The angel of the owl house

Gus listened to her lessons closely, adding them to what she and Amity had taught him the previous week. He was confident he had the basics down, but his attempts to create ice only resulted in some mild frost and bursts of very cold air. The best he'd managed on his own was a few snowflakes, which was kind of demoralising, and it wasn't helped by the fact he just couldn't manipulate the ice he or Luz created with glyph magic. He'd tried his best, reaching out with his magic in an attempt to shape the ice like he did his illusions, but it completely failed. It just felt too rigid, like he was trying to shape a brick like it was a wad of clay. Luz had repeatedly told him that ice was the element of change, fluidity, and protection, but despite that being a good fit for an Illusionist like Gus, he simply couldn't make it work!

It was frustrating and depressing him even further, which was making Luz anxious in turn, leaving her desperate for a way to make things better. The only bright spot in the lessons was that Gus's imagination meant he could create some truly detailed ice sculptures using ice glyphs; he couldn't make them move or shape them after they were made, but they were usually so impressive that he didn't need to, and Luz was sure to lavish him with praise. Gus found it sweet, but he wasn't satisfied; simply being able to picture what you want and then tapping a pre-drawn glyph felt underwhelming, especially since it relied on the magic of the Isles and not his own.

Before his mood could spiral any further, Matt called out to him and Luz.

"Guys, I think we've hit the first real obstacle."

Luz and Gus looked up to see Matt and Rasiel examining the massive wall of thorns, which seemed to be stretched over the entrance to a natural cave formed from petrified tree roots. The thorns were thick and razor sharp, and there was no clear way through, meaning they'd have to remove them to get through.

"Looks like you're up, Luz." Gus said.

The young angel nodded and drew a plant glyph in the air to take control of the thorns. A green aura surrounded them briefly, before fading away, making Luz frown. She stepped forward and gingerly snapped the tip off one of the thorns, then crumpled it in her fingers, watching it turn to dust.

"These thorns are old and dead. I can only control living plants, so I can't move them." she said.

"Can't you revive them?" Matt asked.

Luz shook her head; "Sorry, but no. I can help plants heal if they're still alive, but I can't revive dead ones. Willow might have been able to, but I bet even she'd struggle with all this."

"Then we'll just have to blast our way through. Want to whip out one of those big light blasts of yours?" Matt grinned. He'd loved watching Luz blast away at Grometheus; what guy wouldn't love watching someone shoot literal lasers from their hands?

Luz nodded and prepared to charge up a big light beam, but Rasiel stopped her with a gesture, then phased through the thorns to see what was on the other side. He returned a moment later and shook his head; "Not a good idea, Luz. The tunnel beyond these thorns is precarious; the ceiling is made from ancient roots that look to be on the verge of crumbling. If you clip some of them, the whole root system could collapse and the trees could fall and block our path even more."

Luz grimaced; "I'd rather not have to destroy huge chunks of the forest just to keep going, so I guess we'll have to do this the slow way."

Instead of firing a huge beam, she created long, thin light beam from her palm and began waving it around like a Lightsaber, hacking away at the thorns. It wasn't difficult work, but it would take a while to get through so many thick vines and thorns. As such, Mattholomule decided to help out by using construction magic to create a pair of stone machetes, one of which he handed to Gus.

"Uh, Matt? Not to be a downer, but these don't have the greatest edges…" Gus frowned, running his finger down the edge of the stone machete. It was as blunt as a butter knife, and would need a lot of force behind it.

Matt rolled his eyes; "I know that, you dork! It's hard to make a good edge using stone without taking a lot of time, so I figured you could make some ice razors along the edge."

Gus bit his lip, not feeling too confident. He picked up a small rock off the floor and used it to carve a crude ice glyph into the sides of the machete blades, then imagined what he wanted and tapped the glyphs. The blades of each Machete became coated in a thin but strong layer of ice, and it formed a razor sharp edge that would be great for hacking away at the vines. Matt demonstrated by slashing at some of them, then grinning as his blade cut through them like butter.

"See? It works. Guess you're not as useless as you think you are." Matt smirked, before getting to work.

Gus's eyes widened; "How did you know…?"

"I overheard your talk with Luz on the front steps of the school. You seemed to be having a moment, so I waited for you to be done before I came out." Matt said with a shrug; "Personally, I don't get it. The illusion you pulled on me back when I was a jerk to Luz and King, as well as the illusion you used on the Detention Pit itself… they didn't feel like something a useless person could do. But I guess that's the problem with you high achiever types; one screw up and you lose all confidence."

Gus huffed as he began helping hack away at the vines too; "Didn't you skip a grade too?"

"Yeah, but I originally went to Glandus and was the bottom of the social ladder. I didn't have any confidence to lose. You and Luz are the only reason I have any now. Guess that's another thing you're good for, eh Shorty?" Matt smirked.

"I'm not that much shorter than you! I'll hit my growth spurt any day now!" Gus protested hotly, even as he felt warmth in his chest. His confidence grew a little, and Luz and Rasiel shared a secret smile, having obviously overheard everything.

With the three working together, it didn't take much longer for them to clear the way through the thorns and vines, and the three were able to continue on their journey. Gus, now with a little more confidence and enthusiasm, continued trying to improve his control over ice magic. He didn't make much progress, but he refused to let himself feel down again; he couldn't let just one or two failures and setbacks ruin things!

The thorn-covered tunnel ended up being roughly the halfway point to the Looking Glass Ruins, and Matt and Rasiel led them on a convoluted path that frequently had them going back on themselves. It didn't make any sense, but Rasiel (who had the keenest magical senses) could feel them passing through extremely subtle magical sensors.

"I think whoever built these ruins must have hidden it with some advanced magic. Only those who follow the exact path would pass through all the sensors and open the real path forward." he theorised.

"I guess that makes sense." Luz said, looking up at the sky. Since leaving the tunnel, the forest had consisted of mostly evergreen (or rather, Ever Red) trees that made the sky clearly visible and eliminated the need for light. "If the ruins were just out in the open, people would have found them by now. I mean, witches and demons must fly over this area with their staves all the time when heading out of Bonesborough."

"Not as often as you'd think, actually." Gus said, "Both of the Titan's Palms are deserts, but while the left palm is home to Palm Stings, a resort town on the coast, the right palm is home to a Goliath Ash Moth. No one dares go to the right palm because of it. I think the only reason there's even a path through the Forearm Forest is because there's a coven outpost on the border between the palm and the wrist."

"Yeah, my bro told me that if Scouts mess up a lot, they get sent to that outpost. It's basically just an early warning system though; if the outpost suddenly gets burnt down then it means the Ash Moth is moving." Matt added.

"What is a Goliath Ash Moth?" Luz asked.

"The most powerful breed of Bug Demon in existence." Rasiel answered, "They're colossal moths with immense control over fire magic. If you find a volcano on a Titan landmass, then it's the result of these moths; they create a volcano as a cocoon for their metamorphosis."

"Whoa! That sounds amazing!" Luz gasped, trying to imagine it; "I kind of want to see it!"

