Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“It’s working…guys, look, it’s working!”

“Luz, are you sure everything’s working right? The glyphs are acting weird.”

“Relax Gus, I’ve got-”

“Look out!”

“AAGH! Whoo…close one!”

“Luz, get out of there!”

“Hang on! Just…hang on. I’m so close.”

“LUZ, NO!”

“Amity…?”

---

A flash of light sends a young lady barreling into a room vaguely familiar. She groans as she sits up.

“Ugh…what happened…?” she mutters to herself, then gasps as she sees her hands…her claws . “Yes, yes, yes !” she shrieks in delight. Brandishing her staff, the witch raises some ice to look at herself like a mirror.

She was carrying the blessing of the Titan again, the old glyphs resounding through her body. Her heart beat with a bile sac, her eyes glowed like the stars, and her wild hair covered her ears.

“Dang, Luz, you look good.” Luz says to herself with a whistle, then laughs and rolls her eyes. “Ah, I’ve been hanging out with Eda too much…alright, guys, it’s a success-!” She looks around, and Luz realizes that this is not the school.

And she was alone. No Gus, no Willow, no Hunter…no Amity. They were all here, helping her with her ritual! She was using King’s new Glyphs in place of the old glyphs in a Pre-Savage Age ritual, meant to restore things to what they were. It was primarily a healing ritual, but she planned to use it to revert herself to her Titan Form. That would give her time to maybe give the Isles some life again…give King a chance to meet his Dad. I mean, Belos made an overgrown amalgamation of an avatar from the Titan’s heart, how hard can it really be for the Titan himself to manifest a smaller arm for a game of catch? But, Luz is alone. Her friends aren’t here.

And she’s in the Conformatorium, in that treasure room Warden Wrath kept. What is she doing here? The Conformatorium…it’s gone. Is this a dream? As if in answer, Stringbean animates and bites her ear.

“Ah!” she smiles and pets her Palisman. “Thanks, sweetie.” She shakes her head, letting her hair stay wild- subsequently covering her ears. “Alright, let’s see. The ritual sent me to the Conformatorium- maybe a memory? But there are no trees, or portraits, or anything like that…” as Luz walks forward, she feels a crunch. She looks down, and her eyes widen as she sees the crushed paper crown that King wore before she met him, now crunched further under her clawed foot.

“Oh, no.” Luz then heard an explosion behind her, and rushes to the window to see her past self doing battle with Warden Wrath for the first time. “I’m back in time?!”

---

Luz could hardly control the Owl Lady’s staff (Eda? Eda, it’s Eda, gotta remember), and as she descended, the bird-masked Warden glared at her with disdain.

“Who do you think you are?!” the Warden snarls.

Luz smiles. This was her chance! The perfect segue!

“Do not underestimate me, Warden Wrath!” Luz points at the monster. “For I am Luz, the human, warrior of peace!” she grins as wind blows her hair, and she pulls out some fireworks. “Now eat this sucka-!”

Before she can throw it, there is an explosion of magic like the starlight sky. Landing down in front of her, pushing the prisoners off of the warden, is a tall shape that was nothing like any of the other demons Luz had seen. Her attire- it almost looked like some dark reflection of Good Witch Azura, but had celestial motifs, horns and fur on the hat, and a mane of scraggly hair. She carried a staff like Eda the Owl Lady, but this one is headed with some kind of snake, not an owl. She has taloned feet, and her hands end in claws. Her eyes shine like stars in the night sky. She also had an odd marking on one arm (a tattoo?) in the shape of a red bird. Around her neck, she wears a beautiful pendant of a crescent moon.

“Who are you?!” Warden Wrath exclaims.

“Look at yourself.” the figure said, resting the staff against her shoulders, like she didn’t consider the situation a threat in the least. “The Great Warden Wrath, reduced to nothing more than a sniveling romantic. What would your son think?”

“How dare you!” Warden Wrath swung his bladelike arms, but the newcomer dodged with ease.

“Sloppy! Messy! Pathetic!” the woman taunted with each missed strike. “What do you expect to happen if you do get a date? Or another? You know the Emperor would never allow this.”

“I can change her!” The Warden whines.

“Can you? Or would you be wasting your time?” the witch traces a purple circle in the air that seemed to be overflowing with magic, blasting a wave of snow that buried the Warden. “You lured her here and planned on kidnapping her head, alone.” she gets down on one knee to become eye level to the prone warden. “Is that the kind of message you want to send to Braxas?”

“N…no.” Wrath mumbles. “But what am I supposed to do? I’m Warden Wrath ! And you’re all under arrest!” he whines. “So long as the Conformatorium stands, I will do my duty!”

The woman looks to the building before her, a scowl on her face.

“Eyesore.” she mutters and raises the staff, a dark beam of energy devoid of light emerges and cuts through the tower, melting it and causing it to begin collapsing.

“W…what…?” Wrath mutters quietly.

“The human got those witches and demons out. Now all that’s left are the scouts and guards that can get out on their own with unsealed magic.” the woman grins. “Congrats, Wrath, your itinerary’s free!” she laughs to herself.

“Whoa…” Luz mutters. She had grabbed Eda’s head, but even the Owl Lady was looking on in awe.

The woman looks at them, and her face drops to one or horror.

“Oh, Titan, you’re so small…”

“Er…who are you?” Luz calls out.

The woman seemed taken aback by this, and almost looked…relived?

“Who I am doesn’t matter, human girl.” she smiles. “You have shown great heroism today! That much is clear.” she bows dramatically. “It would seem the legendary Owl Lady had found an ally pure of heart.”

Eda’s head blows a raspberry. “Legendary, huh? What’re you selling?” she scoffs.

The woman cracks a grin. “Nothing at all, Owl Lady.” She sits atop her staff and begins to ride off.

“Stop!” more scouts try to sling magic, but the woman is easily able to weave and dodge.

“Kid, move, while they’re distracted!” Eda orders.

---

“Someone get her!” more scouts cry, and the elder Luz happily draws their ire.

“Well, I’m not disappearing, so…time travel without consequences, I guess.” she mutters.

“Shoot her down!” “Who is that?” “Someone get her name!”

Name, huh? Yeah, she’s need a name for this world, and ‘Luzura’ wasn’t gonna cut it. No, she needed something more, something with more heft…something that blended in, make her seem like a real denizen, all while making it clear to Belos that someone is coming for him.

A grin crosses her face as a devious idea enters her mind.

“You want my name, Coven Scouts?” Luz calls down below her. “Tell Emperor Belos that Evelyn is coming for him!"

Chapter Text

“Alright, Stringbean, we need answers here.” Luz-Evelyn mutters to herself (she needs to get used to calling herself that for the time being), sitting down in the woods. Waving her hand, illusions fly out in front of her as she considers the logic of the situation.

“The Restoration Spell restored the power of a Titan to me- seemingly permanently- but couldn’t do it without first having the Titan live, as expected,” she mutters to herself. “The spell was said to be able to move heaven and earth for the caster, so I expected it to subsequently bring King’s Dad back, but instead it sent me hurtling back to when the Titan was already alive!” she frowns. “Which would be my deeply fucked up childhood. Splendid.” She waves her hand, and a map appears. “The Temporal Tidepools only go backward in time from a point, not forward unless you’re making a return trip. I should find one of those first, just in case. If that doesn’t work, then that spell may be even more wild than I thought. In which case…Plan B!” She shows off another illusion of a flow chart. “The B stands for Belos! As in kicking Belos’ sorry slimy ass!” Luz declares jovially to her Palisman.

“Order of events are laid out as best as I can remember them! While Lilith is away during the Covention, I’ll launch an attack on the Emperor’s Palace and depose Belos before anyone even knows I’m there.” She snickers, and Stringbean nudges her. “Huh? What’s up, beanie?”

Stringbean points at the display.

“What, you want me to include my life? Alright, well, tomorrow the past me’s gonna…” she hesitates. “Meet Adegast.” an event that still haunts her dreams. “Then, I met Willow, Gus, and Amity. Got banned from Hexside. Learned the Light Glyph only because the Owl Beast was attacking. Fight Amity at the Covention, leading to Eda and Lilith fighting.” she mutters, those four events lining up before Phase 1. “But…but that was just the start! It got…it got better.” she insists, more events lining up. A lot of events. A lot of adventures…but for every fun adventure, there’s be two more traumatic experiences. Things Luz wished she could forget.

“I…I…” tears stream down her face, and Stringbean wipes them clean. “I need to get back to my timeline, but…maybe we can make this one just a little bit more bearable for us.” Luz smiles kindly. “Just a little bit. And then we can kick Belos’ sorry behind.”

Chapter Text

Little Luz was squealing with excitement! She’s walking through this mythical town of Bonesborough, on her way back to the Owl House, with King the King of Demons following her and she looks at the prophesied map to the Celestial Staff in her hands.

“Can you believe it, King? Me ! A chosen one!” she squeals.

“Listen, human, I said is once and I’ll keep saying it. That’s not a thing! He’s scamming you.” King insists.

“I think you need to have a little faith.” Luz retorts.

“And I think you need to-” King begins, but they both hear the woosh of a witch on a staff descending.

“Hel lo , Human.” the powerful Demon-Witch from yesterday says.

“It’s you!” Luz exclaims, amazed. “Evelyn!”

“Ah, you heard that, huh?” the witch chuckles. “Yeah, well, you can call me Eve, kiddo.” She gives a finger gun, which is awesome. Luz’s eyes light up with wonder. “Whatcha got there?”

“ I have an epic destiny to unfold!” Luz says proudly, and King rolls his eyes.

Eve’s face turns sour. “Destiny…a map…?” he groans. “Aw, man, is Adegast still up to that racket?”

“...racket?” Luz asks.

“Let me guess.” Eve says and traces one of her purple spell circles in the air, summoning a tiny illusion of Adegast.

“The prophecy speaks of a young girl who will claim the Celestial Staff and free this world from an ancient evil. Perhaps thou hath cometh here for a reason.” the illusion speaks. “Should you believe yourself worthy to attempt this quest, you need to know the road is dark and perilous!”

Luz steps back, in horror as she realizes what’s happening.

“He’s got dozens of those maps. Pawns them off to any sucker he can feed off of and add to this…terrible cast of characters.” Eve shakes her head. “My guess is, he’s targeting you cause of the Owl Lady. Her business is sapping at his.”

“But…but he said I was special…” Luz says, dejected. This… hurts . So Eda and King were right? The people here, they just want ill will?

“He said the same thing to me.” Even crushed the illusion in a clawed hand, then put the same hand on Luz’s shoulder, getting down on one knee to look her in the eye. “What’s your name, human?”

“…Luz.” she says quietly.

“Luz. Take it from a witch whose been through it all- destiny is bullshit .” Eve says, and Luz’s eyes widen a bit at the swear. “A very kind man- one who actually did mean well- once told me that no one can give you the great power or potential you seek for. No one can choose you. You have to choose yourself, take what you want!” she smiles warmly as her little hovering snake cuddles her cheek. “So I did,” she says as she pets them.

“Whoa…” Luz mutters.

“Stay outta trouble, Luz the human!” Eve says and flies away.

---

“...HUUUGH.” ‘Eve’ lays back on Stringbean’s staff as they fly away. “I am so glad I’m a good actor. I barely remembered I had to ask her name,” she mutters to herself. 

---

Back in Luz’s bedroom, she’s sheathing her toy sword and looking through the various possessions in the room.

“So, King, what kind of Chosen One should I be?” Luz asks.

“Huh? What?” King asks, astonished as he’s woken from the nap he was about to take. “I thought you were done with this destiny nonsense!”

“What’s this about destiny nonsense?” Eda the Owl Lady asks as she makes it to the doorway.

“Your wizard client told Luz that she was a chosen one!” King says with a snicker. “She snapped out of it, though, when that Evelyn witch showed up.”

Eda chuckles, then gets serious. “The witch from last night? Huh. I’d never seen her before, and I know everyone . Bet she thinks she’s some kinda bigshot.”

“She was nice!” Luz protests. “She told me Adegast was a liar, and tricked her when she was younger…”

“Yeah, that’s wizards.” Eda scoffs. “Never trust a man in casual drapery.”

“Yeah, but she’s still trying to be a chosen one!” King says.

“Eh?” Eda tilts her head.

“I’m not going on Adegast’s quest! I know that’s a trap.” Luz huffs. “But Eve said you have to take destiny for yourself! Or something like that.” she grins. “So, I’m gonna be a Chosen One because I want to be!”

“Well, the kid’s got hutzpa.” Eda shakes her head with a smile.

---

While Eda and King leave, Eda sighs as she and King sit down.

“Hey, Crony, wake up.” she pokes King. “You said that Wizard was one of my clients?”

“Yeah, Adegast or somethin’. Now go away.” King rolls over, trying to sleep.

“I don’t know him that well.” Eda sits down. “What did that Evelyn girl say?”

“That Adegast tricked her, and she thinks Adegast targeted Luz to go after you. I dunno.” King groans. “Less talky, more nappy.”

Eda strokes her chin. “I don’t like this…”

Eda walks up, remembering what it was like to be young and wanting to be special. And to be special in all the wrong ways…even before the curse.

“Hey, Luz?” Eda walks into the room.

“Yes?” Luz looks up at Eda with bright eyes, going through everything in the room in excitement.

“Could you tell me exactly what happened between you, Adegast, and Evelyn?” Eda asks.

“Sure!” Luz says, visible excited to recount the tale.

---

As a thick fog washes over the forest, a young witch whistles to herself as she walks through the woods, looking down at the map she had taken from Luz during their conversation and never gave back. Soon, she comes across her first destination- a village full of cats wearing clothes and walking on two legs. Biped Demons. As she approaches, she sees a witch with a sword strapped to his waist emerges from the fountain, wet and muscular.

So he saw me coming and made the guy my age.

“I see. You must be the Chosen One.” the man scoffs. “The Celestial Staff should’ve picked me, Nevareth Bladestrife, the Prince of- what are you doing?” he asks as Eve traces a purple circle in the air.

“Oh, just a little something a friend taught me.” she smiles as she activates the circle, and a pulse of energy washes over the village, dispelling the illusion. The puppets all go slack, and the tendrils connecting to them rise up.

Eve smirks as she twirls her staff around. “Time for some practice.”

---

While Luz stays at the Owl House obsessing over dressing up, Eda is following King to Adegast’s home.

“There is where we met the scones- er, the Wizard!” King notes and heads through the door. “Whoa…”

Eda pushes through the patched curtain, and her eyes widen.

“It was…not like this before,” King says softly.

The once elegant castle is now in complete ruin, with crumbling walls, no spire, and faded banners. One of the once-elegant front doors is laying on the ground, and a chunk of wall falls from a pillar harmlessly as Eda and King walk in.

“I don’t like this,” Eda mutters, her grip tightening on Owlbert.

As she and King enter, they see Adegast’s library. Tattered scrolls litter the floor, shelves are broken, paintings are ripped, and chunks of debris are blocking the stairs. Eda steps forward, onto a bundle of scrolls. She narrows her eyes, investigating the many identical maps.

“Huh, Evelyn was right,” King mutters.

“I really don’t like this,” Eda says softly, and sighs. She could leave well enough alone, the human wasn’t even drawn into this…but…but this old coot could do it to anyone. Actual witches and demons who are young and want nothing more than to be special.

Aw, beans, she still has a heart.

---

Eve whistles as she twirls her staff around, discarded puppets burning around her as she struts deeper into the wood. As she crosses the bridge, several tendrils erupt from the water, revealing countless fuzzy monstrosity puppets. Eve waves her hand, and using a combination of Belos’ demonclaw glyph combo (patent pending Luz) and the ice glyph created a number of serrated claws that cut the tendrils, causing a deep and guttural cry of pain from deep in the forest.

She just has to follow it.

---

As Eda and King make it to the ruins of a fake village, they see the cinders around them.

“What happened here?” King asks.

“We’ve not the only ones go after Adegast,” Eda mutters. “Let’s keep going.”

---

“Come on, the fairies aren’t even accurate!” Eve cackles. “Are you even trying ?” she taunts the receding tendrils.

Walking to the lake, Eve walks to the Celestial Staff at the center. Stringbean curls up onto her shoulder as she approaches it. Even takes hold of it and picks it up, and even as the magic comes up to try and give her some illusion of triumph…Eve cracks the white staff over her knee, instantly destroying it. She tosses the two pieces in the water.

“Rrrgh…” a growl comes from the water, and the final mass of tendrils and puppets arise, with the true Adegast as the center. “What is your problem ? Do you know how long it took to make a staff that good-looking?! Who even are you?”

“You know, Adegast, you’re one of those demons that can’t be reasoned with. Folk like you give good, honest demons a bad name.” Eve raises her hand. “But who am I?” she chuckles. “ I am Evelyn. Child of two realms, the Master of Wild Magic, and the most Powerful Witch of this age!” 

Adegast’s tendrils come for her, but Eve lets loose a roar and creates a barrier of glyphs and gold around her. Stringbean becomes a staff, and she points her toward the squid. “Now eat this , sucka!” she grins as Stringbean’s destructive burst of energy blasts forward as she lowers the shield at the same time, and Adegast can’t even defend himself before the energy courses through him!

---

Eda and King are flying through on Eda’s staff. As they make it to the lake, they gasp as the demon blows up, and Eda looks on in shock as the demon crumbles to ash.

“Huh.” the witch- Evelyn- grins to herself. “Murder’s a lot less guilt-inducing than I have been led to believe.”

“What the heck?!” Eda exclaims, and Evelyn looks up at her.

“Oh, hi, Owl Lady!” Eve waves. “Sorry for stealing your thunder, I just had some things to take care of!”

“Now, listen here-” Eda begins, starting to lower in.

“I’d love to chat, but I’ve got things to do, magic to surge, an age to make savage! Bye~!” Eve zips off on her staff, a blur of purple energy.

“What…just happened?” King asks.

“It takes a lot of magical energy to make a staff that powerful. Much less the force behind it to do all of this…” Eda mutters. “Who is that girl?”

“Well, what are we gonna tell Luz?” King asks, and Eda thinks this over.

---

Eda went on to give Luz the same talk that the Boiling Isles is full of beauty, all while Evelyn watches invisibly. It makes her happy…and sad.

I miss you, Eda…but I will find a way back to you. To all of you.

She flies off.

Everything’s going well. No Adegast trauma, but the younger me got the same lesson in the end! No major changes. I can do this.

---

As Eda and Luz land at the Owl House, Luz gasps.

“Oh, I need to show you something!” she says and rushes inside.

“What’s this all about?” Eda asks as they walk inside, and in a few minutes. Luz rushes down.

“My new witch look!” Luz grins. She’s wearing a darker t-shirt with navy jeans, and she has a smaller satchel with her that she keeps all her stuff in. “I can even add a sling for when I get my own staff! And- and maybe I can get a cool jacket one day, and a dope hat, too!” she squeals, and Eda smiles.

“Heh. Real Witch’s attire, huh?” she pats Luz on the head. “Cute, kid.”

Chapter Text

Eve hops from tree to tree in the woods outside of Hexside. She hasn’t really had a place to stay, and that’s not a bad thing- she has yet to make a real appearance for herself across the isles, save for the destruction of the Conformatorium. She doubts her name has gotten back to Belos- Lilith or Kikimora are likely the only ones that know for now (and maybe a few coven heads), and would be hesitant to tell Belos about someone just as devastating as Eda that came out of nowhere.

Eve knows that one day soon, Little Luz will wander into the woods and meet Willow. Willow and Gus are dear friends of hers, but Little Luz’s life would be so much easier if she was never banned from the school grounds in the first place! That’s Eve’s next scheme.

Which means she needs to do some serious work. She lays her eyes upon the prize, little Willow, trying to get herself hyped up. Soon, Little Luz will come along, Amity will knock Willow’s cauldron ever, and Little Luz will volunteer herself as Willow’s abomination. So…

Eve lands down before the little girl, who ‘eeps’ as she lands.

“Well, hello, little witchlet!” Eve smiles wide. “You lost?”

“Ah!” Willow looks disturbed by Eve. Which is understanding- she gets plenty of odd glances from the people of Bonesborough, most staring at her or asking something along the lines of ‘What are you?’ Demons come in all shapes and sizes, but Eve has made herself a pretty good cover story.

