Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Every story starts with something small, something that will grow into something strong. These small kids are going to do great things one day, we just know it.

 

We have two children playing in the park, one in the sand and the other playing with her plushie on the swing. The one at the swings has wild red hair, brown skin with freckles underneath her green eyes. Wearing blue overalls and a yellow shirt with her mix matched socks, finishing off the look with a black headband that covers her ears. The one in the sand has mixed skin with dark brown hair in three long braids. She is also wearing a pink shirt and blue overalls as well with yellow rubber shoes. The one in the sand notices a pile of snake skin and bring it to the other children playing in the park, "Look! This means a snake was nearby!"

The three children she was talking to look at her in horror, shocked that she would even touch such a thing, "Ew!" "That's so gross!" "Why would you even touch that dead thing, you weirdo?" Hearing the commotion caused the girl at the swing to turn around, leaving her plushie on the swing as she ran to the other kids.

Before the girl in braids could speak, the redheaded girl pushed the boy to the ground, "Go away! My mom says that no one should be mean to anyone and you're being mean to her right now. If you don't go away, I'll tell on you! I mean it!"

The boy in the black shirt began to leave but not before saying, "Whatever, you pointy eared weirdo!"

The girl in pigtails looked to the redhead, noticing that she is wearing a headband over her ears, "Pointy eared?" Esperanza looked away, ashamed, "Uh... Yeah, my ears aren't... shaped like your's. See?" She takes off her headband, showing her Dad says it's a m... m-med-ical co..." She sighs as she breifly takes off her headband, showing off her ears. They were big and pointy at the end, but to Luz, there no different from some of the ears she would see in the books she would love to read and the movies she would love to watch.

The other girl smiles, "Condition? That's okay, I think they look cool! Oh! My name is Luz, Luz No-ced-a! We... We can be friends, uh."

"My name is Esperanza Fox!" Esperanza stuck out her hand and Luz shook it, adding in, "It's nice to meet you Esperanza Fox! Oh! How about I call you Esper for short!"

Esper smiles, approving of the nickname, "Oh! That sounds so cool! There's my dad! We should go tell him! Come on, Luz!"

 

And that's how it started, the two girls were almost inseparable after that. They noticed that they have lived across the street from each other as well. For years, they would be the only ones looking out for each other in school, celebrating birthdays together, getting into trouble together, Esper was there for Luz when her father died, etc. They would constantly be over the other's house, with Luz taking note of just how many toys and video games Esper owns, Esper seeing Luz's collection of Azura books and how much they mean to her as well.

...

Then came the day that would change their lives forever, years later, on Esper's 14th birthday. Luz had already turned 14 months ago and Esper was there but for some reason, on her birthday, her parents requested that Luz not be there. Camila knew the reason and allowed this. It was strange to Esper but she figured it meant they wanted to give her something special.

Her father, Douglas Fox, had been setting up their little party all day. He had the day off from the bank and had put up a sign that says "Happy Birthday Esper!", streamers, everything she likes. He was a tall man with pale skin and blond hair swept back with hair gel. His green eyes almost matched his daughter's but were significantly lighter. Wearing a pale green shirt and black pants, along with a small silver ring on hisleft hand, his wedding ring. Right as he put the blue cake on the small table, his wife walked into the house. Her name is Janet and she had just gotten home from an inpromptu meeting with a client, as she worked as a lawyer within Gravesfield. She had rushed home in order to get into her dark purple sweater and black pants, keeping her blue teardrop necklace and matching earrings on. She has dark skin with fluffy dark brown hair with striking gold eyes.

She held her husband's hand, "Are you sure she's ready to hear this? There's still enough time to call this off and save it for another day, Doug." Douglas smiled back at her, "Honey, I'm sure she is. Our little girl is growing up so fast and I think she deserves to know. Who knows, maybe she'll see it as a magical destiny sort of thing and laugh it off."

Just then, their daughter walked into the house from school, now taller with her wild red hair in a ponytail. Dressed in a yellow hoodie with a white smiley face on it along with black pants and the black headband hiding her ears. She still has those nice freckles as well, "Hey! Sorry I'm a little late, I had to help wrangle up some snakes Luz lost track of during class. So uh... Why can't Luz and Mrs. Noceda come to my party?"

Janet had sat down at the table along with Douglas, still holding his hand. She gestured for her to sit down at the last chair, which she did. Douglas took a deep breath, "Esperanza, we didn't want to say anything while Luz was here but we thought it was time for you to know that... You're adopted."

Esper stood up suddenly, "Wait what? What do you mean?"

Douglas put his hands in front of him, motioning for her to calm down, "No it's okay, don't get up! We just thought it was time for you to know-"

Esper: "Know what? Why would I want to know that I'm not your real daughter?!"

Janet spoke up this time, "No, don't say that. Of course you're our daughter. Esper..."

Esper looks out the window, noticing Luz standing outside her house, waiting for the bus. She starts to head towards the door, eyes tearing up, "I need some air!"

Doug had gotten up from his chair, "Esper, sweety, wait! I just thought-" He was stopped by Janet, who held his hand again, "Doug, let her cool off for a while. She'll be back after talking with Luz and we can talk about it later."

 

Esper had ran over to Luz, who was standing outside her house, sad about putting her book in the trash can and the fact that she knows she has to go to summer camp.
Esper was aggressively wiping the tears from her eyes, not wanting Luz to see her cry as she stood in front of her. Esper pouted as she finished, "Man! Today sucks! You're going away to camp and I have to deal with-What are you doing?"
Luz had her hand in the garbage, looking for something, "I can't find my Azura book! Where is it, where is it?"

Then an owl let out a noise, the pair looked over and saw a tiny owl with a bag in it's mouth. "Tiny trash thief!" Luz shouts as Esper fdollows, "Let's get him!"

The two run after the owl, even as it runs into the abandoned house next to Luz's home. They still follow, determined to get the book back. There is a flash of light and suddenly the two run out of a door, still chasing after the owl. Esper lunges forward, completely missing the owl to land on the ground as Luz steps over her, "Stop adorably hopping away you-Woah! I thought I had a lot of weird stuff but this, this... This is impressive. Esper, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, dang he's fast for a little owl."

A voice rang outside the tent, "Finally! You're back!" It startled the two. Now they look outside the tent, hiding behind the flap as they watch the mysterious pale figure look through the trash, tossing away certain items until she puts on the goofy glasses, "Ah yes this! This will make me rich! And this, eh, it'll make good kindling." She was very pale with grey hair, gold eyes, wearing red as well as a green bonnet.

Luz suddenly jumps up, taking her book from the older woman, "Whoops! Excuse me, sorry, that's mine. Thank you! Come on, Esper!"

They try to run, only for the door to disappear as the woman tries to stop them. "You two aren't going anywhere!" Causing our heroes to run from the tent, trying to get away again before stopping on a cliff. Gawking at all the weirdness below before a fairy comes up to them. Esper hides behind Luz as the the fairy requests for their skin, causing Luz to hit it with her hand.

Luz graps onto Esper's hoodie, "Where are we?! Did we die? Are we... in the bad place?" Esper gulps at the last part before the pale woman puts a tight hand on both their shoulders, casuing them both to look up at her, "You wish!"

 

She tosses the two on their own stools, with Luz quickly talking before Esper could, "I'm sorry, I just wanted my book. Esper is completely innocent in this, if you want to eat someone's skin, eat mine! Just make it quick! Do it now!" Esper spoke up, "No! Eat me instead!"

"Eat you? Why would I eat... Potential customers! Can I offer you a human foot filled with holes? A bar of green human candy? Oh! How about this black shadow box that reflects only sadness?" Suddenly, the woman's demeanor has changed.
Luz and Esper looked at each other, confused before giggling.

Luz gets up from her seat as Esper smiled, "That's not all it can do! Here, let me see it. It looks like one of Esper's dad's old TVs." She put in some nearby batteries and an old exercise video started playing. Suddenly everyone started crowding around the stand, causing Esper to stand up next to Luz and the taller woman. She looked at the pair, "What did you two say your names were?"

"I'm Luz! Luz Noceda!" "And I'm Esperanza Fox! Esper for short."

The pale woman collected all the money from the people giving it to her, "Well Luz, that was pretty clever, for a human."

Esper raised an eyebrow as Luz did the same, "That's a weird thing for another human to say."

The woman giggles at her, "Oh dear child!" She then takes off her bonnet, "I'm not like you!" She then stands on the table, "I am Eda the Owl Lady! The most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles!"

Luz and Esper look at each other excitedly, "A witch?!" Luz especially looks at Esper's ears, as Esper had put her hands on them, noticing that Eda's ears are pointy like her own.

Eda continues her speech, "I am a respected! Feared!"

"Busted!"

Suddenly the tv was smashed and people started running away. Luz falls over as Esper helps her up, "You okay?" Luz nods.

 

The man who smashed it looked to be a guard of some kind, holding up a wanted poster with Eda's drawing on it, along with a pet looking creature, "Eda the Owl Lady! You are wanted for misuse of magic and demonic misdemeanors!"

"Woah! Witch criminal!" Luz says as she sticks close to the table, Esper staying close to her.

The guard continues to point at Eda, grabbing her wrist, "You are hereby ordered to come with me to the Conformatorium." Eda pulls her wrist away from him, "Would you guys quit following me around? I haven't done squat!"
The guard then grabs Luz and Esper by the back of their hoods, "And you two are coming too! For fraternizing with a criminal!" Luz curls up on herself, "WHAT! That's not cool!" Esper tries to break free from his grip, "Hey! Put us down!"
Eda puts her hands in front of herself, "Alright! Alright you win! Let me just get my stuff, DUCK KID!"

Esper lowers her head as Eda swings her staff, hitting the guard in the face. He drops the two girls as Eda then makes her items float in the air. "Woops! Can't forget this!" The door that contorted into a briefcase flies towards her, she then puts all her stuff into a neat bag, putting it on her staff. She then runs off, "Follow me, humans!"

Luz and Esper run next to the Owl Lady with Luz concerned that if she gets in trouble here, her mother will kill her. Eda smiles at her, "Ah don't worry, I won't let those guys hurt you, humans are much more valuable to me alive than dead!"Luz looks at her curiosly, "What's that supposed to-" Suddenly the two are grabbed by Eda, and they take off, flying on her staff.

Eda gives them the rundown of the Boiling Isles as they continue to fly, stating that every myth in the human world is a result of some of the Boiling Isles leaking onto Earth. Including giraffes, which were banished for reasons unknown. The two inquite about going home but Eda states that she will only let them go home if they help her first.

Esper stays behind Luz, "Aren't you worried about those guards finding us?"

Eda shook her head, "Nope! My house has a state of the art defense system!" The door then hoots, revealing a face on the door, "Hoot Hoot! password please!" Eda than pokes the face's eyes, "Hooty, we don't have time for this. Let us in." Hooty then looks angry, "Alright alright geez! You never wanna have any fun! Ow! Hoot!" He then opens his mouth, allowing the three inside as Esper makes a disgusted face.

Eda snaps her fingers, "Welcome to... The Owl House!" revealing all the magical things in the house to the girls. When asked if she lives alone, a figure appears in the hallway. Stomping about as he makes it to the living room.

A small, fuzzy dog-like creature walks into the hallway, he looked to have a skull protruding out of his face along with one long horn and one short one, "Who dares intrude upon I! The King of the Demons!" He is surprised when Luz suddenly hugs him, calling him adorable. Upon Eda saying that Luz is going to help them with their situation, he is moved to Esper's arms. Esper hugs him as after he shouts "Hooray!" Esper then hugs him tighter, "Aw! You really are adorable! And your fur is so soft!" King starts shoving her head, unsure of how to handle her.

Eda nods at the two before explaining that King was once a king of demons before his crown of power was stolen and she states that only the human can go through the door to get it back. Which is where Luz and Esper come in. She takes King from Esper, using his cute face as extra leverage. After realizing that Eda is their only way home to the Human Realm, the two agree. The group then heads off the the Conformatorium in order to get King's crown back. With Esper helping Eda distract the warden, as she figured spliting up would be more useful. Esper rides with Eda to the top of the tower while Luz was with King going through the cells, talking to the prisoners. Luz learns that the place is just filled with people who want to be free to share their creativity without the fear of being locked up. Luz finds this awful as she hides from the Warden, meanwhile Esper and Eda are still flying to the top of the tower. Esper spots the warden, "Hey, Eda, it looks like he's distracted with that smaller person."
Eda smiled as she looked at the scene, "This is perfect! Come on, Esper, let's go find King and Luz while he's distracted."

The two spot Luz in a hallway with King on her shoulders. Eda smiled widely, "Good news! He's distracted with tormenting this one prisoner, he won't be stopping anytime soon." Esper took notice that she was sad about something, "You okay, Luz?"

Luz frowns as King then runs to the door, wanting his crown, "It's not fair that they're all in here... They just want to be themselves, why does everybody think that being a weirdo is so bad..."
Esper frowns at the last sentence, knowing what it means to her and Luz.

Eda ushers them into the room as King rushes in, trying to get to his crown. Eda reminds him that they have two humans and let them go up to the door. The two go up to the glowing door, preparing to go in. Only to see that Luz is able to get in and it shocks Esper, causing her to fall back, being caught by Eda and King.
Eda holds her, "Woah! Hey, kid. You okay? I thought you said you were a human!"
Esper rubs her head as she sits up, "I thought I was! What does this mean?"
Eda looks at King, who shrugs, "Well, I don't know what that means. Are you Esper the Human?" This causes Esper to hold her ears again, feeling them through the fabric of the headband.

Luz looks at the pile of stuff before noticing that Esper isn't next to her, "Huh? Hey, Esper! Are you okay?"

Esper shrugs, "Uhhh, I'm fine! Just can't seem to make it through the door! For some reason! You get the crown, I'll stay over here."

Luz finds the crown, seeing it is a fast food resturant crown and that it doesn't give King powers. Disappointing Esper, who also gives Eda a frown.
Eda says, "If that dumb crown is important to him, it's important to me. Besides, us weirdos have to stick together. You know?"
Luz smiles as Esper nods, understanding what Eda means. As she feels the same way with Luz.

But then suddenly Warden Wrath comes out of nowhere and cuts Eda's head off, sending it flying into Luz's arms. She scream as Eda plays dead, Esper also screams at this. Eda is mildly annoyed as the Warden starts to talk about wanting to date Eda. Confusing Esper a lot as the guards then pick up her and King, she shouts "Luz!" as Warden Wrath holds up Luz after she makes a comment as well. Luckily after Eda blaws a raspberry at Warden Wrath, it releases Luz and she hits him on the head with Eda's staff. Eda's body takes care of the guards for Esper and King as the red head takes King and follows Luz, who tries to make Owlbert fly.

Luz looks at the staff, "Expecto! Flying! Magicus Escapacus!"
Esper then shouts, "Fly, little dude!"
Eda notices the warden start to get up and shouts, "Gun it, magic stick!" which makes Owlbert fly them around to escape.

 

A big chase then ensues, with Luz allowing the prisoners to escape and fight back against the warden who has kept them there for so long. The Warden hits them off their track, causing them to fall down into the collesium below. Eda gives Luz the key, telling her to go back to the human realm though Luz resists until she tells her to bring Esper too, noticing that she is still a bit injured from the shock earlier as well as the fall. Eda makes Luz and Esper go on Owlbert though Luz stops when she sees the prisoners not escaping.

As Luz gives them a speech, they questrion her, "Why are you helping us?"
And Luz gives them an answer, "Because us weirdos have to stick together! And nobody should be punished for who they are! Right, Esper?"
Esper nods, agreeing with her best friend, "Right, Luz!"

With that encouragement the prisoners rush Warden Wrath, saving Eda and King from his attacks They restrain him as Esper gives him a swift kick to his head. Esper is amazed by Luz's fireworks coming in the save the day as she hits them into Wrath's face, cheering her on as the fireworks go off.

After all the chaos is done, the group decides to fly back to The Owl House, Eda activates the key, citing that, "A deal's a deal, let's get you kids home." Luz then stares at the door before looking back, Esper gives her a nod as she gives King a crown from one of her Azura dolls. Luz is then given her Azura book back as she realizes that she is now similar to Azura, the reflection showing her in Azura's place while Esper, Eda and King fit in the other characters'. Luz comes to a realization, tugging Esper closer to her as the younger girl is confused, "Uh, what's going on?"

Luz starts, "Okay. I know you got your head cut off, and we started some kind of prison riot, but this was the most fun I've ever had! Come on, Esper, wasn't it for you?"
The younger girl shrugged, "I guess kicking that guy in the head was pretty fun."

Eda blinks at the two in surprise as Luz continues.

Luz continues, "I don't fit in at home and neither does Esper here. We both know that. You don't fit in here. If I stay, we could all not fit in together. I'm not going back to summer camp!"

Eda and King look at her in surprise, "What's summer camp? What are we talking about here?" Luz then smiles at her, bringing Esper closer to her in her grip, "I want to stay and become a witch. Like you. And Azura. What about you, Esper?"

Esper shrugs, "Oh! Uh, I guess I could give it a shot!"

Eda giggles at the two, "What? All right, that's crazy. Humans can't become witches." Though her face changes as she remembers when Esper couldn't walk through the contraband wall in the conformatorium.

Luz smiles at the older witch, "Maybe that's because they haven't tried. If you teach me to become a witch, I'll do anything you want."
Esper gives Eda a smile as well, "Me too! Me too! I promise to work extra hard!"

Eda sighs, "Alright, okay fine!"

Luz's smile grows, wrapping Eda, King and Esper into a nice big hug. All of them gasp, feeling like Luz is choking them as she holds them too tight.

Luz and Esper then lay down on two separate sleeping bags for the night, Luz starts texting her mom as Esper's eyes begin to get heavy. King then enters the room, eyeing their "sleep cocoons".
Luz smiles, "Goodnight, Esper."

Esper smiles as King cuddles up in between them, hand resting on his belly, "Goodnight, Luz, goodnight, King." She then turns around, taking off the black headband to reveal her pointy, witch-like ears yet again...

Chapter Text

The next day Luz wakes up first, excited to see that she is still in the Boiling Isles. She looks at her left to see Esper still sleeping. She smiles for a second before looking at Esper's ears, as they are now exposed. She then remembers Eda's own ears being pointy and how they didn't show her the previous day.
Luz then jumps up, excitedly stomping her feet before she sits back down to shake her childhood friend, "OOOOOOH! My gosh, Esper! Esper, wake up! It wasn't a dream!"

Esper slowly opens her eyes, groggy as her sleep had been interrupted, "I'm. A-wake. Stop. Shaking. Me. Please."

Luz grins, letting Esper go as she gestures towards the room, "Oh, sorry sorry! We're still here in the Boiling Isles! It wasn't just a dream! This is so cool, we're going to learn from an actual witch! Plus we can show her your ears! You might be a witch, Esper!"

Esper gasps, realizing she took her headband off last night. She covers her ears with her hands, "Are you sure? You know the rumors have been that my old parents cut my ears to make them look like this."

Luz gets up, "Oh I am totally sure! Besides, those were just rumors from OUR realm. Maybe you're from this world! Now come on, let's go find some witchy clothes!"

Esper nods as Luz gets up to hug King, annoying him after she calls him a 'cutie pie', she then ponders to herself, "Well, I wasn't able to go through that contraband wall yesterday so maybe... I really might actually be a witch, woah." She then changes out of her pjs into her usual outfit.

She got up and then stretched, putting her hands in the pockets of her yellow hoodie as she left to find Luz. Luz had gone through Eda's closet, putting on what appeared to be 'witch clothing', she was finishing up her nametag which had said "Witch Apprentice Luz" on it. She turned to put a witch hat on Esper's head, "Oh there you are! Here, to make you look all witchy! Oh and I made this too!" She put a matching nametag on Esper's hoodie,

Luz eagerly waited for Eda to come down the stairs, only to be disappointed to see her in human-like pajamas. Obviously tired from just waking up, Eda walked down the stairs as Luz excitedly announced that she was ready for witch training. Only for Eda to seemingly not remember who Luz and Esper are.

Esper rubbed the back of her head, "Uh, we're the two kids you said you would train as witches. Don't you remember what you promised Luz? Well and me." Luz nodded, "Yeah! Remember us? Luz and Esper! We freed the oppressed and and defeated the evil warden together? Yesterday!"

Eda took a cup of red liquid from her fridge, "Kid, spare me the details. I haven't had my morning cup of apple blood yet."

Luz and Esper looked to each other and back at Eda, "You mean apple juice?" "Riiiight?"

Eda frowned, "No." She then sat on the table as Luz ran to her, "Teach me some magic spells! When do I get a magic staff? Was I supposed to bring my own runes? DO YOU HAVE A DANGEROUS MAGIC QUEST FOR ME?" Esper simply hangs back, seeing as Luz was being all excited again.

Eda tells her to slow down, "No one becomes a witch overnight! Although... One of you looks different from yesterday. I can't put my finger on it..." Luz then speaks up, yanking Esper's head closer to Eda, "Yeah! See! Esper was hiding her ears yesterday but they're pointy at the end! They've been pointy her whole life! Just like your's! That MUST mean she's a witch!" Esper frees herself from Luz's grip, fixing her messed up hair, "Luz!" Eda grinned, "Now you see! I thought you were different, kid. I had a feeling you were one of us. Though, you! You said you wanted a magic staff, right?"
Luz gasps, "More than anything!"

Eda then summons her staff, which takes a few minutes before eventually getting to her, hitting her in the face. Eda then explains that witches get their staffs through school but Luz and Esper will be taking a different approach. She then drops a bag of potions in front of Luz, "You'll have to work for it. Now, Luz, follow me. Esper, you stay here." Esper then furrows her eyebrows at Luz, confused as to why they are going to be separated. Eda then talks to Luz about her business and for her to be careful when selling potions in town, showing Luz where she will be selling the items.

Eventually the two walk back into the room with Eda pushing Luz out the door, "Remember, befriend a man in sandals and always measure twice, cut once." Luz then looks at her confused before Eda closes the door in her face. She then pushes King, waking him, telling him he has to go with Luz. He argues, asking why he has to go until Eda points out that she would probably get lost AND eaten. He then leaves to go with Luz when Eda asks if he wants to pay rent for living with her.

Eda opens the door for him, "Be back by night fall or risk mortal peril!" Esper waves the two goodbye before Eda closes the door. She then magically changes her clothes to her usual attire.

Eda then looks at Esper, "You! Come with me." Esper begins to follow the older woman, throwing the dirty traffic cone off her head, "Oh! Okay Eda, whaaaaat are we going to do?" They weren't going too far, just in front of the house.

Eda suddenly throws a potion at the young redhead, who catches it, "We're going to unlock your magic while those two are gone, kid! You definitely are a witch, I knew something was up with you the moment you couldn't walk through that door at the Conformatorium! Those pointy ears you got just confirmed it. I've got one question though, how'd you end up in the Human Realm? I've never heard of any witches ending up there."

Esper shrugs, looking down at her reflection in the potion, "I don't know. I've been with my parents my whole life and they never mentioned anything about me not being human. Though they did tell me I was adopted..." She then looked away from her reflection.

Eda noticed that her demeanor changed and shrugged, "Eh, that's details we can talk about another time. Come on, let's unlock those powers. I think your bile sac might be a bit blocked since you've never performed any magic for as long as you were in the Human Realm. That potion should help you out, it's a remedy that clears up your pathways. Take a swing."

The smaller redhead nodded, "Uh, sure!" Esper takes a drink of the orange potion, suddenly surging with energy, "WOAH! That stuff hits hard! Alright! Let's do this then!" She swung her arms around, obviously excited.

The Owl Lady giggled at her, "Yeah, it doubles as an energy drink, you little firecracker. You're old enough to have one of those, right?"

Esper jumps up and down, punching the air, "Nope!"

Eda shrugs this off, "Heh, of course you aren't. Okay so follow my lead. Extend your arm and point, now make a circle just like this! Think about what you want to do and... do it!" At the end of her sentence, the circle Eda made shot a fireball at the stone wall in front of the house. It left a scorch mark as well.

Esper gulps and thinks back on Eda's instructions, extending her arm and making a circular motion. Slow and steady, the tip of her finger started to glow a light blue and white hue. She kicked up the pace, forming a circle with the magic at the tip of her finger. When finished, the circle stayed and shot a fireball at the same wall, leaving a similar scorch mark on the stone. Eda fist pumps afterwards, "Yes! I knew it, you're a witch, kid!"

Esper runs out of breath as she speaks, "So I am actually a witch? Woah! That's... so cool! Oh I hope it doesn't make Luz jealous though."

Eda shrugs, patting Esper on the head, "She doesn't seem like the type to be jealous to me. Besides! You two seem to be super close, I don't think that kid would ever be jealous of you. What are you looking at?"
Esper was startled, "Oh sorry, I was just looking at the sky... The atmosphere is so beautiful here, just look at it! The clouds, the purple hue of the sky even though it's daytime, everything is just so... Majestic."
Eda snickers, "Heh, what are you, a poet? I guess you're right though, the Boiling Isles does have it's charm despite it's flaws. You know speaking of Luz, she's taking a long time with those deliveries. Oh wait, here she is now!"

Esper looks to Luz with stars in her eyes, "Oh Luz, you'll never guess what I'm able to do no-Aaaand she's gone."

Luz runs past the both of them, running to her room. Unknown to Eda and Esper, Luz had obtained a map that will show her that she is "the Chosen One". They both shrug at each other before deciding to go back into the house.
Eda then walks up the stairs to Luz and Esper's room, with Esper following behind the older witch. Eda then opens the door, hearing a part of their conversation, "Oh you guys are talking about bad girls? Wait, what's going on?"
King then gets up, "Eda, tell Luz how dumb wizards are."
Eda shakes her head, Esper follows her into the room, "Ugh, wizards are the worst. Never trust a man in casual drapery! Why?" King then tells her that her wizard client told Luz that she was a Chosen One, which causes Eda to laugh. Both of them start laughing about the wizard telling Luz that she was a Chosen One, which causes Luz to blush in embarrassment.

Esper sees this and frowns, putting a hand on Luz's shoulder, "Aw come on, guys, don't laugh. Who says Luz can't be a Chosen One?"

Eda stops laughing, "It was a wizard that told her! Let me see the map. ...You didn't think it was real, did you?" Esper frowns. Luz then looks up, moving from Esper's hand, disappointed, "What?"
Eda playfully smacks the map, "This map is bunk! There's no lake with a Celestial Staff on the Boiling Isles. I would have stolen it ages ago. Aww, don't worry. Couple more months here and you won't look like such a mark." She pats Luz on the head, but Luz pushes her hand away, "Can I have some time alone?" This causes Eda and King to leave, shrugging as Luz looks at the map again. Esper shrugs, smiling, "Aw come on, don't listen to them. Maybe you are a Chosen One! Sure, the map might be fake but you aren't! Maybe you're a Chosen One in a different way."
Luz frowns at Esper, "I'm sorry but can I have some time to myself, Esper?"
Esper frowns back, looking defeated, "Oh... Okay, yeah, that's fine. I'll just go hang out with Eda and King..." She then walks out of the room, leaving Luz alone.

 

Esper then sits on the couch, sad, leaving a space for Eda in the middle as she questions King about the "wizard client" he mentioned. Stating that she doesn't know him that well and that she doesn't like he is planting something in Luz's mind.
Esper shrugs, "Well if I know Luz, she would find some way to connect this to Azura..... Oh no." Her face then lights up with a realization.
Eda then looks at Esper, "Oh no? What do you mean by 'oh no'? Come on, let's check on her, kid!" The two run upstairs, The Owl Lady opens the door to the room, "Hey, Luz? Aw NUTS!"

The smaller redhead looks to the sky, "I knew I shouldn't have left her! Even for 5 minutes! Aw man, now she's probably going to get eaten by some monster!" Esper's hands then start glowing blue, showing a dangerous-looking aura. Eda puts a hand on her shoulder before looking out the window, "Woah, calm down, Esper. Those powers of your's aren't used to your emotions yet. Hooty! Where'd she go!"
After learning Luz's location from the owl tube, Esper, Eda and King decide to head off and rescue the human before she can get herself hurt!

King sniffs the ground in the town, telling Eda and Esper that this is where they met the wizard. Seeing the rundown old castle in the place of the sparkly new one, the trio does not like the looks of this one bit. Eda then sees multiples of the same map Luz had, showing Esper that the map really was a fake, "I really don't like this. Come on, we have to find her!" Esper follows Eda as King jumps on Esper's shoulder.
King gets them to the town Luz was just in, using his sense of smell to track her. They encounter a cat-like puppet who tells them that they want Eda to keep following Luz. The puppet then disintegrates. King freaks out, jumping to Esper's arms exclaiming, "AH! THE CATMAN MELTED!" Esper hugs King closer, "What do we do, Eda?" Eda ponders, "Well, it's a trap. They want me to follow Luz. Hm...."

The trio fly in on the staff, struggling to hold on with how fast Owlbert is going. King jumps onto Esper's back as Eda speaks, "I know this guy. He's no wizard! He's what you call a puppeteer! A demon who specializes in scamming and manipulating people! Keep a note of that, Esper. He's trying to use Luz to get to me!"

King speaks up from Esper's arms, "And we're walking right into his trap! Great plan!" Esper puts up her finger to bring up a point when Eda interrupted her, "Hey if you two have a better plan, I'd be open to hear it! Looks like you'll be showing off your magic early, Esper, get ready! Now go faster, you!" She then smacks Owlbert on the back of the head, making them fly faster as Esper holds onto King tighter.

Eda, King and Esper ride in on Owlbert, coming to rescue Luz from the situation she finds herself in. However, the villain quickly traps them in the arms of his puppets, holding all three of them in the air. Eda points at Adeghast, "That's right! You have me! Now release Luz!" King then exclaims, "Esper and I didn't have to be a part of this!" Esper squirms against the puppet, trying to move her trapped finger as the puppet's grip grows tighter.
They then watch as Luz is put into a fantasy, yelling for her as she seems to be consumed by it. Until she exclaims, "It's not real!" Releasing her from the fantasy and allowing her to pick up the toy sword she brought along with her.
She stands in front of Adegast, "I am a witch's apprentice. And I am going to . I believed you magic man! Now feel my wrath!" She then stabs the fake wizard, causing him to disappear. This gives Eda, King and Esper enough time to squirm free, kicking off a fight.
Eda sets off a fire spell, making a stream of fire that burns 3 of the puppets away.

Esper forms a circle, shooting fire at one of the nearby puppets, setting it on fire. She then kicks another in the gut area, causing it to fall. She then punches another puppet above King as she prepares another magic circle with her other hand, firing another fireball at a different puppet. she looks down at her hands, impressed with herself as her magic cools off, "Woah! Those VR games back home really weren't a waste of time!" King gets up, "I have no clue what a vee-rr game is but thanks, Es-LOOK OUT!" Esper is then hit to the ground by another one of Adegast's puppets, letting the puppet take a hold of King. She lands in front of Eda, who lets go of her staff when Adegast threatens King's life.

Luz starts to apologize, "King, I'm sorry. I should have listened to you and never trusted that wizard! You were right, he wasn't mystical or magical, he's just a big slimy jerk!" She then kicks the sword at Adegast, stabbing him in the head. He then turns into a tiny octopus, making him let go of King. Luz then catches King as Eda and Esper move closer to look at the little Adegast.
Eda then picks him up, "Well, that's the last time I take an outside referral. You want a piece of this, Esper?" Esper makes a disgusted face, "Of what? Him? No way!" Eda shrugs, dropping the tiny octopus into her mouth, "Eh, suit yourself! ..What's wrong, Luz?"

Luz looks down, "I'm just confused. This place is nothing like how I imagined..." Esper looks at Eda, sad. Eda looks around, looks up at the sky like she and Esper did earlier and have the three follow her. They blindfold Luz, flying with her to the front of the Boiling Isles, showing her the skeleton lying in the water.

Luz is amazed, "Woah..."

Eda speaks up, "The bones of the Isles, up close the Isles can be slimy." King chimes in, "And very stinky!" Esper giggles at King, holding him tighter in her lap, "And gross!" Eda smiles, lightly nudging Esper in the arm with her elbow, "But if you look at it from a different perspective..."

Luz smiles at the comet above them, "It's beautiful..." King yawns, leaning back into Esper's lap, "Yeah!" Luz then asks Eda how she knew the wizard was lying. Eda looks at Luz, then to Esper and back at Luz, "Listen, kid, everyone wants to believe they're 'chosen'. If we all waited around for a prophecy to make us special, we'd die waiting. And that's why you need to choose yourself. That includes you too, Esper." Esper smiled at this as Luz then asks, "...Does that mean you'll give me a magic staff of my own?" Eda looks at the sky again, smiling, "Not yet, but, someday..."

 

After watching the sunset on the Boiling Isles, the group lands in front of The Owl House. Esper gives the sleeping King to Eda, who takes him to his room for him to stay asleep. Luz then runs to Esper after Eda leaves, hugging her, "Oh my gosh, by the way Esper! You really are a witch! Was this what you wanted to show me earlier?"
Esper nods excitedly, "Yeah! Turns out I've had magic within me this whole time, I just needed an energy drink to unlock it and someone to show me a spell! ...Well it's actually more complicated than that but you know."
Luz hugs her again, tighter this time, "Oh I knew it! I'm so proud of you!"

Esper hugs her back, elated to see that her best friend is happy for her rather than jealous like she thought...

Chapter Text

The morning after yesterday's excitement was not off to a good start for Luz and Esper. They had been forced to do "cleaning duty" outside, and were now staring at a revolting sight that could only be described as disgusting. "Well, Luz, Esper," said Eda, elbowing Luz. "Did you ever think you'd witness something as breathtaking as this?" She gestured to a towering trash slug corpse, surrounded by muck and garbage. The buzzing of flies was audible all around them. Luz shook her head and plugged her nose, stuttering, "I really don't like this." The stench of rotting flesh from the trash slug was overwhelming, causing Esper to cover her mouth to prevent herself from gagging. She joked weakly, "Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Yes, nothing is more inspiring than the trash slug," Eda said, laughing. "It makes a home, a life from what others have thrown by the wayside, Until, blam, it gets blasted by a wave one day and croaks from all the salt. And then we get to sell what it's eaten." She pulled a rubber chicken and a pickaxe out of the slug's gaping wound, chuckling. Luz and Esper exchanged a long look, and Luz pleaded, "Please, don't make us do this." But King laughed and said, "Oh, come on, guys. It's not every day you get to pick apart a garbage carcass at the dump." Eda shrugged off their protests, saying, "Ah, nuts to both of you."

As Eda swung her pick at the trash slug, Luz decided to ask a question that had been on her mind. "Eda, what if we tried some new lessons for our apprenticeships? Like reading ancient scrolls or mixing potions or—" But before Luz could finish her sentence, Eda interrupted her. "Ugh, that sounds like a bunch of magic school stuff." Both Luz and Esper perked up at this. "Wait, you're telling us there's been a magic school all this time?" Esper exclaimed with excitement. Luz continued, "Like with winding towers, cute uniforms, and dark plots that threaten your life kind of magic school?"

"Mm-hmm. What's worse, they force you to learn magic the 'proper' way. But magic isn't proper. It's wild and unpredictable. And that's why it's so beautiful. I didn't finish school, look at me! Who wouldn't envy where I am right now?" Eda croaked with obvious annoyance, but Esper had stopped listening. Her mind was filled with wonders and mysteries, and you could see the stars and sparkles practically begin to flutter around her as she stammered about anything that came to mind. Meanwhile, Eda continued, "Hey, here's a lesson." She dropped her pick and stuck Luz's hand in a puddle of trash slug bile, saying, "A great witch is resourceful, like this!"

Luz pulled out a greasy slimeball and looked at it with disgust, her face scrunching up. "Actually, if it's okay, I think I'll head home and look at pictures of animals that are still... alive. Love you, King," she nervously laughed as she backed up into the woods, grabbing Esper's hand and pulling her along. Esper snapped out of her dreamlike trance, exclaiming, "Huh? Oh! Are we already going? Well, bye Eda! Bye King!"

Luz and Esper found themselves in the forest on the outskirts of where Eda and King were exploring inside the trash slug. Luz stammered, "Ugh! If magic's all about digging for slime balls, maybe I don't have the stomach for it." Esper jumped into her monologue, saying, "Same here. I hope we don't have to do that ever again." But before Luz could respond, they both heard a girl's voice echoing from deeper within the woods, "You can do it! You can do it!"

Both Luz and Esper peeked through the trees and saw a girl with large circular glasses who seemed to be struggling. She paced back and forth, muttering to herself, "You can do it. Even if you get a bad grade, it's not a reflection of you as a witch. And my parents are right. There are better opportunities on this track. Now, get to school!" As she took a step forward, she accidentally crushed a small flower. "Oh, no! Oh, little friend! I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, feeling guilty.

She kneels down and repeatedly traces a spell circle. The flower perks back up and fully blooms. Luz gasps. The girl's ear wiggles as something rumbles off screen. She turns as a wagon, being moved by magic, rolls to a stop in front of her, carrying a pot and a girl reading a book.

The girl one the wagon had looked down on the girl was healing the flower she had crushed as scoffed as she spoke “Willow! Wow, You're so unnoticeable I almost rolled into ya” The girl who’s name they had found out was Willow had looked down seemingly embarrassed as she said “Hi, Amity” but before she could continue Amity had cut her off “Uh, shouldn't you get to class early to prep your…” the cauldron next to Willow had rattled than spilled all over the floor pouring out a purple substance and an eyeball that blinks and groans. Amity had than chuckled and laughed “Oh, Willow. You don't have anything to show, do you?”

Luz let out an exclamation of surprise, "Witch drama!" However, Esper's expression turned to one of disgust, irritated by Amity's condescending behavior. Despite her urge to intervene, Esper managed to control herself and observe the situation. As Amity uttered the words, "This is why people call you 'Half-a-Witch Willow'," Esper's anger flared up. But before she could react, Amity had already left, sneering and adding, "See you in class, superstar."

As Willow wiped her forehead her composure started to shatter and she began to vent, "Oh, see you in class, superstar! I hate when she does that!" Her outburst made Luz and Esper flinch, the sudden change in Willow's demeanor alarming them. "I hate making abominations. I hate getting bad grades. Ugh! I can't stand this anymore," Willow continued, her frustration escalating. Luz gasped as Esper covered her face, not wanting to witness what was happening next.

As if in response to Willow's emotions, the small flower from earlier was consumed by enormous, thorny roots that sprouted up around it. The roots encircled Willow, glowing and writhing with anger. One of them snaked out and wrapped around Luz's ankle, causing her to scream in pain. The root lifted her up briefly before dropping her a few feet behind Willow, Willow turned around, her eyes still glowing with an intense energy that frightened Luz and Esper.

As the thorny root narrowly missed Esper and grabbed Luz, Esper froze. She didn't know what to do - she didn't want to get hurt, but she couldn't just stand there and watch Luz get hurt either. In a split second decision, Esper resolved to run to Luz's aid.

However, as she hurried out of the forest, Esper witnessed something unexpected. Instead of a vicious battle between Luz and Willow, she saw Willow rushing to Luz's aid after she had been thrown by the root. Willow worked quickly, unraveling the roots from Luz's foot as she stammered, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no! I'm so sorry!"

Luz quickly responded with a joke to lighten the mood, “It's okay. The thorns only went through a few layers of skin” Esper had walked over to the two of them as Willow looked at Luz’s ears but then over to Esper. Willow had pondered for a moment “So... circly” before suddenly gasping and then stammering “You're human! This is astounding!” Willow had grabbed Luz’s face then helped her stand and walked around her. “A human on the Boiling Isles! How'd you get here? What are you doing here?” She had questioned Luz before turning to Esper and pointing at her “Do you know her?”

Esper stood proudly, "Why yes I do! You are talking to Esper the recently discovered witch and her longtime best friend, Luz Noceda! Nice to meet cha!" The redheaded witch then stuck out her hand, which Willow took. Though she seemed confused, "Recently discovered? Did you not know you were a witch before or...?"

Luz intervened this time, "Oh you know, somehow she ended up in the human realm as a baby and she was raised as a human for her whole life. She's only known that she's a witch for a week but she's already kicking butt!" The teen rubs a hand on Esper's head to mess up her hair, looking proud of her as she does so and it causes Esper to giggle, "Aw come on Luz, no affection in front of someone else! Haha!"

Willow raised an eyebrow, "Really? Do you know how you ended up in the human realm?" Esper shrugged, "Well, no. I had to be a baby when it happened since all I can remember is living with my parents. I would like to find out what happened though, if I can."

Willow seemed to remember something, "Oh! Maybe my friend Augustus can help, he's an expert on humans. Maybe he can help you figure out how you got to the human realm. I go to class with him at Hexside-OH NO! That's right, I'm sorry. I can't stay. I have to go disappoint my teacher. It was nice to meet you, human and human witch." She then waved to the pair before walking away to head to school.

Esper started to wave back until Luz ran in front of Willow before she could walk too far away, "Wait! I'm Luz. And you're Willow, right? What you did with that flower and those plants, it was... wow."

Willow sighs, "Thanks, but... I'm not even supposed to be doing plant magic. My parents put me in the abomination track at school."

Esper raises an eyebrow as Luz squeals, grabbing Willow, "Like, magic school?" Willow nods in response.

Luz exclaims, "That's so cool! I'm so jealous. We have a teacher, but her lessons are a bit... untraditional. I bet she wouldn't even let us enroll. But I wish I could spend one day there."

Willow sighs, "I wish I could get a passing grade for once. Then people would stop calling me "Half-a-Witch Willow."

Esper tried to think of an idea for them but Luz chimed in with an idea first, "I know how we can get what we all want!How about I be your abomination? I can help you get a good grade and you can show me around the school. With Esper's ears, she can sneak in and talk to your friend no problem. It's fiendishly clever!" Esper gasps, "Oh yeah! I can just pretend that I'm on a tour of the school! So you'll be hiding in muck the whole time?" Luz shrugged, "Might as well, we can help Willow out and see more of this magic school. And see if we can learn more about how you got to the human realm!" Willow looked at the two, unsure of what to do, "What?"

Luz splattered Abomination goop on herself, "I saw that girl's thing. It's just chunks of stuff that talks weird. I'm chunks of stuff, and I talk weird!" Willow giggles at her, "That's true. It's a deal, Luz." They then shake hands as Luz says, "This is a great plan." They try to pull their hands apart, but the abomination goo on Luz's hand has them stuck together. The plant loving girl tries to pull her hand free from Luz, "Oops. Abomination goo." Luz tries to use her foot to free them, but the force sends her splashing in the goo on the ground, "Great plan." Esper laughed at her in response and Willow let Luz climb into her Abomination pot and rest. She and Esper then walk side-by-side to the school while Willow pushed the wheelbarrow.

 

The trio eventually made it to the school and Willow exclaimed, "Welcome to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. Remember to stay hidden, okay?" Luz squeals and giggles from inside the pot. Esper is amazed by the size of the school, "Woah mama, this is going to be a long walk." Once inside, Willow stops at a locker, tickling it to make it open its mouth and give her the books needed for class. A boy witch shorter than Esper bumps into Willow as he was busy reading a magazine. Willow looks down at the boy, "Hmm?"

The boy was still reading the magazine, not noticing the new witch next to his friend, "Willow, you would not believe humans!"

Willow started rubbing her neck awkwardly as Esper gestured for her to calm down, "Humans? Psh. I haven't seen any. What?" Esper face palms at what Willow says.

The boy witch shows Willow the magazine, "Did you know that humans nail barbed wire to their kids' teeth?! But why? Maybe to make them magnetic."

Luz giggles from inside the pot, "Actually, it's for storing treats." Esper had to restrain herself from shushing her as the boy witch finally looked up from his magazine to notice her.
He raised an eyebrow, "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there. Was that you?" Esper looks nervously at Willow before coughing nervously, "Oh yeah, uh, that was me." He noticed her clothes as well, she was wearing her usual yellow hoodie and black pants, "Um, are you new here? You're not wearing a uniform and I've never seen you around here before." Esper chuckles nervously, " Hi, I'm Esper and, uh, I'm touring the school to see if I want to attend Hexside. And you are?"

The smaller boy smiled at her, "I'm Augustus Porter! I'm happy to meet a witch who seems to appreciate human culture!" He meant her clothes, as they seemed pretty human-like to him. The redheaded witch then smiled smugly, "Well it's funny you say that. I'm actually a witch who was raised in the human realm!" Augustus gasped, grabbing her hand, "What! No way! Oh, uh sorry! But still, are you serious? That is so cool! A witch raised in the human realm! How did you even get there! What humans did you meet? What is your favorite human food!" He blushed as he let go of her hand.
The recently discovered witch smiled smugly as the smaller boy kept asking her questions that she couldn't answer all at once, liking the attention he was giving her. Until Luz gave an, "Ahem!" from the pot, wanting to be introduced to the new witch. Esper chuckled, "Okay, okay, fine, Luz. Uh, Willow?"

Willow then looked to her friend, "Okay, Augustus. I'm gonna tell you something. But you have to be cool."

Augustus looks at Esper before quickly looking away to smile at Willow, "I can be spool. I mean! Cool."

Willow points at her Abomination pot, "Okay. Abomination, rise!"

Luz then stands out of the pot, "Ta-da! I'm an abomination."

Willow sighed, "Luz, that's not how abominations act."

Augustus drops his magazine and starts to play with his ears as he continues to stare at Luz, "No. No, it—it couldn't be!"

Willow patted Gus on the shoulder, "Augustus is the president of the Human Appreciation Society. Most witches wouldn't be able to recognize a human right away. But Augustus is an expert."

Augustus ran up to Luz to get a closer look at her, "Where are your gills?" This made Esper giggle and Gus then blushes when he heard her.

Luz then remembered something, "I knew an Augustus back in the human world. We called him Gus, remember him, Esper?" Esper chimes in, "Oh yeaaaaah! Good ol' Gus, kinda sucks that he had to move away though." Luz shrugged as Augustus seemed to get excited, "Gus? Nickname? Human nickname? Gus? Call me it. Wow. Gus! This is the best day of my life!" Esper smiled at him as the bell rang.

Willow then talked to Gus, "Okay so this is very important, Gus. Esper here actually wants to find out how she was left in the human realm in the first place." Esper waved to him as Willow continued, "Can you do that?" Gus quickly nodded, "Of course! Let me just leave a double of me in class and we can go!" He forms a circle with his finger, making another him appear in a puff of smoke. The double walked off with his bag and wand to take his place in class, "Off to spelling class I go!"

Willow turns to Luz, "Okay and back to the darkness you go!" Luz playfully hisses at Willow as she sinks back down into the pot.

This left Gus and Esper alone, the girl turned to the smaller boy, "So! Where are we heading?" Gus pondered for a second, "Well, I imagine you don't remember what happened hmm... Let's get to the Illusionist Room, there should be something to help us there. No one should be in there right now, we have some time before that class starts."

The two looked at the various objects around the room. An hourglass that showed someone's different forms depending on the time on the hourglass, which Esper played around with. Though it did not help. There was a looking glass that didn't seem to do much either. Next was a mirror that showed them how to change their appearances to their ideal selves but once again, not much help. The numerous projects left by the students didn't help either. All of the items the duo tried failed, though they weren't willing to give up hope. There had to be something they can try to look into Esper's memories or help her in some way.

Gus thought to himself, remembering a spell his teacher mentioned the previous class, "Well, there is this one spell I can try."

Esper beamed at him, "Oh, a spell? What kind of spell?"

Gus's eyes narrowed, "Wellllll..... It's kind of complicated..."

But then a student walked into the class, making Gus and Esper cease their talking. As they want to keep this a secret.

Eventually, class was to start soon. When students started filling the room, Gus took his seat and offered the one next to him to Esper. Esper sat with him and the teacher noticed her, "Oh, hello young witchlet. Are you sure you're supposed to be here in this classroom?"

Esper smiled nervously, "Oh yeah! My name is Esper. I'm supposed to be here, I'm on a tour of the school to see if I would like to attend. Gus here is my guide."

The teacher was satisified with this answer, "Oh that's lovely. Thank you for being helpful, Augustus. As I expected from my top student."

The redheaded witch looked to her friend, impressed, "Woah, top student?"

Gus whispered back to her as the teacher resumed her lesson, "Oh yeah, I'm the top student in the illusionist course. It's kinda easy for me." Esper smiled, impressed by her new friend.

The class droned on but the two made through it. The teacher's lesson had mentioned a spell that could look into someone's memories, even if they could not remember them themselves. This interested Esper, as it may have been the key to figuring out her past in the Boiling Isles. As the class filed out, they left Esper and Gus alone in the room.

Esper looked at Gus excited, "So! What do we have to do to peer into my baby memories? Glass ball? Weird lizard juice? You don't have to take out my eyes, do you?"

Gus shrugged awkwardly, "Uh wait no. None of that! The thing is, I don't know if I can look into your memories or not. It's a very delicate thing to look at and we both need to be fully concentrated when trying to look for the spell to work." Esper nods in understanding, "Oh, okay I get that. Hey, don't sweat it. I'm sure I can find a different way of finding out how I got placed in the human realm. Thank you very much for trying to help, Gus."

Gus blushed as she held out her hand for him to high-five her, "I-it's no problem! I like helping you! And I promise, I'll help you find out what happened." Esper smiled as he high-fived her, "Thanks, Gus."

The bell then rang, signifying that lunch has started and now they must go to the cafeteria. They left to sit with Willow and Luz. Gus asked Luz if humans ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Which Luz appreciated and ate half of what Gus had. Esper got to try Hexside food for the first time after eating Eda's cooking for weeks.

However, Willow seemed worried, "I don't know, Gus... If Amity saw that-"

Then suddenly the girl known as Amity jumped onto the lunch table in front of Luz's Abomination pot, she yells at Willow, "I SAW THAT! ABOMINATIONS. DON'T. EAT." She then turned to the pot, yelling into it, "I know you're in there! You can't hide from me! What are you! Who are you! I want answers!"

Esper balled up her fist, standing up, "Hey, why don't you chill out? You're kinda scaring everyone."

Amity turned to Esper, "And what do you have to do with this, Freckles?!"

The green haired girl only calmed down when a teacher stepped in, telling Amity to report to the principal as Luz continued to play as an Abomination. Esper remained silent, letting the teacher do his job. Amity complied, looking sad to do so. Luz and Willow looked worried about her while Esper and Gus remained shocked at the outburst.

Later the quartet went to the Abomination classroom, having to complete their tasks for the day. Esper helped Luz out of the Abomination pot. Luz stretched, "Oh I am a sweaty lil Abomination! But now we don't have to worry about Amity. High five, Esper!" Her longtime friend does so as they celebrate.
Luz offered the witch kids a high-five, only to see that they don't know what that is even after Esper and Luz had already performed the human custom. Gus gives her a high five and is excited. However their celebration is short-lived when Amity walks into the room... With Principal Bump. When he walks closer to Luz, Willow and Gus push Esper out of his way, as they have to show their principal the utmost respect. He looks Luz over and tells her to lay on the table. He then calls Willow over, wanting her to cut Luz open so they can study this "advanced looking abomination."

Strangely, the knife Principal Bump pulls out of his sleeve to hand to Willow seems to trigger something in Esper's brain. A memory of sorts. She has the feeling that she has seen the knife before. She takes a sudden breath but shakes her head, she walks forward to stop Willow from cutting Luz open. Gus then catches Bump's attention, high fiving the pots of Abomination goop to knock them over and send the Abominations to distract Bump. This gives Luz and Willow time to run away.

"They're getting away!" Amity exclaims, ready to give chase as well.

The principal then started to use magic on the wall, "No, the intruder won't get far!"

Principal Bump then turns to look at Esper, noticing that she isn't wearing a uniform, "You there, you are not supposed to be out of your uniform unless it is for theater or you haven't received it yet. What is the meaning of you being out of uniform?"

Esper sweated as Gus started to hide behind her, "Uhhhh, I'm here on a tour of the school to see if I want to attend Hexside?" She gave him a very awkward smile, unsure if her lie would work on him.

It did not work on him as he exclaims, "Oh well alright-Wait a minute! Tours are scheduled for next week! Who are you!"

The redheaded witch swallowed a lump in her throat as she then grabs Gus's hand, "Uh oh, we're leaving!" Gus has to sprint in order to make sure he isn't being dragged by her. Principal Bump barely missed Gus's hood on his uniform, as he was being pulled forward by Esper, "The redheaded witch is an intruder as well! She might be a Glandus student trying to steal our grudgby techniques!"

The two run down the corridor, Gus blushing at the fact that Esper is tightly gripping his hand. He questions, "What is your plan?!" Her breath is ragged as she keeps running, "Just to get away from that guy!" She is determined to not let him fall behind. They skid to a stop when the school's security system goes off and wild vines start appearing everywhere. Seeing as there isn't much of a way to go, Gus spots one of his entrances to his hidden tunnels. As the vines continue to grow, Gus makes multiples of himself. One of them takes Esper's hand as the other points to the hidden tunnels.

"Esper, quick go in there!"

"Wait, but what about you? I can't just leave you here."

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine! I am the top Illusionist in the school after all. You just get out of here."

Esper nods, "Okay, I will. Thanks, Gus you've helped me today more than you realize." She then lets the multiple Gus clones lead her in and out of the tunnel. Their faint glow provide her some light in the dark tunnel. The tunnel rumbles as the fight outside goes on. The last Gus throws Esper out of the tunnel and onto the ground, she falls flat on her face.

Moments later, Luz also joined her on the ground. The two then ran off to get Eda in order to save Willow and Gus. Eda and King were dealing with their own problems, as they have been making bets on a trash slug the whole day.
Both Esper and Luz hug Eda, wanting her to help Willow and Gus but the hug only confuses Eda, as she never knows what it is. Luz admits that her trash findings did save her life today as well. But then Gus and Willow appear to them, pulling Esper and Luz into a hug. Eda continues to question the existence of hugs. The kids tell the girls that there is good news. That Willow is now allowed into the plant track at school and that Amity won't be bothering them for the rest of the day. As well as bad news as both Luz and Esper are banned from Hexside's school grounds. Esper's banned poster portrays her as someone running away, looking like she is hissing at whoever is taking the photo.

While the two offer to teach Luz and Esper what they learned at school, Luz does admit that she does have a good teacher already. Esper agrees with her, which makes Eda doubly proud.

Eda suddenly smiles at this, "Yeah, that's right! Luz and Esper are my students! Back off Academy twerps! Aw... Babys' first wanted posters..." She looks at their wanted posters fondly. She then pats Luz on the head, telling both Luz and Esper that she is proud of them and maybe she had taught them something after all. Gus then suddenly appears between Eda and Luz, jokingly telling them, "You high five with your hand, not your head."

...

Later in the night as she's getting ready for bed, Esper thinks back on the memory she thought when she saw the knife, it just looks so familar to her for some reason... Though the adventure ends with Luz and Esper being banned from the school, it doesn't shake their determination to one day be accepted into the school. One day!

Chapter Text

Esper and Luz have been called into the living room by King and they entered to see him with a sock stuck on his snout. He was struggling as Luz starts to record him with her phone, "And here we have the most fearsome creature in the world, the King of Demons! Facing his natural enemy, the ducky sock!" Esper starts to laugh and Luz turns the camera to her briefly, her form being caught in the recording. She turns the camera back to the small demon as he still struggled with the sock.

King manages to tear the sock off his nose, ripping it to shreds. "Ha! Where are you now, ducky sock!"

Luz smiled at the little demon, "So, why'd you call me here again?"

King climbed up on a table, "Oh, yeah! Human Luz, you've been so obsessed with witchcraft that you haven't learned anything about my kind. Prepare yourself for..." The small demon rips off a curtain to reveal a corkboard showing off photos of various demons and he puts on a hat, "Demons 101. Demons like me are grim tricksters of the twilight, creatures of sulfur and bone!"

Luz zoomed in on her camera and Esper joked, "And cute little paws!"

King sighs, "And cute little paws... True. We live only to create chaos and misery. Our only weaknesses are purified water and passive-aggressive comments. Sometimes!"

Luz giggles at him, "Oh, you guys are sensitive."

King posed dramatically, "Even demons have inner demons. The most powerful demon of all is the Snaggleback. He's a—" Luz puts a filter over the picture of the snaggleback, "Bad boy!"

King was getting frustrated, "Luz, pay attention. This information could save your life someday! You too, Esper."

Esper frowned, folding her arms, "Hey, come on, I'm paying attention. Luz is the one on her phone!"

Luz: "No, no. I am so paying attention. This is my paying attention face, see? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm."

Lightning crashes through the sky, scaring Esper and King due to the sudden noise. The small demon had jumped into her arms because of the noise. Luz, Esper and King then looks outside the window, seeing gray clouds.

King scratches his face, "Uh-oh. Looks like it's gonna rain." Esper loosens her grip on King, "Oh, that's not that bad then." Luz gasps as she heads to the door, "I love the rain!"

King jumped out of Esper's arms to try to get to Luz, "Hey, wait!"

Luz opens the door, taking in the feeling of rain to come, "I always love feeling the first few drops in my hair!" She then kneels down to talk to a flower, "I bet you do too, little buddy."

However, then a raindrop falls onto the flower, making the flower wilt and die instantly.

Luz looked at the flower, shocked, "WHAT?"

Eda emerged from the forest, running to the house, "Boiling rain! Everybody inside now!" She then grabs Luz's arm, tossing her inside. When Luz was tossed inside, Esper grabbed King to move him out of the way so he wouldn't get hurt.

Eda sighs, "Phew! That was close! But the important thing is, you didn't get hurt!"

Luz groans, things still falling on top of her, "Yup! ...Not hurt..."

...

As the rain continued outside, King had put a bandage on a burn on Luz's arm and one on his own skull, calling them boo boo buddies. Eda talked about making preparations for the night so Hooty and the rest of the house will be safe from the boiling rain. The redheaded witch awkwardly rubbed her hands, as Luz and Eda talked about the weather on the Boiling Isles. Upon being done with the sphere of magic she was making, Eda looked towards the girl in the yellow hoodie. She started to establish some rules, "Until the boiling rain stops, no one is allowed outside tonight. Esper, may you come here for a moment?"

Esper looked at the flowers melting outside due to the acid rain, "Well, I was supposed to have a sleepover with Willow today but I guess that's not happening. What do you need me to do, Eda?"
Eda put up a force field over her head as well as Esper's, "You're going to help me make a force field, come here. This force field spell should protect the house from boiling rains and made-up demons." The pale witch then expanded her force field for the young girl to walk to her. Esper nodded, walking closer to her mentor. Eda had Esper grab her staff below her hand, "And you just do this aaaaaand!"
When they stamped the staff on the ground, an area of Esper's leg started glowing white. An orange force field started to form around Hooty, protecting the Owl House from the threatening rain. Esper was impressed by what she has seen and loved that she got to help, since she is Eda's apprentice after all. Eda smiled at the young witch, "Nice work, kid."
The glowing area of Esper's leg subsided, not being noticed at all between the two witches. Luz hadn't noticed but King did, he squinted. But because he wasn't sure what exactly it was that he saw, he shook his head.
Esper smiled back at her and followed her inside. Luz had seen the two perform the spell together and wanted to do that too, so she was extra determined to learn a spell from Eda as well.
"Wow! Some day I want to be as cool as Eda the Owl Lady. Magical, sassy, surprisingly foxy for her age. Hey wait a minute, why do people call you Eda the Owl Lady?"

Eda smirked, "Because I'm so wise!"

Hooty butted into the conversation, "Cause she coughs up rat bones!"

King jumped into Esper's arms yet again, "I think it's 'cause she gets distracted by shiny objects."

Eda frowns at him, "No, I don't." King then takes out a pen and clicks it, and the diamond on top of it glows.

Eda's eyes suddenly sparkled, "It sparkles and shimmers, it shines and delights. I must have it for my nest..." She pounces for the pen, but Esper pulls King away from her path and she falls on her face on the ground.

Luz helps Eda up, "You have a nest? I want a nest! Nest party!" Eda groans as she walks inside, "Ugh, that force field took a lot outta me..."

King laughs while still in Esper's arms, "Uh-oh. Moving a little slow! Age finally catching up to ya?" Eda then shoves his hat down his face, blinding him. "Ah! Darkness!" The redhead holding him helps him by lifting the hat back up.

Luz turned to Esper, "This is perfect! Since we'll be stuck in the house all night, Eda won't have any excuse not to teach me a spell." She followed Eda as Esper followed, still holding King.

King squirmed in Esper's arms, "But don't you wanna finish our lesson? I was gonna let you scratch a demon's tummy. Me!"

Luz rubbed the back of her neck, "Oh uh... Sorry, King but uh... Magic."

Esper put King down, "Aw sorry about that, little buddy. Luz uh... Has always wanted this since she was a kid. I promise, I'll listen to one of your lessons later." She then followed Luz and Eda. Esper knew he was sad about Luz not wanting to learn more about demons so she figured she would have enough time to learn from him later. Luz had been trying to convince the Owl Lady into teaching her magic, annoying Eda. She managed to convince her by offering her the sparkling pen in exchange. Eda relents, having Luz sit down in front of her. Esper was about to walk to her room when Eda stopped her, "Esper, sit down next to Luz. I really don't want to repeat this lesson later."

The redhead sighed in annoyance and sat down next to Luz. Eda continued to speak, "If you want a witch's staff like mine, don't make me repeat myself. Witch's staffs have power embedded into them.

Luz interrupted her, making grabby hands, "Gimme!"

The Owl Lady shook her head, "But before one is earned, every witch needs to know how to cast spells on their own. Now..." She throws her staff to the kitchen, "Tonight I will show you how to create... light." She draws a circle with her finger, which then turns into a small ball of light in front of the girls. It disappears after a few minutes.

King frowns, being bored with his own drawings, "Yawn! Who needs another boring spell lesson when you could be learning all the fun ways a demon could kill you. Look how teethy this one is! Bite, bite!"

Luz frowned at him, "Be quiet. I need to focus."

The young witch shushed the both of them, making them both sit down to focus on their own task. King sat sadly, alone with his drawings.

Eda points a finger in the air, "Thank you, Esper. Now, humans think magic is made out of thin air, but that's stupid. Everything comes from something. Let me ask you, kid. Where do you think magic comes from?"

Luz squints as she thinks, "Uh, from the heart?"

Eda smiles, "Actually, you're right. Luz gasps, excited as she thinks of her fantasy series that revolve around magic coming from the power of love.

The Owl Lady pulls a diagram of a witch's heart out of her hair, showing it to Luz, "No, really, it comes from a sac of magic bile attached to a witch's heart." Eda looks at Esper and then to Luz, seeing just how different the girls really are, "Actually wait a minute, kid. Do you have a magic bile sac? I know Esper does but do regular humans?" Esper shrugs at Luz, "Oh, so that's what the doctors saw when they took a look at my heart. They thought it was a dangerous lump." Eda gives her a laugh, "I mean, in a way it is. For your opponents!" Esper laughs at this but it makes Luz look sadly at the floor. As she is a regular human and doesn't have a bile sac. The Owl Lady then stretched, walking to her room before Luz stopped her.

Luz then looks up at Eda, taking out her phone, "Please, Eda, just one more time." Esper gestures to Luz, vouching for her best friend, "Aw come on Eda, you've shown me a few spells already, can you just show Luz one more time?"

The older witch sighed as Luz starts recording, "Smile! You're on camera. Come on! One more spell won't kill you."

Eda groaned, "Fine. Now, you see, the... Spell circle is really key because—" She starts to fall, "Ooh, boy."
As Eda begins to faint, Esper moves underneath her, catching her. She tightens her grip on the older woman, "Woah! Eda, are you okay?" Luz is surprised as the speed Esper was able to move at. Her mentor did not respond to her question.

King jumped to Esper's shoulder, poking at her face, "Welp, looks like one more spell killed Eda."

Both girls looked to King with wide eyes, he then laughed as he was just joking. Luz stops recording as she moves to help Esper, "Oh, my gosh. My obsession with spells knocked out Eda. I'm a monster." Esper shook her head, noticing that Eda is still breathing, "Not yet you are. Luckily she's only knocked out, come on, we should probably get her to bed." Her friend nodded, helping Esper lift Eda to her room and then to her bed, which happened to be an actual bed. King moved an animal skull that was on the nest so she could sleep more comfortably.
Luz sighed as she put a blanket over Eda, "Sorry for pushing you, Miss Eda. Please don't hurt me when you wake up."

The three then left the room with King now trying to get the two of them to learn about demons again. The human shook her head, taking out her notepad, "Not now, King. I want to figure out this spell. But if I don't have a magic sac, what's the point? I'll just be twirling my fingers around un-magically forever." Esper layed a hand on her shoulder, "Hey come on, I'm sure you can do it somehow."

King pouted, "Why do you want to learn magic so bad, anyway, Luz? I can get Esper, she's a full on witch. But you?"

Luz sighs, "I was a nobody back home. But becoming a witch is my chance to be someone. Do you know what it's like to have no one take you seriously?"
Esper grimaces, remembering all the times she and Luz had been picked on by the other kids at school.

King sighs as thunder rumbles in the background, "If I help you learn that spell, could we finish our lesson?"

Luz puts her phone away, "Oh, yes, yes. You can teach me about demons all week if you help me learn this spell! You too Esper?"

Esper pointed to herself, "Me too?"

King: Well, she said witches used to do magic differently, so there has to be a way, right? And I have a theory. Every day I notice Eda sneaking drinks of this special elixir, see? Then she always gets a boost of energy, see? I think that's where she gets her powers. Right Esper? You've had some of it before!"
The redhead remembers back to when Eda taught her the fireball spell, she did give her an elixir, "Oh yeah! She said I needed one because I haven't used my magic in a long time. Maybe it can work the same for Luz! Though I haven't had to drink one since..."

King nodded, "True but you are a young witch! You're probably bursting with energy! Maybe Eda just needs some in her old age! And I know where to get some!"

The human smiled as King then ran off to Eda's room. He was quiet as he could as he grabbed the golden elixir. He almost felt guilty but didn't, handing it to Luz without thinking of the potential consquences. Esper shrugged as Luz prepared to drink it, "Well, bottoms up!"
Luz smiled as she prepared to drink the potion, "Wow. I can't believe I'm about to learn magic! Real magic! This is historic!"

....Until a crash of thunder rang through the air, startling Luz and causing her to drop the elixir. Both her and Esper tried to catch it before it fell onto the ground, cracking open and spilling out on the floor.
Luz groaned as King tried to cheer her up. Esper shrugged, "Hey, it's okay. Maybe we can ask Eda when she wakes up-" But before she could finish her sentence, Hooty screamed in horror. He sounded like he was in pain so the trio ran to him. They saw that his door was off it's hinges and he seemed to be knocked out... Something came in while the three were busy trying to give Luz a chance to learn magic. King was excited, seeing this as a chance to teach Luz and Esper about demons if one had found it's way into the home. Oh and protect Eda.

Luz shook her head, "Uh wait a minute, you want us to go towards the creepy noises? No way!"

Her redheaded friend then spoke up, "Actually, you did tire Eda out so bad that she's now knocked out and defenseless so we should go protect her if there is a demon inside."

The human sighed as they then decided to gear up. Luz and King tapped pillows to themselves as they did the same to Esper. Esper then put on some long white gloves and picked up a frying pan as her weapon. Luz grabbed a hockey stick and with everyone geared up, they headed towards the old lady's room... Only to see that she wasn't there.
The three started to freak out as there were claw marks on her nest. King decided to go out to get his book on demons and Esper went with him, not wanting to leave the young demon alone. Until they turned back around and noticed that Luz was gone, she had been taken by whatever was inside the house with them. Esper started to panic, "Luz! Luz, where are you?" She started to search the room for any sign of her friend.

King, convinced that it is a Snaggleback ran to the closest with Luz's left behind shoe for a weapon, "There's nowhere for you to run! Snaggleback? Wow. You are a lot shorter in person.

The Snaggleback in the closet started to stammer, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I-I just needed a place to hide from the rain!"

King: Then why did you break down our door and take Luz?"

Esper lifted her bed from the other side of the room, "Yeah! That's not cool, man. Bad Snaggleback!"

The creature was confused, "I-I didn't do any of that stuff. I snuck in through a window just now."

King: Huh? Well, then what...

Suddenly the Snaggleback is picked up by a much bigger demon, "Oh, no! A twist!" He is then eaten and his shell was spit out, the monster was terrifying to the witch and the demon. They were backed into a corner as King shouted at the beast, "Stay back. Hey, hey. I am the king of demons, okay? And as such, I demand you to barf my friends back up!" Seeing that the creature was still growling at them, Esper and King run out of the room. Right as they were about to turn a corner, King was snatched by Luz's arm. She was safe, just hiding from the monster after she tripped and lost her shoe. Luz and King then realized that the demon had to Eda, as the elixir she drinks once per day is actually used to keep her curse under control and she was not able to drink it today due to being too tired. While the human was able to grab King, she was not able to stop Esper, who is still running from the monster.

The large demon then smelled something that enticed it to go into another room, luckily giving Esper enough time to get away from it and into the living room.
The redheaded witch relaxed, seeing that the demon was no longer chasing her. She struggled to look in the dark, she figured she should probably find one of King's books on demons in order to help combat the monster that got in the house. The young witch made a circle in the air, forming a small fire underneath it. She then kept the circle floating over her hand, letting her move the fire as it stayed within the circle, allowing her to see. She looked around the living room, hoping to find some sort of book while she was in there.

Soon she found what she was looking for, only to realize that the book was placed ontop of the board that King left out. The board was taller than her so Esper had to stretch her arm forward, the redhead put the fire in her hand out so she could try with both hands. However because she was taking so long, the beast was able to come back, finding her quickly due to it's night vision. Esper reaches for the book, not paying attention to the creature before her. She slowly looked up at the monster, lightning from the outside storm brightened the room. This let Esper see the monster's features. She noticed the creature's fully black eyes and slicked back hairstyle. Her eyes narrowed, she couldn't remember where she saw the same features before... But she was being attacked at the moment and she didn't want to set fire to the house so she grabbed a nearby broom.
She pushed at the giant demon with the broom, "Back! Get out of here, this isn't your house!" However, the monster was unfazed, it raised it's paw and hit the broom sideways. It had snapped Esper's weapon into two pieces. Esper looked at the broken piece of wood, "Well... That's a-" She then throws the wood at the creature's face, "Bit of a problem! Luuuuuz! King!"

She runs past Luz and King in their fort, who have also been hiding from the monster. Esper was going to run to hide with them but she realized that if she did, it would lead the monster right to them. So she made the difficult decision to run from the room, leading the creature into the hallway to keep them safe.

King, "What is she doing!"

Luz looked up, "Oh no, Esper! King, we need a plan. That thing might eat her if we don't do something!"

King then nods, noticing the creature's black eyes and realizing that it should be sensitive to light. Luz's camera was broken from when it fell out of her pocket earlier, as the creature came to their foot after being distracted from Esper. But Luz then saw something... A sort of pattern over Eda's light spell circle. A glyph of some sort. Tracing over the pattern, it allowed Luz to make a ball of light, just like the spell. With this realization, King and Luz came up with a plan.
The duo discuss the plan as Esper continues to run. King shouts, "Esper! Catch! Hey ugly, over here!" The redhead ran towards King's voice, not being able to see too much because of the darkness but she saw the pen he was holding due to the light on it. She caught it and lifted it above her head to get the monster to continue chasing her. Exhausted from having to run for so long, she tripped near the ladder Luz was perched on. Esper turns, using her arm to shield herself from the beast as Luz shouts, "I'm sorry Eda! But this is for your own good!" Luz smacks the wall, shining an extremely bright light in the monster's face. She had drawn a pattern on the wall, a light glyph that was used to knock out the beast-like Eda.
The three then dragged her back to her nest bed, letting her lay down with a straw in another elixir, allowing her to drink it.
Eda grabbed the potion, confused, "Hmm? I was looking for that!"

King rubbed the back of his neck, "Actually, we found an extra one in your closet.

Eda: King? King! You stole my elixir? I ought to break every bone in your-"

Esper was sitting on the floor, still tired, "Shh! Look over there." Luz was drawing down glyphs, summoning small balls of light that filled the room. Her smile was tired.

Eda was astonished, "Wow! How is she doing that?"

Esper shrugged, surprised that Luz was able to do magic at all. King spoke up, "I don't know, but she did it all on her own. Hey, I, uh, kind of messed a bunch of things up back there. And I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

Eda put her hands on her hips, "Well, you better be. I got a long list of disgusting chores with your name on it, King! But it's not entirely your fault. I haven't been completely honest with you guys..."

Esper shifted to look at Eda, giving her full attention to the older witch. Eda continued, "When I was younger, I was cursed. I don't know exactly how it happened, all I know is that if I don't take my elixir... Well, that's why people call me the Owl Lady. No one likes having a curse, but if you take the right steps, it's manageable."

Luz gasped, "Whoa. So are you okay?"

Eda sighed, patting Esper's head, "There's nothing for you kids to worry about. It's all under control, and as long as no one steals my elixir-King-then I'm fine. But, hey, look at this. A human doing magic. Good on you, kid."

Luz smiled at King, "I had some encouragement from a great teacher." She smiled at Esper as well.

The redhead started to lay down, feeling just how exhausted she has gotten from running from the cursed Eda and helping her put up the force field.
Esper fully relaxed, exhausted. Finally able to take a nap after her long day as King and Luz went to go help Hooty and Eda went to sleep...

Chapter Text

The day opens up with Esper and Luz helping Eda at her stand, well, Esper is helping. Luz is reading one of the Good Witch Azura books to King, who is laughing at the art portrayed in the book. Because Esper has already heard the book several times, she decided that helping Eda was best. Even if they didn't have any customers due to no one being around. That is until they heard two familar students running towards them.
Gus made it to the booth first, holding up a poster, "Luz! Luz! Esper! Esperrrrr! The covention is going on today!"

Esper raised an eyebrow at him, "Covention? What's a covention?"

WIllow explained for the two, "It's the annual covention! Student witches get to see all the types of covens before they're placed in one. There's even a mystery guest this year!"

Esper smiled as Luz seemed very excited, "Ooooh! A job fair for witches?! Awesome! Can we go? Please, Eda! Please!"

Eda shakes her head, "Absolutely not. I never joined a coven for a reason. Sure it's like a fun club for witches, but you're also giving up your magical independence to be part of a crooked system."

Willow frowned as she dropped the poster, being hurt by Eda's words. Esper put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Eda did try to make her feel better, "Eh, but, you know, no judgment. In any case, I haven't been to one since we were girls."

The younger redheaded witch's ears shook at a particular word, "We? What do you mean 'we?"

Luz picked up on the word as well, "You heard that too! You have a mysterious past! Now we gotta go!"

The older witch shook her head again, "Nope."

The kids try to convince Eda to let them go to the Covention but she refuses. Until King starts to read from the Good Witch Azura books again, annoying her so much to the point where she cracked, bringing the kids to the Covention. She holds her hands to her pointy ears, "Stop it! Stop it! I will do anything to stop this!"

...

Upon arriving at the Covention, Eda was stuffing her hair in a cowl, putting it on her head like a hood. Luz raised an eyebrow at her, "Is the cowl really necessary?" Eda nods, "Well yeah! What? Do you think ym wanted posters are for petty theft?" Various items then fall out of her cowl, leading her to pick them up and stuff them back in, "Partly." She shrugged, "But the big whammy is I disobeyed the law and refused to join a coven. If I'm seen, I could go to jail. Again."
Esper was impressed but Willow spoke up, "Maybe this informative event will inspire you to join a coven?"

 

The brown haired human looked up, seeing all the covens' various stands, "Woah... Was I even alive before now?" Gus started explaining, "Those are the main nine covens, but there are hundreds of other ones you can join." Willow joined in their conversation, "There's Flower Coven, Artist Coven, Big Dog Coven, Small Cat Coven, Tiniest Cat Coven-"

Eda groaned, earning a frown from Esper. She whispered to Willow, "is there a grumpy coven?" Willow nodded as Eda snapped her head towards them, "What was that?"
Willow yipped as the kids all started running away, giggling.

Eda soon followed, running away from something who thinks they recognize her as 'Eda the Owl Lady.'

 

Luz spots a short man in a hardhat building a small house and she points at him, "Ooh, what's that?" Willow looked towards her, "That's the Construction Coven. One of the main nine. They use power glyphs to increase their strength."
The witch removes his hard hat to pull of a power glyph from a stack atop his head. He peels the adhesive off the back of one and puts it on Tinella Nosa's nose. She begins to scream, throwing the older witch in the air, "Ha-a-a! I'm the destroyer of worlds!" She grabs the Construction Coven sign and tossed it in the air. Two witches tried to stop her as Tinella tried to grab her.

Esper smiled at the display, amazed by Tinella's power, "Yowza-wowza!"

Suddenly another Esper walked in front of the redhead, having a light blue glow to her, "Yowza-wowza!"

Esper backed away from the sudden illusion double, "Yowza-wha-a-a?"

Her illusion double walks over to two Illusion track witches. She turns back to her to wave at her and disappears.
Gus runs near the two other witches in oder to show off to the girl, "Ah! You've been taken in by the allure of the Illusionist Coven. Remember? We like to magic with a hint..." He disappeared into a puff of smoke before reappearing a few feet closer to Esper, "...of showmanship!"
He bows in front of her as the other two illusonist stand next to him, bowing as well.

Luz turned to Eda, amazed, "Wow! Acceptance? Comradery? A sense of belonging? Covens sound incredible! Eda, why haven't you ever joined one?"
Eda called the two girls over to her, "Esper, come here. Watch closely, Luz." Esper had joined the two, watching as a boy walks up to an Illusionist Coven witch. He holds up his wrist to the Illusionist.
Eda frowned, "When you join a coven, all your other magic is sealed away."
A seal in the shape of a mirror appears on the witch's wrist, light blue lines running from it up his arms and face. He watchess as the light blue lines fade.
Eda shook her head at the boy, "From now on, that kid will only be able to make illusions. Since I never joined a coven, I can do every kind of magic." She then creates a fireball in one hand and a ball of water in the other, putting both her hands together to make them disappear in a bout of steam, "That's why I'm the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles."
The Owl Lady walks away. Esper, Willow, Luz, and Gus hurry after her, amazed. King starts to follow, but is stopped with a hand on his shoulder. He is swayed away from the group by the various freebies from all the Coven booths. he thinks they are offerings to the 'King of Demons.'
Esper turns around, realizing that King is gone, "Uh, King! Where'd you go?" Luz runs back, "Esper, come on, you're gonna lose Eda in the crowd!" Before Esper could speak, Luz grabbed her hand, yanking her down the hallway. The redhead shrugged, following her childhood friend.

Luz looks to a sign showing the Emperor's Coven, "That panel looks popular."
Gus gasps, jumping up and down, "It's the Emperor's Coven! Do you think they'll sign my forehead?"
Willow grows excited, "Only one way to find out!"

Willow and Gus run inside. Luz starts to follow them, but stops when she realizes Eda hasn't moved. Esper was moving behind Luz but bumps into her, causing her to look at Eda, "Aren't you coming, Eda?"
The Owl Lady looks away in disgust, "No way. Of all the covens, they're the worst. I'll wait out here."
Luz puts a hand on Esper's shoulder, "I get it, Eda. Covens: bad. Individualism: good. But I'm still figuring this world out, so Esper and I are going to go in there and we're going to make up our own minds, okay?"

 

Eda remained outside the stadium until someone had walked near with a Coven Guard, trying to look for Eda the Owl Lady. The older witch ran into the door after the children, not wanting to get arrested that day.

"Hey! Luz! Wait up!"

She then settles down in a seat next to Luz, "Alright, let's see this mess." Esper is sitting in between Luz and Gus.

 

Principal Bump then appears from the floor of the colosseum, causing the crowd to cheer. He then summoned a microphone to speak into, "Hello, Bonesborough! Students ask me all the time, "Principal Bump, what's the height of magical achievement?"
Mattholomule spoke up from the crowd, "Is it this?" He forms a circle with his finger and increases the size of his head greatly, crushes the student next to him.
Principal Bump blinked, "Wow. I failed you as a principal... It's being selected to join the best of the best! And there are none better than the jewel of the coven system and the enforcers of his will, the Emperor's Coven!" Three Coven Scouts appeared in front of him.
Luz starts to shake Esper, who seemed equally excited, "Whoa."
Willow and Gus point to Gus' forehead, which has been signed. "Luz! Esper!"
Principal Bump is still smiling, "Feast your eyes on this elite force, each member handpicked to help usher in a new age of controlled magic."

The Coven Scouts then show off their magic, firing off various elements in the air for the audience to gawk at. Eda jokes to a demon next to her until Principal Bump continues, "Members of the Emperor's Coven have access to all—yes, all forms of magic. Ooh. Aah. But... only the best can ascend these ranks. Some day that could be one of you!" Esper looked to where Principal Bump pointed, which was at Amity, who squealed in excitement. She bumps Luz's arm and points at Amity, causing Luz to raise an eyebrow as this confused her.

The principal then decided it was time to introduce his mysterious guest to the crowd, "And now, I'm pleased to introduce the esteemed leader of this coven and this year's mystery guest. You know her, you love her! Lilith!"

Eda looked up, shocked at this, "What?"

A flash of light shines the ceiling and turns into a blue raven sitting on a branch. The raven flies off the branch to the stage, opening it's wings to reveal Lilith. It disappears with a screech as she lifts her arms and sends her mask flying. The audience applauds and cheers, while Eda is looking at her speechless.

Luz noticed this, "You know her?

Eda kept her glare, "You could say that."

Luz gasped at this, "Mysterious past!"

Esper peered down at the dark haired woman, "Woah! Lilith looks so cool!"

Lilith started a speech, "Thank you, all. It wasn't easy for me to rise to the top. I also started from humble beginnings." She looked up and spotted Esper at that moment before continuing her speech, "Now I have the highest honor of enforcing the Emperor's will. So be more! The Emperor's Coven awaits you!"

Eda glared at the same woman, "Lilith..." She then got up and started to leave, Luz looked over to her, "Eda! Where are you going?"

Eda still walked away, "To wash the con funk off my skin!"

Luz, "But! But! We haven't even taken the quiz to determine our coven type!" As if on que, Esper looked up from her quiz, "Aw cool! I'm a bizarre beastmaster!" She held up her test with a bright smile on her face.

Luz's childhood friend's test was hit by a magic blast from Eda and looked down at the destroyed piece of paper, giggling with Esper. Luz grabbed the paper that then fell from the burned magazine, "Oooo, a punky potionist!" She then looked around, "Oh, hey Esper, have you seen King anywhere?"
Esper took a look around, "Nope, I haven't seen him anywhere. I thought someone should have stayed with him if the doors closed, he is small enough to not be able to push it open. I'll go look for him." She gets up from her seat and headed out of the arena.

She guided herself through the large crowd of people, leaving Luz to bump into Amity. Esper managed to find King in the crowd covered in Coven merch, she giggled as he struggled to walk. She smiled, crouching down to talk to him, "Hey King, I see you're enjoying the Covention." He talks to two bakers, "Heck yeah I am! Cupcakes in my tummy-tum makes the King say yummy-yum! And one for Esper too!" One of the bakers spoke up as King took two cupcakes, "So you'll join the Baker's Coven?"

"Emmmm, nope!" He then dashes off with the two cupcakes, handing one to his taller friend. Esper giggled at him more, then taking a bite out of her cupcake, "Haha, nice one dude." King laughed along with her, "Haha, thanks! Oh hey Luz, take a look at these offerings-"
As King tried to show off the cupcake to lose, he tripped over the long scarf he was wearing. As he tripped, he dropped the cupcake in front of Luz and Amity. Esper ran over to King in order to put him back upright, he reached for his cupcake until Amity stepped on it, crushing the delicious treat. Esper had gotten mad at this, "Hey!" But Luz stepped in front of her.

The green haired girl smirked, "Oops. That was an accident."

Luz furrowed her eyebrows, "Why are you being so mean, Amity?"

Amity frowned at the human, "Because you and your pet are giving witches in training a bad name."

King started scratching his face with his hind leg while hiding behind Esper, "Hey! I'm not a pet!"

The brown haired girl pointed at King, "He's a very good boy and the King of Demons! I'll tell you what, Amity. It's one thing to say I can't be a witch-"

Amity interrupted her, "Cause you can't."

Luz continued despite the interruption, "...but it's another thing to bully my friends. Just like The Good Witch Azura said when facing down her rival Hecate at the Bog of Immediate Regret... I challenge you to a Witch's Duel!"

 

Everyone gasped, including Esper. She took a step back from the two, having King do the same as Luz and Amity continued to stare each other down.

Amity continued to smirk as she walked up to Luz's face, "I accept. Let's set the terms for this duel, shall we?"

Luz frowned, holding up one finger "One, if I win, you apologize to King for squashing his cupcake."

King picked up the ruined cupcake, "Goodnight, sweet child." Esper picked him up, offering her own cupcake to give to him. He sadly munched where Esper already bit.

Luz held up another finger, "And two, you admit that humans can be witches too."

Amity's smirk still never left her face, "Fine by me. But when I win, not only do you have to tell the whole covention you're not a witch, you have to stop training forever!

Esper grimaced, knowing how much Luz wanted to be witch ever since they were both kids. King cheered from Esper's arms, "Do it, Luz! For my honor!" Esper froze but nodded, agreeing with King.

Luz held out her hand, nodding back at Esper before looking at Amity, "Fine. Let's shake on it." Amity nodded and formed a circle with her finger. She and Luz shook hands through the circle. Amity then let go of Luz's hand, "The everlasting oath is sealed." The spell circle fades and the geeen haired witch walked away from Luz, who looked slightly panicked.

Luz took a deep breath, "...That's probably fine."

Amity glared at her, "Meet back inside the theater in one hour. Let's see what kind of witch you are." She then walked off into the crowd.

Luz gulped, looking towards King and Esper, "King, I-I can win this, right?"

King was finishing the cupcake Esper gave him, "Mmm? Oh, yeah. No." Esper then face palmed, balaning King in her other hand. She thought to herself, 'Aw dios mio, she is screwed."

Esper put a hand on Luz's shoulder, "Heeyyyy, Luz. It'll be fine. Maybe Eda can help you out? I'm not sure if I can make a fire glyph appear for you if I do a fire spell for you."

Luz nodded and began to walk off to find her teacher, "Yeah, yeah of course. Eda will know what to do!" Meanwhile King wanted to scout for more "offerings" and he had promised Esper that he would be back to watch Luz's fight with Amity. The redheaded witch then sat back down in the stands, filling in Gus and Willow on the situation. The two were surprised but were interested to see if Luz could actually win against Amity.

 

...

 

Within the next hour the fight started between the two, with Luz running away from Amity's Abominations. There was magic happening around Luz, which confused Esper. She then spotted the mounds within the ground and groaned, "Oh boy, this has Eda written all over it. Maybe I should have been the one to fight Amity." Willow shrugged, "Maybe but this could possibly work in Luz's favor." King had then joined them, covered in more coven memorabilia. Esper started giggling as he asked, "I am just loving these offerings! Hey, what'd I miss?"
Gus excitedly said, "Luz is in a Witch's Duel! She could probably win it all! Yeah-yeah!"
King jumped into Esper's lap, "Aw yeah this I gotta see!" Esper laughed until another student cheered for Amity. She glared at the other student as King hit the student's foam finger, "No! You root for Luz or no one!" The redhead smirked as she tried to keep the demonic dog in her lap, "Haha, calm down tiger. Though you are right, you gotta root for Luz."
After a few minutes of watching Luz run away from her life, Lilith discovered that the human girl had been cheating thanks to Eda. However, Eda noticed a power glyph from the Construction Coven had been put on Amity's neck. Meaning Amity had been unknowingly cheating as well, which greatly upset her.
Esper gasped, as did Willow and Gus. She then started laughing, "Oh my Titan, Miss Priss cheated!"

Amity, embarrassed, ran away from the arena. Prompting Luz to begin to follow her, "Amity, wait!"

King jumped out of Esper's arms, tripping over the large shirts and scarves he was wearing, he ended up entangled in the clothes, "Luz! Help me!"

The brown haired witch grunts as she frees King, ripping the shirts off him.

King looked sadly at the ripped up shirts, "My offerings!"

Luz pats King's head, "You'll get more offerings, King. Luz then runs out of the arena to follow Amity.

King looks back at Esper, who gestured for him to follow Luz, "Hey, wait for me!" The small furry demon then ran after Luz.

 

Eda started to mock Lilith, making rhymes about the fact that she made her student cheat despite boasting about her power. This caused a fight between the two witches. Flying on their palisman, the two started their fight. Eda used gold magic with owls in the shape of Hooty while Lilith used light blue magic in the shape of ravens. The sudden hit from Lilith caused everyone to gasp but Eda had expected it. The two were on the attack in a fierce battle. Esper was impressed by her teacher's attacks, but was also impressed with Lilith's. While she couldn't explain it, she did find the way Lilith fought to be cool. That is until the curse seemed to start effecting Eda and the two stopped the fight to talk. Esper could not hear what the two were talking about but it seemed serious....

 

.... Until Eda threw a bag of Hex Mix at Lilith and started to run away. As she ran, she shouted, "Come on Esper! Unless you don't want a ride home." The redheaded witch gasped, climbing down the wall to fire her, "What! Ugh, I'll see you guys later. Eda, wait!"

The two then found Luz and King in the dark hallway, making the two stand up as they regrouped. Eda shouted at them, "We gotta go!" Luz was confused, "Huh? Wait, how'd you get away from Lilith?"

Eda smirked, "Let's just say she had a real "snack attack." Hah! Wait, I got a better one." This caused Esper to frown interrupted Eda, "She tossed a bag of Hex Mix at Lilith's face."

Luz giggled at this but then looked down sadly, "Eda... Esper... Do you think I'll ever be a true witch?"

The older witch furrowed an eyebrow, "What? I don't know. And who's a true witch? These suckers? Is it Esper? Well according to Lilith, that means being in a coven, but I never joined one and I'm better than all of them combined. You gotta be your own witch."

Esper smiled at her childhood friend, "Yeah! Whatever path you choose, I'll support you no matter what. Or heck, why choose one path? You can pick multiple! You have to be your own witch!"

Luz's frown turned into a smile, "My own witch."

Eda put a hand on both Luz and Esper's heads, proud of them both, "Now, let's go before my sister realizes I tied her pointy shoes together."

As if on cue, Lilith can be heard screaming. Signifying that she had tripped over her tied together shoelaces.

King had jumped onto Esper's shoulder and Eda grabbed both her and Luz's arms, "And that's our cue!" She began running with the two.
Luz smiled as they ran, "Sister? Now that's a mysterious past payoff!"
Esper kept her big smile, "Really? That's your sister? She looks awesome!" She then noticed that Eda did not look too amused, "Uh! Not as awesome as you of course. Haha..." Luz leaned closer to her, "Nice save." She awkwardly whispered to the taller girl, "Thanks."
Eda glared, "Oh come on, Lily is not that cool, she's a nerd! Besides! Do you think that's all the mystery I got? Wait until you hear about my parents!"

Esper's eyes sparkled as Luz spoke, "What? You've got parents? I need to know more!"

The small demon laughed from Esper's shoulder, "You very much don't!" His laugh had caused the whole group to laugh...

 

...And as the laughed, unknown to them Lilith seemed to have some sort of deal with Emperor Belos. And whatever deal they had seemed to endanger Eda...

Chapter Text

Esper looks down at her phone, her messenger app was open and she was staring at the messages sent from her parents. Her thumbs were frozen above the phone, unsure of what to say to them. They were confused, wondering where she is and she didn't know how to go about answering them. She chooses to look at the table, where Eda was playing a game with Owlbert to distract herself. Eda smirks at the playing cards in her hands, "Watch closely, girls. Hexes Hold'em is the most tricky game on the Boiling Isles. Any proper witch knows how to play."
Esper giggled, "Oh boy, cards! The paper rectangles that old people think are fun!" Luz elbowed Esper's arm, causing the redhead to put her phone in her pocket and rub the area. Eda puts a card down on the table. Lightning comes from the cards, sending Owlbert flying for cover behind the side of the table. The cards all stand and roar. Owlbert's surge forward and attack Eda's, making Owlbert smirk.
Eda's frown turned into a smirk, "Now when it looks like the deck is stacked against you, that's when you break out the wildcard!" She holds up another card. It glows green, and Owlbert's cards disappear in a flash of fire. Fiery letter spelling out "WINNER: EDA" appear over the table. Owlbert hops back onto the table and hoots at Eda, sticking his tongue out at her.

Eda pumped her fist in the air, "Woo, I win! In your adorable owl face. Ah, I love the feeling of victory! It feels... fluffy?" She didn't notice the feathers growing from her arms.

Esper hid behind her childhood friend, "Woah!" Esper remembers when Eda chased her around the house the last time the curse took her over.

Luz kept Esper behind her as she pointed at Eda's arm, "Uh, Eda? It's happening again!"

Eda raised an eyebrow, "What's happening again?"

King shouts as he points at Eda's arm, "Your curse is returning!"

...

The children watched as Eda opened a chest, as she needed an elixir in order to hold the curse back.

Eda looked through the chest, finding only empty bottles, "Oh, boy. This is terrible! I'm out of elixir!"

Luz holds up her phone, showing Eda as the Owl Beast, "Uh, last time this happened, you turned into this thing."

Eda complimented herself, "I know I should be repulsed, but that look is fierce."

The brown haired girl turned around to hold Esper, "Eda! You scared poor Esper last time!"

Eda rubbed the back of her neck, "You're right, you're right! Come on, kids, we need to head to the market."

Luz then begins to follow Eda, "Market!"

Esper raises her arms as she followed Luz, "Woohoo! New place to explore!"

King follows the younger witch, "I'm stealing everything that's not nailed down!"

The old witch puts a hand in her pocket, "Before we go, would anyone like to play one more hand of Hexes Hold'em?" She then pats her clothes, "Hey, where are my cards?"

Luz handed the deck to Owlbert and whispered to him, "Take these and fly ahead. She'll have to follow us." In response, Owlbert then flies ahead of the group. This caused Esper to giggle.

His older witch companion runs after him, "Owlbert, you sore loser, gimme back my cards!"

...

Now at the Boneburough Market, the group has made it to the Potion Stall. The Potion Stall is run by Morton, a tall scrawny witch with brown hair, wearing a metal helmet along with brown shirt and brown shorts. However

Eda starts to hit the metal grate with her hand, "Hey, open up, Morton!"

Esper joins in to bang on the metal, "Come on Morton! You gotta open up! Oh man, where is he?" Not noticing that Morton has opened the door and is now getting hit in the face with Esper's hands.

"Ow! Ow! My Titan, who is this snapping turtle you brought with you, Eda?" Mortan said, rubbing his face.

Eda smirked, "This is just one of my lovely apprentices. Her name is Esper. Anyway Morton, I need more elixir."

Morton rubbed the back of his neck, "Nice to meet you, Esper, Elixir Master and Eda's supplier but uh, that's a secret so shhhh. Sorry, Eda! I was up all night poison tasting and for some reason, I don't feel great. Let me just... Go check on the supply."

Suddenly, there is a loud noise of a large cart that rings out in the air, causing the two witches to look behind them. Luz and King were already looking at the cart carrying a huge monster.

"Whoa, that is one ominous parade."
Eda put a hand on her shoulder as they continued to cart the demon around, "That's no parade. Those are demon hunters."

The demon on the cart growls and bucks at the hunters. The two demon hunters pushing the cart pull its ropes to pin it back down. It tries to bite at both demon hunters.

Eda glared at them, "Dangerous nomads who capture and sell the most powerful beasts."

One of the demon hunter traces a spell circle, creating green lightning in his hand. He grunts as he shocks the demon unconscious. The hunter then looks at Luz and she looks away, gasping.

Eda turns back to he grate, "...Which I'm about to become if you don't hurry up, Morton! Come on, I'm all out of juice, pal!"

Morton opens the grate once again, "Sorry, Eda! I'm looking, I'm looking!" He ducks down and digs around, rattling bottles. The demon hunters continue on, revealing Willow and Gus, looking dejected, behind the demon.

Luz shakes Esper and points at their friends, "Esper look! Willow and Gus! Heya, friends! Wait, what's wrong? Who hurt my babies?"

Willow sighed, "Them..."

Esper looks as Willow points to a food stand. Skara and Cat are laughing together while Amity is staring at a potion and Boscha is watching them. Esper glared at the group of bullies.

Willow groaned as Esper put a hand on her shoulder, "Amity's having a moonlight conjuring and invited everyone but me."
Gus, summons his scroll, "And she keeps posting about it on her Penstagram account." He shows Luz and Esper the popular girl's Penstagram which shows a picture of her and her friends posing, talking about the Moonlight Conjuring.

The brown haired human shouts, "It's conjuring night! No dorks allowed"? What a jerk!" She then raised an eyebrow, "What's a moonlight conjuring?"

The plant witch talked about the event, "You spend the night at someone's house, telling stories, playing games..."

Luz smiled brightly, "Like a slumber party! We have those!"

Willow, pulls out a book to show off a picture, "Then you bring something to life with moon magic!"

Esper frowned but then smiled again, "Like a weird slumber party!"

Willow shrugged, "Gus and I have never been to one. You need at least three people and—"

The human exclaimed, "I'm four people! I mean, we're four people, that's more than three! and we're way better than them!"

Boscha laughs as her group passes by, "Sorry you couldn't get an invite to the conjuring, Willow." She then looks at Amity, "Only real witches allowed."

Amity sighs, "Leave her alone. It's not her fault she was born without talent."

The popular group leaves. Willow growls as several vines grow from the ground.

Esper smacks the tallest vine, putting a hand on Willow's shoulder, "Whoa. Hey, don't waste your time getting thorny over them." Luz then interrupted her, "'Cause we're gonna have our own moonlight conjuring!" Esper raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"

Gus pulls out a list, checking off something on the list, "Are you serious? This was on my bucket list. After owning a real human bucket!"

Luz laughed, "That's a really weird thing to want, but I appreciate your enthusiasm. I'll go tell Eda."

Esper raised an eyebrow at him, "That is a strange thing to want but I'm sure we'll find you one. Eda has a lot of human stuff."

Gus suddenly started blushing, "O-oh! That is great news! I can't wait to visit!"

Meanwhile Morton has some bad news for the old witch, heard not too far from the kids.

Morton shrugged, "I've got bad news and good news. Bad news is I'm all out 'till next week. Good news is feathers are a good look for you."

A feather grows out of Eda's hair, "Morton!" More feathers start to grow from her body.

Morton shrugged at the older witch, "Well gee, E. Why'd you wait to re-up 'till now?"

Eda frowned, "I've been very busy."

King spoke up from the bench, "Yeah, busy playing Hexes Hold'em. She's obsessed with it!"

The old witch frowned at him, "I am not obsessed!"

The small demon jumped onto the table, "You're playing it right now!"

Various cards are now splayed out on the counter, and Eda has one in hand. Eda smiled, "...Am I winning?"

The elixir seller started to whisper, "You know, I wouldn't suggest this to just anybody, but if you need your elixir you could try your luck later this evening."

Eda raised an eyebrow, "In the night market?

Morton nodded, "There's a guy with a stand, goes by Grimm Hammer; if anyone has what you need, it's him."

Luz ran up to her mentor, "Eda, Gus and Willow and I are gonna do a moonlight conjuring and stick it to Amity. So can we-"

Eda holds up her hand, "Not tonight, I'm going out. I need you to watch the house, I have many precious objects in there." She took her staff and started to walk away.

King smirked, "Like me! Whoa!"

Eda picks King up by his collar, "You're coming with me. I need an extra pair of eyes looking out for pickpockets... And an extra pair of hands in case I want to pickpocket."

The two then shout, "Pickpocket!"

Luz asks, "Then, maybe they can come to the house and-"

Eda frowned at her, "No! Besides, conjurings are dumb, sitting in a circle holding hands. Pft. It's like magic for babies. I can't have you and Esper participating in baby activies!"

Luz frowned, "But-"

Willow and Gus run up to the human girl, "Luz! What did Eda say?" Esper raised an eyebrow as she noticed that Luz looked nervous.

Luz rubbed the back of her head, "So... guys..."

The young illusionist pointed upwards, "Oh, look! The moon is rising into place. And the celestial powers only align once a year."

The plant witch squealed. "Oh, I can't believe I finally have enough friends for a moonlight conjuring! Thank you, Luz! Did Eda say it was okay?"

Luz began to laugh nervously, "Uhm... yes. She said yes. We can do it at the Owl House. As long as we don't make a mess or touch anything and never bring up that we did it!"

Esper started to glare at Luz and was about to object when Willow smiled as she hugged the younger witch, "Oh! Yay! We can make up our lost sleepover, Esper!" Esper remembered that the last time the two tried to have a sleepover, it rained boiling rain, "Oh yeah, we can! And it'll be even better than what we had planned up! I can't wait!" Esper began her own nervous laughter.

As Willow and Gus walked away, Esper grabbed Luz's shoulder. She whispered, "Luz! Are you sure we're allowed to do this? Or are you trying to get Eda to kick us out?" Luz nodded, waving her hand, zz"Of course! Just relax, we should be fine!" Luz then looked to the moon nervously as Esper put her face in her hands, unsure of how the night will go for the both of them.

...

Later that night, Eda was preparing to leave The Owl House for the night market. Luz and Esper are both sitting on the couch, watching her get ready. With Luz looking at the older witch nervously. Seeing Luz be nervous was making Esper nervous. Esper elbowed Luz's arm, catching her attention, "Shhh, dude."

Eda spoke up, putting her cloak on, "Luz, you're in charge while I'm out. Make sure Hooty doesn't get into any trouble."

Esper pumped a fist in the air, "Haha! Not me!" Luz furrowed her eyebrows at her childhood friend. The redheaded witch raised an eyebrow at her, "What?"

Hooty spoke from outside the house, "Hoot hoot!" The strange owl then opened the door, "I don't need a babysitter. I'm a big boy house!" Esper laughed at this, "Sure you are, Hooty, sure you are."

Luz laughed nervously, "You can count on me! I'd never betray your hard-earned trust."

Eda narrowed her eyes at the human, "You're acting suspicious. You're doing that thing where you hide in your hoodie." Luz had suddenly had her hood up.

Luz puts her hood down, "Meow I'm not!"

Eda opens her cloak to reveal King, snoring and strapped in a pink baby carrier, "He's right here. His little body just conks out when he's weightless. Look at this."

She moves side to side, King moves like a ragdoll, still asleep despite the movement.

Luz smiled at this, "Aww, he's so dangly!" Esper started playing with his feet, he still hasn't woken up.

Eda starts to walk outside, "Anyway, really going now. And Luz..."

Luz grows nervous at her menacing tone.

The old witch glared at her, "...if you mess up the house, I will never trust you again." Her tone changed to a lighter tone, "No pressure! Byeeeeee!"

Owlbert hoots as Eda flies away. Esper and Luz waves after them for a few seconds.

The redheaded witch turned to Luz, "Ay. Should we really be doing this? Then again, Willow IS counting on us." Luz shushed her and whispered, "Okay, she's gone."

Willow's voice is suddenly heard, "Release!" And the two bushes glow and explode, revealing Willow and Gus. Willow is wearing a light brown shirt with a white collar with a blue bow, as well as brown boots and purple pants. Gus is wearing a blue tunic with a high collar as well as a long sleeved white shirt underneath, brown boots and black pants.

