Twelve Years Later

Twelve Years Later
Season 1, Episode 1
First Aired (USA) August 24, 2024 (FF) August 24, 2024 (AO3)
Episode Guide
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"Twelve Years Later" is the first chapter of Luz Clawthorne 2024.

Synopsis

The Guardian shows a potential future set 12 years after the Day of Unity, where the characters we know have grown up considerably.

Plot

Hello, reader from beyond the computer screen. It is I, the Guardian. This may have come as a surprise to you, but let me explain to you what the premise of "Luz Clawthorne 2024" is… For you see, in addition to seeing the events of the main story and a few alternate universes play out, sometimes I am able to see into the future. Or at least, a potential future, as you will. The future's tricky to deal with when you're not the Fates, since it's always different each time you look into it. The future is always shifting, so I just want to reassure you that what you're about to see isn't necessarily canon. They are visions of what could come to pass. Some of it may, some of it may not. So do not be too worried about anything being set in stone and just have fun with it, which is the point of stories like this. Just have fun. So with this disclaimer out of the way, let me invite you to take a look into the potential future of the LCU, twelve years after the Day of Unity… Boiling Isles, 2024, Demon Realm Year: 12 A.B.E(After Belos Era) It was morning, the light shining through the window into a room painted purple. It had a bunk bed, with someone under the cover of the top bunk. Laying on top of the covers and the person sleeping underneath them was a sleeping Ghost. "Bleeeehhh!" the alarm clock rang, startling Ghost as a groan came from underneath the sheets. "Really should change that alarm," someone said as they came out from underneath the sheets, got out of bed, and turned off the alarm clock. The bed's former occupant was a young teenage boy who looked around fifteen years old. He had messy brown hair with lavender tips at the back of his hair, white skin, purple eyes, and was wearing a green shirt with an oozing heart, and purple pajama pants. As he let out a yawn and gave a stretch, he heard a familiar voice coming from outside his room. "Phil! If you're awake, come for breakfast!" "Coming, mom!" shouted Phil Collin Clawblight. He quickly changed into his clothes, which consisted of a purple shirt with black sleeves, white hoodie, black jeans and purple and black boots. He then looked up at Ghost, who was still in bed. "Come on, Ghost, let's get breakfast!" Ghost stretched out before laying back down in bed. "I don't eat if it doesn't fly…" "Ghost, come on," Phil said and after some more pressing, he got Ghost to come down from the bed and hop onto his shoulder as the two left the bedroom together. The two headed down to the kitchen, where they spotted Amity making breakfast "Good morning, mom!" "Morning, Phil," said Amity, who despite being a Fae still looked like a young adult in her mid-twenties. Her hair had grown longer, but tied into a ponytail with the sides of her hair being brown with green highlights, her horns still visible. She wore a purple jumpsuit with a pop collar, rolled up sleeves, a lavender belt with dark purple heel boots. Her wedding ring was on her left hand. "And guess who decides to join us this morning?" Phil noticed someone sitting at the breakfast table, making him smile. "Auntie Sam!" "Hey, Philly," said Sam, Amity's former shadow. Now she was her own witch, her new form resembling Amity (to the point she could be confused as Amity's own twin), but her hair was black and styled in a short ponytail. She wore a black mid-sleeve shirt with a neon-green skirt and black leggings with black ankle boots. She stood up to greet Phil. "How's my nephew doing?" "Doing great, Auntie Sam," Phil responded as he ran over to give Sam a hug. "Where have you been?" "Oh, I can tell you all about it when everyone's settled in," Sam said before noticing Ghost on her nephew's shoulder. "Hey, Ghost," she said as she scratched the Palisman under the chin. "Phil, can you go get your brother and your mother down here for breakfast as well," Amity told her son. "Your mother should be in her studio." "Alright, mom. I'll get them," Phil replied as Ghost hopped off his shoulder and into Sam's arms as he left the kitchen to go get his mother and brother. Phil walked down the hallway until he stopped in front of the door to his brother's room, which was covered with posters, stop signs, police tape, and a 'beware of dog' sign. He knocked on the door. "Yo, Dylan! Wake up!" he called out, only to get no response. After a few more attempts, he decided to open the door. "Dylan…" "Demon Dog Kick Swipe!" cried out a short black-furred biped dog demon who tried to tackle Phil in the legs. However, Phil moved aside as he grabbed his brother by the shirt, pulling him up. "Yeh! Curses! Foiled again!" he cried out. "Wash up, and get dressed, mom's making breakfast," Phil told his adopted brother, Dylan Clawblight. "And Auntie Sam's here as well." "Auntie Sam? I wonder what she's brought us this time!" Dylan said before Phil set him down. "Just wash up and get ready, I'm gonna get mami up," Phil said as he made his way to get his mami. Phil opened the door to what appeared to be an art studio. He spotted his mom laying face-down on a desk and he walked over to her. "Ma, wake up," Phil said to her before he spotted her Palisman, who was nesting in her hair, waking up. "Atticus, wake her up for me, alright?" Atticus gave out a yawn before he did what Phil told him, pecking Luz's head, which made her wake up. "Ah! Alright, I'm awake!" shouted Luz Noceda Clawblight. Now visibly older, her hair was shortened but curlier. She has gained a more muscular frame, but still slim in built. She wore a black shirt with a purple button short-sleeve jacket, with a crescent moon necklace, her wedding ring on her right hand, and wore brown cargo pants with dark-beige boots. She turned to her son and she gave him a tired smile. "Ah, Phil, good morning. Thanks for helping me wake up." "Yeah, mom's made breakfast, and Auntie Sam's here," Phil replied. "Oh boy, what gift do we have to lock up from you boys this time," Luz said as she got up and looked at the drawing she was working on before she fell asleep. "Ah man, I got drool all over it!" "Who's that?" Phil asked her. "It's a new character I've been designing, Cobrana Snakethorne, wielder of the Boom Bat," Luz responded, showing the human-snake woman carrying a baseball bat with wings. "She's based off of one of the many OCs I've created back when I was your age. Started out as a Azura OC, but now I want to rework and make her as the new flagship comic hero." She looked closely at her drawing "You know, the stain does give me an idea on what her outfit should be now… like camouflage!" "Uh yeah, sounds interesting and all, ma, but breakfast is about to be ready," Phil pointed out. "Ah, right!" Luz shouted as she went to get ready. "Good morning, Hermosa," Luz said as she walked up to kiss her wife, who had prepared breakfast. "Hope I didn't make you feel lonely last night…" "Oh, don't worry about it, I was busy with repairing Ms. Scorch's Abomi-conditioner," Amity told her while kissing Luz back. "Tendremos que compensarlo, batata…" Luz smiled before hearing Dylan call out "Come on, don't be gross, moms! We're trying to eat!" "You two never change," Sam said with a smirk as she ate her breakfast. Luz and Amity looked at each other sheepishly before joining their family. As they ate breakfast, Sam decided to bring out her gifts to Phil and Dylan. "So I stopped by Palm Stings and thought you boys would like these," Sam said as she brought out some wrapped gifts while giving Luz and Amity reassuring looks. "And don't worry, they're safe, non-cursed gifts this time." The two boys quickly opened their gifts and reacted to them. "Oh cool! You got me five booster packs for my Abomi-Beasts deck!" Dylan shouted while looking excited at his deck. "Ah, gloves, lovely," Phil said dryly, holding up black fingerless gloves with red flames and black skull design. "They're Exorcist Gloves, when you're dealing with someone who is possessed by a ghost, you can wear these to pull the ghost out of them," Sam explained. "I won those back when I was at a bingo night down at this witch retirement home." "Yeah, I heard about these. The Oracle Labs made them recently for the Exorcist witches," Luz commented. "They could come in handy, Phil, in case you need to get a ghost out of someone." "Yeah, I'll probably just use them for staff riding," Phil said while keeping his gloves aside. "So what's on everyone's agenda today?" "Well, I plan on checking in with Puffer and helping him out with a problem he has been having with his abomi-motives," Amity explained. "After that, Gavin wants me to help check in fixing up the Abominauts. What about you, Luz? Still working on your characters?" "Oh, you know it," Luz declared. "I've already got some characters to submit at the Moon Comics division. Since Captain Coven was liquidated, they're looking for a new frontrunner. Especially with their movie and tv show deal they're developing." "I hope we get to see your characters soon, ma," Dylan said. "Of course they'll choose hers, after all, mom's one of the heroes of the Isles," Phil pointed out. "They would want her for the name recognition alone." "Hey now, I'm not gonna rely on that to get my characters out there," Luz said before eating a sausage link. "There's also always an option of going independent." "And besides Moon Comics, there is DJ Comics," Dylan said. "Or Papyrus Comics, or Illusive Comics, or Witchtoons…" As they continued to talk about Luz's characters, Amity smiled softly to herself. This was always one of her favorite parts of the day, just sitting down and seeing her family talk to each other. It was something that her own family didn't do for most of her childhood. She could still remember the first time she had breakfast with the Clawthornes, seeing how different it was from having breakfast with the Blights. She had wished her own family could have been more like the Clawthornes and now this was her family. It was everything she wanted. "So what about you two?" Luz asked her sons. "What do you guys plan to do at school today?" "Well, I asked Paw about using my potions to create a growth formula for my plants for Plant Classes, and he gave me some suggestions," Dylan said. "I've also been working on this research report about the Slitherbeast, you think that Old Man Zebiel would allow me to do further research…?" "Uh… we'll just have to ask him that," Amity said. "But didn't you