“Sorry for frightening you!” she giggles. “I admit, I’m a bit disconcerting, but I’m a pretty standard gal over on my Titan.”

“Your…?” Willow’s eyes widen in wonder. “You’re from another titan? That’s amazing!”

Eve smiles wide. Little Willow is so cute, she just wants to pinch those cheeks that still retain some baby fat.

“And, er, no, I’m not lost.” Willow bows her head. “I’m actually on my way to school, but…well, my abomination isn’t that good.” she says sadly, opening her cauldron to show off the mass of bones and muck.

“Hmm…have you considered replacing a few components?” Eve asks.

“Replacing…?” Willow wonders, and Eve proceeds to dump in grass, seeds, and mud. “Ah! What are you doing?!”

“Try it now!” Eve grins, looking her over. “Dig into yourself, and summon it.”

“Are you sure…? This could just make it worse…” Willow mutters, but gulps and traces a circle in the air. Willow’s main problem was that with all that potential for plant magic within her, all of her magic- even from other schools- had a little bit of plant in them. Her abominations always had some bone protruding because her magic needs a protective layer for a fluid interior, like bark on a tree or the stem of a flower.

“Abomination, rise!” Willow commands, and sure enough, the abomination rises up. It’s not pretty or very big, and it has plenty of dirt and plants covering it, and its eyes are a deeper green than normal…but it works . Willow’s eyes light up in wonder. “How did you know to do that?!”

“Well you see, little sapling, I am very good at magic.” Eve winks. “I’m assuming this is for some project.” she sits atop Stringbean. “So, go on and have some fun, practice it up, and have a good day! Bye~!” She soars away.

Perfect! Now Willow’s abomination is passable, Little Luz won’t need to be an abomination, and this time they won’t even start off on the wrong foot with Amity! Flawless planning.

Of course, what Eve didn’t account for was Willow rushing to get to school with her abomination before anything bad could happen to it.

---

Luz groans as she wipes muck off of herself and looks down at the slimeball in her hand. “If magic’s all about digging for slime balls, maybe I don’t have the stomach for it,” she mutters as she pockets the slime ball.

As Luz walks, she hears a creaking cart, and she shouts in fear as she barely gets out of the way of the cart carrying a massive cauldron, let by magic.

“What the-?” a voice exclaims, and the cart stops. “Hey, watch where you’re going-”

Luz and the girl look at each other. The girl is sitting on the cauldron, and had been reading a book. She has green hair that looks like it’s been dyed. Luz stares at her, and she stares back.

“...human?” the witch blinks.

“Um. Hi.” Luz waves. “You kinda almost ran me over there.”

“Er…sorry?” the girl blinks, seeming quite flabbergasted at the notion that she’s talking to a real human. Which, honestly, is a better reaction than most demons and witches give Luz. It was this moment that Luz realized she was actually meeting a witch her age .

“Hi!” Luz reiterates, springing up in a way that surprises the witch. “I’m Luz!” she holds out her hand for a handshake, which the girl tentatively shakes from atop the cauldron.

“Amity. Amity Blight .” the witch says like it’s supposed to mean something. Seeing Luz’s clueless face, she adds “Of Blight Industries ?”

“I’ve only been in the Demon Realm for like, half a week,” Luz informs her.

“Are you…homeless?” Amity asks, almost sounding sorry for her as she sees Luz’s dirty clothes.

“Huh? Oh! No, no.” Luz shakes her head. “I live at the Owl House, with Eda the Owl Lady! She’s teaching me how to be a witch!” she grins.

“The outlaw?” Amity asks, increasingly confused with each thing this human says. “Wait, magic…?”

“So, what’s in the pot? Magic stew? Potions?” Luz asks excitedly, and Amity scoffs.

“Of course, I suppose you wouldn’t know.” she hops down. “I suppose a demonstration is in order.” She snaps her fingers. “Abomination, rise,” she orders, and the cover falls off as a perfect abomination rises it. It bends out of the pot and pokes Luz’s forehead, leaving behind abomination mud in a star shape.

“You’re a…star.” The abomination speaks tiredly, with limited ability to speak based upon its magical matrix.

“That’s…amazing!” Luz exclaims. “What is it?! How did you do it?!”

Amity smiles, puffing out her chest a bit. It felt good to be fawned over like this, appreciated for her efforts by someone who doesn’t even know who she is…but, alas, she has to head to class.

“Yes, well, I am the Top Student.” Amity adjusts her badge.

“You are?!” Luz gasps in wonder. “Then you must know all about magic!”

“Well, it’s mostly abominations. There are separate top students for every track-” Amity begins, but Luz gets into her face.

“Can you help me? Eda’s been trying to teach me magic in weird ways, but I just…don’t get it! She was gonna have be root around in dirt all day!” Luz complains.

“Ugh…I suppose I should expect no less from an outlaw…” Amity mutters, then smiles a bit. “You know, human, I like you. How about you come with me to Hexside? It’s the magic school just down the road.”

“Really?!” Luz exclaims in excitement.

“I can’t guarantee you’ll learn anything- I’m not even sure humans can perform magic. However, I’d be glad to answer any questions you have, and give you a look at what real magic teachers look like.” Amity offers.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Luz exclaims excitedly. “Thank you!”

“Personal space, human,” Amity says before Luz can hug her, pushing her back, and Amity’s abomination lifts them both onto the cauldron before receding into it, and magic begins to propel the cart again.

“This is sizing up to be an interesting day.” Amity says softly as she smiles to herself.

Chapter Text

“Welcome to the Hexside School of Magic and Demonics,” Amity announces as her cart pulls itself, and Amity smiles a bit as Luz looks on in wonder at the massive building.

Amity had to admit, this human was a good ego booster. She was amazed by absolutely everything, and quite easy to please- which made her the ideal person to egg her on whenever she would have doubts. Her friends had been slacking on that lately, more or less just expecting her to do certain things without the egging on. But humans are savage and, if stories are to be believed, absolutely adore conquest. This ‘Luz’ will be the ideal person to keep her on track.

She briefly tried to recall what her Mother’s exact rules for pets were…

---

Inside Hexside itself, Amity leads Luz into the Principal’s Office. The human looks in wonder at all of the decor, seeming to be captivated by the architecture. It leads Amity to briefly wonder what Humans make their buildings out of.

“Miss Blight…care to explain this?” Principal Bump looks at the human in confusion.

“Principal Bump, this human…wandered to this realm. She’s trying to learn magic.” Amity explains.

“Learn magic? Is that even possible?” Bump strokes his chin.

“I…am not sure,” Amity says, not quite yet going to admit that she doesn’t believe it is. “But this human has expressed wonder in magic and I believe permitting her a visitor’s pass for the day would be a good way for her to see how magic works.”

“Very well, Miss Blight.” Bump nods, tracing a circle to produce a small badge he pins to Luz’s outfit. “As the Top Student of the Abomination Track, it’s up to you to show her around, and…” The two of them hear a crash as Luz accidentally knocks over a skeletal statue. “Keep her out of trouble.”

---

Luz was amazed by how cool Hexside was! And she was being shown around by actual witches! Amity introduced her friends, Boscha and Skara, to Luz, and while they seem a bit intense, they seem to be just as intrigued at the concept of a human as Amity is.

“Isn’t there, like, some Human-Lovers Club?” Skara asks with a tilt of her head.

“Human Appreciation Society.” Amity explains, and Luz’s eyes light up.

“Can we go see that?!” Luz exclaims excitedly.

“ We have class to get to.” Amity explains, and Luz’s face drops in disappointment. “But, I suppose we could check it out during lunch.”

“Yes!” Luz cheers. “Thank you, Amity!” She says, and Amity can’t seem to help but smile a bit.

---

In Abomination 101, people stare at Luz as Professor Hermonculus has allowed an additional chair so Luz can sit at Amity’s table. She looks at everything in wonder, unable to stop the grin on her face at all of the fantastical demons and witches around her! It’s…oddly adorable.

“Too many toenails in unexpected places. Fail.” The Professor scoffs. “Pathetic!”

The abomination and student deflate in unison. Luz winces a bit.

“Isn’t this a bit harsh?” Luz asks. Hm, perhaps Human schools are more forgiving for their own projects.

“An acceptable abomination just needs to look right,” Amity explains. “Maybe say a phrase or two you’ve weaved into the spell.”

“So it doesn’t actually have to do anything?” Luz tilts her head.

“No. Sure, complexity will get you extra credit,” Amity pats her cauldron with pride, “But I go above and beyond.” she says, and Luz gazes in wonder.

“The biggest abominations are all of you!” Hermonculus scolds. “If the next abomination is a failure, everyone gets extra homework for a month!” He orders, and the students groan and grumble.

“And this is where the Top Student comes to the rescue,” Amity says to Luz confidently and stands up. “Excuse me, sir, but I am ready to present my abomination. Rise!” Amity declares, and her perfect abomination rises from the pot elegantly.

The Professor just chuckles. “I always save the best for last, Amity. You’ll have to wait your turn.” he says, and Amity frowns a bit as she sits back down. “How about…Willow?”

There were more grumbles around, and Luz leans to Amity.

“Who’s Willow?” she asks as the witch slowly pulls her cauldron to the front.

“Willow is…” Amity looks at Luz and sees the wonder in her eyes. “She’s not as gifted as the rest of us. Her magic isn’t as strong as anyone else’s. People call her “Half-a-Witch Willow.”

“That’s awful!” Luz frowns. “Ugh, I hate name-calling.” the human pouts, and Amity feels herself tense up.

“Yeah…yeah.” Amity doesn’t make eye contact.

Willow takes a deep breath and raises her hand. “A-abomination…rise.”

The lid slides off, and the abomination rises, and Amity blinks. This was unlike any abomination she’d seen before. This one has elements of the original muck an abomination was meant to be made of, but…it had earth and plants growing out of it. Regardless, it looked like it was actually functioning.

“Willow Park!” Hermonculus scolds. “Explain yourself!”

“W-well, er, it wasn’t sticking together very well. It couldn’t even form.” Willow explained. “So, I put in some extra earth to try and make it tougher, I guess they had some seeds in them, and the plants helped hold it together…”

Hermonculus looks at the abomination. “Does it even speak?”

“Abomination…speak?” Willow asks. In response, wood and plants cracked and morphed across it’s throat, and a guttural noise came from the abomination as its eyes glowed.

“ L I G H T ”

“Hm…” Hermonculus looks unimpressed. “This is a flagrant mixing of magic.” he declares, and Willow looks alarmed. “ But , you have always had trouble with abominations, and at least this one works . You will speak to Principal Bump after school, your parents will be notified, you shall be given a warning about the dangers of mixing magic…but you pass. Barely .” He huffs. “You may sit now.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. I’m sorry, sir.” Willow mumbles and orders her abomination back into the cauldron.

“What’s wrong with mixing magic? Hers looked great!” Luz asks Amity, and Amity feels confused until she realizes Luz has only been here for 3 or 4 days, and she lives with the Boiling Isles’ most wanted criminal.

“Mixing magic is heavily discouraged,” Amity explains. “It angers the Titan.”

“The who?” Luz asks, and Amity feels confused again.

Do humans not…live on a Titan? Is that why she’s in wonder about our architecture?

“I’ll…I’ll tell you later.” Amity shakes her head. “Pay attention to class.”

“Oh! Okay.” Luz nods, and Amity doesn’t imagine the way Luz looks at Willow in…pity? It has to be pity, right? What else would it be…?

When class let out, they went on with Amity showing Luz many things around while they head to lunch.

“Is it just…Abominations for you?” Luz asks Amity. “You don’t even get to be with your friends in class?”

“Well, there are some shared classes around magical theory, but…yeah, it’s mostly just your track.” Amity shrugs.

“Wow. I could never do that.” Luz says, and Amity feels a burst of pride before she continues, “I mean, I’d wanna study everything !”

Amity, Skara, and Boscha stare at Luz like she had grown a second head. Which, presumably, would be a weird thing for a human to do.

“You don’t study multiple tracks.” Boscha scoffs matter-of-factly.

“Why not?” Luz asks.

“Well…it’s not allowed!” Skara says. “Stuff like that would encourage wild magic.”

“Wild Magic?” Luz blinks.

“You’re expected to be sealed as soon as you graduate.” Boscha adds.

“Sealed?” Luz questions.

“She’s only been here a few days, girls. She’s not gonna know, well… anything .” Amity sighs. “She doesn’t even know what the Titan is.”

The way the girls looked at Luz made her shrink into her seat, and Amity felt a twinge of guilt, and she heard Luz get up, and she turns to see Luz standing up.

“Where are you going?” Amity asked, a bit more stern than she intended- the school can be dangerous to someone that doesn’t know it.

“Just going to see if there’s anything else being served.” Luz frowns. “I’m still not used to all the Boiling Isles food, so I think I’ll look for something…lighter.” she walks away, and Amity looks down at the food in confusion.

What’s so wrong with the food? The eyeballs aren’t even blinking today.

---

Willow was picking at her food weakly. Augustus sat next to her with a smile.

“Willow, you would not believe humans!” he says.

Willow chuckles. “Humans, huh? Did you hear Amity brought one to school?”

“Is it true?” his eyes light up in wonder. “I’d have so many questions for them!” he smiles, and Willow sighs. If the human is hanging out with Amity, then…

“Did you know that humans nail barbed wire to their kids’ teeth?” Augustus asks, pulling Willow closer to look through a magazine of his. “But why? Maybe…to make them magnetic.”

“Actually, it’s for storing treats.” a jovial voice says, and both look up to see the figure before them. Willow’s eyes widen- it’s her. The human.

“You…” Willow begins, but Augustus shoots up from his seat.

“You’re the human!” Augustus exclaims.

“And you’re the witch in charge of the Human Appreciation Society, right?” Luz smiled. “Amity said we might be able to swing by before school lets out.”

“I would be so glad to show you around!” Augustus looks her over. “Where are your gills?”

“Er, humans don’t have those.” she holds out her hand. “I’m Luz. Luz Noceda.”

Augustus gasps. “Human handshake!” he shakes her hand heartily. “Augustus Porter, at your service!”

“I knew an Augustus back in the human world.” Luz smiled. “Everyone called him Gus.”

The boy’s eyes widen. “Gus? Nickname? Human nickname? Gus? Call me it. Wow. Gus. This is the best day of my life!” he rushes to Willow. “Willow, call me Gust forever!”

“Er, you got it Aug- er, Gus.” Willow smiles a bit.

“So, er, you’re Willow, huh?” Luz asks. “I hope you didn’t get in too much trouble.”

“It was fine.” Willow sighed. “Principal Bump knew I didn’t mean to mix magic, he just told me to make sure it didn’t happen again. It was only my first transgression.”

“Still, I thought your abomination looked great!” Luz smiles. “It wasn’t like any of the other abominations in class!”

Willow smiles a bit. If it was any other witch that she saw hanging out with Amity, Willow might think that this was a trick to lead up to name-calling. But this girl was sweet, and it actually seemed genuine.

“Hey. Do humans eat PB&Js?” Gus asks.

“Please tell me that doesn’t stand for something like ‘Puss Beetle and Jawbone’ here.” Luz whimpers.

“What? No! Peanut Butter and Jelly.” Gus says.

“Oh my gosh, I haven’t eaten real food in so long, please give me some,” she begs, and Gus gives her half. She sits with them, smiling as the three begin to talk a bit.

---

“I think it’s really uncool that some people call you ‘Half-a-witch’.” Luz soon says with a frown. “I’ve gone through similar things back in the human world.”

“Why did you come to our world?” Gus asks.

“To learn magic!” Luz smiles. “But, well, my teacher’s a bit…out there.” Luz pulls out a slime-covered seed from her pocket. “Today, she just handed me a slime ball and told me to ‘see where it led me’.” she sighed.

“A human learning magic. Incredible!” Gus’ eyes light up in wonder. “Will you be coming to Hexside?”

“Oh, gosh, I dunno. I mean, I’d love to visit again, but I don’t think my teacher likes schools very much. I’m starting to think she’s one of those ‘Wild Witches’ I keep hearing about.” Luz explains.

“Wow, you must not have been here long,” Willow realizes.

“Only a few days. And I mean, a lot has happened already.” Luz nods.

“What are you doing back here?” a voice asks, and the three look to see Amity, Boscha, and Skara.

“Amity!” Luz gets up. “I saw these guys, and Gus here offered me half of his sandwich…”

“Ugh, what are you, a dog?” Boscha scoffs. “If all it takes is some food to bring you in, you coulda just said so.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Luz frowns.

“What it means is that there’s no other reason for you to be hanging out with the half-a-witch.” Boscha huffs.

“Wha- you guys call her that, too?” Luz blinks.

“It’s just facts, Luz.” Amity sighs. “Willow can only do half as much as the rest of us. It’s nothing personal .”

“She can do plenty!” Luz defends. “And I mean, what about me? I’m gonna be doing a lot of training, I haven’t even done any magic yet!”

“Luz, that’s different.” Amity shakes her head. “You’re human , so…” she trails off.

“So what? What about me being human?” Luz crosses her arms.

“You’re human, so no one will expect you to do anything !” Amity says, and her face falls as Luz’s face turns to that of hurt and anguish.

“...is that really what you think?” Luz asks.

“Humans don’t do magic. It’s just facts.” Boscha smiles and scoffs.

“Then what was all this for, then? Making me follow you around?” tears begin to grow in her eyes. “Everyone in Bonesborough calls me ‘The Owl Lady’s Pet’ or ‘An adorable little thing’- even you just called me a dog!” she points at Boscha. “I’m not an animal ! What, was this just some ego trip for you?” She turns to Amity.

“Luz, I-” Amity tries to defend herself.

“You’re no better than the humans I ran from.” Luz turns away, and Willow and Gus get up.

“Hey, Luz, wait!” Gus says, while Willow looks on in surprise at the exchange.

Luz continues to walk, when suddenly she feels a grip around her arm. She looks back, seeing an invisible force keeping her in place, crawling up her arm as Skara plucks her strings.

“Who said you could walk away?” Boscha scowls. “You do not get to compare us to some ratty old humans in a magicless world.”

“Hey, leave her alone!” Gus gets in between them all. “She didn’t do anything to you, just let it go!”

“All of you, stop it.” Amity frowns. “I brought the human here, I’ll be responsible for how she acts.”

“We’re not letting her go anywhere with you.” Willow stands in front of Luz, too. “So back off.”

“What, you think you can stop this?” Boscha smirks, and a ring of students start to form around to watch the impending fight. “A witch and a half against three actual witches?”

Amity looked between everyone, and it was clear she hadn’t been anticipating an actual fight. Luz felt herself starting to be able to move again as Skara began to lose her focus while trying to take in the new situation.

Luz felt herself fall before the fight actually began. She didn’t catch much of it, but it didn’t last long. Spells flung, and it wasn’t as pretty as she was expecting. She was somewhat excited to see what the witches could do, but some guilt came as she realized it had revolved around her . But Willow quickly picked up the slime ball that Luz brought and created a magic circle before throwing it in. Luz then realized what the slime ball actually was- a seed . In a burst of magic, it sprouts.

Thorny vines grow from the seed, reaching to the ceiling. They pin just about everyone in the cafeteria to the ground or walls, and Willow’s eyes are glowing green before she blinks, and it fades as the vines stop growing. 

The cafeteria doors burst open, and the man who can only be the Principal comes in.

“ What is going on…here?” Bump blinks.

Vines now cover the entire cafeteria, curling around tables and reaching from the floor to the ceiling. Pink petals fall from above, and several of the vines have flowers on them.

“Remarkable…” Bump mutters, and he looks across the cafeteria. “Who is responsible for this?”

“I am,” Willow says, ashamed. “I’m sorry, Principal Bump, I didn’t mean to mix magic- well, I mean, I guess this time I did, but…” she trails off, and Principal Bump looks at the human on the ground and the many students around.

“I don’t know what happened here today, and I don’t want to know.” he sighs. “Instead, it seems I need to amend a mistake.” he holds up his hand and traces a circle, and Willow gasps as the purples in her uniform turn green. “ You are unsuited for the Abomination track, Willow Park. However, you are a clear prodigy when it comes to Plant Magic. Effective immediately, I am placing you on the Plant Track.” he turns away. “Starting with cleaning up this mess. You can pick up your new schedule after school.”

