After about a week working on the Isles, creating a new Coven System, and fixing up the Owl House... Amity and Luz finally had some alone time on their hands.
Camila and Vee were out exploring (what remained of) the town, Lilith and Hooty were doing something called Howl-and-Hoot (Luz didn't even WANT to know), their friends were with their families (Hunter was doing something with Darius), and Eda was at the construction site of the new Titan Coven building with King and Raine
They sat on the couch in the living room of the Owl House, facing each other as they relaxed.
"You know, it's good to be able to relax... Together... Alone." Luz said, smiling at her girlfriend.
"I completely agree, Luzura..." Amity smiled back.
Luz giggled. They then looked deeply at each other, closed their eyes, and began to lean in...
"Hey, kid?"Luz and Amity paused right before their lips were about to meet.
"...Yeah Eda?" Luz asked, turning toward the door to look at the witch.
"We need your help down at Bonesborough. Some supplies ended up missing, we're thinking they got stolen by someone. So we're moving what's left of the supplies ." Eda answered, leaning in the doorway.
"Can't you get the Coven heads to help you with that?" Luz asked, not wanting to have to go deal with it and miss out on relaxing with her girlfriend.
"Well, Mason is helping lead the construction efforts in town, Osran is helping people with mental problems after being puppets for so long, and Hettie helping to tend to some of the refuges that hid out in the caves during the Collector's reign." Eda explained. "Me, King, and Raine could really use the help kid."
Luz sighed. Of course everyone else was busy.
"Alright then, let's go." Luz got up off the couch.
"I'll come too." Amity said, also getting off the couch.
"No, no... Don't bother. I think we can handle this without you. You can just relax here for now, I'll be back in a bit." Luz told her.
"Well, if you're sure..." Amity said as she sat back down on the couch.
Luz nodded, and followed Eda outside. She took Stringbean from off her shoulder, and the Palismen turned into her staff form. Luz hopped on as Eda transformed into her harpy form. They both took off into the sky.
As they flew, Luz couldn't help but notice some clouds forming in the sky.
"Hey, you sure it's not going to rain?" Luz asked as they flew.
"Nah, I can tell just from looking at the sun that it'll be nothing but clear skies today!" Eda claimed.
***
Luz and Eda were barely able to duck into the storage building when the rain started.
"Oh, clear skies huh?" Luz deadpanned, making sure her clothes were still intact as she did.
Eda chuckled sheepishly, before they both turned to look at the crates upon crates that filled the large room.
"So, we just have to move all this ?" Luz asked Eda.
Eda nodded, "Yep... Though, Raine and King should be here already." she remarked, looking around.
Then, out from behind one of the crates... Came a red biped demon with black hair, and brown cloak. Goggles covered her eyes. "Are you Eda Clawthorne and Luz Noceda?" The demon asked.
"Yes... Who are you?" Luz asked hesitantly. She had been tricked into thinking one biped demon was another before only a week and a half ago. Luz didn't want to take any chances.
"My name's Valera. Raine Whispers sent me to collect supplies for the Coven building construction project?" The demon answered, one of her eyebrows raising.
"Oh, okay! Yeah, we're here to help with that!" Luz told her, the human's hesitation disappearing.
"So, how are we moving the supplies anyways?" Eda asked Valera.
"With that wagon I got parked over there." Valera pointed at a wagon parked near one of the walls of the storage building.
"Alright, so we just have to load the supplies onto the wagon, and you'll take them to the site?" Luz asked, to which Valera nodded.
"That's the plan." Valera confirmed.
"Okay, let's get to work then!" Eda clapped her hands, and the two began loading crates into the wagon.
Valera watched as they did so, a small smirk appearing on her face.
***
Amity had never realized it before, but the Owl House was actually rather calming to just walk through. Especially with the sound of the boiling rain hitting the wood outside.
She sat down in a chair next to a window that peered out over the cliff the house stood on. Ghost curled up next to her, leaning comfortably on Amity's leg.