guys watch over the Slitherbeast once?" Phil asked them. "We did, and he made a good guard dog for a while," Luz commented before turning to Phil. "What about you, Phil? How are some of your classes going? And have you thought about what Tracks you want to take next semester?" "Oh, well… still working on it," Phil responded. "I haven't really committed to anything, I'm just taking whatever classes look interesting to me. I have been enjoying my oracle classes though, so maybe I will keep taking those." "Ooh, that sounds cool," Luz told him before she made a suggestion. "Say, it isn't too late to sign up for Bard and Beast-Keeping next semester. You could give that a try and I could even help you out with any projects they ask you to do…" "Um, thanks for the suggestion, ma, but I'm not interested," Phil said. "Oh, okay," Luz replied, unable to hide her disappointment. Though she knew that she couldn't force Phil into something he was not interested in, she had hoped that it could be something the two of them could use to bond over. But she also knew that Phil needed to be his own witch and find his own way, that she shouldn't have to force him into trying out a track he wasn't interested in just for her sake. "Well, at least think about it, okay?" "Okay…" Phil said while eating. "Oh Luz, remember that today you have to give your speech at the anniversary service," Amity reminded her. "Right! Thanks, sweetness," Luz replied with a smile. "I've already got my speech cards prepared so I can practice, right Atticus?" Atticus nodded while holding up a stack of cards in his beak, which he pulled out from Luz's hair. "Phil, Dylan, remember to come to the anniversary service later today after school," Amity told them. "I know you both have your friends to hang out with, but me and your mother don't want you to be really late for this. It is very important." "Don't worry, mom, I'll make sure Dylan won't be late," Phil said, turning to Dylan, who just pouted at him. "I'll pick him up from detention before the anniversary." "Hey, I do not have detention, I haven't even been to the Principal's office once this week," Dylan pointed out. "Yet," Phil told his younger brother, his tone teasing. "Just try to stay out of trouble, and we might give you cake later," Luz said. "Okay, mami," Dylan said with a nod. "How many times did he get in trouble last month?" Sam asked Amity, who just shrugged. After breakfast, Phil and Dylan said their goodbyes to their mothers before they headed out for school. They left their home, which was actually built around the Grom tree, and Phil held up Ghost, who formed into a staff for him and Dylan to ride. "Hang on," Phil said as he used Ghost to fly him and Dylan to Hexside. In another part of the Boiling Isles, a young witch girl who was doing chores around her family's farm. "Alright, that should do it," said a brown-skinned girl with long, curly light pink hair with purple streaks. She was Katie Diamantos, now in her pre-teens. She was wearing a blue short-sleeve jacket with a black and white striped shirt, red bell bottom pants, and white boots. She had just finished pouring feed for the hends, hand-shaped, chicken-like creatures that had beaks by their thumb-heads. "Eat up, guys. Especially you, Ms. Chikadee," she told the hend. "Katie, dear, are you done with your morning chores?" asked a voice coming from the nearby farmhouse. "Just finished with the hends, mama!" Katie responded. "Did you remember to lock the gate of the fence for the hends?" Tabrella's voice asked her. "Yes!" Katie shouted while getting out of the hends pen and locking the gate so the hends wouldn't escape. After that, she went back inside the farmhouse where she changed into her St. Epiderm wardrobe, which had red sleeves and light-blue leggings. After she finished changing, she went to see her mom. "Good morning, mama!" "Morning dear," replied Tabrella, who was now a young adult who wore a white long sleeve shirt with a blue girdle, a purple mid length jagged skirt with gray leggings, and purple ankle boots. She was looking over some of her fashion design books. "Would you care to help model for me before you go to school?" Katie sighed. "Yes, mama," she said as she stayed in place. Tabrella twirled her finger to cast an illusion to change her into a fashionable pink dress. "Hmm, this would work for a spring line, let's see if it'll work for fall," Tabrella said while changing the illusion dress from pink to purple. "By the way, your mother has already left for work, but she wants to tell you to have a nice day." "Got it," Katie responded. "Are we done now?" "Yes, that's right," Tabrella said as she made the illusion vanish. She then put down her books and went over to hand Katie her bookbag and lunch. "Here you. Now remember, there are only a few days left in the semester. Let's end the year on a high note, so be a good girl and listen to your teachers." "I will, mama," Katie said before she decided to bring something up. "Um, I'm thinking of taking the pegasus over to St. Epiderm." "Hmm, I'll allow it, but only if you wear your helmet first," she told her while summoning a helmet, followed by a variety of cold gear "And your toboggan, and your coat, your scarf…" "Alright, I know it can be cold up there," Katie said while rolling her eyes. "But it's not that freezing, mama." "I just don't want you to catch a cold, dear. I should know, your Aunt Lindsay once came down with a brain freeze when she got herself trapped in the snow, resulting in freezer flu," Tabrella said. "I just want you to be safe, okay?" Katie just sighed. "I know, but I'm old enough to take care of this myself." "I know that, just…" Tabrella sighed as well. "Call me or your mother if you need any kind of emergency. Both the fashion kind and the danger kind. Understand?" Katie nodded in understanding. They went through this every day, but she was used to it by now. "Yes, mama," she said as the two gave each other hugs. Meanwhile, a boat restaurant house called the 'Le Goonla's Place' was anchored in the harbor of the Boiling Isles. "Kay? Are you done with that ice cream maker yet?" asked an older Levi Thians, who had grown a bit of fuzz and was wearing a blue knotted bandana, brown shirt, black pants, and an apron. "You gotta be ready for school, you know?" "Don't worry, I got this, big bro," said Kay, who had grown up to be a well adjusted 12-year-old girl who had more tendril-like hair. Her tendril hair worked in holding up some of the tools while she used a wrench to fix up inside the ice cream maker. She wore a yellow t-shirt with purple lines, a purple jacket tied around her waist, baggy purple pants and gray boots. She also sported purple goggles. Once she finished her repairs, she turned to her dad and gave a thumbs up. "Alright dad, turn it on." Goonla, who now had a white beard, turned on the ice cream maker. It started to make some ice cream that went into the cup, showing that the machine was working. "Haha! It works! Deserts are back in the menu!" Goonla declared while turning to Kay. "Thanks for helping fix the maker, Kay. You didn't have to do that." "I know, but I already had a pretty good idea of what the problem was," Kay replied while getting up. "And even if I didn't, I would have liked the challenge." "Well, I'm glad that you fixed it up," Goonla said. "And just in time for you to head to school." "Oh yeah, that!" Kay remembered. Once she was ready for school, she exited the restaurant, but not before telling her dad and brother goodbye. "Bye dad, by Levi," she said while hugging them. She then went to place her things on the back of her Abomi-bike, which was a gift from her godsister, Amity, that she had gotten on her most recent birthday. She placed her helmet on. "Let Amity know that I'll see her at the anniversary service!" "We will!" Levi shouted before he saw his sister go off to Merlin Meadows. "Pete, wake up!" a woman shouted. Groaning from his sleep was a pale skinned boy with messy black hair and blue eyes. He yawned while waking up. "Peter? Are you awake?" asked the voice from outside of his room. "I'm awake, I'm awake!" shouted the boy named Pete, who appeared to be surprisingly strong-looking for the age of fourteen. Once he got out of bed, he changed into his Glandus uniform, with an orange shoulder poncho and brown leggings, indicating him being in both the Beast-Keeping and the Construction track. He smelled himself and winced slightly, but then he gave a shrug and he went outside of his room to meet up with his parents in the kitchen "Morning, 'rents," he said while letting out another mighty yawn. "Good morning, Peter," spoke Margo Tricks, who was setting up for breakfast along with her husband Hamilskin. "We've prepared you a big breakfast before you go to Glandus." "Yeah, gotta keep up with your high metabolism," Hamilskin added. "Oh, um… thanks, ma, dad," Pete said while sitting down with his family. He started grabbing some sausages and bacon to eat, tearing into them with his bare hands and his teeth. "Mmm, this tastes so good." "So what are the plans for today, Peter?" Margo asked, unfazed by the way her son ate. "Uh, it is probably just going to be the same old class and the same old Faust 'rooting out evil' amongst the students," Pete said with an annoyed tone before his expression softened. "But then I plan on seeing and hanging out with Phil after school, before the ceremony." "Oh, and how has Phil been doing?" Hamilskin asked him. "Oh, you know, still the same," Pete said as he continued to eat the huge breakfast that his parents prepared for him, finishing one plate and immediately going for another. In front of Hexside, Phil flew down with Dylan. "Alright, we made it," Phil said before turning to Dylan. "Remember, stay out of trouble, alright?" "Yeah, yeah, I won't pick fights or unleash pixies out into the school again," Dylan reassured his brother, causing him to frown. "When did you unleash pixies into the school?" Phil asked. Dylan smirked. "Oops, getting ahead of myself," he said before he started to walk around the school building. "See you later, bro!" Phil just sighed before hearing someone calling his name. "Yo, Philco! Duck!" Phil turned around and immediately caught a grudgeby ball with one hand. "Nice catch," said the witch who had thrown it. "And I assume you were intentionally throwing it at my head, Annie," Phil said. "You know it," said a goth witch girl with light-blue skin, shaved black hair, and earrings. She has hazel eyes and black lips. She wore a black leather jacket with a lot of buttons, a beige shirt with a white flaming skull, black jeans, and boots. "Hi, Phil!" waved another girl with white long hair tied to a ponytail, pinkish-skin, fangs, and