“T…thank you, sir,” Willow says, amazed.

---

Eve smiles down at the smoldering pile of slug from atop her staff, grinning.

“Hey, we had that!” King protests from below.

“Yeah, who do you think you are, just going around evaporating random slugs?” Eda frowns.

“Well, I’m thinking of going by ‘The Wild Witch of the West’! Thoughts?” Eve winks.

“What kinda narcissist puts ‘The’ in front of their name?” Eda scoffs.

“Fair point, The Owl Lady,” Eve says with a shit-eating grin.

“Point taken,” Eda admits. “But seriously, who even are you?”

“Just a like-minded soul here to bring a healthy dose of chaos to the order!” Eve grins.

“Well, don’t expect charity just cause we’re both agents of chaos,” Eda says with a smarmy grin.

“I would never . We both have reputations to maintain.” Eve winks, and flies away.

“She’s weird,” King says.

“Eh, she seems like a good kid. Remind me of me when I was her age.” Eda chuckles.

---

Luz left the school soon after the altercation, walked out by Gus and Willow.

“I can help you guys clean up…” Luz says.

“Don’t worry, it’s all fine.” Willow smiles. “It’s thanks to you we even had that seed.”

“Yeah, good job, Luz!” Gus smiles.

“Well…I guess I did have a pretty good teacher on what trash to pick up.” Luz chuckles.

“Have a good day, Luz!” Willow waves and walks away.

“You too, guys!” Luz starts to walk, but stops when she sees Amity in front of her. “Amity…?”

“...I want an apology.” Amity frowns, and Luz looks shocked.

“Wha- why ?” Luz exclaims.

“My actions today are regrettable , but yours are inexcusable. I’m a Blight . You can’t just go around insulting whoever you please.” Amity frowns.

“Oh, and look whose talking, miss ‘Half-a-Witch Willow’!” Luz huffs.

“I didn’t start the name!” Amity declares.

“Well, you’re not doing anything to end it, either!” Luz argues.

“Why do you even care? You hardly know her!” Amity growls.

“Ugh! You wouldn’t understand.” Luz huffs off.

“Fine, go, walk away!” Amity turns and walks back to the school. “Good luck doing anything around here as a human without friends.”

Luz clenches her fists and screams a bit as she storms home.

“Like I’d ever want someone like you as a friend,” Luz says coldly.

Chapter Text

Luz has been in the Demon Realm for just over a week now. She regularly checked her phone whenever the portal door was open so she could get the connection needed to see if her Mom had texted her. Luckily, there was no texts or calls of particular note, which meant that the camp never reported that she never made it. Which was good! And concerning. But mostly good, and vindicating for Luz!

Right now, Luz was watching Eda weave a spell to protect the Owl House from the boiling rains, and she explained the weather patterns of the Boiling Isles to her.

“So, until the boiling rain stops, no one is allowed outside tonight.” Eda explains.

“And if the rain doesn’t get you, the Snaggleback will!” King says, opening a book to show off the ominous images of the Snaggleback.

“Well, whatever the case, this force field spell should protect the house from boiling rains and made-up demons.” Eda sighs as she walks in.

“Wow! Someday I’d like to be as cool as Eda the Owl Lady.” Luz grins. “Magical, sassy, surprisingly foxy for her age. Hey, why do they call you the Owl Lady, anyway?”

“Cause I’m so wise .” Eda smirks.

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

“I think it’s cause she gets distracted by shiny objects.” King notes.

“Nah, it’s probably cause she has an unhealthy obsession with the subject matter.” Eve says from the other side of the barrier.

“I do not- wait, huh?” Eda and the others turn to see Eve.

“Hi~” she winks.

“Whoa!” Luz’s eyes light up in wonder. “You’re not hurt by the rain?”

“You kidding me? This is nothing! Like a brisk shower.” Eve laughs. “Regardless, I don’t wanna prune up, and I don’t exactly have a house right now. Room for one more?”

“And why would I do that?” Eda arches an eyebrow.

“Because if you don’t, I’ll tell the whole night market that the Owl Lady gets distracted by stuff like this.” Eve snaps her fingers, creating a distracting burst of light, and Eda’s eyes refocus after a moment.

“Despicable. I like you.” Eda raises her hand, creating a doorway that Eve steps through before the door closes behind her. “Ugh..that forcefield really took it out of me.” Eda says, leading everyone inside. “And don’t you think you’re getting anything other than the couch!” she points at Eve.

“Of course, Miss Eda!” Evelyn smiles innocently.

While King and Eda banter, Eve sits on the couch and seems to just relax into it. Luz comes up to her.

“You know…I think you’re the only person around here I’ve met that actually looks like what I’ve expected a witch to look like.” Luz says.

“Well, it’s not surprising. Over on my Titan, whenever human trash washed up from the cystpools, we would usually find some books and costumes around the same time of year. All spooky and ‘witchy’ stuff. It was fun!” Eve smiled. “We made this whole tradition of dressing up like what humans thought we looked like.”

“You guys have your own halloween? Cool!” Luz exclaims. The two of them heard Eda groan, and the old witch flopped onto what free space was on the couch. “Oh, this is perfect!” Luz giggles. “Since we’ll be stuck in the house all night, Eda won’t have any excuse not to teach me a spell.”

“But don't you wanna finish our lesson? I was gonna let you scratch a demon's tummy. Me!” King complained.

“Oh, uh, sorry, King. But...magic!” Luz apologized. King looked frustrated.

“Want me to rub your belly?” Evelyn smiles. “I’m pretty good at it.”

“...fine.” King mutters and hops onto her lap. “But I reserve the right to reject your- your…oh. Oh, you are good at this.” King relaxes as Eve seems to scratch all the right spots.

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

The conversation leads as expected, and Eve looks on with a smile at the situation of Luz offering Eda a trade of a shiny thing for lessons.

“If you want a witch’s staff like mine, don’t me me…repeat myself.” Eda yawns. “Witch’s staffs have power embedded in them.” she explains, showing off Owlbert.

“Gimme!” Little Luz holds out her grabby hands.

“...but before one is earned,” Eda continues, ignoring Luz, “every witch needs to know how to cast spells on their own. Now…” Eda tosses Owlbert aside. “Tonight I will show you how to create…light.” Eda explains as she casts her light spell. King looks like he’s about to say something, but Eve scratches him just under his chin, and he curls in on himself in comfort.

“Now, humans think magic is made out of thin air, but that’s stupid.” Eda explains. “Everything comes from something. Let me ask you, kid. Where do you think magic comes from?”

“Um…from the heart?” Little Luz asks hopefully.

“Actually…you’re right!” Eda smiles. Luz gasps in joy, and Eda pulls a diagram out of her hair. “No, really. It comes from a sac of magic bile attached to a witch’s heart.”

“Oh, gross.” Luz says, but looks intrigued. “Can I keep that?”

“No.” Eda puts the diagram back in her hair. “Now, everything depends on the spell circle. The bigger the circle, the more powerful the spell.” Eda says, creating a larger one.

“But how can I, little ol' Luz,” Little Luz asks, “do magic if I don't have a magic bile…sac?”

“...you know, I’m not actually sure.” Eda admits.

“What?!” Little Luz exclaims.

“I know witches did magic differently in the past, but I never bothered to figure out how.” Eda laughs a bit.

“Oh, I did!” Eve raises her hand.

“You did?” Eda and Luz look at her.

“I mean, yeah. Without a despot to screw with our magic, my people never actually forgot.” Eve explains.

“Please tell me it’s possible without a bile sac!” Luz puts her hands together.

“Little Luz, it’s possible for anyone .” she winks. “So whattaya say, Owl Lady? Wanna learn a new way to use magic?”

“Eh.” Eda starts to walk away. “You teach her what you want. I’m going to bed.”

“How do I cast spells?” Luz asks.

“Well, I can’t just tell you everything.” Eve says, and Luz pouts. “But, I can show you .”

---

Evelyn flew Luz and King onto the roof. Luz found Evelyn to be just as alluring and interesting as Eda herself! Not only that, but she was strong. It was probably okay for a hero to have two mentors, right?

“Now, let’s take a look at the sky.” Evelyn says.

“But it’s all cloudy.” Luz frowns.

“Well, that’s nothing a little magic can’t fix. Ready, Stringbean?” Evelyn looks at her palisman, who chitters excitedly. The two twirl magic together, and placing stringbean’s head against the barrier, she traces a large purple circle around, which manifests just outside of the barrier. She then places another circle in front of her mouth. She takes in a deep breath, and…lets out a scream.

Like a gateway, the scream exits the larger portal, growing, and shoots into the sky, and the clouds seem to part…perhaps they were forced apart, but Luz could swear it was almost like Evelyn had shouted a command, and the clouds just obeyed . Above, they could see the night sky in a small circle.

“Look at the sky, at the stars, Little Luz. What do you see?” Evelyn asks.

“Well…stars. They’re bright, sparkly…they’re pretty, that’s for sure.” Luz says.

“Look closer.” Evelyn encourages, getting down next to her. “Look for the patterns that no one else would look for. Make your own constellation.”

“My own…?” Luz looks at the stars. “Well…that cluster looks like a spider. That one looks like a bat. And that one…” Luz narrows her eyes. “It looks kinda like…” she traces her finger in the air, seeing what looks like a circle around a symbol.

“What do you see?” Evelyn encourages.

“It kinda looks like…this.” Luz draws the glyph onto a piece of paper and taps it like she was placing a period on a sentence. All of a sudden, the paper glows, crumbles, and turns into a ball of light. Luz and King’s eyes widen.

“Congradulations, Little Luz.” Evelyn says, and Luz can see the light glyph reflecting in Evelyn’s eyes. “You’ve learned your first glyph.”

“This…you know this! You know more! Teach me!” Luz begs.

“I can’t.” Evelyn says. “Glyphs command the elemental forces of the world, but something greater shows them to people. My people believe that the titans themselves show this magic to those that are worthy.”

“So, you mean…they chose me?” Luz asks.

“Anyone can find them. It’s easier for some than others.” Evelyn explains. “I taught them to my friends, a lot of good people, and to…” she sighs. “Teach them to whoever you’d like, Luz. No one can choose you for greatness, they can just choose what they show you. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, I think I do.” Luz smiles, cradling the ball of light she had created.

---

Eda groans as she starts to wake from her nap. She can feel the curse coming forward. She reaches onto her table, feeling around, and she feels the elixir…handed to her. She downs it, then looks to see the reflective eyes of Evelyn.

“Any reason you’re stalking my room, young lady?” Eda smirks a bit as the feathers recede.

“I’ve seen elixirs like that before.” Evelyn says sadly. “You’re cursed, aren’t you?”

“Eh, it’s not that big a deal.” Eda waves her off.

“Do the others know?” she asks.

“No. And I don’t want them to! They don’t need to worry about me.” Eda looks away.

“What if you run out of elixirs?”

“Not gonna happ-”

“But what if it does?” Evelyn frowns. “You’re raising a teenager, Eda.”

“I’m not raising -”

“And you’re teaching her to be rebellious.” Evelyn adds. “If you don’t teach her what these are and what they’re for, then sooner or later, she’s gonna get curious and try one herself.” Eve holds up the empty bottle. “And while it won’t do anything to her, it will certainly mean you’ll be one elixir fewer and most likely none the wiser.”

Eda stays quiet for a long time, contemplating how many times she snuck a bottle of Night Market Apple Blood from her Parents’ stash when they were younger.

“...ugh. Fine. I’ll tell them…in the morning.” Eda relents.

“That’s all I ask.” Eve smiles and turns around. “Anyway, I’m tucking in. Get some good rest, cause your pupil’s gonna wanna show you her new spell in the morning!”

---

Eda told Luz and King about the curse, Luz showed Eda the Light Glyph, and overall, everything was happy. They were happy. Eve smiled through the window as she flew away atop her staff. Light Glyph learned, a hint on making their future trip into the elements easier, and Little Luz learned about the curse without the added trauma of having to fight the Owlbeast!

So far, so good.

Chapter Text

It was a typical day in the market at this point. Luz was reading ‘Good Witch Azura’ to King while Eda barely tolerated it and Evelyn rests atop Stringbean, listening to the story between naps.

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

“Um…Eda? What customers?” Luz asks. “There aren’t even any other stands around…what’s going on?”

Evelyn opens one eye. “Huh…looks like it’s that time already.”

“Oh…oh no.” Eda’s face pales.

“Luz! Something amazing is happening today!” Gus cries as he and Willow run to the stand.

Luz became utterly captivated by news of the Covention- and even more captivated by signs of Eda’s mysterious past!

“Please, Eda, please!” Luz begs.

“Nope! Not happening.” Eda raises the portal, but Evelyn hovers down in front of her.

“C’mon, Owl Lady, let the kids have some fun! I mean, let’s be honest, Little Luz is gonna wind up there anyway, so you might as well be there, cause if you aren’t, she’s gonna wind up either in a ditch or digging one.” Evelyn explains.

“It’s true! I would!” Luz says encouragingly.

“Ugh. Fine! But only because I’m gonna make sure you don’t get yourself sealed out of peer pressure.” Eda says.

“Well, you all have fun!” Evelyn starts to hover away, but Eda grabs the staff.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Eda asks.

“Ah, well, you see, I have some errands to run today,” Evelyn says innocently.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Eda pulls Evelyn to the ground. “If I have to go to this ridiculous event, so do you .”

“Ah, well, you see-” Evelyn tries to talk out of it.

“Oh, please come, Evelyn? I wanna see it all with you!” Luz begs, and Evelyn sighs.

“...you are never allowed to look at me with those eyes again.” Evelyn orders. “Fine! I’m coming.”

“Yes!” Luz pumps her fist.

As they began to walk, Luz saw Evelyn look into a shop window on the way and mutter something that almost sounded like spanish…but that can’t be right?

“Dios, ¿puedes creer esto, grandote?”

---

Eve looks across the Covention. It was…disturbing to see all of the sigils. Even moreso to know just how many people were going to be getting sealed today. She heard the struggling of Eda trying to hide her identity and explaining the Coven System to Luz.

“Don’t you have to hide yourself too, Evelyn?” Little Luz asks.

“Kid, just ‘Eve’ is fine.” Eve insists.

“I’ll call you ‘Eve’ when you stop calling me ‘Little Luz’.” Little Luz puffs out her cheeks.

“Touche.” Eve tilts her head in understanding. “And to answer, no. For many reasons. First of all, because the only big thing I did was the Conformatorium. Haven’t made a real appearance for myself yet. And the other reason is…” Eve walks to the illusionist’s coven as the newly-sealed boy walks away. “Hey, seal me.”

“Er…y-yes, Ma’am.” the coven folks say and seal her wrist.

“Hey, what are you-?” Eda exclaims, and as Eve walks away, she shows off her wrist.

The seal’s blue color begins to dull and brighten, before it almost seems to bubble and become consumed by the skin, fur, and bone of her wrist. To accentuate her point, she traces a circle and conjured a little bit of fire before snuffing it.

“The seals don’t work on me. The magic that Belos used to make them doesn’t affect demons of my type.” Eve shrugs with a confident smirk. This leads the children to look on in awe and Eda looks in shock.

“Wow!” Luz’s eyes light in wonder. “Hey, what’s that panel? It looks popular.”

“Ugh. The Emperor’s Coven.” Eda and Eve groan in unison.

“Look, guys, I get it.” Luz sighs. “Covens: bad. Individualism: good! But I’m still figuring this world out, so I’m going to go in there and make up my own mind, okay?” she clarifies and walks away.

“...we should go in after her,” Eve says.

“Why, because she has a point?” Eda looks away.

“That, and the Coven Scouts just got here.” Eve points out.

“Oh, SHI-”

---

After the presentation, Evelyn was glad to see that things seemed to be heading in the right direction. And look at that, Little Luz accidentally ran into Amity. Well, with how she’s set things up, she’ll probably apologize just like before Grom, and be well on their way to-

“You.” Amity scowls.

“ You .” Luz scowls just as hard.

What.

“Ugh, what are you doing here, human?” Amity frowns.

“ I’m here to learn magic, I’m shocked you’re here because I was pretty sure you’d have a little purple seal on your arm by now.” Luz taunted. “Though I guess there are some things that even being a ‘Blight’ can’t get you.”

“Wha- how dare you !”

No. No, no, no, this couldn’t be happening.

“You really expect me to believe you can do magic?” Amity challenges.

“Of course, I can!” Luz huffs. “I’ve been learning from a Powerful Witch, a Ferocious Demon, and a woman who I’m beginning to think might just be made of magic!”

Okay, that’s kind of cute, but this is still bad . This confrontation devolves to be a lot more hostile than originally, and Amity doesn’t even acknowledge King when he approaches.

“Ugh, what is your problem ?!” Luz exclaims.

“You’re my problem!” Amity huffs, her face getting redder. “You’ve been looking around this place without real magic, that freakish pet of yours has been taking advantage of people just wanting to get names on their sheets, your mentor is probably just here out of spite! You’re giving honest witches that want to live their lives a bad name!”

“And what about the witches at school who want to live their lives? People like Willow and Gus, who have faith in the system but keep getting bullied by you and your friends!” Luz scolds.

“Stop blaming me for that!” Amity grits her teeth.

“Maybe apologize !” Luz retorts, and the two girls grit their teeth as they glare at each other. “That’s it- there’s only one way to shut you up!”

Wait-

“Amity Blight, I challenge you to a Witch’s Duel!”

STOP

Evelyn rushes forward, reaching to grab their arms, but is just too late as Amity enables to the everlasting oath. She grabs the children by their arms and lifts them up.

“Wha- hey-” Amity looks in anger, then her face turns to fear as she sees Eve’s monstrous visage. “W-what are you?!”

“Undo it. Now.” Evelyn orders, her eyes shining with the Light Glyph.

“Evelyn, stop!” Luz protests. “I agreed to this!”

“You didn’t even know what you were saying!” Eve tells her. “You can’t do this, you can’t act like this, you’re both just…just…”

“Let me go!” Amity struggles.

“You told me I need to take my own destiny, and I’m taking it!” Luz says. “I’m going to be someone who stands up for her friends and anyone that hurts them!”

“Ugh, I can’t wait to shut up your over-righteous mouth!” Amity growls as Eve drops the both of them.

I did this.

Evelyn takes a few steps back.

“I-I…” tears begin to well her eyes as she sees the utter hatred between the two girls.

“Evelyn, are you…?” Luz looks worried, but Evelyn dashes away in a purple blur.

Evelyn leans against a wall. She feels sick. She feels like she’s going to throw up.

What did I do? I just wanted to help, but…did I make things worse? I just…don’t know…

---

The real gravity of what Luz had promised weighed on her when she told Eda about the situation.

“You shoulda let Eve help!” Eda shakes her head. “Honestly, what did you even agree to for the Oath?”

“Well, I bet my teaching of magic and I’d have to apologize to Amity and her friends,” Luz explained. “And if I won, Amity bet an apology to me, Willow, and Gus, and she’d have to bet something equal to what I was betting, so…she bet her ability to get sealed.”

“That’s high stakes, kid.” Eda frowns.

“I panicked!” Luz sighs. “She’s just so, so…URGH!” She groans. “And I don’t even know any offensive spells. I was gonna ask Evelyn, but she ran off! I don’t even know where she is now.” Luz crumbles up into a ball. “I’m never gonna be a witch.”

“Hey, don’t say that,” Eda says reassuringly. “Relax, kid. I’ve got an idea.”

---

Evelyn was at the doorway out of the Covention. Everything was so much worse, but…also perfect. She could leave now, the battle would be more heartless, and both fights would go for longer, giving her more time to make sure Belos was put down.

But Luz and Amity hate each other.

She could go, burn down that whole place, get the Collector’s glass! Show him how to have real fun, show him that what happened was never his fault.

But Luz and Amity would never become friends.

She could get Hunter, and make sure he had a better place and better people around him! She could let him understand that everything that happened to him was wrong.

But Luz and Amity would never love each other.

Her grip on her staff became tightened and shaky.

“Ugh…I’m probably an idiot.”

---

“Beloved citizens, the Empror’s Coven proudly presents an impromptu demonstration of the sort of witch we seek every year,” Lilith announces. “Introducing Amity Blight.”

