Chapter 25: EP 4: Evening with the Blights Part 3.

This time, her crystal ball actually shattered and the Oracle Spirit flew out of the shards, utterly petrified.

"What are you doing!?" Odalia snapped, "Do not disobey me again! Get back in the ball!"

The Oracle Spirit whined as Odalia cast the spell to once again seal the spirit into a crystal ball and begin the Love Reading for the Sentinel. However, the ball once again shattered and the spirit flew out, now looking both scared and agitated.

"What has gotten into you!?" the woman growled, losing her patience. She tried to conjure another crystal ball, but the spirit retreated into her Oracle Stone before she could complete the circle, and then refused to come out no matter what she did. Odalia didn't understand! She'd never had issues with her spirit before! At least not since…

Her eyes grew impossibly large as realisation hit her like a raging slither beast; the Angel! It was that Angel, Luz Noceda! She was the only one that her Oracle Magic had never worked on! Thinking back to their confrontation at Skara's party, she remembered Luz claiming it was because of her "feathery situation", and Odalia had assumed she'd meant the Owl Lady's curse, but now it seemed obvious that she was talking about her angelic nature. She'd been informed by Osran, the head of her coven, that Angels were immune to their magic.

"So, the angel is masquerading as the Silver Sentinel! She must be here to sabotage the showcase!" Odalia growled to herself. That explained the "attack" on their airship and how the invitation was destroyed!

After some cajoling, she managed to get her spirit back out and into a crystal ball again, which she used to cast a scrying spell on the invitation she'd sent to the Castle. Sure enough, it showed her a vision of the Owl Lady and a pair of female witches in Bat masks having a running battle with the Golden Guard, who was attempting to avoid them rather than defeat them, though Odalia didn't know why. The real Silver Sentinel was nowhere to be seen, but Odalia was still certain that the one who'd come to the party was an imposter! She had said the invitation was destroyed after all!

Odalia felt a rush of hatred as she realised this meant it was Luz who'd humiliated her earlier, but she stuffed it down as she once again saw an opportunity. The scouts Luz had brought with her were probably rebels in disguise too, and now that Odalia knew about them, she could get the drop on them! She could get her revenge for Skara's party and win the Emperor's favour by capturing the angel! She then looked to her daughter, still smiling at the imposter; Amity would be heartbroken to discover the girl she'd become besotted by was just her friend stringing her along for the sake of her schemes… it might even be enough to finally bring Amity back to her side and end her rebellion!

With a plan in mind, Odalia began preparing for the greatest showcase that Blight Industries ever had!

[Meanwhile]

Ever since Alador married Odalia, founded Blight Industries, and began manufacturing abomination weapons and home defence solutions, Darius had thought of him as a hack. The two had been friends once; friendly rivals that were nigh inseparable even, but that had changed thanks to Odalia. Even in school, she'd been the kind of woman who needed all attention on her and her ambitions, and had no patience for things or people she couldn't use. Both Darius and Alador's skills had drawn her attention, but while the confident Darius had turned his nose up at her and her attempts to use him, the shy and awkward Alador had been quickly taken in by the positive attention and praise, and soon fell head over heals for the manipulative oracle. She had then moulded Alador into the perfect scientist and weapons manufacturer that she needed for her little business, and Darius could do nothing but watch with disgust as his old rival lost some of his innovative creativity in favour of crafting only what could sell.

Darius was reminded of this as Alador begrudgingly gave him a tour of the factory floor and its expansive machinery. The place was cold, clinical, and with a hint of organised chaos, and lacked any and all of the originality and flair that Alador's work in school had once been full of. It disgusted Darius to see such a creative talent be reduced to something so derivative and dull… to him, Abominations were a creative endeavour; a living art form! Alador had thought the same too, before Odalia got her hooks into him.

These memories had Darius in a foul mood, and made him hyper-focused on sabotaging the place as effectively as possible. He knew how all the machines worked, having helped design some of them for the Abomination Coven, and knew just how to disable them without it being too obvious and easy to repair. There was no way to permanently destroy them without blowing the place to kingdom come, but it would still take weeks for the factory to be up and running again once the sabotage was discovered, which wouldn't be until after the Ball was over. He silently had Steve and his fellow defector perform the sabotages while Darius himself kept Alador distracted, making sure he himself couldn't be blamed for the sabotage, since Alador never took his eyes off him long enough.

Finally, Alador showed Darius to the ten Abomaton Mk II's that he and his team had built.

"And these are the items we'll be showcasing tonight. The Abomaton Mk II, a fully self-powered and autonomous abomination soldier capable of handling any normal witch with ease. Even powerful witches would struggle to match one of these, and in teams of two or three, they are virtually unstoppable!" Alador bragged. "Feel free to inspect them; once the Sentinel sees them, she'll snap them up in an instant!"

If the Sentinel had been the real one, Darius expected Alador would have been correct! Amity's warning about these new creations hadn't been exaggerated! They were a major threat and needed to be dealt with!

Darius began to look them over for signs of weaknesses or flaws, but found them to be solidly built. Alador hadn't cut any corners; the slime was a non-Newtonian fluid that was soft at rest, but hardened under force to make the abomination sturdier, and the enchantments woven into the brass armour allowed the Abomaton to create that force within itself, which allowed it to freely soften and harden itself to take on new forms as needed. To Darius' immense annoyance, the basis of this enchantment was his own Abomination Transformation Spell, which allowed him to turn himself into an abomination at will. He and Alador had developed it together at school, but while Alador had never mastered how to do it to himself, Darius had never managed to cast it on things other than himself or objects in direct contact with him, like his clothing.

"I see you're using some of our old work together…" Darius muttered, feeling both anger and sadness in his chest.

Alador nodded; "I figured I had the right to. I developed half of it after all, and only used the half I made in the Abomatons." he said, his own voice tinged with nostalgic fondness and sombreness. He then added; "Imagine what these things would be if we combined our efforts. A Mk III would be even more unstoppable."

Darius shook his head; "I've no interest in mass-producing weapons, nor helping Odalia with her schemes." he replied shortly.

The Blight Patriarch felt his hackles rise, but forced them back down; "I admit… I've been having my doubts about this. I enjoy creating things, but unless I'm designing something new, I feel like it's all just… work. Odalia hasn't been helping either, with the way she's been handling the kids. Not that I'm much better… I can barely connect to Amity, let alone Edric and Emira…"

"Why are you telling me this?" Darius asked, "I'm not a councillor and we're not friends."

The "Any more" went unsaid.

Alador shrugged; "I don't know. I'm only conscious thanks to an obscene amount of coffee, so maybe I'm just too tired to care about boundaries. Besides, other than Odalia, you're the closest thing to a friend I have… even if you're a snob."

Darius smirked despite himself; "And you're a hack… though a talented one who is wasted on that harridan."

Alador's eyes widened, and Darius blushed faintly, turning his back on the man; "But enough of that; I believe I'm satisfied with what I've seen. I don't suppose you'll tell me what these power cores are made of?" he asked.

"Trade secret. No one but me knows; I handle their creation personally." Alador replied, suddenly feeling a little awkward.

Darius nodded as he hid a scowl. The only obvious weakness he could spot was these power cores, and without knowing what they were made of or how, it was too dangerous to sabotage them. He looked to Steve and the other scout defector out of the corner of his eye and both subtly nodded to him, showing that they'd completed their tasks. Just about every machine on the factory floor was now sabotaged and would shut down shortly after they were activated.

"I don't suppose I'd be allowed to look at the blueprints? Out of professional curiosity and to ensure my inspection missed nothing?" Darius asked.

Naturally, Alador refused; "No one but myself and Amity is allowed in my lab, and the blueprints never leave it. I believe this inspection is over."

Darius didn't argue and instead gestured for Alador to lead the way back off the factory floor. As they were leaving, Odalia suddenly came marching into with a wide smile on her face.

