiling Seas are boiling and their impenetrable scales may only be harmed by Cosmic Magic.” I pointed to one of the leviathan skulls on the horizon. “That right there. Is the skull of an adult leviathan. Certainly big enough to carry an adult titan on its back while swimming at full speed.”

King stared at the skull in the horizon for several moments. Then he slowly turned around to look at me with starry eyes. “I. Want. One.”

《◇》

The first step in getting King his own leviathan was to get a crustacean to lure it with. We could have used a lure-trap without the need for an actual crustacean, but King insisted he wanted to befriend the beast, rather than trap and tame it.

So, a real crustacean, it was.

King was still a baby titan, so we decided not to attempt to lure in an adult leviathan, but a young one instead. Preferably one only just old enough to have left the safety of their mother, as they would be easier to deal with should anything go wrong.

As we weren't aiming for an adult, our crustacean of choice was a nkala rather than the massive keelbreaker crab. The nkala had a shell about as wide as half the height of an adult witch, two identical heads on either side of it shaped like that of a hippopotamus, as well as the typical legs and claws of a crab.

While I had caught the nkala for him, King wanted to handle it himself when it came to luring in his companion beast. Understandable. Thus I simply called out instructions and reminders, while letting the baby titan do the actual work.

… That. And I also did all the Beastial Magic needed to secure the nkala and stop any other beasts from wanting to eat it.

“Nkalas can kill you by eating your shadow, so make sure your shadow doesn't fall into its cage,” I told King, making him take a couple of steps back before approaching from a different angle. “Now secure the cage to the reinforced rope before lowering it into the water. The cage has been enchanted to repel all beasts but our desired quarry and to enhance the scent of the beast within it to better lure in a leviathan.”

King lowered the nkala into the steaming water beneath the pier, careful not to allow his shadow to fall into the cage.

Then we waited in quiet conversation.

《◇》

“Congratulations King. ‘Tis a boy.”

Seeing King tame a young leviathan, still three times his own height and eight times his height in length, was astounding. Once the beast had shown himself, King pulled the cage out of the water - now boiling more than ever in the near presence of a leviathan - and opened it to feed the nkala to the newcomer.

After eating the offering the leviathan looked at King in curiosity, ignoring the presences of both Luz and myself.

King looked right back in curious silence.

Then he walked to the edge of the pier and stretched out an arm. Clawed hand reaching for the beast, but not able to touch him.

The leviathan sniffed his claw, making heated air curl around the titan, though King didn't seem bothered by the heat.

Then he slowly placed his snout against King's clawed hand, closing his eyes in trust.

That was not how it normally went. He shouldn't already trust King. Though I did suspect this was due to titans and leviathans being natural allies.

Under normal circumstances one would have to tame and befriend a beast over, at least, several days. Though months or years could be required depending on the beast in question. Only after you had gained its loyalty could you cast the marker required for summoning it later on. If the beast wasn't loyal to you, the spell marker would disappear nearly immediately.

This process could be made easier by doing things like giving the beast food enchanted with Beastial Magic, but it would still end up a somewhat lengthy process.

And only once you could summon your beast, would it be considered a true beastial companion.

Yet. King had already gained that trust and fealty. I might not be an expert on leviathans themselves, but with a quick spell my Beastial Magic informed me of the leviathan's instincts.

And King was already considered family.

《◇》

Before Luz and King traveled home with King's new companion beast, we, King's Counselors, had one last ceremony we needed their presence for:

The burial of our titan disguises.

The burial of King's siblings.

And the burial of our old lives.

For we were Titan Trapper no more.

We had become something new: We were King's Counselors.