The crowd cheers for the prodigy.

“Versus…some human girl,” Lilith adds, and the applause stops, replaced with conspiratorial murmurs.

“Now…begin!” Lilith announces, and a bell rings and screams for the match. Luz is nervous but stalwart, and Amity is serious and confident. They approach, and Amity is about to trace a circle…

All of a sudden, a burst of purple magic slams into the middle of the arena from above, revealing and dispelling every trap on the field. The murmurs turn to realization, and Amity backs up in fear. Evelyn turns towards her and raises a single finger, and Amity is picked up by a purple force and brought before Evelyn. She looks utterly afraid and terrified, and Evelyn takes a deep breath. Seeing that expression on Amity hurts more than anything Belos ever did to her. She turns her hand, and Amity’s back faces her as she tears off the power glyph, and she lets Amity go.

“Look at what you all cheer for.” Evelyn scowls. “Not just a battle between children, but a battle where witches cheat and enhance the power of youths. Where a witch faces a human for nothing more than Pride .” Evelyn clenches her fist, and the power glyph dissolves.

“I-I only did that because I knew Edalyn would cheat! And she did!” Lilith protests.

“Yes. Well done, representative of your coven, for stooping the entirely of your organization down to one woman’s level.” Evelyn taunts.

“How dare-”

“ I am not done talking. ” Evelyn scowls. “Look upon these people, all of you. These children . They are the future, and yet you allow them to fight like this? With such a dangerous field, when would you have allowed it to end? At the yield? At first blood? When one of them fell? When one of them stopped moving ? Look at yourself, Boiling Isles! Is this the battlefield you’ll be sending your own children to one day?”

“Who do you think you are?!” Lilith conjures her staff. “This is treason!”

“I am Evelyn.” She spits. “I am the Wild Witch of the West, the one true master of Wild Magic, and the one that will bring true change to the world!” she slams her staff into the ground, and a pulse of energy surrounds her.

“Heck yeah!” Eda laughs.

“I’m not cool with what you did, either!” Eve huffs. “And where do you think you’re going?!” she raises her hand, grabbing both Luz and Amity before they can sneak away. “You two are going somewhere to talk. ” Magic spits from the purple circle she traces, and both girls are drawn closer as glyphs surround them, combining Potion magic of reduction with a Titan’s shield spell until both girls are small and sealed within a shield sphere that fits in the palm of Eve’s hand.

“Let us out!” Amity orders.

“Not until you two talk it out.” Eve sticks the orb in her hair as Coven Scouts surround them.

“So, you gonna show me what you can actually do?” Eda asks as she stands back-to-back with Evelyn, and the witch smiles.

“Looks to be about twenty to two, not counting Lilith.” Eve chuckles. “Whoever takes down more doesn’t have to read Luz’s book for her at bed.”

“Oh, you’re on.” Eda smirks. 

Chapter Text

It all happened too fast for Luz to comprehend. It was her and Amity, then Evelyn appearing and revealing everything, and before she could get away, Evelyn sealed her and Amity in this…this ball. Now there’s just the two of them here, surrounded by darkness, the only thing illuminating this place Evelyn has put them in being the glow of the orange barrier that keeps them here.

“You’re not coming out until you two talk it out”. That’s what she said, right? Or at least, the gist of it. What did Evelyn care if Luz and Amity got along? Or…or maybe it’s not that. Maybe she’s just upset that after all she did for Luz, Luz was ready to risk throwing it away. That’s probably why she’s angry- not, not angry, she’s frustrated .

As Luz and Amity sat at as opposite ends of the sphere as they could, Amity seemed panicked. Which was fair- they could see anything, but they could hear the muffled sounds of combat and spellfire from beyond their prison of magic and hair.

“Who even is this woman?” Amity snaps at Luz.

“I don’t know!” Luz admits. “I…I don’t know.” she hangs her head. “She just showed up, destroyed the Conformatorium, and has been just kinda…hanging around ever since. Evelyn comes from another Titan in the West, and she’s been inspired by Eda. She knows a lot about magic…I think she’s made of magic or something? She just seems to overflow with it.”

“That doesn’t tell me why she’s done all this! What, do you have two teachers or something?” Amity huffs.

“Well, I don’t exactly have a school to go to like some people , so yeah, I’ve got a few teachers!” Luz crosses her arms. “A-and I don’t know why she did this. She knows things, and seems to want good for people.” She looks away. “Evidently, she wants us to make up, I don’t know.”

Amity sighs and traces the magic circle. “Fine, if it’ll get us out of here.” she holds her hand through it. “This will unseal the oath.”

“Okay.” Luz nods and takes the hand, and they both feel that the spell has receded. “Okay, the seal’s broken! No more danger!”

The fighting outside is starting to wind down, but there’s no response.

“Ugh, can she even hear us?” Amity mumbles.

“Probably not.” Luz sighs and lies against the sphere’s wall. “Hey, at least there’s air!” Amity just looks away, and Luz frowns. “...can you at least tell me what your problem with me is?”

“My problem with you is that you’re embarrassing.” Amity spits.

“Yeah, I get it, you don’t think I’ll amount to anything.” Luz rolls her eyes.

“I didn’t say- I mean, I didn’t mean -” Amity growls and shakes her head. “You’re not embarrassing yourself, you’ve been embarrassing me !”

“...what?” Luz asks, enraged but also…confused.

“I’m the one that brought you to school. You and your ‘new friends’ got off scot-free, but my friends blamed me for the embarrassing situation. My parents were disappointed that I just led some…some…human to the school.” Amity says. Somehow, Luz can tell that she was resisting saying the word ‘stray’. “As the Top Student, I’m supposed to be an example of what to excel to, but I’ve been told off for being beaten by Willow, who isn’t that strong of a witch. Now, on the day I’m to make up for it all, I run into you .” she tries to stand up. “The Emperor’s Coven is my future, and now I’ve been made a fool in front of it! By you, by your mentor, by this woman !” she gestures all around her. “Even by Miss Lillith.” she shakes her head. “You think it’s so easy to be a witch. I have been working my whole life to get to the top,” her eyes begin to tear up, “even as every witch around me tries to use me as a tool, as a stepping stone! You, you have mentors that care for you, that brought you somewhere despite the dangers, that were willing to cheat to make sure you survived a duel, and that would intervene to make sure you didn’t make a powerful enemy! People willing to uproot fifty years of an empire for you ! I don’t have any of that!” Amity shouts at her, and Luz looks at Amity with sadness.

“You. Lost. You lost, and you cheated! You’re not a witch, so say it! Say you’re not a witch!” Amity sobs, yelling at Luz with unrelenting anger.

Luz slowly stands up, and pulls out a notepad. She slowly traces the glyph, and activates it. Amity looks on in shock as the light spell rises.

“I… am a witch,” Luz says resolutely. “Because that’s what I choose for myself. Amity…” Luz hovers the Light between them, taking Amity’s hands in hers, and they feel the warmth of the light together. “I know humans can’t do magic normally, but I’m learning a new way. I’m not going to let anything get in the way of what I want to do…I’m sorry you’ve gone through all that. I know what it’s like to be in a bad place and made fun of, but…I don’t know anything about what you’re going through.” Luz admits. “But, if you’re willing to start over…I’d be willing to listen.”

“Start over?” Amity scoffs. “What, and just forget how we met? Forget how I treated you? Used you? Forget the fight?”

“Yeah.” Luz nods, and Amity looks surprised. “For starters…witch’s duels seem kinda common, but I was wondering if you can tell me what they actually mean? I was kinda winging it based on a book I read…”

“Good Witch Azura, right?” Amity asks, and Luz blinks in surprise. “I…may know it. A bit.” she smiles a little, but she’s not making eye contact. She’s still nervous.

Luz doesn’t know if she can totally forgive Amity- but Amity’s in a bad place. This is a start.

---

These Coven Scouts were nothing. Eve had faced worse than them when rebuilding the Boiling Isles. Rogue Scouts that wanted a new Empire even if it was wrong, rising Cults of Sigil Magic, the Titan Trappers coming for King…compared to them, this was nothing.

She races across the field, her staff tracing across the ground as she did, and soon, she slammed her staff into the ground to force many of the scouts away in a burst of energy!

“You can’t keep this up forever.” Lilith scolds. “I may have promised Edalyn immunity for the day, but you are another story.”

“Play along, I think I can get her to let her guard down-” Eda mutters, but Eve holds up her hand.

“Then it’s a good thing we’re getting out of here.” Evelyn grins.

“And what makes you so sure of that ?” Lilith holds up her staff.

“Oh, just this,” Evelyn says, slamming her staff into the ground, and everyone’s eyes widen as they realize she’s been tracing a complex array of glyphs into the ground.

“What is this?!” Lilith exclaims as light overwhelms Evelyn and Edalyn.

“ This is the true power of Wild Magic!” Eve announces, and in a flash, Eve and Eda are gone.

---

“Weh!” King sticks his head out of Eda’s hair. “That was a disaster!”

“Where did you learn all this stuff?” Eda smiles as she looks to see they’ve appeared directly in front of the Owl House. Eve looks like she’s about to answer, when Eda waves her hand. “Yeah, yeah, your Titan , got it. This would make a good getaway strategy.”

“My glyphs ain’t for sale, Owl Lady!” Eve smiles. “Now, I really do have some things I gotta do today, so…bye-!”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Eda asks, tapping her foot.

It takes a few moments, and Eve gasps. “The kids! Oh, gosh, it’s been like an hour…”

Eve pulls out the sphere and starts to mutter as she traces a circle.

“I’m not worried about Luz, she’s scrappy,” Eda says. “It’s the Blight Brat that’s gotta watch out.”

With the spell completed, the sphere grows to normal size and vanishes, releasing the girls.

“And then when Azura and Hecate- oh!” Luz looks surprised, as though she and Amity hadn’t realized that they were being grown back until now. “We’re out!”

Luz and Amity are currently sitting back-to-back, clearly just having been talking. There’s no sign of magic upon them that would indicate the oath, which means they broke it! And they’re bonding ! Needless to say, Evelyn presently has the biggest grin on her face, and she fist bumps with the bulb on the end of Stringbean’s tail.

Amity gets up and dusts herself off. “I…will need to return to Blight Manor.”

“You need a ride, kid?” Eve asks.

“Why would I want a ride from you ?” Amity asks, putting up her mean girl facade. Eve hasn’t seen that in years, and she looks so cute and tiny like this.

“Because you probably want to be home before sunset, and your only other option is Eda the Owl Lady?” Eve suggests.

Amity looks back to see Luz walking into the Owl House after waving goodbye, and Eda looking on with an arched eyebrow.

“...fine.” Amity groans.

---

The flight to Blight Manor is wordless between Amity and this…person…but that’s not the case when they finally land.

“So, Emperor’s Coven, huh?” Evelyn smirks, and Amity tenses up.

“...yes. They’re the most prestigious.” Amity says.

“They’re also the only ones that let you practice all magic,” Evelyn affirms. “With talent like yours, Miss ‘Top Student’,” crap she heard that “You could land a nice, cozy job at Mommy and Daddy’s company! Maybe even be the Abomination Coven Head one day. Instead, you’re looking at bigger things.” she hovers in front of Amity’s face. “And it was your idea , wasn’t it?”

“W-what?” Amity takes a step back.

“I can picture it now: little Amity Blight, grown so accustomed to her magic, that she can’t bear the thought of ever giving even a piece of it up. So, she plans. She considers. And one day, she realizes that if she got into the Emperor’s Coven, it would let her keep her magic.” Eve continues. “Little Blight tells her parents, who only hear that their daughter wants to be part of the truly powerful. They’re overjoyed.”

“How did you…?” Amity was becoming increasingly afraid of this person. “She’s made of magic!” , Luz had said. But there’s something more going on here. Something dangerous.

“And you know what? I bet you will get strong one day.” Eve grins. “Strong enough to be a coven head. Strong enough to overtake your parents in every regard.” Eve’s clawed fingers trace down Amity’s necklace, touching the oracle gemstone. Just from touching it, there’s a surge of energy. Amity has to pull herself away, stopping her own curiosity from seeing if touching it alone would allow Evelyn to break it.

“What do you want?” Amity asks.

“What do I want?” Eve tilts her head in thought. “Nothing you can give me. Nothing any blight can give me. I can make my own abominations.”

“Then why are you saying these things?” Amity challenges.

“Because you want something. Something that you cannot get from your Family, Hexside, or even the Emperor’s Coven.” Eve states.

“...and what’s that?” Amity asks, and Eve leans in with a grin.

“You want freedom .”

Before Amity can retort, the door begins to open, and Evelyn is gone in a flash of purple energy.

“What are you doing out here, Amity? Get inside! I heard about what happened at the Covention.” Odalia Blight, Amity’s Mother, scolded her on sight.

“...yes, Mother,” Amity says, walking inside.

---

“Report.” the stern voice of Emperor Belos rings out across the throne room. The Titan’s Heart beats above his throne like the Sword of Damocles, and while guards line the room, the only people the Emperor takes note of are the Golden Guard to his right, Kikimora to his left, and the bowing head of the Emperor’s Coven, Lilith Clawthorne.

“Edalyn got away. She isn’t working alone anymore. It’s the same witch that destroyed the Conformatorium.” Lilith reports solemnly.

“Ensure there are wanted posters created. I want this witch apprehended for her crimes.” Belos commands. “Ensure that dissidence is not tolerated.”

“As you command, Emperor Belos. We shall bring Evelyn to custody.” Lilith says, and Belos feels his grip on the throne tighten.

“...what was that?”

“Sir…?” Lilith looks up as Belos steps up.

“Repeat that name.” Belos orders.

“E-Evelyn. She said her name quite clearly…I-I thought you knew…” Lilith says, clearly confused.

“The witch’s name is of no consequence,” Kikmora says. “No matter how she screams it from the rooftops, saying she is coming for our Emperor, we will be ready and will apprehend her just like every other Wild Witch.”

Belos had begun to breath heavier. The Palismen were starting to become loud again.

Your past will haunt you forever. She’s back for you. Did you think this would last forever? These isles avenge. She knows who you are.

“... congratulations, Lilith,” Belos says. “I have decided to grant you more time to capture the Owl Lady.”

“T-thank you, sir.” Lilith bows. “But…what for?”

“Because I want that… other witch captured first.” Belos growls. “Do not let her escape. This new witch will take all priority. You are all dismissed.”

Chapter Text

“ SO! ” Eve slaps the side of the ruin walls up on the knee. The ruins here are probably the best she can ask for a base for now. “Belos is gonna be more guarded than ever, meaning now I need a day where Belos , Lilith , the Guards , and even the Coven Heads are distracted before I can even get a chance at that pasty colonial bastard.” she paces and raises her illusion of the timelines again.

“My best chance would be the Petrificaiton Ceremony…” Eve considers this for a moment and moves the timeline just a smidge backward. “My best chance would be when Little Luz tries to steal the Healing Hat!”

Stringbean looks at her incredulously, and Eve sticks out her blue tongue at her palisman.

“The issue is, my memory is mostly with the more…’traumatic’ events that occurred.” she says while looking at the timeline. “But there were so many little happy moments that I should probably still change a little bit.” she mutters to herself. “Alright. Little Luz’s return to Hexside starts here - probably, assuming I haven’t changed it that much - oh god I have to account for her returning to Hexside, don’t I?” She asks, and Stringbean nods. “Okay! Regardless, before that date, there will be more issues! Let’s see, there was the Moonlight Conjuring, Library with Amity, School with Gus, meeting the Bat Queen…and that’s it, I think? That all leads to our adventures on the knee- which I have a plan for , thank you very much Stringbean- and Hexside! All cool!” Eve grins widely. “ Nothing will go wrong again! I have accounted for absolutely everything!”

---

Luz has been enjoying her time on the Boiling Isles thus far. She’s been hanging out with Gus and Willow, her relationship with Amity is still strained but they see each other on occasion and exchange a few words before walking on. Are they friends? It doesn’t quite feel like they’re friends yet.

Regardless, Luz has learned not to judge Amity for the company she keeps. She’s just in a bad crowd, which means all Luz has to do is made her friend group cooler and then Amity will want to hang out with them instead! Probably. That’s how the mean girl mentality works, right?

And then there’s Eda’s curse. She’s out of her elixir- it’s like medication, kind of? It seems like she has to take it daily and/or when the Owlbeast rears up? It doesn’t seem like a very reliable system. Eda once said that the elixirs “strengthen her magic to keep the beast at bay”.

Regardless, while Eda shops to restock, Luz people-watches. Demon-watches. Witch-watches? Whatever. The people of the Boiling Isles are so varied and interesting, but the Demon Hunters scare her. Are humans seen as dangerous beasts? Probably not, right? The thought makes Luz make sure her kitty hood is kept up.

Learning about the Moonlight Conjuring makes Luz want to help her friends- even if she’s pretty sure Amity’s just posting these things and being aloof because that’s just expected- it’s not personal against Willow. Not really. The ‘born without talent’, part…it’s just like back at Hexside. Amity thinks Willow is below average, so she’s just stating facts because she seems to think that doing that will soften the blow.

“Don’t waste your time getting thorny over them!” Luz tells Willow trying to push the vines she was inadvertently drawing towards her back into the ground. “Cause we’re gonna have our own Moonlight Conjuring!”

“Seriously?!” Gus exclaims in excitement. “This was on my bucket list!” the younger witch pulls out a list and checks something off on it. “Right below owning a real human bucket!”

“I can get you a bucket.” Luz smiles. “And I love the enthusiasm! I’ll go tell Eda.” Luz skips over to Eda, grin on her face. “Eda! Gus, Willow, and I are gonna to a Moonlight Conjuring to stick it to some bullies at Hexside. So can we-?”

“Not tonight,” Eda holds up her hand. “I’m going out. I need you to watch the house. I have many precious objects in there. And King’s 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. And I’m not letting you try to bring things to life without supervision!”

“Who says she’ll be unsupervised?” a voice asks, and the two look over to see Evelyn hovering on her staff.

“Evelyn!” Luz’s eyes light up in delight.

“Go on your errand, Miss Eda! I’ll look after your house.” Eve smiles.

“I’m still not entirely sure I can trust you alone around kids.” Eda narrows her eyes.

“Would you prefer to leave Luz alone in the house with Hooty?” Eve smirks.

“Fair point!” Eda nods. “Alright, fine. You can have your little conjuring.” Eda says.

“Yes! I can’t wait to tell Gus and Willow!” Luz says, dashing over to her friends quickly.

---

Within the Owl House, the three kids are sitting on the couch while Eve stands next to the couch and Eda gets her things together.

“Alright, Evelyn is in charge while I’m gone.” Eda says as she slips a cloak on. “Make sure Hooty and the kids don’t get into any trouble.”

“You can count on me, Miss Eda! I would never betray your trust.” Eve grins.

“Yeah, yeah.” Eda rolls her eyes. “If you mess up the house, that will be one serious way to loose my already flimsy trust, Miss Witch. No pressure Bye~!” Eda heads out, and Luz, Willow, and Gus look nervous, but Evelyn seems to not be affected.

“Okay!” Luz claps her hands and hops up. “We’ve got snacks, we’ve got weird music.”

“We’ve got a bucket!” Gus holds up a bucket.

“And best of all, friends to do the conjuring with! This is so exciting!” Willow squeals.

“So…how does this conjuring stuff work?” Luz asks as Evelyn lounges on the couch the kids had gotten up from.

“Don’t ask me. We didn’t have Midnight Conjurings on my titan.” She says nonchalantly. “You kids are on your own for that, I’m just here to chaperone.” she produces a bag of snapcorn and pops a piece into your mouth, and Stringbean slithers into the bag.

“Well…I know a little bit .” Willow says, and she starts to lead the three of them through the ritual. It was all going forth as intended- the little beefy doll, but what they won’t realize for many years is that the Moonlight Conjuring can only animate something not alive, but organic . Something synthetic and plastic will be unaffected. It helps if the item was made from things grown from a Titan. Dolls are only referenced because they used to be made of straw more than plastic- a fact that became more than a little forgotten since Belos came to power.

Not only that, but the reason the house is becoming targeted is because of two major factors:

1: Little Luz is human. She’s still an able body that magic can channel through, but it’s as though the three holding hands are a circuit, and Little Luz has a leak that causes the magic to spread beyond the confines of the circle.

