Chapter Text
“Well, we ain’t!”
Those words uttered by the Owl Lady were the very last thing Philip Wittebane heard before his centuries-long life was quite literally stomped out. His reign over the Boiling Isles was over, and never again would anyone be threatened by his presence. Nor would anyone question where he was going, as the answer seemed pretty obvious to everyone.
Everyone that is, except for Philip himself. He lived for so long that he had started to believe he would never bear witness to the great beyond, so he had no idea what he was in store for. The last thing he expected to see were an endless expanse of stars stretching out in front of him. He looked down, seeing that despite dying, he was still in his monstrous, melting form that he took on after using magic to extend his life. He struggled, finding that he was trapped in a sphere of light, unable to move more than a few feet. He stewed, wondering how Luz could dare to just stand there as he melted, and allowed him to be finished by those wretched sorceresses.
Philip continued to attempt to break free from the prison he found himself in, to no avail. As he struggled, a light appeared above his head and blasted him, stopping his movement entirely.
A voice boomed out all around Philip.
“Settle down. You cannot escape from this place.”
The witch hunter looked around as much as he could frantically, trying to see where the voice was coming from.
“It has been a long time since I have needed to do this. You are truly someone deplorable.”
Philip couldn’t believe it. Him, deplorable? As far as he was concerned, all he was doing was protecting humanity from a plague, from scourges who did nothing but sully the souls of those who got close to them, such as Caleb and Luz.
“Deplorable, am I? Whoever you are, I’d like to see you say that straight to my face!”
A blinding light erupted in front of Philip’s mangled eyes. A shape took from within it, and as the light faded, he made out a creature that appeared to resemble a white, equine animal with a golden arc around its back. Looking up at the creature’s head, he saw two piercing red eyes staring through him. Despite the creature lacking a mouth to form expressions with, he could feel anger radiating from this being.
“I would advise you to watch that tone of yours, boy,” the creature said. Its eyes flashed, and another beam of light blasted Philip, sending pain coursing through him.
“What are you? Why are you doing this to me?!” Philip bellowed.
“I am Arceus. And as for your second question I am not even going to bother gracing you with an answer.”
Philip was blasted by another light beam. It felt as if his entire soul was set on fire, not just his body. He groaned as he clawed at the light containing him, dots appearing in his vision.
“There is a lot more where that came from. Although quite honestly, that pain is merciful compared to the alternatives you could be facing right now,” Arceus said, not taking its eyes off of Philip.
“You call this merciful?! Real mercy would be letting me go.”
“After everything you’ve done? I believe this is more mercy than you ever deserve.”
“Who do you think you are to treat me like this? I devoted my whole life to eradicating those witches, to save humanity from their evil! I was trying to-“
Before any more words could leave his mouth, another light beam appeared, this one firing multiple shots at once, causing Philip to writhe in pain, unable to move or speak once it stopped. Arceus leant down to Philip’s eye level.
“Silence. You were trying to save humanity? All you were ever trying to do was satiate your own egotistical values. You used your beliefs to shield yourself from any criticism you would potentially face from others who saw your atrocities for what they were. A power trip fuelled by your bigotry and incapability to accept that others who were different from you could ever be equal with you,” Arceus said, voice reverberating all around Philip, causing him to recoil as much as he could in the amount of pain his body was still in. But Arceus wasn’t finished yet.
“What did the witches even do to you to warrant you attempting to drive them to extinction? Answer me honestly, or at least as honestly as somebody like you is capable of.”
“They tainted my brother’s soul. I had no choice but to take action to make things right. I had to purge them all before they could lay claim to another human’s soul, but I failed to stop them from influencing Luz to their wicked ways,” Philip spewed out. Despite the pain Arceus continued to put him through, he wouldn’t concede his point.
“But of course, who was it that actually ended your brother’s life? Who was it that almost snuffed out the light provided by Luz Noceda twice? As far as I can tell, it wasn’t a witch who did either of those things. For somebody who claims to want to save humanity, you certainly have no problems in slaughtering your own.”
“That’s because their souls were tainted by evil! Don’t you understand? They weren’t even human anymore!”
