The angel of the owl house

Luz nodded, slowly edging her way over to King so she could protect him; "One of them stole my blood and used it to wake these things up. They're a part of the tower's magical defences! They can detect that I'm an angel!"

"What!?" King cried, "B-But they've never moved before! I don't remember anything about these guys being alive!"

One of the active golems moved forward, using its arms and legs to skitter like a very large and creepy bug. It looked Rasiel up and down, before saying; "Golem B23-01 has encountered an intruder. Association with Hostile Angel confirmed. Intruder Designation: Angel Male. Classification: Spirit. No magic detected."

It then turned and looked at King, who flinched in fear at the creepy thing; "Hatchling Detected. Beginning securing of Hatchling and neutralisation of Intruder. Continuing capture of Hostile Angel."

The golems then darted forward, swarming towards the trio. Luz grabbed King and took to the air immediately to avoid the golems on the ground, who became distracted by Rasiel. She used their distraction to create an even bigger Light Bomb and drop it on Rasiel's head, knowing it wouldn't hurt him. The result was the destruction of about half a dozen more golems. The golems on the walls began morphing their arms to form large bows, which they used to fire spikes of rock at Luz, purposely aiming so they wouldn't hit King. She countered with her ice barrier spell, while King slapped some drawn ice glyphs on the back of the shield, causing each of the hexagons that made it to turn into spikes that Luz then launched at the golems. The ice spikes stabbed through the archers and pinned them to the walls, giving Luz and King a moment to fly away. The golems on the ceiling began dropping down, creating axes, swords, and spears from their bodies, yet they hesitated to attack as one due to King's presence. Luz was sure that the golems were designed to protect King as the "Hatchling" of the Nursery Tower.

However hesitation was not the same as refusing to attack at all, and they began swinging, stabbing, and chopping at any angle that let them hit Luz but not King. Luz had to counter by creating her icy barrier all around her, encasing herself and King in a crystalline bubble.

"Close your eyes, King!" Luz ordered, using her magic to conjure an ice and a light glyph inside each hexagon segment of her shield. King obediently closed his eyes, and Luz activated the glyphs, releasing a blinding light that gained the freezing powers of the ice glyphs, turning her barrier into a shining beacon that froze the golems around her solid. The flash was so bright that even with her and King closing their eyes, their eyelids had only reduced the effects of the light and not eliminated them, leaving both King and Luz blinking.

Knowing the golems wouldn't stay frozen for long, Luz dropped her shield and flew towards the entrance, with Rasiel floating rapidly behind her. They'd almost reached the exit when the golems broke free of the ice, and one launched their spear at them. King gasped as he saw the spear fly at them, and scrambled onto Luz's back to try and block it. However his shaking paws fumbled the glyphs and he dropped them, leaving him defenceless as the projectile was now moments from hitting his skull.

Thankfully for him, Luz had looked behind her after hearing King's gasp, so she was ready to act.

"NO!" she cried, rolling in mid-air to shake King off her back and out of harm's way, catching him in her arms in the process. The spear missed King, but thanks to her shifted position, it instead managed to pierce right through one of Luz's wings.

She screamed in agony, golden blood splattering to the ground as King and Rasiel cried out in alarm, and since the shaft of the spear was stuck halfway into Luz's primary left wing, she wasn't able to keep flying and went crashing into the ground. Even in pain and falling from the air, Luz still managed to turn enough to land on her back so she wouldn't land on King and crush him, but this only furthered the damage to her wing.

"No! Luz!" King cried, wriggling out of her arms so his weight wasn't pressing down on her and her wing.

"Ugh…" Luz whimpered, tears in her eyes as pain wracked through her. She'd never felt so much pain; being impaled through the wing was no joke, and since it was right near one of her major blood vessels, her blood was flowing thick and fast.

The golems began swarming towards them, seemingly ready to cleave the fallen girl to pieces. Rasiel threw himself at them, making it look like he was attacking, but since he was incorporeal, all he managed was making the golems pause to hack away at him for a moment, before they processed that they couldn't hurt him and thus ignored him in favour of Luz. However this brief distraction was enough for King to use Luz's spilled blood to draw an ice glyph on the floor.

"EAT THIS!" King roared with fury, activating the glyph. The result was a mighty ice wall with metre long icicles jutting out from the other side, impaling the golems that smashed against it and making it even harder for them to break through. The combination of Luz's angelic blood and Titan Magic meant the glyph was a lot more potent than normal, but it was still not enough. The impaled golems regenerated and cleaved at the ice wall, quickly beginning to make progress.

"We need to get out of here!" King cried, trying to drag Luz towards the door. The girl tried to stand, but the weight of the spear in her wing made dragging it with her an exceedingly painful experience, and she ended up screaming and falling to the ground again.

"K-King, you've got to run! Leave me and save yourself!" Luz ordered, forcing her voice to sound strong despite the pain. She tried to put her wings away, but they wouldn't disappear while injured, leaving Luz stuck.

"No! I won't abandon you! I-I'll get the spear out! Then you can heal yourself and we can all leave together!" King yelled, his voice shaking with distress.

There was a loud crack as the golems finally smashed a large enough hole in the ice wall for them to begin crawling through one by one. King hurried to draw another glyph, but the golems were too fast, bearing down on him and Luz before he could even draw the outer circle. Luz, woozy with blood loss, raised a hand to try and blast the golems away from her little brother, but instead of a blast of light hitting the golem, Luz felt a rush of heat flying over her head as a fireball slammed into it.

Luz, King, and a frantic Rasiel all spun around to see Eda rushing towards them, Owlbert in one hand, a fireball in the other, and fury in her eyes.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY KIDS!" she roared, blasting the golems with another fireball, then casting a spell with Owlbert to magnify the size of the fireball so it was large enough to consume the entire crowd. It wasn't as effective as Luz's light spell since it didn't vaporise them, but it did keep the golems in a state of constantly needing to regenerate for a few moments.

Luz then heard the sound of a violin, following shortly by the sight of a blade of red and gold magic slicing through the air and cutting the entire horde of golems in half, further lengthening their regeneration. It was Raine, following closely behind Eda.

"Raine Storm, get King and Luz out of here! I'll hold these things back!" Eda ordered, not taking her eyes off of her flames, which she was keeping burning by summoning and tossing potions into them.

Raine obediently rushed to Luz and King's side; "Kids, you need to go!" they then noticed Rasiel and frowned; "Wait, who is that!?"

The Bard looked ready to attack, but Rasiel put his hands up in surrender; "It's a long story, but I'm not an enemy!" he yelled, "We'll talk later, once the children are safe."

Raine nodded, the questions could wait. With Eda focused on keeping the golems busy, it was up to them to get the kids to safety. They grabbed King and put him on their shoulder, then tried to help Luz to her feet, only for her to scream as the movement jostled her skewered wing.