2: Hooty being the house demon has affected this in a very real way. All demons and witches rose from where the Titan died, most often by some form of evolution, but Hooty is unique in that he spawned and grew from where one of the Titan’s eyes was. This true connection to the Titan’s brain makes him more susceptible to wild magic of this variety. Plus, since he’s a house demon, magic will regard him as an object.

The candles extinguish, and the house shakes, and Evelyn smiles a bit as she pops another kernel into her mouth. As the kids freak out about animating the house, Eve stands up and makes sure no one falls. Soon, they figure out that keeping in a circle allows them to control the house.

“Well done, kids.” Eve smiles wide. “I knew you had it in you.”

“We’re controlling it with the power of friendship!” Willow exclaims. “And the moon. Probably the moon.”

“This is amazing! What do we do now?” Gus asks.

The three kids look up at Evelyn, and she smiles as she produces a scroll.

“What do you kids say I record a few things and post ‘em on Penstagram?” Eve suggests, and the kids look excited.

Evelyn proceeds to record and take pictures of the Conjuring, posting them to an account she made not long after making it here, under the username “4dTitan”. Most people think it means “for da titan”- which, you know, it partially right. And if she herds them like sheep to try and stop them from terrorizing their peers (even if it’s Boscha), all the better.

Soon, Evelyn notices the rope manifesting, about to snag the house. She phases over to it, snapping it with her claws.

“What’s happening out there?” Luz calls.

“Head back, kids! Just a bit of trouble.” Evelyn says as she raises a few barriers to stop the crossbolas heading for them.

“We can help!” Luz calls out.

“Ay, dios mio…” Eve mumbles and traces a purple circle in the sky using her staff. “Upon the shine of midnight, heed my call. Return from whence you came, house of…owl!” It’s a stretch, but it works. Evelyn’s true identity and her power allows the magic to believe this is Little Luz’s doing, therefore overriding their control to her. The blue energy around the house turns purple, and begins to walk back. “Lock your windows, lock your doors! Let none escape your hallowed floors!”

There . That should keep the kids safe until she’s done here.

“What’s your problem?!” the lead demon hunter asks as Evelyn hovers to the ground, surrounded by them. “You just cost us a major payday!”

Eve scoffs. “Yeah, whatever, buddy. What, you have a problem with house demons or something?”

“I do when they can get a payday. Get her!” The leader says, and Eve easily weaves around them and steadily uses their own magic and weapons against them- they’re nothing compared to the real threats of the Boiling Isles.

“I know why you’re really doing this.” Eve says with a smirk as she lands behind the leader. He tries to shoot beastkeeping spells at her, but she deflects with her staff in a way that is annoyingly Belos of her fighting style.

“Oh, yeah, what do you know?” the Leader smirks, prepping more magic.

“You don’t like humans.” Eve says, and it makes the leader flinch. “I’m right, aren’t I? After all, that’s what humans do! It’s the story that’s been passed down for generations, I bet. Humans lie. They lead innocent witches to dangerous situations. They kill palismen.” She shakes her head. “What, you just think cause your triplet ancestors were duped by a human, that all humans are like that? You even wear that little eyepatch to honor your ancestors, don’t you?”

“How do you…?” the leader backs up, beginning to look afraid. “ Who are you?”

“The most dangerous demon you’ve ever met.” Evelyn lets loose a roar that dispels the magic around her assailants and launches them backward. She takes a step forward, a grin on her face. “Run.”

In perhaps the smartest move the hunters could do, they listen.

---

Eda escapes as expected- with the Owl House barraging through town in the most direct way back to it’s resting place. When it returns to place and the magic around it fades, the door unlock, and Eda busts the door open.

“You are all so busted!” Eda scolds.

“Sorry, Miss Eda!” Evelyn says, landing behind her. “They went a bit overboard, we tried to have some fun, and there was a bit of…trouble.”

“You let me animate my house. My house !” Eda exclaims.

“Yes, it’s my fault.” she motions of the kids to step back. “I’ll do whatever you’d like to make up for it.”

“Well, you’d better! You’re cleaning my house from top to bottom.” Eda scolds. “As for you all!” she turns to the kids, then smiles. “That was totally amazing. So, I’m joining you for next year’s conjuring! Now, all of you head on to bed while Eve here gets to work. Luz, I’m gonna want you to tell me everything!”

The night goes on, and it’s nice. Eda enjoys listening to Luz recounts the events of the night. Animating a whole house takes a lot of power, but…Eda’s never heard of someone hijacking a conjuring before. For the life of her, she can’t imagine how Eve did it…

Eda’s got her own suspicions about Evelyn. But hey, so long as she doesn’t hurt Luz, she’ll be fine. Doesn’t mean Eda won’t be keeping an eye on her.

Chapter Text

Well, tonight’s the night of the Wailing Star. Evelyn is laying back on the roof of the library, gazing up at the sky. She’s just here to watch. She’ll only intervene if she has to- she’s nervous, but she needs Luz to save Amity tonight. Hopefully, enough stuff has changed that she won’t need to. Hopefully. She just wants to think tonight.

---

Luz is in wonder at the magical library around her. The living building reminded her of Hexside- come to think of it, were all buildings here alive? That’d be cool! The librarian was a bit rude, but hey, who cares? It’s the boiling isles! Everyone’s a bit rude! Evelyn is by far the nicest person Luz has met from the BI. Even Eda was rude at first, but Evelyn was just kind from the start…though she’s been sketchy and rude at times .

Speaking of rude, Luz has just seen Amity being sweet! Which is great! She’s in a good mood, which gives Luz the perfect chance to increase their tentative half-friendship into a full friendship! When Luz is spotted, Amity looks surprised and a bit suspicious.

“...what are you doing here?” Amity asks.

“Amity!” Luz goes to lean on a book, making it fall. “Oops. Um…reading to kids! Wow. Looks like this sour lemon drop has a hidden sweet center.” she winks.

Amity looks like she’s about to rebuke, but she pauses. “I can not tell if you’re trying to insult me or not.” she finally admits.

“I’m not!” Luz clarifies quickly. “Sass is just how Eda and Evelyn communicate and they’re rubbing off on me!” Luz whines, defeated. “So…what is this? Extra credit?”

“On paper,” Amity says, and Luz followers her to the back of the room. “It’s more or less an actual job right now though. I read for the kids, I organize the books…my magic helps them.”

“Oh! I can help!” Luz says excitedly. “We can take turns reading! And do voices. I do the best monster voice .” Luz suggests, demonstrating a sub-par monster voice.

“I…don’t think that’s a good idea,” Amity says, and Luz frowns. “Listen, Luz, I know you’re trying to help, but you don’t see me going to the Owl Shack and bugging you while you, I dunno…fry up owls?” she scoffs to herself. “Okay, I don’t really know what you or the Owl Lady do , but…every time we’ve been in a public space together, I’ve gotten in some kind of trouble.”

“So…we can’t hang out?” Luz frowns, and Amity looks a bit hurt.

“I…I dunno,” she mutters in response.

Luz hangs her head in shame. “I’m sorry…”

Luz begins to walk away, and can’t see how Amity considers stopping her.

“You gonna let her get to you like that?” a new voice asks, and Luz turns to see them.

Edric and Emira Blight, Amity’s older siblings. Luz’s first impression of them as she meets them as attractive upperclassmen who like to tease their sister in what she thinks is good-natured fun. At the very least, they seem more laid back than her.

Luz still feels guilty when they’re kicked out of the Library and Amity glares at her with a look that can only be described as disappointed. But hey, the twins invited her to have more fun! And it has something to do with the Wailing Star! She can’t wait to check it out.

---

As people leave the Library, Evelyn walks in front of the doors. She’s been considering her options all day. Trying to keep them out can be bad, but so can letting them in. She has an idea, but…it’s risky. And situational.

God, she hopes it works out.

---

“It says no trespassing, but I’m allergic to the rules.” Edric says confidently as he pulls out a scroll, handing it to Emira.

“And dairy.” Emira smirks.

“Wow, okay. Just expose me.” Edric says with mock betrayal.

Emira lets the paper burn, applying it to the lock…but it seems to…un-burn? The lock does not even budge as for a split second, there is a circle of symbols in front of it.

“What?” Emira blinks.

“Hang on, this was supposed to work!” Edric frowns. “Ugh, such a rip-off…”

“Hang on…do it again,” Luz says, and Emira tries again, and the same thing happens. Those symbols, they look like…” Luz looks upward, and she sees a silhouette on the roof turn away.

“You know what this is?” Edric asks.

“There’s someone on the roof…and I think I know who it is,” Luz mutters.

As the illusion-track kids use their magic to get themselves and Luz to the roof, they see exactly what Luz was expecting- Evelyn.

“Whoa, is that the new outlaw from those posters?” Edric whispers.

“Evelyn…” Luz steps up, starting to walk up, with the siblings following in anticipation. “Why are you here?”

Evelyn looks up at the sky, not looking at Luz.

“The Waiting Star is dangerous, Luz. Fascinating, sure. But dangerous.” Evelyn says. “Kids always get in trouble when it’s around. They can get hurt.”

“Pft, we can handle ourselves.” Edric scoffs.

“Can you?” Evelyn asks, still not looking at them. “...perhaps I was rash. I would like to make it up to you.” the wailing star begins to cry across the sky, and Evelyn turns her head to look back at the children. “Would you like to hear my Titan’s legend of the Wailing Star?”

In response, all three children sit down on the roof, and Evelyn smiles warmly as she turns around. She traces a circle in the air, and bestows the illusion of her tale.

---

Every star in the sky has a purpose. Some are worlds, many are stars, but among the infinite cosmos, a handful million are celestial beings. These beings have no unified name, but they name themselves and their creations after the singular thing that unites them- Purpose.

Four of these creatures, known as the Archivists, sought to do just that- Archive. They categorized the worlds, and they had with them a little sibling that they named Collector. Collector collected things for them from the worlds so that the Archivists could preserve them and study them, but Collector was younger than them all. They were bored, they wanted fun, wanted games! But the Archivists never wanted that. They only cared about the purpose, and so they scorned their little sibling.

One day, the Archivists and the Collector came across a new world- a world of creature that ranged from monolithic monsters to tiny little insectoid beasts. These creatures were known as the Titans. The Archivists began as they usually did, studying the Titans from afar, and the Collector went down to play with the Titans. The children of the Titans, just his size, loved to play with the young one, and together, they played many games. However, when the time came to collect, the Archivists learned that their magic was useless against the Titans- they were completely immune to their Astral Magic. In fear, the Archivists began to slay the Titans, but the monstrous warriors fought back. After the final Titan managed to slay one of the Archivists, the remaining Archivists fled in utter fear. There was only one Titan left. In retribution, he sealed the confused and young Collector away, not even certain how guilty he was.

The Archivists turned to infighting. They blamed each other for the death of their Collector, and split apart. One of them continued their purpose, and continues to categorize worlds far, far away from this one. One of them has gone to seek a new purpose among other celestial beings. The final one has lost all purpose, sorrowful for how they treated the Collector, and now endlessly wails and cries as they wander the cosmos.

They say that when the Wailing Star passes over the titans, it is looking for the Collector. The Wailing Star can draw two-dimensional images into three dimensions. They were hoping to free the Collector, who is said to be reduced to a mere shadow. But alas, they are doomed to fail. Astral Magic cannot undo the curse of a Titan.

So the sibling wails, eternally, mourning without end. A family, cleaved for so long as this world turns.

---

When Evelyn turns back to look at the children, they all have tears in their eyes.

“That’s…so sad!” Luz expresses.

“It’s not a happy story.” Evelyn shrugs. “The Wailing Star’s been around for as long as anyone can remember, so my people came to think it must have coincided with the fall of the Titans.”

“So…is any of it true? About the Archivists, or the Collector?” Emira asks.

“It’s a good question.” Evelyn nods. “Are the Galdorstones real? Time Pools? The Lenderman?” Evelyn shrugs. “But then again, some people thought humans were a myth. There hasn’t been one in the Demon Realm for a long, long time.”

Evelyn turns to the kids, and by this point, the Wailing Star has passed.

“Whether the story is real or not, take its lesson to heart. All of you .” Evelyn says.

Only Evelyn noticed the shadow of another girl lowered down with abomination magic.

---

The next day, Luz is walking through the library, and she sees Amity. Calling for her, Amity looks back, a bit sheepish.

“Amity, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday,” Luz says.

“It’s…fine.” Amity sighs. “That seems to be a bit of a theme. I barely got away from Edric and Emira trying to cling to me. What, erm…happened last night?”

“It was…” Luz sighs. “A lot.”

Amity and Luz stand in silence, before Amity begins to walk.

“Follow me. I want to show you something.”

At a sparsely inhabited corner of the library, Amity shows Luz her secret book nook. Luz is amazed (and Amity has hidden her diary before bringing her here), so now she’s glad to show off her Azura books to Luz, and they even discuss Luz lending Amity the latest book that Luz has. They read other books of fiction for the isles and talk about them for hours.

It’s…actually really nice.

Chapter Text

Evelyn was grinning as she was heading to the Owl Lady’s stand, whistling her favorite tune.

“Greetings and hello, Owl housians!” Eve grins. “How’s everyone donig today?”

King is trying to gab a flag like a cat, Eda is just watching the antics, and Luz is trying to hang up a glowing sign with Light Glyphs carved into it.

“We’re getting Eda her name in lights!” Luz smiles. “Is it too subtle?”

“Does subtle mean ugly?” Boscha asks from nearby, and Luz is about to walk forward, but Evelyn rolls her eyes.

“Ignore them, Little Luz. Do you wanna see my wanted poster?” Eve asks.

Little Luz’s attention was immediately grabbed by the poster Eve unfurls. “Wild Witch of the West”, only a reward of 500,000 Snails thus far, but it was a start! The illustration has the devious and grinning visage of Evelyn, with elements burning in her outstretched hands and Stringbean curled around her neck like a boa constrictor.

“That’s so cool!” Luz exclaims.

“500,000, huh?” Eda whistles. “That’s a lot for what little you’ve done.”

“It was 250,000 last week.” Evelyn rolls up the scroll, and holds it out as Little Luz happily snatches it. “Belos doubled it.”

Eda arches an eyebrow. “Why? You important?” She asks suspiciously.

“Why of course I am, Eda!” Evelyn grins mischievously. “I’m the most important witch around.” She flips her hair without revealing her ears.

“WEH!” they hear King cry out in protest, and the three look over to see the son of the isles being manhandled and taken pictures of by Boscha.

“How much? I have to own him.” Boscha says, and the statement makes Little Luz shudder and Evelyn scowl at the current state of the Boiling Isle’s ownership policy of certain demons.

“You couldn’t afford me, sister!” King says with sass as he frees himself, proving once and for all that he’s been Eda’s son since long before the name change. Of course, King just got upset when people cooed over his anger instead of becoming afraid.

I’ve considered giving him a crash course on his powers, but…no, he’s not ready yet.

“I smell an easy mark.” Eda grins, and Eve holds back a laugh as the fashion disaster that Eda magically dresses herself in to try and sell to the teens. As the teens laugh and walk away. Eda sighs. “Well, I hate her.” she states.

“Yeah, teens can be sour, but I'm a little sweetie. Look what I made you!” Luz points at the sign excitedly.

“Luz…” Eda sighs and gently takes the sign down.

Little Luz frowns. “Did I spell something wrong? Or did I spell something right?” she asks with a little smile.

“Stop that.” Eda sighs and wipes the lights away. “You may be forgetting something, Luz. I'm kinda…” she whips out her own wanted poster, “ on the run! Remember? Every guard in town would be at my doorstep if I had my name in lights.”

“On that note, Boscha just posted a picture with both that sign and me in it,” Evelyn says, looking at her scroll.

“Aw, beans. C’mon, kids! Closing up early today!” Eda exclaims, and Luz sighs sadly as they all head back to the Owl House.

---

“I barely saw anyone around!” Little Luz complains as she sits on the couch. “Maybe you two are just being paranoid! You’re powerful witches! Why hide when you can ‘poof’ all your problems away with magic?”

“That’s not-” Eve tries to say, but King interrupts.

“What does Luz know about problems, anyway? All she has is dumb teen drama! She doesn’t understand how hard some of us have it.” King huffs.

…why am I getting deja vu? Wait, what happens today…?

“You're pampered all day like a dang baby. How hard is that life?” Eda challenges.

“Well, I don't know if you realized, but I'm not a baby!” King growls.

“Then why are you screaming like one?” Luz challenges.

“My life is a living nightmare!” King whines.

“Well, there's only one thing to do when friends can't see eye-to-eye…” Eda says sneakily.

Oh, no. I forgot about this. The swap, today?! How did I forget about that? I guess cause in the long run, I didn’t actually learn anything from it. Did the other two learn something? I don’t remember. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do-?

“Evelyn!” a voice says, and she looks up to see Eda looking down at her in concern from where Evelyn is sitting on the couch ( when did I sit down? ), and next to her looking just as confused and/or worried is King, and…herself…?

Oh, no.

Looking down at herself, her worst fears are confirmed. She’s Little Luz. Already, it feels so natural as the nostalgic memories come, but her titan eyes would give her away. Gazing into the eyes of those around her, she sees Little Luz in Eda’s body, Eda in King’s body…and King in hers.

“Ah, heck yeah!” King exclaims. “This is great!”

“Oh no.” Eve mutters. “But my magic is only partially through the body, which means…”

King looks down at his new body in confusion as some of the hair recedes, not becoming as prevalent, and the light on the hat goes out. Magic overwhelms Eve’s current body, transforming it into a mini copy of Evelyn- looking closer but not quite to what her original Titan transformation resembles.

“Holy titan…” Luz mutters, and Evelyn is praying they don’t see the similarities. “You made me look like you!”

Thank Titan.

“My magic is connected to my soul!” Eve exclaims. “It goes where I go! It’s not like a witch’s bile sac! I mean, I do still have one in my original body, but it’s not wholly where the power comes from anymore…”

“So you’re… not a witch?” Eda asks, fishing for confirmation.

“Just…just turn me back! Swap me with King, I don’t care! Give me my body!” Evelyn turns to Luz.

“Now hang on, this could be a good learning experience for everyone…” Luz begins.

“I already understand all of your points of view!” Evelyn growls. “ Eda has been running from the law for longer than she hasn’t been, and had the curse for longer, which grows out of stress! By the way, the curse is also linked to your soul, so good luck with that! King is just a kid and doesn’t actually have any world experience outside of you two! He doesn’t even know the full extent of what he can do! And you , Little Luz, have no idea the true complexities of the world or how magic actually works because you’ve been living your life in a fantasy !”

The three stare at Evelyn in shock as she pants heavily, tears wetting her eyes.

“Turn. Me. Back.” Eve slumps down. “...p-please.”

After a shaky circle, Evelyn finds herself in her own body, and she hugs her little Palisman as Little Luz’s body turns back to normal.

“Evelyn?” Luz asks, walking up to Eve. “Are you okay?”

Evelyn takes a step back. “I’m fine.” she huffs. “Look, why don’t you guys just…talk with each other? Take a walk? Take each other’s ideas, so you can support each other in case something goes wrong.” she turns away. “Just don’t…don’t do that again.” She leaves the house.

Evelyn hadn’t anticipated how comfortable she had gotten in her Titan body. It’s why she fought so hard to be a Titan again- when she was a Titan originally, it felt right . She was connected to everyone around her, the best of every world she had touched. She felt like she was finally the person she was meant to be. But when she turned back, she found herself craving that completion once again.

Even though she was in Little Luz’s body, being away from her real self for even a few seconds was making her skin crawl. She hated that feeling. She loves her body, she’s comfortable in it. She doesn’t want to leave it. She doesn’t want to leave it behind.

She misses her friends and family so, so much.

A part of her is afraid that if she does find a way back, the powers will go away. Then where will that leave her?

I feel like a bad person for wanting this power. I don’t want to think about it.

She takes a deep breath as she flies to the sky with Stringbean.

Tomorrow is another day.

---

As Luz flops down upon her sleeping bag in the Owl House and the sun sets, she takes a deep sigh. After Evelyn left, they decided not to talk about it, and decided to instead go through with the swap anyway, under the pretense of "What does she know, anyway?"