"Trust me, you don't." Rasiel said seriously; "Even a Seraphim level angel would struggle to deal with one in a fight, and they're fiercely territorial. These things hunted dragons for food back when I first came to the Demon Realm." he added that last part as a whisper in Luz's ear, making her go pale. "It would have slurped up that Ice Wyrm like a noodle, and then gone looking for more."

Luz made a mental note; do not go to the right palm!

Thankfully, the three students were distracted from thoughts of the Ash Moth by a strange feeling. They passed between two trees that their map made a special point of showing, and as they did so they felt a cold shudder wash over them. It felt a bit like walking into an especially cold room, where the air forms an almost barrier of iciness. However as soon as they stepped through, they also noticed that the path they'd been following now had a new branch that led deeper into the forest.

"What was that?" Matt frowned.

"We must have triggered all the sensors! A new path opened up! Come on, let's go!" Luz said eagerly, grabbing both boys' wrists and running down the newly appeared path. It wasn't a particularly long path, and when they reached the end, they gasped as the found themselves at their destination.

"The Looking Glass Ruins…!" Gus breathed, glancing up at the gates in front of him.

The ruins were surrounded by a stone wall with iron spikes all along it, with the only entrance being a pair of large stone gates in an archway. Each half of the gates had a stone face carved into it; a smiling one on the left and a frowning one on the right, reminding Luz of theatre masks from the Human Realm. The arch way above the gate was broken and weathered, but the words "Looking Glass" could still be made out on the old stone.

Rasiel phased through the gates, sensing for any kind of magic or traps, but found nothing, so Luz and the boys pushed open the gates. They were heavy, and the hinges were stiff from countless years of neglect, but Luz used some of the weak Power Glyphs she'd made to give them the edge they needed to shove the gate open and finally grant them access to the ruins.

"I can't believe we really found it! I guess this map was real after all. Steve will be happy." Matt muttered to himself as he rolled up the map and looked around.

The inside of the ruins had no buildings, and instead looked almost like an outdoor theatre, with a circle of stone arches filling the centre of the expansive area within the outer walls. Inside these dilapidated arches was a circle of stone statues, all seemingly depicting the same robed and hooded figures, carved with their hands together in front of their chests. Time and the forest had taken a toll on the ruins, but the statues seemed largely intact (excluding the ivy creeping up them). An unnatural mist also covered the ground, moving away as Luz, Gus, and Matt walked through it.

"This place is old… really old. I feel… weirdly sombre here." Luz whispered, rubbing her arms as a chill came over her.

"Yeah, it's kind of giving me the creeps. Let's see if there really are Galdorstones here, then go home." Gus agreed.

Luz and Matt nodded, and began looking around for signs of anything that looked like a Galdorstone. Of course, they didn't know what they looked like, so it was a struggle at first, but then Luz spotted something sparkling in the hands of one of the statues. All the statues' hands were covered in ivy, so Luz flew up with her wings and carefully pulled some of it away, revealing a large cyan blue crystal. Luz gasped softly as she very carefully lifted the crystal out of the statue's hands, then touched down on the ground again.

She saw herself in the reflection of the crystal, and felt a rush of incredible power flow through her as her eyes began to glow gold. The crystal itself gained a gold aura that spread to Luz's hands, and the young angel couldn't help but draw a tiny spell circle above her head, aiming to create a small light blast.

The result was a beam large enough to disintegrate most buildings, which was thankfully shot straight up into the air. Luz yelped in surprise, not expecting that much power, then gaped as she saw that her spell had torn apart the clouds in the sky above.

"This is it!" she exclaimed, looking down at the crystal, "This must be the Galdorstone! Matt, those rumours you heard were true!"

Matt and Gus looked at the large crystal with amazement, then laughed and high-fived each other. "This is amazing! Can I try it out?" Matt asked.

Luz smiled and handed over the crystal, while using some plant magic to clear away the rest of the ivy, revealing several other Galdorstones. Every statue had one, so Luz went to collect another while Matt tested out the one Luz had handed him, creating a giant statue of himself, but shirtless, muscular, and flexing.

Gus laughed at the display and used an ice glyph to create a platform so he could reach a stone of his own, which he then tested out with the ice magic Luz had taught him. While before he could make some frost or snowflakes without the glyphs, the Galdorstone allowed him to use his own magic in the same way as the glyphs, letting him produce ice in any shape he desired. He enjoyed the power of the stone greatly, but then he noticed something.

Each statue was stood on a stone plinth, and they all had plaques on them. Before they had been hidden by ivy, but since Luz cleared it all away, they'd become visible.

"Mari the Phantom Bringer?" he murmured. His eyes suddenly widened as he came to a startling realisation. Wanting to make sure he was correct, he ran to the next statue and read it's plaque too; "Aleth the Vision Creator!? Oh no!" He read a third plaque too; "Khari the Mirage Maker! I knew it! These titles are for…!"

He turned to Luz and Gus; "Guys, stop! These aren't just any old ruins! This is an Illusionist Graveyard!"

Luz gasped and Matt recoiled, dropping the Galdorstone he'd been using. "Are you serious!?" he cried.

"Yes! Look at the names on the statues! They're all the titles of illusionists! This must be where they're buried." Gus yelled.

Luz paled as she looked at the stone in her hands; "D-Does that mean we're grave-robbing!?"

Rasiel, who'd been examining one of the larger stones, suddenly gasped and returned to his ring so he could talk to Luz telepathically.

"Luz, I recall what these Galdorstones are! They're the hearts of ancient witches!"

The young angel shrieked in surprise and dropped the stone she was holding, backing away from it quickly; "We are! We're grave-robbing!"

"The true nature of this place triggered my memory. Remember what I told you before, about how the Supreme Dragons are born from witches and demons who served the Titans, and consumed some of their five humours along with a lesser dragon's heart? Well these stones are the final result of a similar process! A witch or demon who is sufficiently filled with a Titan's power will eventually have their own blood replaced by a kind of Pseudo-Titan's Blood. Upon their deaths, their hearts would crystallise into these Galdorstones." Rasiel explained, feeling more than a little disturbed by the memory. He wondered how he'd come to learn this fact, but sadly he still didn't have most of his personal memories.

Luz gulped fearfully and put a hand to her chest; she was being infused with Titan power too through the glyphs… did that mean her heart would turn into a Galdorstone too when she died? Had these stones once belonged to people like her? Had they served some purpose for the Titan? If so, what was Luz's purpose supposed to be? Why was the Titan showing her the glyphs and giving her this power? She'd gotten some answers from Rasiel, but those answers had come with more questions!

However something else was a bigger concern at that moment; could she bring herself to take one of the Galdorstones? Luz knew she needed it to help save Eda from her curse, but she wasn't sure she could bring herself to take a stone away from it's resting place. Even now, she felt the overwhelming urge to just return the stones to the statues and high tail it home.

"What do I do? I need the magic to save Eda and we came all this way, but this feels so wrong!" Luz cried, looking to Gus and Matt for guidance.

Sadly neither boy had an answer, and since they hadn't heard Rasiel's explanation, they didn't even know how bad the situation really was!

