Chapter 77

Luz woke up, floating in a mass of liquid. The In-Between realm. She was having trouble sitting up this time for, some reason. Like there was some kind of pressure on her... But a pair of clawed hands grabbed her gently by the shoulders and hoisted her up and...

Oh, she was under the liquid this time. Weird.

"Hello again, Luz," The Titan greeted as he set her down. His voice was still warm but... He sounded a little sad now.

"Are you... Okay?" Luz asked.

"I'm fine," he said. "And how are you?"

"Right now I feel fine, but... I'm probably gonna have a bad time when I wake up and/or the adrenaline wears off..." Professor X had said that managing stress would help with depression and, well, wasn't that the most stressful twenty minutes in her life?

"I'm sorry," the Titan said.

"It's not your fault," Luz replied. "It's just... My brain is being mean because it doesn't know how to deal with all the crud Belos did and made me think."

"Not that," the Titan corrected. "When those monsters first attacked you, you asked for my help but there wasn't anything I could do."

"Oh, no that was... An expression I said by force of habit after going native and really need to be more careful about" Luz answered. "I didn't mean, and I know you don't like being treated like that. Uhg! That's my bad, don't... That wasn't a prayer, that was..."

"I didn't take it as one," The Titan continued. "And I know you didn't mean it but... Someone I care about was in trouble and there was nothing I could do, again."

"You're blaming yourself for something that's not your fault," Luz said. "Just like me... Why do you care about me?"

"You're my child's older sister. In spirit long before in truth," The Titan replied. "You're a pair of fresh eyes exploring the world I was born from and became part of for the first time and finding beauty and wonder in things that the natives take for granted. You're filled with genuine love and kindness for almost everyone you meet. And when I looked into this young woman who began to help take care of my child, to give him the love he deserves but that I can't be there to give him, I saw a bright young girl filled with passion and wonder, an unyielding light shining in a dark world. The question isn't why do I care about you," the Titan finished, "but how could I not?"

Luz didn't have words to explain how that made her feel. Only that it was a good feeling and that her eyes were suddenly wet. "Thank you. Um, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"You said The Collector wasn't a threat, but... He kind of, after popping Belos, just sort of... Went a little crazy."

"Yeah, I sort of misjudged that one," The Titan admitted. "The Collector is a sad and lonely kid with more power than they know what to do with and limited understanding of mortal perspectives. He didn't agree with the behavior of his siblings, but... They were still a bigger influence on them than..."

One of the cubes that floated through the Inbetween Realm floated to The Titan's hand and images appeared. King, in robes like the Collector's. He and The Collector were having a tea party while floating in the air, being tended to by animate puppets that looked suspiciouslylike...

"Are those...?"

"The Collector, not knowing better, is treating the people of the Boiling Isles like toys," the Titan explained. "Literally and figuratively. Not everyone, some have volunteered to serve certain roles for him, and pockets of resistance are hiding in various places but... It's bad, but he's not acting out of malice. Everyone is more or less safe, the power of the Archivists is innately tied to the concepts of preservation, but... King is trying to explain to The Collector that what he's doing is wrong, but my child is just that, a child," he continued. "He doesn't know how to broach the subject with the Collector, and he's trying to be the friend that the star child needs at the same time..."

"...Did... Um," Luz began as a pressing question surfaced in her mind. How to go about asking...

"No one died from the draining spell," The Titan said. "There were a couple of close calls, but ironically being turned to puppets seems to have sparred them." The image on the cube changed, showing Eda and Lilith hiding in a cave, Lilith slaving over a large cauldron. Lilith's hair had been cut short and her roots were showing her natural bright orange hair color but Luz's eyes were drawn to Eda's forearm... Or, rather, the bandaged stump that ended where a forearm was supposed to be. "And Eda is... More or less okay, though she's had to adjust."

"Not my fault," Luz whispered to herself. "Not my fault."

"Of course, it's not," the Titan said reassuringly. "You know, you've got a bit of a habit of accepting blame for things a little too readily. You might want to bring that up in therapy."

"...For as long as I can remember, whenever there was a conflict with other kids adults would always act like I was the problem," Luz admitted. "It was never 'Oh hey, Luz, it's cool that you know so much about snakes but the other kids just don't like looking at sheds so could you be a little more considerate?' it was 'OMG, were you raised by wolves or something?' Shows what they know, wolves are great parents... But I guess I... Maybe... Internalized it or something...?" The Titan gave her a gentle pat on the back. "But it's okay," Luz continued. "I... I know where the lines are a lot better now, and I've found my people. I'm happy now... Usually, um... Hey, speaking of can we see...?"

The Titan let go of the cube and gathered another one.

"After you collapsed," the Titan explained, "you were taken to Doctor Strange's domicile, I believe it's called the Sanctum Sanctorum?"