Willow smiled brightly, "I'm a sneaky sneakster!"

Gus whispered, excited, "I've got leaves in my pants...and I like it."

Esper giggled at this, "Hehehe, weirdo."

Gus blushed at this, he doesn't know why.

 

The four started to walk towards the door, causing Hooty to speak, "Company! Hooray! Finally someone to listen to my stories! Okay, one time, a sparrow flew into my mouth, and then I-"

Esper opened the door for the group and shut it once everyone was inside.

Hooty, "Hey..." He then coughs out a sparrow, which flies away chirping.

...

Inside the Owl House, Esper turned down the lights while Luz drew a light glyph. The human threw the light spell in the air, where it blew up, lighting up the room in a fancy display.

Luz smiled, "Welcome to, the living room. We call it that because it's technically living!" Esper giggled, poking at the wall, "The walls are breathing, look."

One of the walls started moving with heavy breaths. Willow looks at it closer.

The plant witch smiled, "Enchanting."

Gus started rummaging through a chest, "And look at all these human treasures." He then pulls out a skull, "And actual humans!"

Esper's eyes got wide from the sight of the skull, not knowing if it's a human's or a witch's.

Luz smiled, bringing out snacks from the kitchen, "We've got weird snacks, we've got weird music!"

Esper cheered as she grabbed one of the crackers with a strange looking crab on top of it, eating it without a second thought.

Gus walks over to Luz with a bucket on his head, "We've got a bucket!"

Luz smiles, pointing at the younger witch, "Gus, my man."

Willow "And best of all we have actual friends to do the conjuring with! This is so exciting!"

Esper looked to Willow, interested in witch culture, "Sooooo how does this conjuring stuff work?"

Willow walks over to the flowers on the table, "Well first, we find an object to animate. Since it's our first time we should pick something meaningful. Something beautiful!"

Gus then suddenly punches through the flowers with an action figure, "Like this strangely buff little man?" He taps the action figure's stomach, causing it to say "I'm half beef, half Bob!" Esper starts to giggle at the toy.

The human pumped her fists, "Yes! He's perfect!"

Willow That's not exactly what I meant by "beautiful".

Gus lowers the action figure, whimpering and looking hurt.

Esper holds his shoulders, "Aw come on, Willow. It's beautiful... in a way." Esper touching his shoulders alerted Gus.

Willow giggles at the two, "Okay, buff boy it is."

Luz hugs Willow, "Yes!"

Esper lets the young illusionist go, cheering.

Gus raises his fist in the air, "Tonight he shall be risen!"

With the moon rising in the sky, the kids turn down the lights yet again. Gus places Beefy Bob on the ground between the three of them. There are several lit candles around them.

The plant witch scratches her cheek, "According to the conjuring books I've read, we say the incantation and make a connection with the doll."

The illustionist raises a finger, "Figurine." Esper giggled at him.

The four children stood in the circle, holding hands with each other. Esper was holding hands with Luz and Gus. Gus and Willow started chanting, with Esper struggling to keep up with what they were saying and Luz not knowing the words at all. There was a glowing blue aura around them as they continue to chant, "Moonlight, we call, we sing. Moonlight take this chance. Moonlight come tie the string. Moonlight start the dance!" Luz struggled after them, "Moonlight tie... string... and I don't know the words!"

Unknowingly to them, Hooty was looking at the moon at the same time as it was moving. It suddenly stopped moving as the moon released a light blue power. The power shines over Hooty, who's eyes glow light blue. It then moves to the house and over Esper's form, then to the rest of the kids and then their figurine. They all open their eyes to see that the figure is not moving.

Esper poked the doll as Gus spoke, "That's your cue, little man!" Esper shook her head, "Nope, it doesn't look like it-"

 

Suddenly the entire house then rumbles as Hooty uproots himself from the ground. He has a pair of giant chicken legs and is on the move. Unknowingly shaking the kids inside the living room of the house. When the young witch landed on the ground, Esper got up from the stack of books that landed on her, "Uhhh guys? Did the whole house just hiccup?"

Gus starts to shake the doll, "Little buff guy! What did you do?"

The toy then shouts, "A real man never takes accountability!" Gus quickly dropped the toy.

Willow adjusts her glasses, "No, I think-I think we might've animated the house by accident!"

Luz's eyes widen at this, "The house?!"

Hooty starts making ghostly noises. Luz runs outside and nearly falls off the ledge, finding her balance as Esper pulls her back. She smiles back at her before wiping sweat off her brow, "Phew, thanks Esper."

Gus and Willow join the two outside as the house begins to walk. They all scream as the door slams shut.

Luz runs up the door and starts to hit it, "Hooty? Hooty! Hooty, you have to stop!"

"By the power of moonlight, I have risen. Hoot hoot." Hooty says in an unchanging tone.

Gus looks at Esper, "He's in some kind of trance!" Esper shrugs, as she has no clue what is going on.

Hooty steps through two trees. The movement from stepping makes Gus yell as he and Luz lose their balance. Gus nearly falls off, but Luz, and Willow catch him. Esper holds Luz and Willow by the hands as the two catch him by the hands, the four start to glow again. Luz notices that Hooty is about to walk them off a cliff, shouting "Hooty, stop!"

The House stops moments before it would have walked off a cliff. Esper, Luz and Willow pull Gus back up to safety and they all let go of each other, staring at their hands. Gus looks down at his hands, confused, "How'd we do that?"

The four all look at the moon and then hold hands again. This causes them to glowing once again. The Owl House takes several steps away from the cliff.

THe plant witch smiles, "We're controlling it with the power of friendship!"

Esper giggles at her, "Uh, and the moon. Probably the moon, Willow." This causes her friend to giggle back at her.

The illusionist smiles as he lets go of his friends' hands, "This is amazing! What do we do now?"

Luz frowns as the glow disappears, holding up one of her hands, "On the one hand, we should probably stay put."

Gus raises his other hand, "On the other hand, we've got a giant walking house and should totally take it on a joyride!" He jumped next to Esper as she smiled at Luz, practically giving her puppy-dog eyes.

Luz looks at the moon as it starts to descend, "Okay, okay, but we gotta be back before the moon sets or Eda will kill me! Or us."

Esper shrugged, "Well technicalllllly, you are the one in charge."

The brown haired human groaned, "Aw man you're right! I'm the one with my life on the line."

The four then held hands again, glowing in the moonlight as they had Hooty run around the Boiling Isles.

Gus and Luz both cheer, "Woohoo! Yeah! Joyride!"

Unknown to the kids, Demon Hunters were hot on their tails, as one of them spotted Hooty and growled. The kids were still walking through the forest. Boscha walks past with a crow phone and a duffel bag, Esper notices that she seems to be talking into it.

Willow squinted, "Hey, is that..."

Gus gasps, "It's Boscha. That girl who made fun of us!"

Esper grinned evilly, "Oh heck yeah, this is going to be fun."

Boscha talked into the crow, "Ugh! Yes, Mom. I'm going to a moonlight conjuring. No, Mom. You can't come. And yes, Mom, it's sad that you're asking." She then lets go of the crow, which cries out while it flies away. The pink haired witch then turns around and sees the Owl House.

The plant witch gasped, "She noticed us. What do we do?"

Luz pondered as she picked up a megaphone, "Hey! H-Hey you... You should, uh, stop being so mean to people."

Esper took the megaphone from Luz to yell into it as well, "You're kind of a jerk!" This caused all of them to laugh.

Boscha blew a raspberry at the house, "Ew! A talking house is giving me a lecture? Whatever. I'll just T-P you like I did with the rest of the neighborhood!"

The human shouted, "But don't you see, foolish mortal? I am no mere house!"

Hooty makes the house stand as Luz roars a mighty roar. Boscha screams and runs away as our group starts to laugh.

Gus smiles a devious smile, "I've never pranked anyone before. And now I have a taste for it!"

Esper giggles at his exclaimation.

Willow smiles evilly as well, "We should follow her to Amity's house to show off our conjuring. That will show her who's got no talent!"

Luz looks at the moon, as Esper nodded to Willow's request. Revenge on a bully? Esper loves that idea. The human saw that the moon is nearly at the treetops and still going down. She knew they were running out of time.

Luz scratched the back of her neck, "Actually, I'm starting to think we should head back."

Gus holds out his scroll, "Amity's updating her Penstagram." Esper looks over his shoulder as the update loaded in.

Luz gasps as she read the post, "Shout out to my fellow witches. #Humans can bite it."

Esper grit her teeth, "Wow, yikes, she really got you with that caption."

Luz shouts, "WHAT?! Let's do it."

The Owl House continues walking as the 3 other kids cheer. Several shadowed figures fly after them, they were being followed.

...

The Owl House continues to walk through Bonesborough. People on the streets scream and run for cover as the house stomps through town. The kids then seen a large manor with a gate reading "BLIGHT MANOR" in front of it.

Willow Look, Amity's house. Time to show Amity what a real conjuring looks like."

Hooty starts to walk forward, but is stopped by a giant rope over the roof.

All the kids looked around as the house suddenly stopped, "Wha-"

Willow looks up at the roof, "What happened?"

Esper noticed the rope, "Something definitely not good."

Luz squints as she notices a large object rolled towards them, "Is that a... giant crossbow?"

A Demon Hunter fires the crossbow. A second giant bolt and rope secure the house further. Demon Hunter jumps up in front of the kids. Esper holds her arm protectively in front of Luz as the Demon Hunter walks up to them.

The Demon Hunter's voice was chilling, "Knock, knock."

All the kids gasp.

...

The Owl House is now tied down a large cart being pushed through the woods by demon hunters. One stands atop a cliff and blows into a horn. Hooty making strange noises as Luz, tied to Esper, Willow and Gus inside the house, shouts at him. Esper is kicking at the door, trying to get Hooty to wake up.

Esper shouts at him, "Hooty! Hooty! You have to wake up!"

Hooty spoke like he was in a trance, "If you want this to end as you say, four must hold hands. It's the only way."

Esper raised an eyebrow, "Huh?!"

Luz shouts, "¡Oye, no me hable así! Willow, will you help us out with Hooty?"

Willow I'm sorry, Luz. You shouldn't ask me to help with anything.

Luz frowned at this, "Willow..."

All scream as the House stops moving, causing them to be jerked around.

The human looked up, "Did the house stop moving?"

Gus felt something come up his throat, "Ugh, my insides didn't."

Esper grit her teeth, "Please don't throw up."

The door squeaks open, making the four of them whimper. One of the Demon Hunters laughs as they shove the three of them out of the Owl House.

All grunt in pain, "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

The leading Demon Hunter spoke, "Take the house and rip out the house demon! We can sell it to restaurants as exotic meat."

The human shouted, "No! Hooty would taste terrible."

Hooty shouted back at her, "Hey, I'm a refined taste. Hoot! Hoot!"

One of the other Demon Hunters inquired, "What do we do with the worms?" Luz looks at her friends as the Demon Hunter spoke. The Demon Hunter had a nametag reading "Tom" on his uniform.

The Demon Hunter shrugs his shoulders, "Throw them over the cliff."

Tom chuckles as he approaches them. Gus whimpers as Esper nudges him with her arm, as if to try and comfort him while they are tied up.

Tom smiles at them "All righty, kids. Here's the end of your short little lives." He starts to shove them to the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea.

Gus groans, "Wait! Wait! Wait!" He manages to turn the group so he's facing the demon hunter, "Is this really what you wanna be doing with your life? Tossing kids from cliffs?"

Tom "Actually, yes. It's been my dream since I was a boy."

The three of them look at him for a long moment as he smiled. Tom shoves them off the cliff and laughs, "I was a strange child. Whee!"

All of the kids scream. But luckily, the rope tied around them of them got caught on a branch sticking out of the cliffside. Though now they are dangling in the air.

Luz sighs, "If we're not killed now, we will be when Eda finds out about the house."

Willow looks down at the water, "Luz, I'm so sorry. You wanted to turn back but I just had to show off to Amity. The truth is she and I used to be friends."

Luz gasped, "Whaaat?"

The branch holding them up starts to crack.

The plant witch sighs, "We played together as kids, but when she got her magical powers and I didn't, she stopped hanging out with me."

Gus looks up at the cracking branch, "Guys, is now the best time?"

Esper agreed with the illusionist, "Uh yeah, while I love complicated backstories, we're kiiiiinda gonna fall here!"

Willow sighs, "I just wanted to prove to her that I was a powerful witch, too."

Luz frowns, "That's ridiculous! You helped bring a house to life. Amity doesn't know what she's talking about." Willow smiles at this. Luz continues, "Next to Eda, you're the most powerful witch I know. No offense, Gus... Or you, Esper."

Gus nods, "No, not at all. I know what I'm about."

Esper shrugged, "Eh, I just discovered my powers so I can agree there."

The branch cracks and they all yelp.

The illusionist shouts, "This tree can't hold us much longer!"

Esper looks over to the plant witch as Willow grunts as she frees a hand, "There! Now, if I could just reach that root. Gotcha!" Her hand glows green as she grabs the root of the plant.

...

The Demon Hunters with the house tied to a cart. Tom smirked, "Yeah, they tried to fight back and they nearly got me. But you know, I handled it."

Demon Hunter groans, "They were children, Tom."

A shadow falls over them in the shape of the plant lover. Willow maed the small root grow into a huge plant, and she, Luz, Esper and Gus are standing atop a leaf. The plant witch moves her hand up, making one of the thorny vines to cut the rope and free them.

Willow smirks, "We may be children, but we're also witches. Powerful ones."

She shoves her hand forward, causing the plant to attack. It hits Tom in the face, throwing him into the distance. The main Demon Hunter pulls a sword and slices off the tip of one of the vines. Another three-eyed witch tries to hit a vine with an axe, but is stopped by Esper, who had prepared a fireball spell and is ready to send it foward, "Drop it!"

The demon hunter nods, dropping the axe as the vine grabs their ankle and flings them into a pile of rubble. Esper then fires the fireball at the ropes holding Hooty down, burning them off the house. Esper smirks as she, Willow, Luz, and Gus run to the house while the plant is busy with the other demon hunters. Luz holds open the door for them, then closes it behind her.

Luz shouts "Everyone, quick!"

They all join hands as the main Demon Hunter cuts through the vines with a shock spell. The kids all glow once again as The Owl House stands, shocking the demon hunters.

The Demon Hunter lifting his eyepatch as he backs away, "Uh..."

Hooty steps forward, crushing the Demon Slayer.

Luz notices that the moon is nearly set for the night, "Oh, no! I don't mean to step on this victory but we gotta get home before Eda does!"

Esper starts to giggle, "Hahaha, step. Pfft, I see what you did there."

Luz raises an eyebrow at her as Esper smiles again, "Aw come on it was funny! Alright, come on, let's get going."

Hooty walks away, as the lead Demon Hunter groans. He had gotten up from getting crushed under Hooty's foot and was met with his underlings.

Tom mocks his boss,"Ugh 'They're just children, Tom.'"

...

Unknown to the kids, Eda had been struggling the whole night with Tibbles, a con man. Tibbles has been beating Eda at Hexes Hold'em all day, even taking King as one of his prizes. King was chained to the stand and Eda's arms were chained together. Just as Eda was going to lose again, suddenly the ground started to rumble. One of the Owl House's feet steps on Tibbles' stand. A bottle of elixir falls on the ground, intact.

Luz waves out the window at Tibbles, "Sorry, mister!"

Hooty continues down the street as Eda sits up and laughs. King backs away from Tibbles and grabs the elixir on the ground.

Eda raises an eyebrow, "Wait, what-Was that my house?"

King throws the elixir at Eda, "Eda, quick!"

He tosses her the elixir. She catches it in her mouth and drinks it, then spits the bottle out. She traces a spell circle that makes the chains explode, and her feathers disppear from her arms.

Tibbles screams, "No, no, no! My scam stand!"
Eda Sorry, Tibbles, old boy. It looks like you forgot about the wild card."

[She grabs her staff and throws cards at Tibbles. She then sprints with King in her arms before flying away on Owlbert.

Tibbles "Curse you, witch! Curse you, bone boy! I'll have my revenge! Tibblet-Tibblie Grimm Hammer the Third will have his revenge!"

Tibbles' stand falls apart as the kids steer Hooty back, letting him sit down in the crater it left. The kids remained waiting in the living room, hoping they put the house back to normal.

Luz opened an eye, "Did we do it?"

Hooty opens the door, "Is the room spinning or is it just me? Ahahahaha. Just a little house humor. Ooh."

The brown haired human apologized, "Sorry about all that, Hooty... I really didn't mean to joyride you around the Boiling Isles."

The door owl smiled at her, "It's okay! I'm just glad I was included!"

The door is slammed closed, revealing Eda and King on the other side. Eda had her arms folded.

Luz gasps, "Oh, boy."

Eda walked up to the human, "You are so busted."

Esper slowly started to walk on her tippy-toes, aiming towards the stairs before Eda took a hold of her yellow hoodie, "Don't think you're not off scot-free either."

Esper shouts, "Aw what! Not fair, Luz was the one in charge!"

Eda put her hands on her hips, "And you could have stopped her at any time! Now..."

Esper pouted as Luz's eyes widened, "Oh, man."

The old witch frowned, "You held a moonlight conjuring."

Luz nodded, "I did."

Eda "And you animated my house. My house!"

Luz closed her eyes, "Yes."

Esper pouted the whole time Eda talked.

Willow steps in front of Luz, "No. Don't punish Luz. We're the ones who pushed her to do the conjuring."

Gus follows Willow's lead and steps in front of Esper,"And don't punish Esper either! If you're gonna eat me, just do it now. Do it now!"

Eda sticks out her tongue, disgusted at the thought of eating someone.

Luz puts an arm on Willow's shoulder, "Hey, you didn't have to do that."

The plant witch shook her head, "Yes, Luz. I did."

Eda frowns at them, "Well, you're all guilty, so you'll all be punished by cleaning my house top to bottom."

The older witch summons various cleaning supplies that land in the kids' arms. Esper caught a broom, groaning about having to
Eda And another thing..." All kids gulp as she continued, "That was totally amazing! And I'm so joining you for next year's conjuring! Now get to work." She makes the four run off and she jumps on the couch to relax, with King joining her.

King yawned on the couch, "I can't believe they animated a whole house."

The old witch suddenly opened her eyes, realizing what this means, "Yeah. You're right. That takes some powerful magic..."

Luz smiled at Willow, "You know, I still kinda wish we got to show up Amity."

Willow shrugs, "Yeah,,. Too bad no one will know of our daring adventures."

Esper watched as crawls into one of Eda's treasure chests and pops back out, covered in human memoribilia. The redheaded witch then started giggling at his antics, finding him funny.

Meanwhile, in Amity's bedroom back at her house, a stuffed rabbit is sitting on the floor. Boscha, Cat, Skara, and Amelia are all sitting in a circle, glaring at it.

Boscha blew a raspberry. "Ugh... So what if we couldn't move a doll. Now we have time for what really matters. Penstagram."
She summons her scroll, which causes the other three to summon their own scrolls a few seconds after. Amity is brooding, looking out of her window. Boscha gasps, getting her attention. She walks over and looks at Boscha's scroll. Amity and Boscha share a look as they shout, "What?!"

Her Penstagram feed has several people's posts showing off Willow, Luz, Esper, Gus, and the animated Hooty. Showing the popular girls just how powerful the human and witches actually are...

Chapter Text

Esper was relaxing on the couch with King napping on her stomach, dreaming about cupcakes. Luz was practicing more of her light glyphs while Eda was making sure they were prepared. Eda looked down at her satchel full of human objects, "Alright, this should be enough to last us the whole day at the market. Come on, everyone, chop chop! Gotta get the good stall area before people take em all!"

Esper stretched as she got off the couch, "Okay, let's get going then-"

Eda stuck a hand in front of Esper, "Nuh-uh nope, it is your turn to watch Hooty. Luz did it last time, so now you get to be the one in charge this time!"

The young witch groaned, "Aw WHAT! I'm on babysitting duty? I thought Hooty was a big boy house!" Eda glared at her and Esper continued, "...Okay finnnne. I'll watch him."

Luz ran up from behind her and ruffled her hair, "Awww, thanks Esper-y!"

Esper laughed and then pushed her away, "Yeah yeah! Just go sell things, you goobs!"

 

As the group walks out of the door, Eda gave her some last words, "And remember, Esper, you are the responsible one here. I don't want any messes, no destroyed house, no nothing. Understand?" The younger witch nodded eagerly and the older witch left with the group. Hooty excitedly sticks his head inside through the window, putting himself near Esper's face, "Oh boy Esper! What do you want to do first?"

Esper pushed him, "Well, I want to practice my spells. I want to get my aim just right for any situation, be a great witch, you know. Why don't you find something to do, Hooty?" Hooty groaned, "Aw but you ALWAYS practice! Is there anything I can do to help, hoot hoot?"

The witch sighed heavily, "Well... I guess you can help set up some targets. But don't try and get in the way okay, I don't want to hurt you."

Hooty nodded as he then went underground, grabbing a few rocks in his mouth. He slithered upwards and swallowed a few bottles until he spat them out, lining them in front of Esper.

The witchling formed a circle with her finger, causing a ball of a fire to shoot out at the rock. Esper continued this motion, going fast and even using both hands at one point. She tried to mimic the way Eda moved during her fight against her sister a week ago.

Upong hitting the final bottle, the girl raised her arms in victory, "Alright! I'm really getting the hang of this! Come on Hooty, let's get more targets."

The owl tube pouted, "Mmmm... Don't wanna. Hoot hoot. I'm bored."

The witchling then flung her arms downwards, "Aw what! But Hooty, I need to practice!"

The giant owl pouted, turning his head away from Esper, as he was bored. He wasn't having any fun with this activity. Hooty then had an idea and then snatched her bow from her head. The black bow became undone, as did her hair. Her red hair flowed around her head as she felt the top of her head. Hooty sped off as Esper glared at him, "Hey! You did not just take out my bow like that! Get back here!"

The witchling chased down the owl tube inside the house, "Hooty! Get back here with that!" He teasingly waved the bow above her and she jumped up at him, knocking them both into a shelf. As the shelf moved, a bag on top of it fell down to the floor. It spilled the contents onto the floor, it was filled with spheres that were made out of a chalk-like texture. Esper quickly grabbed her bow from the owl's mouth as he looks at the mess they made.

Hooty looked down at the objects, "OOOOO! These are bath bombs, hoot hoot! They look so beautiful when they're put in water! We should use some! I'm sure Eda won't mind! Hoot!" The witchling fixed her hair back into it's ponytail as he spoke.

Esper pondered for a moment, gesturing with her hands, "Well on one hand, she did store them up on a shelf none of us could reach. But on the other hand, she didn't take them to the market to sell them so... Yeah! Let's do it!" She scooped up the bath bombs as Hooty danced with glee.

He was distracted as Esper walked up the stairs to the bathroom. She turned the water on in the bathtub and waited for it to fill up completely. Once it filled up fully, she threw the bath bombs into the water. She dusted her hands off with a smug look on her face, "Phew, okay, that should distract Hooty long enough to let me practice."

Hooty panics at the bathtub, "WAIT, you didn't put the bath bombs in the bath, did you?"

Esper raises an eyebrow at him, not noticing the multi colored bubbles forming behind her, "Duh, of course I did. They're called 'bath bombs', dude. Where else would they go?"

The owl tube retracts his form, "Uh... Well you don't use them inside because uh... You know... Because of that." He moved his head to gesture to the bubbles building up behind her.

The young witchling looked behind her, the bubbles now about to burst, "Oh sho-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the bubbles exploded in front of her. Sending a wave of water rushing towards her and flooding the whole house. Hooty attempted to wrap around her but missed as she was dragged under the water. The witch swam under the water, grabbing multiple objects as they started to flow with the water away from their original places. She started to struggle for air until Hooty dived his head downwards into the water, picking up Esper in his beak. She gasped for air, continuing to grab the scattered objects floating above the water. Hooty struggled to hold onto the hood of her jacket as the water continued to flow. Eventually the water got calmer and remained still, so Esper looked around, spotting a window. Forming a circle with her finger, she shot a fireball at the window. Which opened the window and the water suddenly flowed out of the house. Hooty then let Esperanza go, letting her float into the water.

Esper laid flat on her back, drenched from the water, "Ugh..." Hooty's head got up, shaking free of the water, "Esper! Are you alright? Hoot hoot."

The young witch sighs, "Yeah, I'm fine. But Eda is so going to kill me for this mess! I gotta clean this up! Uh, uh, come on. Let's get you dry-" Esper reached for a nearby, displaced towel when they heard the door open.

The group gasped at the mess in front of them. Eda looked at the young witchling, "Esper! What happened to my house!"

Hooty slithered in front of Esper, "Oh no, Eda, it was meeeeeee."

Eda raised an eyebrow at the owl, "Really Hooty? What did you do this time?"

With his shrill voice, Hooty begins to make stuff up, "Hoot hoot! Oh well you know, I was snooping around the shelves while Esper wasn't looking. Then I took the bath bombs from the bag and I threw it in the bath tub to see what would happen. Blah blah blah. You know, blah."

Hooty's voice continued to ring in the air as Esper played with her fingers. Both index fingers poking the other as she felt more and more guilty. Soon, the shrill voice was interrupted.

The young witchling spoke up, "No! I... Eda, it was me."

Eda scratched her head, "Uh, who the what now?"

Esper stepped in between the older witch and the owl tube, "I said it was me. I was the one who wanted to use the bath bombs. I wanted to keep practicing my magic but Hooty was getting bored and then we found the bath bombs-"

Eda waved her hand in front of her in an attempt to calm the younger witch down, "Woah woah, kid, slow down."

Esper started looking at the ground, tearing up, "And I didn't know the bath bombs would be actual bombs and I accidentally flooded the house. Please don't punish Hooty, he didn't actually do anything wrong, it was me." Her voice started to crack towards the end. Luz was about to walk forward to comfort her friend, she has never seen Esper like this. But she was stopped by Eda's hand stuck in front of her.

Eda smiled at the young girl sitting on the ground, "Alright, shoosh, shoosh." The old witch raised her hand, telling King and Luz to go to a different room. She knelt down, putting a hand on Esper's shoulder to get the younger girl to look at her.

"Hey kid, listen... I get it. It was a misunderstanding and it caused an accident you couldn't stop. Sure, you almost destroyed the house but hey, so did Luz. At the very least, you did what I asked and you kept the damage to inside the house. Hooty's safe, you're safe and that's all that matters to me. So come on, stop crying..." Eda sighed, "Here, I got you this. I thought you'd do a good job but you've been doing well with your spellcasting so far, I figured you would like an award. We probably have to fix it up a little but I thought you would like it." She then revealed what was behind her back, a jean jacket.

Esper sniffed as she grabbed the jacket from her, wiping her tears, "Hehe... Bought or stolen?"

Eda laughed at her joke, "Oh I think we both know the answer to that."

Esper opened the jacket fully, giving it a stare to judge it's look. It was a light blue jean jacket with white cuffs. It had two sets of pockets, one on her chest and one set near her waist. It had a white collar and the zipper was broken but it was lined with a dark blue stripe. Though both elbows seemed to be ripped, which would have to be replaced with patches in order to be comfortable. The witchling smiled and put the jacket on over her yellow hoodie, "You know, it needs a patch job but I like it... Thanks, Eda."

Eda smiled, "Any time, kiddo. Now, clean this mess up and join us in the kitchen, I'll be making griffon eggs tonight."

The younger witch saluted to her, "Yes ma'am!"

She gave Esper a pat on the head, ruffling her hair before getting up to go into the kitchen. Despite the mess around her, Esper smiled, hugging her new jacket closer to her...

Chapter Text

Luz opened the door to the Owl House, "Eda, you got a package. It looks like a gift basket."

Esper is sitting on the couch, sewing up her new jean jacket. She managed to find fabric among Eda's human objects and cut two squares out of both fabrics she found. She then sewed the patches over her jacket's ripped sleeves. The sleeves now had two new patches on each arm, one pink and the other dark blue.

Luz walked into the room with the basket in her hands, "Hey, that looks almost as good as new!"

The witchling smiles, rubbing the back of her neck, "Aw thanks, Luz. I... Ran out of blue fabric and pink looked cuter. Uhhh, is that blanket moving?" She raises an eyebrow curiously.

Eda spoke up, "Probably an offering! Ah! Being the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles has its perks."
King rubs his paws together before he pulls a blanket off the top of the basket. Revealing a snoring baby bat, he smiles widely, "Mm, fresh meat!"

Esper's eyes widened and walked behind Eda. Her childhood friend shook her head, "No, not eating that."
Eda pat Esper on the head to reassure her, "Witches eating babies is so 1693. What is this?"

The redheaded witch looked at the basket, seeing a paper attached to the baby, "Oh hey, there's a note."

King grabs the note, "Take care of my child till morning. Yi Yi."

The old witch shook her head, closing her eyes, "Nope! Babies are awful! Not happening!"

The smaller beast read the rest of the note, "You will be handsomely rewarded. X-O-X-O-X-O-X, Bat Queen."

Eda opened her eyes again, "Bat Queen?" King pulls a few snails out of the basket. Eda's eyes widen, "Reward?"

Esper tilts her head, "Who's the Bat Queen?"

King sniffs the snails as Eda speaks to the young witchling, "She's the wealthiest demon on the Boiling Isles. Get in with her and you're set for life." She takes one of the snails, "So, we keep this thing alive for a few hours and we get paid. Pfft, easy!"

Luz's eyes sparkled as she looked at Esper, "Our greatest adventure yet! Learning about love and life through a child's eyes!"

The older witch shook her head, "Nope! Not you. You have to return the books I checked out from the library." She summoned a stack of books that landed in the young human's arms.

Luz actually cheered holding the stack of books, "Oh! Hooray!"

The older witch then looks to Esper, "Now you-"

Esper held up her hand, "Eh, no need, Eda. I just got done babysitting this one-" She points to Hooty, who said hello excitedly before beign pushed away by her, "I am not doing this again so soon! Sayonara, have fun with the bat baby!"

Eda shrugged, giggling, "Pfft, that was easier than I thought. No need to hurry back you two, take as long as you need!"

...

The redhead sighed as she walked into the forest, away from The Owl House, "Okay so, what to do, what to do... Oh, I could call up Gus and Willow and see what they're doing today!"

And that she did, Esper, Willow and Gus were walking around town together. They were just hanging out like normal teens. The three stopped at a bizarre ice cream parlor, sitting down. Esper had the Boiling Isles equivalent of chocolate and they engaged in light conversation.

Willow raised an eyebrow, "So Esper, I've had this question for a while. You are a witch but you were raised in the human realm? How did that happen?"

Gus spoke up, "Yeah! I want to know too! Do you remember anything of your original parents?"

Esper looked down at her ice cream, "I mean... I would like to know... Who am I supposed to be? Where did I come from? How did I get to the human realm?"

Willow looked at and Gus and then back to Esper, "Which are all... Interesting questions we don't know the answer to yet. Gus, how's the memory viewing spell coming along?"

Gus rubbed the back of his neck, "Ugh, not well. That spell is just so advanced... Esper, have you had any weird experiences with your memories so far?"

Esper licked her ice cream, "Well, when we snuck into the school, I had some weird vision. Remember the knife Principal Belos took out of his sleeve? I don't know why but... I think it unlocked some sort of memory. I couldn't move and everything went quiet but I remembered seeing that knife somewhere before..."

Willow spoke up, "Maybe touching the knife would help?"

Esper finished the rest of her ice cream, "Uh... Maybe? But I'm not allowed on school grounds at all. Oh! Is there like a missing person's thing we can check? Maybe my original parents filed a report somewhere!"

Willow raised her hand, "That actually sounds like a good place to start, to the town hall!"

...

The three eventually got to the town hall and were directed to the desk where missing witches were filed. Willow and Gus let Esper go in by herself. Esper rubbed the back of her neck as she talked to the receptionist, "Hey so um... You have any reports about a missing baby from like... 14 years ago? Maybe 13? Small, seaweed green eyes, dark-ish skin with red hair that I doubt anyone would have seen go through a human portal but ended up doing just that? Any of that sound familiar?"

The woman looked at her blankly before looking at the very little reports she had of missing witches on her desk.

...

The redhead sighed as she walked out of the building to her witch friends, "Nope, no luck here either. Turns out, you guys have a lot more freedom here than on Earth."

Before Willow and Gus could speak, an old woman's shrill voice rang in the air.

"I can feel it, the master of play is here somewhere. We must prepare and fight back against his arrival!"

Esper's eyes glow upon hearing the old woman's voice, "Huh?"

Gus noticed her eyes glowing, "Woah, what was that?"

The witchling blinked, rubbing her eyes, "I don't know but I sure felt it. Quick, who's that lady?"

Willow peered to the voice's origin in the crowd, "Isn't that the old hermit lady who lives by herself in nature? Izmeralda?"

The young illusionist, "Oh yeah! I think that's is her name!"

Esper gazed upon the old woman, she had long flowing black hair, albiet it was starting to gray, with sticks and leaves popping out of it. Her eyes were the color of seaweed and she had olive skin. Her clothing was strange, with a dark green dress layed with a light tan undershirt with a lighter green tunic on top of it. The dress was littered with light green patches, indicated that the woman would mend her own clothes but didn't have any matching materials. The most interesting thing Esper had seen on her was the freckles that littered her skin, something similar to her own.

The redhead smiled brightly upon seeing her, "I have a good feeling about this, she even has the same eye color as me! And our names are similar, Izmeralda, Esperanza, come on! Maybe she knows what happened to my parents."

The plant witch grimaced, "Are you sure? She kinda seems... You know."

Esper nodded confidently, "Oh I'm sure it's fine. She kinda reminds me of my grandma back on Earth in a way." She then walked up to the strange woman, "So, Miss Izmeralda, what is this about a master of play?"

The old witch turned to her quickly, "The master of play, the one who uses those close to him as puppets. With some assistance, I can help prepare the land for his reign..."

The younger witch shrugged, "Oh well it sounds like you need some help."

Izmeralda awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck, "Huh, really? People normally run away when I speak of them ...Well, would you like to be my apprentice?"

Esper thought about it for a second, "Well, I'm already a student of the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles buuuuuut who says I can't have more than one teacher? ...Uh, if it means I get to spend the whole day with you and learn more about your past, sure! I could be your apprentice for the day." She turned to Gus and Willow, "Let me hang out with her for a few hours and I'll see what I can get out of her."

The duo nodded in understanding and left, though they both made sure to remind each other to come back within a few hours to check up on Esper.

...

The first thing Esper did with Izmeralda was collect fire honey around the forest, nearly ending with a fire. Then they managed to make from reinforced rope from fibers of the leaves from the trees from the Boiling Isles. They had some hair from the giant beavers living near the lake. Which ended with the two of them running from the giant animals.

Finally, the two were kayaking down a lake in order for Izmeralda to collect the glowing algae from the water. This is when Esperanza decided to ask the question. Esper took a deep breath, smiling awkwardly, "So, uh, Miss Izmeralda... Don't freak out but I think you might be my grandma."

The old woman shook her head, putting the cap on the bottle of algae, "Nope, never had children."

The younger witch's smile faltered as they made it to dry land, "Oh, uh, maybe you're my great aunt then?"

Izmeralda shook her head, getting out of the kayak to carry it, "Eh, my brother doesn't like children."

Esper tripped and groaned, "Ugh, dang it! I'm sorry, ma'am, I really did mistake you for someone else. It's kinda complicated but I've been looking for my family all day today. And I kinda only became your apprentice to see if you were related to me." Unknownst to Esper, her trip caused her pant leg to rip, revealing her birthmark. The blue mark of a moon within a sun glew briefly before returning back to it's normal dark blue color.

The old woman helped Esper up from the ground, "Oh it's quite alright, child. I had fun today with you, you're quite the firecracker. You know, how about you come back any time you want? It was fun having you for company and I can always teach you a trick or two." After letting Esper go, she offered her hand to the young witchling.

Esper smiled, extending her own hand to her, "I would like that, Miss Izmeralda. When would-"

Suddenly, Izmeralda screeched upon seeing Esper's birthmark, backing away from Esper before she could touch her hand, "You're one of them! A star touched one, even!"

Esper's eyes lit up, "Huh? One of who! What's a star touched one?"

"One kissed by the sun and the moon! You won't have me for your games, star touched one! Get away!" The old witch then threw a potion at Esper, who did duck before it could hit her. The tree behind her began to melt from the potion.

Izmeralda continued to ramble, "I escaped long ago and I won't let you bring me back, tell Bill or whoever sent you to leave me alone!"

The redheaded witch raised an eyebrow, "Bill? Who's th-"

To her surprise, Willow and Gus suddenly ran in front of her. Willow summoned a large vine from the ground, "Woah woah, please calm down, miss!"

Gus turned to his friend behind him, "She didn't hurt you, did she?"

Esper was still surprised, shaking her head, "No, she missed. I'm fine."

The old witch spoke up, "You witchlings have to stay away from a star touched one! All they do is cause chaos for their master, they're a curse!"

Esper raised an eyebrow, "Curse?"

Willow shook her head, still standing strong in front of Esper, "No way! Esper is our friend, not some curse! You're not making any sense!"

The young illusionist looked up at Esper, "Yeah, don't listen to her, Esper!"

The redheaded witch nodded, feeling reassured, "Yeah... Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Gus. Thanks, Willow." The plant witch remained standing in front of her friends with the vine ready to block and attack. Gus turned to glare at the old witch.

Seeing that the children weren't going to back down, she backed away. She kept her glare on the trio, retreating into the forest like the hermit she is.

Esper blushed, rubbing the back of her neck, "It's just that... Back home, Luz and I were always protecting each other. Well, mostly me protecting Luz. no one else really stood up for us like that... So, uh, thanks, guys."

Willow quickly brought Esper into a hug, holding her in the air briefly, "Of course!" Gus joined in the hug, "Yeah! We're not going to let some old lady ruin our friendship with you!" The redhead was almost suffocated by them but hugged her friends back. Her smile was grateful as they continued to hug.

Willow and Gus let Esper go and each held one of her hands. The plant witch kept a gentle smile for her, "I think it's been a long day for all of us."

The illusionist nodded, blushing, "Y-yeah, we'll walk you home."

Esper smiled at the both of them, still holding their hands, "I'd like that... Thanks, guys."

...

Upon being dropped off by her close friends, the redheaded witch walked into the Owl House once again. She was greeted by the sight of Eda asleep on the couch with King and the three baby bats in her arms. She raised an eyebrow to Luz, "Wow, I can't believe they're all asleep."

"I know right..." Luz yawned and started walking to their shared room, "You know, I think we should be getting to bed too. Come on, Esper."

Esper stretched, following her childhood friend, "Oh yeah, I had a long day too.I need some shut eye over here."

...

Later in the night, Esper tossed and turned in her sleeping bag. Various voices rang in her dream, remembering both the events of that day and the days of old.

"Your parents cut your ears to look like that you know! You're a freak!" "All they do is cause chaos for their master!" "Hey guys look! It's the girl with the weird pointy ears!" "Star touched ones are a curse!" "Weirdo!" "Curse!"

She woke up suddenly, taking deep breath as she took in her surroundings. She was safe in her shared room with Luz, who was sleeping in her own sleeping bag right next to her.

Esper lifted up her pant leg to look at her birthmark. She looked to Luz with a guilty expression before looking back at her birthmark. The witchling was about to wake Luz up when she stopped and shook her head. As the old witch's words rang through her head, she then covered it with her pant leg again, hiding it before going to bed...

Chapter Text

Esper walked with Luz to the school, not wanting her to have all the fun today. She knows that Gus wants her to appear for his Human Appreciation Society meeting and Luz is very excited for it. She figured it would be a good idea since Luz is 100% pure human, unlike her who is a full witch albiet raised in the Human Realm. As they reached the school, they noticed Gus and Willow talking. They then heard the word 'Undercover', confusing them.

Luz raised an eyebrow, "Undercover from what?" Gus, who was surprised to heard Luz, then slams the cowl he was holding over her head, causing Luz to squeak, "Behold your new cowl!" He then noticed Esper next to Luz and started blushing, "Oh! Uh, hi! Esper, I didn't expect you to come too!"

Esper did not notice his blushing, "Eh, Willow asked if she could show me the plantlife of the Boiling Isles since I wasn't raised here and I figured it could be fun."
Gus nods, "Yeah! Yeah! That does sound pretty fun, uh, you two have fun!" He was acting suspicious as Willow frowned at him. Luz then sniffs the cowl she was in, "On the Boiling Isles, new things smell old." Gus chuckles awkwardly at this, "Yep. Put it on. Hide your ears. Wanna keep you under wraps 'till the big reveal."

 

Luz nods at her little friend, "Oh, a showman. I totally get it. You bring the razzle, I'll bring the dazzle!" She then throws handfuls of confetti. Willow and Gus stare at her and Esper.

 

Willow looked at Luz, confused, "Do you always have confetti on you or..." Esper nods, "Yes, yes she does. Ever since elementary school." The two then cover their ears, as Gus's watch demon screams out, biting his arm.
He pokes the watch demon, making it stop, "That's my alarm. Uh, we better get going. See you after school, Willow. See you later, Esper." Luz smiles as Gus drags her away, "Buh bye friends! Be safe, make good choices!"

Esper waves to them as Willow frowns, "I hope Gus knows what he's doing." Esper hears this and shrugs, "They'll be fine, what can go wrong at a club meeting? So what kind of plants will we be seeing today?" Not knowing that Gus is sneaking Luz into school and didn't actually get their ban lifted like he said he did.

Esper and Willow had gone into the hallway, with Willow excitedly talking about the plantlife that lives in the Boiling Isles. "So I heard from Luz that the Human Realm's grass is green but I don't know if you noticed, it is red here! There are these large carnivious plants that love the taste of flesh, oh my Titan, you are going to find them so cool. I can show you which ones not to touch and let you touch them!"
Esper smiles, "Oh yeah the grass is red here! Neat! I can't wait to see the giant man-eater plants. Reminds me of this movie I watched with my dad once when I was little-"

A voice than rang out in the hallway, "Oh look guys, it's Half-A-Witch Willow and... Whoever this is. Did you finally manage to make a friend besides the twerp, Half-A-Witch?" It was obviously aimed towards Willow and Esper as they talked. Esper turned around to see a girl with light pink skin, darker pink hair in a ponytail with three silver eyes. One eye being in the middle of her forehead. She was wearing a Hexside uniform, with yellow sleeves and pants.

Willow looked away from the pink girl but answered, "Uh... Yes, Boscha. This is my new friend, Esper." Esper took notice of Willow's change in demeanor.

Boscha then leans forward, getting a good look at Esper, "Oh really? I've never seen you around here before. Or those clothes. What kind of a witch are you? ...Or are you like Willow?"

Even though these are just questions, the way Boscha was asking them irritated Esper. Especially when she said Willow's name, as it seemed like she was using the poor girl as an insult. Esper started to pull back her fist, only to be stopped by Willow grabbing her arm and shaking her head. Esper looked shocked and then frowned, not happy about her friend not wanting her to punch her bully.

Esper then took a deep breath, "My name is Esper Fox. I'm actually a student of Eda the Owl Lady and yes, I know how to do spells. And for the record, Willow knows how to perform spells too!"

Boscha laughed, patting Esper's shoulder, before slightly pushing her to the side, "Oh! Good for you, hun. You have to resort to being friends with criminals with weird fashion senses now, Willow? How fun!" Boscha then looks at the nearby clock on the hallway wall, "Well, it's almost time for grudgby practice. You two weirdos have fun with whatever it was you were doing. Buh-bye now!"

When Boscha turned the corner, Esper looked at her friend, "Willow, why did you stop me and why do you let her talk to you like that? She's a total jerk!"

Willow looked to the ground, disappointed in herself, "I know, I know. It's just that I don't want you to get in trouble because of me. Boscha's way too popular to start picking fights with and besides, she's my problem, not your's."

To her surprise, the redhead smiled, "If I cared about popularity, then I wouldn't have thrown my lunch at Kathy Burke when she made fun of Luz's Azura fanfiction. She became my problem when she started picking on my friend and it's the same thing with Boscha here! Trust me, Willow, I don't mind defending you from people like her. You don't deserve to be bullied, you're too nice for that."

The plant loving girl looked at Esper before pulling her into a hug, "...Thanks Esper, that means a lot to me... But still, I don't want you to get in trouble because of Boscha." Esper hugged Willow back before letting go with a nod, "Okay, okay, I hear you. Let's just avoid her for the day, it can't be too hard while she's busy with the grudgby thing, right?"

Willow nodded before walking ahead of Esper, "True. Plus she doesn't normally bother me in the club room. Come on! To the Plant Track homeroom, I can't wait to show you all the cool fauna we've been growing this year." Esper nodded before running after Willow, "Haha, sounds great, Willow! Hey wait up!"

 

The pair get to the plant track room, a regular room in Hexside filled with flowers, vines, such beautiful plantlife in this one tiny room. Willow excitedly jumps around the room, showing off all the different plants to Esper, taking her time explaining each detail about each individual plant before finally landing on the carnivious plant.

"And this is the giant one I was telling you about!"

Esper smiles at the dangerous looking plant, "Woah, you're right! He's huge!" Before she could pet it, the plant suddenly bites down on a nearby green-haired student, who gets trapped in it's mouth. Esper retracts her hand as Willow tickles the plant's stem, causing it to spit the girl out while it laughs. The green haired student picks up her clipboard as Esper helps her up and leads her away from the plant. The student then gives the two a thumbs up as Willow explains, "And that is how you get it to stop eating someone!"

Esper smiled at the sight of Willow being happy, "Thanks, that's pretty useful advice when I'm getting eaten by a plant." She then thought of something, "Actually, Willow, can you... Show me how to do a plant spell?"

The girl in green stopped, pointing at herself, "Huh? Me? You want me to show you a spell? Isn't Eda teaching you?"

Esper shrugged, "Well yeah but she hasn't taught me anything new recently. Besides you're the best plant track member I know so... Please?"

Willow nodded, "Oh... Well then okay! I shall take on the responsibility of teaching you a plant spell!" She took Esper's hands in her own, "So, what you need to do is think about nature. Think of what you would want the plants to do, use the force of nature to do what you want." She let go of Esper's hands and formed a green circle with her finger, making a vine grow from the ground to give the redhead a high five.

Esper nodded, "Ah okay okay, use the force of nature to do what I want. Okay..." She then formed a green circle with her finger but it broke apart. Esper pouts but Willow spoke up, "It's okay, you haven't performed plant magic before. Try again and think of the beauty of the Boiling Isles, let that guide you as you think of the spell."

Esper nodded and closed her eyes, thinking about the red grass and the gentle breeze through the trees. She even thought about green grass of Earth and the different flowers that grow there as she once again made a green circle with her finger. This time, the circle stayed and a vine erupted to the ground. The vine gave Willow a high five.

The redhead smiled brightly, "I did it, Willow! I did it!"

Willow's smile matched her smile, "You did it, Esper! Good job!"

They then hear a familiar voice, "Willow! Esper! Hey!" It was Luz, who was passing by in the hallway with Gus.

The two then wave to Luz with smiles on their faces.

Gus then waves to the pair, blushing when he saw Esper. Esper waves back, not noticing his blush. She then says, "Oh yeah! Say hi to Jasper for me!" Gus's face falls when he spots Willow looking at him with disapproval. She shakes her hand and Gus and Luz quickly leave.

The pair quickly go back to their work with the plants, watering them, making sure they have proper sunlight and love. Though Esper can tell that Willow was distracted by something. Esper asked if she was okay as they watered the giant carnivious plant.

Willow gulps, "Wellllllll, Gus lied to Luz and the ban isn't actually lifted." Esper starts tugging on her own hair, "He what! Willow, what if they get caught! What if I get caught?" Willow tries to calm Esper, "I know, I know. I'm worried about the same thing, I just hope their meeting is short. I was just thinking I was being too hard on Gus since nothing seems to have happened-"

As if on que, they hear Luz scream in the hallway, "Ahh! I don't even learn here!"

The two run to the door, both yelling for Luz as they watch her get dragged off. They then look at each other, not sure what to do. Before Esper opens the door, Willow closes it. Though Esper is confused, she looks out the window and sees Boscha, who was laughing at Luz being dragged off by the guard. Esper furrows her eyebrows, "Willow, we have to help Luz."

Willow rubs the back of her neck, "I know... I know we do but what about Boscha?" Obviously worried about having to deal with the pink girl.

Esper stands up straight, "What about Boscha? You let me worry about her. Remember, I've dealt with bullies for Luz all the time back home! I'll take care of her, I promise." She then whispers a plan into Willow's ear, who nods. She lets Esper open the door, catching Boscha's attention. Boscha rolls her eyes, "Oh so Willow made you join her little plant club! Is it your new hideout now?"
The redheaded witch looks at the pink girl, "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. ...Oh hey Boscha, what's that?" She then points forward.
Boscha raised an eyebrow, "What's what-" A fireball erupted from Esper's finger, hitting one of the lockers. She then puts her hands in her pockets as the locker screamed, "Ah! My face! Boscha why! Oh Titan! Guards, help!" Boscha then turns to glare at Esper.
The redhead begins to run from Boscha, who glares at her with much anger in her eyes. "You get back here!" The pink witch throws a potion at Esper, melting a piece of the floor behind her, as Esper is too quick for her. Esper laughs as she turn corners, causing Boscha to slow down in her chase, "What's wrong Boscha? Can't catch a criminal? Haha!" Boscha throws a potion at Esper, narrowly missing her feet. Esper then sees a part of the hall that only lets them go left or right, she yhen runs into the hallway on the right, stopping Boscha to make a decision as she struggles to keep up with Esper. Only for one of the detention guards to grab her shoulder from behind, "Trouble..." It groans, pulling Boscha towards the detention room, showing the amount of destruction she left while chasing down Esper. She shouts, arguing that it is Esper's fault as our redhead turns the corner, out of sight from the detention guard.

Esper runs to the hallway Willow is in as she tries to open the door to the detention hall using a crowbar. Esper grabs onto the crowbar, pulling alongside Wilow. They stop when they hear Eda's voice ring out in the hallway, Willow drags Esper behind a nearby wall.

It turns out Eda was here the whole time trying to get Luz and Esper into the Hexside School system, "I washed off all the graffiti. Apologized to Jenkinmeyer for stealing her teeth. Caught all the wild cerebi. Ah, we should be good." Principal Bump shakes the old witch's hand, "It will be very exciting to have a real human exchange student. And a witch raised in the human realm? I'm excited to learn what she knows."

Eda then whispers something Esper can't hear, "And you won't tell the Emperor's Coven about this, will you?"

Principal Bumpstaops shaking her hand, "No. Hexside School is safe for you three. I'm the principal, not a stooge. Consider your pupils our pupils."

The banging on the detention door begins again, catching the adults' attention, Esper and Willow remain hidden until the door bursts open. Luz and Gus emerge from the door, panting. Esper runs out to help Luz up, jumping in front of the snake-like creature about to get her. Principal Bump snaps his fingers, causing the snake to stop as it realizes it had just angered Bump. It then retreats back into the room it came from. Boscha had also made her way to the detention room, pointing at Esper once she saw her, "That's the kid you want! She's the one who tried to set fire to the lockers, not me!" Luz then looks at Esper with a shocked expression, who looks away shrugging awkwardly. Willow runs to Gus to help him up from the ground.

Eda groans, "Well hey kids, guess who tried to get you into Hexside."

Bump ignored her, staring at Luz, "What did you do?" He then looks at Esper, who was still shrugging, "To think that any student of yours would be capable of doing anything but create chaos... Eda, take your students and leave! You three are banned from this campus!"

Eda grunts but gestures for the two girls to come closer, "Alright... Come on, kids, lets go."

Gus then chimes in, "Wait, Principal Bump. Don't blame Luz and Esper. I told her and Esper the ban was lifted. We were fighting over the Human Appreciation Society. I brought Luz in because I wanted to win. This is all my fault."

Principal Bump then sighes, "If that's so, Augustus, would you be willing to accept their punishment as your own?"

Gus looks at the two girls, looking away quickly from Esper, and nods, "Of course, Principal Bump, I would!"

Esper smiles at him as Eda says, "Huh. Dang, dweebus."

Principal Bump then stands up straight and looks at Luz and Esper, "Very well. In light of that, barring any more trouble, you two shall officially be enrolled in Hexside School next semester."

The two smile at each other, excited as Boscha is heard from the side of the hallway, "What!"

 

Everyone ignores her as Eda then talks to the two girls, holding Luz's shoulder, "I'm only doing this because I have faith in you both. And I know you're too smart to fall for that One-Witch, One-Coven nonsense. You can learn a lot from the witches here. And maybe teach them some of that Bad Girl Coven magic too."

Principal Bump clears his throat before turning to Gus, "I didn't hear that. As for you, I would be saying detention right now but that seems to be out of order. So, as of now, I'm removing you from the Human Appreciation Society." Gus frowned as he took his crown.

Surprisingly, Mattolomule speaks up, "Does that make me president?"

Principal Bump drops the crown on Matt's head, "Impressive! Still alive. Yes, I suppose you are."

Matt then weakly says, "Yaaaay..." As Esper stands next to him, gearing up to kick him before Willow grabs her arm. Willow shakes her head no as Esper nods to her, opting to blow a raspberry at Matt instead.

Principal Bump then looks to Eda, "Now, with that accomplished, Eda, we have some paperwork to fill out."

Eda groans at this, "Wait! I gotta do more stuff? Ugh! You two kids better enjoy this place!"

Luz grins at Esper and then they look at their friends. Gus then asks, "Wanna finish off that tour?"

Willow excitedly jumps, grabbing Esper by the back of her jacket, "We can show you guys what plants not to touch in the greenhouse. And then I can let you touch them. Come on!"

Luz shouts, "Yeah! Let's go."

The four join hands and laugh as they run off, leaving Matt behind. Mattholomule then tries to yell for them, Hey! Wait. Take me. I'm your president. Oh. Come on."

....

Later, Eda is looking through her old permanent record, remembering about the old days. Esper giggles at the one where she started an abomination food fight at lunch. Luz then chimes in quicky after Esper giggled, "Wow! Bump was not exaggerating. You were a terrible student."

Eda then looks at the two, startled, as if she didn't know the other two were there.

Chapter Text

Esper, Luz, King and Eda were enjoying their time at the local park. Appropriately called the "Slayground" in the Boiling Isles. Esper sat next to Eda and Luz on the bench, watching King play with the other children of the Boiling Isles. Luz was visibly nervous, "What if he gets hurt? What if the kids are mean to him?" She then gasped, "My parental instincts are freaking out, man."

Esper raised an eyebrow at her, "Dude, he's just playing with some four-year-olds."

Eda smirked, "Esper's right, he's fine. Just look at him!"

The three witches look at King, who is trying to climb the slide. Not knowing that the three are talking about him.

Luz relaxed her shoulders as she sat down, "It does look like he's having fun." King grunts as he continues to climb up the slide, using his claws to dig into it.

The human giggled as she watched him climb, "Aw... I wonder what cute little game he's playing."

The redhead shrugged, "Eh, probably just some baby game..." She turned to Eda, "...He is a baby, right?"

The older witch then shrugged at the smaller girl jokingly.

Meanwhile, the tiny demon shouted at the other kids, "Stand back, cretins! He grunted as he reached the top, "Yes! Yes! This is a throne worthy of a tyrant! Now bow to me, you snotty underlings. Bow!"

Two kids looked at each other shrugged, "Okay."

One kid does a handstand while the other does a backbend, much to King's amusement.

King laughed loudly, "Yes, appease your master!"

A smaller child climbed up and walked behind the small demon, "This isn't for standing, it's for sliding! You try." He then shoves King down the slide.

King screams as he is shoved, "Whoa, whoa!" He lands on the ground with a grunt but gets up with tears in his eyes, "Eda!" He runs to his friends on the bench, clings to Luz's leg, "That monster took my throne!"

Esper scratched the back of her head, "You mean the baby? Pretty sure his name is Lok-"

The little guy stomped his foot, "No, Esper, he is the usurper! Eda, I want you to go over there and blow him up! Kaboom!"

The witch boy, now known as the Usurper, is riding a spring rider, "Kaboom!"

Eda unscrews Owlbert from her staff, "Yeah, I'm not using Owlbert to blow up a five-year-old." The small wooden owl then hoots in Eda's hands.

The old witch smiles at her tiny friend, "He's got better things to do. Like this..." She then pets him, making Owlbert warble.

Luz smiles softly at the owl, "Aw, what a sweetie. How did you get him?"

Eda tilted her head at the human, "Get? I made Owlbert from the branch of an ancient tree."

The young redheaded witch gasped, "Oh wow, that's so cool! He's adorable for being carved from a tree! So is he like a familiar or something?"

Owlbert hops onto Eda's hand, hooting at the younger witch.

The older witch shook her head, "Oh, he's my palisman and we're bonded for life." Owlbert hops to her shoulder and nuzzles her cheek, "I'd annihilate anyone who'd hurt him..."

Esper's eyes sparkled with joy, "Woooooah, I hope I get a Palisman one day then."

King pouted at the three witches, "Fine! Don't help! Revenge will taste all the sweeter if they fall by my hand alone." He then laughs maniacally.

The usurper then walks over and shoves King over again, "Tag, you're it!" He laughs and then runs off.

Eda began to giggle, "Oh, man. Here we go. King's squeak of rage."

King stands up, "Nyeh... nyeh..." He squeals while wriggling and punching on the air, pauses, then continues squealing as he charges after the usurper.

Eda laughs fully, "He is like a little tea-kettle." She keeps laughing, causing her to snort. Esper snickers slightly, using her hand to try and cover her giggles.

Owlbert scratches at his face, which Luz notices.

The human tilts her head, "Hey, what's that?" She points to Owlbert's foot, which seems to have a hole.

Eda held up Owlbert's leg, "Oh, that's his interlock. So he only fits on to my staff. Every palisman has one!"

She then closes her eyes and when she opens them, everything but her, her staff, and the bench disappears.

The old witch gasped, "Luz? Esper?"

She stands and looks around the void. Both her staff and the bench disappear.

Eda continued to walk around in the darkness, "Hello?"

She can hear Esper's voice echo in the void, "Woah!"

Luz's voice also echoed, "Eda?"

The witch shouted, "Esper! Luz!"

Meanwhile in the real world, Luz, Esper and Owlbert look over Eda.

The human looks over the older witch, "Eda! Eda! Wake up!"

Eda's eyes open as she sees Esper shaking her body. The older witch is now laying down on the bench.

Luz and Esper both help Eda up from the bench, "Are you all right?"

The old witch shudders, "What? Oh, no! The curse. Hey, we have to get home. Now!" She picks up her staff and begins to leave.

Esper yells for their demon friend, "King, we have to go! Now!"

King was about to confront the usurper but his shoulders dropped when he heard her, "Aw come on! Five more minutes, please!"

Luz pouted, "King!"

The small demon pouted and pointed at the other child, glaring at him, "Ah, man... This isn't over."

The child still smiles at him, "Okay, let's play again real soon!" He then walks closer and hugs King.

King screams, trying to squirm out of the kid's grasp, "No, no! Keep those sticky hands away! Oh, no! He's touching me!" He then screams again before Esper walked over and picked him up, walking back to Eda and Luz with him in her arms.

...

Upon reaching the Owl House, Eda tosses her staff to the couch. She then yawns and jumps face first onto the couch.

Esper begins to walk upstairs, "I'll go get your elixir."

The older witch raises her hand, "Don't worry about it. I'll get it myself in a bit..."

Luz looks at her excitedly, "Do you need me to stay home and take care of you?" She gasps, "I could put King in a little doctor's outfit."

This makes everyone look at King, who looks up from a stack of paper. He tilts his head, "Meh?"

Eda shakes her head, "No one wants to see that."

Luz smiles widely, "I do."

Esper giggled, picking King up in her arms, "Me too, actually."

The old witch crossed her arms, "Look, I know how to take care of myself, girls. I've had this curse longer than you've both been alive. Combined."

The small witch whispered to King, "Woah, that's a super long time." King had to hold back a giggle.

The human moved closer to her, "So, how'd you get it?"

The grey-haired woman shrugged nonchalantly, "I don't know."

Esper nearly dropped King in surprise, "You don't know?"

The older witch pushed Luz, "Somebody gave it to me. I don't know who and I don't care because I'm fine, all right? Anyway, don't you two have plans with Tweedledum and Twerpledee?"

The human spoke, "Well, Esper, Willow, Gus, and I are going to the grudgby game between Hexside and Glandus High."

Eda screws Owlbert back onto the staff, "Since when are you two into sports?"

Luz grabbed Esper and pulled her close to her side, "Since we found a little something called "Hexside Pride." To think that Glandus, whoever they are, would dare face us! But if you need me or Esper to stay..."

The old witch shook her head, "Ew! Gross. Sympathy. Go! Go have fun at sport."

The human girl cheered, as did her childhood friend, "Hooray! Hooray for sport!" Luz then kisses King's skull, "Hugs and kisses, King! Mwah!" She then giggles at him, "Don't spend all night plotting revenge."

King mocks Luz's tone of voice, "That drooly-faced heathen will know my wrath."

Meanwhile at Hexside, the students are lined up to get on a dragon bus. Luz and Esper are running toward it but not paying attention. The redheaded witch is giggling as Luz tries to come up with a good cheer for the game.

The human pondered out loud, "Hexside's gonna wreck your side!" She then stops walking, causing Esper to stop as she shakes her head. Luz tries again, "Huh, no." She starts to walk again, "Hexside is the best side in the west side. She then yelps as Esper pulls her back. The dragon bus nearly bites Luz but her childhood friend pulled her out of the way.

The human wipes the sweat off her brow, "Phew, thanks, Esper..."

Her childhood friend shrugged her shoulders, "No problem, dude."

The goldened eyed girl then saw two familiar students, "Ah! Friends!"

Willow and Luz cheer as they hug, "Woo-hoo!"

Gus lets out a fake roar next to them, "Game day roar!"

Esper laughed and gave the illusionist a high-five, "Hey, nice one, dude!"

The brown haired girl smiled brightly, "Happy game day, fellow, uh... Are we Hexidians? Hexies?" She then gasped, "Hexoleos?"

Willow tilts her Hexisde cap dramatically, "Actually, most people call us... winners!"

Gus jumps up and down, "Grudgby games are the best. The players go through these action-packed trials. And the audience gets to wave flags. Look, I practiced!" He pulls out two flags from his pockets, spins in a circle as he waves them and hums.

Luz looks at her hoodie, "Is it weird that I'm not wearing anything Hexside?"

Willow scratched her cheek, "Um, it's weirder that you're wearing Glandus colors." The plant witch points to a sign behind Luz, her hoodie's colors matching the Glandus High's school colors.

A giant boy witch shouts from the dragon bus, "Get ready to be creamed, Glandus nerd!"

Luz gasped, "Hey! I'm a Hexside nerd!"

Esper laughs, looking at her hoodie and jacket combo she was wearing, "Wow, looks like my colors are Hexside colors. Nice!"

She high-fives Gus, who had a huge smile on his face.

The human looked down at her hoodie, "Aw man, lucky. I gotta change out of this shirt. Where can I get a Hexside one?"

The illusionist waved one of his flags towards Hexside's entrance, "I know! There's a lost and found box in the cafeteria!"

Luz smiled brightly, "Ah! The lost and found. Where mouthguards go to retire!"

Esper shrugged with a smile on her face as Luz began to walk to the cafeteria of the school, "Hey, it looks like the... Dragon... Bus thing is going to leave soon. I'm going to get us some seats now on the ship. Just make sure Luz doesn't take TOO long."

Gus waved his flags at Esper, "Yup, we got this, Esper!"

The plant witch nodded, "We'll see you on the bus!"

Meanwhile at the lost and found, Luz finds a giant chest. She opens it and pulls out a hat, "Yes!" She throws a Hexside shirt over her hoodie and grabs two more items before rushing to the front doors of the school. Luz exits in full Hexside apparel waving pom-poms in the air.

She cheers, "Goooo, Hexside!" Then she does a split as she lands on the ground and winces as a crack is heard, "Well, I never did that before... Uh, where is Esper?"

As the dragon bus starts to fly away, the giant witch shouts, "Hexside rules!"

Upon feeling the dragon bus move, Esper looks over and sees Luz, Willow and Gus attempt to ride Owlbert. She sighs as she sees them start to fall with Owlbert, facepalming to herself. The young redhead puts her foot over the side of the flying ship, ready to jump off until a hand suddenly grabs her wrist and yanked her back into her seat.

The young witch glared at the person next to her, "Hey, what was that for?"

An older boy's voice rang out as she was pulled back in her seat, "Oh, I'm sorry for saving your life! You're not seriously going to jump from here, are you?!"

Esper pulled her hand from the boy, "Well yeah, obviously! I gotta get to my friends somehow, Jasper."

Jasper Beaumont was taller than Esper, as he was a year and a half older than her. A fifteen year old boy with dark skin and light blue hair in a dreadlock ponytail, highlighted with an almost unnoticeable pale yellow at the tips. His outfit consisted of long sleeved white collared undershirt with a dark grey vest over it. The vest was fastened with two belts over it with pale gold buckles, in the middle of the vest was a pale gold star. His pants were black and also had dary grey boots. His look was complete with a blue bowtie around his neck.

Jasper's eyes widened, "Uh NO? Not when we're flying in the air already! My Titan, Esper, you sound like one of my brothers."

Esper stuck her tongue out at him, "Well meh, maybe your brothers are cool..." She put her head in her hand, "So... I guess Luz, Willow and Gus are going to miss the game then."

The taller boy shrugged, relaxing in his seat, "Eh, they'll make it here one way or another. It's fine. Besides, you can hang out with me, if you want. We're in the same boat after all, we got invited as guests to attend this game."

The redhead shrugged, "Uh... Actually, Jasper, I'm going to be attending Hexside next semester with Luz."

Jasper's shoulders dropped, "Oh... Well, aren't you girls lucky."

The rest of their ride to the game was akwardly silent, even as the other students filled the wind with laughter and cheers for their team.

....

As they arrived at Glandus, the dragon bus landed right next to the grudgby field. Principal Bump made sure all the students were filed into the seats intended for Hexside students in the stadium. Jasper and Esper took a seat next to each other at the edge of the stands as everyone walked to their metal seats. The younger witch put her head in a hand before looking at the field, "Man, this is going to be so boring without Luz, Willow and Gus." The older boy simply shrugged next to her, not knowing how to comfort her.
Esper blew a raspberry at the sight of Boscha when the pink girl made her way onto the field but then the redhead heard a noise amongst the crowd cheering. Esper looked at her side, seeing a plank of wood move in front of one of the entrances of the school.

"Well, that's peculiar..."

She gets up from her seat and Jasper looks over at her, "Uh, Esper, we're supposed to stay in the stands until half time."

Esper puts a finger to her mouth, "Shhh! I'm investigating something! Now you can either follow me or pretend you didn't see anything."

The older boy put up his hands, "Okay, okay! I hear you." He gets up from his seat and follows the young witch, the crowd's cheering covering the sounds of them leaving the stands.

As they got off the stands, Esper moved the loose plank of wood and walked through the open door. Jasper covered the door back up with the wood behind them. The school was dark, all the lights were off which made a bit of a spooky atmosphere. Jasper held onto the back of Esper's hood in fear. The girl rubbed her neck, "Do you HAVE to grab onto my hood like that?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Well I'm sorry, I'm nervous! We're really not supposed to be here, what if we get caught? What are we even looking for?"

The redheaded girl crossed her arms as they continued walking, "We're looking for whatever I saw enter th-"

 

"Hey, you're not allowed over here, Hexside loser!"

 

Both Esper and Jasper jumped in surprise, turning around to find the source of the voice. Which was a Glandus student who happened to see the duo walk into their school. Esper put up her fists as she walked in front of Jasper, "Back off, Glandus students, we're not! ...Okay, I'm not scared of you."

There was one student who stepped out of the shadows, then three more appear. One student wearing a green uniform looked at her curiously, "Oh yeah well we're not going to let you get the mascot again-Hey, you're not wearing a Hexside uniform!" Another in a red uniform tilted his head at Jasper, "Neither is he, what gives?"

Esper puffed out her chest proudly, "Well, that's because..."

"Esper, wait, we can just lea-"

"...We're both coming to Hexside next semester!" She interrupted, pointing her finger in the air proudly.

Jasper groaned, rubbing his forehead. He sighed, "Uh, listen, we don't want any trouble. We're just going to-"

 

Then a thud is heard in the distance, causing all the teens to turn their attentions towards the noise.

 

"Dang it, Victor! Now we gotta deal with some kids!" A female's voice rang out. A male's voice was then heard, "I'm sorry, Miltilda!"

Two coven scouts were on the far side of the room, trying to sneak off while the kids were arguing. Upon seeing the two, Esper started to run towards them, causing the two coven scouts to start to sprint.

Esper yelled back behind her, "Come on, Jasper! Or else they'll get away!"

The boy hurried behind her while the Glandus students tried to decide if they want to follow after them and the Coven Scouts or not.

The younger coven scout ran ahead of his surperior as they headed into another room. This got him out of danger while his mentor was in between in him and the kids.

Esper formed a green circle with her finger, causing a few vines to catch Miltilda's foot. She suddenly tackled the older Coven Scout, trying to stop her from moving.

"The heck?! Get off of me, kid!" The larger figure grabbed Esper and threw her to the side. In the chaos of the scuffle, Esper managed to knock off the Coven Scout's mask and her hood came down. When the Coven Scout turned to her, she looked to be an adult woman with dark skin, her black hair was fastened into braids. She glared her blue eyes at Esper.

Jasper knelt down next to the younger witch after she landed, "Esper! You alright?" Esper groaned in response but shook her head, "I'm fine, I'm fine!"

The taller boy stood in front of her, "Allow me to take care of this!" He raised his hand and formed a white circle, which then flashed different colors before landing on light blue. The light blue circle simply formed a small ball of water that dropped to the floor rather than shooting at the woman.

The redheaded witch looked down at the puddle of water, "...Wow, my hero." She said sarcastically at the taller boy as they got surrounded. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Don't worry, Hexside Losers! We got you!"

Suddenly the group from earlier showed up. The bard student glared at the older woman, forming a red circle with her hands which blasted offkey music in the air. The one in the yellow uniform threw a potion at her, which she jumped out of the way to see the potion melt the floor. The girl in green made more plants surround the Coven Scout's legs. The boy in dark blue formed a magic circle around the redhead, healing her injuries.

Esper formed another circle, this time shooting a fireball at the Coven Scout. She leaned back to dodge it, glaring at the children. The redhead looked at the older boy in blue, "Jasper! Come on!"

Jasper's shoulders tensed up but nodded, "Oh! Uh okay! Let's try again!" He formed a white circle with his finger, which then changed colors until it settled on purple. Abomination goop shot out of the circle and it fell onto the Coven Scout.

"That's ENOUGH!"

The oldest witch formed a yellow circle, causing fog to appear around the whole group. Obscuring their vision, the Coven Scout made her escape, making eye contact with Esper one last time.

Just as the fog got thicker and thicker, it became harder to breathe. Which forced the kids leave the the area and outside, where they say the grudgby game was over but no one noticed that all of them were gone.

The Bard Glandus student shrugged as he walked closer to the redheaded witch, "You know what, you're alright, kid. I'm Kepler by the way."

Esper tilted her head, "Wait, really?"

Jasper also tilted his head, "Yeah, really?!"

The bard student nodded, putting his hands on his hips, "Yeah, even though you don't even go here, you chased away some intruders when you didn't have to. So you're good in my book." He stuck out his hand for Esper to take, "These are my buddies, Cindy the Potion Master, Alvin the Healer and Nocturna the Plant Lover."

The redheaded witch shook the other's hand, before being surrounded by the other Glandus High students. Cindy slapped her on the back in appreciation as Nocturna, Kepler and Alvin all talked to her and each other. Esper spotted Jasper awkwardly standing by and she pulled him closer, "Hey, let's not forget Jasper here!"

Alvin shook Jasper's hand, "Oh yeah, that was a pretty powerful fire spell you did back there!" Which made the other Glandus students start to speak his praises as well.

The blue haired boy smiled, "Oh uh, I didn't really didn't do anything important, really. But, uh, thanks, guys." The group continued talking until they heard Principal Bump start taking attendence. So they decided it was best to start to separate.

Kepler held his fist out to Esper, "Oh! And Esper, can't wait to see you next semester. Good luck at Hexside."

Esper smiled and bumped her fist into his, "Likewise, Kepler. We'll have to hang out some time."

The boy nodded before walking off with his Glandus friends, all saying goodbye to the two Hexside associates.

The blue haired witch rubbed the back of his neck as he approached the younger witch, "Uh... Thanks, Esper... For helping me out back there. I wouldn't have been able to do anything if it weren't for you yelling for me."

Esper smiled, "Hey, it's no problem. I'm sorry for not listening to you the whole time we were hanging out."

Jasper shrugged, "No no, I get it. I can be a real stick in the mud sometimes. So, uh, thanks for making today fun. Even if we almost died multiple times."

The redheaded witch giggled, "Pffft, hey, what's a little 'almost dying moments' between friends?"

The two then chatted the whole way back to the school. Once they arrived, they separated as Jasper was picked up by one of his older brothers while Esper walked back to The Owl House.

...

As Esper arrived at The Owl House, she realized she was the last one to arrive in the house. She saw Luz holding Owlbert after he landed on her shoulder. The human whispered to him, "We'll keep this one to ourselves, shall we?"

Esper raised an eyebrow at her, "Keep what to yourselves?" Luz rushed to hug her friend, "Esper! Where were you! You totally missed it, I tried to fly..."

The redhead let out a tired laugh as her childhood friend rambled on about her day, just happy to be back home with her friends. Though unknown to the two young girls, the elixirs have stopped working on Eda's curse...

Chapter Text

Esper sits at Eda's Human Collectibles stand in the market, bored out of her mind. She watches lazily as King walks to multiple people while holding a tray of inedible human things.

King holds up the tray with a smile, "Partake of my free snack samples! Take them! I demand it as your ruler, the King of Demons!"

When he sees several people walk by him and not even look at him, he throws the tray onto the ground. The tiny demon pouts, "Nyeh! Why isn't anyone paying attention to me? I'm their rightful overlord! Intellectually and such!"

Eda almost laughs before getting offended, "Yeah... Hey!" She grabs a passerby by the cowl and sniffs, "It reeks more of nerd than money today."

Esper gags before Luz runs up to the three, "Guys!" Her shout makes Eda let go of the passerby's cowl.

Luz raises her arms in excitement, "You will not believe what's going on!" She poses under a banner, "It's a book fair! Where books come to life!"

A book jumps off one of the stands next to her, "Hello."

Luz screams in surprise and kicks it.

Esper picks up the book and puts it back on the stand, "Honestly, I think I'm getting used to all the weird stuff happening around me."

King tilts his head at Luz, "So wait... A fair without rides?"

A random boy witch smiles happily at the young demon, "Who needs rides when this-" He shoves a book in King's face, "-can take you anywhere?"

The young demon shakes his head, "Nyeh!" He then throws a strip of bacon on the boy's head. A winged demon flies by and picks him up. The boy screams as he is carried away.

Eda frowns, "A, ew." She throws book on the ground, "B, I'm bored. C, I feel like pickpocketing some dork while they browse!" She then walks off.

Esper starts to inch away from Luz, "Yeaaaaah... I'm gonna make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble. Bye!" She turns in the direction where her mentor walked away in, "Hey, Eda! Wait up!"

Luz shouts, "No, wait! Guys!"

But it was too late, Esper had already disappeared into the crowd. She pushed past various demons and witches as she tried to get closer to the old witch. Including walking through a sort of slime creature, which causes Esper to shudder. She turns to the slime demon after walking through the being, "Oh... Oh my gosh, I am so sorry... Ew..."

Meanwhile Eda grabs books and tosses it, "Boring," She knocks books onto a child's head, "Boring," She grabs another book, "Boring." She then gasps as she looks in a mirror, "Another wrinkle! The curse is quickening!"

Esper finally caught up to the old witch, "There you are! I had to walk through some guy-" She shook off the rest of the slime from her jean jacket.

Lilith's voice was then heard in the distance, "You, lackey."

Eda grabs the young witch by the back of her hood and ducks them both behind a banner that says "READ OR... DIE". She lifts the banner and glares at her sister, "Lilith..."

Esper holds her throat after the older witch let her go, "Uh, ow. Did you have to yank so hard?" Eda quickly shushed her and they both leaned in to spy on Lilith.

The dark witch glared at the merchant, "Do you have the item we discussed?"

The animal-like demon smiled and handed her a map, "Oh! Yes, right here."

Lilith opens the map, "This is excellent. A map to the Bloom of Eternal Youth! I think the emperor will be very pleased."

A coven guard walks up to her, "Ma'am, shouldn't we be searching for the Owl Lady to join the coven? Remember that whole plan?"

The dark witch laughed, "My sister's curse has left her frail. She'll still be here when we get back."

Esper shrugged, whispering, "Dang, she got you with that jab." Eda groans and taps the back of the young witch's head in a chopping motion.

Lilith smiles evilly, "This comes first, it's for the emperor after all."

The guard cheers, "Yeah!" He then knocks over the merchant's books, "All hail the emperor!"

Lilith pats his shoulder before walking away, "Very good, Steve!"

The coven guard now known as Steve pats his own shoulder, "Shoulder pats for Steve!" He then walks away.

Eda jumps a table to get to the merchant's stand, "Hey bub, what'd you sell my prissy sister?"

The merchant rubs his hands together, "Oh! It's a map to the Bloom of Eternal Youth. A rare flower that only grows once a millennia. Like the name says, it gives eternal youth to whomever holds it."

Esper's eyebrows widen, "Really? Wow! I mean! We can't let Lilith get that flower!"

Eda pats the young witch on the head, "Yeah, you're right... Interesting... So Lilith wants to nab this power for the emperor, huh. Well, won't she be surprised when I get there first and get it for myself! Hah! That'll show her who's frail!"

The redheaded witch pouts at her mentor, "Yeah because that's totally what's at stake here."

The merchant grins maliciously, "Well, we'll see won't we." He opens a drawer to reveal dozens of maps, unbeknownst to Eda and Esper, "Can't go without a map of course."

He hands Eda one. She takes it and opens it, grinning. She turns to the young witch, "Come on, Esper, we got a flower to find!"

Esper points in the air, "Yeah! Oh wait, shouldn't we tell Luz and King what we're doing first?"

Eda nodded before pointing a finger gun at her, "Oh yeah, you're right. Dang you, responsibilities!"

Later at The Owl House, Luz and King are working together to try and write their own book. However, their differing opinions seem to be leading to... creative differences in their writing. They were arguing so loudly that neither heard Eda or Esper call for them from downstairs. So the pair decided to walk upstairs to see what all the fuss is about.

Luz points at King, "Don't you dare insult shipping in my presence!"

Esper picks up King and giggles, "Oooh, did you try to make fun of shipping in front of Luz? The last time I even suggested shipping Azura with any other character than Hecate, she trapped me in a headlock. We were giggling, but it was not pleasant. Gosh forbid Azura likes Lazuli or Auburn the Conqueror."

Luz waves her arms in the air, "Auburn the Conqueror literally tried to murder Azura multiple times until the last book! And Azura and Lazuli totally have a more sibling-coded relationship."

The redhead puts King down and waves her arms back at her, "But they're not... Unless they actually call each other... Okay you know what, I'm not having this argument with you right now." Esper then crossed her arms, looking at Eda for her to start her announcement.

Luz sticks her tongue out at her friend before looking at Eda, "What's up, boss lady?"

Eda grins, "Esper and I are popping out for a few days to an undisclosed place to do undisclosed things. You're in charge while we're gone."

The redheaded witch's smile turns into a smile, "Yeah! ...Wait days?"

Luz smiles back at her, "Great!"

The older witch begins to drag Esper by the hood outside the door, "No questions!"

The human follows them to the front door, "Okay!"

The owl witch grins, "I said no questions!" She then closes the door.

Esper shrugged as she jumped on Owlbert, "You know she didn't ask any questions, right?"
The older witch snorts before hopping onto Owlbert as well, "Hehe, I know. I just like to be funny."

...

Later in the forest, Eda walks into a clearing and consults her map. Meanwhile Esper rips vines off a statue of a minotaur-looking creature called a 'Minitaur.'

Eda raises an eyebrow at her map, "Okay, from the Minitaur, we head due north, and with luck, we'll get to the Bloom of Eternal Youth before Lilith!" She laughs, snorts, "Who's frail now, emperor dorks?"

The young witch waves her arms, "Once again, that is NOT what's at stake here!"

The older witch laughs at her before hearing a branch crack behind her.

Eda gasps, "Someone's following us. Esper, get behind the statue. Now."

Esper quickly does as she's told before Eda follows her. With a snap, Eda summons a blue sword. Lilith walks into the clearing, with her hair a mess and leaves on her. The redheaded witch tries to poke out her head to see what it is before Eda summons a fireball and runs out from behind the statue.

The old witch then throws the fireball, "Spicy toss!"

The dark witch ducks underneath the fireball, "Aah!"

Eda raises an eyebrow, "Lilly?"

Lilith narrows her eyes at her, "Edalyn?"

Esper steps out from behind the statue, "Esperanza! Is here too." The two older witches stare at her as Eda makes both of her weapons disappear.

Lilith then sighs, "And of course you would be here just to be a nuisance. Why don't you go home and rest? Maybe let the kid do this instead? Wouldn't want you breaking a hip."

The old witch frowns at her, "Sorry, sister, I'm stronger than you think. I'm here to save the Bloom of Eternal Youth from the likes of you." She runs off with a sing-songy voice, "And I'm gonna get there before you! Come on, Esper!" She grabs Esper by her hood and runs, lifting the young witch off her feet.

The dark witch gasps and runs after the pair, "Aah! No you won't!"

...

Even later in the forest, it is now night time. The full moon shining in the sky over them. Eda, Lilith and Esper both run by, panting. A shadow follows the three.

Eda laughs while out of breath, "Ha! Doesn't this remind you of how we used to race to the kitchen, Lilly? Lilly?"

The old and young witches stop and look around. Esper looks up and points above her, "Eda, look!"

The two look up and see Lilith, wrapped up in a web, being held by a crab-like monster. The monster growls as Lilith tries to free herself.

Lilith struggles within the web, "Mmm! Mmm!"

Eda shouts, "Lilly!"

The old witch summons a large fireball at the monster. The crab monster goes flying into the distance. Lilith falls into a bush with a muffled yell. Esper runs over to help rip the webs off the older witch.

Lilith raises an eyebrow at her, "Thank you... Esperanza." She was a bit confused.

The young witch rubs the back of her neck, "You can call me 'Esper' actually."

Lilith hums before Eda helps her up, "Alley-Oop!"

The raven witch sighs, "Ugh, thank you, Edalyn! I wasn't certain that you'd save me."

Eda scoffs at her, "Stow it! Ugh, we might fight, but you're still my sister. And besides, if someone's gonna be putting you down, it's gonna be me. Ha!" She then slaps Lilith's back.
Lilith chuckles and looks to the side. She gasps, "Is that?"

Eda presses her face into Lilith's and Esper's head pops up below them. Through the trees, a glowing pink flower looms.

The old witch smiles widely, "The Bloom of Eternal Youth!" She pushes Lilith to the side, "Alright back off, that baby's mine."

Lilith growls at her sister, "Why are you always like this?" She then turns to look at Esper.

The small witch quickly shrugs before Eda catches both their attention.

Eda smirks, "Because Lilith, you think I'm just some tired old biddy. Ah, but I'm more than that." She uses magic to cut the flower, "And with the Bloom of Eternal Youth's power, I'll show you!"

But then the magic flower disappears from her hand!

The owl lady frowns, "What the-"

The merchant's maniac laugh can be heard throughout the air. His shadow falls over Eda as he stands atop the stone that held the flower. Lilith walks up next to Eda as Esper walks to the other side of her mentor.

The merchant from earlier still laughs, "I know you must be confused! The Bloom of Eternal Youth, dead? What if I told you the Bloom never existed at all! And now that I have led you to my nest, I'll suck all the life out of you to satisfy my unending hunger!"

Lilith scoffs and rubs her forehead, "He scammed us." She turned to her sister, "Can you believe he scammed us?"

Eda smirks, "I thought there was a 50/50 chance going in. Hard not to admire the tenacity though."

Esper waves her arms, "What? You thought he scammed us and you didn't tell me?! You had me out here thinking we had to race against time to stop the emperor from getting a flower that would give him eternal life!"

Lilith pat the young witch on the head to calm her down, "Calm yourself, young one." She turns to her sister, "Good entrance, but that outfit? Ha!"

The owl lady laughs, "Look at his little shoes!"

The raven witch starts laughing as well, "Pfffft... Stop it. Pfffft."

The young witch laughs with them, pointing at the merchant, "Yeah, dude, you're dumb!"

Eda quickly stops laughing, "Aaaand you ruined it, Esper."

Lilith stops her laughter as well, "Maybe next time, think about what you say."

Esper pouts at the both of them, "Okay, okay, sheesh! Dang it!"

Merchant, now embarrassed, covers his shoes with his cape, "Well, maybe you've never been led into a lethal trap before, but the response should be, "Aa! No! Spare us!"

Eda and Lilith share a look as Esper smirks at the demon.

The owl lady smiles widely, "Ah, sure." She steps onto the dais, "Spare us."

The dark witch summons her staff, "Woe to us whose fates are sealed."

Eda cracks her knuckles as she continues to walk towards the demon alongside her sister.

The merchant begins to stutter as he sees how unfazed the trio are, "Tha-That's right, witches! Cower! Cower?" He swallows a lump in his throat, making an audible gulp sound.

Eda looked down at Esper, "Watch how it's done, kid."

Lilith scoffs with a smile, "Oh yes, child. Do take notes."

The young redhead shrugged, "Woah, I get to see two powerful witches WORK TOGETHER? This I gotta see! Luz is going to be so jealous!" She sits down on a nearby rock and takes out a tiny notebook and a pencil, ready to write down anything to note during the battle.

Eda starts off by throwing a fireball at the merchant, already burning his arm. Meanwhile Lilith forms a giant raven made out of blue energy, which collides with the monster man. This causes him to be off balance. The owl lady then forms a circle on the ground, which summons a giant Hooty-looking owl made out of Earth that launches forward to his the demon in the stomach. This sent him flying into a tree but he got back up. He eyes at Esper and charges at her on all-fours. The young witch drops her pencil before shooting a fireball at the demon's face. He reeled back in pain, patting out the fire with his paws as Esper goes back to writing her notes. Lilith then delivered a clean right hook to his face which was then followed by Eda punching him with her left hand. They then finished the combo with them both uppercutting his chin. The merchant was launched in the air and he falls onto the ground, injured. The raven witch forms a circle and summons rope to begin tying up the demon. The young witch finishes writing her notes, complete with doodles of the fight, before putting the small notepad in her pocket. Esper walks over and helps the two tie up the scam merchant. The trio leave him on the ground with his injuries, complete with burnt fur and a black eye.

Eda stretched her limps, "Well, we wrecked this chump. But I guess the Bloom of Eternal Youth isn't real..." She then sighs.

Lilith sighs and looks at her sister, "Well, if it makes any difference, I don't consider you to be a tired old bitty."

The owl lady smiles at her sister, "Really?"

The dark witch smirks, "If you were, you'd be much easier to catch."

Esper had to hold back a laugh with both her hands, "Well, she's not wrong."

Eda pouts, "Oh great, you're gonna cart me away to the coven now, are you?"

Lilith shakes her head, "Not now. Because I want to give you a chance to join on your own! Join me in the Emperor's Coven, Edalyn." She holds out her hand to her sister, "He could even heal your curse."

Esper's eyes widen as she looks at her mentor, wondering what she's going to do.

Eda slowly extends her hand to Lilith's, but gently pushes it down, "No, I'll heal it on my own terms. I don't wanna owe him anything. Catch you later, sis."

The raven witch smiles at her sister, "Not if I catch you first, sister..."

Esper breaths a sigh of relief, "Phew, no losing a mentor today."

Eda smiles and summons her staff, "I'll see you around. Come on, kid."

Esper smiles as she hops onto the palisman's staff. Both witches then flew off to go back to the Owl House.

Lilith sighs deeply and turns her gaze to the right, looking pensive.

The demon merchant wakes up from his daze with a smug smile, "You're welcome for the chance to bond."

The raven witch glares at him and shoots him with a fire spell. The merchant screams in pain as the fire burns his body.

...

Then back to the Owl House, Eda and Esper lands outside. Luz and King are snoring on the couch until the owl lady opens the door, letting the younger witch in first.

The grey-haired witch drops her staff, "Hey, kids. Woof!" She cracks her back, "That was a rough couple days..."

Luz smiles tiredly at the two, "Yeah, I'll say."

Esper sighs as she stretches, "You're telling me! I've been camping with my parents before but it was NOT as bad as that."

Eda sits on the couch, "Ah. Well, nothing a bit of apple blood and a good book can't mend."

The redheaded witch smiles at the older woman, "Oh yeah me too! I'd love a book right now!"

The human picked up her head with wide eyes, "Books?"

King wakes up and shakes his head, "Nope, I don't know nothing about that."

Luz looks at her non-existent watch on her wrist, "We hate books! Wow, look at the time!"

The young demon shrugs, "What's a book? Good night!"

Luz does a back-handspring out of the room while King runs away from the pair of witches. Eda and Esper watch them go, very confused. They give each other a look and then both notice Ruler's Reach on the coffee table. The young witch raises an eyebrow at the book.

Eda picks the book up, "Huh? What the-"

The typewriter speaks up in a deep voice, "Girls, you do not want to know."

Esper jumps back behind Eda, spooked by the talking typewriter.

Eda laughs at her, "What was that about being used to all the weirdness earlier? Where did that go?" She continued to laugh.

The young witch waves her arms, "Hey! No! Earlier it was a talking book! This is a talking typewriter! This is totally different."

Eda continues to laugh and walks into the kitchen. Esper follows her, "Eda! Are you even listening to me?! EDA!"

Chapter Text

In the living room of the Owl House, Luz is reading a pamphlet about Hexside which is labeled "Hexside Facts and Trivia." It has a picture of Principal Bump on the back along with his quote, "Education is the real magic."

Luz looks at her pamphlet, "King, listen to this!"

King lays on Luz's stomach, "Hey! Less read-y, more scratchy!"

The human then sits up, "Sorry! Now that I'll be a student at Hexside, I wanna learn all about it! I've got a new crush, and her name is Education!"

Esper giggles at her friend, "Hehe, Education isn't a person."

The small demon bites off a piece of the pamphlet, "Nyah!"

Eda kicks the front door open, "Hey, freeloaders! Guess what today is?"

Luz raises her arms excitedly, "Is it your birthday?"

Esper smiles, "Is it your sister's birthday?"

King giggles, "Is it my birthday?"

Hooty shrieks with a smile, "It's my birthday!"

Eda shouts and closes the front door, "No! It's human treasure day!"

She then tosses the Portal Door into the air and it unfolds, opening. Owlbert flies through, dragging a giant sack. The sack tears when he flips it onto the floor, revealing a pile of human garbage. The door closes shut.

Eda hops onto the pile, "Ahh, fresh garbage."

King looks through the trash pile happily, "Ooo, gimme, gimme, gimme!" He then pulls out a teddy bear, "Yes! Another worthy addition to my army of terror!" The demon pulls the string on the back of the plush.

The teddy bear then spoke, "I love cuddles and kisses!"

King laughs, "Truly horrifying!" He looks down and finds a wolf plushie.

Esper giggles at the young demon's antics, "Pffft, oh yeah. Totally scary." She digs through the trash, finding a bucket with a hole in it, "Hmm, I wonder if Gus would like this."

Eda smiles at the human, who's still reading, "Yo, kid. Your trash pile's getting cold. While mine's getting hot!" She pulls out a wire clothes hanger from the pile, "I have never seen such an extravagant earring."

Luz shrugs her off, "You can have my trash. Whoa! Did you know that Hexside was built on the bones of its rival school? One it literally conquered!" She shows off the pamphlet, showing a picture of a much younger Principal Bump standing on various rival students, being cheered on by fellow Hexside students. The school burns behind them.

Esper gasped, pointing at the young man on the pamphlet, "Wooooooah, young Bump looks so cool! Think he can give me pointers?"

Luz giggles at her childhood friend, "Haha, maybe when we actually start attending!"

The older witch puts two clothing hangers as earrings and looks in a mirror, "Yes, I know all these things, I went there. It was the most harrowing period of my life." She smiles at her reflection, "Oh, hello."

The human smiles widely, wrapping her arm around Esper, "Can you imagine it! Us, in the halls of Hexside, studying with Willow and Gus and—maybe even Amity..." Her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered something, "Amity! Oh cramity! We're supposed to meet so I can get my Azura book back!" She rushes to collect her things and runs towards the door.

Esper raises her hands, standing in front of Luz, "Wait wait, pause! You and Amity? The girl who was okay with trying to cut you open when we snuck into the school? Fought you at the Covention? Mint chocolate chip looking hair with angry eyes? THAT Amity? Are you guys friends now? When did this happen?"

The human smiles, "Ever since we hung out at the library one night, we've been spending a lot of time together... I'm kinda running out of time here to explain it all, actually. Why don't you come with me? Maybe get to know her a little?"

The witchling squinted, "Hmmm okay, fine, I'll come with you. I'll believe it when I see it."

"Great! We have a deal!" Luz grabs her arm and runs out with her. She slams the door before reopening it, "We love you guys!"

Hooty smiles happily, "And I love you, gu-!"

Luz slams the door again, interrupting the owl. The owl door shrieks in response, "Aaah!"

Eda shrugs "Eh, who needs them?"

King smiles and pulls the string again, "Yeah! This bear could be our new Luz! And this wolf can be our new Esper!"

The plush bear speaks again, "Being without you is just unbearable."

The small demon throws the teddy bear, "No! You're unbearable!" He hugs the wolf plush close to him, narrowing his eyes at the teddy bear.

...

Both girls run around the market, with Luz leading them throughout the crowd. The human looks around the crowd for the girl with green hair, "Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity. Gotta find that-oh!" She sees the girl in question, wearing a new black outfit, "There she is. Hey, Amity! Luz is finally here! And I brought-"

Edric and Emira suddenly appear in front of Luz, surprising her, "Hi Luz!"

The human falls on her back, "Ah!"

Edric and Emira laugh at the human on the ground. Esper holds Luz and glares at the twins, not knowing that it was all in good fun, "Hey, watch it!" The three then heard footsteps near them.
Amity walks over, frowning, "Edric! Emira! Stop bothering her!" She helps Luz up, "Sorry, Luz, they insisted on coming for some reason."

Emira starts squishing Amity's face with her hand, "Because we love you, baby sister!" She was then pushed by Amity, "Ah!"

Esper walks in front of Luz, "Baby sister? Who are these guys?"

The pale witch shoves Emira off and straightens her messed-up hair, "These are Edric and Emira, my older siblings. They've been extra protective and nice towards me to make up for the library incident."

Their brother leaned close to Amity's face, "And we still apologize everyday."

Luz giggled at their antics, "Hehe, it's okay. Esper decided to come with me too." She elbowed the younger witch's arm, causing her to pout.

Amity shoves Edric away and extends a hand towards the redhead, "Anyways, hello, I'm Amity Blight. Are you a friend of Luz's?"

Esper rubbed her arm before extending a hand to the green haired witch, "Yes, I know that. I'm the girl you called 'Freckles' when we snuck into the school that one time. When you started shaking my childhood friend here?" She gestured to the human next to her.

The pale witch nods her head, rubbing her chin, "Ooooh, yeah, I do remember you. Well. I can't take back my previous actions but I apologize for insulting you... And for treating Luz like that. I was... Going through something at that point."

Esper squinted at her, "...You know what, I can understand that. For now." She rubbed the back of her neck.

Edric and Emira gasped as the two stopped their handshake. The boy poked his sister's cheek, "There's no way Mittens just said she was sorry!"

The older sister poked her other cheek, "Yeah! She never apologizes!"

Amity pushed her two older siblings away and pulls Luz's book out of her bag, "Oh shush you two! In any case, here's your book."

The redheaded witch folds her arms and stands besides her human friend.

Luz smiles and takes the book, "So, what'd you think?"

The green haired witch rubs the back of her neck, "It was... Fine."

The human pulls a drawing out of the book, "So fine you drew yourself with Malingale the Mysterious Soothsayer?"

Esper snickers at the picture as Amity blushes and summons a spell circle, destroying the drawing with fire.

Luz smiles widely, "This is great! Maybe we could even start an Azura club at school when we're all classmates!"

Amity raises an eyebrow at her, "When we're all what?"

The human pulls out the pamphlet, "Surprise! I'm enrolling at Hexside! And so is Esper!" She wrapped her arm around the smaller girl's shoulders.

Esper giggled in response, "Yeah! It's going to be so fun!"

The abomination witch gently takes the pamphlet from Luz, "Oh! Uh, sorry, but to be in my class, you need to take a placement exam and prove that you've mastered two spells." She shows the requirements on the pamphlet, "I know you have your light thing. Uh, do you know anything else? And uh, Esper, what do you know?"

Luz started to sweat nervously, "Placement exam? Spells?"

The redhead tilted her head curiously at her childhood friend, "...Did you not read that part, dude?"

Emira ruffled her younger sister's hair, "Quit giving her a hard time, Mittens."

Edric smiled at their friend, "Yeah, of course she knows two spells! Right, Luz?"

The human laughed nervously, "Pffft! Yeah! 'Course I know two spells!"

Esper spoke up, following Luz's lead, "Oh yeah, of course Luz knows two spells. She's the most obsessed with magic out of all of us. I know a fire spell AND a plant spell already so, I'm all set!"

Amity's eyebrows raised, "I see, impressive. Because if you guys don't, they'll put you in the baby class." She hands Luz the pamphlet back, now flipped to the baby class page.

Edric smiled brightly, "Oooh! Brain idea!" He then kneels in front of Amity. Emira leans on Amity's head, trapping her between them.

Emira smiled like her brother, "What if we all trained together? We could show off what we know!"

The boy witch, "What do you say, Luz? Esper?"

The redheaded witch nodded her head, "We would love to-"

Luz grabs her childhood friend's shoulder, "Uh, actually, we have other training plans in a very far away place that we have to go to right now!" She tugs Esper away as she begins to walk away, "Bye!"

Esper raises an eyebrow but allows Luz to pull her away, "Uh, bye guys!"

...

Now at the Owl House kitchen, where we see the witch-y mentor stirring a pot. Eda is reading a book titled "Bending Ingredients to Your Will." She hums a tune, "Wow, a surprisingly peaceful domestic moment. When will it be ruined?"

Luz suddenly slams the front door open, dragging Esper with her, "Eda!"

Eda shakes her head, "There it is."

The human rushes in, shouting, "Eda, Eda! Eda!" She then falls over, bringing her witchling friend down with her, "You have to teach me a new spell right now!"

The older witch shakes her head, "Sorry, Luz! These vegetables won't cook themselves... Yet." She dumps a potion onto vegetables, making them all grow arms and legs. The silver haired woman smiled at the sentient vegetables, "Alright, everybody in the pot!"

But the vegetables scream and run off the table to escape as they didn't want to be cooked.
Eda sighs, "Why do I always think that's gonna work?"

Esper dusts herself off as she gets up, "Besides, Luz, I'm not sure if your specific magic works like that." She offers her friend a hand to help her up.

Luz takes her hand, allowing herself to be pulled up from the ground, "But Esper, I need to know two spells to get into decent classes at Hexside. I can make light glyphs." She pulls the glyph out and activates in front of the two witches.

This proved to be too much for the Owl Lady's eyes as Eda shields her face from the light ball, "Aah!"

The redheaded witch grimaces at her, "Yikes."

The human frowns and falls face first on the floor, "But at the end of the day, that's the only spell I know."

Eda smirks, "And whose fault is that?"

Both girls look at her, Luz's voice being muffled from the floor, "Yours!"

The Owl Lady laughs, "Ha! Yep! Got me there."

Esper folded her arms, "You've only taught me a fire spell and made an attempt with the light spell so far. I had to learn my plant spell from Willow!"

Luz stands up, "Just teach me a spell now. Any spell! It can be the darkest evil!" She turns to her childhood friend, "Esper? Do you think you can teach me?"

The witchling shrugged, "Uh... I don't know if I am really qualified to be a teacher, Luz." She turns to the older witch, "But the least you could do is teach Luz another spell, Eda. Please, I don't want to be separated from Luz in school."

The old witch shrugs, "Well, I have been researching my texts on wild magic, but I'm much too busy right now." She then throws a book in the pot.

Luz frowns, "Come on, Eda!" She then squints at the taller woman, "You're the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles! How would it look if one of your apprentices got thrown into the baby class?"

Esper smiled widely, pointing at the older witch, "Oooooh! She's right! It wouldn't look good on your part!"

Eda narrows her eyes at the two but smiles, "Hmm. Weaponizing my pride. Well played, girls! Well, in that case, this looks like a job for magic boot camp!"

King suddenly walks in after opening the back door, "Did someone say boot camp? I agree to run it. We'll rise at dawn! You'll carry me on your back as I yell hateful things about your performance!"

The older witch shakes her head at him, "Nope. You'll have no part in this. Luz needs to focus, and I can't have her go all weird when you do something adorable."

The small demon stomps on the ground, "I am not adorable!"

Luz squeals at him, "Aww, he stamped his little foot!"

Esper giggles, gesturing to Luz, "See? You ARE adorable, little guy."

King squeals and leaves, slamming the door behind him. The door reopens. He slams it again. It reopens again. He slams it again, this time harder.

The Owl Lady smirks, "Now, no time to waste. You'll both have to follow my teachings exactly. We gotta go somewhere special."

Luz pumps her fist, "Yes!"

The redheaded witch raises an eyebrow at the older witch, "Wait, me too?"

Eda keeps her smile, "Yes, yes you are. It's a place where magic energy just flows..."

The human climbs onto the counter, shouting louder than before, "Yes!" Esper holds out her arms just in case her childhood friend fell.

...

The three are now standing in winter gear surrounded by snow. Eda is wearing a dark gray furry coat-like outfit with a raccoon skin hat. Luz is wearing a hat that resembles a sort of monster while wearing a more brown fur coat. Esper is wearing lighter brown fur outfit with a winter bandana, protecting her witchy ears from the cold.

Eda shouted excitedly, "A place like, the Knee!"

Luz cheers, "Yes!" Her cry echoes across the Isles.

The Owl Lady nods her head, "The earliest witches came to the Knee to develop their magic, drawn to its natural power."

The short witch's eyes sparkled, "Woaaaaah!"

The human gasped, "It's beautiful!"

The trio spots ruins covered in snow. Esper tilts her head at the structures, "Woah! These look pretty old and crumbly! But the cool kind of old and crumbly!"

Eda gestures to the side, "Though, it's not without its dangers."

Luz screams as she sees a giant Slitherbeast is gnawing on a tree trunk. It resembled a sort of yeti mixed with a gorilla though it's head was rather round. Esper jumps in front of Luz protectively, readying to release a spell at the beast.