“Ironic, coming from someone who used magic to turn himself into a monster. Tell me, what did it feel like using the very same magic that formed the foundations of the world the witches you wanted dead lived in?”
For the first time, Arceus managed to render Philip speechless.
“How did it feel to know that this Titan you claimed to able to speak to, chose to help someone that opposed you and your ambition? Luz Noceda would be dead if they did not save her, giving her the power to defeat you and free the world from your influence forever.”
“You believe you can speak of the actions of a god?!”
“You do not even know the half of it.”
Arceus’s eyes flashed, and a bright light appeared below them, forming an intricate pattern comprised of overlapping circles and triangles that Philip felt he recognized. He thought over all of his religious studies but could not seem to pinpoint where he might have known it from.
“What is this?”
“This is the mark of the Original One. My mark.”
“Your mark?” Philip’s voice shook. He realized he had seen this mark before, but nobody had ever figured out what it had meant. All along, it symbolized this creature? Arceus continued speaking, its answer making Philip wonder if it could read his mind.
“Nobody from your time figured out what it meant. In the centuries that humanity progressed through without you, scholars and architects uncovered enough evidence to understand the meaning of my mark and even learn of my existence. So in short, I am a god. A deity who created both the human and demon worlds.”
Philip couldn’t believe it. He was being confronted by a deity with that much power, who believed his actions were heinous and unjust. He always told himself that he would only allow a higher power to judge his actions but now that it was actually happening, he felt conflicted. He was being told that he was wrong to try and purge the witches, but was he really?
“You never knew it, but you caught my attention the moment you killed your brother. I kept an eye on your actions from time to time, but once you began the process to extend your life to see your genocide through, I knew you were somebody I couldn’t ignore.”
“If that’s so, why didn’t you stop me? You just sat back and watched my plan come together for centuries?!”
“Because, fool, even gods have rules to follow. I made these worlds, but I am not allowed to directly interfere with them. The most I can do is use my power to indirectly influence certain events to happen. For example, I attempted to sway the universe to bring somebody to the Boiling Isles who would stand up to you. Luz answered that call, but it was never guaranteed to happen.”
More light beams rained down upon Philip. Once he was incapacitated and unable to speak again, Arceus started glowing, preparing something the witch hunter couldn’t fathom to imagine.
“Now then, I have something I need to show you.”
With that, Philip’s vision was filled with blinding light.
When the light cleared away, Philip grimaced at the sight before him. Orange trees and grass, gigantic bones protruding from the ground into the sky in the shape of a ribcage and a purple ocean with steam rising from it. He was back in the Boiling Isles again. From the looks of it, they had already recovered from his attempt to possess the Titan’s Heart.
“I thought you said you couldn’t directly interfere with this place,” the witch hunter said, immediately receiving a light beam for his insolence.
“We are not actually on the Boiling Isles. I have used my power to create a projection of the Boiling Isles so you can see it as it is four years following your death,” Arceus replied.
“Why would I ever want to see this wretched place again?!” Philip bellowed.
“Seeing as you were so self-righteous in your efforts to destroy this place, I want you to bear witness to how this world is thriving now that it is rid of you,” Arceus said, beginning to move the projection to a different location. Philip refused to open his eyes, until they were wrenched open by force.
“You should know by now that I can do whatever I wish with you, Belos.”
Philip glared at Arceus. “It’s Philip.”
Arceus didn’t look back. “You insisted on the name Belos for centuries. I believe I have a right to use it. Here is a present for you, by the way.”
Another light beam came down. When the pain subsided, the gooey remains of Philip saw what was once the location of his castle. Instead there now stood a colossal tree, housing witches and demons of all kinds.
“What is this?!”
“This is the University of Wild Magic. Since your death and the dissolvement of the coven system you introduced to keep witches in line until you were ready to kill them, Wild Magic has been embraced as the true form of magic. Everybody loves it, and nobody cares to remember the system you invented. Those sigils that were meant to drain witches of their magic? As it turns out, a method to remove them without amputation was discovered, so you did not even leave behind a legacy,” Arceus said, forcing Philip to watch as the centuries he put into achieving his goal were reduced to a distant memory. There was a flash, and the scene changed to outside two large doors with the word “Headmaster” above them. The doors burst open, and out stepped Edalyn Clawthorne, spinning her staff around as she proudly presented herself. She was missing her right arm, a golden hook in its place.