"Yeah, it means 'Holiest of Holies' or something along those lines. Belos would probably lose it to hear that tied to the home of a sorcerer," Luz mused with glee.

"Quite. Now, the Avengers, after Strange told them he had it covered, went to inform the authorities of what occurred and scour the town for Belos," The Titan continued. "While Spider-Man and Xavier herded April and her friends back to the Institute. Masha's sister and her girlfriend returned to their apartment, but Masha came to the Sanctum with the rest of your friends and family," he said as the face of the cube lit up to show her family, her friends from the demon realm, Masha, and Sasha and Marcy sitting in a fancy sitting room. Everyone looked nervous. "Except for the Pines family, who were sent home because Strange doesn't trust Stanley not to touch anything."

"...Where's Anne?"

"She asked if anyone had dinner yet, and then if she could use the Sanctum's kitchen, and, well..." The face of the cube changed to show Anne and a bald Asian man who, if Luz was not mistaken was Strange's assistant, Wong, in a big fancy kitchen fist-fighting what appeared to be some kind of squidlike creature that seemed to have escaped from the refrigerator. "They'll be fine."

The face then turned back to the sitting room, just as Magik appeared out of one of her stepping disks.

"Where's Stephen?" she asked.

Luz's Mom was the first to answer. "He's still with—"

In just that moment, Strange appeared in astral form. "So, nothing to be concerned about," the spiritual sorcerer began evenly, "but Camila, I need to know if Luz is up to date on her zombieism vaccine?"

"No," her Mom replied. "She was supposed to get a booster this summer but missed it because, well... Everything."

"Ah... Illyana, could you do me a favor?" Strange asked. "In the basement, I have a closet full of relics that the Vatican doesn't know I have. If you could bring me the wine bottle, the nail, the third skull on the top shelf, and the large piece of wood I'd appreciate it."

"I'm on it. And Belesco confessed to providing the Promethium, but is under a binding oath not to say to who."

As Magik left, Luz's Mom went pale. "Why do you need all that?"

"Nothing to be worried about, just a precaution," Strange reassured quickly before his spirit vanished.

Luz took that in... And how everyone seemed nervous... And how she wasn't there. If she was just passed out, then...

"I'm not doing so hot, am I?"

In grim silence, the cube's face changed to show some kind of ritual chamber. Luz, still in symbiote mode, was lying in a giant magic circle that combined runs and symbols from at least half a dozen languages.

"Oshtur, Hoggoth, and Agamotto I beseech thee that you might to save this child," Strange intoned as she worked spells around her. "...Cyttorek the Unyielding, give this soul the strength to persevere... Asclepius, Olympian patron of my craft, guide me... Eternity, you owe me!"

"When Belos possesses something," The Titan explained, "he eats away at it their insides and sucks away their life. For that Kassady guy and his symbiote, it didn't matter. He was already dead and his symbiote had powerful regeneration. Your healing factor's not that strong, even after Belos mixing his magic with yours finally burned out your sigil and it could focus on other things. And this by itself would have been fixable... If it wasn't for the bullet."

"The bullet," Luz said... "It's... Promethium, isn't it? The magic kind." An infernal element of darkness from the Heart of the Limbo dimension. An ultra-strong magic metal, up there with Uru, but instead of being good for enchantments it had all sorts of dark and demonic powers.

"I was listening in when Strange was running diagnostic spells on you," The Titan continued. "The bullet was a hollow shell made of yes, promethium, but also netheranium and something called phlogistone, which isn't supposed to exist anymore apparently."

Netheranium was another demon metal. Luz didn't know what its properties were but the Son of Satan's trident was made of it. Phlogistone was something Luz had read about at 3:am on an ADHD-fueled wiki binge a few years ago. Regular exposure to several different kinds of cosmic energy, basically every kind known to Earth, had transmuted deposits of iron on the moon to a metal that naturally glowed a fiery red. There was a lot of interest in establishing mining colonies on the moon since it could be used as a source of enough clean energy that doing that would actually be cost-effective, but it turned out that exposure to it had corruptive effects on the mind and body and Iron Man had supposedly destroyed all of it.

"Once it was inside you," the Titan continued, "the bullet broke apart, scattered shards of that metal and a payload consisting of all kinds of corruptive and infectious forms of dark magic. Vampirism, lycanthropy, something called the Raimi virus," well that explained why he'd asked about the zombie vaccine, "the wendigo curse, the berserker curse of Asgardian dragon's blood, all hyper distilled. Now, they're all getting in each other's way, so normally your symbiote side would just eat it all up. If anything you'd be stronger for it, but..."

"But it can't do that andfix what Belos did to me," Luz finished as she watched Strange cast spell after spell.