"Alador dear, I've discovered something wonderful! A way to really get ourselves in good with the Emperor!" she said excitedly; "We'll need your Abomatons; all ten of them! I've got quite the show planned."

"You're changing the show? This is a bit last minute, Odalia!" Alador frowned.

"Trust me, it'll be worth it." she said, before noticing Darius and the scouts listening. She gave them a devious smile and said; "Apologies Gentlemen, but this is a private conversation. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise! I'm sure you can find your own way back to the Ball."

Darius sniffed haughtily and agreed, beginning to leave with his escorts. The instant Alador and Odalia were distracted however, he transformed one of his pinky fingers into abomination slime and formed it into a tiny abomination, which he sent slithering through the shadows to Alador's lab. Once it was inside, Darius would be able to see anything he wished inside it, including the blueprints and the potential weakness of the Abomatons!

He left the factory floor and returned to the Ball, where he smirked upon seeing Luz and Amity dancing together, completely lost in the moment. After checking in with Lilith and the other defected scout, the Head Witch found his way to the closest wine glass and took a much needed drink while Steve went to inform Lilith of their success.

A few minutes later, an abomination wandered onto the stage and whispered to the head of the band, who promptly finished up their final song before vacating the stage. Amity and Luz ended their last dance, a tad disappointed it was over but glad to have enjoyed the experience all the same. Luz then looked around, noticing Darius who nodded to let her know the sabotage was mostly complete. That brought a smile to her face, though a chill went up her spine when Odalia appeared on stage with a sinister gleam to her eyes and a cold smile on her face.

"Good evening, everyone! I trust you have all been enjoying the Blight Ball this evening?"

Many of the guests raised their glasses in acknowledgement, making Odalia smile a bit wider. "Wonderful! Then allow me to begin the main event for the evening; the showcase of Blight Industries newest and greatest creations! Introducing… the Abomaton Mk II!"

Odalia stepped to the side and Alador appeared on stage with five Abomaton Mk II's being him. The guests clapped and cheered, impressed by the imposing looking golems. However Alador looked notably serious and alert, and both Luz and Amity began to feel nervous when his eyes landed on the two of them and narrowed slightly. Luz had the feeling he wasn't very happy with her… maybe he'd noticed all their flirting and was being a protective father?

"For those who witnessed our last showcase, you saw the flaws with our Abomaton Mk I. Well my husband has pulled out all the stops to remove those flaws and make an unstoppable soldier! It's bigger, it's better, and it won't rest until its enemy is rendered… neutralised." Odalia said, gesturing grandly as each of the five Abomatons flexed and transformed their hands into different weapons.

The crowd applauded, clearly entertained, and Luz clapped along too to maintain her cover. But then Odalia looked at her and said; "Now, please allow me to invite on stage the Emperor's Coven's very own Silver Sentinel!"

Luz gulped, and created illusory words that said; "What are you playing at, Madam Blight?"

"No games, Lady Sentinel. I simply wish for you to examine them closely for yourself. Perhaps even attempt to destroy one, just to show off its defensive capabilities before we get to the offensive ones." Odalia explained.

Luz was on guard, but decided to accept. So long as she didn't use her signature light magic or let her glyphs become visible, she shouldn't be exposed! With a brief squeeze of Amity's hand, Luz stepped up onto the stage and faced down one of the five Abomatons, which stepped forward to serve as her target. The other four stood in a line with Odalia and Alador, the former smiling and gesturing to her; "Please go right ahead. Use any magic you wish to attack it. I swear it won't attack back."

Still on guard, Luz drew a spell circle that created a blast of fire directly at the Abomaton's head. Its head was blasted off, then almost immediately regenerated to the applause of the crowd. Luz then drew another spell circle, this one covering her hand in icy magic. She brought her hand down to the ground then swiped it forward, causing a wave of razor sharp icicles to fly at the Abomaton and impale it. Some passed right through and the holes they left were swiftly regenerated, while others shattered against the Abomaton's armour, which hardened in response to her spell. The crowd applauded once again, and Odalia began to explain the Abomaton's defensive features as Luz wailed on it with various spells. As she worked, Luz began to feel like she could probably destroy it if she went all out, but it would definitely be a lot more effort then it should be!

Then the Abomaton's core began to glow and it created a pink barrier around itself, which none of Luz's spells could get through, to her annoyance. Thankfully the Abomaton also couldn't attack through the barrier, so at least that meant it wouldn't be able to fight back.

Odalia led the audience in clapping once again, then said; "The Mk II's barrier is not just effective as a defensive mechanism either! When used in teams of at least two, they become very effective prisons too! Allow us to demonstrate."

She snapped her fingers and before Luz could act, a sixth Abomaton descended from the rafters behind her. It's arms shot out and wrapped around her, binding her arms to her sides with purple slime while the four Abomatons on standby pointed their weapons at her and the one Luz had been fighting deactivated its barrier and created a second one that covered the entire stage, cutting Luz and the adult Blights off completely from the rest of the party. Luz, unable to speak without breaking her cover but also unable to cast her illusory messages with her hands sealed in gunk, was forced to just wriggle and glare at Odalia, who smiled like the cat that got the cream. Lilith, Steve, and the other two scout defectors drew spell circles, ready to attack.

"What is the meaning of this, Blight!? Release the Silver Sentinel immediately!" Lilith demanded.

"Oh, I would Miss Scout but you see…" Odalia walked over to Luz and pulled down her hood, then roughly yanked off her mask, revealing her true face to all the guests. Everyone gasped, immediately recognising Luz for who she was. Odalia's smile grew wider; "… but the Silver Sentinel isn't actually here."

Alador snapped his fingers and the remaining four Abomatons he'd created suddenly descended from the rafters too, each one landing behind one of the four fake scouts. Steve and his two defector comrades were promptly bound in Abomination slime as well, trapping them before the Abomatons then sealed them inside barriers too. Lilith was able to avoid it by conjuring a barrier around herself the instant the Abomaton landed behind her, not even bothering to turn around.

Seeing as the jig was now up, Lilith threw off her disguise, shocking everyone other than her fellow conspirators and then summoned Corvanc and slammed the end of her staff into the ground, creating a shock wave that blasted the Abomaton away from her. It hit the wall hard enough to splatter, forcing it to take a moment to put itself back together, during which Lilith yelled to the rest of the guests.

"Unless you want to be dragged into a fight, get out of here!" she demanded. She then blasted away a good chunk of the front doors and the wall surrounding it, which caused most of the guests to run screaming from the party. The only ones who remained were the Blights, the CATTs, Severin Cadence, and the Alembics.

Darius, who's true allegiance wasn't known to the Blights, walked over to Severin and the Alembics and said; "I think this is Coven Business now. You should leave and take your children with you."

Severin immediately agreed, using the excuse to take Skara and go; he didn't want to fight his daughter's friend after all. Callisto Alembic pouted and looked ready to argue, but her partner Morel and daughter Boscha both dragged her off, the latter using the excuse that she wants to hang out with Skara still. Skara also looked ready to protest, but the best way she could help now was to get her father away from the fight so the others didn't have another powerful opponent to deal with, so she reluctantly left with Severin. Once they were gone, Darius turned to face the Blights.

"I trust you can tidy up this issue without my help?" he said, feigning boredom.

Odalia smirked; "Naturally. Since the scouts and Sentinel were nothing but fakes, you can confirm to the real ones that our inventions captured the angel and these traitors!"

"And what of Lilith?" Darius pointed out, as the woman was still free.

Lilith answered by shooting a blast of magic energy at him. It wasn't powerful; just enough to singe his clothes and the skin beneath while sending him into a nearby wall. Darius grunted in pain as he slumped to the ground; he knew it was for the sake of his cover, but it still hurt!

"Stay down, Deamonne. You're no match for me." Lilith said coldly.

