Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Luz knew she was different. Everyone knew it. The other kids from her school knew it, and bullied her for it. Her teachers, who disliked her, knew it. Even her mami knew it, no matter how much she said Luz wasn’t that different from other kids. Luz knew that other kids didn’t have glowing amber eyes. Other kids didn’t have black and yellow sclera. Other kids didn’t have claws, or fangs. Other kids didn’t hunt animals when they were hungry. Luz Noceda knew she was different, she just didn’t know why.

Different doctors had tried to give different explanations, but they didn’t actually know what was happening. Eventually, Luz’s parents stopped taking her to doctors, as it wasn’t like the doctors were helping at all. Also, Luz never seemed to get sick, so she had no real reason to visit the doctor. The last time Luz had ever been in a hospital was when her dad had died. He had died from a mysterious sickness that the doctors were unable to diagnose. He had tried to leave a note for Luz with the book he gave her, but the sickness made him so weak that the note was completely unreadable. However, Luz loved the book. She loved the convoluted backstory, the interesting plot, the flowery language, and the depictions of magic. It was all so cool to her! Unfortunately, she didn’t know anyone else who liked the books. They were just another reason she was labeled as a weirdo. Hopefully, her book report would change that.

The book report did not go as planned. That was why she was currently sitting in the principal’s office, trying to explain her book report, and why she had brought snakes to school. It wasn’t her fault the backup snakes had somehow escaped. She didn’t understand why everyone was so scared anyway. They were just Garter snakes, they weren’t going to hurt anyone. Y’know, probably. 

“And what were you planning to do with this?” Camila asked, holding up some fireworks that had been tied together, which Luz had also apparently brought to school.

“Those were for the act 3 finale.” Luz said, seeming downcast. Camila was surprised her daughter had brought actual fireworks into school, but no time to dwell on that now.

“Mija, I love how creative you are, but it is getting out of hand. We all love that you express yourself, but if you can’t separate fantasy from reality, you may need to spend the summer here.” Camila said, showing Luz a pamphlet for a summer camp called Reality Check Summer Camp. It did not look like a fun place to go. Luz did not want to go there.

“Don’t worry mom, I won’t let you down. No more weirdness!” Luz exclaimed as she stood up. The snake she was holding launched itself at the principal, knocking him over. “That doesn’t count, right?”

~~~~~~~~~~

Luz was standing outside her house, the bus to summer camp would be coming soon. Her mami walked out the door, about to go to work. She told Luz about how great summer camp would be, although it sounded like she was making things up. It wasn’t anything that Luz liked. Camila then commented on Luz’s lack of friends.

“Do you have any real friends, at all?” Camila asked.

“No. That’s how I know no one at summer camp will like me. I’m different from everyone else. Everyone calls me a demon, and they bully me. No one will ever want to be my friend. Not unless I can find someone as weird as me.” Luz replied. She already knew that it would be nearly impossible to make friends at summer camp. Only someone interested in weird stuff would care about someone, or something, like her.

“Oh, cariño, it will be okay. I’m sure you will find some people who are willing to be your friends at camp. You just have to let yourself meet them.” Camila said. She truly did want her daughter to meet new friends at camp. This would be a good opportunity for Luz, at least that’s what she told herself. She remembered what high school had been like for her, she didn’t want Luz to go through the same thing. She just wanted to protect Luz, and she was willing to do anything if it meant Luz had a better life than she had had.

Chapter Text

Luz was waiting for Camila to leave. As soon as her car was out of sight she turned back to the trashcan to pull out her Azura book… Wait, where is it? Luz thought to herself as she found that her book was no longer in the trashcan. She heard a hoot from an owl nearby, which was strange because owls were usually only awake during the night. Turning her head she saw a small owl with a sack that looked much too large compared to the tiny owl. In the sack, she saw her book. The owl started hopping away, somehow dragging the sack along with it. Luz started to chase after it, she needed to get her book back!

“Stop hopping away, you adorable little trash thief!” Luz yelled after the owl, though the owl didn’t stop. It ended up hopping into an old shack somewhere in the woods. Luz hesitated for a second, but decided her book was important enough to follow the strange owl into the creepy shack and ran in after it. If anyone had been in the woods near the shack, they would have seen the bright flash of light that followed after Luz ran into the shack.

When Luz went through the door of the shack, she saw the owl hop out of the tent she was in… Wait, a tent? Luz thought to herself, before shaking her head and focusing on what was happening just outside the tent. The woman was screwing the owl onto her staff, and… oh, the owl suddenly turned into wood, definitely, totally normal, not weird at all. The woman started taking things out of the bag, though Luz wasn’t sure what she was looking for. The strange woman took out a cell phone, a ring, and a golden chalice out of the bag, calling them all junk, before taking a pair of silly glasses with fake spring eyes on them out of the bag, saying that they would make her rich. She then pulled Luz’s book out of the bag, and decided it would make good kindling holding it up to a candle. Despite her fear of the woman, Luz quickly jumped out, snatching the book before it could get burned up.

“That’s mine, sorry, thank you!” Luz quickly yelled as she turned back around ready to run back out the door she came through.

“You’re not going anywhere.” the woman said from behind her, as the door folded up to look like a suitcase, and flew over to the woman. Luz let out a “weh!” of surprise, and ran out the back of the tent only to find the edge of a cliff and… woah, this was definitely not Gravesfield. The buildings here definitely had a lot more flesh and bone, and some of the buildings seemed almost alive. There were creatures of all shapes and sizes in the town down below, creatures that not even her books had prepared her to see. She also felt a buzz in the air, as if there was energy flowing all around her.

“This… is not the fantasy world I expected.” Luz softly said. Just then, a fairy flew up to Luz. Thank goodness, a normal fantasy creature in this crazy place. Luz thought to herself.

“Hello, little fairy. Are you gonna tell me this is all just a fantastical dream?” Luz asked the fairy.

“Give me your skin!” the fairy shouted, opening its mouth to reveal a huge jaw with large teeth. Luz quickly swatted the fairy away from her. She was suddenly picked up by the back of  her hoodie. Oh no, the scary woman had caught up to her! This was the end, the woman was going to eat her.

“If you’re gonna eat my skin, just do it quick.” Luz said, holding out her arm, praying that it would be over quickly.

“Eat you? Why would I eat… a potential customer?” the scary woman said happily. Luz opened her eyes, the woman didn’t seem as menacing as she had a few seconds earlier. The woman was standing in front of a stand that said Human Collectibles. The woman started showing Luz some human realm items, giving her information that was definitely incorrect. She ended by showing Luz an old TV. 

“How about this black shadow box that reflects only your sadness?!” she said very enthusiastically. 

“That’s not all it can do.” Luz replied with a smile. She took some batteries from a bowl labelled Human Candy (which was full of things that were NOT candy), and put them in the old TV, then turned it on. It started playing an old jazzercise video, and the sound started drawing in demos nearby, a crowd soon forming in front of the stall. Multiple demons offered what Luz assumed was money, each offering more than the last. 

“What did you say your name was?” the woman asked her.

“I didn’t say my name. But my name is Luz. Luz Noceda.” Luz replied.

“Well, Luz, that was pretty smart, for a human. At least, I think you’re a human.” Eda replied.

“Yep, I’m definitely, totally a human.” Luz replied, though she wasn’t sure that was true, in fact, she was pretty sure it wasn’t. “And that’s kind of a weird thing for another human to say.” Luz added.

“Oh dear child, I’m not like you,” the woman said, taking off her bandana to reveal her pointed ears. “I am Eda the Owl Lady, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles!” Luz was definitely in awe right now. There was a real witch right in front of her! This was the coolest day of her life! “I am respected, feared…” Eda continued, before a fist slammed down on the TV in front of her, cutting her off.

“Busted!” came from the owner of the fist, who looked very official to Luz. "Eda the Owl Lady, you are under arrest for demonic misdemeanors and the misuse of magic. I hereby order you to come with me!” the guard shouted at Eda. Oh. So Eda was a criminal. Of course the first person Luz met in this strange world was a criminal. This day was a rollercoaster of ups and downs.

“Would you guys quit following me? I haven’t done squat!” Eda replied. 

“And you’re coming too, for fraternizing with a criminal.” a guard said, lifting Luz up by her hoodie. Why did people keep grabbing her by her hoodie?

“Weh?! That’s not cool!” Luz said.

“Oh, okay fine you win. Just let me get my stuff.” Eda said. She then promptly pulled out her staff and whacked the guard in the head with it, causing him to drop Luz. Eda then used magic to pack up her stuff, remembering her portal at the last moment.

“Come on, human, time to run.” Eda said as she started to run away, pulling Luz along with her. Eda eventually got out her staff and pulled Luz onto it with her, and they flew off. Luz felt something that seemed to emanate from the wood, but she was too afraid to think about that right now.

“This is crazy! If I die here, my mom’s gonna kill me!” Luz exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, if you die here, she won’t be able to kill you. Unless you humans have figured out how to do necromancy.” Eda said. “Also, you can open your eyes now. Just don’t look down.” 

Luz opened her eyes to see that they were flying above the treetops. A griffin flew next to them, opening its mouth and having spiders come out. 

“I knew it!” Luz cheered.

“Every myth you humans have is caused by a little of our realm leaking into yours.” Eda said, startling Luz out of her own thoughts. “Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, giraffes…” 

“Giraffes?” Luz interrupted. She had never felt very comfortable around giraffes, maybe this was why.

“Yeah, bunch of freaks. Our ancestors banished them a long time ago.” Eda said, effectively ending that part of the conversation. It turned out the flight wasn’t that long, as they had already landed at their destination.

“Aren’t you worried about those guards following us?” Luz asked, nervous about the possibility of being followed. 

“Don’t worry, I have a state-of-the-art defense system.” Eda proudly said. 

“Hoot hoot, password please.” the owl that Luz had previously thought was a door knocker said. Eda proceeded to poke the owl thing in the eyes.

“We got no time for this Hooty. Let us in.” Eda said. Hooty opened his mouth to fill the entire doorway, and Eda and Luz stepped inside. 

“Welcome to… the owl house.” Eda said, snapping her fingers as candles flared to life and a mural on the ceiling glowed. “Where I hide away from the pressures of modern life. Mm, and the cops. And ex-boyfriends. And ex-girlfriends. And ex-enbyfriends.” Eda added. 

“Wow, do you live here all alone?” Luz asked.

“Actually, I have a roommate.” Eda said. Not that she actually thought of him as a roommate, he was more like a son to her, but she wasn’t about to say that. A rumbling was heard coming from one of the nearby hallways.

“WHO DARES INTRUDE upon I the king of demons?!” a cute little demon demanded, squeaking a rubber ducky as he stopped talking. Luz immediately ran over to the cute demon, picking him up and squeezing him.

“¡Ay, que lindo! Eda, he's so cute! Who’s a widdle guy? Is it you? Is it you?” Luz said, holding the small demon close to her.

“Ah, no, I don’t know who your little guy is! Eda, who is this monster?!” King cried out. 

“This is Luz. She’s here to help us with our little problem.” Eda said, stepping forward to try and separate Luz and King, but this caused Luz to jump back and growl at Eda, as Luz already felt very protective of the fuzzball. She would burn down the world if he got hurt. Eda got the message, and instead used her magic to separate them, grabbing hold of Luz as she did so, who was trying to get back to King despite being held in midair. Once the girl stopped trying to get to King, Eda set her back down. She then told Luz the story of how King was once a mighty King of Demons, but how his crown of power had been stolen by the evil Warden Wrath, which caused King to be stripped of his powers. It was trapped behind a forcefield that only a human could penetrate. So, the easiest way to get it was for a human to go through the forcefield, which they needed Luz for.

“Wait, I didn’t agree to this plan.” Luz said. 

“Come on, who could say no to this cute little face?” Eda said, trying to make King look cute, much to his chagrin. “Besides, we’re kind of your only way home.” Eda added, so Luz agreed to help them.

“Where are we going?” Luz asked.

“Somewhere super fun!” Eda replied.

~~~~~~~~~~

This did not look super fun. It was a gray building in a desolate landscape with a large wall around it. It was a good thing they could fly over the wall. Once they got over the wall, Eda explained how Luz and King would go get the crown while she distracted the warden. Luz was excited to use her hoodie to pretend to be a cat, though Eda and King seemed less impressed, though Eda said she would fit right in. Eda then made a platform of what seemed to be light which transported Luz and King to a window near the top of the building. It disappeared when it reached its destination, and Luz had to grab on to the edge of the window to keep from falling. It was a good thing this window didn’t have a pane of glass or any bars to stop her from getting in, though her entrance was far less than graceful. As she tried to find out where she needed to go, she met some other prisoners. One of them wrote fanfics about food falling in love, one ate his own eyeballs, and one believed in conspiracy theories. Luz realized they weren’t criminals, they were just different. Suddenly, loud footsteps thundered down a nearby hallway.

“Quick, hide, it's the warden!” the cat-like fanfic writer said. Luz quickly ducked into a cell, bringing the gate down just as the warden entered the room. Luz was afraid he would find her, but the large-nosed conspiracy theorist got the warden’s attention, and she was grabbed by the warden before he walked off. Luz went out of the cell she had been hiding in, and tried to open the cell that the fanfic writer was in, but was too weak to open it. The writer told Luz to go, and enjoy freedom for them. So Luz walked away to find where King’s crown was, but was noticeably dejected. She met Eda at the door to the contraband room, the warden was busy with the large-nosed demon, so Eda was able to join them at the contraband room. Luz expressed her concerns about the people imprisoned here while King ran ahead, somehow opening the door to the room by himself. Eda understood Luz’s concern, but King started running into the forcefield, so Eda suggested they make sure King stops hurting himself. They walked in the room as King ran head first into the forcefield again, being zapped backwards.

“Hey King, we have a human, remember?” Eda asked.

“Oh. Yeah.’’ King replied, and stopped throwing himself at the forcefield.

“Okay, you’re up, human.” Eda said to Luz. Luz slowly walked up to the forcefield and reached out to touch it with her hand. However, as soon as she touched it, a surge of electricity sent her flying backwards.

“Maybe I should have mentioned that I might not be fully human.” Luz said, a hint of sheepishness to her voice.

“Yeah, I should have realized that, you don’t look like a normal human.” Eda said. “But it’s fine, I didn’t say you were the only way to get King’s crown, just the easiest. You might want to stand back.” Eda warned. She took out her staff, which was named Owlbert, and twirled it, sending a huge blast of energy at the forcefield, destroying it with relative ease.

“Now, go get the crown at the top, I’m not climbing up it.” Eda told Luz. Luz quickly scrambled to the top to find a… Burger Queen crown? She brought it back down to Eda, who then gave it to King, who said he could feel his power coming back. He recruited a stuffed bunny that he named Francois.

“That crown doesn’t actually give him any powers, does it?” Luz said.

“Uh, no.” Eda said, and Luz shot her a disapproving look. “Oh, look at us Luz. Me and King, we only have each other here. So if that dumb crown makes him happy it makes me happy. Now let’s go, before the warden loses his head.” Eda said.

“Too late.” a voice said as the looming figure of the warden appeared behind Eda. His arm turned into an axe and he cut off Eda’s head, which landed in Luz’s arms. Luz did what any normal person would do when someone’s head lands in your arms, and screamed. 

“Ow, I hate it when that happens.” Eda said, somehow still alive. Luz screamed again. Meanwhile, the warden took King’s crown away from him and crushed it, monologuing about his masterful plan to get Eda to come to him. Eda asked what he wanted, pointing out she had never broken any of his stupid rules… in front of him.

“I want you… to go out with me.” the warden said, pulling out a bouquet of flowers from somewhere. The guards that were with him cheered, even the one holding King. Wait, holding King? Oh, that was not good. And wait, did the warden just say he wanted to go out with Eda? That was gross in so many ways.

“I hate everything you’re saying right now.” Luz commented.

“You stay out of this!” the warden yelled, grabbing Luz with his arm that had just turned into tentacles, and holding Eda’s head in the other. That was the final straw for Luz. He had made King sad, he had captured King, he was holding her hostage, and he was trying to ask out Eda. The warden was saying something to Eda, but Luz couldn’t hear him, she could only hear the blood pumping in her ears. She was currently seeing red. She didn’t have claws and fangs for nothing. She bit down on the warden’s arm as hard as she could, his blood instantly flowing from his arm into her mouth. It actually tasted better than the blood of most animals on Earth, but Luz didn’t care about that right now. All she knew was that she wanted to make the warden hurt. The warden had dropped her when she had bitten his arm, so she started viciously attacking his face and chest areas, where he was more vulnerable. She broke his mask, revealing his strange demonic face, but she didn’t stop, she just kept slashing at him. Eventually, he was able to grab her and threw her across the room, where she ended up crashing into a wall. That was going to be sore tomorrow. Luckily, Eda had recovered her head and smacked the warden in the head with Owlbert, knocking him out cold. The other guards in the room were frozen in fear, so King wriggled his way out of the arms of the guard holding him. The guards decided to run away, they didn’t want to face the owl lady and the strange demon child, so they figured it was best to run.

“Okay, let’s go now.” Eda said. As they took off Luz had an idea and asked Eda to lend her a hand. Together, they opened the gates to the cells as they escaped freeing all the prisoners that had been wrongly imprisoned there. From there, they flew back to the owl house. Once they got back, Eda clicked the button on her key to make the portal door appear and unfold into an actual door.

“Alright, kid, a deal’s a deal. You can go home now.”
“Before I go,” Luz began walking over to King and giving him the crown from a figurine she had in her bag, “a king shouldn’t be without a crown.” Luz finished. King thanked her, then went to add a house plant to his army. Eda handed Luz her book and the pamphlet to summer camp, telling her not to forget them. Luz looked sadly at the summer camp pamphlet, then looked over to the mirror above the fireplace. Holding her Azura book up, she noticed that the little group in the living room was strangely similar to the group on the cover of Azura. Luz made a decision right there.

“I’m not going back to summer camp.” Luz declared.

“Summer camp? What are you even talking about, kid?” Eda asked.

“I know you got your head cut off, and we started some kind of prison riot, but today is the most fun I’ve ever had. I want to stay here, and learn magic. Maybe even find out more about what I am.” Luz replied.

“Let her stay! She can make us snacks!” King whispered to Eda.

“Well, I could use a hand keeping this goofball out of the cupboards.” Eda said. “Okay, you can stay. But you have to work for me before I teach you any spells. Also, humans don’t have magic, but since you’re half-demon you might have some, though the human realm may have stunted your growth, whether magically or physically or both, I’m not sure, but I guess we’ll find out. Do you understand?” Eda asked.

“Understood.” Luz said, before wrapping King and Eda in a tight hug.

“Too tight, too tight!” King cried out as he got stuck in the middle of the hug. Not long after the hug, Eda went and made dinner, making sure to make enough for all three of them. She initially thought she made too much, but Luz was apparently a ravenous eater, and all the food was gone by the end. Luz was too full and too tired to mention how it was the best food she had ever had, and she and King went upstairs to go to bed, as it was already pretty late. Luz was able to get a spare room that had enough space to lay a sleeping bag out. Luz laid down on the sleeping bag, before getting on all fours and turning around in a few circles before curling up, sort of like a dog. King asked to join her, and she happily let him. This was the perfect end to an amazing day.

Chapter Text

Luz was awoken by the smell of food cooking. She blearily opened her eyes to see the sun just starting to peek over the horizon. She quickly realized there was something poking into her side. She looked to see King’s horns poking into her side. Oh, it’s just King, Luz thought to herself happily. Wait a second… Yesterday actually happened! Luz realized. She really was in a new realm. Witches, demons, and magic were real, and she had entered a realm that had all of them. She was going to learn magic, and maybe learn what her non-human part of her was. Time to get ready for her first day of witch apprenticeship! She carefully got up, not wanting to wake King up quite yet and opened the windows to her room.

“Hello, terrifying fantasy world!” Luz called out happily.

“Hello.” a monster that was in the Boiling Sea responded, before sinking out of sight. Luz decided now was a good time to get ready for the day. She remembered where the bathroom was from the brief tour of the house yesterday, finding it with no problem. When she opened the door, she came face to face with Hooty. She was so scared she accidentally scratched Hooty before she realized that there was no threat. Luckily, the scratches quickly disappeared from his face.

“Ow! I just wanted to wish you a good morning!” Hooty said after Luz scratched him.

“Sorry Hooty!” Luz called out as Hooty retreated back to the front door. Hooty was definitely going to take some getting used to. She then walked back to her room to say good morning to King. King was still asleep when she arrived, but that didn’t last long, as Luz immediately picked him up.

“Good morning, you little cutie pie.” Luz cheerfully said to him.

“I’m not your cutie pie!” King protested.