"The main reason you're still alive is that when you destroyed Kassady in your mindscape, his symbiote was completely subsumed into your own symbiote half," The Titan explained. "So all of that power became yours... But... It's not enough. No surgery can fix having your organs eaten away, and no spell that can cure all of those curses. Your friend Gabby offered her blood if it would help you," he continued, "but then she remembered something about nanomachines and Strange hadn't quite fully diagnosed you yet before she and the others were herded off."

Luz looked, through the cube, at her own unconscious form. "I'm not gonna make it, am I?"

"Strange is doing everything he can to keep you alive," he said. "To help with either or both problems. Even a little bit of healing, a little more time, could make a difference but... It's not looking good. Healing magic is difficult with sorcery, and it's not like he has a spell for giving you more life."

Luz closed her eyes. "I have no regrets," she said after a moment. "I would have liked to see Belos stopped for good, but there's no way he's gonna escape the Avengers. I just wish I could tell everyone goodbye, that I love them. To thank them for being my friends."

"...What if I said you could still do that?" The Titan said. "Minus the goodbye part."

"But you said that Strange couldn't—"

"He can't give you more life," The Titan explained. "But I can. I don't have much time left, a few decades tops. I'd have liked to see King grow up but, I can't be there for him. At the end of the day, the best thing I can do for him is to make sure that the people who can be there for him are."

"You're talking like... Like you're going to..."

"If I give you the last of my power," the Titan explained. "It'll heal you... Heck, I probably could have rebuilt your body from scratch if that's what it took. I'll pass on, but you'll inherit my powers. My glyphs. Part of my spirit will remain with you, so I might still be able to reach out but I don't know if the connection will be strong enough to talk to you from the other side. Now, normally this would be temporary. You'd have my power for maybe an hour and then it'd burn out and you'd go back to normal but..."

"But symbiotes are meant to take power from gods," Luz said. "And... We're already genetically related because I absorbed the humors."

"And you're already on the cusp of apotheosis," The Titan continued. "Gods are big on narrative and symbolism. Forging a personal sword, a personal symbol, from your own soul fueled by the love and friendship you feel from all the lives you've touched? That's kind of a big deal. Slaying a horrid monster for good and taking its power was the frosting on the cake. If by some miracle Strange was able to heal you just enough that you'd pull through, digesting all that dark magic would be what finally pushed you over the edge. If I give you my power..."

"I wouldn't just be part Titan. Or a nascent queen in black. I'd be... I'd be The Titan," Luz said. "I'd, I'd..."

"You'd be you," The Titan reassured. "Just stronger. You wouldn't have to do anything with my power if you didn't want to, I'm not asking you to take over my responsibilities..."

"...Why? Why are you willing to give up your life for me?"

"Because you have your whole life ahead of you but my time is almost up anyway," he said, "at least by titan standards. Truth be told, I should have passed on long ago and... Part of me is looking forward to seeing some old friends again. And family... And I kind of want to talk to your father. Tell him to his face that he helped raise a great kid."

"I don't deserve this," Luz said, her mind running a mile a minute. "I don't... This power, this... I haven't earned this."

"I told you," The Titan said. "Power isn't something you earn. It just happens. Sometimes from hard work, sometimes just by chance, and sometimes... If you haveto feel like you earned it, consider that you earned it by your strength of character and dedication to doing right by the people around you. And as for deserving it... I think it's the gift-giver who decides who deserves a gift."

"...Are you sure?" Luz asked.

"Of course," the Titan said. "I know what's good: It would be an honorto let someone as amazing as Luz the human have my power. Besides," he continued, "you're family."

On impulse, Luz hugged him. He hugged back, and his hugs were as deep and warm, as strong but gentle, as his voice. "Thank you."

"Now, don't worry," The Titan said, "it'll be trillions of years at least before my bones degrade enough that they stop producing magic, and as long as my power lives on in you, my body should still produce the humors... If anything, production might uptick a little. You'll keep my glyphs, so those should still work as well. Oh, and you won't forget."

"What?"

"You won't forget," The Titan said. "Titans have very, very good long-term memory. Even if your friends can't, or choose not to, find a way to live alongside you you'll never forget them... You know, barring a catastrophic head injury."

"Again thank you," Luz said. That was... Good to know.

"When you get back to the Demon Realm, I'd really appreciate it if you could tell King I loaf him one last time for me," the Titan said, "and let Eda know that I'm a big fan."

"Right... Wait, do you know a way we can get back?" Luz asked.

"...Evelyn's portal," The Titan said with only a moment's hesitation. "It's... cruder than the portal Belos made. On the demon realm side, it's an old stationary gate on the coast near the ancestral Clawthorne family home. I don't know where the human realm side is, but if it still exists it'd be in Old Gravesfield. And if you find it," he finished, "be warned that it'll use up an entire vial of my blood. I don't know if your blood will work or not, so it'll be a one-way trip. You'd need to find some other way back."

"That's good enough."