“What is the Owl Lady doing in a position like that?!” Philip sputtered.
“She was appointed Headmaster as a result of being one of the few people who never gave up on Wild Magic. Her defiance in the face of your authority served her well in the end.”
“But she’s a criminal! A fraud!” Philip shouted.
“Only under your rule. Without it, she is a witch who is on equal standing with those around her. She even has her old wanted poster hanging on the wall of her office as a reminder of everything she managed to survive,” Arceus said, as the scenery changed again, this time showing a sport field outside Hexside school. Several witches were flying around on their Palismen playing Flyer Derby, but one in particular caught Philip’s attention.
“Hunter?!”
His eyes stayed focused on the blond boy, face and body covered in scars. His eyes were now brown, as opposed to the magenta-coloured ones he had when he was created. He had a new Palisman that he was flying around on, a blue jay. From the looks of things, he was having a lot of fun as he high-fived his teammates upon successfully placing a flag on the goal post.
“How is this possible?! I left him for dead in the graveyard after I possessed him!”
“His life was saved by his first Palisman, whom you also did not succeed in finishing off immediately. He inherited their magic and is now able to live a happy life surrounded by people who love and cherish him for who he is.”
“Him?! A grimwalker created in the image of somebody who wanted them dead?!”
“You really are short-sighted. They know what he is, but they still care for him because they do not let that fact define who he is. And from the sounds of it, you truly did not know your brother well at all either,” Arceus said, a solemn echo ringing in its voice. On the field, Hunter landed alongside his teammates, all of them celebrating winning the game. In particular, Hunter was hugging a shorter, muscular witch with glasses. Both of them blushed upon backing up to look at one another, their teammates walking off to give them space. They spoke, Arceus making their voices echo around the witch hunter.
“I’m still so glad I met you, Captain. I know it’s been years, but I still believe that you helped save my life. I’ll always cherish you for that, Willow,” Hunter said, a genuine smile spreading across his face. Willow’s face turned red as she giggled at his words.
“I didn’t do that much. I just dragged you here to play Flyer Derby. You chose to save us and our Palismen from the Emperor’s Coven because you realised it was the right thing to do,” she gushed, a shy smile on her face.
“To be fair, Darius told me he wasn’t taking you to the castle, he was just going to bring you back to Hexside.”
“But you didn’t know that, you thought we were in genuine danger and you helped us anyway. You chose to do that.”
“Well, I did get some words of wisdom from Steve, but-“ Hunter was cut off as Willow pulled him into another huge hug, lifting him up off the ground, the two of them laughing all the while.
“Why must those witches befoul everyone around them with their illusions of love and affection?!” Philip bellowed. He rammed his gooey fists against the light sphere, which electrocuted him in return, sending him recoiling.
“Why is it that you are incapable of realising that everything you accuse the witches of is something that you yourself embody? Illusions of love and affection? That is what you showed to every grimwalker you created,” Arceus said, turning to lean down to Philip’s eye level again. On the field, Hunter looked around with a worried expression on his face. Willow put him down and looked at him.
“Are you ok?” She asked, her face contorting with concern.
“Y-yeah, I’m fine. I just felt something. Kind of like we were being watched by… by…”
“By him?”
“Yeah. By him.”
“Well, if that is the case, then let’s show him something he’ll really hate.” She then pulled him in and locked her lips with his. Hunter was surprised but quickly closed his eyes and leaned in to the kiss. Just as Willow said, Philip’s rage returned and he slammed his fists against the light sphere again and again, ignoring the electricity this action sent surging through him. Words failed him, as he could only roar in anger. Arceus’s eyes glowed and in a flash, the raging monster’s arms and torso were encased in thick ice.
“You cannot get out, but watching you struggle like this is quite painful. We have lingered here long enough, there is more for you to see.”