The mist around their feet began to thicken and churn, making Matt look down nervously; "W-What's going on!? Did the weather change all of a sudden!?"

Gus frowned as the mist began to crackle with electricity; "There's no wind, and mist shouldn't act like this! Something's wrong!"

The mist grew even larger, eventually twisting into a massive cyclone that spat blue lightning as ominous glowing eyes appeared from inside it. Seeing this, Luz, Gus, and Matt ran and hid together behind one of the statues, peaking out fearfully. The cyclone eventually swelled, then burst apart to reveal the Guardian of the Looking Glass Ruins; a bizarre beast that looked like some blend of whale and dragon, with the basic body type of the former, the arms and wings of the latter, and a coating of blue flame on its tail, fins, and wings. A long tongue stretched from its mouth, and the creature's eyes appeared to shine out from inside its maw as well.

"That's the Guardian!? What on the Titan is it!?" Matt whispered urgently.

"I've never seen a monster like that! Luz, you're the beast-keeping student; do you recognise it!?" Gus asked.

Luz gave a terrified shake of her head, and sadly Rasiel didn't recognise it either, which only made the beast scarier. "It must be angry that we disturbed the stones! D-Do you think it'll let us leave peacefully if we just return them?" she asked.

The Guardian roared and began swooping around the ruins, searching for the intruders. Its blue flame accents were flaring wildly with every roar, and gouts of red flame and blue lightning burst from it every time it touched something; it clearly wasn't in the mood to play!

"I wouldn't bet on it, Luz!" Gus said. "We need to distract it and make a run for it!"

"Now would be a good time for an illusion!" Matt urged, sweating profusely.

Gus bit his lip; "I-I can't! That thing is throwing around lightning! W-What if I screw up again, and you or Luz get hurt!? I-I don't even know what that thing would be distracted by!"

Matt groaned; "Now is not a good time for another lapse in confidence, dude!"

Luz frowned; Matt was terrified and Gus was panicking and worried about screwing up. She didn't want to endanger either of them, and since this whole quest had been her idea, she'd take responsibility.

"I'll try and lure the guardian away while you guys get to safety. As soon as it's focused on me, run for it!" she ordered, before darting out from their shared hiding place and running at the beast. The boys wanted to protest, but doing so would just give away their position and make them targets too, rendering Luz's sacrifice meaningless, so they instead tried to come up with another plan.

Meanwhile, Luz took flight with her concealed wings and flew directly in front of the beast's face; "We're sorry for coming here! We didn't realise what this place really was! Please, we'll return the Galdorstones and leave, so just let us go!"

The Guardian merely responded with a roar and lunged towards Luz, making her yelp and fly away, the beast in hot pursuit. The creature was shockingly agile for something so large, forcing Luz to work hard to avoid it. Lightning and flames were crackling everywhere, and Luz was becoming more and more surprised she was succeeding in dodging them, though every near miss terrified her as she felt her luck running out.

The boys were watching her and panicking; "She can't keep this up for long! Dang it, we need to do something! Maybe I can stun it for a second so we can get out of here!" Matt said, drawing a quick spell circle. His spell coated his fist in stone from the ground, then launched the stone fist as a projectile at the Guardian, aiming for its head. However before the stone could make impact, a bolt of lightning jumped from the Guardian to the projectile, causing the stone to vanish as if it had never been there.

"W-What!?" Matt exclaimed, trying the same spell again, this time with both fists. The same thing happened again, and both stone projectiles were struck by lighting and blow into oblivion.

"It's not working!" the boy cried.

Luz, who'd seen this and worried the Guardian would turn its attention back to the boys, dived down to the ground and used plant magic to create vines to reach up and try to restrain the guardian. However, like with the stones, the vines were struck by blue lightning bolts and disappeared. However, Luz felt something strange, though she was forced to fly away again before she could properly think about it.

"Fighting is no good!" Gus scowled. This left them with only two options; distract the Guardian with something, or try to scare it off. But with none of their more practical magic working, Gus was left with only one option.

"Come on illusions, don't fail me now!" Gus whispered, before leaping from his hiding place and producing a massive illusion. His illusion took the form of a second Guardian, this one slightly larger and with more feminine characteristics in the hopes that the Guardian would either see it as a dominant rival and be chased off, or see it as a potential mate and be lured away.

His fake Guardian roared, and the real one paused from its pursuit of Luz to turn and look at it. The two Guardians stared at one another, until Gus noticed the original one flickering.

"No way… you've got to be kidding me!" he gasped, dropping his illusion. The original Guardian flickered, almost like a glitched image, before it too vanished in a puff of cyan smoke, revealing itself to have been an illusion all along. Gus, Matt, and Luz gaped, especially when they saw the three stone fist projectiles and Luz's vines all still in the spots they'd impacted or been grown; having been hidden by an illusion rather than vaporised like they'd thought.

From within the illusion, an old man stepped out; he looked extremely wizened and haggard, with a huge unkempt white beard, a head that was bald on top but with thick, wild white hair on the sides, and longer than average ears that dropped at the ends. He was wearing dark red pointy toed boots, a dirty turquoise robe that was torn and caked in mud at the bottom, and a teal coat over the top with white sleeves and a darker blue mantle that also incorporated a large pointed collar and featured the image of a broken mirror over the old man's chest.

"Oh ho! What have we here? A skilled young Illusionist, me thinks!" the man said jovially, doing a little jig.

The three students gaped as Luz landed beside Gus and Matt left his hiding place to join them.

"W-What!? The Guardian was an illusion!?" Matt exclaimed.

"Yeah, made by this guy." Gus nodded, still shocked. "Who are you, sir?"

"I am the Keeper of the Looking Glass Graveyard! It's been a long time since I've had any visitors, but to think it'd be another Illusionist!" he chortled while stooping to hug the unsettled Gus. "You used the same vision I do to scare off intruders! Most impressive!" he added, clapping his hands as he released Gus from the hug.

"This crazy old coot is the real guardian of this place? I was kinda expecting… more." Matt muttered.

"Don't be like that!" The Keeper complained, seeing the boys' unimpressed expressions, "An Illusionist has always kept watch over the Galdorstones. We gain no powers from them, so we're the least likely to use them for evil purposes! Probably."

Luz, still calming down from her frantic evasion, frowned; "Wait, if you're not really a monster and just wanted to scare us off, why did you ignore me when I offered to return the stones and leave!?" she protested.

The Keeper laughed; "Sorry Lass, my hearing isn't what it used to be!" he said, picking inside his ear with his pinky finger.

Luz gaped again; she hadn't been ignored, the Keeper was just partially deaf!? She shouldn't have been surprised given his age, but it still irked her a little.

"That said, I really can't let you kids leave with the Galdorstones. You seem like nice children, and I'd love to talk illusions with you, young man." he nodded to Gus, "But the stones mustn't leave the graveyard."

Gus and Matt frowned and turned to Luz, who bit her lip. She didn't really want to take the stones, but she really needed it! "Is there anyway we can come to an agreement to let us borrow one? Just for a day or two? I'll swear an oath to return it after I'm done; I need it to make a cure for my mentor's curse."