Darius groaned and pretended to pass out from his injuries, causing his body to melt into a puddle of abomination slime. Luz and the Blight Kids had never seen him do that before, so their expressions of shock were genuine. However Amity, Edric, and Emira soon turned from shock to anger as they turned to face their parents.

"Let Luz go!" Amity demanded, preparing spell circles.

Alador's eyes widened in shock, while Odalia tutted; "Don't you see, Mittens? This isn't the real Silver Sentinel! She's nothing but your treacherous friend Luz. She's been stringing you along and playing with your heart all evening, just to sabotage our show and the deal with the Emperor's Coven!"

The Blight parents watched Amity's face carefully; Odalia wanted to see rage and betrayal, while Alador feared the heartbreak of his youngest child… however neither got what they expected. Instead, Amity glared at them both.

"I knew it was Luz the entire time! It was me who told her and the CATTs about the Ball! I helped them sneak in!" Amity admitted; "And as for stringing me along and playing with my heart… Luz can do whatever she wants with my heart, seeing as I've already given it to her!"

"W-What!?" her parents cried, Odalia with fury and Alador with shock.

"Luz is my girlfriend! She has been since Grom Night!" Amity revealed, "Now let her go!"

Alador went completely slack-jawed; his little girl had a girlfriend… and he hadn't known? She'd gone behind his back and not only joined the rebels, but was helping them sabotage his show!? Why!? Did she really hate him that much? Had his lax parenting made her resent him so intensely, or was it his lack of parenting at all? Meanwhile, Odalia was just seething.

"This brat has been nothing but a bad influence on you! Whatever corruption the Emperor says has infected her has clearly spread to you as well!" Odalia spat, more furious than Amity and the twins had ever seen her. "I am going to give you one chance, Amity Blight; stop this foolishness and obey, or I will force you! Your relationship with this angel is over; she will be handed over to the Emperor and you will once again do your duty to this family! Do I make myself clear!?"

Amity answered the only way Odalia deserved; by flinging a pink fireball at her head. It flashed harmlessly against the barrier Odalia was hiding behind, but the message was clear; Amity was Odalia's enemy.

Odalia narrowed her eyes; "Then we'll do this the hard way. Edric, Emira; apprehend your sister while the Abomaton deals with Lilith!"

The Abomaton Lilith had splattered earlier had reconstituted itself and was now marching towards Lilith, who stood ready to fight it with Corvanc. At the same time, Edric and Emira summoned their Palismen in staff mode and began approaching Amity, only to stand beside her and point their staves at their mother.

"We'll pass, thanks. Amity is our baby sister; we've learned from our past mistakes and we'll never hurt her again!" Edric declared.

"That's right. Ed and I are part of the CATTs to! Oh, and so you know, I have a girlfriend too! Viney Leonis!" Emira said proudly.

Odalia was apoplectic; all three of her children were in open rebellion! Not only that, but now Emira had also gotten herself a girlfriend too, and one that Odalia had never heard of, which obviously meant she was unworthy of courting a Blight in Odalia's mind.

"Alador! Say something! Bring your children to heel!" she demanded. However Alador could do nothing but stare in heartbroken silence at his children, unified against him. He was mentally shutting down, overcome with despair. Odalia growled at the sight; fine, she'd deal with this herself.

She pulled a small remote control out of her pocket and pressed some buttons, causing the barrier around the stage to momentarily go down so that the four extra Abomatons that were pointing their weapons at Luz could march towards the Blight children and Lilith, who was already facing down an Abomaton of her own. The barrier then went up again, keeping Odalia and Alador safe with Luz as their hostage.

"Abomatons, seize them! Be as rough as necessary, but don't kill them." Odalia ordered coldly.

The Abomatons' eyes flashed, and they suddenly rushed at Lilith and the Blight children. It was 5 VS 4, with one Abomaton to each of the teens and two facing down Lilith. Immediately, they were at a terrible disadvantage; the two Abomatons facing Lilith each transformed one hand into a magic laser cannon that blasted out a green stream of energy, which Lilith was forced to block with a barrier. She had to continuously feed magic into it to keep the barrier from breaking, and she couldn't drop it, move, or return fire as the Abomatons weren't stopping their spell! In fact, they began to take turns blasting her; one maintaining a stream of magic while the other recharged, then switching places in such a way that Lilith didn't have a window to act.

The teens weren't having it any easier either. Edric had to rely entirely on illusions, wind, and ice magic, none of which did much to stop the powerful Abomaton, especially since they were so heavy that they required a lot of wind power to move them, which drained a lot of magic. He was also still inexperienced with ice magic, and attempting to freeze the Abomaton failed miserably as it would simply melt again, as transitioning between solid and liquid states was already a built-in function of the Abomaton. He'd even tried to summon Batric, his pet Muddle Bat that he caught up on the Knee, but the little guy's poison didn't work on abominations and it was too small and weak to be more than a brief distraction.

Emira was in a similar boat, though she had the additional benefit of some healing magic, which she was using repeatedly to keep herself and Edric from being too banged up. The Abomatons weren't being gentle; they were using primarily blunt weapons and low powered magical blasts, and they were beginning to leave bruises and minor burns on the twins, and Emira was slowly draining her magic reserves to keep them fighting (or more accurately, running around and dodging).

Amity had it a tiny bit easier as she could summon her own abominations to fight back, as well as use abomination slime to make weapons and barriers to counter the Abomaton's own weaponry. She also had her fire magic, ice magic, and even a bit of earth and darkness magic that she'd been learning to further her skill with abominations. It made her fight the only one that was even close to a fair one.

The Abomaton began by turning both its arms into long tendrils and trying to bind her. Amity countered by using her abomination magic to briefly take control of the arms and deflect them away from her, before the Abomaton's power core reasserted its own control over the slime to overpower her. However by that point, Amity was able to draw a pair of spell circles and use earth magic to force two pillars of earth to shoot up out of the ground, so when the tendril arms came swinging back at her, she was able to summon a pair of her own abominations and have them catch the tendrils and run around the pillars, tying the Abomaton's arms up. Amity then finished the combo by using a combination of ice and abomination magic to transform her abominations into large blocks of ice (which looked more like opaque purple crystal) that further bound the Abomaton's arms.

Unable to melt Amity's abomination slime like it could its own, the Abomaton was instead forced to rip off its arms, though it used its power core to regenerate new ones. Amity growled and immediately tried throwing a trio of pink fireballs at the Abomaton while summoning Ghost into her other hand and spinning her staff to create a large spell circle that spewed a stream of pink flames. The fireballs struck the Abomaton's head and core, the latter doing nothing and the former melting its head, though it was quickly regenerated, while the stream of flames began rapidly heating the brass armour that the Abomaton wore, with Amity hoping it would melt so she could cool it again and leave it misshapen, impairing the Abomaton's movements. Her plan failed however, as the Abomaton's brass armour simply grew hotter and hotter but showed no signs of melting. The metal had incorporated abomination slime into the forging process, which was the secret to its shape-memory abilities. This also meant that the armour was able to maintain its shape even when melted to liquid form, just like the rest of the abomination… in fact, Amity heating it up so much only made the fight harder for her, as now she couldn't get close to the red hot metal without cooling it down first.

The slimy golem retaliated by transforming one of its hands into a large wrecking ball on a chain and swinging it at Amity, forcing her to fly up into the air on Ghost. As soon as Amity was airborne, the Abomaton turned its other arm into a laser cannon and began firing shots of green magic at her, aiming primarily for her Palisman and extremities, since it had been ordered not to kill the girl. Amity practically danced through the air to avoid the blasts, then flew directly above the Abomaton and drew a spell circle on the ceiling of the factory. This spell used earth magic to control the brick and stone of the ceiling above the Abomaton and make it slam down onto its head in the form of a massive stalagmite. It pierced through it's body and struck the power core, making Amity think she'd finally destroyed the creature as its body was split in half and splattered. However, when the dust cleared she saw that the Power Core was still intact, having been protected by a thin barrier of magic that coated it.