She was about to lay back and read the next chapter of her Good Witch Azura book... When she heard something coming from the balcony.
Amity looked toward the door leading to the balcony, curious what the noise was. Maybe a creature was trying to claw it's way in?
Ghost turned into her staff form, and Amity picked her up. "Not on my watch!" she declared, rushing to the door.
As she slowly opened the door, she could hear the sounds more clearer. It sorta sounded like... Crying?
Amity began to search around the balcony for any trace of what could be making the noise, all while making sure to stay out of range of the boiling rain.
She finally found the source of the noise behind a crate. Curled up in a ball... Was a quietly whimpering Collector, holding Francois close as he did.
"Collector?!" Amity exclaimed, shocked to see the star child.
The Collector looked up, seemingly not expecting to hear her voice. "A-Amity?" He asked.
"Yeah, it's me..." Amity replied, kneeling down to his level. "What are you doing here?"
The Collector didn't answer. He simply averted his water-filled eyes, curled up more, and pulled his cap over his head to hide his face. Amity looked him over. His robes had multiple holes in them. She had a feeling the boiling rain was responsible for that... Though Amity didn't know why he didn't just snap his fingers and fix it up. Did he even realize his robes were damaged?
Amity could feel her soft spot for children take over.
"Hey, how about you come with me inside? I can make you some tea..." Amity softly offered.
The Collector sniffled, "Okay..." he mumbled.
Amity held out her hand, which the Collector hesitantly took. She began to lead him down from the balcony inside.
***
Just as the boiling rain slowed down, Luz and Eda had put the final crate on the supply wagon, with the human brushing her hands off. "There! All loaded up!" Luz proclaimed.
"Wow, already?" Valera remarked, getting up from a nearby bench and looking at the full wagon. "Well, color me impressed..."
"So, you're taking this straight to the Coven building?" Eda asked, hopping down from off the wagon.
"Straight there, and then I'M heading straight to the pub." Valera answered.
"I've barely known you for an hour, and I already like you." Eda chuckled.
"Welp, I'm off. Thanks for the help!" Valera told the two, hopping onto the wagon and taking the reins.
"No problem! Always happy to help the rebuilding of the Isles I pretty much helped save anyway!" Luz replied, waving to her with a smile.
As the wagon began to ride off into the distance, Raine and King came down from the sky on Fiddlesticks. They hopped off and noticed the wagon leaving.
"Hey!" King waved from on Raine's shoulder.
"Finished loading the supplies already?" Raine asked, pointing a thumb behind them at the departing wagon.
"Yep! Valera was also surprised we loaded it so fast!" Luz remarked, chuckling.
"...Who?" Raine asked, confused.
"Valera... The biped demon you sent to pick up the supplies to take them to the Coven building?" Eda tried to jog their memory.
"I didn't send anyone here by the name of Valera to get the supplies... And I haven't ever MET anyone by the name of Valera either." Raine told them.
"Wait, what?" Luz was confused, as she looked back at the wagon, noticing it was beginning to slightly pick up speed.
Then after a moment, it finally hit the four of them.
"SHIT! WE JUST GOT ROBBED!" Eda exclaimed, turning into her harpy form.
"QUICK! We gotta catch her!" Luz added, getting onto Stringbean.
"We can't lose these supplies! It would take over a week to even get half of them back!" Raine exclaimed, getting back onto Fiddlesticks.
They all took off after the wagon as fast as they could, hoping Valera hadn't gotten far.
***
Amity put a tray of tea down on the coffee table. The Collector was now wrapped in a blanket on the sofa. Francois was still in his hands, albeit also wrapped in his own blanket.
"Are you comfortable?" Amity asked as she sat down next to the star child.
"I guess..." The Collector answered quietly.
"Good. Now, do you wanna tell me why you were on the balcony alone?" Amity inquired, as she offered the Collector a cup of tea on a saucer.