"You need to lift that spear, or else Luz can't move!" King yelled.

Raine blinked in confusion; Luz was still wearing her concealment stone and so her wings were invisible to the bard, so to them it looked like the spear was just laying on the ground with gold liquid around it. With now not being the time to argue, Raine whistled a tune that made the spear weightless, allowing Luz to finally get to her feet with only the slightest of winces. Raine scooped her up into their arms and immediately frowned as they felt something soft on her back and saw the weightless spear move on its own. They then ran out of the tower with Luz and King, Rasiel following closely behind, until they came to a stop on the edge of the jungle just a little ways to the side of the tower's entrance, so there was no line of sight between them and the tower's occupants.

"Why are we stopping!? We need to get the kids off the island!" Rasiel yelled.

"It's fine. Eda told me about the tower's guardian on the way here. It, or I guess they, can't leave the tower." Raine explained.

Sure enough, Eda came flying out from the tower a moment later, riding on Owlbert as the golems tried to pursue her. The instant they tried to cross the threshold out of the tower, a blue barrier appeared and the parts of them that passed it lost all power, melting to the ground until the golems sucked them back in and reformed.

"Intruders have left vicinity with Hatchling. Island Defences Inactive; Primary Power depleted. Remain on Standby." one of them said. They then disappeared into the shadows within the tower, and Eda sneered at them.

"Good riddance!" she growled. She then looked around and spotted the others, flying over to them in an instant.

Eda knelt beside Luz and took one look at the spear beside her, immediately putting together what had happened. "Luz, I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner."

Luz, looking very pale, nodded and smiled weakly; "A few minutes earlier would have been nice, but you still saved our butts."

"We're going to have to pull that spear out before you can heal." Eda nodded to the spear. "And I'll need to take off your concealment stone so I can see what I'm doing."

Eda's eyes flickered over towards Raine, then back to Luz. Removing the stone would reveal her true nature to Raine. Luz grimaced; "Do it. I've got enough magic left in the tank to cast a healing spell, but I can't get the spear out on my own."

The Owl Lady nodded and turned to Raine; "Raine Storm, you're about to see exactly what I meant when I told you Luz had come unique circumstances. I need you to stay calm and not freak out, alright?"

Raine gulped; just what were they about to see!? They swallowed down their apprehension and nodded, resolving to keep their cool no matter what. Seeing this, Eda gave them a grateful smile, then reached into Luz's hoodie and pulled out the pearlescent concealment stone. She slipped it off and Luz's true form was suddenly revealed, allowing Raine to see her pure white hair and four angelic wings, one of which was skewered by the spear and bleeding profusely.

The bard gasped; their initial thought was that Luz really was Eda's child and had inherited her curse, but they shook that off immediately. Eda wouldn't lie to them about something as serious as this! Eliminating that possibility left only one other; Luz was an angel!

"An angel…! I can't believe it!" Raine whispered, looking to Eda, "Now I know why you sounded so worried when I mentioned the bounty on angels! Belos cannot be allowed to find out about this!"

"That's the plan. Now I'm going to need your help, since you're better with cutting spells." Eda said, gently holding Luz's pierced wing as the girl winced. "I need you to slice the spear as close to her wing as you can, so I can pull it out more easily."

"Easily done. Hold tight Luz, and stay as still as you can." Raine softly instructed, kneeling beside her. The girl nodded and braced herself, while Raine lined themselves up and played a quick note on his violin, creating a slashing sound wave that sliced the spear down to about an inch long on one side of her wing. The vibration of the sound wave through the spear made Luz yelp softly, but she remained strong. With that done, Eda gripped the other side of the spear with one hand and placed her other hand on Luz's wing.

"Okay sweetheart, I need you to be brave now. I'm going to pull it out with one move. It'll probably hurt, so if you need to scream then do it. Don't hold back for our sakes." Eda instructed gently.

Luz gave her a frightened nod as King gripped her hands in his paws, and Rasiel knelt to whisper comforting words in her ear. Eda then said; "On the count of three. One, two, THREE!"

In a single movement, Eda pushed Luz's wing with one hand and yanked on the spear with the other, successfully pulling it free. There was a spurt of golden blood, and Luz screamed so loudly the noise echoed across the island, making the others wince in sympathy. The girl panted in pain and immediately began casting her healing spell, closing the hole in her wing and restoring the lost and damaged feathers. The effort left her feeling weak, and she was still a little light-headed from losing so much blood, but at least now her pain was gone.

"L-Let's not do that again…" Luz said, slumping against Eda as a shaken King crawled fully onto her lap.

"Agreed. When I was here last, there was only one of them! And it didn't talk!" Eda frowned, "What happened?"

Luz gave a brief explanation of her trip into the golem-filled hallway, making the rest of the group frown. Eda was impressed that she'd destroyed several golems, but the rest of the revelations were much less pleasant.

"Stealing your blood to activate the other golems… whoever built this place really wanted to keep intruders out." Eda commented.

King frowned; "But we're not intruders! It's my castle!"

The rest of the group gave him awkward looks. Raine averted their eyes, having been told the details by Eda on the way to the island, while Eda and Luz both looked guilty. King's eyes widened at Luz's expression.

"Luz… you don't believe this is my castle?"

The young angel averted her eyes, unwilling to lie again but still unable to spit out the truth. King's expression fell; "You think I'm lying to you?"

"No! I don't think you're lying! I just…" she tried to find the right words.

Thankfully, Eda had them; "You're not lying, you just don't know the truth." she said, putting a hand on King's head. "Do you remember how we met?"

King looked unsure of himself; "I-It was after I was cursed. I was being carried away by you… the rest is fuzzy…"

Eda sighed sadly; "The part about me carrying you away was right, but the rest… let me tell you how we really met. It was eight years ago…"

She closed her eyes as she recalled the events of that day; "I'd stowed away on an Emperor's Coven ship as it sailed out of Bonesborough, intending to rob it. I was a young hotshot on a crusade back then, but the boiling rains were hotter, and thanks to them my plan went awry and I had to flee, and ended up coming across this island. I needed shelter from the rain, and the island seemed to just appear out of the mist, so I took it as a sign and landed. The jungle didn't provide much protection from the weather, so I hid inside the tower. That's where I first met you."

Eda smiled; "You were an adorable little fella, and I found you making those weird effigies. At first I didn't know what you were and assumed you were a stray dog or something. But as I was trying to figure it out, the golem attacked. I thought it would kill us both, so against my better judgement, I grabbed you and ran. It didn't chase us beyond the tower, but it did fire a shot at us as we flew away. The shot hit your horn and broke it off, but I grabbed it and you, and high-tailed it back home. I couldn't exactly abandon you, so I decided to keep you as a pet… I even got you that collar."