“Yes you are.” Luz said, saying it as a statement. She then set King down.

“I know.” King sighed. Luz then decided to go find some ‘witchy clothes’ while King went downstairs, where Eda was cooking breakfast. Luz found a cool-looking ‘cloak’ and a surprisingly rubbery ‘hat’, before finding a roll of nametags, writing her name on one and sticking it to the cloak. She then went downstairs, because the food Eda was cooking smelled delicious. 

“Good morning, Miss Eda. I’m ready for my first day of witch apprenticeship!” Luz said, very excited to begin her first day as an apprentice to Eda. Eda, on the other hand, still looked drowsy. She looked at Luz for a second like she didn’t remember who Luz was, before suddenly remembering what happened yesterday. Oh, right, she had agreed to teach the half-human magic. Hopefully she didn’t regret this. 

“First of all kid, you’re my student, not my apprentice, at least not yet. And second, you’re wearing a bathrobe, and the dirtiest traffic cone I’ve ever seen.” Eda said. Luz took off the ‘hat’ she was wearing and blew on it, revealing that it was indeed a traffic cone. She discarded the witchy accessories. 

“Teach me some spells. Was I supposed to bring my own runes? When do I get a magical staff?” Luz asked, wanting to learn everything she could as fast as possible.

“Kid, lay off the questions. I haven’t even had my cup of apple blood yet.” Eda replied. 

“You mean apple juice?” Luz helpfully supplied.

“No.” Eda replied. Luz’s sensitive nose could smell the alcohol in the drink Eda poured, confirming that it was not apple juice, though Luz didn’t think it was a great idea to drink alcohol in the morning. “And slow down, being a witch doesn’t happen overnight. But a magical staff, huh? You really want one?”

“More than anything.” Luz replied.

“Magic staff, come to me.” Eda said dramatically, holding her hand out. Nothing seemed to happen, then some crashing was heard from somewhere else in the house. After a few seconds of crashing sounds, Eda’s staff flew into view, and went straight towards Eda. It ended up smacking right into her and clattering to the floor. Eda picked up her staff while spinning it.

“It’s early.” Eda said. “This is my staff. Staffs are just an extension of your palisman. This is my palisman, Owlbert.” Eda said as she took Owlbert off the staff, causing him to become animated. He let out a hoot, then flew over to settle down on the table, right next to Luz. Luz gently gave him a few pets on the top of his head. “Palismen are bonded to you for life. They only come to life when you tell them your deepest desire. I wouldn’t feel like myself without Owlbert.” Eda said, continuing the mini lesson on palismen. “Now, most witches earn their staff from school. With me as your teacher, we’ll be taking a different approach.” Eda dropped a bag of potions on the ground that seemed to have come out of her hair. “You’ll have to work for it.” Eda said. Oh right, I agreed to work for Eda in exchange for her teaching me magic, Luz remembered. “But first, time for breakfast. You can’t walk all around the Boiling Isles delivering potions on an empty stomach.” Eda said.

Just like the dinner last night, breakfast was the greatest food Luz had ever had. She had been slightly concerned about the strangely colored sausage-looking things, but they were actually really good.

“Wow Eda, this food is really good! Did you add some kind of magical flavoring to it?” Luz said, wanting to know how it was so good.

“Um, no, I just used my usual blend of normal spices, no magical flavoring added. What were you eating in the human realm?” Eda replied. She wasn’t quite sure why this breakfast seemed so good to the half-human girl.

“I don’t know, but this is so much better. Sort of like dinner last night. Maybe the food in this realm is just better.” Luz said.

“Well the food here does have magic in it, unlike the food in the human realm. Maybe that’s the reason it seems so good.” Eda replied. The poor girl probably hadn’t gotten the magic she needed her whole life, hopefully getting it now wouldn’t be too little, too late. She decided she would have to take Luz to a healer to make sure the girl would be okay. She would set up an appointment with one of the few healers she trusted, and see how soon she could get Luz in. She could do that while Luz was out delivering her potions for her. 

Luz was handed the sack of potions Eda was holding, Eda sending the girl out the door after giving her a warning to never befriend a man in sandals. She then turned to King.

“You’re going with her too.” Eda told her son roommate as soon as Luz went out the door.

“Why do I need to go?! I just found the perfect napping spot!” King complained from the sunbeam he was lying in. 

“Because we both know she’s probably going to get eaten, kidnapped, lost or all of those.” Eda said.

“No I won’t.” Luz said, her face appearing through the window. Eda quickly closed the blinds to cover the window.

“And because you work for me too, unless you want to start paying rent.” Eda continued, causing King to groan before he followed Luz out of the house. “Be back by nightfall or risk mortal peril!” Eda called out happily as the pair started to make their way towards Bonesborough. 

Luz’s fantasy loving heart was nearly beating out of her chest in her excitement. She was in awe of all the different demons and witches roaming around the market. She never thought she would ever see a place like this in real life.

“Hey, it’s rude to stare.” King said.

“I’ve only seen places like this in my dreams. And I’m the only human here? Well, half-human.” Luz said. 

“I haven’t seen any other humans.” King said.

“Wow.” Luz said, mostly to herself.

Luz went up to a centaur, ready to see if she could convince him to buy a potion.

“What has four hooves, and wants to buy a potion? This guy.” Luz said, looking up at him.

“My eyes are down here.” the centaur said, moving a pumpkin he was holding to the side to show his face that he had on his chest.

“Weh, sorry.” Luz said, trying to be polite. 

Luz was delivering a package to a house, and rang the doorbell. The doorbell began to try to eat her, though it didn’t manage to actually bite off any limbs, it still got Luz’s entire arm stuck.

Luz was not having a good time. She thought being a half-human would make her special, but she just felt singled out in a way that didn’t attract the kind of attention she wanted. 

“At this point, Azura had already been sent on an enchanted quest. Where’s my quest-granting wizard?” Luz questioned, feeling like the Universe might just be having a laugh at her expense. 

“Sorry to break it to you, Luz, but no one here is that well-dressed.” King said.

“This has been a rough day. Let’s just deliver this last package and go home.” Luz said as they headed off towards the last address on Eda’s list.

~~~~~~~~~~

Eda looked like she was relaxing, but her mind was going a mile a minute. As soon as Luz had left, she contacted Healer Schmarkov. Ava Schmarkov was one of the few healers Eda trusted, and a fellow wild witch. Eda had helped her set up a secret clinic a few years back, and Eda knew she could be trusted. She set up an appointment for a few days from the current date, and laid on the couch, letting her thoughts run wild. She was scared for Luz. She knew what it was like to run away from home, Eda having done it herself at a young age, and Luz definitely seemed like she was trying to escape from her home. Eda didn’t like the implications of that, she didn’t like it at all. She didn’t know why, but she felt an instinctive need to protect the half-human. Of course, if the half-human wanted to go back home, she would let her, it wasn’t like she was Eda’s kid or anything.

Owlet finds family. Must protect both owlets. The owl beast said in Eda’s mind. Well, fuck, that complicates things, Eda thought to herself, even if she didn’t completely understand what the owl beast meant about family, before taking an elixir and forcing the owl beast back into the confines of her mind. She hadn’t transformed in over a decade, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to transform now that she had two kids. Under her care! She totally, definitely didn’t think of them as her kids, they were just kids that she happened to be taking care of. That was definitely all there was to it. When did my life become a comedy? Eda thought to herself.

~~~~~~~~~~

Luz pushed aside a tarp hanging at the end of the alley, pushing it aside to reveal a majestic castle. Luz couldn’t help but be enamored by the amazing, awe-inspiring castle that stood in front of her. Luz was surprised she didn’t faint on the spot. Luz walked up to the doors, and they opened to let her in.

“Big houses always belong to big whack jobs. Let’s just kick the package inside and get out of here.” King said to Luz, his words falling on deaf ears. Luz entered the castle, still enamored by it. King followed after her, the doors closing behind him once he entered.

“Hello? I’m delivering a package from Miss Eda the owl lady.” Luz called out, trying to determine if anyone was home. Suddenly, multiple lights flared to life, revealing a set of stairs leading up to a doorway. Above the doorway was a painting of a wizard, wearing a purple robe with yellow stars, his hands steepled just below his chin. Coming out from the doorway came the wizard on the painting, his hands in the exact same position they were in on the painting. Luz could immediately tell something was wrong. The wizard felt empty, no glimpse of the magical aura that surrounded all the rest of the creatures on the Boiling Isles. Despite her trepidation Luz tried to appear friendly, though inwardly, she was ready to drop the package and run. Luz couldn’t help but notice he was wearing sandals, remembering Eda’s warning, and Luz’s hair started standing on end. 

“Who might you be, young lady?” the wizard asked. Before Luz could put together a coherent answer, he continued, “Dare I say, I sense something unique about you? Please, won’t you join me for tea?” the wizard asked, conjuring two chairs and a table with tea and pastries. 

“Actually, I have to get going.” Luz said, feeling like this was some sort of trap, and not wanting to stay any longer than necessary. The table of potions that had appeared didn’t make her feel any safer, wondering if Eda had rivals, and if this wizard might be one of them.

“I understand, but before you go, take this. It is a map for a magical quest that only the chosen one can complete. But be warned, it is fraught with peril.” the wizard told her, levitating a map to her, which Luz grabbed out of pure curiosity. Luz then left as quickly as she could while still being polite, running as soon as the massive double doors swung shut behind her. Luz ran until she arrived back at the owl house.

Luz was panting as she came through the entrance.

“Are you okay, kid?” Eda asked as her kids student and roommate came through the door, not sure why they were breathing so heavily.

“Eda, do you have any rivals?” Luz asked between breaths.

“Of course I do, the potions business is quite competitive. Why?” Eda asked, not liking where this was going.

“I think I ran into one of your competitors. He gave me a magical map, saying that only the chosen one can find the celestial staff at the end. I think it’s a trap, he felt empty of magic, and he was wearing sandals, and he called himself a wizard.”
“Hmmm… what do you say we spring a trap, then, and take out this competitor for good?” Eda asked, her eyes lighting up with a spark that promised mischief. Eda began to lay out her plan. “Luz you follow the map. King and I will go back to the castle to search for clues, then follow after you. We’ll have the element of surprise, and he won’t know what hit him.” Eda said, and everyone agreed. So, as Eda and King went to the castle to gather more information about the wizard, Luz set off on her path to find the celestial staff, if it even existed at all. 

The first town Luz came upon was occupied by small cat-like humanoid creatures. They reminded Luz of juujin from anime, a cross between an animal and a human, resulting in a full hybrid, though these creatures seemed mostly cat-like. Luz shuddered, and it had nothing to do with the temperature, because despite the cheery colors and residents of the town, they all lacked the magical aura, sort of like the wizard. It caused Luz to keep her guard up, as if she was just waiting for something to strike. As she came up to the center of what seemed to be the town square she noticed a fountain. As she approached the fountain, a form rose from the water.

“I see. So you’re the chosen one.” the figure stepped out of the fountain with a scoff. “The celestial staff should’ve picked me.” he said, jabbing a thumb toward himself. “Nevereth Bladestrife, teen prince of Angstmore.” he said, finishing his introduction. Luz was wary of him, as he also lacked the magical aura, though Luz couldn’t deny that he was pretty hot. Maybe this quest would have some good parts?

Meanwhile, Eda followed King as he found the place where this wizard had been.

“This is where we met the wizard.” King said, as Eda pushed aside the tarp covering the entranceway, revealing a crumbling castle. “Woah, it wasn’t like this before.” King commented.

“Well, it was definitely a trap, and I’m liking this less and less as I learn more.” Eda commented. She could feel a protective fury building up in her. Not a feeling she ever thought she would feel, but she already had a soft spot for the half-human, and her instincts told her to go find the hybrid sooner rather than later, but not before she noticed the dozens of scrolls lying around that had the same map as the one the wizard had given to Luz. 

Luz was walking with Nevereth listening to his likely fake, but still well told, backstory.

“Nevereth, your vengeful backstory is so compelling.” Luz said, not adding that it sounded very fabricated, as if it had been pulled out of a young adult novel. Luz and Nevereth arrived at a bridge, when one of the cat-like creatures from the village jumped onto the bridge in front of them, startling them both. Luz let out a small “Weh” of surprise. Once again, the cat-like creature was missing the magic aura around him, which Luz had a feeling would be true for all the creatures she met on this so-called “quest”. 

“Ew.” Nevereth said, seemingly disgusted with the cat-like creature that had jumped in front of them on the bridge.

“Humdy-didle, to pass the bridge, you must first solve my riddle.” the cat said jovially. 

“Hit me, little furry man.” Luz said, sounding like she was ready to pass his test.

“Your quest will stop if you fail this game, so tell me, dear, what is my name?” the cat-like creature asked. Luz noticed he had a nametag on. Leaning closer she saw it said “Chris” on it.

“Uhh… Chris?” Luz guessed.

“That’s it. You may cross the bridge. And take this chosen one, it shall help you on your journey.” Chris said, and handed a ring to Luz. Luz decided she wouldn’t mind gaining some cool accessories while springing this trap. Nevereth offered Luz a cape, which she was going to decline, until Nevereth offered to give her his shirt as a cape. When Luz saw Nevereth’s beautiful abs, she couldn’t help but be willing to accept the cape. Nevereth really was the perfect looking man. Perhaps too perfect, now that Luz thought about it. Nevereth led the group in giving three cheers for the chosen one. 

Eda and King arrived at the town Luz had arrived at, now looking as crumbling as the castle, and seemingly deserted.

“Are you sure she came here?” Eda asked King, not liking where this was heading.

“I can’t mistake her smell. It’s actually similar to my scent, but with a hint of lemons and young, naive confidence.” King said, knowing the distinct scent the half-human had. Eda walked ahead, finding the fountain that Nevereth had appeared from. There was a cat-like creature there, laying limp, like a puppet with its strings cut. 

“Hey, wake up, you. What have you done with Luz? What’s your endgame?” Eda asked, shaking the cat-like creature for good measure.

“To find your pupil, and still your wrath, look ahead, and follow the path.” the cat-like creature laughed evilly as it shriveled and blew away to dust in Eda’s hands.

“Ah, the cat-man melted.” King exclaimed, stating the obvious.

“Okay, so we were right, it’s a trap. Now we hope Luz can stall long enough to stay alive, and give us the element of surprise.” Eda said.

Luz continued along the path, with a cute, stereotypical fairy having joined Luz’s party. Luz had been suspicious of the quest from the start, and the fact that she hadn’t run into any danger beyond the seemingly empty shells of her travelling companions made her sure that this was a trap, if there had been any doubt in her mind before. She wondered if anyone would be stupid enough to fall for this trap, it seemed so obvious. The fairy offered Luz a pair of bracelets which Luz took, although she was starting to become wary of all the accessories, as they all had some faint magic surrounding them. 

As they walked forward a bit farther, Chris spoke up.

“Your quest will soon come to an end, for the staff you seek is around the bend.” Chris said, and Luz quietly thanked whatever deity was out there that this was almost over, though she had a feeling something bad was about to happen. Well, she had agreed to be the bait for this trap, so she shouldn’t expect the easy route. The rest of the party waved her goodbye as she continued onward to spring the trap. Luz came upon a cavern, where the celestial staff sat in the middle of a moat. A stone walkway conveniently rose up out of the water, allowing Luz to cross. Luz crossed the bridge, her anxiety growing as she walked across the bridge. Luz arrived to stand in front of the staff.

“Time to spring the trap.” she muttered under her breath, just in case anybody was listening. She grabbed the staff and pulled it out of its place, illusory magic flowing around the staff and cavern. The staff quickly turned to dust in her hands, the trap had been sprung. Luz just hoped Eda arrived soon enough to save her and take down that wizard guy for good. The flowers around Luz wilted, and the water seemed to flow out through unknown drains, although it might have just been illusion magic. Luz would have to ask Eda to help her identify the different types of magic she could sense. 

Eda was flying with King, trying to get to Luz as fast as she could, now knowing what was going on. 

“I know this guy, he’s no wizard, he’s what you’d call a puppeteer, he specializes in manipulating and scamming people. He must’ve been trying to use Luz to get to me so that he would be able to take down me, and my potion business along with me. Well won’t he be surprised when we turn the tables on him, and take him down instead. Ha!” Eda said, before telling Owlbert to go faster.

Luz was surrounded by puppets all attached to a single demon. Oh, so that’s why the wizard guy didn’t have a magic aura, he wasn’t actually real. Luz supposed that made sense. The demon laughed as he taunted Luz for having “tricked” her, not realizing Luz had sprung the trap on purpose. Suddenly, Luz’s cool accessories bound her. Okay, so that was a small problem that they had not planned for. The puppeteer demon kept talking, telling Luz about how Eda had been stealing his customers for years, and how he was using Luz to get to Eda. He then said that Luz had lured Eda into his trap, because she wanted to think she was special. Luz was smirking on the inside, knowing that Eda was ready to take him down. Now to add the element of surprise.

“No, joke’s on you, because Eda isn’t stupid enough to fall for your trap.” Luz said, defiantly. The demon was slightly taken aback, before a fireball slammed into his back. “Perfect timing Eda!” Luz shouted to her as Eda zoomed into view on her staff. The demon flailed its tentacles towards Eda, managing to grab both her and King. Eda knew when she was in trouble, and decided to try to make a deal.

“Okay, you have me, now let Luz go.” Eda said.

“Oh, she can go if she wants to, but I sense she wants a real fantasy.” the puppeteer said, spraying a mist around Luz. Luz found herself in a black void, before her traveling party appeared, trying to sweet-talk her into staying with them. Luz noticed the chains were no longer binding her. Outside Luz’s mind, Eda yelled at Luz to fight it off. Luz indulged the puppets for a few seconds before shouting “NO!”. She did not notice the blast of magic that radiated from her as she shouted, banishing most of the puppets, including the ones holding Eda and King hostage. Luz dashed forward and swiped her claws at the wizard, one of the puppets that hadn’t been destroyed by her shout. The wizard disappeared in a puff of smoke, the puppeteer hollering in pain. Eda took to blasting a spell at another puppet destroying it and causing even more pain. Luz fought with reckless abandon, but also a fluidity that impressed Eda. She had only known one other person who moved that smoothly, someone who seemed to have bard magic running through their veins, as if their body was always dancing to their own song. Luz and Eda fought off the puppets, and for a second, they thought they had won. Then the voice of the puppeteer shouted behind them.

“Back off, or the dog gets it!” the puppeteer demon said, holding up King with his last remaining puppet. Luz. Saw. Red. She rushed forward in a blur, so fast it looked like she was flash-stepping and leapt at the demon with her claws pointed at him. She landed on his head, her claws sinking into flesh. This caused the last puppet to puff out of existence, then the puppeteer shrunk to a tiny size. Luz quickly ate him in one bite, though he wasn’t quite as tasty as Eda’s cooking. 

“This place is so different than I imagined.” Luz said as soon as her rage abated. “I mean, we just fought a demon who was intent on tricking me, and I just ate him. And you don’t seem to care that I ate him!” Luz said.

“Of course I don’t care that you ate him, although I sort of wish you left some for me, but he was pretty small anyway, so I can understand why you didn’t leave any.” Eda replied.

“Oh. It’s just that, back home, my mami was always mad when I would bring dead animals home after going hunting when I was hungry during the night.” Luz said, looking down. Eda once again was concerned about how the half-human’s life had been in the human realm. Obviously she was different, but just what kinds of problems were caused by her differences?

“You know what kid? I have something I want to show you, but it’s a surprise.” Eda said, as she pulled out a blindfold for Luz to wear. "So put this on, and I’ll tell you when to take it off to gain maximum effect. No peeking.” Eda said. Luz decided she trusted the owl lady enough to trust her with this, so she put on the blindfold. She felt herself rise into the air, Owlbert’s power thrumming through the staff underneath her. 

“So, what was that shout magic you did earlier kid? Did you learn some kind of bardic-adjacent magic without me knowing?” Eda asked as they rose into the sky.

“What do you mean?” Luz asked, confused. 

“I’m talking about when you destroyed those puppets and destroyed a bunch of them with your shout that released the wave of citrine-midnight-purple magic.” Eda replied, surprised that Luz hadn’t noticed that.

“Huh, I don’t remember using magic on purpose, but I don’t even know how to do that.” Luz said. “Oh, and that reminds me, can you teach me to identify different types of magic?” Luz asked hopefully.

“What are you talking about kid?” Eda asked, not daring to believe what she was hearing.

“You know, how different types of magic feel, so that you know what type of magic someone else is using, like the illusions the puppeteer used today.” Luz said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Kid, that’s called having a magic sense, and it’s exceptionally rare, almost no witches have it, and very few demons have it. The only other person I know who has it is King, and he’s a unique case.” Eda said.