Amity cursed and tried to freeze the Power Core before the Abomaton could regenerate, but the Core produced green flames around itself to melt the ice, then created a vortex that sucked in the splattered slime and reformed its Abomaton body, returning it to prime condition. It immediately slammed its hands together and transformed them both into a single massive cannon, and Amity immediately flew to the ground and put up a barrier spell to protect herself from what she assumed would be a powerful blast. However instead of a beam of magic, a web of abomination slime was shot at her and wrapped around her barrier, binding it in its sticky slime. The youngest blight was sure that if she just dropped the barrier, the web of slime would fall on her and bind her, so she instead used ice magic to coat the inside of the barrier and create a dome of frost, allowing her to release the barrier without getting stuck in the web. Once she didn't need her hands to keep the barrier up, Amity placed both hands on Ghost's staff and twirled around, using the Palisman to draw the largest spell circle she could within the dome of frost, then slamming the end of her staff down in the dead centre of the circle.

The result was a monstrous pillar of pure pink light, which tore through both the ice dome and vaporised the sticky web (while also blasting a massive hole in the ceiling). This wasn't like Amity's previous Pseudo-Light spell that used hyper-focused fire however; this was a genuine light spell just like Luz's. Ever since unveiling the pseudo version in the fight with Grom, Amity had been trying to perfect true light magic in secret, as a surprise for Luz, and to her own shock, she found she actually had quite an affinity for it! Once Amity had worked out the trick (which was aligning her magic with positive energy rather than the negative energy that she used for abomination magic), she was able to create light beams and bolts just like Luz herself could! She'd even begin figuring out how to make light swords, showing a higher aptitude for light magic than she did darkness magic, despite the latter being a component of her preferred abomination magic.

Seeing the pillar of light shocked everyone, but Luz grinned widely and yelled; "You go, Amity! Kick that slime ball's butt!"

Amity smiled and replied; "I will! Hold tight Luz, I'll save you, I swear!"

The youngest Blight then conjured a trio of abominations and sent them at the Abomaton while she created a pink light sword and followed behind them, using the abominations like shields. The Abomaton fired another giant web at her, but her creations got in the way and ended up stuck together. Amity hardened her creations so she could climb up and over them, then split the Abomaton down the middle with a swing of her light sword. This exposed the Power Core once again, and Amity was able to slash at it a few times, though her light magic still couldn't pierce its barrier. She even abandoned the sword and blasted it point blank with a powerful blast of light, but it failed to so much as scratch the orb.

"Dang it! Let's see how you like this then!" Amity growled, channelling light magic through Ghost and coating the Palisman itself in a layer of light magic that turned her from a staff into a spear. Amity then used earth magic to launch herself into the air with a pillar of rock, then threw Ghost at the Abomaton's core, using abomination magic to coat her arm and increase her throwing strength, and a combination of light and fire magic to propel the spear even faster. It struck the Power Core with enough force to actually crack the barrier, but the Power Core released a pulse of magic that sent Ghost flying and sent Amity tumbling to the ground.

Poor Ghost managed to land on her feet in cat mode, but as soon as she'd landed, the Abomaton reformed and fired another net at her. The net then morphed into a cat carrier, trapping Ghost inside.

"Haven't you had enough yet, Amity?" Odalia scolded; "You can barely keep up even with your Palisman; you're hopeless without it!"

"I'm not done yet!" Amity spat, reaching into her dress and pulling out her Oracle Stone. She summoned her own Oracle Spirit and sent it towards Ghost, while Amity herself ran for cover behind her bound abominations. Amity then cast a spell that morphed her three trapped creations into a single giant, misshapen mass of limbs, which threaded some of its legs through the holes in the Abomaton's slime net so it could stand and charge at the Abomaton. The Abomaton fired green magic blasts at it, and Amity's creation took a lot of damage before it finally reached the Abomaton and engulfed it. Amity then snapped her fingers and detonated her slime, creating a sizeable explosion that blew the Abomaton to smithereens.

Luz cheered loudly for her girlfriend, before gasping as she saw that the Power Core was still intact! It's barrier was damaged, but it quickly restored it and began to regenerate its slime body and reconstruct its shredded armour. Amity grimaced, but turned her attention to Ghost and her Oracle Spirit. The Spirit had phased its hands through the cage to touch Ghost, and as a Palisman, Ghost was able to sync with her partner's Oracle Magic to become intangible when the Spirit touching her did so too, allowing the Spirit to pull Ghost from the cage, transform her into staff mode, and return her to Amity just in time to conjure a barrier as the reformed Abomaton turned its arms into a pair of blunt mallets and swung them at her.

"Futile. No matter how hard you fight, you can't defeat Blight Industries new Abomaton! Just give up Amity; it'll be much less painful for you." Odalia smiled smugly.

Luz glared at the woman as if she was trying to burn holes through the woman's head with her eyes. She then looked to Alador, who had gone dangerously pale and looked ready to throw up. Seeing this, Luz shouted at him.

"Alador! Your wife is one thing, but I thought you of all people were better than this! Are you really going to side with the Emperor against your own kids!? Are you going to let your wife and creations hurt them!?" she cried.

Alador flinched, forcing himself to look at the fight going on. Edric and Emira were riding on Orthrus now, forced to rely on his strength and barriers to defend against two Abomatons, while both looked beaten and bruised from the fight. Amity was struggling too, but refusing to back down even as she got more and more exhausted.

"I-I…!" Alador tried to speak, but couldn't get the words out.

Odalia rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers, making the Abomaton binding Luz cover her mouth to stop her yelling; "You don't need to worry about a thing, Alador. I'm doing this for the family."

"T-The family… this is for the good of the family… right?" Alador whispered to himself.

Meanwhile, Amity really was beginning to tire; she was relying on her Oracle Spirit to pull her out of danger as her movements grew more sluggish; her muscles burning from running around and avoiding the Abomaton's attacks. She desperately wanted a break, but couldn't give up or retreat with Luz's life and freedom on the line.

"Think Amity! There has to be a way to break the core!" she muttered to herself.

"There is a way." said a voice on her shoulder.

Amity almost shrieked in surprise, recognising the voice as Darius'. He immediately spoke again; "Don't let on that I'm talking to you. I'm speaking through the slime I used to make your dress. I've discovered a weakness in the Abomaton's Power Core."

While Darius had melted into slime after pretending to be knocked out by Lilith, he had allowed his mind to transfer to the small piece of himself that he'd had slip into Alador's lab. There he had successfully found the blueprints for the Abomaton and knew just how its core worked!

"The Abomaton's Power Core is a crystallised mass of specially prepared abomination slime, that has got a shard of Titan Bone embedded at the very centre. That's what provides the magic. The rest of the slime core is basically a smaller abomination inside the main Abomaton, functioning as its brain. Sufficiently powerful abomination magic can disrupt the core long enough that you might be able to destroy the Titan Bone, but you'll need to find a way through the barrier." Darius explained.

Amity's eyes widened, before a grin split her face; abomination magic and a form of magic that could slip through a barrier… Amity had access to both!

"I'm taking this thing down!" Amity declared, focusing hard. Her eyes began to glow pink as she pushed her magic as hard as it would go, then drew a pink spell circle with Ghost. She reached out through the circle and gripped the Abomaton's core with abomination magic, surrounding it in a pink aura and causing the barrier around it to fluctuate. Amity then used her free hand to grab her Oracle Stone to order her Spirit to attack, passing through the fluctuating barrier. She'd tried this tactic before, but Alador had accounted for Oracles when tuning the Core's barrier, so even an intangible spirit couldn't pass through… but now that the barrier was fluctuating, Amity's spirit could slip through the cracks.

With a loud shriek, the Oracle Spirit slipped straight into the core, and channelled Amity's only darkness spell into its hands. It became tangible again and tapped the Titan Bone at the centre of the core with its darkness covered hands, causing the bone to turn black and decay.