King looked down at his collar, his heart clenching painfully.

"But one day, I saw you using my junk to make more of those effigies in my living room. I made a joke about you looking like "A King amongst his subjects" and you seemed really taken with that, repeating the word King. It was the first time you'd spoke, making me realise you were more than just an animal. So I named you King, and since you were so into the idea, I told you stories about Kings having armies and minions and feasts. Because of my issues with authority, I also painted them as monsters and tyrants… and that's how you got the idea that you were some despotic overlord."

The smile left Eda's face as she opened her eyes and looked sadly down at King; "I knew it was a lie, and a part of me always thought you'd grow out of the fantasy… but ultimately, I couldn't bring myself to tell you the truth. You were happy, so I played along."

King's eyes widened even as his pupils shrank to pinpricks. He scrambled out of Luz's lap and away from her and Eda, shaking his head as he backed away; "Y-You're lying! Luz, she's lying right? Y-You believed me before! Didn't you?"

Luz bit her lip and shook her head with tears in her eyes; "I'm so sorry King… I lied at the house. I didn't know for certain that Rasiel was right about you being a Titan, but I knew you weren't really the King of Demons. I've known since the day we met, but like Eda, I couldn't bring myself to say it."

Eda and Raine's eyes widened at the mention of King being a Titan, but the latter wisely kept their mouth shut for the moment and the former gasped softly, her heart aching as she came to the same realisations as Luz had earlier. But that could be worried about later; for now King was in distress.

Rasiel sighed softly; "King, I know this is hard, but look at the evidence. Your "castle" was built by an angel, and guarded by golems fuelled by angelic magic. They called you "Hatchling", and never intentionally attacked you, only aiming for Luz. I can sense your Titan magic, and your power served as the Titan Key for the Black Tomb. This island could easily be made with Titan magic too. Please, I know how difficult this must be for you, but the truth cannot be changed. You are a Titan, King."

"You're lying! You've got to be! I-I remember…!" King screamed, backing away further.

"Your memories became scrambled after your skull was damaged." Eda said sadly, reaching into her hair and pulling out a chunk of pale white bone. Everyone immediately recognised it as the broken piece of King's horn. Eda offered it to King, and he reluctantly stepped forward to take it from her.

He gasped as a rush of familiarity went through his body, and his foggy memories began to clear up slightly; the sight and feel of the horn helping to remind him of the event in which he lost it, and the things that preceded it.

"My army?" his mind flashed back to him standing on some rubble, looking over his effigies.

"My feasts?" another flash of memory, of him stalking and eating a bug in the ruined tower.

"My life…!?"

He looked heartbroken, before his expression twisted into anger and he threw the horn away; "No! Keep that thing away from me, it's messing with my head!"

Luz reached for him; "King, it'll be okay, I promise!"

King shook his head as he began panicking, backing away from them all again; "Y-You're just making fun of me, right? This is just a joke!"

Luz and Eda gave him sympathetic looks as they shook their heads. King shook his own head in denial, then began hyperventilating.

"No no no no no!" he staggered back, clutching his skull with one paw and his chest with the other. "No no no NO!"

The little Titan turned on his heel and ran away into the jungle, his panicked denials echoing through the trees as he went. Luz and Eda rushed to their feet, but Luz was still weak from the blood loss and staggered, causing Eda to stop and catch her, allowing King to run far out of their line of sight.

"No! King, please come back! KING!" Luz cried.

Raine switched their Palisman from violin to staff mode and prepared to take flight in pursuit of King, but Rasiel put a hand in front of them. "The canopy is too thick; you'll only hurt yourself and you won't be able to see him through it anyway. We'll need to follow on foot."

Raine nodded in acceptance, while Luz clutched Eda's hand as tears crept down her face.

"I lied to him. I thought I was doing the right thing and sparing his feelings, but all I did was break his trust! Now he's all alone and hurting! What do I do, Eda? I need to help him! He's my little brother, whatever species he is!" she wept.

Eda gently wiped away her tears; "You lied to protect him. It may not have been the right thing to do, but you were trying. King will understand that once he calms down. For now, we should split up and look for him. This island is small and he's even smaller; he couldn't have gotten far."

Luz sniffled and nodded, still feeling guilty. But she could worry about her own feelings after helping King! "Let's go find King!"

As Eda suggested, they split up into three teams and went in different directions. Since the only thing to the north was the tower, Rasiel began searching to the east, Eda and Raine to the west (whilst Eda filled Raine in on everything they needed to know), and Luz searched to the south. Luz's fears for King grew the further she had to travel, and the more her shouts of "King!" were unanswered, at least until she stepped out of the jungle and reached the island's coast.

There she found King, sitting on some driftwood on the beach, looking out at the ocean and the night sky, full of stars and the shimmering full moon. Luz's heart went out to him, and she slowly approached him. King knew she was coming but didn't try to run away from her, instead continuing to stare dejectedly out at the water.

Luz took a seat beside him, and he spoke; "Eda and Rasiel were right, weren't they? I was never king of anything. I'm nobody."

"You are somebody." Luz said softly, "In fact, you're somebody very precious to me. Somebody I would do anything for… even if I once again messed up when trying to help. I'm sorry I lied about what I believed… I was trying to avoid this exact situation, but instead I made it worse."

"Everyone lied!" King cried, "But I was too caught up in my fantasy to realise it! Luz, you hurt yourself to protect me because I couldn't handle the truth!" he began to sob, "I don't know what to do, Luz! I can't tell what's real and what's fake!"

Luz felt herself tear up in sympathy as her heart ached for her little brother. But now wasn't the time to focus on her feelings; it was King who mattered. She slowly got off the driftwood log and knelt in the sand in front of King, and put her hand up as if for a high-five. King looked at her questioningly, but put his paw against her hand regardless. Luz smiled gently.

"You can feel my hand right? That's real." Luz said, before gently wrapping King in a hug, "And this? This is real. And you want to know what else is real? I love you, King. I love you, and I always will."

She kissed the top of his skull and leaned back, while King looked up at her. Both their eyes were glistening with tears, and King felt Luz's love for him as strongly as her arms around his body.

"I don't care if you're the King of Demons, a Titan, or anything else in the universe. You can decide what you want to be for yourself. All I care about is that you're my little brother. You're King." Luz finished, giving King a big smile; "And that will never be a lie."

King sniffled, then fully threw himself into Luz's embrace, hugging her with all the strength in his little body. He still felt confused and afraid, and questioned his whole identity… but he knew that no matter what he really was, he would have Luz by his side. His big sister wouldn't abandon him.

"Thank you, Luz. I'm still so confused… not only am I not what I thought I was, but I'm supposedly a Titan? There's so much I don't understand." King said, wiping his eyes.