The silver haired witch waves her hand calmly, "The Slitherbeast! Don't worry, if you don't mess with him, he won't mess with either of you."

The human blows a raspberry at the Slitherbeast from behind Esper. The beast bites through the tree trunk and sniffs in their direction. Luz yelps and runs off from behind her childhood friend.
Eda smiles, "Here's where we'll set up shop."

Esper nodded, rubbing her hands together, "Alrighty, sounds good to me. So! When do we have hot cocoa?"

The older witch raises an eyebrow at her, "Hot what?"

Luz smiles widely, "I'll definitely learn my second spell here! Gorgeous views, magic in the air. And best of all, we're completely alone!"

A pink light illuminates the area behind her.

Eda shouts, tackling her two apprentices, "Watch out!"

All three land behind a boulder. A pink fireball hits the spot Luz had been standing in. Eda pops up over the rocks they fell behind with her staff drawn. Esper pops her head up angrily, "Hey, watch where you're chucking fire!" Luz also pops up, and gasps as she sees who it is.

Amity's voice is heard getting closer, "Sorry, whoever's over there!"

The human ducks back down, hides her face with her hat, "Forget teaching me a spell, just make me disappear!"

Eda shrugs, "Well, okay, but I've got a 60/40 record of making you re-appear. Oh! You meant... ah, never mind. They're waving back at Esper anyway."

Edric and Emira wave as Esper greets them. The redhead smiles at them, "Hey guys!"

The boy twin sticks out his fist to bump the girl's, "Hey, Esper! Hey, Luz!"

The girl twin shakes Esper's hand, "Hello!"

The pair looks to where Luz ducked behind, trying to get her attention. Edric waves his arms, "Hey, it's us!"

Esper puts her hands on her hips, "Luz, come on out of there and say hi. They already saw you."

The human sighs, "Okay, let's do this." She stands and waves, "Hey, guys!"

The Owl Lady raises an eyebrow at the pair of identical kids, "Who are they?"

Esper continues talking to the twins as Luz grabs Eda's jacket, "Be cool! If they know I haven't mastered two spells, they'll think I belong in the baby class!"

Amity walks towards the mentor and student, "What's that about the baby class?"

Eda smirks, "Only that it's for babies, and Luz here clearly isn't a baby." She looks at Luz, who is glaring, "Nailed it." She then whistles and walks away.

Luz suddenly slips and poses on the ground, looking up at the other witch, "Amity! Wha... What are you doing here?"

The green haired witch smiled, "I'm here to train. I'm trying to beat Ed and Em's highest score on the exam."

Emira pops up from behind Amity, "Aw, Mittens. That's impossible!"

Edric also popping up from behind Amity, "She still needs to use a training wand to learn new spells. So what are you workin' on? Something powerful?"

While those two talked about potentially powerful spells: Emira looks at Esper, squinting her eyes at her, "So, Esper... What kind of a witch are you?"

The smaller witch raises an eyebrow at her, "Uh, excuse me?"

The girl twin looks at her features closely, "I mean, what family do you belong to? You're not a Clawthorne and you don't look like a Beaumont." She brings up her hand, counting the freckles on Esper's face.

The redhead ponders for a moment before her eyes widen, "Oh! Beaumont... Beaumont... That's Jasper's family, right? Yeah no, I'm neither of those. Uh, well, it's a bit complicated but I'm actually here to try and figure that out. I was actually raised in the human realm with Luz."

Emira nods, "Oooh, I see. So how did you end up in the human realm?"

Esper shrugged, "I'm trying to figure that part out too. My friend, Gus, is trying to help me by using an advanced memory spell on my mind." She points at her own temple, "Me going to school with him would make things way easier for the both of us."

The green haired older sister pondered for a moment, "By 'Gus', you mean Augustus Porter, right? Edric and I are actually in the Illusionist track with him. Same class too. Hey, maybe we can help you with the memory spell when you join this semester!"

The smaller witch smiles brightly at her, "Woah really? That's so cool of you, Emira. I'm sure Gus would love the help! Thank you."

"Hey, it's no problem." Before Emira could continue, she found herself being interrupted by Luz's voice specifically.

The human smiles awkwardly, "Yup! I'm working on some powerful spells, Edric! I'm workin' on one that's so crazy! Eda's a pretty incredible teacher."

Eda walks back to the group of kids, carrying a basket of snowballs, "Luz! Esper! I shall now teach you both how to identify different types of snow-by taste!" She holds out a snowball, shoving it in Luz's face, "Go on, eat the snow."

Emira looks at the young witchling and raises an eyebrow, "Is this some kind of... Special magic?"

Esper shrugs back at her, "Hey, don't look at me. I don't... I... I'm not the one trying to get people to eat snow."

Amity coughs awkwardly, "Ahem. I don't think the Owl Lady wants to show us any of her powerful spells. Come on, guys." She then turns to leave, waiting for her older siblings to follow her.

Eda points at her mouth full of snowballs and then swallows, "Oooh. Brain freeze! Brain freeze!"
The human-raised witch starts to giggle at her mentor's antics while Luz looks annoyed.

Emira smiles at them, "See you around, tiny witch and human! Good luck with your, uh, training."

Edric picks up a clump of snow and tries to lick it. His twin knocks it out of his hand and drags him away. The boy twin frowns as his sister tugs him, "Aw..."

Edric and Luz wave to each other while Emira waves goodbye to Esper.

The human pouts at her mentor, "Eda! Can you please take this seriously?"

The Owl Lady frowns at her, "You two need to take me seriously! Go taste snow without my guidance, see where it gets you."

Esper sticks out her tongue, "Ew. That just sounds gross."

Luz looks down at the ground sadly, still pouting. Her childhood friend bumps their shoulders together, trying to get her to smile to no avail.

Eda sighs, "Oh... Don't worry, kid." She ruffles Luz's hair, "If you listen to me, soon you'll be doing stuff like that."

The trio look at the Blights. Amity reads from a book titled 'Magic 101', then aims her training wand at a tree and draws a spell circle with it. The produced pink fireball destroys the tree and the battery light on the training wand flashes.

The silver haired witch smirked, "And it won't be with some wack training wand, it'll be the real deal. But you have to trust me, okay? You too, Esper."

The human nods, "Okay. I trust you."

Esper smiles at the older woman, "Of course, boss ma'am."

Eda smirks, "We've covered snow, so now it's on to smelling moss." She then pulls moss out of her pocket, "Now the trick is..." And shoves the moss up her nose, "You really gotta get it up in there."

Luz's expression falls as Esper gags, clutching her nose shut.

...

Now on the Knee, Eda is sitting in front of a fire, drinking out of a mug while Luz is walking out from the forest. Esper plops down on a rock next to Eda, exhausted.

Luz sighs, "Ugh... Okay... I've identified the smells of three different rocks, sorted all the twigs from big to small, and found your glove, and your hand." She lifts glove off of Eda's detached hand before Esper took it from her.

Eda smiles, "Ah, I was wondering where that thing went." She allows Esper to screw her hand back on tightly.

The young witch looked at the mug she was holding, "Aha, you do know what hot cocoa is!" Which made the Owl Lady stick her tongue out at her while Luz shrugs.

The human stretches, "So what now?" She looks at Amity training with Edric and Emira. Amity sends a jet of fire at Edric with the training wand and he dodges it. Emira summons an arm of snow to punch her sister. Amity blocks and destroys it with a shield. Amity dispels the shield and waves at Luz. Edric uses the distraction to make Amity sink in the snow until only her hand is showing. Luz giggles at the siblings.

The older witch sighs, "Hey. I know my lessons seem weird but this is what wild magic is all about! Making a connection with nature. The earliest witches understood that. Human witches need to understand it, too. You wanna learn a second spell?"

The brown haired girl nodded, "With all my heart."

Eda guides Luz to a rock, makes her sit down, "Then you have to learn from the island. Come here, girls, look." She has Esper sit on a rock next to her childhood friend.

The rock overlooks the massive skeleton of the Titan. It's ribs are nearly the same height as the Knee, and its Skull is towering even from the opposite end of the Isles. Luz and Esper stare at the sight in awe as wind blows past the two.

The Owl Lady smiles fondly, "And think about what the island is trying to tell you." She then leaves.
The human takes deep breath, talking to herself, "Alright, Luz. Look. Look with everything you've got. Focus..." She raises her right hand and speaks through it, "Focus? On what? On you'll be stuck in the baby class?"

Luz begins to argue with her hand, "No! Don't think like that!" She then speaks through her left hand, "Face it, you'll never get a second spell following Eda's lessons."

The brown haired girl yells at herself, "Silence, hands!"

Meanwhile Esper was just staring at the skull of the Titan, she felt an ominous feeling in her gut. A brief feeling of fear lingered as she stared at the skeleton, "Uh... Luz, did you just get a sudden shiver down your spine?"

Luz shook her head and was about to speak until a crash gets both their attention. Amity has destroyed a pillar with her training wand.

Emira is heard shouting near their camp, "Amity! Dinner's ready!"

Edric also shouts from offscreen, much more excited, "I caught a bat!"

The mint chocolate chip haired girl shook her head, "Edric, don't eat that." She then puts her book and wand into her tent and walks off.

The human ponders, "If I wanna be in the same class as Amity, I'm gonna need to learn magic like Amity."

Esper still shivers and puts a hand on her friend's shoulder, "Luz, I really don't think that's a good idea. I know her methods are a bit-"

Luz's left hand shushes her before interrupting her, "Shhhh! Great work, Luz!"

The human glares at her own hand, "Shh! I don't need your validation."

Esper raises an eyebrow, frowning at her friend before looking at the camera in annoyance.

...

Meanwhile the siblings begin to argue over the bat Edric caught. He holds the bat softly, making puppy eyes at his sisters. Emira and Amity glare at him.

The eldest twin shakes her head, opening her hand, "Ed, give me the bat."

The younger twin hugs the bat closer to his face, "No! If we're not gonna eat it, I wanna keep it as a pet!" He then runs off as both his sisters chase after him.

Emira shouts, concern heard in her voice, "Get back here before that thing bites you!"

Esper watches as Luz sneaks into the Blights' tent and takes Amity's wand and book. The redhead was still slowly climbing down the ledge they were on. The human goes to a ledge near her and Eda's tent, where she kneels down and opens the book. Inside the notebook is a drawing Amity made.

Luz shows it to Esper, "Huh. Her crosshatching has improved."

The witchling waves her hand, "Aw that's cute but really Luz, I don't think this is a good idea."

The human waves her hand back at her, "Esper, it's fine. I'm just borrowing it so I can learn the spell. Amity will understand." She then moves the page with Amity's drawing to show a page titled "Fireball."

Esper looks under an image of a witch casting the spell, "Oh hey, that's written in runes. It says "FOCUS."

Luz smiles at her, "Oh hey, that's cool! You gotta teach me how to read runes at one point." She then shakes her head, focusing while excited, "Oh man, oh man!" The human stands and draws a circle with the wand, gasping, "Yes!"

She shoots the fireball off and it explodes in the air like a firework. The human jumps in place excitedly, "I did magic! I did magic! Without drawing anything! This thing is the coolest!"
The redhead puts her hand on her friend's arm, "Okay, yes, that is cool. But put it back before Ami-"

Suddenly, Eda's voice is heard from behind them, "Hold it right there! What are you doing with that?"

The human glares at Eda, standing her ground, "I'm doing magic, what would you have me do? Eat more snow? Lick a rock?"

Esper quickly backs away from the argument, "Uh oh. Okay, I told her not to toy with the wand. And uh, I'm just going to agree with my statement from before."

The older witch pauses, looking down before looking at Luz again, "Okay, so maybe my methods are... unique, but so is your magic. Connecting to the island can help you. That wand can't!"

Luz squeezes her fist, "Well, it's already helped me! Just watch what I can do!"

The redheaded witch notices the low battery on the wand, "Wait, Luz!"

But it was too late as the human drew out another spell circle. The power bar on the wand flashed the low battery bar and Luz lost control of the fireball.

Luz struggles to hold onto the wand, "Wh... whoa!" A fireball goes off further into the Knee. When it lands, birds fly off. The Slitherbeast from earlier growls. The Slitherbeast jumps over the trees, showing large patch of fur has been burned off over its mouth. The Slitherbeast continues growling, inching closer to Luz.

Eda gasps, "You've angered the Slitherbeast!"

Esper jumps in front of Luz, about to form a circle with her finger, "Alright, you overgrown yeti! Back off!"

Luz squeaks from behind her friend, "Will it accept a heartfelt apology?"

The Slitherbeast sniffs the two and sees the still smoldering-tip of Amity's training wand in the human's hand. It growls and runs at them, causing Luz to scream.

Eda sprints to them and shoves the two out of the way, "Watch out!"

The giant beast then grabs Eda, causing her to scream. She strained against its grip. The Slitherbeast growls at her.

Both Esper and Luz's eyes widened, "Eda!"

Amity's voice is then heard in the distance as she runs towards the commotion, "Luz!" Her twin siblings following close behind her.

Emira gasped, "Esper!"

Edric stood in front of his sisters, "What did we miss?"

Their little sister narrows her eyes at her wand in Luz's hand, "And what are you doing with my wand?"

The human sweats nervously, "Um..."

Amity takes her wand and her book and holds them protectively. She pouts at Luz.

Emira puts a hand on her sister's shoulder, "Mittens, we've got bigger problems."

The Slitherbeast crawls towards the siblings, Eda still held in one claw. The beast growls at them.

The eldest sister runs in front of Luz and Amity, "Aw, he's so cute. Can we keep him?"

Edric runs up with his twin and is now in front of Esper, "It's no bat, but we could try."

Both twins cast a lasso at the Slitherbeast's hands to keep it in place. It growls and pulls at the bonds. Edric and Emira struggle to keep hold until Esper forms a circle with her finger, creating a giant vine to form over its head to help hold the beast down.

Eda smirked at the kids working together, "You got it! Now finish it off!"

Amity glares at the beast, "I'm on it!" She runs forward and tries to cast with her wand but it fails, "What?" She smacks the wand against her hand, then notices the low battery light. She then turns to face Luz, "Did you use this all up?"

The human backed up slightly, "I... I didn't know!"

Emira shouts, "Come on, Luz!"

Edric frowns, "Do those powerful spells you were talking about!"

The redhead looked away awkwardly, "Uh oh."

Luz backed up again, "But I don't actually... Know any."

The Slitherbeast growls and frees its hands from the twins with a yell. Emira and Edric are yanked into the snow as it uses it's hands to break the giant vine Esper made. As it yanked the vine out of the ground, the plant suddenly shot up and struck Esper in the chin. The impact launched her backwards, landing in front of Luz. She sits up in a groan, clutching her head.

Amity shouts as the beast gets closer to her siblings, "Edric! Emira!" The Slitherbeast picks up the Blights and the smallest sister fails to get them back, "No!"

The Slitherbeast puts Edric and Emira into the claw holding Eda and runs off. The captured witches all yell as the Slitherbeast leaves with them. Esper, Amity and Luz follow them for a bit, then stop, panting. The redhead holds her head again in pain.

...

The three girls watch the trees shake as the Slitherbeast runs through them. They ended up losing the Slitherbeast when they caught their breath earlier.

Luz groans, "What do we do?"

Amity narrows her eyes at the shaking trees, "I am going after them. Esper, you're coming with me."

The smaller witch nodded, "Sounds good to me."

The human pointed at herself, "Wait, but what about me?"

Esper grimaced, "Luz..."

Amity walks closer to Luz, "But because of you, it has my brother and sister! You are staying right here. Esper has two spells already and can hold her own. But you..." She pauses before speaking again, "You'll only get hurt."

The green haired girl draws a pink circle in the air. A matching circle appears on the ground around Luz. With a flick of Amity's hand, a cage rises from the circle on the ground. Amity then runs off to find the Slitherbeast.

The redhead briefly looks at the girl running away and her childhood friend in the cage, "I'm sorry, Luz, but... Amity's right, we don't want you to get hurt. I promise, we'll be back soon. Just be patient." She turns and runs, trailing close behind Amity.

Luz frowns at this, "Amity! Esper! Wait!" She brings her hand up and shocked by Amity's cage, "Stupid island!" She kicks a rock in the cage, only it doesn't move, "Ugh! Ow." The human then sits on the rock and looks at the Titan's Skull, "You were supposed to teach me magic..."

She looks up, where the clouds are parting to reveal stars. Snow is beginning to fall. The gentle snowflakes falling onto the ground. The human girl frowned, "...But I'll never learn more than this."

The brown haired girl pulls a notepad and a pencil from her pocket and draws a light glyph. She activates it and watches as the light ball flies into the night sky. It disappears when it flies in front of the full moon. The stars start to blink in the sky above.

Luz's eyebrows furrowed, "Wait... Is that...?"

The stars form a constellation in the form of her light glyph. She traces the outer ring with her finger in the air.

Her voice was confused, "...A light glyph? But what does that mean?" She opens her hand and a snowflake lands on her glove. She looks at it, seeing a pattern in the center of the snowflake before it melts in her palm. She exclaims, "Whoa!"

Now that she's determined, she grabs a stick. Luz breaks a smaller twig off of it and catches another snowflake, "It means... Magic is a gift from the island. It means..." She draws the glyph from the snowflake into the snow with the twig, adding a diamond to the bottom. She taps the glyph on the ground, backing away when a small pillar of ice rises from it, "...Magic is everywhere!"

Luz grabs the bigger stick and replicates the ice glyph, this time the entire size of the cage, "Magic is everywhere!"

She jumps off the rock and activates the giant glyph as she lands on it. The resulting ice pillar grows taller than the cage, launching her through the air.

Luz cheers while in the air, "Whoooo-aaah!" She lands in the snow, "My second spell! She pops out of the snow, "Thank you, snow! Thank you, island! Thank you, Eda." She suddenly pauses, "Eda! I have to save her!" She gets out of her hole and runs in the same direction Esper and Amity ran off to.

Unknown to her, the full moon began to shine a blue light briefly before disappearing.

...

Esper rushes behind the green haired witch, both trying to keep up with the giant beast, "So, Amity, do you have a plan?"

The green haired girl nodded, "Yes, first we're going to check out surroundings. Second, we locate my siblings. Third, we'll sneak out as quietly as we can. Then we can get back to Luz and I'll let my cage spell down."

The redhead nodded, "Oh yeah, that sounds like a solid plan." She then rubbed the back of her head, "Oh uh also, Amity... Speaking of Luz, I just wanted to say sorry for her taking your practice wand earlier."

The pale witch looked back at her as she continued to run, "Hm? Why are YOU apologizing for her? You didn't take my wand without permission."

Esper shrugs while still running, "Well... Yeah but I should have stopped her before she played around with it. So I should still apologize for that. Besides, I wanted to let you know that Luz get rather... Impatient when it comes to things she's really, really interested in. Like, she gets... It's a little hard to explain in detail."

Amity gave her a slow smile, "Hmm, I think I get what you mean. But, oh well, it's in the past. We can't really change it now but thanks for the apology."

The redhead smiled back at her, "Hey, it's no problem. As Luz's best friend since we were like, five, I know everything about her. It can be tough knowing what's going on in that mind of hers."

Amity nods as they reach the entrance of a huge cave. The two hear growling from the Slitherbeast and they head to the wall, sneaking their way into the cave...

...

Luz runs out of some trees, following a particular noise in the air. Growling is heard from a cave obscured with fog. Meanwhile inside the cave, the Slitherbeast spits purple goop at the wall. The beast shoves Eda, Emira, and Edric against the purple goo. The goop closes around their torsos to stick them to the wall. The Slitherbeast hops away to collect ingredients.

Emira smiles awkwardly, "Don't worry. We'll be fine!"

A bunch of skeletons then drop from the ceiling in front of them.

Edric frowns, dead-panning, "No, we're gonna die."

Luz pops up with a skull over her face, "That's right. Death is here." She then lifts skull from her face, "Just kidding, Luz is here!"

Eda whispers at her, "Kid, get outta here! I'm just gonna sneak away when the thing starts eating the twins."

The girl frowns, "Wait, what?" And her brother lets out an offended gasp at the older woman.

The human smiles confidently, "Don't worry, Eda, I get it now. I was so obsessed with learning my second spell, I didn't listen to you. Or Esper when she told me not to use Amity's wand. But now I'm gonna save you!" She jumps away enthusiastically, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!"

The Owl Lady sighs, "Well, at least I got to see her misplaced confidence one last time..."
Meanwhile Amity peeking around a boulder with a serious expression while Esper spies from over her, lifting one of her eyebrows in thought. Luz pops up under the both of them with a serious expression. Amity looks down to see Luz and her eyes widen. The redhead's eyes look down to see her childhood friend, her expression matching Amity's.

Both shout but in whispered tone, "Luz!"

Luz grins at the two of them, "Hello!"

They all duck behind the boulder, revealing that Esper was standing on a smaller rock to get a higher view than Amity. She jumps down to stand next to the green haired girl.

The pale witch tilts her head, "H-how did you get past the barrier?"

Luz smiles happily, "Magic! Literally!"

Esper raises an eyebrow at her, "I'm sorry what?"

The human waves her hand around, "Eh details, details! Now, forget that, because we're all gonna have to work together if we want to save everyone. Okay, here's what we're gonna do."

Her voice turns into a whisper to the two other girls, who start to huddle around her.

The Slitherbeast returns with ingredients in it's hands. It sprinkles assorted seasonings on Edric, Emira, and Eda's heads.

Eda sneezes, "Ugh, I hate garlic..."

Luz shouts at the beast, "Hey! You big idiot!" She waves her arms, "Over here!"

The Slitherbeast turns and growls at the girl. The beast jumps at Luz, who runs. Amity climbs up to her siblings and Eda. She extends her hand to help Esper up. The green haired girl looks at her new friend expectedly, "Okay, Esper, your turn! Get them out with the fire spell."

The smaller witch put her hands on her hips, "Yup, don't worry! I got this." She forms a circle with her finger in the air, starting the fireball.

Eda cheered, "Wooo! That's my student!"

However, then the moon above them suddenly shines a bright blue glow. Eda eyes the moon suspiciously until she sees the same glow shines in Esper's circle, causing the fall ball to grow immensely in size.

In order to not hit the trapped witches, Esper aims downwards, "Woah! What the?!" The fireball hits the ground, causing a huge fire to erupt on the spot where it landed. The redhead quickly stomps on the fire with her boot to put it out before it spread too much.

The Owl Lady's face drops to a frown, "Makes sense. Yeah, that's my student. Esper, what happened? You're normally very good with the fire spell!"

Esper looked down at her hands, "Uh, I don't know... That has never happened before, that's so weird." She turns to Amity, "So uh, my fire's out of the question. How should we get them out now?"

Edric then gets an idea, "Oh oh! Pick us! Amity!"

Emira smiles at her sister, "Use the fire spell we taught you!"

The green haired girl's shoulders dropped, "But I can't do it without the wand!"

Her older sister kept her smile, "Yes, you can. Just focus!"

Amity nodded, "Okay." She turns to the redhead, "Esper, stand back." She slowly traces a spell circle in front of her. It wavers when she concentrates, but a ball of pink fire appears after a moment and she smiles proudly. The pink fireball slowly flies closer to her siblings and the owl mentor.

Emira breaths a sigh of relief, "Cool. I didn't think you could actually do it."

The green haired girl melts the three of them free but then all of them heard Luz's scream.
Amity turns upon hearing the human's scream, "Luz!" Upon turning, the pale witch girl saw that the redheaded witch had already jumped down the rock and sprinted after the beast.

Meanwhile Luz was dodging the Slitherbeast and running out of the cave with Esper following trailing behind them both. Hearing her friend's scream made the smaller girl run faster. The witchling ducks behind a nearby boulder, watching closely. Luz turns her head, noticing where her childhood friend was. The Slitherbeast follows the human until she gets to a tree and stops. It then starts growling loudly.

Luz smiles confidently at the beast, "Gotcha! Esper now!"

Esper sprints from behind a boulder, "Time for round two, beast!" She then tackles the side of the Slitherbeast, causing it to stumble and move closer to Luz. The witch girl bounced off of the beast, landing in the snow below them.

The human steps on a huge ice glyph drawn into the snow. She ducks away from the rising pillar of ice as Esper covers her head while laying in the snow. The ice launches the Slitherbeast into the air and it lands hard on its back. Everyone else runs out of the cave looking at the commotion. The Slitherbeast rights itself, screeches at the witches and charges at them.

Eda smirks as she turns to look at the kids behind her, "You want me to teach you kids something cool?"

Amity and Emira both shouted, "Yes!" While Edric shouted, "Yes, please!"
The Owl Lady rushes forward and draws complicated spell circle in the air. She grunts, "Sleep spell!" Her spell circle passes around the Slitherbeast. The giant beast immediately falls to the ground and begins snoring.

Esper breaths a sigh of relief as she walks to the group. Meanwhile Luz excitedly runs to Eda, "Now that's our mentor! Did you see? I learned my second spell! I made the connection!"

Eda smiles and ruffles her hair, "I saw! Nice work, kiddo."

The redhead playfully punches her childhood friend on the arm, "Not going to lie, letting the Slitherbeast run after you was a bold plan. But it was also very brave, Luz."

The human smiled in appreciation of the praise she was receiving. She rubbed the back of her neck, "Aww, thanks you guys. But you tackling the giant beast was pretty brave yourself."

Emira sighs, "You showed some real bravery in there too, sis."

Edric playfully mimics Eda, ruffling his sister's hair, "Yeah, nice work, kiddo."

Amity shoves his hand away, "Grr, stop!" She then fixes her hair and approaches Luz, "So it looks like we'll be in the same class."

Luz smiles widely at her, "Azura Book Club? Azura Book Club?!"

The green haired girl starts blushing and whispers, "As long as it's a secret club, okay?"

Her brother raises his hand as he shouts, "It's not a secret!"

His twin sister copies his movements, "We're gonna tell everyone!"

Esper snickers, "Oh yeah totally!"

Amity groans disappointedly as Luz giggles at the trio before her smile dropped, "Oh uh, Amity... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry I took your wand without permission. I get a little... Uh... How do I explain this?" She was getting a little nervous.

The green haired witch turned around to look at Esper, who was smiling and giving her a thumbs up. Amity turns back to the human, "It's alright, Luz, really. Next time, just ask when you want to borrow my stuff. And maybe don't put us in mortal danger."

The human smiles happily, giggling a little, "Haha, you got yourself a deal."

But then Eda walks up to the two of them. She sneezes between the duo, making the two jump, "Alright, your adorable banter is literally making me sick. Let's go home already."

The human shouts excitedly, "On it, teach!"

Esper's eyes widened as she realized what was going to happen, "Wait, wait, Luz. We can just wal-" Her yell continued as she flew through the air, "You both owe me hot cocoa!"

Luz draws another ice glyph on the ground and activates it. This one is a diagonal pillar of ice that sends them all flying, the two cheer as Esper screams.

Emira giggles at their antics, "...I think we can go the normal way."

The trio of siblings walk off together, with Amity staring at the sky where Luz flew off. She smiled sweetly at the sky, a tiny blush forming on her face...

Chapter Text

Esper stands on a stage in the auditorium of the school, taking a deep breath as a spotlight lands on her. Principal Bump sits in the front row and gives her a nod to signal her to start. Eda gave her a thumbs up in support from backstage, as did King and Luz.

She smirks before starting, "Hello, I am Esperanza Fox! Master of fire and student of the feared Owl Lady!"

The witchling forms a light blue circle with her finger, making vines with various flowers on them pop out from the ground. She then jumps forward and tucks down, rolling into a ball shape. She then stands back up and she forms several circles with her fingers, sending several powerful fireballs forward. The fireballs hit the vines, and as the flowers were lit on fire one by one starting from the bottom, they spelled out the word: Hexside.

She drops to one knee with her arms extended to fully present her audition to her potential new principal, "So... How'd I do?"

Principal Bump smiles, "Potential fire hazard aside...

Esper looked at him nervously but he continued to speak, "...I would like to welcome you to Hexside, Ms. Fox."

The redhead jumps up and down before facing him, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you so much, Principal Bump!" She shakes his hand quickly, "Oh! Uh, Principal Bump, I feel like I have to let you know this." She lowered her voice to a whisper, "So, uh, if you remember when Luz and I snuck into the school a while ago..."

He frowns, "Yes, I remember."

She continues to whisper, "Well, when you tried to cut Luz open, the knife you used kinda made me like.. Black out. It was weird, like it turned something on in my brain and I wasn't all there anymore. And then I saw a similar knife but it was like I was somewhere else completely in my own head? It's a little hard to explain."

The principal nodded in understanding, "Oh, I see. That IS rather peculiar... Hmm... Sometime after you get settled, I am going to have you meet with our Oracle Track Teacher, Mr. Prophettis, and our Illusionist Track Teacher, Mrs. Miragian. They should be able to help you with your visions. I will also be assigning you a student to look after you pick your track, if that is okay with you."

The redhead nodded, "It is! Thank you so much, Principal Bump."

The older man smiles at her, "Of course, it is what I'm here for. If you have any other problems, be sure to let me know and I will assist you in any way I can. Now you are free to leave."

Esper smiles before bowing and walking backwards. Her childhood friend was shoved into her, causing her to almost stumble to the floor. But the redhead giggled at this as she sensed that Luz was nervous by the way she was tugging at her cloak. She put a hand on her shoulder, "Hey... It's really not that bad. Luz, you'll be okay."

The human took a deep breath, "...You're right." She placed a hand on the one her friend put on her shoulder, "Thanks, Esper." She then jumps fully onto the stage in a dark cloak. Esper backs away next to Eda and King, all giving her thumbs up from backstage.

Luz speaks in a movie trailer narrator voice, "From the humblest of beginnings, a hero will rise." She then switches back to her normal voice, "I have traveled from another realm and trained with a powerful witch to master dark and forbidden magic. I am..." She throws her cloak off as she twirled, "Luz Noceda!" She announced to Principal Bump, who remained silent in the front row with his clipboard.

The human chuckles awkwardly, tosses confetti out of the fanny pack she is wearing, "Confetti!"

Principal Bump raises an eyebrow at her, "Right. The human that wants to be a witch. Against my better judgement, I've allowed you to take this exam into Hexside. But can you even do magic with all your... human parts?"

Luz smiles at him, "I sure can." She zips open her fanny pack, "It's said that humans can't do magic..." The human pulls out papers and shows them to both sides of the auditorium, "...But I discovered a lost technique that changes everything."

Principal Bump tilts his head at her, "Hmm?"

Eda and Esper both give her two thumbs-up from backstage. Luz activates the light glyph and lets the ball rise. She moves the ice glyph under the light and activates it. Luz beams and shakes her hands in a jazz hands motion while she is on one knee.

The old witch ponders as he watches the display, "Spells cast with paper? I've never heard of such a thing... But is it enough to pass the exam?"

The human looks to her friends backstage, "Uhh..."

Esper shrugs and looks up at Eda. The older witch waves her arms at the girl on stage, "Improvise!"

Luz stands up, "Um, I can do other things, what about... this?" She flips her eyelids inside out, "Bleep, bloop, bleep!"

Principal Bump is not impressed as Esper smacks her own forehead in exasperation.

The brown haired girl then holds her eye in pain, "Ow, ow! Eyelash! Eyelash!" She then slips on the melted ice pillar and falls into her abandoned cloak. She stands and tries to free herself, falling off the stage and onto Principal Bump. She rolls off him as the glyphs from her fanny pack fell onto the ground, "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" She places hand on an ice glyph on the floor, "Whoops! Ah!"

The ice pillar lifts her up by one foot until she's eye level with Principal Bump. She frowns at him, "...I failed, didn't I?"

Principal Bump sighs, "Believe it or not, I've seen worse." Luz falls on her face as Bump continues speaking, "Welcome, Luz, to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics!" He then drops a pamphlet on her head.

Esper runs out from backstage with her arms raised in an excited manner, "Oh awesome job, Luz! You passed! We get to go to Hexside together! Hurray!"

Luz weakly raises her arms in the air, "Hurray!"

...

Now on the next day and in the sky, Eda, Luz and Esper fly on Owlbert while he is in his staff form. Both Esper and Luz is wearing a Hexside uniform, though the normal uniform parts are in a lighter gray than most and the sleeves and leggings are white.

Luz's grip on the staff tightened, "Mmm, we gotta go back! This was a mistake! I'm gonna mess things up again and everyone will see, and-"

The redhead interrupted her by putting a hand on her shoulder, "Aw, Luz, not again. It's going to be okay."

Eda spoke up, "She's right, you gotta calm down. What are you nervous about? You've been to school before. And you have Esper with you so what's the big deal?"

The human grips the staff tighter, "That's why I'm nervous! At my human school, I didn't make a good first impression. This is a chance to be seen as something other than a screw-up."

The smaller witch shook her head, "Dude, I keep telling you. You're not a screw-up. And anyone who says that will have to answer to me."

Luz frowns even though Esper can't see it, "That's also something I'm worried about. I don't want people to see you as some violent little girl like they do at home."

The older witch spoke before Esper could answer, "Alright, calm down, the both of you. But don't worry about what those dorks think. If you want my advice, walk into class and punch the first kid you see. To establish dominance!"

The brown haired girl playfully shook her head, "Aw, I won't be doing that. But thanks."

The redhead smirked, "I'll probably do that. Actually, I think I almost did do that to that three-eyed girl."

As the trio land at Hexside, both the younger girls dismount the staff.

Eda smirks at the two, "Last chance to back out, and earn a new Bad Girl Coven patch!" She then holds up a patch that reads "Quitter Badge", "Quitting: It's like trying, but easier."

The human girl shakes her head, "Nah, I'll just earn it when I quit showering. Bye!" She runs off with Esper close behind her.

The smaller witch grimaced at the thought of the stench, "Aw, dude, you better not!"

Eda throws her hand at Luz's head to turn her around, "Hold up! Just try not to be too much of a goody Luz shoes." She then screws her hand back on, "You got this." She then ruffles the redhead's hair, "You, just don't cause TOO MUCH trouble on your first day."

Esper laughs as she fixes her hair, "Hey! I can't cause any more trouble than you, can I?"

The older witch laughs along with her, "Ha! You're right."

Luz then speaks up, "Thanks, Eda. In fact-" She pulls sock puppets of her and Eda out of her pockets, "I have written a heartfelt sonnet to commemorate this occasion." Esper stares blankly at her friend's sock puppets, taking a step away from them.

Eda starts flying away on Owlbert, "Whoops! A gust of wind just got me. See you kids after school! Bye!"

The human moves the puppet around, mimicking Eda's voice, "You're gonna do great, kid." Luz then talks as herself, "Thanks, Puppet Eda."

Esper giggles at her childhood friend's silly nature before gesturing for Luz to walk with her, "Ha, alright come on. Don't wanna be late for our first day!"

The two walk closer to the school and look up at a banner reading "WELCOME TO THE NEW SEMESTER". Various students are arriving at Hexside, some wearing the same colorless uniforms as our two heroes. Luz looks around with a smile on her face. Amity and an abomination come up to her.

Amity smiles at the pair while her abomination mirrors her movements, "Hey, Luz! Esper! Congrats on getting in. And not being in the baby class."

The redheaded witch gave her a thumbs up while Luz smiles and holds up her hand, "Thanks, Amity! Up top!"

Amity high-fives Luz with her smaller hand. Amity's abomination slaps Luz's face to mimic it's master, leaving abomination mud behind. Amity and her abomination then walk off into school together.

Luz wipes the abomination mud off her face, "Blegh! Wow, our first day at Hexside. A chance to discover our true magical potential. And maybe meet a hot yet vulnerable upperclassman." She elbowed her younger friend in excitement.

Esper giggled at her childhood friend before playfully pushing her, "Ha! You wish, tonta!"

Then a voice speaks up from the crowd of students, "Hey, Esper!"

The redhead turned to the voice, "Oh my Titan, no way! Jasper! You're here too?!" She runs to him, bumping her fist to his.

Jasper smiles, tall and proud in his white Hexside uniform. He gladly returns their fist bump, "Heck yeah I am! I was able to convince my parents to let me go to Hexside."

Luz raises an eyebrow, "Oh, uh, Esper... Whooooo is Jasper?"

The witchling smiles, leaning her elbow on Jasper's shoulder despite the fact that he was taller than her, "Oh Luz, you're not the only one who made their own friends! This is Jasper, you know, that kid Willow and Gus knew before us. Though we really got to know each other at that Grudgby game, chased a mysterious monster, fought a lady from the Emperor's Coven, totally saved the day, you know! Witch things, am I right, Jasper?" She then elbowed him, causing him to chuckle while Luz looked to the side nervously. Both the witches missed this look.

Jasper stuck out his hand to Luz after he stopped laughing, "It's nice to actually meet you, Luz. I can't wait to start attending classes with you and Esper."

But the human did smile when she shook his hand, "...Same here, Jasper."

The blue haired boy then stopped shaking her hand. He stretched his arms as he began to walk away, "Alright, I gotta give Principal Bump some medical forms. I'll see you guys later!" As the two witches waved to him, Luz's bag began to move on it's own.

Suddenly King's voice is heard from her backpack, "Dream on!"

Luz blinks, "King?" Esper looks to the bag.

King pops out of Luz's backpack, "Boop!" He then pokes the human's cheek, then jumps to Esper. The witchling gives him a hug before letting him o the ground.

The brown haired girl tilted her head, "Why are you in my bag?"

The tiny demon smiled, "You're a free ride to the best buffet in town! Nyah!" He then hops into a trash can, comes out with a half-eaten doughnut, "The trash cans here are filled with half-eaten gold!"

Luz walks away from him, "Okay, but if anyone asks, you don't know me."

Esper follows close behind her, "Ew! Same here."The skull wearing demon chuckled at them, shouting, "Have a wonderful school day, people-I-don't-know!"

A nearby abomination student smiled at King, "...I really needed to hear that."

The pair of girls walked closer to the main staircase, where their friends were standing. The plant witch and the illusionist boy were talking to each other before spotting the duo. They both shouted at the same time, "Luz! Esper!"

Esper high-fived the smaller boy, "Yo!"

Luz hugs the plant-loving girl, "Hello, fellow Hexoleos!"

Willow winks at the two as she lets Luz go, "Hello, classmates!"

Gus smiles excitedly at them, "You did it, guys!" He then summons a giant illusion in the air, making letters reading out "BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!" Willow then glares at him. He rubs the back of his neck, "Sorry, I was, uh, covering all my bases."

Esper giggled at him, "I guess that's fair!" The illusionist blushed slightly at the sound of her giggle.

Willow shakes her head with a smile before gesturing to the nine banners , "So, do you two know who those witches are? Those are the heads of the main nine covens. Each one excelled at a magic school like Glandus, St. Epiderm, and, of course, Hexside. Are you prepared to enter these hallowed halls?"

The redheaded witchling shrugged her shoulders at the nine banners before looking to Luz.

The human shrugged back at her, "Hmm, that's what I'm gonna figure out right now. See you on the other side, friends!" She then grabs her childhood friend's arm, "Come on, Esper!"

The redhead waved goodbye to the pair of students before being dragged off by Luz, "Oh! Yeah we should go do that. See ya, guys!"

Gus waves back at the two, "See you later, Esper! See ya, Luz!" He summons letters spelling out "GOODBYE FOREVER!" Willow glares at him again. He looks away from her nervously, "You know what? I'm uh, I'mma just get rid of these..."

The two eventually make it to the principal's office. Esper looks to her friend, who grimaced. The redhead shrugged at her, "Hey, Luz, I'll go in first if you want me to. I know the last time you were in a principal's office, it wasn't exactly fun."

Luz plays with her fingers as she looks at her friend, "You'd do that for me?"

The redhead gives her a smile as she pats her smile, "Of course I would, dude. I'll be right back, just try and stay calm." She gestured for Luz to relax against the wall, which she did.

Esper then walks into Principal Bump's office, where he's watching a crystal ball. A newscaster's voice spoke from the crystal ball, "A terrible development at Glandus High School. Students and teachers were found unconscious and without magic. The cause remains unknown."

Principal Bump pumps his fist in the air, "Ha! Take that, Glandus! Looks like this year's grudgby match is going to be a forfeit. He looks up as he hears the door close.

Esper sat in the chair in front of the taller man, "Hiya, Sir-B-Of-Princes! Can I call you that?"

Principal Bump shakes his head, "Absolutely not. Now, today we'll be visited by the Emperor's Coven for a routine inspection. If we want to impress them, you and Ms. Noceda need to join a coven track before they arrive."

The redheaded witch smiled "Actually, Principal Bump, Luz made her own schedule. And I would like to enroll in both the Illusionist and Plant tracks."

The principal tilted his head at the young girl, "Studying multiple tracks at once? No one does that."

Esper frowns at her new principal, "Huh? Why not? Both Gus and Willow are in different tracks AND Eda teaches me all kinds of different spells. What gives?"

Principal Bump's face turns rather serious, "You just can't." He then takes a rule book with Emperor's Coven logo on it out of his desk and opens it, "According to the rules, a good witch needs to hocus-focus. You can only pick one of the nine tracks." He points to the track banners above him, "And you do not want to embarrass me in front of the inspector."

The redheaded witch folds her arms, "But all my friends are in different tracks! Heck, I was also thinking of adding the Abomination track so I could also be with Amity too! I don't know if I can pick between all three." She starts to ponder, "Aw man... Well, I guess since Gus and I are working on the memory spell, then I SHOULD be in the Illusionist track."

Principal Bump casts a spell that changes the tunic and cowl of Esper's uniform to the standard greys and the sleeves and leggings to light blue.

Esper shrugs her shoulders, "Well, at least Emira and Edric are also in the Illusionist track"

The taller man smiled at her, "I expect you to be on your best behavior." He looks at a corkboard of with pictures of the results of Esper and Luz's previous visits to Hexside on it, "Based on the costly repairs from recent incidents, we could really use a donation from the Emperor's Coven. Now, off to class." He forms a circle with his finger and floats Esper through the door. He then sits back down at his desk.

Luz perked up upon seeing, "So how was it? How'd it go?" She noticed the sleeves on Esper's uniform has changed, "Oh you picked just the illusionist track? I thought you wanted to be in Gus, Amity and Willow's tracks.

The young witchling looks at her childhood friend, "Uh... Yeah, so, about that! You might want to talk to him yourself..."

Principal Bump yelled from inside his office, "I can hear that one of you isn't class yet and the other still has to pick their track. Please try quicken your pace!"

The redheaded witch slumped her shoulders, "Ah dang it. I'll have to talk to you later, Luz. You'll do fine in there, good luck!" She then runs off as her friend enters the principal's office.

...

Soon, Esper arrives at the Illusionist classroom door, having remembered where it was from when she first snuck into the school. She fixed up her cowl, making sure it looked nice. She looked up when she noticed a purple devil-looking woman, complete with a pointed tail. She was plump with sharp teeth and horns. She had three eyes, each a darker purple than her skin, and dark blue hair. She was wearing a black beret with a white shawl as well as a black dress. She was wearing a blue collared shirt underneath the dress as well as a blue belt with white shoes.

She gave the new student a kind smile, "Oh you're that little trickster who sat next to Augustus the last time I saw you. I heard you caused quite the stir once you left my classroom."

Esper rubbed the back of her neck, "Actually, he prefers the name 'Gus'. But yeah, that was me. My name is Esper, ma'am. I'm sorry if I disrupted your class last time, Luz and I just really wanted to learn more about how witches live here. Plus we don't have a school of magic in the human realm! Miss..." She squinted her eyes at the older demon, not knowing her name.

The teacher wrote a note regarding Gus's name on the paper on her clipboard, "My name is Ms. Miragian and it's quite alright, dearie. I understand how you could be excited. I know that young... Gus will be excited to see you then, he's been working hard practicing spells involving memories for you."

The redhead smiled at the door, where she spotted the illusionist, "He has? Aw, that's really sweet of him."

The purple demon smiled at her, "Yes, it is and he's one of my top students in my class. Now, let's get these introductions going and start the semester!" She turned back to smile at the younger girl, "With a smile!" This caused Esper to giggle.

Ms. Miragian walked into in the Illusionist classroom, she spots Gus sitting by himself in the front row of the class while the Blight twins sat in the middle row together. The students talked amongst each other The Illusionist Track Teacher smiled at her class, "Alright, my little conjurers, we have a new student in our class today. Though some of you will recognize her from the last time she was here, let's give her a warm welcome anyway. I am sure she will appreciate it on the first day of her first semester." She formed a circle with her finger to magically open the door for the redhead.

Esper awkwardly walks into the room and stands in front of the class. She waves in front of the students, "Hey! I'm Esperanza Fox! But all of you guys can call me Esper!" Gus looked up at the redhead and waved at her with a smile on his face. He gestured to the empty seat next to him when the teacher told her she could sit anywhere she wanted.

She stuck out her fist for the illusionist to bump, "Hey dude!"

He hesitantly bumped her fist with his own, "Esper! I'm so glad you're in the Illusion track, you're gonna love it! Plus it'll make our plan so much easier!"

The girl nodded her head, "Yeah!" Though she then rubbed her neck, "...Kinda sucks I can't also be with Willow though, or even Amity."

Gus put his hand on her shoulder, "Yeah, I know... But you'll be able to see them at lunch! Besides, Willow will understand why you didn't pick the Plant track."

She nodded again with a smile, "Aw thanks, Gus. You're right, you're right." She looked away from him, missing the blush he had on his face after taking his hand off her shoulder. The witchling smiled at him again, "So this class is the same as when I was here the last time?"

The illusionist nods his head, "Yup! Ms. Miragian starts with a short lecture and then she lets us practice any illusions we want." He showed off his magic by making a smaller version of himself.

The redhead smiled excitedly at him before she was hit in the back of the head by a paper football. It didn't hurt because of her poofy hair but she still felt it. She looked at the little paper football, the blue glow around it told her it was an illusion. It magically opened up with writing that said, 'Hey newbie! Turn around!'

Esper turned around only to be greeted by another paper football hitting her in the forehead. But she smiled upon seeing that it was the Blight twins.

Emira giggled as Edric spoke, "Haha! Got ya, Esper! Quick, Em, make another one." The girl twin quickly formed another small triangle made out of paper before her brother grabbed it.

Esper let out a giggle as they flung another illusionary paper football at her, "Hehehaha! Alright, you asked for it! Come on, Gus! help me out here!" She smiled at the smaller boy, who smiled back as he began to form his own paper footballs made out of illusions.

Despite the chaos starting to unfold in her classroom, Ms. Miragian couldn't help but shake her head with a laugh. Seeing as they were only illusionary paper footballs and that it was the first day of the new semester, she allowed the kids to have their fun. Especially as she heard the classroom be filled with the four's laughter.

The redhead finishes her giggle as she hits Edric in the face with the small illusion Gus made, "So... Amity's in the Abomination class, right?"

Emira laughed at her brother as he falls back dramatically from his seat to take cover, "Yeah! That's what the purple colors on her uniform means."

Esper smiles at her, "You think it would be okay if I go say hi to her?"

Edric pops his head up from behind the desk, "I don't see why not." The taller girl shrugs her shoulders, "Yeah, Mittens should still be in her own class around now. Plus Ms. Miragian is super chill about us leaving the room for whatever reason." She laughs again as her brother is hit in the face by Gus but then stops when Esper flings one last paper football at her forehead.

The redhead stands up from her seat and waves to her smaller boy friend, "Oh great! I'll be right back then! I'm just going to say hi! Hold down the fort while I'm gone, Gus!" And with that, Esper left the Illusionist classroom to make her way down to the Abomination class.

...

Meanwhile the Potions Teacher starts his class with a smile on his face, "Welcome to a new semester! Let's get stirring! New kid, sit wherever you'd like. Today we'll be making..." He then grabs potion," Fog brews!" He smashes bottle on the floor and pops up in front of their desk, "Begin!"

A familiar boy waves his arm at Luz, "Hey! Human girl who's friends with Esper! You can sit next to me!" He pointed to the seat right next to him, which Luz takes. A familiar pink haired girl in the back of the class rolls her three eyes at the two of them before she starts stirring the brew in her pot.

The human lets out a nervous sigh, "Phew, thank you so much. You're Jasper, right? You're a life saver."

Jasper nodded and shrugged, "Hey no problem, I'm just glad to help. Any friend of Esper's is a friend of mine." He poured a liquid from a test tube into the small cauldron in front of him. He then he stirred the liquid with a smile on his face, "So, why'd you pick potions? I picked it since my magic is still such a wild card."

Boscha blinked evilly as she started to listen to their conversation. Luz sighs, "Well, I wanted to be in as many tracks as I could be in but Principal Bump said we're not allowed to mix magic..." The human watches Jasper and mimics his motions, "See, potions are fun!" She pours a test tube into cauldron, "You could spend the rest of your life studying this, right?"

The sky blue haired boy nodded, chuckling, "I think I can, actually."

Something explodes outside, catching the attention of both students. But Jasper simply shrugs and keeps stirring the liquid in his cauldron as Luz looks out the window. Willow and Celine are facing off as wind blows. Celine grabs a crystal ball, out of which pops a mummy-like ghost.

Luz's eyes widen in excitement, "The Oracle Track!"

Willow traces a green spell circle in the air that she slams on the ground. A carnivorous flower grows out of the ground and hisses.

The human presses her face to the glass, "The Plant Track!"

The ghost and the plant start to fight each other as the girl watches from her potions class. Luz begins pawing at the window, "Wow!"

Yellow smoke from Luz's cauldron has taken over most of the room. Jasper covers his nose with his cowl as he continues to stir his cauldron. He attempts to say her name but the cloth muffled his voice.

The potions teacher coughs to get her attention, "Ahem!"

Luz quickly sits back in her chair, "Sorry!" She stirs her cauldron, "Sorry..."

Boscha spots a familiar girl with red hair and freckles pass the classroom before standing up from her seat, "Mr. Liquidiatie! My nose is stinging from the smoke from the new girl's cauldron. So I'm going to the nurse."

The teacher motions for her to leave, "Yes, yes, go ahead. Do what you want, Boscha."

...

Meanwhile, Esper was walking to the Abominations classroom before she heard a familiar voice from behind her, "Well well well! If it isn't Half-A-Witch Willow's little guard dog!"

The redhead turned to see Boscha and rolls her eyes. She immediately glared at her and she balls her fists, "Uh, I'm sorry. What did you just call me?"

Boscha takes a step closer to the redhead with her hands behind her back, "You heard me, guard dog! Whatcha doing snooping around the Abomination classroom? Trying to mix magic when you're not supposed to?"

Esper shrugs her shoulders, "No, why would you think that? I was just trying to talk to Amity."

The girl with three eyes glares at her, "Well you are studying under a criminal, aren't you? What would you need to talk to Amity for?" Unknown to the redhead, Boscha held a potion glass with Abomination goop inside it behind her back.

The witchling tilts her head at the other girl, "What? I can't talk to my friend without your permission or something-Woah!"

The redhead jumps back as some Abomination goop lands on both the floor and up to her waist, "Hey watch it! You could hurt somebody!" She forms a circle with her finger, which makes the Abomination goop float up from her waist and into the air slowly, "Oh hey, I'm doing it. I didn't think that would work." She begins to move the Abomination goop towards a trash can until she noticed Boscha's face, "...Why are you smiling like that?"

Esper then suddenly feels a hand on her shoulder and turns to see a disappointed Principal Bump. She pointed at the popular girl, "Woah, wait, Principal Bump! I didn't do this, Boscha-"

The taller man sighs, "No, no. I am sorry, Ms. Fox but I have told you I didn't want any trouble today due to the inspection! You know mixing magic is against the rules. Now, you will have to come along with me." He forms a circle with his finger and floats Esper into the air. The principal than turns to Boscha, "My apologies, Boscha, but may you please get someone from the Abomination class to clean this up?"

The pink haired girl nods as she opens the door to the Abomination classroom, "Sure can, Principal Bump!"

The redhead silently glares at the three eyed girl as she is stuck floating behind the principal. The two make their way down the hallway of the school.

...

Then the Potions Teacher walks away from his class as the bell rings. Luz shudders. The bell inhales, rings smaller dinner bell. Everyone else leaves class as Jasper packs up his bag, "Alright, I'm gonna go on ahead and . See you at lunch, classmate!"

Luz smiles at him as he leaves, "Yup! See you later, Jasper!" She starts rotating her shoulder once he's gone, "Ooh boy! Stirring is the pits. What else is on the schedule for today?" She pulls out a schedule out of her pocket and reads it, "Potions for Beginners, Potions in Motion, Potions (Again), Still Potions, Potions 'Till You Die, Potions After Death"

The human slumps next to the window, "Oh, man! I'm sorry, elbow!" Luz then looks into the hallway to see the Oracle student from earlier near a closet. Celine replaces the crystal ball she had used in the battle in a closet and walks away.

Luz walks closer to the closet, "A crystal ball... Maybe it can show me if I'm on the right track. No, don't be tempted! It's your first day. Make a good impression!" She begins to walk away but the temptation is too much. She pops back up at the closet and grabs the ball, "Whoa!"

A spirit comes out of the ball, "You will be in trouble very soon."

Luz's eyes widened as the spirit disappeared, "Wow! Wait, what'd you say?"

Principal Bump coughs, "Ahem!"

The redhead waves her hand at her, "...Heyyy..." She then shakes her head as the principal forms a magic circle to make Luz start floating alongside her. He walks through the halls with the two girls floating above him.

 

Luz struggles in the air, "But I wasn't studying other subjects!" She takes a potion out of her pocket, "I, uh... Fog brew!" She tosses her potion on the ground, which just makes a huge mess on the floor, "Yeah... I figured that wouldn't work."

King climbs out of a nearby trash can, "Nyah!"

Esper looks over at the young demon, "King! Dude! Vouch for us!"

The smaller creature squints his eyes at them, "Uh, right! I don't know you two!"

Both girls glare at King as Principal Bump continues to float them away. Now at a classroom with bars on the door, Principal Bump floats the duo into. The Detention Teacher looks up from his scroll, and Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus look over at the door at them. Each in a the same gray uniform, Viney has brown hair, green eyes and is wearing a fish hook as an earring. Jerbo is tall and lanky with brain hair and brown eyes. Meanwhile Barcus is... A brown dog wearing glasses.

Luz looks around, "What is this place?"

Principal Bump sighs, "This is the place where all troublemakers go." He makes a circle with his finger and turns both Esper and Luz's sleeves and leggings dark gray, "The detention track!"

Esper shakes her head, "Aw dang it, detention?!"

The human gasps, "Nooooo! Detention track? But this can't be possible, I-I thought I-"

The redheaded witch grimaces, remembering when she tried to help Willow pry the doors of the detention room open months ago.

The principal shakes his head, "Yes. Actual detention still needs... Repairs. In the meantime, I am keeping all troublemakers far away from the eyes of the inspector. You two may try for a new track next year."

Luz shouts, "But we'll be back in the human world by then!" Her childhood friend looks at her when she says 'we'.

The man lets out another sigh, Maybe you'll both do better in human school."

The door closes as Principal Bump leaves the duo. Luz smiles awkwardly at everyone in the room with sweat on her face. Esper shrugs, "Hey, I've been in detention a few times back home. Luz, just sit back and follow my lead." She walks with her hands behind her head, looking rather relaxed as she sat down in a desk towards the back.

Luz awkwardly waved to the other students as she followed her friend to a desk, "Hello, fellow detentioners. Room for one more? She looks around, "I like the little spikeys in your hair." Her childhood friend face-palms at her rambling.

The detention Teacher glared at the students, "Hey! You all better be quiet, unless you want to scrub the classroom again."

Luz frowns at the teacher, "Hey, don't blame any of them. I'm the one that started talking." Esper gestured for her to stop silently, making a motion for her to zip her mouth.

The tall demon at his desk shakes his head, "Oh, hurray. A hero." He snaps his fingers as a mop and bucket appear in the girl's hands.

Luz frowns and walks off, "Aw, farts."

The student wearing a fish hook as an earring watches Luz walk off and smiles. Meanwhile Esper face-palms yet again, shaking her head as Luz begins to scrub the floor.

...

Soon enough, the Detention Teacher fell asleep while Luz is polishing the bars on the windows. A teacher walks past the window outside with younger kids following her. The spider teacher smiles at the young students, "Alright, kids. Who wants to go on a field trip to the astral planes?"

A young demon boy named Braxas cheers, "Yay!" Another demon raises his hand, "I do!"

Luz frowns at the kids, "I do..."

Willow lets out a whisper as she and Gus approach the door, "Luz!"

The human gasped, "Oh, my gosh! I missed you so much! Let me squeeze your faces." She then starts to squeeze Willow's face.

The illusionist frowned as he tried to look into the room, "What's going on? Where's Esper?"

Esper's head popped up next to Luz's upon hearing their friends' voices, "Did someone say my name?"

Gus's frown turned into a big smile at her, "Oh hey, Esper!" He then looked to Luz, "Oh yeah and we didn't see you in any classes."

Luz pouted at the smaller boy, "Principal Bump put me and Esper in the detention track for mixing magic."

Esper scoffed, "Speak for yourself! Boscha was the one who got me in trouble, all 'cause I wanted to talk to Amity. She got Abomination goop all over me!" Her eyes became softer upon seeing Willow's frown, "I promise, I didn't do anything back to her even though I really, really, wanted to."

The plant witch smiled at her, "That's good. Thank you, Esper. But... The detention track? You can't do anything in there."

The illusionist shook his head, "You guys will learn less than you did before."

The human frowns, "No, we're better than this. Please, you gotta help us break out!"

Gus smiles at the two, Don't worry. We'll get you two out, dead or alive!"

Willow glares at Gus while shaking her head.

He nods his head, "Okay. Alive."

Luz smiles at the duo, "Aw, you guys..."

A chair squeaks in the classroom, watching both Luz and Esper's attention.

The human grimaces, "It's the teacher! We gotta go!" The two turn around and sees Viney very close to them.

Esper jumps back, "Woah!"

Luz gasps, "It's you!"

The witch with the fish hook earring points to the snoring teacher, "Shh." She then gestures for the two to follow her. Viney draws a square on the chalkboard with a keyhole in the center, then turns the chalk in the hole like a key. The square glows and swings open, revealing a passageway.

Both the smaller witch and the human look at the passageway, "Whoa."

Viney climbs through the hole, then helps Luz through. The square closes behind her and becomes chalk again on the chalkboard.

The golden eyed girl looked up at the inside of the passageway, "What is this place?"

The taller student pretends to glare at them, "This is the last room you'll ever see alive." She pauses as Esper stands in front of the human protectively, "Nah, just messing with ya. I'm Viney."

Esper lets out a sigh, "Phew, I'm Esperanza but you can just call me Esper. I thought it was going to be like that one movie for a second. You remember, uh, 'Caroline', right?"

Luz quickly steps out from behind her friend, "Same here! I'm terrified! Um, I mean... I'm Luz." She shakes the older girl's hand as she introduces herself.

Viney giggles at the duo's reaction, "Thanks for standing up for us back there. Not many people would do that. Follow me! I wanna show you something. You're both one of us troublemakers now, so you'll get special access to the Secret Room of Shortcuts!"

The fish hook wearing girl opens a door, revealing a tower-like room with a spiraling ramp. The walls, floor, and ceiling are covered in doors and windows.

Once again, the other two girls look up in amazement, "Whoa!"

Viney shouts up at the doors, "Hey, Jerbo! Barcus! You can stop hiding now!"

Jerbo opens a door and pokes his head out, "How do we know they're cool, man? How do we know she won't turn us in?" He turns to Barcus as they leave their hiding spot, "What do you think?"

Barcus simply barks back at him.

The tallest nods his head and looks at the two girls, "Barcus says your aura is strong and silly, like a baby's laughter. But also chaotic and loud, also like a baby. Welcome!"

Esper rubs the back of her neck, "I am not sure how I feel being called a baby but thanks for the welcome! Don't worry, your secret is safe with me!" The girl then pretends to zip her lips. She shakes Jerbo's hand before leaning down to offer her hand to the dog student. Barcus sniffs her hand before he tilts his head at her, but he does shake her hand with his paw.

Luz happily taps her feet on the ground, "Aah! I love secret rooms! Where do the doors go?"The human opens one into a hallway where Amity is pacing. The Abomination student is talking to herself, "So, you two go to the same school now, that doesn't change anything." She then sighs.

The brown haired girl shuts the door, which makes the girl in purple turn her head in that direction as she heard the noise. Her eyes dart toward the door but she saw nothing out of the ordinary, "Huh?"

Viney's smile widens as the two look around, "This place connects the different parts of the school. We found it after being thrown in the detention track. The witch who made it is known as..." She gestures to a defaced portrait and wall of signatures, "Lord Calamity!"

Jerbo gestures to the wall, "They started this troublemaker wall and we added our names in their honor." Barcus barks at said wall before moving to sit at another door.

Esper looks at their names on the troublemaker wall, "That's so awesome!"

Luz's smile widens as she looks at the other doors, "This place is amazing. I bet you guys can get into so much trouble in here!"

Viney chuckles, "Sure, we can, but we can also do so much more." She points to where Barcus is, who is listening in on an Oracle class. Luz walks up and watches with him.

The Oracle Teacher, Mr. Prophettis, smiles at his class, "Remember, seeing the end of a life is the beginning of reading a fortune. We have to work backwards from it to see the truth." The teacher folds a fortune teller. Barcus also folds one in response.

The girl with the fish hook earring shrugs at both the human and the smaller witch, "We aren't allowed to study any kind of magic, so we study every kind of magic in secret."

The redhead smiles at her, "Really? That's so cool!"

The human tilts her head at the taller girl, "You actually like school?"

Viney nods her head, "Yeah, though admittedly... We might have liked it too much."

Jerbo starts to tell his story, his voice over a image of himself wearing a Plant track uniform in a classroom with Principal Bump. He sighs, "I tried mixing Plant magic with Abominations."An earthy abomination grows out from under the flower Jerbo grew. The abomination then throws a flower pot.

The taller boy grimaced at his own story, "Bump was not thrilled." The Principal gets hit in the face with a wad of dirt as he says this.

The vision then turns into Barcus, wearing a Potions track uniform, with the Potions Teacher, and Principal Bump in a Potions classroom.

Jerbo told the story for his dog friend, "Barcus makes potions with oracle magic."

The dog witch mixes a potion, then dumps a crystal ball into it. The Potions Teacher looks into the cauldron and sees themself rapidly age. They scream and fall backwards, flipping a large cauldron over themself. Principal Bump shakes his head at Barcus.

The vision now turns into a Healing classroom, where Viney, wearing a Healing track uniform, is looking at a scratch on a Bard student's arm as Principal Bump enters the room.

Viney's voice is heard over the vision, "Mixing healing and beast keeping was slightly unconventional..."

In the flashback, she heals the Bard's arm, then draws another spell circle. A young griffin bursts through the chalkboard, scaring the bard student.

The girl's voice is still heard over the vision, "But Puddles was a great assistant, dang it!"

Puddles the griffon coughs up lollipops and Viney notices Bump glaring at her. The vision stops as we are now back in the Secret Room of Shortcuts.

The taller girl sighs, "We all want to be in more than one coven track! But Bump just says we need to focus."

Esper lays on the ground with her hands behind her head, "Yeah, it really bites. I would have loved to be in both Gus and Willow's classes..."

Luz pouts as she puts her face in her hand, "Sounds like Bump's priorities are out of whack."

Viney smiles at the two, "I'm glad you guys are one of us. You've both made a great first impression." She pulls out a marker, "Would you two like to add your names to the troublemaker wall?"

The young redhead sits back up and nods while Luz reaches for the marker, "Aw!"Willow's voice is then heard through the wall, "Luz? We're here to get you out of that horrible class."

Everyone looks at Luz besides Esper, who turns her head away from the group.

The human smiles awkwardly, "Eh, they're probably looking for some other Luz!"

Gus's voice is then heard, "Hello? Esper, we came for you guys!"

The redhead face-palms at this, "Dang it, Gus!"

Viney stands and peeks through the main entrance. She sees Willow and Gus looking around the detention classroom. The illusionist shrugs his shoulders, "Maybe she already booked it."

Willow whistles like she's calling a dog, only to get no response and a glare from Barcus inside the secret room. Gus continued speaking, "Luz did say she was better than this place. She probably snuck out with Esper somewhere."

The taller girl closes door and glares at the human, "Oh. You think you're better than us?"

Esper quickly stands in front of her childhood friend, "Now hold on, Viney! She didn't mean it like that."

Luz grabs onto the redhead's shoulders nervously, "No, no, it's not like that. I just didn't think I deserved-I mean, none of us deserve-" Her fingers tighten around Esper's shoulders, who is still glaring back at Viney.

Jerbo folds his arms, "J'accuse! I should've known you'd look down on us! Everyone else does!"

Barcus sneezes, with captions appearing in front of him reading, "You both have the aura of lies."

Viney shakes her head, her glare leaving her face as she frowns sadly, "It's fine, I just... I thought we had people who finally understood us. But, maybe you two should just leave." She points to the door and Barcus gasps at this.

Luz sighs as her hands stay on her oldest friend's shoulders, "...I understand. C'mon, Esper, let's go."

The younger girl lets the human pull her away from the others, "...Yeah, we should leave." Her glare on Viney also turns into a regular frown.

Now back to the classroom, Gus plays with the Detention Teacher's mustache. He smiles, "Man, this guy can sleep through anything. He then grabs mop, "I'm gonna test that theory."

Willow grabs the mop and sets it on the wall, "No. We have to find Luz and Esper. If only these walls could talk..."

Luz pushes the wall door open, "Hey, guys..." She let Esper walk out first before slumping onto the floor face first.

Esper grabs Luz's arm to start to pull her back up, "Aw come on, Luz. You're tougher than this."

The plant witch cheers, "Thank you, walls!" She helps Luz stand alongside Esper, "We found a way to get you out to talk to Principal Bump!"

The young illusionist smiles, "We have an expert disguises!" He then grabs a trashcan, "Hop on in, guys! It's got holes for your gangly teenage legs."

The human looks at the wall as Viney closes the door, "Yeah... That's right where I belong."

Esper shakes her head as she starts to get into her own trashcan, "Still not good to talk about yourself like that." Willow puts the lid on her head to fully cover her.

Gus keeps his smile, "And this way the inspector won't see you either."

The redhead's voice is heard from inside the trashcan, "Inspector? Oh yeah, the Emperor's Coven was visiting today."

Luz climbs into her own trashcan. Gus puts the lid on Luz's head. She stands and walks off. Esper, Willow and Gus follow her. The younger boy then stops as he looks at the still-snoring Detention Teacher. Gus pops up next to him and puts the mop on his face. The teacher continues snoring.

The illusionist smiles before walking outside the door, "Incredible!"

...

Outside the school, a swirl of blue energy appears. It dissipates, revealing the inspector. She walks up the front steps to the principal.

Principal Bump smiles at her, "Welcome to Hexside, inspector."

The inspector smiles at him, "Greetings, Principal Bump. My name is Una." She bows, "If everything's in order, the Emperor's Coven will be happy to cover your repairs."

The man smiles as he leads her into the school, "Excellent. Please come this way. We've prepared a show with some of our finest students."

...

Now in the auditorium, an abomination is stomping on stage. It growls before holding Amity up like an figure skater. They both pose with smiles on their faces. The abomination puts Amity down as they still smile.

Amity bows with her abomination, "And that concludes the presentation from the Abomination track."

Principal Bump politely applauds, "That was some real Hexside magic, huh?"

Inspector Una smiles, "Yes, this is... Good! But let's see if your student can put up more of a fight!" She then stands up from her seat.

The principal smiles before looking up at her in surprise, "Yes, yes-wait, what?"

The inspector slams her hands down on the stage. Her face deforms, revealing that she is in fact a greater basilisk. A giant version of a normal basilisk.

The man stands up from his seat, "Is, uh, this part of the inspection?"

Amity shouts at her creation and points at the basilisk, "Abomination, fight!"

The abomination runs forward and grabs the inspector. The inspector fully transforms into a giant basilisk and flings the abomination into the air. She growls and swallows the abomination. She then slithers toward Amity, who backs away.

Inspector Una smirks down at her, "The magic at Glandus High was tasty. But I hope yours will be more filling!"

Principal Bump runs between Amity and the inspector, "Amity, stay back. She's an impostor!" He draws out a spell circle. The inspector inhales, swallowing the spell circle and draining his magic. His skin turns gray and he collapses. Amity tries to cast a spell, but her magic is also drained, and she falls unconscious next to her principal.

...

Now King has been playing around pretending to be a teacher this whole time. Right now he is writing on the chalkboard in his classroom. He smiles as he draws on the board, "Assume a coefficient of ten, carry the two, solve for Y, and that is the way to steal a pie from a windowsill!" He reveals that he has drawn himself stealing pie on the chalkboard, "Also you can eat trash."

A student smiles at him, "Finally, some skills we can really use."

The small demon then pulls out a slice of pizza, "And now, for my next lesson-"

A loud growl is heard vibrating through the hallway.

King glares at the hallway, "Seriously? It's not even fifth period yet." He turns to his class before he opens the door, "I'm going to check that out, stay here."

He quickly walks to the auditorium and opens the doors, "Excuse me! Could you keep it down? Mr. King's trying to mold young minds here!" His eyes widened as he saw the inspector sucking more life out of Principal Bump.

Principal Bump sighs as he faints again, "Ugh... Only 300 years until retirement..."

The inspector then turns and looks at the younger demon.

King backs away, "I can see that I'm interrupting, so I'm just gonna..." He then screams and runs away.

...

Now in the hallway, where Luz and Esper are no longer in a trashcan. Luz sighs as Esper puts a comforting hand on Luz's shoulder.

Willow smiles at the human, "Don't worry, Luz! Once we talk to Bump, we'll get everything sorted out."

The redhead also smiles at her friend, "Yeah, I'm sure Viney, Jerbo and Barcus will understand you didn't mean it like that. Eventually."

Luz sighs again, "I know, but what's the point if people get hurt on the way?"

Gus nods his head, "That is a fair question. Here's another question. What the heck is that?!" He points in front of the group.

The Oracle Teacher is running away from the inspector, which is taking over most of a hallway. Mr. Prophettis then stops and casts a beam of light. The inspector slurps the beam of light up like spaghetti. The teacher falls, drained of his magic. Willow, Luz, Esper and Gus scream.

Inspector Una smiles and laughs down at them, "Oh look! More cute morsels!"

Willow summons a carnivorous plant, "We may be cute, but we're nobody's morsels!"

The illusionist shouts as he forms a circle with his finger, "Time for a power-up!"

Gus gives the plant buff arms to strengthen it. The plant launches itself at the inspector. It catches the plant with its tail and eats it. The plant witch and the conjurer both fall, drained of magic.

Willow tries to draw another spell circle, "I feel... so weak." She then lays back on the ground.

The redhead runs to the illusionist's side, "Woah! Hey, Gus! Come on, get up!"Inspector Una then looks at Esper, "Oh! And a special snack just for me! You'll make an excellent meal!"

The redhead puts her fists up, "Uh, I'm sorry, what was that?" She couldn't help but feel like she remembered the slithering sounds the basilisk is making.

Luz runs in front of her friends, "Eat this!" She grabs her notepad and activates a light glyph on it, then throws it in the inspector's mouth. The spell activates, and the inspector screams, spewing out shredded paper.

The human picks up Willow, "Come on, Esper! We have to get them somewhere safe!"

Esper picks up the illusionist, "Right! And I think I know where we're going!"

The greater basilisk fans the smoke coming out of her mouth, "It burns! It burns!" She begins to chase them, which the redhead notices.

As Luz opens one of the doors to the secret room, Esper shoves Gus in behind her. She shouts at her friend, "I'm going to have it chase me, you guys stay safe!" She turns her head to see the basilisk getting closer to her.

The human picks Gus up before walking closer to the door, "Esper, wait-"

But her childhood friend closed the door herself before Luz could get to it. She then starts running down the hallway, "Alright you giant lizard! You want a snack, you're gonna have to earn it!" The girl takes a nearby trash can and throws it on the ground in the hall before rushing past a three-eyed girl, "Outta my way, Boscha!" The creature starts to follow the redhead down the hallway, sucking the magic out of Boscha as she slithered after the younger witch. This made the potion student collapse onto the ground.

Luz bursts into the Secret Room of Shortcuts, "Guys! I need your help!"

Viney rolls her eyes at Luz, "Oh. You're back. You're not with your little friend?"

The human struggles to keep her friends up, "No, Esper! I! ...I'm sorry for hurting your feelings, but please listen!" She then falls, accidentally dropping the plant witch, "Argh! Willow!"

The trio of troublemakers all gasp as Luz puts Gus on the ground gently.

The fish hook wearing girl looks down at their drained bodies, "What happened to them?"

Luz looks at one of the doors, hearing some students scream, "Something horrible is loose in the school. Esper went out to distract it but I don't know how long she can last against it." Luz opens a door to show the inspector draining more students' magic. The young redhead is shown waving her arms to get her attention again.

Viney quickly closes the door, "Don't let it see us! I think that's a greater basilisk. I heard about them in Beast Keeping class. My cousin at St. Epiderm said she saw one, but those things should be extinct."

The human slams her fist in her open hand, "It must've attacked the other schools, and now it's come for us. We have to do something!

Jerbo frowns at her, "But if Bump catches us mixing magic again-"

"-He'd kick us outta school." The taller girl finished his sentence for him.

Luz frowns at all of them, "There won't BE a school if this continues! Hexoleos are out there gettin' hurt!" She points at the door, "Esper is out there making sure it's attention is on her right now! And we're the only ones who can save everyone! We're troublemakers, right? So let's go out there and make some trouble!"

Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus share a look with each other and then back to Luz as they make their decision.

...

Now in the hallway, where the inspector drains a plant track student, Amelia, of her magic on her way after Esper. The redhead turns the corner before getting grabbed by the large creature. She struggles in the basilisk's grasp as she starts to drain Esper's magic. She managed to headbutt the large creature, which only succeeded in giving herself a bruise.

The inspector speaks as she eats her magic like spaghetti, "Hungry! Still hungry!" The girl's magic is being drained longer than the other students' and teachers'.

Esper's eyes opened in realization, "Wait a minute... You're that THING! That thing that was slithering around Glandus back at the Grudgby game!" She glares at the creature.

Inspector Una smiles evilly at her, "Oh! It looks like one of you figured it out! I've had my eyes on you since I first saw you... Star Touched One."

The redhead tilted her head at her, "Wait... How... How do you know that name? What does it mean?"

The greater basilisk keeps her smile, "Nothing you need to know, considering you're my dinner. And now, Star Touched One, you will be my prey-"

A bottle is then thrown at the inspector's head, "Hey! Let her go!" This stops her from draining Esper's magic as the contents cover her face.

Both turn their heads to the source of the noise, which was a blue haired boy in a Potions uniform. He holds up another potion, preparing to throw it.

Esper shakes her head, "Jasper, no! Get out of here! It's that thing that was at Glandus!"

Jasper raises his eyebrows, "What... You mean that thing the Emperor's Coven was looking for?" He tossed another potion at her, "Well, don't worry! I got you!"

The basilisk, tired of his heroics, quickly eats his magic up. This made the young guy collapse onto the floor, dropping the rest of his potions onto the ground.

The redhead shouts, "Jasper!" The creature started to drain her magic again, causing Esper to glare. Her birthmark glowed as she began to muster more magic up, only for the basilisk to gobble it down.

But then, an ice glyph is thrown in front of the inspector. It activates, summoning a pillar of ice that throws the basilisk back. Una dropped Esper onto the ground. The younger girl rubs her head as the human sprints into action in front of her.
Luz hops in front of her childhood friend while wearing a dark cloak, "From humblest of beginnings, a hero will rise! I've trained with a secret society to discover the power of mixing magic! I am-"

Inspector Una smiles at her, "Dinner!"

The human shouts, "Wah! Esper, come on!" Luz ditches the cloak and picks Esper up before they both ran down the hallway. The inspector slams into the pillar of ice. She rights itself and chases after Luz and Esper again. The older girl shouts, "Viney! Do the thing, do the thing!"Puddles the Griffin flies through the halls and attacks the inspector, stopping her in her tracks.

Viney cheers, "Attagirl, Puddles! Jerbo, now!"

The taller boy gives her a thumbs up, "On it!"

An abomination opens a door in the floor as Jerbo summons several thorny vines. The vines latch onto a door handle in the ceiling. The inspector claws at Puddles and throws her, then accidentally falls through the opened door. Luz hops in after it, sending it through the door in the floor of the Secret Room of Shortcuts. Esper, Jerbo, Viney and Barcus all follow, landing safely onto the floor. The redhead sits on the stage, exhausted from running and the multiple drains she went through.

Now in the auditorium, where Principal Bump sits up, "Must find help..."

The inspector falls onto the stage with a loud crash.

The human is heard as she falls, "Wooh!"

Luz falls through the ceiling after the inspector, landing on its stomach and flipping off of it to land on the stage, "It's all you, Barcus!"

The dog with glasses barks and rushes over to grab the inspector's palm.Inspector Una shakes her head, "Where am I?"

The dog witch dumps a potion onto the inspector's hand. He squints at it, then his eyes glow. He yips at her.

The basilisk shook her head, "What's he doing? What'd he say?"

Luz smirks at her, "He's reading your palm, and your future looks bleak!"

Jerbo's abomination pulls at a rope that Puddles cuts with her beak. The rope drops sandbags onto the inspector's stomach. All of the magic she ate was released and returned to the proper witch. Everyone gasps as they get their magic back and wake up. Esper feels all her magic return to her as she sits up, taking a deep breath. Magic flies through the air as it returns to other schools. Back in the auditorium, Viney heals Puddles's scratched claw. Puddles wobbles before cuddling up to Esper's cheek.

The redhead smiles as she pets the griffin, "Aww, thank you, buddy! You know, I was thinking Puddles was such a cute name for a Griffin! Reminds me of my turtle at home, his name is Cuddles." Puddles then flies off as Viney sits next to Esper. She forms a circle to heal the bruise on her forehead. The bruise quickly disappeared, which made Esper smile.

The redhead rubs the back of her head, "Thanks, Viney. Actually..." She stands up to look at all four of them, "Thanks to all of you, that was so awesome!"

Luz cheers, "AH!" She pulls Viney into a hug, "You did it! You were amazing! You guys-

Principal Bump folds his arms as he looks at the group, "Are in so much trouble. Leaving your homeroom, mixing magic and-is that a secret hideout?" He gestures to the secret door, where Luz and Esper's friends were peering out from. Willow and Gus duck away from the open trap door.

Luz frowns at the man, "Yeah, it is. But let's think about this, Principal Bump. Why would kids in the detention track need a secret hideout?"

Principal Bump shakes his head, "I don't care to know the ins and outs of rascality." He pulls out the rule book again, "But if the Emperor's Coven can send an actual inspector this time-"

Esper stands in front of Viney, Jerbo and Barcus, her arms spread out defensively.

Luz begins speaking in front of her childhood friend, "Okay, you need coven money. But if you have to hurt your students to get it, what's the point? They just saved Hexside! They should be allowed to study what they wish!"

Principal Bump hugs the rule book, "B-but-"

The redhead still stood in front of her new friends, "She's right!"

Gus shouts from the trap door, "Do the right thing, ya dingus!"

The principal sighs, "Alright, I'm smart enough to know when I've made a mistake. Which tracks would you like to be in?"

All three gasp.

Viney shouts, "Healing and Beast Keeping!"

Jerbo yells, "Plants and Abomination!"

Barcus barks his answer. Which is that he wants to be in both the Potions and Oracle Tracks.

Principal Bump smiles as he snaps his fingers, "Then so be it." He changes their uniforms to reflect their new tracks, "But if any of you cause more property damage, I'm feeding you to the choosy hat." He then looks to Esper, "And you?"

Esper smirks, "The Illusionist AND Plant tracks please!"

The man nods and snaps his fingers, "So be it." He changes Esper's uniform to have blue sleeves and leggings but the ends have dark green triangles on them, which makes Esper cheer. He then turns to Luz, "And you?"

Luz rubs the back of her neck, "Oh, I still can't choose. Maybe it's crazy but I wish I could study a little bit of everything. Whoa." She gets a full magical-girl transformation sequence as her uniform takes several colors to reflect the different tracks, "What's going on? What is this? Whoa-ho! This is so cool. Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna study everything!"

Principal Bump nods at her, "You know, only one other student wanted to study every track." He summons Lord Calamity's picture, "Unfortunately, she was never given the opportunity."

With a wipe of his hand, the graffiti on the picture disappears, revealing a young Eda as the subject of the portrait.

The human gasps, which then turns into a chuckles, "I shoulda guessed."

Esper chuckled alongside her, "Haha, yeah, we really should have."

...

Now outside, Eda arrives at Hexside on her staff as she was greeted by the girls. Who both talk about their day, their words melding together as they spoke at the same time. She shakes her head with a smile on her face

Principal Bump walking through the halls, writing in the rule book, "The coven denies knowing about the basilisk, but that won't stop me from writing a very stern letter." He stops as he passed by a classroom with an unfamiliar teacher inside.

King fixes his tie before picking up a mug of coffee, "Alright. Read chapters three to five on the right way to scratch yourself in public. Spoiler alert: There's no wrong way!" He then sighs like a tired old man as he walks out the door, "Days like these make being a teacher all worth it."

Principal Bump shakes his head at him, "You're not a teacher."

The small demon tilt his head at him, "Weh?"

The principal is staring at King disapprovingly, shaking his head.

King shouts, "Maybe not, but I care about these kids-" He then tosses coffee in Principal Bump's face, "-and nothing can change that!"

Now at the front entrance, the doors bursts open. Principal Bump waves a broom at King as the demon flees, squealing.

...

Later at night, Esper is sitting at the kitchen table before she looks to the starry sky. She spots the moon before looking down at her hands, "...What is a Star Touched One?" She briefly pulls up her pajama pant leg to look at the blue birthmark, the shape of a moon with four points of a sun on the top, left, right and bottom of it. She tilted her head as she gazed at it, "You know now that I look at it... It does kinda look like both a sun and a moon..."

But then she hears Eda's voice as the older witch walk into the kitchen, "Alright, snack time is over! Come on, you got school in the morning."

As much as she wanted to ask her mentor about it, she was a little scared to do so after what happened with Izmeralda. So she shrugged and smiled at Eda. Esper let her pant leg fall down as she stood up, "Haha, alright, alright. I'm going, Eda! I'm going!" The older witch ruffled her hair as she walked past her.

Esper laid in her sleeping bag next to Luz, who was already snoozing. She gave one last look at the night sky before going to sleep herself...

Chapter Text

In the kitchen of The Owl House, Eda is stirring something on the stove while King is watching Luz and Esper talk to Willow and Gus on a crystal ball.

The human smirks while holding up her hand, "So they said I couldn't remove my thumb, but look at that!" She pretends to remove her thumb, "Whoop!"

The illusionist raises his eyebrows, "You sliced it off!" He then starts to panic, "You sliced off your own thumb!"

Willow chuckles at their antics, "You make doing homework actually fun."

Luz keeps her smirk while squinting at the redhead next to her, "And they say humans can't do magic."

Esper shakes her head, "She'll be just fine, Gus. Eda removes her thumb all the time."

King pouts at the two, "Esper! Luz..." He then climbs onto the table, "Nyeh! You've been talking to them all morning. Don't forget about the Luz and King comedy hour! With Esper as that funny human noise!"

Eda shakes her head in the kitchen, "Please, no. Not the comedy hour..."

The tiny demon turns around on the table, "This week I've been working with props!" He turns back to the duo to show a cardboard tube on his nose, "Oh dear, I've gotten a tube stuck on my nose! Will I ever eat again?" He then slams a piece of bread on his face, "Looks like I'm toast!"

Luz and King laugh while Esper makes a badum-tiss noise with her mouth.

The owl lady groans, "It just goes on like this for an hour!"

The human lets out another giggle, "Heyo, dough boy, quit loafing around!"

Another 'badum-tiss' is heard from the redheaded witch.

The young demon moves his hands, "Why don't you bake me?"

The small witch then makes the 'badum-tiss' noise by drumming the rhythm on the desk.

Luz, Esper and King all laugh until the crystal ball buzzes with an alarm and flashes red. The time, 8:00, flashes below Willow and Gus on the screen.

The human smiles, "School time! See you guys in class!"

The plant witch waved to them, "Bye!"

The illusionist shook his head, "But what about the thumb?!"

The redheaded witchling shakes her head, "Nothing a little healing magic can't fix, Gus!" With that, her childhood friend ended the call.

King then sighs disappointedly, causing the two to look at him.

Luz smiles at him, "Hey, don't worry. We'll finish our comedy hour when we get home." She kisses King's skull and heads for the door.

Esper pats him on the head, shaking her hand a little on his skull, "Yeah, dude! We promise!"

King giggles while watching them leave, "Hee hee, oh, you guys!"

The human sings while heading for the door, "Try not to miss us while we're gone!" She then walks out the door.

The redheaded playfully shakes her head while following her friend outside the door.

The young demon scrambles over to the door, "You... You really think they're coming back this time?"

Eda chuckles while walking into the living room, "Yes, they'll be back; they always come back. It's cute you miss them, though."

King stomps his foot, "The King of Demons-" He tosses the bread and tube off his face, "The King of Demons misses nobody! I wouldn't care if she came through this door right now! Wha!"

Luz walks through the door with Esper closing the door behind them.

The older witch smiles at the pair, "Hey, you guys are-"

The tiny demon jumps onto his feet, "You're back!" He climbs up onto Esper's head, "I didn't miss you at all."

Esper giggles before taking King off her head to hug him, "Sure you didn't, little buddy."

The human shrugs, "Apparently there's an infestation of pixies at Hexside, so school's been canceled."

King smiles at her and winks, "That sounds like a crumby situation."

Luz and King both start to laugh. Esper taps her fingers on the demon's stomach, "Badum-tiss!" This motion causes her to laugh with them.

Hooty shrieks from the door, "Hey! Guess what's been in my mouth that I'm about to throw up!" He gags for several long moments. Everyone looks at each other before staring at him in disgust. He finally throws up letters and a box with a smile, "The mail!"

Eda starts going through the letters, "Junk, junk, death hex."

Esper ducks while Eda throws her mail around. She tosses the death hex letter into a trashcan, which condenses into a dark purple ball before disappearing entirely.

The owl lady's eyes widened, "Oh, a carnival's in town today!"

The witchling smiles at this, "A carnival?" She hands King to her human friend.

Luz takes the young demon in her arms, "You know, we've been so busy with school lately, what do you say we take this comedy hour on tour? It'll be a Luz, Esper and King day!"

Esper pumps her fist, "Alright! Just like back home! But with more people!"

The small demon cheers, "That's my kinda day!"

Luz puts an arm around Eda, "Let's all four of us go!"

Hooty shrieks again, "An adventure with friends! I'll go pack my stuff!"

The owl lady smirks at the children, "Carnivals bring crowds and crowds bring suckers. This could be the perfect chance to try out my new get-witch-quick scheme." She takes her staff out of the pot, flicking the goop off of Owlbert, "I'm in! To the carnival!" She then walks out of the door.

Luz Esper and King cheer along with her, "To the carnival!" They all walk outside the door behind the mentor.

The owl tube speaks loudly, "Good news, I'm bringing my knapsack full of games! ...Hello?" A fly then buzzes near him so he happily speaks to it, "Oh, a fly! Talk to me, talk to me!"

...

Now at the Bonesborough Carnival, the kids follow Eda around the area. Luz and Esper are now wearing their usual attire rather than their school uniforms. The redhead is holding King while she walks near various booths and stands.

The owl lady smirks at a food stand, "Well, here we are, kids. Look at all that fresh meat." Flies buzz around a fried chicken on a stick at the stand.

Luz smiles up at her, "And smell all the fresh meat!" A fly goes up her nose and she coughs it out her mouth after Esper hits her on the back, "Fun!"

Owlbert hoots and moves to jump off the staff before Eda stops him. The older witch shakes her head at him, "No games for you, Owlbert, we've got scams to run."

The tiny wooden owl hoots sadly at his partner.

A voice rings out in the air, "Friends!" Suddenly Tibbles the tiny pig demon stands in front of them, "Welcome!" He was wearing glasses, a purple vest and a white long-sleeved undershirt.

Everyone jumps into defensive poses, Esper puts up her fists.

The pig smiles at them, "I see you got my postcard."

Eda tilts her head at him, "Tibbles? You sent this?" She looks on the back of the flier. It reads: "To my Owl House Pals, From Tibbles," and has a picture of Tibbles dancing when Eda tilts it. She lowers it and the pig demon is doing the same dance.

The beige pig nods at her, "Mm-hmm."

Luz tilts her head at him, "Aren't you mad at us for destroying your stand?"

Esper mimics her movement, "Oh yeah, wrecking all his stuff."

King jumps up into the redhead's arms, "Ooh, and destroying his life! That was the best part!"

Tibbles smacks his head at all of them, "No, no, no. I should thank you! After my stand was destroyed, I reevaluated my life and found my true calling! I'm now ringmaster of..." He summons a whip in his hand and snaps it in the air, "Tibbles's Tent of Tiny Terrors!"

Luz and Esper approaches the terrarium behind the pig demon containing tiny unicorns, a tiny manticore, and a tiny griffin.

The human smiles at the tiny animals, "Aww! It's like a regular circus but adorably small!"

The griffin hisses at her and backs away.

The human presses her face to the glass, "You're my friends now."

The younger witch hugs King closer to herself, "Eh, I already have a tiny friend of my own." This made the young demon giggle in her arms.

Eda shakes her head, "Yeah, I don't buy it." She waves her hand and whisks her staff away, "What kind of con are you running?"

Tibbles shakes his head back at her, "No cons here, Owl Lady, only pros. In fact, why don't we toast our newfound friendship with this totally innocent bottle of water." He pulls out a potion out of his pocket.

The older witch takes the potion and speaks sarcastically, "Oh yeah, sure! Why don't I just-" She chucks the bottle. It lands on an another witch's head and it knocks them on their back.

The witch sat up and made a thumbs up, "I'm okay!"

Eda glares at the small pig, "I know poison when I see it, you can't scam a scammer! Now speaking of scams..." She walks up to a stand, "Beat it loser!" She knocks the vendor's stuff to the ground and they leave, "Step right up to..." A wave of her hand transforms the stand into her own, "Eda's Human Horror House! Humans shed their skin and I've got proof." She pulls out fishnet stockings and a pair of pink socks with a white cartoon cat wearing a bow.

Esper blushes upon seeing the pink socks and looks away. King looks up at her, "You should really put a lock on your closet."

Luz shakes her head, "You know what, Eda can pick through our socks all she wants. Because today is all about having a great time with my partners in crime."

The witchling giggles when her childhood friend wraps her arm around her shoulder and pulls her closer.

The young demon in Esper's arms cheer, "That's me! And Esper! I love crime!"

All three of them laugh and walk off to find some games to play.Tibbles smiles at them, "Have a good time, friends!" He then whispers evilly, "While it lasts."

...

The trio walk to a dunk tank that is manned by an student in an abomination track. A skeleton sits on a wooden plank in the dunk tank.

The student yells out of the crowd, "Dunk the skeleton! Win a prize!"

Another student throws a ball that hits the target, dumping the skeleton into a cauldron labelled SKIN.

The skeleton pops out now covered in skin and screams, "Ah! Aah! I'm covered in pores!" Esper shrugs at the skeleton in response.

Luz smiles while looking at the rides, "Now this is my kind of weird! So what do you wanna do first? We could brave the molar coaster..."

Esper looks at a booth with three servings of strange green jello, "Or eat a mysterious blob..."

King runs up to a prize booth, "Ooh, what's that?" He narrows his eyes at a few bracelets hanging on the wall, "Ah! Some kind of deadly string weapon!" The bracelets held pieces of a golden heart on some simple black string.

The brunette shakes her head, "No, silly. That's a friendship bracelet."

The skull wearing demon tilts his head at her, "Is that a type of deadly weapon?"

The witchling smirks at him while twirling a bracelet on her finger, "Hmm, it could totally be used as a weapon."

Luz grabs the bracelets from the wall and the one Esper is twirling, "A weapon of love." She puts them all together in her hand, forming a heart, "It's basically a declaration to the whole world that you're the best of friends!"

The young demon smiles at her and points, "Ooh! That's way safer than becoming blood brothers! Luz, Esper, we must have those bracelets!"

The vendor at the prize booth takes the bracelets out of Luz's hands, "And yoink! Sorry, girls. If your bone son wants these bracelets you'll have to play the games and win the tickets. You know, carnival rules."

The small demon pulls on the bottom of Esper's jean jacket, "Beat up the man and steal his things for me!"

Esper rolls up her sleeve, "Alrighty then!"

Luz quickly puts her hand on her childhood friend's shoulder, "Or let's just play the games."

King nods at her, "Oh, okay."

The witchling laughs, "Haha yeah, your idea sounds better."

Luz, Esper and King all laugh, "Games! Games! Games! Games!"

...

The three walk around the grounds of the carnival, looking at multiple booths together. That is until Luz spotted two familiar figures in the crowd. She bounced on her heels when she noticed them.

Luz gasps and runs ahead, grabbing Esper's wrist, "Friends!" Her childhood friend happily follows her to their other friends.

Willow smiles upon seeing the pair, "Luz!"

Gus waves to them, "Hey, Esper!"

They all hug before Luz pulls away to give them a wink, "Oh my gosh, I didn't think I'd see carniv-y'all here."

Gus gives her a thumbs-down, "Boo."

Esper giggles at the smaller witch, "Yeah that was pretty bad, dude."

The plant witch takes a letter out of her pocket to show her friend, "I got an invitation from Tibbles."

The boy shrugs, "We figured it's a trap since we squashed his stand with a walking house."

The redhead shrugs along with him, "Oh yeah, we completely wrecked his life."

The witch with glasses smiles at all of them, "But who cares? This place has a Scarris wheel!"

The illusionist jumped up and down, "It's like a human Ferris wheel but it gives you long-lasting nightmares."

The human smiles and points at the side of her head, "Yes! This mama is ready for trauma."

Esper pumps her fist, "Heck yeah! Let's get those nightmares!"

King coughs to get all their attention, "Ahem!"

Luz rubs the back of her neck before picking King up, "Oh, yeah. We're on a very important quest to win a special prize for King."

The redhead poses dramatically by pointing her finger into the air, "Yeah, we gotta get him a bracelet woven by the strings of friendship!"

Willow smiles at the pair, "Oh! We can help with that!"

Gus coos at the small demon, waving his finger at him, "Aw! Does the little guy wanna win a prize? Uh, does he? Uh, does he?"

King knocks Gus's finger away, "Nyeh!"

The human smiles at him, "What do you think, King? The more the merrier, huh?"

The small demon pouts before looking at Esper, who smiles at him encouragingly. He turns back to Luz and shrugs, "Um, sure. Whatever you want, Luz."

The glyph wielder pumps her fist before jumping into the air, "All right! Approval!"

Willow, Luz, Esper and Gus cheer. The four of them jog away while King tries to keep up and trips. Later, Willow rolls a skee-ball into the machine's mouth. All their friends cheer her on and the four of them run off without their young friend. King arrives and gets hit with the ball when the machine spits it at him. The five of them are walking when they notice a large picture board featuring five witches and a garbage can. They all stick their heads through the holes, but King is stuck with being the trashcan.

The redhead eventually looks over and spots a few familiar faces: the kids from Glandus. She waves to the healing track student to get their attention, "Oh hey, it's my Glandus pen pals! Maybe we can invite them too!" She leads the group over to them, "Hey Alvin! What ae you guys doing here not hanging out with us?" King frowned upon hearing this, not wanting to deal with anymore friends infringing on their day.

The group of four student turn to see Esper and they all smile before huddling around her. Cindy the Potions track student playfully punches the redhead on the arm, "Hey Hexside newbie! Didn't think we'd see you here!"

Keplar the Bard track student smiles at her, "Yeah! We thought you'd be parading around since your school took out that basilisk!"

The redheaded witch puts her arm on Luz's shoulder and pulls her in closer to her, "Pffft yeah well, I gotta give the credit to Luz here. She did a bunch of the hard work. Though I'll admit, that thing couldn't drain all my magic even if it tried... Harder!" She pulls Luz closer to her, "Luz, these are my friends from Glandus. Alvin, Cindy, Kepler and Nocturna. I met them at the Grudgby game with Jasper."

Luz raises her eyebrows at the group, "Woah, uh, hello there!" She then turns to her childhood friend, "Wow, Esper, looks like you're finding friends everywhere."

The smaller girl shrugs her shoulders, "Hehe yeah! Though maybe it's because of my..." She flips her hair dramatically, "Irresistible charm!"

Luz giggles before playfully pushing her, "Ha! That's a line from the second Azura book! When Hecate tells Azura why she has so many friends!"

Esper begins to laugh along with her, "Hehe, I know! I've been reading up on it again!" She then turns to the Glandus kids, "So, do you guys want to hang out with us?"

Nocturna shook her head with a frown, "Nah, Kepler's gotta help his dad here at his food stand. We're here for moral support."

Alvin held up a bunch of chip bags in his hands, "And free snacks!"

Cindy cheered before opening a bag, "Haha, yeah free snacks!" But then she folds her arms, joking, "Besides, we can't be seen with the enemy!"

The redhead shook her head at them but shrugged at Luz, Willow and Gus, "Oh well, that's fine."

But Kepler then smiled at them, "Hey, you guys want a fried orb?" He narrows his eyes, "They're mysterious... But delicious!"

The two childhood friends looked to their Hexside friends, who shrugged. Esper puts some snails on the counter while Luz took the fried orb in her hands. The group then walks away together after saying farewell to the kids from Glandus. King slumped his shoulders, feeling ignored before walking behind the Hexside students throughout the carnival.

Luz takes a bite out of fried orb and hands it to Esper. She takes a bite out of it and hands it to Willow. After taking a small bite, she hands it to Gus, who eats the rest of it. Which left none for King, who had been between Willow and Gus. Now the group is relaxing, Willow and Gus are leaning against a stand.

The two childhood friends are sat down at a table next to them, both having small pieces of paper in their hands. Luz traces the light glyph on the paper, "Alrighty, Esper, you have to draw the circle like this." Her circle was perfect, just like the symbol she drew in the middle. She lifts the paper in her hand, turning it into a ball of light.

Esper nods her head before looking down in concentration, "...Okay, just like that... Let's see, you were always better at drawing than I was so... Maybe that's good enough." Her circle was a little clumsy but she got the symbol right this time. Upon squeezing the paper in her hand, it turned into a small ball of light. She smiles at the ball of light, "I did it! Luz! I did it!"

The human cheers, "You did it, Esper! Good job! Just make sure to practice your circles a little more!" She pulls Esper in for a side hug while they still sat at the table.

The redhead giggles while she was brought closer to her friend, "Hehe! Okay! I will, I will!"

The black haired witch shrugged her shoulders, "Oh yeah! By the way, the pixie infestation was actually caused when Boscha's pet pixie escaped its cage..."

Luz nods at her friend before letting the redhead go from her side hug, "Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm."

Esper laughs while she stands up, "Ha! Makes sense!" She elbows Gus, who chuckles with her.

Meanwhile, King jumps and grunts, trying to actually play the booth they are standing near. He finally latches onto the edge of the booth but falls back. He then screams and grunts, "Curse these stubby legs!"

The four teenagers all laugh, too into their conversation to notice the young demon walk away. King sits on the stoop of a narrow booth next to a poster that reads "CARNIVAL best with friends," with a drawing of four witches on it. He looks at poster and sighs.

A familiar voice is heard through the air, being Tibbles's, "Oh, my, my, my! You seem troubled!"

The small demon widens his eyes, "Weh? Who said that?"

Tibbles emerges from his hiding spot in disguise, "It is I! Obvioso, the all-seeing psychic!"

King squints his eyes at him, "Haven't I seen you somewhere? It's almost so..."

The pig demon in the robe tilts his head at him, "Obvious?"

The bonehead gasps, "That's what I was gonna say. Wow! You really are psychic."

Tibbles nods his head at him, "You're right. And Obvioso can see that something is bothering you, little friend."

King sighs, "You got my number, Obvioso. Today was supposed to be about me, Luz and Esper, see? But now they're both distracted by their cool new school friends."

The beige pig points a finger in the air, "What if I were to tell you that there was a way to make all those problems... disappear?"

King "I'd say that sounds illegal. I would also say go on."

Tibbles ducks into booth and laughs. He grabs pink potion bottle with spray nozzle, "Behold!" He sprays a nearby creature on a perch with the potion. It disappears in a flash of pink light.

King jumps backwards, "Holy bones! You poofed it. Call the cops! This guy's crazy!"

The pig man chuckles, "Hey. The spray is only temporary. I just give my cheeks a tap and then..." Tibbles taps his cheeks twice and the creature reappears, visibly terrified. He smiles at the creature, "...it returns safe and sound."

The creature squawks and lays an egg. The egg cracks and a baby creature chirps when emerging from it.

Tibbles passes King the bottle, "Take this! Enjoy the carnival without the problems. Luz, Esper, Willow, and Gus will be none the wiser."

King smiles at him, "Whoa! You even know their names. Guess there's no use arguing with a fortune-teller. Thanks, Obvioso!" He walks away.

Tibbles laughs while he walks away. He then takes off fake mustache.

King walks back to him, "Hey!"

Tibbles holds the mustache back up to his face. He holds his breath hoping King didn't see.

The smaller demon tilts his head at him, "Side note! In the future, do I ever find love?"

The pig demon shrugs at him, "Uh... yes?"

King chuckles to himself and leaves again. Tibbles sighs before taking the mustache off again. King walks outside the tent to look for his friends. He looks down at the bottle in his hands, "Hmm, maybe I should think about this first..."

Suddenly, Esper rushes over to him, "King!" She was worried for him.King shoves the bottle in his fanny pack before she could see it. He was surprised to see her followed by Luz.

The human sighs, "Sorry we lost you back there, little guy!"

The bonehead shakes his head, "Hey, it's okay. He grabs Luz's hand, "Let's go back to the games and win those bracelets."

Gus, however, grabs Luz's other hand, "But we haven't gone on any rides and there's no line for the bumper carcasses!"

The small demon glares at him, "Games!"

The young illusionist pulls Luz closer to him, "Carcasses!"

King continues their back and forth, "Games!"

Gus shakes his head, "Carcasses!"

Esper shakes her head and puts her hands on her hips, "Woah! Hey, come on. Cut it out, you two." This makes both King and Gus stop let go of both of Luz's hands and look away from her.

Then, Luz's stomach suddenly growls loudly. They all look at her.

The human perks her head up, "Food! I'm gonna grab some rotten candy while you guys figure this out. Come on, Esper, I'll need more hands!" She grabs Esper's hand and runs off, "Bye!"

The redhead allows her friend to drag her away, "Woah! Okay bye! No fighting while we're gone!"

Willow smiles at Gus while they leave, "When Luz and Esper comes back let's go on the four-man cauldron spinner."

The black haired boy smiles back at her, "Or the quadruple swing!"

The plant witch nods her head, "Oh, and that's close to those photo booths that can fit exactly four people!"

King stomps his foot, "But today was me, Luz and Esper's day!"

Gus waves his finger at him, "Aw. Does the little baby boo miss his buddies?" He picks King up, which makes Willow chuckles. This makes Gus continue, "Aw, does he? Aw, does he?"The young demon grunts at him, "The King of Demons misses nobody!" The illusionist laughs at him. King pushes at Gus's face to try and get him to put him down, "I demand you put me down!"

