Belos hummed as he considered what he was going to have for lunch today. He hadn’t had Snaggleback soup recently and Kikimora enjoyed tenderizing the meat so it melted in his mouth. Of course, the screaming from her live tenderizing methods could get rather annoying. Even worse was that Steve was in the throne room today. He didn’t have the stomach for his boss’ methods.

He then blinked as he saw a picture of Amity and Luz in a forest clearing kissing. Azura then flipped out from behind the throne, all while making sure to keep the picture in sight of Belos. “Alright, time to pay up!”

The ruler paused as he levitated the picture closer. It did indeed look real and he had heard reports saying that something had recently changed between the two. He’d thought it was something like Luz having gotten a new scar or Amity almost dying again. This was entirely different though. “I’m happy to see they’re finally together. I will need to send them a fruit basket. Maybe give Mr. and Ms. Blight a day off.”

Azura narrowed her eyes, even as the smile on her face didn’t fade for a second. “I wasn’t really talking about paying them. We had a deal after all.”

Belos nodded slightly before leaning back. “Yes, we did. If you got them to confess to each other then I would give you a copy of my mask. It’s a shame you haven’t kept your end of the bargain then, isn’t it?”

Azura blinked a few times before reaching forward and grabbing Belos’ collar. She could hear Kikimora charging a spell behind her but she didn’t care as she growled, “What did you just say?”

Belos casually turned his head, even as his staff came to his hand, before he asked, “Do you have any proof that your actions directly led to this?”

The young woman blinked a few times before glancing away. The ruler pressed his advantage as he said, “In fact, I likely had more to do with it if the night this happened is the one I’m thinking of. It must have taken quite a bit of pressure off of Amity’s shoulders to know she wouldn’t be persecuted by the law for her feelings.”

Azura scowled before bringing their faces within an inch of each other. “Oh yeah? Because I bet Luz would have said no if I hadn’t gotten her home to know she wouldn't be persecuted by her mom for saying yes.”

“It’s a shame that we don’t know…” Belos grew silent before tilting his head a little. “Did you just say that you got the human home?”

Azura let go of Belos’ collar before stepping back. “No. Who would be crazy enough to do that? And even if I could, it’s not like I could do it multiple times. I’m a human after all. I’m not that str-”

“This would explain reports of brief, extreme magical fluctuations in the area, Lord Belos. Including at moments when our young assassin was here at the castle.”

Azura turned pale and it only grew worse as Belos raised a hand and snapped. His personal assassin seemed to materialize out of nowhere before holding a bundle of cloth up to the young woman. The ruler then cooly said, “Then I shall keep my end of our bargain so you may go home as well. I believe that’s a fair trade, right?”

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Azura narrowed her eyes at Belos as her knuckles turned white around the edges of the mask. That was one thing the tyrant had over her. He could figure out a lot with very little information. He had to know it was a portal. Even if he didn’t think it was the portal, it was still enough for him to disregard his future self. Of course, Azura knew he never got free access to the human realm but if this was multiverse theory…

She was brought out of her thoughts as she heard the start up of a spell behind her. When she turned, she spotted Kikimora beginning a rather wide circle. The demon’s eye narrowed before she said, with a voice that was dripping with venom and self gratification, “You are no longer welcome here, good witch. So, I ask that you leave or else.”

The young woman looked between the three figures in the room before running off. She would possibly question Belos’ gift to her but even with the magical nullification blanket over it, she could hear the mask’s voices. Of course it was authentic though. He could use a loophole to appease Titan but the great being would have never been okay with him simply going back on his deal with Azura. Not when they were both chosen by him.

There was still the question of the portal though. She had considered it lost from her for the most part when she gave it to Luz as she didn’t need it in her time. It was supposed to have been kept a secret though. Her and her big mouth had to screw that up though. The locks would protect the portal though. She didn’t need to worry because of those.

‘And yet you are.’

Azura’s eyes darted towards the ceiling at hearing Titan’s voice before frowning. The simplest answer to this was just to steal the suitcase back. Remove it from this time period and suddenly there was no threat to the human realm. But then Luz was back to being trapped here and without being able to even say goodbye to her mom. Or having a buffer to try and get back. Camila would have to assume eventually that her daughter just stopped showing up…

Okay, so that plan was out. Her parents were smart though. They wouldn’t let Belos get a hold of it. Luz would just say goodbye to Camila and blow it up. Again. Now that she knew her mom accepted her and that this wasn’t the only place she could be accepted at. But… But Amity. Amity could do it. It would be devastating to Luz but…

Azura let out a muffled scream into the package in her hands as she got into the same closet that she had come out of when she had first come to this time period. If they were her actual parents then none of this would be a problem. They could just toss around Belos if need be, or Amity could. But Amity didn’t even have a proper familiar yet. Just her small pet. She hadn’t built it up at all. And how many sigils did Luz have? Did she even have her illusion sigil? Or was it too early for that.

She couldn’t take the briefcase away. It went against everything she stood for. But the portal wasn’t safe in Amity or Luz’s hands. They wouldn’t do what was necessary if it came down to it. It’d hurt one of them too much and now that they were together, that loyalty would only get worse.

‘You know there’s one person who would do it.’

Azura grew quiet at that. She did know enough about where she was to know that Boscha was still just friends with the two, at best, and they were unlikely to trust her with the portal. Not unless they had to. In fact, was it still so early that Luz would think B would burn it simply on the premise of it hurting Luz and keeping Amity here? She could tell them that Boscha was better than that but how would they believe her? Most of the PTA still didn’t trust Boscha and that was twenty years in the future! Then again, Skara and Boscha never did properly bury the hatchet so she wasn’t that surprised.

She then paused and looked at her palm where her whiteboard was. She slowly drew a fire sigil on it and smiled at herself. It would mean staying for a good while longer to keep an eye on the portal, but if she made sure they got close to Boscha then she would bet that by this time this year, her mistake with the portal would be the linchpin in getting them together.

That was her plan at least. If someone else managed it then she wouldn’t complain. It wasn’t like her plan was based on what B had ever told her was how she got with her moms. Then again, Boscha being Boscha, she hadn’t told any of her children. It wasn’t a big deal in her eyes. What mattered was where they were now...

Azura sighed as she headed for where Belos kept his palismans so she could get ready to throw the mask into the storage dimension. Okay, maybe it was a bit of a deal. She had a world to run after all. Maybe though, she thought with a smile at all the times that B encouraged her more radical actions when her moms wouldn’t, this was just her being given a chance to thank Boscha for all she’d done for her parents over the years. The only question now was how.