Luz nodded in understanding, standing up and clutching King to her chest as she looked back at the Nursery Tower in the distance. "Between Rasiel's knowledge and the things those golems said, we know for certain that you're a Titan, but why exactly was your egg left in that tower? A Titan built the island, but angels built the tower and its defences, but what was the relation? Did the angels come later? Did your Titan parent know about them?" Luz mused, "If there are answers anywhere, they'll be in the tower."

King frowned; "What makes you so sure?"

"Remember what you said before? You remember falling from a great height. Eda found you in the entrance hall of the tower, so what if the fall you remember was you coming down from the upper levels? The ones blocked off by rubble? You also told Rasiel that you remembered a muffled roar… that could have been…"

The little Titan's eyes widened; "My Mom or Dad!"

Luz nodded; "I'm sure we'll find something up there that'll answer at least some of our questions. If nothing else, we may find the place that you hatched."

"It would mean going against those golems again… they really hurt you last time." King frowned.

"I'll be fine, King. Eda and Raine will help us; if the four of us work together, there's nothing we can't accomplish, right?" Luz smiled, giving him a comforting pat on the back.

King couldn't help but giggle; "Okay! Let's do it!"

The two siblings rubbed their cheeks together, and hurried back to the tower, where Luz fired a light beam into the sky to draw Rasiel, Eda, and Raine back and let them know she'd found King. They arrived mere moments later, and Eda rushed over.

"King! You're alright!" she sighed with relief. Then she noticed the tear tracks on his skull and frowned; "You're mad at me, aren't you. I get it; I would be too. I'm sorry I lied to you for all these years…"

King, still in Luz's arms, reached out and booped Eda on the nose with his claw. "No more secrets, okay? Promise me… please?"

The Owl Lady smiled; "Only truths from now on, I promise." she then turned to Luz, "Speaking of, I told Raine everything about you and Rasiel. It was kind of impossible to keep it hidden after everything that just happened, so I figured it was better to tell them the truth rather than have them fill in the blanks on their own."

Raine nodded; "It was quite the story; I never would have guessed most of it. Especially the parts about you, Rasiel. But either way, you don't need to worry; I'll keep your secrets no matter what." they promised.

Luz smiled appreciatively, and Rasiel gave a polite nod. Eda then asked; "So, are we ready to return home?"

King shook his head; "Actually, we have one more thing to do. This tower… it has to hold some secrets as to my past. My parents. The angels who built it. Luz thinks the answers may be in the upper floors. I want to go up there and see."

"I've already given the place a glance from the outside; the damage to the upper floors is mostly cosmetic so there are no open holes to fly through even if we could get above the canopy, and I doubt anything short of a Titan's power could crack the defensive walls. Angelic structures are built sturdy and resistant to even our own magic. Just flying up there isn't going to be enough." Rasiel frowned. "If we want to get up there, we'll need to do it from within."

Eda and Raine exchanged looks; "That would mean getting through that whole army of golems." Raine frowned. "I might be able to keep some of them busy, but that's it."

"If I really push it, I can probably vaporise a few of them too. But my magic is already low after earlier." Eda said, reaching into her hair and pulling out three Super Elixirs. "This is all I have to keep me going."

"I can help too. My light blasts are effective if I can completely consume the golems with one. Combine that with your magic, King's glyphs, and Raine's bardic magic, and we might just be able to pull this off." Luz said confidently.

Rasiel crossed his arms; "You are still weak from losing so much blood. If you use too much magic in this state, your body will crash."

"I can handle it." she retorted, eyes burning with determination. King's were much the same, and the adults of the group knew there was no dissuading them.

"Alright; we're getting up there! Got a plan, King?" Eda grinned.

The little Titan nodded with a grin of his own, then explained his brief and simple plan. Luz and the adults listened carefully, then nodded in agreement. It was a simple plan, but one that could work very effectively if they managed their resources properly.

Eda drank a Super Elixir, King drew dozens of glyphs, and Luz summoned her satchel and retrieved the spare Super Power Glyph she'd made with Matt and the Galdorstones. Meanwhile, Rasiel worked with Raine, telling them to harmonise their violin playing with his singing, as while the spirit couldn't actually use bardic magic, he could still lead Raine through a song that would be more effective against angelic constructs.

Once they were fully prepared, Eda and Raine sat on Owlbert's staff while Rena took her violin form, and King got onto Luz's shoulders as she began to fly.

"On the count of three. One, two… THREE!" King yelled.

In a flash, they all flew into the tower and immediately paled as they saw even more golems swarming the place than before. They had previously escaped while many of the golems were still being activated by Luz's blood, but now all the working ones were awake and many of the previously damaged ones had been cobbled together into a few more working constructs. The entrance hall was so full of them that it resembled a beehive or an ant hill; they covered every surface! Still, as many of them as there were, King's plan didn't change.

The moment they entered the tower, all the golems turned to them and prepared to attack, taking aim primarily at Luz since she was the one with King on her shoulders. Luz put up a barrier to protect herself and the others from a barrage of massive arrows and spears, while King took the Super Power Glyph and slapped it onto the back of Luz's neck. The resulting power boost gave Luz a fiery golden aura, making her wings appear to be made of gold as her eyes shone with pure white light. With Luz powered up, King then jumped from her shoulders to Eda's and Luz draw a massive spell circle that caused ice and light glyphs to appear inside each hexagonal segment of her barrier spell, sandwiched together.

"Time to put these guys on ice!" Luz grinned, knowing King's appreciation for puns. She activated the light glyphs with a spark of magic, resulting in beams of light shooting out of them and through the ice glyphs, turning them into freezing rays that were further magnified by the lens-like hexagonal segments of her barrier. The entire entrance hall was touched by the frigid light, and the entire army of golems were flash frozen.

Luz panted as she dropped the barrier; her big freezing spell taking a lot out of her even with the Super Power Glyph. "Go!" she yelled, knowing the ice wouldn't hold the golems for long.

The others obediently flew towards the end of the hall, where the shaft to the upper floors could be found. Almost as soon as they were out of the way, the golems began to break free from the ice and split their attention between Luz and Eda.

"All eyes on me! Here's a spotlight to help you remember that!" Luz yelled, focusing every scrap of magic she could muster into a single light spell. She created a tightly compressed ball of light between the palms of her hands, then released her control of it. The ball rapidly uncompressed, resulting in it ballooning to a massive size and vaporising a huge number of the golems. It was powerful enough that it could have destroyed them all, but Luz had to hold back in case she destroyed part of the tower and brought it down on their heads, the inside not being as reinforced as the outside.

Over half the golems were wiped out, unable to regenerate from the particles the light blast had reduced them to, but the remaining half were either left unharmed or only partially damaged, allowing them to repair themselves and continue their attack while Luz was barely able to muster a shield around herself.