red eyes. She wore a red and black shirt with a jagged black skirt, red and black stockings and black boots. She has her arm around Annie. "Hi, Jaspin," Phil replied as he joined up with him. "Shall we head in?" he asked as he threw the ball back to Annie, who caught it. Once they were inside, they walked down the hallway together and spotted another one of their friends off to the side combing their hair. Phil spoke up. "Morning, Fishstick." "Oh, morning, Phil," said Fishstick, an orange-furred werecat witch who resembled a Somali cat. He wore a black letter printed jacket with red sleeves, with black lettering showing their name. He wore blue pants with pockets. His hair was styled like a pompadour, though his left ear had a piece missing on it, and there was a scar around his left hand. "And morning to you too, girls." "Morning, Sticky," Jaspin greeted with a smile. "How did your date with Holly go?" Annie asked. "Oh you know, pretty swell. I think there is definitely something between us," Fishstick said with a confident smile. "Isn't that what you said about Jordan when you dated them?" Annie pointed out. "Yeah, and Henry Krinkleheimer from Healing is still expecting your calls," Phil added. "Oh shit, did I not break up with him?" Fishstick wondered out loud. "Oh man, that's gonna complicate things with my next date with Holly… say Annie, would you help tell Henry-" "Two hundred snails," Annie told him. "What?! You know I don't have that much!" he exclaimed. "Then you'll have to figure out how to get out of your mess on your own," Phil told him, causing Fishstick to weep. "Fish having girl or guy problems again?" someone asked. Phil turned to his other friend, who had walked over to them. "Oh you know it, Sid," he said to a purple scaled iguana teen wearing glasses. His head fin resembled fingers. He wore a blue button shirt with a red bowtie, and checkered pants. He was carrying some books. "Typical," Sid said as he rolled his eyes. "By the way, Phil, have you decided which courses you're going to be taking next semester?" "Still working on it," Phil replied. "Good morning, students," said a new voice. The five students turned to see who was walking up and they quickly tried to look respectful. "Morning ma'am," all of them but Phil said. "Good morning, Great-Aunt Lily," Phil said. "I thought we agreed that here you can call me Great Aunt Principal Lilith, Phil," said Lilith. Her red hair was now shortened, with some gray streaks around it. She wore a traditional academic long black gown with a gold yoke, black cape, gold trims at the sleeves and cape helm, a blue stole draped over her shoulders, and gray ankle boots. It was similar to Bump's wardrobe. She held up her staff as a werecat woman walked up next to her. "Hi, honey," said Mrs. Whiskabee, now a member of the Hexside teaching staff. She wore a blue sleeveless overcoat with light blue sleeves and pants underneath. She waved to Fishstick, who looked slightly embarrassed. "Uh, hi mom," Fishstick said as he waved back to his foster mom. "So what's the occasion, Principal C?" Jaspin asked. "Oh, no special occasion," Lilith admitted before turning to Phil. "I just wanted to see my nephew. Phil, I'll be looking forward to hearing your mother's speech this evening." "Yeah, same," Phil nodded. "Oh yeah, it is that day today, the day that we defeated Belos and everyone survived!" Jaspin shouted. "Yeah, not… not everyone survived that day, Jaspin," Fishstick quickly reminded her. "Oh, right, sorry Fishy," Jaspin responded. "And where is your brother, by the way?" Lilith asked Phil. "Oh, he's probably headed to his class, saw him going around the school," Phil replied. "Around the school… wait, that's where… oh no." Lilith grimaced after having a realization. "Do you think your brother went through the Secret Room of Shortcuts again?" "Probably, but he's just using it to get to his classes faster, right?" Phil asked. "Did your mother and her mother use the Secret Room of Shortcuts just to get to classes faster?" Lilith pointed out. "They… didn't," Phil realized as he became more concerned. "Knowing your brother's track record, chances are he's cooking up an Abomination army, or a zombie pant virus," Sid calculated. "I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up sending this school to another dimension… again." "Should we start locking down the school?" a worried Mrs. Whiskabee asked Lilith, who just sighed. "No need to cause a panic just yet," Lilith said while walking over to a locker and opening it. In the Secret Room of Shortcuts, Dylan was currently mixing up some ingredients in a cauldron while being helped by his friend. "Um, are you sure this is a good idea, Dylan?" asked the biped blue demon girl with a hand for hair, green eyes, and fangs. She was wearing a red hoodie and black pants with purple boots. "Absolutely, Slip," Dylan replied as he mixed the potions. "Once we finish making my homunculus army, we will rule this school! Hahaha!" "Dylan!" Dylan and Slip were startled and they looked up to see Lilith coming out from one of the doors. "You stop what you're doing this instant!" she shouted at them. "Uh-oh…" Dylan said as he backed away. "Slip, can you help me escape from-" He turned to see that Slip had immediately bailed. "Not getting involved with your family matters," she said before making her way out. "Slip!" Dylan cried out before he saw a shadow loom over him. He looked up and saw Lilith in her harpy form, hovering over him and not looking happy. "Oh, um… good morning, Great-Aunt Lily…" Phil and his friends watched Lilith fly out the Secret Room of Shortcuts with Dylan. After putting him down and changing back to her witch form, she started scolding him. "A homunculi army?! What in the scalding seas were you thinking?!" Lilith scolded him. "Can't you just play trading cards like other kids do?! Do you know how much this violates the school safety codes?!" "I thought that I could give the school some excitement," Dylan commented. "Excitement?!" Lilith exclaimed. "We should go," Phil told his friends as they turned around and began to walk away. He gave a sigh. "Dylan really wants to give our mom a run for her money when it comes to terrorizing Hexside…" "And I thought my sister can be a handful," Sid muttered as they headed to their classes. Meanwhile, at St. Epiderm, Katie was setting her pegasus on the bike rack. "Later, Silvermane," Katie told her pegasus before she headed toward the school building. Before she went inside, she managed to identify her friends amongst the other students. "Blossom! Vespa!" "Katie!" two other girls around Katie's age shouted as they came over. Blossom Courtland was a red haired girl with yellowish pale skin, a biped witch girl with small horns. She had long red hair, green eyes, and freckles. She wore her St. Epiderm uniform, which had yellow arm sleeves and brown leggings, and red boots. Next to her was a cinnamon canary biped girl with a purple mohawk hair, red beak, and green red eyes. Her St. Epiderm outfit had brown arm sleeves and red leggings with her orange talons out. "Hi! Ho!" the three shouted as they did their own secret hand shakes, hitting each other in the elbows before they clapped and crossed their arms to shake their hands together. "Let's Go! Coven Crusaders!" they declared while striking a pose before laughing among themselves. Once they entered the school, they heard the voice of Beck Saltstar over the loudspeaker, making announcements. "This is Headmistress Saltstar wishing all of you students a wonderful day! Also today's lunch menu…" As they passed through the halls, they began talking amongst themselves. "So what are we going to do for Fall Break?" Blossom asked. Before she could answer, Katie noticed a poster on the wall and she came to a stop. "Hey, what's this about?" "Oh that?" Blossom asked while looking at the posters. "Oh yeah, I heard about those grudgeby tryouts." "'Try out for your junior grudgeby team this Fall Break and become the best of the best like grudgeby superstar athlete Boscha Saltstar,'" Vespa read as Katie grabbed the poster that advertised the tryouts with an image of an older Boscha Saltstar. Her hair was shortened and she wore the usual war paint, looking serious as she sported a yellow headband, purple jersey and shorts, knee and elbow pads, and sneakers while holding the ball. "Hey, my big sister has a rookie card of her that she showed me once." "This… this is perfect!" Katie declared with a smile. "Girls, what if we join the grudgeby team together this Fall Break? I think we could be really good at it. Like, you two are in Construction, and sure, I may be from Bard and Illusions, but I'm hardcore." "Yeah, my granny mentioned that us Courtlands are filled with chutzpah," Blossom acknowledged. "And we Dashers are also filled with… whatever that is," Vespa said before turning to Katie. "Though would your moms be okay with it?" "Well, mom has me covered, but mama… well, I hope she understands," Katie said, sounding a bit unsure. "I know she can be a little overprotective sometimes, but mom can talk to it. Besides, this is… something I really want to do," she admitted while looking at the poster. "Maybe this is something I can even excel in…" "Oh I doubt it," said a voice. The trio turned to see who it was and Katie reacted in disgust. "Oh great… Jen." "Um, that's Jennifer Gemstone to you, Katelyn," said a light skinned witch girl who had pale lightish violet and white hair with cerulean eyes. Her St. Epiderm uniform had purple sleeves and brown leggings along with a yellow jacket and knee high boots. With her was a silver haired witch girl with gray skin, glasses, batwing-like ears, and a St. Epiderm outfit consisting of navy-blue sleeves and yellow leggings. "Do you three seriously think you have what it takes to be grudgeby players? You need to be the best of the best to get in, right Sylvia?" "Yeah," Sylvia replied while adjusting her glasses. "Only the best can be grudgeby players." "Just growing up on a farm isn't going to cut it," Jen taunted. "You need to, you know, have actual talent." She smirked as she looked at Katie. "And you? You're more cheerleading material than anything else, cheering from the sidelines for the real athletes." "Oh, why is that, Jen?" Katie asked while going up against her rival. "Because I take Illusions and Bard? Illusionists and bards don't have to just be entertainers and cheerleaders. We can be athletes too." "Yeah, and it's not like you'd ever join," Vespa pointed out. "Like you're probably too afraid of getting scrapes on your knees." Jen narrowed her eyes at them before smiling. "Oh is that so? Well, luckily for me, my daddy knows all the best coaches. So go