“Oh.” Luz replied, not sure what to say.

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you, kid?” Eda said, as she shook her head at the mystery that was Luz Noceda. She had no idea what was going on with this kid, but hopefully she would find out more soon.

Eventually, they arrived at their destination. “Okay, you can look now.” Eda said, and Luz took the blindfold off.

“Woah,” was all Luz could muster at the sight before her. The island in all its glory could be seen from where they sat in the air. It was majestic looking, and Luz realized that it was a giant skeleton. Wait, she was living on a corpse? Weird.

“The bones of the Isles.” Eda said. “Up close the Isles can be slimy-”

“And very stinky.” King interjected.

“And gross.” Eda finished. “But if you look at them from a different point of view…”

“It’s beautiful.” Luz said. They sat there for a few minutes, just enjoying the view, even as Luz felt a tugging at her heart strings. After a few minutes, Eda decided they needed to head back to the owl house and have dinner, before resting after the day’s ordeal. King unsurprisingly slept by Luz’s side again, just like the night before. It felt surprisingly natural for the both of them. Luz supposed this was similar to having a sibling. She had always wanted a sibling, but her dad had gotten sick before Camila could have another kid. But Luz decided that King was close enough. They both drifted off to sleep, both having smiles on their faces.

Chapter Text

Luz woke up to the sun shining in her face, King tucked into her side. It had been a few days since the whole ordeal with Adegast, and Luz had eaten him. Luz had been surprised that Eda hadn’t seemed at all concerned that Luz had eaten the demon once he shrunk. Maybe she would be able to hunt animals here. She’d have to ask Eda about that later. Once Luz was ready for the day, she went downstairs, where Eda had just started making breakfast. She hadn’t bothered waking King up, knowing that he would be woken up by the smell of breakfast cooking. The clacking of her claws on the floor alerted Eda to her presence, even though it wasn’t very loud.

“Hey kiddo.” Eda said. “Are you ready for the healer’s appointment today?” Eda asked. 

“Oh, yeah, I am.” Luz responded. Truthfully, she had forgotten about the healer’s appointment today, even though Eda had told her about a few days ago. It wasn’t her fault she had a bad memory! But, either way, she was ready for it, though she wasn’t sure how helpful it would be. She had never had any helpful experiences with doctors in the human realm, so she wasn’t sure how effective it would be in this realm. But, maybe the healer would at least be able to tell her what type of demon she was. That would definitely be helpful. It was at this moment King walked into the kitchen, his claws clacking on the floor just like Luz’s had. 

“Oh, King, I scheduled an appointment with a healer for you too. I figured that if Luz was having a healer’s appointment, you needed one too.” Eda told King.

“Fine, as long as I don’t have to get poked by any needles.” King said. He was not fond of needles, and tried to avoid them if possible.

“I make no promises.” Eda replied. “Speaking of which, Luz you probably need to get immunizations against common diseases here on the Boiling Isles. You’re not scared of needles, are you?” Eda asked.

“I don’t actually know.” Luz said. “My mami stopped taking me to the doctor a long time ago, since I never got sick, and the doctors had no way to explain what I was. Hopefully the healer will be able to tell me what I am.” Luz said.

“Again, no promises, but hopefully we’ll be able to find out what your demon half is.” Eda said. With that, Eda continued making breakfast. Eda said that Hooty sometimes cooked, but also advised Luz to not be in the kitchen when Hooty was cooking, unless she wanted to be traumatized. Luz decided she preferred to remain not traumatized, and made a mental note to avoid the kitchen whenever Hooty cooked. However, Eda had mentioned that Hooty was a surprisingly good cook, so she said she would let him cook soon. 

It wasn’t long before Eda had finished making breakfast, and the residents of the owl house ate together, with Luz finishing her breakfast first, to the surprise of no one. After everyone had finished breakfast, they got ready to go to the healer’s clinic. As soon as they were all ready, they headed out, with Eda telling Hooty to watch over the house while they were out. They quickly made their way down a path that led to Bonesborough. Luz was still amazed at the different types of demons and witches in Bonesborough, but made an effort to not stare at anything. Eventually, Eda led them to an unremarkable looking alley, stopping them there.

“Uh, Eda, are you sure the clinic is here? I don’t see anything here.” Luz commented, not seeing anything that looked remotely like a clinic nearby.

“What, do you think the clinic is just out in the open? Healer Schmarkov is a wild witch, she isn’t going to have her clinic in the open.” Eda replied, as she rapped on the wall in a specific order. Part of the wall suddenly opened, revealing a corridor leading downwards. After they all crossed the threshold, the wall closed back up, as multiple lamps flared to life to lead the way. They eventually made it to the waiting room, which looked like a regular human realm waiting room. Luz had expected it to look more earthy, as the waiting room seemed to be underground, but apparently they had made it look like a regular room. Eda went up to the desk to check Luz and King in. There were a few other patients in the waiting area, but not many. They all seemed to be single witches, there didn’t seem to be any other families there. 

“Hey, Eda, I think we’re the only family here.” Luz said, voicing her observation.

“Of course we are, most wild witches don’t have families. It’s kind of hard to care for a family when you’re on the run from the law all the time.” Eda replied, stating it like it was obvious. It didn’t take too long before they were called to the back, they got in before some of the patients that had arrived before them. Being friends with the owner definitely had some perks.

“Eda, do they happen to carry pain medication here? That numbing potion you gave me for the pain in my back doesn’t seem to be working quite well enough, because my back still feels sore.” Luz asked, a sudden soreness in her back.

“Really? I made sure to make the numbing potion correct, and give you the correct dose for the bruises you still had after the fight with Wrath, which are nearly gone by the way.” Eda said. Maybe there was something more going on with her back, Eda hadn’t looked too closely, just close enough to see that the bruising had gone down a bit. “I’ll ask Healer Schmarkov about it.” Eda said as they followed a nurse to a room. The nurse then left, letting them know that Healer Schmarkov would be seeing them soon. It only took a few minutes before a witch poked their head into the room. They wore a white lab-coat, sort of like what pharmacists wore. However, the lab-coat also had blue trim around the hem. She also wore black pants. A blue hairband kept her hair out of her face.

“Kids, this is Healer Schmarkov.” Eda said, introducing the kids to the witch. 

“Hello, I’m Luz.” Luz said.

“Hi I’m King.” King greeted.

“Nice to meet you two.” Healer Schmarkov said. “Eda said she was bringing you two in for a check-up today. Luz will go first. So, Luz, could you please sit on the table?” Healer Schmarkov asked. Luz quickly hopped up on the table, which was similar to the ones in the human realm, just without the crinkly tissue paper that they usually had. Cleaning magic worked really well when cast correctly. 

“So, first, I’m just going to do a basic scanning spell.” Healer Schmarkov explained. She drew a blue spell circle above Luz’s head. She slowly moved it down her body, an illusion showing her the results of the scanning spell. Once she had finished, the ring of magic disappeared. “Well, I noticed a few interesting things. The first is that you don’t have a bile sac. Instead, the magic seems to be made naturally, sort of like your blood. Also, you have a lot of magic flowing through your blood, making it slightly resistant to my scanning spell. Third, you seem to be naturally immune to most, if not all, sicknesses, even ones that are usually highly contractable. It seems the magic in your blood makes it unsuitable for most pathogens to survive in. However, it may be possible that things already inside your body can make you sick. For example, the scan said you have lactose intolerance, so that will still affect you. Finally, it looks like you're entering your demon puberty. Your tail is growing in, which should be relatively painless. However, I can’t say the same for your wings and horns, which are also starting to grow in. See, your wings and horns develop subdermally, which means there is skin above them. Eventually that skin needs to be moved out of the way, so…” Healer Schmarkov didn’t finish the thought.

“You mean my horns and wings will burst through my skin?” Luz asked with dread. Healer Schmarkov just nodded. Well fuck, both Luz and Eda thought at the same time.

“I’ll prescribe some pain numbing medication for when you need it, and you will need it. Also, your claws should be growing some more. It shouldn’t affect you much besides being a bit stiff. And finally, I noticed that you have compound hair follicles. You will likely have fur growing in very soon. You are also slightly malnourished, so I’m going to prescribe you a supplement potion.” Healer Schmarkov said. “Now, since you are immune to pathogens, you probably don’t need any vaccinations, so I’ll look at King now.” Healer Schmarkov said. Luz and King switched places, King going over to sit on the table, and Luz standing next to Eda. Healer Schmarkov made the same spell circle as before, and did the same thing she did for Luz, though it didn’t take as long because King was much smaller than Luz. 

“Interesting,” Healer Schmarkov said, seemingly to herself. She plucked one of King’s furs, much to King’s surprise, and also plucked a hair from Luz’s head. She then went over to a cabinet and pulled out a blue potion from it. She dropped the fur from King in it, and it stayed blue, then she dropped Luz’s hair in it. She then re-corked it, and swirled it gently. After a few seconds, the blue potion gave way to green.

Luz looked over to Eda to see that her mouth was hanging open.

“Eda, what does green mean?” Luz asked her. Eda was too shocked to reply.

“It means you and King are siblings.” Healer Schmarkov replied. Now Luz and King both had their mouths hanging open as well.

“I should have realized that sooner.” Eda muttered to herself. “You both smell the same, and you both have a magic sense. I should have been able to connect the dots.” Eda continued muttering to herself. So that’s what the owl beast meant about family, Eda realized. My life just continues to get crazier as time goes on. 

“Do you know what species they are?” Eda asked.

“I have no idea.” Healer Schmarkov replied. “I have never seen their kind of demon on the Boiling Isles. Although you may have better luck in someone who specializes in beast demons, as I don’t know much about beast demons, although I will say they seem to both be bipedal demons. Otherwise, they are something that is not from the Boiling Isles.” Healer Schmarkov replied.

“I’m pretty sure they aren’t beast demons, most beast demons aren’t capable of higher thought. But if even you don’t know what they are, then I doubt anyone does.” Eda said. And I just so happened to adopt two unknown demons, that are the only two that I’ve ever seen or heard about, not to mention that one of them is from the human realm, Eda thought to herself. However, now that both Luz and King were done with their check-ups, it was time for them to leave. They all said goodbye to Healer Schmarkov, and left with the first batch of potions she had prescribed for Luz, which were a bright yellow color, not too different from Eda's potions .

~~~~~~~~~~

The sun was shining high in the sky as Eda, King, and Luz were standing on the beach. In front of them was the giant carcass of some kind of slug-like creature. When Eda had said they were going to the beach, Luz had thought it was going to be more… fun, than looking at a carcass, or whatever they were doing here.

“Well, Luz, did you ever think you would see something as magnificent as this?” Eda asked, full of excitement. Luz was noticeably less excited.

“I don’t like this.” Luz said hesitantly, slightly put off by the giant carcass.

“Yes, it doesn’t get much more inspiring than the trash slug,” Eda continued as if she hadn’t heard Luz. “It makes a home, a life, from what others have thrown by the wayside. Until BLAM,” Eda punctuated this by smacking her palm into her hand, “it gets blasted by a wave and croaks from all the salt. Now, we get to sell the stuff it ate.” Eda said happily, holding out a pickaxe to Luz.

“Please don’t make me.” Luz said, leaning away from the pickaxe.

“Aw, come on Luz, it’s not every day you get to pick apart a garbage carcass.” King said sarcastically, laying out a towel on the beach.

“Eh. nuts to you both.” Eda said, before she started swinging the pickaxe.

“So Eda, what if we tried some new lessons for my apprenticeship? Like, read ancient scrolls, or mix together potions, or-” Luz began, but was cut off by Eda.

“Eh, that sounds like a bunch of magic school stuff.” Eda said dismissively. 

“Wait, is there a magic school here? Like winding towers, cute uniforms, dark plots that threaten your life, kind of magic school?” Luz asked with sparkling eyes, already in love with the thought of magic school.

“Mhmm, what’s worse, they force you to learn magic the “proper” way, the way Emperor Bonehead wants people to learn. But magic isn’t proper! It’s wild and unpredictable. That’s why it’s so beautiful. I didn’t finish school and look at me! Who wouldn’t envy where I am right now?” Eda said. The picture of her standing next to a carcass with flies buzzing around her did not make her argument very compelling.

“I don’t think anyone would want to be here.” Luz whispered, too quietly for anyone else to hear.

“Uhhh, here’s a lesson. A great witch is resourceful like this.” Eda said, grabbing Luz’s hand and putting in a pool of some kind of liquid. Luz felt around until she found something.

“Oh, hey, a greasy slime ball.” Luz said with clear disappointment as she pulled out her “prize”.

“Use your slime ball wisely, young demon.” Eda said, as if she were trying to impart some important piece of wisdom. “Now back to it! We’ll hit the stink nodes first.” Eda continued.

“Actually, if it’s okay, I think I’ll head back to the owl house, and look at pictures of animals that are still alive.” Luz said, backing away. “Love you King. You little beach peach.” Luz told her brother as she left, rubbing his tummy. Oh, right, King was her brother. They had decided they would talk about that revelation later that night probably during or after dinner.

“More for me then.” Eda said happily, going back to continue picking through the trash slug. She threw a tuba out of the trash slug that landed on King’s head.

“Weh!?” King shouted.

~~~~~~~~~~

Luz was walking on a path through the forest. She had already gone back to the owl house and washed her hands, but decided it was too nice of a day to stay inside, so she decided to take a walk. As long as she stayed on one of the paths, she would probably be okay. Besides, her fangs and claws were good weapons if anything tried to attack her. Luz felt the slime ball in her pocket bump against her leg.

“Ugh, if magic is all about digging for slime balls, maybe I don’t have the stomach for it.” Luz said to herself.

“You can do it. You are good enough.” Luz heard a voice say.

“Mysterious voice of encouragement?” Luz said, following where the voice came from. Parting some bushes, she saw a witch in a clearing, the source of the voice she heard.

“No, little witch girl.” Luz said, realizing that it was not, in fact, a mysterious disembodied voice of encouragement.

“You can do it. Even if you get a bad grade, it’s not a reflection of you as a witch. And my dads are right, there are better opportunities on this track. Now get to school!” she encouraged herself, accidentally stepping on a flower as she ended her pep-talk session.

“Oh no! Oh, little friend, I’m sorry.” the girl said to the flower. She got down next to the flower and drew a green spell circle. Green sparkles floated down from the spell circle, and the flower immediately shot back up, looking as if it hadn’t been stepped on. Luz gasped at the display of magic. Suddenly the girl’s ears wiggled as a sound approached another girl rolled into view wearing the same orchid leggings and sleeves with the light grey tunic and dark grey cowl as the other girl. She sat atop a pot that was on a wheelbarrow-like thing, except it was flat with sides, not curved like a wheelbarrow, and it was also a lot larger. Luz noticed that it was somehow moving by itself. Luz also noticed the gem around the girl’s neck. She did not like the magic that the gem was giving off. It got more intense as the girl rolled to a stop in front of the girl that was still kneeling next to the flower on the ground. Luz looked at the book she was reading, called Magic 101. Luz felt that book probably had nothing to do with the energy coming from the gem. 

“Willow.” the girl sitting on the pot said, revealing the name of the flower girl to Luz. “Wow, you’re so unnoticeable I almost rolled into you.” the girl, which Luz was somehow only now realizing that she had green hair, said to the newly “introduced” Willow. Her voice was somewhat haughty, in a way that sounded almost artificial to Luz. She said it like she was reading a script, or repeating something that someone else had said. Or maybe she had just said it hundreds of times before. The flower in front of Willow immediately fell back down as Willow stood up.

“Hi, Amity.” Willow said in a way that made it clear she was not happy to see Amity.

“Shouldn’t you get to class early to prep your-” Amity began to say, only for the pot on what Luz assumed was Willow’s cart to rattle and shake, before tipping over and spilling a liquidy substance onto the ground.

“Oh, Willow. You don’t have anything to show, do you?” said Amity, in a very condescending voice, as if she was faking trying to be nice.

“Witch drama!” Luz whispered from where she was watching. Willow pulled her cowl over her head, her cheeks heating up in embarrassment. 

“This is why people call you half-a-witch Willow.” Amity said to her, still using the same condescending voice. Amity’s pot began to rattle.

“Oh, looks like somebody wants to say something to you.” Amity said, pulling the lid off of her pot. “Abomination, rise.” Amity said with a snap. A goopy monster rose out of the pot, the same color as Willow’s liquidy substance, but much more solid than what Willow had. Luz was guessing this was what it was supposed to look like.

“You’re a… star.” it said slowly as it leaned over and drew a star on Willow’s forehead with its goop.

“Aw, it’s like mine.” Amity said, straightening her star badge that said “Top Student” on it. “But much smaller and meaningless. As top student, it’s my duty to tell you to keep at it. Even you could get a passing grade someday. Abomination, cower.” Amity said, and the abomination sank back into the pot. “See you in class, superstar.” Amity said as she pushed her cart off, going towards the nearby school. Luz stuck her tongue out at Amity as she walked away. Amity was definitely acting like a puta to Willow.

“Oh, see you in class, superstar.” Willow said, mocking Amity once Amity was out of earshot. “I hate when she does that.” Willow said as she wiped the abomination goop off of her forehead. “I hate making abominations, I hate getting bad grades, ugh, I can’t stand this anymore.” Willow said angrily, as a breeze suddenly started to pick up around her. Her eyes turned fully green, as thorny vines suddenly shot out from where the flower was. One of the vines grabbed Luz by the ankle and dragged her towards the girl.

“Weh!” Luz shouted as she was dragged through the air by the vine. The vine dropped her, and Willow turned to face Luz.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Not a bad haul. That oviduct was loaded.” Eda said.

“Ah, lose apprentice, gain garbage eggs. Fair trade.” King said snarkily.

“Pfft, I didn’t lose anything.” Eda replied.

“If you don’t teach Luz right, you will. And that’s when I come in. Make her my apprentice.” King said.

“Ha! You want to make your sister your apprentice? What would you teach anyway? How to get stuck in the arm of a sweater?” Eda said.

“Hey, that only happened once!” King yelled angrily. “I’d teach her about demons, how to identify them, talk to them, raise an army with them and tear apart the world! If she’s my sister, then she is the queen of demons and she needs to know these things.” King said. Eda felt a pang of guilt at King calling Luz the queen of demons. She would break the news to him tonight. She knew it would shatter his world, and his trust in her, but it was time for him to know the truth. At least he had his sister to comfort him. But, for now, she was going to tease him.

“After they tear you out of the sweater, right?” Eda said.

“You think you’re so smart? Well, why don’t we make a little bet, where I can prove that I’d make a better teacher?” King said.

“Okay. I’m obligated to remind you that I only use our bets to utterly and thoroughly humiliate you. And, that you’ve never won.” Eda said. 

“I like those odds.” King said confidently. Surely he would win this bet. It would be a piece of cake for him. 

“So how’s this? Teach this trash slug to be your loyal soldier in one day, prove that you can be a better teacher than me, and Luz is all yours. But, if you don’t, I change your name from King to Mr. Wiggles.” Eda said, though she knew she would never actually call King Mr. Wiggles for more than a day, and would probably completely forget about it by the end of the week. Well, that’s how your memory worked when you had Various Attention Stimulus Trait, or VAST. The human realm called it something different, though Eda wasn’t sure what it was called in the human realm. Eda had realized Luz seemed to have it as well. Maybe she knew what it was called in the human realm. Eh, whatever. It didn’t matter right now.

“Okay, well when you lose you’ll have to… wear a shame hat. And sleep in a shack, and never come into the owl house again. Ha!” King said. 