With Luz's part of the plan done, she flew back over to the others, and King jumped back onto her shoulders while Eda swooped down on the golems and began pelting them with fire and acid spells, focusing on continuous damage rather than destruction. Raine began playing their violin in time with Rasiel's singing, using a bardic spell to take control of many golems' feet and keep them marching in place instead of attacking. Whenever it looked like a golem was about to hit them, Luz would summon a weak barrier to protect them, relying on the strength of the Super Power Glyph to keep her going.

While the others were keeping the golems busy, King began using plant glyphs to create vines to safely shift the rubble (throwing it at the golems in the process), and Rasiel flew about the battlefield, no longer needing to sing for Raine to continue their song, and distracted golems and let Eda and Raine know where to focus their efforts to most effectively disrupt the swarm of stony constructs.

Between Luz decimating their numbers, Eda trapping them in a loop of regeneration, and Raine's bardic magic impairing their movement, the golems were left virtually helpless. However they were also tireless, regenerating seemingly without limit, and both Eda and Raine were using a lot of magic to hold them back. Luz was having to use more and more barriers to protect them from rogue shots, and Eda had to chug two Super Elixirs to keep up the barrage of spells. Even Raine, who was in fairly good condition compared to Luz and Eda, was struggling to keep their grip on so many golems at once.

Finally, King managed to shift the last of the rubble out of the way, clearing the shaft so they could ascend. "The way is open! Get up there!" he ordered.

Eda immediately turned Owlbert around, and Raine braced themselves against her as the two rocketed over to King and Luz, then up the shaft. Rasiel followed right behind them, and Luz lingered a moment to cast one last barrier spell over the bottom of the shaft to hold the golems back from pursuing them. The effort burned out the last of the Power Glyph's magic, leaving Luz virtually powerless after using so many big spells while still suffering from her earlier blood loss. The golems skittered up the walls and began chipping away at her ice barrier, and Luz flew up the shaft as fast as her tired wings could carry her.

But then she heard the shattering of ice below her, and suddenly felt a trio of fleshy tendrils wrapped around her waist and legs. She and King both paled and looked down, seeing the golems had broken through her barrier and caught her by extending their arms like grappling hooks. Their claws cut into Luz's clothes and scraped her skin, making her wince, then they began to pull her towards them.

As Luz felt herself being dragged back down, she grimaced and made a desperate decision. Without her boosted magic, she barely had the strength to keep flying, so instead of letting herself and King fall into the Golems' clutches, she pulled King off her shoulders, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then tossed him as hard as she could up to Eda and Raine. Raine caught him, and the others all looked down in horror as Luz was grabbed by more golems. They were aiming to capture and not kill her, so they weren't tearing her apart, but their claws did leave scratches on her skin and four of them raised their spears to skewer her wings to ensure she didn't fly away again.

Despite her fear, Luz smiled up at King. A golem's arm around her throat prevented her from giving him any comforting words, but she tried her best to convey her feelings of love for him with just her gaze.

Time seemed to slow down for King as he watched his big sister about to be further hurt, all so he could discover the secrets of his past. He couldn't allow it! He would not allow it!

"Stay away from my BIG SISTER!" King roared with all his might. He felt magic thrumming beneath his skin, filling his veins and lungs with power, which blasted out of his throat in the form of a mighty roar. The roar was accompanied by a magical shock wave, as well as three rings of colour in gold, green, and blue. The shock wave hit Luz and the golems, and while Luz felt her body shudder as the magic passed over her, the golems grabbing her were all blasted back down the shaft and into the room below, impacting the floor so hard that they splattered.

Luz almost fell too, but was able to start flying again now that the golems weren't grabbing her, and quickly darted through the air towards the others, barely noticing that the glyphs on her skin were now glowing softly, reacting to King's Titan Roar. The instant Luz reached the others, King leapt at her and hugged her tightly, while Eda flew close enough to put an arm around her shoulder too.

"Luz! Oh thank the Titan, I thought you were a goner!" Eda sighed with relief.

"Well, we can thank one specific Titan!" Luz giggled, her heart beating wildly from adrenaline. "You did magic King! And without the glyphs!"

King, looking as surprised as the rest of them, nodded numbly; "I-I guess I did! And it looks like it did something to you too, Luz." he said, pointing to her glowing glyph markings.

Luz opened her mouth to question Rasiel about this, since he was the only one to know anything about Titans, but the ancient angel was preoccupied. "We're not out of the woods yet!" he yelled, looking down the shaft; "The golems are starting to recover and climb again! We need to move!"

"Where to!?" Raine cried, looking around. The shaft had ended in a small and empty room, with only cobwebs and vegetation lining the walls, and only a single sealed door.

Luz and Eda landed and ran over to it and tried to push it open, but found that it wouldn't budge, even with them and Raine all throwing their weight against it. Rasiel tried to phase through the door to see if there was some kind of release mechanism on the other side, but found that he couldn't go through the door or the walls around it, almost as if he was physical.

One of the golems reached the top of the shaft and the group spun around to face it, backing up against the sealed door. This resulted in King pressing his back to it, causing a ripple of magic to spread through it and making the door glow. It then opened on its own, causing the Owl House Trio and Raine to fall backward into the room beyond it. Rasiel quickly flew through too, and Raine leapt to their feet and slammed the doors shut just as the golem lunged at them. Once the door was shut, they all waited in silent anticipation for something to happen, but the golems made no attempt to breach the room.

"I-I think we're safe now." Raine said, taking a deep breath to calm themselves.

The others relaxed and began to look around at the room; it was similar to the rest of the tower in design, but with carvings of the golems on the walls, and a golden platform in the centre of the room. On the platform was a strange carved symbol, and this symbol was covered by some kind of fragments. Luz and King approached it and immediately recognised the fragments as having come from a very large egg.

"This must be where you were born, King." Luz said softly. King carefully climbed down from Luz's shoulders and stood in the centre of the golden platform, feeling a distant sense of nostalgia.

"Does this ring any bells, kiddo?" Eda asked.

King frowned and shook his head; "No… but I think I know how to jog my memories. I'm ready, Eda." he said, holding out his paw.

Eda didn't bother asking if he was sure; they'd come too far to turn back. She took out King's broken horn and handed it over, then watched as her youngest child took a deep breath and placed the horn back in its proper place on his skull.

The nostalgic feeling magnified, and King found his fuzzy memories clearing up; "I-I remember waking up to a really loud roar. It was scary, but it made me feel safe for some reason. But I was still too little, so I went back to sleep… the next time I woke up, I remember seeing one of those golem things. They took me out of this room and down to the entrance hall… that's why I remembered falling from a great height! It must have been from going down that shaft."

The little Titan looked misty-eyed, and Luz knelt beside him; "Are you okay?"