The potion suddenly falls out of King's pouch. It lands on the ground and sprays Willow and Gus.

The two gasp and look around, "What?" They then... Disappear.

King gasped and looked around, "Oh, no! What have I done?"

Esper raises an eyebrow while she runs back to the group, "Hey, where'd Gus and Willow go?" She takes a bite of her rotten candy before offering some to the her childhood friend.

Luz shrugs her shoulders, "Wow. I guess they really wanted to ride those bumper carcasses." She shakes her head, which makes Esper take another bite of the rotten candy in response.

The young demon plays with his fingers, "Actually, Esper... Luz... There's something I gotta tell you guys..."

The brown haired girl shakes her head, "No. There's something we gotta tell you, King." She pauses and puts a hand on Esper's shoulder, "We said we'd help you win those friendship bracelets! So win them we shall, okay?"

Esper pumps her fist, "Agreed! Just like we promised! Uh, what was your thing?"

King scratches the back of his neck, "Uh... Only that I missed you while you were gone!" He whispers to himself, "Willow and Gus will be okay for a little while, right?"

Luz tilts her head at him, What was that? Esper puts a hand next to her ear to hear him better.

The bonehead chuckles at the two of them, "Nothing. Now let's go!"

The human raises her fist in excitement, "Ready or not, here we crumb!"

Esper giggles, before making the 'badumtsss' noise with her mouth.

King jumps up into the witchling's arms, "Yes! Ha ha! March onwards, Esper!" His jump makes her drop the rotten candy but she smiled, happily walking away with the demon in her arms.

But unknown to the trio while they walk away, Willow and Gus have actually shrunk rather than disappeared. They stand at about two inches tall among the trash and dirt of the fairgrounds.

The now tiny illusionist pouts, "First, I'm growing out of my clothes! And now I'm shrinking? Dang, puberty! You're the craziest coaster of 'em all!"

Willow shakes her head at him, "Ugh."

Gus screams while shaking his friend by the shoulders, "What happened to us? Did I blackout on the molar coaster again?"

The plant witch put her hands on his shoulders to stop him, "Sketchy carnival rides are not to blame this time. King had something in his pouch that made us small."

The black haired boy fell to his knees dramatically, "And I just got tall enough for the rides!" He sobs into his hands but looked up when he noticed a shadow over them.Willow put a hand on his shoulder, "Gus..."

The creature that Tibbles sprayed before is now standing in front of them. It roars at them before sprinting to chase them.

The illusionist screams and hides behind his friend, "Ah!"

The plant witch grabs Gus' hand and runs to a styrofoam cup. She pushes it so they're standing under it. Gus looked up at the inside of the cup, "I think we're safe now."

A sharp tongue pierces the cup three times which causes the witch pair to scream.

Gus pulls his older friend into a tight hug, "Ew!"

Willow glares at the sharp tongue, "Enough of this!" Her eyes glow green and makes vines sprout from the ground and grab onto the creature's tongue. This traps it on the cup. The plant witch and Gus run to the rotten candy Esper dropped earlier.

The black haired girl shouts while looking at the air, "Quick! We have to find Luz and Esper! We gotta get their attention before any more carnival animals hunt us down!" She then grabs some rotten candy and whistles. A fly lands and starts to eat the rotten candy.

The plant witch smiles confidentially at the fly, "Eat up, my stead! Lead us to safety!" She climbs onto the back of the fly.

Gus grimaces before touching the fly, "It's so hairy! Why is it so hairy?!"

Willow shakes at him, "Because up close, everything is hairy." She grabs Gus, making him yelp, and flies away on their steed.

...

While Eda is taken in by the fun police, King leads Luz and Esper through the fair. They stop at the prize booth and see that the friendship bracelets are still there. King drags Luz and Esper onward to play some of the games on the fairgrounds. Willow and Gus, on the fly, fly up from behind the friendship bracelet frame and follow them. Esper, Luz and King fail at skee-ball. Esper scratches her head in thought before Luz tickles the machines, which lets King successfully throw the ball in. Tickets spew out of the machine monster while the three cheer. Gus then pokes the hairy back of the fly and recoiling in disgust. Willow directs the fly to Luz, Esper and King, but they move away. The fly lands in the rotten candy machine. Esper, Luz and King throw rings at bottles at a ring toss game. One of the bottles hops out of the way of Luz's ring. The attendant shrugs while Esper glares at him. King shoves a ring over the attendant's body. The attendant reluctantly hands them tickets.

Willow and Gus climb onto a stand, covered in rotten candy. Willow pants while trying to catch her breath.

The illusionist shakes his head at her friend, "We can't keep doing this."

The plant witch gasps and points to a house of mirrors, "We won't have to for much longer."

...

Eda is now tied up sitting under a banner that reads "THE FUN POLICE because crime is no laughing matter." She pouts, angered after being arrested at her stand, "Just when I thought I couldn't respect the law any less..."

She can hear shoes squeak as they're put on the desk.

The owl lady continued, "...it surprises me."

The carnival boss frowns at her, "So, I hear you're running scams at my carnival? That's my job. And I take my job very seriously." He flicks his bow tie, which makes it spin.

Eda rolls her eyes at him, "Spare me the yuks. What do you want?"

The boss folds his arms, "Since I'm a forgiving demon, I'll give you two options." He gestures to Eda's wanted poster on the wall, "I can pass you along to the Emperor's Coven, who'll undoubtably throw you in the Conformatorium, or you can scam for me." He points to a dress on a mannequin and a cart of caramel crab apples. Which makes Eda roll her eyes and groan.

...

At the prize booth, the vendor is counting Esper, Luz and King's tickets, "1230... 1231..."

King squeals while he watched the man count all their tickets, excited at the thought of his prize.

Luz smiles at him, "Now, King, before you spend your tickets are you sure you want those friendship bracelets and not this bad boy?"

The human points to a cursed skull, whose eye glows. The cursed skull then roars, "I am the King of Night. And every breath you take brings you closer to darkness."

Esper giggles and points at the cursed skull next to her friend, "Haha! This guy's a riot! If I was younger, I would definitely grab him."

The skull smiles at her with a giggle. The human playfully pushes her friend, "Yeah, I know you would've picked this guy! You have a ton of stuff in your room at home!"

The redhead gives her a giggle before pushing her back.

King looks up at the two of them, "Yes, Luz. I want the bracelets. It's kind of important to me, okay?"

The cursed skull frowns at him, "I can be important to you. I, who have seen the birth and death of countless nations-"

The prize vendor stops counting the tickets and smacks the skull with a broom, "Hey, stop it!"

The cursed skull whines at him like a dog.

The prize Vendor shakes his head at him, "No, no. Stop it." He looks back at the tickets, "Yes, where was I, uh... Well, lost count. Okay, one, two, three, four, five, six..."

The fly Willow and Gus are on drops rotten candy in Luz's hair. Esper points at the candy in her hair, "Uh... Luz, you got a little-Hey!" The bug starts to fly towards and poke at Esper's face. She glares at the insect before trying to swat at it. The fly rushes away from her and she runs after it, "I'm so going to clobber this bug! I'll be right back, guys!"

The human takes a step towards her, "Esper, wait!" But she ran off too fast so Luz pulls at the candy in her hair, "Ugh, gross! I'm gonna need a mirror. I'll be right back, King." She then leaves in the same direction her childhood friend ran towards.

The prize Vendor keeps counting the tickets, "12, 13, 14..."

King glares at him, "Count faster!"

...

Luz runs forward, accidentally bumping into her childhood friend, "Oof! Oh, hey, I caught up with you! Did you catch that fly?" She eyes the arrows made of rotten candy on the ground, "Oh! Were you about to follow these arrows to see where they lead?"

The redhead shakes her head, "...No, because it went in there." She points into the house of mirrors, which was where the arrows were pointing too.

The human blinks before snapping her fingers, "Oh! I forgot, you're scared of mirror mazes!"

Esper's eyes widen at her, "What! No! Not anymore!" She folds her arms, "It was only when we got lost in the one filled with puppets when we were little! I just get a little shaken up whenever I see one sometimes..." She shakes her head, she doesn't like seeing herself so scared.

Luz smiles at her friend before putting a hand on her shoulder, "Aw, hey, Esper... It's okay. Come on, I'll hold your hand while we walk through it." She grabs Esper's hand with her own before slowly walking inside the house of mirrors with her, "There we go. See? We'll be just fine while we follow the arrows. Just like when we were little..."

Luz follows the arrows and enters with her childhood friend behind her, nodding her head at the human. There are more arrows inside, leading past a wall of mirrors that show different versions of the two girls holding hands in everyone. One makes Luz look like a wolf while Esper is a tiger, another has the two looking like cosmic creatures. One has Esper with blue hair while Luz has pink hair, both in an anime style of art. The two eventually reach the end of the arrows.

Luz reads some words on the ground, ""You made it". Aw! See Esper? What a supportive sign!"

Esper gives her a thumbs up with her other hand, "I see that but uh... Made it to what?"

The human hums before looking down at another mirror, "Wait a sec!" She spots Willow and Gus, they are reflected in a mirror.

Luz smiles at the two, "Supportive friends!" She lets go of her childhood friend's hands.

The plant witch raises her voice, "Wait, Luz, don't do it!"

The redheaded witch tries to grab the hood of her shirt but misses by an inch. The human runs into the mirror and slides to the ground in pain. The brunette blinks before picking her head up, "Huh?"

Both their reflections points down to the floor, which makes both girls look down in the same direction. Willow and Gus step forward to reveal that they are now only a few inches tall.

Esper gasps at the sight while Luz's eyes widened, "Oh, my gosh."

...

Meanwhile back at the prize booth, the vendor is still counting tickets. King bounces up and down in his seat.

The vendor sets down the last ticket, "One million! Yep, I just counted to one million! The bracelets are yours." He hands the three bracelets to King.

The small demon hops up and takes the bracelets from him, "Yes! Yes! Now Esper, Luz and I will share a bond as mighty as these trinkets!" He then laughs maniacally to himself before running off to find his friends.

He makes it to the house of mirrors, remembering that Luz needed a mirror to fix her hair earlier. King smiles at the two of them, "Heya, Luz, Esper! Good news! I got the bracelets!"

The redhead shook her head, not answering him. The human sighed, speaking for the both of them, "King..."

The demon squints his eyes at the both of them, "Huh?"

Luz and Esper holds out both their hands, spread out to show him Willow and Gus. The plant witch is on Luz's hands while Gus is on Esper's. King yelps when he sees the two tiny witches.

The glasses wearing girl frowns at the demon, "You splashed us with something to make us small!"

The black haired boy pouts before sitting on Esper's palm, "And now I can't go on the big boy rides! You monster..." Esper pats Gus on the head with her other hand to comfort him.

King backs away from the friend group, "Y-you weren't supposed to shrink. You, you were supposed to disappear. Ooh, no. Wait."

Esper stands in front of her friends defensively, "Dude!"

The human gasped, "What?!"

King holds his hands up, "No, no, no. Luz, I can explain. I wanted to win the bracelets and there was this psychic, see?" He takes the spray bottle out of his fanny pack.

Both childhood friends put Willow and Gus down on the floor. The brunette shakes her head disappointedly, "That must've been what did it."

Esper walks closer to the demon, holding out her hand, "Give me the spray bottle, King."

King shakes his head at her, "No, wait I-I-I gotta explain!"

Luz shakes her head again at him, "There's nothing to explain!"

The redhead grabs the spray bottle, "Dude, just give it to me!"

The smaller demon pulls at the bottle, "No! I was just trying to..."

The human puts her hands on her hips, "Shrink our friends?"

King shouts at her, "I was just trying to solve my problems!"

Luz notices the bottle start to slip out of her friends' hands, "Esper, watch it!" She steps forward to help her childhood friend but...

The bottle slips out of their hands and the spray nozzle loosens. Some of the potion slips out and hits Esper, Luz and King.

All three of their eyes widen, "Uh-oh..."

Esper, Luz and King shrink. Willow and Gus walk up to them, both shaking their heads to greet them.

All four of the shrunken teens glare at the small demon.

The redhead folds her arms, "King, if you had just given me the bottle in the first place, none of this would have happened."

King holds up his hands, "Wait, I can fix this! Obvioso showed me how. Behold!" He taps his cheeks, only to see it didn't work, "Weh?" He tries again and then again, "Why isn't this working?!"

Suddenly, a familiar pig demon picks them all up in his hands. Tibbles smirks at all of them, "I'd say it's working quite well!"

...

The scammer approaches his Tent of Tiny Terrors while holding Luz, Esper, Willow, Gus, and King. The small demon is still tapping his cheeks.

The illusionist points at him, "Um, Esper, Luz, I think King is broken."

The demon pouts, "Tapping my cheeks is supposed to turn us normal. The psychic told me." He lays his head on Esper's side, who sighed but patted him on his skull head.

Tibbles smirks at him, "Oh, did he? But, what if he... lied to you from the start?" He summons a puff of smoke and is now wearing mustache and patting out "Obvioso's" hat, "Hold on." He puts hat on, "Lied to you from the start? It's different."

King points at him, "You fiend! When Obvioso finds out you stole his mustache..." He lowers his hand upon realizing he had been tricked, "Oh..."

Both Gus and Esper look at each other and facepalm while sitting next to the young demon.

The big pig demon nods his head, "The potion was designed by me. Guess whose cheeks control it?"

Luz frowns at the beige demon, "Why are you doing this?"

Tibbles rips off the fake mustache, "When you destroyed my stand, you destroyed generations of Grimm Hammer history! Now it's time to pay!"

He drops all the kids from his hands and into a small metal cage. Along with all the other tiny terrors. Everyone screams and land, "Oof!"

Tibbles turns and faces the customers in his audience, "Welcome to the greatest show on the Boiling Isles!" The crowd cheers and gasp at him. Smirking at their cheers, he waves his hand at the cage, " Will these witches and demon survive feeding time? Let's find out!"

He then rings a bell, which makes the tiny terrors growl. The creatures all come out of their tents with angry faces. One unicorn still looks friendly.

Luz smiles at the unicorn, "Aw! At least he's still my friend..."

The horned horse start neighing angrily.

The human hides behind Esper, "That's how friends react." Her childhood friend shakes her head while lifting her fists up, ready to defend her.

The tiny terrors all growl and then advance.

Tibbles frowns down at them, "You ruined my livelihood! So now, you'll feed my livelihood!"With a magic twirl of his finger, a spotlight turns on. Curtains open to show the inside of the cage is magnified for the crowd's viewing pleasure on a projection board. Luz, Esper, Willow, Gus, and King are backed into a corner by a manticore and a unicorn. The redhead still holds up her fists, ready for a fight.

Tibbles laughs evilly, "Place your bets and enjoy the show!"

Gus clutches the metal behind him, "Well, if I have to go, at least I'm with my best friends... And King."

The unicorn whinnies and pounces at them. Esper shouts, "Quick! Guys! Scatter!" The group then all run. The unicorn growls while trying to follow all of them.

Meanwhile, Eda is in a worker's uniform handing out treats for the patrons of the show. She rolls her eyes, "Caramel Crab Apples. Get 'em hot and pinchy."

A man in the crowd waves his hand around excitedly, "Hey, over here!"

The older witch rolls her eyes, "Yeah, yeah." She then winces, "Hold your spider-horses..."

Back in the tiny cage, Gus creates an illusion of a vacuum, causing the animals to cower. Willow summons vines to tip over a water holder. The manticore steps through the illusion vacuum. Esper draws a magic circle to have a vine lift King into the arms before ducking behind the water holder. Soon the other three take cover behind the water holder seconds before the manticore runs into it.

Luz looks at all her friends, "We've gotta-"

The manticore rams into the water holder again, causing a bang to be heard through the air.

The human huddles closer to her childhood friend, "-find a way out of here!"

Another bang is heard when the manticore runs into the water holder again. King looks around at the area while in his witchling friend's arms. Unicorns bite at both ends of the water holder, making Willow and Gus flinch away. Luz ducks under the manticore's claws when they break through the water holder. Esper ducks closer to the ground, holding the small demon close to her body.

King shakes his head and talks to himself, "Ah, King, you idiot... This is all your fault!" He pulls out friendship bracelets, "But I think I know how to fix it!" He hops out of Esper's arms and runs from under cover. A unicorn watches him and chases him.

The redhead reaches out from the cover, "King!" She is pulled back by Willow.

At the same time, Luz raises an eyebrow at him while he runs off, "King?"King shouts to the group, "Willow, Gus, I'm sorry for poofing you! And Luz... Esper... I'm sorry for taking away your friends..."

The unicorn and the manticore advance on King, growling and snarling at him.

The small demon gulps, "I know you two will eventually go home and now you're both spending more time at school. I just... wanna be around you both!"

Luz and Esper look surprised after hearing this while King jumps and dodges all the animals and climbs to the rim of the cage.

An Abomination student in the crowd frowns at this, "No!"

A Healing track student makes a thumbs down, "Boo! Boo!"

The whole crowd starts to join in their booing, displeased with what they were watching.

Tibbles shakes his head from atop his pile of snails, "No refunds!"

Back inside the small cage, the tiny terrors whimper.

King furrows his eyebrows and readies the friendship bracelets, "Alright. I only have one shot." He throws friendship bracelets, "Nyah!"

The bracelets land on Tibbles's cheek.

The pig demon groans, "Darn flies!" He taps cheek and his eyes widen. He realizes what he did, "...Oh, no."

King, Luz, Esper, Willow, and Gus all begin to glow.

Eda frowns at a witch trying to take one of the crab apples from the holder she had in her hands, "Hey, hey. No discounts, buddy!"

The man frowns and points at her, "You guys owe me! There's nothing happening in this show!"

Another witch with spiky hair threw the crab apple towards the screen but missed, "Not a single one of those dumb kids have gotten hurt yet!"

Eda raises an eyebrow at the pair, "Dumb kids?" He turns and sees the screen, showing the kids glaring at the animals cornering them again. The owl lady frowns, "Wait! Those are my dumb kids!"

Esper, Luz, Gus, Willow, and King grow back to normal size and break the terrarium in the process. Everyone drops to the ground and they sit up. All share look and sigh when they stop glowing. Behind them, the animals also grow to full size, making them widen their eyes in shock.

Luz's eyes widen before looking at the pig man, "You shrunk the animals too?!"

Tibbles shrugs his shoulders, "It's the Tent of Tiny Terrors! Something needed to be tiny!"

The crowd continues to boo, getting louder and louder.

The witch from before shouts at the kids, "Finish the job! Get them kids!"

A potions student throws a crab apple at the buff unicorn, "Feast!"

The unicorn catches and eats the crab apple. The creature then smiles, tapping it's hoof on the ground. All animals turn to the crowd, growling. Two audience members share a look before backing away. The buff unicorn whinnies and raises a hoof. The animals charge forward as the crowd screams and flees.

Tibbles starts to back away from the group, "They... Foiled my plans! You will pay for this!" He pulls out another bottle, "This time I'm gonna personally squash you!"

Eda walks up behind him and she takes the bottle from him, "Oh, no, Tibbles. That's not how entertainment works." She tosses bottle to Esper, who dropkicks the bottle into the air. The owl lady smirks at the short demon, "The bad guy always gets his just desserts." She dumps the crab apples on him.

The beige pig grimaces before trying to get the crab apples off him, "Oh, no! Not desserts!"

The older witch whistles to the animals, "Hey, girls! This one's on the house!"

The animals stop eating as they all look at Tibbles. One unicorn has a crab apple on their mouth and immediately eats it. Tibbles looks down at his clothes before the unicorns chase him out of the tent, screaming.

Willow smiles at her younger friend, "Looks like we ruined his life for a second time."

Gus nods his head while letting out a chuckle, "We're on a roll!"

King runs to the pair and hugs their legs, "Gus, Willow, you're okay!"

Luz smiles at the small demon, "All thanks to you, King." She kneels down, "Here." She hands him five cracked pieces of the bracelets.

Esper rubs the back of her neck, "We tried looking for more pieces but that's was all that was left. Sorry, little dude."

The bonehead takes the pieces from the human into his tiny hands, "It's... It's okay. Because now there's a piece for everybody!" He holds two out to Willow and Gus, "If you'll accept it, that is?"

The plant witch smiles at him, "Thank you, King."

The illusionist looks at the piece he received with a smile on his face, "Yeah. I've always wanted to own a jagged piece of cheap metal!"

The brunette put her hands on her chest, smiling at the young demon, "That's very sweet of you, buddy!"

Esper pats her childhood on the shoulder, "Yeah, it is! I'm proud of our little bonehead."
King sighs at the pair, "I'm sorry, Luz. And I'm sorry, Esper... Demons do crazy things when they've been missing people."

Luz whispers, "And can I tell you a secret? I've been missing you too." She then kisses his skull.

Esper smiles and kisses King on the skull as well, "I missed you too, little buddy!"

King giggles at the two of them, "Hey, we still have a few hours of carnival left. Wanna hit those bumper carcasses?"

The human giggles back at him, "You bread my mind!"

King lets out a laugh, "Yes! Bread puns! Bread puns forever!"

Luz hands him to Esper, who makes one last 'badam-tsss' before walking away with King. The human then turns to Eda, "You coming, Eda?"

The owl lady lays on Tibbles's pile of snails, "Nah. I think I got everything I wanted." The stands collapse behind Eda, which makes her smile, "Yep! Another great year at the carnival!"

...

Meanwhile at the Owl House, Hooty has been talking to the fly the whole time everyone else was at the carnival. Hooty smiles at the flying insect, "Boy, fly, we sure get into some wacky hijinks, don't we?"

The door opens and Esper, King, Eda, and Luz peek in. The owl tube continues talking while not noticing them, "Sure feel sorry for anyone that missed seeing us two rabble-rousers getting into scrapes!"

Esper, Luz, Eda, and King all duck back out with uneasy faces, closing the door.

Hooty continues to ramble, "Good thing I brought a camera! Yep! Hooty and fly! Together forever! You and me! Every single day-" The fly enters his mouth, causing him to cough, "Now I know what friendship taste like! Yum!" He mocks smacking lip sounds, "Taste like a bug."

Chapter Text

In one of the hallways of Hexside, Boscha is magically changing her nails and Amity is reading. The three eyed girl changes her nails into tentacles, "Too wiggly." She changes them to miniature flames, "Too obvious." She stops on talons, "Now we're talkin'! I think today is a talons day!" She makes a swiping motion with the talons, "Rawr!"

Skara walks up to the pair, "Hey, girls! Time to bug out at my birthday party!" She holds up an invite which unrolls in the shape of a red butterfly. The wings read "SKARA'S 15th". She smiles at her two friends, "Invite only, but you witches are my VIPs!"

Amity tilts her head at the invitation, "Are these made of real insect wings?" She takes one from the other witch.

The bard witch smiles widely at both of them, "My dad spared no expense! You only turn 15 once!"

Boscha rolls her eyes while taking the invite, "You only turn every age once, Skara."Luz shouts while walking past the popular girls with Willow "Prepare thyself to do battle like a human! Thumb war!" Both her and Willow are engaging in a thumb war with Willow. There are faces drawn on their thumbs.

Willow laughs, "It's funny 'cause it's stupid!"

Esper walks behind them with Gus alongside her, the redhead sends a glare in Boscha's direction. The illusionist twirls his finger around, which forms a light blue circle in the air, "This is how you make a simple bouquet illusion!" He hands it to her with a smile. The redhead blushes a little at him while taking the imaginary bouquet. She twirls her finger in an attempt to mimic his spell, only for it to form a huge illusionary brick that falls on the ground instead. She raises an eyebrow at this and pouts until Gus pats her on the shoulder, "It's okay! You'll get it eventually!"

The three-eyed bully glares at the four of them, "It's so weird that a human AND some redhead goes here now. Too bad they've already burned their social lives at the stake. Any friend of Willow's is an automatic dork." The invite in her hand starts molting, "Ugh! Skara! Why did you give me an invite that was molting? Gross! Give me another one." She then throws the invite onto the floor. Two younger kids see it and rush to it.

One kid gasps, "An invitation to Skara's party! I want it!"

The other kid shouts, "No, I want it!"

The first kid pushes the other student, "It's mine!"

The second kid pushes back, "No, it's mine!"

They then jump on the invitation and start fighting.

The oracle teacher, Mr. Prophettis, shouts and points at the children, "Oh! Kid fight!"

Another teacher pokes her head out of her classroom door, "Kid fight?"

The detention teacher rushes over to the children, "Kid fight!"

...

The main group of four relax near Luz's locker. The human jumps up and down in front of her locker, "Oh my gosh, Willow, I'm so excited for photo class! I can't believe you can make pictures of your actual memories!" She opens her locker, "I'mma see me some baby Willow!"

Willow giggles, "I'll admit, I was adorable."

Gus smiles at Esper, "And maybe we can see some of Esper's past too!"

The redhead playfully taps him on the arm with her fist, "Oh yeah! You're right! Why didn't I think of that? Thanks for looking out, Gus!" The illusionist pats the spot she tapped with his other hand.

The human tries to take a book out of her locker, but it bites down on it. She frowns at this, "Don't eat that!" She pulls at the book, "Whoa!" She falls down when the locker refuses to give her to the book. Instead it eats the book and hisses at her.

Luz stands up and hisses back at the object.

Her childhood friend shakes her head while giving her her own book to use.

However, Boscha begins to walk past the group while laughing, "I can't believe she'd even hang out with her! It's just embarrassing." She puts her fingers on her face to resemble glasses, "Oh, look at me! I'm going on a date with my ferns!"

Skara laughs when she, Boscha, and Amity pass Luz and Willow. This makes the plant witch wilt in sadness.

Esper brings up a fist while glaring at the three, "Hey! Watch what you say, you walking mean girl stereotype!"

Luz puts a hand on both the redhead and plant witch's shoulders, "Now now, that could be anyone!"

Skara smiles at her friends, "Solid Willow impression, Boscha!" She then tilts her head at the girl with green hair, "Amity, weren't you friends with Willow?"

The three of them stop walking in the hallway.

Amity side eyes the other witch, "I'm a Blight. We only associate with a select few. Keep annoying me though, I'm happy to select fewer." She then walks off without her friends.

The bard witch frowns sadly while scratching her head, "Oh, I coulda sworn that you guys hung out..."

She then follows Amity along with Boscha while Willow sighs.

...

Now in a darkroom-like classroom, the students sitting in front of undeveloped photos. Luz stands next to Willow while Gus is next to Esper.

The human smiles with her tongue sticking out, "Alright, memory melon, let's pick another juicy one!"

Willow smiles despite the odd way of collecting memories, "Be careful with my brain!"

The brunette pulls a photo out of Willow's ear with a pair of tweezers, "Ooo, who says brain surgery is hard?"

The plant witch rubs her ear while Luz puts the empty photo on a wire.

The teacher of the photo class is revealed to be Mrs. Miragian, the Illusionist teacher, "As you work, note that some prints have greater clarity than others. These are moments that evoke a strong emotional response."

Luz moves her hand to touch one of the photos, "All the colors of the brainbow." But a big blue hand that has "HALT" written on it stops her.

Mrs. Miragian disperses her own spell when the human takes her hand away, "But, if you damage the prints, you'll damage the memories themselves! Be extremely careful." She walks away to attend to her students, "Esper, Gus, how are your photos coming along?"

The pair grimace when Gus pulls a memory from his friend's ear. The redhead shakes her head, "Uh... Slightly painful? And they look kinda..."

The illusionist puts the new empty photo on a wire, "Kinda blacked out and blurry? Mrs. Miragian, is it because we're digging into Esper's baby memories?" One photo is shown with a tall figure with wild hair fully casted in shadow.

Mrs. Miragian writes on her clipboard, "Hm... Interesting. Yes, it could be that you are digging too far back in these memories to see the full events... Though it seems like your memories are muddled or maybe even artificially blocked."

The redhead raises her eyebrow at her, "Artificially blocked?"

The illusionist teacher grimaces while there is a slow zoom in on her face, "It means that someone could have tampered with your memories to prevent you from witness the events." She then smiles, "But I am simply saying this is a possibility, not that it is true as of this moment. It is most likely that you were too young to remember things clearly."

Esper slouches with her head in her hands, "Aw man. Well, there goes that plan. Thank you, Mrs. Miragian." The teacher politely waves to her before walking off to see the other students. Esper smiles at Gus when he puts a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, "And thank you too, Gus. Don't worry, I'm okay." She shrugs her shoulders, "How about we practice some illusionist magic instead? I wanna see if I can get that bouquet spell by the end of the day." Another photo develops to show a chubby woman with dark hair holding a toddler Esper while she is being tickled by a blonde man with green eyes, the two humans known Janet and Douglas. The redhead quickly turns her head away from the memory of her adoptive parents to focus on the spell Gus wanted to explain to her.

Luz's eyes widen upon seeing the pictures on Esper's wire, "Whoa! Photo class is intense."

One photo develops on Willow's wire. It shows a young version of the plant witch on a chair, blushing a bit, with a band-aid on her cheek, and with wavy and poofy hair.

The human smiles at this photo, "Oh my gosh, Willow, you had an awkward hair phase, too? I knew we were meant to be friends." She holds up a picture day photo of her as a child with her hair done up in three awkward braids, each sporting two bows. There are also stickers in her hair, "Ooo, there's more!"

The rest of the photos develop: Willow being pushed on a swing by her two dads, Willow feeding a spider demon a carrot, Willow and her dads at what looks like a winter holiday, and Amity hugging Willow at a birthday party. Luz gasps in surprise at the last photo.

The girl with glasses turns away from the photo, "Ugh..."

The brunette puts a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, I know you and Amity have a history. Wouldn't you feel better talking about it?"

Willow frowns at her, "No, I'd rather do this." She flips the photo around, "That's my motto, after all! "Out of sight, out of mind."

Esper perks up upon hearing the saying, "You said it, girl! Haha! Used to do that to my chores all the time!"

The human shakes her head at the two before the bell screams and rings. All the other students begin leaving.

Luz folds her arms, "If you won't tell me what she did, I'll never be able to cook up a scheme to make you friends again!"

Gus grimaces when he hears this, "Oh yikes. Uh, come on, Esper! Don't wanna be late for lunch!" He quickly gets up from his seat and walks out of the classroom. The redheaded witch follows after him with an awkward whistle and her hands in her pockets.

The plant witch shakes her head at her, "Luz, I get it, but I don't want you to do that. No schemes, no plots, no ruses, none! Okay? Now, let's get to lunch!" She then gets up and leaves the room.

The human looks at the photos, "She never did mention anything about... Shenanigans!" She turns the photo back around before following Willow out of the classroom, "Wait up!"

...

Boscha and Amity walk together towards the photo room from the opposite direction. The pink haired girl shrugs her shoulders while laughing, "I can't believe I made him cry. Like, he's the teacher!"

Amity briefly peers into the classroom before suddenly stopping, "Hm?" She looks at Willow's memory photos, specifically the birthday party one, "Oh no."

Boscha narrows her eyes at her friend, "Why do you look like you've seen a ghost? Is there a ghost in photo class? Are they cute?!"

The girl with green hair tries to block Boscha's view with her hand, though the third eye is uncovered, "Yep, just a super cute ghost. But they're all mine!" She slams door in front of the potions student's face.

The bully's voice is muffled as she yells from her side of the door, "Ask if they have any friends!"

Amity runs over and takes down the photo, "Willow..." She sighs, "I'm sorry... But I have to do this!" She summons a small flame and burns her face off the photo. She blows on the embers to put it out, puts the photo back, and start to leave. But the flame reignites on the photo, which causes the popular girl to stop at the door, "Huh?" She turns around, "Oh, no! No, no, no, no!" She runs to the photo, "Um, uh..." Amity blows on the flame, which causes it to spread to the other photos, "Oh, come on!"

...

Now in the cafeteria, Gus is looking at a corkboard titled, "WHO TO INTERVIEW".

Luz giggles at the illusionist, "Hey there, detective. Are you solving a crime?" Esper bumps her elbow into hers. "Or about to commit one?"

The boy witch laughs at the two of them, "Sadly, this is one problem crime can't solve! My interview for journalism class is due tomorrow! I'm supposed to choose someone "interesting, accomplished, and noteworthy." People aren't meant to be all those things! Curse your need for perfection, Gus! There's only one person I think is suited for this and uh!" His eyes shift to the left awkwardly, "I don't think she'd like me interviewing her..." He slumps his head onto the table.

The redhead pats him on the back and slides him a juice box full of apple blood, "Ooooh it's a her? I can help you talk to her if you want. Okay, buddy?" She continues to pat his back while he sips the juice box.

Luz giggles at the two of them and takes a bite of her screamnut butter and jelly sandwich. She looks over at the plant witch at the table after swallowing the bite, "So, Willow-whoa! Are you okay?" The other two witches look at their friend upon perking up.

Willow wipes some sweat off her brow with her sleeve, "When did it get so hot?" She drinks water and exhales steam. She pours herself another cup, then just douses herself with the pitcher which releases more steam. Gus sips more apple blood while looking confused. Luz looks concerned while Esper takes a bite of her own sandwich with an eyebrow raised. Steam comes out of Willow's ears while she cleans her glasses. When she puts them back on, her pupils dilate until her eyes are completely black, "Uhh, hi! I'm Willow! Remind me of your names?"

The redhead practically jumps back in her seat when she sees her eyes dilate, "Woah!" She felt the hair on the back of her head stand up.

The boy next to her folds his arms, "This is serious journalism, Willow. Clowning around will get you nowhere!"

The plant witch raises her eyebrow at the three of them, "I'm-I'm serious! Who-who are you?"

Gus rubs his chin, "I'll admit, this amnesia spin has piqued my interest."

Esper puts a hand on the illusionist's shoulder, "Thiiiiiiis doesn't look good, actually."

Luz tilts her head at their plant friend, "Yeah! Gus, it really seems like she's forgotten us, like her memory is-" She gasps, "Like her memory is gone!"

...

Gus and Luz rush to the photo room with Willow walking drunkenly behind them. Esper holds the plant witch by the arm to keep her steady. She sits Willow down in a chair before spotting what's going on and gasps.

The illusionist gasps, "Hexside Free Press! What's going on here?"

Luz gasps after he does. She spots Amity desperately trying to blow out the flames. The popular girl turns her head to the group, "...Hi."

Esper looks down to see the pink flames, "You set the classroom on fire?!"

The human shouts while running her hands through her hair, "You destroyed Willow's memories?!"

The green haired girl, "I-I saved as many as I could!" She holds up the picture of Willow's awkward hair phase, another one behind it. An ember burns both of them to ash. Amity, Luz and Esper watch the ashes fall, "Ugh! Why would they make memories so flammable?"

The redhead starts stomping the flames out, "Since I'm someone who's go-to spell is fire, I feel like I should say that THAT is incredibly dangerous! It spreads!"

Amity starts to blow at some of the flames again, "I know! I know! But I swear I didn't mean for it to spread like THIS!"

Willow giggles and wiggles her fingers while in her seat, "Have I always had this crazy thing?" She slaps her face gently, "Blap, blap!" She walks to Amity and Luz and puts her arms around their shoulders, "Eeee, heee, heee... I can tell we're gonna be good friends!" She then falls to the floor. Luz and Esper look at each other before nodding.

...

The group of five students walk through the door of the Owl House. Both Esper and Gus help carry Willow inside before Luz closes the door behind Amity. The illusionist walks up to Eda to give her a summary of what has happened so far.

The green haired girl looks around, "So, this is the Owl House."

The human nods her head, "Yup!" The redhead puts her hands on her hips with a nod on her face.

Amity grimaces, "And you two... Sleep here?"

Luz shivers while shaking her head, "...When the night critters allow us to."

Esper hugs herself, "I still have nightmares about the kill-a-pillar that crawled in my ear..."

Eda shakes her head at the group of kids, "So, you set Willow's memories on fire and erased everything? Even minor damage can have huge effects!"

Willow walks into the couch where King is sleeping, "Ahh, a chair for sitting! She then flops face first onto the couch, does a handstand while trying to sit, and then flops upside down.

The owl lady shakes her head again, "Yep, her brain's burned up real good. Damage like that can change everything about a person. Willow may never be the same."

The plant witch finally gets the sitting position right, "I got it!" She looks at King, "Ooh, a furry fruit!" She picks the little guy up, "I'm gonna peel it!"

The skull wearing demon frowns, "What?" He pushes against her face to try to escape when she begins to try and peel his fur off his tail, "What is happening?!"

Eda snaps her fingers, "Nap time!" The snapping of her fingers casted a spell which put Willow to sleep. The plant witch yawns and lays down fully on the couch.

King yawns, "Sleep spell..." He then lays down and goes to sleep.

The owl lady puts her hands on her hips, "I didn't cast it on you."

The young demon yawns, "Yeah, who cares?"

Esper pumps her fist, "Man, you gotta teach me that spell too!" She points at her childhood friend with her thumb, "Do you know how long Luz stays up on her phone?"

Luz put her had on her shoulder, "We can discuss my sleep schedule later!" She looks up at their mentor, "Is there anything we can do?"

Eda rubs her chin, "There is one way, but it's terribly dangerous and partially illegal..." She briefly pauses, "So you're in the right place! I'll send you into her mind to fix the damage."

The human jumps up and down, "Be still my fantasy loving heart, I have always wanted to do this! Thank you, Boiling Isles."

Eda scratches the back of her head, "It won't be easy. You have a lot to fix in there, 'cause it's a mess! Yep, whoever did this to Willow showed unbelievable disregard for her safety, downright despicable."

Amity looks away guiltily while Esper glares at her.

The older witch lets out a chuckle, "Oh, right, it was you!" She turns to the human, "Anyways, Luz, who's going inside with you?"

Hooty opens his door, "Maybe I can help! I'm pretty good at getting stuck inside people's heads!"

Eda frowns at him, "This is someone's brain, not a night club!" She forms a spell circle in the air and makes the door close, "Two max!"

Esper smiles at Luz with her hands on her hips, "I mean, I can go! Gotta make up for that lost sleepover with Willow somehow, right?"

The brunette looks at her and then to Gus, who looks stressed. The boy is pacing in front of the corkboard he took with him, "Looks like we're going with the advanced memory spell after all... I'm running out of time... Ugh! I'm in total free fall! He stares at a pile of books, "Must I turn to forbidden sources?" The books growls at him, which makes him fall to the ground, "Aah!"

Luz rubs the back of her neck, "Well, uh, Esper... Gus... Has a lot on his plate, maybe you can help him. Amity has to go with me." She turns to her childhood friend, "Please don't take this the wrong way."

The redhead frowns at her, "I'm sorry, what?!"

Amity also frowns at the human, "Yeah, what?" She looks down at the floor, "...Willow might not want me in there."

Esper points at the popular girl, "You heard her! Willow might not want her in there! Let me go in instead!"

The human shakes her head, "Yes, but she did set everything in there on fire! She cause the problem so she has to help." Both girls from the human realm look at Amity, one in concern and the other in anger.

Amity looks between the two of them and thinks for a second. She then sighs, "Okay, I'll do what I can."

The brunette holds her hand out to Amity and she hesitantly takes it. Esper rolls her eyes at this display and sits next to Gus's corkboard in annoyance.

Eda claps her hands together, "Alright! Bold choice, taking the girl who caused the mess rather than your childhood best friend!" She draws a spell circle around them and summons a bell to give to the human.

Luz takes bell and tilts her head at it, "Whoa!"

The gray haired woman points at the bell, "When you're done, ring that and I'll cast you back-Oh, and keep an eye out for her "Inner Willow." She's the gatekeeper of emotions and memory. She might help ya!" She lifts her hand. The spell circle encases both Luz and Amity in a bright light.

Eda waves them off, "Now, here we go!"

Both witches scream while the bright light surrounds them, "Ah!"

Luz and Amity disappear into the yellow light of the spell. Eda directs it to Willow, who is still fast asleep. Now in a black void inside Willow's mind, where Luz and Amity land...

...

Esper folds her arms and pouts while sitting next to Gus's corkboard, "I can't believe Luz didn't want to take me with her! This is bogus!"

Gus sits next to her, "Hey, Esper, it's okay. Luz just wanted Amity to fix her mistake, it's nothing against you."

The girl brings her knees up to her face and wraps her arms around them, "Well! They... It's not fair." She frowns at her friend, "I mean, what, am I not good enough all of a sudden?"

The illusionist puts his hands on his hips with a smile on his face, "What? Nooo! This is Luz we're talking about after all! You know she doesn't rank people based on their skills or anything like that."

The redhead smiles back at him. "...Thanks, Gus." She narrowed her eyes at him with a smile, "So, you ready to try and talk to this girl you want to interview?"

The illusionist blushes immediately, "Oh uh! The, uh, the girl might be a bit busy helping someone else right now... Uh... You're welcome! Now come on, let's practice!"

Meanwhile, the two girls are inside their friend's mind. They look through her memories to try and prevent the pink flames from destroying everything...

...

Willow is still sleeping soundlessly on the couch in the living room. Gus is pacing in front of her and Esper, "Hmm... Maybe no one can give me the interview I need, except... Myself!" He uses his finger to create an illusion double. Esper watches while surrounded by illusions of bricks, cinderblocks and even a cowbell... But no bouquets in sight, which was frustrating her.

The double shakes his head, "I'd rather die than expose my secrets!"

The illusionist rolls up his sleeves, "Then die, you shall!"

Gus and his illusion strike fighting poses pointed at each other. Esper giggles at him before standing up to put her arms in front both versions of her friend, "Okay, okay! No fighting, you two!" This made the real boy blush a little, he was about to ask her a question when he was interrupted by coughing noise.

Eda coughs from the doorway to the kitchen, "Ahem. If you need an interview, look no further. Interesting? I'm a bad girl living in a secret fortress."

Hooty crashes through the window, "I'm the secret!"

The older witch floats towards him, "Shh!" She poses dramatically after pushing Hooty's out of the broken window, "Noteworthy?" She gestures to her wanted poster on the wall, "I'm public enemy number one! Accomplished? I'm the greatest witch who ever lived!"

The mural on the ceiling glows when Eda poses dramatically.

Gus turns to his illusion and then to Esper, "What do you think?"

King interrupts the redhead before she could anything while jumping through Illusion Gus's chest, "I think not!"

The boy with jumps back when his young friend on the couch, "Ah!"

The demon smiles up at him with his hands on his hips, "If you're handing out attention, I deserve it. Nyeh!" He then jumps to the floor. Gus's illusion disappears in a puff of blue smoke.

The real Gus looks at King and Eda, "I will choose one of you, but which one? If you want to get picked, you'll have to impress me..."

King and Eda then start to glare at each other.

Esper raises an eyebrow at Gus, "Huh, I wonder if Eda is the one he wants to interview?"

The boy witch walk towards her, "Oh yeah and Esper! We can try the advances memory spell while they are competing for my attention!"

The redhead stood up with an excited smile on her face, "That sounds like a plan! Oh man, I can't wait to use it! We're going to see my parents!"

...

Later at the Owl House. King is looking at himself in a hand mirror, brushing a hand through his fur.

Eda smirks at him from the doorway to the kitchen, "Just give up, King, 'cause I got this."

The small demon points at her, "You got nothing." He then points at himself with his thumb, "No one could turn down an interview with someone this pretty!"

Esper giggles outside the room while forming a light blue circle in the air, which then latches onto the light switch. The lights in the room flicks on and off before completely blacking out.

The small demon drops mirror while looking around, "Weh?"

The owl lady looks towards the door, "Hm?"

Gus summons a ball of light and keeps it in his hand, "If you want this interview, you're gonna have to start answering some tough questions!" He looks down at King, "Where were you born?"

The skull wearing demon tilts his head at him, "Weh?"

The illusionist looks up at Eda, "What'd you eat for breakfast this morning?"

The older witch squints at him, "Wha?"

Gus turns back to the demon, "What's your greatest strength?"

King smirks at him, "My decisiveness." But then his eyes widen, "W-Wa-Wait, I changed my mind!"

The illusionist smiles at the both of them, "This will be the single greatest interview of all time. So if you want it, you'll have to dazzle me!" He turns the one ball of light into dozens into the air.

Eda backs away from the boy, "The kid scares me."

Esper walks into the room full of lights with a wide smile on her face, "Really? He doesn't scare me one bit. I think this is charming."

Meanwhile in Willow's mind, Luz is pulling an egg shell off her head. Both her and Amity run from a figure made of pink flames inside Willow's mind... Which makes them ring the bell given to them by Eda to let them out... However...

...

In the Owl House, where Eda is ringing several bells, with even more on the coffee table in front of her. This noise covers the bell being rung by Luz inside Willow's mind. She finishes her performance while pointing at Gus, "How's that for interesting? There's levels to me, kid, levels I say!"

Gus applauds for her, "Yes, that was nice!"

King pouts from his spot next to Esper, "No it wasn't! If you want noise, I'll give you noise!" He slides on the table, sending the bells flying. He slams a spoon against a metal sheet before watching Eda walk into the kitchen. Gus smiles and writes on his notepad before King rushes into the kitchen behind his protector.

Gus then looks to his redheaded friend, "Okay, that should buy us enough time. Esper! You ready to try the spell?"

Esper hops up and down, "Heck yeah, I am! Let's finally look at my baby memories!"

The illusionist forms a light blue spell circle in front of Esper's forehead, which stays floating in that spot. He shyly offers both his hands for her to take, which Esper does with a smile. He mumbles something under his breath, a little too muffled. Light blue magic from himself flows towards the girl holding his hands. Both close their eyes in concentration while the magic starts to flow through Esper's brain. Flashes of people start to pop into Esper's mind, her adopted mom, her adopted dad, an officer picking a baby Esper up in his arms, the tall shadowy figure from the picture earlier looking like it was about to pick something up... Until a flash of a woman with blue hair and seaweed green eyes suddenly appears and spooks Esper out of her own mind.

The boy witch mumbles again to try and keep the spell going. However, the circle on Esper's forehead begins to wobble. The boy tries to add more magic to it but it ends up breaking the circle completely, which causes the spell to flicker out... Esper rubs her forehead upon the spell fading away.

Gus walked to the nearby table, "Ugh! I can't believe I still can't get this stupid spell!" He kicked it, only to then grab his foot in pain. As he hopped, he slips and falls onto the floor. He starts to take deep breaths. The redheaded witch gets up, sitting next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder, "Woah, woah, Augustus... It's okay."

The sound of hearing her voice say his full name caught his attention, letting Esper continue, "It's really okay, dude. You said it was a high level spell. If you can't do it now, I'm sure you'll be able to do it later. Plus, Edric and Emira said they would help too."

Gus felt his cheeks warm up brightly, "B-but I wanted to be able to do it now, for you. On my own. You've wanted to find out more about your parents for a long time and this is one of the only ways I can help you with that."

Esper shrugged, "I know, I know all that but it really is okay, Gus. I don't want to see you hurting yourself for me. We'll figure things out one step at a time. No matter how long it takes, okay?" She holds one of his hands in her own, smiling somberly at him.

The illusionist nodded, blushing, "...Yeah, yeah you're right. I'm still sorry I wasn't able to get it though..."

The redhead keeps her smile on him before scooting closer to him, "Heeeeey, come on! Would it make you feel better if you keep watching me mess up the illusion with the flowers?" She begins to form her a light blue circle with her finger.

Gus lets out a small chuckle, "Hehe! No way! ...Okay, maybe a little."

Esper lets out a laugh while her spell forms a cinderblock. She then brings up another hand to help with the circle while sticking her tongue out. One hand goes clockwise while the other turns counter clockwise. She smiles when the light blue circle forms a bouquet of blue and red flowers.

Gus smiles at her while watching her hands, "Esper look! Keep going, you're doing it!"

The girl witch's smile grew, "You're right! Oh my gosh, Gus, you're right! This is awesome!" She gifts him the bouquet with a smile on her face, "Maybe talking about our emotions help me understand the spell more!"

The boy witch holds the bouquet in his arms while pointing upwards, "Maybe! Though it's most likely the way you're moving your hands. Different hand movements can work better or worse for each different witch. So I guess these types of illusions work better for you when you do the clockwise and counter clockwise method."

Esper gasps while she understands, "Oooooh... Yeah, maybe that... Nerd."

Suddenly, Hooty pokes his head in from the window he broke earlier. He pokes his head against Esper's, "Makes sense! She's definitely got a certain way of doing things! She tried to take a bath with bath bombs once!"

The redhead giggled before pushing against Hooty with her hands, "Hey! Come on, dude! That was one time!" She giggles again at him, "And don't push!"

This makes Gus laugh at the two, "Wait, wait, bath bombs?! You gotta tell me how that went down!"

The trio then begins to laugh together while Eda and King rush into the living room. They hold various items in their arms on their way in, some of which falling to the floor...

The two girls in Willow's mind discover that the being covered in pink flames is no other than the Inner Willow... On the hunt for Amity herself.

...

Back in The Owl House, Eda and King are now panting while posing on the coffee table. Various items are scattered onto the floor.

The owl lady looks at Gus, "So? Who got the gig, kid?"

The illusionist ponders when looking at them, "Well, this has been the hardest choice of my entire life! But with the public interest in mind, the interview goes to..." He makes a dramatic pause, "Hooty!"

Eda's eyes widen, "Hooty?"

The skull wearing demon raises an eyebrow at him, "Hooty?"

Esper tilts her head at him, "Hooty?"

Hooty suddenly opens door to look at the crowd, "Hoot?"

The redhead scratches her cheek, "Uh... Now offense by why Hooty? Didn't you say you wanted to interview a girl?"

Gus rubs the back of his neck, "Well, their performances got me thinking. What could create such interesting people? Only the Owl House itself! And reassurances from the crowd are always a good thing too!" He gestures to Esper, who remembers laughing at Hooty earlier.

The owl tube gasps with excitement in his voice, "Aaaaah!"

The boy witch looks up at the bird, "Tell me everything, Mr. Hooty!"

Hooty cheers while wiggling around, "I've been waiting to hear those words all my life!" He closes his own door and sounds muffled, "Where to begin? It all started with a hunt. Blood red skies. That's right, I was..."

The owl lady glares at the avian in the door, "Ooooh, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna bake that bird in a pie!"

The small demon jumps on her shoulder while narrowing his eyes at the illusionist, "I'm gonna bake that kid into a pie!"

Eda, Esper and King look towards Willow when they hear a bell ring.

The older witch looks confused for a second, "Huh?" She then blinks at Willow, "Oh, right, I put people in there." She snaps her fingers and is able to summon Luz and Amity from Willow's mind. They land with a puff of yellow smoke, holding hands. The bell disappears from Luz's hand when Amity lets go of her other one.

The human frowns at the state of the living room, "Whoa! What went down here? And where's Gus? What did you do with Gus?"

Eda glares in the direction the illusionist left in, "The kid's fine. He's just dead to us." Both her and King leave the living room while grumbling.

Luz tilts her head at her mentor, "Those are very mixed messages."

Esper puts a hand on her childhood friend's shoulder, "Just note that he's not dead yet. It's been a confusing day."

The human suddenly brings the smaller girl into a hug without speaking. This makes the redhead raise her eyebrow at her, "Uh... Luz, did something happen in there?"

The brunette simply hugged her tighter, "Uhhh... A little. Talked to an Inner Willow who wanted to destroy Amity, defeated her through the power of explaining why somethings ended up happening... Some of the stuff between Amity and Willow in there made me reminiscence a little. Thanks for letting me go in there with her, bud..."

Esper smiles and hugs Luz back, "Ahhh, you're being all sappy! It was your choice anyway! ...Pfft, come on! You're welcome already!" She giggles before hearing a certain someone stir herself awake on the couch.

Willow wakes up and both Luz and Esper rush to her side.

The human shakes her arm, "Willow! Do you know who we are?"

The redhead looks at her with concern, "Yeah! How are you feeling, Willow?"

The plant witch sits up on the couch, "A friendly scarecrow? A red mop?" She pauses before letting out a giggle, "Ha! Just messing, I remember everything!"

The human begins to cheer, "She's back, folks! My girl's back! I'm gonna hug you so hard you'll never forget me again!" She hugs her tightly.

Esper hugs Willow tightly when she saw Luz do it, "Not if I don't hug her so hard first!" She looks at both her childhood friend, her plant friend and the popular girl before blinking in realization, "Oh wait, shoot. Let me make sure Gus doesn't die!" She makes her way to the door to check up on her friend.

Amity turns, looking hurt, and starts to leave behind the red head. Luz watches her open the door when the popular girl gives her a shy wave and takes a step out the door.

Willow narrows her eyes at Amity, "I remember what you did too."

Amity stops and looks back at her old friend.

The plant witch scratches her cheek, "What you did in there..." She points to her own head, "I can't say we're friends, but it's... A start."

The popular girl waves again with a smile... She leaves and closes the door behind her.

Willow hugs her human friend, her voice is muffled by the hug, "Luz, question: how did Amity happen to see the photo I hid in class?"

Luz's voice is also muffled by the hug, "You said nothing about shenanigans..."

...

Meanwhile outside, Hooty smiles at the young witches, "My first word was hoot. My second word was hoot-hoot. My third word—" Esper relaxes her face in her hand, bored.

The illusionist frowns at him, "Hooty, you gotta stay on track here, buddy!"

Amity stops walking outside the Owl House and takes a deep breath. She reaches into her pocket and lets the invite to Skara's party unfold. Smiling, she lets it fly off and she walks away.

The owl tube shouts in his shrill voice, "Here's a song I wrote! Bored bored bored, bored bored bored!" The redheaded witch held her hands to her ears to not hear the noise. She ends up getting up and walking away.

Gus covers his ears with his hands after she leaves, "Ah!" He throws notepad and pencil, "I can't take this anymore!" He leaves the room, "Esper, come back! Can I interview you instead?!"

Hooty lets out a laugh when he continues to sing, "Hehehe, Esper's a hoot! Gus is a hoot! Here a hoot, there a hoot, somewhere else a hoot hoot, hooty-hoot hoot!"

Chapter Text

Within The Owl House living room, King is eating chips and watching videos on Luz's phone while the two girls run an experiment. Esper forms a green spell circle, making a few flowers pop up from the ground, "Is this enough?"

Luz uses a magnifying glass to look at one of the flowers, "It should be!" She tries to replicate the glyph on the pistil of the flower she was looking at but the paper crumbles up, "No, come on! Almost had it! One more time!" She then redraws the glyph with minor edits, "Come on! Work this time!" She manages to replicate the plant glyph properly and gasps when a flower successfully grows from the paper after she activates it, "Yes! Check it out, King! My glyph skills are blossoming!"

The redhead pokes the new flower excitedly, "Hehe, now I gotta learn a new spell to keep ahead of you! But seriously, that's so cool!"

King tilts his head at the two, "You think that's impressive? Check this out! Two warriors battling to the death!" He shows them the video on the phone, where two cats meow. One prepares to pounce on the other but falls on its back.

Luz looks at the open portal door, "Ah. I see we're getting enough Wi-Fi through the portal for cat videos." Esper checks her phone after hearing her phone make a 'sword clash' noise. She notices various texts, mostly consisting of 'Where are you?' messages from her parents.

The young demon cheers at the screen, "Senseless violence. Yes, attack! Death is your god!"

The human shakes her head, "I regret teaching you about the Internet."

The redheaded witch waves her hand, "Ah, it's not THAT bad!"

King folds his arms, "Yeah! Ha! What possible regrets could come from the Internet? Oh! Did you know that the Earth is actually flat?"

Esper cringes at his statement, "Oooooh... Never mind."

Luz shakes her head, "Yep, that's not right." She takes her phone back from King it vibrates. She got a text from her mom reading, 'How's camp today, cariño? <3, Mamá.' Luz gulps and starts typing 'I', then deletes it. 'I'm' and 'It' are also typed and quickly deleted. She sends up sending a thumbs-up emoji.

Luz sighs at her phone, "Good enough."

The skull wearing demon jumps on top of the witch's head, "Ah, a severed hand! Perfect response!"

The witch whispers at him, "That's a thumbs up, bud."

King raised his eyebrows at his friend, "Really? But it's definitely a severed hand!"

The redhead shook her head with her smaller friend on it, "Well, yes, technically it is in the picture but..." She watches Luz flop onto the couch, "...Luz, are you okay?"

The brunette takes a pillow and puts it on her face, "Ugh! What am I supposed to say?" She then sits up to look at her friends, "'Hey, Mom, not at camp actually! I'm in the demon realm learning to be a witch! Also, did you know demons and magic are real?' She. Will. End me!" She turns to her friend, "What about you, Esper? Have you said anything to your parents yet?"

Esper quickly shakes her head and shoves her phone in her pocket, "No way! You think your mom will end you. Mine'll skewer me since I ran out on both of them! On my birthday!"

The small demon waves his hands, "Oh happy birthday! But eh, they'd all be freaked out by our world anyway. So actually, by keeping them in the dark, you're doing them all a favor!"

Luz ponders for a second, "Hm. The demon on our shoulders makes a good point... Well, more like on top of your head."

King cheers, "Always trust a shoulder demon!"

Esper giggles before taking their tiny friend to put him on Luz's shoulders, "Hehehe yeah! Shoulder demon!"

King reaches over to take her Luz's phone from her. Hooty then opens the door, "Hoot hoot, Luz, Esper! Time to fill up those darling little heads of yours with..." The owl tube then regurgitates a stack of books onto the ground, "Mm-hmm. Delicious knowledge!"

Willow and Gus look in from the doorway, both looking horrified. The illusionist shouts at the two, "Please hurry!"

The girl with glasses shudders, "The more I look at him, the more uncomfortable I get."

Hooty smiles at the pair of witches and blinks one eye after the other, "Hoot hoot!"

The human throws finger guns at their friends, "Hehe..." She then kisses King's head and walks off, "Don't spend all day watching MewTube, 'kay?"

The redhead pats their smallest friend on the head, "Yeah, dude! Trust me, it may actually fry your brain! ...Or at least that's what my mom has always said to me."

King narrows his eyes at the two while they leave, "I forge my own path!" He watches a fluffy black cat chases its tail on his phone screen. He snickers, "What a dum-dum!" He gets distracted by his own tail wagging. He tries to catch it but flops on the couch after a second, "Ugh. Who has the energy?"

...

Now at Hexside, the kindergarten teacher that looks like a spider demon decorates the halls with streamers, "Coming through! Watch your heads!" The halls are decked out with balloons made of abomination goop and other decorations.

All four members of the group walk into the decorated hallway. Both Esper and Luz look around with confused faces. The human squints, "Something's different today... Did everyone get a haircut?"

The redhead shakes her head slowly, "Luz... No."

Willow perks up, "Oh yeah! I forgot you two have never been here for the social event of the season!"

Gus jumps up to catch their attention, "Welcome to your first—"

But suddenly, two masked health workers rush by the group, rolling a stretcher. They make siren noises with their mouths, "Outta the way!"

The workers surround a beast-keeping student with dark skin, blond hair that covers his eyes, with his big, pointy ears similar to a bat. Skara looks on in worry.

One of the workers helps the bat student on the stretcher, "Come with us immediately! Your disease! It's advancing!"

The beast-keeping student puts his hand on his head, "Is there a cure, doc?"

The other worker sighs, "Only one..." He then smiles at him, "Finding the perfect date to Grom!"

The bat boy smiles before turning his head to the bard student, "If that's the cure... Then..." He holds out a beating heart, with 'GROM?' written on it in red ink, "Skara, will you go to Grom with me?"

Skara jumps excitedly in her place, "Ahhhhh! Of course I will, or whatever!" She hugs him on the stretcher, "Aw, Trip!"

The onlooking students and teachers cheer. Luz gasps, "You guys have a weird version of prom on the Boiling Isles? I was kicked out of my last school dance for dressing like an otter!" She strikes a pose, "But maybe here, I could be your Grom Queen!" She puts her hands on her childhood friend's shoulders, "Or maybe Esper can be your Grom Queen!"

The redhead shrugs her friend's hands off, "Aw come on! You know I'm not the 'queeniest type'... Not since I got kicked out of that same dance after I pulled that fire alarm when you got kicked out."

Willow rubs the back of her neck, "That's, uh, not something people usually sign up for."

Amity turns a corner from behind while talking to Jasper. He puts a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner.

The popular girl is looking down at the stack of books and a note she is carrying. She unknowingly bumps into Luz and falls down, "Watch it, nitwit!" She blinks in realization, "Oh! Hi, Luz... And co. Sorry about that."

Luz smiles at her, "No problem, let me help you!" She helps Amity pick up her books and hands her the little pink paper that she dropped, "Here, your note."

Amity quickly snatches it away from her.

The human blinks at her, "Man, you got some quick grabbers."

The girl with green hair looks away from her, "It's just, it's... Private."

Meanwhile, Jasper spots his pal within the group, "Esper! Hey, how've you been?" He nudges her in the arm, "Anyone ask you to Grom yet?"

The freckled witch shakes her head, "Pffft, noooo. I don't think I'm getting a date..." She shrugs her shoulders, "Which I mean, makes sense! We've only been at this school for like what? A month? Or something like that?" She rubs the back of her head though she sweats nervously. Suddenly, she elbows him in the arm, "What about you? You ask anyone to go to Grom yet?" Gus frowned at the sight.

The boy with blue hair rubs his arm, "Dang, you elbow hard! Well, I was hoping he would ask me but it looks like I'll be the one making the first move."

Esper's eyebrows raised, "Oh! Did I hear 'he'?"

Jasper then rubbed the back of his neck with a chuckle, "...Yeah, you heard right."

The redhead giggled before playfully pushing the taller boy's shoulder, "Hey, it's no problem here. Come on, you should ask him then! What do you have to lose?" This made her friend laugh with an awkward tone.

Willow put a hand on her younger friend's shoulder, "Okay, Gus, you have the perfect opportunity to ask Esper right now. I can distract Jasper if you want."

Gus nodded at her, "Right! ...Right, okay, I'm going to do it!" He then looked at the pair talking to each other, focusing on Esper's giggle. He looks down at his feet, "On second thought, maybe I shouldn't. Maybe Jasper already asked her out, uh... Better luck next time!"

The plant witch shook her head, "Uh, Gus... You know Jasper is..." She looked at her friend, who still looked sad, "Um, hang on." She turned to the pair, "Hey! Jasper, Gus has something he wants to talk to you about!" Her eyes darted from Esper to Jasper to Gus and then back to Jasper, who also looked confused.

Esper tilted her head, "Uh, Willow? Are your eyes okay?"

The girl with glasses straightened her shoulders, "Yup! My eyes have never been better! Now come on, Esper! I have those dumbbells you wanted to borrow! They're in my locker that." She started to walk away.

The redhead smiled before following her, "Oh! Awesome!" The two girls then walked away, which left both boys alone.

Jasper shrugged his shoulders before smiling at the smaller witch, "So, what's up, little man?"

Gus looked away from the taller boy, "I, um..." He took a deep breath before sitting down on the floor in front of the lockers, "Did... You already ask Esper to go to Grom with you?"

The potion creator sat down with him, "Hm? No? Why?" He briefly squinted his eyes with a smile, "Did you want to?"

The illusionist perked his head up, "Yeah! I mean!" He slumped his shoulders, "Yeah... But, uh, if you're already planning on asking her..."

The taller witch rubs the back of his neck, "Pffft, uh Gus, I'm not interested in Esper. Like, at all."

The smaller boy lifted an eyebrow at him, "Wait really?"

Jasper shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah... I mean, I find myself looking more at the boy's team than the girl's."

Gus's eyes widen in realization, "Oooooh! I got you... So who ARE you going to Grom with?"

While the two boys talk, the Blight twins pass by the group. Jasper's eyes are noticeably locked onto the male twin of the duo and he smiles, "I have a person in mind... Tell you what, you ask Esper and I ask Edric, deal?"

The smaller witch nodded his head, "Yeah, deal!"

Meanwhile, the twins stop by Willow's locker, where Esper is shown lifting one of Willow's dumbbells to exercise. Edric stops and talks to all three girls, "You know, while the Construction coven has power glyphs and stuff, drinking a daily potion with Slitherbeast hair can boost muscle growth naturally."

Esper tilted her head at him, "Really?" She continued to lift the dumbbell.

The green haired boy nodded at her, "Yeah! They're crazy strong, that's why a lot of predators don't go after them, Heck, I was surprised when you knocked one over with just your shoulder when we all trained in the mountains. It goes down easier with some fairy spit."

The redhead grimaced, "Ew! That is so cool but also very gross!" She put the dumbbell back into Willow's locker, "Wow, Edric, you sure know a lot about beast keeping stuff!"

The taller illusionist smiled while rubbing the back of his neck, "Well, you know... I got to keep the bat AND it's a fun little hobby of mine so it works out..."

The smaller girl smiled at him, "Aww, you got to keep Batric? That's so cool!"

Edric nodded his head with a big smile on his face, "Yeah! And he's just so cute and he's such a big helper!"

Emira noticed Jasper approaching them and shook her head with a smile, "Don't go off on too much of a tangent now! Looks like "

The tall, dark skinned boy took a deep breath before speaking to the boy Blight, "Okay, so... Uh, hey, Edric! I was just wondering... If you don't have someone to take you already, would you like to go to Grom with me?"

The boy with green hair smiled at him, "Really? You're asking me? Woah... Uh, sure! Jasper, I'll go to Grom with you!" He chuckled when his sister slapped him on the back, excited for him getting a date. The other boy took a sigh of relief in response.

Gus started to approach the redheaded witch, "Uh... Hey, Esper?"

The freckled girl turns around and tilts her head at him, "Hm? Oh, hey Gus! What's up?" The boy ended up blushing and looking around the hallway.

Willow gives her friend two thumbs up in support of him. Jasper nods at him in support before speaking to Willow and the twins, to give the two their own chance to talk.

Gus took a deep breath before facing the girl, "Esper... Would you like to go to Grom with meeeeeee..." He held his books tighter in panic and quickly added, "And Willow!" He kept a big smile on his face despite his nerves, "Yeah! Me and Willow want to invite you to Grom!"

Willow poked her head up upon hearing her name. She threw her younger friend a glance and he shrugged his shoulders back at her.

Esper blushed a little, "Oh, that's what you wanted to ask me?" She scratched her cheek, "Aw! I would love to go to Grom with you guys!" She put a hand on Gus's shoulder, "Thanks for inviting me, Gus!"

The illusionist let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "Yeah! I, uh, yeah! You're welcome! S... See you there!"

The redhead giggles at him, "Pffft, you mean 'See you in class?' You know, since we literally have to go now?"

The smaller witch points one of his fingers in the air in an awkward motion, "Haha, uh yeah! Yup! That is definitely what I meant."

The speaker screeches, which causes everyone to look at it.

One student chats with another, "I'm so nervous."

The other responds, "Shh! He's about to talk!"

Principal Bump speaks over intercom, "Attention Hexside students. This is your principal speaking."

Gus hugs his books tightly, "Oh, man, Esper, listen to this! This is it!"

Willow grabs Luz and waves her hand in the air, "He's announcing who'll be this year's Grom royalty!"

Amity looks at the speaker, concerned.

The principal continues his announcement, "This year, I have the privilege to bestow our highest Grom honor to... Amity Blight!"

Esper, Willow, Luz, and Gus all gasp. The four of them turn to Amity, who looks shocked.

Principal Bump shouts over the intercom, "Our Grom Queen!"

More students gasp while looking at the girl, "It's Amity!" "Oh my gosh, Amity!"

The popular girl is noticeably uneasy while she looks at the crowd.

Luz holds her hand up for a high-five, "Woooo! Amity, get it, queen!" However, the other girl looks around and dashes off. The weird girl frowns in her direction, "Don't leave me hangin'!"

Willow puts a hand on her shoulder, "You might want to give her some space. Being Grom Queen is a tough job. Even for Amity."

Esper shrugs at her, "Really?"

But then the bell rings, making all the students go to their respective classes.

...

Esper sits in her seat next to Gus with a smile. Edric and Emira sit behind her, with the girl keeping a piece of paper out of his reach. The redhead giggles at them and then shrugs her shoulders at the boy next to her, "So... Why is being Grom Queen a tough job?"

The girl twin sitting behind her speaks up, "Oh! We can explain that!"

Edric frowns at her when he got up, "Yeah! It's because this isn't just some dance party!" He forms a light blue circle with his finger, making an illusion of black goop that growls at the redhead. The girl moves her hand away from the imaginary creature.

Emira explains while gesturing to the illusion, "That's Grom. Short for Grometheus, the Fear-Bringer. It's a monster that lives under the school." She then makes a spell circle in the air to cast a spell that shows a tapestry about Grom's backstory, "Every year it tries to break out, and a student had to defeat it before it invades the town. Ever the optimist, Bump holds a party and calls it tradition!"

The tapestry fades back to the illusion classroom.

The male twin shrugs his shoulders, "The worst thing is that Grom can read minds and shape-shift into your worst fear. It's super spooky!"

Esper's eyebrows raise in surprise, "Really? Wow, that... That sucks. And there's no way she can get out of it?"

The girl twin waves her hand, "Yeah but don't worry, Mitten's got this! She won't fail!"

Edric gives the group a thumbs up with a smile, "Yeah! She can't because otherwise, we'll be invaded by our worst fears!"

But before long, their teacher entered the room and started class. The redhead tried her best to pay attention though now her thoughts were filled with the thought of the monster her friend will have to face later tonight...

...

Both Luz and Esper hurry out of their respective rooms and meet in the middle of the hallway. They high five before rushing inside the Owl House.

Luz shouts into the room, "We're home!"

They both hear a poking noise and then Eda's voice, "Ow!"

The duo then enter Eda's room. The human tilts her head once they get inside, "Guys?"

Eda is now in a brown tuxedo with King behind her, "Careful with those pins!"

The small is standing on a stack of books, wearing a green apron, "Why am I doing this? I don't even wear clothes!"

Luz walks in and sits on Eda's nest, "Hey, sweet duds, Owl Lady! What's the haps?"

Esper sits on the older witch's nightstand, "Yeah! Why are you dressed up all fancy like that? You look like my mom when she has to go in for work."

The cursed witch flips her hair, "I'm chaperoning Grom tonight. So I have to look sharp!"

King jumps on his stack of books, "And Gus asked me to co-emcee the fight!" He then holds up a poster of him and Gus, standing back-to-back in sunglasses, Gus holding a microphone, "We're going to turn this blood-bath into a fun-bath!"

The redhead smiles at him, "Oh that's awesome! Gus and Willow actually invited me to Grom."

Eda ruffles her hair, "Aww, good for you. Takes me back to when I went to Grom with my friends." She then looks at Luz, "Ooh! Have they announced the victim yet?"

The human frowns, "Yeah. It's Amity. She's kinda freaking out though. I wish I could, like, take her place or something."

Both the Owl Lady and King start laughing. The smaller demon points at her, "A great joke, Luz!" This makes Esper glare at the duo. But the two continue laughing.

The younger witch folds her arms, "Hey, come on, guys. Don't be like that."

The older witch shakes her head, "Ah, listen, kids. That's a noble sentiment, but Grom is a little above your pay-grade. You're a human. You're... Fragile."

Esper keeps her arms folded, "What? Luz isn't THAT fragile!"

Luz is now red with anger, gets up from her seat and marches towards Eda, "Yeah! I've been learning lots of new spells! I could totally handle it!"

The redhead speaks up, "Uh... Luz?"

Eda folds her arms this time, "There's a horrifying spider in your hair."

The human shakes her head, "Nope! I'm not as fragile as you think, Eda! And I can't be so easily fooled, either!" She turns around, revealing there is in fact a horrifying spider in her hair. She slams the door as she leaves.

Esper follows after her, "Hey, come on, Luz! Stand still for a second!" She closes the door softer than her human companion.

King shakes his head at his protector, "Uh, maybe you were too hard on her. She's saved you from multiple monsters, remember?"

Eda shook her head, "Facing Grom means facing your worst fear, King. And I don't think Luz knows what that means yet. Heck, MAYBE Esper can. Especially with that weird giant fireball that she made in the mountains." She looks at herself in the mirror, pauses, "Do you think I could pull off red eyeshadow?"

The young demon smiles at her, "Girl, you can pull off anything! Up top!" They high-five before he continues, "We're style geniuses!"

...

Later after Luz came back from her walk in the forest, both the girls are now in their shared room in the Owl House. The human rummages through a chest of clothes and pulls out a black dress, "Hmmm..." She pulls out an otter suit, "Hmm!"

Esper looks through the dresses on the rack, pulling out a red one, "Wow, kinda weird that Eda has so many dresses in our sizes. Now sure if I'm a fan of the red though. What do you think, Luz?"

The human looks at her sadly while her phone buzzes, "I, uh... Think it looks fine." This just made her friend frown and put the dress back.

Luz's phone buzzes and she picks it up. It shows a text from her mom: 'Mira! Visiting our fav after school snack spot !' Attached to the message is a selfie of Camila holding a sandwich outside of a store with a sign reading "Chimichurri Sandwiches!" Another text reads, 'Miss you BEBE! XO' Luz replies with an emoji that licks its lips. She frowns at her phone.

Hooty enters and smooshes his face against hers, "Oh, Luz! You have a guest!"

The brunette tries to hit him, "Hooty! No touching!"

Esper pokes her head from the rack, "Oh, you invited someone over?" The human shook her head at her while Hooty retreats out the window.

The door creaks open and Luz smiles at who walks in, "Amity!"

The redhead raises her eyebrows at their friend, "Oh hey, Amity! Whatcha doin' here?"

The green haired girl picks feathers out of her hair, "If that bird-tube ever talks to me again, I'm going to destroy it. You ready to train?"

Esper looks even more confused, "I'm sorry, train?"

Luz smiles at her old friend, "Yeah! Amity and I talked it out and I'll be the one fighting for her." She straightened her shoulders in a courageous pose.

This makes the redhead face palm, "Okay, I know I said I believe in you and I truly do! Power of friendship and all that! But please just be careful. The twins told me it's pretty dangerous."

The human waves her hand, "Aw come on, it'll be fine! You always worry too much about me, just relax for tonight!"

The freckled witch slowly nods at her, "...Okay, I'll try." She then looks at rack again, sorting through the warm colored dresses.

The brunette then turns to Amity and picks up two outfits, "Which should I wear to Grom?" She holds up black dress.] This one says, 'Witch with a dark side.'" She then holds up the otter suit and puts on a matching smile, "But this one says, 'I'm an otter... with a dark side.'"

Amity shakes her head at her, "Luz, you need to take this seriously. If you can't defeat Grom, everyone on the island will have to live out their worst nightmare."

Hooty enters again and puts his face right up against Amity's, "You wanna hear myyyyyy worst nightmare?"

Now outside of girl's room, Hooty's body writhes as crashes are heard.

Hooty screams, "Hooty-hoot! Hoot, hoot!"

Luz shouts at the other girl, "Stop, stop! Amity, Amity, wai—Amity, stop!"

Esper then yells, "Wait, wait, DON'T SET OUR ROOM ON FIRE!"

...

Now in front of the Owl House, Amity paces in front of Luz, Esper, Emira, and Edric. Behind her, Hooty is now wearing an eyepatch and bandages.

Amity stops pacing and shakes her head, "Grom will transform into your darkest fears. What are you afraid of, Luz?"

Luz ponders for a moment.

Edric smiles at his twin sister, "Wanna say our greatest fears? On three. One, two... Being alone forever!" Emira's voice overlaps his, "Being stuck with you forever." Edric groans in response.

The brunette then shouts, "In preparation, I've actually made a list!" She pulls a list from her pocket and holds it out to Amity.

The popular girl grabs it and reads it. Edric and Emira read it, chuckle, and each draw a spell circle. A huge version of Luz's phone appears. The screen shows a guy tipping a white fedora, and a message bubble that says 'M'LADY.'

The human yelps upon seeing the giant phone, "Jerks online who wanna debate!"

A cat with a human face appears and shouts at her, "Luz, help me! Help!

The wannabe witch screams, "AH! Human souls trapped in cat bodies!"

The cat follows her, "I don't want to be this."

A carton of milk floats in the air, and pours milk into a glass in Luz's hand. The human shouts, "No! I'm lactose intolerant!"

Amity shakes her head, "Not enough!" She walks up to Luz as the illusions vanish, "The reason I can't face Grom... It goes deeper than things that just gross me out."

Esper, Edric and Emira's eyebrows all raise at this suspiciously. They all then look at each other.

The popular girl then pokes Luz, "What's your real fear, Luz?"
Luz looks up at the window into Eda's room and then at her childhood friend, "My real fear... Is that Eda thinks I'm too fragile to do this! And if she's right, I'll never be a real witch!"

Edric and Emira look at each other and draw a conjoined spell circle. A giant illusion of Eda rises from the ground, flipping her hair. She looks at Luz, "You're inadequate!" She then picks the redhead up and puts her on her shoulder, "Esper is my true student! You're not good enough to compete with her!" She pats the witchling on the head.

The giant illusion lady draws a spell circle. Luz is put in a high chair with a bib that says 'Weak Baby'.

The freckled witch looks at the Blight twins below her, "Hey! Maybe that's a bit too far, guys!" But the siblings just shrugs their shoulders at her.

Meanwhile, in Eda's room, the real one is now wearing a yellow bowtie. She looks at herself in the mirror, "Me-Ow! Still got it!"

Luz is heard screaming from outside, "No!"

Eda sprints out of the house into the front yard with her bowtie in hand. Emira and Edric look proud of their creation while Amity looks nervous. Luz is wailing like a baby while Esper is holding onto the giant Eda's shoulder.

The oldest witch I get it. Ditch the yellow." She gasps when she spots the illusion, "Is that supposed to be me?" She looks at herself up and down, which makes the illusion smile down at her. The older woman grins at herself, "Dang, I look great!" She chuckles, "Wait a sec. You're training to be Grom Queen!"

Esper tries to climb down the giant Eda, "What? No, no! We're just, uh, practicing for a play?"

Luz turns her head towards her friend, "No, Esper!" She glares at their mentor, "So what if I am?" The high chair she is sitting in then falls down and she yelps.

The Owl lady walks up to the human after the high chair and "You think training will help against Grom? Luz, you always go overboard and it's always one of us who ends up bailing you out! Now, what's the fun in watching a kid get eaten by a monster if it's my kid?"

The brunette stands up, "Well, maybe you'll have fun watching me defeat Grom!" She karate-chops the cat illusion and it disappears. She grins proudly.

Eda and Esper looks at each other while worried.

Amity puts a hand on Luz's shoulder, "Luz, I don't think you're ready, but we're literally out of time."

Luz still stands proudly, "I'll take it!"

The two girls smile at each other and soon, the Blight siblings had to leave. And so... The redhead and the human has to get themselves ready for the main event!

...

Some time later, Willow and Gus arrived at the front door of The Owl House, they came to pick up Esper. The illusionist is wearing a blue tuxedo while the girl with glasses is wearing a green dress. They chattered between each other as they stood in front of Hooty. Willow smirked at her young friend, "Well, Gus, aren't you going to knock on the door?"

The illusionist held out his hand to knock but then stopped and shook his head, "Yes! I mean no! I... I don't know. Why don't you get it, Willow?" Willow put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Aw Gus, it's just knocking on a door. I know you have a crush on Esper but-"

Hooty smiled, "Oh! You two need Esper? Here, I'll go get her for you!" Despite saying that, he didn't move and instead screamed, "ESPERRRRR! THERE'S TWO PEOPLE AT THE DOOR FOR YOU!"

The redheaded witch held her ears closed inside the house as the grating voice rang through the air. Esper smiled at Eda, King and Luz, "Alright, that should be them. I'll be leaving with Gus and Willow since our little dude needs to be there a bit early. Make sure King gets there in time!" She pats the small demon on the head before walking to the door and waving, "I'll see you guys thereeeee. Byeeeeeeee!"

Luz fist bumped her friend, "Wooo, have fuuuuuun!"

Esper nodded at her before running off. She opened the door, revealing herself in an orange dress with long, translucent yellow sleeves. The orange faded into yellow as it went down, her black bow holding her hair is longer as well and she is wearing a black belt. The redhead smiled at the boy in the blue tuxedo, "Hey Gus! Hey Willow!" She is also wearing small gold earrings in the shape of hoops and a necklace of a four pointed sun.

The boy started to blush, "O-oh! You look, uh..." He looked to Willow behind him, who motioned for him to continue. Gus turned back to Esper, who tilted her head in confusion, "You look really nice, Esper!" He quickly blurted out.

Esper smiled, "Aw, thanks, Gus! It's amazing to see what kind of good looking old clothes Eda has, right? I don't normally get to dress up like this... You look great too, dude! And Willow, you look so pretty!" She then shrugs her shoulders, "So? Are we ready to go party?"

Willow nodded her head, "We sure are! Now come on, party time awaits us!"

While they were walking to Grom, the illusionist noticed the earrings on his crush's ear. He tilted his head at her, "You pierced your ears for Grom?"
The redhead held her hand to her earring, "Oh these? Nah, they're just clip-on. My mom would KILL me if she caught me with any kind of piercings." She shrugged her shoulders while they walked, "She always says that 'anyone with a piercing is either a criminal, trying to be flashy or have no self respect for themselves!' ...She adores Luz though."

This made the other two witchlings laugh before they started to hurry along for their night of Grom...

...

Now in the gymnasium of the school, the Snaggleback holds onto the rope attached to the ceiling, "Arms so tired..."

Rockabilly-style music is playing in the gymnasium of the school. Couples awkwardly dance on the dance floor. Willow uses her magic to don some corsages onto some guests, leaving Gus alone with Esper.

The illusionist holds his hands together nervously with a blush on his face, "So... So, Esper! I noticed we have some time before the main event starts! Um... Would you like to..."

The redhead rubbed the back of her neck, "Would you like to what?"

The boy witchling tightens his grip on his own hands, "Uhhhh... Actually, have you ever had a crush before?" He immediately beat himself up internally for even asking that question.

Esper tilted her head at him, "Hm? Uh, that's an... Interesting question." She smiled at him, "But I'll bite! ...Well, I've had crushes on guys, girls and even some people where I couldn't tell. Why do you ask? Do you have a crush on someone?"

Gus quickly shook his head, "Uh nope, not me! No reason! I... Uh! You know me! Always curious about human stuff!"

The girl witchling relaxed her shoulders with a small giggle, "Hehe, aw, Gus! I can tell you're nervous!"

The illusionist quickly shook his head, "Me? Nervous? No way!"

The redhead giggled at him, "Hehe, too late! I can tell you are! Are you nervous about having to host Grom tonight? Don't be, King is so excited to announce stuff with you and..." She takes his hand in her own, "I'll be cheering you guys on too! If anything goes wrong, just pass the mic to me."

Gus blushes at the feeling on her hand holding his own, "Oh! Um, thank you, Esper! Thank you very much." He suddenly found himself smiling, "Well, I gotta go start up our main event! Wish me luck!"

Esper waved to him with a smile before he turned around, "Not that you'll need it but good luck!" But then suddenly someone bumped into her, which made her turn her head, "Hey, watch it! Oh wait, hey Edric! Hey Emira! ...You guys okay? Where's Jasper?"

The boy twin frowned while his shoulders dropped, "He was supposed to be here but... He said his parents wouldn't let him come at the last minute!" He then pouted.

The smaller witch tilted her head at him, "Dang really? That sucks! You guys know why?"Emira folds her arms, "You bet it does! Well, our families have never really gotten along so... Yeah, that might be why... And now Edric won't leave me alone for the rest of Grom." She hugs her brother when he starts to tear up, trying to comfort him despite being annoyed by the situation. They then move into the crowd, trying to get to the opposite wall of the gymnasium.

Esper frowns and shakes her head at the sight of this, "Man that still sucks! Maybe we can talk to Jasper tomorrow!" She then makes her way to the stands for a chance to sit down...

Meanwhile... Eda waits nervously while sitting in the stands. She looks at her watch, which has King as the arms.

The small demon jumps next to her, "Why so twitchy, witchy? Trying to remember if I've ever seen you this worried before."

The Owl Lady shakes her head, "Well, of course I'm worried! I'm going to have to save Luz from a nightmare monster! At least Esper is just making the shrimp over there all nervous! Ugh, so much for Mama's fun night out."

The lights dim down before Gus is heard from the stage, "Ladies, gentlemen, and assorted demons!" The spotlight shines over him, and he speaks into a microphone, "It's almost time for our main Grom event. Please, please, take a seat, and be aware that the first three rows are designated splash zones."

One student sits in the first row, wearing a raincoat and opening an umbrella. The students cheer. Eda and King sit towards the back with Esper sitting in front of them. The small demon jumps onto Esper's lap.

King jumps up and down in Esper's lap, "Wow, Gus is really good at this! They're hanging on his every word!"

Gus encourages the crowd to applaud, "I see we've got Principal Bump in the house! Now, sir, I hope you won't throw us in detention because, uh, we're going to raise the roof."The spotlight goes onto Principal Bump, who is sitting in the bleachers. He makes a raising-the-roof motion with his hands and smiles. The students cheer while Esper giggles.

The skull wearing demon tries to stand in his friend's lap while holding out a que card, "Woooo, I, uh, hope my material's up to snuff. Woah!" He drops his card and falls into a sitting position. A whoopie cushion goes off.

The redhead wraps her hand around his smaller body, "Oooh, be careful, bud!"

King tilts his head at his friend, "What do you think will go better with the youths, close-up magic or impressions?"

Esper thinks about it for a second, "I mean, I like both. So you're probably good."

Eda shakes her head at her student, "Esper, don't lie to him!" She then grabs King by the collar from Esper's lap and holds him up, "Oh, King. Teenagers are brutal. They'll boo anyone, and that kind of public humiliation can stick with you for life!"

The witchling drops her shoulders, "...Yeah, she's not exactly wrong." She grumbles to herself, "...But I actually do like close-up magic and impressions."

The small demon squirms in his protector's hand, "Aaahh!"

...

Meanwhile at the doorway of the gymnasium... Amity steps out of the gym and looks around. She is wearing a fancy, dark pink dress. She then down at her note from this morning and gently smooths it out with her thumb. She quickly puts her note in her pocket when she sees Luz walk through the hallway.

The human clutches her stomach, "I'm not sure if it's nerves or if I accidentally drank some milk, but something's making my stomach squirm." She is wearing the top half of a black tuxedo with slicked back hair and a pink ballerina dress. She is also wearing purple pants and brown boots.

The popular girl tilts her head while she looks her up and down, "Uh, you look nice. Strange, but... Nice." She puts her hands on Luz's shoulders, "And, thank you, Luz. Honestly, I'm kind of amazed with how fearless you are. You've done things I could never do."

Luz shakes her head at her, "Hah! Yeah right!" She then narrows her eyes at her while smiling, "You goin' soft on me, Blight?"

The green haired girl laughs before smiling back at her, "In your dreams."

The two stare at each other before they heard Gus from the gymnasium, "Now, introducing our Grom Queen. You know her, you love her..." He shrugs his shoulders, "You've at least heard of her. Luz, the Human!"

All the students cheer when the spotlight goes on Luz near the hallway. Esper holds up a rock and roll salute during her cheer.

The human turns to smile at the witch next to her, "Wish me luck!"

Amity whispers when the brunette begins to walk off, "Luck..."

A pedestal with a red button skitters onto the stage and Gus presses it. The floor opens to reveal the Grom arena. Skara and her date are about to lean in for a kiss when they suddenly rip off their formal clothing to reveal their Grom jerseys.

Trip cheers, "Grom!"

Skara pumps her fists in her new jersey, "Yes, Grom!"

Various weapon racks rise up on either side of Luz when she walks into the arena. She picks up a flail and places an ice glyph on it. It starts to glows. She ventures into the arena while Grom begins to rise.

The human holds a smirk on her face, "There you are, Gromarama! Not too scary."

The giant monster turns into the human souls trapped in cat bodies. The cats begin to yell, "Luz, help me. I'm a man. Make me human again!"

Luz begins to swing the flail, "Ugh, so weird." She gains more momentum and slams the ice glyph covered flail to the ground. A pillar of ice rises and rockets out the cats. The students cheer for her.

Gus speaks into his mic on the stage, "And there she goes, folks! Using that characteristic human magic to keep Grom at bay! And now, to hand things over to my co-emcee: King!" He hands the microphone to his partner while the students cheer.

Esper smiles when the illusionist sits next to her. She gently taps his arm with a closed fist, "Awesome job, Gus!"

The boy in the blue tux blushes at her, "Hehe... Thank you, Esper!" His blush was hidden by the dimmed lights around them.

King walks onto the stage, "Hel-LO! Hexside! So..." He drops his cards and the microphone feedback screeches. He tugs at his collar, "Oh, oh gosh. Um... Woooo. Wow, these lights are warm. Observe! Luz is um... She's down there, all right. And, uh, yes she is! There she goes! Folks, she's battling the thing and uh..."

The crowd begins to boo at him, minus Eda, Esper and Gus.

A guest frowns at him, "Bring back the funny kid!"

The skull wearing demon stomps on the ground, "You will clap for me! Please?" He throws down the microphone and runs offstage while wailing.

Gus jumps out of his seat, "King!" He turns to his crush, "Esper, I'm sorry but can you please run the show while I go after King?"

The redhead pumps her fist, "Oh yeah, I got this." She lets him go after their friend before jumping onto the stage. She looks at the fight with Grom in front of her, "Alrighty folks, this is one of your newest classmate, Esperrrrr Fox!"

The crowd cheers again before turning their attention back in the arena.

Luz swings her flail at the illusion of the online jerks, "You're not coming from a place of intellectual honesty, so debating you would be pointless!" She slams an ice glyph down, which creates a sharp shard of ice that pierces the illusion and makes it disappear. The students cheer for her

Principal Bump stands next to the smaller witch on the stage, "Luz has lasted surprisingly long!"

Esper shouts into the mic while making a fist, "But what form will Grom take next?"

The human smiles at the monster, "Let's finish this! Human-style!"

Grom rises behind Luz, towering over her. An illusion of cursed Eda with glowing eyes creeps towards her. Back in the stands, some kids look at Eda who groans and hides in her hair. The illusion reaches out to touch Luz's head and makes her eyes glow. It morphs into the portal door.

Luz tilts her head at the 'door', "Huh?"

The 'portal door' opens and Camila steps out. She looks confused, "Mija?"

The girl looks on with a shocked look at her face, "Mom! What are you doing here?"

Esper's eyes widen, "Ooooooh! Uh oh! It has now turned into Luz's mother BUT it isn't real! So Luz, you should be fine!" Eda peeks from behind her hair.

The human looks at her childhood friend and nods, "...Right! You're right!" She holds the flail, albeit a bit shaky.

The monster with her mother's face shakes her head at her, "Luz, what is this terrible place? Espérate un momento, this isn't camp. Have you been here, all these weeks?" She turns her head to the redhead, "And is this where you dragged your best friend? Away from her loving family?" The 'mother' looks back at the girl and gasps, "And is that a weapon?"

The smaller human raised her eyebrows while looking down at the weapon, "Ah!" She drops the flail, "I can explain!"

Esper yells into the mic to be heard over her friend's thoughts, "Luz! Come on, you got this!"

Luz gripped the flail a bit tighter, "I... I do got this!"

The illusion of Camila morphs into a mix between the mother and Grom and towers over Luz, "Mija, have you been lying to me?!" It then growls at her...

...

Now in the hallway. Gus walks over to King, who is sitting in front of the lockers, looking down. He sits next to him, "What's going on, little dude?"

The demon shifts away from him, "Nothing! Leave me be!" He then lays down.

The illusionist smiles at him, "The thing is, you're sitting in my personal chit-chat zone! Which means you gotta talk."

King sighs, "Well if that's the rule... Oh, how can this be? I get stage fright! Me! The King of Demons!"

Gus keeps his smile, "Well, sometimes, you just have to—"

The skull wearing demon nods his head, "I know, I know. Imagine everyone in their underwear."

The boy starts blushing out of embarrassment, "Gross! Why would you do that?"

King shrugs his shoulders, "I dunno. I always do that." He then chuckles, "I am a little weirdo."Gus shakes his head at him, "No, King. Sometimes you just have to face your fear, like Luz is doing right now!"

...

Luz stares at Grom Camila mixed monster, terrified.

The redhead speaks into her microphone, "Luz, you're the bravest person I know! You've been practicing all day! And saying all that stuff about you not being a baby! So show us how awesome you are, come on!"

The human shakes her head, "Yeah! Yeah, you're right!" She takes a deep breath, "Okay... Okay... Let's do this, Grom!"

The creature glares at her and then sniffs the air, "Ohhhh, mija... If you're not going to tell your little friend to be quiet... Then it seems like I should do it for you!" It then jumps up the wall and looks at the witchling on the stage.

The human watches Grom jump out of the arena and head towards the stage, "Esper, no!"

The redhead tries to form a spell circle to stop the creature but was too late, "Woah woah! Hey!"

The blobby monster suddenly tackles Esper to the ground, hunching over her. It shifts it's form again, this time into the redheaded witch herself, albeit looking more like a wooden puppet on strings while in her usual outfit. The puppet version of Esper opens it's jaw, speaking, "Star Touched One! YOU are a Star Touched One!" The puppet grabbed the sides of her face to make sure her attention was on it, "Afraid of Magical Destiny? Who was Esperanza Fox supposed to be anyway?"

The redhead's eyes widen before she shakes her head, breaking free from the puppet's grip. She quickly looks around and spots Eda in the crowd. She puts her foot on the stomach of the puppet and started to push against it, "Magical destiny, blah blah blah!" Her foot slowly started to push the creature upwards, "You know, that sounds like a bunch of 'Chosen One' hoo-ha... But someone... Someone told me a while ago that there's no such thing! I will choose my destiny, myself!" Her birthmark on her leg begins to glow before she punched the puppet version of herself in the face. Esper looks down at her leg after it stopped glowing, "Wait.. What was that?" Her thoughts are interrupted when the creature growled again.

Seeing that the girl resisted the urge to be fearful, Grom growled at Esper but smells the air again. It turned back to Luz when she ran out from the arena and it started to charge at her.

Esper jumps up on her feet and shouts at the giant blob, "Oh no you don't!" She forms a spell circle and sends a fireball flying at it's way. She then sent another one quickly afterwards.

The giant creature shook it's head and looked around for a way to get away from the attacks from the young spitfire. It noticed Luz after she got out of the arena and suddenly jumped towards her. It roared while following her, looking like her childhood friend.

Luz slides into the hallway, startled. She rushes herself out of the doors of the school, "I can't do it! I can't face my fear!"

The blobby monster shifted it's form into her mother again while chases after her, "Why are you running, Luz?"

Principal Bump shouts into the mic after he picked it up from the stage, "Grom has escaped." He and all the other students move into the hallway, watching the chaos unfold. One student shouts, "He escaped! Oh no! Grom escaped. What are we gonna do?"

Gus stares at the microphone in the principal's hand, "King, now's your chance!"

King grabs the microphone while the students chatter, "Gimme!" He talks to himself, "King of Demons, you got this." He turns to crowd, "Well, folks, looks like our show literally just took off!"

The crowd looks at King, all with confused faces.

The small demon blinks, "Weh?"

The illusionist whispers to him, "You gotta pander!"

King scratches his chin before talking, "Uh, took off just like your local sports team would take off when they're about to make a goal?"

Various students then begins to cheer, "Yeah, sports team! Sports team! Oh, yeah! I love our team!"

The skull wearing demon point towards the doors of the school, "Yeah, that's right, so let's follow them and see what happens next!" Gus takes King into his arms, and they lead out the crowd.

Amity and Eda run out of the gym after them. They nod to each other, determined.

...

Now in the forest, Luz is running away while Grom follows close behind.

The human shouts while rushing away from the monster, "I don't wanna be Grom Queen anymore! I give up the throne!"

The witchling follows behind the monster, "Luz! Come back! I got you! Hey, fake Ms. Carmilla! Pick on me, you big bully!"

Grom pants before another fireball is flung into it's back.

Luz comes up at a cliff and stops just before falling off, she looks down to see vines wrapped around her feet. She turns to see Esper stopped with a green spell circle near her right hand. Her other hand prepares another fireball spell but then...

The Grom monster turned into her best friend's mother speaks, "Why are you letting your friend hurt me?" The monster speaks again when Luz doesn't respond, "Why can't you face me, Luz? Why can't you face your own mother?"

The brunette turns away, "You're not really my mom!"

The blob pretending to be her mom gasps, "How could you say that, cariño?! You're breaking my heart!"

Suddenly, Eda rides in on her staff, "Spicy toss!" She manages to hit Grom with a fireball and lands, "Hands off my human, you misshapen excuse for a monster!"Grom roars back at her.

Luz shouts in fear, "Eda! You're right! I'm not ready!"

The Owl Lady shakes her head, "That's okay, I got this one. Esper!" She starts casting a spell.

The redhead brings her hand up to form the circle, "Yes, ma'am!"

A noise is heard from the tree above them.

Both witches look up, "Huh?"

Amity jumps out from the trees and puts herself between Luz and Grom, "Stay away from her!"

The monster growls and reaches out an inky arm towards the popular girl, lifting her high above the ground. Amity turns to her human friend, "I'm sorry, Luz. I should have fought my own battle!"

Grom's eyes glow blue and starts to read Amity's mind.

The green haired girl struggles a little in it's grasp, "I—" Her eyes start to glow.

Luz shouts, "Amity! No, your fear!"

The giant creature grows, turning more and more blob-like. Finally, it shrinks and morphs into a humanoid body. It begins to walk towards Amity.

The human narrows her eyes at the figure, "Who is that?"

Amity's eyes stop glowing. Grom takes the pink note from Amity's pocket and rips it in half, letting it fall to the ground. The girl closes her eyes, embarrassed about the ordeal. She clutching her dress while creature the slinks away. Amity picks up one half of the note from the ground and holds it to her heart. Luz picks up the other half, unfurls and reads it. It reads out, 'Will you go to Grom with me? -Amity.'

The brunette gasps, "You were afraid of getting rejected. Amity, it's okay. What if I went to Grom with you instead?" She holds out her hand for the other girl to take.

Amity reaches for it, "Really?"

Luz nods at her, "That's what friends do."

Esper speaks up from Eda's side, "Aw come on!" She uses a light blue spell circle to make an illusionary wall. Meanwhile, Gus looks directly at the redhead since she failed to see the irony of their situation.

Th green haired girl smiles at her and then looks sternly to Grom. It rises and towers above them, roaring menacingly from huge jaws.

Amity squares her shoulders, "Well, then, if that's settled, may I have this dance?" She holds out her hand to Luz.

The human grins and takes it. They come close to dance, the moon shining brightly behind them. They dance. Luz spins Amity, and Amity casts a spell with her feet, forming a giant abomination below them. They rise up on it. Luz fans out her plant glyph cards. Amity dips Luz, and she slaps a glyph onto the abomination. They jump off, and the abomination goes into Grom's mouth. Green light moves within it, and then plants start to bloom through it. Luz lands and then catches Amity, spinning her around several times before putting her on her feet. The two finish, holding hands, looking at each other, Grom explodes behind them. A giant tree is in its place. Luz and Amity look up as a pink and gold tiara made of the petals of the tree appears on both of their heads. They smile at each other.

The last remnants of Grom slip away, only to be stopped by a certain redhead. Esper glares at the blob, "Up up up, where are you going?" She uses one hand to form a vine to restrain the blob before putting it inside an illusion of a glass jar, . One hand glows from the plant spell while the other glows from the illusion spell. The hand with the light blue circle is rotating multiple times to keep that circle up.

Luz giggle at her childhood friend before turning to the girl beside her, "So... who did you wanna ask out?"

Amity starts to blush, "Oh, it's... It's not important." She pulls the note-piece from her pocket and tosses it aside. It lands right beside the other half, and unfurls to read, 'Luz', for a completed message of 'Luz, will you go to Grom with me? -Amity.'

Esper begins to walk away from them when she notices that half of the note land by her. She reads her childhood friend's name on the paper and whispers, "I knew it."

King suddenly runs to the side of the girls, "And there you have it, folks. A happy ending for this year's Grom. Let's give a big hand to our Grom Queens, Luz and Amity!"

Luz flashes a toothy smile as Amity blushes awkwardly in response.

The students pop out of the bushes and run toward them while cheering. They hold both girls up to parade them around, Willow aiding in lifting them up. Luz puts a hand on Amity's shoulder. Eda is clapping for them next to Gus and King.

The older witch ruffles Esper's hair when she passed by her, "Woah! Nice job, kid. I didn't know you could cast two different spells at the same time like that."

The redhead hands the glass jar of Grom to Principal Bump, "Eda! Well... Yeah, it's kinda hard to do since I'm splitting my focus and illusion magic kiiiinda needs both my hands for right now. But I think I got it."

But then both grimace when the glass jar containing the main piece of Grom suddenly bursts, causing the principal to rush back to the school to put it back in it's prison.

Eda puts a hand on her shoulder, "Eh, you'll get the hang of it."

Esper whistles awkwardly, "Yup... Though that totally didn't happen... Totally."

Meanwhile, Gus cheers for the tiny demon next to him, "You did it, buddy!"

King cheers alongside him, "Of course I did it! I'm the King of Demons and I've never had stage fright in my life!" The students then hold up King, right by Luz and Amity, "They love me!"

The two girls next to him laugh and smile at each other warmly.

...

Now inside the Owl House, Eda, King, Luz and Esper have just arrived home. Some excited, some tired.

The Owl Lady raises her arms in the air with a smile, "Whoo! Watch out for this, human! Oh, you did good, kid. You both did great!"

The redhead cheers alongside her, "Yeah! You and Amity totally kicked that monster's butt!"

The human frowns, "Thanks guys... But... I'm gonna go to bed." She tosses the tiara to the ground.

The freckled witch scratches her cheek, "Oh, uh, okay." She awkwardly begins to follow her friend, "I... I think I'm gonna go to bed too. I call the shower first though! I got Grom gunk behind my ear!" She then blows a raspberry in disgust. Eda shudders at the thought of the feeling behind her ears.

King picks up Luz's tiara and places it on his head, "Now I am king and queen! Best of both things!" Eda smiles at him and shakes her head.

...

Luz enters her room with a sigh. She opens the window and sits on the windowsill, looking out at the night sky, "In the end, I couldn't face my mom. Maybe I am fragile..."

Her phone vibrates. She turns it on to find two texts from her mom: 'How was your day? Mamá!' with a heart emoji and "Miss you mija.' with a hug emoji.

The human frowns at her phone, "Hmm..." She types a duck emoji. But then looks into her room before changing her mind and types out, 'Miss you too, Mami.' She sends it, then continues typing.

Luz begins to think to herself, 'I won't lie. Today was kinda hard...'

Back at the school, Willow and Gus poking the unmoving remnants of Grom. For Willow, a ladybug pops out, and she jumps back in surprise.

The human narrates over them, "And I don't always feel like I'm supposed to be here... And that Esper does..."

When Gus pokes the piece of Grom, a small clown pokes out and he runs away.

...

Now at the Blight Residence, Amity sitting in her window, looking out of it. She opens a memory box she has in her lap.

Luz narrates over Amity's action, "But when things get tough, my friends help me out."

Amity puts her tiara in the box and closes it. She shuts her eyes and leans against the window frame.

...

Now in the Owl House living room, Eda is laying on the couch while snoring. King jumps up and lays on her stomach, then falls asleep on top of her.