The Collector flinched a bit at the last word Amity said, but took the tea.. "I-I..." He stuttered out, before sighing and trying to wave it off. "Nevermind... It's stupid."
"No, no... Tell me. I want to know." Amity softly told him.
The Collector hesitated, before finally giving in. "I... I got lonely."
Amity was taken aback, "Lonely? But what about all the star-"
That's when the truth finally hit her. "You lied about the stars, didn't you?" Amity deduced, which made the Collector sigh.
"Yeah... I did." The Collector admitted, a twinge of shame in his tone.
"But why? Why did you lie?" Amity asked him.
The Collector averted his eyes, "Nobody wanted me here... So I made an excuse to leave for the stars." he explained.
Amity frowned a bit, "That's not true... People wanted you here." she assured the star child as he sniffled.
"I know King wanted me here... But he has you guys for friends. He doesn't even need me..." The Collector reasoned, fiddling with Francois in his hands.
"That's not true either! He gave you Francois for one, and he's mentioned you a lot while you were gone!" Amity told him, much to his surprise.
"He has...?" The Collector asked, not quite sure if he believed it.
"Yes! He cares about you after all." Amity answered, "Here, your tea's gonna get cold, take a sip."
The Collector did what she said, and took a small sip of the tea. "It's good..." He told her, which made Amity smile a bit.
"I'm glad you like it. It's Ms. Noceda's own tea recipe." Amity said, taking a sip out of her own cup.
The Collector managed a small smile as he took another sip of the warm drink.
Amity took notice of the small smile and took it as a sign her attempts to try and cheer up the Collector were working.
As she was drinking the rest of her tea, Amity's mind wandered to what her girlfriend was doing. Surely they had finished helping Eda by now, right?
***
The wagon rushed down the street as Luz, Eda, and Raine (King riding on Fiddlesticks as well) gave chase.
"You know, usually I'M the one doing the robbing! This feels weird after all my years of being against the law, and now I'm enforcing it!" Eda remarked, raising her voice so she could be heard while they all flew.
"I'm gonna try and take out one of the wheels!" Luz announced, and dived down on her Palismen.
Luz flew Stringbean close to the side of the wagon, and reached over to try and unscrew a wheel...
"Nope! I don't think so!" Valera remarked, using a stick from the back of the wagon to ruin Stringbean's stability, making her wobble with Luz standing on her.
"Nice meeting you Noceda!" Valera called out as the wagon took off down the road away from the now struggling Luz, disappearing from view.
Luz yelped as Stringbean finally flipped over, launching her off and into the air. She braced for the impact of the hard road... But it never came.
She (un)luckily landed right into an open witchhole, and an audible splash could be heard as she landed into the muck.
Eda, Raine, and King stopped next to the witchhole, and peered down. "Kid! You okay down there?!" Eda called out as she looked down.
Their only response was a loud groan from the human, muffled by the sound of 'water'.
"So, not okay?" King asked in response to the noise.
***
The smell of raw sewage was all Luz could smell on herself. That and the stench of failure. Which somehow managed to slightly overpower the sewage's scent.
Eda and Raine had gone back to the Coven building with King to relay the bad news about the robbery. Luz on the other hand decided against going with them. She just wanted a bath... And to possibly cry while in said bath.
How could she be so stupid?! It was obvious that demon was tricking them. Raine would have told them in advance if they had sent someone to help load the wagon!
Luz knew she probably would be kicking herself for that mistake for a while... Now the Isles would have to work even harder to make up for the lost supplies! And it all was because she got tricked by Valera...
She finally reached the front lawn of the Owl House, and sighed. At least she was going to have Amity to vent to about how horrible today went.
What she didn't expect was to walk inside to find Amity sitting on the couch... With the Collector snuggled against her, wrapped in a blanket while sleeping.
"Amity?! Wha-" Luz began to exclaim, only for Amity to shush her.
"Lower your voice, he's sleeping..." Amity gestured at the child.