"So, are you ready to go back?" The Titan said as he let her go. He held his hand up and it was covered with an array of glowing glyphs. "All you have to do is shake my hand and accept the greatest gift I could give you."

"Yeah," she said. She took his hand and accepted the gift of a future.

She felt the power flowing into her as she was suddenly encased in a golden sphere of glyphs.

The Titan vanished from before her but, looking up she saw him, or at least his skeleton in his full glory. A massive, towering figure as impressive and, in his own way beautiful as she'd ever seen the Boiling Isles.

"Goodbye, Luz," rang out his voice one last time as he began to sink into the dark liquid below.

"...Goodbye, Papa Titan," Luz said her farewell.

As he finished sinking, there was a flash as Luz felt like she was flying off, and then suddenly...

Luz gasped awake, and her eyes snapped open just in time to realize she was levitating to an upright position. The whole process was fast and soon she was standing on her own feet in Strange's ritual chamber.

Strange eyed her nervously. "Luz, are you still in there?"

"Yeah, I'm in here, where else... Did I get taller?"

"...Maybe it's best if you see for yourself," he said and conjured a mirror.

Most obvious was her head. The darkened sclera and longer, sharper teeth were normal for when she went symbiote mode, but her irises were gold instead of purple. Her hair was longer, too, and had returned to its natural curliness. She wasn't quite sure if she should describe it as lighter or darker, but it was tinted purple as well.

...Also the two curved horns jutting straight out of the top of her head were pretty eye-catching.

The rest of her body, which had in fact gotten a little taller, had changed too. She was wearing grey pants but the rest she couldn't tell if it was clothes or part of her body. Her feet seemingly only had two bony toes now. Her shins and arms were covered in black fur, as was her chest, with bone-like fingers and a small bit of bony armor on her torso framing a unique glyph-like symbol with more armor running up her shins. She had her cloak, too, and while the inside was purple with the tiger-striped patterns of blue and pink that had once been her limbs, the outside was the same black as her fur. The hood from her cloak was longer as well and vaguely resembled King's tail. She knew instinctively that if she wanted to she could pull it up and her horns wouldn't get in the way.

"...I can probably change this back," she said. "But I don't want to right now, this is kind of cool."

"I'm going to admit," Strange said, "that I have no idea what's going on. Are you alright?"

"My chest still hurts a little bit, I'm kind of tired, and now that you mention it I'm reallyhungry but otherwise I feel fine," Luz said. "As for what happened... The Titan, the one whose body became the Boiling Isles, he saved me by giving me the last of his power so... I'm the Titan now."

"Okay," Strange said before lifting his amulet and then there was a bright flash of light that nearly through Luz for a loop. "Alright, there's no sign of malevolent possession and you seem to have metabolized the ungodly amalgamation of dark magics that were in that bullet. Speaking of—"

"The Titan explained it to me. And showed me you um... You racked up a bit of debt trying to help me, are you going to be okay?"

"Don't worry about me," Strange reassured, "Dealing with gods and cosmic beings is literally part of my job, I'll get that all squared away. Now, the shards of the bullet are still in you but.. There's no power left in them. Your symbiote side should break them down... Eventually, trying to remove them surgically... If I even can, given your apotheosis, would just cause needless damage."

It was then that Magik, her arms full of assorted props, came in. "Okay, you didn't say which top shelf so I brought the third skull from each just in case and..." Magik looked at Luz. "Okay, do we need to do an exorcism?"

"No," Strange said. "As it turns out a third party was there to give her a hand... Though hand me the wine bottle." Magik did so and Strange conjured a large goblet that he then filled from the bottle. The wine bottle was clear, so Luz could see that as the viscous dark red liquid filled the goblet the volume in the bottle didn't change. "Now, Luz if you drink this it should clear up any lingering side effects of that dark magic exposure," he said as he held out the goblet.

"...I'm not old enough to drink," Luz replied.

"This is a medical application," Strange replied. "And I'm prescribing it as a doctor. Besides, this isn't normal wine, and given that you're now an adolescent Elder God I doubt one cup would hurt you if it was."

"Doctor's orders?" Luz asked.

"Look, I'm not going to force you but... Think of it like taking a shot of cold medicine right when you start feeling icky," Strange explained. "Just a preventative treatment to head off the potential for worse symptoms."

Luz sighed, took the goblet, and did her best to down it in one gulp. She then grimaced. "I see why you compared it to cold medicine." The dark red wine was thick, warm, heady, bitter, salty, and kind of metallic. Almost like... Luz remembered how Strange had described the closet that the wine bottle and other relics had been kept in and decided she didn't want to ponder the implications any longer. "So um... Belos is still out there. I know the Avengers are looking for him."