In an instant, the Power Core melted into inert sludge, and the rest of the Abomaton followed suit, becoming a harmless puddle on the ground. Amity was left panting, while Odalia was outraged and Alador shocked so badly that it snapped him out of his speechless state.

"She did it… Amity destroyed my Abomaton!" he gasped. The surprise hit him like a sledgehammer, as did the unmistakeable feeling of pride that suddenly filled his heart. 'My little girl… how strong have you become?'

Odalia turned to glare at her husband; "I thought you told me that the Abomaton was foolproof!"

"It was as foolproof as I could make it. The core was shielded against 95% of all Abomination magic." Alador said, not taking his eyes off of Amity.

"And why wasn't it 100%!?"

"Because then the core's own Abomination magic wouldn't be able to get out of the shielding to actually power the Abomaton! Weaving the enchantments and magic in such away that the core could efficiently control the body while offering the maximum protection was extraordinarily difficult! Only a witch of incredible strength could force enough magic through to disrupt the core!" Alador retorted.

"I told you to ensure Amity wasn't able to repeat the stunt she pulled at our last showcase!" Odalia seethed

"And even with the core disrupted, she wouldn't have been able to if she didn't have that Oracle Spirit, something she only had because you forced her to multi-track against her will!"

Odalia's blood began to boil, and as she and her husband yelled at one another, Amity took the opportunity to attack the Abomatons fighting her siblings. She quickly repeated her winning tactic on the closest one while the other was kept busy by Orthrus, then once she'd destroyed her second Abomaton, she swiftly followed it up with a third.

"Emira, heal yourself and Edric! Orthrus, please help me save Lilith!" Amity said. The twins nodded and hopped off Orthrus, who then pounced on one of the Abomatons keeping Lilith trapped, while Amity attacked and destroyed the other. The destruction of her fourth Abomaton in the space of about five minutes left Amity feeling even more exhausted, and she stumbled as she moved towards the fifth. Disrupting the Abomaton cores required a lot of magic, and Amity had already used a lot during her fight with the first one, and now that drain was catching up to her.

The fifth Abomaton grabbed Orthrus by the tail and swung him around before slamming him into the ground, making him yelp and dazing him. With Orthrus out of the way, the Abomaton then pointed its arm at Amity, turning its hand into a magic cannon with the intent of blasting her into unconsciousness. Amity tried to force herself back to her feet to avoid it, but she once again stumbled, so she closed her eyes tightly, bracing herself for impact. However, the blast never came and Amity opened her eyes again to see that Lilith, now able to leave her barrier without being barbecued by green flames, had used her own abomination magic to disrupt the Abomaton's core.

"I won't let you lay a single rotten finger on her!" Lilith snarled; "I failed to protect a girl who was important to me once… I won't make the same mistake twice!"

She intensified her magic, disrupting not just the core but the entire Abomaton, making its body begin to melt even as it tried to maintain its shape. Amity gasped at Lilith's strength and felt touched by her words. Despite the animosity she still felt for Lilith turning in Luz, Amity couldn't deny that a part of her felt warm and fuzzy that Lilith still cared about her, even with the hard time the girl had been giving her.

Shaking that thought off for the moment, Amity ordered her Oracle Spirit to destroy the Abomaton's core, taking out the Abomaton entirely and marking the destruction of half the completed Mk II's. Lilith then helped Amity to her feet while the twins carefully examined Orthrus, who was thankfully only stunned.

"Are you alright, Amity?" Lilith asked gently.

"I am. Thank you, Lilith. I owe you one." Amity replied.

Lilith shook her head; "No, I still haven't come close to repaying my debt to you and the others. Allow me to help a little more." she said, reaching into her hair and pulling out a bottle of pearlescent Bile Booster, the powerful Elixir made with Luz's feather on the day Lilith made one of her biggest mistakes. "Drink this. It'll boost your bile production and restore your magic rapidly. You're low enough now that it shouldn't cause an overload."

Amity gratefully took a sip of the potion and immediately felt her heart pumping faster as her bile sac replenished itself and her magic. Feeling refreshed, she handed the rest of the potion to Edric and Emira, who each gulped down half of what remained, restoring all three Blight siblings to their full strength. Emira had already healed herself and Edric, and cast a cursory healing spell over both Lilith and Amity to make sure both were in peak condition, then all four of them gripped their staves and pointed them at Odalia and Alador, who were still bickering behind a barrier.

"Give up and free Luz, Blights! And the others too!" Lilith demanded. "We know the secret to your weapons now; they are no match for us!"

Odalia growled; she was tempted to order the other five Abomatons to try and overwhelm Amity and Lilith, but doing so would require them to release Luz and the three fake scouts and there was no way she was doing that!

Instead she glared at her husband; "We'll have to deal with them ourselves. You deal with the twins, since your creations are obviously useless against Amity. I will deal with Lilith and our Dear Mittens!" Odalia ordered.

Alador just blinked owlishly as Odalia used her remote to momentarily lower the Abomaton's barrier, then dragged him off the stage before raising it again. She then shoved him towards the twins, who glared at him.

"Odalia, you can't be serious!" Alador protested; "This is going too far!"

"Just do as your told, Alador! This is for the sake of the family!" Odalia snapped, turning to face Amity and Lilith.

Amity and Lilith were completely unfazed; there was no way Odalia stood a chance against them, while the twins were a lot more on guard with their father, actually pointing their staves at him. The sight of his own children ready to fight him felt like a knife in Alador's heart.

"Edric, Emira! You can't truly believe I'd fight you!" he exclaimed.

"And why not?" Edric scowled.

"You stood back and did nothing while Mom sicked your monsters on us!" Emira added with a glare.

"And it's not like we're close… or as important to you as your work!" Edric continued.

"So why wouldn't we think you'd again choose it and Mom over us!?" Emira finished.

Alador recoiled, their every word like a fresh blade in his chest. He desperately wanted to deny it, but he couldn't; every word they'd said had been true. He'd been an awful father, and barely knew his kids at all! He didn't know what foods and colours Edric and Emira liked, or their hobbies and interests, or even their friends! He hadn't even known Emira liked girls, or that Edric had a pet Muddle Bat! He knew even less about his twins than he did Amity, and even that was barely anything beyond her skills as an Abominations Witch.

"Y-You really believe I'd hurt you…" Alador whispered in disbelief.

His twins refused to look him in the eye, yet their staves never wavered. Odalia scowled at her husband yet again.

"Alador, they are just in a rebellious phase. We're doing this for their own good, so just-"

"MY CHILDREN BELIEVE I WILL HURT THEM!" Alador suddenly roared, the rage and misery coming off him in waves. The booming voice of the usually lethargic, soft-spoken man was enough to make everyone in the room flinch and stare at him, wide-eyed. He marched towards Odalia, his face like thunder; "My children… our children. How can hurting them, fighting them, setting my inventions on them… how can any of this be for their own good!?"

"We're trying to build a better life for them! This contract with the Emperor's Coven will bring our family wealth and prosperity! We'll live like royalty in the world the Emperor builds with our inventions!" Odalia defended.

"We already have wealth! We have prosperity! What we don't have is a relationship with our own children! Neither of us knew our daughters were in relationships! I barely know a thing about the twins and they are my own flesh and blood!" Alador yelled, almost in tears; "This has gone too far, Odalia. I refuse to let it go further."

He snatched the remote control for the Abomatons from Odalia, then began deactivating his Abomatons one after the other. He managed to free Steve and his fellow scouts, but before he could free Luz, Odalia snarled and sent her Oracle Spirit at her husband, snatching the remote back. She then immediately reactivated the three Abomatons that had held the scouts and sent them at Alador while she once again retreated into the same barrier that Luz was being held behind.