The Keeper looked at her with sympathy; "I'm sorry Lass, but I really can't. I could be convinced to let you use one of them while still in the graveyard, but that's the most I can offer you."

Luz frowned, wondering if that could work. The purification ritual for the Alchemical Silver needed a bit of preparation; an inscribed magic circle for the cauldron of silver to rest on, and a few other ingredients… It was theoretically possible if she could find a way to lug the cauldron of silver all the way from the Owl House without it being exposed to more impurities…

"I guess that could work. Thank you sir." Luz agreed, "I'll need to come back tomorrow, but in the meantime, I'll return the stones to their proper places."

Gus and Matt nodded in agreement, and the Keeper smiled at them; "That would be appreciated, young ones! I'm afraid my back is as bad as my hearing these days! Now I left the stones just over… there?"

He looked over to where he'd secretly placed the Galdorstones after the children had dropped them. He'd taken care to pick them up while his illusion was distracting the kids, then leave them in plain sight (albeit hidden beneath an illusion) so he wouldn't forget where they were, but he couldn't see them!

"Huh, did I forget to drop the illusion on them?" he wondered, snapping his fingers. When the stones didn't appear, he frowned. "Well that's not right…"

Suddenly, dozens of vines of ivy shot out from the ground and tied the Keeper up, making him flop over with a groan.

The kids gasped and Luz summoned up a plant glyph; "Mister Keeper! Hold on, I'll get you free!"

She tried to take control of the ivy, but found that she couldn't. The magic already manipulating it was stronger than hers, just like it had been with Arboriel the Mandragora.

"What the-!?" Luz's words were cut off by the sudden appearance of an absolutely massive abomination, which promptly grabbed her and Gus and smashed them together, making them groan before encasing together in abomination goo, leaving only their heads and feet exposed.

"What's going on!?" Matt cried, conjuring a stone machete to ward off any attackers. He was the last one not bound, so expected he'd be next, only to be surprised when he heard a trio of familiar laughs.

He turned and watched as Bria walked out from behind some rubble, smiling broadly. With her were two other Glandus students; one was a demon with lion-like features and dressed in the plant track uniform, along with having what looked like some kind of pilot's cap on his head, while the other was a witch boy with skin a shade darker than Luz's as well as spiky dark brown hair and the abomination track uniform. Matt recognised them both as Bria's friends; Angmar and Gavin.

"B-Bria!? Angmar!? Gavin!? What are you three doing here!?" Matt exclaimed, before noticing that all three were holding the missing Galdorstones, "And what are you doing with those!?"

Bria smirked; "Hello to you too, Matty! I've got to say, it was a real pain following you all the way here." she said, walking over to him casually, "When you started walking in circles, I thought for sure you'd seen us and were trying to throw us off, so imagine my surprise when we kept on your tail and found this place!"

"You followed us!?" Luz exclaimed, squirming in her bindings.

"Of course I did! How could I not after seeing that map?" Bria grinned, walking over to the tied up Luz; "My friends and I heard rumours about this place and the Galdorstones, so how could we resist a chance at coming here and taking them for ourselves!"

"We didn't honestly think this place was real." Gavin, the abomination student said.

"And we were sure you'd get eaten by the Guardian if it was." Angmar added.

"But thanks to the distraction you guys made for us, we were able to sneak away the Galdorstones at the last second!" Bria boasted, holding her stone aloft, "But honestly, if we'd known the big bad Guardian was just another useless illusionist, we'd have just stormed the place. Oh well; we still got our prize."

"Youngsters these days! No respect! Why I ought to summon the hounds and- MMF!" The Keeper's angry scolding was cut off by a wad of abomination goo slamming into his mouth, sealing his lips together.

"That's better. Now, we might as well collect the other stones too." Bria mused; "We can sell the smaller ones to the Emperor's Coven!"

"You can't take those!" Luz protested, renewing her struggles.

"They don't belong to you!" Gus agreed.

Bria rolled her eyes and flicked Luz's nose, making the young angel flinch. "This isn't Hexside, Princess. We're playing by Glandus rules now, and that means you can have anything you want so long as you're strong enough to take it!"

The girl grinned at her Galdorstone; "With this, I'll take over the entire school! Then everyone who looked down on me will bow at my feet!"

Angmar nodded enthusiastically; "And I can finally grow my own forest, and start a butterfly sanctuary!"

"And I can make the biggest abomination ever!" Gavin grinned, before bitterly adding; "I bet then Dad would pay attention to me."

Bria ignored her cohorts, as well as her fuming captives, and smirked at Matt, who was shaking in front of her; "Well Matty, since you were so helpful in leading us here, I might just forgive you for snubbing me earlier. I may even let you keep a stone for yourself! Only the littlest one though, so you don't forget your place."

Matt wilted as Bria put a condescending hand on his back; "All you've got to do is hold our stuff and carry it back for us. Even you can manage that, right?"

The boy gulped and looked away; he couldn't muster the courage to stand up to Bria, but he also wasn't going to actually do as she wanted, so he ended up just standing in place, looking at the ground. Bria sneered at him and rolled her eyes; "Whatever. Just stay out of the way."

She shoved Matt back a step, then began pilfering the remaining Galdorstones with the help of Gavin and Angmar. Luz and Gus continued to struggle in their bindings, while the Keeper seemed to have fallen asleep in his and was snoring softly.

"Luz, can't you use some magic to bust us out?" Gus whispered.

"I'm trying." Luz frowned, making a spike of ice burst out from her bound arm and pierce through the abomination goo. She tried to wriggle so the spike would cut the slime but it just reformed instantly, and when she tried freezing the cut parts of the slime before it could reform, the giant abomination would pull out and replace the frozen parts. She also tried to use plant magic, but every time she did, Angmar would sense it thanks to the Galdorstone in his possession and promptly take control of Luz's plants, wilting them instantly. Even her attempts at light beams and blades failed, as the slime reformed around them.

"Nothing's working!" Luz whined, beginning to panic as she watched the Glandus students damage the graveyard in their hunt for the Galdorstones.

"Why don't you do that big light blast thing you did when Amity tied you up back at the Covention duel?" Gus suggested.

Luz shook her head; "I can't do that with you attached to me! You'd be really badly hurt, and my control isn't precise enough to avoid you yet."

Gus grimaced, and Matt looked over to his friends with a depressed expression; "I'm sorry… This is exactly why I left Glandus. I was always Bria's stooge there… the one kid even she could push around. She never let me forget it either, and now I don't even have the guts to stand up to her… I'm still just a coward…"

"Better a stooge than a clown. Every time it feels like I'm getting my groove back, I mess up again! I can't even defend myself!" Gus frowned miserably, "If I wasn't here, Luz could free herself and beat the snot out of those bullies! Bria's right; I am just a useless illusionist…"

Luz scowled at both boys; "That's enough, you two! Matt, you're not a stooge or a coward, and Gus, you're not useless or a clown! You're both amazing! I understand how it feels to view yourself as a coward, and mess up something you know you're supposed to be good at…" she remembered how she'd fled from Grom in terror when he'd taken her mother's form, as well as her numerous attempts to help that turned out badly, "But you can't let that rule you! Matt, you're one of us Hexoleos now, so forget those Glandus jerks and have some confidence in yourself! And Gus, you're the best illusionist I've ever met! Your illusions saved me from the Detention Pit AND saved my butt earlier from the Guardian!"