Another flash of light, and they were outside of the Owl House. The new portal door opened, and Luz Noceda stepped out, now an adult and no longer looking like a Titan hybrid compared to when Philip last saw her. She was followed by King, the last living Titan.
“Is that a portal? How did they make it?!”
“They did not make it on their own.”
“Then who did?!” Right then, a star glowing multiple colours came down in front of Luz and King. The star proceeded to explode in a bright flash, with Luz and King covering their eyes at the sight. Out of the light came a small child-like figure wearing a hoodie, with a small plush rabbit attached to its front. One half of the figure’s body was blue, their colour difference on their face in particular representing a crescent moon.
“Luz! King! Oh I’m so happy to see you again!” The star child cried out in joy, throwing their hands up into the air.
“Collector! What are you doing here?” Luz asked, tilting her head with a smile.
“I was getting lonely up in the stars and wanted to come back. Francois is amazing company, but sometimes I want to see you guys again!” The Collector said, doing a backflip in the air.
“Can I give Francois a hug? I’ve missed him,” King asked, twiddling his claws together nervously. The Collector nodded emphatically, detaching Francois from their hoodie and tossing him to King, who spun around with Francois, squeaking with joy. Luz giggled at the cute display. Philip, meanwhile, was grimacing.
“Why do they get to go free? They took over the Isles after they were freed, used the inhabitants as their playthings, slammed me against a wall and almost killed me!”
“Do not kid yourself into thinking they are as bad as you. While I concur that their take over was reprehensible and I will have words with them about it someday, they also did not know any better after how they were treated by their own kin. And as for slamming you into a wall? Surely you did not expect them to forgive you for betraying them?” Arceus said, using its power to further freeze Philip’s body, leaving only his head exposed. Meanwhile, the Collector suddenly stopped laughing with Luz and King and turned to their left. It was as if they could see Philip and Arceus. Luz turned to where the Collector was watching, while King was too busy snuggling Francois.
“What is it, Collector?” Luz questioned.
“I think we’re being watched.” The star child responded.
“Really? Who is it?”
“Someone dangerous. Don’t worry though, they’re stuck and can’t do anything.”
“It’s not Belos, is it?” Luz’s voice quivered a bit. The Collector squinted, and Philip knew then that they could see him.
“Yep, it’s him. He’s being punished by the looks of it. At least, that’s what it looks like. Would you say being encased in ice counts as a punishment?” The star child looked back at Luz quizzingly.
“I’d say so. Can we not talk about him anymore?” Luz looked despondent, rubbing at the scar on her left eyebrow. The Collector’s face fell.
“I’m sorry Luz, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“It’s ok, I’ll get over this eventually.”
“You know it’s ok for it to take time to heal, Luz.” King said, tugging at Luz’s pants. Luz picked him up and gave him a big hug, tears running down her face. The Collector looked at them and wordlessly asked if they could join, King nodding in approval. The projection faded and Philip found himself back in the starry expanse. Arceus made its way in front of the witch hunter.
“And that, is precisely what has become of the Demon Realm without you.”
“What did you hope to achieve? That I’d show remorse for what I’ve done and repent? Well, forget it. I’ll never concede that what I did wasn’t right.”
“Oh I was never trying to reform you, wretch. Someone like you is hopeless, and I just wanted to show you what you missed out on. You could have been a part of such a world if you had grown a heart in the centuries you lived for.”
“Never! My cause was just! I was trying to save humanity, and now they’ve been forsaken!” Philip’s right arm started shaking violently, the ice surrounding it beginning to crack. Arceus let out a sigh.
“Such a pity. You are no longer human yourself. Did you not question why you appeared in the afterlife looking like this, instead of how you once looked? I suppose not. You truly will never be able to see past your short-sighted sense of self-importance.” Arceus prepared another volley of light beams to fire at Philip. But before it could, the ice around the monster’s right arm shattered, and the arm managed to hit the orb of light, causing the light beams to pierce a hole in the sphere.
Before Arceus could respond, Philip planted his arm onto its head. The light sphere and ice vanished, giving the goopy abomination the opportunity to stand and bring Arceus low. Arceus’ eyes turned blue, and its body began to darken.