Alador glared coldly at his wife as he effortlessly disrupted the cores of two Abomatons at once, and Lilith supported him by disrupting the third, allowing Amity to use her own Oracle Spirit to destroy them, reducing the number of Abomatons to just two; the ones binding Luz and producing the barrier around Odalia.

"No! You're destroying our life's work!" Odalia screamed, "Don't you see this is for the family!? For the Blight name!? Need I remind you what became of my family and its name!? What I had to sacrifice to elevate the Blight name, YOUR name, to this level!?"

"This has never been about the family at all, has it Odalia?" Alador shot back; "This is about you and your pride. Your own family lost its noble title, and you've spent your whole life, and the lives of me and our children to get it back!"

"We've never been anything but tools to you, right Odalia!?" Amity yelled, no longer calling the woman in front of her Mom. She'd seen what a real Mom is; they were people like Camila and Eda, people who loved their child and wanted what was best for them even if it wasn't what they wanted themselves. "I was never anything but your little doll; you dressed me up and pulled my strings like a puppet, and the moment I resisted you'd ground me, slap me, and take away any joy I had!"

"And you never even cared about us!" Emira yelled; "Edric and I tried everything to get your attention; we became the best we could be, but just like with Amity, it was never enough!"

"The only time you even acknowledged us were if you needed us for something, or we failed to meet your oh-so-important expectations!" Edric yelled too, "Do you even love us!? Or are we just props to you?"

Odalia listened as each member of her family screamed out their misery for the way she'd treated them, yet she felt not one iota of grief or guilt. She felt only wrath; how dare they defy her!? She was Odalia Blight! She WAS the Blight Family Name! They owed everything to her! Alador would have never amounted to anything but working with Darius, and Edric, Emira, and Amity owed their very existence to her! She made them! She owned them! They were hers!

"ENOUGH! I will not be spoken to like that by any of you! You would all be nothing without me! You will all cease this pointless rebellion and do as I say, or you will find yourself without a job or a home!" Odalia threatened; "I own Blight Industries; it is in my name and my name alone, as are all its patents! The house and all its contents are mine as well! I own the very clothes on your backs! I order you to obey!"

Alador and his children glared at the woman with such hatred that Luz and the others were sure they were trying to kill her with their eyes alone. In truth, they were in the same boat, but while they hated Odalia, their feelings were mere shadows of what the Blights felt.

The four of them briefly stopped their glaring to exchange looks, and in that moment a lot of silent emotions went between them. Alador's eyes were full of remorse for his neglectful parenting, and his children looked back with cautious acceptance, acknowledging their father's attempt to do what was right and giving him a chance to keep making it right. Then all four nodded as they came to a mutual decision regarding Odalia.

"We quit." they said together.

Odalia spluttered, having genuinely believed they would fall into line with her threat. For the briefest moment, she actually felt rather sad; Alador had been a good business partner and even a good husband, and she did still have some maternal feelings for her children… but she stuffed all that down behind her rage.

"Fine!" she spat, drawing her hidden knife from her sleeve; "You can go! Go and live in poverty, without so much as a roof over your head! You'll come crawling back! In the meantime, I have the blueprints, the last Abomatons, the factory, your team, and everything else I need to produce the Abomatons for the Emperor! And he'll definitely grant me the contract when I deliver him the angel!" she boasted, pointing the knife at Luz's throat just as she had during their first meeting.

Alador, the twins, and the scouts all paled, while Amity and Lilith seethed; "Last warning, Odalia; let Luz go! Or I'll destroy the factory!" Lilith threatened, Corvanc glowing with blue and silver magic. Little feathers were beginning to sprout from Lilith's neck; the first symptom of the curse that she'd experienced since sharing it with Eda and Raine.

Odalia scoffed; "You do that, and I'll make little Luz here pay for it. The Emperor wants her alive, but I'm sure he'll forgive me if I have to rough her up a little." she said, waving the knife in front of Luz's face threateningly.

Luz's friends and family flinched as the knife came very close to the girl's skin, but Luz herself just casually said; "Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen."

Odalia sneered; "And what makes you think that, you little brat?"

Luz raised an eyebrow at her in response, and Odalia suddenly realised something; "Wait a moment… didn't I have your mouth bound? How did you free it?"

"Like this!" Luz grinned, before sticking her tongue out and shooting a beam of red light from the tip of it towards Odalia's knife. The knife's blade disintegrated and Odalia recoiled in shock, while Luz grinned wider.

"I forget I can do that sometimes. Shooting light beams from my tongue feels so weird! Fun fact, the first time I did it was the same day I met my awesome girlfriend! You know, the one that broke all your little toys?" Luz grinned. "And that's not all I can do! You might want to look down."

Odalia frowned and looked down just like Luz said, then paled at what she saw; a large symbol had been burned into the floor of the stage by Luz's light beams. The Arch-Angel had carefully carved it while Odalia and Alador were confronting their children.

"This symbol is the Wind Glyph!" Luz explained, "And since we're on a showcase stage, let me explain it in a way you'll understand; it makes cleaning up a breeze!"

With that, Luz stamped her foot onto the glyph, activating it. The wind glyph glowed with silvery grey light and produced gale force winds in a tornado above it, with Luz herself in the eye of the storm. This kept her safe while the Abomatons and Odalia were caught in the wind and ended up being swirled up in the tornado. Odalia screamed as she was whipped around by the wind, and screamed even more when the Abomatons ended up splattering against her too, creating a huge mass of purple goo with Odalia trapped in the middle. Splattering the Abomatons freed Luz from their binding and deactivated the barrier, and that in turn resulted in the tornado being able to expand outward a bit, resulting in Odalia and her gooey prison being blown straight out through the hole in the factory that Lilith had made earlier. She landed in the middle of the courtyard outside, and was thoroughly stuck, unable to escape the two twisted up Abomatons who were struggling to pull themselves apart after their bodies had been blended together. Odalia herself looked like she was ready to throw up from all the spinning, and her make up was smeared and smudged while her Concealment Stone had been blown straight off, revealing her shaved head and ever-so-slightly crooked nose from when Luz had broken it before.

Luz, now free, dusted off her hands as the wind dissipated and she stepped off the stage. "I warned you what would happen if you tried to hurt Amity again, you evil witch! An Angel always tells the truth!" she declared.

Amity giggled and ran to Luz, leaping into the girl's arms. The two girls laughed as Luz spun Amity around in her arms, before Amity did the same to Luz. Edric and Emira smiled at the scene, while Steve cheered with joy, and Lilith and the other two scouts went and kept an eye on the trapped Odalia, making sure she didn't try and pull anything. Alador just looked at his youngest daughter and felt a warmth in his chest; he had the urge to go and be a protective father, but he decided not to. Luz made Amity happy, and clearly treasured her… that was enough for Alador.

The fact she'd just given Odalia a taste of her own medicine also made him a lot warier about crossing the girl!

Once the girls had finished their display of affection and checked each other over, ensuring each was completely okay, they rejoined the others and the entire group stepped outside and surrounded Odalia. The woman was almost in tears of humiliation, especially as Luz pulled out her scroll and began to take pictures of her sorry state. Luz was soon joined by Amity, Edric, and Emira, who all smirked as they took the most embarrassing shots they could. This wasn't like Skara's party though; there would be no blackmail or threats this time! They would ensure everyone on the island saw these pictures AND the previous ones! Odalia had chosen to break her family, so her family would break the one thing she actually valued; her reputation!

Alador, who had once loved this woman, couldn't even muster the smallest amount of pity for her; Odalia had done this to herself, and he had only one thing to say.

"I'm leaving you, Odalia. And I'm taking my children." he said coldly.

Odalia glared at him with all the hate she had inside her; "Fine! You were nothing but a bad investment anyway! Now I can find myself a more competent business partner! One that doesn't come with ungrateful brats!" she then glared at the twins; "You were both disappointments from the start! Useless in any magic that's worth learning, and too lazy to push yourselves!"

