Luz was going through different books as the echo mouse was running on a running wheel. She sighs, "You and me both, buddy. I can't figure out what I messed up when I made that ding-danged door." she hears a clinking sound.
Downstairs, Hooty throws a party, "It is so nice to be surrounded by all of Lulu's dearest friends!"
In the living room was an unknown woman, Gwendolyn, Morton, Lilith, Cerise, Steve, Eda, King, and Tinella Nosa.
"Yeah! All hail Lulu!" Steve cheers.
"We're here to celebrate the new assistant curator of the Supernatural Museum of History." Hooty lifts his wine cup, "Here's to you, Lulu!"
"Cheers!"
Lilith accepts everyone's toast with an awkward smile on her face. Cerise looks up at her and pats her shoulder.
Luz comes down to the living room wearing a party hat and notices everyone around chatting. She approaches Hooty, "Hooty! Did I miss the toast?"
"Yes, but not the "app-pellet-tizers"." Hooty shows Luz a plate with some owl pellets on it. One of them is still moving and screaming, "You want a-There's an extra one. I'm working on it." he attempts to cough out another owl pellet.
"No, no, no! That's okay. Uh, where's Lilith? We want to congratulate her." Luz lifts her hat to show her Echo Mouse hidden in it.
Suddenly, a whip appears, grabs one of Hooty's "app-pellet-tizers" and brings it outside. The unknown woman catches the falling "app-pellet-tizer" with her hand, "Oh, I wish I could stay longer, but I must be off on my next adventure." she throws the "app-pellet-tizer" away.
Luz peeks outside the door to see Lilith approaching the unknown woman with Cerise.
"It's such a delight to see my little bookworm back in the historical world after all these years."
"Uh, thank you, Flora, but it's just a small job. Only an assistant. I'm surprised you even heard about this." Lilith smiles.
"The Emperor wanted to make sure you weren't getting into any trouble. And to clear out your office. I left a box of your knick-knacks inside. Wish you took more from my tutelage, dear. History's supposed to be exciting, after all!" Flora uses her whip to catch a flying griffin and drags it down to the ground. She then jumps onto the Griffin's back and whips it, flying away with it.
"It was nice meeting you, Miss Flora!" Cerise waves after her.
"Who was that?" Luz asks.
"Flora D'splora. Bad-girl historian, celebrity, and my former mentor in the Emperor's Coven." Lilith explains.
"I have questions about that name." Luz comments.
"And I have questions about MY LIFE!!! All I ever got to do was desk work, while she goofed off riding wild snake horses and-"
Luz gasps, her eyes lighting up, "Snorses!"
"-And, and eating mummy jerky! Well, I can be just as exciting as Flora. I'll come up with an exhibit that'll knock the Titan's socks off!" Lilith storms into the house, "Come on, Cerise!"
"You got it!" Cerise follows after her.
Luz shouts afterwards, "Congratulations on your new job!"
...
"After careful analysis during this Deadwardian Era, I believe the current human year is 1660. Or is it '70? The years are flashing by, but it will all be worth it. I've gathered all the portal ingredients, including Titan's Blood. All that's left is to seek out The Collector, and he will tell me what I need to complete my mission. But first, my companions and I must face-"
The playback is cut off before Philip can finish. Back in the living room, Luz lies on the couch staring at the ceiling, where the playback was just shown. The echo mouse goes to sleep.
"The Collector. I've never heard that name." King comments.
"Me neither. What kind of jerk puts "The" in front of their name anyway?" Eda picks up some trash and puts it into a trash bag.
"But The Collector may know how to make a real portal door. He may know why mine is so unstable. I just...I messed up so bad last time. I need to do better."
"Luz, I've got leg hair older than you. This Philip guy worked on his door for years. Try not to beat yourself up too much."
"Yeah. I just with I could go back in time and talk to him." Luz comes to a sudden realization, "Eda! Is time magic a thing?"
"Not really, but..." Eda takes off a book from the shelf titled History's Top 10 Plot Holes and opens it, "Back in the day, I was a bit of an urban-legend junkie. Twig Foot, Lenderman, possums..."
"Those are real." Luz told her.