"I don't know… that roar I heard. It meant "Son". I'm sure of it. That roar was my dad, Luz!" King said, smiling sadly.

"If you heard that roar, then your father must have known you were here. I can't imagine a place like this keeping out an adult Titan, so he must have allowed you to stay here for your protection. That's why the golems were trying not to hurt you; they were protecting you from us." Rasiel reasoned.

"But that still doesn't explain the angel connection." Raine pointed out.

Eda looked around the room with a frown; "There's nowhere else to go. No doors or anything accept the one we came through. I think we've seen everything there is to see here."

King looked down in disappointment, but Luz wasn't ready to give up yet. There had to be something else! She felt it in her bones! She began looking around the room, pulling ivy from the walls to look behind it, and shifting rubble in hopes of finding a secret. She'd seen the golem from earlier rotating pieces of the floor to cause the blood draining pillar to appear, as well as to close a door; surely there were other secrets like it!

The others watched her curiously, and her efforts were rewarded as she moved some of the fragments of King's shell and noticed a large glyph-like symbol engraved on the golden platform. Her eyes sparkled with anticipation as she looked closely at the circle at the centre of the symbol and saw that it was made of concentric circles. She tentatively touched one of these circles, then grinned as it rotated.

"I knew it! There's some kind of mechanism here!" Luz said excitedly. She tried to remember the combination that the golem from earlier had used, but copying it didn't work.

King crouched down and touched the circles, whereupon the spaces between them began to glow blue and the circles started to rotate on their own. The entire platform began to shake and rise up, forcing Luz and King to leap off. Eda and Raine were on guard, while Luz and King gasped as the platform rose up to reveal it was actually some kind of golden cube, which had Rasiel shuddering.

"It looks like a golden version of the Black Tomb… Just smaller." he commented.

Rasiel's comparison was an apt one, as the front face of the cube slid back into the ground and revealed the contents of the cube. Within was a massive blue crystal, and sealed inside the crystal was a person; an extremely elderly looking man in white and gold vestments, with a very long white beard and a hood covering his facial features. From the man's back sprouted four angelic wings, marking this man as a High Angel, just like Luz.

"Whoa! Did we just find another sealed up angel!?" King exclaimed.

Rasiel took one look at the crystal, then shook his head and put a hand over his heart; "No. This is a true tomb. This man has passed away. The crystal is preserving him… I can also sense a bit of magic inside it. I think this crystal was originally the power source for the tower's enchantments and golems."

The others gasped; "So was this the man who built this place?" Eda asked.

"It is likely." Rasiel answered, as he and Luz bowed their heads and began whispering an angelic prayer for the dead. Luz had offered the same prayer at her father's grave on multiple occasions.

Eda and Raine weren't sure how to react to this revelation, so they simply kept a respectful silence, while King looked at the old High Angel's face. He didn't recognise them at all, but for some reason that made King sad. He suddenly felt compelled to touch the crystal, so he did exactly that.

Everyone startled as the crystal began to glow, and a wizened voice echoed out from it. It was the same voice that the golems spoke with.

"Greetings. If you are receiving this message, Young Titan, then you have finally matured enough to be able to understand my words and have opened my tomb. Please do not be alarmed by my body; I preserved myself within alchemical crystal so that I might use the last of my body's magic and blood to fuel the defences of your home, the Nursery Tower."

King gasped, as the others gathered around him. Luz lifted him into her arms as the two listened eagerly to the deceased angel's words.

"My name is Zachael, a High Angel belonging to no Crest Order. I am the last scion of the Crestless Angels who came to the Demon Realm 50,000 years ago. Our group is no more, lost to in-fighting with ourselves and warring with the Demons. Not all of my brethren sought a peaceful life here, but that is neither here nor there. What is important is you, Young Titan. I apologise that I have no name by which to call you, but as your Father was chosen to bear your egg, your Mother was to be the one to name you. Alas, that did not come to pass… I pray you have found a name of your own."

King looked up at Luz; "Did you hear that? I had a Dad AND a Mom! I wonder what they would have named me…?"

"I don't know, but I think they'd approve of the name King. You'd be the King of their hearts." Luz smiled lovingly. King blushed and giggled, then looked back to the crystallised angel as the message continued.

"I am afraid the tale I have to tell is not a pleasant one, as it concerns the death of your parents and the fall of the Titan Race. But it is crucial that you know, both for the sake of closure, and the sake of preparedness. The Titan Race has always been small in number; they are too large to sustain a plentiful population, but they possessed impressive magic. This magic proved to be their undoing however; as a mysterious being known as an Archivist came to our world from beyond the stars. This Archivist, calling themselves "The Huntsman" began capturing creatures from our world for some unknown purpose. They attempted to capture a Baby Titan, and that Titan's parent took exception and drove the Huntsman away. The Archivists have immense magical power, akin to a God, but that magic doesn't work on Titans, so the Huntsman was forced to flee. For centuries afterwards, the Titans thought they were safe… but then another Archivist came. This one was a mere child, and called themselves "The Collector." They merely seemed interested in playing with the Baby Titans, like any other child, so the adult Titans allowed it. But this was a ruse."

The recorded voice began to sound even older, as Zachael recounted the tragic tale.

"The Collector was a distraction, lowering the Titans' guard so the Archivists could steal and eliminate their children. At the same time, the Huntsman and three other Archivists, whose names I do not know, found and empowered a clan of vicious witches, turning them into skilled hunters capable of trapping and killing a Titan and wearing their skulls like grim trophies. You see Titans may be colossal, but they are able to create smaller bodies for themselves known as Avatars, allowing them to interact with the world. The Titans transferred their souls into these bodies in order to interact with their tiny children and the other species of the Demon Realm while their true bodies hibernated. But while their power is not diminished in these Avatars, they are still more vulnerable, and if an Avatar is killed, then the Titan within dies too. The Archivists destroyed the Baby Titans themselves, and had the Titan Trappers destroy the Avatars of the adults, ensuring the demise of the Titan Race. Only three remained; your parents and you, still an unhatched egg within your father's chest."

The others gasped in horror; so it had been these Archivists who'd destroyed the Titan Race! Zara's belief that it had been the angels was false after all! Still, while this was a small relief for Luz and Rasiel, it did nothing to numb the pain all of them felt as they looked at King, who wore a shocked and pained expression.