Turns out, she knows a lot. Maybe they should have just listened to her. Luz feels terrible...so she's going to resolve herself, and try to do something really nice for Evelyn the next time they see her!

Chapter Text

Luz was helping Eda rummage through boxes on the Owl House’s main floor, and Eve was with them. Evelyn was growing pretty close with all of them, almost becoming part of the family. But despite it all, even as Luz adored Evelyn and wanted to help her, she couldn’t forget what happened when Lilith took her in while in Eda’s body…

---

In the interrogation room that Luz in Eda’s body had found herself in, she was terrified. She couldn’t even use Eda’s powers properly, and now she was about to get Eda arrested! She’s the worst apprentice ever. Maybe Eve was right about this whole thing…

Suddenly, the door opened, and Eda’s sister came through, and Luz sighed a bit in relief. Surely if someone could see through this, it’d be her!

“Hello, Edalyn.” she says.

“Oh, thank goodness! A familiar face.” Luz says. “You’re Eda’s sister, right? Is it Libby? No. Limby…?”

“Your show of affection is touching.” the Sister responds, and Luz internally cringes that he confusion could easily be seen as Eda-style mocking. “Do you know why you’re here?”

“Well, as I was telling that guard, this is just a classic Freaksy Fraturday mix-up!” Luz chuckles.

“Sister,” Eda’s Sister unfurls a scroll, “the charges against you are long and many. Operating a stand without a permit, owning a hocus without a pocus…”

“Yeah, I think that list goes on a while.” Luz says honestly.

“These charges are serious. There’s no more running away, Edalyn.” She responds.

“I know. I can’t just ‘poof’ my problems away.” Luz mutters.

“...but we can.” the woman sounds calmer, taking Luz’s shoulders. “My orders have changed. I can give you some lenience, let you go today…” her voice takes a darker tone. “If you can tell me where to find Evelyn.”

“...what?” Luz’s eyes widen. “But, erm, Eda- er, I’m more wanted than her, aren’t I?”

Luz’s not-aunt stands up straight and takes a step back. “For now. The Emperor plans to grow her reward with every day that goes by. You’re no longer the top priority. This gives you time , Edalyn, and if you can tell me where she is, I can give you lenience.”

“But why her? Just cause she’s strong?” Luz asks.

“That may be part of it. She is wilder than you in magic.” she scowls. “Did you know that after what she did to the conformatorium, the land…changed?”

“Changed?” Luz asks.

“Building material cracks into rubble. The wildlife becomes more aggressive. Boiling Rainstorms assail the land only when someone is building on it.” Eda’s sister’s frown deepens. “There’s something…not right about her. And Belos knows her .”

Luz’s eyes widen. Eve always talks about Belos with such disdain, but Luz has picked up on it. It’s like they’ve met.

“They know each other…?” Luz mutters, but shakes her head. “I can’t do that. I won’t betray her! She trusts me, and I trust her!”

“Edalyn, come to your senses!” the witch growls. “If you do this, it could be the first step to getting the charges against you dropped! You can be in the Emperor’s Coven with me, just like we wanted when we were girls!”

“Eda… wanted to be…?” Luz mutters, but shakes her head out of it as they see a branding glove brought in.

Luz’s panic and struggle led to an explosion that ultimately allowed her to escape.

---

Needless to say, Luz didn’t know what to do with any of this information. She was overwhelmed with so much information about Eda wanting to be in the Emperor’s Coven until something changed, and now it turns out Belos and Evelyn might actually know each other?

Luz asked Eda about Belos once, and she says he showed up one day years ago. He’s only been Emperor for 50 years, but he was first seen in the isles about 30 years before that (though, that’s just the mask. Who knows how long Belos has actually been living on the Boiling Isles?). Was Evelyn older than she looked? Eda’s a lot younger than she looks because of her curse, does something about Eve’s type of demon let her live longer? Is Belos the same kind of demon? She seems to hate him, that’s for sure, and her bounty has been steadily increasing.

Luz came up with all kinds of theories. Her personal favorite is that they’re friends from the Westward Titan, Belos chased off for doing something bad, and when word of the Emperor reached the Titan, Evelyn was sent after him. Now, Belos sends people after Evelyn, intent on capturing her before he can capture him (or worse).

But Eda still has mixed enough feelings about Evelyn, so Luz hasn’t told her any of this. She knows Eda wouldn’t turn Eve in, but the fact that Belos and Evelyn know each other might make Eda kick her out. No one’s said anything, but while Evelyn might have a camp somewhere, Luz has been making Eve sleep over a lot more on their couch. She likes how weird Evelyn is! Evelyn is weird, like her, even among demons.

Of course, Luz can’t think about this for long, because Gus came and told her that he wanted to present her to his Human Appreciation Society, and she wants to! She never got a chance to see it last time.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Eda says. “There ain’t nothing for you at that dweebus factory. No offense, dweebus.” Eda says to Gus.

“Well, I would love to go someday .” Luz sighs. “Better than unpacking boxes in the Eda Coven.”

“Oh, you think you’re clever, huh?” Eda huffs.

“Oooh! Fight, fight, fight!” King and Eve chant. Luz isn’t sure if Eve is a good influence on King or a bad one, but the statement doesn’t have any malice behind it on King’s end.

“Can it, you two!” Eda smirks a bit. “First of all, it’s the “Bad Girl Coven” and second of all, I guess you dn’t want in on the t-shirt order?” Eda pulls out a picture she made of her shirt idea, which frankly, looked amazing.

“But I want to learn magic, Eda!” Luz whines. “And they teach that at Hexside!”

“I mean, yeah, well…” Eda shakes her head, and Evelyn put sher hand on Eda’s shoulder.

“Let the kid go.” Eve shrugs. “Sure, Hexside was pretty bad to her before, but let’s give her another chance with it. If it scorns her again, we can say ‘screw it!’ But if it doesn’t…”

Luz looks at Eda with hopeful eyes, and Eda sighs.

“ Fine! ” she grunts. “You go to hexside with dweebus here, I’ll talk to Bump.”

“YES! Thank you, Eda, thank you!” Luz hugs Eda tight.

---

The day goes on great from there! Mattholomule is a bit of a jerk, but Luz hit it off with the H.A.S., and Eda managed to actually get her into Hexside! While waiting, Luz was more than excited to get into the school spirit. Like when she went to the Hexside VS Glandus grudgby match! She missed the bus (or whatever that thing was), but Evelyn took them on a ride of Stringbean to catch it! Not only did Luz get to see the match, but she also learned a lot about Palismen from Evelyn that day. Before, Luz just thought they were like pets or manifestations of your magic, but it goes deeper than that! Luz is excited to get her own one day.

---

Evelyn is relaxing in the Owl House, and things have been going well! She thinks. She’s been trying to make things better…and she’s doing well! Probably. Lot of doubts right now.

Luz and King walk through the front door, looking bushed.

“What happened to you two?” Evelyn asked.

“Creepy book lizard man.” King supplies, clearly tired.

Oh shit, I forgot about the creepy book lizard man.

“Eh, we took care of it.” Luz smiles and picks up King. “Didn’t we?”

“Yeah.” King chuckles. “We did.”

The two walk, and Evelyn smiles a little bit.

Well, that all worked out, at least. I’ll need to be more attentive to them in the future.

---

Eda was becoming increasingly suspicious of Evelyn. Her search for the Bloom today led her to bond with Lillith a bit, but it also led her to learn that Evelyn’s got more power than she’s letting in on, and that Belos almost seems afraid of her. Now, normally, that’d make her a-okay in Eda’s book, but she’s been pretty chummy with Eda, Luz, and King for a while now. She’s pressing all the right buttons for them, and Eda doesn’t want some witch against Belos manipulating anyone in the Owl House to do stuff for her.

So naturally, when Eda was told by Luz that she needed to learn another spell, she took her to the most remote corner of the Titan she could find- the knee! Here, she’d help Luz learn more magic and deal with that painfully obvious crush on the Blight girl- worse than Eda’s old crush on Raine! Yep, it’s absolutely worse and way more obvious , not at all similar to how Eda crushed on Raine in the least .

Needless to say, she didn’t expect Evelyn to be there.

“What’re you doing here?” Eda asks, and Eve looks at the camp she’s setting up in the ruin walls.

“I guess I’m having guests camp in my living room.” Eve snickers.

“You’ve been living here?” Luz asks. “But it’s so cold !”

“I’ve got fur, honey.” Eve smiles. “Special fur. Warms up in the cold, becomes nice and cool in the heat. Adapts to any environment.”

Eda rolled her eyes. At least she could get her lessons underway…

---

As night fell, Luz began to creep toward the Blight tent to grab the training wand, when she gasped, seeing Evelyn in front of her.

“What’chya doin’, Little Luz?” Eve grins.

“Er…nothing! What are…you doing?” Luz challenges.

Evelyn just smiles. “I saw how you were struggling, and I thought that maybe clarifying a few of Eda’s teachings would help you.”

“...how?” Luz asked, and Evelyn led Luz to the cliffside, and began to talk.

“You remember how I taught you the Light Glyph? Well, apply Eda’s teachings to that logic. You’re a smart girl, kiddo. Most Wild Witches have to feel the land connect to them, and you can do the same thing! But while they feel the connections, witches like you and me look for it. Tell me, Little Luz, can you see the connection in nature?” Evelyn asks.

Luz has always been good at seeing patterns. She’s always noticed little details. She liked doing that! She liked poking holes in logic to try and get those gaps she found filled in. It always got her in trouble back home whenever class talked about a story, or some adults in the square were talking about religion. But here, Luz began to see what she meant. As the snow fell, the shapes were all unique like on earth, but…but the center of each snowflake was identical.

Not only that, but Eve encouraged her to keep going! The gnarls on a tree, the cinders of their campfire, everything was connected!

“What else is there?!” Luz exclaims.

“Nothing.” Evelyn stands up. “Those are the four Glyphs. But with those Glyphs…you can do anything.” Evelyn showed this by conjuring a circle of connected Light Glyphs and Fire Glyphs, sending a stream of fireworks into the sky!

“What’s going on out here?” Eda grumbles, and OOFs as Luz hugs her.

“You were right, Eda! Magic is everywhere! I get it now!” Luz grins wide, and Eda can’t seem to help but smile fondly, petting Luz on the head.

“Good on ya, kid.” Eda chuckles.

“And now I’m ready!” Luz smiles, quickly sketching down the glyphs. “Look out Hexside, here comes Luz!”

Luz was gonna have the best first day ever!

Chapter Text

Luz was having the worst first day ever .

It started out amazingly! Luz had four spells plus that cool glyph-combo thing with fireworks that Evelyn showed her! Bump accepted her readily, but when she had to choose a track, well…Luz has always been a bit of an overachiever. Bringing props to an oral book report was a pretty lax option she’s done in school before the Boiling Isles- luckily, this place is a theater kid’s dream come true!

However, when she was caught trying to mix her studies, Bump promptly punished her. Willow was given leeway for her good record and the fact that she genuinely didn’t know what she was doing- but Luz was aware what she was doing, had a reputation around Bonesborough as a troublemaker, and she was Eda’s protege. So, it was detention.

The Detention Pit , that is. A pit of blue cocoons and hypnotic worms that put students in trances until the end of the day. So as the Hall Monitors drag Luz to the pit and write down that the reason for her incarceration is ‘mixing tracks’, Luz feels pretty upset as she begins to get sealed into a cocoon and sent further down into the pit.

So yeah, not a good day. At least in the cocoon, she had her phone.

…come to think of it, when was that “trance” thing supposed to happen? Right now, the cocoon was just moving deeper and deeper into the pit, until…

Luz released an AHK of surprise as the cocoon opened up, and she flopped onto the ground. Looking up, she saw that she was at the bottom of the detention pit, cocoons all around her…and so were three other students, staring at her with just as much confusion as Luz gazed at them.

.

Apparently , the Detention Pit is sympathetic to multitrackers, so that’s cool. Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus helped show her around the school, their secret passageway of tunnels, and even how they study whatever they want in secret. The day was getting better, but Luz couldn’t deny that she was still a bit upset that she couldn’t hang out with her friends.

The day does get better- she saves Amity (and you know, the rest of the school) from a Basilisk with the help of the other multitrackers, and they are rewarded with multitracking being allowed!

So it was a good day, then a bad day, then a great day! Quite the rollercoaster.

---

Evelyn smiled as she, Eda, and King listen to Little Luz recount her first day at school. It actually seemed to be a bit better, and it was heartwarming to see how much she twirled around, showing off her multicolored uniform.

“Aw, kiddo, good job!” Eda hugs Luz. “I knew you could do it.”

“Really?” Luz’s eyes light up.

“Well, not this specifically. Honestly, it’s nothing less of a miracle that Bump allowed this. Got any clue on how he plans to get away with doing this in front of the Emperor’s Coven?” Eda asks.

“Actually, yeah!” Luz nods. “He said that he’ll be branding it an ‘Emperor’s Track Program’ to encourage students to join the Emperor’s Coven.”

“Clever, and probably partially true.” Eda strokes her chin. “Well, so long as you know not to get in close with those yahoos, do what you want!”

Evelyn smiles at the antics, and stands up.

“I’m glad you’re in Hexside, Little Luz. I’m gonna head out now! You guys have a good night.” Evelyn says, starting to walk out as the inhabitants of the Owl House wish her goodnight.

---

“...and once they are all caged and contained, revenge will be mine !” the little biped pig demon known as Tibblet-Tibblie Grimm Hammer III- aka Tibbles- cackles to himself. “And it’s all thanks to you, my tininess-inducing tincture!” he giggles maliciously, but stops. “Hang on…what is that?”

Tibbles hears something on the wind. It sounds like…whistling? It’s a jaunty tune, but the way it carries on the wind, and so late at night…it’s haunting. And not the good kind, either. As he looks around, he gasps as he sees a rather monstrous looking demon enter his tent.

“Oh! A customer!” he chuckles. “We’re still in the early stages, but I’d be glad to help wherever I could!” he grims.

“Mmm. You’re Grimm Hammer?” the witch asks.

“Tibblet-Tibblie Grimm Hammer III,” Tibbles bows dramatically. The witch walked around his tent, looking over his odds and ends. “How can I help you?”

“Just browsing.” she says, passing over the small stack of wanted posters of several bounties Tibbles has looked into. “Hmm. Do you have any Spider Bile?”

“I certainly do!” Tibbles smiles.

“Mm, good.” she says.

“...do you…want any…?” Tibbles asks.

“No. Just wondering.” She continues, her claws occasionally grazing across the wood. “What about Eclipseshade? Petals, not powder.”

“I’ve got it in both.” Tibbles answers, becoming increasingly unnerved by the odd witch.

“Options are nice.” she says. “Got any books?”

“I carry a few near the front.” Tibbles answers.

“Ah, I know!” the witch turns, and for the first time, Tibble sees her eyes- shining like a pair of suns in an endless void. “What about Owlbeast Elixir?”

Tibbles seizes up, quite unnerved. “Um…I…don’t believe I have any.”

“Oh.” the woman turns, her taloned feet scrubbing against the stone ground. “What do you call this place again?”

“T-The Wondrous Emporium of Grimm Hammer.” He answers, and his heartrate has begun to increase.

“And you’re Grimm Hammer?”

“Yes.”

“So then, I take it you came up with that little tagline I saw out front?” she smiles a bit.

“Yes…marketing, you know.” he chuckles nervously.

“And what was it again?” she tilts her head.

“The Wondrous Emporium of Grimm Hammer, home to every alchemical wonder upon the titan.” Tibbles recites.

“Except Owlbeast Elixir, hm?” she tilts her head.

“It’s just a catchphrase.” he chuckles a bit.

“Sounds a bit more like false advertising.” She picks her claws. “You shouldn’t make a promise you can’t keep, Tibbles .” she moves and stands directly between Tibbles and the only exit. “Though, I hear you’re doing well now. Night market says you’ve been perfecting some new brew. Some people who don’t like you wouldn’t be happy with that…and neither am I.” Her eyes glow with odd magic. “You know who I am, don’t you?”

Evelyn, the Wild Witch of the West. The bounty that Tibbles was planning on going for after Eda. The one that the Emperor’s Coven has become obsessed with out of nowhere.

“Yes.” is all he answers instead.

“And you know why I’m here?”

“Yes.” he says again. Evelyn has been seen working with Eda. There’s plenty of speculation, but Tibbles only cares about the money.

“So…are you going to fight back?” she grins.

“Yes!” Tibbles traces a spell circle in the air, seeking to fling it at the witch!

---

Evelyn calmly walks out of the tent. She tsks at the poor work of Tibbles’ trying to remake the Good Witch Azura books in Boiling Isles style. She rolls her eyes and tosses it back into the tent behind her, walking away and whistling her favoite song as smoke begins to pour from the tent, and the scent of meat caries into the night air, attracting beast demons near and far.

Chapter Text

Luz was having an amazing week! First Hexside, then a carnival with all her besties (including King!), and now she’s in classes learning about memory magic. Apparently delving into one’s memories is illegal since it can be done against one’s will, but the special tweezers the class gave her can pull memories out only if the person allows it! Magic’s fun like that.

And baby Willow was so cute! Plus, she got to do a few shenanigans after talking with Willow about Amity. What could go wrong?

---

OH TITAN SO MANY THINGS WENT WRONG.

Right now, they’re in the Owl House’s living room, discussing how to help Willow while Willow is laying her head on Evelyn’s lap, and Evelyn looks at the girl sadly, patting her head to keep her calm. She looks almost…remorseful? Evelyn has been rather protective of Luz and her friends, she’s probably feeling a bit guilty. Luz certainly feels guilty.

---

As Luz and Amity vanish into Willow’s head, Eve sighs to herself.

They’re going to be okay. It’s scary, but it’s for the best. They…they need to know how mind magic works, anyway. This is the first step to reconciliation. A voice that sounds like Little Luz says.

Trauma does not equal development, no matter what human and witch media insist. A voice that sounds a lot like Evelyn says. I could have done something. Titans have so much magic, I could wave my hand and do so much good.

But I don’t want to scare them. Little Luz’s voice says.

She takes a deep breath and decides to just watch King and Eda fight for Gus’ attention. That’ll calm her down. She would whistle, but, well…she doesn’t want to cause any undue distractions.

Eventually, the kids got out, and all seemed…normal. That’s good. Little Luz and Amity are a bit redder, but that’s nice. That’s a good thing.

---

Amity was having a hard time figuring out exactly what her life was anymore. She was reconciling with Willow, she was growing more distant with her parent-appointed friends, and she was still Top Student when it came to Abominations, but was becoming increasingly curious with the new ‘Emperor Track’ idea. And it was all thanks to a little human that Amity had been growing increasingly fond for.

So, she has a little pink note. She wrote it all down in preparation for Grom, and planned on giving it to her after class! But…then Amity was announced to be Grom Queen. She ran. She hid by a tree and began to whimper in fear.

If she was Grom Queen, then she’d have to face her greatest fear. Amity is self-reflective enough to know what Grom will hone in on- rejection. Sure, she’s afraid of disappointing her family and failure…but Amity has seen how kind Luz is. She knows that even if everything with her family falls to ashes, even if she’s deemed a failure forever, then Luz would still be her friend. And if she confesses to Luz, and is rejected? Then everything’s out the window. She’d be alone all over again.

“Doin’ okay, little Blight?” a voice asks. Amity looks up, and sees Evelyn resting in the tree branches.

“...what’re you doing here?” Amity asks.

“I was in the area when I heard that some kids would be facing a monster!” Evelyn lands on the ground in front of her. “And I heard you’re the premiere act.”

“If I can’t stop Grom, then the town will have to live through its worst fears. By the time the Emperor’s Coven mobilizes to defeat Grom, it’ll be too late for so many people…” Amity mumbles.

“Then you’ll have to be ready. And I can help you.” Evelyn says.

“What?” Amity blinks, confused.

“I can show you how to face your fears, and how to fight Grom. All you need to do is trust me.” Evelyn holds out her hand, and Amity takes a step back.