Alador and the twins glared back, but felt nothing; they'd come to terms with the vile woman's feelings towards them and no longer cared. But then Odalia turned her vitriol on Amity; "And you! The greatest disappointment of them all! You had the potential to be something great, and you threw it all away for that pathetic half-a-witch and this…" she looked at Luz and tried to find the most offensive name she could call her, only to come with; "… disgusting feathery freak! Mark my words Amity, you'll end your life screaming as you're turned to stone, and I will watch with a smile!"

Amity was unmoved, but the same could not be said of Luz. The girl marched forward furiously, not even sure what she'd do when she got her hands on the vile woman, but she was beaten to the punch, or rather, the slap.

A loud crack of palm against cheek echoed through the evening air, and everyone blinked in surprise at Lilith, who had surged forward with a look of such fury and slapped Odalia across the face as hard as she could, leaving an angry red hand print on the woman's skin.

"How dare you!? Amity is worth more than you could ever dream of being! And both she and the twins deserve more than a hideously evil piece of scum like you as a mother!" Lilith snarled; "And if I ever hear you say such cruel things to them again… there isn't a force in any of the realms that could fix what I do to you!"

Whether it be the pain of the slap, the shock of it, or the threatening words that came with it, Odalia was silenced and did nothing but stare fearfully at the former Head of the Emperor's Coven. Lilith was so furious that more and more feathers were beginning to sprout from her neck and wrists, causing Luz to summon her satchel with a snap of her fingers and fish out a regular Elixir, which she handed to the woman.

"I think we're done here." Luz said coldly; "There's nothing left here that's worth anything."

She then took a final picture of Odalia's slapped face, before frowning as her scroll bleeped with a new message. It was from Eda.

"Okay, we really do need to leave now." she said; "Eda says that the real Silver Sentinel managed to give Raine and the others the slip, and has doubled back to help the Golden Guard. They're already in Bonesborough and will be here any minute."

"We need to get out of here then. Odalia will definitely rat us and Dad out as rebels." Edric said.

"Lilith, take the kids and scouts and get out of here; I'll stay and destroy the factory and the plans! Odalia can't be allowed to make more Abomatons!" Alador decided, willing to sacrifice himself for his children.

Naturally, since Amity and the others knew about the sabotage and the piece of Darius who'd broken into Alador's lab, they were quick to dissuade him; "Forget all that Dad; the Emperor's Coven will be here soon and we don't want you to be captured!" Amity said.

"B-But after all I've done…" Alador began, only for the twins to cut him off.

"You feel bad about it, right? Then make it up to us by coming with us!" Emira said.

"Yeah! You can't get to know us if you end up a prisoner or petrified!" Edric added.

Luz agreed; "Come with us and join the CATTs or at least take refuge with us. You don't want to make Amity, and the twins orphans now, do you?"

Alador certainly agreed with that, so with a small smile, he nodded; "Alright. Let's go then."

He summoned his Palisman Moustrosity (whom Luz immediately gushed over) and switched him to staff mode and took to the air. The others followed his lead, with Steve and the scouts hitching rides with Lilith and the Twins. They then flew away as fast as they can, Luz casting an illusion over them to make them invisible in case they flew past the Golden Guard and Silver Sentinel.

Odalia watched them fly away, still trying to mentally register everything that had just happened. Without Alador, making new designs would be impossible for her! Still, she had his factory, plans, and team, so she'd be able to at least produce more Abomaton Mk II's! And with two still intact (if a little tangled up at the moment), she would still have something to showcase to the Emperor's Coven! Today had gone terribly, but Odalia would recover and adapt! It wouldn't be the first time she'd had to fix her children's screw-ups!

She began to once again struggle in the Abomaton goo, and ordered the two to get up and unravel themselves. It took five minutes for them to begin making any real progress on that front, and by that point, the Golden Guard and real Silver Sentinel arrived, descending from the sky on their staves.

"Well, it seems we've missed quite the party." the Golden Guard said, looking a little rough after being chased around by the Owl Lady and her two bardic companions.

"Ah, Golden Guard! Wonderful to see you! I apologise for the sorry state you've found us in." Odalia said, putting on her best kiss-up act; "We've had quite the issue this evening."

"So I can see. Considering my partner and I were attacked by the Owl Lady, who seemed rather keen to keep us out of Bonesborough, I'm assuming you also ran afoul of the rebels?" the Guard replied.

Odalia, managing to pull herself upright (though her legs were still encased in gunk), nodded; "Indeed. It shames me to say this but my own children betrayed me. They smuggled the Angel into the party disguised as you, Silver Sentinel. She'd also brought some fake Coven Scouts, including Lilith Clawthorne, with the intent of sabotaging the show. They largely succeeded and destroyed most of my Abomatons, as well as convincing my soon-to-be Ex-Husband to rebel. However I chased them off, and managed to save the factory itself and two of my Abomatons!"

The two elites exchanged looks, and even with their masks, it was clear neither truly believed Odalia. They also looked very unimpressed with the two mangled Abomatons, who were still slowly pulling themselves apart.

"So the Angel has turned 4/5ths of the Blight Family against the Emperor… this is a problem. However, if they attacked the factory to stop the showcase, they must have been worried about these inventions. We will have to examine them once they are…" the Golden Guard looked at the two mangled monsters; "…presentable. If they are decent, I'm sure a contract can be agreed upon. We'll place bounties on the rest of the Blight family too."

"Good." Odalia smirked viciously; "Make sure Alador and Amity have particularly high ones; Alador could make weapons for the rebels after all."

"And what of the girl?" the Golden Guard asked.

"She's the Angel's girlfriend." Odalia answered.

The Golden Guard hummed and stroked the chin of his mask; "Interesting. We can use that information… but for now, I have questions. Where is Darius? He was meant to be here too."

"I'm here."

The Emperor's Elites (plus Odalia), turned to the entrance of the factory and saw Darius walking towards them, a hole in his shirt and a burn on his chest from Lilith's magic. He was pretending to be more injured than he was as he limped towards them all.

"I was blind-sided by Lilith and knocked out." he muttered darkly.

"You were beaten that easily?" the Silver Sentinel signed.

Darius scowled at her; "I'd had a few drinks to get me through this frankly painful party. I wasn't at my best."

"What about Severin Cadence? He'll be a Head Witch himself soon; did he not stay and fight?" The Guard asked.

Odalia shook her head; "He'd brought his daughter along, so he left to evacuate her before the fight could begin."

The two elites exchanged looks once more, before nodding in understanding; "We have some work to do this evening then. Head Witch Darius, you should go and get healed up. You can report what happened tomorrow. We'll handle the clean up here." the Guard said.

Darius nodded stiffly and began to walk away; "As you please, Little Prince. Do have fun playing with Alador's cast-offs."

With that, he marched away, leaving Odalia unsure if he'd meant the Abomatons or her.

[Meanwhile]

It was almost midnight by the time Luz and the group from the Ball made it back to the Owl House, where they were immediately met by Eda, Raine, and the BATTs trio, as well as Rasiel and the Hexsquad members they'd left behind. Only King wasn't present, having fallen asleep and been put to bed hours ago.

"You're back!" Eda was the first to greet them, hugging Luz tightly; "How did it go?"

"Things didn't exactly go according to plan…" Luz chuckled nervously, pointing behind her to where Alador was stood awkwardly with his children. "We've got a heck of a story to tell you all!"

Eda frowned at Alador, but nodded and invited everyone inside the house. Once everyone was seated comfortably, Luz began to tell the others what happened. Alador chimed in too, explaining how Odalia had discovered Luz was an imposter and initially convinced him to help trap her by making him think Luz was just playing with Amity's heart. Steve had in turn told Alador about the sabotage they'd been doing on the tour, while Darius was distracting him. Then Amity had explained that Darius had spoken to her through her dress, informing her of the Abomaton's weakness after sneaking into Alador's lab and finding the blueprints.