“Deal.” Eda replied with a smirk. King stamped his paw on the page of the notebook Eda was holding to officially seal the challenge. Eda tossed a trash slug egg to King, which cracked on his head, releasing the baby trash slug. This will be too easy, Eda thought to herself. The trash slug slid down King’s skull, and King caught it in his hands.

~~~~~~~~~~

Luz looked at the girl with out of control magic with a mix of amazement and fear. The girl finally seemed to notice that she had accidentally snared someone with her vines. The green glow faded from her eyes.

“Oh, nonononono.” The girl said as she went over to Luz and made the vines retract. “I’m so sorry.” Willow apologized to Luz. 

“It’s okay, I have tough skin.” Luz replied. It seemed her demon half made her especially durable. Willow suddenly got really close to Luz’s face.

“So… circle-y.” Willow said, noticing Luz’s ears. Luz let out a yelp, quickly covering her ears.

*gasp* “You’re a human. A human on the Boiling Isles. This is astounding! How’d you get here? What are you doing here?” Willow asked.

“Actually, I’m only half human.” Luz said, but that’s all she was able to say before a bell in the distance started to ring.

“I’m sorry, I can’t stay. I have to go disappoint my teacher.” Willow said sadly. “It was nice to meet you, human.” 

“Wait! I’m Luz, and you’re Willow, right? What you did with that flower and those plants was amazing.” Luz said. 

“Thanks, but I’m not even supposed to be doing plant magic. My dads put me in the abomination track at school.” Willow said. Luz let out a shriek and got really close to Willow. Willow leaned back with an expression that basically asked “What is wrong with this girl?” 

“Like, magic school!?” Luz asked with excitement, unaware of Willow’s obvious discomfort. Willow nodded as Luz’s smile grew. “That’s so cool!” Luz said excitedly. “I’m so jealous. I have a teacher, but her lessons are a bit… strange and untraditional.” Luz said, making a hand gesture to emphasize her point. “I bet she wouldn’t even let me enroll.” Luz said sadly. “But I wish I could spend one day there.”

“I wish I could get a passing grade for once. Then people would stop calling me half-a-witch Willow.” Willow said, lightly kicking her abomination puddle. Luz suddenly got an idea. They might not have a genie to grant their wishes, but they could help each other get what they wanted.

“Hey, wait, I know how we can both get what we want. Make me your abomination!” Luz said, picking up some of the abomination goop and slapping it onto herself. “I’ll get you a good grade, and you can get me into magic school! It’s fiendishly clever.” Luz said, wiggling her eyebrow at Willow.

“What!?” Willow exclaimed, surprised by Luz’s idea. Sure, she wanted a good grade, but she would probably get put in detention if she was caught cheating on an assignment! She did not want that to happen, she heard it was worse than getting expelled, not that she would want that either.

“I saw that girl’s thing, it was just chunks of stuff that talks weird. I’m chunks of stuff, and I talk weird!” Luz said happily. Willow had to admit that Luz’s plan had more merit the more that she explained it. It could actually work. As afraid as she was of being caught, she really wanted to get a good grade, and she had a real chance to do it here. She could finally prove that she wasn’t a half-a-witch, even if she slightly cheated. Hopefully, no one would notice.

“Hmmm… that’s true. Okay, it’s a deal, Luz.” Willow said, shaking Luz’s hand.

“This is a great plan.” Luz said happily. They tried to pull their hands apart, but they were stuck together by the abomination goop on Luz’s hand.

“Oops, abomination goop.” Willow said. After a little bit of pulling, their hands were free, though Luz fell backwards into the abomination goop getting fully covered in it.

“Great plan!” Luz said from her spot on the ground.

“Welcome to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. Remember to stay hidden, okay?” Willow said to Luz as they approached the school building. Luz squealed at the sight of the magic school. As Willow opened her locker, which seemed to be alive, a younger-looking student bumped into her.

“Willow, you would not believe humans.” the younger witch said.

“Pfft, humans. I haven’t seen any.” Willow said in a very squeaky voice.

“Did you know humans nail barbed wire to their kids’ teeth!? But why? Maybe to make them magnetic.” he theorized. 

“Actually, it’s for storing treats.” Luz joked from the pot she was in. The younger witch looked at Willow with confusion. Willow just hung her head in defeat. 

“Okay, Augustus. I’m gonna tell you something, but you have to be cool.” Willow warned the younger witch, who was apparently named Augustus. 

“I can be spool… I mean cool.” Augustus said.

“Okay, abomination. Rise.” Willow commanded. Luz rose out of the pot.

“Ta-da. I’m an abomination.” Luz said.

“Luz, that’s not how abominations act.” Willow replied. 

“No… no, it, it couldn’t be.” Augustus said in disbelief, playing with his ears.

“He’s the president of the Human Appreciation Society. Most witches wouldn’t be able to recognize a human right away. But Augustus is an expert.” Willow explained.

“Just want to clarify that I’m only half human, I’m also half demon.” Luz said.

“Where are your gills!?” Augustus exclaimed, questioning his credibility as a human expert. 

“I knew an Augustus back in the human realm. Everyone just called him Gus.” Luz said. 

“Gus!? Nickname!? Human nickname?! Call me it! Wow! Gus. This is the best day of my life.” Gus said with a lot of excitement. After Gus finished saying that, the bell screamed.

“I’ve gotta get to spelling class.” Gus said, picking up his magazine and wand. “I’ll see you guys at lunch.” he said before running off. I wonder if by spelling class he means casting magical spells. Luz thought to herself.

“Alright, into the darkness you go.” Willow said to Luz. Luz hissed as she went back down into the pot.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Aw, who’s a good Prince Jr.? Who’s a good guy?” King said to the trash slug he was trying to train. He was dangling a treat over it to keep its attention.

“Hey, Mr.Wiggles. You’re not gonna teach it anything doing that.” Eda teased him.

“It’s called positive reinforcement, Eda, and it works wonders. Maybe you should try it.” King said back, as the trash slug ate the treat King had in his hand, causing it to grow slightly bigger. “Ha! See? Now watch this. Prince Jr., attack Eda, knock over her drink, mess up her hair.” King tried to command the trash slug, but the trash slug did not seem to understand the assignment, entirely focused on the treat King was holding.

“Oh no, please stop.” Eda said mockingly.

“Yeah? Well, I haven’t seen your student in forever. She’s been gone all day. For all we know, she’s not even loyal to you anymore.” King said. Secretly he was hoping she would come back, she was his sister after all. But for now, he could use it to his advantage. Meanwhile, Prince Jr. stole another treat from King. 

“Ha ha ha, you wish. But yeah, where is she?” Eda said.

~~~~~~~~~~

Willow entered the Abomination 101 classroom with the rest of the students. They were muttering about how nervous they were about the assignment they had been given. As the presentations kept going, all the students were doing badly. One had too many eyeballs, another was too runny. The most recent one had too many toenails in unexpected places.

“Pathetic. The biggest abominations are all of you. If the next abomination is a failure, everyone gets extra homework for a month.” the abominations teacher said. Everyone grumbled at this. “And the next one to come up is-” the abomination teacher began, but was cut off by Amity.

“Excuse me, sir, but I am ready to present my abomination. Rise!” Amity said, causing her abomination to rise out of the pot. The teacher just laughed.

“I always save the best for last, Amity. You’ll just have to wait your turn. How about… Willow?” he said. The grumbles returned, the students were sure they were about to get extra homework. 

“Don’t worry Willow, we got this.” Luz said from her pot, giving Willow a thumbs up. Willow gave Luz a small smile. She rolled her cart up to the front of the room. 

“Abomination, rise.” Willow squeaked out nervously. Luz punched the lid off the pot and leaped out with a “Ta-da”. The students all gasped.

“Abomination, bow.” Willow said with more confidence, and Luz followed her instructions, bowing. 

“Very impressive. But does it speak?” the teacher asked. 

“Uh, I may be your abomination, but you’re my a-mom-ination.” Luz said, going up to Willow. The teacher seemed to very much enjoy Luz’s wordplay and gave Willow an A, writing the letter on Luz’s forehead. The teacher congratulated Willow on her way out, and Willow was very proud that the scheme Luz had concocted actually worked. Hopefully people would stop calling her half-a-witch Willow now, at least until the next assignment. 

“Hey,” Amity said, suddenly appearing in front of Willow when she turned to go to lunch. “Last time I saw your abomination, it was mush. What did you do to make it… that?” Amity questioned Willow.

“Uh, I took your pep talk to heart, Amity.” Willow lied.

“Sure you did.” Amity said in a way that made it obvious that she didn’t believe that. “I’m watching you, half-a-witch.” Amity said, walking backwards as she walked away so that she could literally watch Willow.

“Uh oh. I think Amity is on to us.” Willow said.

~~~~~~~~~~

Eda slammed open the front door of the owl house.

“Have you seen Luz?” she asked Hooty.

“I heard her tiny mouse feet walking nearby. Or maybe that was a mouse. Either way, someone started moving in that direction. Hoo, hoo hoo.” Hooty said, trying to point with his head, which was rather unsuccessful. 

“Are you trying to point?” Eda asked.

“Look at the weather vane!” Hooty said. Eda took a few steps back to where the weather vane was pointing.

“But the only thing that way is the… *gasp* no. No no no no no no no.” Eda said as she ran towards Hexside. She looked through the windows seeing all the things she hated about school, before finally seeing Luz in one of the classrooms. 

“No, why, school.” Eda said dramatically, as she sank to her knees.

~~~~~~~~~~

Willow and Gus were at lunch, with Luz’s pot at the side of the table.

“Hey, do humans eat PB&J?” Gus asked Luz, pulling out his sandwich.

“Oh my gosh, yes, please give me some.” Luz said, so Gus gave her half of his sandwich.

“I don’t know Gus… if Amity saw that-” Willow began as Luz sank back into her pot, but was cut short as Amity landed on the table out of nowhere. 

“I SAW THAT!” Amity shouted as she landed on the table. “Abominations don’t eat!” Amity continued. “I know you’re in there! Who are you? What are you? I want answers!” Amity yelled as she moved over to Willow’s pot, eventually shaking Luz. When she didn’t get the answers she wanted she backed off, before suddenly getting an evil smile on her face.

“This isn’t over yet, half-a-witch.” Amity said as she walked away. Luz and Willow watched her leave with concern on their faces.

~~~~~~~~~~

King was training Prince Jr. very well, as Eda got back, looking very defeated.

“So, did you find your runaway student? By your expression, I can tell that Luz has gone and found someplace else to learn. Which means I have won!” King exclaimed victoriously. 

“Yes, great, you won. You have a giant soldier thing, and I have nothing. Congrats!” Eda said angrily. 

“Oh, Eda don’t say that, at least you have this.” King said as he pulled out his homemade shame hat, laughing at Eda. Eda snatched the shame hat and stalked off to the shed next to the owl house. King continued to laugh as she walked off.

“I am so funny!” he cheered. “Well, Prince Jr., go forth, make the world tremble at your feet.” King told his trash slug. The trash slug stared at him until he realized it was waiting for more treats. King grabbed the treat box, but found it to be empty. The trash slug loomed right behind King. King let out a scared “Weh”.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Whew, I’m a sweaty little abomination.” Luz said as she climbed out of her pot in an empty classroom, with Willow and Gus with her. “But hopefully, we don’t have to worry about Amity! High five!” Luz said. Both witches looked at her in confusion, so she explained what a high five was. Gus had a lot of fun after doing it the first time, doing it a couple more times in his excitement. Just then, the door opened, and Amity came in, followed by a man Luz didn’t recognize. 

“Good afternoon, students.” he greeted the group, well more like Willow and Gus, as Luz wasn’t a student there.

“Principal Bump.” Willow nervously responded, while Luz slumped to the floor. Bump looked at Luz, examining her closely.

“Abomination, rise.” Principal Bump said. Luz stood up. “Abomination, lie.” Bump commanded. Luz started saying a bunch of false things. Bump cut her off. “Oh, no abomination. How strange for it to get the command wrong. I meant lie down.” Bump said. Luz went and laid down on one of the tables in the classroom. Bump commented on how life-like Luz was. He said he wanted to see what she’s made of.

“Oh, I have her list of ingredients right here.” Willow said.

“No, we were hoping for a closer look.” Bump said, pulling out a knife, to Luz’s horror. Luz had to hold back a scared “Weh”.

“Willow, I’ll allow you to make the first cut.” Principal Bump said, handing the knife to Willow.

“Um, you can’t just cut open a human can you?” Willow quietly said to Luz. Luz shook her head no. Bump encouraged Willow to make the first incision. 

“Wait, Principal Bump!” Gus shouted, causing everyone to look towards him. “Uh, high five!” he said, knocking over three other abomination pots with one hand. “Run!” Gus shouted. Willow and Luz made a run for it.

“They’re getting away!” Amity shouted.

“No, the intruder won’t get far.” Principal Bump said. He went to the wall and drew a spell circle, then activated it, causing runes to appear. 

Willow and Luz were running through the hallways, trying to get to the exit. Luz apologized to Willow, saying that it was all her fault. Willow said it was fine, but that they needed to leave before Bump sealed them in. However, as she was saying that, they were sealed in by magic, with no way to leave.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Help me help me help me!” King said as he scurried into the shed that Eda was currently in. He jumped into Eda’s arms scared. Eda smiled down at her son(?) in her arms, when the door started being banged against.

“Trouble with your student?” Eda asked, with a smirk on her face.

“Yes, yes.” King cried out.

“Are you sure you need my help? Maybe he only wants more of your brilliant lessons.” Eda teased King. The trash slug broke through the doorway and dragged King out of the shed. 

“Please help me! You can call me Mr. Wiggles.” King called out as he was dragged out of the shed. Eda bopped the trash slug in the face making it let go of King. Eda devised a plan, and outlined what they were going to do to King.

~~~~~~~~~~

Luz and Willow were cut off when another hallway was sealed off by the school’s magic. When Bump summoned abominations right behind them, they had to start running again. They hid behind a pillar on the other side of the central part of the school.

“Oh no, this is awful. I have no idea what to do now. Amity is right, I’m just half-a-witch Willow.” Willow said.

“No, you’re full-witch Willow, and you’re great. And someone once told me great witches are resourceful.” Luz said, emptying her pockets to try to find something useful.

“That’s it!” Willow said, grabbing the greasy slime ball. Luz was confused, and asked Willow about it, so Willow explained that it was actually a seed. Willow used the seed to make vines that destroyed the abominations that Bump had made, and eventually pinned him against the ceiling. When Bump looked down, he gasped at the powerful display of plant magic, it could possibly rival the power of Terra Snapdragon, the head of the plant coven. With Principal Bump subdued it seemed like the way to the exit would be easy, but Amity stopped them before they could leave. She summoned multiple abominations to grab Luz and Willow. 

“Get out of our WAY!” Luz shouted, releasing a sonic shockwave at the end. It destroyed all of Amity’s abominations and sent Amity flying a few feet. Luz was able to quickly race toward the exit, going quadrupedal to go faster. Luz suddenly noticed Willow was no longer with her. She looked back to see that Willow had been grabbed by abominations and that Amity was back up. 

“I’m sorry I can’t help you Willow, but I know someone who can.” Luz shouted as she ran off to get Eda to help her new friend.

~~~~~~~~~~

Eda was fighting the trash slug, and eventually got into position, and yelled at King to pour the salt. King was hesitant, but poured it when the trash slug roared at him. The trash slug ended up shrinking back to its original size, then ran off. King cheered at his victory. King thanked Eda for helping and admitted that she is a good teacher. Eda commented how she wished Luz thought that too. Luz chose that moment to run over, calling for Eda, and giving her and King a hug as soon as she reached them. Luz quickly explained how Eda’s lesson worked, but that her new friends were in danger. At that moment, Gus and Willow came running over and enveloped Luz in a three-way hug.

“You won’t believe it Luz, everything is perfect now.” Willow said.

“You’re right, I don’t believe it.” Luz replied. Willow then explained how Bump was so impressed with Willow’s plant magic, that he was switching her to the pant magic track. She showed off her new uniform colors to Luz, which were now green, instead of the orchid they had been earlier.

“Well, I can’t wait to see you in action next time I sneak in.” Luz said.

“About that… you’re kinda sorta banned.” Gus said as he showed Luz her banned poster. 

“That’s my girl!” Eda said happily. Willow offered to teach Luz what they learned, but Luz responded that she already had a pretty great teacher. Eda jokingly told Gus and Willow to back off, before admiring Luz’s banned poster.

“Ah, baby’s first wanted poster. Good job, kid.” Eda told Luz.

~~~~~~~~~~

Well it was finally time to talk about what happened that morning. They had spent dinner telling each other what had happened over the day, but now it was time to talk about how they were siblings. Luz and King sat next to each other on the couch, Eda sitting on a chair across from them. 

“Okay, so before either of you say anything, I need to come clean about something. King, you’re not the king of demons.” Eda said.

“What do you mean? Of course, I’m the king of demons.” King said.

“No, you’re not. I found you on an island eight years ago, when I was trying to escape from the boiling rain. You were inside a tower, and you were just a baby back then.” Eda said. She then pulled out King’s broken horn from her mane of hair. When King grabbed it, he got some of his memories back. 

“I… I really wasn’t the king of demons? I wasn’t important?” he asked quietly.
“You’re important to me.” Luz told him. King put the horn piece where it fit with his broken horn.

“Wait, I remember something. I remember a roar. It meant “son”. I don’t know how I know that, but I do.” King said. 

“Other than that, I don’t know what else to tell you. The two of you are unlike anything I’ve ever seen or heard of, on the Isles or beyond. And somehow, the two of you both ended up finding me. Also, Luz, you’re going to change a lot. If you ever decide you don’t ever want to go back to the human realm, just let me know. I will never force you to go back home or kick you out. You can stay as long as you need to.”

“Thank you, Eda.” Luz said. Luz knew she didn’t belong in the human realm, and Eda was afraid of what Luz’s home life might be like, so the offer made both of them more comfortable, though Luz wasn’t sure if she wanted to take it yet.

“Oh, and also, if you ever want to talk about your life in the human realm, I’m willing to listen.” Eda told Luz.