ahead and try to join the grudgeby team. It would be hilarious and I'd love to show you all up. Especially you, Divantos." "Oh really?" Katie asked as she looked at Jen while having her hands behind her back. "Well Jen, you really shouldn't underestimate us," she said while twirling her fingers behind her back. "Yeah? And why's that…" Jen started to say before Katie opened up a locker and a spider jumped out of it and onto Jen's face, causing her to scream. "YAAAAH! Get it off! Get it off!" she cried out in a panic while waving her arms around. Sylvia backed away from her panicking friend. She wanted to help, but then she saw bugs crawling out from her sleeves, making her gasp. "Kyaaaaaaaahhhhh!" "WAAAAAAH!" Jen and Sylvia screamed as they both threw themselves on the floor, trying to get the spiders and bugs off of them. This caught the attention of some of the students, who watched Jen and Sylvia make a scene while Katie, Blossom, and Vespa just walked away. "How long will they be like this?" Blossom asked. "Oh, only I'm out of range," Katie said with a smile while they walked to their classes. Meanwhile, at Merlin Meadows, one of the top three schools in the Boiling Isles, Kay was passing through the hallway when she stopped to greet one of her teachers. "Good morning, Ms. Burndil." "Morning, Kay," said Fan Burndil, who was now part of the teaching staff. She was a lot older with her hair grown out. She wore a mint-green jacket under her dark blue shirt, gray pants and purple loafers. Kay then spotted some students she recognized and she eagerly waved at them, getting their attention. "Morning Mari, morning Ora!" "Morning, Kay!" waved back a brown-haired Hispanic-American pre-teen human girl with hazel eyes, light brown skin with a beauty mark on her right eye. She had a bone pendant in her hair, a black sleeveless jacket with claws at the end, a blue shirt, jeans, and beige boots. "Yeah, morning, smarty," said the girl next to her. She had pale white skin with a purple undercut hairstyle. She had bright purple eyes with black narrow pupils, clover prints on her cheeks, and she wore a green top with a large fang pin, striped arms to her purple claws, a dark purple tail, green pants, and dark purple boots. She also noticeably had horns. "So you think she'll blow something up?" she whispered to the human girl. "Meteora, be nice," Mari told the de-aged Meteora. "Yeah, I know, Diaz," Meteora replied to her friend, Mariposa Diaz. As Kay continued her walk, she recognized some other students and waved at them. "Morning Cyra!" "Oh, good morning, Kay," said Cyra, a Hellhound teenager who was with her other teenage friends. Cyra was a brown furred Hellhound teen girl with purple sclera eyes with pink pupils and black lines. She had ginger-brown hair, but also a bald spot on her scalp. She wore a light orange jacket with stripes, a black shirt, pink belt, and green pants. "Hi, Kay!" waved a short teenage imp girl who had black pigtail style hair and was wearing a striped shirt and blue overalls. Walking next to them was a gray and white Hellhound teenage boy with a green jacket, lime green shirt, jeans, and a left leg that was a prosthetic. He didn't even look at Kay, since he was too busy reading a book. Cyra and her friends were part of a foreign student exchange program that Merlin Meadows had with Hell. There were other exchange students from other realms as well, with Mari and Meteora being two examples of this. Finally, Kay reached her locker, breaking into an even larger smile when she saw her friends. "Morning, guys!" "Morning, Kay," said a werecat girl around Kay's age. She had yellow eyes with red pupils and red hair that ran to her neck. She wore a black choker with a red shirt with black stripes, blue rolled up jeans, and black braces. "Howdy, Kay," said a kitsune demon with horns on his head. He had red fur but still resembled a fox while having yellow sclera eyes with gray pupils. He wore a white button shirt with a black sleeveless jacket, gray jeans, and brown boots. He also had three tails, with each of them having arrow-shaped tips, making him a unique kitsune hybrid. "We saved you a breakfast bar in case you forgot to eat breakfast again, Kay," said a human-looking girl. She had large brown hair with green eyes, light-brown skin, a blue long sleeve top with a white belt, and purple pants with beige shoes. "Thanks, Rhonda," Kay replied, accepting the breakfast bar. "Yeah, I was busy helping my dad this morning, so I did forget again." She took a bite of the bar. "So how are your, Imasu, and Cally's morning coming along?" "Oh you know, definitely not nervous about bard classes today… hehe…" the werecat, Cally, laughed to herself while holding her books tightly. "Still anxious?" Imasu the kitsune boy asked. "Oh of course I'm anxious!" Cally declared. "I'm becoming a little 'fraidy, so anxious my fur is shedding!" She turned to Rhonda and sighed. "Oh Ronda, you are so lucky that you're not trapped in your werewolf form 24/7…" "Yeah, the fur can get annoying," Rhonda agreed. "But I'm sure you'll do fine, Cally." "Fine isn't good enough if I want to live up to my namesake," Cally said before she noticed that she was shedding fur. "Oh Titan, it's starting…" The new Glandus High did not closely resemble its old castle self. Rather, it had been rebuilt to be a more modern and safe school… well, as safe as it could be. Glandus was also no longer considered one of the top three schools of the Boiling Isles, having been replaced by Merlin Meadows. There was upgraded security and more hall monitors on duty, but this was still the school for students who mostly came from poor or middle class backgrounds. And survival of the fittest was still very much in effect, though not to the extremes it did at the old Glandus. Instead, there was a student council and no student was king or queen of Glandus. The only one who was both king and queen here was Faust… "Attention, students," Faust said over the loudspeaker. "Fall vacation is coming up, but you haven't quite escaped my sight just yet. During these last days of school, it is important for you to remember that even though I know you are all keeping your evils hidden from me… if you are hurting, you can talk to our student counselor. Do not suffer in silence." Pete was currently walking down the hall alone while having his hands in his pockets. He had no friends to go meet up with. It was just him at this school… and he honestly preferred it that way. However, his time being alone was soon interrupted when he spotted some bullies coming up to confront him. "Well, well, if it isn't Petey," said one of the bullies, who was an ogre. "You think you're so tough? Well, we're gonna make you hate life!" Pete just scoffed at them. "Can you be any more cartoonish?" he asked as he made a growl, preparing to fight them. "Come on, let's take him down," the ogre bully said as he and his gang got ready to take on Pete, surrounding him so they could attack him from all sides. "You don't want to do this," Pete warned them. "Oh, I think we do, Petey," the ogre bully said with a grin. "Hmm, I hope you haven't forgotten that there is no fighting allowed in these halls," said a female voice that made everyone stop cold. Appearing out of thin air next to Pete… was one of their teachers. It was a green skinned woman with short, bobcut hair, piercing red eyes, a light-blue button shirt and pants, red boots, and her staff. "Cause I'm sure none of you want to be disciplined for fighting in the hallways, do you?" Emily Tricks, now a teacher at Glandus, asked while summoning an illusion of a demonic woman shrieking hauntingly. The bullies looked incredibly fearful of their teacher. "T-There's no fighting here, Professor Tricks!" one shouted. "Y-Yeah! We were just passing by!" another replied. "Get to your classes… NOW," Emily told them. The bullies didn't need to be told twice. "Yes, ma'am!" they cried out as they ran away from Pete and Emily, down the hallway and out of sight. Once they were gone, Pete sighed and turned to her. "You know I could've handled them myself, sis." The Emily that was next to Pete vanished, revealed to be just an illusion. The real Emily was just down the hall and she revealed herself, walking over to Pete. She gave a sigh. "Then you could have gotten in trouble with Faust and I couldn't let that happen," she pointed out. "So I had to step in. Both for your sake and for their sake." "Why worry about them?" Pete asked her. "Well, I don't want our parents to have to cover their Healing Coven bills," Emily said while Pete rolled his eyes. "Besides, fall break is close, and the last thing you need is to spend it on Faust's fall detention program." "Ah come on, Mil, I don't need you to baby me all the time," Pete complained. "You always do this, just like mom and dad." Emily looked at him and realized that she was babying him. "You're right, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day, unless you need something. Have a good day, Peter." Pete looked at Emily and he sighed. "Yeah, you too," he told her before he continued to his classes. Back at Hexside, Phil was attending his various classes. "Alright, who can tell me what was one of the holidays that was banned under the tyrannical rule of Belos?" asked their Demon Realm history teacher, who was an imp in academic wardrobe. He spotted a hand raised up. "Yes, Jocaska?" "Well, according to information that was recovered from the Forbidden Stacks, witches used to celebrate Skarnival," said one of the students, a dark-skinned witch wearing glasses, with blue batwing hair, a green sweater with a pink skirt, black leggings, and red mary janes. "It used to be celebrated at the beginning of the Summer Solstice." "Yes, very good, Jocaska," the imp teacher said before seeing Phil raise his hand up. "Yes, Phil?" "Well, I heard that during the Savage Ages, an Ursa demon saved the life of a duchess," Phil started to explain. "That duchess happens to be the wife of Duke Skarmell, who declared that a holiday be made out of it. This led to the much more obscure and nearly forgotten 'Ursa Day', during which everyone had to wear Ursa hats and make a festival around this bear. It was discovered even more recently, since it was discovered in one of the books that was thought to be too damaged by echo mice before it and others were reconstructed by silk bugs, creatures originally native to Mewni that can reconstruct anything from the tiniest scrap." "Yes! Very good, Phil," the imp teacher replied and Phil gave a satisfied smile as he leaned back at his desk. He did not notice Jocaska glaring at him with a huff for stealing her spotlight. Another one of his classes, Hex Ed, was being taught by a