Luz twisted around as much as possible so she could look both boys in the eye; "I won't let anyone badmouth my friends, not even themselves!"

Matt looked touched by Luz's words, but he was still scared and had no idea how to even help; his construction magic wouldn't cut away the abomination bindings any better than Luz's light or ice. Gus, however, felt some new determination bubble up inside him; Luz was right! Neither she nor Willow gave up whenever the situation looked grim, so he couldn't either! He was Gus Porter, future Master Illusionist and child prodigy! Surely he had the imagination to find a way out of this mess!

He closed his eyes and focused; Matt couldn't free them with his construction magic, his illusions wouldn't get them free, and Luz's light, plant, and ice magic were all being countered either by Angmar's plants or Gavin's abomination. On the surface it looked like an impossible situation, but a good showman had creativity and could think outside the box; Gus just needed to think and adapt to the situation.

"Wait a second… adapt! That's it! I get why I was having trouble with ice magic now!" he gasped; "I was treating it like it was just ice, but it isn't! The element itself is Ice and Water! The same power, just in two different forms!"

Matt raised an eyebrow; "That's nice and all Gus, but is now the time for this?"

"Yes, because now I know what to do! I was limiting myself by thinking of the Ice Element as just ice, and thinking of illusions as being nothing but fake! I needed to adapt; make ice into water, and make my illusions real!" Gus said, a broad smile stretching across his face.

"Does that mean you have an idea?" Luz asked.

Gus nodded; "Yes, I think we can get out of here AND defeat those jerks! All I need is water and illusions!"

"Water? I guess if I shoot it at a super high pressure, it could cut the slime, but wouldn't it just regenerate?" Luz frowned.

"We're not aiming to cut anything. Matt, come here; I've got a plan!" Gus said.

Matt leaned close and Gus whispered his idea to him and Luz, making both teens' eyes widen before they began grinning.

"I'd never have thought of that!" Luz smiled; "Way to go Gus!"

"I think I can do it! I'll follow your lead." Matt agreed, beginning to find his courage. With Luz and Gus backing him up, he didn't need to be scared of the likes of Bria!

"Right, we'll go on my mark. This is going to take a lot of magic though. Matt, do you have any more Power Glyphs?" Gus asked.

Matt nodded and pulled one he'd made with Luz earlier out of his pocket. At Gus's request, Matt reached up and stuck the glyph to the back of his neck, giving the illusionist a rush of power. Now that he had the strength he needed, he began the plan.

Focusing as much magic as he could through his body, Gus's eyes began to glow cyan and an imperceptible wave of magic spread across the Looking Glass Graveyard, layering a massive illusion over the entire place. Bria and her lackeys failed to notice anything, and continued to gather together the Galdorstones into a large sack.

The trio were almost finished stealing the stones, when a volley of three stone fists was suddenly launched at them. Angmar ended up taking a hard blow to the gut and flopped over with a groan, but Bria and Gavin reacted faster and blocked the attack with walls of earth and abomination slime. They then glared at the source of the attack, finding Matt stood there with his fists encased in stone, while Luz, Gus, and the Keeper were stood beside him. They were all free, and each wielded a Galdorstone in their hands.

"So, you freed your new friends, huh Matty? Too bad; guess we'll have to remind you why were on the bottom back at Glandus!" Bria smiled mockingly, drawing a spell circle to create a pillar of rock. Matt and his friends immediately split up and ran around the graveyard so Bria's pillar couldn't hit all of them, though she did manage to successfully hit Luz, who she decided was the bigger threat compared to Matt and the two illusionists.

However Luz disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing her to be an illusion.

"A fake?" Gavin muttered as he helped the winded Angmar to his feet, "Watch out, the real one could be anywhere!"

"Ugh, how did they get out of your abomination anyway?" Angmar groaned.

"No idea… they must have a trick up their sleeves! I-" Gavin's words were cut off by another barrage of stone fists raining down on him and Angmar. This time Angmar saw them coming and protected himself with plants, but Gavin hadn't reacted fast enough to block the blows entirely, instead just weakening them with a coating of abomination slime over his body.

Meanwhile, Bria was hunting down Gus, Matt, and the Keeper; suspecting them to be illusions like Luz. She successfully hit and destroyed the fake Gus and Keeper, but when she launched a stone fist of her own at Matt, it actually hit something solid and sent the boy smashing into a pillar. He slumped against it with a pained groan, and Bria stalked over and kicked him over, forcing him onto his side. She kicked him again so he'd roll onto his back, then put a foot on his chest.

"Honestly Matty, this was almost cute. I guess Hexside didn't make you totally spineless. But it's over now. Where are your little friends?" Bria asked with false sweetness.

Matt groaned; "G-Gone… they ran home as soon as I freed them. I stayed to prove I'm not a coward!"

Bria giggled; "Ha! They left you with only some pathetic illusions? That's just sad. I kind of feel sorry for you, so if you kiss my shoe and apologise, I might just forgive you."

Matt's groans turned into laughs, as he smirked up at Bria; "Be careful what you call pathetic, Bria. With the power of Galdorstones, illusions can become real!"

The girl sneered, then panicked as her foot began to sink into Matt's torso as he melted before her eyes. She shrieked at the terrifying sight, especially as Matt stretched out his melting arms and enveloped her, grabbing the Galdorstone in her hand and pulling it away. Bria reached for it, only for the stone to suddenly be shattered in Matt's grip, pelting her with chunks of blue crystal. The girl's first instinct was to deny any of this was real, but she could feel her foot sink into Matt's melting flesh, and his slimy grip on her body, as well as the remains of the Galdorstone as it had bounced off her. This was real!

She screamed in terror, and Gavin and Angmar rushed over, pulling her free by stomping on the melting Matt, who continued to laugh as his body was splattered apart. Once Bria was pulled free, the Glandus trio retreated to the middle of the graveyard and stood back to back, looking around for the real Hexside trio.

"T-They've got to still be here! I don't know how they're doing this, but it isn't real! It's all just illusions!" Bria declared shakily, snatching another Galdorstone from the sack they'd been filling.

"B-But what if the Galdorstones really do make illusions real!? I mean, how else would they even work for illusionists!?" Angmar cried.

"Cool it, Angmar! It's just a bluff! We're the ones with the stones, so we've got nothing to fear!" Gavin frowned.

"Nothing to fear?" Gus' voice echoed across the graveyard, "Sounds like you don't know how scary we illusionists can be. We can take your worst nightmares and make them real."

At that, the sky above turned red and an eerie aura appeared around the statues of the ancient illusionists. Slowly, the damage the Glandus trio had done to them while stealing the Galdorstones began to repair itself, and the statues turned to face them, blood cascading from their eyes and mouths. The ground rumbled beneath their feet as the statues creaked and cracked, coming to life and slowly stepping off of their plinths, flexing their stony fingers and stretching their carved muscles, before they began to make their way over to the Glandus Trio.