The human speaks over this, "I think you'd like them."

The older witch wakes up and looks at King. She smiles, puts a hand on his back, and closes her eyes again to go back to sleep.

Fade back to Luz sitting in her windowsill, she turns her head to see Esper walk into the room in an oversized 'Bad Girl Coven' shirt with the front half tucked into her dark gray shorts and low cut white socks. The witchling opens her blanket before flopping onto her makeshift bedding. She then rolls to her side with her foot sticking out, now falling asleep.

The human continues to narrates in her head, 'Te extraño también, Mami. One day, I'll tell you all about this...'

The wind howls, blowing clouds away from the moon. Luz looks out on the sea and smile when she receives another text from her mom. It reads: 'Can't wait! P.S. love receiving your letters!'

Luz smiles down at the phone, "Aw. That's a cute way of saying "text". She puts her phone down and looks out at the moon again. She still stares at the moon before getting up to get ready for bed. When she passes by her sleeping childhood friend, her eyes widen when she notices the birthmark on the other girl's leg.

...

Now on Earth, Camila is lying in bed and smiling at her phone. She turns it off and puts it on her nightstand, next to a pile of actual letters, seemingly written by Luz. Camila turns and goes to sleep. The top letter next to her reads, 'Hi, Mom! I am having a great time at camp. Today we learned what mortgages are! I can't wait to get home and see you. Let's do lots of fun mother/daughter activities forever and ever. Love, Your Daughter, LUS.' Though LUS is scribbled out with 'LUZ' written next to it...

...

Meanwhile in Esper's human household, her adopted father tosses and turns in his sleep in his bed with his wife next to him. After a few minutes, he sits up on the edge of the bed with his face in his hands. Janet sits up next to him and put her hands on his shoulders, "Douglas..."

Her husband finishes rubbing his face, "...I know." He then brushed a hand through his hair, "I know... I just... I miss her so much and I can't believe I caused this. I didn't mean for this to happen! She's probably scared and alone and what if that lump on her heart actually hurts her while she's not here? I just want her to come back so I can apologize..."

His wife shifts to place a hand on his cheek, regaining his focus, "Douglas, we know our Esper is a tough girl. I have no doubt that she is okay, wherever she is. She will come back and she will understand..." She places a kiss on his forehead before looking into his eyes again, "We can look again tomorrow, okay?"

Douglas nods his head, "...Okay." He then lays down alongside her once she lets go of him.

When the father turns, he looks at the nightstand on his side of the bed. It is covered in various 'Missing' posters with Esper's picture, different posters have various images of Esper in different clothing and all types of information about her...

...

Suddenly, a photo album titled "Grom Memories" is opened. It flips through pictures of the night: A photo of a girl by the name of Cat and the pufferfish student posing awkwardly, trying not to touch each other. Another of Skara and Trip pushing them out of the way. One of the both of them with their Grom jerseys. Another of Boscha, Bo, and Celine posing together and one of them making silly faces. Mattholomule photobombs one of their pictures, with the girls looking angry. Another of Luz posing in her Grom outfit, then one of her looking over, her boot in frame. Lastly, a photo of Luz with her arm around a blushing Amity, Willow throwing peace signs next to them, Gus posing with his microphone behind them and Esper next to him making a rock and roll salute. The book then closes.

The Snaggleback is still hanging from the gym ceiling while holding the album, "Wow. What a night. Now, can someone let me down?"

The lights shut off over him.

The demon looks around, "...Anyone?"

Chapter Text

Within her own house, Boscha is sitting in front of a mirror with her hair down in her bedroom. The room is filled with various trophies. She looks at herself in her mirror, "You are talented. You are a star. You may be hated, so long as you are feared." She puts her hair into the usual bun and then stands up. She puts on a varsity jacket before heading for the door, "Most important of all, you are a winner." She rips off a page of her calendar to reveal the whole month has been marked 'Grudgby Season'. She then walks out the door.

Now in the middle of Bonesborough, Boscha walks through a crowd. She dribbles a grudgby ball, impressing several onlookers.

One old woman smiles at her, "There she goes, captain of the Banshees! Off to win another championship for Hexside!"

The other old woman next to her turns to her child, "Why can't you be more like her?" The child breathes in deeply with an annoyed expression in response.

The captain approaches Hexside, with a banner reading 'Go get 'em, Banshees' magically unfurling over the school. She snaps her fingers and Skara, Amelia, and Cat form up behind her, "Alright, girls. You know the drill. Captain goes first." She opens the door to enter the school, "Hello, Hexside! Your star has arrived. Groveling line starts here." She looks around, "Something's not right. Nobody's here!"

Other students are heard laughing from a distance.

Boscha peers around a corner and spots a crowd of students gathered around Willow. She is holding a potted plant with a smile on her face. Esper smiles with her hands in her pockets next to her.

One student gasps at her, "No way!"

A potions student pushes him out of the way to get to her, "Do me!"

The plant witch uses her magic, the plant sprouting a fruit looking like the potions student's face. The student takes it from her with a smile, "Welcome to the world, little buddy." He turns to the girl in front of him, "You're the coolest, Willow!"

Esper playfully slaps her friend on the back, "Heck yeah she is!"

Willow blushes at the attention, "Aw, shucks!"

A student with a bird head starts to cheer, "Yeah, Willow rules!"

Boscha walks past with her posse, "Wow, she has to make friends out of plants. How sad."

Willow quickly put a hand on Esper's shoulder to keep her in one spot.

The younger girl still yelled, "Well! At least she's got more friends than you!" The redheaded witch clenched her fists in an attempt to remain in control.

The three eyed girl folded her arms while still walking, "Pfft, sure she does. But my friends are the most elite! Not some criminal and a couple of plants!"

This made the redhead grit her teeth until she felt Amity put a hand on her other shoulder. She pat her shoulder before walking off.

The rich girl shook her head before she walked next to grudgby captain, "Oh, please! You know, I used to be like you, Boscha, obsessed with status... Challenging my competition... But I grew up. When will you?" She moved her head to flip her hair and walked away.

Esper starts to laugh and the crowd of students followed her lead. The whole hallway is filled with laughter.

Boscha glares at her former friend, "Oh, this is not gonna fly!"

...

Now outside of Hexside, Eda and Luz fly in on the Owl Lady's staff.

Luz jumps up and down once she gets off the staff, "My first grudgby season! I'm so excited, I have more school spirit than the school spirits!"

A ghost next to them frowns at them while holding pom-poms, "Why do I even bother?" He throws the pom-poms onto the ground. He then groans and floats away.

The Owl Lady sighs, "Ah, grudgby season is the best. You know, I used to play, back in my gory days."

The human tilts her head at her, "You mean 'glory days'?"

Eda shrugs her shoulders, "Well, that too. I was unstoppable on the field. I had the best moves and the best cheats!"

The young girl folds her arms, "Cheating isn't anything to brag about. How do you know you were any good if all you did was cheat your way to victory?"

The older witch rolls her eyes at her, "Ugh. What do humans know, with your goody-goody attitude? I'm sure Esper wouldn't have cared. Curse that dumb early Plant Track meeting! Still tired from having to wake up early to drop her off." She turns back to her other student, "If 'cheaters never prosper', why was I the star player?"

Luz nods her head at this, "Well, can't reason with crazy. She pulls a sleeping King out of her hood, "Bye King, you little snoozers!" She then kisses King's head and puts him on the staff when he wakes up. She leaves to enter the school. The young demon pouts, "Awww... First Esper and now Luz is gone too? Curse you school!"

King scurries into Eda's hair, "Ugh! Eda, when was the last time you cleaned up in here?" He throws a bag of onion rings from Eda's hair, then pulls out a rat, "Get your own scalp, buddy! This one's taken!" He then throws the rat on the ground.

Eda smiles before preparing her staff, "All this talk of grudgby has me feeling nostalgic. Whaddya say you and me take a little trip down memory lane?"

The small demon shakes his head, "Hard pass."

The Owl Lady still smiles at him, "That's the spirit!"

The ghost from earlier emerges from the ground next to her, "You mean me?"

Eda shakes her head and flies away on her staff, "Ugh. Come on!"

The spirit frowns before sinking back into the ground, "Oh."

...

Now in a history classroom within Hexside... The teacher gestures to a board, "Over 50 years ago, Emperor Belos appointed a head witch to each coven." He continues to ramble, nearly everyone is bored out of their minds.

Luz whispers to Esper, Gus and Willow, "I can't wait for grudgby season to start! I've studied up on all sorts of magical sports. Like this." She holds up a DVD case, "Good Witch Azura 2: The Field of Deadly Fates. A classic underdog tale."

Esper whispers back at her, "Oh yeah, I remember watching that movie like... Thirty times at a sleepover we had at your house." The human lets out an awkward giggle at this.

Willow takes the DVD case from her friend and reads it, "Azura challenges Hecate in the smibbitch championship. But will she risk it all by taking a chance on the deadly Thorn Vault?" She opens the case.

Gus grabs the DVD from the case, "Ooh, a shiny cookie!" He then tries to put it in his mouth to eat.

Esper grabs the DVD from Gus, "Not food, dude."

The illusionist pouts at her, "Aww..."

The teacher speaks louder over the children, "The council headquarters was built and paid for by..." He looks around the room for anyone with an answer, "Anyone? Willow?"

The plant witch stands up and takes a guess, "Uh, the Pixie Dust Taxes?"

The bird student from earlier popped into the hallway, "Woooo, yeah! Go, Willow!" Esper pumps her first alongside him at her seat.

The teacher nodded at her, "Impressive, Miss Park!" The other students in the class murmur in admiration.

Luz looks around at the class, "What's going on? It's like all of Hexside's caught Willow fever!"

The redhead relaxed her hands behind her head and leaned back in her seat, "You bet they have!"

The witch with glasses spoke over them, "Ever since I patched thing up with Amity, I've been feeling more confident!" She gestured to the flower shaped hair clip she is wearing, "I guess it shows."

However the hair clip levitates off of Willow's head and into Boscha's hand. She and her crew were sitting in the back of the class. Boscha flips the hair clip in her hand, "Aw, Willow thinks she's popular now! How cute." This made Gus glare at her.

Esper glares at her, "Hey, I agree, my friend is very cute. But give that back!" She then grabs for the hair clip.

However, Boscha pulls her hand back, "It's weird that Amity hangs out with you all now. Ever since Grom, she's gone soft. But don't worry." She then puts the clip in her own hair, "I'm still here to show you who's boss!"

But the young illusionist had walked behind her while her focus was on the redhead. He grabs the hair clip from her, "Here, Willow." He puts the clip back in Willow's hair, "We got you."

The popular girl glares at all of them, "Oh-ho-ho! The friends wanna get in on this too, huh?" She then levitates Willow's bag into the air and spills everything inside it onto all four of the friends. She then laughs at them.

The teacher looks over at the group, "Is that laughter? Hey, hey! Learning's not supposed to be fun!"

Luz frowns at the teacher, "We are having zero fun, I swear." She points at the popular student, "Boscha's picking on us!"

Boscha smiles at the teacher, "My apologies, sir. I was practicing my aim for grudgby!" She then throws an eraser at Willow, though Esper smacks the object out of the way before it could hit her. This causes the two to glare at each other.

The teacher shakes his head at first, "Boscha, how could you throw things at them..." But then he draws a circle on his chest with chalk, "When you could throw things at me!" He begins to move around like he was a target, "Am I over here? Or am I over here? Anything for the captain of the Banshees!"

The popular girl shakes her head, "Oh, thanks, but I already have the perfect targets." She throws gum into Willow's hair. This time, Esper's hand missed and the gum landed in her friend's hair.

Willow groans, "Oh!"

Esper gets up from her seat to confront the girl but her human friend put her hand on her shoulder.

Luz shook her head, "Don't worry, it's not like she can follow us around all day, right?"

...

Now on Hexside's front steps... Gus, Luz, and Willow are covered in trash, their faces graffitied with insults. The human stares ahead with her hand on Willow's shoulder, "She followed us around all day. She literally followed us around all day!"

The plant witch sighs, "I'm really sorry I pulled you guys into this. We should have just kept a low profile. Boscha could get away with murder if she wanted to."

Principal Bump walks out of the school with Esper floating above him. She is also covered in trash and insults with her arms folded. He sits her back onto the ground, "Just be lucky I'm not throwing you into the Detention Track this time, Miss Fox." He then hears the group talking while going down the stairs, "What's this? Boscha got away with murder? I can't say I approve, but at least she's trying new things." He smiles while walking away.

Esper raises her eyebrow at this and folds her arms again. She shakes her head, "Should have knocked her block off when I had the chance..." She looks at her arm when Willow put her hand on it, "I'm trying to keep my promise here, Willow. But I swear, I'mm gonna explode! I'm at my breaking point!"

Luz shakes her head at her, "We will find a way out of this."

Amity then passes by the stairs while holding her books. The human ran over to her, "Amity!" She cleans the trash off her body.

The popular girl blushes nervously at her, "Oh, Luz! You're here! I mean, obviously you're here! This is school! And you go here now, with, uh... Me... I've been talking for too long."

The human scratches her chin before speaking, "Amity, we need your help."

The golden eyed girl nods her head, "Yes, I can help!" She tilts her head at her, "...With what, exactly?"

The brunette folds her arms, "Boscha won't stop picking on Willow! And no one will do anything about it because she's the..." She makes quotation mark motion with her fingers, "'Star Captain of the Grudgby Team.'"

Amity shrugs her shoulders, "Yeah... This time of year, she's extra unbearable."

Luz sighs and slumps her shoulders, "You're friends with her! Can you help us?"

The popular girl shakes her head, "Uh, the hard part is... There's no reasoning with Boscha. She only speaks in grudgby terms."

Luz begins to nod her head slowly, "Hmm. Okay, okay! I'm pickin' up what you're puttin' down."

The green haired girl looks at the books she's holding, "I'm... Not putting anything down."

Willow then suddenly screams. Trash is seen falling on the girl from above while other students watch. Esper and Gus quickly start to brush it off her. The redhead throws a glare at the other popular girl.

Luz runs up to them, "Willow! What happened?"

The plant witch slumps her shoulders, "Boscha happened..."

Boscha is then seen on a second floor window with a trash can upside down in her hands, "Hey, Willow! I just thought all trash should stay in one spot!"

The human shouts and points at the girl, "That's it! Boscha! Willow challenges you to... A grudgby match!"

The bully drops the trash can, "She what?"

Esper pokes her head up from her friend, "She what?"

The witch with glasses looks at their friend, "Yeah, I what?

The trash can Boscha drops then falls onto Gus. He speaks from inside the trash can, "She what? Seriously, what's going on here?"

The freckled witch shouts at the bully, "Hey!" She then puts her hands on the metal can to pull it off the younger witch, "Hold on, let me get this off of you..."

...

Now at the Owl House, Eda is wearing her old grudgby jacket while sitting on the couch, King is sitting next to her with a smile on his face.

The owl lady shows a photo album to King, "And here's when we took down Epiderm High in the semi-finals." She points to photo of her younger self with orange hair holding a trophy, "Oh, I was the youngest on the team, but I had what some call 'star power'. AKA, this!" She pulls a box out from her hair labeled 'Eda's Rad Cheats', "This is my cheat box. I have all my best weapons in here. Smoke bombs, sock-worms... Mwah. You name it. Oh, I never lost a game with this bad boy!"

The door slams open and Hooty enters the room, "Hoot-hoot! Guess who found a special friend in the forest." He drags in Lilith, who is wrapped up in his elongated body, "It was me. Hoot!" He then releases the witch, who falls to the floor.

The Owl Lady glares at her, "Lilith."

The dark haired woman glares back at her, "Edalyn."

The owl tube pops up between them, "Hooty!"

Eda pushes him away, "Ugh. Scram, Hooty."

Hooty still smiles, "Okay!" His body retracts back into the front door, which then promptly slams shut.

The blue eyed witch stands up and dusts herself off, "Why are you in your old uniform? Where's your little tyke and her... Friend?"

The gray haired witch shook her head, "No reason. It's laundry day. What's it to you where my girls are? What are you doing here?"

Lilith summons scroll and coughs to clear her throat, "That will all be revealed in due time." She reads from the parchment, "Edalyn Clawthorne, you are hereby under arrest by the order of the Emperor of the Boiling Isles-" The other witch uses her magic to roll up the scroll, which smacks her in the face, "Ah!"

Eda rolls her eyes, "You were saying?"

The older sister folded her arms, "Come on! I have to bring you in! It's time for you to join the coven! The Emperor has big plans for the Isles, and he wants you to be a part of it all!"

The Owl Lady picks up the photo album and speaks in a sarcastic tone, "Ooh, Aah! What an incredible opportunity for me."

The dark haired witch frowns at her, "What are you even looking at?" She grabs the photo album from her sister, "Grudgby pictures? Feeling sentimental?"

The gray haired witch waves her hands, "Pah! Me? Never. I was just telling King here how good I was." She then summons a grudgby ball, which drops into her hand.

Lilith shakes her head at her, "Oh, Edalyn. Not only is the curse affecting your hair... But your memory as well." She holds up the picture of young Eda, unfolding it to reveal a young Lilith with an even larger grudgby trophy, and several medals. The younger version of her has long, curly, dark orange hair and large glasses.

Eda groans, "Ah, tell you what. I'll go with you peacefully to the Emperor..."

Her sister smiles at her, "Really?"

The Owl Lady smirks and shrugs her shoulders, "Sure. If you beat me at a game of grudgby. Luz is always challenging people to things. Why not me?"

The Raven Witch narrows her eyes at her, "Hmm... Game on."

...

Now back at Hexside, the three witchlings look at their human friend. Esper picks a banana peel off of the illusionist's head. The plant witch plays with her fingers, "Luz, what are you doing?"

The freckled witch shrugs her shoulders, "Uh... Yeah, Luz. We've never played grudgby before."

Luz shakes her head at them, "I'm just following Amity's advice. Boscha only speaks in grudgby terms. Trust me, I have a plan." She pumps her fist in the air.

All three of the witchlings look at each other and Esper nods her head at her. The redhead folds her arms, "Okay, I'll trust you."

Luz nods back at her, "Thank you!" Once she sees Boscha walk out of the building, she walks up to her.

The rich girl shakes her head, "Okay, maybe it's the altitude of the second floor, but I thought I heard you say that Leaf Girl wanted to challenge me to a grudgby match."

The brunette folds her arms, "That's right! We'll settle this once and for all on the field!"

Other students start to crowd around the group. Willow runs up between them, "Or we could just talk about our issues."

Boscha shakes her head, "No, let's do this."

The witch with glasses grimaces at this, "Oh, no."

Luz continues to glare at the other witch, "If Willow's team wins, you don't get to pick on her anymore."

The popular girl puts her hands on her hips, "Fine! And when we win, Willow and your team will be our water gofers."

The human smirks at her, "Ha! That's not even a punishment. I love water!"

The three eyed girl picks up a nearby grudgby ball, "And we get to use you as target practice." She throws the ball and kicks it, sending it straight through a tree trunk. The hole smokes due to the impact. She smirks at the squad, "See you after school, losers."

She and her team then leave and the entire tree catches fire.

The bird student from earlier cheers despite this, "Whoo-hoo! Willow verses Boscha!"

Esper rubs her eyebrows, "Not! The best time, Jeremy!" Gus nods his head from behind her.

Jeremy the bird student sighs but then cheers again, "But still! Go Willow!" He and the crowd of other students then walk off.

Amity walks over to her friend, "Luz, this isn't a good idea."

Willow plays with her hair to try to calm her nerves, "Yeah, I've never even played grudgby before! How am I supposed to beat Boscha?"

Luz folds her arms, "But you're the better witch. I don't know much about sports, but I know about sports movies. We, too, are a ragtag team of lovable misfits joined together to defeat a powerful enemy. With a little team spirit and a training montage, we can win."

The redhead rubs her forehead, "Oh gosh we're really doing this. Uh okay! Fine, since I was on a roller derby team when I was younger so I know a thing or two. And I assume a sports game won't get me in trouble with Boscha..." She then turns to her friend, "Right Willow?"

Willow nods her head, "Yes, that's fair game under our promise. Well, if you think this'll work, then I'm in. How about you, Gus?"

Gus looks down at the ground, "In seasons past..." He then golds up a pair of flags, "These flags have waved in support of grudgby greats. Now they will wave for the greatest..." He waves the flags around himself, "Me!" This made his freckled friend giggle.

Luz raises an eyebrow at their other friend, "What about you, Amity?"

Amity starts to sweat, "Me? On a team with you? Running around in cute uniforms? Sweating?" Her whole face turned red and then runs off, "I gotta go!"

The human blinks, "Huh? Well, I guess she's out."

Esper face-palms in response to this.

The brunette then pumps her fist, "In any case, let's get training!"

...

Now, Luz, Esper, Willow, and Gus make their way to the Hexside grudgby field.

The human shrugs her shoulders, "So, how exactly do we play grudgby?"

The boy witch rubs his chin, "Well..." He then summons a miniature illusion of the field to demonstrate, "There's a ball, and you score by getting the ball through the other team's goal." The illusion dissipates once he took his hand off of it.

The brunette makes a pondering motion, "That sounds easy."

The redheaded witch puts her hands on her hips, "Yeah, a little TOO easy."

The plant witch sighs, "It is, except..." She then summons a leaf and blows it onto the field. The leaf is quickly ripped to shreds by fire, vines, ice shards, and rock spikes that emerge from the field.

The golden eyed girl raises her eyebrows, "Oh, right. Boiling Isles! Should have predicted this..."

Esper nods her head and gestures to the leaf, "How are we STILL finding surprises about this place?!"

Luz sets her phone to play motivational sports music and puts a sweatband on, "Alright! Every great sports story includes a training montage!"

Gus raises his hand, "What's a 'mon-tage?'"

Luz smiles at him, "Well..."

Suddenly, music plays over them in a montage-like way, Luz and Esper explain to Willow and Gus what a montage is using a chalkboard. They then show the two a football movie on a TV and then the three of them have a tea party in animal onesies. Luz is in a yellow cat onesie, Willow is dressed like a pink axolotl, Gus is dressed in a light blue otter onesie and Esper is in a red fox onesie.

...

Now the group is back at the grudgby field...

Gus blinks, "Oh, I get it now. Wait, were we just having a tea party in animal jammies?"

The human shakes her head with a smile, "What happens in the montage stays in the montage! Now let's hit the field! Esper!"

The childhood friend then blows a whistle while Luz throws a grudgby ball at Gus and Willow. It hits the ground. Willow prepares to kick it, but a giant tentacle burst from the ground, which throws the ball. Willow is able to barely it.

The freckled witchling turns to her, "Are you sure they're doing okay? I feel like I should go help."

Both their witch friends scream in the background.

Luz shakes her head, "No, don't worry about it. They're fine! It kinda reminds me of your roller derby team."

The illusionist and the plant witch both across the field and away from the tentacle. A giant hand bursts from the ground and then grabs Gus. Flaming grudgby balls follow Willow.

Jeremy the bird student appears again in the bleachers, "Woooo! Go Willow!"

Willow runs the opposite direction. A trampoline emerges from the ground and launches her backwards.

The student briefly frowns but smiles again, "You'll get 'em next time!"

The plant witch lands next to Luz, who hasn't moved at all. She frowns up at her with a sigh, "I need a cup of water..."

Gus walks up to them and falls on the ground.

The redhead grimaces at this and rushes away from the group, "Oh shoot, hang on guys. I'll go get you that water. Gus-"

Luz pulls a lant glyph out of her pocket, "Now I think they're ready for our big finale! Let's try..." She activates the glyph, "The Thorn Vault!" She throws it on ground underneath her friends.

The girl with her glasses picks up her head, "Luz, wait-"

Esper hears this and tries to run back to their friends, "Woah, Luz!"

Willow and Gus are launched into the air by a column of thorns. Willow manages to summons a large pink flower to break their fall.

Gus rolls right off of the plant and groans.

Both the glasses wearing witch and Esper sprint to the young witch boy once they see him stop on the ground and not get up.

The plant witch looks down at her friend, "Gus! Talk to us, Gus!"

The illusionist looks up at the pair, "I-I think something's broken."

The redhead gasped, "Oh no! I knew I should have asked Viney to teach me some healing magic! Don't worry, I'll take you to the nurse's office!"

The boy blushes while being held by her, "Uh, Esper, wait..." He pulls out his flags which then snap in half. He gasps, "My flags! I never should have tried to play. You were always enough for me." He starts to sobs in her arms, pulling her into a hug.

Esper blushes when the boy pulls her into the hug. She releases a breath she didn't know she was holding, "Phew! I thought you broke your arm or something!" She then pats him on the back, "Don't scare me like that again."

Meanwhile, Willow looks down to see her hair clip... That is now snapped in half from the fall, "Come on, guy. I have some floral tape in the greenhouse. We'll fix the flags there."

Gus sniffs, "...Okay."

The freckled witch stands up with her friend in her arms, holding him bridal-style, "I'll carry you there, Gus. Don't you worry." This makes the illusionist in her arms blush. She begins walking away with the two of them before...

...Luz runs up to the three of them, "Wait! Guys, let's try the Thorn Vault one more time!"

The plant witch slumps her shoulders, "Not now, Luz... We're tired."

The human frowns at her, "But we're the underdogs! We have to stay upbeat and keep trying and-"
The witch with glasses walks up to the human, "Luz! Not everything can be solved with a good attitude and a dope music soundtrack! We're going to lose... And no movie can help us against that. The game is off." She then walks away from the group.

The brunette holds her hand out for the other witch, "Willow, wait!" She looks at her old friend, "...Esper?"

Esper shakes her head before turning around to face her old friend, "No, Luz. Willow's right. You're my best friend and I trusted you to pull us through this. And I really, really want to show Boscha up without breaking my promise to Willow but... Not like this. Not anymore. Just... Take a second to think about it, okay? I'll check back with you later." She still holds Gus bridal-style while walking away from her childhood friend.

Luz looks down at the broken hair clip. She picks it up and frowns at her friends walking away from her...

...

Meanwhile at the outside the Owl House, it is revealed that the two witches set up a makeshift grudgby field. Eda and Lilith approach each other from opposite sides.

Hooty stretches out to be between them, now wearing a referee's hat and whistle, "You gals ready to hoot? We want a clean game here, so no magic allowed."

King jumps up and down while dressed like a cheerleader, "Yes! Now I'll strike fear into my enemies with this armor of intimidation!" He points at the scoreboard.

Eda laughs and snorts to herself, "Yeah, intimidation armor!" She turns to Lilith, "Pushing paper all day might make you a little rusty. I'll try to go easy on you!" She throws her the Grudgby ball.

The Raven Witch catches the ball in between her leg and her stomach and then kicks it up to preform a few sick tricks. She then throws Eda the ball back once she caches it, "Remember, dear sister, you may have been star player, but I was team captain for a reason!"

The Owl Lady grunts and glares at her.

Hooty then blows the whistle, signaling the two to start.

...

Now back at the Hexside grudgby field, Luz sitting on the bleachers. She repairs Willow's hair clip with a band-aid.

Amity walks up to her, "Tough practice?" She then sits down near her.

The human sighs, "I pushed Willow and Gus too hard. Esper told me to sit down and think about it... It's just, I hate seeing Willow get picked on like she does! Willow's one of the best friends I've ever had. Winning this game is the only way I know how to help her. And Esper really wanted to help me since... It was one of the few ways she could help without breaking her promise to Willow."

The rich girl sighs, "...Did you know that... Before Boscha, I was the grudgby team captain?"

The brunette raises her eyebrows at her, "Really?"

Amity starts to look off into the distance, "Well, once I left the team, I decided that was a part of my life I wanted to forget."

...

Now, within a flashback, Amity is shown being the captain of the Banshees. She wears a grudgby letterman jersey with an 'A' on the chest over a sports uniform. She is wearing black athletic shorts, shoes and green face paint.

The popular girl speaks over the flashback, "We were playing Glandus High for the Island Championship. We had a move planned, and it was a good one. But, at the last minute, I decided I wanted to do something a bit flashier. I changed our game plan to... The Thorn Vault."

Luz speaks over the flashback with her, "Good Witch Azura 2: Field of Deadly Fates! You watched it too?"

The green haired witch nods her head, "Uh, yeah."

The flashback version of Amity successfully does the Thorn Vault, launching herself to a goal post and tossing the ball in. The score changes for a Banshee win. Amity cheers, but then realizes she hurt her teammates. They are scattered on the ground with broken arms, scratches, etc.

Amity in the present speaks over the scene, "It went disastrously wrong. My teammates got hurt. All because I had an idea of how things should be. I pushed them too far..."

...

Now back at the present and Amity is looking away from Luz, "I never played again after that day." She then turns to Luz, their faces are incredibly close. Amity stumbles back and falls while blushing heavily.

The human backs up, "Wah! Sorry!" She helps the other girl up, "I just really love backstories."

The Banshees then walk onto the field together. They look around for their challengers.

Luz holds Amity's hand to put something in it, "I know what to do to make this up to Willow... Thanks." She then walks onto the field.

The popular girl looks down at her hand and sees Willow's hair clip. She gasps.

Boscha smirks at the new girl, "It's after school! Where's the leader of your loser brigade? Your bodyguard's not here either?"

The human shakes her head, "I'm here on her behalf... We forfeit!"

Amity gasps from the stands while she watches the scene unfold.

The brunette folds her arms, "And I'm here to tell you that I'll take Willow's place to be your water gopher, target practice, whatever you need."

The bully laughs at her, "Wow, you're really a good friend!" She picks up a grudgby ball and lights it on fire with a magic circle, "And a perfect target!"

Luz gasps before backing up.

The triclops throws ball towards her, "Think fast!"

The human ducks out of the ball's path. Boscha summons more flaming grudgby balls. Luz runs while the balls are sent at her. Amity runs off to find her friends.

...

Now at the school greenhouse, Willow tapes up Gus' flags. She sighs, "There, that ought to do it." Esper puts him down on the ground.

Gus frowns at his flags, "These are flags of surrender now..."

Amity opens the door with a slam, "Luz needs our help! I know she pushed you guys... And she always gets in over her head. She can be so stupid, which I love-I mean hate! In any case, she needs you right now, which is sweet-I mean! I hate it, and it's dumb!"

Esper giggles at her rather obvious crush on her childhood friend. She coughs awkwardly when the popular girl shot her a look, "I, uh, I mean! We should probably go help Luz. I know she can't help but be so... Overzealous when it comes to anything remotely similar to Azura."

The Illusionist blinks at both girls, "...You lost me."

The popular girl shakes her head, "Just... Here." She gives Willow her hair clip, which makes the other girl smiles.

The boy witch raises the taped up flags in his hands, "Can we resist the call to action? No! May the flags be raised once more!" He then runs out of the building, which makes Esper, Willow and Amity to follow right behind him...

...

Now back at Eda and Lilith's grudgby match... The younger witch tries to score a goal, but Hooty blocks the ball. He taunts her, "Hoot!"

The Owl Lady glares at him, "Hooty! Whose side are you on?"

The owl tube nods at her, "I'm an unbiased participant, hoot-hoot!"

Lilith grabs the ball and jumps over both Eda and Hooty. She dunks the ball and manages to score a goal.

King marks the score, now both at 5-5, "Point goes to Lilith! We're at a tie here, folks!"

Both witches both pant in exhaustion, glaring at each other.

Hooty shouts once again, "Time for one more play!"

Eda pulls her cheat box out of her hair, "Just one little trick and the game will be mine!" She opens her cheat box, only to find it empty, save for a note reading, 'I noticed your lunchbox was getting dirty so I cleaned it! LOVE, LUZ'. In the corner of the note had a drawing of a heart and Luz herself throwing a peace sign. She shakes her head, "Dang it, Luz! Your nonsense has gotten into my head. At least Esper left the thing alone! Well, time to do this the old-fashioned way."

The Raven Lady narrows her eyes at her, "Taking your time... Nervous?"

The gray haired woman shakes her head, "Not today, sister!"
Hooty blows the whistle, signaling them to play again. Eda and Lilith both jump for the ball with The Owl Lady grabbing it and makes for the goal.

The owl tube emerges from the ground, "It's me again!"

The red wearing witch steps on his face to use him like a launchpad, "Ow!"

The Raven Lady leans on his face to try and block her sister's shot, "Oh no you don't!"

Hooty grimaces from the pain, "Oh geez, hey!"

Lilith shouts when her hand misses the ball, "No!"

The ball lands into the goal, giving Eda the winning score, "Yeah!"

King jumps up and down at his spot at the scoreboard, "Ha ha! Game over! Team Owl House rules supreme!"

Eda pumps her fist, "Yes! Still got it! Still got the skills to pay the bills!"

The Raven Witch falls to her knees and slams her fists angrily at the ground, "No! No! I can't go back to the Emperor empty-handed!"

Eda sighs and shakes her head. She then takes her ring off and holds it out to Lilith, "Here. Tell them I put up a heck of a struggle..."

The older sister takes the ring, "I will be back for you. And... There's one more thing, Edalyn. I have caught wind of rumors of a 'Star Touched Witch' among your students... I know the Golden Guard wishes to learn more about her and The Emperor has been starting to express interest in potentially meeting her-"

The Owl Lady quickly shakes her head, "No. No way. Esper is never meeting the Emperor! Plain and simple. She's just a kid, she's not dangerous."

Lilith sighs and nods her head, "I figured that would be your answer and I understand. Just... Be careful with her, okay?" She begins to walk away from her sister, "And next time, I won't be alone."

Eda nods her head, "I'll be waiting."

The Raven Witch looks over her shoulder at her sister and then walks into the distance.

Hooty smiles next to Eda, "I'll be waiting too! Hoot-hooty-hoot!"

...

Meanwhile, back to the Hexside grudgby field. Luz is still running from the sports balls being thrown her way.

Boscha smiles while holding one of the balls, "Having fun yet? 'Cause I'm just getting warmed up!" She throws a flaming grudgby ball at the human, which is sent back by a tree suddenly emerging from the field in front of her. She looks at the tree, confused, "Huh?"

Willow speaks with authority while the group walks onto the field, "Boscha! Your issue is with me, not Luz! Leave her be!"

Luz runs up to the group and hugs her friend, "Willow! Willow, I'm sorry I got you into this mess. You're right, I got my head too stuck in the movie biz!" She then hugs Esper and hides behind her childhood friend.

The plant witch puts her hands on her hips, "It's okay. I know you were just trying help in your Luz way. But now let's finish this... My way!" She then turns to Boscha, "The game is back on!"

The bully looks over to see Amity still standing next to them, "And you went to go get them? You just destroyed your social life."

Amity looks at her friends and shakes her head at the other girl, "Nah. I think I just made it better."

The triclops folds her arms, "Hey! You only need three players on your team! Who's playing first?"

Esper looks at the three and fake falls to the ground dramatically, "Ouch! Oh no! My foot is suddenly cramping up! Stupid roller derby!" She then winked at Amity while being on the ground and whispers, "I'll sit out for the first few rounds. Go impress Luz!" She then winks at her.

The green haired girl blushed at this but managed to recover her composure, "

Boscha rolls her eyes, "Ugh! Whatever! Skara, you're on the bench for now! Come now, hurry up, people! Game on!"

The bard student looks over at her friend and sighs in relief. This makes Esper raise her eyebrow before getting up off the ground to sit next to Gus in the stands. Amity, Luz, and Willow smile at each other before the game starts...

...

Now, all six girls glare at each other on the field... All dressed in grudgy gear and face paint.

Gus raises his flags into the air, "Go Willow!"

Esper cheers right next to him, "Wooo! Go get 'em girls!" Esper is also in blue grudgby gear with lighter blue gloves and kneepads. She has light blue face paint right underneath her eyes in the shape of ovals.

Meanwhile on the field, Willow speaks to her bully, "There's something on your shoe..."

Boscha scoffs and rolls her eyes, "Like I'd fall for that!"

The ball is launched into the air for the two to try and catch. Boscha lunges for it but is stopped, "Huh?" She looks down to see vines wrapped around her shoe. She ends up falling over, "Oh!"

Willow catches the ball and rushes to the goal. She manages to toss it into the goal easily before turning around to cheer with her friends.

...

Meanwhile, Esper sits in the stands next to her illusionist friend. Her starts to wave the flag around while watching his friends play together. His excitement made the redhead giggle before cheering alongside him. However, she noticed Skara looking at the ground sadly... So she sighed and sat up, "Hey Gus, can you up the pizzazz for me? I'll be right back."

The boy witch salutes her with the flag, "Yes ma'am!" He then waves his flags to summon giant versions of his flags to move up and down in the stands.

Esper walked closer to the bard girl, "Hey, can I sit here?"

Skara snaps her head up to look at her, "Oh uh... Sure?"

The redhead sat next to her, "Well that was a questionable tone."

The girl with gray and black hair scratched her chin, "Sorry, it's only because when Boscha talks about you... It's not exactly... Positive."

The freckled witchling shrugged with a laugh, "Pfft, that makes sense. Do you always listen to what Boscha says?"

The silver eyed girl quickly shakes her head, "No, not all the time! Well... Okay, maybe... A lot of the time."

Esper relaxes with her hands behind her head, "Yeaaaaah... I can kinda tell that you don't really like hanging out with her."

Skara widened her eyes, "You can? Is it obvious?"

The spitfire witch shrugged, "Not at first but I can see that recently every time she says something towards Willow, you don't say anything. Sure, you laugh at her but it always seems a bit... Forced." She turns to look at her, "Skara, do you want to be friends with Willow?"

The bard student looks down at the ground again, "Well yeah, she's really sweet. But not that it matters. I've kinda just had to hang out with Boscha since I was like 5. My parents always had us hang out together."

The redhead let out a snort, "Pffft parents smarents."

The gray haired girl looked back at her with a raised eyebrow, "Excuse me, what?"

Esper stands up from her seat, "I said parents smarents. If I listened to everything my parents said, I wouldn't even be here right now playing with you guys. So what if you become friends with people other than Boscha and your parents don't like them? Besides not like she can do anything once you've made friends with someone else. You don't need her if that's the case."

Skara smiled back at her, "...I don't even like grudgby all that much. Boscha got into it and I pretty much had to follow. Didn't help that my mom pushed me into it when she heard that Boscha liked it."

The fiery witch nodded at her, "Yeah, my mom can be stubborn sometimes too." She lets out a giggle, "One time, I said I wanted to try roller blading and she signed me up for a roller derby team the very next day. Bought me the best skates money could buy too. But uh, I got in trouble a week later. Coach said I played too rough with the other kids."

The girl with silver eyes scratched her cheek, "Dang, that sucks. I know human kids can be quite fragile..."

The freckled witchling played with her fingers, "Welllll... I didn't even use magic." She cringes at the memory, "I kiiiinda tackled one kid so hard that she cracked the glass of the protective gate."

The bard student cringed with her, "Ouch, that sounds like it hurt. For a human. Did Luz get hurt at all during the game?"

Esper raised her eyebrows at her, "Hm? Luz wasn't there on the field. She just watched in the stands. Her mom didn't force her to join the team just because I wanted to try it. They did both show up at my first... And last... Roller derby game though. They were being supportive of me and because well, Luz is my best friend."

The student wearing the red uniform looks down at the ground, "Oh... Wow, that... Sounds nice."

The new witchling folds her arms, "You know what! I'm your friend now and there's nothing Boscha can do about it."

The girl with silver eyes couldn't help but look at her, "Oh wow really?"

The spitfire nods her head with a smile, "Yeah and there's no take backs! I've dealt with bullies like Boscha before. Nothing she'll say can deter me from being your friend, don't you worry."

Skara smiles back at her, "Well that's reassuring, actually, thanks Esper. Oh also, I've been wanting to say this for a while but that bow in your hair is adorable."

Esper blushes from her compliment, "Aw really? Gee, thanks" She then motions towards her illusionist friend, "Come on, you can sit with us. We can cheer them on together."

Skara followed behind her when she started walking away, "Oh! Sure!"

...

The game progresses while the two talk. Amity uses a giant Abomination arm to hold back an axe for Luz, who scores another goal. Gus creating duplicates of himself with his illusions to cheer Luz, Amity, and Willow on. Esper giggles at this and creates a smaller illusion of herself to help cheer while she pumps her fist. Amelia, the plant student on Boscha's team, scores a goal for the Banshees. Skara lifts her arms and cheers for her friend.

Luz smiles at the other plant student, "Nice work."

Amelia rubs the back of her neck, "Oh! ...Thanks."

The two high-five each other, only to be seen by the popular girl.

Boscha folds her arms with a glare, "Hmm!"

This makes the plant student glare at Luz and fold her arms to appease her friend.

The game progresses further with Boscha throwing a flaming grudgby ball at the , who blocks with an ice glyph. The pillar made of the cold material melted only slightly.

The human takes the ball from the ice pillar, seeing a fire glyph burned onto it, "Whoa!" She places a piece of paper onto the ball which burns a new glyph onto the paper. She taps it which activates a fire spell. This makes her gasp, "Fire magic! Haha, hey Esper look! I'm you!" She throws the ball to one of her teammates, "Amity!"

The green haired witch knocks it into the goal with a giant abomination fist. She then laughs happily, "Yeah!" She then turns to the stand with a smile, "Come on, Esper! It's your turn to play!"

Meanwhile, Boscha glares at the stands, "Ugh! Amelia, go sit down! Skara get down here and start playing!" Her sudden shout started the bard student.

Esper pumps her fist, "Yes!" She smiles at Skara, "Good luck out there!"

The gray haired girl smiles back at her, "Oh! Um, you too!"

...

Esper slaps the green haired girl's hand before running to the other side of Willow. Though she giggles at her childhood friend for her joke from earlier. She grins at her new friend before the smile turned more evil when it landed on the bully. The ball goes up in the air and the plant witch catches it. She dodges the three eyed girl before passing the ball, "Esper! Catch!"

The redhead forms a spell circle with her finger to create a brick wall illusion in front of Skara to block her way, "I got it!" She catches the ball before sprinting forward towards the goal.Boscha shouts at her other teammate, "Cat!"

The healing student rushes to her aid, "Yes ma'am!" She forms a circle on the ground, which shoots water onto the ground underneath the redhead. She then makes another circle to freeze the water to make ice, making a slippery field for the fiery witch.

Esper slips from the ice on the ground but manages to toss the ball to Luz. She nearly uses her balance until she feels someone grab her hand...

...Which was Skara, who ran around the brick wall and is standing on normal dirt ground. She helps the other girl regain her balance and pulls her off the ice, "I got you! You okay?"

The redhead blinks at her, "Uh, yup! Thanks, Skara!"

The bard student rubs the back of her neck after letting go of her hand, "Aw, you're welcome!"

The bully rushes towards the pair, "Skara! What are you doing!"

This made the gray haired girl jump back away from the other girl, "Uh! Nothing, Boscha!" She turns to frown at her friend, "...Sorry, Esper."

The smaller witch puts her hands on her hips, "Hey, it's okay. I'll deal with Boscha myself!" She hears Luz shout and jumps to catch the ball. She turns around in the air so she's standing back to back with Boscha when she got too close. When the popular girl turns, Esper turns so she's not within her eyesight. They turn again and again until it irritates Boscha to the point of her trying to hit the smaller witch with a fire spell.

However, the freckled witchling ducked out of the way and forms a plant spell circle to launch the bully back with a large pink flower. She runs ahead and twirls around Cat before she could tackle her. She shoots the ball in the air and scores the goal. She pumps her fist in a cheer before Skara nearly trips by her.

The bard student was running towards her and tried to stop when she scored the goal. But she almost tripped from the momentum. Luckily, Esper manifests a large, pillowy flower to soften her fall. The two giggle before the redhead helped her up from the plant.

Within the stands, Gus blows the illusion of a whistle, signaling for Esper to switch back with Amity. She gives Skara a thumbs up before clapping both Willow and Luz's hands on her way back to the stands...

...

Now... The score is tied 9-9! Both teams huddle up together to form their plans. Amity folds her arms, "There's time for one more play."

The plant witch nods at her, "And this play could determine whether us underdogs win or lose!"

Luz holds out small pieces of papers each showing the fire, light, plant, and ice glyphs, "Here's what I have to offer."

Willow looks through the papers, "I think we should try..." She then points to plant glyph, "This one!"

The humans gasps at her, "The Thorn Vault? Are you sure?"

The plant witch nods her head, "I'm ready this time.

Esper, Skara, Gus and his illusions cheer on when play resumes. The two teams face off at centerfield once again. The ball is launched into the air, and Luz catches it, "Ha!"

The freckled witch looks at the bard student, who simply smiles at her with a determined face. The redhead was about to say something when she suddenly felt a crawling motion on her hand. It made the hair on the back of her neck stick up in surprise. She looks at her hand to see a small, golden bug crawling on her finger, "Uh... Hey, little guy? Who are you?"

Skara gasped, "Esper! That's the Rust Smidge!"

The redhead picks up the small bug and pokes at it, "It is? It looks more gold than rusty..." She pets the bug when it pokes at her finger, "It really seems to like me!" She looks at the other witch, "...What does it do?"

The gray haired girl nods her head at her, "It does like you! Well, whoever's team has it automatically wins the game... So if someone on your active team finds it, you guys win..." She ponders something for a few minutes before making a shushing motion with her hand, "Don't worry! I won't tell Boscha. I... I want you guys to win, you all deserve it."

Esper nods at her, "...Thanks, Skara." She turns back to the field and shouts, "Amity!" After gaining the attention of the popular girl, the redheaded witch holds up the bug before flicking. Her flick sent the bug rather far and it started to fly towards the girl on the field...

Back on the field, Boscha's whole attention was on the human while she chased after her. Amity rushes after her and tackles her 'old friend', "Luz! Watch out!"

Luz turns around while still holding the ball, "Amity!"

The green haired girl shakes her head at her, "Luz! Just go!" Her left arm is slightly crooked with a large bruise on it.

The human activates the Thorn Vault underneath her friend, sending Willow across the field. Luckily, she successfully scoring a goal.

The brunette cheers at this, "Woooo!" She loves her plant loving friend, "Oh my gosh!" She and Willow look to the scoreboard, reading 9-10. Then the Visitor's score changes to 999. This makes the human raise her eyebrows, "Woah! What was that? Did we scare so many because of the power of friendship or something?"

The green haired witch's voice is heard from the side, "Not exactly!" The two then look over to see Amity hold up a golden insect in her non injured arm with a smile on her face.

Willow raises her eyebrows, "Oh, thorns!"

The human matches her expression, "W-What happened?"

The plant witch shifts her head towards her friend, "Amity caught the Rusty Smidge!"

Luz scratches her chin, "The what?"

Esper walks down the bleachers before hopping off, "The Rusty Smidge! Skara told me about it in the stands. It basically insured our win. Not that I totally didn't have any confidence in you guys but still! Can't be too sure!" She lands next to Amity and helps her up, "I spotted it in the stands and may or may not have... Influenced it's path."

Boscha shouts at her, "Oh you little witch! That was MY win! We were beat them and prove our social dominance!" She then shouts at her friends when they all push past her, "Hey!"

Skara jumps from the stands, "Good game, Willow!"

Amelia bounces on her feet while looking at the other plant student, "I had so much fun playing you guys."

Willow blushes before rubbing the back of her head, "Oh, really?"

Cat nods her head at her, "Willow, you're really good. Would you want to be on our team?" The tricolps looked horrified at this.

The taller witch with glasses shakes her head, "Mm, thanks for the offer... But I think I'm done with grudgby for a while."

Meanwhile, Luz rushes towards the popular girl being held up by her good arm, "Amity! Are you alright?"

The green haired girl looks down at her arm, "I-I think I hurt my arm when I tackled Boscha... But, I'll be okay." She turns to the redhead next to her, "I should be fine to stand on my own, Esper."

The freckled witch smirks, "You sure? I mean, that injury looks pretty bad so I don't know about that! I'd be fine transferring you to Luz though."

The human opens her arms, "Yeah! Don't worry, Amity! I can carry you, Willow and Esper have been making me exercise with them!"

Amity starts blushing and chuckling nervously, "I'm fine! Who's Amity?" The redhead loosened her grip on her when she saw her childhood friend step closer to them.

The human then picks Amity up in her arms, bridal-style, "Aaaaand, scoop!"

The pale witch chuckles nervously, "Oh, wow. Sports." She then rests her injured arm in her lap.

Boscha glares at this before turning to the smaller witch, "Ugh! That was supposed to be my win! Is nothing sacred to you?!"

The redhead blinked at her, "...Girl, it's an unofficial sports game. It's not like you lost the championship or anything."

The bully suddenly picked her up by the collar of her uniform, "Oh you twerp! That's it! I'm going to end you!"

Esper looks at Willow, who nodded at her in approval. She turns her head back to the taller girl, "Alright, you asked for it." She suddenly kicks Boscha in the stomach to get her to let go. She then cracked her knuckles, "I'm telling you right now, it's not a good idea to fight me. I used to make bullies bigger than you eat mud."

Luz shouts from the sidelines, "I wouldn't fight her! She once tackled a girl so hard that she cracked the glass of a protective wall! By accident!"

Amity rolls her eyes while still in her crush's arms, "Yeah, really Boscha? You're gonna fight someone who's nickname is 'The Star Touched One'?"

Boscha launches a fireball at the smaller witch, "Like I care about any of that! I'll show ALL OF YOU where her place belongs!"

The redhead uses a magic circle to summon a wall made of vines to block the fireball. She turns her finger counter clockwise on the circle to then have the vines fall forward to wrap the popular girl up. She runs to the side of her vine pile...

The bully forms two circles to overheat the vines surrounding her and breaks free. She tosses a potion at the other witch but misses since she is running. The ground the potion cracked open on ends up melting from the concoction. She quickly forms a spell circle to shoot a flaming grudgby ball at her.

Esper quickly makes an illusion of a U shaped tube, sending the ball back at the bully.

This causes the other girl to get hit in the stomach though she catches the ball. She throws another potion while running around the girl and sends a fireball directly after it. She tries to gloat, "Awww, what? Can't do anything other than run, hide and counter? Maybe I should look for a real opponent! Maybe the round ears over there!

The redhead quickly shoots her the meanest glare she could muster. She thinks to herself while protecting herself from the resulting explosion with more vines, 'Man... She's really trying to off me with these potions!' She eyes the explosion and then glares at her opponent, "So... You want me to show you fire! I'll show you some fire then!" She forms a circle and shoots a large fireball towards the popular girl, her birthmark on her leg starts to glow.

Boscha counters with her own fire spell on the ground, which causes both walls to collide to make a rather big fire. She slowly steps away from the flames when...

Suddenly, Esper jumps through the wall of flames with the face of an angry fox. Using her arms to protect her face, she flies through the air to tackle the other girl to the ground. She quickly throws a punch to the popular girl's nose, "Just tap out already, Boscha! I'm giving you one last chance!"

The triclops glares at her, "No way, loser! I'm going to put you on the dirt!" A small trail of blood trickled down her nose from the impact of the smaller girl's punch.

The redhead is about to punch her again but looks to all her friends. She then relaxes her shoulders. She sighs, "...You know what?" She then smirks at the popular girl, "I don't even think you're worth it anymore." She simply gets up and walks away from the girl. The proud witch turns on her heel with a smug smile, not giving Boscha any more attention nor her energy.

This action obviously made Boscha's face red with rage, "WHAT?! You're the one who's not worth anything! You don't get to dictate..." She stomps her foot onto the ground, Ugh! I'll show you who's actually worth something, you little witch!"

Esper turned to face her with raised fists to defend herself. Right when Boscha was about to attack her, a red circle appeared beneath the two. The circle shot a ray of music notes in the air which stopped the bully from advancing. The smaller redhead covered her ears while the music shrieked through the air.

Skara runs in front of her new friend with her arms stretched out, "Boscha! Don't try to hurt Esper anymore! I'm warning you!"

The freckled witch's eyes widened, "Skara?"

The bully glared at her smaller friend, "Skara! You will move out of the way so I can show this little criminal who's boss around here!"

The musician turned to the smaller witch and nodded at her. She turned back to face the triclops, "Just stop it already! I'm not going to let you hurt my friend!"

Boscha clenches her fist, "Your friend? No, she is not your friend!" She stepped closer to the other girl, trying to intimidate her with her height, "I'M your friend, Skara! She's nothing but an annoying twerp!"

Skara shouts at her, "No, no more insults! Esper's a good person... She helped me see that I'm more than just the family I come from and the friends I have! She's been keeping her promise to Willow all day despite really wanting to protect her friend... From you! She may have made that promise..." She glared at her now former friend, "...But remember, I didn't."

The pink haired girl just looked astonished, "W... What..."

Esper raises her hands up in the air, "Wooo! Go Skara!" She slapped her new friend on the back, nearly knocking her down by accident. She then folds her arms towards the bully, "Well, what are you gonna do about that?"

Boscha squared her shoulders in rage, "Well then fine! If you're gonna be friends with the twerp too then I don't want to be your friend anymore!" She scoffed and turned around, leaving with her two remaining friends. She folds her arms before wiping her nose on her way out of the grudgby field...

The bard student folds her arms before she starts to tear up. Though she smiles at her new friend when the redhead put her hand on her shoulder.

Gus rubbed the back of his neck before deciding to try and lighten the mood, "Well that was rough... Can we have another montage?"

Luz pumps her fist in the air, "Yeah! Montage, activate!" She takes her phone and start to play music again.

With the music playing over them, Esper, Gus, Luz, Willow and Skara all score goals, then they are lounging in huge flowers with spring-like stems, Gus uses his illusion magic to change their team's score of 100 to 100000, the five then run up to the Owl House. King dances in his cheerleader outfit while Luz and Esper records on their phones.

King chuckles before looking up at the girls with a confused face, "You're... You're not gonna show this to anyone, right?"

Eda waves her hand, "Of course not. Keep cheering!"

The human and the redhead simply giggle while keeping their phones up.

The montage ends with Amity, now with a cast on her arm, walking into the Owl House with the help of Skara. They both shyly wave at the group before Hooty grabs them both to sit them on the couch with Luz, Esper and Willow, surrounded by Gus, King, and Eda...

Chapter Text

In the past of the Human Realm... A younger version of Luz frowns while folding her arms at her desk in elementary school. She slumps her shoulders while laying her head on the cold material. One of her hands rests on her first Azura book.

Then a younger Esper walks into the classroom with her hands behind her back, "Luz? ...I know you're still upset about that stupid Derek for taking your Azura book. Even though we already got it back."

The slightly older girl simply hums, "Hmm..."

The redhead moves her hands from behind her back to reveal a paper cutout of Azura, "But here! I made this for you! I hope it helps you feel better!" While the cutout wasn't perfect with a few unintentional slices here and there, it still stood.

This made Luz's eyes sparkle once she saw it, "...Aw!" She takes the paper cutout and places it on her desk, "Thank you, Esper!" She then notices a cut on one of her fingers, "Esper! Your hand is bleeding!"

Esper waves her hand with the injured finger, "It's okay! It's just a papercut, I'll be fine!"

The brunette shook her head, "No, don't worry! Here, I'll put a spell on your booboo to help you feel better!" She places a bandaid on the smaller girl's cut and waves her hand around it, "Pain pain, go away! And if you don't, go to someone else!"

After hearing the spell, Esper smiles with a wide grin. It reveals that she is missing a tooth before she lets out a giggle, "Hehe, I feel better already! Thanks, Luz..."

...

Now outside the Emperor's Castle... Lilith is looking down from atop from the castle walls. She is watching a cart donning a sign of the Emperor's Coven be wheeled across the bridge... The cart holds a few Wild Witches, most hidden in shadow, the ones we do see looking resigned to their fate. Something explodes out of the castle's chimney. Lilith then turns and heads inside the castle once she see the cart make it inside.

The raven witch approaches a stained glass window of Emperor Belos that portrays robed witches bowing at his feet while a Hand of the Titan reaches for the sun behind them. She closes her eyes before taking a breath, "I haven't forgotten what you've promised me... I will bring you my sister, Emperor Belos..."

A much smaller woman takes a step behind Lilith, "Then why the delay?" She has dark red skin and dark blue hair that resembles a hand wrapped around her head, fashioned in a high ponytail. Her hair covers her left eye, the sclera of her right eye is a yellow color while her iris is red. She wears a high collared sleeveless veil that is of a white and gold color with a gold triangle pin in front of her neck. She wears a black long sleeved shirt and pants underneath the veil. She does not wear shoes, however, revealing her feet to have black claws.

The pale witch turns around in surprise, "Kikimora!"

The shorter woman walks with her hands behind her back, "The Day of Unity is fast approaching, and other teams have bound many rogue witches to covens... And yet the Owl Lady still roams free. Are you... Protecting her?" She takes a step away from her comrade before looking over her shoulder, "And what of the Star Touched Witch? We both know the Emperor has been waiting to meet her..."

Lilith shook her head, "Rest assured, Kiki. I have everything under control." She snaps her fingers and a swarm of coven scouts approach upon command, "Today, we capture Eda! Once and for all!"

...

Now at the Owl House, Hooty is fast asleep... He snores lightly, "Hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot..."

Lilith emerges from the bushes circling the outside of the house, "Good. That infernal house demon is asleep..." She beckons at the scouts while they ready their weapons, "Surround the house!"

The scouts go off in different directions to surround the house.

Hooty begins to mumble, "Sleepwalking... Sleepwalking..." He then wakes up from his slumber, "Sleep-hooting!" He slams his face into the ground, popping up behind the lead witch, "Hiya, Lilith! Peek-a-hoot!" He swings his tube body at her and smashes her into a tree.

Lilith grunts, which makes the scouts charge.

The owl tube smiles at them all, "Sorry! Eda doesn't like trespassers, but I'm always here to make new friends! Hoot!" He bonks a scout on the head and his armor falls onto him, "Oh! Look at me! I'm a person now. Wobbly, wobbly! Ooh, blackout!" He punches other guard with his face, "Hoot hoot!" He throws the armor away, "Hoot hoot! Bye, friend! Ooh! I feel like dancing!" He then shakes his body to hit the scouts running towards him, "Hoot!"

Lilith grunts before grabbing her staff. She stands up to see Hooty bobbing in front of a tree. She takes aim and fires a light blue and white blast of light at him.

The owl tube cheers, "I did it!" he bends down and unintentionally dodges Lilith's spell, "Oh hey! Look, it's a bug!"

The spell blasts through the tree, which falls towards Lilith. She just dodges it and then collapses on the ground.

Hooty pouts at the ground, "Aww! Just an old leaf! Well, that's good too." He then eats the leaf while making loud chewing noises.

...

From inside the Owl House, Esper walks to her mentor with two cups of tea, "Whatcha lookin' at, Eda?"

The older witch, now wearing a yellow scarf, takes a cup from her, "Watching Hooty " She shakes the binoculars in her hand.

The redheaded witch frowns at her, "Okay, that was for Luz but aw man! I missed it! Lucky Hooty..."

Eda looks back through the binoculars, "Haha, you kinda did! Hooty! Ah, you're a thorn in my side..." She takes a sip from the cup of tea while a coven scout is slammed into the window, "...But you always dig your way into my heart!"

Meanwhile, Luz pouts briefly, "My tea..." But then her eyes sparkle at the sight of something brewing in Eda's cauldron, "Ooh, magic 'sghetti!" She then tries to touch it.

The Owl Lady frowns at her, "Hey!" She slaps Luz's hand with the spoon using a spell that makes the utensil float, "That 'sghetti is Witch's Wool! It repels powerful spells." She picks up some of the wool, "Every witch worth their salt has a cloak made from this stuff."

The brunette stares at the wool adoringly, "I'm worth salt... I want cloak!" She smiles at her childhood friend, "Don't you want a cloak, Esper?"

Esper jumps next to her, "Oh yeah! That would be so sweet to have our own cloaks!" She sits on the couch on the other side of Eda, pulling a sleeping King into her lap.

The human tries to grab the cauldron but Eda pulls it away from her.

The older witch shakes her head, "Easy, kid! With the Emperor's goons at my doorstep, I need this for protection. They have really stepped up their attacks lately!"

Luz stares at her intensely, "I think I finally understand why the Emperor wants you so badly." She giggles while joking, "He's got the hots for you, doesn't he?" This makes Esper cringe at the thought of the Emperor having a crush on their mentor.

Eda shoots finger guns and clicks her tongue, "Uh, but no. Emperor Belos wants to control all wild magic through his coven system. He ordered my capture years ago because I refuse to fall in line."

The human droops her head, "And he won't stop until he's got you..."

The gray haired witch puts a hand on the redhead's shoulder, "And I heard from a little birdy that he's after Esper to see the 'Star Touched One'."

The brunette picks up her head, "Wait, Esper's in danger now?!"

The freckled witch raises her eyebrows, "Uh yeah, they're after me?! Why didn't you tell me earlier?!" She hugs the sleeping demon closer to her.

The Owl Lady folds her arms, "Hey, hey, I only found out about it when you came home spouting about how you finally got to teach that grudgby captain a lesson. What? Did you want me to spoil your good mood?" She stopped when the two started to look uneasy, "...Awww, don't sound so worried, you two." She ruffles the witchling's hair, "Your magic is getting stronger and stronger every day so I have no doubt you can put up one heck of a fight. Besides, stick with me and they won't be able to get you that easily. I'm a master escape artist. The only thing that can slow me down is my curse, and that hasn't bothered me for weeks!" Right when she said that, feathers pop out from Eda's arms, "Uh oh..."

Eda starts to transform into the Owl Beast while the two girls gasp in horror. Esper standing in front of the human while holding King tightly in her arms.

Luz backs away from the giant monster, "King!"

The tiny demon opens his eyes, "Weh?" He rubs the sleep from his eyes, "AH!"

The redhead shouts at him, "Get the elixir! Now!" She then tosses him past the beast.

The Owl Beast raises its head at the two girls while the small demon rushes off. Esper picks up her fists in between the monster and her childhood friend...

...

Now standing in a void within her own mind, Eda gasps. Her childhood bedroom materializes out of the bleak landscape. Her younger self is sleeping in her bed and Eda sighs sadly. The door opens behind her, revealing a indistinct shadow wearing what seems to be large glasses.

The older woman glares at the shadow, "You know, I'm getting a little tired of this game!" She approaches the shadow and tries to grab it, "So, why don't you just show me your face?"

...

Back in the real world, Eda is now holding Luz's face while the human holds an empty bottle of elixir to her mouth. Esper has her arms around her, like she was attempting to hold her back.

The owl lady's voice sounds muffled due to the bottle, "Oh..." She lets Luz's face go and takes bottle out of mouth, "Whew! Oh, thanks for this! You can let me go now." She stands to back away from Esper, knocking over about a dozen other empty bottles, "And those..." Her scarf falls off, revealing that her gem is still half black.

The redhead gasps while shaking her friend. She points to the gem on her mentor's chest, "Hey, your gem! It's still dark!"

Eda's eyes widen a her statement, "Uh..." She pulls her scarf back on to cover her gem on her chest, "No, it's not! You two are nuts!"

The human points a finger at her, "The curse has been getting worse and you've been hiding it from us!"

The older witch sighs, "Ugh... you're right. It's taking more elixir to turn me back and more magic to keep the curse from rearing its feathery head."

Luz frowns at her mentor, "What happens if you use your magic up? Do you... "

Both girls' eyes widen at the same time while they speak, "Do you die?"

Eda quickly shakes her head, "No! Jeez, you're both morbid! I just kinda, sorta, turn into the Owl Beast... Forever. Ah, it's a fate much worse than death if you think about it." She start to laugh sarcastically.

The human begins to freak out, "No! No, I-I can't let that happen!" I'll do something about it! I-We-"

Her younger friend puts her hand on her shoulder, "Luz, we just need to find a way to cure it or I don't know... Keep it at bay longer?"

The brunette nods her head at her, "Right! We'll find a cure and then-"

The Owl Lady puts her hand on Luz's other shoulder, "Hey, don't worry. I just have to limit my magic use a little." She smiles upon seeing that she made the girl grin, "Ah! There's the Luz I know!"

Luz sadly pouts with puppy eyes at Eda, which makes Esper snicker.

Eda groans, "Ugh, go on. Do the parallel arm thing..."

The human immediately beams and hugs Eda tightly. The smaller witch hugs the other side of their shared mentor.

King pokes his head into the room and rushes to also hug Eda, "King demands huggies too!"

The Owl Lady frowns at all the children, "Oh come on!" She walks in a strained manner with Luz and Esper wrapped around her torso and King on her right leg, "It's... Time... For... School!"

The redhead lets out a giggle, "Hehe, just like me and my dad!"

...

Now at the kitchen door, where the girls are beginning to leave for school.

Eda smiles at the two, "Have a good day!"

Esper smiles at her, "You too! Oh hey, maybe I can do some magic chores around the house more? Oh! And maybe you can show me how to make potions when I get back!"

Luz playfully pushes her friend while talking to their mentor, "Get rest! Drink lots of water! Stay out of the sun! Lift with your knees, not your-"

The older witch slams the door on the both of them, "Such good kids! So considerate. They deserve something nice..." She picks up cauldron of witch's wool, "And I think I know what!"

...

Now the girls are walking through the forest to get to school, talking amongst themselves.

Luz slumps her shoulders with a frown, "Poor Eda. Enemies everywhere, even her own body! I wish we could help her."

Esper rubs her chin, "I'm sure we can find some way to-"

Suddenly, both girls hear a distant scream. The two peek through bushes to see Hooty, wrapped around beaten up guards and scouts while serving them tea. One of the guards is trying to crawl away from him, feebly.

Hooty smiles at the soldiers, "The roughhousing was fun, but I like this part of our playdates even better!"

The duo stand and shudder at each other before rushing to school. They both pass by a compact mirror on a pile of dirt that starts to vibrate. Lilith's arm emerges from the dirt to grab the compact mirror. She grabs opens it while she drags herself out of the dirt pile with a bird nest on top of her head.

Kikimora appears on the small mirror and speaks, "The Emperor demands your presence in the throne room! ...And there's a bird on your head."

Lilith looks up, where there is in fact now a bird in the nest. The black bird smirks at her, "Oooo... You're in trouble!"

The raven witch groans and closes the compact mirror.

...

Now at Hexside, Principal Bump looks at clipboard while various students are lined up for a flying ship. Luz and Esper walk up to Amity, Willow and Gus, who are also in line. Skara and Jasper are further up in the line, talking to each other.

The illusionist smiles at the two before posing, "Luz, Esper, you ready for the field trip of a lifetime to the one, the only, Emperor's Castle!" He shakes his hands to add some pizzazz to his pose.

The human shakes her head and folds her arms, "Right. I was actually gonna stay behind. I don't like the way they treat Eda."

The freckled witch folds her arms alongside her friend, "Yeah, dude! They're constantly after her!"

Gus shoves a book towards both their faces, "But you're gonna miss out on all the cool stuff!"

The redhead witch rolls her eyes, "Like what?"

Willow put a hand on her shoulder, "Like ancient relics! Look, it's the Plant Coven's Green Thumb Gauntlet! It can grow whatever you imagine!" The book shows a picture of regular trees captioned "BEFORE." And the other side has the tree tops act like heads with arms and abs and one is holding an owl's nest in the "AFTER" section.

Luz hums while looking at the page, "Mmm..."

The freckled witch folds her arms alongside her friend, "But dude! They're constantly after Eda! AND ME!"

Gus blushes at her, "Aw maybe they just wanna talk to you about something?" He points at another page, "And the Oracle Sphere! The picture shows a white sphere with a two-headed snake on it, "It shows you which path will help you become your best self!"

Esper raises her eyebrows, "...Okay, I may be interested in that." She folds her arms, "Plus, Eda did say I was tough!"

Amity points at the page next to the sphere with her good arm, "There's also the Healing Hat!" Her other arm is wrapped in bandages within a white sling around her shoulder. She also has a flask filled with Abomination goop tied around her waist with a string.
Luz starts to read from the page, "The Healing Hat. Made from the magic of the Savage Ages. It is said to cure the deadliest diseases... And heal any curse?"
The plant witch pumps her fist in the air, "Yeah! You can't miss this!"
At the front of the line, Principal Bump gestures for everyone to come closer, "All aboard students!"
Skara and Jasper sit together in the chairs on the flying ship, quickly inviting Esper to sit with them. Willow, Gus and Amity head for the giant boat, dropping the book.

Luz hums, "Mmm..." She then picks up the book, "You've done so much for me, Eda. Now! I'm gonna do something for you..."

...
Now on the flying ship headed for the Emperor's Castle, Esper playfully pushes Skara. This makes the other girl giggle. Then all the students on board start to cheer, including Skara and Jasper. Though Esper simply shakes her head.
Principal Bump shouts at his students, "No roughhousing! Do not make me turn this carriage around!"
The redhead sticks her tongue out at the principal and gets up from her seat to nudge the pale girl in the Abomination uniform, "Hey, Amity! By the way... I've been wanting to ask you something since the first day of the semester!"
The popular witch nods her head, "Oh! Of course! What is it?"
The freckled witch smiles at her, "Well... I was hoping you could..." Her eyes then sparkle, "Show me how to form an Abomination!"

Amity nodded her head at her, "Oooh! That's what you wanted!" She gestures to the flask tied around her waist, "I only have a little bit of goop on me but I'll be happy to show you how to use it. You know... To thank you for..." She started to whisper, "Not telling you know who about you know what... And being a good sport about the grugby game."

Esper shrugged her shoulders, "Of course! Now come on, show me some little baby Abominations!"

Meanwhile, Luz is writing something down in her notepad. She has drawn the Healing Hat and wrote down, 'HEALING HAT HEIST 1. Sneak into castle! 2. Steal healing hat! 3. Lift curse!' She had drawn arrows pointing at the drawing of the hat.

Willow walks close next to her side, "Hey, Luz!"

The human jumps in her seat, "Ah!" She hides her notepad, "Um, what was that, Willow?"

The plant witch smiles at her, "I was just saying we were getting close to the castle." She and Luz look over the side of the ship, "Emperor Belos built it as a symbol of unity. Before he came to power, folks were doing magic all wrong! He taught us that the only way to respect what the Titan gave us is through joining covens!"

Luz looks squints her eyes in doubt.

Meanwhile, Amity forms a circle with one hand near the flask full of Abomination goop. The goop floats out of the glass and into the air, where it dances until it formed a small Abomination monster. She smiled at the redhead next to her, "Notice how the circle stabilizes the Abomination. The stronger the circle, the better the Abomination."

She allowed the goop to fall on the wall of the ship in a goopy form, "Here, now you try."

The redheaded witch nodded her head, "That circle thing does make sense. Okay, let's try it..." While her circle was little wobbly at first, it soon became a wobbly Abomination shape, "Hey look! I'm doing it!" She brings the goop closer to herself and started to change it's shape into a circle.

Soon, the goop wiggled and shifted into a star shape. The star opened it's eyes to reveal that they were green and it high fived it's creator.

Esper smiled at the star Abomination, "Wooo! I did it! Oh, this is awesome!"

Amity raised an eyebrow at her creature, "Why'd you make one shaped like a star?"

The redhead pokes her star shaped Abomination, "I don't know. It just felt right! Besides, it was easier to make than a regular ol' Abomination."

The golden eyed witch slowly nods her head, "I see... Hey, Esper? How do you feel about visiting the Emperor's Coven?"

The freckled witch shrugged her shoulders, "Ehhhh, I'm interested in the relics but that's kinda it. How about you? Especially with that broken arm."

Amity gestures with her hands in front of herself to try and keep her composure. She looks down at the cast on her arm, "I am just so glad I could still come." She took a deep breath, "No no, don't lose your cool, Amity. Stay calm, stay calm..."

Esper let out a giggle, "Hahaha! Careful Princess! You know we have to keep an eye on you!" She then raised an eyebrow when she noticed her looking worried, "...Hey, you alright?"

The pale witch looked down at her sling bound arm, "Yeah, I'm just wondering if I should keep this on me or not. It's not like I'll need it inside the castle." She gestures with her sling bound arm, "And I can't exactly use magic with this arm right now..."

Esper takes the flask of Abomination goop from her friend, "Here, I'll take it off your hands." She then ties the string tightly around her waist.

Luz continues to talk to her friend, "So, Willow... Would you say this Belos guy is, like, powerful?"

The plant witch chuckles at her, "No offense to Eda, but the Emperor is the most skilled witch that's ever lived. He can even talk to the Titan!"

Esper tilts her head at her friends, "Psssh, talk to the Titan! ...Wait, the Titan?"

Gus jumps up next to her, "Yeah!"

The redheaded girl scratches the back of her head, "No, that's not what I meant. I just remember that name for some reason. Why does that name sound so familiar to me?"

The illusionist squints his eyes at her, "Do you think it has something to do with your memories?"

The freckled witch looks away from him, "Probably..." A flash of the mysterious women who pushed them out of her own memories appeared in her thoughts before she took a breath...

Soon enough, the ship lands in front of the castle... Where the incredibly tall door open to welcome the students inside. Much to the joy of a giddy Amity trying to calm herself down.

Principal Bump smiles at his students, "Now, the Emperor's assistant will be your tour guide. Please don't make me regret taking you here."

Kikimora stands on a platform while a bridge extends to the ship.

All the children from the class look at the bridge with amazed faces, "Whoa! Look at that!" Jasper gasps while pointing at it, "It's massive!" The bridge retreats and bringing the students closer to Kikimora.

The Emperor's assistant smiles at all of them, "Children of Hexside, Emperor Belos welcomes you to his castle. We're honored by visits from students. You'll soon be a part of a coven, some lucky few may even find their home here! In the mighty Emperor's Coven!" She looks right at Esper before her eyes dart to Amity.

The redhead takes a step back and whispers to Luz, "You saw that right? Freaky little hand lady looked dead at me!"

The human whispers back to her, "I know! That didn't seem normal!"

Amity from Luz's other side smiled widely, "And isn't that great, Esper? She looked at me too! This is amazing!"

The other students are heard chattering, "She looked at me!" "Wow!" "Awesome!"

The smaller woman snaps her fingers to get their attention, "You are all... The future of the Isles! My job is to teach you its past."

They all walk into the castle to see guards flank either side of a hallway. They are all saluting, while others walk on overpasses. The walls are covered in tapestries, murals, and statues.

The students all gasps, "Ooh!" "Whoa!"

Kikimora squares her shoulders, "Today, the Isles are a place of peace and prosperity. But that wasn't always the case." She gestures to a mural of witches dancing around a fire, "Up until 50 years ago, witches and demons practiced wild magic during what we called the Savage Ages." She leads the students away, "Witches had access to corrupt knowledge, and that dishonored the Titan..."

Luz stops at a grate, which Esper did not notice. The redhead rolls her eyes before slumping her shoulders in boredom. Amity still smiles excitedly next to her while Skara giggles at her. Jasper elbows the bard girl, who elbows Esper to get her to walk straight. Gus follows Kikimora with a smile next to Willow.

The small assistant smiles at a mural, "That was until our great Emperor ascended to the throne and taught witches how to use magic properly." She gestures to the mural of Emperor Belos holding up a beam of light with witches below celebrating his power, "Our next stop is the Emperor's personal collection of relics."

Willow moves to touch her friend, "Oh! Luz, you'll like this. It's where-" She realizes that she is simply touching air, "Huh?"

The human struggles to open the vent before she notices Willow and Gus looking at her, "Hehe... Uh, love me a properly ventilated castle!" She does get up to follow the rest of the group, much to the suspicion of her two friends.

...

Kikimora opens the door to the new room, "The Relic Room! These items are reminders of our great Emperor's overwhelming power!" She passes the Oracle Sphere, "From the curious and mighty."

Gus's eyes sparkle at the object, "Oooh!"

The short woman passes the Green Thumb Gauntlet, "To the very handy."

Willow taps her feet excitedly, "Oh, I could grow such beautiful things with that!"

Kikimora then passes by the Healing Hat, "And even, the most valuable!"

Luz stares at the hat while Willow is admiring the gauntlet...

Esper walks within the group of children until... She suddenly starts to hear a ringing noise in her ear, "Argh..." She starts to hold her head in pain while her birthmark on her leg starts to glow.

Luz rushes to whisper to her, "Esper! Your birthmark is glowing!"

Her childhood friend speaks through gritted teeth, "I can see that. Can't exactly stop it!"

Kikimora turns upon hearing the whisper, "Is there something wrong, girls?"

Gus speaks up, "Uh, I don't know." He puts a hand on her arm, "Esper, are you feeling alright?"

The redhead speaks to both her friends, "My head... It's killing me all of a sudden!" She begins to lean on the illusionist, who blushes before attempting to keep her upright.

The tiny assistant shifted her eyes towards all the students, "Hmmm..." She lets out a cough to clear her throat, "Well, that's no good. Can't have an injured child walking around. It looks like she will not be able to continue the tour."

Jasper speaks up from the crowd, "I'll take her back to Principle Bump, Miss Kikimora." He holds up Esper's arm from Gus's side, who let him grab her before walking off to join Willow.

Skara walks over to pick up Esper's arm from Luz's side, "I'll help you too. Come on, Esper, we're going back to the ship. You'll be okay..."

The redhead could barely hear the both of them but nods her head. She allows the two to pick her up by under the arms. She turns her head back to the closing doors once they enter the hallway, her eyes briefly glowing white. They return to normal when they start to walk away from the room.

Back in the Relic Room, Kikimora shakes her head with a scowl, "Come along, children!"

Willow rushes to catch up to the group. Luz starts walking towards the Healing Hat...

But Gus runs up and pulls her arm, "Let's go, Luz!"

...

Now in the other hallway, the short assistant continues to speak to the other students, "Here at the Emperor's Coven, we require members with sophistication, elegance, and grace!"A door slams open with Lilith is standing there. She has leaves in her disheveled hair and spits out a few feathers and makes her staff vanish. She then enters, which makes Luz gasp and duck around a corner.

Kikimora smiles at her mockingly, "Ah! Make way for Miss Lilith Clawthorne, students."

The rest of the class all gasp in awe, "Oh, my gosh! The head of the coven! Wow!"

The Emperor's assistant waves her hand, "Yes, and if I'm not mistaken, she's on her way to see the Emperor himself! Let's all wish her luck!"

Amity smiles at her mentor, "Good luck, Miss Lilith!" She waves to her.

Lilith blushes in embarrassment and turns her head away from the class, "Thank you, students. Good luck with puberty."

Kikimora smirks before motioning to the students, "This way, children!"

Most of the class follows Kikimora down the hall while Lilith enters a door.

Luz looks after the older witch, "Hmm..."

...

Meanwhile in the first hallway, Esper's head continues to hurt. She moves her hand on Skara's side to clutch it... The bard girl starts to form a circle with her finger, "Hey, are you alright? I can try and see if a song can soothe your head."

The freckled witch shakes her head, "Skara... I love your songs but I don't think my brain is really in the mood right now..." She hears a distinct buzz in her ear, "I... I think I need to stop..."

Jasper nods at her, "Sure, let's take a break." He lays her against the wall, "Just chill here for a second, Esper."

The other two students started to talk between themselves, obviously worried for their friend. They soon turned away from the redhead so their voices wouldn't hurt her head too much.

The buzzing noise in Esper's head decided to turn into a voice... A very muffled voice but still, someone was speaking to her. But no one actually was. She was hearing a young boy's voice in her head...

"...Let's go... Game... Play..."

The voice took a brief pause before speaking more, "Come on!"

The redheaded witch takes a breath before struggling to stand up, the voice playing n her head over and over again. She covered her ears in an attempt to silence the voice but to no avail. Both her friend missed her while she started to walk down the hallway and through the corner.

She takes a deep breath while clutching her head, "Who... Who's speaking to me right now?"

Jasper turned his head, only to see that their friend wasn't there, "Wait... Where'd Esper go?"

Skara's eyebrows raised in surprise, "I don't know! She was just in pain, how'd she get away so fast?"

Eventually, Esper made her way to the end of the next hallway... Even through stumbling, she had opened the door to another room. A much darker room... She heard a whisper, "Hey... Are you... Play?"

The freckled witch spotted a blue glint on the ground in front of her and peered up at the room. Her birthmark began to shine the same color. She looked around before her eyes were drawn to a small, circular tablet that was blue and had a crescent moon on it. Despite her head hurting, the girl began to walk closer and closer to the metal object.

She begins to reach for it, "I do play..." Until the light from her birthmark reflected on a golden object laid below the blue tablet.

The redhead squints at the object, "What is that? ...A sword?" She looks down at the long object, it is a large wooden staff with a golden blade at the top end of it. Towards the bottom of the staff was a red cloth tied around the wood and the bottom has a gold, metal covering. She touches the blade and her eyes widen when an image of the spear flashes in her mind, "This... This is my spear!"

"It's actually a glaive."

The Star Touched Witch turns to see a older boy who's head was covered in a white hood. He is wearing an outfit similar Emperor Coven guard's uniform, but in white and gold with a gold pauldron resting on his left shoulder. And his face was hidden by a golden mask...

...

Lilith walks through the halls with Luz tailing her just out of sight. The closer to the Emperor's room they get, the more pipes are visible snaking around the walls. Luz is nearly caught, but ducks behind a corner before the older witch turns around. When she continues on, the human peeks from the corner.

Amity follows her brunette friend and speaks to her, "Luz? What are you doing?"

The human raises her eyebrows before pulling her friend into her hiding space, "Shhh, Amity, I just wanna see what Lilith is doing."

The green haired girl blushes immensely from the sudden closeness, "Oh! Um, okay. Let's uh, let's watch Lilith together... Haha..."

Lilith stops at a massive door to clean herself up before entering and closing the door. Both Luz and Amity run up and watch through the giant keyhole.

Inside is a massive throne room... A gigantic beating green heart is hooked up to pipes above the golden throne, which is flanked with flaming braziers. Various guards are standing around the room, surrounding their Emperor. Belos himself is sitting on the throne with his head in his hand.

The raven witch approaches the throne and kneels, "I am at your service, Emperor Belos."

Emperor Belos breathes in heavily... Which makes a guard bring a Palisman on a tray to present to him and he grabs it, "Just a moment, Lilith..." He takes the Palisman and sinks the finger guards into the Palisman's neck and breaks its head off. Glowing green goop falls out of the Palisman, which he pours into the eye holes of his mask. His black eyes suddenly flash a glowing green. He lets out a long sigh, "Ah, that's better..."

Luz and Amity both gasp at the sight and pull away from the door, the human covers her mouth. She whimpers and runs off, pulling her friend with her.

The green haired witch whispers to her, "Luz... We... We need to go back to the school."

The human frowns at her, "Amity... You go back, you're still hurt and Esper is the one with your Abomination goop." She puts her hand on her shoulder, "Please, I'll be back soon. I promise."

The other girl starts to blush, "Okay, I can do that... Please be careful, Luz."

Back in the throne room, Emperor Belos glares at his subordinate from behind his mask, "How is the hunt for the Owl Lady? I heard you attempted a raid this morning."

The raven witch nods her head, "Yes, but we were-"

The Emperor shakes his head, "Unsuccessful? That was obvious enough. It's been over a month since you promised to bring me the Owl Lady. Well, where is she? And what of the Star Touched Witch? They live together, do they not?"

Lilith frowns at him, "If I just had more time, I-"

Emperor Belos slams a fist onto his desk, "I'm getting bored of your excuses, Lilith. I already figured I should give the task of bringing me the Star Touched Witch to someone else. Don't worry, I'll give you the time you need. Bring the Owl Lady to me by twilight. She'll join the Emperor's Coven and in return, I'll heal her little curse. But, if you fail..." His nails dig into his throne which makes the heart above the throne beats faster, "You will be stripped of your rank and banished from my coven! You do know what happens to coven-less witches, don't you?"

The woman looks up at the same mural the students saw in the hall. She starts to hear screams in her head, in actuality the witches ae screaming and begging for mercy. Not worshipping the emperor...

The raven witch stands up, "I-I understand. I will not fail." She then turns and leaves the room...

...

Back at the Owl House, where Eda is in the living room. She is sitting on the couch, knitting with the witch's wool. King is taking a nap next to her.

The older witch holds up a dark blue cloak, "Yeah! Something tells me Luz and Esper are gonna like having a cape!" She picks up the other cloak, which is a dark purple.

King wakes up from his slumber, "Cape? I thought you were making cake!"

The Owl Lady tilts an eyebrow at him, "You thought I was knitting a cake?"

The tiny demon blinks back at her, "I... Uh... Anyway! If there's no cake, then I have to get to work!" He starts to runs off, "Would you look at us two, being all generous to those kids!"

Crashing can be heard while he is rummaging through the kitchen.

King's voice can be heard from the other room, "You know what, when Luz first got here, I thought we were gonna eat her. And maybe keep the witch to do our bidding!"

A louder crash knocks a picture off the wall while the young demon shouts, "But now I only think of that, like, sometimes!"

Eda shrugs her shoulders, "Yeah, they've really changed the feel of this house..." She picks up the fallen picture, which shows Luz shoveling purple and green tentacles in her mouth with a banner behind her reading 'FINISH OR DIE!' Esper is depicted next to her with an already finished plate with a proud smile and small crumbs on her face.

She lets out a sigh, "Well, Luz always had a good heart but was impatient and always bit off more than she could chew. Esper can definitely be stubborn and doesn't think before she acts but she does give can actually be rather empathetic. Despite all that... I think they're both finally growing up..."

...

Back at the Emperor's Castle, Luz peeks out of a curtain to look through a window. She is watching the class leave, "It's a good thing they sent Esper home early! Please don't notice I'm gone, please don't notice I'm... Boarding the bus?"

She blinks and rubs her eyes to see that there is a Luz is on the bridge. That Luz turns around and sticks out her tongue at the real one still inside the castle. Amity is seen sitting in front of the ship and smiles when the fake Luz sits next to her.

The human rubs her head, "Huh?" She suddenly feels a tap on the shoulder, "Wah!"

Luz turns around to see Willow and Gus standing next to her. The small illusionist is spinning three spell circles with his hands.

The brunette scratches her chin, "Oh! Guys. I, uh..."

The plant witch pulls Luz's notepad out of her pocket, "You were planning on taking the Healing Hat, weren't you?" The girl in the purple uniform shakes her head disapprovingly.

The human sighs, "You got me. But you don't understand! Eda has this curse and it's zapping away her magic, and-"

Willow shakes her head, "Luz... No matter what, you can't steal this hat."

The illusionist then steps in front of their plant loving friend, "But, you can borrow it!" He turns to their green haired friend, "Right Amity?"

The witch with glasses frowns at the both of them, "Hey! I wanted to say that! We learned about Eda's curse from your notes. We're totally gonna help you!"

Luz starts to tear up, "Thanks, guys!" She then pulls them into a hug, "I know exactly what we gotta do. It's time for a heist!"

Willow, Luz, and Gus sneak through the halls when they see a guard coming down the stairs. They duck behind a small bush, which Willow grows into the shape of a unicorn. The guard stops, nudges its horn and continues on. The three then run off...

Another guard is standing in a hallway. The four notice them and come out of a door stacked together awkwardly under one uniform. Luz waves, high-fives the guard, and fingerguns while they retreat. The guard is very confused and Luz looks at the vent from earlier. She draws out a fire glyph and melts the vent. They reach yet another hallway, where Gus creates a double of Kikimora to send a guard off. Once the guard leaves, the illusion of the high ranking coven member doing the worm. Gus laughs at the sight, oblivious to Luz and Willow's confused looks.

Finally, the three enter the Relic Room...

...

Back in the treasure room, Esper squints her eyes at the new 'face', "Who are you?"

The older boy straightened his shoulders, "I am the Golden Guard and I have been tasked with making sure the Emperor is safe. I wasn't expecting to find the Star Touched Witch however. Especially in the Emperor's secret treasure room."

The freckled witch smiled at him while shrugging her shoulders, "Uh yeah, that's me! Star Touched Witch! I just came to collect my spear and go."

The Golden Guard folded his arms, "Huh... Funny, there were no reports about you wielding a glaive."

The girl pointed at the weapon in her hand, "Okay one, it's totally a spear! And two... I don't know, I just... Feel like it's mine somehow."

The mask wearing teen shook his head, "So you're just going to steal it? Listen, the Emperor does wish to speak with you! So maybe you can ask him about it when you meet with him. Perhaps he'll let you keep it." He extends his hand to her, "Just come with me and I will take you to him right away."

Esper reaches forward and is about to take the strange boy's hand, "Yeah..." Until she grabs it and yanks him so hard that he falls behind her. She begins to run ahead of him, "That just sounds too good to be true!"

The Golden Guard begins to rush after her, "Hey! Get back here!"

The redhead started sprinting down the hallway, "Hey! Hey guys!"

Her two friends turn around upon hearing her voice. Skara smiles when she sees her friend, "Esper!" The boy's eyes widen, "Where did you go?!"

Esper grabs the bard student's hand while they run, "I'll explain later! Come on, stay right behind me! Some Golden Guard is after me!"

Jasper's mouth flies open, "THE Golden Guard?! You got the attention of THE Golden Guard? We're so dead!" He turns to see the other teen flying towards them on a staff with a red light at the top and turns back to the girls, "He's getting closer!"

The redhead lets go of her friend's hand, "Not if I can help it! Keep going!" Once they get to the front doors, she shifts her shoulder to tackle the door. They burst open and the trio run through, however, they are stopped by the lack of a bridge and a chasm full of spikes.

Skara looks down at the pointy stones, "What should we do?!"

The girl with freckles turns to get a good look at his staff, "Wait a minute... We can fly without Palisman?"

The boy with blue hair takes a step back from her, "I... Um... What are you going to do?"

Upon seeing the Golden Guard fly closer and closer to them, Esper turns to the chasm with a determined look. She turned the spear so that she is sitting with the blade side towards the ground. She turns to her friends, "Guys, get on! We're doing this!" With her brows furrowed, her birthmark started to glow a bright white color.

Jasper sat behind the bard student, "Waaaaait! What are you doing?!"

Skara suddenly wrapped her arms around her smaller friend's waist, "We can't fly on this thiiiiiiiiiiing!" She looks down to see that they were actually flying in the air, "Holy Titan!"

Jasper looks down at the chasm while they flew over it, "Esper, how are you doing this?!"

The redhead tried not to look down while guiding the spear in the air, "Honestly! I have no clue!"

The three landed on the hard ground below, each covering their faces from the impact. They rolled around for a few seconds before they each got up. Esper picked up her spear and pointed it towards the approaching guard...

The Golden Guard was about to fly across the chasm until his attention was called back by Steve. The older scout shouted to his superior, "Golden Guard, sir! The Emperor wishes for your presence in his throne room."

The smaller guard spoke under his breathe, "Uncle..." He saluted the scout until he flew back inside the palace, the doors closed behind him...

After a brief cheer among themselves, the trio decided it was best to head back home. Especially after seeing that they had actually missed the ship. After a bit of a walk, the three eventually reached The Owl House.

Jasper waves his hand at his smaller friend, "Okay... That was one crazy day. You... You do you, Esper."

Skara nodded her head, "Yeaaaaah, that was too much adventure for me for one day. Have a good night, Esper! See you in school!"

Esper waved back at them while they left, "Bye guys! Have a safe walk back home!" She then relaxed the spear against her shoulder before she slams the door open, "Man! Do I have a crazy story to tell you guys about this whole field trip!"

...

Back at the Relic Room of the Emperor's Castle... Luz sees the relic she is after, "Healing Hat... Mmm! You're Eda's last hope." She grabs the hat, which starts to glow, "I-I can feel it! I can feel the magic flowing!"

Gus smiles at her, "Me too!" He holds up the Oracle Sphere, "Finally, I'm about to become my best self!"

He pouts some magic into the sphere, and a purple-tinted double of him appears. The copy whispers to him, "You're always your best self.

The real boy tears up and starts crying while the copy pats his back to comfort him.

Meanwhile, Willow is wearing the Green Thumb Gauntlet with an excited look on her face. She grows a large wooden arm, which flexes and then sinks back into the Gauntlet. She smiles at the result, "Whoa! I just wanted to try it out!" She returns the gauntlet with a chuckle.

The human laughs, "Now we can cure Eda and get this hat back before anyone knows it's gone."

However the room suddenly distorts and pulses around all of them. The voice of the Emperor can be heard throughout the room, "I will know..."

The room suddenly returns to normal and everyone is looking at the ceiling. Luz and Willow back up nervously.

The brunette starts to shake, "We need to go. Now!"

Barricades drop in front of the doors, locking them in. Luz and Gus gasp in shock. To make matters worse, the doors of the room lock themselves to further keep them inside.

Willow grabs the Green Thumb Gauntlet, "Stand back!" She grows a massive, buff tree and it extends its arms at one of the barricades.

...

Meanwhile in the hallway, Lilith is pacing in front of the stained glass mural of the Emperor, "Lilith, think! You've given your entire life to this coven, you can't lose it! What's Eda's weakness? That Star Touched Witch isn't even in the castle anymore! Eda has no attachment, no friends... Think!"

She ends up punching the wall at the same time a loud crash happens. She stares at her hand for a moment before walking away.

...

Back in the Relic Room, the barricade now has a hole in it. Luz coughs while Willow's tree shrinks to nothing.

The human tries to walk ahead, "Come on, let's go!" She then gasps.

She stops at the sight of Lilith's pointed staff. Using her Palisman, Lilith pushes down the hood of Luz's cowl to blind her.

The raven witch smiles at her, "Why, if it isn't Eda's human pet. How perfect!" She starts to walk closer to the girl, "Aren't I lucky to find you here! Where's that Star Touched friend of yours?"

Luz backs away from her, "Like I'd tell you! Stay away! If you touch us, Eda will come after you so fast-"

The older witch teleports right in front of her, "That's the plan."

Willow raises the Green Thumb Gauntlet in the air, "Run, Luz!" She grows a wooden arm to grab Lilith's staff. The human runs away.

But Lilith uses her staff to fling Willow toward the door.

Gus takes a fighting stance while he glares at the older witch, "Like we'd ever let you take Luz! Or tell you where Esper is! So... Wrong move, Lilith. It's two against one, and you don't stand a chance against-"

Lilith pokes the copy of Gus with her staff, which makes him explode into a cloud of smoke. She then throws him across the room and he lands alongside Willow.

The raven witch uses her magic to float the hat towards herself, "Now, that doesn't belong to you!"

Luz grabs the hat, "No!" She tries to pull the hat free from Lilith's magic. The witch closes her fist and her magic rips the hat in half. It blackens and grumbles to dust...

The human shouts at her, "No! I needed that to heal your sister!"

Lilith raises an eyebrow at this, "Huh?" She then grabs Luz, "These decrepit relics are useless. If you wanna see your friend again, deliver this to Edalyn."

The older witch throws her staff to Willow and Gus. Which then takes the two of them and flies away into the distance.

Willow shouts while she reaches for their friend, "Luz!"

Luz looks nervously at Lilith while the older witch smirks.

...

Back at the Owl House, where Eda folds a completed witch's wool cloak. Esper is next to her with a noticeable smudge of flour on her cheek. Her mentor presents the purple cape to her, "Here you go, kid. Made this with my own two hands for ya!"

The redheaded child cheered, "Wow! Thank you so much, Eda! I love it! You know what, I think I'm going to wear it right now!" She wraps the cape around her neck, tying it under her hood, "Woooow! And I know Luz is going to love hers!"

Hooty opened the door to shout at the two, "Speaking of! I spy with my little eye something coming this way!"

Both witches smile a the door, "Luz!"

King shouts from the kitchen, "Wait!" He pushes a cake into the living room, "Wait for me! You're not the only one who knows dark magic!" He holds up cake mix box, "Esper showed me how to perform this dark magic called 'baking!' Turns out it's nothing like cooking... Now stop gawking and load me in!"

The Owl Lady laughs at him while Esper stands and helps him in.

The demon struggles while she pushes him in, "Ow! Ow! Gentle, Esper!"

Suddenly, the shadow of Willow and Gus on Lilith's staff passes the window. The two knock on the front door, which Eda opens. Her face falls when she sees it's not Luz. She turns to her student, "Esper, come here."

The smaller witch's smile falls when she only sees her friends from school, "What's going on?"

Willow frowns at the two witches, "We... We have some bad news..." She gestures to the object behind her and her friend...

Lilith's staff is floating and glowing blue.

Eda glares at it, "Lilith..." She reaches her hand out, which makes Owlbert fly into her hand in staff form. Golden electricity emits from the Palisman's eyes. She turns to her student, "Esper, stay here."

The child shook her head at her, "No way! I'm going with you!"

The Owl Lady shook her head back at her, "No, you're not! You're staying here with these everyone else, where it's safe."

Esper ran in front of her mentor, "NO! I am going with you! Luz is MY friend and she's in trouble!"

The older witch rubbed her forehead, "I'm not going to put you in danger!"

The young girl held her spear in both her hands, "I don't care! I'd do anything to protect her..." She turns to her school friends, "Willow, Gus... I promise, Luz will be okay."

Eda takes another look at Esper before an image of a younger version of herself flash over her in her mind. Once she blinked, the image of herself disappeared but the redhead's determined look remained the same. She then put her hand on her student's shoulder and let out a sigh, "...Okay." She lets her Palisman float in the air, "Get on, we're getting Luz back."

Esper nods her head and jumps on the front of the staff. Eda sits behind her before they suddenly fly off in a flash of yellow light.

...

Now at the bridge to the Emperor's Castle.... Lilith stands near the entrance, "Come on, Edalyn. You would be late when I need you most!"

She looks to the top of the castle, where Emperor Belos is looking down at her. Yellow light flashes and Eda floats in midair with Esper holding her spear behind her. Lilith smirks before her sister throws her staff at her. It narrowly misses her face and leaves a crater in the castle wall behind her.

Lilith smiles at her family, "Sister! I see that you got my invitation to a Witch's Duel!"

Bolts of electricity fly at the raven witch, though none actually hit her. Eda flies towards her to taunt her. Lilith blocks one hit with a summoned shield. She summons her staff and fires a bolt of blue lightning at Eda.

The younger sister flies at her, "Where is she?"

The older witch holds up her hand, "Easy now!"

Eda and Esper stop charging at her.

Lilith frowns at the both of them, "The human is safe." She taps her staff to the ground. A blue bubble flies out of the castle, with Luz inside of it.

The human presses her face to the wall of the bubble, "Eda! Esper!"

The raven witch walks in front of the bubble, "You can have her back, provided you both do as I say. Renounce your wild ways and join the Emperor's Coven! He can help heal your curse!"

The Owl Lady glares at her, "Don't believe everything that bonehead tells you. He doesn't want to heal me, he wants to control me!"

Lilith spins her staff, "Then I will take you in by force!"

Eda keeps her glare on her sister, "You've always looked down on me because I'm wild, but fortunately, that just made me work harder than you!" She then slams her staff on the ground, summoning a towering owl made of light behind her.

She rushes at Lilith, launching her in the air with a swing of her staff.

Inside the castle, guards turn to watch. Esper rushes to her friend in order to hit the bubble with her spear, trying to break it but to no avail.

In the air, Eda appears behind Lilith. The older sister disappears before Eda swings her staff. The raven witch reappears behind Eda right when Eda disappears. Eda appears behind Lilith and kicks her, then zaps away to chase her. From the bridge below, Esper and Luz watch Eda and Lilith zip across the sky, nothing but gold and blue lights weaving and crashing into each other. Lilith shoots a beam of blue light at Luz's bubble, sending it flying off balance. Esper attempts to catch it before nearly slipping off the wood. Eda lands on the bridge.

Luz screams while the bubble she is in starts to suddenly roll towards the edge of the wood.

Both mentor and student shout, "Luz!" Before Eda uses her magic to redirect the boards of the bridge to keep Luz from falling off.

Esper floats on one of the slabs of wood like it is a skateboard in the air. Her birthmark glows before she jumps closer to the raven witch.

Both her and Lilith drop down with Esper immediately taking a piece of paper out of her pocket to shove into the older witch's face. She briefly blinds her with the light glyph before rushing to slash at her with her spear. Lilith blocks it with her staff with her eyes slowly opening, "Careful, little one. You could cut somebody with that!" She shoves the young girl away...

Upon being pushed away from the older woman, Esper spins and forms two circles with her hands, "Oh yeah? Well take this!" One circle was green while the other was a light blue. A large vine from her side of the bridge extends in an attempt to grab the older woman while the other circle spit out a large ball of fire to trail onto the plant.

The raven witch smirks at her, "Nice try!" She swings her staff while firing a light blue beam of light at the girl. The beam evaporates the burning plant coming towards her.

Esper hastily slams the spear onto the ground with a small forcefield around her hand. She tries to use it to block the incoming attack but her shield breaks and she is flung back. She clutches her hand, now red with a burn.

The Owl Lady slams her staff into the ground before she summons a giant Hooty Hydra to wrap her sister up. She then spins her staff and sends a giant blast at Lilith. The raven witch puts Luz between her and the bolt, which Eda redirects to miss them both.

Eda pants, "Stop hiding behind Luz, you coward!" She starts to groan.

Lilith pants like her sister, "It's sad to see you slowing down sister. Tell me, is it the curse?"

Eda growls, sounding a little bit like the Owl Beast. The darkness in her gem bubbles while it starts to grow.

The human bangs on the bubble, "Eda! Your gem!"

Esper shouts while clutching her burned hand, "Eda, be careful! Your magic!"

Eda ignores her students, "Maybe it is the curse! But then how pathetic are you, that you can't best me at my worst?!" She then spins her staff and summons a dozen rings of magic, all of which send bolts at Lilith. Eda's Hooty Hydra drags Luz to safety while Lilith summons a shield to protect herself.

The sphere around Luz is thrown to Esper, who summons a small star Abomination using the goop in the flask tied around her waist. The purple creature helped her catch the orb. She and the Abomination put the sphere down, "Are you okay?!"

Her human friend nods her head, "Yes! I am now! Go help Eda before her magic is drained!"Esper nods her head before her star shaped Abomination jumps onto her shoulder. She rushes to assist Eda in the fight.

The brunette looks around and notices a pointed rock. She gasps before rolling the sphere over to the rock in an attempt to break it.

The older woman glares at her sister, "Maybe you are stronger than me... But that made me work smarter! I became smart, crafty!"

Eda glares back at her sister, "A lapdog for a tyrant!"

The young witch girl readies an illusion spell circle with her good hand.

Luz hits her bubble against the rock until the bubble shatters.

Lilith shouts from behind her forcefield, "You always thought you were better than me, that I could never beat you in anything!"

The Owl Lady extends her arms, "I am better than you!"

The Raven Lady shouts again in anger, "Then why were you so easy to curse?!" She then gasps before covering her mouth.

Eda's eyes widen in shock and betrayal...

A flashback to Eda's bedroom door opening appears in both the sisters' minds. Light from the hallway lights up her sleeping figure. The mysterious figure steps forward, shadows disappearing to reveal that it was Lilith all those years ago...

Back to the present, both Luz and Esper gasp at the revelation.

Lilith shakes her head, "A-And I have the power to remove it... If you would just let me explain!"

Eda looks away before she shakes in anger. With a yell of fury, she rushes forward and destroys Lilith's shield, flinging her sister to the wall hard enough to leave a crater.

Luz rushes to her mentor and stands next to her younger friend, "Eda, stop! Your magic!"

The darkness in Eda's gem is writhing furiously but she doesn't seem to care. But this makes Lilith smirk.

The human is surrounded by a glowing blue light and starts floating. Luz gasps when she feels herself fly in the air.