long necked teacher. They were not a witch or a demon. In fact, they were a yokai known as a Rokurokubi. "This is known as the 'Cursed Film,'" Ms. Kubi said while holding up a roll of film. "In the old times known as the twentieth century, these were considered bad omens. These contained trapped souls and they were usually unleashed to the world of the living if played and watched. Now what's the usual thing to do about these curses?" She saw a hand raised up. "Yes, Mark?" "Um… you don't… watch it?" Mark the cyclops demon answered. "Correct, but in the chance that you do watch it, there are ways to deal with the spirit trapped inside," she said. "Usually, the spirit is a vengeful one, but will not act immediately. It may give you, like, seven days and in those seven days you can try to break the curse, usually by finding a way to put this angry spirit to rest. You could try to burn the film, but this is not recommended." Phil nodded as he wrote this down on his notes, getting into the lesson. But in one of the Oracle Track classes… things got a little chaotic. "Alright, calm down students, it's just a ghost," assured Celine, who had grown up to be a teacher of Oracle studies. She was wearing her purple tunic with blue sleeves and blue trousers and gray boots. Her students looked terrified when the spirit was unleashed from her crystal ball. "Now, care to return to the crystal ball, Mr. Kettles…" "No! I am tired of you teenagers not getting a proper education!" Mr. Kettle declared before he dove into Celine's head, possessing her. "AAAH!" Celine cried out as the students watched in fear. They saw her twisting her head, her eye glowing. "Now then… let me teach you kids how we used to survive with tax evasion!" "Yeah, no," Phil said as he stood up. "Not going to be taught by a possessed teacher." "Very well," Mr. Kettle said as his eye glowed and he started levitating himself and objects around him. Phil turned to Sid. "Sid, you know what to do." "Got it," Sid said before going over to the wall where there was a glass case with a button under it. Sid lifted the glass case and hit the button, which was for the occasion where a teacher or a student got possessed. An alarm went off and emergency doors opened, allowing the students to evacuate the room. Well, all of the students except for Phil and Sid, who remained as Sid handed Phil a bag of salt. "Here, use this to repel the ghost in case he tries to possess you," Sid offered. "Thanks," Phil replied as he put his Exorcist gloves on and charged at the possessed Celine. The ghost using Celine's body shot magic blasts against Phil, who dodged them by diving underneath a table. He drew a spell circle and Abomination-like from the ground, trying to grab the possessed Celine. "Hey! What's the big idea, sonny?!" the ghost shouted with Celine's voice as he kept blasting ghostly beams at Phil while dodging the Abomi-vines. "I'm trying to teach you kids the old ways!" "Yeah, but we have senior homes for that," Phil said while holding a bag of salt. "And we don't like how you're possessing my teacher without her consent." "Bah! Since when do ghosts need consent to possess mortals?!" Kettle ranted while shooting more blasts at him. Phil dodged them, all the while getting closer to the ghost. He spread salt around between him and when Kettle tried to blast at him again, his blasts were blocked by the salt line between him and Phil, giving Phil time to draw a spell circle that summoned more Abomi-vines. "Egad! My ghost powers don't work… wait, I can just kick the salt away," Kettle said while using Celine's boot to move the salt away… but the Abomi-bines quickly bound her body before Kettle could do anything ."Gah! Ah, poop." "Time to pull you out of class," Phil said as he grabbed Celine's face. The gloves glowed as he pulled Mr. Kettle's ghost out of Celine, freeing her from his possession. "Yah!" Mr. Kettle shouted as Phil kept a tight grip on him. "Let me go, you whipper-snapper!" "Oh…" Celine groaned while looking around. "Happened again, did it?" "Yeah," Phil said, holding onto the ghost while Sid came over to hand the crystal ball to Celine. "Thank you, Sid," Celine said before she used the crystal ball to suck Mr. Kettle back into it. "Curses!" he shouted while he was sucked back into the crystal ball. After trapping the ghost, Celine turned to Phil and Sid. "You two get some extra points for this," she said, making Phil smile as he looked down at his gloves. "Thank you, Auntie Sam," Phil said, appreciating his gift. Meanwhile, in St. Epiderm, Katie and her friends were taking Human Studies 101. "Alright everyone, time to teach you more about human history!" declared an aquamarine-skinned witch woman with gray cyan and white fingers-like hair, gamboge-colored eyes, and a single fang on her right side of her mouth. She wore a purple tunic over her pink button shirt, blue long dress and black heel boots. She had a display of emus on the board. "Now for those who did their homework and assigned reading, who can tell me who pioneered the genius human invention known as… Wi-Fi?" She saw Katie raise her hand up. "Yes, Blossom?" "Hedy Lamarr… right, Professor Hedgewick?" she asked. "That's correct!" Hedgewick responded. "Because of her, many humans were able to connect to the Internet and to each other through wireless means. Thanks to Wi-Fi, and other inventions, humans are able to share information from across the world with each other in a matter of moments. In this area, we are still technologically behind them, but we are getting there. However, humans still did it first and they did it without magic, which is a testament to their creativity and intelligence…" There was also Dragon Studies, where Katie was paying attention to her teacher's lecture. "Now, this is where things get interesting," said the older Cross Drakescale, now shown to have a layer cut with side partings and a shaven face as he wore a blue button shirt with a green snake tie, black pants and boots. He was in front of a board with drawings of different kinds of dragons on it. "As a result of interbreeding between dragons and other species like humans and witches, sometimes the non-dragon side is more dominant, causing the dragon traits to skip generations and for some births to remain human, or in our cases, witches. However, these dragon traits are not completely gone and can actually be passed down to the next-next generation. I am actually an example of this, since my father was born without dragon traits, but I was not." He noticed Katie's hand up. "Yes, Katie?" "I've read about how Eastern dragons were made into the rivers of the continent of Asia in the Human Realm," Katie mentioned. "What can you tell us about that?" "Oh that's a good one, Katie," Cross replied, excited to answer. "I've learned that there is a story behind it…" After class, Katie and her friends heard Cross calling out to them as they left. "Remember to study for next week's test, the last test before Fall Break," he told them before he heard someone speak. "How's your class coming along, Drakescale?" asked Hedgewick, whose classroom was across the hall from him. "I hope you didn't bore your students again with your lessons on dragon societies." "Oh, sorry that the studies of dragon culture isn't as 'exciting' as teaching kids about how humans talk to each other over the, what do you call those? The tele-foon, Lyra?" Cross asked nonchalantly. "It's called the telephone, and yes, my students are much more excited to learn about human inventions and ingenuity than about some thousand-year annual dragon cookout gatherings." Lyra asked. "It's the One-Thousand-Year Toast over the first Dragon Temple ever built, for your information!" Cross told her as the two had a glare off. "It makes more sense than that weird April Fools holiday!" "Humans use pranks as a form of love!" Lyra argued. "Are those two at it again?" Blossom asked, looking back at the two teachers "Of course they are," Katie said, rolling her eyes as they kept walking. "Sometimes I wonder why Aunt Lindsay married him," Vespa said as they walked away from Cross and Lyra's little petty rivalry. In theater class, Katie sat in a row of chairs with the other students. They were watching someone perform a part. After their classmate finished their monologue, they left the stage. "Alright, Ms. Diamantos, you're up," said the theater teacher, a witch man with average skin, black short but pointed hair on each side, black eyes, a narrow nose, and a frail appearance. He wore a black coat with a red scarf, white button shirt, black dress shoes, and white gloves. Katie nervously walked up to the stage and looked out at the students in the auditorium. They were all looking at her. She held up the sheet with her lines while clearing her throat. "U-Um… to screen… no, screech…" Katie said nervously while looking back up at the audience before her. She could almost hear them chatter to each other. Were they talking about her? She started to feel the anxiety of stage fright, her palms feeling sweaty and her heart racing. "Uh…" She spaced out for a moment, though she didn't know for how long as she pulled aside and taken behind the curtains, the voice of her teacher calling out to her. "Katie! Katie, it's alright, it's me," he told her, causing her to snap out of it. "Are you alright?" he asked her. "I… I'm so sorry, Professor Rampart," Katie whispered, wiping her eyes. "I… I don't know what got over me… it's this dang stage fright I keep getting. I feel so embarrassed and ashamed… I'm so sorry about my anxiety…" "Katie, listen to me," Professor Rampart said while helping her to calm down. "Are you listening to me?" "Mhmm," Katie said with a nod. "You shouldn't apologize for having stage fright," he told her in a reassuring tone. "Many young actors like you have the same kind of issues with their own anxiety on stage. In fact, I had them myself when I was around your age." "You did?" she asked him in surprise. "Well, yeah. I got nervous a lot, but you know what helps?" he asked as Katie listened. "You shouldn't be focusing on the audience. Instead, focus on one thing and pay attention to that." "Like what?" Katie asked him. "Focus on me," he told her, pointing to himself. "You can focus on your performance for me, not the rest of the class. Don't think about what your classmates are thinking and remember that I'm not judging you for your performance, I'm just here to help you give the best performance you can give. You got that, kiddo?" "I… I think I got it, sir," Katie replied with a nod, taking Rampart's advice to heart. "Now, why don't you go out there and try again," Rampart told her in a gentle, almost fatherly tone as Katie nodded. "And Katie… no matter