She doesn’t trust Evelyn, no matter what Luz says. Luz trusts people, and it’s sweet, but Evelyn is weird . Evelyn is quite literally unlike any demon or witch Amity has seen before, and all of her work to try and find some basis of origin for her weird magic comes up blank. Granted, Belos had all but cut off transportation to other Titans years ago, but that’s neither here nor there.

“At least think about it!” Eve called after the retreating witch.

When Amity wandered through the halls, she told Luz about Grom upon finding her in the gym. Luz, sweet as ever, told her to talk to Bump about a replacement. As expected, Bump told her he could only allow something like that if Amity found a replacement.

So, that’s how Luz volunteered to take Amity’s place, and how Amity is now helping Luz train her worst fears alongside Ed, Em, and Eve. As Eda tells Luz off for risking herself like this, Evelyn just sighs.

“This is all irrelevant. This isn’t her biggest fear.” Evelyn says, dispelling the twins’ illusion.

“Huh?” multiple witches question.

“Fear isn’t what makes you nervous. It isn’t what makes you upset. Fear is debilitating . It makes you sick to think about it. It keeps you up at night because you’re worried about the fear coming true .” Evelyn lectures. “Now, Luz.” she lets the tip of her claw glow, hovering it over Luz’s forehead. “Are you prepared to see your actual worst fear?”

Luz swallowed hard and gave a single nod. Evelyn tapped the forehead, and then threw the bead at the ground, where a very realistic illusion of the portal door appeared.

“No…” Luz took a step back, but Evelyn puts a hand on her shoulder.

“You can do this,” Evelyn tells her.

Amity watches the illusion of the woman that must be Luz’s Mother come through. That’s how Amity learns that Luz’s Mother in the human realm doesn’t know she’s here. And she seems…concerned. Not even angry, but afraid for her daughter. And that seems to hurt Luz more than anything else. Luz tries to reason, tries to say it isn’t real, but the illusion is…convincing.

“Evelyn, please, stop it!” Luz clings to the older woman. “Please stop…” she whimpers, and Evelyn traces her finger in the air, dispelling the illusion.

“It’s alright, Little Luz. You’re gonna be okay.” Evelyn pats her back.

“I never meant to…I’m going to tell her, I just…” Luz whimpers.

“I know, sweetie, I know. It’s gonna be okay.” Evelyn says, and her gaze turns to Amity.

Amity doesn’t like the look. Because the look tells her the one thing she’s been thinking this whole time.

Is your fear really worse than that ?

“I’m calling off the replacement,” Amity says, and Luz looks alarmed.

“Amity, no-!” Luz turns, but Amity holds up her hand.

“It’s…it’s fine,” she says. “My fear is embarrassing, but it’s nothing compared to that. Evelyn…can you train me before Grom begins?”

“Sure thing, kid.” Evelyn steps away from Luz.

Amity looks away as she walks away with Evelyn, trying to ignore how dejected Luz looks.

“This is for her own good,” Evelyn says, and Amity can swear that the way she muttered it…it’s almost as though she was trying to convince herself.

---

When Grom begins, Amity is preparing herself for the conflict. She sees Luz and spends some time with her, and she takes a deep breath.

“Luz…this is going to be very hard. And I can’t guarantee that everything down there will be nice to see…” Amity mutters.

“I can still take your place?” Luz suggests.

“No.” Amity shakes her head. “I just, I…” 

“Now, introducing our Grom Queen!” Gus announces from inside. “You know her, you love her...you’ve probably been glared at by her. Amity Blight!”

Amity takes a deep breath and shoves a pink paper into Luz’s hands.

“Herereadthisgivemeananswerafter BYE!” Amity rushes in before Luz can get a chance to respond, and before she can give herself a chance to regret this.

Amity barely pays attention to the emcees above her- she’s swiftly busy fighting Grom with her abomination weaponry and a healthy dose of fire magic.

First Fear: Abominations out of her control. Use her own abominations to assimilate and destroy, check.

Second Fear: Disappointment. Illusions of an ignorant figure as the shadow to a taller figure hurling insults as oracle spirit-esque shadows lash out at Amity, which she is able to beat back with force, before cutting through the necklace the monster’s mouth seems to be upon. Grom is getting weaker, just a little longer…

Third Fear: Rejection. Here it comes. Grom becomes a smaller form with two eyes, glowing with light. Luz. Amity takes a deep breath as Grom lets loose a tendril, hitting Amity’s forehead. It’s going to analyze her, get a better look at Luz. Oh, this isn’t good. It’ll probably manifest the note, too…

But instead, it starts to get bigger. And bigger. Taller, with claws, and eyes that shine like stars.

Oh, no.

Grom’s figure rises to become a twisted facsimile of Evelyn, with a jack-o-lantern grin across her already monstrous face.

“Did you believe us friends , Blight?” the illusion (it has to be an illusion) asked. “I told you already. You, your family, I don’t need you.”

Amity tried to fire abomination magic, but faster than light, the monster grabs and lifts her up with Evelyn’s monstrous strength.

“I know everything about you. Everything about everyone on these isles. And you, naive little girl, told me every one of your fears. Handed them over on a silver platter! All so you could help poor, Little Luz.” Grom cackles. “You’ve been wondering how I’ve gotten so strong. You’ve been reading stories. Stories of monsters.” Grom’s form becomes more exaggerated until just one clawed hand holds Amity. “Take solace, little witchlet. You won’t feel a thing…”

“Amity!” Amity hears Luz cry, and the monstrous Grom shrieks as fire impact it’s the side, and it recedes slightly as Amity falls, caught by Luz. “Amity, are you okay?”

“I’m…I’m fine.” Amity says softly.

“Is that really what you think of-?” Luz begins, but Grom tries to attack again before they can catch their breath!

In an instant, Evelyn rushes in, intercepting the strike as Grom touches her.

“I’m sorry. I never meant to scare you…” Evelyn says as Grom impacts her and changes again.

Grom’s new form is more grotesque than ever. A vaguely demon-shaped mass of bile and muck- not an abomination, but something much more ugly. A somewhat exposed skull, and glaring eyes.

“You can’t kill me.” the monster says. “You know you can’t.”

“You’re gone, Philip,” Evelyn says softly.

“You knew it was too easy.” Grom gets in Evelyn’s face. “You know it’s only a matter of time before I come back! Then you, that mentor of yours, that little monster, and all of those witches ,” the creature says the word like it’s poison, “will feel true wrath unlike any other.” the monster begins to shift features into that of an odd dragon-thing. “I will cleanse this world, starting with you!”

“No, you won’t.” Evelyn holds up her hand and sighs. She looks away, shutting her eyes tight as her hand shakes, and more sigils begin to appear surrounding her, a complex combination of glyphs surrounding her.

Grom seems to realize what’s happening before anyone else. “You cannot do this…we are the same! We’re better than this! You cannot abandon your kind like this!” It tries to shift, groan, and growl, but cannot escape. Soon, all that’s left of Grom is an amorphous mass of stone and rock.

“Petrification…?” Amity’s face pales. “But…no one has a spell for it. Only the Emperor’s machine can…”

“I’m not better than this,” Evelyn mutters softly. In an instant, Evelyn vanishes in a cloud of purple.

---

“So, I, er…guess I need to answer you.” Luz blushes a few hours after Grom’s petrification.

Amity blushes deeply, having forgotten all about that.

“I-it’s fine! You don’t need to…erm…” Amity shuts up as Luz takes her hands.

“I… would like to go to Grom with you. I mean, we’re already here, but…you get the idea.” Luz smiles, and Amity smiles a bit, blushing deeper.

“Yeah, I think I do.”

---

Deep in the night, after responding to her Mother, Luz looks out the window. She’s becoming concerned about Evelyn. Amity was afraid of her, and…well…that fear made some good points.

And what was that monster? Was it the same kind of creature Eve is? That creature seemed to think so, anyway. Was it sick, or is there something else going on?

It’s been a long day. Luz is too tired to think about plot devices, for now. So, she sleeps.

Chapter Text

“Ugh! Where was that stupid thing?!” Boscha exclaims as the grudgby game against Luz, Willow, and Amity is declared over.

“What’s she talking about?” Little Luz asked as she helps Amity to her feet.

“Oh, there’s this…insta-win thing on the field somewhere. Guess she never found it.” Amity shrugs.

“Ugh, that’s a stupid rule. C’mon, Amity, I’ll get you to the healers.” Luz scoops Amity up, and seems to take great pride in how red Amity gets. “Don’t make it too obvious, Blight~” she winks, and Amity just gets redder (if that’s possible).

Meanwhile, as there are congrats to Willow and anger from Boscha, a figure in the trees releases her grip on the rusty insect she had taken hold of some time before. Standing up, she takes a deep breath.

Evelyn hadn’t seen anyone since Grom. And now, in just two days, it’ll be showtime. Time to make it good.

---

Hunter was poised and vigilant beside his Uncle. Today, students from Hexside would be visiting, but he was given specific instructions to stay close to Belos. And honestly, he didn’t mind. News of this Evelyn woman was traveling fast- she had taken down a bounty hunter and no one found out for days because of how quietly she did it, she apparently uses the same kind of magic as that rumored human, and she even found a way to petrify Grometheus. It’s a concerning structure of events, that’s for sure. As the Titan’s heart beats in sync with the Emperor’s own, Coven Head Lilith enters the throne room and bows, seeming to be covered in…snow?

“I am at your service, Emperor Belos,” Lilith says.

“Just a moment, Lilith.” the Emperor says and consumes a palisman. “Ah, that’s better.” He turns his head towards her. “How goes the hunt for…Evelyn?” he asks, the heartbeat already increasing. It’s rare for him to get this easily aggravated.

Hunter has only seen him get like this when he tries to ask questions about their family.

“Your failure thus far is obvious enough.” Belos scoffs. “It’s been over a month since this “Evelyn” showed up in the Boiling Isles, and yet she still evades our capture. Where. Is. She?”

“She is elusive, your grace, if I just had more time-”

“I'm getting bored of your excuses, Lilith.” He leans down. “Don't worry, I'll give you the time you need, and a choice.”

“A choice…?” Lilith questions.

“Bring me Evelyn or the Owl Lady by twilight. If you fail, well…” his hands dig into the throne. “I believe you know what will happen once you are a covenless witch.”

“I…I understand.” Lilith nods. “I will not fail.”

---

Luz was running. She felt sick. Could she even do this? She watched the Emperor just practically eat a palisman, but that…that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was his voice .

He’s sure no one else has realized it- only she, Evelyn, and Amity were close enough to hear that voice very clearly. That monster from Evelyn’s fear had Belos’ voice.

So why did she call him “Phillip”?

---

Darius sighed as he walked through the halls of the Palace. The Emperor was becoming increasingly paranoid about this Evelyn woman. Really, he’ll have to ask her a few questions once they finally capture her. He’s heard bits and pieces of this story, but the nine coven heads are now together in the palace and seeking to protect the Emperor. Evidently, Lilith’s been given some kind of Ultimatum. Really, gossip spreads all too quickly in the palace…though, truthfully, that could be mostly Eberwolf’s fault.

Of course, when he obtains word that Lilith will be battling the Owl Lady in a duel at the front gates and may need backup, he certainly has to see this. As Darius walks through the halls, he’s joined by each of the other coven heads. Together, they head to the gate, and make it to the entryway, but then…

A song on the breeze. A whistle.

“What is that…?” Adrian Graye asks.

Darius has read enough of the reports to know what happens next.

“Everyone, duck!” he shouts, raising a barrier of abomination before a purple beam pushes them all back from the only doorway.

“Well, well, not bad.” there’s a chuckle, and Darius’ eyes widen as he sees Evelyn before them all. “Gotta say, I was hoping for Belos, but I can take down his honor guard first.”

“Oh, please.” Terra grins and raises her hands. “We are the greatest witches upon the isles!”

“Maybe you were.” Evelyn grins. “But then I showed up.” she brandishes her claws (doesn’t she have a staff? Where is it…?) and carves spell circles into the air!

The Coven Heads fight with all they can, but Evelyn is smart. She ducks and dodges, fighting between their spells with ease! Unfortunately, the turning point was when this demon sent out some kind of shockwave that shattered Scooter’s keys, and in the process knocking him out. With one Coven Head knocked down, the rest began to fight sloppier. Terra fought a tad too recklessly and was kicked against the wall, and Adrian never stood a chance. One by one, Darius watched the coven heads knocked down, and he knew it was only a matter of time until he was next.

As Darius saw her rushing him, they heard an ear-piercing screech that cut the fight short.

“I’m too late…” he hears her mutter, and she looks distraught, and she growls. “Plan B.” she mutters and vanishes in a flash of glyphs.

As Evelyn vanishes, countless scouts come forth as the front gates open, and Lilith is dragging in the bound form of the fully cursed Owl Lady…and her eyes widen as she sees the result of the fight.

“What happened here?!” Lilith exclaims.

“Evelyn.” Darius pants as the Emperor and the Golden Guard enter.

The Golden Guard’s mask is as stoic as ever, but his body language is telling. The Golden Guard is just as afraid as Lilith- for good reason. Evelyn just took down eight coven heads. Only Darius realizes she could have taken him down, too.

No one really considers it much before Belos tells Lillith that he’ll be petrifying her in just a few hours- after all, the Conformatorium is gone. Darius occupies himself with helping get the other heads to safety, rather than keeping his eye on Lilith or the Golden Guard.

---

Luz had sneaked back into the castle with the help of King. Many people had already gathered outside to watch as the Construction coven was creating a viewing platform, and the petrification machine moved. Luz has been meaning to ask Amity about that, but hasn’t gotten the chance to.

Instead, she was forced to say goodbye to Eda, make peace with Lillith…and meet Belos.

“I’d actually like to have a word with you, human-” Belos begins, but there’s a flash of light as the bindings around Luz dissolve, and Evelyn lands.

“...so. You are ‘Evelyn’.” Belos sneers.

“Luz, run.” Evelyn says.

“But I can-” Luz tries to get up, but Evelyn turns to her.

“Run.” she insists, and Luz does not argue.

---

“Who are you?” Belos narrows his eyes, and Evelyn looks back at him. “You know more than you should, witch. But it’s no matter. I have a human to catch.” he begins to move at high speed after Luz, but Evelyn smiles.

“Don’t you want to show me what you’ve got?” as Belos passes her, she mutters, “...human?”

Belos stops in his tracks, and turns to Evelyn, eyes glowing blue.

“I will ask again. Who are you?” Belos asks, and Luz is long gone.

“Little old me?” Evelyn flips her hair back, revealing her rounded ears, and revealing the orderly runes across her body. “I’m what you could never be.”

In a burst of energy, Belos and Evelyn fight each other. Scrapping and fighting, Evelyn fights without staff and with vicious magic. She starts by caving in his mask, and starting to stab through his body.

“You really think you can beat me?” Evelyn chuckles.

“I am greater than you!” Belos snarls and fights back. “You abandoned your humanity.”

“Look who’s talking.” Evelyn fights back. “I know who you are. And I know what you’ve done.” Evelyn grins as she shows off her flapjack tattoo, which just makes Belos go even more berserk.

“I will erase all sign of what was!” he declares.

“You can try.” Evelyn grins. “I will take you down today, and whether I succeed or fail, I will build a new portal. One that I can use.”

The two continue to clash, countering each other’s magic, but Evelyn is stronger, smarter, and faster than Belos.

“Don’t you get it, Wittebane?!” Evelyn beats Belos down, and he’s starting to become mush. “You’ve been living in a fantasy for far too long. But this is the real world .” she roars, forcing him against a wall. “The real world doesn’t care about your delusions.” She raises her glyphs, beginning to freeze Belos in ice to stick him to the wall. “The real world won’t entertain you forever.” as Belos raises his staff, a single swing of the claw sunders the artificial staff into two pieces. “You wanna be a hero, Belos? Then die. Die, like every other plague-ridden backwater colonist from your age of strife and mediocrity!” she grips his chest, digging her claws in, ready to rip him apart. “As for me, I’ll do what I do best. Learn, adapt, overcome, and THRIVE-! ”

As Evelyn prepares to rip Belos apart, a burst of red energy pushes her away, crashing her through a wall!

“Uncle! Are you okay?!” Hunter’s voice exclaims, and Evelyn gets out, angry, but her face softens as she sees that poor little mask. Belos is already knitting herself together, but as Hunter turns his staff on Evelyn, she pauses.

“Hunter…” she chokes out.

“How…how do you know my name?” Hunter takes a step back, intimidated.

I can’t do this. This isn’t the hunter I know. This is the hunter that’s still drinking the Kool-Aid: abused, but abduction won’t do anything but vindicate him. For now.

Above, Evelyn can hear the crashing of metal and stone, and the cheering of a crowd. They’re free.

“I’ll be back for you, Belos. You won’t get away with what you’ve done.” Evelyn says, using a conjured glyph combo of teleportation to vanish from sight.

---

Evelyn sighs as she lands in front of the Owl House. She sees the half-cursed Eda and Lilith, the concerned-looking King, and the sad but smiling Luz.

“Evelyn!” Luz rushes over and hugs her. “You’re okay!”

“The Emperor, is he…?” Lilith questions.

“Emperor Belos and the Golden Guard drove me back. I barely made it out.” Evelyn sighs and then smiles. “I’m just glad I bought you all enough time to get out.”

“Come on, inside! I wanna tell you everything!” Luz starts dragging her in.

“Okay, okay! I’m coming.” Evelyn smiles.

“Do you think she can be trusted?” Lilith asks behind her.

“I dunno. I’ll be keeping an eye on her, that’s for sure.” Eda mumbles.

---

Belos wasn’t sure who this Evelyn was. She knew enough, that’s for sure, and she was dangerous. But now, he has an answer for what little “Luzura” and Lilith were doing- they were seeking to build a portal for Evelyn, and she didn’t come with them because she knew the truth. Obviously, though, she hadn’t shared it. Once he’s certain the human has gone to the tidepools, he can use that against them.

Belos has waited 400 years for this moment. He can wait a bit longer.

---

Scooter Crane retired early thanks to the situation. Darius was walking, and he stopped in his tracks as he heard Raine Whispers, the new Bard Head, playing something on their violin.

“Raine?” Darius asks.

“Ah! Head Witch Darius! Er…just Darius now, huh?” Raine ponders, chuckling.

“Darius is fine.” he nods. “What is that song you’re playing?”

“Oh, just a little thing I wrote back when I was, erm…close with the Owl Lady,” they explain. “She called it ‘Raine’s Rhapsody’.”

A song when Raine and the Owl Lady were together. That’s the song that Evelyn was whistling.

Raine doesn’t know.

How long has it been since they were together? Darius isn’t positive of either of their ages, and he knows some spells have alternative ways of creating children.

But wouldn’t it make so much sense? Vengeance from a child, whose hatred for the covens is born of her Mother, and whose twisted magic and form is born from the owlbeast’s curse and wild magic Eda wields.

This would explain so much. It also means that this all goes a lot deeper than Darius originally thought…

---

Hunter never asked his Uncle about Evelyn. She was strong, that was for sure, and her magic was unapologetically wild. Unlike anything he’d seen before. But it goes beyond that- the way they spoke to each other. He didn’t catch much by the time he arrived, but she hated him. For something.

And she knew his name. Said she wouldn’t forgive him for what she did. She looked at Hunter with pity.

Uncle always looked angry whenever Hunter asked about his Father.

It occurs to Hunter that he never asked about his Mother…

---

Evelyn smiles as she rests on the Owl House’s roof. The portal is safe, Luz is safe, and while the Emperor may be alive, his days are numbered. He’s going to be cautious, but he’s also going to be paranoid.

All she needs to do is feed that paranoia with one more catalyst.

She hears a chitter, opening an eye as Stringbean glides down with a large bag.

“Heya, sweetie! Get me everything I need?” she asks, and Stringbean shows off the bag. “Let’s see…Grimwalker books, locations on where to find such ingredients, oooh some Titan’s Blood, fun…aha!” Evelyn’s grin widens as she pulls out the mirror disc. “There you are.”

Evelyn trails her claws against the mirror prison, and it lights up as the image projects onto the roof below her. The symbology visage of the Collector looks around in wonder, and lands on Evelyn with curiosity.

“Hello, Collector.” Evelyn smiles. “Wanna play a game?”

The Collector’s grin widens further as it seems to realize what Evelyn is.