“Maybe someday, but… not right now.” Luz said. 

~~~~~~~~~~

The kids had already gone to bed and Eda was about to go upstairs to get ready for bed when a knock sounded at her door. Eda knew it wasn’t an intruder, if it was Hooty would have taken care of them, so Eda opened the door to see who had come to her house at this late hour. She had not been expecting to see Hieronymus Bump at her door.

“Listen, about what happened today, I’m sorry-” Eda began, but Bump cut her off.

“Actually, what she did was quite impressive. Not only did she help Miss Park get into the right track, but the shockwave of magic she used is something I have never seen before. Did you teach her that?” Bump asked.

“I wish.” Eda said. “She found that out all on her own, though she doesn’t seem to be able to control it. She’s only been able to use it in times of high stress so far, but I’ll try to help her use it on command. Anything else you wanted to talk about?” Eda said.

“One more thing.” Bump said. “The ban is only for a week. I would like you and your daughter to take a proper tour of the school, and I was hoping you would consider enrolling her in Hexside next semester. I feel it would greatly benefit the students to have such a student as her at the school. And it would make my life less boring.” Bump said, adding the last part with a smile.

“Okay, I’ll think about it.” Eda said. School would be good for Luz, Eda knew she wasn’t fit to be a teacher, but she still wanted to discuss it with Luz. Maybe after the ban was lifted. With that, Principal Bump walked away. Rethinking their conversation Eda only just now realized that Bump had called Luz her daughter. Oh gosh, that was a whole nother headache that she did not want to deal with right now.

Chapter Text

“Here we have a most interesting creature, an unknown demon, facing his natural enemy, the ducky sock.” Luz said in a narrator voice as she filmed King trying to get his nose unstuck from the ducky sock. He eventually succeeded by tearing the ducky sock to pieces.

“Where are you now, ducky sock?” King shouted, stomping on the pieces of the ducky sock.

“So, why’d you call me here again?” Luz asked King. King had called her to the living room, he apparently wanted to show her something. 

“Oh, yeah.” King said as he remembered that he had been planning on showing Luz something. He climbed up to where a large red curtain sat draped over something, hiding whatever was behind it.

“Luz, you have been so focused on learning witchcraft, that you haven’t learned anything about our kind. Prepare for… demons 101!” King said as he pulled the curtain off what it was covering, revealing it to be a board covered with pictures of many different demons. Luz noticed that there was a banner with many different demons on it, and it didn’t escape her notice that giraffes were among the many demons pictured on the banner. She also noticed that King was now wearing a scholar's hat. She had no idea where he got it from, but it looked very cute on him. Luz also had to admit she was excited to learn about demons, maybe she could learn more about her demon ancestry, the part she shared with King. However, she was still more interested in learning magic. Not that she thought King would be a bad teacher or that learning about demons would be boring, but she was just slightly more interested in magic. But it was fine, Eda wasn’t even here right now, so it’s not like Luz had anything better to do anyways. So she sat down in front of the board, happy to let King teach her about demons.

“Demons like us are grim tricksters of the twilight, creatures of sulfur and bone-”

“And cute little paws.” Luz interrupted.

“And cute little paws. True.” King agreed after letting out a sigh. “We live only to create chaos and misery. Our only weaknesses are purified water and passive-aggressive comments. Sometimes.” King said.

“Aw, demons are sensitive. Although I think that goes for anyone.” Luz noted. She had known many humans who would get mad when hearing a passive-aggressive comment aimed at them. 

“Even demons have inner demons.” King responded, only replying to the first part of Luz’s comment. King tore a picture of the board to reveal another picture underneath it. “The most powerful demon of all is the snaggleback. He is a-”

“Bad boy.” Luz interrupted again. She had been recording King’s lecture on her phone, and used some of the video features to add stickers to the video, making the snaggleback seem less like a fearsome monster, and more like a funny joke. King was notably less amused.

“Luz, pay attention. This information could save your life someday.” King said, as Luz continued to play with the filters on her phone.

“No, no, I am so paying attention.” Luz said as she looked up from her phone. “This is my paying attention face. Mhmm, mhmm, mhmm.” Luz said, refocusing herself on King’s lesson. Suddenly, lightning flashed outside, with a roar of thunder at the same time. That's strange, usually thunder comes after lightning. Maybe the weather works a little bit differently here? Luz thought to herself.

“Uh oh, looks like it’s gonna rain.” King said. Luz let out a gasp of delight.

“I love the rain.” Luz said, getting up to make her way to the door.

“Hey, wait.” King called out after her.

“I always love feeling the first few drops in my hair.” Luz said as she made her way out of the door. “I bet you do too, little buddy.” Luz said as she kneeled down next to a flower. A drop of rain hit the flower, causing the flower to immediately wilt while steam came from the contact point, as if the drop of rain had evaporated when it hit the flower. 

“Weh!” Luz called out, falling backwards from being so startled by the flower wilting. Is this some kind of weird acid rain? Luz thought to herself. She noticed it was now raining all around her. But she felt… fine? Maybe the rain only affected plants, not animals? It was a bit warmer than rain in the Human Realm, and it actually felt kind of nice. Eda suddenly came from around the bend, running as fast as she could. 

“Boiling rain! Everybody inside now!” Eda shouted as she ran towards the owl house. She picked Luz up by her hoodie (was this going to be a regular occurrence?) as she ran past her, running into the house so fast that she crashed before being able to stop.

“Few, that was close. But the important thing is, you didn’t get hurt.” Eda said, sitting up from where she had fallen to when she crashed.

“I’m durable, but I think I’m gonna have a bruise from that crash.” Luz said, massaging her shoulder, which had taken the blunt of the impact. “Also, I was fine in the rain. It actually felt nice and warm, especially compared to the cold rain of the human realm.” Luz said. 

“What are you talking about, kid? That rain was boiling.” Eda said.

“Oh, well I’ve never been burned before. Maybe that’s why?” Luz said.

“You’ve never been burned before? Is that a human thing?” Eda asked. Despite going to the human realm herself a couple of times, she didn’t really know all that much about humans.

“No, most humans can get burned. It’s probably from my demon half. I accidentally touched the flame of a candle once, and it didn’t hurt, so it seems that my demon half has fire resistance.” Luz said.

“Kid, you’re just making it harder to answer what kind of demon you and King are.” Eda said, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. Their origins were a mystery, and the fact that they were from two different realms, plus everything else she had learned, was just making answering the question of what they were harder. But she could worry about that later. For now, she needed to get Luz a healing coven patch to stop her shoulder from bruising.

The citizens of Bonesborough were all rushing to find shelter from the boiling rain. Willow made sure to rescue all the plants she had on her balcony, bringing them inside so that they wouldn’t be hurt by the boiling rain. Luz and King were sitting under the awning of the owl house. The healing coven patch that Luz had made her shoulder not hurt as much. King put a band-aid on his nose.

“Look, now we’re boo-boo buddies!” King said happily. Luz let a happy squeal at King’s announcement, she found it cute.

“Oh my gosh, I love you so much.” Luz said, falling onto her side next to him. 

“I love you too.” King told his sister.

“A boiling rainstorm on the Boiling Isles. The weather here is so fun.” Luz said.

“I wouldn’t call it fun.” King said.

“I wouldn’t even call it weather.” Eda said. She was under an umbrella-like shield made of magic in the boiling rainstorm, getting ready to cast a shield over the owl house to protect it from the boiling rain. “We have plagues, gore-nadoes, shale hail, and painbows.” Eda said.

“It’s like a human realm rainbow, but looking at it for too long turns you inside out.” King told Luz, causing her to draw the strings of her cat hoodie as far as they would go, allowing the hoodie to hide part of her face.

“So, until the boiling rain stops, no one is going outside tonight, heat resistance or not.” Eda said.

“And if the rain doesn’t get you, the snaggleback will. They wander the rain, feeding on boiled tourists.” King said, showing Luz the page on the snaggleback in his book.

“Well, whatever the case, this forcefield spell should protect the house from boiling rains and made-up demons.” Eda told them.

“Hoot! Well hurry it up with that forcefield. The rain is getting closer to my precious stucco!” Hooty called out. Wait, can Hooty feel the rain? Just how much of Hooty is the house? Is Hooty the whole house? Luz wondered to herself, but didn’t voice her questions, she wasn’t sure she really wanted the answer to that.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” Eda said. Eda quickly made a second forcefield that spread out to cover the owl house, before it shrink-wrapped to fit the house perfectly. 

“Wow. Someday I’d like to be as cool as Eda the Owl Lady. Cool, magical, surprisingly foxy for her age. Hey, why do they call you the owl lady anyway?” Luz said as Eda walked back over to stand beside them.

“It’s because I’m so wise.” Eda said.

“Cause she coughs up rat bones.” Hooty said.

“I think it’s because she gets distracted by shiny objects.” King said.

“No I don’t.” Eda retorted. King pulled out a pen from under his hat and clicked a button on it, making the fake gem on the top of it light up. Eda’s pupils immediately dilated to a comedic size. 

“It sparkles and shimmers, it shines and delights. I must have it for my nest.” Eda said, before lunging for the pen. King pulled it out of the way, and Eda fell to the ground.

“You have a nest?! I want a nest! Nest party!” Luz said excitedly.

“Ugh, that force field really took it out of me.” Eda said. 

“Uh oh, moving a little slow? Age finally catching up to ya?” King said snarkily. Eda responded by pulling his hat down over his face. “Ah, darkness!” King shrieked. 

“This is perfect! Since we’ll be stuck in the house all night, Eda won’t have any excuse not to teach me magic.” Luz said.

“But don’t you want to finish our lesson? I was going to let you scratch a demon’s tummy. Me!” King said.

“Oh, uh, sorry King. But… magic.” Luz said. King looked sad, and Luz didn’t want him to look so sad, so she added, “But once Eda finishes teaching me a spell, you can teach me about demons the rest of the night.” Luz said. King seemed to accept that, as he stopped looking so sad. Eda walked behind a privacy curtain, and when she came out she was wearing her pajamas. She laid down on the couch, as she didn’t feel like walking up to her nest right now. Suddenly, a shadow was looming over her.

“Oh, Eda, have I told you how rad your fang looks today?” Luz said.

“Whatever it is, no.” Eda said.

“And your hair is like, girl.” Luz said.

“I’m not teaching you magic tonight, I’m sleepy. I’m a sleepy little owl.” Eda said as she grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over herself. 

“Please, Eda, please. How am I supposed to earn my witch's staff if I don’t know any spells?” Luz pleaded.

“No. Sleep.” Eda replied, pulling the blanket over her head. Suddenly she heard a clicking noise. “Sparkle thing.” Eda gasped, pulling the blanket off her head to find where the sparkle thing was. She saw Luz holding it, still standing next to the couch. Eda jumped to the arm of the couch, her eyes following the pen as Luz moved it around. She tried to swipe the pen, but Luz moved it out of the way, causing Eda to fall off the couch.

“Nope.” Luz said as Eda fell off the couch. “Teach me one spell, and I’ll give you your sparkle thing.” Luz said, bribing Eda with the pen.

“I respect your cunning, but I also hate you for it.” Eda said, with a weird mix of admiration and disdain. 

Luz sat down on the floor as Eda stood up. Luz was practically vibrating with excitement.

“If you want a witch’s staff like mine don’t make me repeat myself.” Eda said, though it was obvious that she was tired, and didn’t really want to be doing this right now. “Witch’s staffs have power embedded into them.” Eda said tiredly.

“Gimme.” Luz said eagerly. She already knew witch’s staffs had power in them, she had felt it the first time she rode on Owlbert.

“But, before one is earned, every witch needs to know how to cast spells on their own. Now, tonight I will show you how to create… light.” Eda said. Luz wasn’t sure if the pause was for dramatic effect, or if it was because Eda was tired. Eda drew a spell circle, and a ball of light appeared floating down to rest in front of Luz, before popping like a bubble.

“Yawn. Who needs another boring spell lesson, when you could be learning all the fun ways a demon could kill you?” King said. Luz wasn’t sure she wanted to know all the ways she could be killed by a demon, as she very much preferred being alive. Being killed by a demon was definitely not on her bucket list. “Look how teethy it is! Bite, bite!” King said in a voice that sounded far too cheerful for his chosen topic.

“Not now, King. I need to learn this spell.” Luz said.

“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?” Eda said.

“Um, from the heart?” Luz asked with shimmering eyes.

“Actually, you’re right.” Eda said, surprised that Luz had gotten right. Luz let out a happy gasp. “No, really, it comes from a sac of magic bile attached to a witch’s heart.” Eda said, pulling a diagram out of her hair to show Luz.

“Ew, gross. Can I keep that?” Luz said.

“No.” Eda replied flatly. She put the diagram back in her hair. “Now everything depends on the spell circle. The bigger the circle, the more powerful the spell.” Eda said, demonstrating what she meant by creating a larger circle, which created a larger ball of light.

“But how can I do magic if I don’t have a magic bile sac?” Luz asked.

“Well, the healer said your magic is already in your blood, so you just have to find a way to draw it out. Other than that, I’m not sure, I know magic used to be different, but no one remembers the old ways to do magic, not even me, so I’m not able to teach you that way. But you should be fine, since you have magic of your own, and you’ve already been able to use your magic blast, so we know that you can use your magic. You just need to learn to command it. Go ahead, try it. Just think about light, and feel the magic in you, then draw it towards your fingertips and make a spell circle.” Eda instructed Luz. Luz closed her eyes, and thought about light. She felt the magic in her and thought about bringing it to her fingertip. She opened her eyes, and she saw magic sparks at her fingertip, in the same color as her shockwave magic blasts had been. She got very excited, but then the sparks suddenly sputtered out, before she could even draw a spell circle.

“Aw man.” Luz said. 

“Well you got some sparks kid, anyways, I’m going to bed now.” Eda said. 

“Wait, show me it one more time, I need to record it.” Luz said. Eda made a spell circle one more time, while Luz recorded it on her phone. Then Eda gave Luz a thick book. 

“This is a book about runic. You’re going to need to learn it. Even though the emperor is trying to encourage people to speak more common tongue nowadays, I say it is still important to learn how to speak and read runic. So you might want to study this book a bit. Anyways, I’m going to bed now.” Eda said, going upstairs to go to sleep. She was so tired that she forgot to take an elixir before falling asleep. Luz decided to take a peek at the runic book. She quickly noticed that the symbols were similar to a cipher known as Bill’s substitution cipher. It was unclear who Bill was, or why he made a cipher, but it was interesting anyway. Luz’s dad used to give her small notes using the cipher, but Luz had mostly forgotten the cipher, so she would have to relearn it to write in runic. But she could worry about that later. Right now, she wanted to create a spell circle, and prove she could command her magic. 

“Uh! I can’t figure out how to do this!” Luz whined, as she yet again was only able to make more sparks. “She makes it look so easy. Why you got to be so cryptic owl lady?” Luz said.

“You want to know what’s really cryptish?” King said as he laid his notepad down on top of Luz’s phone. “Let me tell you about the most spine-chilling demon. Smoochie-pie the sweetie baby! He’s a lot more terrifying than the name suggests.” King said.

“Now’s not the best time King. I’m trying to figure out this spell. I need to be able to cast spells on my own if I ever want to get a magic staff.” Luz said.

“Why do you want to learn magic so bad anyway? It’s not like you’re going to get a magic staff as soon as you learn one spell.”
“I was a nobody back home. I was always made fun of because I was different. Do you know what it’s like to have nobody take you seriously, to be pushed away by other people?” Luz asked. King let out a sigh. The irony was killing him.

“If I help you learn that spell, can I finish my lesson?” King asked.

“Oh, definitely. You can teach me about demons all week if you help me learn this spell.” Luz said.

“Well, Eda said magic used to be done differently, right? And I have a theory. Everyday, I notice Eda sneaking drinks of this special elixir. After drinking it, she always gets a boost of energy. I think that elixir gives her a boost of magic. And I know where to get some.” King said. “Really?” Luz asked.

“Yep.” King said.

“Thank you so much, you’re a prince.” Luz said enthusiastically.

“I’m King. Or brother works too.” King said.

“Right.” Luz said. With that plan made, King scampered upstairs to find the elixir; he knew Eda kept some in her room. He entered Eda’s room, and walked over to her nest to make sure she was asleep. Looking in the nest he saw that Eda was deep in sleep, so he decided to bap her face just to make sure. Eda slept straight through it. King decided the coast was clear. Scanning the room, he saw the bottle of elixir sitting on a bedside table. The elixir had a ripped tag on it, with the part still on it saying “an elixir a day” with the rest of the tag missing. King went and grabbed the elixir, then went downstairs to the kitchen, where Luz was waiting for him. 

“Got it!” King said as he handed the elixir to Luz.

“Wow, I can’t believe I’m about to learn magic.” Luz said as she took the bottle of elixir, looking at the shimmering orange-yellow liquid inside. “All right, here goes something.” Luz said as she raised the bottle towards her mouth. However, before she could even take a sip of the elixir, thunder boomed outside, causing Luz to drop the elixir from fright. The bottle smashed on the floor, the elixir flowing. 

“No, the elixir is gone! This is awful.” Luz said, feeling devastated.

“Who even needs a light spell, when we have tons of lamps?” King said. Of course, the lamps went out right after he said that. “Ugh, Hooty controls the house lights, he probably just fell asleep. A crash suddenly came from the direction of the front door, followed by terrified hooting. 

“Oh no, Hooty!” Luz cried, rushing to see what was happening at the front door. Arriving in the living room, she found the shadowy silhouette of a monster standing in front of the door, which had been ripped off its hinges. As soon as the monster saw them, it ran off into the rain. Luz ran up to check on Hooty, who was currently unconscious, and the door had claw marks from the monster that had attacked the door.

“That thing escaped into the rain! What could survive that?!” Luz said.

“Oh my Titan, it must be the snaggleback!” King exclaimed. It can survive the rain due to its shell. It must have seen us earlier when we were outside, and now it wants to eat us!” King exclaimed. Suddenly they heard a roar, and saw the beast crash through an upstairs window.

“This is terrifying!” Luz exclaimed. “So why do you look so happy!?” Luz asked her little brother with an annoyed sounding tone.

“Because this could be a lesson. You’ll get to see a beast demon up close.” King explained. 

“You want to go towards that thing!?” Luz exclaimed, feeling like that was the worst possible idea at the moment. “No way!” Luz said, she was not going anywhere near that monster. 

“Come on, please, it will be fun.” King said.

“No, that’s a terrible idea.” Luz said. King tried to pull her inside, but Luz resisted, pulling her leg back, but King hung on, causing Luz to stumble and making them both fall into the boiling rain. 

“Listen, Luz, Eda is upstairs, asleep, and it’s up to us to save her. So we need to face the snaggleback to save Eda, okay?” King said, not caring that he was in the boiling rain, confirming Luz’s theory that her demon half made her resistant to heat. 

“Okay, fine you make a good point.” Luz said. They both stood up and went inside to get ready to face the snaggleback and hopefully save Eda before it was too late. Luz donned a pair of rubber gloves over her claws, some pillows on her stomach and back, and wielded a hockey stick that had been lying around. King had a pillow covering his stomach, and wielded his stuffed rabbit as a weapon. Luz and King made their way upstairs, Luz using her phone flashlight to guide the way. Luz and King entered Eda’s bedroom, both of them creeping over to Eda’s nest, only to find out it was empty.

“Oh my gosh, Eda!” Luz cried.

“She got snagglebacked!” King added.

“No, slash marks. King, you're the demon expert here.” Luz said.

“I’ll go grab my book. Can I borrow the flashlight?” King said. 

“Sure.” Luz said to him. Luz had pretty good night vision anyway. She looked both ways down the hallway, it was surprisingly quiet despite the fact that there was a huge demon in the house. She crept further into the hallway, trying to hear any noises to alert her that the demon was nearby. A creak on the wood behind her made her turn coming face-to-face with… Eda? But also not Eda, as Eda was now a huge owl beast. Wait, was this why she was called the owl lady? That makes so much more sense now. Eda had a huge body and was on four legs. She also had massive claws, massive teeth, a large pair of wings sprouting from her back, and eyes that looked like pools of pitch. Luz decided that now would be a good time to run. She turned to run away, but the owl beast grabbed the back of her hoodie in its mouth before Luz could run away.

“Weh! Let me go! Why am I always getting grabbed by the hoodie!?” Luz thought out loud. The owl beast just carried Luz to Eda’s nest carrying Luz like a kitten, not caring that Luz was struggling. The owl beast set Luz in its nest, laying on top of her. Oh, this is surprisingly comfortable, Luz thought to herself. Maybe it would be okay to lay here for a little while. It would be a bad idea to fight the owl beast anyway, she would not win against those huge claws. Once the owl beast was satisfied that Luz had calmed down, it went to hunt some food for her owlet. The owlet was still young. The stupid witch did not feed the owlet enough. The owlet needed more food. The owl beast would find food for the owlet.

King had finally found his books about demonology. He had two editions, so he grabbed the second edition, as it was more recent that the first edition. King was walking down the hallway to Eda’s room when he saw a shadowy figure dart into a room. He followed it, and saw it hide in a closet. Acting brave he threw open the door to find… the snaggleback, apparently. The snaggleback was a lot less scary than King had imagined, it looked like a pink monkey with a blue shell. 

“Ah, I’m sorry, I needed somewhere to hide from the boiling rain, and this was the only place I could find.” the snaggleback said.

“Then why did you break down the door and take my mo- mentor?” King asked. He almost called Eda mom, but quickly corrected himself. 

“I didn’t do any of that. I came in through a window just recently.” the snaggleback replied. Suddenly, a large clawed hand burst from the ceiling above them. 

“Oh no, a twist!” the snaggleback shouted being dragged up into the darkness above. A few seconds later, the snaggleback’s shell came down, but without the demon inside of it. A few seconds later the door opened, and the owl beast stood there. The owl beast went over to King and picked him up by the scruff before he could run away. The owl beast carried King back to her nest, and laid him next to Luz before curling around both of them. It started to groom King.