what happens out there, there is nothing you can do that will make me think less of you." "Oh, um… thanks, sir," Katie replied as she walked out from behind the curtains and back onto stage, where she was in the spotlight again. The students focused on her, which made her feel nervous at first. But she remembered her professor's advice and reminded herself to focus on performing for him, not the rest of the class. "To screech, or not to screech!" Katie performed, raising her hand up. "That is the riddle the Titan himself asked…" Over at Merlin Meadows Kay was attending some of her classes. One of these was a shop class. "Okay, Joel, this looks like a decent bird house," the shop teacher told his student, who had built some kind of wooden and stoned figure. "It's supposed to be a clock," Joel responded, disheartened. "Oh…" the shop teacher said awkwardly before moving on to the next student. "Helen, how's your project coming?" "Um… not so good, sir," she replied before showing that her work had fallen apart, nuts and bolts popping out. "Um, try working on tightening the nuts and bolts," he advised her before moving over to see Kay's work. "Wow, Kay, what exactly are you building?" he asked her after seeing Kay's contraption on her desk. "Well, I was fixing up my dad's ice cream maker earlier this morning, and that made me start to think about building a new and improved ice cream maker that wouldn't break down," she explained while looking over her constructed machine. "Not only that, but the ice cream it could make would be smoother and sleeker. Yeah… yeah…" she said while getting more ideas for the new and improved ice cream maker. Next, Kay was in one of her Beast-Keeping classes, where her teacher was giving a lecture about today's mythical beast. "There are a lot of creatures in the Human Realm that were once considered to be only myths. But the thing about myths, as I have repeated multiple times, is that they often have a grain of truth in them," said the teacher, a human man with dark-brown hair, olive eyes, and white skin with a scar on the right side of his chin. He wore a black hat, a brown vest with a white button shirt underneath, a black coat-jacket with a gray belt, black pants, and shoes. "Take the Chupacabra, for example." He gestured to the creature that was drawn on his board. "His name literally means 'goat-sucker'. This guy originated from Puerto Rico after a report of incidents in a small town of Moca report about animals having their blood drained by a vampiric creature. Now I actually met old Silverio when I took a trip down there years ago on an investigation with my associates. And yes, that was his name, Silverio. There are more like him spread around the Latin American and Caribbean countries, although chupacabra is admittedly an umbrella term that refers to many creatures, some which look completely different from each other. But this is what Silverio looked like." The picture of the Chupacabra showed a creature with big black eyes, canine-like ears, a reptilian body with webbed wings connected to his arms, and long hind legs. Kay raised her hand. "Mr. Van Helsing, what is the difference between a chupacabra and a vampire?" Peter Van Helsing smiled. "Technically, a chupacabra is a species of vampire because it has vampiric tendencies, just like the vampire bat. The biggest difference is that the chupacabra does not possess supernatural abilities and it feeds entirely on livestock. The chupacabra does not drink the blood of humans and very rarely attacks humans. Honestly, I think the chupacabra is quite misunderstood." Kay nodded and took notes on this as Peter Van Helsing continued his lecture on mythical creatures from the Human Realm… In another class that Kay attended, she was learning language lessons from their vampire witch teacher. "Alright, class, time to exercise your R's in saying this sentence in three languages," said an older Drusilla, who was wearing a dark purple blouse and red scarf and purple bell-bottom trousers with red heels. "Now in Spanish: The cats from the flats chase the rats by the mats." "Los gatos de los pisos persiguen a las ratas por las esteras," Kay and the rest of the class spoke in Spanish. "Now in Portuguese," Drusilla said. "Os gatos dos apartamentos perseguem os ratos pelas esteiras," they said in Portuguese. "Now in French." "Les chats des… chassent les rats par... nattes?" they all tried to say. "Okay, we still need to work on your French," she told them. "But I think you have done very well this semester, all things considered." "When do we learn Thai, Ms. Alucard?" Kay asked her. "Hopefully next semester," Drusilla said, which made Kay look excited about learning the subject. Over at Glandus, Pete was attending his Beast-Keeping class, run by… Nina Fangs. "Oh man," the tired werecat said as she rubbed her temple while standing near a container of lightning bugs. Her hair was now shortened to short orange hair. She wore a brown jacket with a red vest where a white button shirt was underneath and cargo brown pants. "Are… you alright, Ms. Fangs?" asked a student. "Yeah, I'm fine, just get me a moment," she said as she went to drink her morning coffee brew before she set it down. "Alright, I should be able to shake this off now," she muttered before turning to her class. "Alright, today I'm going to demonstrate how to properly handle lightning bugs. Now, they're known to be electrically charged so you gotta be careful in handling them," she said while putting on a pair of gloves… that were not rubber. "Uh, teach…" Pete tried to point out, but Nina had already placed her gloved hand in the container. "Now you just let the lightning bugs come to you and then," Nina said as she held up a lightning bug, which started to charge up before it electrocuted Nina. "BAAAAAAH!" she cried out as she fell back and onto the floor. The rest of the lightning bugs flew out of the container and flew down to Nina only, giving her another electric shock. "YAAAAAAH! NOT AGAIN!" After a few students went to her rescue by containing the lightning bugs in the jars, some helped her up. Nina coughed a lightning bug from her mouth, her short hair looking more like a perm. "Are you alright, Ms. Fangs?" another student asked in concern. "… Read page eighty on handling these bugs during your free period," Nina said before she took a seat, letting out a tired sigh. The students couldn't help but pity her. Their teacher wasn't usually like this, but they knew she was going through some stuff back home… Later, Pete was attending gym class, which was being taught by Glandus's current non-sadistic coach. "Alright, keep running those laps!" shouted a blue demon woman who had a heavy-built figure with dark brown curly hair tied to a pigtail and green headband, dark blue horns, three eyes and tusks. She wore a gray track suit with matching pants and red sneakers. She turned from the students running laps to the students running an obstacle course. "Lorenzo, you're doing good! Peter, you're in the lead!" Pete kept running as he saw the climbing wall in front of him. He climbed up the wall with the rope while another runner, Lorenzo, did the same. Once they climbed to the top, they climbed down the other side and sprinted toward their gym teacher and her griffin Palisman. "Time!" she said while looking at the stopwatch. "Lorenzo, you're about three seconds ahead of Peter!" Lorenzo gave a thumbs up while catching his breath, while Pete just scoffed at this. "I shouldn't have held back," he huffed before walking over to the bleachers to take a breather. In the Glandus teacher's lounge, Emily was sitting down on the couch reading a book when she felt someone slumping onto that couch next to her. She turned and saw Nina. "Nina, are you alright?" a concerned Emily asked her, seeing the werecat looking like Hell. "Oh, you know, I forgot to wear the proper gloves and got electrocuted by lightning bugs in my class," Nina said while drinking her coffee brew. However, Emily knew there was more to it. "So… how are Donna and Lambi?" That was just the excuse Nina needed. She took a deep breath, slammed her brew down on the table in front of them, and started to rant. "Titan, their pregnancies have made them so much worse!" she ranted. "They have been stressing me the fuck out, Emily! Because of their hormones, their emotions have been turned up to eleven, making them incredibly sensitive, and they've been bickering! Normally, they get along fine, but now they fight over who I should sleep closer to or who gets the bathroom first, even though we have like, three!" "I get it, Nina," Emily told her, patting her back. "Our wives can be scary at times…" "Yeah," Nina nodded as she gave a sigh. "I swear that each day I'm losing more of my fur. But hey, it'll be worth it when the kittens come, right?" Emily nodded in agreement. "I believe it will, Nina, I believe it will." After school, Phil and his friends went together to one of their usual hangout places. "Man, I just love coming here and chillaxing," Fishstick declared while leaning back in their booth. "Yeah, although… as someone who grew up coming to this place, it hasn't exactly felt the same since they changed the theme," Phil said while drinking his shake. "Or the name," Annie added. "I still think Roger's Place has its own vibe going for it," Jaspin said as the teens hung out in the bar formerly known as the Pour-Ta-Geist, now known as Roger's Place ever since Geist sold off the place to an old associate of his. "You better believe it, sister," said a gray-skinned alien with a large head and big eyes. He was wearing a jean jacket, black shirt, jeans and sneakers. He was the owner of the bar. And yes, he was the actual Roger Smith. No, I have no idea how he ended up in this universe. Just go with it. Phil looked up and saw another teenager entering the bar, breaking into a smile when he recognized the teen. "Pete! Over here!" he shouted. Pete smiled back as he came over to join them. "Hey, Phil. Good to see you." "You too, man," Phil said as the two fist bumped each other. "But I can't stay long, you know? Have to go to the anniversary service." "No prob, I have to go there too because of my sis," Pete said as he sat at a table next to theirs and grabbed a menu. He saw Phil's friends looking at him. "What's up?" "Yo, Peteman! You know, you're good sitting with us," Fishstick told him. "You are also Phil's compatriot," Sid added. "Yeah, but I prefer my own table," Pete responded while checking the menu. "So how is Glandus going for ya, Pete?" Phil asked him. "Oh you know, same old, same old," Pete responded with a shrug. "Of course, my Beast-Keeping track teacher got herself electrocuted by lightning bugs