Lilith smirks at the child, "Human. That orb was for your protection!" She moves Luz over the edge of the bridge and then drops the magic.

The human falls while screaming.

The redhead yells for her friend, "Luz, no!"

Eda shouts at the sight, "Luz!" She draws a shaky spell circle with her staff. Luz stops plummeting a foot above a score of giant spikes. The older witch strains to keep Luz up. Esper moves to try and touch her mentor.

Luz shakes her head, "Eda, stop! You'll run out of magic!" She looks to her friend, "Esper!"

The younger witch looks between the older witch and her friend, "I... I..." She jumps onto her spear and slowly flies into the air below the bridge.

The Owl Lady shakes her head back at her, "It's my power, kids... And before you two showed up, I spent my whole life wasting it."

Lilith grins evilly before she summons a giant hand to push Luz closer to the spikes.

The human tries to reach for her, "Eda, no, no, no!"

Eda's gem is almost entirely black at this point. The whites of her eyes begin to be taken over by the darkness. She looks from Luz near the spikes and to Esper in the air, getting closer to Luz. She lets out a sigh, "Alright, girls. Listen to me. I'm going away and I don't know if I can bounce back this time... Watch over King. Remember to feed Hooty."

Luz shakes her head, "Please, no!"

The young witchling gets to the bottom of the chasm and tries to push her friend away from the spikes, "Eda..."

The Owl Lady smiles at the duo despite being in pain, "And Luz... Esper... Thank you for being in my life, girls."

With a scream, Eda unleashes a powerful burst of magic. Owlbert flies off the staff and Lilith is pushed back with her forcefield broken.

Eda's magic illuminates the entire Isles. Luz falls before she feels a hand on her cowl. She is caught by Esper, who put her behind her on the spear despite the pain in her hand. She flies them both back to the bridge, where Eda is laying.

Both girls shout upon getting closer to their mentor, "Eda!"

The older witch rolls over and screeches, her voice overlapping with the Owl Beast's. She slams a hand to the bridge and the Owl Beast stands. The monster advances on the girls, who back away. The Owl Beast tries to pounce and Luz ducks behind Esper but the impact never comes... The two look up to see Lilith binding the Owl Beast and dragging it halfway across the bridge with her staff.

The Raven Lady smiles at her family, "Come along, sister. Now we can let the healing begin!" She looks up to Belos, who turns away.

Luz shouts at her, "You monster!" The human jumps on Lilith's back and tries to drag her down.

Esper gasps while grabbing her burnt hand, "Luz!"

Lilith grabs her by the cowl and throws her, "Leave, human! She grabs Owlbert from midair, "Edalyn is finally with her family. Her real family!" She turns to the redheaded witch holding her human friend, "Not that you would understand any of that. Betrayer of your own kind!"

The raven witch taps her staff on the bridge. The gears below start to turn which pull the bridge toward the castle.

The dark haired woman glares at the two of them, "Go back to your world. This one is ours."

Luz runs from Esper's grip and tries to chase after them, but can't. The doors to the castle close with a haunting echo...

...

The human and the witchling are slowly walking back to the Owl House. The sun is rising to reveal that the two had been walking all night. Esper wipes at her eyes with noticeable tears building up in her face.

Hooty yawns before smiling at the human, "Oh, Luz, there you are!"

The brunette frowns at him, "Hi, Hooty."

Luz opens the door to the dark living room. She looks at the side, her eyes widening and she gasps. There are balloons and streamers hung up. Party hats are on the couches, and confetti is on the floor. Esper looks away in shame. Luz's new cape is wrapped in a bow on the table, next to King's cake... The candles of which have long burned out.

King bursts out of the cake and gasps, "The cake is me!" He looks around and frowns, "Hey, um, where's Eda?"

Luz gasps and her eyes suddenly fill with tears when she falls to the floor. Hooty and Esper look at her in concern. The witch wipes at her own eyes aggressively before wrapping her friend in a hug... Both Hooty and King join in the hug to comfort the two of them...

...

 

To Be Continued...

Chapter Text

Luz rummages through a few boxes full of Eda's junk, still wiping tears falling from her face. King rushes into the room with a book in his hand, "Luz! I found something you guys might want to hear! ...Where'd Esper go?"

Luz wipes at her face one last time before answering him, "She's... Still sulking in the backyard. She hasn't stopped beating herself up about Eda since we left..."

...

Meanwhile outside the house, Esper stabs at a tree with her new weapon. She strikes it, one, two, three times...

She stabs it one more time, "Stupid!"

Hooty opened his eyes to peer at the girl, "Um... Esper?"

The girl with the birthmark drags her spear out of the tree, "I can't believe..."

The long owl starts to slip towards her, "Esper?"

The redhead stabs the tree once again, "Eda..."

The owl tube shrieked, "Esper!"

Until she just pulls it out and stops...

Her fists shake before she throws the spear onto the ground, where it bounced. She grabs the tree before flinging her head towards the bark. However, she slowed down and the impact was merely a tap before whispering to herself, "Esperanza Bellatrix Fox, you have to do this! Do... Something..." She looks down at her burned hand, sill stinging from the pain.

Hooty starts to wrap around her, "Esper..." He taps his face next to her own, "Do not worry, Esper, let my voice soothe you... Eda always bounces back! She'll be fine, I just know it!" He turns his head upon feeling the door open, "Luz!"

The mentioned human walked towards her friend, "Esper... I know you're upset..." She looks down at her friend's fist, "But we're going to save Eda."

The redhead looks at her with wide eyes, "We are?"

Luz nods her head, "Of course we are! How's your hand?"

Esper opened her hand to reveal a large burn, only for it to hurt, "Ow! Stupid thing! It freaking stings!"

The brunette puts her hand on her shoulder, "Esper... You need to calm down, you're scaring Hooty..."

The witchling takes the time to stop, "I know... I'm sorry, Luz..." She pats him on the side of his face before he retreated back to his door, "And thank you, Hooty..."

Luz took a deep breath before taking a bandage out of her pocket, "It's okay..." She lets out a small but sad giggle before attaching the bandage to her friend's hand, "Pain pain, go away... And if you don't, go to someone else. There..." She then stood up and offered her hand to the redhead, "Now come on, King has something to show us."

Taking her friend's good hand into her own, she leads Esper to the room full of Eda's junk... Which is where their young demon friend was waiting for them.

King starts reading from the book in his hands, "The Boiling Isles, born from the flesh and bones of a fallen Titan. This original magic was so potent, all life on the Isles evolved to wield magic too. For years, we explored those power freely. Until, a mysterious witch appeared who declared that he, and he alone, could speak to the island. He said that we were using magic all wrong. His teachings took hold, his strength grew and he became... Emperor Belos. Belos said that mixing magic was wrong, that only he had that right. So he created the coven system. And there, our knowledge was restricted, and our potential sealed away. Those who resist are called wild witches and they face harsh punishment. Emperor Belos has since retreated into his castle. There are whispers that say he's planning something big..."

He then looks up at the two girls, "I wonder if catching Eda was part of his big plan. What do you think, Luz? Esper?"

Luz stares at the tag on her cape, which reads: 'To a young witch from her proud mentor EDA.' She then puts on the cape, "I don't care what Belos is up to... Because today, we're saving Eda!"

Esper stands up next to her with a cheer, "Yeah! We are!"

The human opens the door to a room decorated with weapons, followed by both of her friends.

The young demon holds the book in his hands, "What are you guys doing?"

The brunette shakes her head, "This is serious, King. Eda used her power to save us and got caught by Lilith. Now she's the Owl Beast and is being taken before the Emperor! I don't know what he's planning to do with Eda but we're going to rescue her."

King shakes his head, "Haven't you been listening to me? He's the Emperor! He's the most powerful witch alive!"

The redhead folds her arms before rolling her eyes, "Emperor Shmeperor!"

Luz picks up a dagger before putting it back in the box, "Yeah, what she said! King, please try to understand. Eda is in this situation because of me. Because of my stupid choice. I have to make up for it."

Esper frowned at her friend, "Luz, I'm coming too..."

The human lets out a sad sigh, "Esper... I'm sorry you had to pick between me and Eda..."

The witchling shook her head, "Hey, it's okay. I'm not mad at you. I'm... I'm mad at myself for not being strong enough to save the both of you..."

The brunette shook her head before smiling at her, "It's okay... Because we'll find a way to save her!" She holds Esper's good hand before raising it into the air, "Together!"

The redhead cheers with her, "Yeah! Together!"

The young demon frowns at them, "But she's in her Owl Beast form! How will she even recognize you guys?"

The human shakes her head, "I don't know. But we have to try anyway!"

King stomps his foot onto the ground, "Well then, I'm going too!"

Both girls frown at him, "King..."

The skull wearing demon folds his arms, "Me and Eda don't always see eye-to-eye, but I do consider her family. I want her back as much as you guys do!"

Luz nods her head at the two, "Alright. Then we've got no time to lose!" She then runs out of the room.

Esper pumps her fist before picking up her spear, "Yeah! Come on, King! Let's go!" She then rushes to follow her friend.

King begins to follow them before holding up the book, "Nyeh!" He then throws the book on the ground, which opens to the page with the Emperor on it...

...

Now in the Emperor's throne room, focusing on the Titan's beating heart before panning down to the large chair. Eda runs around from Lilith while in her Owl Beast form in the room.

The raven witch chases after her, "Edalyn, stop that this instant!"

The large version of the owl witch tears down a tapestry of Emperor Belos and begins chewing on it.

Lilith uses her magic to form a blue bubble around her sister, "Don't look at me like that! This is for your own good! Emperor Belos will heal you and we'll be in his coven together. Isn't that wonderful?"

Eda blows a raspberry at her sister while still in the bubble.

The raven witch folds her arms and turns away from her, "I will not fall prey to your childish games!" She then sticks her tongue out at Eda.

Suddenly, the door to the throne room opens and six coven guards. The smallest member of the coven is leading them inside.

Kikimora bows and moves away from the door, "All kneel before Emperor Belos!"

Lilith kneels while a pair of glowing blue eyes approach from the darkness, eventually revealing Emperor Belos... The beast version of Eda shrieks and bursts out of the bubble, running towards the tall man.

The raven witch reaches for her sister, "Eda, no!"

Emperor Belos vanishes before she can attack him, appearing behind her and throwing her against a wall by simply lifting his finger. The beast falls to the ground, glowing red ropes appearing to keep her down.

Lilith runs between her sister and the Emperor, "My Lord, I apologize for my sister's rash behavior! She is still in her cursed form. Once you've healed her, as promised, I am sure she will become a useful asset to the coven!"

Emperor Belos summons his mechanical staff and raises it, healing Eda only to the point of allowing her to speak while in her beast form.

The beast version of Eda blinks, her eyes turning from fully black to her normal golden color, "Ouch... Where am I? What is this?" She then frowns, "Aw farts, I got caught!"

The Emperor shakes his head at her, "Edalyn Clawthorne, the infamous Owl Lady, the wild witch of Bonesborough. Mentor of Luz the Human and Esper the Star Touched Witch."

Eda starts to struggle against the chains, "You stay away from them! Or so help me, Titan..."

The man chuckles, "You've got it all wrong. The human is safe, for now. I still would like to meet this Star Touched Witch... I heard they came together. Now why was a witch in the human realm in the first place? I just want the portal they came through."

The owl beast shakes her head, "Tough, 'cause I ain't telling you nothing!"

Emperor Belos stands up straight, "Ugh, pity... Although I suppose I could ask the both of them herself." He then snaps his fingers and the guards run in to drag Eda away.

The owl witch struggles against the guards, "Wait! Don't touch them! Lilith, don't let him hurt them! Lilith!" Her voice gets drowned out while she is dragged away by the scouts.

Lilith walks closer to her boss while playing with her fingers, "Ah, taking her to the healing ceremony?"

The Emperor shakes his head, "I will not be healing her."

The raven witch begins to back away from him, "But, you, promised me..."

Emperor Belos walks closer to her, "Don't be so naïve, Lilith! This is the Titan's will... All wild witches must be dealt with before the Day of Unity!" He stands over her, "You understand, don't you?"

The black haired witch looks down with a sad frown, "Of course..."

The man with the horned mask nods his head, "Good." He begins to walk away, "Oh, one more thing." He snaps his fingers, making Owlbert in his staff form appear in Lilith's hands, "Destroy the Owl Lady's staff. She won't be needing it anymore..."

The tall man leaves the throne room, leaving Lilith staring after him. She looks down at her sister's staff while the doors close...

...

A news broadcast plays on a crystal ball within a bedroom... A tall man with dark brown skin and short black hair holds a microphone in front of his mouth. He is wearing glasses, a golden vest with a nametag, a long sleeved white undershirt, black pants and black boots. He looks at the camera while he starts to speak. "Perry Porter coming to you live from outside the Emperor's Castle. Edalyn Clawthorne, known commonly as 'Eda the Owl Lady', has been captured and has been brought before the Emperor."

Kikimora speaks while being interviewed by the man, For the crime of attacking a coven leader and refusing to join a coven, Edalyn Clawthorne's body shall be petrified in stone! Today, sundown, at the Conformatorium!"

In her room, Amity's eyes widen while she watches the broadcast on a crystal ball. She looks down at her bandaged arm her look of annoyance turning into one of surprise.

Now in Gus's bedroom, the boy sits on his bed while looking at his own crystal ball. His eyes widen

upon hearing the report on the news. He gasps and turns to his scroll, "Willow! Are you watching?"

Willow speaks from her end of the line, "Yes, we have to do something!"

...

Perry shakes his head on the crystal ball, "Today is a grave day for Bonesborough..."

Various demons and witches watching the crystal balls in the street murmur in discussion and walk off, revealing Esper with her spear attached to her back, Luz and King.

The human frowns at the crystal balls, "Please tell me that's not as bad as it sounds..."

The young demon shakes his head while on the redhead's shoulders, "Petrification is only done to the worst criminals, and once the spell is complete, it can't be reversed."

Esper folds her arms, "Yup, that sounds pretty bad!"

The newscast shows several petrified witches in what looks like a graveyard... Before the screen transitions to a picture of Lilith.

Luz glares at the report, "Lilith! She cursed Eda! She captured her own sister! She is the worst!"

The redhead takes the crystal into her hands, "She is! And if I ever see her again!" She tosses the crystal ball onto the ground, shattering it completely. She balls her bandaged hand into a fist.

King pats her on the cheek, "Esper, calm down! We need to think about saving Eda first!"

Esper relaxes her shoulders, "You're right... But how will we get to the Conformatorium in time?"

A guard walks by, whistling to himself. Luz narrows her eyes while looking at the guard with a smile, "I think I have an idea..." She walks closer to the guard, "We'll have to do something so diabolical! So criminally insane! That they'll have to send us to the Conformatorium!"

The freckled witch looks down at the shattered glass, "God plan! I mean, I did technically just commit property damage just now..."

The human shakes her head, "No, not that." She gestures to a sign right next to her with her eyebrows raised.

Esper smiles mischievously back at her, "Oooooh, I get it! Yeah!"

King shouts from the witch's shoulders, "Hey!"

The guard turns his head to the trio, "Hm?"

Luz, Esper and King tap their feet onto some nearby grass directly in front of the sign that says 'DO NOT STEP ON GRASS!' The three shake their heads, "Whaaa?"

The coven guard gasps in shock at the children.

The human nods her head, "Yep." Esper relaxes while King rests in her lap. Doors in front of them close, securing the three in a paddy wagon.

Both girls fist bump, "Perfect plan."

...

Now at the Conformatorium... The paddy wagon passes by a few petrified wild witches, which Esper, Luz and King stare at. The three gasp in shock before spotting two guards bring out a pedestal with Eda's name on it.

The young demon looks between the two girls, "There's not gonna be a new statue going up today! Right, Luz? Esper?"

The redhead nods before patted her friend's shoulder, "Luz?"

The wagon passes a poster of Lilith, which makes the girl growl. The vehicle continues on to enter the Conformatorium's entrance, which has a banner reading 'PETRIFICATION TODAY AT SUNDOWN.' A gate closes behind it while the trio are wheeled inside to the docking station.

A woman guard wearing a mask salutes her boss, "Sir, the Owl Lady's human student has been apprehended!"

Her student, being a younger male, stands up straight, "And we even caught the one that's actually a witch!"

Warden Wrath nods at the both of them, "Very good! Nice to see you two actually do something after failing to catch the Greater Basilisk! Ah, Luz the Human... Esper the Star Touched Witch... How I've waited to see you both again! Now I'll have my revenge and you'll have front row seats to Eda's demise!"

He opens the paddy wagon doors and but is bombarded by branches. He screams while covering his face.

The girl guard turns around, "Huh?"

Luz screams and slams an ice glyph on the ground. A spear of ice pins the younger to the ceiling. Esper swings her staff to hit the older woman guard into the dark hallway with the flat side of her blade.

The giant shoves away the branches and is then captured by several of Luz's ice pillars.

Esper rushes to shove her spear towards the boss's throat, "Where's Eda?!"

Warden Wrath strains his neck away from the blade, "She's in the holding cell in the dungeon!"

Luz quickly walks up to him with King on her shoulder. She holds up a piece of paper and a pencil, "Draw us a map!

...

Outside the Conformatorium, a large audience has gathered... A few students from Hexside join the massive group.

Skara frowns at her friends, "Do you really think Eda deserves a petrification?"

Jasper scratches the back of his head, "I don't know... This is all happening so fast."

Amity ponders for a moment before speaking, "If we know anything about Luz and Esper, they're going to be here trying to save Eda."

Gus jumps up and down, "And we'll be here to save her when they needs us!"

Willow nods her head, "Let's split up and find her!"

Meanwhile, Lilith is actually watching the crowd from a window in the hallway...

Kikimora stomps her foot on the ground when addressing the guards, "Fools! You let BOTH the human and the Star Touched Witch escape?!" She turns to the still restrained warden, "And you drew them a map?!"

The raven witch shakes her head, "Worry not, Kikimora. I shall capture the human and the Star Touched Witch..."

Suddenly, the boy with the golden mask walks into the hallway, "Not so fast, Lilith!"

The dark haired maiden frowns at the door, "Who?"

Kikimora folded her arms, "Ugh... Golden boy, what do you want?"

The boy held his staff proudly, "It's Golden Guard. You both know that." He squared his shoulders, "Emperor Belos has tasked me with collecting the Star Touched Witch for him."

Lilith raises her eyebrows in surprise, "What?!"

The Golden Guard looks at the nails of his gloves, "Yeah... It seems like he doesn't trust you much after all your screw ups. Even if you captured the Owl Lady, you failed to collect the Star Touched One even though she was right there during your fight." He folds his arms before turning to her, "Why DID you let her go like that? You could have easily placed her in a bubble and bring her in."

The raven witch sighs with a shrug, "I... It was a mistake. Fighting with Edalyn drained my magic rather fast, it always has..."

The Golden Guard shrugs his shoulders, "Hmm... Don't worry then, I'll fix your mistake!" He then walks into the dark side of the hallway, not being able to wait for his coworker to follow him.

...

Now in the hallway, two guards are hanging in vines from the ceiling, another can only be seen by his legs with a bruise on his knee, a fourth is holding his hands in front of a fire and a fifth is encased in ice.

Esper, Luz and King walk away from the scene, running to a padlocked set of double doors.

The human looks to their young friend, "King, watch the door!"

The small demon runs to the door and looks through the crowd, "Weh."

Luz steps forward and places an ice glyph on the lock which freezes and breaks it. She and Esper enter the room and the human pulls out a light glyph.

The beast within the chains growls at the pair.

The brunette looks around the room, "Eda?"

Esper's eyes widen when she sees her in the dark, "There she is! Eda!"

The human runs to her, which causes the ball of light to follow. But she bounces off the witch when her wing twitches. The giant beast version of Eda turns at the noise and growls before pouncing at her.

Esper jumps in between them and blocks the Owl Beast's swipe with her spear, "Eda! Calm down, it's us!" Her feet dig into the ground while she tries to push back against the attack.

Luz quickly pulls out a light glyph and activates it, "Yeah, Eda, wait! It's us!"

The woman in her monster form closes her eyes, reopens them to reveal them being gold again, "Luz?" She backs off of the witchling, "Oh no... Oh no, no, no, no, no! W-what are you both doing here?"

Esper rests her spear against her shoulder, "We're here to save you, Eda!"

The human smiles at her mentor, "It's okay, Eda! We got this!" She activates a fire glyph on the chain keeping Eda in place but the flame does nothing.

Eda tries to push the girl with her claw, "Your magic isn't strong enough for this. You need to leave! Now!"

The redhead shakes her head, "Hey! No, here..." She set her spear on the ground before grabbing the chain, "Let me try that!" She points her finger towards the chain and forms a small spell circle. Fire spews out of the shape, the flame shines with a noticeable blue color in the middle of it.

Luz frowns at her, "But... But I can't! It's my fault you needed to save me. It's my fault you got captured."

Esper shakes her head, "And I should have been able to help you back there!"

The large woman moves the chain away from her students, "No. Listen to me. I'm here because of my own actions! I went against Belos's law and for a while I was able to get away with it! But..." She sighs, "Well without magic, I can't do much. I don't regret anything. I lived freely and... I got to meet the both of you."

The human slumps her shoulders, "Eda..."

Eda shakes her head, "But if you both stay here, I won't be able to protect either of you. You both need to leave. Now!"

Luz hugs her mentor, "But we're a family! Us weirdos have to stick together, remember?"

The redhead joins in the hug, "Yeah! That means nobody gets left behind!"

Eda pushes the two off of her before she sticks a claw into her hair, "No, you two have to go!" She pulls out the key for the portal door from the hair and feathers. She activates it which makes the door rise from the floor. It opens while she speaks, revealing the same path that Luz and Esper chased Owlbert down at the beginning of the summer. She lets out a sigh, "You both have a family already. Go back to them. And when you're home..." The large woman looks at the witchling, "You, use your fire magic to destroy the portal door." She places the key around Luz's neck, "I don't know why Belos wants it but we can't take any chances."

Luz looks at the older woman with tears in her eyes before tucking the key under her cloak and pulling her into a hug, "I love you, Eda!"

Esper joins in the hug, "I love you too!"

The beast woman hugs them back with one large arm, "I love you too, kids..."

A siren blares above them while a door in the ceiling opens.

The older lady starts to push them both, "Both of you, get away!"

Eda shoves her girls away while the chain around her neck glows blue and transforms into a cage. The ground beneath Eda begins to rise.

Luz begins to tear up, "No!" She runs forward and grabs a hold of the bottom of Eda's claw, "Not yet!"

The owl woman shakes her head, "I'm sorry..." She pushes Luz off, "Goodbye, kids..."

The human reaches for her from off the platform, "Eda!"

The redhead looks at the rising platform, "Eda!" She grabs onto her friend's shoulders, "Luz..."

The platform completely rises into the ceiling... Luz cries into her hand, kneeling between the door to the human realm and where Eda had been just moments before. Esper tries to comfort her while trying to tug her upwards...

However... The door suddenly opens... And both the head of the Emperor's Coven and the Golden Guard walked through. The boy shook his head, "You thought this little... Cat? Could stop anyone from coming in?"

Lilith clutches the tiny demon in her hand before shaking her head.

King starts to kick at her, "Let me go!"

The Golden Guard suddenly rushes forward and grabs onto the hood of Esper's cape, "Okay, Star Touched Witch. You're coming with me." All of a sudden, he lifts the girl up in the air and tosses her into the hallway. He turns to Lilith with a shake of his head, "Do not mess up this time, Lilith..." He closed the door behind him, leaving the two teenagers to stare each other down in the hall.

Esper waves her hand towards herself, "Fine then! Come on, over here! Unless you're gonna get called away like last time! ¡Sin pelotas!"

The Golden Guard shook his head, "I'm not going to fight you, Star Touched Witch." He shrugged his shoulders, "Even if you probably just insulted me in a language I don't understand." He takes a step closer to her, "Just come with me and we can go about our business..."

Esper folds her arms and raises her eyebrow at the teen, "Oh really? ...Sounds to me like you're scared, Golden Guard!" She smiles cheekily at him.

The boy in the golden mask folded his arms back at her, "Me? Scared? I'm not scared!" He turned to see that the girl had started running down the hallway, "Hey! Get back here!"

He tapped his staff with his foot to suddenly whip himself in front of the girl. He kicked the redhead in the stomach to send her backwards before he spun the staff in his hands, "If you're going to continue to resist, I will have no choice but to use force to bring you to the Emperor."

Esper stood up and spun her spear in her hands, "Now you're talking! Bring it on, Golden Boy!" The cloak flowed behind her while the Abomination flask jiggled against her pants.

Unknown to the two teenagers, a shadow moves across the ceiling with a white smile on it's face. Which is divided, looking like a moon within a circle. The dark blob resembles a child in pajamas decorated with images of the sun on the right side and the moon on the left side. On it's head are two spikes that resemble a pajama hat.

The shadow narrows it's eyes, watching the fight curiously with a smile...

...

Meanwhile, the maiden with black hair shook her head at the girl, "Drat, he was quick to separate us. I'm too late... At least I found you, human."

Luz glares at the older woman, "You... You hurt Eda! You put her in chains! And now, I will take you down!" She yells before jumping at Lilith, activating the various glyphs in her hands. She shoots an orange fireball at the older woman.

The raven witch drops King to block Luz's spell with her staff, "I just wanna talk!"

The human holds a few pieces of paper in the air, "Talk to the glyph, witch!" She slams five plant glyphs to the ground at once, summoning several tendrils to ensnare Lilith.

The older woman breaks through them easily with a spin of her staff, but Luz uses the distraction to jump onto Lilith. She couldn't help but stumble backwards while holding the child upwards, "Ah, stop! What is wrong with you?"

The two walk through the still-open portal door.

King gets up and follows the two of them, "Luz!"

...

The older boy points his staff at the girl, "Okay, Star Touched Witch... I really don't want to hurt you but if you insist on resisting... I have no choice but to fight!" The red bulb on the top of his staff begins to glow before he briefly disappeared.

Esper looks around before he suddenly appears next to her and swings his staff down at her. She blocks his hit with her own spear and she pushes him back. She spins her spear in her hands before tapping the bottom on the floor, summoning an illusion of a giant turtle monster to jump onto the boy. She then forms another circle to create multiple vines to protrude from the ground and fling themselves towards the boy.

The Golden Guard easily causes the illusion to disappear by shooting the creature with a red blast of energy from his staff. He moves his weapon to destroy the vines before they could ensnare his feet. He then disappears and reappears in front of her to hit her with a tackle, sending her to the ground.

The redhead forms a purple circle on the ground she landed on, creating her small star Abomination. She then picks it up and throws it like it was a ninja star.

It spun in the air and struck the Golden Guard's staff before Esper formed another circle to make the Abomination spin back around to slice at his shoulder.

The Golden Guard swung his arm to knock the star out of the air. He then glared at her, "You think you're so clever, don't you?!" He points his staff and shot a blast of red energy at her.

Esper spins around, using her cloak to protect herself from the blast he sent her way. She then forms a circle in the air and flings a fireball at him. The flame in the air shifts into a light blue color before landing onto the guard's cape. He stomped on it when it began to run up the cloth.

The two rush to clash again, both trying to push the other back with their respective weapons.

Suddenly the both of them heard a voice in the air, "Come back here! Now!" It was a man's voice...

The Golden Guard suddenly turns his head towards the sound of the voice behind him, "Uncle? Uncle! What's wrong?!"

He then taps his staff onto the ground, which quickly flings him down the opposite end of the hallway.

Esper squints at his form while he left. She then looks to her Abomination and taps her hand onto the star's own, "I'd say we did pretty well out there, little buddy! Now come on! Let's go find Luz and King!" She forms a purple colored circle into the air before putting the Abomination back into the flask. She then looks to her injured hand before grabbing her spear and kicking off the ground to fly down the hallway.

The mysterious shadow continues to follow after her... Slipping across the ceiling with a single stride.

The girl flies by a few metal bars of cells lining the walls. She looks to her side when she notices a familiar older woman with seaweed green eyes.

She screeches her spear to a halt, "Izmeralda? What are you doing here?"

The older woman cowers when she sees the familiar girl, "Oh, it's you! The Star Touched One!" She grabs the bars again once she sees that the girl did fly away, "I... Admittedly, do not belong to a coven like the witches here on the Isles so they threw me in here. The bars are too strong for my magic to break through..." She looks at her spear, "I see you have unlocked the ability to fly..." She then lets out a sigh, "Please, I beg of you... Free me... I don't want to be turned to stone!"

Esper looks around the room before looking at the switch on the wall. She frowns at her but lifts the switch to the cell, "...Of course. I won't just leave you in here. It... Wouldn't be right."

The older woman smiles down at her, "Thank you so much, child... Maybe I was too harsh on you the last time we saw each other..." Izmeralda looks up behind the girl, where the moving shadow sticks onto the wall. She opens her mouth to speak, only for the small figure to put his hand to his lips.

Esper narrows her eyes at her, "Are you okay? Come on, let's go!" She waves her hand and the shadow mimics her movements silently behind her. Even it's giggles are silent.

The older woman backs away with a scared face, "B-Bye!" She rushes into a full on sprint away from the girl.

The redhead shrugs her shoulders, "...Huh, that was weird. You're surprisingly fast for an old lady! I'll see you again sometime!" She turns around, only to see nothing there. The shadow had jumped back up towards the ceiling, outside of her view.

She then prepares her spear for flight once again. Right before she fully lifts off, the shadow jumps towards her on the wall. It then joins her shadow with a smile on it's face. It flew alongside her on the walls, attached to her shadow, pretending to relax backwards...

...

Luz and Lilith fall off the porch of the old, abandoned house in the human realm. King follows through a second later. The human is the first to recover, looking around at the forest they landed in while the wind blows her cloak and hair. Lilith stands behind her with her hands glowing blue.

The young demon jumps in between the two, "Luz, watch out!" But then he is pulled to the ground by vines summoned by Lilith.

Luz dives out of the way of Lilith's spell and pulls a fire glyph out of her pocket, "Fire!" The glyph disintegrates in her hands and she looks at it, "What?"

The older woman tackles her, "Please, just listen to me!"

The brunette kicks at her stomach, "No way! You deserve to be petrified! Not Eda!"

The black haired witch sighs, "You're right." She backs away from the younger girl, "I deserve to be in Edalyn's place..."

Luz looks up at her with a raised eyebrow, "Why did you do all this?"

Lilith frowns, "When Edalyn and I were younger, we were..." She sits down on the dirty floor, "The best of friends..."

Now within a flashback of a younger Lilith and Eda, wearing Potions-track Hexside uniforms. The young Lilith has fluffy dark red hair rather than dark blue. She is wearing large circular glasses. Eda's hair is still styled the same The two are about preschool age, running through the woods together while laughing. Eda ends up tripping and falling on her face. She then sits up to reveal that her knee is bleeding, which makes her start to cry.

Lilith turns around and kneels in front of her, cupping Eda's face to wipe her tears before putting their foreheads together, "With this spell declared, let the pain be shared!"

The magic flowing through her causes half of Eda's wound transfers to Lilith's own knee. She winces, but both of them grin.

Now, a teenage Eda and Lilith practicing their spins with a mop and a broom respectively. Lilith still has her long, fluffy dark red hair and large glasses.

The adult Lilith speaks over the flashback, "Being in the Emperor's Coven was my dream... I wanted to work alongside the most powerful witch on the Isles and make the world a better place."

The teenage Eda spins the mop easily, while Lilith whacks herself in the head with her broom in an attempt to match her sister.

Lilith continues to talk, "Eda wanted to be with me but there was a problem..."

In the flashback, the girls are now at the Hexside grudgby pitch, where a field day is being held. Teen Eda and Lilith are standing in front of the Emperor's Coven stand. A worker looks at his clipboard before looking at them.

The coven scout shakes his head before addressing the duo, "Only one spot is available... Hmm, you'll both duel tomorrow. The winner will join our ranks."

The adult Lilith speaks, "I knew Edalyn would beat me. She was younger but worked twice as hard. She met me at my level..."

The younger Lilith in the flashback walks away from the stand while Eda reaches out to her. Eventually she is seen wearing a cloak and walking through the Night Market all alone...

The older Lilith talks with shame in her voice, "Emperor Belos always said, 'To be great, you have to make sacrifices.' What would he do in my situation? I found a spell that would take away her powers..."

The teenaged version of herself looks at a scroll with an owl seal on it. Her face goes from nervous to determined, and breaks the seal. An ominous bright red light comes from the scroll...

She then walks to a door opening to Eda's room while she sleeps. The shadowy figure from Eda's dreams becomes Lilith while she steps forward and pulls the hood of her cloak down... She approaches Eda's bed and holds out the cursed scroll. It glows red again, reflecting in Lilith's glasses ominously.

Lilith in the present continues to speak over the flashback, "I thought it would just be for a day..."

Now at the Hexside grudgby pitch again in the flashback... This time the stands are packed, and both the teen versions of Eda and Lilith stand opposite each other. They each raise an arm in a dueling pose, before Lilith runs forward with a yell, a blue flame appearing in her hand.

Eda watches her approach before she shakes her head, "No!"

Lilith skids to a halt and the flame on her hand dies out. She raises her eyebrow in surprise.

Eda folds her arms, "I refuse to battle my sister!" She walks up to the shocked Lilith, "I've decided that covens aren't really my style... Hey, don't forget me when you're a big shot, sis." She punches her sister in the arm with a smile.

The older Lilith speaks in shame, "And when Edalyn walked away..."

The younger Eda in the flashback barely makes it to the edge of the grudgby pitch before she starts yelling in pain... She falls to her hands and knees. Feathers burst from her hand and race up her arm, tearing the seam of her uniform. Brown wings sprout from her back and her ears grow while she covers her face with her new claws... Until she screams in a voice that sounds like both her own and that of a beast, her eyes turn pitch black. The newly transformed Owl Beast looks at the crowd before peering at Lilith with a terrified face. The crowd yells and jeers.

A boy with brown hair and golden eyes leans back in his chair, "What is that?!"

A young girl with green hair and blue eyes makes a disgusted face, "That girl is a monster!"

A rock from an adult in the crowd hits the beast in the forehead. Emperor's Coven members continue to throw rocks at her while the crowd boos, until Beast Eda flares her wings and snarls at them.

Another Hexside student from the crowd shouts at her, "Get out! Go!"

The young beast version of Eda backs away from the crowd before turning around to run.

The young Lilith shouts for her sister, "Edalyn!"

The Emperor's Coven scout who arranged the fight grabs Lilith's arm, "Lilith Clawthrone, we welcome you to the Emperor's Coven!" He holds Teen Lilith's arm up in triumph as the crowd cheers.

Lilith speaks over the flashback one last time, "I made my sacrifice for the Emperor and it was time to receive my reward."

She then sighs in shame, "...I've been pursuing Edalyn because if she joined the Emperor's Coven, Emperor Belos told me he would heal her curse. But he lied to me. I know how to rescue Edalyn but I can't do it alone..." She looks at the younger girl, "You'd do the same for your little witch friend, wouldn't you?"

Luz stands up with a frown, "I would do anything for Esper but... How do I know I can trust you?"

The raven witch appears to think for a second before tracing a large spell circle. Owlbert and the rest of Eda's staff appear in her hands. She holds them both out to Luz.

The human smiles before hugging the tiny owl, "Owlbert! You're okay!"

The Palisman opens his eyes and coos, nuzzling into Luz's cheek.

The human puts him on her shoulder and uses the staff to stand, "All right, Lilith. I don't like your whole..." She points at Lilith and traces a circle with her finger, "...Deal. But..." She smiles at her, "We need your help to save Eda." She holds out the door key.

Lilith stands up with a smile, "Thank you."

The vines around King loosen and he falls to the ground. The small demon peers around himself, "Weh?"

The raven witch nods her head, "Now, lets head back." She then heads for the door with the tiny demon behind her.

Luz starts to follow her but a breeze makes her look back at the Human Realm behind them. A nostalgic, mournful tune plays while she stares at the trees. Lilith walks through the door with a smile.

King notices his friend lingering, "Hey Luz, You... Need a minute?"

The girl shakes her head, "No. I'm coming..." She walks up the steps while King follows the older witch. Luz pauses just before entering, taking one last look at the human realm, before disappearing in the glowing white void. The glow disappears with her, leaving just the broken down house with a closed door.

...

Esper flies around the dark hallways, searching for her friends, "Luz! Eda! King!" All is silent... Until she suddenly feels the back of her cloak be grabbed, "Hey! What's the big idea?!"

"I got you now, Star Touched Witch!"

She is nearly yanked off her spear when she turns to see the woman scout from earlier... Though her hood had been ripped off, revealing her black hair fastened into braids, Esper's eyes widened in realization, "It's you! Aren't you the lady from Glandus High?"

The woman removed her mask to reveal her blue eyes, "It's Yareli... And yes! Thanks for messing up our investigation, redhead!" She tugged on the cloak, "Now, you're coming with me."

The younger male scout ran out from his hiding place, "Uh... Ma'am? Are you sure this is a good idea?" His mask had a large chunk taken out of it, revealing his dark skin and grey eyes.

Yareli nodded her head at her student, "Of course it's a good idea, Victor! We could be promoted for this! Now come here and help me restrain her."

Esper hopped off her spear with a glare for the both of them, "Yeahhhh... About that, I don't think that's happening any time soon!" She formed a magic circle in her hand, summoning a large fireball that was now half orange, half blue. The two colors swirled together in harmony while she threatened to throw the attack right at them.

The male stumbled back from the flame, causing his mask to fully fall off. His face resembled someone rather familiar to Esper...

She floated backwards from the two of them when she spotted his face, "Hey, you look a lot like my friend Jasper!"

Victor looked around before balling his fist, "I... Uh... Well... Tell my brother to stop meddling in our business!"

The redhead's eyes widened in surprise, "I'm sorry what?! Jasper's your brother?! Of course he's gonna wanna meddle then! You're working for THE BAD GUY!"

The older male shook his head at her, "Yeah! And that's why he needs to stop!"

During the ensuing argument, the child within her shadow hovered onto the wall. It slipped up until it looked like it was hunched over Esper, though still flat on the wall. It's smile was wide when it looked at the scouts.

Victor ran behind his mentor before looking at the shadow again, "Woah! What is that?!"

Esper folded her arms, "What's what?"

Yareli puts her hand out in front of her student, "No seriously, this isn't funny! Put that thing away!"

The smallest witch folded her arms, "I have no clue what you're talking about!"

This response only caused the shadow behind her to grow giant. It waved it's arms to form itself to resemble a huge monster, somewhat resembling King. It looked down at the two guards with a large, spiky toothed smile.

This made the two guards' eyes widen before they sprinted down the hallway...

Victor felt his legs move faster at the thought of the monster, "What in the Titan is that?!"

Yareli runs away with her student, "I don't know!" She then turned to look at the girl while still running, "We will see you again!"

Esper raises an eyebrow at this and turns around quickly... Only to find that her shadow appeared to be normal. She shrugged her shoulders before hopping onto her spear and flying down the hallway once again.

The shadow giggled before deciding to stay there, separating itself from the girl's shadow. It still stayed there to giggle before waving to her while she left. It then flew down the opposite side of the hallway with a big smile...

...

Now, several Emperor's Coven guard are drumming a beat outside with the large crowd. They are all formed in two lines on the stage.

Willow moves her eyes throughout the crowd, "I don't see Luz or Esper anywhere!"

Gus's eyes widen in fear, "Do you think they got caught?"

Amity takes a step back, "I hope not!"

An alarm rings through the air and the cage with Eda in it rises onto a towering platform in front of the crowd. She looks around in her Owl Beast form.

All the Hexside children in the class look at the woman in shock.

Perry the reporter speaks while looking at the camera, "Well folks, Eda the Owl Lady has appeared on stage! Which means the petrification process is about to begin..."

Kikimora rises on the platform with the cage and she walks forward. She pushes a lever, making a large, three headed statue rise from the ground. Beast Eda visibly looks nervous while the machine crackles to power.

...

Now, inside of the Conformatorium, Lilith, Luz, and King are passing by towering statues covered in what appear to be meaty tendrils. They stop in front of a small platform.

The raven witch looks up at the platform, "You can take this up to the stage where they're holding Edalyn."

The human nods at her, "Thank you, Lilith. What will you do now?"

Lilith lets out a sigh, "I will stay in the Emperor's Coven... But I will make sure nothing like this ever happen again."

Luz smiles at her, "That's good to hear." She then looks around, "Wait, why are there no guards around?"

A red tendril suddenly wraps itself around Lilith's legs, pulling her down. She screams before she is pulled away from the young teenager.

The brunette tries to reach for her but fails to grab her, "Lilith!"

King screams when he also gets grabbed by a tendril.

Luz briefly grabs a hold of King's hand before "King!"

Both of her companions are dragged up near the ceiling before being suspended on either side of the far wall. Fires ignite below them, flanking a skull-like throne that the Emperor himself is sitting in with his staff in hand.

Emperor Belos shakes his head, "Ah, Lilith... You chose the wrong side."

Lilith and King are pulled upwards into the shadows of the ceiling while they scream.

Luz stares in horror and tries to walk forward, but two red arms pop out of the ground to grab her legs, "No!"

The Emperor moves his finger dismissively, "Ah uh-uh. I'd actually like to have a word with you, human..."

The human child glares at Emperor Belos...

...

Meanwhile, Lilith and King are then forced into Eda's cage by two Emperor's Coven guards. They both land while being forced to kneel. The bars quickly close behind them.

L

ilith looks up before backing away, "...Hello, Edalyn."

The Owl Beast version of Eda glares at her sister, "Lilith..." She begins pacing around the cage, "You hurt Esper! You dragged Luz into his mess! You cursed me! Before anything turns me to stone, I'll tear you apart!" She raises her claw into the air.

King quickly jumps between the two sisters, "No, don't!"

Eda gasps before stopping her claw before she could harm her young friend.

The young demon extends his arms wider, "She was trying to help! She even betrayed the Emperor for you!"

The Owl Lady widens her eyes, "What?"

The raven witch shakes her head, "If I knew something like this would happen, Edalyn, I-" She tries to take Eda's face into her hands but the activation of the petrification machine earns both of their attention. The machine's eyes begin to glow, first yellow, then green.

Within the crowd, Willow and Gus both gasp. They share the same shocked faces that the rest of their friends had.

The plant witch looks around the crowd, "We gotta do something!"

Amity nods while standing next to her, "But what?"

Suddenly, the three hear the reporter from earlier begin to talk, "And in a shocking turn of events... Head Coven Leader Lilith is now in the holding cage. Escorted by what appears to be a deranged cat?"

Gus begins to pulls on his sleeve and pouts.

Perry looks down at the boy, "Augustus? I'm live!"

The illusionist shakes his head, "Dad, you have to stop!"

Willow grabs the microphone by her friend's father's hand, "Yeah! What's happening to Eda isn't right! She might not always follow the rules... But she hasn't done anything worthy of a petrification!"

The former prisoner who had a problem with eating his eyes spoke from the crowd, "She helped me escape jail!"

Morton lets his opinion be known, "She helps me stay in business!"

Principal Bump nods her head while pointing his finger in the air, "She helped me love teaching again! ...After she left."

Willow pumps her fist in the air, "The Emperor should let Eda go!" She begins to walk forward while the crowd starts to follow her.

Gus jumps to the front of the crowd with her, "Let Eda go!"

Amity begins to follow behind the both of them with a nod of her head.

Jasper nods his head before shouting, "Yeah!"

Skara forms a red magic circle to give all of them megaphones before yelling into her own, "Let Eda go!"

The crowd starts to chant behind them, "Let Eda go! Let Eda go! Let Eda go! Let Eda go!"

...

Meanwhile... Back down to the chamber with Luz and Emperor Belos...

The human shouts at the taller man, "Let my friends go or else!"

Owlbert hoots before turning into his staff form. Luz slams the butt of the staff into the floor, rocketing out of the grip of the hands holding her down. She lands with a flip and slams the staff down once again, summoning a row of ice spikes that stops inches away from the Emperor's mask.

Emperor Belos glares at her, "Okay..." He then melts from the throne and reappears behind Luz in a solid mass, "I'll play."

He lifts a finger and flicks it, sending Luz into the base of a towering statue. A crack travels up the statue until it frees the giant two-headed axe, which Luz just barely dodges.

She sends a fireball at some spikes of earth flung towards her. She freezes a giant red hand from Belos in a block of ice. She mounts the staff in order to fly and avoid more earth spikes. She pulls the staff around and aims for Belos, with a few fire glyphs in hand.

The tall king stands immobile a large, green dinosaur like monster appears around him. Luz screams while the giant creature swallows her.

However, the monster explodes a second later and Luz lands on the ground on her feet.

Emperor Belos starts to walk towards her, "What's wrong, human? I thought you wanted to fight."

The shadow of the man passes and Luz turns to face it. More arms grab her legs and arms, pulling her back down to the ground. The human tries to move from the ground but her legs get grabbed again, "Huh? Ah!"

The tall figure appears from the shadows and stalks towards the girl, "Had enough?"

"Oh no you don't!"

Esper's voice is heard from the shadows before her spear suddenly appears besides Emperor Belos's face. Her weapon hits his mask, which causes him to stumble backwards. He covers his face in pain.

The girl lands on the ground before she tries to swing at him again.

He quickly blocks her spear with his staff, "I see the Star Touched Witch finally joins us... Wasn't my Golden Guard supposed to bring you to me?"

The redhead rolls her eyes, "Yeah, looks like you have to train him better."

The man swings his arm around to throw the smaller child off balance. With a snap of his fingers, a red hand grabs Esper's feet to keep her upright, "Hm... It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Star Touched Witch. I swear I only wish to talk, you are the witch born under the full moon after all."

His blue eye peers through his mask, "Hm... I've only seen two witches with the same eyes you have."

Esper narrows her eyes in thought, "Wait... Two?" She knew Izmeralda had the same eye color she had but... Who was the other one?

The Emperor smiles behind his mask while still talking to her, "I wanted to offer you a deal, little witch. You want to find your birth family, don't you?"

The redhead raises an eyebrow at him, "...Yes, I do."

The human behind him shouts, "Esper, don't!"

Emperor Belos speaks over the girl, "The Emperor's Coven has enough resources to aid you in your search..." When he saw the skeptical look in her eyes, he smiled under his mask, "You don't believe me? I can see why. But don't you want to learn what a Star Touched Witch ACTUALLY is? One born during the night under the full moon, where the stars shine brighter than they ever had before. Born with a deep connection to those stars... And to something... Someone... Even greater than that."

He then took a step closer to her, "Believe me now? All I ask is for your undying loyalty in return. What do you say to becoming my 'Star Guard'? You would have unlimited access to all the information we have here in the castle... Your rank would be far beyond that of a normal scout or guard, the people around the Isles would have to listen to you... You would just have to follow my orders." He offers his hand to her, "How does that sound?"

Luz struggles against the red hands keeping her down, "Esper, don't listen to him! He's lying!"

Esper looks between the two before she swings her spear, breaking the red hands, "...No. I'll find my family on my own terms!" She shakes her head while waving her injured hand, "No deal!"

The Emperor shakes his head, "What a disappointment. You will listen to reason soon enough." He then snaps his fingers, which causes more of the red hands to pop out of the ground to tug Esper to the ground.

He turns away from the witchling to address the human, "Have you two had enough yet?"

Luz looks up at him with a smile, "Not even close!" She moves her hand to reveal an ice glyph. She quickly taps it with her finger to activate it.

The ice spike from her glyph stabs Belos's mask, chipping a piece off. Luz looks at the shard before looking back up at Belos.

The Emperor chuckles at her, "Ah, I enjoy your spirits... Youth can be such a wild thing sometimes..." He turns around to reveal a glowing blue eye shining out of the broken half of his mask, "But try that again and things won't end well for the both of you."

The arms retreat off of Luz and Esper. The witchling rushes to grab her spear and readies it in her hands.

Emperor Belos stands up straight again, "Now, I'm just a humble messenger for the Titan... In the grand scheme of things, the Owl Lady's life is inconsequential." He steps directly in front of the two, "But then you showed up. If you want to save your mentor, give me the portal to the human realm."

Luz looks to her childhood friend, "But... That's our home..." She then looks up at the ceiling...

...

Now in the cage where everyone else is trapped in... The petrification machine is completely powered on. A bolt of green energy directs itself to the cage. They all scream. Beast Eda dives in front of Lilith and King, taking the full brunt of the magic blast.

Lilith shouts before attempting to grab her sister, "Edalyn!" The young demon tries to hold her back.

The younger sister screams, now sounding more like the Owl Beast than herself.

...

Back underneath the stage, Emperor Belos shakes his head at the two, "You both probably think we want to invade the human realm but the Titan's will is not so boarish. You'll understand soon... Tick tock, human. The Owl Lady doesn't have much time left..."

The witchling slowly approaches her friend, "Luz... Let's think about this..."

Luz shakes her head at her, "But... Esper, we haven't even found your family yet! What about Janet and Douglas?"

Esper frowns before looking away, "Luz! They'll be fine without me... Remember what Eda said!" She looks back at her with the same frown, "Don't worry about me! I'll be okay!"

But before the redhead could finish her sentence, Eda distantly screeches in pain. Both girls cover their ears upon hearing the sound.

Luz reaches for the ceiling, in the direction where Eda is standing, "No!" She grabs the clasp of her cloak before she starts to cry, a tear runs down her cheek, "Fine!" She reaches under her cloak and activates the portal door, keeping the key out of sight of Belos. She hugs the door in it's briefcase form to her chest, "Lo siento, Mamá." She grabs Owlbert in his staff form and stands, reluctantly walking towards the Emperor while holding out the door, "Here, it's yours."

The younger girl drops to the floor, "Luz..."

Emperor Belos smiles under his mask, "The Titan will be pleased."

He takes the door though Luz's hand lingers, not dropping it until a few seconds after it's completely out of her grasp.

She puts a hand on her friend's back, "Come on, Esper... Let's go..."

Esper stands up in shock, "But..." She looks into her eyes before following her, "Okay, Luz..."

The pair finally steps on the platform that they were brought to Luz pulls the hood of the cloak up before she does the same for Esper, much to the other girl's confusion.

The Emperor waves his hand, "Go on then..." He taps his staff against the ground, making the platform rise, "Go be some heroes."

Luz turns to face him once more, "We may have lost... But so have you!"

The human taps the staff in her hand against the platform. Owlbert's eyes glow before the fire glyphs on the briefcase do the same. They then ignite, making the portal to the human realm explode.

Emperor Belos backs away from the flaming eye of the briefcase, which is the only substantial part of the door that remains. He glares at Luz and Esper through the smoke, who both glare right back at him before the platform carries the two out of the chamber.

The redhead turns to her friend with a shocked smile, "Holy cow, Luz!"

However, now that they are up on the top platform, they can see Eda's legs begin to turn to stone. The girls rush in between the cage and the petrification machine.

Luz grabs a plant glyph and throws it to the base of the machine. Vines burst out of the paper and knock the machine onto it's side, which stops the spell.

The giant version of Eda screeches and falls to the ground... Her body nearly completely stone...

King looks around her body, "W-what do we do?!"

Lilith begins to panic, "The spell wasn't completed! Maybe I can help her fight it!" She puts her hands on Eda's wing.

Kikimora rushes to the cage in an attempt to stop them, "No! What is happening?"

Esper forms a magic circle to summon her new light blue fireball before she walks behind Kikimora, "Free them, now!" Her glare narrows at the older woman.

The tiny assistant shrinks in on herself and traces a golden spell circle. The cage disappears because of her spell and Luz runs to Eda. Esper follows after shoving Kikimora into the guards heading their way.

The human stops in front of her mentor, "Eda! Are you okay?" The redheaded witchling kneels next to her friend, worried for their older friend.

The stone begins to disappear from Eda's body... Her eyes open and she quickly looks around, "As good as I'll ever be!"

More of the Emperor's Coven guards close in on them while holding actual spears and swords. The two students prepare for a fight but Eda flings them and King onto her back.

She flaps her wings, "Let's fly!"

Lilith jumps onto her sister in front of the girls and the demon and Eda takes off. The coven guards start to chuck their spears but none hit their targets. The crowd cheers while Eda flies away.

Kikimora glaring after them until Emperor Belos rises from the platform, his mask still broken. She rushes to her boss's aid, "My liege!"

The Emperor walks to the edge of the roof, "Children of the Isles! The Titan has told me to spare the Owl Lady's life, but in return, her curse will strip away all her powers! Let her monstrous form be a lesson about the dangers of wild magic!"

The Hexside students in the crowd all begin to glare at him while he speaks...

...

Now at the Owl House, Eda suffers from a rough landing in front of Hooty. She collapses before panting heavily. Luz, Esper, Lilith, and King all jump off off her and rush to her side.

The redhead picks her mentor's paw up to hold it, "Eda, don't worry. We're going to do all we can to help you..."

Luz starts to run to the house, "Don't worry, Eda! I'll run and get you some elixir and-"

Lilith walks closer to her sister, which makes the smaller witch move out of her way to stand next to Luz. The older sister shakes her head at the two, "No, human... No amount of elixir can heal her now. Oh, sister." She takes Eda's face into her hands, "I should have done this a long time ago."

She puts their foreheads together, "With this spell declared, let the pain be shared..."

Both Eda and Lilith start to glow blue and float into the air. The gems on their chest glow and Eda returns back to her usual witch form.

Luz and Esper both shield King's eyes from the light and they all turn back to the glowing tornado when it fades...

They see Eda, who is now back to normal, and Lilith land softly onto the ground.

The redhead's mouth stays open in shock.

The human shouts with the same shocked face, "Eda!"

Both older witches turn their heads to reveal that one of each of their eyes has turned gray and Lilith now has a streak of gray hair. The older woman looks at the new streak with a worried look on her face. Eda has a streak of white and her gem is still black. She laughs while all the kids run and hug her.

Esper is the first to stop hugging her, "Are you alright?!"

Luz smiles when she lets the witch go, "Can you still do magic?"

The older woman traces a yellow spell circle in the air, which disintegrates, "Yes, I am completely fine now... Relatively speaking. And that's a no... It'll take some time to get used to this."

Lilith shakes her head, "I feel that I've been weakened as well..."

The brunette smiles at her mentor, "It's okay. I can teach you what I know! And what we don't know! We can all learn together!" She puts a light glyph in Eda's hand. Eda activates it, looking shocked that it worked. The ball of light floats into the night sky.

The redhead jumps up and down, "And besides, I still have my magic! This all sounds so fun!"

Lilith walks closer to the others with a smile while King rests on her shoulders.

Eda ruffling Luz's hair, "Thanks, kid!" She pulls Luz into a quick hug, "I look forward to that." She then ruffles Esper's hair, "And don't think I didn't see that blue fire in your hands earlier! When did your flames change colors like that? Actually, how?"

The witchling flexed her arms to show off her muscles, "I don't know! Maybe I'm just that strong now!" Though her muscles were under her jacket...

The ball of light continues to rise into the air until it gets lost among the stars.

The human girl's voice speaks over the ball of light, "And that's how we escaped from the Emperor."

Now in Luz and Esper's room, where the brunette is laying on her stomach in her sleeping bag. Esper is laying on her side with a smile and King sleeping in her arms.

Luz continues to speak, "Everyone told us he was the most powerful witch alive."

It is revealed that where she is recording a video with her phone. Both girls are in their pajamas.

She smiles at the camera, "But look at this, Mom!" She holds up the chip of Belos's mask, "I chipped off a piece of his mask! I know he's not invincible now..." She then frowns, "It's a strange feeling, having gone through so much and... Not having you here to share it with. And I don't know when or how I'm gonna see you again. And..." She puts her phone down and looks at a picture of her and Camila, she then looks at her friend, "I... I'm sorry, Esper."

Her friend shakes her head, "Luz... It's okay... I'll be fine. It's like you said, we haven't even met my parents yet..." She smiles, though it looks a little strained. Her eyes start to drop before she falls asleep with King in her arms.

Then the ball of light in their room hovering in front of Luz. She picks up the camera to smile at it, "But I will find our way home to you. And to Esper's parents. I promise. Deja una luz puesta para mí. Te quiero!"

The human pokes the ball of light, which puts it out. Several balls of light hovering outside of their window start to float away when it goes dark.

...

Meanwhile... At a staircase in the Emperor's Castle, Emperor Belos is standing in front of it and Kikimora is walking down it.

The small woman kneels next to him, "Sire, those miscreants are still at large! Please, allow me to capture them!"

Emperor Belos shakes his head, "Worry not, Kiki. We'll be keeping an eye on the inhabitants of the Owl House..."

He nods to the boy with the golden mask. He nods back before walking away with his staff in hand.

The man start to turn around, "In the meantime, the Day of Unity is almost upon us..." He fully turns to spot an incredibly large, round, white frame with wings attached to it. It is only partially built. Inside the frame is the broken portal door but being pieced back together by a few scouts.

He smiles underneath his mask, "...And we have much work to do."

On the wall behind Emperor Belos, the same shadow of a figure in pajamas shifts his fingers to resemble various witches... One of Eda, King, Luz and finally, Esper...

Chapter Text

Within a dark cave, Luz is holding a ball of light in one hand and carrying Owlbert in his staff form in the other. She stops when she sees a large shadow on the wall in front of her and hears a deep laugh. She gasps upon hearing it.

The owner of the laugh walks closer to her, "Foolish child! Leave this place before you meet your demise!"

Luz shakes her head towards the shadow, "Do not underestimate me, Garlog! For I am the good witch, Luz, hunter of monsters!" She perches the staff on her shoulder like a bazooka, "Now eat this sucka—" She stops upon seeing the deep voiced creature, "What?"

Garlog turns out to be a tiny creature casting a shadow standing in front of a lantern. Luz easily picks him up by the tail and he lets out a squeak while trying to escape.

Luz surrounds his tiny body with her fist, "You're Garlog?" She pulls out his wanted poster, depicting him being much larger and worth 4,000 snails, compares it to the real thing, "This is pathetic."

The creature folds his arms, "Small I may be, but you will soon know fear when I lay waste to all that you—"

The human quickly puts a jar over the tiny demon, "...You were saying?"

The creature grunted, striking the jar with his fist, "Hey! Cursed thing..." He hits his body against the glass dome, grumbling.

Luz shrugs her shoulders while still putting a cork in the bottle, "I just hope Esper and King are having better luck than I am..."

...

A small figure in a hood moves across the field... Searching for something while the skull wearing creature on her shoulder sniffed the air.

The girl frowns, "Did you find anything yet?"

The small demon folds his arms, "Not yet! Jeez, be a bit more patient!" He sniffs the air again, "Wait! Wait! I definitely got something!"

The dog looking creature suddenly pointed deeper into the forest, "They're down there! We got to get to them before they reach the cave!" His hood flew off to reveal King, his eyes narrowing towards the path.

The bigger figure took her hood off, revealing Esper, before spotting three figures on the path, "I'm going! I'm going! Didn't you just tell me to be patient?"

The duo rushes ahead into the clearing, barreling towards the three figures.

Esper forms a green magic circle with her finger, spawning various vines to latch onto the biggest member of the team. She begins to pull him, "Oh no you don't!"

The man with an iron jaw shouts while holding up a large bag, "Someone caught up to us! Quick! Cut the vines!"

One of the other men spawns a hacksaw made out of stone and starts to cut the plant, "Yes, boss!" Once he cut the vine, the slice recoiled and sent Esper to the ground.

The man with the metal chin began to laugh before running, "Oh it's just a brat, guys! Haha! Nice try, twerp!"

The large man following behind him frowned, "But what if she catches up to us, Ironjaw Joe?"

The older witch shrugged his shoulders while running, "Pffft, that twerp can't keep up with us! She's got little legs!"

Hearing this, the redhead summoned a few vines with her magic, keeping both her hands full. She wrapped the two ends around the trees on each side of the opening before tying the ends in her hands together into a knot. She began to walk backwards into the vines, making them strain the further she walked into them.

The demon on her shoulder raised an eyebrow, "Uh... Esper? What are you doing?"

"Just watch! And hold on tight!"

"Hold on what!"

All of a sudden, Esper jumped into the air, letting the vines propel her body forward... The velocity ruffled her hair while she practically flew.

King clutched onto the shoulder of her jacket tightly while they flew through the air. The redhead formed a fist with her not injured right hand and reared back...

With her fist colliding right with the side of the man's skull!

He falls onto the grass with a thud, dropping the bag of snails. Some of which spilled on the ground.

His colleagues froze at the sight of their leader is knocked out by the punch. One of them starts to back away from the sight, "Woah! I... Ironjaw Joe!" He turns his head to Esper when she landed, "You could have killed him! What kind of twerp does that?!"

The other started to tip toe away from the scene, making Esper form another plant circle.

The redhead wrapped the vine around the running man's wrist, digging her heels into the ground to keep him there. She glared at the one who spoke, "The Star Touched Witch kind!"

The demon on the girl's shoulder spoke up, "Yeah! Now are you guys gonna come quietly or will my friend here have to beat you guys up some more?"

This made the colleague not currently wrapped in a vine frown before he forms a brown circle in the air. He then launches a few spikes into the air towards the girl, made completely out of stone.

King looked up and pointed at the stone spikes, "Esper!"

"On it! Don't you worry!"

Keeping her one hand on the vines, Esper hops over the sharp weapons. This stabs them into the ground after missing her. She lands on her feet before unscrewing the lid on the glass bottle attached to her hip. Purple goo quickly flowed onto the ground below her before using her other hand to form a purple spell circle.

"Abomination, rise!"

The small, star shaped Abomination quickly rose in the air, only to be grabbed by it's creator. She throws it into the air and the Abomination spins around quickly before striking the one with Construction magic in the head. It flies back up when Esper makes another spell circle and flies back down. It hits the man in the head a few times before he finally falls down, knocked out.

The redhead pulls the one outlaw with both hands when he tries to run off again. She yanks the vines with all her might, her voice straining with effort.

Soon enough, she pulls enough that the man falls backwards and hits his hand on a rock on the ground. Truthfully, he is pretending to be knocked out.

Seeing the man stop moving, Esper releases the vine before forming another spell circle in the air, "Okay... Now to get these guys in. Come on, King!"

The young demon nods while she wraps several vines around the outlaws to keep them trapped.

After Esper and King walk out of the clearing, a tall man appears holding a microphone, he speaks into the camera in front of him, "Look! There she is now!" He then faces Esper with a smile, bending down slightly to be on her eye level, "Star Touched Witch, do you have anything to say after helping Eda the Owl Lady escape the Emperor? What are you doing hunting down criminals when you are the student of one? Oh and my son says hello!"

He shoves the microphone near the girl's face.

The freckled witch backs away from her friend's father, "Uh! I'd rather you call me 'Esper'! But I'm really sorry, Mr. Porter! I really have to go and take these guys in! I'll have to speak with you some other time! I promise!" She waves dramatically to the news anchor before running off, "Byeeeeeeee!"

She sprints away with the demon on her shoulder, dragging the culprits with the vines around their bodies...

However, the girl then knocks into an old man with purple skin and long, white hair, "Oh! Um, I'm so sorry, sir." She picks up the book he had dropped onto the ground from their impact, "Here, let me help you with that..."

The old man took the book back with a smile, "My name is Osran, young witchling. But there is no need to apologize. I knew I would bump into you sooner or later, Star Touched Witch..." He was hunched over with four arms and pointy ears. His hair resembled two hands with claws, one of which acting like a ponytail. His eyes are blue, black sclera and he has a long, white mustache. In one hand was a long blue feather and his two middle hands held the glass orb that rested on a necklace, his other hand held the book. He was wearing long black robes that reached the ground.

The redhead rubbed the back of her neck, "Oh really? Uh... That's totally not creepy at all, Osran. Um, I need to..."

Osran nodded his head while pointing at her, "Get back to your friends? I knew you were going to say that too! Don't worry, I'll explain everything when we meet again... Buh bye now, dearie!" He waved her off, his smile looking both sweet but had a hint of... Something sinister...

...

Now at The Owl House... wind howls around it. Garlog sits in his bottle while Luz sets her phone against it.

She boops Garlog's nose on the other side of the glass, "Boop!" She turns on camera and starts speaking, "Hola, Mama! You haven't heard from me in a while... It's been a week and a half since the petrification ceremony. A week and a half since I destroyed the portal home. I had to. Emperor Belos was going to kill Eda if I didn't hand it over. And maybe even take Esper by force! But I couldn't let him use it so I blew it up with some magic fire..." She sighs to herself, "She's not gonna understand any of this... That's okay, Luz. Just keep moving forward." She speaks to the camera again, "This world is filled with inexplicable magical wonders, like this portal key!" She takes the key out of her pocket, "I don't know if it contains magic... But I'm gonna study all I can and find a way back to you. And Esper too! A-And look!" She lifts up her leg to show King holding onto it, "I have friends to help me and Esper out."

The young demon hugs her leg tightly, "I'm never letting you go! You're never returning to the human realm!"

Luz covers the camera, "He doesn't mean that."

King shouts though the camera remains covered, "Yes, I do!"

Now, Eda is in the kitchen, where she is trying to cast magic by pouring a cup of apple blood...

Luz narrates over her mentor's actions, "This is Eda the Owl Lady, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles!" However, Eda's magic fails... The bottle explodes and covers Eda in apple blood, "Or at least she was until her curse overpowered her and weakened her magic. She's doing her best now."

Lilith is now wearing a new outfit and putting her old one away. She is wearing a long sleeved white shirt with a low battery symbol on it over her old dark blue dress.

The human narrates over her too, "Eda was cursed by her own sister, Lilith. And she spent her entire life looking for a way to undo it. It's still hard for everyone to trust each other but maybe with time we can all become friends!"

The Raven Lady stares out of the open window pensively, a small smile appearing on her face while Luz narrates. She jumps when Hooty appears in the window.

Hooty shrieks with a smile, "Hello!"

This makes Lilith scream in surprise and slam the window in Hooty's face.

Now outside the house, Eda is constructing something with the help of Esper.

Luz still narrates over her, "Even though Eda gets frustrated, she's found new ways to make up for her lost powers..."

The Owl Lady holds a weapon up proudly, "Check it, Esper! A new hunting weapon. I will call her the Stab-Catcher."

The redhead holds her fists up in excitement, "Woah! Who says you need Construction magic to make cool things! ...Still would like to learn a Construction spell though."

The human narrates over the two of them, "Without the portal, Eda has no human garbage to sell. So we've resorted to working odd jobs to keep food on the table."

The Owl Lady aims her new weapon at her youngest ward, "Hey, King, did you know that apple is a hat?"

The young demon innocently puts an apple on his head, not knowing he's standing in front of a target, "Really?"

Luz suddenly drops the camera, "King! Hey, no! King!" She rushes to get her friend out of harm's way. The Stab-Catcher, with Eda's detached hands still holding on, hits a bullseye. The human starts narrating again, "This week we're bounty hunters. Next week we could be anything. The whole bounty hunter thing seems to be working well for Esper, it's good practice for the spells she already knows. Then again, she's the only one of us who can use magic."

Luz sighs when she relaxes in her room, "So, Mom, please don't be scared. I'm growing more and more every day and I'm gonna do my best to become a full-fledged witch and get home to you safe and sound. And... Esper too, if she decides to live on Earth after this. Te quiero, Mama. Te lo prometo, regresaré a casa pronto."

Esper yells from the ground outside, "Luz!" This makes the girl look out the window.

Both older witches are waiting outside with the young one and the demon. The Owl Lady smiles, "Time to bring these bad boys to market!" The redhead grunts while lifting the rest of the criminals onto the back of the cart.

Lilith pats a few feathers off her new shirt while grunting, "Eda, do you own anything that isn't covered in feathers?"

The Owl Lady folds her arms, "I had to deal with a curse for 30 years so I think you can handle a few feathers!"

The redhead wipes the sweat off her brow before hopping onto the back of the cart, "Pfft yeah. Especially after being the one who cursed her, injuring my hand... Which is still bandaged by the way." She shows off the injured hand, which is still wrapped in a long white bandage.

Eda quickly looks at the youngster while her sister glares, "Esper, I said we'll make you a healing potion soon. We're just a little low on ingredients right now... So shhhhh."

The freckled witch rolls her eyes before relaxing her head back in the cart, "Fiiiiiine."

...

Now in Bonesborough, a statue of Emperor Belos has been placed in the middle of the town. Various Emperor's Coven guards are everywhere.

Luz looks at the guards from the cart, Wow, the Emperor is really taking over."

Esper peers around the town, relaxing her head in her hand, "Yeah..."

The woman with gray hair steers the cart through the crowd, "I see it too, Luz. And I'm trying to stay civil." She then kicks a demon decked out in Emperor's Coven apparel. The older woman directs Esper to place the three older criminals on a scale, which the shopkeeper checks.

The old man behind the counter places a bag full of snails on the table, "Ironjaw Joe! Nice to see you again!" He leads him and his underlings to the back before smiling at the girl, "Your reward. Enjoy it, young witch."

Eda ruffles the girl's hair with a smile, "Nice job kid! You got a real knack for hunting, don't you?" She then places a bag of captured smaller demons on a scale after the girl giggled. All three wait while a shopkeeper behind a booth reading BOUNTY reads the scale.

The shopkeeper puts a snail on the desk, "Tsk... Your payment."

The Owl Lady frowns at this, "A single snail? Are you kidding me?!"

The small shopkeeper laughs at her, "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't done yet." He then snaps snail in half.

Eda nearly jumps on the table but stops herself, "You can't do this to me! Do you know who I am?"

The shopkeeper folds his arms, "Yeah, you're Eda the Owl Lady. What are you gonna do? We all know you're powerless now."

The Owl Lady growls and tries to cast a spell but the circle disintegrates, "Ah! What the—"

Other towns people murmur while looking at the scene, "Ah, this is awkward..." "Uh-oh!"

The gray haired woman balls her fists, "I don't need your pity." She holds up her own wanted poster, "I was the most wanted criminal for years! You should fear me!"

A passing garbageman grabs her wanted poster and puts it in the trash cart he is pushing, "No magic? Not so wanted anymore."

Lilith laughs at her, "Don't worry, sister. At least my image still commands respect and fear." She poses in front of a Coven recruitment poster in which she is making the same pose. The poster is promptly torched by a garbageman holding a flamethrower.

Both Esper and King laugh while the demon points at her, "Haha! You're a traitor!"

The Raven Witch folds her arms while speaking towards the man putting up the posters, "What's going on? This is anarchy. Who told you to do this?"

Three new Coven recruitment posters of the Golden Guard fly onto the wall.

Luz grabs one, "The Golden Guard? Wait a minute, didn't you fight him, Esper?"

The redhead smirks, "Pffft yeah but he got called back by his uncle!" She folds her arms before looking at the older woman, "Did you know him in the Coven, Lilith?"

The dark haired woman grabs the poster from Luz, "Unfortunately, I did. He always got special treatment because he was the genius teen prodigy! But he's really just a brat! If he's in charge... Vomit!"

She crumples up the poster and throws it to a trashcan. It hovers right before entering and then flies back to her. It then adheres itself to Lilith's face. She tries to rip it off but gives up and stalks off.

The human side-hugs Eda, "Hey, I know! What we need is a confidence boost. Why don't we all take on the biggest bounty we can find? It'll be great!" She runs up to a bulletin board labeled 'Greg's List' and reads the posters there, "Hmm. Lost Cerberus, no. Witch cackling lessons?" She then chuckles, "Uh, but maybe not today. Aha!" She takes poster down and shows it off, "There's something called a 'Selkidomus' ravaging boats up and down the coast! We'll be on a high-seas adventure! Esper, you like pirates and stuff!"

The redhead nodded at her childhood friend, "That's true... I did hold the highest worldwide score on 'Blackbeard's Treasure Misadventures' for three years running..."

Eda quickly shakes her head, "Hmm... No. WE gotta keep a low profile while my powers are weakened. And we need fast cash. Esper can handle the bigger ones meanwhile we can..." She then gasps and gestures to the poster on the wall, "How about this guy?"

The human raises an eyebrow at the poster, "'The Abominable Cutie Pie'?"

The older woman shakes her head, "No, no, no. I hear it's very dangerous." She gasps, "And look, there he is!" She points to where the little demon is standing between two Hexside students with a lollipop in his hand.

The Abominable Cutie Pie giggles and runs off. It then climbs the statue of Emperor Belos, "You'll never catch me!"

The two girls shrug their shoulders at each other before Luz climbs the statue. She is quickly followed by her childhood friend.

The Abominable Cutie Pie frowns, "You did it! You caught me!" It then falls into Luz's hands which makes her groans while King climbs up to her. Esper follows her friends on the statues.

Back at the cart, Eda sighs, "Things aren't looking great, Lily. This bounty hunting stuff isn't putting food on the table." She holds up the bag of snails Esper was given earlier, "We need more than what Esper is getting us too... I can't believe we're relying on a child, she looks like she's running herself ragged." While she speaks, the mentioned redhead is shown with slight bags under her eyes.

Lilith speaks but is incredibly muffled under the poster.

The Owl Lady puts the bag in her pocket, "Oh, I'm sure Luz could handle bigger bounties but if we wanna eat we don't have the luxury to mess up even once."

Her sister responds again but is still sounds muffled under the poster.

Eda shakes her head, "No apple blood. I spent the money on griffin eggs for Luz. There's not a lot she can digest here so I make sure to have her favorites around. It's something Esper can eat too. Gotta make sure both kids are fed."

The two sisters start to slowly head off in the cart...

The Abominable Cutie Pie points at the human, while laughing, "That's rough, buddy!" The creature then screams when Esper shoves him to the ground.

The brunette lands on top of the Abominable Cutie Pie after jumping to the ground, "This is awful, Esper! Eda wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for me. Maybe it would be better if I never came here. I can't change the past, but I can still change the future. I'm gonna help Eda and prove that I'm more than just a burden..."

Esper raised her eyebrows at her friend, "Woah, that was heavy. Come on, you're not a burden!" She stopped when she noticed her friend's face, "...Luz, what are you planning to do?"

The slightly older girl ruffled her friend's hair, "Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about, Esper! You know what, why don't you head home?"

The freckled witch tilted her head, "Huh, really? Why?"

Luz squeezed the other girl in a very quick hug, "Because you've been running yourself ragged! You deserve to take a little break! King and I are going to find some more ways to get money. Completely safe ways! I promise."

Esper scratched her cheek with a smile, "Well... Okay if you say so!" She pumped her fist before she ran off, "You're right, I have earned myself a break! Hey Eda! Lilith! Wait up!"

Both Luz and King smile at each other while watching their friend rush to get home...

Now at the Bonesborough Dock, Salty, the captain of the ship sits behind a barrel. He relaxes in his chair before spotting the human with the demon on her shoulder run to the barrel he is sitting at.

Luz slams the Selkidomus's wanted poster onto a barrel, "The Selkidomus hunt. I want in!"

The ship's horn blows behind the captain when he looks at the wanted poster. Salty looks back up at the human, "You think you can handle this, squirt?"

The brunette nodded and pumped her fist, "I can handle anything!"

The captain lets Luz inside before nods at the Golden Guard, who closes the window of his private quarters bearing the Emperor's sigil.

...

Back at the Owl House, Esper walks through the door before laying down on the ground. Lilith pays no attention to her and holds her now burned recruitment poster with a frown. The younger sister sneaks up on her, wearing a bandolier of orange potions.

Eda shows off the potion holder, "Hey, Lily! How do I look?"

The Raven Witch raises an eyebrow at her, "Uh..."

Esper picked her head up from the ground but laid it back down without a response.

The Owl Lady flops onto the couch, "Getting scammed at the market was such a bummer but it gave me an idea on how to earn a little more cash! You wanna come? I may not be at full power but I can still make potions!" She dangles a potion over Lilith's head with a smile.

Lilith shakes her head, "I am quite fine. Thank you." She then pushes her sister away.

The redhead picks her head up again while raising her eyebrows, "Wait, you have enough to sell but don't have enough for making me a healing potion?"

The mentor rubs the back of her neck, "Ehhhh no... No, I do not..."

The freckled witch folds her arms before laying down, "Dang it. And I'm sure those would sell well too." She then suddenly jumps up and rushes to her mentor, "Oh! Wait a minute! Can you teach me how to make a potion now?"

Eda smiles at the younger witch before pointing at her, "That's actually a great idea! Come on, I'll show you how to make your own batch all by yourself!"

Lilith rises from her seat and walks towards the two, "I mean, I can assist in teaching the young one how to make potions while you're busy!"

The young redhead quickly shakes her head, "Ugh no thanks. I'd rather have Eda, you know my mentor, teach me."

The Owl Lady puts her hands on the young witch's shoulders to calm her down, "Aight! Settle down, firecracker." She pushes the girl out the door, "Lilith, why don't you just stay here for now? Have fun wallowing in self-pity and feeling bad for cursing me! Byeeeee!" She then leaves by slamming the door.

The Raven Lady rips the poster bits out of her hair and sighs, "I guess I deserve this. There's gotta be a way to make it up to her..." She sees a potions book and grabs it, "Edalyn isn't the only Clawthorne with a talent for potions!" She chuckles before opening the book to a page for a scrying potion, "Ooh. I bet she would love a peek inside the castle!"

She rips the page out and starts backing away, straight into Hooty.

The owl tube smiles, "New roomie check-in!"

The woman screams which makes her fall and drop the book and page.

Hooty smiles at her, "How's my bestie doing?" He notices page on his face, "A scrying potion!?" He gasps, "Lulu, you're trying to spy on your old buddies? I can help! We can find out their crushes." She rubs his face against Lilith's, "We can give them cute couple names!"

Lilith shoves Hooty away, "No!" She stands back up, "I can do this alone. Don't follow me!" She starts to leave before stopping in the doorway, "And don't call me Lulu!" She slams the door when she leaves.

The owl tube starts to speak to himself, "A good friend would respect her wishes, but a better friend would help no matter what!" He then moves after Lilith, closing the door when he goes.

...

Back to Salty's ship, it is sailing through the Boiling Sea... Luz stands on the side with King on her shoulder, "When we defeat the Selkidomus and get a boatload of snails, Eda won't have to worry about money for a long time! And Esper won't have to run herself ragged either!"

The young demon extends his arms towards her, "Hehe yeah! King want a cracker!"

Salty yells out to the crew, "All hands!"

The human joins the rest of the crew who are all lined up in front of Salty.

The captain looks around at his allies, "Alright, crew. The Selkidomus has been ravaging the coastline! It was last seen in the Simmering Shoals. You know the drill... 'Snag the quarry..." He drops large sack of snails onto the deck, "Get the money galore-y.' We all do the work, we all get a cut!"

All of the crew start to cheer, including Luz.

A singular sailor shouts with a smile, "I have many debts!"

Salty nods his head at the crew, "'Till then, keep everything shipshape. This ain't no pleasure cruise." He throws a broom at Luz, "Don't be a burden, sea squirt!"

Luz catches the broom with a nod, "Oh, you don't have to worry about me."

Salty offers Luz a scraper while pointing at the barnacles on the lower side of the ship. She gives King a look before using a plant glyph to lower the both of them down. The barnacles grunt at her. Luz hisses back at them, causing them to quiet down. Luz uses King's horn to scrape them off the ship.

Now, Salty shovels coal into the bellows of the ship. He then offers the shovel to Luz but she shakes her head and pushes it away. She activates three fire glyphs directly into the bellows and closes the door. The ship's horn blows while the ship speeds ahead. Salty nods in approval.

Back at the main deck, the crew is clapping in time with Luz dancing. She turns around to reveal a large bug on her back. She launches it over King, Who is holding a cracker and various birds, into the sea.

Salty approaches her with a nod, "Well, ye had me confront my own biases and I got nothing but respect for ya now, squirt. I mean, sailor."

The human nods back at him, "Thanks, Salty. You make me feel like a real part of the crew."

The captain smiles at her while elbowing her in the arm, "Well, that's because you arghhhh."

All of the crew cheers for the girl.

King waves his cracker in displeasure, "Boo!"

However, one of the birds tries to grab it from him.

The demon quickly tries to pull his cracker away, "Hey, that's mine, you feather duster!" Both King and the bird both tug at the cracker.

But then, the ship hits a large wave, which sends the demon tumbling into the captain's quarters. The doors close tightly behind him.

King attempts to open the doors by himself, "Oof. Hey, King want a cracker!" He gasps when he sees box of crackers on the desk, "Ooh!" He scrambles up the desk and grabs some crackers from the box.

He then notices a letter below the box, "Huh?" He picks up letter, "Is that the Emperor's sigil?"

The young demon turns up the brightness on the lamp next to him. The brighter light reveals that various parts of the room are covered in the Emperor's sigil.

King begins to back away from the sight of the sigil, "This ship belongs to the Emperor?! Oh, boy. I gotta tell Luz!"

Suddenly, the Golden Guard appears and stalks closer to the small demon, "Unfortunately, you won't have the chance!"

King then screams in horror while the Golden Guard's shadow looms over him.

...

Now with Eda and Esper at the stands, the older woman had set up a small tent with a wooden counter in the front and a small cauldron in the back. She leads the girl out to the forest in front of a few bushes, "Okay, Esper. Potion lesson number one! Gather your ingredients!" She starts to pick purple berries from the bush in front of them, "Come here and join me!"

The redhead nodded at her before joining in, "Sure thing!"

After a long while of picking fruit, a small blue deer walked towards the two. It hesitantly sniffed the berries before taking a bit off the branch. It then moves it's attention towards Esper, sniffing the girl's ear.

This made the redhead move back from the creature, "...Hey, Eda? What's this really tiny deer doing?"

The Owl Lady speaks softly while putting her hand on the girl's shoulder, "Oh Esper, that there is a spikadeer. It's spines are incredibly rare! And useful for making healing potions due the animal's herbivorous nature."

Esper reaches for the spear next to her, "Ooooh, I see! So... Do I just... Use the spear to stab it or?" She picks up her spear above the creature's head, ready to strike. However, it doesn't move.

Eda shakes her head before pushing the girl's hand down, "No! Put that down! You have to harvest things peacefully, Esper." She looks her student straight in the eyes, "Simply killing the creature and taking what you want... It's not right." She tickles the creature underneath it's chin before it released the spines from the top of it's head. The monster nodded it's head before running off to join it's family nearby.

The older woman smiles while holding the spikes, "See? It's that simple. There's no need to end it's life. It's spines naturally fall off and grow back anyway."

The freckled witch nods her head in understanding, "Oooooh! Okay, I see. Thank you, Eda." She stands up fully with her finger in the air, "Now let's make that potion!"

Eda dusts herself off before stretching, "Yeah! Come on, let's go!"

Soon enough, the mentor lead the girl to the travel sized cauldron behind the counter. The older woman begins to set their ingredients inside the boiling water, "See when the water comes to a boil, it means it's ready to extract and mix the magic of these items together."

Esper keeps her face close to the steam, "Wooooah! Cool!" She takes a peek at the book, "So we know it's ready when it turns dark blue?"

The Owl Lady clicks her tongue at her, "Yup, that's right!" Eventually, after a while of whisking away... Eda gestures to let the smaller girl stir the pot, "Would you like to do the honors?"

"Would I?!"

The redhead excitedly takes the spoon and stirs the contents within the cauldron.

The potion briefly glows white before turning into a dark blue color. This made the girl smile when she sees the color match the picture in the book, "I did it! I can make potions now! This is awesome! See, even without magic you can still teach us stuff!"

Eda rotates her hand, "Why don't you try it out?"

The redhead started to take the white bandages off her burnt hand, "Heck yes! This burn's been itching!"

Once she dipped her injured hand into the liquid, she felt a cooling sensation. After a minute or two, she takes her hand out of the mini cauldron and stares at it. Steam rises from her hand while the burn quickly heals.

The pink skin quickly turns back to it's normal brown color, like it was never burned in the first place.

Esper's eyes widened, "Woah! Hey, my burn is completely gone!"

Eda's eyes widened at the same time, "Woah is right... I've never seen a healing potion... Well heal that fast. That's impressive, Esper."

This made the younger girl jump excitedly, "Really? Oh this is so cool!" She quickly picks up a few potion bottles, "We better sell this quick then!"

The Owl Lady smiled at her, "Oh yeah, you better go do that! Makes those sales, kid!" She turned away from her, "That... Might not have been the potion. Potions never heal that fast. That's so... Strange..."

The redhead sighed when her mentor joined her at the stand, "I sure hope Luz and King are doing okay with whatever they're doing..."

A customer puts a few snails on the counter after taking a few ounces of Esper's healing potion, "Oh, you mean that human kid that was on the news? I saw her climb onto a ship a while ago with a little demon on her shoulder."

Esper raised her eyebrows, "Really?" Her eyes then widened in realization, "Wait a minute! Oh no. No, no no no! She didn't!"

The Owl Lady was already rubbing her eyebrows, "...It's Luz."

The redhead stomped her foot onto the ground, "YEAH! She totally did!" She was nearly ready to jump the counter, "Come on! Let's go!"

Eda tugs her back by grabbing her hood, "Wait! First, we need to suit up!"

The freckled witch raises her eyebrow at her, "Right now?"

The gray haired woman smirks at her, "Well if we're going on a pirate adventure..."

This made Esper fold her arms, "...Okay fine. But we gotta be quick!"

...

Back in the middle of the woods, Lilith is consulting the scrying potion recipe. She looks up from the paper, "Okay, next is fire bee honey."

Two giant fire bees fly past her and into a colony. Lilith tries to follow, but the moment her foot enters their territory, they swarm together and fly at her. She screams and draws a very shaky spell circle, which produces an average sized, sweating ice cube. The cube offers no defense against the swarm since it melts. She runs behind a tree where several fire bees plunge their stingers.

The older woman slides to the ground, "How can I get fire bee honey without ice magic or porcuspine quills without a sleeping spell? Who am I without magic! Without a Coven!" She buries her head in her knees...

Hooty's voice rings through the air, "Without friends?"

The Raven Lady looks up to see Hooty poking out of the ground next to her. She points at him accusingly, "I said-"

The owl tube stretches into her space, "You don't know how to get those fire bees but I can help!"

Lilith shakes her head with a frown, "No!" She pushes him away, "I don't want your help! I told you not to follow me!"

Hooty frowns at her, "If I were you, I would-"

The Raven Lady shrugs her shoulders, "You would what?" She stands up and paces around, "Because it doesn't matter! You aren't me! You're just some kind of weird bird-worm!"

The owl tube appears hurt by these words with tears in his eyes.

Lilith folds her arms, "You have no idea what I'm going through! I have to do this alone because if I can't... What kind of witch am I?!"

Hooty sighs while lowering himself into the ground, "Sorry, Lulu... I mean, sorry, Lilith." He retreats into the ground...

The dark haired woman grabs a branch and looks at the colony, "Now, let's try this one more time!"

...

Back on Salty's ship, it enters darker waters... The captain takes out a telescope to look ahead, "We're here! The Simmering Shoals! Eyes peeled, mates!"

A burning ship sails past. Sailors take off their hats and pay respects. Luz simply puts her hand over her heart in respect.

Salty whispers under his breath, "She's close..."

The Selkidomus' tail thwacks against the side of the ship, nearly knocking it over.

Luz shouts while holding up her paper glyphs, "She's here!" She corners the Selkidomus with ice pillars and then wraps it in vines. She starts pulling it onto the ship.

Salty shouts while grabbing the vines, "Help her, boys! Put your backs into it!"

His words made the rest of the crew grab the vine in order to help the girl.

The human ties the vine onto the ship, "I did it!"

Suddenly, there is an explosion on the deck! Which causes Luz to fall down...

The Selkidomus suddenly breaks free from the vine and swims away. Luz turns her head to see a silhouette of someone carrying a bag of money.

Salty narrows his eyes at the stranger, "Is that a... A ghost pirate?"

The human shouts, "The money! We're being robbed!

The thief jumps off the ship onto a speedboat and heads to a nearby island. Luz summons a boat-shaped block of ice and hops onto it. She then propels herself with a fire spell after them.

The captain laughs while swimming, "Show that specter what for, Luz!"

Luz closes in on the shore, "There's another person on the ship! There's two thieves! Get back here!"

The ice ends up melting to the point of barely support her feet. She loses her balance and is sent flying, colliding into the thief who drops the money at the shore. It opens and it gets washed away.

The human stares at the thieves for a good minute. The thief's eyes are gold and gray. The other has fiery red hair. Luz walks over and knocks off the taller one's hat, revealing it's Eda. The older woman is wearing a black captain's hat with a dark red captain's jacket, black pants and black boots. She still wears her golden earrings with various potions attached to the belts on her chest and her hair is in a ponytail.

Esper is wearing a white shirt with pale yellow stripes, a black and gold vest, black pants and black boots. She is also wearing a blue belt and a long blue head sash.

The brunette folds her arms upon seeing them, "Eda! Esper!"

The Owl Lady starts sheepishly chuckling, "Hey..."

The redhead points while folding her arms, "Great plan to get her attention, Eda."

The human raises her arms, "Why are you guys robbing our ship?" She then points at her mentor, "And what happened to your legs?"

The redhead stands up and folds her arms, "I'm sorry, what do you mean by 'our ship'? What happened to 'safer ways to get money while you take a nap, Esper?'"

Eda smiles while her legs reattach to her upper body, "It's called 'disguising your tracks!'" She then stands, "Now, why were you on that ship to begin with? You coulda' gotten killed!"

Suddenly, the Golden Guard's voice is heard from the water, "That can still be arranged." A giant water fist rises from the sea. He lands holding a birdcage with steam pouring from his mask.

He walks closer to them, "Hello, criminals. What's about to happen should be relatively painless, if you just do what I say."

Esper smirks upon seeing the Golden Guard, "Oh hey, it's you again! What? You want to go for round two?" She raises her fists.

The teenager tilted his head at her, "Star Touched Girl! Can't say I didn't expect to see you here! The human's in danger and you show up eventually!"

The redhead folded her arms, "Pfft what? You wanted Luz in danger to draw me out? Salty that you lost to me the last time?"

This made the Golden Guard frown underneath his mask, "...Last time I checked, you human raised witch, is that we had a draw. Don't get cocky! Now do what I say and no one gets hurt!"

Luz puts her hands on her childhood friend's shoulders, "...And why would we do that?"

The Golden Guard folds his arms while still holding the birdcage, "Because none of you can use real magic."

Eda folds her arms back at him, "You don't know that!"

The freckled witch put her hands on her hips, "Also uh hello! I'm right here!"

The teenager rolls his hand that holds his staff, "Yes... I know you're here too. However, you're the only one who can use magic here. And I do know that the human and the old lady are standing on a plant that eats flesh."

Luz and Eda look down and notice the plant is steaming and quickly jumps off it. They freak out with the human jumping behind Esper.

The Golden Guard laughs while pointing at them, "Okay, the human will remain a sailor to repay all the money she lost! While the Owl Lady and the Star Touched Witch will be arrested, again, for attacking one of the Emperor's ships!"

The human raises an eyebrow at the woman, "'Emperor's ship'?"

Esper copied her childhood friend's actions, "Wait, 'again?'"

Eda folds her arms again, "What! They're the only ones worth robbing!" She points at the redhead, "And it was a few times years ago! Besides this time..." She then shouts at the Golden Guard, "Why are you guys hunting the Selkidomus? It's a peaceful creature and you're provoking it!"

The teenager rolled his shoulders, "The Emperor ordered me to slay one. I'm just following orders."

Eda glares at him, "Well, I'm just gonna smack you around a bit!" She rips her own arm off to use as a weapon and swings but misses. She ends up being blasted away by the boy.

Luz appears from behind him, and activates a fire glyph, "Leave Eda alone!" She then throws the orange fire ball at the boy...

Only for the Golden Guard to duck below the blast, "How about..." He powers up his staff, "I leave you dangling above the Boiling Sea?"

He manipulates the land with his glowing staff to move the two of them directly above the steaming waters.

Esper creates a green spell circle in order to spawn various brown vines in an attempt to drag the piece of land back to shore, "Oh no you don't! Get back here!"

However, the vines start to slowly disintegrate from the steam!

The Golden Guard smirks at her from under his mask, "Around these parts, just the steam is enough to cause third-degree burns!" He brings them back to land, "But I don't have to be that mean! No one will have to be a sailor or get arrested or hurt! If one of you follows those Selkidomus tracks and slays the beast. Here! I'll help!"

He materializes a sword in her hand with his staff. Which makes Luz whine.

The teenager folds his arms towards her, "Ugh, you're making this difficult... Go or I drown the bird." He then lifts up the birdcage and pulls the shade aside, revealing King. The young demon looks around, "Weh?"

The Golden Guard drops the shade back down over the birdcage. his made the young demon tired, "Ah, it's dark now." He quickly falls asleep within the darkness and begins snoring.

Esper raises her hands up in worry, "Woah woah! Hey, that's not fair! Leave King out of this!"

The teenager puts his hands on his hips, "Life's not fair!"

Luz stares at the sword before walking inside the cave, "Fine. I'll do it!"

The redhead rushes after her childhood friend, "Huh?!"

Eda runs after the two girls, "Luz, wait! Luz!"

...

Lilith is now encircled by a ring of fire bees... She backs away before holding up the branch, "I am not one to be trifled with, bees. I am a witch... Unhinged!" She swings at the bees with a stick, making battle cries.

She pulls the stick away and realizes it's burnt, "What? No, no, no, no, no!"

The older woman falls to the ground with the ring of bees closing in, "I can't do this alone. I need help!"

Hooty suddenly emerges out of the ground, "I'm here for you, Lulu. No witch is an island. Now face my wrath!"

Lilith starts clapping while watching the carnage, "Oohohoho!"

...

Back to the team inside the cave, Esper blocks her friend's path so she couldn't walk any further...

Eda speaks up from behind the human, "Luz, don't hurt the Selkidomus. We can find another way out of this..."

Luz shakes her head at her mentor, "You heard what he said, Eda! If you, Esper and King want to be free... Then I have to do this alone!" She turns to try to walk around her friend...

...However, the redhead stepped in front of her yet again, "Luz, come on. I'm not going to let you kill this creature! Especially not for him! We've been there for each other, thick and thin. You know?"

The Owl Lady tries to put her hand on the girl's shoulder, "Yeah! What's this 'alone' business? Don't you remember? Us weirdos have to—"

Luz rolls her shoulder away from her mentor, "What? Stick together? Because you stuck with me, you lost your magic! You almost got turned to stone and now you can't even afford your apple blood because you're worried about what I need to eat!" Eda's eyes widen, instantly realizing that Luz overheard what she said to Lilith earlier in the day...

The human continues when she hears no response, "If it was just Esper... You wouldn't have that problem!" She turns her head towards her childhood friend, "Heck, Esper, we don't even know if we'll find your parents! And I destroyed the only way to get back to your human ones! It's my fault all this happened. That's why I've got to do this alone. I'll make it all up to you guys... Eda the Owl Lady and Esper the Star Touched Witch. I promise!"

But then Luz falls backwards. She ends up falling down into the Selkidomus' den!

Both witches shout, "Luz!"

The human falls right onto the Selkidomus' head. This makes the large creature stir and roar at her once it spots her.

The brunette jumps backwards, "Whoa!" She dodges a Selkidomus attack and holds up a glyph in defense, "All right, let's do this!"

Luz summons an ice pillar but Eda swings on a vine summoned by Esper and grabs Luz in mid-air. She tackles the girl into cover while the redhead swung into the safe space after them.

The older woman stands in front of her student, "You think throwing your life away is gonna help me? Well, it won't. You helped me find King's crown when you barely knew me! You saved me from turning to stone and you even got me talking to my sister again! So unfortunately for you, my life is pretty great! Because I'm friends with Luz the human." She brushes a hair out of the girl's face, "You think I would have ever been able to teach Esper anything without you? Do you think she would have even discovered that she was a witch?"

Luz's childhood friend hugs her from behind, "Yeah! You may be the reason I'm stuck here but I made the choice to follow you! Luz, you're the one who always made me feel... Well, human! Back in the Human Realm when I felt like no one understood me, you were always there to make me feel like a person! Sure, you're stubborn and you charge into danger... And trust me, I am so going to punch you for tricking me earlier. But I know you always do something for a good reason!" She releases her friend with a teary smile, "That's one of the reasons I admire you so much, you always try to do the right thing! That good heart of yours never knows when to quit!"

Luz's lip begins to tremble while she tears up but stops when Eda grabs her cheeks.

The older woman speaks right in front of her face, "Now, your guilt-ridden brain is clouding your judgment!"

Esper punches her childhood friend on the arm, "Come on, Luz, we're all in this together! There's gotta be a way out of this! Where no one has to get hurt!"

Behind them, a baby Selkidomus cries out.

Luz gasps when she hears the noise, "Eda, do you want to learn your first glyph?" She rubs the back of her neck, "And uh, Esper's second?"

...

Above them, the Golden Guard is playing with King's birdcage. He lifts the shade. King wakes up and spins around, "Weh?"

He drops the shade, which makes King sigh in relief. The Golden Guard lifts the shade again. Once again, the demon wakes up and spins around, "Weh?"

The teenager repeats the action with glee. King wakes up and spins around, "Weh?"

He drops the shade once again with a smile under his mask. King sighs in relief one last time...

The Golden Guard starts to laugh, "You're actually weirdly endearing!"

King yawns from the cage, "No, I'm not!" He then begins to snore...

The Golden Guard looks up and sees shadows on the wall of the trio fighting the Selkidomus. Luz slays the mother and begins dragging her head into the Golden Guard's view.

The teenager gags before taking a step back, "Oh, that thing smells awful! Why are you touching it with your bare hands? Gross!"

The human shakes her head at him, "You're gross! Now give me King!"

The Golden Guard nods his head at her, "Actually, he smells pretty bad too. Take him!" He tosses her King's birdcage, which lands on the ground, "Thank you for your service, human. You can find your own way home. And try to stay out of trouble." His voice deepens to a sinister, "The Emperor is not a merciful man. Your 'Star Touched Witch' will soon know that." He then waves with his voice raising in pitch, "Byeeeee!"

The teenager gets on his staff and vanishes in a flash of red light.

Luz picks up King's birdcage and blows a raspberry after the teenage boy leaves. Beside the corpse of the Selkidomus falls apart, revealing to actually be made entirely out of plant magic.

Eda is drawing light glyphs and casting them, "My first glyph! Did I do good?"

Esper smiles while holding up a plant glyph, "How were my plants? They weren't too dead looking, were they?"

Luz walks up to her with a smile, "Nope! It convinced him! Hey, you both did great!"

Suddenly, the Selkidomus crawls up to the trio with a smile, her baby follows close behind her.

The mother rubs her head against Esper's face with a small growl. The redhead hugs the head of the creature, "Aw! You're welcome, Mom. Anything to keep you and your baby safe."

The baby comes up to Luz and hugs her. It's face rubbing against her legs.

Luz smiles before lifting the baby to hug it back, "Baby! Awww..."

King's eyes widen when he steps out of the birdcage, "Wait, what is that?!"

Eda rubs the demon's skull with a smile, "Don't worry, King. Once the mother saw we weren't a threat to her baby, she calmed down." She looks up at the mother, "This area is very dangerous now. You need to move further out into the sea."

The Selkidomus nods then regurgitates a pile of golden sludge from her mouth in front of the group.

Esper takes a step back, "Woah! At least it wasn't on me!"

The old witch's eyes widen upon seeing the sludge, "Hot dang! It gave you the treasure of the sea!"

The human tilts her head towards the sludge, "Gold? Tuna?"

The redhead folds her arms, "...Tuna? This is not what tuna looks like."

Eda picks up a handful of the gold, "Yeah! She's right! It's selkigris! Ah, people pay big money for it at the Night Market. We're rich! Ah, feel that money, Luz." She starts to lather a handful of Selkigris onto Luz's face.

The girl begins to gag, "No, Eda! Stop!"

Esper raises her arms with a smile, "Hahaha! Victory! At least it's not me this time!"

The older woman continues to lather the girl's face, "Luxuriate in it! What? You don't like to luxuriate? There's a whole pile of luxury right in here!" She then picks her student up.

The human waves her arms around when she is picked up, "No, no, no, no, no."

Eda throws Luz into the Selkigris with a big smile on her face.

The younger redhead points to her friend while laughing, "Ahaha! That's what you get!" She stops laughing when she feels herself be picked up, "Wait wait wait! Eda no!"

She gags when she lands in the golden sludge. She balls her fist while the goop falls off her, "Ah! Son of a pickle!"

The Owl Lady backs away from the pile, "Move over!"

She then jumps in, flattening the pile with the two younglings in it.

Both girls shake their heads, "Eda!"

But then they all start to laugh...

...

Back to Lilith at the Owl House... She is putting ointment on Hooty's fire bee stings, "I'm sorry for sending you away before. It's always hard for me to ask for help."

The owl tube smiles at her, "It's okay! I'm sorry for being all nosy-nosy... But hey, Lulu, every friendship comes with its ups and downs. Right, best friend?"

The woman looks away from him, "I'm not commenting on that..." But she then smiles at him, "Hootsifer..."

Hooty smiles widely, "A nickname?!" He then starts laughing, "Hoot."

The cauldron with the scrying spell finally finishes brewing. It glows and bubbles in front of the two.

Lilith gasps, "The scrying potion! It's ready!

Suddenly, a tired Eda, Luz, Esper and King walk through the door together...

The Owl Lady takes a step forward, "We're home." She then trips over Hooty.

Lilith waves her sister closer, "Eda, come here. I have a gift for you. To prove that I'm trustworthy, I'm giving you a peek inside the Emperor's Castle!"

Her cauldron shows a corridor at the Emperor's Castle that splits into two paths... Four distracted guards at each side are doing nothing.

A guard on the left turns to the guard on the right, "'Sup?"

The guard on the right shrugs his shoulders, "'Sup?"

Back to the Owl House living room, Luz raises an eyebrow at the grown witch, "What are we supposed to do with this?"

Esper scratches her chin, "Yeah? What is it? Like some sort of spy camera?"

Lilith smiles at the two girls, "Well you can do whatever you want! Don't you see? These troops don't know what to do with themselves. So go crazy! Pull whatever pranks your heart desires! They're clueless without me!"

Eda rubs her hands together, "Oh, Lily, you couldn't have been more right!" She puts her hands on her hips, "And that Golden Guard... What a chump."

The younger redhead copies her motion, "I'll agree with you on that!"

The Owl Lady rubs her hands together yet again, "Oh, I'm in a good mood. Who wants to get takeout and draw faces on Hooty?"

Hooty shakes his head, "No..."

Esper, King and Luz all speak simultaneously with smiles, "Yay! Me, me, me! I do! Yeah! I'm in!"

Lilith hugs Hooty's face, "I'll protect you, Hootsifer!"

Everyone continues their conversation while the potion delves further into the Emperor's castle...

The Owl Lady folds her arms, "Alright, what do we wanna eat?"

The human speaks up, "Anything but seafood!"

The redhead sticks out her tongue, "Ditto! I don't think I can ever have venison after today either! How about something vegetarian for tonight?"

The young demon jumps onto Esper's shoulders, "Oh! Oh! What about crackers?"

Eda shakes her head, "We're not ordering crackers."

The owl tube smiles, "Bees!"

Lilith smiles while shrugging her shoulders, "I'm fine with whatever. Things are starting to feel right again..."

The potion's spell zooms in through a wall to where Emperor Belos is piecing together his own portal door... He puts his mask on before he turns around, "Knock, knock, children..."