"Your father, whom I named Orion as true names in the Titans' own tongue are unpronounceable for non Titans, was a dear friend of mine and allowed me to live with him and his mate when I was orphaned. Witches with a hatred for angels killed my parents, but Orion protected me. I had been very much looking forward to meeting you, when the Archivists came. While your egg was still within your father, your mother Cassiopeia, went to fight the Archivists and avenge the deaths of her fellow Titans. I do not know how she was defeated, as your father would not tell me, but she did succeed in wounding the Huntsman and his cohorts enough to force them back to the stars. Grief-stricken, your father chose to remove your egg from his body and build this island. He then entrusted it to me to protect, before going off to face the last of the Archivists; the Collector. I do not know how that battle went either, but when I went to investigate, I found your father had passed away and the Collector was long gone. I do not know if the Collector was destroyed or simply banished like his fellows, but your father's body was uninjured and appeared to have passed away naturally. I have returned to his resting place several times over the last 2000 years, and like all Titans, he has become an archipelago that is home to hundreds of thousands of demons and witches. The residents have taken to calling him "The Boiling Isles." and I know that he would be proud to sustain so much life."

King's eyes widened, while the others all winced. So Luz's earlier theory was correct; the Boiling Isles really was King's father; the Titan known as Orion. The little Titan began to cry silently, as Zachael's message reached its end.

"This is the tragic history of your race, Young Titan. I know this news must distress you, and I am dearly sorry for that. But the truth must be known, and a warning must be given; the Huntsman and his three fellow Archivists are still alive out there, and I fear they may one day return. You must be cautious; do not trust others who bear the skulls of your kinsmen. But above all else, find others you can depend on; loneliness is a debilitating poison, but you needn't let it taint you. Find friends and family; be they witches, demons, humans, or even another angel like myself. I wish I could be there to meet and comfort you, but alas I have reached the end of my 3000 years of life, and I am too old to ascend into an Arch-Angel now. But I will continue to watch over this tower until you hatch and are ready to finally leave it. Live long and live well, Young Titan. As your Godfather, this is my last will and testament. You were dearly loved; never forget that."

The message ended and the faint blue glow of the crystal faded, the last of its magic now expended as its final task was completed. Everyone stood there in stunned silence, trying to process everything they'd seen and heard.

Raine was completely stunned; the revelation that Luz was an angel was shocking, but the idea that King was a Titan and the son of the Boiling Isles was on a whole other level. They didn't really know what to think; all they knew was that both of Eda's kids would need protecting and they would be there to help her do it!

Rasiel, having been proven right, felt no joy or satisfaction in that. Instead he felt numbness, as well as a spike of fear; he had no idea what these Archivists were, but it felt like he should. Titans were massively powerful, so the idea of beings from beyond the stars that could orchestrate their near-extinction despite their magic not affecting the Titans was mind-blowing and terrifying. At least Zachael's story had explained the carvings down below; those hadn't been of King or Titans, but of the Titan hunters. It had been a visual warning for the young Titan.

Eda was also concerned about these Archivists and how one would be able to stand up to them. If a Titan couldn't beat them, then what hope would she have? Putting these star people out of her mind for the time being, Eda then looked over to King, the child that she had begun to consider a son to her, and felt her heart break as she saw him crying in his big sister's arms. She approached the two and pulled them into her embrace, silently comforting King. Whatever happens, she would be there for her child.

Luz felt her eyes prickling with tears as she held King tightly. He was shuddering with sobs, and Luz made soft, comforting noises as she hugged him gently. This whole situation was the near-worse case scenario that she'd been fearing; King's whole sense of who he was had been uprooted, and while he now knew the truth, he was also forced to realise he was an orphan and had lost his parents and his entire race to beings that may very well still be out there… She had no idea what to say or do to make King feel better, so she just held him and comforted him as he cried.

As for King himself; there were too many thoughts and feelings rushing through his head for him to fully articulate them.

"So it's true." King whispered shakily, his heart aching once again; "It was always true… I am a Titan."

"You are. But you're still the same person you were before." Luz replied softly. "You may not have been the King of Demons, but you were still the most important thing in the world to your parents, and your Godfather."

King nodded; "I… I think I want to go home." he said. He needed time to think and process everything, and he definitely needed to get away from this place.

No one argued, and Luz gently handed King to Eda so she could go and kneel in front of the crystallised Zachael. She didn't have much magic left, but King's roar from earlier had given her wings a bit of a boost, so she had just enough left in the tank to cast a single spell. She used the plant glyph to create some vines that filled Zachael's tomb, then began to bloom with beautiful white and gold lilies.

"You did your duty and protected King to the end. We'll take it from here, so rest easy Zachael." Luz prayed.

King and the others put their hands together in a prayer motion, paying their last respects to the High Angel who had been named King's godfather. Raine found a large piece of rubble and placed it in front of Zachael's tomb, then used bardic magic to create magic blades that carved the angel's name into it, making it a simple gravestone.

With that final act, they turned to leave King's nursery. They were briefly prepared to fight the golems to escape, but Rasiel found that with Zachael's crystal now out of magic, the last of the tower's defences had shut down and the golems had all gone dormant, frozen forever in the positions they'd been in at the end. Despite them trying to kill them just a short time ago, Luz, Eda, and Raine felt strangely sad as they looked at the golems, who'd merely been trying to protect King. King himself was tempted to ask if they could take one home with them, but decided against it; he didn't really want a reminder of the creature that had stabbed his sister.

They left the tower in silence and walked back through the jungle to the beach, before Eda and Raine took flight with their staves, while Luz flew with her wings, using the moon and starlight to slowly restore her magic. King was held in Luz's arms, and Rasiel floated along behind them all. They stayed silent as they flew back to the Boiling Isles, each of them having too much on their minds to really want small talk.

No one made a peep for the hours it took them to get back home, and the silence was only broken when they saw the Boiling Isles in the distance. They'd been gone for so long that the sun was beginning to rise again, painting the sky in shades of red and gold, and seemingly forming a halo of light around the Titan's skull.

King looked at the Boiling Isles… the body of his father… and began to tear up. "H-Hi Dad." he said, his voice shaky and impossibly small. "I never thought… I was with you the whole time."

He shook his little head; "No… you're not really there any more. You've been gone since before I hatched… You're gone. I-I'm the last Titan… I'm alone."

That final word broke the dam, and King began to quietly sob, tears dripping down his skull-clad face and into the Boiling Sea far below. Eda and Raine looked at him with sympathy and flew closer to comfort him, but Luz acted first.

"No!" Luz cried, hugging him to her chest with all her might; "You're not alone! You've got Eda and Hooty and Me! You may be the last of the Titans, but you're not the last of the Clawthornes or the Nocedas! You're my baby brother and I will never let you feel alone!"

King looked up at the girl with big, shimmering eyes. Luz had tears streaming down her face, but she met his gaze with all the love she had to give, and smiled softly. "Remember what I said; I love you, Little Brother. That is the honest truth, and it always will be!"

His heart ached with both pain and happiness, which only magnified as Eda put a hand on his back, with tears in her eyes. King had never seen her cry before, so the sight was shocking, but the loving smile she wore was what really struck him. "Luz is right, King. Your parents loved you, and so did your Godfather. But they weren't the only ones who love you. You will always have me and your big sister; we don't care if you're a Titan, a Tyrant, or the Demon Realm's smartest dog; you're our family. You're…" Eda blushed, "You're a Clawthorne! And I'll make that legal if I have to!"