"The Suns, too," Magik added. "That bullet you got hit with? Turns out that was what we were in town to stop, sorry about dropping the ball there but... Not like anyone could have predicted that much corruptive dark magic would only be used on one person. Anyway, since we're free now I asked the others to give a hand searching for that creep and—"

Magik was interrupted by her cell phone going off. A mournful country tune and a deep-voiced man singing "Yippie-aye-yay. Yippie-aye-yo," though Magik answered before the lyric was finished.

"Uhuh," she replied. "Yeah... Yeah, that sounds like him... Go get the bastard." The call seemed to end and as she pocketed her phone once more Magik explained. "That was Johnny. He found him and he's moving in to deal with him."

"Johhny, the one who has a show in a few days?" Luz asked.

"Yep. Motorcycle stunt show," Ilyana explained.

"What's a motorcycle stunt driver gonna do against someone like Belos?"

TLOA

Philip had made it to the outskirts of the large city and was now rushing down a long stretch of paved road. This late, there were no motor carriages which was a blessing as he could not maintain a disguised form... His escape had been harrowing and he'd had to surf through a number of stray dogs, none of whom survived for long, to rebuild his strength... He wouldn't last long. He'd need a strong host to survive... But he'd bought time. Making it back to Gravesfied on foot would use most of it, but he could take another host on the way... He had a plan. The gate by which he first entered the Demon Realm should still exist, if the town hadn't demolished the old cemetery. Luzura had a vial of Titan's blood somewhere in her family home. If he could return to the Isles then... The Collector was powerful, more powerful than Luzura, Kassady, and himself combined, and immortal to boot. With the Collector's body and power, he'd be unstoppable and...

Philip was interrupted from his train of thoughts by a sudden uncomfortable warmth and the loud rumbling of machinery in the distance. If he didn't know better, he'd say the machine was angry.

Against his better judgment, Philip turned to see what had made the noise and was horrified to see a figure wreathed in flame rapidly approaching. He turned and began to sprint fleeing as fast as he could only for the sound to grow louder. Suddenly, he was snagged by something, a chain wreathed in flame that burned worse than any pain Philip had ever felt, and as it wrapped around him he found his form locking into its current shape so that he could not ooze free. The flaming figure and its infernal machine overtook him by some distance only to turn and stop, the figure, not visible as a flaming skeleton dressed in black leather and metal spikes, stepped from atop its vehicle and holding the chain like a lasso slowly marched toward him.

Finding himself suddenly helpless against the most blatantly infernal demon he'd seen since Lucifer himself, Belos began to pray. "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done even in earth as it isin heaven—"

"No," the beast declared as it stepped to him. "He will not forgive. Not you, whose sinful soul has no capacity to forgive others. But you were never one of His, were you?"

"And what would the likes of you know about His will?" Philip spitefully demanded.

"Your hands and soul are stained with the blood of countless scores of innocents," the creature said. "Look into my eyes," it commanded and Philip found the flaming chains forcing him to his knees but keeping his chin up so that he could meet the flaming pits that were the skull's sockets. "Feel the pain and anguish that you have caused, and know the agony of eternal guilt!"

Suddenly Philip was overwhelmed with countless senations. Dozens of slow petrifications, the burning suffocation of drowning, the choking of a hanging gone bad, the pain of the draining spell a thousandfold, bones breaking, hundreds of thousands of moments of rage and sorrow, and a sense of deep betrayal paired with a jagged dagger to the back and the wrathful grief of deep, unjust loss. An eternity of all forms of pain condensed to a single instant and struck him all over, in mind, body, and soul.

"I will not be deceived, Hellspawn!" He screamed through the pain. "I have done nothing wrong! Everything I do is—" the pain repeated, forcing him to be silent.

"Even now, experiencing firsthand all the harm you've caused in your centuries of wretched life, there is no reflection, no remorse," the monster lectured almost sadly. "There can be no Penance for you, only... Damnation!"

The monster's glare grew even more intense and Philip felt himself petrifying from the extremities up... And to his horror, witnessed his own petrified limbs crumble to dust and blow away in non-existent winds. The pain was, if anything worse than what the monster had done to him previously especially as he remained aware once the petrification encompassed his head. Once the last of his body was destroyed he suddenly found himself hurtling at impossible speeds through a dark tunnel towards a wall of flames.

He made contact and everything went dark. Moments later, he opened his eyes and found himself human once more, with the aches and pains of age that he'd begun consuming palismen in part to escape returning with interest. He found himself in a dark cavern, illuminated only by a lake of fire.

"No," he said. "There must be some mistake."

Then he was approached and, looking up, saw a red-skinned man in red robes with red hair styled such that it had a truly villainous widow's peak. "I told you I'd be seeing you soon," said the Devil himself.