Eda snorts, "Yeah sure, kid. Anyway, there are stories about these things called Time pools. Mythical puddles that act as windows into the past, but they're never in the same spot twice. Me, Lily, and Cos used to search for them. She'd say we forced her into it, but I think she had more fun than us."
"Lilith! Of course! Thanks, Eda!" Luz snatches the book from Eda's hands and runs to find Lilith, "Lilith!" she startles her and Cerise, the two in the kitchen, "I see you're dealing with all this."
"I'm helping Aunt Lilith plot out her first exhibit for the museum." Cerise explains.
"It's almost as if the Emperor wanted Flora to tick me off. Well, I'll show her that she's not the only bad-girl historian in town. I'm thinking..." Lilith takes out a board with information of Deadwardian balusters on it, ""The Architecture History behind Deadwardian Balusters"." she comes to a realization as Luz and Cerise smile awkwardly, "This won't work, will it?"
"You'll find the perfect exhibit for the museum, Aunt Lilith. It just takes time." Cerise smiles.
"Don't let Flora get you down! I even started calling you "Cool Aunt Lilith" in my journal." Luz adds.
"Uh, oh, really?" Lilith looks flattered.
"You can be a bad-girl historian. And I know how." Luz shows Lilith the Time Pool section in Eda's book.
"Oh, I remember these! "In the Premysteric Era, it's theorized that coagulated Titan Blood mixed with the magical algae of the Boiling Sea created temporary holes in time.""
"Time magic, baby! You can make an exciting exhibit on Time Pools, and maybe I can get information on how Philip made the portal door!" Luz says.
"I...did cobble together a device to find these with Eda and Cosmo. It should be in the box Flora returned to me. But it was faulty. It needed more power than I could ever give it." Lilith explains.
Luz suddenly realizes something, "Stay right there!" she runs off as Cerise and Lilith look at each other, something crashing to the ground. She runs back in, holding Cerise's glove, "Would Titan Blood do the trick?"
"Let's give it a shot." Cerise grins.
Lilith looks at her board and sets it down, "Let's do it!"
...
With the device now working, Cerise, Luz, and Lilith set off to find the Time Pools. At sunset, Luz climbs up a tree and holds up the device, sending energy to its reading instrument. At night, Periwinkle flies back with a piece of leaf with an unknown substance on it.
Eventually, on the second day, Lilith manages to narrow down the location, "Don't worry, we're getting closer. I can feel it."she swings her knife into a tree beside her. She takes a piece of tree bark and drops it into her device's test tube to test it, "Ha! Exactly what I thought. These are wrinkling oaks."
Luz squints, "They don't look very wrinkly."
"That's because something's keeping them locked in time. So, accounting for local plaque patterns, the quake in the '30s, and the switch from boiling units to the empirical system, the time pool should be..." Lilith pushes aside two leaves, "here!" she finds a beach and becomes disappointed, "But...I triple-checked all my calculations. My equipment is first-rate!" she suddenly trips on something and almost falls down, "Stupid rock!" she kicks the sand.
"Aunt Lilith." Cerise kneels down to her, "You can't beat yourself up."
Luz wanders around and kicks a stone, which promptly disappears into an invisible pool, grabbing her attention. She kneels down to check.
"Maybe the Titan Blood was too dry? Is it not algae-blooming season?" Lilith wonders.
Luz pokes her head into the pool, and finds herself staring at the same spot with a completely different surrounding from Prehistoric Era. A beast walks in front of Luz, stops, and screeches.
"Was it my tools? Are they broken?" Lilith takes off her glasses and sniffs as she stares at her reflection, "Am...I...broken?"
"Don't say that!" Cerise told her before turning to Luz, gasping, "LUZ, GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE SAND!"
Luz takes her head out and coughs, "Lilith! You did it." she holds up an ammonite, "You found the time pools!"
Lilith gasps, turns back towards her reflection and points at it, "In your face!"
...
The beast from before walks towards the beach. It then stops, scratches itself, yawns, and lies down, turning itself into stone. After witnessing this, Lilith holds her breath and pulls herself back into the present.
"A Stonesleeper from the Hecktaceous Period." Lilith explains, "Did you know that they have a ticklish spot behind their ears?"
