Chapter Text
Luz knocked down the door, and found herself in a huge, circular room. In front of her stood the Archivists - four god-like beings from the stars, the Collector's siblings who sent him to be trapped for millions of years, the ones who made Eda's curse, and the beings who killed all but one of the Titans.
"It's over, Archivists." said Luz, her voice echoing round the chamber, "We've freed Eda and King, and now I'm all powered up. We're ready to take you down."
An Archivist with a red star covering their face looked down towards the group. "I must congratulate you, child." He said, "No mortals have ever been able to get so close to us before."
Her voice shaky, Luz shouted up at them, "And now we're going to defeat you! Now you're going to pay for everything you've done!"
"And how do you plan to do that?" asked another Archivist, their face shrouded by a blue crescent shape.
The Archivist with a planet symbol covering their face turned to them. "Be cautious Artemis, they have three Titans on their side."
"Three Titans?" Asked Luz, gesturing to her group "Only one of us is a Titan - well, two, if you count me."
"Pah," replied the Archivist named Artemis, ignoring Luz, "We have dealt with more powerful foes. The Titan this party lives on was slain by members of my order."
"Be that as it may, they still pose a threat. And your... trappers, as they call themselves, appear to have grown soft over the centuries, unable to even end the life of a single baby Titan. Need I remind you that it is only with the blood of the Owl Lady that we were able to free you from your prison." Countered the Archivist with the red star, "The Owl Titan is a formidable opponent, as we learned from Apollo's... fate."
Eda's eyes widened. The Owl Titan? Were the Archivists afraid of her curse? And what was that about the trappers - was this the Grand Huntsman Luz and King had mentioned?
The Archivists shifted with discomfort at the mention of their fallen older sibling, remembering how his cloak had faded to gray as he hunted the beast that had cursed him, and how the yellow crescent covering his face had faded before finally going dark over the course of his final days after capturing the monster.
The Archivist with the red star looked down at the group of Titans and witches, and spoke. "Listen to me carefully." He said, in a deep voice that echoed throughout the room, "I am Ares, Warmongerer. When mortals like you interfere with us, I am the one who will clean the planet and scorch the air. I am the commander of war and death. Leave this place, and return the captive Titans, and I shall show mercy in my justice."
Luz was taken aback. "Do you really just expect me to leave my friends here and give up?" She asked.
Ares leant down close to her face. "You will, if you wish to live."
In response, Luz summoned her Palisman and pointed it towards the Archivist, with King's glyphs circling round her arms and glowing brightly.
"You have made your choice." He said, standing tall and pointing his palm at the group. "So be it." Ares charged a beam of energy and fired it - but Luz conjured up a forcefield that blocked the attack.
This would be a difficult fight.
The battle went on for hours, the Archivists firing attack after attack at the group, hoping to tire them out or to catch one of them off guard - but despite all their power, the Archivists couldn't hurt the Titans or any other member of the group - their magic simply couldn't get past pure Titan's magic.
Normally, when dealing with a Titan, the Archivists would have others - witches, demons, anyone else - do their work for them, to get past the Titan's magic. At the very least they'd have weapons prepared, they'd have followers who would use their own power to create the Archivists things that would contain or kill the Titans.
But, for all their power and knowledge, the Archivists never thought they could be attacked on their own ground. Despite their strength, when the Archivists were alone and faced with a Titan, there was nothing they could do. That was why they were so afraid of them - that was why the Titans had to go.
The Archivists were strong, but as the Titans and witches fired attack after attack at them whilst their own attacks had no effect, they slowly began to run out of strength, and they knew there was no way they'd win the fight.
"Artemis, Hermes, Athena." Coughed Ares, struggling to speak, "We cannot win this fight - not today. We have only one option left."
The other Archivists looked at each other with uncertainty, then nodded.
Turning their attention from the group, the four Archivists focused their power together into a massive wave of energy, washing across the world.
"Everyone, get behind me!" Shouted Luz, creating another forcefield. It managed to hold up for a few seconds, but it quickly began to crack and splinter as the flow of magic crashed against it. The forcefield held off a large amount of the attack, but eventually parts of the spell broke through the guard, rays of light penetrating the shield - and everything went white.
"You're not going anywhere." The strange woman said, turning around to look at Luz.
Luz yelped, turning around and running back the way she came, shoving her book into her bag, before looking up to a strange sight. Instead of being outside the building she had just ran into, Luz was in some kind of other world, with huge bones supporting various strange buildings made mostly of white stone and red tiles.
The sight was unusual and weird, yet something about it felt... familiar.