"No, I don't belong here, I—"

Philip was cut off by the devil pressing his wretched fingers to his lips. "Let me stop you right there, save us both precious time... You belong here. I know all of your sins, Belos... God damnis it a laundry list. But... you know what pisses me off the most about you, Belos? The worst thing you ever did, as far as I'm concerned? If you had murdered your brother just one day sooner, just one, I'd have the full set right now. Every last Gravesfield Witch Hunter would be part of my collection. All of you... But no, you had to wait until Caleb's change of character and acts of atonement had just barely worn away at his sins as a witch hunter enough that he was able to slip out of my fingers, work the rest of his sins off in purgatory, and be free and clear just in time to reunite with Evelyn at the Pearly Gates."

No, that couldn't be true... He'd... Caleb had been the one being led into damnation, if anything Philip had been what saved him and... Purgatory, the lie of those damnable papists? He and the other witch hunters had been doing God's work, surely... "No..."

"Yes," the Devil said with a sadistic smile. "Now, before I toss your ass in the pot for the next quadrillion years, There's something I need you for... See I'm planning a jailbreak," the friend said as he transformed into a bloody red serpent. "And I need a Trojan Horse. What's left of your mutilated soul will do nicely."

Then the serpent forced itself down Philip's throat.

TLOA

"Enough," Magik answered coldly.

After that exchange, Luz was led through the twisting halls of the Sanctum Sanctorum which incidentally confirmed to her the rumors that it was bigger on the inside. After a few minutes, they were outside a door that Strange opened and stepped through while holding up an arm to delay Luz's entrance.

"Okay," he said to the occupants. "It was a little touch and go for a bit but Luz is alright. She's on her feet and while she needs some rest and a good meal I expect she'll make a full recovery. She might even be better off, physically at least, but... Well, something occurred that I think she'd better explain herself." He then gave a cue for Luz to come in.

Everyone immediately stared at her. It was a touch awkward, so she laughed half-heartedly before she started. "So... This isn't Doctor Strange's fault, but... I almost died, but the Titan saved me by giving me the last of his powers. So, he's passed on but I'm sort of The Titan now. He said I don't have to do anything with that power that I don't want to but... Yeah," she finished lamely.

Gus was the first to respond. "Luz is a God."

"...Why does that make me nervous?" Willow asked semi-jokingly.

"Can we not make a big deal about this?" Luz asked. "I'm still me, still Luz... I'm just... Fluffier."

...It was then that Luz noticed Amity. Her beloved girlfriend was staring at her open-mouthed and blushing so much that her whole face was tomatoey. "Oh... My... Titan..." she said finally.

'She likes it!' Luz thought to herself. 'Brain, what do?'

'Be cool/sauve for girlfriend,' her brain replied.

"Yeah," Luz started in her best seductive tone. "Your Tita—"

In the next second, Luz was tackled to the ground while her girlfriend exclaimed "¡Ay que linda!"

The crushing realization slowly dawned on Luz that she now knew exactly what it was like to be King. "...I regret teaching you that phrase."

Amity pressed her cheek up against Luz's and held her close. "Every time I think you can't possibly get any cuter," she said, "you just... How do you keep getting more perfect," she finished while purring.

"So I don't disagree," Masha said, "but... You know, she did just say that your God is dead."

"The Titan was dead, to begin with, this doesn't really change things day to day," Amity replied. "My girlfriend being even more cute and fluffy and cuddly does and... Oh," Amity said as she seemingly realized something.

"What?" Vee asked.

"Nothing important," Amity said quickly and she backed up enough that Luz could sit up. From a corner Stringbean zoomed in and began to nuzzle against Luz's face, hissing and rattling. "My witch is okay, my witch is okay!"

Luz took her palisman in her hands and gave the snake a reassuring stroke across the head. "Yeah, I'm okay Beanie."

"I love you, Luz."

"I love you, too, Stringbean," Luz replied. Her partner then flew up and wiggled into Luz's hair where she curled up and as far as Luz could tell immediately fell asleep.

"You know, Luz... You kind of look like King," Gus said.

Gus and Willow then looked at each other as the implications of what he said occurred to them.

"...Is King a titan?" Willow asked.

Luz very deliberately shut her mouth and avoided everyone's gaze.

"Luz?" Willow asked again.

Luz whined.

Hunter sighed. "You might as well."

"We're trying to keep it quiet until he's ready," Luz said. "And... He doesn't want to be treated any differently so... Like I said not to get weird about it with me, don't get weird about it for him either."

"I was there when we found out," Hunter clarified. "So it's not like they trust me more than they trust you..."

"I wasn't there but King told me himself," Amity added. "Sister-in-law privileges."

"You two are married!" shouted Marcy, who Luz actually kind of forgot was there. Turning to where she was sitting, Luz saw that she was apparently taking notes during the discussion.

"Sorry, futuresister-in-law priveledges," Amity clarified. "We're not married yet but... Someday. When we're old enough."

"And on our terms, no one else's," Luz continued.