"You're not real!" Angmar squeaked as the trio shuddered in fear, "Y-You're not real!" he began to frantically pinch himself, as if trying to wake from a dream.

The statues encircled them, and the one closest to Angmar slowly stooped until the boy could feel its icy breath on his face. It reached down and pinched his arm, making him flinch violently as he really felt its cold stone grip.

"This is a nightmare you won't be waking from." it whispered eerily in a voice completely foreign to the Glandus trio.

Angmar screamed in terror, then his eyes rolled back in his head as he fainted, slumping to the ground.

"Angmar! Dang it, real or not, I won't let you beat us!" Gavin screamed, using his Galdorstone to summon a massive abomination, larger than any of the statues. The statues looked up at the creation with blank, bloody stares, while Gavin smirked despite his fear.

"Not so tough now, are you!?"

The statues turned to look at him; "The Galdorstones are ours…" they whispered in unison, "They follow our command… you stole from us to boost your magic. Now we will steal your magic in turn."

Gavin went pale as his spell circle shattered and his abomination began to slowly melt. He tried to cast another spell to restore the abomination, but his second spell circle shattered too, and the abomination completely melted into a runny purple mess on the ground. Then while Gavin was reeling from this, one of the animated statues reached out and took the Galdorstone from his hands, before shattering it, sprinkling more rubble down on him and Bria.

The boy promptly screamed in terror and ran for it, fleeing the graveyard all together and leaving both Bria and the fainted Angmar behind.

"COWARD!" Bria screamed after him, before drawing her sword and brandishing it; "I'm not afraid of you! I know you're fake!" she lied, the truth betrayed by the quiver in her voice.

She screamed as another statue suddenly lifted its leg and stomped down on her, forcing her to dodge out of the way. However the stomp hadn't been aimed at her at all, and had instead stomped down on the sack of Galdorstones, filling the air with the sound of shattering crystal. When the statue lifted its foot again, all that was left was a flat burlap sack leaking cyan powder.

Bria flinched and conjured a huge spike of earth to stab through the statue, but the massive construct took the blow without a flicker of concern, and in fact seemed to melt around the spike and reform, repairing itself. All the statues then began reaching for Bria from all angles, boxing her in. She let out a horrified scream as she tried to evade their grasp, only for her feet to suddenly turn ice cold. She looked down and saw her feet turning to stone, and she lost the ability to feel them at all. Bria flailed and fell over, then screamed again as she saw her stone feet crumble. She threw her sword and Galdorstone aside and began frantically crawling away, using her hands to try and drag herself away and escape.

"You cannot escape… but don't worry…" the statues said, moving aside to let Bria crawl away. "You wanted a Galdorstone… well you'll get to have one in your hands for all eternity…"

Bria looked up and realised she was now crawling towards a new stone plinth; this one lacked a statue, but the plaque on it was engraved with the words "Bria the Thief".

"No!" she cried, as the statues picked her up; "No no no no no!"

They put her on the plinth, and she screamed as the coldness spread up her legs and she saw more of herself turn to stone. She let out one final scream of absolute terror, before she too fainted, flopping over. She was caught by one of the statues, which gently lay her on the ground, before the entire graveyard shimmered and the illusion faded.

Most of the moving statues disappeared, leaving behind only three real ones that were made of ice and vines, with a light coating of stone over their hands. The real statues reappeared on their plinths, and the shattered Galdorstones were revealed to be random rocks, while the real Galdorstones were stored in the sack Bria had brought along, which was now in Luz's possession as she stepped out from behind one of the statues. Matt and the Keeper stepped out from behind another one, carrying an exhausted Gus on their shoulders.

"Man… I don't think I've ever concentrated so hard in my whole life!" Gus said sleepily.

"That was absolutely amazing, young man! How in the Titan's name did you do all that!? I only caught about half of it!" the Keeper exclaimed.

Luz used some plants to create some comfy vine seats for them to rest on, then tied up the fainted Angmar and Bria while Gus began to explain what they'd done.

"Well first, I used illusions to make copies of the four of us while we were still tied up, while also making us all invisible. It took some wiggling, but I managed to move my finger enough to cast the spell circle. Then the real Matt used those stone fists to draw their attention and stop them from stealing more of the Galdorstones, putting Angmar temporarily out of commission in the process, and forcing Bria to chase after the clones. While they were doing that, Matt freed you from those vines with a stone machete, then kept Gavin busy with a second flurry of stone firsts while Luz got us free from the abomination."

"Oh, I remember being freed by the construction lad. But how did the Lass free the pair of you? Last I saw, she couldn't manage it." the Keeper pointed out.

"Gus figured out that I could use water to free us! I produced tons of it from my body…" Luz demonstrated by making icy cold water gush from an ice glyph floating over her left hand, "…and I mixed it into the abomination, making it lose its consistency and turn runny! Once it couldn't support itself any more, it melted into slop and Gus and I were free! Plus Gavin was too distracted by the stone fists to notice."

Gus nodded and continued; "With us free, Luz and Matt waited until only one of the illusion clones was left, then created a mud doll with water and earth magic, which I layered the last clone over, so when Bria attacked it, there was something physical to touch. That's also why her foot sank into it and the fake Matt appeared to melt. Then while she was freaking out, Luz used a vine to steal the Galdorstone she had, while Matt switched it out with a rock under an illusion, so Luz's vine could break it."

"Then I used ice and vines to make those fake statues, which Gus made look real with illusions. It was a trick I learned from my friend Willow, who did something similar with an abomination. Matt covered their hands in stone so I could make them touch things and it would feel right. I was expecting Angmar to freak out and run, or try to fight back, so him fainting actually made it easier for us." Luz giggled.

"But what if he had fought back?" the Keeper asked.

"Luz had the Galdorstone she stole back from Bria. With that, her plant magic would have been stronger than Angmar's and she'd have stopped him just like he'd stopped her, while Gus would make it seem like Angmar's magic was being stolen, like he did with Gavin." Matt explained.

Gus nodded; "But since Angmar did faint, we were able to move on to Gavin straight away. I made it look like his magic was failing while Luz flooded the abomination he made with water, melting it like she did the one holding us. After that, Gavin ran off, which saved us the trouble and let us finish things with Bria."

"I used a big carnivorous plant to swallow the sack of Galdorstones, then had a statue "crush" an illusion left by Gus. Then I began slowly freezing her to make her think she was becoming a statue too. The ice ended up numbing her so much that she couldn't feel her feet, so when she fell down, Gus made it look like her feet had crumbled to dust. From there, Matt made a new stone plinth for her, and I had my ice and vine golems put her on it! We were gonna freeze her up to the neck, then release the illusion, but she fainted instead. She liked calling other people cowards, but she certainly screamed like a baby then!" Luz finished

The Keeper grinned and clapped for the trio; "Excellent show! Well done! Layering so many illusions on top of each other, and pulling off so many complex steps at once is an extraordinary feat!" he praised.

Gus puffed his chest out proudly, while Matt preened and Luz just smiled happily, all three enjoying the praise.