"No, I did not." Cerise says.
Luz kneels down and pokes at the sand.
"Luz, are you listening?"
"Come on, time pools. Mama needs to commune with the dead." she takes a deep breath and pokes her head into the sand. She finds herself in another unfamiliar era. She hears someone talking and looks towards the source of sound. Three people wearing Medieval-style armor are sitting around a campfire.
"Tonight I shall revel so hard, I shan't stand any longer!"
"I shall revel mineself to death!"
Luz pulls her head back out to the present and looks towards the place where the trio were sitting. The skeleton of the second lies there, giving two thumbs ups.
"No wonder no one's found these before. They're completely hidden from sight." Lilith pokes her head into another Time Pool, which happens to lead to the moment from not so long ago, when her, Cerise, and Luz just arrived at the beach. Her past self accidentally trips on her current self's head and almost falls down.
"Stupid rock!"
Lilith pulls her head back to the present and rubs her forehead.
Cerise pokes her head into another Time Pool. She turns around and finds herself staring at Bonesborough from an unknown era, "Bonesborough..." she notices someone walking nearby and calls out to her, "Excuse me, ma'am! What era is this?"
"'Tis the Deadwardian Era. What ye be doing in the sand? Be ye a crab maiden?"
Cerise smirks a little, "Aye, I am a crab maiden." she pulls her head back to the present, "I'm back!"
"Look!" Lilith pulls her head out of a Time Pool with some barnacles on top, "These are the oldest barnacles I've ever had on my head."
"I found the Deadwardian Era." Cerise informs.
"Ooh, incredible! This will be a truly unprecedented exploration. N-Now, before we dive in, we must remember if the tide comes in we could be trapped, paradoxes will be a danger, and don't get me started on the bloody fly effect, uh..." Lilith clears her throat, "But a bad-girl historian like myself is all about taking risks. So...let's boogie down to History Town." she dances and sings while doing finger guns.
"Oh my Titan." Cerise covers her mouth.
Luz mumbles in awe, "She really is "Cool Aunt Lilith"."
...
Someone knocks on the door of the Owl House.
Eda goes up to open it and finds her mom standing outside.
"Hello, witchlet."
"Hey, Ma. Why are you still in town? Forget something from yesterday?"
"Your father wanted to swing by." Gwendolyn informs.
Eda looks taken aback, "Well, tell him I'm busy."
"Maybe you could tell him yourself? Uh, he's just outside."
King gasps in excitement, "I get to meet my grandpa?!"
"Yes. You know, the Clawthorne clan was once known for their Palismen-making skills. And Dell? Wooh, he was the best of them all."
"Cool!"
Eda notices Dell's shadow approaching outside and becomes panicked.
...
Cerise, Luz, and Lilith come out from the time pool. Lilith steals a straw hat from a pile of laundry nearby, Cerise making a flower crown of some kind to cover her head while while Luz takes off the helmet from Medieval Era Person 2's skeleton.
They then arrive at the outskirts of Bonesborough and prepare to go in.
"Now, girls. We are technically in the Savage Ages, way before Belos banished wild magic. These denizens may be dangerous!" Lilith explains.
The trio head into town, Luz bumping into a demon. Expecting an attack, she gets into a defensive pose.
The demon simply tips their hat, "Good tidings, kind witches."
The trio look surprised by this.
Inside Bonesborough, the surrounding appears to be much more peaceful and harmonious than they imagined. Residents can be seen playing musical instruments, helping each other out, and summoning Abominations at will. The trio looks at everything with amazement.
"This doesn't look dangerous. This looks awesome!" Luz exclaims.
"Aunt Lilith, how could Belos banish wild magic if it's like this?" Cerise asks.
"Well, the Titan supposedly doesn't like it." Lilith told her before noticing something, "Oh, my gosh! Look at this thatch work. Each segment looped by hand!" she chortles and writes something down as Luz walks away. The woman suddenly stops writing, "But I bet Flora would scoff at it." she closes the notebook.
"Don't think about what Flora would do." Cerise reassures her, "Think about what you want to do."
Luz approaches a demon sitting on a bench feeding birds. She shows him a drawing of Philip Wittebane's silhouette, "Excuse me. Have you seen a human around? Round ears, super smart. Honestly, he's probably a celebrity around here."