today. I think she has been out of it since she knocked up her wives with litters of kittens…" "Oof, I feel bad for her already," Phil responded. "How about you, Phil?" Pete asked him. "Did anything interesting happen at Hexside today?" "Well, I fought a ghost and my little brother got in trouble again," Phil mentioned. "Again?" Pete scoffed with a chuckle. "Dylan's always a riot, and a bit scrappy at that…" "Yeah, Great-Aunt Lilith wants to make sure he doesn't get into any more trouble today by taking him to my moms herself after school," Phil said as a waitress walked up to them. "Would you like to order anything?" she asked. After they ordered and got their food, the group began to talk about their plans for the fall break and for the next semester. "So what are you guys planning to do for fall break?" Phil asked. "Me and Annie are going to travel to Palm Stings for Splinter Fest!" Jaspin declared in an excited tone while hugging her girlfriend's arm. "And after that, we'll be visiting Metropelvis for the grand opening of the LOWTH museum," Annie said with a rare smile. "Then I have to go visit my uncle's, who helps with the abomi-motives." "I have an internship at the new start-up company, Abomex," Sid said. "The newest and most environmentally friendly Abomination lab." "That sounds good," Fishstick said as he leaned back while eating a griffin wing. "As for me? I think I'll just just chill with my mom while waiting for Tanner to call me… or was it Stephanie? Finn?" he asked as he looked down in confusion before looking over his scroll. "What about you two?" Jaspin asked Phil and Pete. Phil gave a hum while eating his fries. "Well, I'm kinda drawing a blank on what I could do this fall break. I'll probably at least spend time with my family in the HR, like Aunt Clara, Auncle Masha, Grandma Camila, Uncle Mason, and Aunt Mabel. As for next semester, my mami has been trying to push me into taking Beast-Keeping or Bard." "Hey, what's wrong with Beast-Keeping?" Pete asked. "And Bard?" Jaspin asked in confusion. "Nothing, I'm just… not really that interested in taking them," Phil said while leaning back in the booth. "At least, not for the moment…" "Well, I won't be doing much for the fall break, and next semester will probably be the same for me," Pete said while eating his sandwich. "So… are we going to talk about what today is or not?" "Right," Annie said while they all looked down at the table. "The anniversary…" "Of the Day of Unity," Fishstick said while looking at his scarred hand, the scar going up to his arm… "A day of remembrance," Sid said while taking his glasses off, giving a sigh. Phil looked down at his own hands while looking at his friends. "I… know how important this day is for my moms, even if I wasn't there for it." "Yeah, neither was I, but I do know it's important to my sis," Pete said while lowering his head. "Well, we do have some vague memories of it, we can share them if you guys like," Jaspin offered. "Yeah," Phil responded, looking at his friends. Sid spoke up first. "I remember… a giant attacking the city. It looked not quite like a robot, but also not quite like an animal. It was… something in-between. Biomechanical. I remember believing it was a Titan at the time, though that seems silly now. My parents had boarded up our house, since we were just going to wait out the Day of Unity. But when that giant attacked, we were forced to flee before our house was destroyed. We lost our home that day, but we're at least still alive." "I… think what I remember most is being saved by a Fae," Jaspin said. "Bonesborough was being attacked by these fleshy bonebots that looked similar to the Abominauts. I thought we were all going to die but then… a Fae saved us, using pixie dust to help me and my parents fly to safety. And despite everything that had happened up to that point, being able to fly like that made me… happy. It was a very pleasant experience," she said, remembering it fondly. "I was one of the witches that took shelter in St. Epiderm during the Day of Unity," Annie revealed. "I remember… some of the older teens and adults falling down while clutching their sigils. It was… scary, but not as scary when we saw this huge dragon griffin robot thing flying toward the school to kill us all if it had not been for your moms, Phil," she said while looking over at Phil. "I owe your mothers for saving us." Fishstick looked at the others, then looked at Phil. He sighed. "I was only a kitten when it happened," he admitted. "I had suffered some burns from the Torsa Villa fire, which had only happened a few days before that. I… remember still being in pain." He rubbed his scar. "I had… also lost my parents during the fire. It was… an awful time for me. It wasn't until… until I met my mom that I started to feel better. But even then, it took me a long time…" Annie let out a sigh. "But you know, it was because of that day we got to grow up in a Boiling Isles without Belos. If not for that day, our lives would have been completely different." "Did you guys have any memories from the time of Belos's rule?" Phil asked them. "Well, I have some," Sid admitted. "Nothing really worth talking about though." "The only thing I remember is the fire," Fishstick said, sounding awkward about it. "I have a hard time remembering anything from before that…" "Other than the flying, most of my memories from before the Day of Unity are pretty faint," Jaspin admitted. "We were just little kids," Annie pointed out. "We weren't old enough to really understand what was going on and why." Pete had stayed silent during this until he noticed Phil's slumped look. "Phil?" "…It was because of the Day of Unity that I'm even alive," Phil admitted while looking down on his drink. "I'm alive, we're all alive, and it's thanks to my moms that the Boiling Isles is the way it is now." He let out a sigh, his expression betraying uncertainty. "Which makes me wonder… how could I even possibly live up to that?" Meanwhile, Katie and her friends had met up with Kay and her own friends in a courtyard in Metropelvis Park after school. "Hey, Kay," Katie waved to her while she, Blossom, and Vespa walked onto the courtyard. "How are things in Merlin going?" "Pretty good, Katie!" Kay responded. With her were Cally, Imasu, and Rhonda. "Ready for a game of Human Realm basketball?" Katie grinned. "You know I am," she said. "I'll be the referee this time," Imasu said as he changed his shirt to a referee shirt. Katie took the front while Blossom and Vespa were behind her. Kay also took the front with Rhonda and Cally behind her. Imasu held up the ball, looking at the two teams. "Ready… GO!" Imasu shouted as he threw the ball up, both Katie and Kay jumping up and raising their hands to grab the ball. Katie grabbed the ball and started dribbling toward the basket. Rhonda and Cally used their speed to try to catch up to her, but Blossom used her magic to summon a bush in front of Rhonda while Katie passed the ball to Vespa. As Vespa dribbled, she was blocked by Cally, who attempted to prevent her from making the shot. But Vespa smirked as she passed the ball to Blossom. "Go Blossom, go!" Katie shouted. Blossom made the throw while Rhonda tried to stop it, only for the ball to go through the basket. Imasu gave her a point. "Epiderm, one point!" Imasu declared. For the next round, Kay looked for any angles she could use. She looked at Cally and Rhonda, who both nodded as they ran toward the basket. Katie created illusion duplicates of herself to try to confuse the other team. Each duplicate held the ball, but Cally and Rhonda were able to smell the real Katie, Rhonda going to the real Katie to grab the ball from her. "Kay, catch!" Rhonda shouted as she passed the ball to Kay, who grabbed it as she headed for the basket. Vespa tried to block her, but Kay made the shot and the ball went through. "One point for Merlin!" Imasu declared. "First to two?" Kay asked with a smirk. Katie smirked back "You're on." After Imasu threw the ball up, Vespa grabbed the ball and headed for the goal with Katie at the basket. Kay summoned Abomination hands to try to grab Vespa, but then they were shot back by ice blasts, courtesy of Blossom. Vespa then saw Rhonda and Cally coming at her. "It's on you, Kat!" she shouted, passing the ball to Katie. After grabbing the ball, Katie saw Abomi-hands trying to grab her. But Katie was determined, avoiding the hands before making a long shot. The ball hit the edge of the basket and they all watched in tense anticipation as the ball rolled around the rim of the hoop. After a moment, the ball went in. "Two points for Epiderm!" Imasu declared. "Katie and her team wins!" "Alright!" Katie cheered as she, Blossom, and Vespa hugged each other. "Way to go, Katie!" Blossom and Vespa cheered. "Katie!" Kay shouted up. "Great game! But next time, you won't be so lucky!" "We'll see about that, Kay!" Katie replied. "Today was basketball, but tomorrow I could be a great grudgeby player." "Grudgeby? Wow, I didn't think you'd be into it," Kay said while drinking her bottled water. "Well, it's just something me and the girls want to try out," Katie admitted as they all sat down on the bench. "But it is something I think I could be good at." Kay smiled. "Yeah, I think you could be good at it too." "Say, what time is it?" Imasu asked as they relaxed and Vespa checked her scroll. "Uh guys… isn't it almost time for the anniversary ceremony?" Vespa asked them, making them stand up in realization. "Barnacles! Is it really almost time?" Kay exclaimed. "Yeah! My mom and Nina will have my tail if I'm late!" Cally shouted. "You know, I heard about this Day of Unity thing from my host family," Rhonda said as they headed out from the court. "Me and Imasu don't know all the details, but it does sound very important." "It is important," Katie confirmed. "I mean, we were all really young or hadn't been born yet when it happened, so it isn't like we remember the original Day of Unity." "But we still know how important it is," Kay said. "If it hadn't been for my godsister, Amity, and her wife, Luz, the Boiling Isles would be very different." "Our sisters and aunts also fought against Belos and the Emperor's Coven that day to ensure that we had a better future," Blossom said. "So this day means a lot to our families." The kids continued to talk about the Day of Unity as they headed out to the anniversary ceremony, hoping they were not late. The anniversary ceremony was being held in the arena near the Titan's Skull. Twelve years ago, Belos had attempted to use this space to drain the witches of the Boiling Isles of their magic. Now, the space was being used to commemorate his defeat. "This is Eve Slipknot coming to you live from the Titan's