The Keeper then turned his attention to the two fainted bullies; "What will we do with them? Now that they've seen this place, they may be able to lead others here."

"I don't know. They only got here by following us, so without the map to retrace the exact steps, they might not be able to find the graveyard again." Gus said, "Maybe we could erase their memories? Luz, do you have any Amnesia Tinctures?"

The young angel shook her head; "Sorry, but no. Eda was gonna brew some with King after yesterday's debacle, but I'd need to go home to get it. Plus that Gavin guy got away…"

"I wouldn't worry about that."

The three kids and the Keeper all turned to the entrance of the graveyard, where a new figure had appeared. It was a Coven Scout, which had them all preparing for a fight, before his voice fully registered and they realised who he was.

"Bro!" Matt cheered, running over to his older brother as Steve took off his mask.

"Hey Little Bro. Looks like that map wasn't a dud after all!" Steve grinned.

"Did you follow us too?" Gus asked, not getting up since he was still too exhausted.

Steve shook his head; "Not you guys, no. After I went back on patrol, I overheard that kid…" he pointed to Bria, "… talking about her run in with you guys. She was egging the other two on to follow you. I remember all the trouble they caused my little bro back at Glandus, so I decided to follow them. Since I was technically also following the map to the Looking Glass Ruins, I could excuse it as part of my job."

"But wait, if you were there the whole time, how come you didn't help us out?" Luz frowned.

"By the time I caught up, you guys were dealing with the Guardian. Before I could jump in, Gus took it out. But then the bullies got involved and had Galdorstones. Steve is strong, but he's not "three Galdorstones" strong. I was trying to come up with a plan to free you guys and stop the bullies from running off with the stones, but before I could, you took them out yourselves. I did do something to help though."

Steve grinned and snapped his fingers, causing a large blue bubble to float towards him from outside the ruins. Inside the bubble was Gavin, unconscious but otherwise unharmed.

"I caught this guy before he could run off, and put him under a sleep spell. I'll take him and the other bullies back to their parents and let them know that the Looking Glass Ruins is protected by the Emperor's Coven, and that the Galdorstones are all Imperial Property. Emperor Belos technically did decree that all Galdorstones are his, so it's not even a lie. That should keep these brats from coming back." Steve said.

He then cast another sleep spell over Bria and Angmar, ensuring they wouldn't wake up, then placed them inside the bubble along with Gavin. Luz, Gus, and Matt all sighed with relief; now they didn't have to worry about the bullies coming back, nor did they have to carry them back to Bonesborough.

The Keeper smiled at the trio; "I owe the three of you a great debt. I feared I would have to hide the Looking Glass Graveyard for good, but it seems I will be able to keep it here. You are naturally all welcome to return; I'd enjoy the company." he then looked to Luz; "However as grateful as I am, I still cannot allow you to take a Galdorstone, even temporarily, as it would break the oath I made when I became the Keeper. But I'd be happy to let you bring whatever you need here, so you can use the stones within the Graveyard."

Luz smiled gratefully; "Thank you so much! Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to lug that cauldron of silver here, along with all the materials… even with magic, it's going to be a pain."

Matt was about to suggest using a Power Glyph to make it easier, but that gave him a better idea. "Wait Luz, why don't you and I both use the Galdorstones together to make an ultra strong Power Glyph? If we can make one that makes you strong enough and last long enough for this ritual of yours, then you won't need to take a stone or come back here with the ritual stuff!"

Luz's eyes widened as her smile grew huge; "That's a great idea! You're a genius Matt! Mister Keeper, is that okay?"

The Keeper nodded happily; "So long as the stones don't leave the Graveyard, I have no concerns."

The kids cheered, and Luz and Matt immediately grabbed the two largest Galdorstones they could find and began working together to make the Super Power Glyph. Luz provided her superior level of magic, while Matt provided the earth element and wove the enchantment, both magnified at least tenfold by the power of the Galdorstones. This was a slow process, so while they were working, Gus and Steve decided to fix the damages done to the Graveyard by Bria and her cronies. Gus would create illusions of what the place looked like when they arrived, then Steve would use construction magic to repair the statues to their former glory, allowing the Keeper to return the rest of the Galdorstones to their proper places.

By the time the repairs were completed, Luz and Matt had produced three Super Power Glyphs; one to test, one to use for the ritual, and one as an emergency back up. They'd have made more, but they were running low on strength and the Galdorstones could only multiply their existing power, so as they got weaker, so did the stones.

"Okay, here goes nothing!" Luz said, putting the test glyph on the back of her right hand. In an instant, she felt her magical power skyrocket to levels she'd never even imagined. It was absolutely monstrous, and it left Luz feeling like she had chugged a gallon of energy drinks; she was practically vibrating!

instant, she felt her magical power skyrocket to levels she'd never even imagined. It was absolutely monstrous, and it left Luz feeling like she had chugged a gallon of energy drinks; she was practically vibrating!

"By the Seraphim, I've never felt so energised!" Luz laughed, happiness bubbling out from her, "This is insane!"

"I can sense the difference in power clearly. With that level of strength, you're about halfway between an Arch-Angel and a Seraphim in power! It's equal to the boost of a Galdorstone itself! That will be more than enough for the ritual!" Rasiel said from within his ring. Luz couldn't see him of course, but she could hear the excitement in his voice. "It isn't degrading very quickly either, so it should last long enough. But I doubt it'll survive being removed from you."

With the confirmation that the glyphs worked, Luz took off the test one (which disintegrated a moment later, as Rasiel predicted), then hugged Matt and Gus; "Thank you guys so much! I know this adventure went a little off the rails at the end there, but I'm really glad I had you both with me!"

"Hey, we're friends aren't we? I'm as happy to help you as you are to help me." Gus grinned, holding out his fist for a fist bump; "Besides, it's thanks to you and Matt that I got my confidence as an illusionist back. And…" he used his other hand to conjure a ball of water; "… I may not be great with ice magic, but I'm getting the hang of water magic!"

Luz giggled and bumped fists with him, then did the same with Matt when she saw his fist raised too.

"I've gotta say thanks too. I never imagined I'd be able to stand up to Bria! I was only able to do it thanks to you, so thanks. Considering what I did to you both all those weeks ago, I never imagined we'd become friends." Matt said, blushing faintly.

"Aw, friendship is the real magic. Steve is gonna cry!" Steve smiled, tears building in his eyes.

The kids giggled and gave him a hug (as well as showing him the glory of the fist bump), then said their final goodbyes to the Keeper of the Looking Glass Graveyard. They all promised to visit from time to time, and Steve swore an oath not to reveal the location of the graveyard to the Emperor's Coven, so the Galdorstones would never be abused. As far as the coven would know, the map to the graveyard was just another fake.

They left the graveyard together and began the long walk back to Bonesborough, with Steve levitating the sleeping Glandus kids in a bubble behind them.

"I can't wait to tell Amity, Willow, and Skara about all this! Eda too! Though poor King is gonna be upset he missed another adventure." Luz mused, already thinking of a way to cheer her demonic little brother up.