"Y-You both really care that much? Even though I'm not who I thought I was? Even though I'm a Titan?" King cried.

"You loved me even though you grew up reading Eda's wild magic books that called Angels like me evil. Even after my screw up got you eaten by the Owl Beast. I never cared what you are; only who you are. And who you are is King Clawthorne-Noceda!" Luz declared.

"That's right! And you loved me even after I lied to you for all these years, and even after my curse meant I was abandoned by everyone else, excluding those I pushed away…" Eda looked briefly at Raine, who was wearing a happy smile at seeing her open up about her feelings. "You made these last eight years bearable, King. I may not like all the mushy stuff, but I'll be damned if I don't love you to pieces, you furry little goof ball!"

King sniffled, smiling as his chest felt like it would burst from all the love he was felling. He looked back at the Boiling Isles and said; "I had a Mom, who drove away the people who destroyed the Titans. I had a Dad, who gave birth to me and became the Boiling Isles. I had a Godfather, an angel like you Luz, who protected me for thousands of years… they're all gone now, but they loved me. I want to do them proud…"

He then turned back to them; "But I've got another family now too. A crazy Owl Lady who took me in and raised me even when it must have been a lot of trouble. And a big sister who accepted a weirdo like me as a little brother, and taught me magic and showed me who I really was. Heck, I even have a crazy house demon who always wants to play, and an ancient angel spirit whose helping find a cure for Eda's curse! And…" he looked sheepishly at Raine, "...and someone else, who makes Eda very happy, and treats me and Luz really nice."

The Bard smiled, touched to be included, while Rasiel grinned, and Luz and Eda both hugged King a little tighter, sharing a quiet moment as a family. The three continued hugging as they descended onto the Boiling Isles, Luz and King riding on Owlbert so they could keep their embrace with Eda. They landed in front of the Owl House and were greeted with the usual enthusiasm by Hooty, whom King actually allowed to hug and smother him a bit. The little Titan whispered something to the House Demon, and Hooty promptly burst into happy tears, letting the others know that King had let him know that he was appreciated too. Luz soon ended up wrapped in their embrace too, leaving Eda and Raine to watch with wide grins, especially when Hooty tried and failed to bring the incorporeal Rasiel into the hug.

Raine chuckled, then turned to Eda; "I really need to be getting back. I wasn't supposed to be gone for so long."

"I understand. Thank you for today, Raine. And for keeping my kids' secrets." Eda smiled, taking the bard's hand and squeezing it.

"It was my pleasure. Leave it to you to adopt a little Titan and a young angel. They're great kids, Eda. You've done a wonderful job." Raine complimented.

Eda blushed; "W-Well I can't really take credit for Luz, but thanks anyway. I'll call you later to discuss the CATTs with you. Until then…" she leaned forward and kissed Raine on the cheek; "… good night, Raine Storm."

Raine went crimson, but smiled all the same. They lifted Eda's hand to their lips and kissed her knuckles; "And to you, Edamame." they winked.

The Owl Lady snorted; that nickname had always been kind of dumb, but she supposed her name wasn't as good for nicknames as Raine's. She then watched as Raine got back on their staff and flew away, waving goodbye to everyone as they went. King and the others waved back, and Eda yawned.

"Phew, I am one sleepy little owl. Let's go hit the sack. Thank goodness it's not a school day, eh Luz?"

Luz nodded; "You can say that again. I'm gonna send Amity and the others a quick text to let them know we're gonna have a lazy day today, then I'll go to bed."

King shyly raised his paw, the emotional day draining his usual exuberance and confidence; "Eda, can Luz and I sleep with you in your nest tonight? Please?"

Eda smiled and looked to Luz, who silently nodded. "Sure thing Kiddo. Let's get you some Hot Choco-Smilk first though, you earned it."

King beamed and held Eda's hand as the two went inside, leaving Luz to text her friends. Rasiel watched her for a moment, then said; "So, you chose the path of truth. It hurt, like I said it would, but it also ended up strengthening your bonds instead of breaking them. There will still be some emotional healing for King, but I think the three of you will work things out easily enough. You've become quite the family."

Luz smiled tiredly as she looked up from her phone; "Yeah… I never should have lied to King in the first place. I'm just glad things worked out okay… but this has all made me think." she looked down at her left hand, and the ice glyph embedded onto the back of it. "These glyphs come from the Titan… from Orion, King's Dad. Did he show me them so I could teach them to King? Or so I could protect him?"

Rasiel hummed; "I suspected since we first met that the Titan entrusted the glyphs to you because you were helping his child. I only kept quiet in front of Amity because I assumed you were hiding King's identity. It makes sense too, if you think about when you learned the glyphs or bonded with them."

Luz thought back; she'd learned and bonded with the light glyph when saving King and Eda from Warden Wrath. Learning the plant glyph hadn't involved King, but she'd bonded with it while saving King from the Owl Beast. And on the flip side, King hadn't been involved in her bonding with the ice glyph, but she'd learned the glyph after shielding King, Amity, and Owlbert from the Ice Wyrm. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense; she was learning the glyphs from the Titan so she could protect King! His own experience with Zachael was likely why he entrusted the task to an angel in the first place! But that begged the question…

"Why didn't the Titan show these glyphs to Zachael? If he had and Zachael had bonded with them, he would have ascended beyond a High Angel and might have lived longer to protect King." Luz asked.

Rasiel didn't know the certain, but he did have a theory; "I suspect he could only manifest the glyphs close to his body. Zachael lived on King's island and while he visited the Boiling Isles on occasion, I doubted he lingered for long or was exposed to the elements. It would have been dangerous for an angel after all. It's also possible the Titan simply didn't know he could do such a thing yet, or what bonding with the glyphs would do to an angel. I'm afraid all we can do is speculate."

Luz wished she could have a more solid answer, but alas the Titan could only communicate to her through the glyphs. However, that didn't mean she couldn't try to communicate with him...

Flying high into the sky, Luz put her hand over her chest, where the light glyph was tattooed into her skin, and gave a quiet prayer while gazing at the Titan's skull, hoping that it would reach King's father.

"I don't know if you really gave me this power to protect your son… but I WILL protect him. He's my little brother, and I'll do anything for him. So please; rest easy knowing your son is with people who love him."

There was no answer, but for the briefest moment, Luz thought she felt the glyphs on her skin warm up a little. It brought a smile to her face as she walked into the Owl House to be with her family. King had biological parents who loved him and whom he was learning to love, but also had his found family. As Luz floated back down to the ground and looked at King and Eda, she thought about her Mami and hoped that just maybe she could have both too.