That reveal shocked Alador even more; "So Darius is one of the rebels!? You convinced him to join you!?" he exclaimed, looking to Eda and Raine.

"Actually, he and Eberwolf had a rebellion of their own already in the works. We just combined them together. Now we are all the Covens Against the Throne aka The CATTs!" Raine said proudly.

Luz and Amity meowed playfully, making their friends chuckle, while Alador blinked owlishly. "I had no idea… so the factory will shut down as soon as Odalia tries to use the machines?"

"And Darius almost certainly stole or destroyed the plans. That means Odalia will have to replace everything and try to reverse engineer the two Abomatons she's got left!" Amity grinned.

"Something she'll never be able to do!" Alador grinned; "Thank goodness, I was worried there for a while…"

"As you should have been."

Everyone looked up to see Darius walking through Hooty's door, having walked all the way to the Owl House whilst the others were telling their story.

Lilith noted the burn on his chest and winced; "Are you alright, Darius? I apologise for being so rough, but it had to look real."

"I'm fine, Lilith. It looks worse than it is. Regardless of that, Odalia will be in trouble once the sabotage goes off. I also destroyed the blueprints, so the Emperor will not be getting any Abomatons any time soon. Though I suspect he'll assign me to try and reverse engineer them." Darius replied.

"Which you naturally won't do." Alador grinned; "Not that you could."

Darius snorted; "Don't get too uppity, you hack! I could make them better, if I cared to!"

"Okay, enough flirting." Eda rolled her eyes.

"WE ARE NOT FLIRTING!" Alador and Darius both yelled, faint blushes on their cheeks that had everyone else in the room grinning.

Before they could get any louder and risk waking King, Luz said; "Well it didn't go as planned, but we did what we set out to do, and now we have Alador on our side. Are you willing to work with us, Alador?"

The man frowned; "Honestly, I'm fairly neutral on the whole rebellion VS Emperor thing. I don't feel strongly one way or the other… but if my children are fighting with you, then I want to support them. I haven't done a good job of that so far, so let me start now."

Amity and the Twins beamed and hugged the man; "Thanks Dad!" Amity said, "I know how hard it is to stand up to Odalia."

"Amity's right." Emira said; "We really appreciate it. And we're sorry…"

"… for what we said at the factory." Edric finished.

Alador shook his head with a smile; "Don't apologise; you were both right. I've been a poor father to you all, but I'd like to start making amends for that. I'd like to get to know my children and be a real parent to you. Thank you all for giving me that chance!"

All four Blights had tears in their eyes as they once again smiled and hugged one another. Their little family was still damaged, but they had taken the first steps towards repairing it by cutting out the toxic influence and giving Alador a chance to make things right. The others let them have their moment, then Alador looked up from his children to their friends.

"All of you have been picking up my slack by being there for my kids; thank you all for that. To repay you, I'll do everything I can for the CATTs! I may not have my factory or plans, but I'm still good with abominations! I can help outfit your people with weapons, and support you with abomination soldiers!" he declared.

The others all smiled happily, while Raine said; "Thank you, Alador. With your help, the CATTs will be stronger than ever!"

Alador gave a nod of acknowledgement, then looked to Luz; "I owe a lot to you too, Miss Angel. I can see you've made my Mittens a very happy girl. Thank you, and please continue to take care of her."

Luz grinned; "Of course! I love her with all my heart!"

"Then you have my blessing. Is Miss Leonis here too?" Alador asked, looking around. It shamed him, but he didn't know the face of his eldest daughter's girlfriend.

Emira shook her head; "She's not, but you can meet her this weekend on Digale Island."

"I look forward to it." Alador said, wondering what Digale Island was. He then turned to a face he did recognise; Willow Park. "Miss Park, I owe you an apology also. I may not have agreed with my Ex-Wife's decision to cut you out of my daughter's life, but I didn't stop her either, nor did I try to stop her when she threatened you and Luz at Skara's party. I was too much of a coward, and for that I am very sorry."

Willow was surprised by the apology, but she was happy to accept it. "Thank you, Mr Blight. I don't know if I can forgive you… Amity and I are still rebuilding our friendship. But I appreciate and accept the apology."

Alador nodded humbly; it was the best he could hope for. With the apologies and thanks out of the way, and the excitement of the evening coming to an end, everyone began to feel how exhausted they really were. Luz would be going back to the Human Realm early the next morning, and the Blights would need a new home and new things after essentially being kicked out by Odalia, but with it being so late, all anyone could think of for the moment was sleeping.

The Hexsquad were already going to have a sleepover at the Owl House, so Amity and the Twins joined them, and Alador was allowed to crash on the couch while Darius went home, and Luz sent Steve, the BATTs trio, and the scout defectors through the Teleportation Circle to Digale Island.

As everyone was taking turns in the bathroom and changing into their pyjamas (or borrowing some from Luz, Eda, and Raine, in the Blights' case), Amity decided she had one last thing she needed to take care of for the night. Now dressed in Luz's Otter onesie (the only clean sleepwear Luz had that fit the girl), Amity headed to one of the bedrooms in the Owl House's stone tower, and knocked on the door.

The one to answer it was Lilith, who looked quite different in the old grey shirt and black skirt that she'd borrowed from Eda. The woman looked surprised to see Amity, but smiled all the same.

"Good evening, Amity. Did you need something before you go to sleep?"

Amity nodded with a faint blush; "Yes, I… I just wanted to say thank you for protecting me and speaking up for me. After the way I've treated you for the last few weeks, you didn't need to do any of that."

Lilith shook her head; "It's fine, Amity. You had a right to be angry with me for what I did."

"Maybe, but you were trying to make up for it and I was being a brat and giving you a hard time. I'm sorry." Amity blushed, once again feeling like an apprentice who had failed her mentor.

The older witch just smiled and put a hand on Amity's shoulder; "I forgive you. I still don't think you did anything wrong though; I would have likely been far crueller in your place. And while I'm sure I don't need to say this, I want to remind you that everything Odalia said today was complete garbage. You were always too good for a creature like her, and your siblings are too. You're a wonderful girl Amity, and Alador is a smart man to realise how lucky he is. Luz is a lucky girl as well."

"Not as lucky as me." Amity said with a bashful smile. She felt overwhelmed by affection, and truly felt the caring Lilith had for her; it was a feeling she'd gotten from her father, but never from Odalia. That realisation made her heart ache with conflicted emotions. "But thank you, Lilith. That means a lot to me."

"You're welcome, Amity. Now you should get to bed; this weekend will be busy for you."

"I will. But first…" Amity blushed, then asked in a small voice; "I-Is that offer of mentoring still open?"

Lilith gasped softly; this wasn't an offer of forgiveness or acceptance, but it was an olive branch. Amity was willing to start trying to mend things from her side, and so Lilith was quick to nod.

"Of course, Amity. Would you like to learn from me again?"

"Yes. Odalia got the jump on us today… I needed Darius to tell me how to beat the Abomatons, and if not for Luz's quick thinking with the wind glyph, we could have lost her… I've got to be stronger to protect her and everyone else. I don't want to be at anyone's mercy ever again!"

Lilith nodded in understanding; "Then your lessons will start after school on Monday. We'll work out a proper schedule for it then. Until then, good night and sweet dreams Amity."

Amity smiled; "Good night, Lilith."

With that, Lilith retreated back into her room, feeling giddy at this new step forward, while Amity returned to Luz and King's room, which she and Willow were sharing with them. Willow was already asleep on the floor in Luz's old sleeping bag, and a second one was laid out beside her for Amity. However, before she could lie in it, Amity saw a sleepy Luz, curled up in her nest, patting the spot beside her. The nest was big enough for two, so Amity happily lay down beside her and was covered in a blanket and three of Luz's large wings. The two girls exchanged tired smiles and a sweet kiss, then fell asleep in each other's arms, bringing an end to one of the most emotional days of Amity's life.