The demon shrugs, "Uh-uh."
Luz continues to show the drawing to others, but gets the same result.
...
Suddenly, the trio hear someone shouting nearby.
"Dance, human. Dance!"
They peek out from behind a wall and see 2 demons ganging up on Philip Wittebane.
"Give that back!"
The demons throw Philip's diary at each other back and forth.
Philip shakes his head, exasperated, "I can't believe this. After the bonds of fellowship we forged-"
"Bonds? Ha! You still owe us." Red Fang gives Philip a hard push, causing him to fall to the ground.
"When I accomplish my mission, I promise you, you'll have your snails."
"Listen to this. "With my new and bravest companion, Blue Fang, I set forth. His strength should make fast work of any task."" Green Fang passes the book to Read Fang.
"His pretty little words should make pretty good kindling." Red Fang ignites a fire with a spell circle and attempts to burn the book, making Philip gasp. An ice spike suddenly pops up and knocks the diary out of Red Fang's hand, surprising the demons as a plant vine snatches it away.
Luz steps forward, grabbing their attention and pointing, "That doesn't belong to you."
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Cerise adds.
...
Gwendolyn knocks on Eda's door, "Witchlet? Aren't you going to say hello to your father? It's been-"
Eda packs elixirs into Luz's bag, "Years! Yep, been years, I know. I'm, uh, just sharpening my tooth. Don't want Pops to see me looking all blech, you feel?"
King looks puzzled, "What's with you? Why are you so terrified of seeing your dad?"
"It's not like I'm scared of him. I just haven't seen him since I ruined his-I mean, since the Owl Beast ruined his-" Eda sighs in exasperation, "I'm just not ready, okay? Now move it. I gotta scram." she attempts to flee via the balcony, but Hawksley lands and blocks her path. she cries out in surprise and shuts the curtains. She then attempts to escape via the round stained-glass window, but finds Hooty waiting outside.
"Hiya, Eda! Your pops is such a nice guy. Say, how did he get that scar on his-"
Eda slams the window shut before Hooty can finish his sentence.
King laughs, "Hey, Eda, look!" he holds up Lilith's old dress and a mop that was the color of her hair, "Dear sister, join the Emperor's Coven and together, we can become gods!"
An idea pops up inside Eda's mind, making her smirk, "Hmm."
...
Red Fang attempts to attack Cerise and Luz, but gets stopped by Green Fang.
"Don't waste your time on these kids. We should keep looking."
"Ask your friend there what happened to our brother, Blue Fang, and his Palisman."
Green Fang kicks on Philip's scattered diary and walks away with Red Fang.
Philip starts picking up the pages, but suddenly yelps in pain and holds on to his right leg. He then continues to pick up the pages, and Luz and Cerise help him pick up some of it. They look at one of the pages, which shows a drawing of Eclipse Lake.
"So he's already gotten to the Titan Blood." Luz says before seeing an unfamiliar person in the drawing, "Who's that?"
"I don't know. But he looks a lot like Hun-" Cerise is cut off when Philip snatches the pages away.
"Hmph! That's private."
"You're Philip Wittebane, aren't you? The human?" Luz asks.
"Here to gawk? I may not have a bile sac, but I do have dignity." Philip turns away.
"Wait! I've heard of your exploits, and I know what it's like to be far from home. Can we talk?"
Philip stares at Luz, squinting, "No." he starts to walk away, limping.
"Wait! I can give you snails! I can make you crutches! Um, uh...I can help you find the Collector!"
Philip stops and gives her a sideways glance.
...
Philip, Cerise, Luz, and Lilith walk through a forest.
"So, Luzura. You, your sister Evelyn, and your Aunt Dirtrude started travelling together after the Toe-gres attacked your castle and covered it with an impenetrable mist?"
"Yes. And that's why we, too, seek The Collector. We need him to tell us how to clear the mists, so we can return home. Snap, snap, snap."
Cerise smiles in amusement.
Philip brings them into a cave, "Now...anyone bring a torch?"
Luz shows Philip a light glyph and activates it, turning it into a light ball.