"...I know we're both young but..." Amity began, "Well... Luz... Helped me find the strength to be my real self and rebuild relationships with people I care about."

"Amity likes me for me and is willing to support me unconditionally," Luz continued.

"We have so much in common it's not even funny," Amity added.

"When we're together we just... Get in synch so easily," Luz finished. "Nosotras somos almas gemelas."

"Just don't elope without telling anyone," Luz's Mom added.

"Wow," Sasha replied. "You are the sweetest pair of dorks I've ever seen."

"I choose to take that as a compliment," Luz replied confidently.

"Also Luz risked her soul to save my family," Amity finished.

"...I'm sorry, when did this happen?" Doctor Strange asked.

"¡Mierda! Sabía que me había olvidado de decir algo," Luz's mom declared. "It was the same day Luz first got stranded in the demon realm when I first got into contact with your assistant. I found out the next morning but apparently Amity's—"

"Birth giver," Amity interrupted.

"Her birth giver," Mom continued, "is an oracle? She saw a future where these two were together in a way she could profit from and tried to force it. Not only did she try to pressure them into an arranged marriage, but she apparently made a deal with Mephisto to... What was it again?"

"Help us achieve our full potential," Luz said. "And she didn't read the fine print on the contract, so he got not only her soul but Amity's dad and her brother and sister, too. So naturally I challenged him to a music battle where if he one he took my soul in their place and if I won he had to tear up the contract and go back to the Bad Place."

"Ah, trapped him between two contracts," Strange noted. "A risky move but I presume it paid off?"

"Nope, won fair and square," Luz replied. "We tried to make him forfeit by playing a love song to drive him off but it didn't work. But we do have a Golden Fiddle now."

"I'm still not sure I understand the deal with that," Amity said.

"I'll explain later," Luz said.

Strange and Magik shared a look but then said nothing.

"So, Mija," her Mom began, "is this... Permenant? The look I mean. I..."

"I feel like I should be able to change back," Luz replied, "and my powers and even my magic are pretty instinctual so... I just don't feel like it right now," she replied. "This feels right. I'll um... I'll change when we leave if it's a big deal."

"No, no," her Mom reassured. "Just... I needed to know if I maybe need to start buying bigger clothes."

"Mom, I know all of this demon realm stuff is still weird for you," Luz replied. "You don't have to pretend it isn't." Luz could tell that while everyone else had calmed down after seeing she was okay, her Mom hadn't exactly reacted well to finding out Luz had almost died again.

"You know, Anne told us about how her parents reacted to finding out about Amphibia," Marcy added. "Her dad had the normal reaction about how it's a lot to take in. Her mom was more focused on whether or not maggot larb would actually be good or not... Wish I'd gotten to try that myself."

"Yeah, Anne's parents are cool like that," Sasha added "Marcy, how are things with your parents? How did they take this?"

"They're a lot less strict than they used to be," Marcy said. "And aren't putting anywhere near as much pressure on... I think they're afraid I'll try to run away again. If anything they're a little too lenient now, and... Look, it's better than it used to be but the only way I'm not moving back to California as soon as I can once I grow up is if you and Anne aren't there."

"...There's a story there," Hunter noted.

"My parents were never intentionallyabusive," Marcy said, "but they were really strict and... Nothing I ever did was good enough even though I'm a certified genius who gets straight As and aces multible extracurricular activities."

"Story of my life," Amity mumbled.

"You don't run away from home in favor of a life of adventure with your two best friends if your home life is good," Sasha answered. "And, well, I get it. Was kind of upset at first but... I wasn't exactly planning on going back to Earth myself. Child of divorce, happened when I was little. Was not exactly amicable and while my parents both love me and tried not to let their problems with each other spill onto me it took a while to work out a custody arrangement that worked for everyone and the lack of stability likely contributed to the development of narcissistic and criminal tendencies, anger issues, and a crippling need to control the people around me."

"Things are better for me, and... It's better for you, too, right Sashy?"

"Oh, yeah. We're getting our crap worked out," Sasha admitted. "And, um... If your parents ever get bad again I can probably talk my Mom into letting you crash with us. That's an option now."

"I appreciate that but hopefully it won't be necessary," Marcy replied diplomatically.

"...Okay, seriously, I feel like I have a lot to discuss with both of you," Amity admitted.

Luz suddenly felt a greater appreciation for her Mami and could guess at similar feelings in Willow and Gus... Since she grief and longing. So, she decided that now was a good time to share more information. "The Titan showed me what was going on in the demon realm before he gave me his powers and sent me back. It's... Not good but everyone's alive and we can probably reason with The Collector. He also gave me a lead on how to get back. There might be a crude portal somewhere in old Gravesfield. But, it'll use up all our Titan Blood for one trip so once we're there we'll have to find our own way back."