Skull," said an older Eve, who had her hair straightened out while dawning a purple coat with a black blouse, purple skirt with gray leggings and purple boots. She held the microphone while an older Tyler, her cameraman, filmed her. "As you can see behind me, I am just one of many witches who have gathered here today with our fellow demons, Yokais, and Hellborns to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the Day of Unity, the day that Luz Noceda Clawblight and Amity Clawblight, along with their friends, families and allies, managed to save the Isles from Belos's tyranny…" Katie, Kay, and their friends had made it to the ceremony and were now reuniting with their families. "Mama, I'm here!" Katie shouted as she rushed over to Tabrella, who turned to her with a smile. "Katie, I was starting to get worried you wouldn't find me," Tabrella said. "Come on, mama. You know I wouldn't miss it for the world," Katie replied. Kay also found her way over to her family. "I'm not late, am I?" she asked them. "Nah, you're just in time," Levi replied while patting his sister's back. Pete found his parents while Phil found Lilith, who had Dylan with her. "Phil, you made it," she said, spotting Phil. "I wouldn't miss something this important, Great Aunt Lily," Phil responded while looking at his brother and shooting him a grin. "Sup, little bro? How's detention?" "Hmph," Dylan replied. On top of the podium in the center of the arena, Luz and Amity looked over the crowd before they turned to Emily and Cross, who were there with Hunter, Gus, and Willow and her wife Skara. As Luz prepared to give her speech, Hunter, Gus, Willow, and Skara talked amongst themselves. "You know, I can't remember the last time we were all in the same place together like this," said Skara, whose hair was braided. She showed more wolf-like features, with her wolf ears and nose being visible while there was some white fur on each of her cheeks and her arms. She wore a red vest over her pink shirt, a maroon belt around her waist, black pants, and red boots. "It has been a while, at least." "Yeah, and it's good to be together again, even if it is for this," Willow said, now with a more muscular build. She wore green arm bands and a green kimono gown with yellow trims. The gown was split while she also wore mint-green baggy pants and green shoes. "I'll say," said Gus, who still had his dreadlocks. He had glasses, an earring on his left ear, and a soul patch on his chin. He was wearing a white button shirt with a blue stripe, and blue jeans with white and blue sneakers. His left arm had a kanji tattoo of his name. "Do you think Luz had her speech memorized this time?" "Who knows?" asked Hunter, whose hair had grown out to his back. He now wore a yellow rolled up sleeve shirt with a blue apron, baggy blue pants, and brown boots. Flapjack sat on his shoulder. All four of them fell silent as they saw Luz walk up to the microphone stand, the entire crowd also falling silent as they listened to hear what Luz had to say. And she knew that not only were the people here watching her, but so were the witches watching her back home. "Um… Charles Dickens once wrote… it was the worst of times, it was the best of times," she said, though realizing she misquoted the line. "I-I mean, the other way around, but you know who cares about the difference?" she snorted herself, messing up her own speech. "Your cousin's losing it again," Emily whispered to Cross, who just nodded in agreement. "Um… what I meant was…" Luz said as she felt Amity's hand patting over hers. She turned to her wife, who gave her a reassuring smile. Luz closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she continued talking into the mic. "Let me start over. What I want to say is… I don't think you need me to tell you how important this day is. Everyone knows how important this day is. But I think this day, this anniversary, is about more than just what happened twelve years ago. No, today we should think about everything that happened in those twelve years since that day. About how far we came." "We abolished the Emperor's Coven and the coven system, instead creating a new government system where we get to vote for our leaders and our representatives. No more Emperors. No more Coven Heads. No more witches looking out for only their interests. And we completely revamped our law and order system, so more petrifications. Not only that, now our schools and businesses mix magic regularly and we have established closer ties, not only to other communities in the Demon Realm, but also to communities in other realms. We brought Hell to the Boiling Isles and it is actually a good thing," Luz pointed out, causing some of the Hellborn demons to let out a chuckle in response. "Not to mention our improved relations with our Human Realm neighbors, our Yokai neighbors, and our Fae friends. The Boiling Isles is much better now than it was under Belos and I think it can only keep getting better." Luz then looked down, her face falling as she then brought something else up. "But we still can't only look into the future. We also need to look back and remember the fallen. Those who fought and died during the build up to the Day of Unity or on the Day of Unity itself. For some of us, that includes friends and family… for me it's Beocrow Clawthorne, Beel Zatar, Julia Traveler, Hikari Sticks, Larry Garber, and Maya. But there are also all the victims of the Torsa Villa fire and everyone who died in the Healing Coven explosion, the other explosions caused by Belos, or his attempt to destroy the Boiling Isles with Titan Mechs." She paused, looking out at the crowd. "We've lost some good witches that day and I wish that they were here today with us, I really do. But they did not die in vain. Everyday, we make sure that they are honored. We fought hard that day, but we have been fighting and working hard every day since then as well, both to make sure we get the Boiling Isles we want to live in and to make sure we never fall back into old habits. And it hasn't been easy to get to this point. In some cases, we had to work with those we considered to be our enemies before they became our unlikely allies." She turned and gave a nod to Emily, who smiled back at her. "And for more than a decade, we've gotten to see what a Boiling Isles without Belos is like." She looked down before saying something that nobody expected her to say. "You know, the funny thing about the Day of Unity is that Belos was… right about what it would do, but just not in the way he expected it," she said as she looked out at the crowd. "The Day of Unity really did bring the Boiling Isles together, and it led to a better Boiling Isles, but it was not the Boiling Isles Belos had in mind." Luz then finished her speech. "Now, we shouldn't remember the Day of Unity for just what Belos tried to do. Rather, we should also remember the Day of Unity for what we did and what we can continue to do. This is a day not just to condemn what Belos did, but to celebrate what we did. Because, quite frankly, we deserve it." Once she finished her speech, the crowd decided to break out into applause, cheering for her. Behind Luz, her friends clapped as well. Luz smiled, touched by the response. "Now then, since you've had enough of listening to me, I will let Chancellor Raine Whispers take the mic," Luz said as Raine came up onto the podium. "Thank you, Luz," Raine responded. They looked a little older, with a few wrinkles around their eyes. They wore a green suit with the Titan skull ribbon on their chest and maroon pants with red heeled shoes. Everyone clapped when they saw their elected Chancellor of the Isles. After the ceremony concluded, Tabrella and Katie both returned home. "How did you like the ceremony, Katie?" Tabrella asked while taking her earrings and heels off. "I thought it was great!" Katie replied while dropping her book bag. "Especially Mrs. Clawblight's speech!" Tabrella smiled. "Well, I'm glad that you enjoyed it." Katie then remembered something. Something that she wanted to ask her mom about. The grudgeby tryouts. "Say mama, um… there's also one thing I wanted to ask…" But before she could finish, she heard the door to the farmhouse open as her step-mom came in. "I'm home," said her voice. Katie turned and formed a smile. "Mom!" she shouted happily. "I saw you at the ceremony," Tabrella said with a smile as she walked over to her wife, wrapped her arms around her, and gave her a kiss. "Welcome home, darling…" "Thank you, hon," said Emily, who smiled at her wife and her step-daughter. "So how were both of your days?" "Hey mom, I thought I would stop by after the ceremony today," Luz said while standing by a tree and looking up at the sky. "Today's been going good. Still working on my character, by the way. I've been thinking about going independent. How's 'Crabby Comics' sound? I was thinking of Maya when I came up with that." She gave a sigh while she continued. "Phil and Dylan are doing okay too. Phil saved his teacher after she got possessed today. I am so proud of him. Sometimes it's… hard to try to find common ground with him. He's a good kid, and I want him to form his own path, but… it makes me wonder if this is how you felt when I didn't take up Potions at first." She continued. "And Dylan… well, he's Dylan. I heard he tried to start up a homunculi army today. Your sister gave him a mouthful for that." She snickered. "Honestly, I think he's trying to follow in the Clawthorne tradition of being the absolute terrors for Hexside. At this rate, he is going to beat both of us. But hey, I still love him. I love both of my sons…" She then brought out something from the basket she had with her. It was a bottle of apple blood. "Picked this up from the Courtlands. A special order. Your favorite apple blood with my own mix." She poured the drink into a glass and started to place it down. "Here you go, hope you like it…" She placed the glass down on the ground in front of a grave. A grave… with Eda's name on it. 'Eda "The Owl Lady" Clawthorne' Beloved daughter, sister, mother, and friend. "I miss you, mom," Luz said, tears in her eyes. "I wish you could be here today." She wiped her face and smiled. "But don't get me wrong, I'm still happy. I have a wonderful life and a wonderful family. I'm incredibly grateful for everything that I have." She sighed and looked down at the grave one last time. "Thank you," she said. "For everything." And with that, Luz Noceda Clawblight turned and started to walk away, leaving the grave to go rejoin her family and continue living her life. Thus, for now at least, ends our look into the future of Luz Clawthorne.

Trivia

• This chapter is labeled as a prologue on Archive on Our Own.