“Weh! NO, stop it. I don’t need to be cleaned.” King shouted. 

“King, you know about demons. How do we turn Eda back?” Luz asked.

“Uh…” King began, before seeing part of a tag in the nest, picking it up he put it with the part of the tag he had taken from the elixir bottle earlier. Together, it read “an elixir a day keeps the curse at bay”. 

“Luz that elixir from earlier doesn’t give Eda power, it stops her from turning into this thing.” King said. 

“So, what do we do?” Luz asked. King thought about everything he knew about the owl beast.

“Oh, the owl beast had black eyes. Demons with black eyes are sensitive to light. Use the flashlight on your human wonder rectangle thing to shine light in Eda’s eyes, I dropped it right outside of the nest.” King said. Luz picked it up, only to see that the flashlight part of it had cracked when King had dropped it. 

“I can’t use the flashlight, it’s broken.” Luz said. She turned her phone to the other side to see the video paused on the video she had taken of Eda doing the spell for light earlier. Wait, was there something inside the spell circle? Luz looked closer, and suddenly gasped as the glyph burned itself into her mind. It was light, Luz wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she knew she was right. 

“King, there’s a glyph in the spell circle!” Luz exclaimed excitedly.
“What are you talking about, I don’t see anything.” King said, looking at the video. Luz found a leaf in the nest, and used the pen to trace the symbol onto the leaf. She tapped it, and a ball of light formed, consuming the leaf in the process.

“Oh, I can see it now.” King said, now able to see the glyph in the video.

 Luz then brought her magic to her fingers and drew a small glyph in the air, causing the light to be made again. Luz could sense that she was connected to the light, and proved this by making the light move. However, she felt it wasn’t hers necessarily, as if she was borrowing it from someone else. No time to dwell on that though. She drew a large glyph right in front of Eda’s face. 

“Light!” Luz shouted as the glyph burst into light. Eda was knocked out by the flash, and King quickly found another elixir to give Eda, causing her to revert back to witch form. A few hours later, Eda finally woke up. She drank a bit more elixir to get rid of her remaining feathers.

“Ugh, I have the worst headache. And my mouth tastes like roadkill.” she said as she sat up. She suddenly gagged up an owl pellet that was far larger than what should have been able to fit out of her mouth. It opened to reveal the snaggleback, who announced that he was going to lie there for a few minutes. She noticed her elixir bottle next to the next.

“Huh, I was looking for that.” Eda said, before she suddenly realized what must have happened. “King, Luz?” she called out frantically. 

“Don’t worry, we’re fine.” King said from nearby. “You just took care of us in your nest, like we were your babies or something. We were able to find a spare elixir and turn you back.” King said, looking suspiciously ashamed. Oh, Eda thought, putting two and two together. King was going to be in so much trouble.

“King, you stole my elixir!? Why, I ought to-”

“Shhh. Over there.” King said, pointing to the corner of the room where Luz was drawing glyphs in the air. Looking around the room, Eda saw that there were hundreds of glyphs floating around the room. 

“Damn, she went from not being able to make a spell circle to being able to make hundreds of light spells? How long has she been doing this for?” Eda asked. 

“About half an hour.” King replied. 

“Only half an hour? And she already made hundreds of light spells? That’s impressive.” Eda said, before she noticed King trying to sneak away. “Hey, I’m not done with you yet. I have a long list of disgusting chores with your name on them.” Eda said before he could walk away.

“Okay, that’s fair.” King said with a groan. 

“Oh, Eda, you’re up.” Luz said as she noticed Eda seemed to be okay now. 

“Yeah, I’m just glad you two are okay. Also, I’ve been keeping a secret from both of you. When I was younger, I was cursed. I don’t know who did it or why, but if I don’t take my elixir, well… that’s why people call me the owl lady. Luckily, the elixirs work pretty well, so as long as no one steals them - King - then I’m fine. Also, good job on mastering the light spell, Luz.” Eda said. Luz beamed at the compliment. Eda didn’t mention how much energy it usually took to make hundreds of spells in half an hour. That kind of magic would leave adult witches out of breath. And yet, Luz seemed to be completely fine. The kid was a mystery, and Eda wasn’t sure she would ever find what King and Luz were. Well, it seemed that mystery would just need to be left unsolved.

“Hello? Hoot. It’s cold down here. I’m on the floor.” Hooty called out from downstairs. 

“That voice, that horrid voice.” King said as he put his hands over his ears in an attempt to block out Hooty’s cries for help. 

“I better go help Hooty.” Eda said as she got up. They all headed down to the living room, and Eda got to work on fixing the door. After Eda fixed the door, she turned to Luz. 

“Hey, kid, I have a couple questions about your spells. How did you figure out how to cast a light spell? You weren’t able to do it earlier.” Eda said. 

“Oh, I saw a glyph in your spell circle, and it eventually just clicked in my head, and I somehow know it means light, you know what I mean?” Luz said.

“No, I have no idea what you mean, but please continue.” Eda said.

“Well once I saw the glyph, I found out I could draw it with my finger, and it was suddenly so easy to make light spells, it felt super natural to do it. So, anyway, now I’m able to do that.” Luz said. What the fuck? Eda thought to herself. She knew the kid was special, but this was unheard of. Just another mystery that Eda wasn’t able to solve. Her kids were something else, something else indeed.

Chapter Text

Luz was reading her book to her brother at Eda’s Human Collectibles stand, while Eda was dusting her table off. 

“Please stop reading that. Its flowery language is an insult to witches, and driving away all our serious customers.” Eda said.

“Uh, Eda, what customers?” Luz asked, looking around the empty street. “There aren’t even any other stands around. What is going on?”

“This is a bad omen. There must be something horrible happening today.” Eda said in an ominous voice.

“Luz, something amazing is happening today.” Gus said cheerfully as he and Willow walked up to the stand.

“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 guess this year.” Willow informed Luz.

“A job fair for witches! Eda, can we go?” Luz asked with excitement.

“Absolutely not.” Eda replied, causing Luz’s excitement to disappear. “I never joined a coven for a reason. Sure, it’s like a magical fun club for witches, but you’re giving up your magical independence to be part of a corrupt system. Eh, but, no judgement.” Eda added the last part after noticing the looks she was receiving from Gus and Willow. “Anyways, we haven’t been to one since we were girls.” Eda said.

“We?” Luz asked with excitement. She wanted to know as much about Eda’s backstory as possible. Eda tried to backtrack as Luz insisted that they needed to go now, but Eda still refused. Luz decided she only had one choice. King started reading the most flowery part he could find from Luz’s Azura book.

“So flowery, so awful.” Eda said as she opened the portal door and stepped through. Before the portal door could fully close, Luz threw King through it, King still reading the book. A second later the door reopened, and Eda walked out with King on her head.

“Stop it, stop it, I will literally do anything to stop this!” Eda cried out. That is why they were now standing right outside the building where the Covention was being held. Luz (and King) were trying to help Eda get her hair into a cowl so she could keep a “low profile”. 

“Is this really necessary?” Luz asked.

“Do you think all my wanted posters are for petty theft?” Eda asked. Multiple items fell out of her hair as she finally got it to fit in the cowl. “Partly. But the big whammy is I disobeyed the law and refused to join a coven.” Eda said. “If I’m seen I could go to jail. Again.” Eda said. Again? I’m surprised she ever got caught before. Luz thought to herself. 

“Maybe this informative event will inspire you to join a coven.” Willow said. Eda responded by using her magic to pull Willow’s cowl over her face.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Eda said as she led the kids inside. Luz couldn’t help but be amazed as she walked inside. There were huge banners hanging from the ceiling and Luz was amazed.

“Those are the main nine covens. But there are hundreds of smaller covens you can join.” Gus said. As they continued walking, Eda walked up next to Willow.

“Hey, glasses, you’re in the plant track, right? Let me give you a word of advice. Stay far away from Terra Snapdragon. If you want to be part of the plant coven, join one of the smaller parts of it.” Eda said to Willow. 

“Um… okay?” Willow said, though it sounded like more of a question than an answer. Willow walked ahead and began listing some of the smaller covens to Luz. Eda let out a long groan.

“Also the grumpy coven.” Willow whispered to Luz.

“What was that?” Eda said angrily. Willow let out an “eep!” of surprise, and ran away from Eda, Gus and Luz following her to the plant coven table. Luz was slightly blinded by a spray of pollen from one of the plants at the table, but noticed a pattern in the pollen that looked strangely like a glyph. She would have to try that out later. Willow pointed out the construction coven next. A witch easily made a house using his magic. Willow explained how they can use power glyphs to increase their strength. The witch who built the house took out a power glyph from under his hard hat, and placed it on the large-nosed demon Luz remembered from the Conformatorium. She suddenly started destroying the booth with her new-found power, while other construction witches ran over to stop her.

“Yowsa wowsa.” Luz said. Suddenly, a copy of herself appeared beside her saying the same thing. “Weh?” Luz said with a bit of surprise. Gus stepped up and introduced her to the illusionist coven.

“We like to magic with a bit… of showmanship.” Gus said as he created a spell circle and briefly disappeared, before reappearing with the two witches who had been at the booth appearing behind him.

“Wow, comradery, friendship, and a sense of belonging! Covens sound incredible! Why have you never joined one Eda?” Luz asked.

“Look closely, Luz.” Eda said, turning her to see a witch getting a coven sigil. “When you join a coven, all your other magic is sealed away.” Eda explained, as the person getting the sigil had blue lines run across his body. “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.” Eda said, creating a ball of fire and a ball of water at the same time for emphasis. “That’s why I’m the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles.” Eda said proudly. Eda walked away and most of the kids followed her, though King got distracted by all the free goodies that were being handed out. Eventually, they approached a hall that seemed to lead somewhere. It seemed to be very popular. Gus informed her that it was the Emperor’s Coven. He ran ahead to see if they would sign his forehead, Willow following him. As Luz went to follow them, she noticed Eda staying behind. 

“Aren’t you coming, Eda?” Luz asked.

“Nah. Out of all the covens, they’re the worst.” Eda said. 

“Okay, I get it, covens are bad and individualism is good. But I’m still figuring this world out, so I’m going to go in there and make up my own mind.” Luz said before going down the hallway. Eda turned around to walk the other way, but quickly saw a familiar face with mint green hair. She quickly turned around and hurried after Luz.

“Alright, let’s see this mess.” Eda said as she sat down next to Luz. Luz was surprised that she had come after being so against seeing it moments ago, but welcomed her company nonetheless. Principal Bump appeared on stage as the crowd started cheering. Summoning a microphone, he began the presentation.

“Students ask me all the time, Principal Bump, what’s the height of magical achievement?” Bump began.

“Is it this?” a kid in the crowd asked, using a spell to make his head really large causing his head to lean to the side, with another kid caught beneath the now-large head.

“Wow. I failed you as a principal.” Bump said with a wince. “It’s being selected to join the best of the best, the crown jewel of the coven system, and the enforcer’s of the emperor’s will, the emperor’s coven!” Bump continued. Luz noticed her friends and waved to them, Gus showing off that he had been able to get his forehead signed.

“Feast your eyes on this elite force, each one handpicked to usher in a new age of controlled magic.” Bump said. The coven members on stage each showed off a different type of magic, which combined to burst into confetti.

“When does that elite force get here?” Eda joked to a nearby demon, who moved further away. 

“The emperor’s coven has access to all, yes all, forms of magic. Ooh, aah.” Bump said.

“Ooh. aah.” the crowd repeated with more enthusiasm.

“But, only the best can ascend these ranks. It could even be one of you.” Bump said, pointing towards the stands. Luz noticed that his point was directed in the general direction of a certain green-haired girl, and she let out a small squeal of happiness. Luz thought she looked… happy, like that. Not in a mean girl sort of way, but in an excited child sort of way. Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all.

“And now, I am grateful to introduce the leader of the emperor’s coven, and this year’s esteemed guest. You know her, you love her, Lilith!” Bump said. A spectral raven on a branch appeared high in the air, the spectral raven flying down to the stage, before disappearing to reveal a woman. Eda had been laughing at the theatrics, but stopped as soon as she heard the name of the guest.

“Do you know her?” Luz asked Eda, seeing Eda’s shocked expression.

“You could say that.” Eda said, still in a slight shock, seeing someone she knew very well. This makes the second face she’s seen today that she never expected to see again. Luz could smell a juicy backstory with this person Eda somehow knew. Lilith gave a short speech about the emperor’s coven, before conjuring another spectral raven, before the raven burst into motes of light. As they left the presentation, Eda started toward the exit, stating she was going home to “wash the con funk off her skin”. Luz was distracted by the pamphlet she was looking at, and accidentally bumped into someone. Looking up from the pamphlet, she realized she recognized the green-haired witch she had bumped into. It was Amity.

“Watch where you’re going! Oh, it’s you, Willow’s abomination thing.” Amity said, sounding exactly like the mean girl she had seemed to be at Hexside.

“Weh! Sorry about that. So, funny story, I’m not an abomination. I’m Luz.” Luz said, holding out her hand for Amity to shake. Amity just slapped her hand away.

“You nearly killed me with your sonic shout thing. If I had flown back a few more feet, I would’ve fallen multiple stories down. I am not about to be your friend.” Amity said angrily.

“Well to be fair, you did try to get Principal Bump to dissect me, so-” Luz started to say, but was cut off by Amity.

“You can’t be here! This Covention is for witches only!” Amity said. 

“Well, I’m learning how to be a witch. I’m taking magic lessons from a powerful witch and a ferocious demon.” Luz said. 

“Is that your ferocious demon there?” Amity said, as Luz turned to see King walking down the hallway, holding a cupcake he had gotten from somewhere. As King walked over to them, he tripped on a free scarf he had gotten, dropping his cupcake. Luz went over to make sure he was okay. Amity heard a voice coming from her stone, telling her to be petty. Luz could feel the magic pulse from Amity’s gem, and it made her feel momentarily nauseous. She reached out to grab King’s cupcake to give it back to him, but a shoe suddenly smashed the cupcake.

“Whoops, that was an accident.” Amity, who had smashed the cupcake, said.

“Why are you being so mean, Amity?” Luz asked.

“Because you and your pet are giving witches in training a bad name.” Amity said.

“I am not a pet!” King cried out, indignant. The fact that he was using his hind leg to scratch himself did not help his argument. Luz let out a growl as her hair stood on end at how mean Amity was being.

“King is my brother. I’ll tell you what, it’s one thing to say I can’t be a witch.” Luz said.

“Because you can’t.” Amity interrupted.

“But it’s another thing to insult my brother. Just like Azura said when facing down her rival Hecate at the Bog of Immediate Regret, I challenge you to a witches duel!” Luz continued undeterred. Everyone who heard her gasped (except Amity). Amity strode forward, getting right up in Luz’s face.

“I accept.” Amity said. “Let’s set the terms for this duel, shall we?” Amity said.

“One, if I win, you apologize to King for squashing his cupcake. And two, you admit that I can become a witch too.” Luz said.

“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.” Amity said in a menacing but self-assured tone.

“Fine, let’s shake on it.” Luz said. Amity drew a spell circle around their hands before shaking Luz’s hand.

“The everlasting oath is sealed.” Amity said with a sinister smile. “Meet back inside the theater in one hour. Let’s see what kind of witch you really are.” Amity said as she walked off to get ready.

“King, I can win this, right?” Luz asked her brother, hoping for a vote of confidence from him.

“Huh, oh yeah, no.” King replied. Are brothers usually this unhelpful? Luz thought to herself. Luz was now more nervous than she had been when making the oath.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Sister?” Eda heard a voice ask behind her as she tried to make her way to the exit. Eda stopped dead in her tracks. That voice belonged to one of the two people she was trying to avoid. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you last.” Lilith said. And I was hoping to keep it that way, Eda thought to herself. “What are you wearing? You look like some kind of trash collector. Oh right, you are.” Lilith said in a slightly snide tone.

“Oh, Lily, I just had to see the “esteemed leader of the emperor’s coven” in action.” Eda said in a sarcastic voice. Leaning down to the kids that were following Lilith, Eda said, “You know, when we were kids, Lilith was so excited to see the emperor’s coven, she peed a little.” The kids giggled at this as Lilith blushed in embarrassment, before shooing the kids away. She then turned back around shooting an accusatory look at Eda.

“You shouldn’t even be here, you’re a wanted criminal. Unless… *gasp* you’re here to join the emperor’s coven.” Lilith said hopefully. Eda just laughed at her.

“In your dreams.” Eda said. If Lilith actually thought she was going to join a coven, she was crazy.

“You think being covenless makes you so much smarter than everyone else. But while you run from the law like a degenerate, I’m mentoring the next generation of powerful witches.” Lilith said with pride.

“Yeah, well I have a student too, and I bet she could wipe the floor with any of your prissy little blue bloods.” Eda said. 

“Is that a challenge?” Lilith asked, stepping forward.

“Oh, it’s a promise.” Eda replied, not intimidated by Lilith.

“Eda, I need your help, I challenged Amity to a witches duel, and I think she’s gonna kill me all the way dead.” Luz said, seeming to appear out of nowhere. 

“It seems your student has met my strongest pupil.” Lilith said with a smirk. “And look at those ears. Is she human? Where did you even find one of these?” Lilith asked in a teasing tone. Luz covered her ears, trying to hide them from view. Of course, Lilith wasn’t sure the girl was a human. She might’ve just had rounded-ear syndrome. It was possible, one of their ancestors had had it, and if this child was Eda’s, she might have gotten it. But Lilith was feeling too prideful to even consider that possibility right now. “Okay, Edalyn, you won’t have to hide from the law for a day. I want to see how good of a teacher you really are.” Lilith said, as she went off to go train her own student. Eda had considered telling Lilith that Luz was only half-human, which should have been obvious from the fangs and claws, after all, Lilith had created the Human Appreciation Society at Hexside, as she was a huge nerd, but Lilith walked away before Eda could say anything; the only thing to do now was to try to make sure Luz was ready.

“Come on kid, time to prepare for bloodshed.” Eda said.

“But, whose blood?” Luz asked.

“Anyone’s guess!” Eda replied cheerfully. Eda and Luz walked until they found an empty little alcove so that they could train. Eda conjured a curtain across the entrance so that nobody could see them. Eda put on a headband, because it looked sporty and cool. 

“Alright, kid, time to start your training. I’m coming at you with a blast of fire, what do you do?” Eda asked. Luz just pulled up the hood of her hoodie and laid on her side.

“Oh, that’s right, I haven’t taught you many spells, huh?” Eda said.

“No, but I think I found a glyph earlier today.” Luz said, remembering what she had seen in the plant pollen. She drew the glyph on a piece of paper, and a vine sprung out of it. 

“Huh, nice job kiddo. You’ll find more in no time.” Eda said. Just then the curtain to the alcove opened, and in stepped a witch with mint-green hair. Eda’s eyes widened to a comedic degree. The witch took in a deep breath with their eyes closed. When they opened their eyes and saw Eda and Luz, their eyes also widened to a comedic degree, though there was a slight hint of fear as they saw Luz with Eda. Their mind went back to a night, about 14 years ago. No, now was not the time to think about that. Wait, why was Eda here!?

“Eda!?” the green-haired witch asked with shock. Oh, great, of course I see the one other person I wanted to avoid today, Eda thought to herself.

“Raine.” Eda replied once she felt like she could speak without yelling their name in shock. 

“What are you doing here?” Raine asked. 

“Oh, just checking out the covention.” Eda said casually, as if going to the covention was a regular thing for her.

“And when did you have a daughter!?” Raine asked. They really hoped she didn’t say 14 years ago. Raine wasn’t sure they would be able to take it if they had accidentally been an absent parent this whole time.

“Well, she’s not my daughter. She’s a half-human from the human realm, and my student. We’re trying to get ready because she challenged Baby Blight to a duel. I mean, it should be fine either way, as long as she didn’t make an everlasting oath to stop learning magic or something.” Eda said. Raine did not believe her, they believed that Eda was just trying to protect their feelings. They couldn’t believe they hadn’t known they had a daughter this whole time. They would need to find a way to make it up to her.

“Um, does the everlasting oath have a glowy hand thing, and leave you feeling like you have a bracelet of magic around your wrist?” Luz asked.

“Well I don’t know about the bracelet of magic around your wrist, that might just be your magic sense, but otherwise that’s pretty much what it is, how did you know that? Oh, wait, you made an everlasting oath to stop learning magic if you lose, didn’t you?’ Eda said. Luz nodded fearfully. “Okay, well now you need to win.” Eda said.

“If you don’t mind, I have a suggestion that might help.” Raine spoke up. If they could help their daughter win this duel, it would at least be a step towards redemption.

“Yeah, sure.” Eda said. Luz would need all the help she could get to win this duel.

“Okay, well who are you facing? Most witches can be countered by using a specific type of magic.” Raine said.

“I’m facing Amity Blight, she uses abomination magic.” Luz said. Raine let out a smile at this.

“Well, then you’re in luck. I am skilled in bard magic, which works well against abominations.” Raine said.

“But I can’t create a spell circle.” Luz said.

“Don’t worry, I know a bardic spell that doesn’t require a spell circle. All you have to do is bring your magic to your fingers and whistle through them. Your breath will pick up the magic and send it out as a blade of magic.” Raine said, then demonstrated what they meant by sending a blade of magic into the wall, leaving a narrow gash. Luz was ready to try. She felt for the magic flowing through her, thought about it going to her fingertips, and then let out a whistle in the same way Raine had. A blade of magic came out in her signature color of magic. Luz cheered, having done magic without a glyph for the second time, and for the first time on purpose. 

“Okay, so use that against the abominations. Also, try using your light glyph to disorient her. And maybe try using that plant glyph you just found too, if she tries to rush you.” Eda said. Luz peeked out of the alcove to see how Amity was doing. She summoned an abomination that was about as tall as her. That’s fine, Luz could probably deal with that. Hopefully.