"Astounding! I thought I was the only one who used picto-glyphs."
"You use glyphs too?" Luz asks as she passes a light glyph to him.
"How else could I have survived here? Plant growth, ice, fire...Took years to find them." Philip sketches the light glyph pattern into his diary, "Almost as if the world wanted to hide them from me. I even found one in a snowflake."
"My dude, me too!"
"A warrior and a scholar. Truly impressive." Philip walks away.
Luz squeals excitedly, "Ah! I can't believe I taught Philip something new!" she follows after him.
Cerise and Lilith glance at each other, nodding their heads.
Philip leads the three deeper into the cave, activating light glyphs along the way, "Line there, curve there...fascinating. Absolutely fascinating." he senses Lilith staring at him suspiciously, "Your nieces are very talented. I'm sure they take after their aunt."
"Oh." Lilith chuckles, "Maybe I...had a little something to do with it."
"Now, I know a few tricks as well." Philip puts up a light ball and starts to draw a large glyph combo on the ground.
"What is this?" Luz asks.
"A shortcut..." Philip taps on the glyph combo, "...to The Collector."
The glyph combo starts to flash brightly.
...
"Really, Eda?" Gwendolyn knocks on the door, "You won't be able to run away this time."
Eda suddenly flings the door open. She is wearing Lilith's old dress and the mop atop her head, disguising herself as Lilith, "Apologies, dearest mother. Dearest sister has flown the dearest coop. But worry not, for I, the perfect, prissy little Lily, shall find her for you." she marches away as her hair starts to come out from beneath the mop.
"Does she seriously think I'm buying that?" Gwendolyn asks incredulously.
"Just let her have this." King told her.
...
At the backside of the Owl House, Eda flings the door open and escapes outside. She tears off Lilith's dress and takes off the mop, laughing, "Not today, suckers!" she attempts to fly away on her staff, but immediately stops and gasps when she notices her father standing at the edge of the cliff while looking at the sunset.
"Am I too late again? Well, fly safe, witchlet. Perhaps I'll catch you next time."
Eda hesitates and retracts Owlbert's wings, "Hi, Dad."
...
Cerise, Luz, and Lilith open their eyes to find themselves inside an ice cave with a tall double door at the end.
Luz gasps, "Whoa. Where are we?"
Philip doesn't reply and walks towards the door.
Luz looks outside through a wide gap and gasps, "We're in the head of the Titan?!"
"Huh?!" Cerise gazes outside as well.
"W-We're what?" Lilith turns to them, "But this is sacred ground!"
"I suppose that's why no one wanted to accompany me." Philip limps towards the door, "But every legend told me that The Collector lies there. Behind that door. I just can't figure out the mechanisms to open it. If I weren't so frail..." he winces in pain, kneeling down and clutching his right leg.
"It's okay, we can help!" Luz told him as Lilith and Cerise walk over to the door, "Puzzles are in my blood, literally. My mom had to stop me from eating puzzles when I was a kid. You stay here and rest up."
"Thank you for your kindness, crab maiden." Philip puts a hand on her shoulder, "Perhaps we were destined to meet."
Luz smiles at Philip before running to Cerise and Lilith, who try to figure out how to open the door.
"What do you make of this?" Cerise asks.
"This mechanism is unlike any I've seen before. It'll make a remarkable addition to my exhibit. It's just..." Lilith hesitates as she contemplates something.
"Come on, we can't stop now! We're getting everything we could have hoped for!" Luz told them.
"That's just it. Look. Most of this puzzle has been solved already." Lilith gestures to the door before glancing at Philip, who was sitting on the ground and writing something, "And Philip..."
"There's something about him." Cerise adds.
"The confidence, the compliments. He says everything you want to hear. It feels...uncomfortably familiar."
"Yeah. He reminds me of someone." Cerise looks uncomfortable.
"Some of this is pretty weird. But it's the Boiling Isles! Everything's a little weird, right?" Luz told them.
Cerise sighs, "Luz, let's go talk to Philip. Aunt Lilith, keep working on the door." she walks towards Philip with Luz, spotting a blue fang and a palisman in his bag.
Luz reads what he is writing, "I single-handedly defeated the beast behind the door. Tragically, I could not save my companions."