Chapter Text

Outside a factory called 'Blight Industries'... Green smoke is seen coming out of the chimneys. We see a banner that reads 'PRIVATE SALE.' Various hooded figures are seen entering the building. Edric and Emira are at the door. The boy twin puts a paper which says 'HEX ME' on one of the hooded figure's back. The twins then giggle.

Now inside the factory... The hooded figures gather in front of a stage. Two hooded figures are seen standing on a stage. A light shines on them...

One of the hooded figures speaks with a woman's voice, "Welcome, valued investors, to our annual..." She takes off the hood, "Blight Industries private sale!" The woman is tall with green hair in a bun, blue eyes and pale skin. She wears a violet blouse under a white waistcoat with a triple interlocking orb pattern, navy pants, and heeled blue-gray boots with darker-colored toes, heels and ribbons. She also has small, gold round earrings and a necklace with a pink oval gem.

The man next to her takes off his hood but trips and faceplants in the process. He has spiky brown hair, gold eyes and pale skin. He is dressed in a dark gray lab coat covered in purple stains from abomination projects, along with gray pants with black boots which are also covered in purple stains. He is also slouching, making him seem shorter than he actually is.

The woman shrugs her shoulders, "If you're interested in reliable home security, we're here to help." She then whispers, "And if you've got an enemy or two... Well, who are we to judge?"

The investors in the crowd all laugh.

The woman points at the man, "This is my husband, Alador Blight, the greatest abomination creator of the era. My name is Odalia and as an oracle, I predict you'll love what we've got in store for you tonight. We are proud to present... The first glimpse of our crowning achievement!"

The husband and wife step aside and up rises Amity with a bored expression on her face. Next to her is a strange abomination-like creature in armor.

Odalia gestures to the machine, "The Abomaton Soldier!"

The investors in the crowd all clap.

The Abomaton starts pouring tea for Amity, doing her hair, and standing ready for a fight.

The wife continues to speak, "It will pour your tea! Help you keep up with the latest trends! And best of all, it will defend you against any unwanted visitors!"

She touches her necklace causing it to begin to glow... The jewel in Amity's necklace glows, receiving a telepathic message from her mother.

Odalia smiles while she speaks through her necklace, 'Mama to Mittens, remember our deal! Make this look good and we'll forgive your recent lackluster performance in school...'

Amity sighs, "Yes, Mom..."

The Abomination robot tries to punch Amity but misses.

The girl speaks in a monotonic tone, "Wow, it's so fast and strong. Order now."

The investors clap and cheer but Alador yawns. The Abomaton then grabs Amity.

The green haired girl shrugs her shoulders, "Oh no, it's undefeatable. How will I ever escape?"

A photograph falls from Amity's sleeve. She eyes it, which reveals it's the one of her, Luz, Willow, Esper and Gus from Grom Night...

The girl tilts her head, "Huh?"

The Abomaton almost steps on the picture. Amity gasps and then uses a spell circle to easily destroy the robot.

The crowd gasps and murmur among each other, "That's awful!" "This show sucks!"

They all then start to turn and leave.

The mother scrambles to address the crowd, "Oh, of course, w-well that was b-but a beta test! We can't wait to see you all next week when we reveal the uh... he finished product in all its glory!" She turns towards her daughter anger in her voice, "Amity! You just lost us a lot of money! What's with you lately?!"

She notices that Amity is staring longingly at the picture...

Odalia glares while thinking, "I see. Looks like our precious mittens has been getting... Distracted."

...

Hooty smashes his face into a steel bucket three times at the side of the Owl House.

Luz speaks while activating glyphs, "Light in the darkness, a glittering bridge of ice, the mightiest tree in the forest! You can make all these, and more, with glyph magic! Welcome to day three of Luz's magic boot camp!"

Fire glyphs then ignite on the ground. King, who was sleeping near one, screams and runs away when it goes off. Lilith cheering and clapping at her desk while Eda is carving something into the desk she's using. Esper smiles while drawing a light glyph onto the mobile chalkboard in front of the adults.

The human gives her 'students' a smile, "Okay, we have covered every glyph I've learned up until now. So today, we'll learn something new!"

Lilith raises her hand, "Are we about to encounter a never-before-seen glyph?"

Luz frowns while looking away, "Un... Fortunately no. These four either came from nature or another witch's spell. I-I don't know where to find more."

Esper shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah Lilith, Luz just has yet to find more of them!"

Both the older stare at each other while Luz looked nervous.

The human shakes her head, "In any case, today we're learning how to alter glyphs to do specific things!"

Lilith holds up a diagram of ice glyphs, "Miss teacher, did I do it right?"

Luz nods her head, "Yeah! That's really good! She smiles when she sees Lilith fist pumps, "Let's see how you're doing, Eda."

Eda then shows her friend that she had carved the fire and ice glyphs overlapping together on the table.

The human quickly shakes her head, "I-I don't think that's such a good-"

The older woman gives her a big smile, "Double glyph combo, go!" She slaps on the glyphs, they started flashing and then explode. She frowns, "Oh dang, I was hoping more of an ice blast situation."

The redhead shrugs her shoulders, "It was kinda a cool explosion though."

The brunette shakes her head, "I know you're impatient to get your powers back but try to master the basics before you start experimenting."

The Owl Lady rolls her eyes, "Ugh, you're as boring as Lily." Her sister then glares at her.

Esper shrugs her shoulders, "Well I can't argue with that." This turns the older woman's glare towards her.

Hooty flies towards the two girls, "Toot toot! The Hexside train is a-coming! Chugga-chugga!" He grabs both children by their collars.

Luz kicks while in the air, "Uh okay, uh, King's in charge while I'm gone. Bye!"

The Owl Tube drags both girls away, leaving them alone.

King jumps onto his feet, "Haha, power!"

Eda stretches her arms into the air, "Yes! Teacher's gone! Hah, I wonder what other combos I can try."

Lilith frowns at her sister, "Teacher said we're supposed to master the basics before-"

The Owl Lady shakes her head, "Basics are so basic. Now if we want to be powerful again we're gonna have to start thinking outside the box!"

The Raven Witch holds up a few flash cards, "If we want to be powerful again, we have to use glyphs perfectly! And we can only do that through 'memorization', 'repetition' and 'following the rules.'" When she speaks, she holds up flash cards with each word on them.

Eda slaps Lilith's cards out of her hands, "Well, I'm more interested in 'experimentation', 'innovation' and uh, 'laughing at tools!' Like you! Hah!" She snorts and walks away.

The dark haired woman frowns at her sister, "Ugh!' She stares down at King, who scratching his horn with his foot.

King raises his eyebrows at her, "Weh? Yeah, yeah. I'll deal with it." He then walks off, "No one ever said power came with responsibility..."

...

Now outside of the Hexside School of Magic and Demonics...

The human freezes before walking up to the door, "Okay, first day back after the petrification ceremony!"

Esper gives her a smile, "Luz, it'll be okay. Just be chill."

Luz smiles at her and pushes the door open...

The redhead points ahead, "Oh hey, there they are!"

Willow and Gus see the two and immediately push past another kid. They run towards the two other children, screaming happily.

The brunette tears up, "Oh my gosh!"

The reunited children all hug each other.

Gus speaks with his voice noticeably deeper, "Esper! Luz! You're okay!"

Esper couldn't help but notice how much taller Gus seemed to have gotten, "Whoa, Gus! Did we uh, miss a birthday or something? You're eye level with me now!" She feels her cheeks heat up.

The illusionist shrugs while rubbing the back of his neck, "Witch puberty. I guess it did make me taller, huh?"

The redhead started to play with her fingers, "Yeah... It did." She definitely felt the red on her face now, and that this was not normal for her.

Luz smiles at their witch friends, "I can't thank you guys enough for helping us and Eda at the Conformatorium."

Gus smiles at their friends, "That's cool, I just hope it helps Eda learn my name. She keeps calling me Goops."

A student passes by the group and waves. "Hey, Goops!"

The illusionist lowers his shoulders, dejected, "It's already spreading..."

Esper actually let out a giggle at this despite her blush, "Aww, it's okay... Goopsie Gus."

Amity eventually passes by the group, "Hey, Luz!"

The human smiles back at her, "Amity!"

The green haired girl's face turned red upon hearing the other human, "In celebration of your return, I've brought you a homemade fairy pie!" She shoves the pie into Luz's face.

The brunette smiles, "Oh, wow! That sounds so-"

She takes a good look at the fairy pie, which is filled with still alive screaming fairies.

Luz looks disgusted but still smiles, "...Good..."

Amity smiles while looking away from her, "The ingredients are... Very fresh." She keeps on blushing.

The human takes the pie, "Thank you!"

Esper bumps her elbow to Amity's shoulder, "...Do I get anything?"

The popular girl stops for a second, "Oh! Uh! ...I may have forgotten to make you something, Esper. But I'm sure Skara or Jasper got you something!"

The redhead lowers her shoulders, "Aw I see."

Luz smiles at the pair after putting the pie into her bag, "You know, after everything that's happened, I'm just happy to return to some sense of normalcy."

The group all hears sounds coming through school PA system...

The principal's voice is heard over the loud speaker, "You can't just barge in here!"

Odalia's voice is then heard over the same loud speaker, "Yes, we can. We are the Parent Creature Association. Luz Noceda, Esperanza Fox, Willow Park and Augustus Porter, report to Principal Bump's office now! And you too, Amity."

Amity's eyes widen at the sight of the older woman, "Mom?!"

...

Now inside Principal Bump's office. Odalia and Alador flank Principal Bump while the kids are sitting in front of them.

The mother folds her arms, "The abomination situation... The destruction of detention... The rampage of Grom..." She eyes each of the children's faces. Esper glares at her while Willow and Gus have looks of worry on their faces, Luz looks confused and Amity angrily looks to the side with her arms crossed. The woman continues while taking in their expressions, "These are but a few of the incidents that have endangered Hexside students! Including our daughter!"

Odalia ignores the deadly glare her daughter sends her way, "So, the PCA has decided to..." She looks up to see her husband trying to touch the moving tail of the demon on the principal's head and clears her throat.

Alador blinks when she gets his attention, "Oh, right. Um, these three are bad influences and must be executed."

Amity, Luz, Esper, Willow, and Gus gasp.

The father clears his throat, "Ahem, I mean expelled."

Luz and Gus both gasp, "What?!"

Esper rolled her eyes, "Oh you're kidding me!" Willow frowned at this.

Amity stares at her mother furiously. She begins to sit up...

Odalia grabs her own necklace and speaks through Amity's necklace, 'Take this as a lesson, mittens. A Blight always upholds their end of the deal.'

The rich girl gasps and then backs down with a dejected look.

Principal Bump sighs, "Sadly, I have no choice in the matter. Luz, Willow, Augustus, effective immediately you are no longer students of Hexside."

Luz gasps again, "No! But us... Good... Amity, tell them!"

Odalia stares at Amity sternly, "Good. Now, you'll be taking double the classes to make up for lost time. Actually, I'm appalled that you're not in class right now! What were you thinking?" while her daughter looks at her with a defeated expression.

Amity looked down with a sad, defeated expression, "I... I wasn't. I'm sorry..."

The mother snaps her fingers and two Hexside guards barge in. They start to drag Willow, Esper, Gus and Luz away.

The illusionist tried to No, wait! Ahh! No! W-w-w-wait, I'm a good-I'm a good kid-Ahh!"

The plant witch squeals while trying to get away from the guards, "No! Please!"

The redhead digs her heels into the ground to try to stop them being dragged away, "Hey! You traitor!"

Luz reaches for their friend, "No, please! No! Wait! No! Amity! Amity!?"

The green haired woman puts her hand on Amity's shoulder, while her daughter glances back at Luz with a sad expression. The principal sighs before forming a spell circle to close the door.

Now outside the school, the kids are thrown outside of the large doors. This makes all of them fall to the ground next to each other.

The redheaded noticed that Gus's hand had fallen on top of her own, causing her to blush, "Oh! Uh, I'm sorry! That was my fault."

Gus stammered as well, "No no, that was me. It was my hand after all!" He pulled his hand back from her with a noticable blush on his face.

Willow had to put a hand on her mouth to stifle a giggle, causing her friend to look at her. Luz raised an eyebrow at Esper, who rubbed the hand Gus had touched.

The illusionist shakes the red from his face and looks at a leaf to distract himself, "It finally happened! Our memorable adventures caught up to us. Oh, my dad can't find out about this!" He picks up leaf, "I guess I'll have to start surviving off the land!" He attempts to lick the leaf but couldn't bring himself to do it, "Ah! This is impossible!" He then runs away, crying.

The glasses wearing witch hugs a tree, "I guess this is goodbye. I'll water you one last time... With my tears!"

The freckled witch looks at her hands nervously, still blushing.

Luz puts her hand on her friend's shoulder, "Esper? Are you okay?"

The redhead had tensed up with a blush, "Yes! Yes, I'm completely fine! Haha!" She turns her head to notice Alador and Odalia coming out of school and descending down the steps, "Hey it's those two!" She said nervously, still red in the face.

The human nods her head, "You're right! I'll poke your brain later, give me one second!" She starts to run towards the pair of parents, "Hey!"

Odalia glances back with a roll of her eyes.

The brunette folds her arms, "How dare you mess with my friends' lives! What have we ever done to you?" She gestures to her distraught friends, with Esper taking a hesitant step towards Gus.

Odalia scratches her chin, "...The one with red hair doesn't actually seem that upset. Luz, was it? Please, this isn't personal. I actually appreciate your tenacity. We're just trying to teach our daughter a valuable lesson in business."

Luz balls her fists with her arms still folded, "How does this teach anything? We're still gonna be friends with her. I'm calling applesauce on this business baloney!"

Alador, who isn't paying attention to the conversation at all, was following a butterfly in the air.

The mother shakes her head, "Your human language is hard to understand but I think I see your point." She grabs and crushes the butterfly Alador is chasing and releases the carcass, "If you're interested in talking things through, I'm sure we can come to some sort of an agreement..." She hands Luz a black business card that reads 'Blight Industries'.

Esper shakes her head to snap out of it, "Uh, Luz... I don't know if this is a good idea."

The smaller boy witch jumps close to his friend, "Gus chomp!" He bites the card out of her hands and munches on it.

Willow looks at the woman in fear before putting a hand on her friend's shoulders, "Come on, Luz. We can figure this out on our own."

Gus then spits the card out of his mouth, "That's right, we'll get back into Hexside or die trying!"

The plant witch shakes her head, "No one's dying!"

The illusionist shakes his head back at her, "Not with that attitude!"

Both Willow and Gus turn and walk away.

Odalia chuckles while putting her hands on her husband's shoulders, "Yes, well, when that doesn't work, you know where to find us." She then pushes Alador while they walk away together.

...

Now back to inside the Owl House... Eda is making a card pyramid, "Okay, almost got it... Glyph pyramid!"

King raises an eyebrow at her, "And what are you expecting this glyph pyramid to do?"

The Owl Witch smiles at her ward, "It's supposed to prove that I'm the superior witch! Watch and learn." She then slaps on the card pyramid, but it fizzles with a small cloud of black smoke... It fails to do anything impressive.

Eda sighs while slumping her shoulders, "Ugh, okay let's think... Bile sacs have different spell phlegm sloshing around together! So why can't I mix these up too?!"

Th tiny demon puts his hands on his hips, "But those are disgusting liquids, these are symbols from the Isles. Maybe there's a different way to combine them!"

Eda ponders to herself, "Hmmm..."

She then hears Hooty's voice from outside, "Hootly-mootly!"

The Owl Lady looks outside the window... She sees Lilith create an ice crown using glyph combo and put it on top of Hooty's head.

The owl tube's eyes widen, impressed by the scultpure, "Ohhh!"

Eda looks with a jealous expression while Lilith makes two popsicles using glyph combos and offers her friend one.

Hooty gasps, "Ohhh!" He then munches on popsicle, "Yum!"

Lilith then creates a swan ice sculpture with Hooty's face using glyph combo.

The long owl smiles widely at the sight, "Whoahahaha! I bet even Eda couldn't do that! Wow!"

The younger sister growls angrily before folding her arms.

King folds his arms and raises an eyebrow, "Maybe if you just learn the basics like Luz said-"

Eda cracks her knuckles, "I don't have time for basics. I'm on to something and I'll prove it!" She then starts drawing something on a notepad.

...

Now back outside the school... There are four posters showing that Esper, Willow, Luz, and Gus are all banned from Hexside on the wall.

The human folds her arms, "Operation Change Bump's Mind. Let's go!"

Now inside his office, Principal Bump looking at pictures of him and the quartet taken during Grom night with a sad expression. Someone knocks on the window, there's a basket from the trio with a note pleading the principal to un-expel them, a drawing of him, and a disfigured cake which is supposed to resemble his face. Principal Bump gets spooked by the cake and throws it down, hitting the quartet on the head. The quartet then try to enter by pretending to be Hexside teachers using Gus' illusion magic but knock into the principal and the teachers outside. Principal Bump breaks their illusion spell and the quartet backs off. Principal Bump turns and walks away with tears. The trio and Esper then try to fly inside using Eda's staff and the girl's spear respectively but they back off when Principal Bump points a ballista at them.

The man then turns to cry, "Life is just so dull without them!" He then continues to sob into her hands.

The guards of Hexside's detention close the main door while glaring at the children.

Gus gasps loudly, "Ah, this is hopeless! Nothing is working!"

Luz folds her arms, "Don't worry guys, as long as we stick together we'll think of something!"

A crow phone flies toward the group of kids and lands atop Willow's head.

The girl begins to panic, "Oh no!"

One of her father's voices is heard from the phone, "Willow Park, did you get expelled?!"

Another crow phone lands on top of Gus' head.

Perry is heard from the bird phone, "This is Perry Porter with breaking news. In light of recent events, Augustus Porter will be grounded for no less than a year!"

Another crow phone grabs Gus by his collar and starts flying up, "Help, Esper! Let me go! No, please, no!"

Esper grabs the boy's hand while he's being dragged away, "Wait, hold on!" Her cheeks bein to redden again when she notices their joined hands.

 

Willow's father's voice is heard again, "Just one? Willow's grounded for three at least!"

The two crow phones start to pull at Willow and Gus and fly away with the two.

The plant witch kicks while Luz missed her hand, "No, ah! Help, Luz! Help, Luz!"

Gus holds onto his friend's hand, "Esper! Save me!"

However, the girl had to let go when the crow phone pulled the boy with much more force.

Amity passes the human from behind and accidentally drops her book. Luz hears it and turns back toward the source of sound. The popular girl notices the brunette.

Esper folds her arms when she saw the girl, "What was that in there! Why didn't you say anything to your mom in the office?"

The human shakes her head while putting her hand on her shoulder, "Esper, no! Let's hear her out!"

The popular girl frowns at the two, I'm uh... I'm sorry, I was a coward in there. But my mom-"

Luz puts her hand over Esper's mouth, "Hey, I get it. You're scared of her, but I'm not and I need you to take me to her. She seemed open to talking things through."

Amity quickly shakes her head, "No, no, Luz, you don't have to do that!"

The human frowns back at her friend, "Yes, I do. Willow and Gus don't deserve this. She picks up Amity's book, "So, will you help me, please?"

The popular girl still shakes her head, "I... I can't..."

The school bell rings in the distance.

The popular girl slumps her shoulders, "I have to go..." She takes book from the two, turns around and walks away.

The human turns around and walks away sadly but accidentally steps on the business card that was thrown on the floor. She picks it up and notices the address written behind the card. She turns to her childhood friend, "Esper... I think I'm going to try and convince Odalia to let us back in the school!"

Esper frowns with a shrug, "Hmm... I don't know. She seems... Untrustworthy. I mean, did you see the way she was talking to Bump and Amity?"

Luz puts her hands on her friend's shoulders, "We're just going to talk! She's a business woman, I'm sure we can come to some sort of deal!"

The redhead lets out a sigh, "Okay... You convinced me! Fine, go talk to business lady! I'm going to see if I can break Gus and Willow out of their groundings. I don't wanna not see Gus..." She pauses briefly, "...And Willow! For years!"

...

Now, back inside the Owl House... King tilts his head while he watches his guardian draw, "Eda, what the heck is that supposed to be?"

The older woman shows him the paper she was drawing on, "I call it 'The Super Glyph!'"

The tiny demon folds his arms, "More like a stupid glyph!"

Eda frowns at him, "Just you wait, this'll be a killer combo. Lesser glyphs will shrink in fear!" She then taps on the glyph and it turns into an ice cube, "Hah! It didn't blow up!"

The ice cube sparkles and turns into a blob of ice which looks like a large dome with spikes...

King raises his eyebrows once he sees the dome, "Uh, i-is it supposed to do that?"

The ice blob suddenly expands on the table, causing Eda and King to yelp in surprise and run away. It continues to expand, trapping and freezing various objects in the living room inside it.

The Owl Lady grimaces while she watches the dome grow larger and larger, "Uh-huh..."

...

Now outside Blight Manor. Luz picks some flowers from beside the front door and then walks up and knocks on the door, "Hello, Mrs. Blight. I-"

An abomination butler opens the door and grunts.

This makes the girl nod her head, "Ooh."

The purple butler leads Luz into the living room while holding a tray with a teacup and teapot on it.

Luz smiles at the tiny being, "Ooh, this place smells a lot better than the Owl House! Esper's missing out!"

The abomination offers Luz some tea but the girl decides to give his face a makeover instead.

The human tugs at the abomination's gooey face, "And..." She turns the abomination butler's face into a kitty face but it melts immediately. She then laughs, "Well, I tried!" She opens a nearby door and walks down the basement, "Hello? Mr. and Mrs. Blight?"

A severed abomination hand is suddenly thrown into the wall beside the human.

The brunette hops away from the giant purple hand, "Eek!"

Odalia waves her hand upon seeing the girl, "Oh, don't mind him, dear. He's getting ready for our big demonstration tonight!" She then smiles Alador, "It's looking good, hon!"

The father simply grunts and tears a large chunk of the Abomination off.

Luz raises her hand with a smile, "I'm here to appeal to your hearts, Blights!"

The mother smiles at the youngster, "That's sweet but let's get to the deal. We have a rather important presentation tonight showing off some new products..."

The human tilts her head at her, "Like, abominations?"

The green haired woman nods her head, "Something like that. Normally Amity helps us with these things, but she's busy catching up on schoolwork..."

Luz gasps, "I get it! I'll help you show off your weird abomination gunk if you promise to let me and my friends back into school."

Odalia folds her arms with a smile, "Don't worry, human. A Blight always upholds their end of the deal! Now, you might want to go get ready, because we have..."

...

Meanwhile, Esper makes her way to the Porter residence. Perry had just finished giving Gus a lecture about getting expelled from school and had walked into their living room. Gus sighed before laying on his bed, "Aw man... Now what am I gonna do? I can't even look at the Human Appreciation Society! I can't go to school! I'm going to playing hooky! Permanently!"

The girl outside summoned a vine with a spell circle and threw it up in the air. The vine stuck on the window with a 'THUNK!' She grimaced, hoping her friend's father didn't hear the noise. She quickly climbs up the vine and waves at him through the glass.

The boy opened his window with his eyebrow raised. He smiled upon seeing his crush, "Esper!"

The redhead smiles up at her friend, "Hey, Gus! I'm here to be your princess in shining armor and whisk you away! ...So we can go save Luz. She's definitely getting herself into some sort of trouble right now." She turned around to make sure the vine was fully sticking onto the window.

The illusionist lets out a chuckle, "Yeah, something tells me that makes sense." He goes to grab a bag but then hears the door to his bedroom open. This caught his attention.

He freezes before he can grab the bag, "Esper!"

Esper frowns at the boy, "Gus! Come on!" She briefly looks at her friend's father with a smile, "Oh hi, Mr. Porter!" Her eyes widened before suddenly jumping back, "Mr. Porter!"

The father smiles at the girl, "Hello, Esper." He then scratches his chin, "So what are you doing trying to break my son out of his room during the night?"

The redhead rubs the back of her neck, "Uh! Okay, I'll tell you the truth, Mr. Porter. Mrs. Blight was the one who got us expelled, Luz said she was going to try and strike a deal with her. Honestly, I'm sure she bit off more than what she can chew."

Perry nods his head slowly, "...Okay, fine. You both can go but!" He pointed in the air dramatically, "On one condition!" He then smiled, "I get to have an interview with Esper."

Esper raises her eyebrows, "Oh that's it? Sure thing, Mr. Porter!" She turns to look at the moon, "But we can't stick around, we gotta run and find Luz and Willow! With any luck, we'll all be back in school in no time!"

The father smiles at them, "Of course!" He then whispered to her, "Besides... I never liked Odalia. Even when we were in the same class together in Hexside." He then waves his hand to let them go, "You two can go on..."

The pair give the boy's father a smile before sliding down the vine together... Running away to find the rest of their friends in the night.

...

Suddenly, Luz finds herself right in the middle of the Blight Industry product event. She waves to the crowd awkwardly.

Odalia smiles at the crowd with a smile, "...A long night ahead of us folks! Welcome back to Blight Industries!"

The large crowd applauds and cheers for her. The teenager chuckles nervously with a worried expression on her face.

The human rubs the back of her head, "So, Alador, what would you say is the specialty of Blight Industries?"

Alador speaks with a deadpan tone, "We make a variety of abomination-based accessories for home security."

Luz puts her hands on her hips with a smile, "Oh, that sounds pretty safe!"

The man then shrugs his shoulders, "But we specialize in weaponry." He walks away while putting his goggles over his eyes, "You might want to duck."

The brunette took a glyph out of her pocket while looking around, "Huh? Woah!"

A lump of abomination goop suddenly hits the girl. Which then pins her to the wall.

The crowd cheers and applauds for more violence while Luz spits out the stuff that got in her mouth.

Odalia holds a gun fitted with ammo made of Abomination goop, "Yes, our sticky launcher can peacefully subdue any foe! And if peaceful isn't your thing..." She then switches modes on the Abomination gun and turns it into a flamethrower.

The crowd cheers and applauds yet again. Luz then wipes her face clean and gasps at the danger in front of her.

...

Now back at Blight Manor... Amity walks into the living room, removing her cowl, "Mom? I'm ready for the show tonight!"

She looks down and notices a note on a nearby door. She takes it down to read it and on the note it says, 'We found a replacement! -Mom'

The girl tilted her head, "Found a replacement?" She urns around and asks the abomination butler, "Did anyone come to the house today?"

The butler turns to reveal it's disfigured face that somewhat resembles a cat. This makes Amity growl angrily, "Luz! You know what, I'm going to find Esper. With any luck, she's looking for Luz right now."

...

Now inside Willow's house, the girl sits on her bed with a frown. Harvey, one of her fathers, drops a pile of textbooks on her desk. Gilbert, her other father, also stands by the door. Harvey has a tuft of dark brown hair on his mostly bald head, a beard, purple eyes and brown skin. He is wearing a dark green sleeveless tank top with a grey short sleeved tunic underneath, a brown belt, dark gray pants and black boot. He also has a prominent gut. Gilbert has matching dark green with his daughter, pale skin and sharp dark blue eyes. He is wearing an orange shirt with rolled up sleeves, dark brown pants and brown boots. He is also wearing square glasses and a grey apron.

The man with the beard folds his arms, "To make sure you're getting a top-notch education, we're quitting our jobs to homeschool you!"

The other father frowned while playing with his finger nervously, "And we'll spend all our free time having fun as a family!" He then walks out of his daughter's room.

Harvey begins to walk towards the door, "See you at first light for a test on the uh-" He looks down at the book he picked up, "Life cycle of a common swamp toad!" He then closes door with a frown.

Willow continues to look down sadly, but an illusion of a tiny Gus appear next to her.

The small illusion points at the window, "Willow! Hey, Willow!"

Suddenly, a vine is flung upwards to stick to the glass of the window.

The plant witch gasps and then walks towards the glass.

But then, Gilbert opens the door, causing his daughter to gasp again. The father raises his head, "Hey, Willow, uh-" He then notices the tiny Gus illusion and the vine, then looks at Willow who is heading towards window. He smiles and puts a finger on his mouth, makes a 'shhh' sound then closes the door.

The plant witch smiles, then turns around and opens the window. She sees Esper, Gus and Amity are standing outside on the ground below.

The popular girl's whispers harshly, "Luz is in trouble!"

Gus shakes his head with an annoyed tone, "Again." He twirls his fingers around, keeping up the tiny illusion of himself.

Esper rubs the back of her neck while her friend summons her own vine to slide down the one she had sent up, "Yeaaaah, I'm noticing that this is starting to become a pattern."

...

Now back outside the Blight Industries.... Crowds can be heard cheering and applauding while Luz's terrified screaming also rings through the air. The four students stand outside, wondering how to get inside without being seen.

Willow puts her hand on her chin to ponder, "Okay, I can use the root system underground to tunnel our way in..."

Amity shakes her head, "That'll take too long!"

Esper nods her head in agreement, "Amity's right! We should just rush the guards at the door!"

Gus points his finger in the air, "No, no, no. I'll distract them with illusions of beautiful lady guards!"

The plant witch folds her arms, "This isn't a cartoon from the '40s, Gus! We need a better plan!"

The illusionist frowns at his friend, "This could work!"

The redhead rubs her eyebrows, "Guys, come on. If we're just going to argue, I am going to run in there myself!"

The popular girl squared her shoulders, "That's what I'm saying! We should just bust our way through!"

Gus gestures to himself dramatically, "You're stunting my growth as an artist! Just let me try this!"

Willow takes a step forward, "We are running out of time! We gotta get in now!"

Amity stomps her foot, "We have to help Luz now!"

Esper moves to leave the group, "Guys! Come on!"

However, two teenagers put their hands on the redhead's shoulders. And a teenage boy's voice is heard, "Here's an idea."

All four children look at the newcomers...

Edric is revealed to be speaking and he shrugs his shoulders, "Why don't you just walk through the front?" He and Emira throw each of them a cloak.

Amity tilts her head at her siblings, "Ed! Em! You're helping?"

Emira smiles at her, "Of course! Just... Don't tell Mom."

The younger students each put on their cloak and walk inside. The boy puts paper which says 'Hex me!' on all their of their backs. The twins laugh at this but Amity and Esper throw them back.

The papers all hit the boy twin in the face, causing him to scream, "Ahhh! Ugh!"

Amity points two fingers at the twins and walks backwards, growling. She puts her hand on Esper's back before they rush to follow their friends.

The trio runs inside the factory into an excited crowd cheering and clapping while Luz is busy trying to get away from the Abomaton shooting an arrow at her.

Luz pants, "Ah!" She then dodges the Abomaton's fist slamming into the ground, "Whoa!" She then dodges a punch.

She takes out a piece of paper and uses ice glyph magic to block the Abominaton's attack.

But another arrow breaks the ice block, pushing Luz backwards. An Abomination fist punches Luz upwards, which makes her scream before the hand catches her when she falls down.

The crowd continues cheering and applauding. The abomination points the bow at Luz while she grunts and closes her eyes, waiting for the incoming attack.

Odalia raises her voice, "Thank you, thank you. And they say said we couldn't make crossbows more fun! Next, we're very excited to show you our last product from this line." The invention then puts the young girl down on the stage.

The human breaths in a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, only one more to go."

The older witch continues to speak, "My husband has been toiling away to bring you..." She steps aside, the ground opens up and Luz yelps, crawling away.

Another Abomaton rises up with smoke around it...

Odalia gestures to the machine, "The Abomaton 2.0!"

The crowd gasps. So does Amity, who takes off her hood, turns around and starts climbing up a ladder.

Esper rushes to follow her up the ladder, "Amity, wait up!"

The plant witch reaches for the younger girl, "Guys, wait!"

Both Gus and Willow take off their hoods but are immediately grabbed by a security Abominations.

Odalia continues her speech, "It's bigger! It's better! The Abomaton 2.0 is the perfect soldier. It won't rest until its enemy is completely eliminated!"

The crowd oohs and a few of them claps in reaction to the machine.

Luz laughs nervously while backing up, "You're a big boy, aren't ya?"

The Abomaton's hands turns into a scythe and a chainsaw. Luz makes a scared noise and looks at the Abomaton with a terrified expression. The goopy robot starts attacking Luz and manages to grab her by her foot.

The human scrapes her nails on the floor, "Okay! It's super strong! I think the crowd gets it!"

Alador simply looks at his wife, "She has a point, Odalia."

The woman folds her arms, "Didn't you hear me? It won't rest until its enemy is completely eliminated!"

The Abomaton lifts Luz up by her foot, Luz screams and is thrown upwards...

...Luckily, she lands on a beam. She let out a relieved sigh, "Okay, at least it can't get me up here..."

However, right after she said that, the Abomaton jumps up and lands behind her.

The human lets out a exasperated breath, "Luz, you fool!"

She then uses an ice glyph to block the Abomaton. But the machine breaks it. The girl picks up a piece of shattered ice and use it as a sword to fight off the Abomaton. Both Amity and Esper are seen climbing up a ladder while Luz keeps on fighting the goopy robot. Luz uses plant glyph to lift herself up then swings around towards the Abomaton with a fire glyph just as it fires another blast.

Then, there is an explosion!

The Abomaton falls to the ground, breaking the floor. The crowd starts to run away. Luz is hanging onto a vine for her dear life with her eyes shut. She opens her eyes and notices that she is facing the Abomaton and is close to the ground. The vine breaks and she falls...

The human lands onto the ground, "Ah!" She then lands, "Hey! I'm alive!"

The Abomaton grabs the girl by her foot again.

The brunette gasps, "Oh, no."

The machine's hand turns into an axe and swings at the girl...

Luz tries to back away but can't, "I'm dead! She then closes her eyes, waiting for her death...

...But something stops the Abomaton.

This makes the human open her eyes, "Huh?"

The Abomaton's hands both explode, letting the girl go.

Amity shouts from her spot on the upper platform, "Hey!"

The remaining crowd gasps and sees the teenaged girl is standing on top of a beam.

Amity casts two spell circles in her hands, "Stay away from my Luz!"

The brunette looks at Amity with a surprised expression, "Amity?"

Esper rushes on the platform, "I'm coming, guys! Don't you worry!"

However, the security Abomaton jumps up in front of the girl. She stops in her place with a skid, preparing a spell circle, "Uh! Actually, I have a slight detour! Go get em, Amity!"

...

Back at the Owl House... Hooty is wearing a crown made of ice and ice chain necklace with a popsicle in his mouth. He is looking at his friend drawing something on a notepad. A sudden loud noise and a rumble grabs both their attention.

Lilith knocks on door, "Edalyn? Are these distress noises or normal noises?"

The ice blob begins expanding slowly in front of the slightly younger witch in the other room.

Eda shouts back at her, "Totally normal! Don't come in!" She points at the blob, "I am your mother! You will obey me and die!" She hits the ice blob with a mace but the weapon is absorbed by the blob.

The Owl Lady is pushed by a spike, "Ugh!"

King screams when the blob catches his tail, "Eda, help me! Help me, Eda! Eda, help me!"

Unfortunately, the poor young demon is frozen inside the blob.

The witch gasps with a horrified expression, "Ugh, fine! Lilith, emergency!"

The Raven Witch kicks open the door, "Whoa!"

Eda rolls her eyes, "Yeah, yeah. I messed up. I'm ready to follow the rules."

Lilith holds a few pieces of paper in her hands, "Actually, I'd like to try an experiment!"

Hooty shakes his neck, "Ooooooh!"

...

Now, back at inside Blight Industries... Esper sends a fireball towards the purple machine. It attempts to block the fireball but gets hit in the gut when it feels multiple vines move to strike it. It lurches over her, seemingly calculating her movements.

The redhead then relaxed her shoulders, "It's a bit scary how I'm getting used to all this danger. Wait a minute... This thing doesn't know I'm a dual caster, does it?"

The Abomaton sends a punch her way, only for the girl to catch the fist.

She can feel her heel slip a little before she regains her footing. She pushes back against the fist, "Nice try! I know you don't know but I'M the one who can tackle a Slitherbeast by herself!"

The redhead struggles to bring up her left hand, digging her finger into the goop to make the failed combination of glyphs Eda had made up earlier.

Upon tapping the symbol, it made the Abomaton's fist explode!

This made the girl fly backwards but she did land back on the platform with a tumble.

Esper raises both her fists, ready to attack the machine again...

Meanwhile, Amity had already slid down a rope and ran in front of the Abomaton, "Huh-uh!" She lands in front of the human, creating two purple spell circles.

Odalia picks up her necklace and thinks through it, her words speaking to her daughter, 'Amity Blight, you are in so much troub-'

Amity takes her necklace off and breaks it, this makes her mother gasp. She speaks with a confident voice, "Luz..." She looks back at her crush, "Are you okay?"

The human looks at Amity while blushing, "Uh-huh..." She gasps, "Look out!"

The popular girl's spell circle disappears, the Abomaton stands up and tries to punch Amity. But the girl holds him back with her spell circles, putting in intense effort. The Abomaton's hands start melting.

Odalia stomps her foot, "Amity! Get away from the human!"

The daughter shakes her head, "No, you're gonna listen to me for once! Luz, Esper, Willow and Gus are my friends!" She pushes the Abomaton backwards with her magic, "They're nice to each other, they listen to each other. They make me think about the kind of person I really want to be!"

She forces the Abomaton to kneel down. Luz runs towards Amity and they stand together back-to-back. They accidentally glance at each other and immediately look away, both blushing with awkward expressions.

The mother looks at the 'units ordered' meter angrily while Alador appears to be intrigued by the turn of events. She stomps her foot again, "Ugh! What do you want?!"

Amity glares at her mother, "Let my friends back into Hexside or else your precious investors will watch me rip this thing apart bit! By! Bit!"

Luz whispers to her friend, "Can you actually do that?"

The witch puts her finger to her lips, "Shhh!"

The crowd boos at all of them... "Come on!" "This is horrible!"

Odalia looks at the 'Units Ordered' meter in frustration before groaning, "Fine! It's a deal! Just stop with the theatrics!"

Luz and Amity glance at each other and smile. Amity stops using her spell circles. The Abomaton's hand changes into a large hammer and brings it down towards the duo. Amity rushes over to protect Luz. The machine's hammer pounds right where the duo are. The Abomaton lifts up the hammer with the pair is seen pretending to have died. The Abomaton's hammer is revealed to be hollow in the middle and it transforms back to a normal hand. The duo open their eyes, look at each other and smile, then go back to pretend dying. The Abomaton's eyes go dark and the crowd gasps. The Abomaton shuts down and falls to the ground. The crowd cheers and applauds.

Willow gasps, "Luz!"

Esper raises her head at the sound of her friend's voice, "Luz! Amity!" She forms a green spell circle to form various vines, overpowering the robot. The green plants sneaks inside the machinery to jam inside the gears, messing up the invention and stopping it from working from the inside.

She holds onto the bottom of the platform, preparing to jump down, "Okay... Okay, easy does it..."

Both the plant and the illusion witch run towards Amity and Luz with worried expressions. The 'units ordered' meter goes up so high it explodes. Odalia looks at Amity and Luz with pure anger.

The mother growls furiously, "As if I'd actually let them go back! I will call every authority I know! I'll make sure they can't-"

Alador's voice is heard from behind his wife, "Odalia!"

The woman turns to face her husband, who isn't pleased.

The brown haired man frowns at her, "You made a deal with your daughter and a Blight always upholds their end of the deal!"

Esper raised her fist in the air, "Wahoo! We did it! Mr. Husband Man finally talks back to her!"

However... This caused the redhead to start to fall from the platform, "Uh oh... Woah, woah, woah! Hey!"

The girl felt her body to fall down in the air, waving her arms. She tried to grab the metal platform but missed both attempts, "Of all the times to not have my spear!" She braced for the impact of the ground...

Suddenly, she felt two arms catch her body. She looked down at the muscular arms that could have only been formed by an illusionist. Her face heats up when she notices that Gus was the one holding her, "Oh! I... Uh! Hi!"

The boy puts her down with some red on his own face, "Um here! Caught you!"

The witchling feels her face continue to redden, "Hahaha, yeah! You... Um... Sure caught me!" She puts her hood up to cover her face and thinks to herself, 'Is this really happening right now?'

The nearby plant witch lets out a giggle with a knowing look, "Aw come on, you two. We'll have plenty of time to talk back at the Owl House." Willow then offers her hand to Luz and help her up effortlessly. The friends then all smile and walk away together.

Meanwhile, Alador squares his shoulders, "Besides, she's getting stronger." He puts hands on Odalia's shoulder and whispers to her, "Strong enough to become a coven head someday."

Odalia grins, "Wise words, dear. We have to focus on what's best for the family-" She turns around and notices her husband is gone. She glances to her left and notices Alador chasing a butterfly. She then groans and facepalms, "Alador!"

...

Back to inside the Owl House, both Lilith and Eda are drawing something on their own pieces of paper.

King has a towel wrapped around his head and is holding a cup with steaming tea in his hands, "Ah-choo!"

Eda tilts her head, "Okay so, uh, how did you beat that thing again?"

Lilith smiles smugly, "Would you like me to lay out 'the basics?'"

The Owl Lady stares at her sister unhappily, "Yes."

The older woman begins her explanation, "Well, you were right. These glyphs act like the basic elements! But instead of containing magic like we do, they command the magic around them. They're like words! And drawing glyphs on top of each other like you did-"

Eda interrupted her with a gasp, "Was like screaming three different words at the same time! The spell got confused!"

Lilith nods her head, "Yes. The glyph combo, copyright me, Lilith, helps organize the commands." She slaps a paper with a glyph combo on it onto the ice blob. The ice blob flashes and then melts. The older woman smiles, "So you can combine and specify what you want to do!"

King shivers after the ice lob disappears, "A-a-b-b-bout t-t-time!"

The Owl Lady catches some snow in her hand and looks up above at the snow in wonder. And now they sit together on the couch while King recovers from being in the ice blob. His ward smiles, "So with the right combo, you can cast any spell!"

The young demon shrugs his shoulders, "Maybe the reason Luz hasn't found any more glyphs is because there... Aren't any more."

Eda shrugs with a smile, "Then we better start learning some new combinations!"

Suddenly, the door is heard being pushed open and hitting something.

Luz wipes off abomination gunk of her hair runs up to the group, "Hey, guys!" She turns to wipe the gunk out of Esper's ponytail, "There we go, Esper."

The witchling smiles bac at her, "Thanks! You know the goop sticks easily in my hair."

Eda smirks at the two, "Hey, Luz! Esper! We actually learned something new!"

The human shakes her head, "Sorry, can it wait 'till morning?" She stretches and yawns, "I need to lie down."

The redhead giggles, "Haha, someone overexterted themselves!"

Luz pushes her arm with a smile, "Psssh, shush you!"

Lilith puts her hand up before the human could leave the room, "Wait, Miss Teacher!"

She turns to her left then turns back holding an ice sculpture. The sculpture is of her kneeling before Luz, who is a wise scholar holding a scroll.

The older woman smiles, "Do I get extra credit?"

The brunette lets out an amused giggle, "Oh, my gosh!"

Esper coughs inside her hand, "Try hard!"

The human shakes her head at her oldest friend, "Oh shush you."

Eda stares jealously at her sister, "I can do that too!"

She slaps on a paper with ice glyph drawn on it. The glyph turns into and ice cube and rolls off the table. This makes the older witch look at Luz and gestures towards the ice cube, "Hmm."

The redhead shrugs her shoulders at her mentor, "It was worth a shot."

Luz's eyebrows raise in surprise, "Wow! Yeah! Extra credit for everyone! She throws two pieces of star-shaped paper to Lilith and Eda then walks away. Lilith catches one and holds it to her face gratefully while Eda and King just stare at her.

The young demon then sneezes, "Ah-choo!"

...

Back inside the Blight Industries factory. The abomination servants are sweeping the floor.

Odalia walks towards Alador with a smile, "Oh, despite the spectacle, this was quite a successful sale! Excellent job on the 2.0, dear."

Suddenly, the Golden Guard's voice is heard from their door, "Yes!" He walks in with two coven scouts, "Your Abomatons are quite extraordinary. Too bad no one will be receiving them."

The woman immediately kneels down upon seeing the high ranking guard. She then puts her and on her husband's shoulder to make him do the same.

The Golden Guard stands tall in front of them, "The Emperor will be buying every one of your Abomatons and will personally fund research into making them stronger."

The mother then looks up, "T-That's great news! We are honored to have-"

The teenager shrugs his shoulders, "You should be. Emperor Belos doesn't take kindly to citizens making a... Private army."

With that, the Golden Guard then turns and walks away. Both husband and wife stand up look at each other with worried expressions...

Chapter Text

In the middle of a mystical jungle, during a boiling rainstorm... A small, furry creature peeks out from a log but then hides back in when a hooded woman runs past. She runs into a ruined building to seek shelter from the boiling rain and pull their hood down, revealing herself to be a younger Eda. She with a shorter ginger haircut with lighter streaks. She looks at her tattered cape, with an annoyed look.

She starts to walk further in, a pair of glowing yellow eyes appear from a crevice within a pile of fallen rocks while she's not looking.

The redheaded witch wanders further into the ruins, past a cluster of stacked rock formations.

But then a shadowy figure runs past in the foreground, startling her!

Eda brandishes her staff with a raised eyebrow, "Who's there? Reveal yourself!"

But then the mysterious figure approaches Eda from behind!

The woman turns around and gasps in surprise!

...

Now in the present, Luz and Esper are sitting inside the Owl House's living room. The table filled with various books and a crystal ball. The human is studying and experimenting with glyphs in a notebook. Meanwhile, the witchling is looking at her spear, admiring the craftsmanship. She then picks up the crystal ball and starts writing down the name 'Skara' with her finger.

Luz starts drawing a glyph, "Hmmm..." She then makes a frustrated grunt.

King dives through, tumbling the books off the table, "Luz! Esper! I need your help! I think Francois is trying to start a rebellion!"

Now at the couch, covered in King's plushies... Francois, his pale pink bunny, is sitting in the center on a pillow. After a beat, a jagged dagger with a red gem on the hilt falls out from behind him.

The brunette shakes her head, "In a minute, King. I'm getting so close to figuring out this glyph combo!"

The redhead held her spear away from herself, showing it off, "Yeah! And I'm taking the time to really study the blade over here with Skara!" She touched the red cloth wrapped around the weapon. She brings it up to show her friend inside the ball, "Look, Skara! It even has a red sash around it!"

Skara waves at the two before smiling at her friend's weapon, "Wooooah! Do you think that means whoever it belonged to before was a part of the Bard Coven?"

Esper lets out an equally excited noise, "OH! Maybe! That would be so cool! Hey, actually... Do you think you can teach me a Bard spell one of these days?"

The small demon folds his arms with a stomp of his foot, "It's always glyphs, spear-glaives and portals with you two these days. What about King?"

Luz shrugs her shoulders to gesture to the woman next to them, "Why don't you ask Lilith for help? She was in the Emperor's Coven. She has more experience with unruly mobs than anyone!"

Next to them, the mentioned woman is hunched over the coffee table, extremely focused on drawing a glyph with a red paintbrush. She's bent over, with her eyes only a short distance from the paper. Her hair is messy and the whites of her eyes are huge with tiny irises... Essentially a crazed look.
She giggles giddily, "Watching the ink dry is the best part!"

King grunts in disapproval before turning back to Esper, he put his hand on the cool metal of the sharp blade, "Come on, Esper! You love playing with me! You can look at your spear some other time!" He then begins to grab the metal within his tiny claws to pull at it.

Esper frowns before pulling it away from him, "Hey, King! Be careful!" She places her hand on the crystal ball, "Sorry, Skara. Guess we'll have to talk later!"

The silver eyes girl frowned , "Aw bye... Wait, remember to come over to my house for-" However, she couldn't finish her sentence before the redhead cut off their connection.

The small demon then touches the red sash, "Weh?" He accidentally pulls it towards himself, detaching one end from the staff.

The redhead yanks the spear away from him, hugging it closer to herself, "King! I told you to be careful with it!" She looks down at the unfurled cloth with a glare, "...Wait a minute, it says something. In runes!" She begins to read the runes written on the inside of the red sash, "...'To my daughter, may you be the strongest warrior you can be. Love... Mom.'"

Esper looks up from the sash with a shocked face, "Woah. Holy... Woah! I-I have a mom! I wonder if she's looking for me. Er, if she's still alive. I found the spear in Belo's hidden treasure room after all..."

King wags his tail uncontrollably, "Oh my Titan, Esper! You have a mom! That's awesome!"

Luz jumps off the couch upon hearing this, "Finally! A clue in regards to your mysterious birth family!"

The redhead's eyes sparkle in excitement, "I know right!" The girls both start to jump up and down together in excitement.

Meanwhile, Hooty places a mug on his head to give it to Lilith, "A fresh cup of tea for my favorite cup of tea. That's you, Lulu."

Lilith smooths her hair and her eyes turn back to normal, "Hootsifer, you truly are a gem." She pets his head with a smile, "How do you always know what to do?"

Esper turns to whisper to her childhood friend, "What's going on?" The human shrugs her shoulders with a smile before sitting down on the old couch.

King narrows his eyes while still sitting in Esper's arms, "Is Hooty blackmailing her?"

Luz sits up fully on the couch, "Oh, I think they're actually friends. Isn't that nice?" She closes her book and stands up. She then holds a glyph, "Okay, this will work for sure. Now you see me..." She slams the glyph to her chest and vanishes.

Both the redhead and the demon gasp. Lilith looks up with a confused look.

Luz then suddenly reappears, "...Now you don't! Oh, I guess it only lasts as long as I hold my breath. Still pretty cool, huh?"

Esper nods her head, "Very cool! She moves King in her arms to clutch the front of her jacket, "...Though I think you gave me a heart attack. How'd you do that with a glyph anyway?"

King jumps out of his friend's arms to rush to the human. He then clings to Luz's leg, "Don't ever do that again!"

Lilith stands up in amazement, "Do that again! How ever did you accomplish it?"

The human starts shaking King off her leg, "Well, since you guys discovered that we can make new spells by combining glyphs... I've been experimenting! I got the invisibility idea from your history books, Lilith."

The older witch stands up and begins walking to the side, "Fascinating! As the lead historical scholar of the Emperor's Coven, my aid could be very helpful in—"

But then, she stumbles over the tower of King's plushies. Which ends up toppling them over.

King is taken aback with a gasp, "An ambush! Men, defend your ruler!" He points a the woman before throwing a nearby plush at Lilith.

Hooty blocks it but then dramatically falls into Lilith's arms, "I'm done for, Lulu..."

Lilith squints her eyes back at him, "Hootsifer, this is make-believe."

The owl tube strains to speak " Oh... TO die in your arms. Avenge me..." He then droops and sticks his tongue out of his mouth dramatically...

King tosses another plushie at the witch's head, "The King of Demons yields to no one!"

The Raven Witch tilts her head at him, "Historically, demons have never been united under a single rule until Emperor Belos. There's no such thing as a 'King of Demons.'"

The young demon throws yet another plush at her head, "Blasphemy! Clearly, you know nothing of my reign of terror. Allow me to tell you..."

He begins to tell a story, which shows a series of medieval-style illustrations depicting King as a large, fearsome King of Demons...

He speaks over the story, "I was once the mighty King of Demons. I was beloved almost as much as I was feared. But one dark day, an evil spell was cast..." In one illustration, a giant green hand takes a large crown from King's head...

...Back to the real world, the young demon falls to his knees, "...Transforming me into this!"

Hooty looked at the boy with a smug face, "Oh? What happened to your 'crown of power'?"

The young demon shakes his head, "A trifle! That was just to test Eda, Esper and Luz's dedication to me! They all passed. My real crown is still out there. But when I shrank, my memories got, uh... fuzzy."

The raven witch rolled her eyes while she chimed in, "How convenient. A hole in your memory for each hole in your story."

The owl tub holds his face up to his friend, "Nice one, Lulu! Up top!"

Lilith 'high-fives' Hooty's face with a smile, though it gives him a black eye.

King frowns at the two, "Hey, I remember plenty!"

Esper narrows her eyes at the pair, "Will the both of you shut it!" She then picks the skull wearing demon up to put him in her lap, "Hey, it's okay, King." She places her hand over her heart, "I don't remember a whole lot from my past either. Just keep going."

The boy nods at her, "Oh! Okay, thank you, Esper." He then coughs before speaking again, "I remember armies bowing before me, being served the greatest of feasts..."

He imagines illustrations of a monstrous version of himself again, which depict what he describes. Until he thinks of his own paw reaching for a bright light while it shrinks from view, "...And falling from a massive height as evil hex shrank me. One day, I'll return to my rightful place..." Back to the real world, King pumps his fist into the air, "...And all shall fear me!"

Luz grabs King from her friend's lap and gives him a belly rub, "Aw, you're gonna be such a good tyrant! Who's the scariest demon king? Who is it?"

King starts laughing from her pets, "Me! It's me!"

Esper smiles while petting the demon on the head, "Yes! Yes, it's you!"

Lilith shakes her head, "Your dedication to this farce would be charming if it wasn't so sad."

The skull wearing boy frowns at her, "Don't blame me for your ignorance. I'm not a liar and I can prove it!" He then storms off into a corridor.

The raven witch lets out an offended gasp, "He called me ignorant. Me!" Hooty shakes his head in disapproval.

The human puts her hands on her hips, "Stop it, you guys. This story is really important to him, so the least we can do is play along!"

Lilith tilts her head at the girl, "You mean indulge his silly fantasy?"

Hooty flips his head dramatically, "Yeah! I'm a house of principles! You're asking me to lie? Hootrageous!"

Esper raises an eyebrow at her friend, "Wait, you think it's a lie?"

Luz frowns at her, "Uh... Esper, do you think it's actually true?"

The redhead shrugs her shoulders with a frown, "Well... Yeah, we've seen a bunch of wild things on the Boiling Isles! And my memories are in pieces too! Why wouldn't it possibly be real?"

The brunette frowns at her childhood friend, "Esper, I know you don't remember much about your past either... But King's story is a bit... Farfetched. Could we please just go with it? For his sake?"

The younger witch lets out a sigh, "...Okay, Luz. If you say so. But I still think the story could be true."

At the doorway, King is struggling to get back through with two long poles in his arms. They fall and he picks them up vertically and walks back through the doorway.

He hands one of them to the raven haired woman, revealing that they are Eda and Lilith's staffs, "All right, you two shall regret ever doubting me! We're going to my castle!"

Esper's eyes widen upon hearing this, "You've had a castle this whole time?!"

Luz stands there, stunned, "Uh..."

Hooty drags his head closer to the girl's, "What's wrong, Luz? I thought you said we should just 'go with'—"

The human nods with a big, fake, smile, "Go with him! I said we should go with him, right? How could I forget what I just said?" Luz grabs Eda's staff from King and Lilith takes hers.

Esper holds up her spear with a smile, "Sure thing! I want to see this castle of yours!"

Lilith lets out a huff, "My historical expertise is being questioned and I will not allow it! Hooty, would you like to accompany us?"

The witchling tilts her head, "Wait... He can come with us?"

Hooty lets out a gasp, "Of course I can! I-I'll get ready!"

The owl tube then stretches backwards toward the front door. Luz, Esper, King, and Lilith all hear sounds of crashing and squishing organs and splattering. The four all look disgusted and very disturbed until they gasp in horror.

They look over to see that the part of the door where Hooty would be is now hollow, with pulsing organs at the edges. Below it, Hooty is now sitting in a birdhouse-shaped backpack.

Hooty smiles at the group, "Porta-Hooty, reporting for Hooty!"

Luz dry-retches in response to what she had just seen. Esper sweats with a strained smile. King is tearing up while slowly shaking his head. Lilith's hand is at her chest and she's taken aback. When Luz looks back at Hooty, she gags and dry-retches again.

Meanwhile, Eda gets out of a steamy bathroom wearing a bathrobe and a towel on her head while Luz, Lilith, Esper, King, and Hooty fly away on their staffs.

She walks into the main room with a tilt of her head, "Hmm? Where'd everyone go? Man, they made a mess in here. Oh well. It's been a while since I had room to put my feet up." She then jumps on the couch and detaches her feet to literally put them up. Her head is on the armrest and she opens her eyes to see a note on King's plushies.

King's voice is heard in her mind while she reads it, "Off to my real castle! Don't wait up! Love, your favorite demon overlord."

Eda's eyes widen upon reading this, "Oh, no! Not again! Oh!" She jumps off the couch but since her feet are detached, she simply falls.

A now dressed Eda then rushes to get out of the door, putting her feet back on before heading into the shed. She emerges in her bathtub motorboat, flying it off a ledge and into the sea...

...

Now, Luz and Esper are wearing their capes while flying over the Boiling Sea. The brunette is riding Eda's staff while the redhead is flying with her spear. King is sitting with Luz, while Lilith rides her own staff with the Porta-Hooty on her back.

Hooty frowns while pouting, "Are we still flying? It's been hours..."

Lilith shakes her head, "Should we call it a day? Or perhaps a night?" She then starts laughing, "Hooty, your sense of humor is infectious!"

King gasps, "There it is!" He points at an island slowly becoming clear in the fog. He steers Luz down towards it and both witches follow behind them.

The older witch shakes her head, "This island shouldn't be here! It's not on any of the maps!"

The boy puts his hands on his hips, "It's always been there when I looked for it."

They all land on the shore and walk into the jungle...

The small demon waves his hands in the air, "After I shrunk, I woke up here, in Eda's arms and she carried me away. Like a wittle baby!"

Both young girls smile at the thought, "Awww..."

The human grumpily gestures at Lilith and Hooty to follow.

Lilith growls, "Fine. Aw."

Hooty gasps, "Look!"

The group looks over to see the fog clears to reveal a dilapidated tower...

King smiles at the tower, "Ah, home sweet home."

...

Later in the evening, the group is a taking their time walking through the jungle, with King leading the way. King climbs over a tree root with Luz, Esper and Lilith behind him.

The raven haired witch shakes her head towards the tower, "That tower is certainly intriguing, but—Oh!" She trips over the root. But Hooty extends himself to a nearby tree trunk to stabilize her. She smiles at her friend, "Thank you, Hootsifer."

Hooty speaks with a muffled voice, "My pleasure."

The older witch frowns at the group, "But couldn't we have landed a little closer?"

The small demon smiles widely at her, "The treetops are so thick, this is the only way in. Plus, now I can dramatically do..." He grabs a bush obscuring the path. He pulls it aside, revealing a keyhole-shaped entrance to the tower, "...This!"

Esper reaches over to touch the entrance, "Woooooah! Cool!"

The human's eyes widen at the sight of it, "A door fit for a tyrant!"

King chuckles at the two of them, "That's me!"

They all walk towards the entrance, which is blocked by rocks. The small demon takes the time to climb over them.

The skull wearing child crawls into a crevice within the rock pile, "I'll find you guys another way in. Wriggle, wriggle, wriggle!"

Lilith walks over to a wall with a strange symbol caved into it, "Huh. What a strange material. And this symbol. I've never seen anything quite like this."

Hooty laughed at the sight of the symbol, "Ha! I've seen better graffiti. I've got better graffiti on me." He then raises his side, showing 'LUZ!', 'ESPER WAZ HERE!' and three cool S's graffitied on his body.

The raven haired woman's finger traces the picture, "Luz, look! This predates any language I know. King's story may be a fake but these ruins are a history mystery." She then giggles and claps excitedly.

Esper frowns, holding her spear at her side, "Hey come on, it could be real! You never know!"

Lilith smiles smugly at her, "Oh suuuuuure! It's a mystery like your parents."

The rocks collapse, clearing the way for the whole group.

King peeks up, "Eh? What's a mystery?"

Esper lets out a confident laugh, "The only mystery is how Lilith can be so smart and so wrong at the same time!" When the older witch pushes her with her elbow, she pushes her back.

Luz starts laughing nervously, "Academics, am I right?"

The young demon lets out a laugh, "Ha! You so are. Come on in."

Lilith gives the two a dirty look, and Luz sheepishly smiles back. Esper sticks her tongue out at her. The three climb over the rocks and into the tower. They use light glyphs to make their own lights and examine the room, which is littered with rocks stacked to make the same figure of something with two or three round rocks as a body and a crescent-shaped head placed horizontally.

King smiles at the statues, "Ah, the chamber where I would devour the hearts of my foes! The taste was cold and bitter but I bet yours would be sweet, Luz."

The human smiles nervously at him, "With all the sugar I eat, it better be."

The boy points at the redhead, "Aaaaand I think Esper's would be all spice!"

The freckled girl rubs the back of her neck with a smile, "...And I hope with everything nice. Then again, my favorite spell involves fire..."

They all move forward into the castle. Luz notices a shadow resembling the rock figures passing behind her. She gasps, stops, and turns her light around. There's nobody there.

Esper feels the hair on the back of her neck suddenly raise. She turns her head to tilt her eyebrow at her friend, "...You okay, Luz?"

King puts his hands on his hips confidently, "Can't believe your eyes, huh? My castle does have that effect."

Luz swallows a lump in her throat, "Yeah..." She lets out a sheepish laugh, "So much wonder."

The redhead points ahead with her spear, "Yeah! Come on, King! Why don't you show us around your palace?"

...

Meanwhile, a little further in the tower... Lilith walks through a hallway with Hooty still on her back. She walks with her staff softly tapping the ground with each step.

Hooty gasps and looks at a wall, "Are you seein' what I'm seein'?"

The raven haired witch walks over to a wall, on which is a carving of a giant demon resembling King. She then gasps, "These carvings, they're ancient!"

The owl tube shakes his head frantically, "W-what does that mean?"

The older woman rubbed her chin, "Well, if I've never heard about this ruin, let alone this entire island, who knows what other parts of history we scholars have missed?"

Hooty moves his head to the side, "Are you saying..."

Lilith inched closer to her friend, "That he may actually have been..."

Both shouted at each other in shock, "The King of Demons?!"

...

Meanwhile, King is standing at the top of a pile of rocks with the two girls standing behind him. He gestures to one to show off to his two older friends, "Ah, my kingdom. I, uh..." He wipes a tear from his eye, "I got some bone dust in my eye."

Luz looks up with a point of her finger, "What was up there?"

King also looks up to see a hole in the ceiling with rocks plugging it. He scratches his chin, "I-I can't quite recall. I just remember a muffled roar, probably some minion praising my name."

The human points backwards, "Well, uh... Wanna head back? This is all so cool but Eda's probably on her third cup of apple blood by now. And the last time, it was real hard getting her off the roof."

Esper lets out a laugh, "Ha! Yeah, it was a struggle to get her to hold on to my spear!"

Hooty suddenly appears and knocks Luz to the ground, "Your Majesty! It's me, faithful ol' Hooty. You know I was messin' around with you the whole time, right?"

Luz gets up off the ground while Esper tilts her head. The two speak at the same time, "'Your Majesty'?"

Lilith suddenly runs over and pushes Luz aside again onto the ground, this time knocking the redhead down with her, "It's clear these ruins are of immense historical value. Perhaps you could tell me more about them."

Esper steps up before helping her friend pull herself upwards, she turns her head towards Lilith, "...I hate you sometimes." Her human friend brushes herself off with a raised eyebrow.

King then starts to laugh, "I suppose I could, uh, regale you with some tales..."

Luz turns her head upon hearing something hissing in a dark corridor... Esper turns around after feeling her hair prick up on the back of her neck. But she quickly turns back to face the small demon again.

The skull wearing demon tilts her head, "Am I using that word right? Regale?"

The redhead scratches her chin, "I'm no teacher but I THINK you are!"

The human shines her light down the corridor and gasps, "Uh, guys, are you hearing this?"

The freckled girl whispered to her friend, "I definitely feel something, Luz..."

King begins to walk ahead of the group, "I'll show you where my throne used to be. It was made from the teeth of my enemies and..." He starts laughing, "Boy, was it awkward to sit in."

He starts to lead Lilith and Hooty down another direction down.

Luz goes down the hallway with Esper behind her and sees that the walls are lined with recesses containing stone figures. Those figures resemble the little stacked stone towers in the foyer, partially covered in fleshy goop.

Esper looks up at the ceiling, "What are these things?" She raises her hand to touch one, only to find that it won't move.

The human stops by one figure with its 'hand' sticking out. She groans in disgust and passes by... Only to return a second later, "Just kidding. I'd never leave someone hanging. Up top, buddy!" She high-fives it. Which makes it falls apart on top of her. Now that she is on the ground, Luz looks up and sees countless other figures in recesses towards the ceiling. She shines her light and sees that one of them is empty.

Suddenly, the two hear hissing noise behind them. Luz turns and notices a figure running away. Both girls chases after the creature.

...

Meanwhile, King, Lilith and Hooty are standing in front of a ruined throne. The boy gestures to it, "And that's how I would annihilate my enemies. Who needs due process, am I right?"

The older witch gestured toward a wall carving, "What does this image represent, my lord?"

The young demon scratched the back of her head, "Uh, it's hard to remember. But that handsome devil looks familiar, huh?"

The two girls quickly approach them. The human takes a deep breath in exhaustion, "Tour's over! We gotta go! Now!"

Lilith frowns at the two, "But there's so much to learn!"

Luz stomps Eda's staff onto the ground, "This environment is not conducive to learning! It's conducive to death!"

King shrugs his shoulders, "Ah, you saw the horrifying monstrosity room. Don't worry, they can't hurt you."

Esper shakes her head, "That would be reassuring if there wasn't something trying to kill us, King!"

The hissing is heard again, and this time is it heard by the whole group. Everyone looks up and sees a fleshy rock monster, alive, crawling along the ceiling. The monster rotates its head down to peer at them.

The human points at the creature, "That one can! Let's go!"

Esper grabs King and runs for the entrance, but this causes the creature to screech. It then jumps in front of her to blocks her way. It changes its right arm into a claw and swipes at her.

The redhead falls onto her back and Luz jumps in the way. She tries to use Eda's staff to block the attack but quickly finds herself overpowred by the monster. Her arms slowly start to be pushed down by the claw.

Lilith throws a glyph at it, with the paper turning into ice magic. The shards pin it to a nearby pile of rocks.

All four start running for the entrance while the creature is stuck. It roars again upon seeing the demon still in Esper's arms.

Luz's eyes widen towards the older woman, "Dang, girl, you've been practicing!"

The older witch, "You may admire my progress when we get out of here alive!"

The monster slides through the ice spikes and gives chase, running along the walls and ceiling before again pouncing in front of Esper, Luz and Lilith. It stands tall, turns its head and changes its left arm into an axe. It prepares to strike, but an explosion at the head puts it on the ground.

The redhead jumps back and quickly shoves King into her childhood friend's arms. The creature still roars at her, leaping to pounce on the younger girl.

Esper runs from the creature, "Woah! What did I do to it?!" Her spear clangs while falling it onto the ground. She starts to form an illusion spell circle in the air before she is suddenly grabbed by the claw and pulled closer, "Woah! Woah!"

But then suddenly, an explosion hits the creature square in the face. This causes the monster to let go of her. She falls onto the ground to grab her spear. She then stands up next to her mentor with her fists raised.

Eda jumps in from the rocks, wearing belts armed with explosive potions, "Get out of here!" She grabs a potion from her belt, "I'll hold it back and meet you outside!" She then tosses another potion at the monster.

The human shouts at her mentor while still holding King, "Eda! We can fight it together!"

The redhead nods and forms another spell circle in the air, "Yeah! Let's get this monster, Eda!"

The Owl Lady shakes her head, "No! You can't beat this thing. Go!" She then picks up the younger girl by her hood and tossing her towards the exit. The creature's eyes follow the smaller girls movements closely.

Esper frowns at this, "But Eda!" She shakes her head before forming a vine to push the rest of the group out of the exit, "No way! I'm not leaving you alone again!"

Luz reaches for her childhood friend, "Esper, wait!" The human still holding King in her arms while they were swept away. Lilith holds onto her staff while riding the wave of vines.

The redhead then uses the same vines to seal up the exit, blocking the two witches in with the monster.

Eda grabs another potion from her belt and tosses it in her hand, "Fine, just don't get hurt!" She then turns to the creature, "It's been a while... Miss me?"

The monster leaps at Eda but she manages to dodge it.

Esper forms an illusion spell circle with both her hands in order to create a few stone walls to wrap around the creature... Hoping to confuse it.

However, the monster rushes through the illusion. It pointed it's face towards Esper, hissing at her... Nearly sounding like a roar. It then holds up it's arm to turn it into a bow.

The Owl Lady jumps to the side before throwing another potion, "You'll have to have a better illusion than that, Esper!"

The freckled witchling shakes her head, "Okay then, fine! Let's try this!" She then forms two circles in order to shoot two blue fire blasts at the creature.

She manages to strike it with her fire. The creature uses it's two arms to cover it's face in order to protect itself. It presses on despite the flames harming it.

But then suddenly, the creature slithers in front of the girl but still at quite the distance. It points his bow arm straight at her and pulls the arrow back... Quickly preparing to launch...

However, her mentor jumped in front of her. She used her arm for a shield for the both of them.

"Eda!"

The stone arrow is launched at the pair and makes contact with the older woman's shoulder. She holds it in pain, holding back a hurt yelp.

Esper spun her spear in her hands to block the next stone arrow. She rushes in front of the monster before swinging at it's neck with an angry frown, "That's it!"

The creature quickly tilts it's head to block the metal blade... It then hisses at her before changing it's bow hand into a giant fist. Then, it's fist made contact with girl's stomach, knocking her to the ground.

The freckled witch rubbed her head upon hitting the ground. She felt a cut on her cheek upon feeling pebbles make contact with her skin. The fist was raised into the air while her spear slid away from her on the stones below her...

The redhead raises her arms to defend herself from the impact. She hears her mentor's voice while looking away...

"Esper!"

Eda throws a few potions at the creature, one... Two... Three... Four in order to drive it back, away from the girl. She rushes to pick the girl up by the arm, throwing another explosive potion to destroy the vine wall. Esper grabs her spear from the ground before adjusting to help her mentor steady herself. The two make their way outside the cave...

...

Both Luz and Lilith run out after being pushed out by the waves but they stop and turn towards the entrance. Only to see that the vines had blocked their way back. The owl tube shouts from the back of his friend, "More running, less stopping!"

The older witch frowns while holding her staff, "Edalyn said to wait here!"

Luz shakes her head, "We can't let them fight this thing buy themselves! We have to go back!"

Everyone hears explosions from within and the vines dissipate... They all look at the door with frightful anticipation and a terrified King clutches Luz's leg. Just then, Eda walks out while clutching a wound on her shoulder. Esper holds the older woman up with a few scratches on her cheek.

The human runs to her childhood friend, "Esper! Are you okay?" Upon seeing her nod, she lets out a breath, "Don't ever do that again! Normally, I'm the one who does the dangerous stuff!"

The redhead pushes against her with a smile, "Luuuuuuuuz! I'm fine, I just have a few scrapes and bruises from that thing!"

Lilith shouts with wide eyes, "Edalyn!" She runs up to her sister and takes her from the redhead to hold her up, "You're hurt! What of that horrible creature?"

Speaking of the monster, it climbs up and hisses while brandishing an axe-arm. It swings down on Eda and Lilith but gets a blue, sparkly forcefield appears the tower and the outside area. The axe-arm goes limp on the outside and the monster pulls it back inside.

The Owl Lady shakes her head and smirks at the beast, "It can't get past the entrance. We're safe now."

The brunette shouts while pointing at the beast, "That thing must be guarding this place against intruders."

Esper raises an eye at her friend, "But why was it specifically targeting me? I gave King to you and it still chased after me!" This made the human shrugs.

King stomps his foot onto the ground, "But it's my castle. How could we be intruders?"

Luz scratches her chin nervously, "Uh... U-um..."

The young demon blinks in realization, "You don't believe this is my castle..."

Luz looks the other way while sweat runs down her face.

King looks up at her in disbelief, "Luz, you think I would lie to you?"

The human swallows a lump in her throat, "King, I..."

The boy then turns to the redhead, "Esper, did you know about this? Do you believe me?"

The freckled witch lets out a sigh, "...I did know. But I swear, I believed you the whole time."

Eda speaks up in a strained voice, "You aren't lying. You just don't know the truth..." She groans and falls to her knees, "It's time for me to tell you how we really met." Lilith then starts bandaging her arm.

...

A flashback begins, taking place on the island eight years ago... Boiling rain is falling from the sky, a younger Eda flies down on her staff and sets foot on the shore.

Eda speaks over the flashback, "Eight years ago, I was looking for a place to hide from the Emperor's Coven. I never knew this place existed and it just... Appeared out of the mist. So, I landed."

She looks at the holes the burning rain is making on her cloak, then notices the ruined tower in the distance.

Her voice is still heard, "Now, I was one hot tamale, but the boiling rains were even hotter! I needed shelter..."

The younger Eda enters the ruins...

Eda continues to speak over the flashback, "But when I found it... I wasn't alone."

The young version of her notices that shadowy figure running past her. She readies her staff, "Who's there? Reveal yourself!" She turns around and gasps when she see what was trailing her.

From behind a small rock formation, a small, furry creature with a skull mask on its head jumps out and wags its tail. It's King when he was a baby. The baby King tilts his head and Eda lowers her staff in response. The boy then picks up a crescent-shaped rock and puts it on top of an incomplete figure.

The redhaired woman tilts her head at him, "Did you make all these? What are you?" She starts petting King, who happily wags his tail.

The present Eda speaks over the scene, "I assumed you were just some stray dog. But then..."

In the flashback, the two look up and see the monster with the crescent shaped head towering over them, brandishing its axe-hand. The younger Eda grabs King and jumps onto Owlbert in his staff form, barely avoiding the axe swing.

Eda voices over the event, "...That thing was gonna kill us both, so I picked you up and bounced."

Both the younger Eda and baby King fly out of the ruins on the staff. Approaching its magical boundary, the monster fashions its limbs into a bow-and-arrow and fires at them.

The stone arrow ends up hitting King, breaking off his left horn and knocking him unconscious. Young Eda, having fallen off her staff, continues her escape on foot, grabbing both King and his broken horn.

Eda looks sympathetically at the baby King while they fly away from the island...

The Owl Lady continues to speak, "Against my better judgment... I took you home with me."

A little later at the Owl House in the flashback... Young Eda looks on while Baby King stacks piles of household objects, similar to the rocks in his castle.

The present Owl Lady froms while speaking, "I'd gotten you the collar, 'cause... Well, that's what you do when you get a new pet. But then..."

The younger Eda in the flashback looks on while Baby King stacks household objects upon one another, similar to the rocks in his castle. He completes one stack and stands proudly.

She leans back on the door frame and snorts, "Ah, look at you. A king amongst his subjects!"

The baby creature blinks before suddenly speaking, "King... King!" He then falls down and yelps.

Young Eda looks at him with a shocked expression, "It spoke..." She then speaks to King directly, "Yeah, that's right. A king!" She walks over and kneels down, "You know what else kings do? They command armies and eat delicious feasts!"

The baby version of King claps his hands and makes happy noises. The young Eda continues gesturing royally yarns to Baby King while he looks up with big, sparkly eyes.

Eda speaks over the flashback one last time, "And that's how you got the idea you were some despotic overlord..."

...

Back in the present, with Eda finishing her story... She frowns at the young boy, "Oh, but you were finally happy. So I kept playing along with it..."

King stars at her in disbelief, "Y-You're lying!"

The witch shakes her head at him, "I'm not..." She takes something out of her hair, revealing it to be the long lost broken piece of King's horn.

King is shocked and curious about this... He slowly takes it from Eda's hand. He gasps and inside his eye, it reveals forgotten moments of his life flashing before him. An image of baby King in the temple... Standing on a pile of rocks and presenting himself to his army of little rock figures...

King speaks over the image in his head, "My army?"

In another flashback, it shows baby King grabbing a small insect and eating it.

He still speaks, "My feasts..."

Back to the present, King is still holding the broken piece of his own horn... He looks devastated, "My life..."

The young demon looks down at the horn, panics and throws it down, "Aah! No! Keep that thing away from me! It's messing with my head!"

Luz extends her hand in sympathy, "King, it's gonna be okay."

King sounds despondent and begins to panic, "Y-You're all just making fun of me, like usual, right?" He then starts to hyperventilates, "No! No, no, no, no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

Esper frowns before walking closer to the demon. "King, it's..."

The boy, now on the verge of tears, holds onto his head and breathes heavily before running away from the group, "No!"

Luz gets up and forlornly extends her hand while she watches King disappear into the jungle, "King!"

...

Soon enough, the whole group is walking through the jungle in search of the poor, runaway King.

Luz looks around, trying to call for him, "King?! King! Please, come back!"

Lilith shakes her head, "I can't fly. The tree cover is too dense... I regret ever playing a part in this."

Esper frowns while looking up at the foliage, "You can't but I can! I'll take the sky while you three take the ground. I knew this was a bad idea!" She gets a nod from the Raven Witch for a response.

Hooty, after looking sympathetic for a while, starts bawling, "Is this what regret feels like? I hate it!" He droops over Lilith's shoulder and continues crying. She gently pats him on the head in comfort...

Luz begins to feel the tears form in her eyes, "I lied to him... Even though I knew he trusted me. Now, he's all alone." She sits down and silently weeps.

Esper puts her hands on her shoulders, "Luz, no, let's not do this now... Come on, we have to make this right."

Eda shakes her head at her student, "For now, let's all split up. This island is small and he's even smaller. He can't have gone far!"

Lilith and Hooty rush towards the right with a confident nod.

While Eda kneels down to comfort a teary-eyed Luz, she nods at her assuredly, "Don't worry. We'll find him..." She leaves toward the left side of the jungle.

The witchling nods at her friend, "Yeah! Don't you worry! Now, let's do what we can to get to him."

Luz wipes her eyes and gets up. She nods at her friend before heading towards the right side.

Esper nods back at her friend while she left the area. She then rubs her chin, "Okay, King... Let's see if I make a good Beast Tracker..."

She jumps up and spins in her spear in her hands, "Hyah! She slices at the tree covers before leaping onto her spear. Using a plant spell circle, she untangles the rest of the foliage so she could get through. Flying into the air slowly, redheaded looks around for her youngest friend, "King? King?!"

The girl flies over until reaches the edge of the jungle. But she stops...

Spotting King right on the beach below... Sitting all alone on a log, staring out at the sea.

Esper lets out a breath before flying down to the sandy ground. She lays her spear beside them and sits down, placing her hand on his back.

King frowns, still sounding upset, "Eda was right, wasn't she? And Luz, Lilith and Hooty too! I was never king of anything... I'm nobody."

The witchling shook her head, "Hey, that's not what Eda said... You are somebody, King. And I love that somebody very much. With or without memories, like me... I'm sorry it all lead to this, bud..."

The demon shakes his head back at her, "Everyone lied! And I was too caught up in the fantasy to realize it! You were even teetertottering on lying to me or not!" He begins to cry, a tear falling onto the sandy ground below, "I... I don't know what to do, Esper!" He sniffles, "I can't tell what's real and what's fake!"

He then buries his face in his paws when his friend pulled him into a hug.

"I'm sorry, King... I really am..."

The redhead then looks at her hand in thought, 'Maybe I could use the memory spell? ...No, I'm not at Gus's level when it comes to stuff in the mind...' She looked up from her hand to looks up toward the ruined temple in the distance, "Something's not adding up. One of your memories is falling now, right?"

King wipes his eyes with disbelief in his voice, "Probably another stupid thing I made up!"

Esper shakes her head, "No! What if that's a real memory?" She turns her head to see Luz emerge from the bushes, she shakes her head at her to let her talk to King alone.

The small demon pushes her hands away from his body, "Why does it matter?"

The witchling points at the top of the ruined temple, "You said you remember a roar from up in that top part, right? Maybe that's where you fell from! Eda said she found you in those ruins. So there's gotta be a clue in there about where you came from!"

King sighs and looks away, "I don't know, Esper... What if the story gets worse?"

Luz walks towards the two and put her hands on her childhood friend's shoulders, "Worse? How can it get any worse? You might have been alone before but you have us now. Whatever we find up there won't change that. So, what do you say?" She extends one of her hands to the demon.

The skull wearing creature takes a breath before putting his paw in the human's hand, "Okay." He jumps into the arms of the redhead, "Let's go back to Eda... Thank you so much, Esper."

With a nod, the witchling picked up her spear and walked ahead with the boy in her arms. Followed by the human...

...

Now back inside the jungle, Esper holds King in one of her arms on their back to Eda and Lilith... The two older witches both look worried.

The Owl Lady runs to the pair, "King! You're okay!" But she then stops upon noticing him looking sternly up at her. She sighs, "You're mad at me. I get it. I would be, too." She kneels down, "I'm so sorry, King."

The boy then suddenly pokes her on the cheek, "Boop! No more secrets, okay? You have to promise me."

Eda nods back at him, "Only truths. I promise."

Luz smiles at their reconciliation, "Great. Now, before we leave, we have one more thing to check out." She then points toward the tower in the distance.

Esper nods confidently at her, staring at the same tower...

...

Inside the castle, the monster is maintaining one of the little rock statues when it suddenly reacts to something unseen. It hisses and looks back. It sees a potion being tossed and gets knocked back by the explosion.

Esper flies in, above and around the creature, "Hey, there! Miss me?" Once the creature's head was locked onto her, she formed another light blue spell circle with both her hands, "I think we could use some more company!"

She waved her arms, with the two spell circles turning into two illusions of herself. The two clones fly into two different directions before flowing up and around each other in the air.

One from the left sticks out her tongue, "Over here!"

The other pulls at her eye lid to taunt the creature, "No! I'm up here!"

The creature looks at all three versions of the girl. This made Esper shout while flying right above the middle of the area, "Now, Lilith!"

Lilith flies behind her on her own staff, aiming Hooty like a bazooka.

The owl speaks in a light voice, "Special delivery..." He then suddenly speaks in a deep voice, "Pain!" He then fires a potion out of his mouth, and it hits the monster again.

Suddenly, something invisible flies low past it. Luz takes a deep breath in, and she, King and Eda reappear on her staff, just like the glyph spell the showed off earlier.

Eda stops over the ground while still on her staff, "You sure they'll be okay?"

Luz hops off the staff, "Hooty knows what to do."

Hooty is now coughing up potions in a rapid-fire fashion, while Lilith is holding his head and looking disgusted. Esper still flies around the creature, keeping it's attention on her with a few twirls in the air.

The Owl Lady whispers to the girl, "...Are you sure they'll be okay?"

While Esper, Lilith and Hooty are battling the monster, Eda flies up to the blocked hole in the ceiling. She sticks a potion into the rocks and jumps down toward Luz and King, "Ready?"

The human shouts in excitement, "I always wanted to do something like this!" She readies a glyph while Esper, Lilith and Hooty continue holding the monster off.

Hooty shouts at the two witches, "They're in place!"

Lilith takes a piece of paper out of her dress pocket, "Hold your breath!"

Esper nods before taking an invisibility glyph out of her jacket pocket. She holds her breath while her illusions disappear.

The three turn themselves invisible with the glyphs. The monster hisses and looks around confused before getting hit by the invisible Lilith. It feels it's body be launched the other way when it was struck by Esper.

While Luz aims a fire glyph at the overhead potion, the monster manages to grab Lilith by the head. This ends up turning her visible again.

The redhead brings herself to a halt in the air, "Lilith!" This caused her to stop holding her breath, turning her visible for the creature to see.

Hearing her friend's shout, Luz changes the paper into a fireball and flings it toward the potion. It hits, blowing the hole in the ceiling open.

Hooty hits the monster in the face with his own face, freeing Lilith. She grabs her staff, and starts following Esper, Eda, Luz and King up the open hole.

The human shouts while on the staff, "Fly, fly, fly!"

They all start going up the hole, with Lilith producing a glyph to light the dark tunnel. The monster gives chase. The group soon reach the end of the tunnel...

Both Luz and King speak at the same time, "There's..."

They look at the whole room to see that the tunnel has lead to a small, empty room covered in cobwebs.

Esper finishes their sentence for them, "Nothing here!"

Everyone gets off their staffs and starts exploring the room. With Lilith walking up to the young redhead before looking up at the wall, "So... Back with the creature. You sounded quite concerned when it grabbed me." She had a smug smile on her face.

The small witchling starts to walk away from her while shaking her head, "No, I didn't!" She turns back after walking a few feet away, "Shut up!" This makes the older witch start to giggle in response before walking away.

King hears hissing and looks down the hole. He sees the monster coming in fast. He looks around with a panicked look, "It's coming!" He shrieks and scats when the monster swipes its arm. It has the five cornered against a locked door. King backs into it and his touch triggers a glowing reaction, "Huh?"

The door opens, causing everyone to fall backwards into a secret room. They hurriedly close the door while the monster reaches toward them, causing its goopy hand to get cut off. Everyone takes deep sighs of relief.

Eda wipes some sweat off her brow, "Huh, I think we're safe... For now. But how did we get the door open?"

King looks at his paw, "Huh?"

Lilith's eyes widen while looking around the room "This room is old. Very old..."

They all begin exploring the room, which is decorated with decaying plants and a skylight on the ceiling. In the middle of the room is a golden pedestal. King walks up to it and sees the remains of a broken eggshell at the top.

Luz gasps upon seeing the broken eggshell, "I knew there was something up here! I'm like the mystery whisperer! The butler did it, magnifying glass, secret door..."

Esper sighs at the other girl, "...Luz, we both know how common that trope is."

The human smiles widely while hitting her friend's arm with her elbow softly, "Well yeah... But you always loved solving mysteries with me, Watson!"

The freckled witchling lets out a laugh before pushing her friend playfully, "You're not wrong, Sherlock..."

Lilith ponders while looking at the walls, "It looks like that creature was made to guard whatever was in here."

The redhead looks down at her friend, "King, does any of this feel familiar to you?"

The young demon rubs his chin, "I'm not sure but I think I know how to jog my memory." He then turns to his guardian, "Eda, I'm ready." He extends his paw to the woman.

Eda looks down at him with a worried expression, "Are you sure?"

The young demon nods back a her, "I am..."

The Owl Lady takes the broken piece of horn out of her hair and gives it to the boy, who places it on his stump. He gasps while his memories return to him, and the memory forms in his eye...

He speaks over the flashback, "I remember a deep roar..."

In the flashback, showing an unborn King growing inside his egg. A demonic roar is heard from outside the shell.

King's voice is still heard over the flashback, "And then, something happened..."

An explosion is heard outside the egg... The unborn King looks around when he heard the sound...

King continues to talk, "...But I was too small to do anything. So, I went back to sleep."

The memories fade to black. They then fade in again, this time to a more developed King inside the egg.

King's voice is heard one last time, "And the next time I woke up..."

The eggshell starts to crack and a slit of light shines through. The baby inside reacts to the light and reaches for it.

Now in the secret room, King emerges from his egg and tumbles down the steps of the pedestal. The newborn baby opens his eyes for the first time and sees the castle's mysterious symbol on the skylight. King then pulls himself across the room until he reaches the door. It magically reacts to his touch and opens, revealing the monster behind it. The two look at each other. The monster picks up King, cradles him and walks to the shaft. It dives down the hole with King in its arms and King reaches for the light from the top as it disappears from view.

...

Now, back into the present...

King takes the broken horn off his stump, a look of revelation on his face...

Luz steps towards him, "King..."

The small demon blinks in realization, "That roar... It meant 'son'. I don't know how I know that, but I do. Someone called me their son. Luz, I think it was my dad!"

Esper smiles excitedly, "Oh that is so cool! You get a hint about your dad and I get a hint about my mom today! We're getting closer to finding our parents, this is awesome!"

The human nods her head, "Oooh, we're getting so much closer to solving the mystery! Maybe that was King's father on all those wall carvings!"

The monster breaks through the door down and prepares to strike with his axe-hand. When Esper raises her spear to defend the group, Luz cowers in fear...

And King defiantly runs up to it and raises his paw, "Stop!"

The monster suddenly pauses and then it bows to him in respect...

Eda's eyes widen in surprise, "That thing was defending King from us this whole time? Huh. Okay..."

Esper blinks in astonishment, "That might be why it kept targeting me!" She then scratches her chin, "But it doesn't explain why it pounced at me when I let King go..."

She is interrupted when a sudden flash stuns her.

Lilith takes a picture of the wall carvings with an instant flash camera. She stops when the others look at her, "Oh, sorry. Were we discussing important revelations? I'll..." She then clears her throat, "I'll just... Do this later."

She takes the photo from the camera and sheepishly hides it behind her back.

Hooty eats and swallows the camera, "Gulp!"

Luz smiles at the young demon, "Maybe you weren't exactly the King of Demons, but..."

King smiles when Esper pat him on the head, "I was important to someone." He then starts tearing up, "If... If he's out there, I want to find him. I'm not that old! It could be possible!" He sniffs, trying to contain his tears, "Will you guys help me?"

The redhead knelt down in front of him, "We're already looking for my parents. Of course I'll help you find yours!"

Luz nods her head at the two of them, "I'd do anything for you, buddy!"

King points to the monster, "Then... Can we keep him?"

Luz, Esper, Eda and Lilith all shout at the same time, "No!"

Hooty wraps his body around the girls, who are all looking displeased, "Yes!"

...

Now back at the Owl House, where Luz is tucking King into a sleeping bag on the floor while he carves the castle's symbol onto his collar medallion with a fork. Esper is holding the broken piece of King's horn while sitting in her own sleeping bag. Her hair is down from her ponytail while wearing her pajamas.

Luz tilts her head at the young demon, "Whatcha doin' there, King?"

King smiled at her, "That symbol was all over that tower! What if it's my name?"

Esper places the broken horn onto the stump, gluing it together to make it whole again. She wipes off some excess glue with her finger, "There we go! Now, you're whole again."

The young demon lets out a laugh at the feeling of her wiping the glue, "Aah... Gooey!"

Meanwhile, the still body of the monster lays against the wall... Lifeless. King had placed a collar with the name 'Jean-Luc' written on it.

King put his own collar back on, "It's too bad Jean-Luc stopped moving outside the ruins. I liked having a big, scary minion!"

Both girls looks at the creature with Luz looking creeped out by his presence. Esper narrows her eyes at the creature before laying down in her sleeping bag.

The human shakes her head sheepishly, "Yeah! Too bad!"

The demon taps his feet on the bed, "Luz, is it okay to still call me 'King'? It feels kind of weird when I'm not the king of anything..."

Luz smiles down at him, "Well, you'll always be king of my heart. That's good enough, right?"

Esper pats the boy on the head, "Besides, it's the name Eda gave you, isn't it? Why not keep it?" She then folds her arms confidently, "I know when we find my mom and learn the name I was born with, I'm gonna tell her 'Actually, it's Esper now!' I'd rather be called Esper than whatever name they originally gave me."

King thinks to himself for a moment before smiling at the both of them, "Yeah! You girls are right! Goodnight, Luz." He then lies down and Luz kisses him on the forehead. Esper lays down in her sleeping bag with her hands behind her head.

He holds up his plush rabbit. "And Francois!" He smiles when Luz kisses the toy and then points at the lifeless creature to their side, "Now, Jean-Luc."

Luz looks at the inanimate creature and some of his fleshy red goop drips onto his knee... She grunts in disgust and starts walking backwards towards the door while still facing King sheepishly, "Bummer, looks like I'm all out of kisses! Maybe next time, goodnight you two!" She then closes the door.

After a few seconds, King turns to his friend, "...Can you give Jean-Luc a kiss, Esper?"

Esper lets out a giggle before turning in her sleeping bag, "Don't push it, King..."

After a few more seconds roll by, the demon looks around before facing his friend, "...Hey Esper?"

The redhead closes her eyes but stays awake, "Yes King?"

King played with Francois's ear while he spoke, "...I hope we find your mom soon." Once he uttered those words, the girl's eyes snapped open.

Esper shifted in her sleeping bag before reaching over to tug King and his plush toy into her arms, "...Thank you, bud." She hugged the little demon tightly, smiling when she saw his wagging tail...

The young demon looked back up at her, "Hey, Esper... How about this? We can be brother and sister until we find our parents!" He then picked up his paw to show his smallest claw, "Pinky promise, I'll be the best little brother ever!"

The witchling smiled before curling her pinky around the claw, "Deal, King. Though, I wouldn't mind if we can still be brother and sister even after we find them..."

King wagged his tail even more before relaxing back onto the pillow, "Deal!" All while the birthmark on the girl's lower leg glowed faintly within the sleeping bag...

...

Meanwhile, in the living room, Eda and Lilith are looking over the photos that Lilith took of the ruins.

Eda tilts her head at one of the photos, "I've never seen markings like this before..."

Lilith opens one of her books before Luz enters and sits down next to her the older woman.

The Owl Lady shrugs her shoulders, "Hmmm... Ooh, is it some kind of ancient language?"

The raven haired woman points at one of the pictures, "And those old carvings. Who were they depicting?"

Eda bumps her elbow into Luz's arm, "Any ideas, 'mystery whisperer'?"

The human picks up one of the photos with a hum, "I don't know. But whatever we discover, we'll be there for King... No matter what."

The camera focuses on the photo, which is of the carvings depicting a large, spear-wielding demon who looks very similar to King before fading to black...

Chapter Text

One morning, inside the Owl House... The group is sitting in the living room. Although, the older witches move to the kitchen while the girls are distracted by a sleeping King on the couch...

Remembering what had happened during their potions lesson, Eda looks at her sister with concern, "It's strange, Lilith... When Esper used a healing potion on herself, her hand healed instantly. With steam and everything... I've never seen a witch's injuries heal like that before... You think you know anything like that?"

Lilith pondered before answering, "Hmm... While I can't say anything for certain, I'm sure I can figure it out. Besides, there is something else I noticed that I wanted to look into myself..."

The younger sister sighed, "Okay but don't push it. You know how Esper gets with you."

The raven haired woman nodded dramatically, "Oh, I know! But don't worry, Edalyn! I shall get to the bottom of this and figure what kind of witch young Esperanza truly is!"

Meanwhile, the younger girls continue to poke the sleeping King's belly. Luz eventually stopped her giggles before turning to her best friend, "So.. Esper, how do you like it here in the Boiling Isles?"

Esper shrugged her shoulders with a smile, "Eh, I don't mind it. No rules other than the Emperor's Coven and I get to do magic? It's actually kinda great." She eyed her spear before picking it up.

The human nodded her head back at her, "Oh awesome. I'm glad you think so... I just have one gripe that I think you should try to solve."

The redhead raised an eyebrow at her, "...And what is that?"

The brunette smield awkwardly at her, "Hmmm, Lilith."

The smaller girl practically jumped, "Aw heck no!"

Luz slumped her shoulders with a frown, "Esper, come on. You have to try to get along with her!"

The witchling folded her arms, "No, I don't! I'm perfectly fine without getting along with Ms. Witch McWitchy Witch over here!"

The human tilted her head at her, with a stern face, "Esper..."

This made the younger girl slump her shoulders in defeat, "...Ugh, fine. I'll try!"

Her childhood friend smiled at that and picked up the small demon to leave the room. And eentually, the older witch took her place on the couch.

Lilith smiled at her, "So... Esperanza."

Esper immediately raised an eyebrow, "...Lulu. What do you want?" Despite calling her by Hooty's nickname for her, you could hear the distain when she said it.

The older witch opened the book she had in her hands, "I was just sorting through a few books and I was wondering if you would be interested in learning about the local flora with me!"

The young girl was unimpressed, "...Really? That's the best you got? Learning?"

The Raven Lady gestured to her, "Of course! What young aspiring witch doesn't like learning?"

The freckled witch shook her head, "This one doesn't! Seriously, you should see my science grade! Why can't we go set something on fire or something?"

Lilith put her finger on her chin, "Hmmm, that seems like a rather... Violent activity to pass the time. How about we think of something else to do, Esperanza?"

The girl shook her head again, "Uh nope! We set fire or fight something! Your choice!"

Lilith glared before getting closer to the girl, "Why must you fight me at every decision?!"

Esper got closer to the older witch with a glare of her own, "I'm not fighting you! I'm giving you a choice!"

However, while their argument spiraled into loud shouting... It began to annoy the other people in the living room... Until finally, they have had enough. Both Luz and Eda stood up, not exactly in anger but they weren't happy either.

Eda put her hands on her sister's shoulders before she began to push her towards the door, "That's it! You two are going out!"

Esper turned to her childhood friend when she started doing the same, "Out? Out where?"

Luz fully pushed Esper out the door and then pointed, "Out on a 'Get Along' Adventure!"

Lilith gasped when she was fully shoved out the door, "Excuse me?!"

The pair spoke at the same time, "What?! Why?!"

Eda shouted at the two, "Because your arguing is driving everyone in this darn house crazy!"

The smaller girl folded her arms, "So you're just gonna send me to be with Lulu over here?"

The human nodded her head with an exasperated tone, "Yes! Esper, she's not going to do anything to you! Or me! And until you two learn can learn to get along, you'll be living outside."

And it was then... That Hooty shut the door fully.

The redhead's eyes widened in surprise, "...What!" She knocked on the door a few times with a hard fist, "You can't keep us outside! Not forever!"

After not getting an answer, she then looked down at the face on the door, "...Come on, Hooty. Let us back in."

Hooty shook his head eccentrically, "Nuh uh!"

Esper waved her hands in the air, "Aw come on, not you too! Hooty, buddy, come on!"

Lilith gestured dramatically, "Hootsifer! Are you really going to do this to us?!"

The owl tube nodded at the pair, "Uh huh Hooty too, Lulu! I'm sorry but Eda's orders! Now go on, get!" He then closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at the two anymore.

Which caused both witches outside to have large frowns on their faces.

...

Back in the Owl House, Eda and Luz go back to sit on the couch upon hearing Hooty confirm that he will not be letting them back inside. King had laid down on the soft cushions in order to take a nap.

The human laid down with her hands behind her head, "Wow... We're probably going to go the whole day without Esper and Lilith..."

"Oh yeah, they're gonna take a few hours to even compliment each other. They don't get along like we do!"

"...You want to make a bet on how long it'll take for them to come back?"

"...Deal. They're both pretty stubborn so I don't think either of them will come back early."

...

Now in the red leaved forest, the pair of witches travel together. Both are clearly upset about the situation. They may be walking next to each other, but they both wore frowns on their faces.

Esper shrugged at her with a frown, "...So am I really forced to camp with you the whole day?"

Lilith tried to catch up to her, "Well, it doesn't have to be the whole day!"

The redhead pondered with her finger at her chin, "You're right! Maybe we can fake some happy faces with illusions."

The older witch frowned at her, "...Why do you hate me, Esperanza? You were concerned when that creature grabbed me in King's palace!"

The freckled witch folded her arms, "Of course I was! I'm not heartless! Not like how you were when you took Luz hostage!"

The Raven Lady gasped while walking next to her, "Is that what this is about?!"

The small girl nodded dramatically, "Yes! And not just that! You cursed your own sister and chased her down for a long time! Who does that?!"

Lilith suddenly stopped in her tracks, "I... You're right, I did do that." She then looks down at the girl, "...Would you do anything to help your human friend?"

Esper stopped to face her, "...Of course I would."

The Raven Lady raised her voice at her, "Then you would understand WHY I felt the to take in my sister! Emperor Belos said he would have cured her from her curse! For years..."

The redhead stomped her foot on the ground, "Yeah but at the cost of her freedom? She would have been indebted to the Emperor!"

The pale witch shook her head, "Yes but...You know what, you're just a child! You don't understand anything!"

Esper's eyes widened before they narrowed, "Oh, I don't? Lilith, how long were you serving under him? And how old are you now?"

Lilith answered with a frown, "Ever since I was about your age... I'm 46."

The redhead raised her arms in the air, "...You were listening to thirty years of lies!" She points her thumb at her own chest, "I'd never let someone do that to me! Not if it puts Luz in danger!"

But the older woman calmed herself before she answered this time, "You know what, you're right. I was completely blind during those thirty years, oblivious to what the Emperor Belos was planning. Listening to his fire honey covered lies..."

The girl's tone held a bit of symphathy, "...Yeah, you were."

The Raven Lady frowned at her, "And, I apologize for what I have done to the both of them. I would never do anything put dear Luz in danger ever again,"

The freckled witch frowned with solace in her eyes, "...Okay, I hear that. And I see that you've been trying to make amends in a way, sacrificing your magic to save Eda and everything. But I've got my eye on you, okay? I have my reasons..."

Lilith nodded her head at her, "That sounds fair to me, Esperanza. Now, how about we find this? Maybe we can use this to really make things up with Edalyn, yes?" She pointed at the picture in the book, the image being a bright blue flower with a white wavy pattern in the middle, "It's a Moon Lily and it's said to be a powerful ingredient in many potions!"

Esper nodded her head back at her in agreement, "You know what, yeah. Let's try some flower hunting!" She then smiled at the older woman.

And thus, the two continued to walk through the forest together... Now with a goal in hand! And maybe... Maybe soon the two can actually start to get along!

But soon enough, the silence of walking had gotten to the older witch. She asked to attempt to saite her curiosity, "...Esperanza, do you know how you ended up in the Human Realm, perchance?" She took out her notepad in order to start writing things down.

Esper shrugged her shoulders with a raised eyebrow, "Uh... Not how I ended up there, no. The only thing I know is that a police officer found me crawling alone near the abandoned house. The one Luz and I came through when we first got here. Apparently, I was trying to eat a rock. Then he took me to the Gravesfield Orphanage and that's where I met my human parents."

Lilith wrote a few question marks near a segment labeled 'How?' with a frown, "I see, well that doesn't me help much." She raised her head from the notepad, "Wait, you tried to eat a rock?" "Actually, never mind that. Did you ever try to use magic when you were younger?"

The girl shook her head, "Nope, I never knew it actually existed. But that does remind me of something..." She peered away dramamtically, "I hate hospitals."

The older woman raised an eyebrow with curiosity, "Oh? It sounds like there is a story there."

The freckled witch nodded her head, "Yeah..." She kept walking with a frown, thinking about her past on Earth, "When I was little, some doctors noticed a lump on my heart. At the time, I thought it was something... Bad. Like what Luz's dad had. I know now that it was my bile sac but at the time... My parents considered getting surgery to remove it but they noticed that there didn't seem to be anything wrong with me. I ran around and played like any..." She then flexed her fingers for emphasis, "'Normal child'. Despite the ears."

The Raven Lady smiled at her, "I see... Well, it looks like that was a wise decision." She pointed towards said limbs, "What of your ears? They look like a normal witch's."

The redhead continued to walk, "Yeah, that's the thing. Kids on Earth don't see it that way, they only think ears like these mean you're a weird little monster."

Lilith raised an eyebrow while she walked behind her, "Hmm... But not Luz?"

When Esper shook her head, her whole body shook, "Nope, not Luz. She saw past my ears and... If anything, she thought they looked cool. I may have hid them from the rest of the human world, but I could always show them to her and Ms. Carmilla."

The black haired woman kept her smile, "That sounds wonderful..."

The redhead continued with a smile, "Haha yeah! You know, we would hang out with each other so much that at this point, I think she knows every video game in my collection! Even the VR ones!"

The older woman dragged the word carefully, "...Vee R?"

The freckled witchling nodded her head, "Yeah! ...Oh wait, you don't know what that is. It's virtual reality! The headset I have was made by..." She paused for a moment before rubbing her temple, "Okay, what was her name? I think was Aurora... Aurora P something..." When she saw the older witch's confused face, she stopped, "Eh, I know she married some hunter vlogger guy who believes that giraffes are from another world... Well, he's not exactly wrong on that part. But anyway!"