"What is he doing here? I thought he left!" Luz whispered to her girlfriend as she joined her on the couch, sitting next to the sleeping Collector.
"I found him crying on the balcony shortly after you left... Turns out he got lonely up alone in the stars." Amity explained in a hushed tone, as she ran a hand through the star child's hair.
Luz couldn't help but frown slightly. She remembered the day he had left for the stars. A part of Luz had wanted to stop him from leaving back then, and tell him he could stay... But for some reason, she chose not to and let him leave.
Luz did feel sympathy for the Collector. He was a lot like her in some ways. They both had been manipulated by Belos to further his own witch hunting agenda, and both had their problems in the friendship department.
Plus, she did find him charming to be around in the small amount of time she spent with him... You know, besides the turning her friends and family into puppets and those rather horrifying 'games' he put her, Eda, and King through (she STILL didn't know how the Collector even knew what Pac-Man was).
"I still don't know what he meant by the stars could talk..." Amity remarked, laying back on the couch.
Luz's eyes widened slightly, "Wait, did he tell you about the Archivists?" she asked her.
Amity looked confused, but interested. "No... What are the Archivists?" Amity asked in reply.
"They were the Collector's older siblings." Luz told her, before sighing. "And also... Were the ones that killed all the Titans apart from King."
Amity's eyes widened, "That's how they all were wiped out?!" she exclaimed in shock.
Luz nodded, "And it turns out, in the crossfire of the war between the Titans and Archivists... The Collector was sent down unknowingly as a scout for them. He was dragged into the In Between Realm by King's dad, who thought he was trying to hurt an unborn King. He was trapped there for centuries until King freed him during the Day of Unity."
That made Amity's jaw drop. Centuries?! He had been trapped, all alone, for that long... And the only company he had for all that time was Belos?
"Titan... No wonder he was so excited about being free." Amity said out loud, looking at the still slumbering Collector.
Luz looked down at the star child as well... Before she got an idea.
"What if we let him stay with us? Here at the Owl House?" Luz suggested.
Amity looked up at her. "You think he'd want to?"
"Definitely... Like you said, if he got lonely in the stars once... Surely it'll happen again if we let him go back up there." Luz reasoned.
Amity nodded. Luz did have a good point, it didn't feel right to send the Collector back to the stars after finding him sobbing on the balcony only a few days after he first left.
"Us weirdos got to stick together after all." Luz remarked, running a couple fingers through the Collector's hair as he slept snuggled next to Amity. "I'm sure the others won't be too bothered by him sticking around anyways."
Amity smiled... Before she got a whiff of Luz.
"Also, just curious... Why do you smell like you just crawled out of a sewer?" Amity wrinkled her nose, gagging slightly.
Luz blushed, and averted her eyes. "I'll tell you later... Right now, I'm going to take a bath."
She got off the couch, and walked upstairs.
Amity watched as she left, before looking at the sleeping Collector once more. Her smile returned as she looked at him.
Amity could definitely get used to this.
***
Valera parked the wagon next to a large moss covered rock. She got off, and parted some of the moss to reveal a secret tunnel large enough to fit the wagon.
Valera got back onto the wagon, and drove it into the tunnel. It led all the way down through a cave tunnel lit up with torches, until she finally reached a large chamber like room in the cavern. Multiple demons and witches were around, all wearing armored cloaks with the same sigil of a circled jagged dagger on their shoulder plates.
"I got the rest of the supplies!" Valera called out to one particular red biped demon standing near a large map of the Boiling Isles plastered on the cavern wall.
"Great... I've dealt with the debt collectors you were having problems with, by the way. I doubt they'll be coming back." The biped demon remarked, not even turning away from the map.
"Oh thank Titan... So, what's next for us anyways?" Valera asked, joining the biped demon in looking at the map
"First... We have a certain ruin to uncover for the last bit of supplies we require." The biped demon answered, before using a red crystal dagger to mark a spot on the map...
...The Titan's skull.