“Well, this turned out nicely. If you’ve really been watching me, then you’ll know I have a penchant for possession. I possessed the Titan’s Heart, and now I’m taking things a step further. With your power I’m sure that wiping those wretched things out of existence will be as easy as can be,” Philip said, slurring his words as he could feel the high of the power he was taking control of. Dark, green horns sprouted from Arceus’ head, along with a green substance coating Arceus’ body, making it look as if it was being consumed by rot. Philip began laughing as he could feel total control over Arceus almost being in his grasp.
“This is perfect. You dragged me here to show me a world you knew I’d hate to see, and now that action will be its end! Poetic justice at its finest!”
The witch hunter raised Arceus’ head up to look into its eyes one last time before assuming total control, proceeding to throw his head back to let out one more boisterous laugh. But as he did so, light particles began gathering in front of Arceus’ head. Philip was too busy cackling with glee to notice. Before he knew it, Arceus let loose a massive beam of energy, severing Philip’s arm from the rest of his form and sending him backwards, where chains of light immediately restricted him and held him up in the air. Looking at Arceus, Philip could see his right hand vanishing into dust, and the rot that was consuming Arceus disappear as quickly as it had appeared. Arceus looked up at him, its eyes completely red with no discernible pupils or anything.
“That. Is. IT.”
The witch hunter was struck with fear as Arceus’ voice exploded all around him.
“I have tried my best to be patient with you, but NO MORE. I did not think anyone would ever have the gall to try something like that, but rest assured that you will SUFFER for it,” The chains holding Philip up sent electricity coursing through him, much more intense than the light sphere had done before. Philip tried to speak, but his mouth was forcefully clamped shut.
“No. You do not get to speak anymore. You will listen to ME. What makes you think you ever had the right to try what you did? Not just in your attempt to subjugate my power, but the centuries you spent in your plan to commit genocide against an entire race?! Not only that, but you made their lives, their community, their EXISTENCE a living nightmare as you ruled over them despite knowing that you never had any real power over them, just false words and promises! It was HORRIBLE having to watch you do what you did, all because I physically COULD NOT INTERFERE! And all of this happened under your assumption that the witches were evil, WHEN THEY WEREN’T! You thought they stole your brother from you, but the only one who took him from you was YOURSELF! WHEN YOU STABBED HIM IN THE BACK!” Arceus fired another beam at Philip following the last statement, consuming his body in the light but not destroying him. It was meant to hurt and hurt bad.
“Want to know something? I bestowed knowledge upon both worlds. I made it possible for them to learn of each other and travel between each other Both worlds had the potential to learn the same things and have the same experiences so that if they ever came together, there would be common ground between them when differences brought about by their cultures and practices arose. But of course, one of the first people to ever make their way from one world to the other was YOU. A conceited, self-absorbed, pathetic EXCUSE of a man who decided his precious feelings were hurt and thus, needed to take it out on everyone who did NOTHING to him!” Arceus blasted Philip again.
“For the sake of argument we say that you did succeed and went back to the human world. What did you think would happen? Luz Noceda was right. You would be seen as a maniac ranting about witches and demons with NO proof of their existence. You would have no portal, no allies, NOTHING that would prove anything and thus, you would gain NOTHING. Nobody would even believe that you were Philip Wittebane because as far as they knew, he would have to be well over four hundred years old, and no human can live THAT long, can they?!” Arceus’ voice was deafening to Philip at this point. The electricity never stopped surging through the chains as Arceus blasted him again and again.
“The worst part is that you continued to call yourself human. Just look at yourself, who would look at you and think you were a human?! Humans who fight for humanity DO NOT SLAUGHTER THEIR OWN! YOUR SOUL WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT WAS SULLIED IN YOUR ENDEAVOURS! And because of that, you will now be condemned.”
The chains released the witch hunter, but before he could do anything, a dark hole opened behind him, and clawed tendrils proceeded to drag him in. Philip looked up at Arceus as he heard one last thing before everything faded to darkness.
“Farewell. I hope it was all worth it.”