Both turned their heads upon hearing a yell, "Dude! I told you not to use your random roulette magic or whatever you call it!"

The pair peered through the nearby bushes after hearing the shout. The smaller redhead recognized her friend from school, it was Jasper!

The blue haired boy frowned while rubbing the back of his neck, "I'm sorry, Oscar!"

The taller boy next to him frowned with his hands on his hips, "Greaaaaat, now I gotta rebuild all these trees with my own plants!" He stomped his foot before summoning a green magic circle, "I knew taking you camping was a mistake..." He summoned wood to attach the broken pieces of the trees together.

Esper turned to her forced companion, "Hang tight, Lilith. I need to talk to Jasper for a second. Go study a leaf or something." She stepped out of the bush to get to her friend, "Jasper? Where have you been! What are you doing here?"

The blue haired boy pointed to another boy using plant magic behind him, "I'm camping out with my brother, ordered by my parents. What are you doing here?"

The freckled witch rolled her eyes, "I'm stuck babysitting Lilith over here."

The grown witch poked her head out of the bushes upon hearing her name, "Um, I would say I'm the one babysitting you."

Esper folded her arms the best she could with her spear in her hands, "Not now, Lilith. The teenagers are talking."

Lilith frowned at her before pulling her head back. Her frown resembled a deeply upset face combined with a pout.

The redhead turned to tilt her head at her friend, "Also wait, you have two brothers? I know you have one in the Emperor's Coven"

Jasper rubbed the back of his neck, "Actually, I have six brothers and one sister... Each of us are in a different coven. Well, besides me and my 'roulette magic' of course. "

The freckled witch tilted her head at the thought of multiple siblings, "Oh! Ooooh... That... Sounds like a big family."

The teenaged boy then slumped his shoulders, "Yup, aaaaand I'm the weakest one."

Esper gasped and put he hands on her hips, "What? No, you're not! You've helped me out of a few jams before."

The blue haired witch shrugged back at her, "Well... Yeah, but that doesn't mean much to my parents. They want all of us to be 'upstanding members of witch society.' Under Emperor Belos of course."

The girl lifted her eyebrow, "Really? Even under Mr. McEvil Emperor Man?" She then tilted her head again, "...Does that include standing up Edric at Grom?"

Jasper's eyes widened upon hearing her, "What? No! No, I swear I didn't mean to do that!"

Esper squinted at him, "Really? Because you invited him to Grom, aaaaand you didn't show up. And now he's sad. Kinda looks like you punked him to me."

The older boy frowned, "I swear, Esper, I didn't! I... I wanted to go to Grom with him and have fun with all you guys. But then my parents said I couldn't go when they found out I was going with Edric!"

The girl gasped, taken aback, "Oh man, is it because..."

The blue haired teen quickly nodded, "Because he's a Blight, yes. My parents HATES the Blights!"

Esper waved her hands, "What! Dude, you should have warned him!"

However before their conversation could continue, the two then heard a voice from the nearby bushes, "Jasper! Are you almost done talking with your friend? Come on!"

Jasper turned towards where he heard his brother's voice, "I'm coming, Oscar!" He then turned back to his friend, "Sorry, Esper. But I gotta go." "And... Please explain to Edric that my parents didn't want me to go to Grom with him..."

The redhead nodded her head with a frown, "I'll try but you should really talk to him yourself. He's still kinda bummed about it..."

The witch boy shrugged his shoulders before sticking his foot through the bushes, "...You're right. I will, I'll talk to him. I... I'll see you, Esper." He quickly turned back to her, "And good luck looking for that flower! I hear it's rare." He pointed at a nearby hill, "But I hear it's been seen around that cliff over there. And be careful, I heard that there's been a monster lurking around the woods for a few days now." He then jumped through the bushes to get back to his brother...

Esper nodded her head again, "Great, lovely. I gotta get back to Lilith anyway. See ya, Jasper!" She then turned around to jumped through the red bushes behind her... Looking for the older witch, "Come on, Lilith! Let's go find that flower!"

...

Back at the Owl House, Luz sat on the couch with her notepad in hand. She sketched out an ice glyph before showing it to Eda, "And that's how you make an ice glyph! You know, I wonder if I can combine it with any of the other ones... Hmm, maybe fire to make steam? Eh, I'll try that it out another time..."

The older woman smiled at her, "Impressive idea..." She then ruffled her student's hair, "Luz the human witch!"

The girl smiled before pushing her hand, "Hey, thanks, Eda! I'll experiment with Esper when she gets back with Lilith."

The Owl Lady nodded her head, "Sounds fun and chaotic! Actually... Luz, have you noticed anything... Strange about Esper?"

Luz shrugged her shoulders before looking at her notepad, "Well, besides the birthmark and the boosted power from it... Not much."

Eda's eyes jutted away from her student, "Luz... I'm just going to warn you... Esper may want to stay here."

The human blinked at her, "What? But... But Earth IS Esper's home. Mrs. Janet and Mr. Douglas love her! And... And what about me?"

The older witch nodded her head at her with a frown, "Yes, I know that. But it's possible she may want to stay with her birth family here."

King jumped onto the older witch's shoulder, "And if it takes longer to find them, she can live with us! She's pretty much my sister now anyway!"

The girl then put her hand on her chest, "But..."

Eda waved her hand at the two, "Now hold on, not everything is set in stone. I just wanted to let you know that..." Her shoulders dropped, "It's a possibility."

Luz frowned upon hearing her mentor before her eyes peered away. Her eyes darted down at the glyph, lost in thought about her friend...

...

Meanwhile, back near the forest... The pair made their way up the giant hill, finding the cliff at the end. One walking calmly while she used her staff for a walking stick. The other was... Not so calm.

The smaller witch spun around, her spear still her hands, "Pssh, man. I actually wouldn't be surprised if Luz just wanted to spend the day with Amity today."

Liltih tilted her head at her, "Really? You think she'd rather be with young Amity rather than you? Well then, tell me about it. When we were younger, Eda spent so much time with Raine!" She started mocking her sister's voice, "It was always 'Raine's so cool!' 'Look at what spell Raine made today!' Ugh, it was very annoying."

Esper tilted her head with a raised eyebrow, "...Who's Raine?"

The Raven Lady put her hands on her hips, "Oh, Eda never told you? Well, we can talk about them another time." She opened her hand towards the girl, "Here, I'll hold that. Your arms must be tired from holding this... Spear all day."

The redhead smiled before handing her spear to her, "...Really? Thanks, Lilith! I guess you're not so bad after all!" She began to look around the cliffside, "Now if I was some rare blue flower, where would I be on a cliff?"

After a few minutes, Esper stood at the end of the cliff with her hand on her knee, "So... Have you seen it yet?"

The older witch shrugged her shoulders while she looked around, inching closer to the girl, "Nope, it must be around here somewhere... Oh, I hope it's not on the side of the cliff."

The witchling looked over the cliff, "Hm... Maybe..."

But then...

...Suddenly she could feel no ground at all!

Esper looked down and then up to see she had been pushed, "Lilith, you w-"

But she couldn't finish her sentence when she felt herself fall faster and faster.

"Wait! Woah, hang on!"

The mountainside kept passing by her so fast that she could barely register what was happening...

But then... All of a sudden, she felt her body stop before it could hit the ground. Her birthmark began to glow a soft white. She slowly opened her eyes to find her head only a foot from the hard ground, "...Huh?" She moved herself upwards, noticing that she is now floating off the ground. Her eyes darted around, only to find that no one was casting a spell.

The Star Touched Witch was truly floating in the air, all on her own...

Back on the cliff, Lilith had put both her own staff and Esper's spear on the ground. She started to clap her hands in excitement, "I knew it! Eureka!"

Esper quickly kicked off the ground to fly towards the woman, "One! That's an Earth term! And two! Lilith, what the spit! I thought we were cool!" The white glow on her birthmark became more harsh. There was even a faint glow behind her whole body.

The older witch takes the notepad out of her pocket to write this down, "Oh Esper, we are cool! I just wanted to run a little experiment!"

The girl grabbed at her own hair, "You wanted to run an experiment that could have killed me?! What if I wasn't able to fly without my spear?!"

The raven haired woman still smiled at her, "Oh no, you definitely could! This glaive isn't powered by anything! And there's no Palisman on it. I had a hunch that no one else could fly on it." She pointed at her while she stated the facts, "So that meant that you were the main factor!"

Esper glared furiously at her mentor's sister, "So what? Our friendship is just an experiment to you?! Does this stupid flower even EXIST?!"

Lilith shook her head with a smile, "No! That's not what this is! And of course it does! I wouldn't set us on a wild goose chase for nothing!"

The freckled witch yelled in anger, a menacing tone added to her voice, "Oh YOU!" However, her rage was temporarily put on hold when she felt a familiar feeling... A draining feeling...

She looked behind her to see a stream of magic being sapped right from her body and into a bush Her fist suddenly clenched in anger, "Oh. Okay, so something WANTS to die today!"

In a sudden burst of speed, the redhead flew towards the red bush. The white glow behind her soon became harsh. She formed a green spell circle in her hand to get rid of the bush, revealing two small basilisks. These creatures were incredibly smaller than the Greater Basilisk she has encountered before. Both were small and scrawny, one with brown hair and the other had blonde hair.

The browned haired one began to cower but still stands in front of the other, "Please don't hurt us!"

Esper reared back her fist with a glare, "Oh, you better give me a good reason not to hurt you!" She didn't notice Lilith ran up behind her on the ground.

The slithering basilisk with reddish brown hair frowned at her before he jumped back, "P-Please! My name is Shesh and this is my brother, Septem! I swear, we were only hungry!" He gestured to the one with blonde hair next to him.

Lilith put her hand up to try to grab the smaller girl, "Esperanza, please calm yourself."

The fiery redhead pulled her whole body away from her, "You do not tell me to calm down after what you just did!" She points her glare at her, "I'm mad because of you!"

The Raven Lady nodded with a stern frown, "That is very fair. You can be angry with me all you want but don't take it out on them. They're only trying to survive."

The Star Touched Witch took a deep breath before setting her right foot on the ground. Her birthmark glowing a bright white before dimming out fully. The glow around her disappeared while she packed away her anger, "Okay... Okay, I'm calm now." She gripped her spear with a smile.

Septem smiled at her, "Oh thank you, Star Touched One!" Shesh nodded his head in agreement, "I promise, we won't do that again!"

Lilith butted in, "Hm, do you think there is something they can do that can appease you?"

Esper politely held her hand out, "Actually, and I know this is going to sound weird... But may I have some of your hair in exchange for me not causing you guys potentially unhealable bodily harm? We can forget that this whole..." She then spoke in a voice that mocked Lilith's, "Transgression ever happened!"

Everyone looked at her with blank eyes...

Upon noticing that, the redhead stomped her foot, "What! Okay, I know, it's weird but Basilisk Hair is an ingredient in a few potions! Come on, throw me a bone here!" She then pointed her spear, "...Unless you want me to still be mad about today."

The two basilisk both nodded their heads to agree with her, "Nope! It's completely okay!" The other trimmed a bit of hair off with her spear, "Yeah! We'll give you some hair!"

Esper smiled before putting the hair in her pocket, "Thank you, guys. Now, get out of here!"

Lilith nodded her head before taking a tiny plastic bag out of her pocket to give to the redhead, "Indeed!" She still spoke to the basilisk, "I suggest living in one of the caves near the Selkidomus' home."

Shesh tilted their head at her, "Really?"

The freckled witch nodded to confirm, "Yeah! Lilith's right. The Emperor's Coven think the Selkidomus is dead so they have no reason to go over there right now!" She then gave them a thumbs up, "Just say hi to the baby for me, okay?"

Septem's eyes sparkled towards her, "Wow... Thank you, Star Touched One!" Shesh nodded back at the pair, "And former Emperor's Coven Witch! Come, let us go."

The pair waved goodbye to the two witches with big smiles on their faces... But then the blonde one turned around, "Oh and that flower you two were looking for grows at the base of this cliff!"

Esper's eyes widened at the pair before turning to Lilith, "...What? It's been at the base the ENTIRE TIME?!"

The Raven Lady held both the spear and staff in front of herself, "Now wait a minute, before you get mad again!" She then smiled at the girl, "...Thank you, Esper."

The redhead took her weapon back from her, "...You're welcome, Lilith. And uh, thanks for helping me out. Just don't!" She pushed the older woman's chest with the butt end of her spear, "Push me off a cliff ever again!"

Lilith let out a laugh, "Haha, never again. I promise." She then smiled at the girl, "And Esper, I wanted to let you know that I will help you figure out what you are and where you came from. Your birth parents included. I can promise you that."

Esper finally smiled again at the older woman, "...Thank you, Lilith." She shrugged her shoulders, "That means a lot to me. Now, come on... Let's go home."

The raven haired woman nodded her head and began to follow the teenager, "Yes, let us depart..."

...

Back at the Owl House, Luz had begun to pace back and forth. Her hands are tense while various thoughts run through her head, "Eda, do you think they're okay? It's gonna be super dark soon!"

Eda rubbed her eyebrows in annoyance, "...Luz."

The human stopped her pacing with a frown, "I know! I'm overthinking but I can't help it! I just... I get worried for Esper sometimes."

It was then that Hooty shouted with a smile, "THEY'RE BACK! And they're LOOKING QUITE HAPPY WITHOUT US!"

Eda's eyes widened at the words she just heard, "Really? Next, you're going to tell me it's snowing outside."

The door owl shouted again, "NOPE! Not YET!"

Esper raised an eyebrow at her friend in the door, "Dude..."

Lilith slumped her shoulders tiredly, "...Hootisfer, please let us in."

The owl tube smiled happily, "OKAY!" He then opened his mouth, allowing the two into the house... Albeit with grossed out faces.

Now, that the pair were inside, Lilith picked up a notepad before she ran to her sister. She smiled at her while drawing, "Edalyn, Esper and I made a few discoveries today! For one thing, she can float in the air without a Palisman!"

The Owl Lady's eyes widened upon hearing this, "Really? Now, things got even more interesting..."

Luz happily hugged her friend close to her, "Really? Wow! I'm just happy to see you two getting along!"

Esper let out a laugh before hugging her friend back, "Haha, aw Luz..." She then paused before she spoke up and took the blue flower out of her pocket, "Lilith pushed me off a cliff today."

Both the Owl Lady and the human looked at the Raven Witch with wide eyes, "Lilith, what the spit!"

Lilith shrugged her shoulders at the shouts, with the scene soon fading to black...

Chapter Text

Now within a void of total darkness... A young Eda speaks, "It always starts the same way..."

The young version of the Owl Lady suddenly gasps and sits up, panting, "...I wake up someplace dark."

She finds herself in a shadowy void before standing up. She looks around with a frightened expression. A shadow flashes past behind her and she turns around to look at it, "And then it appears..."

The Owl Beast suddenly appears in front of her. It steps on the ground, causing it to shake. It then stretches and twists its neck towards Eda before stopping in front of her. It lets out a horrifying screech right at her.

Eda cries out in surprise, turns around and runs away. She begins panting and crying.

Her mind then puts the young Eda inside her own room. She is sitting on her bed and is revealed to be telling this to a healer from the Healing Coven and her mother, "And eventually... I wake up and I know I turned into... That thing."

The taller witch dressed in dark blue takes something out of his briefcase, "I see... Here, take this." He hands over the large gem to the girl, "It will tell you when the beast's energy is bubbling to the surface. Also, I hear gems are quite fashionable for young witches."

The girl's mother smiles awkwardly, "Oh, what a beautiful little stone!" She then speaks to the healer, "May I speak with you outside?" She ushers him outside before looking at her daughter, "Just a minute, hon!"

Eda's mom closes the door. Outside the room, she starts scolding the healer. Eda gets up and eavesdrops on their conversation behind the door... She heards her mother speak. "What the heck was that? I thought you were in the Healing Coven, not the Bauble Brigade!"

The healer shakes his head, "Mrs. Clawthorne, we have never seen a curse quite like this. I'm not sure it can be healed... Perhaps if we consult the Potions Coven, they may know a way to keep it at bay."

The grown woman frowns back at him, "Keep it at bay? Oh, no. My daughter is suffering and I want that thing out! Cut it out if you have to!"

Upon hearing that, Eda gasps and covers her mouth. She pants and clutches her chest. Then, she looks up and notices that her window is open. The wind blows, causing it to swing and squeak...

The girl's mother pushes door open, "Edalyn, I'm taking you to someone else!" She looks up when she doesn't hear her daughter, "Huh?" She notices the open window with a gasp.

The young Eda is now running through a forest. She eventually stops to catch her breath, then starts walking while looking around, "...I never knew this was back here." She trips over something and falls down. She turns around to see what made her fall, "Huh?"

She notices a suitcase-like object buried in the sand. She picks it up and wipes off the dirt on its surface, revealing a golden eye shape. The eye then flashes, and the suitcase flies off Eda's hand. It folds open, with a key turning the lock, unlocking it. A door then opens, revealing it to be a portal leading to an unknown realm...

The young girl squints at the green portal, "...What?"

Her mother's voice can be heard in the distance, "Edalyn! Edalyn, is that you?"

Eda hesitates, but then decides to run through the portal. The suitcase the folds up and disappears in midair...

The witch mother walks out from behind a bush... She looks around the area, "Edalyn! Edalyn!" She then stops. She looks down with a sad frown on her face, but then looks up to her right with a determined smile, "I will find a way to cure you, Edalyn. No matter what it takes!"

...

Now at the Owl House... In the present... An alarm clock starts screaming. Which makes Eda grab it and throw it at the wall, breaking it into many pieces. She gets out from her nest, goes up to her mirror, and screws in her fake gold fang. After that, she shaves feathers off her leg. She then opens a cupboard stocked up with elixirs. She takes one out, drinks it and burps.

Back in her room, the witch puts on a new red dress and tears part of the front off. She smiles at her reflection in the mirror, "Ah, there we go. Mama like!"

Inside the living room, Esper is sitting on the couch next to Lilith. The girl is holding up her pantleg while the older witch is sketching an image of her birthmark into her notepad.

The girl puts her finger up to her chin, "So... Lilith, I know you're all determined to find out where I come from and stuff but uh... I have a question."

The older woman finishes her sketch, "What is it, Esperanza?"

The redhead puts her pantleg back down before tilting her head, "So Eda's curse kept turning her into the Owl Beast... Like constantly! Especially in the weeks leading up to when you two split the curse. Why haven't you went all beast mode yet?"

The Raven Lady lets out a hum, "I suppose it's because we have split the curse. It may have weakened the beast and kept the monster more at bay..."

But then suddenly, a pain rips through Lilith's chest. She clutches at her shirt before falling, breathing heavily.

Esper springs up from the couch, "Lilith! I'm sorry! I just had to jinx it, didn't I?!"

Inside the kitchen... Luz sleeps with her head atop a pile of books while snoring at the table...

Eda suddenly shouts, "Beans!"

The human jolts up with a startled yelp before falling backwards.

The older witch shakes her head, "We ran out of apple blood." She kicks the fridge door close and turns around, "Still no luck?"

Luz gets up from the floor, "None. And I was up all night. I read every tome, book, notepad, and tea leaf..." She picks up a cup, with the tea leaf forming into a shrugging person, "But nothing explains how to make a portal to the Human Realm..."

The Owl Lady shrugs her shoulders, "I wish I could help ya, kid. My door was already pretty old when I found it."

The brunette tilts her head at her mentor, "How long did you have it?"

Eda begins to ponder, "Well..."

The two then hear Lilith start screaming. Both of them gasp before running into the living room, just in time to see Lilith beginning to turn into her beast form.

Esper looks underneath the pillows on the couch for an elixir, "I didn't mean to jinx it! I swear! I didn't even know jinxes existed on the Boiling Isles!"

The Raven Witch reaches for her sister, "Help... Me..."

Eda rushes over and takes out a bottle of elixir from behind a book on a nearby shelf. She then runs towards her sister, "Calm down, just calm down." She picks up Lilith's head and feeds her the elixir, "The curse acts stronger when you're stressed."

The golden elixir makes Lilith's feathers disappear and her shoulders relax. The older sister then pants, "That was... Horrible... How have you managed all these years?"

Eda shrugs her shoulders, "Well, it's been hard." She helps her sister up, "But since we split the curse, at least the elixirs are working again."

Lilith nods her head at her sister, "That's just what Esperanza and I were theorizing. It's a relief..." She picks up left arm, only to see that her left hand is gone. She makes a terrified noise.

Esper gasps and pulls at her long hair, "Oh no! She's still jinxed!"

Luz puts a hand on her friend's shoulder, "Esper, calm down! You didn't jinx Lilith!"

The redhead slaps her own cheek, "Yeah! Yeah, you're right! Sorry, haven't seen it on Lilith before. It's... Kinda freaky when the curse effects someone else."

Eda bends down to pick up Lilith's hand, "Oh, yeah, sorry! Side effect of the curse. It's actually fun once in a while." She sets the hand back in place, "Now don't worry. I've stashed elixirs all over the house. Though I guess I drank the ones in the couch already." She reveals hidden elixirs hidden behind books in the shelf, behind a flower pot and even pulls one out of Luz's hood, "Whenever you start feeling feathery, just help yourself to one of these bad boys."

Luz claps her hands, impressed, "Ooh!"

Esper raises her hand, "Can we hide one in my hood too?"

The Owl Lady lets out a giggle, "...Esper, check your hair."

The girl shoves her hand into her long hair within her ponytail, "No way!" She then pulls out a golden potion out of her red hair, "...HOW?" She shows Luz the potion with sparkles in her eyes.

Lilith frowns at her sister, "I had no idea this is what I did to you. I am so, so sorry..."

Eda shrugs her shoulders, "Eh, at least I got company now." She hands Lilith a bottle of elixir, "And you got me if you need anything." She pats on her sister's shoulder and walks out into the kitchen. Luz follows her out the door while Esper sits back on the couch.

The Raven Witch then lies down on the couch and notices a few bottle of elixirs taped to the ceiling. She then smiles, Hmm..."

Esper sticks her hand in her hair again to look for anything still inside. Her eyes widen when she pulls out yet another potion.

...

Now, outside the Owl House... Luz walks up to her mentor, who waves her hair behind herself.

The witch continues their conversation from earlier, "As I was saying, I've had the portal door for years. But I originally just found it in the dirt. Never figured out who made it or where it came from. I just kept it to myself."

Luz walks closer to her, "Why wouldn't you tell anyone?"

Eda raises eyebrow back at her, "Why? Suddenly curious about my past?"

The human furrows her eyebrows, "Always. Always curious!"

The witch smiles down at her, "Well, I may have been using it to hide from someone."

Luz's eyes widen, "Hide from who?"

Suddenly, Gwendolyn's voice is heard from a distance, "Probably me!"

A sudden strong gust of wind starts blowing, forcing both Eda and Luz to shut their eyes and shield their faces. A bird flying and a tornado coming towards them.

The human gasps, "Magic bird tornado?"

The tornado stops and Gwendolyn lands in front of them. The hawk lands on her staff, turning into a Palisman. The woman smiles at the snaggle toothed woman, "Hello, little witchlet!" She makes her staff vanish, then runs to her with open arms, "Come here!"

Eda immediately presses her hand on the new woman's forehead, "Gwendolyn."

Gwendolyn frowns, retreating from her attempted head, "Oof. Are we still on that? I'm your mother! Call me 'Mom!'"

Both Lilith and Esper appear in the doorway to join Luz with an incredibly shocked, "Mom?!"

The mother still smiles at her younger daughter, "It is so good to see you again!" She squeezes Eda's face with both hands, "How are you feeling? Are you eating well? I heard all about the Petrification Ceremony! Trust me, I have a lot of strong words for that Belos!"

Lilith quickly jumps onto Eda's back and stands in front of her, "Mother! Mother, you know, I was there too."

Gwendolyn waves her hand, "Oh, hello to you too, sweet flea!" She touches Lilith's long, dark hair, "Still dyeing your hair, I see. Well, it's very sleek. Now give me a moment with Edalyn, dear. It's important."

Lilith looks surprised but then a sad frown appears on her face. She looks down while backing away from ... This does not go unnoticed by Esper...

The redheaded raises an eyebrow at her, "...Did she just call you a flea?"

The oldest woman stepped closer to her smaller daughter, 'That's right! Today, I am about to complete a 30-year mission..."

Eda narrows her eyes at the older woman, "Oh, no..."

Gwendolyn raises her fist, "Your mother has finally succeeded..."

The Owl Lady pinches her eyebrows, "Here it comes."

The glasses wearing woman knits her eyebrows in determination back at her, "Today, I shall be curing..." She spins her staff and jabs it on the ground, "Your curse!"

Eda digs her pinkie in her ear and flicks the excess, "Eh! No, thanks!"

Luz, Lilith and Esper all gasp and then shout, "WHAT?!"

The Owl Lady shakes her head at her mother, "I said, "No, thanks." She then shrugs her shoulders, "I got my elixir system soooo I'm good."

Esper then shrugs with her eyes closed, "You know what? Being the resident 'Destiny Rejector', I can agree with that." She raises her hand with a smile, "Up high!"

Eda lets out a laugh before high fiving the girl, "Pssh, more like down low!"

The redhead sticks her tongue out at her mentor playfully, "Hey!"

Gwendolyn takes a step closer, "But... But who knows what they put in those nasty concoctions?"

Eda ruffles the witch girl's hair before playfully pushing her away, "Actually, I do. Potions was my track, remember? And..." She grabs Gwendolyn's staff, "Would you look at the time!" She makes her mother sit on her own staff, "I got a lot to do today. So sad to see you go. Okay, bye!" She slaps the back of Gwendolyn's staff and sends her flying away. She then dusts off her hands, "Moms! Am I right?"

Both Luz and Lilith look at the Owl Lady with a completely shocked expression on their faces. Esper stands next to them with a frown.

The Raven Lady stomps her foot on the ground, "I haven't seen Mother in forever! And she was handing you a cure on a silver platter!"

The human waves her hand in the air, "I'd kill to see my mom right now, and you just launch yours into the sky?!"

The redhead folds her arms with a frown, "And I'm STILL trying to find my birth mom! And dad!"

Eda folds her arms when Esper mentioned the word 'Dad'. She then shrugs her shoulders towards her housemates, "Oh, listen, she comes around every year, toting a new cure for my curse!" She then starts walking into the house, "But they never work so I am done getting my hopes up."

Lilith stares at her sister in disbelief, "Mother visits Edalyn... Regularly?" She then follows her sister into the house with a sad frown.

Esper shouts inside the house, "If it makes you feel any better, Lilith, we have NOT seen Gwendolyn until now!" But she still stands next to hr childhood friend, who she notices is looking elsewhere, "...Luz."

Luz looks to her left to see Gwendolyn landing back on the ground in front of the house. She then sees her begin to walk away with sad frown. The girl shakes her head, "Mrs. Clawthorne?"

Gwendolyn turns around to see both the children walking towards her, "And who might you children be?"

The redhead stops with her hands on her sides, "Oh uh! I'm the Star Touched Witch. Sorry, everyone's been calling me that. It's weird to hear someone NOT recognize me by that name." She then puts her hand up to her chin to briefly ponder, "Er... Title?"

The human girl pushes her friend, "Esper!" She holds up the other girl's arm, "Sorry about that, I'm Luz and this is Esper. We're both Eda's apprentices. And I think what you're doing is so sweet. Eda can just be so... Eda sometimes."

Esper shrugs in agreement, "You're not wrong... Not like she pushed me off a cliff though. But then again, Eda has placed me in a few dangerous places I probably shouldn't be in." Both girls look up at the strange woman.

Gwendolyn smiles at the two of them, "Call me Gwen, dearies. But please don't blame Edalyn! It was the curse that created the rift between us."

Luz nods at her, "We understand. Right now, there's an actual rift between me and my mom in the Human Realm. And Esper and her adopted parents too!"

The mother blinks before pointing to each of them, "Wait... A human from the Human Realm and a witch from the Human Realm? Hmmmm, how peculiar..." She then gasps, "My dears, I may know how to fix all our rifts!"

The human girl hops on her heels in excitement, "Really?"

Gwendolyn whispers to the two, "I've heard some information that may assist you on your quest. Help me cure Eda's curse and that information is yours, children."

Luz taps her feet on the ground in excitement, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"

Esper whispers to her friend, "Uh... I'm actually going to make sure Eda and Lilith are okay, Luz."

The human nods her head back at her, "Sure thing, Esper! I'll earn this information for the BOTH of us!" She watches while Esper disappears inside the house before looking up at the older woman, "Where do we start?"

The mother grabs her necklace which makes the rune on it starts flashing, "We'll be consulting someone... Very special."

...

Now... Both Luz and Gwendolyn walking through a blue forest...

The human tilts her head at the older witch, "So we're gonna meet a curse expert? This is so rad!"

The mother nods her head right back at her, "Yes, after years of dealing with the Healing Coven, I finally found someone who promised me a cure!" She stops in her tracks, "Ah! Here we are!"

The duo stand in front of a stone door with a rune inscribed onto it. Gwendolyn walks up to it and displays her necklace, also inscribed with the same rune. The door flashes and opens up, revealing a cave. Gwendolyn and Luz walk into the cave...

Inside, an old witch with four hands is sitting on an altar. A gremlin with boils on his eyelids kneels in front of him, "Please... Help! They're so itchy!"

The old witch waves his hand, casting a blue spell circle. A circle of purple light surrounds the gremlin and lifts him up. The light then flashes, and after that, the gremlin's face is healed completely. Both women gasp at the sight of that, with Gwendolyn looking happy and Luz looking shocked.

The gremlin then floats gently back down on the ground, "The boils, they're... they're gone! Thank you, Wortlop. Thank you!" He runs away from the area, sobbing happy tears.

The mother points at the old witch, "That's Master Wortlop. He's a traveling curse expert who's perfected next-level healing magic! Your witch friend should have came with us, she could have learned a thing or two!"

Master Wortlop then gestures for Gwendolyn to come over.

Gwendolyn pushes Luz aside and passes her staff to her, "Ooh!" She walks up to Wortlop and kneels in front of him.

The old master smiles at her, "Gwendolyn, my pupil. Your aura is shining bright!"

The mother nods back at him and holds out a bag, "It took many months, but I was able to gather the sacred items you requested!" She takes out an egg from the bag, "The copper egg from the Snowy Rib Cage," She then takes out a dagger from the bag, "The silver dagger from the Swampy Toes, and..." She finally takes out a chalice from the bag, "The golden chalice from the desert of Palm Stings!"

Master Wortlop nods at her, "You're a dedicated mother, aren't you?" He summons a tome out of thin air and the book lands in his hand, "Inside this tome is the healing ability you seek." He passes it over to the older woman, "But keep it away from the eyes of non-believers, for many will be blinded by the power it holds!"

Gwendolyn looks at the tome in awe, "I understand." She stands up and bows to the old master, "I am in your debt, Master Wortlop!" She turns around and walks away with Luz.

Meanwhile, the human stops to look at Master Wortlop admiringly before running off to catch up with Gwendolyn.

...

Now outside the Owl House... Gwendolyn drives a sign into the ground while Luz writes "APPLE BLOOD" and draws an arrow pointing away from the house.

King looks at them from inside the house through a window, "Isn't it amazing, Esper? If Eda's mom can just pop up, who says my dad can't? Same with your parents!"

Both Esper and the demon watch Luz follow Gwendolyn deeper into the forest. King stretches his arms, "Nyeh! Better get my hugging arms ready."

Lilith lets out a laugh from the other couch, "Ha!"

The duo stare at Lilith. She is lying on the couch eating ice cream, "Yeah, good luck with all that dad stuff." She munches from her spoon, "Sometimes it doesn't matter how dutiful you are or successful you are, parents just won't give you the time of day! Ain't that right, Esper?"

The girl lets her shoulders become loose, "Hey, that's not why my parents haven't appeared yet..."

The skull wearing demons folds his arms, "Don't listen to her, Esper! My dad won't be like that! And neither are your parents!"

The older witch sneers at the both of them, "Right. Your mysterious father, who didn't even stick around to watch you hatch!"

King stares at Lilith with a devastated frown on his young face.

Esper frowns back at the older witch, "Hey! Lilith, that's not fair. Maybe something bad happened to King's dad and that's why he's not here!"

Lilith opened her mouth to argue with her but then sits back... She speaks with a dejected tone, "Looks like all of us are in the same boat, kids..."

King whimpers and hugs Esper closer to himself... She pats him on the back of his head with a frown...

..

Now in the forest, the human ties up a rope and wipes off sweat from her forehead. She then stands up on the rock she was kneeling on.

Gwendolyn nods her head at the girl, "Nice work, Luz!" Her palisman drops her on a stone before she takes a tome out of her pocket, "With Wortlop's tome and your ability to lure Eda out of the house, we'll be curing that pesky curse in no time."

Luz nods her had back at her, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's always down for more apple blood. So... That Wortlop guy was really something. You're his pupil?"

The mother looks up from her tome, "Oh, yes. But first, I had to prove that I was worthy of his secrets! So I spent the last year on a bunch of dangerous quests. And..." She rolls up her sleeve to flex her bicep muscles, "I didn't even get that many scars!"

The human blinks in amazement at the muscles, "Cool! Also, dang, girl!" She holds up her arm to compare her bicep to Gwendolyn's, "Your bicep game is ridiculous!"

They both hear someone steps on a stick while walking through some nearby bushes... Which causes the leaves to rustle.

Gwendolyn gasps, "Our signs must've worked!" She picks up the human and hops on her Palisman's staff form. She flies the two into the nearby bushes to hide them both from the approaching party.

Eda walks through the opposite bushes while following the signs into the woods, "Oh, baby! Time to stock up on Mama's night juice!"

The mother flies them up to a tree branch, letting Luz hop off. They both overlook Eda from the branch.

Gwendolyn looks at the book in her hands, "According to Wortlop's tome, we start by lowering the beast's defenses with special crystals. And they're supposed to be quite calming!"

The Owl Lady below jumps to the side, "Whoa!" She narrowly avoids a falling crystal and spins her staff to hit the rest. Which causes it to shatter, then she narrowly avoids another falling crystal. She stares at the ground oddly, "Knife season came early this year!"

A large shadow then looms over Eda... She looks up, screams and jumps back, narrowly avoid an even larger crystal. She lies on the ground with a shocked face. A bunch of feathers pops out of her body.

Luz, still watching from the tree branch, gasps, "She's stressed!" She takes out an elixir from her pouch. She is about to throw it to Eda...

But Gwendolyn grabs her hand and stops her, "Oh, no, no, no. The texts say those feathers mean we're driving the beast out!"

The brunette stares down at the elixir with a worried expression, "Oh..."

The older woman puts her hand on top of the elixir, "Don't worry. After today, Eda will never have to drink those nasty little things again!"

The human smiles up at her, "Oh, okay! So... What do we do next?"

Gwendolyn straightens up her posture with a smile, "Next, we're gonna put that beast..." She then releases a puff of smoke from her bag, which forms a cloud with a face, "On ice!"

The cloud spouts out ice from its mouth... Looking terrifying while doing so...

...

Back at the Owl House, Lilith, Esper and King are lying on the couch. All three groan from eating too much ice cream...

The demon almost gets up but doesn't, "How do you get a parent's attention?"

Lilith shrugs her shoulders, "Heck if I know! Mother wasn't even at my Coven Initiation." She munches from another spoonful of ice cream.

King shakes his head, "At least you know what she looks like." He then places the ice cream container on his head, "All I have is an old wall carving. What if that's just graffiti?"

Esper speaks with a groan, "That's messed up, Lilith... You wanna know what would be funny? What if... What if it's somehow talkin' about my parents? Wouldn't that be funny?" She pushes her young friend on the arm, "Wouldn't it, King?"

Hooty opens the door, "Heh, that's, uh..." He stretches into the living room, "That's an awful lot of ice cream you guys are eating!" He stretches towards Lilith with a wary expression, "You know Eda gets that stuff from the Night Market, right?"

The Raven Lady points at Hooty accusingly, "Are you my mother? Because that is an awful lot of judgment!"

The redhead looks at the tub she is holding, "The Night Market? Is that why it's so strong?" She slips down the couch and lands on her hair...

The skill wearing demon sits up in his seat, "This stinks!" He throws away the ice cream container on his head, "If my dad doesn't care about me, why should I care about him? Hmm? Well, I'm not going to him. He's gonna have to come to me!" He then lies down with his arms crossed.

Esper pumps her fist next to him, "You know what! Good for you, King! Make that demand!" She then lays down, "And I think... I don't know what I think... I just want to know who my parents are and learn every spell I can get my hands on. Heck, maybe my parents were hardcore coven people and wouldn't like that... But! I wanna learn!"

Lilith sits up angrily, "And you will learn, Esperanza! Honestly, you're so curious and have much to learn! With all that Star Touched magic inside you, some practice and study and we can make you into an even more powerful witch! Some parents would kill for that for their child! I know I would if I wanted kids!"

The redhead blinks at her while the effects of the ice cream wear off, "Wow, really? Uh... Thanks, Lilith!"

The Raven Lady stands up with a determined nod towards her, "And I am sick of being overlooked. From now on I..." She then stands up, "I have no mother! And I... I'd say that to her face!"

King and Esper then stand up with a cheer, "Yeah!"

Hooty speaks hesitantly, "Isn't that taking it a bit too far?"

The witchling shakes her head, "I'm really not the one you should be asking that question to..."

The demon folds his arms, "It's not taking it far enough! Go tell her!" He gestures towards outside, "Go on! She's right outside!"

Lilith's eyebrows raise in surprised, "She is?"

King nods his head, "Yeah, I saw her go off with Luz! I think they're gonna heal Eda's curse or whatever..."

Lilith shakes her head in realization, "Uh, oh. Is that so? Mother paying attention to Edalyn... Again. I mean..." She waves her hands, "It's not like I care." She claps her hands together and grins.

But...

A bunch of ink black feathers suddenly pop out of her face. Hooty even slowly retreats away from her.

The girl speaks hesitantly, "You got uh... Uh..."

King points to his own face, "You got a little, uh, hmm..."

The Raven Lady gasps and then turns around to lift up the couch seat. There's nothing but feathers while she gasps again, "Where—" She notices the elixirs gone.

She lifts up the flower pot, "Are-" She notices the elixirs there are gone too.

She lifts Esper by her shoulders and shakes her smaller body, "The elixirs?!" She frowns when the girl puts her hands through her hair and shrugs when no elixirs pop out...

Lilith drops the girl on the ground to start covering her face... She even begins to sob while she falls onto her knees...

Esper crawls away from her while King pops out from behind the door... The witchling speaks before grabbing the demon, "Lilith?"

The redhead walks into the room with a hesitant step... Hooty follows the duo from behind.

Lilith suddenly jolts up and lets out a terrifying scream. Her eyes turn black and her voice becomes deeper.

All three watch Lilith transform into a gigantic Raven Beast with terrified frowns. Her shadow looms over the trio...

King tries to offer his ice cream tub while still in his friend's arms, "...Weh?"

Esper quickly scribbles a light glyph on the bottom of the ice cream tub with a marker, "Quick! Light glyph!" She taps the glyph to activate it...

Which only angers the Raven Beast, causing the monster to swipe at her.

The redhead rolls onto the floor with King in her arms, "OH! OKAY! She didn't like that! She didn't like that at all!" She grabs her spear and quickly hops onto it, flying the both of them outside the house...

...

Now back to the forest...

Eda climbs up a cliff, "This... better be... the oldest, strongest, stinkiest apple blood!" She then Looks up at a sign, "Ever!" She sees a sign which says 'IT REALLY IS ¡THAT GOOD!' and screams in frustration. She then begrudgingly keeps on walking, but accidentally slips on some gooey substance, "Ah!" She balances herself, looks down at her shoes and groans, "I just stole these!"

The Owl Lady keeps on walking, but accidentally steps into a trap covered with leaves, which sends her flying upwards with a scream. Gwendolyn looks at this with a serious expression while Luz is shocked at the sight of this...

The mother frowns in response, "It seems like the curse isn't my daughter's only problem..."

Eda screams and lands on a bush. She takes a breath when Owlbert flies to her, "Help Mama up!"

Luz frowns, "Gwen... We tried freezing the curse out, we tried sweating the curse out, we even tried..." She shrugs, "Flying snakes for some reason."

Down below, Eda is running away from two flying snakes, screaming while the two watch on.

The human shakes her head, "I don't think this stuff is working! Did Wortlop ever say where he learned this stuff?" She looks to Gwendolyn with a raised eyebrow.

Gwendolyn speaks into a crow phone, "Yes, I'm sending it right away." She hangs up the call, crow caws and flies away...

Luz squints at her, "What did you just do?"

The mother slips some gems into a pouch, "It turns out the ancient tome is only the first of a series!" She hands the pouch to the crow, "So, I'm trading in a few paltry family heirlooms to get the rest." She flips open the book to read from it.

The human walks towards the older woman, "What! ...Let me see that book."

The older woman places her hand in front of the girl to stop her, "Halt. Only people who have scaled Wortlop's Pyramid of Study can touch the tome!" She shows off her necklace, her reward for scaling the pyramid.

The brunette activates a plant glyph... The vines grabs the tome right out of Gwendolyn's hands.

The old mother shouts at the girl, "Hey!"

Luz flips open book, "What is this? Jar of bees for existential dread? Aromatherapy for broken legs? Bird songs for sufferers of stuffy noses?!" She turns towards the woman, "Gwen, you're being scammed! Wortlop is a fake!"

Gwendolyn takes back the tome, "You really think I'd spend my life savings on a fake?"

Luz shakes her head, "I know you want what's best for Eda, and so do I." She takes out an elixir from the pouch on her waist, But I'm calling this off!" She walks off and kneels down on one leg to drop the elixir to Eda.

The mother grabs the girl's arm, "Luz. I really thought we were on the same side!" She takes the elixir away from her, "According to Wortlop, poison like this is made by healers and potion makers who simply want money!" She flips the tome open.

The human knits her eyebrows angrily, "Are you kidding me?! You just..." She then pinches her eyebrows, "Argh, whatever. I'll just get more at the house. Hopefully I'll bump into Esper on my way there."

The older woman shakes her head, "I'm afraid that will be a waste of your time!" Her palisman drops a sack filled with elixirs in front of the human, "Hawksley cleared out every bottle hours ago. Including the ones your little witch friend took out of her hair."

Luz's eyes widen, "Whoa..." She stands up angrily, "Why would you do that?!"

Gwendolyn tries to throw a bottle of elixir away, "Because I am a mother who will do anything for her daughter!

But then, Luz suddenly pounces on her and tries to grab the elixir, "Oh no you don't! You're giving that to Eda! Right now!"

However, this causes the both of them to fall out of the tree!

Meanwhile, Eda throws away a flying snake stuck in her hair, "Ugh... Woo, this ain't good."

Behind the woman, both Gwendolyn and Luz scream while they fall from above. They land behind a bush while the elixirs shatters when the bag hits the ground, which grabs Eda's attention. They both grimace in pain, with Gwendolyn rubbing her forehead.

The Owl Lady folds her arms, "Hey!" She continues when both look up at her, "What is going on here?" She looks at both of them.

The mother quickly stands up, "Witchlet!" She pats a leaf off her shoulder, "It's okay!" She places a hand on the human's shoulder, "Luz and I are working to heal you!"

The girl stares at Eda with a guilty frown...

Eda clenches her fist in anger, "What? This was all you? You weren't healing me. You nearly killed me!" While Eda speaks, more gray feathers start popping out from her body.

Luz tries to get closer to her mentor, "Eda, please try to stay calm!"

The Owl Lady closes her eyes, "Why? Why should I be calm?" She opens her eyes again, now they are pitch black, "I have a right to be upset!"

She transforms into her Owl Beast form in front of Luz and Gwendolyn...

Now inside her mind, Eda is now lying face down in the shadowy void with her eyes closed. The Owl Beast steps in front of her, rumbling the ground.

The woman opens her eyes and notices the large Owl Beast standing in front of her, "Ooh, let's get this over with!" She turns around and starts running away, panting.

Back to the forest, Eda is now in her Owl Beast form... Closing in on Gwendolyn and Luz while growling.

The mother shakes her head, "Don't worry. According to this..." She casts spell circle to summon tome and look at it, "We just have to... Uh..."

The human tilts her head, "Have to what?"

The older woman turns around to show her the tome, "Buy the next volume?"

Luz takes a deep breath, then makes an exasperated grunt.

Eda roars and takes a step closer towards them.

Behind them, King screams while on Esper's shoulder. The two fly out from behind a bush before landing on the ground in pain. The demon notices Eda in her Owl Beast form and cries out in shock. The girl jumps back with the demon in her arms.

The human gasps at the two, "Esper?! King?! What are you two doing?!"

Both the witchling and the demon speak at the same time, even over each other at some points, "So Lilith was feeling stressed and! Uh! The light glyph didn't really work. So uh... Uh... Uh..".

A large shadow flies past them from above. They all look up, with the human gasping. Lilith in her Raven Beast form turns around and lands in front of them, revealing herself to be much larger than Owl Beast Eda.

King points up at he beast, "She turned into that thing!"

Gwendolyn raises her eyebrows in shock, "Sweet flea?"

The Raven Beast lets out a loud roar. The Owl Beast roars and rushes towards her. Lilith then snatches Eda and flies off with her, while Luz, Esper, King and Gwendolyn look on in total disbelief.

Luz picks up Owlbert in his staff form and rides atop of it, ready to take off.

The mother stares in disbelief, "That... Was my little sweet flea? That means she's also..."

Esper glares at the woman, "Cursed! Yes! Have you really not paying any attention to her this entire time? It's been weeks!" She readies herself on her spear.

King also sends a glare in the woman's direction. He leaps onto Owlbert to sit behind Luz.

The human frowns in determination, "We have to help them!" She reaches out her hand towards the woman, "Will you come with me?"

Gwendolyn doesn't take her hand and hesitates, "This... This must be part of the process, right?"

Luz closes her eyes, "I can see you still need a little time..." She opens her eyes again when the owl Palisman hoots at her, "Okay, Owlbert! Let's fly!"

Gwendolyn looks at Luz flying away with a hesitant expression while clutching her necklace. She then turns around and flies towards another direction on her staff.

Esper follows the older witch on her spear, "Um and where exactly are you going? Your daughters are trying to kill each other! In the OPPOSITE direction!"

The mother clutches her necklace, "To see Master Wortlop, Esper... He's not a fake, is he?" She lands in front of the cave door, being followed by the girl, "After everything I did for him..."

The redhead rubs her eyebrows, "Uh... I don't know if you'll listen to me but being someone who used to frequent an actual hospital... Anyone independent from a facility and focuses on making you buy things for your sick relatives normally means they're a fake."

The cave door is not fully closed, leaving a gap for the two witches to peep inside. Gwendolyn sees something and gasps...

Inside, someone has hung up Master Wortlop's clothing accessories. Four gremlins are surrounded by piles of snails inside the cave. One of the gremlins is trying on some jewelries. A fire pit with fire bees in it can be seen in the middle of the cave.

One gremlin digs up a pile of dirt with his hands and put them in a jar, "Hey, what do you wanna call this one?"

Another gremlin stares at his jewelry, "Eh, I don't know... Cleansing mud?"

The third nods his head, "Yeah, from the Healing Bogs of the Hips or whatever." He looks at the fourth gremlin, "What do you think?"

The last gremlin turns around covering his eyes, "I think we're gonna be rich!" He puts down his hands, revealing some fake boils on his eyelids.

All four gremlins laugh...

Outside the cave, Esper readies a blue fireball in her hand before Gwendolyn suddenly steps inside the cave. She waves her hand to make the fire disappear before following the older woman...

The fire in the pit suddenly becomes bigger, causing the gremlins to scream and scamper away. The fire is then separated by Gwendolyn using a spell circle. She gazes ahead with a furious expression. Following by the young witch behind her, who sticks out her tongue at the gremlins.

Three of the gremlins rush to the altar and put on the clothing accessories, pretending to be Master Wortlop. The fake master speaks in a mismatched voice, "Mrs. Clawthorne?" He clears throat to change into a deeper voice, "What a fortuitous surprise!"

The mother frowns sternly, "You know... Right after Eda was cursed, I joined the Beast Keeper Coven." A fire bee lands on her finger, then flies away before she continues, "I thought they surely would know what to do." She walks towards the 'Master', "But the Beast Keepers told me the curse couldn't be tamed. And the healers told me it couldn't be..." She then frowns sadly, "Healed... Eda told me she found something that made it manageable at least. But I didn't listen."

The fake master tries to back away from her, "I could give you the next volume! 5% off? 10% off?"

The mother stands firmly, "Leave."

The fire behind her becomes larger, startling 'Master Wortlop'. She gives him a death stare with the fire burning behind her, "And if I ever see you in Bonesborough again, every beast in the forest will be after your head!"

All three gremlins jump out from under the robe, scream and immediately dig their way underground. The fire immediately dies down back to the original fire pit size.

Gwendolyn lets out a chuckle, "Still got it."

Esper nods at the older woman, "Heh, nice one!" She playfully pinches a flame to extinguish it, "You know what. I'll admit it, I kinda like your style, Gwen."

The mother smiles back at her, "Why thank you. Where do you think Eda got some of that fire from?" She looks at the nearby bag of snails, "Go on ahead, Esper. I am sure Luz could use your assistance."

The witchling hops onto her spear and gives her a thumbs up, "You don't gotta tell me twice! Meet you there, Gwen!" With a burst of speed, the girl launches herself through the air in order to catch up to her friend.

...

Now in Bonesborough... Both the Owl Beast and the Raven Beast fly past numerous buildings. Eda tries to escape Lilith, but she keeps on pursuing her. Lilith manages to catch Eda and pins her to the ground, damaging some buildings among the process and causing people to flee in terror. Eda kicks her sister away from her...

Suddenly, the redhead flies towards the two, sending her fist into the bigger beast's chin with an uppercut. She flies back with a frown, "Sorry, Lilith! Guess I still have some pent up anger from when you threw pushed me off that cliff!" She shakes the pain out of her fist, "Dang, beast form gives her a tough chin!"

The ink colored beast roars before trying to swipe at her. Esper flies upwards to dodge the attack, revealing the Owl Beast behind her. Eda tackles Lilith, sending her flying.

The witchling forms a spell circle with both her hands in order to cast an illusion, "Hey! No! Come on, look at me!" The illusion turns into a giant waving finger before turning to push at the Owl Beast. Trying to shove her away from her sister...

Esper stands in front of the Raven Beast, "Lilith, you need to calm down! I know, I don't fully get it. I don't exactly have a sister..." She looks at Luz briefly before looking back at her childhood friend, "But you can't hurt Eda either!"

The Raven Beast stopped, glaring at the young girl. Eda roared at Lilith, causing the Raven Beast to rear back her large paw... Esper casts another spell circle in order to slowly form a small forcefield, like the one in their first battle...

The Raven Beast sends it downwards to strike the girl...

Only for her paw to stop in midair.

Not because of any magic Esper casted... But because... Somewhere, deep inside Lilith's own mind... Within a shadowy void, Lilith being crushed by the Raven Beast. The monster lets out a laugh that almost sounds like a screech. But even while she's being crushed, Lilith makes a weak attempt to hang onto the Raven Beast's paw, "Oh no you don't! You will not bring any harm to Esperanza!"

The beast looks at her in disgust, which only makes it distracted to the battle outside.

Suddenly back in the real world, Eda lurches to tackle her sister away from the redhead before roaring to get her attention. The Owl Beast then flies into the air before Lilith growls and pursues Eda again. They continue fighting each other in air and eventually, both crash to the ground.

Luz and King fly past on Owlbert just in time to see this. The human gasps, "Gotta think fast!" She then notices something ahead, "Whoo!"

Morton sighs dejectedly at his stand, "No one's bought anything in a while..." He reaches to the wooden panel handle, "I should close up shop..."

Luz's voice is heard from a distance, "Morton!"

Morton looks up, "Hmm?"

The human lands in front of the 'Mr. Elixir' stand, almost crashing into Morton. Which causes him to cry out in surprise. The girl picks her head up, "I need every last elixir you have!"

Morton gasps happily at her.

Luz rummages through her pocket, "Also, do you accept..." She takes out a drawing of Morton from her pocket, "Payment in hyper-realistic pencil portraits?" She grins at Morton nervously.

The potions master becomes unhappy and closes the panel door in front of the human's face.

Luz looks down at the drawing sadly, "Shoot! I thought I was improving..."

Gwendolyn's voice is then heard from a distance, "Don't worry!"

Both Luz and King turn around in surprise to see the mother land in front of them and spins her staff.

The taller witch is carrying a large bag of snails taken from Wortlop's cave. She throws the bag of snails onto the ground, "Mama's here!" She turns to watch the beasts in the air, "Now... Did I just hear Esper say"

Luz nods her head, "Yeah! Yeah, we put Lilith on chore duty for a whole week for that!" She then whistles, signaling her friend to come back.

Esper quickly flies over on her spear to regroup with the others, "What's up? We got a plan?"

The human pumps her fist while Morton loads multiple elixirs into a sack, "Oh yeah!"

...

Back to the raging bird beasts... Eda roars at her sister. Lilith attempts to bite Eda, but she manages to dodge her and fly away. Eda then lands atop a roof, while Lilith catches up with her and pins her down. Luz, Esper, King and Gwendolyn watch them from another roof across the duo.

Luz glances over at Gwendolyn, "You sure this is gonna work?"

Esper rummages through her hair to find nothing, "It better!"

King squints at the older woman, "Yeah! Or are you like, secretly sending us to our deaths?"

The mother narrows her eyes, "No, I'm making things right!" She pulls off her necklace, throws it down and steps on it, breaking the necklace into pieces.

Luz and King jump onto Owlbert and fly away. Esper runs across the roof before jumping off, sitting on her spear to take flight...

Eda screeches a horrid sound in the air.

Gwendolyn casts a spell circle, summoning some flying boards to her. She approaches Eda and Lilith by stepping onto the boards like stairs, "My beautiful daughters, I have failed you!"

Eda turns towards her mother before snarling... She begins to walk towards her...

But the older woman stays where she is, "Edalyn? You're in there, aren't you?" Her daughter growls at her, but she puts her hand on Eda's hair anyway.

...

Now inside Eda's mind, which is a shadowy void... Eda is still running away from the Owl Beast!

While she's doing so, Gwendolyn's voice can be heard coming from outside, "I should've listened to you. I know now why you pushed me away."

The golden toothed woman stops running, "Uh, Mom?"

Her mother continues, "I made you think your curse was something to be ashamed of..."

The Owl Beast rushes towards the woman and screeches at her, while the witch stares down at it...

She still hears her mother's voice, "Whether we want it or not, it's a part of you! And I love every part of you!"

Eda stops the Owl Beast with her hand, Light flashes in between her hand and the beast. She narrows her eyebrows in determination while The Owl Beast screeches, gradually shrinking. It eventually becomes small, and runs away with a tweet.

Eda calls out, "Mom, I can hear you. And you..." She pounces on the Owl Beast and pins it down, before pulling it up in a chokehold, "My turn to drive!"

...

Back to Gwendolyn in the real world... She shuts her eyes and puts her forehead to her daughter's forehead, "...I'm so sorry."

Eda suddenly speaks up, "Mom?"

Her mother opens her eyes to find Eda staring back at her, her eyes already revert back to normal.

Gwendolyn hugs her mostly transformed daughter, "Witchlet!"

Meanwhile, Lilith roars and attempts to pounce at Eda upon seeing their mother hug her. But Eda manages to grab her wrist and pins her down in front of their mom.

The oldest witch frowns at her eldest daughter, "And Lilith..." She kneels down in front of her, "You were always so self-sufficient..." She caresses Lilith's cheek, calming her down, "But I didn't give you the attention you deserved..."

Upon hearing that, the Raven Beast begins sobbing, tears rushing down her face...

Gwendolyn shushes her and embraces her, caressing her head. After a minute, she looks up and shouts, "Now!"

Luz and King fly towards them from above!

King jumps down from the staff, pinning Eda and Lilith down by stepping on their ears. Luz pulls out the one bottle cork with her teeth while Esper rips the cork out with her bare hand. Luz dumps the elixir into Eda's mouth while Esper nearly shoves the bottle into Lilith's mouth.

A cloud of air appears and surrounds the duo. The strong airflow forces Gwendolyn to shield her face and blows King backwards. King almost rolls off the roof, but both Esper and Luz land just in time to catch him. The cloud expands and flashes brightly, then forms then shape of a bird above everyone. Eda and Lilith are pulled upwards. The cloud eventually bursts and gives off a bright flash.

Luz raises her eyebrows in surprise, "Dang, that is good elixir."

Her childhood friend nods her head while King crawls on her shoulders, "You could say that again!"

Gwendolyn walks forward with her arms extended. Eda and Lilith descend from above, right into Gwendolyn's arms. She sits down with the two of them still in her arms and stares at Eda lovingly.

Eda opens her eyes and smiles at the older woman, "About time, Mom."

Lilith begins to sob again, "Mom, I heard you but I couldn't stop myself. I... I could barely do anything. I was just so..." She continues to cry, rubbing her eyes while her tears still fall.

The mother hugs both her daughters. "It's okay. Everything is okay now... I'm here for you both."

Luz smiles gladly at the sight of this, putting her arm on Esper's shoulder to pull her into a side hug.

King blinks in realization, "She was... trying to do her best, huh?"

Esper holds her finger up, "Well, she could have gone about it in a different way..." She is about to continue... But she stops when she sees Gwendolyn hugs her daughters tighter, "...Okay, I can see where the love was."

The youngest witch, Luz and King continue to watch them from aside...

...

It is now nighttime and Luz, King, Eda and Gwendolyn are standing outside the Owl House.

Gwendolyn frowns at the group, "I'm so sorry for all the trouble I caused, but I—I just wanted to help. I should've trusted you more..."

Eda jokingly punches her mother in the arm, "Yeah, you should've! But, hey, don't be a stranger... Okay, Mom?"

Gwendolyn smiles gratefully at her youngest daughter.

Lilith kicks open the door, "Mom! I'm ready!" She carries a bindle on her shoulder with Esper following behind her.

The Owl Lady squints her eyes at her sister, "Huh?"

The Raven Lady walks towards Gwendolyn, "Well, we were talking and I've decided to go home with Mother and make up for lost time." She smiles at her mother.

Luz's eyebrows raise on her face, "What?"

Eda moves herself back, "Lily?"

King simply tilts his head, "You lived here?"

Esper stands next to the oldest sister, "And there is one more announcement... I will be going to with Lilith."

Luz suddenly sounded even more panicked, "Wait, what?!"

The redhead nods back at her friend, "Yup, I... Decided that I will be living with Lilith and her parents to continue my witch training... We may or may not have bonded over ice cream." She tilts her head at the human, "Luz, are you okay?"

The human freezes in her spot, "I..."

Hooty suddenly bursts from the door, "What?!"

Gwendolyn frowns at both her daughters, "Edalyn, Lilith told me how she gave you the curse. I am..." She grabs Lilith's hand, "So, so sorry to..." She grabs Eda's hand, "You both, to have this secret weighing you down." She then frowns regretfully, "I just wish I knew sooner."

Lilith looks at her sister, "There's still a lot to be learned about this curse, but... It'll be nice to spend some time home and reconnect with Dad."

Eda turns her head away upon hearing the last part. She ruffles Esper's hair to deflect her own thoughts, "And what? Are you really leaving me, firecracker?"

The redhead smiles back at her and pushes her hand away, "Hey, my hair! Well, yeah! I feel like I have a lot to learn about the Boiling Isles and I want to explore even more of it. I promise, I'll come back and visit."

The Owl Lady playfully punches her shoulder, "You better! But... Take care, kid."

Gwendolyn smiles at both her daughters, "We'll be away for a while, but we have plenty of..." She takes out a few elixirs from her hair, "Elixirs stocked up!"

Luz looks at the oldest witch admiringly, "Someday my hair is gonna be big enough to do that too."

King raises an eyebrow at her, "You actually want that?"

Esper elbows her childhood friend, "Hehe, yeah! Like my hair?"

Suddenly, Hooty begins to cry stretches towards Lilith, "No! Lulu, you can't!" He presses his face to Esper's, "And you two, Espey?! Why Titan?! Whyyyyyy!"

The redhead pushes his head towards her new mentor, "Hooty! You're getting your tears on my face! Besides, I'm not going to stay there forever! I'll be back!"

Lilith touches the owl's cheek, "Hootsifer, I have to... But don't worry, we can be penpals!" She turns around and to stand next to her mother.

The owl tube sobs even more dramatically, "But I can't hold a pen!"

Gwendolyn speaks fondly towards the human, "Luz, if it weren't for you, I might still be wrapped up in Wortlop's lies. So here's what I should've told you from the start." She bends over towards the girl, "You're not the only human to have lived in Bonesborough."

Luz gasps upon hearing that.

The mother continues to whisper, "There's a rare substance called Titan's blood. It is extremely powerful and sometimes causes leaks between our realms. Plants, animals... And you guys have a lot of garbage, by the way. But humans are rare. My great-grandmother told me about a human who once lived here. But one day he just vanished. Rumor has it he left something in the library, and if you can find out more about him..."

The human's face split into a smile, "Maybe I could find out how he got here!"

Gwendolyn winks at Luz, "Exactly."

Both Lilith and Gwendolyn look back at the group and smile. They stand there, waiting for Esper to say her goodbyes. Hooty is still crying next to the house.

Eda shrugs her shoulders towards the girls, "Well, I'll be on the couch for the next twenty-four hours." She yawns and starts walking into the house, "I'll leave you two to talk! Goodnight, girls."

King hugs the redhead, "Aw but Esper! You can't leave! I'm going to miss you! And what about our siblinghood?"

Esper smiles while hugging her tiny friend, "Aw King! Don't worry, I won't be gone for too long. Besides, it's not like I won't visit either! It's just until I'm done with my training, I promise! And remember... No matter where we are, you'll always be my little brother..."

The demon rubs his arm nervously.

The witchling pats him on the skull, "...Okay?"

King quickly hugs her one more time, "...Okay. I'll see you again soon, Esper!" He then scampers off to follow his guardian, "No, wait! I call couch!"

Esper smiles at the two with a wave, "Goodnight, Eda! Goodnight, King!" She then looks at her childhood friend, "...Now, Luz..."

Luz smiles, trying to deflect, "Oh by the way, Esper, what was that about sisters earlier?"

Esper blushed in embarrassment, "Ah! It's nothing, totally nothing. Uh, I'll tell you later! But um..." She pulled Luz into a hug, "I promise, I won't be gone for too long. If anything, it'll be like we're back at home."

The human hugged her back before letting go to look at her friend again, "You promise? You're not just saying that because you want to live in the Boiling Isles... Permanently?"

The younger girl separates from their hug with a shocked look, "What?! Who told you I wanted THAT?!"

The brunette shrugs nervously, "Well, I thought you wanted to be with... You know! And Eda!"

The witchling quickly shakes her head and her hands, "What! No, no! Luz, I may want to learn all kinds of spells and stuff since well, I AM a witch. And I want to find my parents and find out how I got in the Human Realm in the first place but..." She playfully punches her friend's chest, "I will ALWAYS pick you and my family on Earth, you hear me? Over anything! And if the words don't come out of MY mouth about MY future, don't believe 'em!" She then stands on a rock, holding her spear up dramatically, "Because my future is mine!"

Luz gives her a sad smile before hugging her again, "...Okay. I'll keep that in mind." She then puts her hand over her heart and looks up to the sky, "...I'll be home soon, Mom. And Esper too, I promise."

A gust of wind blows past the two while Luz looks down sadly, "Camp's probably ended by now... " She looks back up to sky, "She must be so worried!"

The redhead briefly looks at Hooty while he cries in the background before speaking up, "My parents are probably worried about me too... I didn't message them while the portal was up and it's not like I was supposed to go to camp with you."

Her childhood friend sucks in a breath, "Oooh... That's right, the camp probably would have been the first place they looked..."

The human takes a deep breath before smiling at her childhood friend gratefully, "...Take care, Esper."

Esper nods back at her friend, "...You too, Luz."

With a nod, the witchling walks towards Lilith and Gwendolyn. Hopping to sit on her spear, she follows the two older witches to fly away together on their staffs. Away from the Owl House...

...

Now in the Human Realm, specifically at the Noceda residence. It is night and lights can be seen coming out through the windows on the right side of the house. Camila sitting on a couch inside the living room, covering her face with her hands while crying...

Camila straightens up in her chair, and wipes off tears with her finger, "I'm sorry! These animal documentaries..." She turns off TV with remote control, "They make me such a mess!"

A hand offers Camila a tissue box, "Here, Mama."

Somehow... Another Luz is sitting on the couch next to the grown woman. With her face is covered in darkness, concealing her facial features.

Camila smiles at her daughter, "Thank you, Luz! You always know what to do..." She takes her glasses off to dab her eyes with a tissue, "You know... I hope they find Esper soon. Mr. and Mrs. Fox aren't doing too well with her disappearance. I know you've been questioned a few times but can you really not remember if Esper told you where she was going or not, Luz?"

...

Across the street, within the Fox household... Janet and Douglas sit at their dining room table together, the husband's hand over his wife's. The air was tense when a police officer made his way inside the room.

The man in blue takes off his hat with an exhausted sigh, "...Mr and Mrs. Fox... I'm sorry but we have found no traces of Esperanza anywhere. It's been weeks since there was any sign of her. We might have to consider that Esperanza might have been"

Douglas squeezes his wife's hand tightly, "Please, Max... No."

The officer, Max, runs his hand down his face, "I know, I know this is tough to hear and I never wanted you guys to ever go through this. But being the person who found that baby, I figured I should be the one to tell you. We're not stopping the search but... I just want you both to be prepared for anything once we find her, okay?"

Janet nodded at their old friend, taking a deep breath, "We... We will. Thank you so much, Max... We know you're working hard for us."

The man with black hair shakes his head, "I... You're welcome. I just... I found that little girl once before and I wish we could find her again. I won't stop until we get some closure, okay?"

The couple nods back at him, which was his signal to leave. He stands up from the table and puts his hat on his head before heading for the door. Max takes one more glance at the couple behind him. He then looks up at the picture on the table next to front door, which depicts a younger Max holding a baby Esper tugging at his police badge next to a younger Janet and Douglas. Upon hearing his friends' shared crying, he takes a deep breath before walking out of the house...

...

Back in the Boiling Isles...

Upon entering the Clawthorne household, Gwendolyn opened the door to a mysterious room, "My husband is asleep already so we'll let him rest. But Esperanza, I hope you don't mind if you sleep in Edalyn's old room while you stay here. I wasn't prepared to have any guests over."

Esper looked around the room, the desk was collecting dust. In this wooden room was a poster on the wall of some sort of musician, an open notebook on the desk, a comfy looking bed with a red quilt atop of it. The room was messy with various witch items scattered everywhere.

The redhead slowly looks around the room, "Woah, it kinda reminds me of my room back home! Well, except for witchy stuff everywhere. Thank you so much for letting me stay here, Mrs. Clawthorne."

Gwendolyn gave the young witch a smile, "Oh please, there is no need to be so formal, dear. Just call me Gwen like you did earlier."

Esper rubbed the back of her neck, "Oh yes of course, I'll be sure to remember that, Gwen."

The mother giggled with her hand to her mouth, "I hope you will! Now, I'll leave you to get settled. Dinner will be ready within the next hour or so, please be sure to wash up, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Esper says before she lays her spear on the bed. She looks around one more time, she couldn't believe she was in her old mentor's childhood bedroom...

...

After dinner, the witchling decided to go to bed, having been exhausted from the day's events...

While Esper laid in her sister's old bed, cuddled up under the blanket, Lilith stood over her. Coming to realize she took too long to tell her to have a good night, she couldn't help but notice something familiar about this. In her mind, an image of a resting Eda briefly appears over the sleeping child.

Lilith gave her a warm smile she could not see, "You know... I always thought you reminded me of someone, ever since we first met. Thank you for this second chance, Esperanza."

After giving her new student a pat on the head, Lilith left the room. Smiling as Esper slept, eager to start her new training with Lilith within her childhood home...

All with the window open... Letting in the wind of change...

Chapter Text

At Hexside... Gus sitting in the hallways of said school with his head buried in his arms.

Luz walks up to him, "Hey, Gus. You okay?"

The boy picks his head up with a frown, "I—I messed up bad, Luz. Willow just needed help with this pixie problem, right? So I thought, oh, that I'll lure them away with an illusion. But then..."

The human slumps her shoulders, "That angered the pixies and they attacked Willow. I heard. Don't you worry, Esper is with her right now. She brought her to Viney and Skara managed to get the pixies to fall sleep with a lullaby spell."

Gus squeezes his fists, "I know, I know but... I moved up two grades. What's the point of being good at this if I can't do anything good with it?"

Luz shrugs her shoulders, "It was an honest mistake, Gus! Besides, Willow's tough as nails." She playfully punches his shoulder, "I'm sure you'll both be feeling better tomorrow!"

Now in his bedroom, the next day, Gus laying on the floor of his bedroom, presumably tomorrow. He groans.... His crystal ball caws and beeps before showing a prerecorded message of King on the screen.

King frowns on the crystal ball, "I'm not reading this."

Gus's voice is heard on the recording but he is not shown, "Come on, King. Please?"

The young demon frowns, "Ugh, fine..." He clears his throat, "Is that a six-footed pig or a floating appendage? Why, no!" Gus then runs into view o the recording while wearing a cape, "It's Gus the Illusion Master! Please leave a message."

The video turns to Willow, her arm in a cast and several bandages on her face, "Hey, Gus. Thanks for sending me all those 'Get well soon' illusions but, uh..."

Three tiny illusions of Gus jump onto her shoulders and head. They all speak at the same time, "Willow! How are you feeling? Do you have a fever?" "Willow, you want me to sing for you? Mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi..." "Willow, is this helping?"

The plant witch frowns at her friend, "Can you please take them back?"

Gus groans and the crystal ball shuts off. He rolls onto his stomach and traces a spell circle, summoning his illusions in front of him. They all being to speak again, "Where's Willow?" "Why are we here?" "Did we do bad?"

The boy then blows the illusions away, literally turning them into dust. But then Someone knocks on a door, so he gets up...

Now opening his front door, he finds Luz standing there...

The human raises her fists, "Gustopher!" She points her fingers at him, "Gusteban!" She then leans on the doorframe, "Augustabeth! Any of those working for you?"

Gus shakes his head, "You need my library card to visit Amity, don't you?"

Luz laughs self-consciously at him, "I haven't been doing a good job of hiding that, huh?"

The illusionist shakes his head at her with a frown.

The huma shrugs her shoulders, "Well, I was also hoping to do a little bit of... Research! Come on!" She then begins to drag Gus away.

Gus screams while being yanked away from his house by his human friend...

...

Meanwhile... At the Clawthorne household...

Esper wakes up in her mentor's childhood room, springing out of the bed. She stretches her arms in the air, "Okay! In the Clawthorne's house and now, I'm ready to learn!" She finishes getting ready by straightening her She grabs her spear from the floor before running out of the bedroom.

The young girl runs downstairs, only to spot Lilith sitting at the kitchen table with her mother in front of her.

Gwendolyn has a whiteboard behind her, with a marker tied to said board.

Esper scratches her cheek, "Uh, hey? What's going on over here?"

Lilith smiles at her, "Oh! Esperanza, Mother was just about to go over the Clawthorne family history with me! Would you like to join us?" She is dressed in a dark teal shirt, a dark blue dress with a brown vest. She is now wearing glasses though her hair still remains dyed a dark blue.

The girl rubs the back of her neck, "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to like... Interrupt your time with your mom."

The woman shakes her head, "Nonsense, you wouldn't be interrupting! In fact, I insist! I'd love for you to join us!"

The redhead shrugs her shoulders before sitting next to her, "Well... Okay then!"

Lilith places a notepad on the table before they both looked at the old woman. The redhead looks at the whiteboard closely, especially when Gwendolyn opens the cap of her marker.

The mother scribbles her children's' names on the board, "So! Like you already know, both my daughters are powerful witches. Er... When they had their magic,"

Once the dark haired woman next to her frowned upon hearing her mother mention her lack of magic... The redhead makes a motion to tell her not to continue that part.

Gwendolyn nods her head, "BUT that is no matter! Now Edalyn was always a hard worker but our family is filled with so many witches who have accomplished their own great feats!" She starts to write more names below her daughters', "Besides me, there is Emberlynn the Flare Destroyer! Adalyn the Meister of Light! Raelynn the Forgotten Oracle! Ashlyn the Beast Master!"

The redhead raises an eyebrow, "Huh... Lot of names ending with 'lyn' going on n this family." She turns to the woman next to her, "...Wait, but what about your name? Was Lilliyn taken?"

Lilith begins to shrug, "Well..."

Gwendolyn interrupts the both of them, "Lilliyn the Alchemist, a master of Potions!"

Esper blinks, "Oh, it was. Never mind then."

The old woman stops writing, "And finally... We end on Evelyn! The first Clawthorne!" She taps the name on the whiteboard, definitely getting the pair's attention. She begins to ramble but...

A ringing overtakes her voice in the girl's ears... Esper's hearing and breathing has stopped... Her eyes turn blank while her vision blacks out... Her voice hushes into a whisper and sounds softer than it usually does, "Evelyn, Caleb..."

Lilith looks at the girl, "What was that, Esperanza?"

The young witch suddenly straightens her entire body up, "Huh? Oh uh, nothing!" She then scratches the back of her neck, her senses coming back, "Uh... I think." She looks at the white board again, this time seeing Gwendolyn writing a 'C' next to Evelyn's name.

The girl quickly speaks again, "Uh... What was Evelyn's husband's name? Er, unless she had a wife."

The mother shakes her head, "Oh... His name was lost to time a very long time ago. He died before their daughter was even born..."

Esper frowns at her, "Oh... Wow, that's sad. Like really sad."

Lilith frowns at the student, "Hmmm, are you sure you didn't say anything, Esperanza?" She rubs her chin in thought, "I could have sworn you say a boy's name..."

Gwendolyn suddenly perks up, "Oh! A boy? Does our little guest have a crush on someone?"

Esper's mind immediately thinks of Gus but she quickly shakes her head, "What! O... Of course not!" She tries to ignore the blush fading onto her face.

The old woman smiles wider, "Oh! There IS a boy!" She stays in front of her, "Why not share, dearie? I am dying to know who could have touched that fierce heart of yours!"

The redhead folds her arms, "I came here to learn! Not talk about Gus! I mean, boys! Or girls or whoever!"

Gwendolyn shakes her head, "Up up up, you said a name!" She points to the sky, "Oh sure! I've spoken to girls like you about these things before!" She smiles confidently, "You should have seen Edalyn when it came to her Raine! Raine this! Raine that! Of course, she mainly talked about them in her room... Not with me... I wonder why."

Lilith rolls her eyes upon hearing Eda's alleged lover's name.

Esper shakes her head, "Uh... Maybe go easy on the Raine talk, Gwen."

The dark haired woman speaks up after snapping her fingers, "Wait a minute, Gus? You mean Augustus, the illusion boy who tried to use the Oracle Sphere?"

The redhead begins to blush while the old woman gasps, "No! Not you too! Ah come on! Shush it!"

Her entire face was red until the voice in her head speaks again. Her face stops while she strains to hear her, "Huh? What do you mean by that? Hey, you have to answer me!"

Lilith and Gwendolyn share a look with each other. The older woman speaks up, "Erm... Are you okay, Esper?"

Esper rubs the side of her head, "So uh... The lady that lives in my head says she knows you!"

Lilith stares blankly at her, "My apologies but... The WHAT in your head?" She squints her eyes into the child's, trying to see a glimpse of the woman but to no avail.

The redhead snaps her fingers, "You know! That lady!" She then blinks, "...Oh wait, you weren't there when that happened! So when Gus, my friend, tried to use a spell to look through my memories to help me find out where I came from, a lady shoved us both out of my mind. My teachers and the nurse at school says that she's used a spell to put herself in there. But she doesn't talk all that much."

Both older witches share a look before staring back at the young witchling...

...

Now... Luz and Gus are walking through the streets of Bonesborough together...

Luz smiles at her friend, "So, Eda's mom told me I'm not the first human to have lived in Bonesborough. If that's true, there might be some info on how they got here in the library!"

The illusionist shrugs his shoulders depressingly, "Yeah, okay. Looking through old newspapers is about all I'm good for anyway..."

The two of them stop walking. The human frowns at him, "Spill it, Gustonimo. Are you okay?"

Gus shakes his head, "I—I've just been thinking. What if it's time for me to explore different kinds of magic?" He shrugs his shoulders, "I mean, Esper's off with Eda's mom because she wants to learn all types of magic, right? And she's ALREADY a magical Swiss army knife!"

The girl puts her hands on her hips, "I'm all for trying new things, but what's wrong with illusions?"

The boy keeps the frown on his face, "Illusions are just so...you know..."

The human puts a hand on his shoulder, "Hey... Is this also because you miss Esper? You know, she always likes seeing your illusions!"

Gus rubs the back of his neck, "Well, I guess that's all they're good for, right? Entertainment? Yeah, kinda... It's just... I know she wants to explore the Isles and learn new things but I miss her..."

The human slowly smiles at him, "...Because you have a crush on her, right?"

The illusionist gasps with a blush on his face, "Huh?! H... How do you know that?"

Luz lets out a giggle and playfully pushes her friend, "Pfft! Because it's written all over your face!"

Gus feels his face heat up, "What? No it's not!" He pushes her hands back, "Hey come on!"

The human still giggles, "No, no! I approve! So... When are you planning on telling her?"

The illusionist stutters, "Wha... I, uh. I don't...

The girl suddenly stops her playful pushing, "...It's probably best she comes to you anyway."

Gus raises an eyebrow at her, his voice becoming calmer, "Why's that?"

Luz rubs the back of her neck nervously, "Wellllll... Last year during school, a boy asked Esper out and it did NOT end well. I know it was a swoopy haired blonde kid with freckles." She shrugs her shoulders, "I knew Esper kinda liked him and she was very excited... But apparently, he only asked Esper out so he could make fun of her witch ears in front of his friends... Yeah, she said she made his nose bleed for it but... She was crying when she came back." She then perks up with a frown, "Oh, her wall had to be replaced too."

The illusionist slowly nods at her, "Ooooh..."

The human quickly recovers and shakes her head, "Not that she would do that to you! You're very sweet to her! But... You might want to give Esper time to come to you. I think she does like you the same way you like her but after what happened... She might not be too keen on you asking her first."

Gus gives her a more confident nod, "Hmm... Okay. Thanks for telling me, Luz."

Right on the street below, Animal Control tries and fails to subdue a Slitherbeast. The monster growls and looks forward...

A small Hexside student with a red mouth for a face chases a butterfly in front of it's view. He may be a toddler but he has an incredibly deep voice, "Yay! Huh?"

The Slitherbeast charges towards the boy only for two boys wearing uniforms from Glandus to jump in front of him. The dark-skinned witch conjures up a slick of abomination goo that causes the Slitherbeast to slip, then the orange, fuzzy, demon boy creates a net of vines that launches it back.

After it lands, a girl leaps over it and uses construction magic to trap the Slitherbeast in stone, "Good work guys!"

Her teammate cheer for her, "Yeah!" "Alright!"

Gus gasps in amazement at the group.

Warden Wrath suddenly pushes through the crowd before picking up the child, "Braxas! Son, are you okay?"

The child with a mouth for a face nods, "Yes, Daddy!" He turns to the group of kids, "Thank you, mysterious heroes!"

The girl in the brown uniform smiles at the parent and child, "Stay safe out there!"

Gus walks up to the group, "Wow! Just wow! Plants... Abomination... Construction! You guys took down that Slitherbeast like it was nothing!"

The pale girl waves her hand, "Nah, it wasn't that easy."

The tall boy in the purple uniform chuckles, "Yeah, looked like you had a real hard time out there.

The illusionist. "You're Glandus students, right? I go to Hexside. Name's Gus!"

The girl with freckles nods at him, "Nice to meet ya!" She gestures to the orange demon boy, "This is Angmar." She then points at the boy in purple with her thumb, "Gavin."

Both boys wave at the illusionist, "Hey!"

The Glandus girl begins to speak again, "And I'm—"

Suddenly, Mattholomule's voice rings through the air, "Bria!" He runs over to the group and starts panting, "I would've helped, but like, there was this other baby in danger. You probably couldn't see."

Gus raises an eyebrow at him, "Mattholomule?"

The construction student frowns at him, "Augustus? Back off, twerp! This operation is Glandus kids only!" This makes the other boy narrow his yes at him.

Bria raises his hand in his face, "Hey, Matty, it's all cool. Did you get the map?"

Mattholomule holds the rolled piece of paper up in the air, "Yes! And I only had to endure 35 noogies from my older brother!"

The purple haired girl grabs the map out of his hands, "Nice work!"

The illusionist shrugs his shoulders and begins to walk away, "Well, uh, I can see you guys are busy, so-"

Bria stops in her tracks, "Wait! Have you ever heard of the Galdorstones?"

Gavin smiles at the boy, "They're powerful relics. Many witches and demons have sought them!" Angmar then interrupts him, "But they've all returned empty-handed, haunted by its guardian. Until us!"

The girl puts her hands on her hips, "We heard some coven scouts talking about them, but it'll be rough going. You said you are a Hexside student, right? We could use the extra strength!"

Gus slumps his shoulders, "That sounds awesome, but I can't. I promised a friend I'd help her with something today."

But then, suddenly... Luz appears in between everyone, surprising them.

"Whoa!"

The human pants, out of breath, "Gus, you ran away so fast... But I didn't wanna interrupt so... I think you should go!"

Mattholomule folds his arms, "Well, he can't. Gus is just an illusionist! He'll only hold us back!"

Luz folds her arms and frowns back at him, "Hah! Shows what you know! Gus here is a regular super witch."

Gus begins to sweat, "Luz!" He drags her to the side and whispers, "I see what you're doing and it's really sweet, but I don't actually know any spells besides illusions."

The brunette raises her eyebrows, "Aw dang, I was hoping Esper would have taught you some sort of other spell... But!" She whispers back to him, "It's no problem!" She hands him some spell glyphs, "Come on, man. You know I'm all about proving jerks wrong."

The illusionists turns back to t he group with a smile, "Okay! I'm in. Where do we find these Galdorstones?"

Bria smiles widely at him, "We're journeying to the Looking Glass Ruins in the Forearm Forest!" The reveal makes Gus take a step back, with slight fear entering his eyes...

Mattholomule puts his hands on his hips, "What's wrong, Augustus? Scared?"

Bria nods her head and holds up the map, "We all are. Who knows what awaits us out there? But we all got each other's back, right?"

Gus stammers but raises his hands, "Yeah, um... Yeah. Yeah, okay, let's go!"

All the teens cheer together, "Woo!"

Mattholomule cheers sarcastically and rolls his eyes, "Woo."

...

Back to the Clawthorne household... Or rather, the front yard... All three women stand on the red grass together in a huddle. Gwendolyn ponders, "So this mysterious woman lives in your head, blocking some parts of your memories? Well... Considering she would have to be a high level witch in order to do that, there may be a solution!"

The girl tilts her head, "And that is?"

The old woman continues, "We could try tiring you out! It may exhaust her considering she lives in your brain." "It means you are connected acter all."

Esper scratches her chin, "Hmm... I can see how that could work." She blinks before perking up, "You know, I could always perfect that forcefield spell!"

Lilith raises an eyebrow at her, "Oh, I thought you already did that."

The redhead frowns before shrugging her shoulders, "I have a grasp on it but I can really only cover my hand..." She uses a spell circle to show her tiny shield.

The woman nods at her, "Well then, I think we know what we'll be working on today! Why don;t you stand over there, young Esperanza?"

Once Esper is standing in place, Lilith gives her instructions, "Think of who you wish to protect, Esperanza. Yourself, someone you cherish, one you love... Everyone has someone or something they wish to protect."

The girl thinks to herself... An image of Luz flashes in her mind before a picture of Gus takes over. She hums before straining her hand to cast the spell, "How about this!"

However, only a small shield appears over her hand... She blushes in embarrassment before thinking again, her mind now flooding with various images of Gus. From him with a microphone to him chuckling to him touching her hand when they were expelled...

The witchling stomps her foot, "Ugh! All I can think about is Gus! I know I... But..." She turns to her older friend, "How do you talk to guys, Lilith?"

The woman blinks at her, "...I'm afraid you are asking the wrong person, Esperanza."

Esper scratches her cheek, "Huh? Why? I thought people would have been attracted to the goth look."

Lilith rubs her eyebrows, "No, that's not what I meant. I've received the occasional gift from some with feelings for me but I have never felt the same way towards them. Not an inch of attraction, nor..." She looks away before looking back at the girl, "Otherwise."

It took a second but eventually, it clicked in Esper's head, "OOOOOOOOH! You're an arrowed ace in the hole!"

The Raven Lady slowly blinks at her, "...Yes, Esperanza. That is exactly what I am."

The redhead nods back at her, "Neat!"

Gwendolyn gasps and speaks up, "Is that why I don't have any grandchildren from you?" She turns to the girl, "...No offense, Esper."

Esper blinks back at her, confused, "...None taken?"

And with that... The trio continue to train together... Attempting get the woman in the young witch's head to actually have a conversation with her...

...

Meanwhile, Gus is currently in the forest with the Glandus kids... He tilts his had upon asking about the Gladerstones, seeing that he is risking his life to find them...

Mattholomule steps over to explain, "If you're holding one, every spell you cast gets a big power boost!"

Angmar jumps up and down, "I can grow an entire forest, and make my own butterfly sanctuary!"

Gavin pumps his fist, "I can create the biggest Abomination ever!" He then begins to speak bitterly, "I bet Dad will pay attention to that..."

The illusionist's eyes sparkle in amazement, "Whoa."

The Construction boy rolls his eyes at him, "Sorry. Doesn't do squat for illusions. Can't enhance what's not actually there!"

Gus lightly shoves him, "Pfft. I know that." Mattholomule then shoves him back, causing a small slap fight between the two.

Bria stops in her tracks, "Hold up, guys. We've come to our first challenge!"

Their path is revealed to be blocked by thick brambles.

Mattholomule chuckles, "Show us what you got, Augustus! What did the human call you? 'A super witch'?"

The Glandus girl gasps, "That's a great idea! Go on, Gus. I know you can do it!"

The illusionist pulls a glyph out from under his collar and groans, "Which one is this?" He quickly draws a light blue spell circle in the air, "Fireball!"

Luckily, it is a fire glyph and a massive fireball erupts from the paper hidden in his fist. It ends up clearing their path.

Everyone in the group cheers, "Woo-hoo!"

Bria pats the boy on the shoulder with a smile, "Woohoo, Gus! I knew it was a good idea to bring you!"

Gus smiles with a wave of his hand, "Man, all that training with Esper really paid off!"

Mattholomule whispers at the illusionist, "I don't know what's going on, but I've got my eyes on you..."

The illusionist smiles nervously, "Uh, swear, man! Esper taught me how to use a fireball spell last week!"

The Construction boy narrows his eyes at him, suspicious, "Hmmm.... Well, according to the map, we should be getting close..."

And with that... The group continues further into the forest... Heading into many obstacles along the way...

...

Back at the Clawthorne household, Esper frowns upon pushing her hands forward. She frowns, "Man! I wonder why I haven't been able to use the full forcefield spell yet...

Lilith ponders for a moment before speaking, "Well... I think I solved the problem in regards to that."

The freckled girl tilts her head, "You have?"

The older woman shakes her head, "Yes... It is because in all those other instances, you had to be swift with your spell. Not enough time to use all the information at your disposal... Now, you have the time for this spell."

She takes a deep breath, "Please... Clear you mind and you will succeed, young Esperanza."

Esper nods back at her before taking a deep breath... She lets her thoughts about Gus go before a picture of both Luz and Gus standing together appears in her mind, "Hiyah!"

The spell circles move to go around her wrists before summoning a blue dome around her.

The girl pumps her fist, "Okay! I did it! Thanks, Lilith!"

The older woman gives her a smile, "Congratulations, young Esperanza! ...Did any of this get her to speak?"

The girl shakes her head, "Nope, not once... So it seems like we're back at square one..." She pouts from inside her new forcefield, "Aw man!"

...

Back in the forest with Gus... After an encounter with a snake and learning that the strong pick on the weak at Glandus, the group has finally found the Galderstones. They peer at the statues, which are holding light blue, glowing stones... The fog thickens around them...

Bria gasps upon seeing the statues, and smiles at Gus, "We did it! We found the statues! Finally, I can turn my school around for the better!"

Gus smiles back at her and thinks to himself, 'You know... Bria's pretty nice! She kinda reminds me of Esper in a way, freckles... Fierce... And she wants to the world to be a better place! I think they'd get along pretty well!' He walks off to gaze at one of the stones, 'What could possibly go wrong now?' His eyes narrow upon seeing a name on the statue, '...Wait a minute...'

The pale girl smiles with her hands on her hips"Okay, Angmar, you're on lookout duty." After not getting a response, she yells, "Angmar!"

The demon turns his attention back at her, the pink butterfly resting on his fingers, "Huh?"

The girl glares at him, "I said you're on lookout duty. And if I catch you playing with anymore bugs, I'll make you eat them! Okay?"

Angmar backs away from her while the butterfly flies off into the air...

Bria's voice then turns sweet with a smile, "I believe in you!"

Mattholomule gazes at the stone in front of him, "I can't believe we found it!"

The girl gasps before using magic to get a Galdorstone and cracks a statue in the process, "Oh. Whoops. Well, we did it everyone. The power of the Galdorstones is ours!" She squeals, "I can't believe it. The legends were true! Woo-hoo!"

But right when the group goes around stealing the Galdorstones...

...Gus moves aside the plants covering the bases of the statues, "Huh? 'The Phantom Bringer.' 'Aleth the Vision Creator?' 'Khari the Mirage Maker.' But these titles are for—" He then gasps, "Oh no. Stop! These aren't ruins. This is an illusionist graveyard!"

Mattholomule drops the Galdorstone he's holding, "Ew!"

Bria giggles, "Aw, Gus, you're saying that like it's a bad thing!"

The boy is taken aback, "What? Of course it is! These stones were theirs. We shouldn't take them!"

The pale girl shrugs her shoulders, "Even if these witches were alive, what would illusionists use Galdorstones for? High-def party tricks? Come on, Gus. Don't you wanna power up those cool spells of yours?"

Gus shakes his head, "No! This isn't right. I won't let you steal these."

Bria grips her hand into a punch at her side, "I don't think you know what you're saying, Gus." She waves her other hand around, "And how are you going to stop us? With some high def party tricks?" She rolls her eyes at him, "Or can you not handle this yourself? Gonna call your little Star Touched Witch friend to get you out of trouble?"

The illusionist walks backwards, "...How did you know that?"

The pale girl shrugs her shoulders, "It didn't click in my head until you said her name earlier. She's got people who blab about her at Glandus." She mocks a student's voice, "'Oh, you know the Star Touched Witch beat that Greater Basilisk at Hexside! I wish she went to our school!' Seriously, sometimes they don't know when to shut up." She punches her open hand in front of herself, "Based on what I've seen, she doesn't look at that tough."

Matthomule speaks up towards the two, "Oh believe me, she's tough. She kicked my head once."

Bria suddenly toward to him, "Shut up, Matty!"

But then suddenly, Angmar runs to the group, "It's real! The guardian is real! And it's coming this way!"

All of the members of the group screams upon seeing the guardian. The giant blue dragon creature glares down at the teenagers before roaring into the air.

Angmar hugs the boy in the purple uniform, "I heard it has the power to control weather!" Gavin hugs him back in fear, "And summon ghosts!"

Bria shoves Gus into the open, "Well, I wonder if it can handle a little fire! Go on, Gus! Show 'em!"

The illusionist reaches for a glyph, and then pats himself down, "I'm all out of glyphs!" He then gasps and looks up at the light blue dragon. He narrows his eyes before finding himself...

Eaten by the dragon!

The group all gasp and scream before rushing behind the statues... Matt gasps before being pulled behind a statue, "Gus!"

Gus finds himself flinching before blinking, "What? ...What?" He looks around, only to see an old man...

An illusionist looks back at him, "Oh! Oh another illusionist!" He touches the boy's face, "I am the guardian of this graveyard! Now... What are you kids doing trying to steal the Galderstones?

The boy frowns and rubs the back of his neck, "...I'm sorry, Mr. Guardian. I really am. I tried to stop them before you swallowed me." He then ponders to himself, "I promise, I'll help you to get them to go away... We just need to do something big..."

...

Back at the Clawthorne house, Esper plays around with the forcefield spell. She frowns in thought while spinning her forcefield around herself. She turns to her older friend, "Okay... So even though it's light blue, it didn't effect her... Hmmm.. Maybe there is a way I can speak to her? Like, make her really hear me and she can't ignore it?"

Lilith rubs her chin, "Maybe that can work?

Gwendolyn speaks up from her sitting area, "Hmm... Well, do you know an Illusionist with the ability to peek through someone's memories? An Illusion Maser perhaps?"

Esper was about to speak when she feels another jolt in the back of her neck. She suddenly jumps up and sprints out of the front yard, "...GUS!"

The old woman lets out a giggle, "...Why did I have a feeling that it was her little crush?" She doesn't realize the panic on the girl's face...

Lilith slowly shakes her head at her mother with a frown on her face... She rubs her eyebrows in annoyance...

Esper rushes to the Blight household... Where she sees her friend kneeling on the ground with a red face and a mouse in her hands... Still looking stunned from when Amity kissed her cheek.

The redhead jumps towards her friend, "Luz! Where is Gus?!"

The human wave her arms around suddenly, trying to hide the blush on her face... The mouse in her hands desperately trying to hang on for dear life. She stammers while looking at her friend, "WOAH! Hey, Esper! Hello to you too!" She yanks herself up onto her feet using Esper's jacket, "Uh, Gus is with a group from Glandus. Last time I checked!"

Esper shakes her head, "What?! Why?!"

Luz rubs the back of her neck, the blush slowly disappearing on her face, "Okay so I needed his library card to see Amity, don't ask why! And he left for... Somewhere? He wanted to learn different types of magic and I wanted him to show that he was a 'super witch.'"

The freckled girl gasps, "What! I'm like a Magic swiss army knife! I could have taught him some spells!"

Suddenly, the pair saw an ominous dark cloud form in the air turning into a fog for the area... It is miles away from the girls' location...

Esper looks at her childhood friend, "...Any chance that's him?"

When the two saw a light blue flash within the black clouds, the human begins to slowly nod her head, "That's probably him."

The redheaded witch sprints towards the black frog... She waves at her friend, "Thanks, Luz! I'll see you again! Just gotta make sure Gus is okay! ...And I need him for something!"

And with that, the girl was off!

...

Back at the graveyard... Gus is inside the 'dragon's stomach' with the old man... Making a plan to get the kids out of the graveyard. They nod at each other upon settling on the plan...

Angmar shakes from fear but then notices a pink butterfly-looking creature, "Huh?"

Bria begins to shovel the Galderstones in her bag in a panic, "M... Maybe we can sell the small ones to the Emperor's Coven, and keep the rest for ourselves! Angmar!" She turns upon getting no response, "...Angmar?"

The fuzzy demon runs off, chasing after the butterfly.

Bria shouts at him but doesn't move form her hiding spot, "Hey! Get back here!"

The butterfly begins giggling, "Tehehehe, wink." Tt then flies off into the fog... Unknown to the teens, the dragon guardian has disappeared...

The demon boy still follows it, "Wait! Come back! What species are you?!"

Bria shakes her head, "Ugh, whatever. Let him get eaten! I never really liked him anyway. Looks like you're my second in command, Gav—"

Gavin gasps upon looking in front of himself, "D-Dad?"

A clone of Gavin with a large handlebar mustache appears from the fog, "Gavin, I just want you to know that I'm proud of you. Now, how about we go get some ice cream, son?"

The boy runs to his fake father, "Huh! That sounds great, Pops! Wait, when did you grow a mustache?"

The 'dad' begins to walk off with his 'son', "Hey! Don't blow this chance." The two walk further into the fog together until they disappear.

Bria shakes her head upon realizing what was going on, "Wait a minute! Come out, illusionist! I'm not dumb enough to fall for these tricks!"

The world around her suddenly turns black, a shadowy figure in the shape of Gus runs across the area...

The purple haired girl forms a spell circle, "Rghhaah!" She makes a pillar from the ground, breaking the illusion, "That's right. Who's strong now!? I never needed those losers anyway." She picks up the bag of Galdorstones, "Oof! More for me!"

The graveyard's statues all suddenly turn to face her. Their eyes cry blood, which pools in their mouths. A statue around her size drags itself toward her from the ground.

Bria rolls her eyes, "Haha, cute." She draws spell circle, which does nothing, "Huh?" She tries again, only for it to fail, "Why isn't my magic working?!" She yelps while her hands seem to turn to stone and break off. The statue on the ground is getting closer and closer while she backs away.

She begins panicking, "What's going on? No, no. This is all just an illusion! Hahah, it can't actually hurt me. It can't even touch me!"

The statue crawling towards her grabs her ankle. She gasps. The statue looks up at her, revealing its face to be her own, which is trapped in a horrified expression. Blood pours from the statue's eyes.

The pale girl lets out a scream, "Aah! Cursed! This place is cursed!" She then runs off, screaming.

The illusion that was set over the entire graveyard ends, revealing that Gus, who looks exhausted, was under the moving statue illusion.

The boy lets out a breath, "Man, that took a lot of concentration."

The illusions disappear further, revealing several rock pillars Bria had conjured. Mattholomule and the Keeper come out of hiding.

The old man looks around, "Laying an illusion over the whole graveyard to make it seem like the stones weren't working, very clever... Keeping honing your powers of observation, child, and there's no limit to what you'll be able to do!"

Gus rubs the back of his neck, "There are some limits. I wish I could repair all the damage they did."

Mattholomule speaks up from where he was standing, "Um... maybe I can help?"

However... As Bria began to run out of the gate, she is suddenly kicked to the ground by a redheaded witch. Esper had finally arrived at the graveyard. But the pale witch was so scared from Gus' illusion that she just gets up and starts running again.

The redhead glares at the girl, "Yeah, you better run! Mess with Gus again and your sorry butt will get more than a kick!"

The young illusionist stops right in his tracks, "Woah, Esper? What are you doing here?" Matt backs away from the pair, giving them space.

The girl rubs the back of her neck with a blushed up face, "Well... Uh... One minute I'm practicing spell combinations with Lilith and the next, I got this feeling that you needed help. So, you know, check up on you. Though it looks like you handled things just fine without me. Plus I maaaaaaay need you for something."

The boy stands on his toes before slipping back down, "I'm not sure if I would have been able to do it without the help of Matt and Keeper of the Graveyard... You didn't have to come all the way out here though!"

The freckled witch blushes and looks down at her feet, "I know, I just... I'm glad you're okay." She walks a bit closer to her friend, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Gus blushes at the contact, "Oh! Well..."

Esper, unsure of what to do, decided to kiss Gus's cheek, "...Hmm mwah!"

The boy holds his blushing cheek after a few seconds of shock, "Oh! Wow, have you..."

The redheaded witch plays with her hands with a blush across her face, "Had a bit of a crush on you? Uh... Yeah!"

The illusionist slowly smiles at her, "That's good! Cuz... I've... Always had this crush on you... Uh..." He takes a deep breath and scrunches up his shoulders, "Esperanza, do you want to be my girlfriend?"

Esper nods her head rapidly, "Of course I will, silly!" She holds her hand out for him to take, "Now, uh... If you could come with me, I need your help! ...New boyfriend!"

Gus grabs her hand nervously, still blushing at her... But before they could continue, they both heard a cough...

Mattholmule holds up his arms, "Uh, hello! I'm still here!"

The redhead shrugs back at him with her eyes looking to the side, "Oh, I guess you can come too, Matt." She then blinks at her new boyfriend, "Wait when did you guys become friends?"

Gus simply smiles at her before tugging her hand a little, "I'll explain on the way."

The girl giggles before they walk off together... With Mattholmule following behind them...

...

Now inside the Clawthorne household, Esper and Gus sit in front of each other on the ground. Matt sits on the couch with a juice box provided to him by Gwendolyn. Lilith looks at the two closely.

Esper forms a spell circle, summoning a forcefield around the both of them, "There we go! For you know, to focus better and stuff."

Gus lets out a chuckle before forming a light blue circle over her forehead, "Sure, sure..." He offers his hands to her confidently this time, and smiles when she takes them.

Light clue magic flows from Gus to Esper, being connected through their hands. Both close their eyes in concentration while the magic starts to flow through Esper's brain.

The memories start to form around them and they are projected throughout the living room because of the forcefield surrounding them. Which also allows the group outside to see what is happening inside Esper's mind.

The newly formed couple find themselves in a field, with blue grass and a gold sky... Gus looks around before blushing at their joined hands, "Woah... It's working." His eyes then stop at a picture of an infant Esper being held by her adopted mother, "Aw! Baby Esper!"

The girl blushes before looking around, "Guuuuuus... We're looking for... Oh wait, there she is!" She points at the woman, who is standing over what looks to be chained up memories.

The lone woman in blue gasps upon seeing them, "You two again? Please, I cannot give you any information at this time. You are not ready to learn of this yet, Esper..." She forms a spell circle, with a giant hand forming to push them out yet again...

The girl shakes her head and puts up her other hand, "Woah, hold on! You are in MY mind! You can't tell me what to do! Especially since you spoke through me today! So you HAVE to tell me something if you're going to do that!"

The blue haired woman frowns, "Esper..." She attempts to have the spell push them further.

Esper frowns, "Wait! Come on, please... Throw me a bone here! Tell me anything! Even if it's not the whole story!"

The mysterious woman stops and sighs, "...Peony. My name is Peony." She looks to the side before placing her hands on her shoulder, "Allow me to clarify that while we share the same blood, I am not your mother."

The redhead raises an eyebrow at her, "Then... Who are you? Did you know Evelyn?"

Peony stares back at her, their seaweed eyes matching, "Please... I will explain everything in due time, witchling. You aren't ready yet. Please have a bit of patience... Just know that Evelyn was very dear to me..." She pats the girl on top of her head.

And with that, the two were pushed out of Esper's mind yet again. But this time, not harshly. They return to see that the forcefield had faded with an impressed Matt sitting on the couch. Gwendolyn sips from her own juice box while Lilith writes down what she had heard in her notepad.

Esper blushes when she turns back to her boyfriend, "I... Um..." She kisses his cheek again, "...Thanks Gus."

The illusionist blushes at her, "You're welcome, Esper." He lets go of her hand before turning to step out the door, "Uh... I'll see you tomorrow!" He is followed by Matt, who playfully pushes him.

The redhead smiles before waving at him, "See you tomorrow!"

Gwendolyn smiles for a bit before speaking, "...So I see you have a boyfriend now."

Esper's face suddenly turns into a massive burst of red, "Aw come on!" She covers her face before rushing off into the house, finding herself being followed by the old woman, who continues to ask her more about her new boyfriend... All while Lilith reviews her notes, smiling at the pair's shenanigans...