Philip stands up.
"What do you mean by that?" Cerise looks at him in suspicion.
"Philip, why did you bring us here?" Luz asks hesitantly.
The ground shakes, accompanied by a loud sound.
Lilith waves at them as the doors open inwards, "Ah! I did it! I solved the puzzle!"
"Aunt Lilith! Get away from there!" Cerise rushes to her.
"I needed a sacrifice." Philip says as Luz's eyes widen.
"You needed a what?!" Cerise turns to him in anger.
"What'd he say?" A claw suddenly emerges from inside and grabs Lilith. She screams while being dragged into darkness.
"Lilith!/Aunt Lilith!"
"Well, with the beast distracted, I can finally get through those doors." Philip puts his diary away as the two girls look at him angrily.
"You tricked us!"
"Why would you do that?!"
"It was-"
"Destiny? Balderdash." Luz points at him.
Philip laughs, "I was going to say, "inevitable". You three were easier to trick than Blue Fang. Hopefully you two and "Aunt Dirtrude" can last longer."
Cerise growls before running into the room upon hearing her aunt screaming. Luz runs after her as the beast has Lilith in its claws, screeching at the two.
The beast rushes towards Luz. She immediately activates an ice glyph and creates an ice trail. The beast slips on the ice and falls down, loosening its grip as Lilith jumps off. Cerise grabs her hand along with Luz's and the trio run away. Meanwhile, Philip walks up to a platform and starts digging. The beast stands up and chases after the trio.
"Hey! That better be your own grave you're digging!" Lilith shouts at him as Luz and Cerise use fire glyphs and fire magic to create flames that temporarily blind the beast.
Philip's shovel hits something, making him grin and pick up the object, "Found you." he looks at his reflection in the object, which is a mirror with a crescent moon drawing on it.
Meanwhile, Cerise, Luz, and Lilith try to hide from the beast behind a pillar.
"I know you want to get home, but nothing is worth hurting people!" Luz told him as the beast swings its tail at the trio and breaks the pillar, barely missing them before continuing to chase them.
"Oh, I disagree. It was nice making a cat's-paw out of you." Philip draws the glyph combo on the ground, "Good luck with your...crab castle...or...whatever. You witches come up with the worst lies." he taps on the glyph combo, making it flash and teleport him away.
The beast is distracted by the flash and rushes towards it.
Cerise and Luz grab Lilith and the trio hide behind another pillar.
"Is this how it all ends for Lilith Clawthorne? Her body lost to time?" Lilith asks as she holds onto Cerise.
"We'll find a way out." Cerise reassures her.
"You two were right about that jerkweed. I'm so sorry." Luz apologizes.
"Oh, your humility before death truly heartens me." Lilith smiles.
"Yeah, I should have listened to you." Luz realizes something and gasps, "Wait...I did listen to you!"
"Uh..." Lilith waves her hand.
Luz runs off towards the beast.
"LUZ!"
"Eda's gonna kill me, Eda's gonna kill me, Eda's gonna kill me!" Lilith covers her eyes.
"Aunt Lilith, it's okay! Look!" Cerise points as the duo see Luz scratching the beast behind its ear.
"It's one of those Stonesleepers from the Hecktaceous period! It must have been hibernating in here for ages." Luz continues scratching, "Aw. Do you like that, boy? Aw, you're a good boy."
Lilith gladly sheds a tear, hugging her niece, "You were listening."
...
Philip walks on a trail inside a forest as he writes something down in his diary, "And so I doggedly limped home, but I had my prize." he puts his diary into his bag and takes out the mirror, "How to describe you? Oval? Oblong? A round boy?" he hears some loud thuds behind him. He turns around and sees the Stonesleeper from inside the cave. It screeches at him, causing him to gasp in shock. Cerise, Luz, and Lilith jump down from the Stonesleeper's back.
"Tell me how that thing's gonna help you build a portal to the Human Realm." Luz points.
"Or else this Stonesleeper will have you for dinner." Cerise adds.
Philip looks down at the mirror, putting it into his bag, "Oh, no. I need this for something else."
"No? What do you mean "no"?!"