~~~~~~~~~~

The hour of training was finally done, and both Luz and Amity made their way to the stadium, going to opposite ends.

“Beloved citizens, the emperor’s coven proudly presents an impromptu demonstration of the kind of witch we seek each year.” Lilith said to the people gathered for the witches duel. Introducing Amity Blight versus Luz Clawthorne.” Lilith said. She didn’t actually know Luz’s last name, so she just used her sister’s last name. Put on a good show, Amity. Amity heard in her head. Looks like she would have to try to make it theatrical enough for the crowd. Hopefully, that would be easy against a human.

The bell rang to signal the start of the duel, and Amity immediately summoned an abomination. Luz could hardly believe how big it was, it was far larger than the one Amity had made while she was practicing. Even Amity looked surprised for a second, but quickly smirked. Oh, she was going to have fun against the human. Luz backed away a couple of steps, surprised with how huge the abomination was. She used the trick Raine had taught her, and the blade of magic sliced right through the abomination, cutting it in half. However, Amity was able to quickly reform the abomination. Luz had already moved away from the abomination, so the abomination threw its head at her. Luz had not been expecting that and was knocked down by the abomination's head, which quickly formed into a cage around her. Luz quickly used the whistle again to destroy the cage and get away from the approaching abomination. Time to dig into the rest of her arsenal. Luz created multiple light glyphs, and sent them to spin around Amity’s head, making it hard for her to see, which also made it hard for her to control her abomination. Luz used another whistle to slice through the abomination, then sent vines at it to slice it apart more, making it harder to reform. Meanwhile, Amity was getting used to the lights, and they stopped bothering her as much, she summoned the abomination slime back to her, using part of it to make a sword. She rushed at Luz. Luz tried to use her vines to make a wall, but Amity cut through them. It seemed the plant glyph wasn’t going to work. Luz suddenly got an idea. She had all her light glyphs burst into bright flashes of light right in front of Amity. Luz covered her eyes as Amity was temporarily blinded. Luz saw her opening and leapt at Amity, claws ahead of her. One set of claws collided with Amity’s chest, another was stopped by her necklace, although the gem on the bottom of it shattered.

~~~~~~~~~~

Back in Blight Mansion, Odalia was watching her daughter’s duel through the connection with the psionic stone Amity had on her necklace. As the psionic stone was shattered, the open connection caused a backlash of oracle magic, sending Odalia into a coma. When Alador found his wife, he quickly called a healer to take her to the hospital, as her breathing was rather ragged, and he had no idea what was going on. So Odalia was taken to the Blight’s private suite in the hospital, though she wasn’t about to wake up anytime soon.

~~~~~~~~~~

Luz cut a gash across Amity’s chest. Amity winced but closed the gashes with some abomination goo. It wasn’t perfect, but it would work for now. Forming abomination gloves, she grabbed Luz and threw her to the other side of the arena, where she slammed into the wall. Slamming into the wall temporarily knocked the wind out of Luz. For some reason her back was almost as itchy as it was sore now, but Luz didn’t have time to dwell on that, as an army of abominations was heading straight towards her. Luz was paralyzed with fear. She forgot what she was supposed to do. All she could think was that this was the end. 

“Stay away!” Luz yelled, unleashing her sonic shockwave, reducing all the abominations to puddles, and once again sending Amity flying a few feet. Luz rushed over to Amity, but this time she had a new goal. She had sensed a concentration of magic near the back of Amity’s neck. There was something there, and Luz was going to find out what it was. Luz quickly got behind Amity, and grabbed the sticker on her neck. Looking at it, Luz realized it was a power glyph. Amity’s abomination army, which had reformed, suddenly shrank to become tiny, as the power glyph was no longer powering Amity’s magic. Eda walked over to see what Luz had found on Amity’s neck. She took and held it up for the crowd to see.

“A power glyph.” Eda said. The crowd gasped, they couldn’t believe Amity had been cheating. Eda started to tease Lilith about cheating, knowing that it was likely Lilith’s idea for Amity to cheat.

“I only cheated because I knew you would cheat.” Lilith said.

“Except I didn’t, because my student is just that strong.” Eda said. Amity was surprised that there was a power glyph on the back of her neck, she knew she didn’t put it there. 

“I-I didn’t know.” Amity said, before running out of the arena. Luz ran after Amity, feeling the need to apologize to her. Amity had been forced to cheat without her knowledge, and Luz felt like she should apologize, even if she wasn’t the one who forced Amity to cheat. Luz exited the arena, and saw Amity sitting in a corner, alone. Luz walked over to her.

“Amity, I’m sorry.” Luz said as she walked over.

“Just leave me alone.” Amity said.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Luz said.

“That’s all you ever do. First at school, and now here. Not to mention that you made me look weak in front of the emperor’s coven, my future. You think it’s so easy to be a witch. But I have been working my whole life to be the best. You have no idea how hard it really is.” Amity said. “And yet, you somehow still won. Even though I had an advantage. Despite all my training, and Lilith giving me an unfair advantage, you still beat me. I guess you really can be a witch, since you were able to beat me. And tell King I’m sorry for squashing his cupcake.” Amity said. Luz felt the magic from the everlasting oath disappear.

“I won’t lie, I did have some extra help besides Eda in my training.” Luz said.

“What do you mean?” Amity asked.

“I had some help from a witch named Raine, they taught me a trick with bard magic.” Luz said.

“Wait, Raine? That must have been Raine Whispers. They’re next in line to be the head of the bard coven! I can’t believe you got to meet them. They usually keep to themself.” Amity said. “Also, how did you create those light spells? I didn’t even see you make a spell circle.” Amity said. 

“I do magic a little differently.” Luz said. She then drew a light glyph in the air with her finger, forming a ball of light. “Magic doesn’t come as naturally to me as it does for witches. So, I had to figure out a different way to do it.” Luz said.

“Even a child could do a light spell. Though I’ve never seen it cast like that.” Amity said. With that, Amity got up and left. She was feeling a little bit better now, though she was still mad at Lilith. She probably wouldn’t be showing up for her weekly training session. 

Eda and King arrived, ready to go. Raine arrived right behind them.

“Wait, Eda, before you go, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. Sorry for leaving you alone. If you’re okay with it, I would like to see you more.” Raine said. They didn’t want to leave Eda and her kids again, even if what Eda said about Luz was true.

“Hmmm, sure, why not? Just let me know when you want to come over.” Eda said.

“Okay, I’ll let you know when I figure out a time I can come over.” Raine said. Eda turned back to her kids.

“Okay, we should probably go before Lilith realizes I tied her shoes together.” Eda said. A distant yell was heard. “And that’s our cue to leave.” Eda said, quickly ushering the kids out of the covention, and making their way back to the owl house.

~~~~~~~~~~

Luz went upstairs to the bathroom to check on her back. Getting thrown into a wall was not exactly pleasant. Lifting her shirt to reveal her back, she saw something she was not expecting. Her entire back was covered in a coat of black fur, the same color as her brother’s fur. Well, this was a new development, though not unexpected. The healer had told her that she was going to grow fur, and it seemed that was starting now. Hopefully that meant her tail would also be growing soon. She just hoped her wings and horns would take their time. Though she did suppose it would be cool once her wings were grown. Being able to fly on her own would be nice. She went downstairs to show Eda and King.

“Hey guys, I’m finally starting to grow fur.” Luz said, showing Eda and King the fur growing on her back.

“Oh, cool, it looks just like King’s fur.” Eda said. King didn’t say anything, but seemed to think it was cool that his sister was finally growing her own coat of fur. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Amity arrived back at Blight Mansion. She expected her mom to be yelling at her about the psion stone being broken as soon as she walked through the door, but surprisingly, her mother wasn’t there. In fact, Amity didn’t see Odalia anywhere. In the main living room, she found the twins, and the twins quickly told her that Odalia had gone into a coma. Amity was actually glad. That meant Odalia wouldn’t be watching her every move, breathing down her neck all the time. Amity felt free for the first time in years. Maybe things would be okay.

~~~~~~~~~~

Raine and Lilith had the same problem. They both couldn’t stop thinking about Luz. Raine fully believed that Luz was their daughter. It seemed obvious that Luz had gotten her darker skin from Raine, and her eye color from Eda. Though Raine wasn’t sure about the black sclera. Maybe a side effect from Eda’s curse was what caused the unusual color of the sclera? Raine wasn’t sure, though it seemed possible. Raine had also noticed that Luz had rounded ears, and knew that one of Eda’s ancestors had rounded-ear syndrome. Luz probably had a weaker bile sack than most other witchlets. Lilith, on the other hand, was feeling guilty over insulting Luz earlier. She had also come to the conclusion that Luz was Eda’s daughter and had rounded-ear syndrome, and felt bad for teasing her niece about her ears. Though after seeing her fight, it seemed obvious that Luz had the same recklessness as Eda. Lilith also noticed the claws that Luz had. She wondered if the curse had spread to Luz, or at least affected her in some way. Had her rash action that ruined her sister’s life spread to her child? Did Lilith ruin her niece’s life before it had even started? Lilith felt like she was drowning in guilt. She knew it would be hard to get to sleep tonight.

Chapter Text

Eda and Owlbert were both holding a set of cards in their hands (or claws, in Owlbert’s case). Luz was sitting next to Eda, as Eda wanted to teach her how to play.

“Watch closely Luz. Hexes Hold ‘Em is the most tricky game on the Boiling Isles. Any proper witch knows how to play.” Eda said. 

“Oh boy, cards! The paper rectangles that old people think are fun.” Luz said.

“I’m not that old.” Eda said as she set her final card down on the table. The cards suddenly came to life. Owlbert’s cards started pushing Eda’s cards back, and Owlbert had a cheeky, smug look on his face.

“Now, when it looks like the deck is stacked against you, that’s when you break out the wild card.” Eda told Luz, showing one of her cards. All of Owlbert’s cards burst into flames, which then spelled “WINNER EDA” in the air. Owlbert let out a hoot at having been beaten.

“Whoo, I win! In your adorable owl face.” Eda said to Owlbert.

“Ah, I love the feeling of victory. It feels… fluffy?” Eda said, wondering why victory would feel fluffy.

“Uh, Eda? It’s happening again.” Luz said, noticing the feathers on Eda’s arms.

“What’s happening again?” Eda asked, oblivious.

“Your curse is returning!” King pointed out.

“Ah!” Eda yelped, noticing the feathers on her arms.

They all went upstairs to Eda’s room to find Eda some elixir. There hadn’t been any in the cabinet that usually held her elixir (and Luz’s dietary supplement potion). Luz had taken her elixir, before they decided to look in Eda’s room to see if she had one stashed up there. I really need to keep my elixirs in the cabinet, Eda thought to herself. Eda opened a chest that she remembered stashing some of her elixirs in, only to find that all of the bottles were empty. 

“Uh, last time you didn’t take your elixir, you turned into the owl beast.” Luz said.

“Yeah, you’re right, we need to go to the market.” Eda said.

“I’m gonna steal everything that’s not nailed down!” King shouted happily.

“And I’ll help make sure you don’t get into any trouble while you’re doing that.” Luz told her brother.

“I’ve taught you well.” Eda said proudly, a smirk on her face. “Also, before we go, would either of you want to play a round of Hexes Hold ‘Em?” Eda asked, before realizing she didn’t have her cards. Luz handed the cards she had hidden behind her back to Owlbert, instructing him to fly ahead so that Eda would have to follow them, forcing her to go to the market.

“Owlbert, you sore loser, give me back my cards.” Eda said as she chased after her palisman, who was flying away with the cards. 

Eventually, they arrived in town. Eda went to Mr. Elixir to get a refill on her elixirs, banging on the grate covering the entrance to get the proprietor to open up. Luz was sitting on a bench, and King decided to join her on the bench. He had already stolen enough things on the way there, and stuffed them in Eda’s hair. There weren’t many stands nearby anyway, most of the stores in this area were permanent.

“Is there anything better than people-watching in the demon realm?” Luz asked as King sat down next to her. They watched as a large egg rolled to a stop, and cracked open releasing a bird-like demon. Some people who had been waiting got in the egg and put the top half back in place, and the egg rolled off again. The large-nosed demon that Luz had helped at the Conformatorium ran up, but the egg was gone before she could get on.

“The curse of tiny legs.” Luz said.

“I know the pain.” King said.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get taller someday.” Luz told him. Suddenly, a group of people all wearing brown cloaks showed up, with a large demon on a cart behind them.

“Whoa, that is one ominous parade.” Luz said to Eda.

“That’s no parade. Those are demon hunters. Dangerous nomads who capture and sell the most powerful beasts.” Eda responded. As she was talking, the beast started trying to break free. The leader of the group responded by creating a spell circle and zapping the beast with lightning, successfully subduing it. “Which I’m about to become, if you don’t open up, Morton!” Eda said, banging on the grate again.

“Sorry, I was up all night poison tasting, and for some reason, I don’t feel great.” Morton said as he opened the grate. 

“Oh, gee, I wonder why.” Eda said flatly. “Anyway, I’m outta my juice, pal.” Eda said. 

“Oh, gee, let me see what I can do.” Morton said, looking around to see what he had stocked up. As the demon hunters continued on, Luz could see Willow and Gus on the other side of the street. 

“Heya, friends.” Luz said as she walked up to them. However, now that she was closer, she noticed the downtrodden looks on their faces. “Wait, what’s wrong? Who hurt my friends?” Luz asked.

“Them.” Willow responded, pointing to a group of girls. The only one Luz recognized was Amity, who seemed to be disinterested in what the rest of the group was doing, almost as if she didn’t want to be there. “Boscha’s having a moonlight conjuring, and invited everyone but me.” Willow said sadly. 

“And she keeps posting about it on her Penstagram account.” Gus added, opening up his own Penstagram to show Luz. I really need to ask Eda about getting me my own scroll, Luz thought to herself. Luz looked at Boscha’s post, seeing that it was a picture of the group of girls she was currently with. The text under the post read “It’s conjuring night! No dorks allowed!” 

“What a jerk!” Luz said, after looking at the post, letting out a low growl. “Also, what’s a moonlight conjuring?” Luz asked, realizing she had never heard the term before, her growl immediately disappearing as her anger was replaced by confusion.

“You spend the night at someone's house, telling stories, playing games…” Willow said.

“Like a slumber party!” Luz said excitedly. She had never actually been invited to one, but she still knew about them.

“And then you bring something to life with moon magic.” Willow said, showing Luz what she meant by showing her a page in the book she was holding.

“Like a weird slumber party.” Luz revised her original statement, still invested in the idea of having the Boiling Isles version of a slumber party.

“Gus and I have never been to one. You need at least three people, and we’ve never been able to get a third person.” Willow said sadly.

“I’m three people! I mean, we’re three people. And we’re way better than them.” Luz said, gesturing to the group of Amity and her friends, who were walking past them, Amity at the back of the group.

“Sorry you couldn’t get an invite to the conjuring Willow. Only real witches are allowed.” Boshca said. 

“Leave her alone, Boscha. It’s not her fault she was born into a lower social class.” Amity said. As they walked by, Amity mouthed something at the group, but Luz couldn’t make it out. Willow seemed to understand though, because she had a surprised look on her face. Luz let out a growl as they left, she did not like Boscha. Hopefully she didn’t see too much of the girl around.

“Don’t worry about them.” Luz said to her friends. "Because we’re gonna have our own moonlight conjuring. And it’s going to be better than theirs.” Luz said.

“Really? This was on my bucket list, right after owning a real human bucket.” Gus said.

“I’ll go tell Eda.” Luz said, running back across the road to tell Eda her idea. 

“I’ve got bad news and good news.” Morton told Eda after he finished looking around his shop. “The bad news is that I’m all out of your elixir until next week. The good news is that feathers are a good look on you.” Morton said. 

“Morton!” Eda said, not finding the good news to be helpful in any way. 

“Well why’d you wait to refill until now, E?” Morton asked, not sure what had stopped Eda from getting her elixir. 

“I’ve been very busy.” Eda replied.

“Yeah, busy playing Hexes Hold ‘Em. She’s obsessed with it.” King called out from the bench he was sitting on.

“I am not obsessed.” Eda replied.

“You’re playing it right now!” King pointed out. Eda looked down to see that she had, in fact, set the cards up.

“Am I winning?” Eda asked, seemingly unashamed that she was playing the game. Though in reality, she knew King was right, she had been too focused on the game to get a refill on her elixirs. Just because the owl beast hadn’t hurt the kids last time doesn’t mean it wouldn’t do it the next time. If Eda hurt the kids as the owl beast, she would never forgive herself. And that didn’t even take into account how painful the transformation was. She would rather transform as little as possible if she could help it.

“You know, I wouldn’t suggest this to just anyone, but if you need your elixir, you could try your luck later this evening.” Morton said.

“In the night market?” Eda said.

“There’s a guy with a stand, goes by Grimmhammer. If anyone has what you need, it’s him.” Morton said.

“Eda, Gus and Willow and I are going to do a moonlight conjuring tonight, so can we do it at the owl house?” Luz asked hopefully. Eda thought about, coming to the conclusion that Luz would probably insist on going to the night market with Eda if she didn’t have something else to do, and realizing the moonlight conjuring was the perfect way to make sure Luz didn’t follow her, as Eda didn’t want Luz to go to the night market, as the night market was rather dangerous. It was easy enough for Eda to protect King, but she wasn’t sure if she would be able to protect both kids at the night market, especially since Luz was very energetic, and the fact that Eda couldn’t carry her like she did with King.

“Okay, fine, but you better be careful. I’m going out tonight, and I don’t want you messing up the house while I’m gone. Do you understand?” Eda asked.

“I understand. I won’t mess up your house while you’re gone.” Luz said confidently.

“Good. I have many precious objects that I don’t want being lost or broken.” Eda said. 

“Like me.” King said. 

“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.” Eda said. Eda and King cried out “Picketpocket!” at the same time, seemingly enjoying the idea of doing a bit of pickpocketing while they were out tonight.

Willow and Gus ran up to Luz.

“So, what did Eda say?” Willow asked.

“She said yes!” Luz informed her happily.

“Oh, look, the moon is moving into place. The celestial powers only align once a year.” Gus said, pointing to the moon.

“Really? That’s pretty cool.” Luz said.

“Yeah, it really is. And I’m so happy that I finally have enough friends to do a moonlight conjuring!” Willow said happily.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Alright Luz, I left some snacks on the counter for you and your friends. Just don’t make a mess of the house while I’m gone.” Eda said as she got ready to leave.

“Okay. Hey, where’s King?” Luz asked. Eda opened up her cloak to show that King was strapped into a baby carrier Eda was wearing.

“He’s right here. His little body just conks out when he’s weightless.” Eda said, swaying her body from side to side, causing King’s legs to sway as well.

“Aw, he’s so dangly.” Luz said, eyes shining with adoration. Eda walked outside to leave, Luz following behind her.

“Just remember, don’t make a mess of my house. If you do, I will never trust you again. No pressure! Byeeee!” Eda said before leaving.

“Okay, you guys can come out now!” Luz said to two bushes next to the owl house. The bushes burst open to reveal her two friends. “You know you guys didn’t have to do that, right? Eda said it was fine for you to come over.” Luz reminded her friends.

“I know, but I wanted to be a sneaky sneakster.” Willow said.

“And I have leaves in my pants. And I like it.” Gus said. Luz wasn’t sure why Gus liked having leaves in his pants, but decided not to question it. Luz led them inside the owl house, ignoring Hooty as he tried to tell a story.

“Welcome to the living room. We call it that because it’s technically living. The walls are even breathing.” Luz said as they entered the owl house. She didn’t have as much flair as Eda had when Luz had first arrived at the owl house, but she hoped her friends would still be impressed. Willow went up to one of the walls to see that it was, indeed, breathing. Gus, meanwhile, found a chest of items from the human realm.

“Look at all these human items!” Gus said, pulling out an 8 ball. “And actual humans!” he added, pulling out a fake skull. At least, Luz hoped it was a fake skull.

“I’m gonna go get the snacks from the kitchen. Please don’t break anything, if anything breaks, Eda will kill me. Then probably bring me back to life to kill me again.” Luz said. Luz was pretty sure she remembered Eda mentioning something about knowing some necromancy. Apparently one of Eda’s ancestors was an expert at necromancy. And of course, Eda didn’t care about the fact that it was illegal. Luz went and got the snacks from the kitchen, and remembered to take her elixir before going back to her friends. When she got back, Gus had a bucket on his head. 

“We have a bucket!” Gus said with excitement.

“Gus, my man.” Luz replied.

“And best of all, we have friends to do the conjuring with! This is so exciting.” Willow said. As she finished saying that, a knock sounded at the door. “Um, Luz, do you invite anyone else over?” Willow asked. 

“No, I didn’t.” Luz said, confusion clear in her voice. She opened the door to find someone none of them expected to see.

“Amity?” all three of them said at the same time, none of them expecting to see the green-haired girl at the owl house.

“Hey, would you mind having one more person?” Amity asked. Luz decided that maybe Amity could become her friend, if she was willing to come to the owl house, then that had to be a start.

“Sure, come on in.” Luz said happily, letting Amity in.

“Why are you here, Amity?” Willow asked. Luz could hear the bite in her words, laced within the genuine curiosity. “I thought you would be with your ‘better’ friends.” Willow continued.

“They’re all at Boscha’s mansion.” Amity said. “But after the convention, I found out my mother was in a coma. The stone that I wore allowed my mother to speak directly into my mind, and see and hear what I saw and heard. When Luz broke it during the convention, she had the connection open, and the stone breaking caused her to get mental backlash, which sent her into a coma. Now that I don’t have her breathing down my neck all the time, I finally have the freedom to do what I want. And I want to be with my real friends.” Amity said. Luz had been ready to apologize for breaking the stone, but seeing that Amity saw it as a good thing made Luz feel like she didn’t need to apologize. Amity’s mom seemed like a horrible person. Luz really hoped she never had to meet her. Willow’s anger had abated when Amity had mentioned that they were her real friends. But she wanted to make sure Amity was being sincere.