"I'll check the archives as soon as I can get back to work," Masha. "See if I can find any sign of likely places a portal might be."

"So... We have a plan?" Gus asked.

"Everyone's gonna be okay?" Willow asked.

"We have a plan," Luz confirmed. "And everyone's gonna be okay."

There was immediately much relaxation. Amity hugged Luz again, Luz hugged back and noticed something. "You get buff on me?"

"Um, a little," Amity said. "Um... Don't, don't blame yourself but... I got hurt fighting Belos," she began.

"I hope he dies and goes straight to the bad place," Luz muttered.

"Just got a text from Johnny, he did and he did," Magik explained.

"Good," Luz said without asking how exactly that was confirmed.

"Anyway, that Thor guy did something. I was fading so I didn't see it but he made a bunch of declarations on his titles and his ancestors and... Apparently he has three moms? There was a flash and then I was like this and Dulzura was fixed and also I can summon armor," Amity finished. "He said something about the rank of the Valkrior?"

"You're a Valkyrie?" Luz asked, wide-eyed. That meant, that meant...

"I guess. Not sure what that means."

"The Valkrior, or Valkries, are a group of warrior demigoddesses who are part of the Asgardian Pantheon," Masha lectured. "They possess the power to sense when people are near death, to assume astral form at will, and they and their companions can travel freely not only to any realm connected to the Yggdrasil but to many other dimensions besides. Their duties, primarily, are to escort the souls of warriors and heroes who died in battle to Valhalla, but can freely travel to anyrealm where human dead reside."

"...Asgardians like Thor are Gods," Luz began. "But they're not immortal. Even the strongest, full-fledged Gods of big important things will only live for a couple of thousand years unless they use the Golden Apples of Idunn to rejuvenate themselves... Except for Valkries. As psychopomps, emissaries of Death, they're gifted with the privilege of endless youth and vitality... Amity, we, you and me, we could..." Luz swallowed. "We could be together forever."

Amity's eyes sparkled. "Yeah... Forever... Actually, speaking of, There's something... We both almost died today," Amity said. "And I was thinking... There's something I want to do with you, and I said if you pulled through, and... Now seems like the best time." Amity took off her crescent moon pendant and there was an immediate shift in the room as Willow, Gus, Hunter, and Vee all went wide-eyed. "Luz, there's an old tradition in the demon realm wherein if you want to, to make a big romantic commitment to someone, you give them a piece of your jewelry." Amity placed the pendant in Luz's hands. "Most couples exchange earrings but... By giving you my pendant specifically I am showing the whole world that I love and trust you enough to give you something close to my heart and, symbolically, a piece of it. If you accept my gift and wear the pendant, then that shows that you're willing to commit to me to the same level... So, if you are," Amity said, suddenly blushing and radiating a strong degree of anxiety.

Luz fastened the pendant around her neck without a moment's hesitation. "I accept, my Literal Golden-Eyed Goddess." This was met by Hunter and Gus holding each other close, Vee excitedly clutching Masha, and Willow squealing in delight.

Amity gave a big goofy smile as the anxiety vanished in an instant. "Your Goddess demands hugs," she joked.

"Your Titan obliges," Luz agreed in the same tone before giving her girlfriend a big bear hug.

It was then that the door to the sitting room was thrown open and Anne and Wong came in, Anne wheeling a large cart. "Doctor Strange, we need to have a talk about the state of your refrigerator and also where you got some of the stuff inside it. On that note, who wants to try my basil Kraken special!?" Luz's stomach immediately rumbled and Anne looked directly at her. "Okay, I think I missed something."

"You missed a lot," Sasha confirmed.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure but I think Amity just proposed to Luz," Marcy added, which prompted Amity to start sputtering and once more turn tomatoey.

"No, no no no, it's not... It's a big deal but it's not... That!" Amity defended. "It's just a major gesture symbolizing our love and commitment to each other, it's not a proposal."

"Dude, that sounds like a proposal," Anne said.

"Well, it's not," Amity said petulantly and with crossed arms. "When we're old enough and ready, then we'll have a proper proposal, this is more like... A promise."

"Whatever you say," Anne replied.

Soon afterward, dinner was served and Luz would be danged if Ann didn't cook a good Kraken.

"Yeah, my family has our own restaurant back in LA and I help out there a lot," the girl replied when Luz asked about it. "It's kind of a point of pride for me... To the point that I volunteered to save a failing diner back in Amphibia entirely because a foodie ticked me off. Pulled it off though. Turns out frogs like Thai food," she finished wistfully. "Wonder how Stumpy's doing right now?"

The rest of the dinner conversation was more light-hearted and trivial than had happened since Luz woke up and then Strange portal Anne, Sasha, and Marcy to their respective homes as it was a school night.

Then she recalled a question she had earlier but had yet to ask. "Hey, Gus, when did you make friends with an Eternal?"