"I mean, if it's information you want, perhaps we can make an exchange. I'll probably require another sacrifice sooner or later." Philip walks towards them, "If you two or your aunt want to-"
Cerise ties him up in vines as Lilith walks towards him and punches him square in the face, breaking his nose.
"Ugh! Ah! You hateable sorcerers!"
"Stay mad. Come, Evelyn, Luzura. We're finished here." Lilith gets back to the Stonesleeper.
Luz sneers while making hand gestures, "Cool aunt and sister."
The three get on the Stonesleeper's back and ride off together, the beast accidentally kicking Philip in the head while walking off.
Lilith notices that Luz is upset, "You know, Luz, if some jerk like Philip can build a portal, then I'm sure you can too."
"Thanks. Hey, we have a little time before the tide comes in. You guys want to do something exciting?" Luz asks as Cerise and Lilith look at her with puzzled expressions.
...
Lilith watches a craftsman make balusters, "Balusters! Deadwardian balusters!" she jots down the process inside her notebook.
"Look at this! I'm already getting ideas for mother's garden!" Cerise grins at the flowers around the town.
Luz watches on with a happy look on her face.
...
Eda sits with her dad at the cliff, "Sorry, I, uh, haven't been in touch. There's been a lot going on."
Dell sighs, "You disappear from Bonesborough, you're fixing up my old tower, and then suddenly I see you and my granddaughter on a wanted poster. And your mother tells me about the petrification. I wish you'd let us help. But I do hear I have a grandson now."
Eda chuckles, "Yep, King's a Clawthorne. He can be a handful, but-"
"It's been over 20 years, witchlet. I can't chase you anymore."
"Then stop! I've ruined your life. Have you even been able to carve a new Palisman since I attacked you?"
Dell lifts his left hand, which trembles. Eda looks at it with a guilty expression, then looks away. Dell puts down his hand.
"Stop trying to forgive me." Eda stands up and starts walking away, "I don't deserve it." she looks guilty before Dell taps her shoulder to stop her.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to try that again." Dell opens up his left palm, showing Eda something on it.
"What...is that?"
"It's a palistrom seed. My Palisman-making days are over, but I've been helping the Bat Queen replenish her forests, so someone new can learn the trade."
Eda smiles jokingly, "Did you come all the way here just to brag?"
"Yes! But also to say," he hands her the seed, "let the past stay in the past, witchlet. It's okay to move on." he puts his hand on hers, "And give Owlbert my regards." he walks away, "Carving him with you is one of my dearest memories."
Eda watches as Dell walks into the Owl House. Touched by his words, she smiles with tears in her eyes. Right then, behind her, Cerise, Luz, and Lilith arrive back.
"We got lucky today. Next time those Time Pools show up, they could be on the other side of the world." Lilith told them.
Eda turns and walks towards the duo, hugging Cerise, "Hey nerds! How was your nerd quest? You find that dead nerd?"
"Layin' it on a little thick there, Eda. But, yeah, we found Philip."
"Whoa, seriously?"
"Yeah. He stunk." Luz says grumpily.
"He's just a pompous uptight brat who leaves us to do die or do all the hard work while he takes all the credit." Cerise adds.
"I punched him in the face." Lilith smiles.
"Groovy, Auntie."
Cerise, Luz, and Lilith grin while making finger guns, much to Eda's annoyance.
"Uh, you gu-you guys need to stop that."
...
Philip arrives at the cave where he lives in while grunting in pain. He trips on the head of a broken palisman and forcefully kicks it away with his right leg, "Those barbarians. Those, those...WITCHES!" his voice echoes throughout the cave. He puts up some light balls. Suddenly, he grimaces in pain and rolls up his sleeve, revealing his swollen right arm with multiple glyphs on it. He staggers forward, kneels down, and grabs a palisman from the ground. He breaks it in half, absorbing the essence into his eyes and nose. Philip then exhales deeply. When he speaks again, his voice begins to change into that of Emperor Belos, "It doesn't matter." he takes out the mirror and holds it up, "I just need to live long enough to see this through." he wipes his hand on the mirror. It flashes, making a bell-like sound and starts projecting an animation of the Collector onto the wall. He grins sinisterly, "And you're going to help me, Collector."