“What do you mean ‘real friends’?” Willow asked.

“You were my first real friend, Willow. But my parents, mostly my mom, threatened to make sure you never got into Hexside if I didn’t stop being your friend. And when you asked if it was because you were weak, I just latched onto that. But you were never too weak to be my friend. I was too weak to be yours. And then I let my friends pick on you, even joining in, because I was too scared to stand up for myself. I’m sorry, I truly am. I hope you can forgive me.” Amity said.

“I forgive you. But don’t think this means we’re friends just yet. You need to earn my trust back if you want to be my friend again.” Willow said.

“I understand, and I will do whatever it takes to earn your trust back.” Amity said, the determination clear in her face. She was ready to do anything to get her first friend back. Luz had to keep herself from crying at how emotional the scene was. Then she remembered she didn’t actually know anything about the moonlight conjuring.

“Hey, uh, how does the moonlight conjuring even work?” Luz asked, hating to break up the moment, but eager to learn what they were doing. It was magic, after all, and Luz wanted to learn as much as possible about magic.

“Oh, so first, we need to find an object to animate. Since it’s our first time, we should pick something meaningful, something beautiful.” Willow said, walking over to a vase with flowers.

“Like this strangely buff little man?” Gus said, holding up an action figure called “beefy Bob”.

“That’s not really what I had in mind when I said beautiful.” Willow said. Gus gave her puppy-dog eyes. “Okay, buff boy it is.” Willow relented, she couldn’t argue against Gus’ puppy-dog eyes.

“Yes!” Luz cheered.

“Okay, I guess.” Amity said with less enthusiasm.

“Tonight he shall be risen!” Gus said, which was not as creepy as Luz thought it would be, considering the toy hadn’t been alive in the first place.

“Okay now we sit in a circle holding hands, and make a connection with the object we’re trying to animate.” Amity said, taking over the explanation. “Here’s a book that has the incantation, so you know what to say.” Amity added, handing a book to Luz, already opened to the page with the incantation. They all got into position around the figurine (as Gus insisted they don’t call it a doll), and joined hands, then began to recite the incantation.

“Moonlight, we call, we sing. Moonlight, take this chance, moonlight, tie the string. Moonlight start this dance.” they all recited together. A ring of magic spread out from them, a pale blue tinged with Luz’s signature color of magic, though none of them noticed that detail, as they all had their eyes closed, trying to focus on making a connection.

“Did it work?” Luz asked, as nothing happened initially. Suddenly, the house began to shake. 

“HOOT HOOT,” came a familiar voice from outside. The house suddenly let out a particularly violent shake, before becoming still again.

“Guys, I think we might have accidentally animated the house.” Willow said, noticing the figurine was not animated, and realizing that the house shaking was because the house was now animated.

“THE HOUSE?! Oh my gosh, Eda’s gonna kill me if this doesn’t wear off!” Luz shouted in distress. 

“Don’t worry, it should wear off after tonight.” Willow said. Luz went to the door to see what was going on, and almost ran right off the edge, as the house was now standing on a pair of giant chicken legs. Suddenly, the house started walking forward all by itself. 

“Hooty, you need to stop!” Luz yelled at Hooty. Hooty moving around a lot would definitely make some kind of mess. Hopefully Luz would be able to clean it up before Eda got back.

“By the power of the moonlight, I have risen, hoot hoot.” Hooty said, in a trancelike state.

“He’s in some kind of a trance.” Gus helpfully informed Luz, who had just come to that conclusion herself. “Hooty, please stop.” Gus said, but Hooty didn’t reply. A particularly bouncy bump nearly caused Gus to fall, but Luz, Amity, and Willow grabbed him before he could fall.

“Our magic must have spread throughout the entire house, instead of the figurine.” Willow said. Willow grabbed one of Amity’s hands, while Luz grabbed her other hand on a particularly powerful bump to steady themselves, when the pale blue glow of the magic formed around them. “Hooty, stop!” Luz yelled out, causing Hooty to stop moving right before they went off a cliff.

“Wow, we can control Hooty with the power of friendship! And the moon. Probably the moon.” Willow said.

“Wow, this is amazing! What should we do now?” Gus said.

“On the one hand, we should probably stay put.” Luz said.

“On the other hand, we have a giant house and should totally take it on a joyride!” Gus said.

“Okay, but we have to be back before the moon sets, or Eda will kill me.” Luz said. They all held hands and started piloting the house through the woods. They didn’t notice the figure watching them from the nearby hill.

~~~~~~~~~~

Eda finally arrived at the night market. Unfortunately, she sprouted feathers as soon as she arrived.

“Dang, it’s the curse. I need that elixir.” Eda said upon noticing the feathers she had sprouted. She walked up to a demon and asked him where she could find Grimm-Hammer. A smaller demon popped out of one of the eyeholes, and pointed to a terrifying-looking stand nearby. Eda slowly started to make her way over.

~~~~~~~~~~

Luz, Amity, Willow, and Gus didn’t really have a specific idea of where they were going, until Luz got an idea.

“Hey, why don’t we go to Boscha’s mansion, so we can show her who’s boss?” Luz pitched her idea to the group.

“That’s actually not a terrible idea.” Willow said, wanting to prove herself to Boscha. Maybe Boscha would stop bullying her then. Gus also readily agreed, with Amity agreeing after eventually being convinced, though she did so reluctantly. Luz told Hooty where to go, and they were on the way to show Boscha what they had done, and prove that they were better than Boscha and her friends. They failed to notice that they were being followed as they continued their trek through the forest.

~~~~~~~~~~

Eda walked up to the intimidating stand. The stand had a curtain draped in front of it, but seemed to be open.

“Uh, hello? I seek the one they call Grimm-Hammer.” Eda said, hoping that the owner of the stand was there. Although if the owner wasn’t there, she might just steal the potion. Maybe it would be better if the owner wasn’t there.

“I’m the one they call Grimm-Hammer.” a voice said from behind the counter. The curtain promptly rolled up, revealing the stand. A small pig-like demon hopped up onto the counter. “Welcome, welcome, welcome. I’ve got weaponry from the Hinterlands, curses from the Winterlands, and jelly beans! They’re lethally delicious.” the demon said. King caught one of the jelly beans in his paw. Eda made sure he didn’t eat it, she didn’t need her kid dying from a jelly bean.

“You are Grimm-Hammer?” Eda asked, unable to believe that this small demon had such an intimidating name.

“Tibblet Tibbley Grimm-Hammer the third. You can call me Tibbles.” the newly introduced Tibbles said. King laughed.

“He wants to be called that.” King said, finding the name to be ridiculous. 

“Okay, Tibbles, I need some of this elixir.” Eda said, showing Tibbles what elixir she needed.

“Oh, this is one wicked brew. Lucky for you, I just stocked up!” Tibbles said, grabbing an elixir with his tail.

“Huzzah! I’ll give you ten snails.” Eda offered. This was more than she paid when she bought it from Morton, so she figured it was a reasonable price. Tibbles seemed to not agree.

“Add two more zeroes, and it’s a deal.” Tibbles responded. 

“A thousand snails?! What kind of game are you playing?” Eda asked. She couldn’t believe that the demon was trying to charge her a thousand snails for the elixir.

“Capitalism! Where everyone wins; except you.” Tibbles replied.

“Hey!” Eda said as Tibbles hopped off the counter, before noticing the Hexes Hold ‘Em deck on the counter. “Say, you play Hexes Hold ‘Em?” Eda said, an idea forming.

“Oh, is that what that game is called?” Tibbles asked, pretending to sound surprised. “I was just using them as coasters.”

“How about we make it interesting? If I win, you give me my elixir, and if you win, you can take something of mine.” Eda said. 

“Oh, what fun. You’re on.” Tibbles replied.

~~~~~~~~~~

The owl house finally made it out of the forest and to the main streets of Bonesborough. Luz was still controlling the house, as the others had had limited success when they tried to control Hooty, so it was decided that Luz would be the one to guide Hooty toward Boscha’s mansion, with Amity telling Luz where to go. People ran out of the way as the huge legs took the house down the street. Eventually they made it to Boscha’s mansion, which was a ways away from the main town of Bonesborough. Suddenly, the house stopped moving, slightly jostling all four kids. Luz looked around for the disturbance, as she knew she hadn’t asked Hooty to stop, before noticing something that looked like it was definitely out of place.

“Is that a giant crossbow? Luz asked.

“Oh no, it’s the demon hunters.” Amity said, pointing out the figures manning the crossbow as they shot another rope out over the owl house. A demon hunter jumped up to where the house was. All four of the kids had a bad feeling about this.

Luz did not like this. She and her friends had been tied up, with their backs to each other. And it was worse for Luz, she had reinforced gloves covering her hands to stop her from using her claws to cut the rope, and she had a muzzle over her mouth to stop her from chewing through the rope. Luz could feel the magic reinforcing the gloves, but also noticed that the muzzle had magic imbued into it. Luz especially disliked the muzzle, as it made her feel like a rabid animal or something, it felt dehumanizing, or whatever the equivalent would be for her, since she was half-demon. And the gloves stopped the moon magic from working. She also felt responsible, she was the one who had suggested showing off to Boscha. This was all her fault.

“I’m sorry, guys.” Luz said. “This is all my fault.” It was hard to understand her with the muzzle immobilizing her mouth, but Amity understood what she meant.
“It’s not your fault, we all agreed to it.” Amity said. The cart the house was on bumped, jostling all the kids painfully. Luz was also starting to get unnaturally itchy, though she had a feeling she knew what was happening. But this time it was all over the top half of her body, though it ended on her neck. But now was not the time to focus on that. She had bigger problems to deal with.

“Hooty, you have to wake up!” Luz shouted, loud enough that Hooty could hear her, even with the muzzle. 

“If you want this to end as you say, four must hold hands, it's the only way.” Hooty replied. Suddenly, they were thrown across the room as the cart jolted to a stop, somehow causing Luz and Amity’s lips to briefly meet, though they both tried to ignore the feeling of butterflies in their stomachs that elicited. The leader of the demon hunters opened the door laughing ominously. The kids were dragged out of the house and roughly thrown to the ground.

“Take the house and rip up the house demon. We can sell it to restaurants as exotic meat.” the lead demon hunter said. 

“No, Hooty would taste terrible.” Luz said. She was pretty sure Hooty was made of wood, and she didn’t think most witches or demons would like to eat wood.

“Hey, I’m a refined taste, hoot hoot.” Hooty said, not helping his case.

“What do we do with the worms?” one of the other hunters asked, gesturing at the kids.

“Throw them over the cliff.” the leader said. The demon hunter who had asked the question smiled evilly, and moved to follow the order.

“Alright, kids, welcome to the end of your short little lives.” the demon hunter said after leading them to the edge of the cliff.

“Wait, wait, wait. Is this really what you want to be doing with your life? Tossing kids from cliffs?” Gus asked.

“Actually, yes. It’s been my dream since I was a boy.” the demon hunter said. All the kids gave him strange looks. “I was a strange child. But now I finally get to do it. Wee!” he said as he pushed them over the edge of the cliff. They started to fall, but the rope that was binding them together was snagged by a tree root growing out of the cliff. However, the tree root wasn’t going to hold them forever. Willow noticed another root growing near the first one. She was able to free her arm, and grab the root.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Oof, that was painful to watch.” King said as Eda’s cards burned.

“You card shark. You hustled me.” Eda angrily said to Tibbles.

“Looks like you forgot about my wild card.” Tibbles laughed. The card jumped out of his hand and started showing off. “In any case, I’d like my prize now, and I choose the little bone boy.” Tibbles said. He grabbed King, ripping him away from Eda. “I’ve always wanted a servant to model my line of baby clothes.” Tibbles said.

“No, I don’t look good in clothes, I’m all natural. Eda do something.” King shouted. Eda tried to draw a spell circle, but feathers just puffed out of her arm instead.

“Ah, shoot, I’m out of magic.” Eda said. Suddenly, chains burst from the ground to ensnare Eda. Eda fell sideways to the ground.

“You think this will stop me? I can still bite your ankles.” Eda said.

“You think I don’t know who you are, Eda the Owl Lady?” Tibbles responded.

“I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t care, as selling goods at the night market isn’t exactly legal.” Eda said.

“I already called the Emperor’s Coven. They’re already on the way.” Tibbles said.

“We’re already here.” came a voice from behind Eda. A group of four coven scouts had already appeared. The leader snapped their fingers, and the chains binding Eda suddenly snaked up to bind Tibbles.

“Hey, what is going on?” Tibbles shouted as he tumbled off the counter. Two of the “scouts” went behind the counter, and levitated a crate out from behind the counter. The leader handed Eda the elixir that was already out.

“We’ve got it, let’s go before the actual scouts show up.” the “scout” who wasn’t levitating the crate said. 

“Eda, you should come with us.” the leader said, before seeing a house with giant chicken legs walk by, and trampling Tibbles’ stand, destroying it. “And I need to talk to you about that.” they said.

Eda decided it would be okay to follow them, seeing as they weren’t trying to arrest her, and the fact that they had given her an elixir. Also, the noticeable voice altering spell made them seem more trustworthy to Eda. So, Eda followed them as they headed deeper into Bonesborough.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Yeah, they tried to fight back, and they nearly got me, but I handled it.” one of the demon hunters told the leader.

“They were children, Tom.” the leader replied flatly. As soon as the leader finished speaking, a shadow appeared over them. A giant flower was the source of the shadow. Willow used a vine to cut the rope binding the four of them together.

“We may be children, but we’re also witches.” Willow said.

“And powerful ones at that.” Amity added. Amity and Willow used magic to attack the demon hunters. It didn’t take long before all the demon hunters were unconscious on the ground, most of them bleeding from various wounds. All the kids ran back to the owl house. They quickly helped Luz get the gloves off so that they could hold hands and start the trip back to where the owl house was supposed to be. On the way back, they made a shortcut through the night market, accidentally destroying a stand on the way back.

“Sorry mister!” Willow called out. The group eventually made it back to where the owl house was supposed to be. Hooty sat down, his legs disappearing from underneath him. 

“Sorry about everything that happened, Hooty.” Luz said.

“I was just glad to be a part of something.” Hooty said.

“Okay, we should get that muzzle off of you, otherwise Eda will probably freak out when she gets back.” Amity said to Luz. Amity tried to take the muzzle off, but was unable to do so. “Ugh, the muzzle is locked by magic, and I don’t know how to undo it. It looks like we’ll have to wait for Eda to come back after all. In the meantime, we should get some sleep.” Amity said. Everyone agreed with the plan to sleep, so they all laid down on the couch in a sort of pile, and fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

Eda and King followed the unknown people through Bonesborough. Eventually they arrived in front of a cave. Following the people inside the cave, Eda saw that the cave was rather well furbished. It was basically a sort of club house. The leader took off their mask, and turned to face Eda.

“Raine?!” Eda exclaimed when she saw the face of the person who had rescued her. The other people took their masks off too, and Eda recognized one of them as one of the people she had helped break out of the Conformatorium. 

“Hey, so I didn’t expect to see you so soon after the Covention, but I’m not going to complain about it.” Raine said. They took the top off the crate, revealing many more elixirs. They were all the same elixirs that Eda used to control her curse. “I was going to give you these elixirs when I visited you, but since you’re already here, I guess I can give them to you now.” Raine continued. “Oh, and also, was that your house walking through the night market!? What happened before you left?” Raine asked.

“Actually, I’m just as confused as you are. I let Luz have some friends over for a moonlight conjuring, and I guess they must have animated the house. I didn’t know that was even possible, and it would have required a huge amount of magic.” Eda said. She had a sneaking suspicion she knew where a majority of the magic came from.

“Well, your daughter seems pretty powerful.” Raine said. They thought of Luz as their daughter too, but wouldn’t say anything about that around Eda until Eda was ready to admit the truth. 

“Yeah, she is.” Eda said. Eda didn’t miss the fact that Raine called Luz her daughter, but didn’t feel like arguing the point at that moment. “Okay, now it’s your turn. Why were all of you pretending to be coven scouts to steal my elixirs for me?” Eda asked.

“Well… okay, fine, I’m secretly working against the emperor from the inside.” Raine revealed. “These are my students, Amber, Derwin, and Katya. Together we are the Bards Against The Throne, aka the BATTs.” Raine explained.

“Wait, you’re running a secret rebel cell right under Bonehead’s nose? I’m impressed, Rainestorm.” Eda said. Raine blushed slightly at the nickname.

“Yeah, well, I realized how messed up the system is, and a great witch once told me something about… punching fears in the face? Anyways, I decided that I would do what I felt was right. So, along with my students, who felt the same way as me, I created our little rebellion. We don’t have enough strength or support to move openly against Belos yet, but we’re trying to find like-minded people to help us in our fight.” Raine said.

“You need allies? Well, you can count me in. I’m already going against the system, but I would love to do more.” Eda said.

“I can’t ask you to do that Eda. I don’t want to put you in danger.” Raine said.

“You don’t need to ask me. I’m choosing to help. And besides, I never back away from the face of danger.” Eda replied.

“But you need to take care of your kids!” Raine pointed out.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to the kids. I would give up my life for them. Not that I’m going to have to, I am the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles, after all. Although my apprentice may take that spot pretty soon.” Eda said.

“Okay, I can see I’m not going to change your mind. But can we talk more, preferably at your place? This hideout is nice, but the sun is coming up, and your kid and her friends probably had a long night.” Raine said.

“Yeah, hopefully they’re getting some sleep. Although they’re cleaning the house as soon as they wake up.” Eda said. Raine let out a soft laugh at that. So, Eda and Raine made their way back to the owl house, with King riding in Eda’s hair.

When Eda arrived back at the owl house, Hooty let Eda know that all the kids were asleep. Eda made sure that Hooty was okay after that night, then went inside, Raine entering as well. Eda walked over to where the kids were on the couch, smiling at their sleeping forms. She would let them sleep for now, they could clean the house later. She then noticed the fur on Luz’s arms and neck. It seemed that the entire top half of Luz’s body had fur now. She then noticed the muzzle on Luz’s face. She used her magic to unlock it, and took it off, throwing it onto the coffee table. She placed King down on the couch and walked to the door.

“Keep an eye on them for me. I’ll be back soon.” Eda told Raine. Raine had a feeling the demon hunters were about to have a very rough time. 

The demon hunters were starting to wake up. The kids had been far more powerful than they had anticipated. They didn’t plan on underestimating those kids again. As they were about to start heading back to town, a large bird-like creature suddenly landed in front of them. The demon hunters ran, not in shape to fight the beast, but the beast was surprisingly fast. Only a handful of the demon hunters were ever seen again after that.

Eda returned home, pretending like she hadn’t just murdered a bunch of demon hunters as the owl beast. No one needed to know what happened. 

“Oh, you’re back.” Raine said as Eda came through the door. “None of the kids are awake yet. Although I did notice that Luz seems to have the beginnings of a tail.” Raine said.

“Wait, really?” Eda said, going over to see. Sure enough, Luz had a short, stubby tail starting to grow out from the tailbone. “Huh, her tail is growing. Probably won’t be too long before her wings start to grow in, then.” Eda said.

“Wait, she’s going to grow wings?” Raine asked. They had heard of how painful it could be to grow wings.

“Yeah, and it’s unfortunately going to be painful. Luckily, we were able to get some very strong pain medicine from a healer I know, so we can hopefully numb the pain. Not to mention that the same pain will happen when horns grow in, and yes, she is going to grow horns.” Eda said. 

“Interesting.” Raine said. Did Eda have some demon heritage in her family? Or was it a side effect from the curse? Raine wasn’t sure, but they still loved the girl either way.

~~~~~~~~~~

A skeletal hand rose out of a grave. It grasped the ground, and pulled the rest of its bones out of the ground. The skeleton walked into the forest near Bonesborough. Eventually, she reached the territory of a certain demon, who flew down to stop her from trespassing.

“Stop! Who are you?” the demon asked.

“Hello, Bat Queen. It’s good to see you again. I did tell you that powerful magic mixed with a moonlight conjuring was going to bring me back again, didn’t I?” the skeleton asked.

“Yes, I suppose you did, Evelyn.” The Bat Queen said. “In fact, I remember exactly what you said. You said ‘when moonlight glows and magic grows, this spirit will rise a lich, to bring an end to the bane of witch.’” The Bat Queen said. “And it seems you were correct.”
“Of course I was correct.” Evelyn said. “I was the best necromancer of my time, after all.” Evelyn added. “And now, the time has come for Philip to pay for what he did to my family.”