"Considering all the crazy stuff that happens around you, I figured by now that King would expect something to happen whenever you went off somewhere without him." Gus joked. He'd rested a bit and was feeling strong enough to walk on his own, though he was still exhausted from his big show.

"It really is nuts how much trouble you manage to get into." Matt smirked, "Mandragoras, Basilisks, Grom… I'm surprised you haven't high-tailed it out of the Demon Realm!"

Luz giggled, then Steve said; "I guess Owlet Girl just ain't the giving up sort! Do you get that from your human side or your angel side?" he asked with a grin.

Steve's casual reveal of Luz's true identity made all three kids freeze and turn to him slowly. Both Luz and Gus were immediately on edge, while Steve just kept giving them a friendly smile. Luz gulped; this wasn't like the others! As nice as he was, Steve was still a Coven Scout! They looked at Matt, expecting him to be the one who told Steve, but the boy looked just as shocked as they were. Steve clearly hadn't learned from him.

"How do you know what I am?" Luz asked warily, already preparing to shoot a light beam and pull up an ice shield just in case.

Steve put his hands up slowly to show he was harmless; "Okay, so Steve needs to confess. I sort of hid this earlier, but I've known who you were for a while. As for how I know what you are… Well it starts with Head Witch Lilith. I'm actually pretty close to her, and she's talked about you a lot. I'm one of her direct subordinates, and since I'm based in Bonesborough, she asked me to keep watch over you, since you're her niece. When you got arrested yesterday, I was trying to find out the real reason for it before I reported it to her, but then you busted out on your own. I knew you'd fly to the Owl House, so I headed there on foot."

Luz's eyes widened; "You saw me… I dropped the illusion before landing, so you must have seen my true form."

"You got it. At first I thought you were just cursed like the Owl Lady, which is what Head Witch Lilith believes, but that's pretty much a public belief now, so the real secret would have to be something else, otherwise why bother with the illusions? Given how you look under your concealment stone, the only other answer I could come up with was you being an angel." Steve reasoned.

"Well, you're right… You're pretty smart." Luz murmured nervously.

Steve grinned; "Aw yeah, compliments for Steve! Oh, and for the record, I won't tell anyone. You're my little bro's friend and just a kid. I don't know what the Emperor wants with angels, but I'm not handing over a child."

Luz and her friends relaxed; Steve was so blatantly transparent in his feelings that they couldn't help but believe him.

"Thanks Steve. I'm glad at least one Scout can be trusted." Luz smiled.

"There are more like me than you think. It might be dumb to say this to the kid of a famous wild witch and rebel, but the Emperor isn't as popular as you might think. A lot of scouts have their doubts, but they don't have a choice but to obey now that they're branded." Steve said, sighing sadly as he pulled up his sleeve to reveal his Coven Sigil. "Not many other Covens will accept a reject from the Emperor's Coven, and even if we do find another coven to take us, losing most of your magic after being re-branded would be more than a lot of us could bear. I already lost my Palisman to the Emperor's Coven… Steve is beginning to regret his choices…"

Luz gasped softly, while Gus and Matt both went a bit green. Luz had told them about the Emperor's need for Palismen, and it had disgusted and terrified them. It was one of the few secrets that Luz had only told her friends, and not the rest of the school; fearing it would cause protests and panic that might draw the Emperor's attention.

"Belos took your Palisman?" Luz whispered sympathetically.

Steve shook his head with a sad smile; "No. I had a bad feeling when I heard about him collecting them all. The Palismen he took were never seen again, so I severed my connection with my own Palisman and sent him away. It was the most painful thing I've ever done, but I couldn't let the Emperor have him."

Matt hugged his big brother; "I'm sorry that happened, Bro. I always wondered what happened to Pebbles, but you were so sad that I didn't want to upset you by asking…"

The brothers hugged, but something Matt said twigged at Luz's mind.

"Wait, did you say Pebbles?" she asked. Matt nodded in response, and Luz smiled expectantly; "Was he an Axolotl Palisman?"

Steve's eyes widened; "Yeah! He was! He had a brown body with orange fins and frills."

Luz gave a delighted smile; "I know the little guy! He's one of the Palisman living with the Bat Queen! I saw him just a few weeks ago! He got a little banged up when the Mandragora attacked their forest, but I healed him up and he was all good after that! He was also one of the only Palismen there who didn't have any injuries from before the Mandragora!"

Gus and Matt, having heard the story, both grinned happily, while Steve looked over the moon.

"H-He's okay? You helped him out?" Steve asked shakily.

Luz nodded, and the Coven Scout promptly pulled her into a tight hug, spinning her around and laughing with joy; "Thank you! I was so worried about him! He was such a shy and timid little guy, I was terrified something bad would happen to him!"

Luz giggled, especially when Steve decided to toss her in the air and catch her, before finally releasing her; "You're welcome. Maybe you could go back to the Bat Queen's forest and get him? She kind of owes me a favour, so I'm sure if you explained the situation to her and Pebbles, they'd both agree to let you take him back. You could keep him a secret from Belos!"

Steve briefly looked excited by the prospect, but his smile turned sad again as she shook his head; "I can't. I broke my bond with him and hurt him… I could have chosen to quit the Emperor's Coven and join a different one, choosing to stay with him, but I was too much of a coward. I'll face Pebbles and apologise some day, but I don't have the right to partner with him again."

"Are you sure, Bro?" Matt frowned.

"Yeah, I'm sure. For now, it's enough to know he's safe and taken care of."

The little party of adventurers exchanged smiles, and continued their walk home in even higher spirits; the day had been a resounding success for all four of them!

[Later that Night]

Darkness had fallen over the Forearm Forest, as two figures crept through it while following a very specific path. The Golden Guard and Silver Sentinel were silently making their way along this path, following the route they had drawn for themselves earlier, until they finally found themselves outside the Looking Glass Graveyard.

The Golden Guard smiled beneath his mask as he thought about the Coven Scout who'd revealed this place to them. Oh, Steve had no idea he'd revealed it, but then few members of the Coven knew the true powers of the Sigil they wore. The Emperor's Coven Sigil may not seal magic like the others did, but it had other powers, such as serving as a beacon for scrying magic. The Emperor had several trusted scouts in Bonesborough, keeping an eye on the Owl Lady and her apprentice, and as soon as one reported seeing the girl in the company of Steve, the Emperor had authorised the Golden Guard and Silver Sentinel to trace his steps, eventually finding the path to the Looking Glass Graveyard.

The Silver Sentinel silently made their way to the hidden nook that the Keeper was sleeping in and used their staff to cast a sleeping spell to ensure he didn't disturb them, then the Golden Guard took a stone he'd found in the forest and cast an illusion over it with his own staff, making it appear like a Galdorstone. He then reached up to one of the statues and took a real stone, switching it out with a fake.

They were only to take a single stone, to avoid being detected, so the two elites left the other stones behind and fled the Graveyard, with the Keeper none the wiser. The two nodded to each other, silently praising one another for their success as they used their staves to take to the sky and begin flying back to the Emperor's Castle.

Their mission to obtain a Galdorstone was a success.