Chapter Text

In the woods outside of Gravesfield, there sits a quaint little cottage. It is a colorful mess in all the best ways, and Luz walks in, human and adult, as she sees her dear friends and awesome girlfriend all hanging out.

“Hey, Luz!” Gus smiles. “How’re things going?”

“Eh, pretty good. Found some more antique books that might have fallen through a rift during the savage ages.” Luz explains. “I think I found a cool ritual I wanna try out!”

Luz!

“Just be careful,” Amity says. “Don’t forget that King’s glyphs aren’t just shaped differently than his Dad’s, they react differently to magical stimulus than the others did.”

“I know, I know.” Luz smiles and kisses her girlfriend. “I’ll be careful! I’ve been getting back into the swing of things, and I’ll be going through extensive testing before the final result!”

“Just don’t blow yourself up.” Hunter chuckles, whittling away at some wood.

Luz!

“I’m not gonna blow myself up, Hunter, I’ll be-” Luz begins.

“LUZ!” the childish voice cries out, and Luz sighs.

Waving her hand, the entire scene freezes, and she raises her hand, creating a painting that she steps through and into her own forest of trees not too dissimilar to the forest in her home, save for the crimson grass of the Boiling Isles.

“There you are, Luz!” the Collector, now freed, hovers up to her.

“Collector, it’s Evelyn.” the Inner Luz tells her mental guest.

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” the Collector grins. “I’m just so excited! I could see you were a titan, but the fact that you’re a time traveler?! That’s so cool! ” the Collector floats around. “You told me that we could play more games as soon as we played one in here, right? What is it? What is it?”

The Inner Luz smiles as her little guest and snaps her fingers, conjuring nine medallions of different colors.

“A scavenger hunt.”

---

Little Luz is sitting on a crate not far from Eda’s human junk stall, and business is getting slower. Eda told Luz that Belos wants the portal, so they hid the key away. When the Coven Scouts realized that, they tried to get into the Owl House, to no avail (thanks to Hooty)…which, thankfully, seems to mean that they’re leaving Eda alone for now. So now, with the end of Summer fast approaching, Luz is preparing a bunch of videos to try and tell her Mom what exactly she’s been doing this whole time instead of a stuffy camp.

Of course, King being increasingly clingy is putting a hamper on her plans. Eda and Lillith have had their magic severely reduced, and now without magic, Eda’s having a lot harder of a time selling human trash. And that’s not to mention the numerous posters with the Golden Guard upon them and the fact that Eve hasn’t been around for quite some time…

“Hey, I know what we need! A confidence boost!” Luz suggests on their walk back to the Owl House. “Let’s move Garbage Day up, go to the human realm! My Mom’s probably expecting me back any day now, anyway…” she mutters, and Eda and King look at each other in worry.

“Yeah, so…what is the plan with that?” King asks.

“I wanna try to… ease her into it, ” Luz explains. “Which is why I have a plan! Eda’s a camp counselor, King’s a camp mascot, Owlbert’s your pet owl, and you’re here to tell my Mom how great camp loves me!” she grins innocently.

“This is gonna get complicated, isn’t it?” Eda asks with a smile.

---

Returning to the human realm, Luz wanders forward with Eda and King in the background. The idea is that Luz is gonna start to talk to her Mom, then Eda and King will come by for a “surprise visit”, and so forth, and so on. Luz makes sure she has all her videos and proof ready in case something goes wrong, and she practiced a speech for all of last night about why her Mom should give the Demon Realm a chance! She’s got this!

Luz walks down the street, approaching her house with a smile as a bus approaches and stops behind her.

“Home,” Luz says with a smile, then gets surprised as she hears another (far more hopeful) voice say the same thing, and she looks to see…her? The other-Luz looks at her and her face pales in terror.

After half a second of silence, the two girls scream at each other.

---

“This Scavenger Hunt is simple.” Inner Luz explains as they show off the nine medallions, each showing off a coven sigil. “I will be hiding these nine medallions somewhere in my memories. To obtain them, you must live through the memories as I did. However, you will not be allowed to cheat by using your powers.”

“Pft! Don’t need ‘em!” Collector says confidently. “...that, uh, doesn’t include flying, right?”

“You may fly all you want.” Inner Luz affirms, and the Collector pumps their fists in the air in triumph. “Now, there is still danger here, even for you. You will be allowed three free passes.”

“Pft! Won’t need ‘em!” Collector says again.

“Even so, keep that in mind just in case. After all, Collector, you’ve never seen the true extent of a mortal’s mind before.” Inner Luz smiles.

“Oooh, cryptic! Fun!” the Collector giggles excitedly.

“One more thing!” Inner Luz says. “Memories are fragile, even for beings as powerful as us, so I need you to promise not to do anything to damage one.”

“Pinky swear!” Collector grins, and the two lock pinkies. He giggles and watches the nine medals fly away, and he eagerly starts going through memory after memory!

---

Eda wasn’t quite sure what to do here. Everything happened a bit too quick for her to do anything: Luz and the Basilisk (that has to be what this is) screamed at each other, Luz tackled the basilisk, pretty much interrogated it while the Basilisk didn’t want to go back to the Demon Realm, and by now the door had opened and everyone was staring at Luz’s mom, who was staring at them with just as much confusion.

“...this wasn’t how it was supposed to go.” Luz sighs.

“You’re telling me…” the Basilisk mutters.

---

These medals were easy to find! They each corresponded to a different coven track, and they all seemed to be linked to people. Collector found the Potions Medallion in Luz’s memory of taking Eda’s elixir and discovering she was the Owlbeast, the Beast Keeping Medallion in her memory of King on his Island ( that was a challenge! Those warding glyphs even work in the mindscape), the Abominations medallion in her memory of dancing with Amity at Grom, the Plants medallion in her memory of playing Grudgby with Willow, the Illusion Medallion in her memory of she and Gus enjoying things in the human world, and the Oracle Medallion…well, that was a surprise. It was in memory of her and the Grimwalker in Phillip’s mindscape. That one felt…weird. Phillip had always been kind of distant and intangible to the Collector, but seeing him there, just in person…it was kind of uncanny.

Only three left! Bard, Healing, and Construction. This’ll be easy! He had already looked through most of the Boiling Isles memories, and the Illusion was from earth, so maybe she hid it in some early Earth memories! Sure enough, he finds a dark corner of the forest, and a tree that’s taken deep root but sits in the back of the mind: ingrained in her psyche, but not affecting the person she is today. The perfect place to hide a medal!

“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Collector hovers through the portrait, and looks around the little house he’s found himself in. “Hey…this isn’t Luz’s house.” he frowns, and looks around. It looked lived in- plenty of pictures of Luz and her family around, too!

Collector heard words in that cute little human language Luz used. Peeking in, his grin widens as he sees a young Luz sitting at a table with her Mom and Dad, eating dinner.

“There you are!” Collector hovers over the memory, letting it play out. “I haven’t seen this guy in anything other than pictures!” he looms over Manny.

Collector follows the little memory of Luz around, seeing cuts in time of her enjoying her Dad’s company. It makes Collector feel all warm and fuzzy inside- it reminds him of the good old days, before the Archivists got mean (before he realized they were mean, he refuses to admit).

Then one day…there’s a knock on the door that isn’t familiar. A member of Manny’s workplace has come to tell his family there’s been an accident. Time goes on, settings change. A new house. Collector watches Luz record a diary entry.

“Hey, it’ll be okay!” Collector says to Luz with a smile. “You’re all happy nowadays, which means he survives!” He taps the memory’s nose, though it can’t comprehend him. Collector was getting comfortable in these memories: he enjoyed feeling what they feel. The bliss, the love, even the nervousness and doubt of this memory is a new and interesting experience for him.

All of a sudden, it falls apart. In a flash of lightning, he’s hovering over a hole in the ground. Around, people are dressed in black, and a box is being lowered into the ground. A box with Manny in it.

“What…what are they doing?” Collector asks nervously, but the pain from the memory spreads into him. “No, no, no…no, we can fix this!” he hovers into the hole being filled in, trying to dig the box back out. “You’re happy, you’re…” he clutches his chest. “How did you ever make it past this…?” he ponders aloud. It’s like the pain he felt when the Titans all left. When they…

He hasn’t thought about those feelings in a long time.

As he digs, his eyes widen as he only finds one thing in the hole…a medallion. Holding the Construction medallion as he hovers up, he hears the sobbing of Luz clutching her Mother. She’s a strong woman, always there for her daughter…always trying to be there for her daughter.

“I…I don’t like this…” Collector mutters as he sees the Healer’s Medallion at the feet of Camila and Luz. He takes a deep breath and picks it up.

“I can help with this!” Collector calls out, a nervous smile on his face. “Take me to the human world, I’ll bring him back! That’s what friends do, they fix things for each other! I can-”

“It’s okay, I can bring her back!”

Collector stops talking as he’s heard his own voice from somewhere.

“Why isn’t it working…?”

Collector turns, seeing one last memory, deep in thickets of fungus-like trees. The picture is Luz and the Collector hugging…

“She’s really gone. Isn’t she?”

Collector hovers through the painting.

---

“This is…a lot to take in,” Camila says, looking through the videos on Luz’s phone. In front of her, she sees Luz and…’Vee,’ she calls herself. Camila wouldn’t believe any of this on any other day, but this, with all this proof, and it all staring at her…

She and Luz have had a long, hard conversation about what she did, but at the end of the day, Camila can’t blame her. Luz had somehow found the perfect world for herself. She made friends . She was at a school she enjoyed . One she was excelling at!

And Vee, poor sweet Vee, was just a scared little orphan who took the first chance she could to be loved. Despite not having a true conversation with the girl before this day, the two had been talking via letters all summer. Camila can’t just throw her onto the street, not when the poor thing is pretty much her daughter too, at this point.

Vee was a daughter of the Demon Realm that wanted nothing more than to be Human. 

Luz is a child of Earth that wanted nothing more than to be a Witch.

It seems like Camila only really has one option here, doesn’t she?

---

Inner Luz walks through the remnants of old memories, and she frowns as she sees Collector curled up in a corner of one of her happiest ones: the day everything was safe. The day that the Collector made the new portal door, and the day when everyone was celebrating and having fun. Little Collector was curled up in a corner, hugging his small bag of medallions, now including the one that represented him: the Bard.

“I’m sorry, Collector.” Inner Luz says. “Showing you those memories was cruel, but…”

“You wanted to show me what death meant.” Collector sat up. “I get it. I don’t like it, but…I get it. ” He looks up at her. “Well, I won. Is that all?” he pouts.

“Not quite.” she puts a hand on his shoulder. “It’s time for your prize.” she smiles earnestly, and she’s glad to say Collector looks interested in the prospect of a reward.

Leading him to the center of her mindscape, Inner Luz shows off a table with nine slots for the medallions. Letting him put them in, the medallions glow and reveal a single sigil in the center of the table, tracing it out…the Light Glyph.

“Not all memories are bad, Collector. The ones you’ve seen are great…but I keep my favorite memories somewhere no one else can enter.” Inner Luz winks and leads him through the glyph, showing Collector a beautiful compilation of her future.

The good and the bad, because those go hand in hand.

“Do you understand, Collector?” Inner Luz asks as the two of them see the light show Collector and his new stars put on for the people of the Boiling Isles. “Life is sacred, but there’s a balance. You need to understand the balance…” she looks out to another fond memory- Belos’ final moments clinging to life (even with the doubt that came with it). “...and destroy those that would upset it.”

“Yeah. Yeah!” Collector smiles. “I get it!”

“So, Collector, I have a question for you.” Inner Luz smiles. “You ready to play the hero?” she holds out her pinky.

Collector looks at her hand, smiles, and locks pinkies with hers.

“I’m ready to be the hero.”

---

“You can go to Hexside and live in the…Boiling Isles.” Camila says, still doubtful about this whole thing. “But you have to come home every weekend! Otherwise, I’ll miss you too much.” she smiles kindly. “And you, Vee, can live here for as long as you like. I’ll even enroll you in Gravesfield High School.”

“Really?!” Vee exclaims excitedly.

“Thank you, Mom!” Luz hugs her, and Vee joins her. Camila smiles and pats the head sof the two girls. She looks up at Eda, a woman she barely knows, but can see the same love for Luz that Camila sees in the mirror every day.

“Take care of her, please,” Camila asks.

“I will,” Eda promises her.

Despite all the irresponsible videos she’s seen as Luz’s phone, Camila believes her.

---

“How an there be no Selkidomus?! ” Hunter growls. “Fine, just…get back to shore. We can handle this another time,” he mutters.

Watching the enraged Golden Guard through a scrying potion, two figures giggle mischievously.

“Looks like the selikidomus won this round of Hide and Seek!” The Collector giggles.

“And with that taken care of, we’ve got our work ahead of us. A plan in mind to bring an end to the Emperor in a way that will expose him and ensure that there is no more bloodshed.” Eve touches the potion, watching the Emperor’s castle.

“Knock knock, Philip.” Eve grins.

Chapter Text

“Alright!” Evelyn claps her hands together, creating an illusory view of the timeline while the Collector hovers over her camp, eating popcorn. “Let’s review the timeline so far. I went back in time, but I also somehow managed to hop realities. The spell I used was that powerful, potentially, it could get me home, right?”

“Eh…” Collector gives an ‘eh’ movement with his hand. “Not really. Reality hopping is a lot different than hopping dimensions. I don’t know how you were able to get enough energy from the Titan to get here.”

“Energy…” Evelyn’s taps her chin. “What would happen in my world that would infuse the land with that much magic? So much, that even with a titan dead, it would just need an outlet…?”

“Oh!” Collector swallows a mouthful of kernels. “The Draining Spell!”

“The Draining Spell?” Evelyn blinks. “What do you…?”

“It didn’t complete in your world, but it still drained a lot of magic!” Collector says matter-of-factly, recalling her memories.

“...Draining. Draining implies the magic is going somewhere. Why didn’t I think of that?!” Evelyn exclaims.

“Yep! Phillip didn’t want the magic going anywhere, so we made it so the spell would just store the magic back in the land. It’s also why your titan form and his titan body were so powerful- beyond just the titan magic, you were using the drained power of hundreds of witches!” Collector explains jovially.

“So without the Draining Spell, the ritual I used to get here can’t send me back,” Evelyn explains. “That’s…okay, sure. That changes things.”

“Don’t worry, Luz! We’ll find a way to send you home!” Collector grins. “Pinky swear!”

“It’s Evelyn , Collector.” Eve locks pinkies with Collector, “But thank you.”

“So! What’s the next part of our plan?” Collector grins.

“First, we have a little crafts project. ” Eve grins.

---

On the eve of a fateful day when Luz is struggling to fight the abominations that Amity’s family has made, she remembers why she’s doing this. She needs to get through this so she and her friends can get back into school. So she can keep seeing Amity.

Ever since Grom, they’ve made progress. Not a day has gone by that Amity hasn’t apologized for what happened when they met, but Luz forgave her so long ago now (at least that’s what it feels like). The two of them spend free periods reading together, and going out for food, hanging out whenever she can sneak away from her parents…but even after all of that, she’s too afraid to act against them. Luz cannot possibly understand what Amity’s going through, but she’ll take her place here and fix her own problems so Amity can rest peacefully.

The Abomaton 2.0, however, was really testing the limits of Luz’s glyphs. Luz found herself hoping that any minute now, Eve would come bursting in to save the day as she had done before (she hasn’t seen Eve in days, where is she?), but Luz knows she can’t rely on her. Eve and Eda have been amazing teachers, but Luz has to get through this, she has to-

“HEY!” a voice calls, and magic rains down from the rafters. “ Stay away from my Luz. ”

Amity comes down with her, and the two girls blush a bit as they stand back-to-back, ready to protect each other at a moment’s notice.

Luz can see Mrs. Blight take hold of a crystal around her neck, and it glows, and a matching one glows on Amity’s necklace. Wait…Luz remembers this! Teleponder Crystals! Filter some oracle magic into them while holding them, and you can telepathically speak to the other person wearing one. During the Savage Ages, they were put on earrings, used by spies to communicate with each other…and now Mrs. Blight is using it to nag her daughter. Amity pulls the necklace off and breaks it, clearly sick of her Mother (and Luz has to try and remind herself that yes, they’ve spent so much good time together and she’s so attractive right now, but there’s no way Amity thinks the same of-)...

“Here’s the deal!” Amity scowls as she keeps the abomaton at bay with her magic. “Let my friends back into Hexside, let me be friends with them, and leave my Girlfriend alone , or else your precious investors will watch me tear your machine apart, bit! By! Bit!”

“Girlfriend?!” Odalia exclaims, and Luz proceeds to process all of that, realizing she may need to process it later. Odalia seems to realize the same thing, because she just scowls as she glares at Luz, and sighs. “Fine, it’s a deal! Just stop with the theatrics!”

Amity pulls Luz close, letting the hollow hammer of the Abomaton fall onto them. Luz sees Odalia and Alador talking, and their friends come up and hug her. Luz is… still processing.

“So…how long have you two been dating?” Willow asks with a cheeky smile.

“Oh…not that long…just since Grom…” Amity twirls her hair.

“We have?” Luz manages to ask.

“Wha…what do you mean ‘we have’?!” Amity exclaims.

“I mean- yeah, I want to, but- I didn’t know-” Luz stammers.

“We’ve gone on dates every week!” Amity proclaims.

“I thought we were just hanging out!”

“You draw us as Azura and Hecate, two characters we mutually ship!”

“They’re our aesthetic!”

“We have kissed! In the privacy of my reading nook in the library!”

“Just on the cheeks and forehead!” Luz is extremely red in the face by this point.

“Oh, Luz…” Willow shakes her head.

---

Belos wanders through his lab, vacant except for himself and the portal he is trying to build (which without the Owl Lady’s door, is back to being next to impossible). He is searching through the tables, looking desperately for the Collector’s disc.

“Where is it? Where…?” he mumbles to himself.

“Oh, Phiiilliiip!” the Collector calls, the shadow of the ground crawling towards him. “Are you avoiding me?”

“Collector!” Beslos turns to the shadow. “Where is your disc?”

“Ugh, about time you asked.” Collector rolls their eyes. “I’ve been stuck between the table and wall for weeks now!”

Following Collector’s pointing, Belos finds the disc wedged behind a table, having fallen from it.

“Your age must finally be getting to you if you forgot about me for that long!” Collector laughs, and Belos clenches a fist.

I was enjoying the peace and quiet, the old man thinks to himself as he ignores the Collector’s goading. As Collector laughs and Belos puts the disc down, the Collector’s grin almost seems wider than normal…

---

Aside from the revelations Luz had recently had with Amity, Luz has spent her days now trying to comfort King since the island incident. She wants to know more about where he came from, and she thinks that maybe Evelyn could know something!

If she could find her!

Seriously, for the most conspicuous demon in the Boiling Isles, Evelyn sure knows how to hide.

Maybe she went home, a traitorous part of Luz thinks. Left without saying goodbye…and left without me being able to find out what the deal with Evelyn and Belos is.

Today, however, Luz is very thankful for Eda’s help in taking care of her and making sure she can both see her Mom and enjoy the Demon Realm, so now Luz is gonna pay her back by mending bridges with her own Mom! As Gwendolyn walks away from the Owl House, turned away by Eda, Luz runs to catch up with her.

“Wait!” she says, catching up to the elderly witch. “I’m Luz. Eda’s apprentice! I think what you’re doing is sweet. Eda can just be so… Eda sometimes.” she sighs.

“Oh, call me Gwen, dear,” Gwendolyn says, smiling like a sweet old Grandma. “But please don’t blame Edalyn. It was the curse that created the rift between us.”

“Yeah.” Luz sighs. “I think I get it. Eda made sure I could get back to my mom, and I wanna help close the rift between you two! But there’s so much going on right now, with the recent petrification, and school, and Evelyn…”

“That odd witch? Yes, I’ve heard of her…” Gwen ponders for a moment. “You know, my dear, I think I may know how to fix both our problems.”

“Really?” Luz asks excitedly.

“I’ve heard some information that may help you on your quest to learn about this woman. Help me cure Eda’s curse, and that information is yours.” Gwen holds out her hand, and the two shake on it.

---

Well, after the mess that was Gwen’s scheme, Luz wasn’t sure what to expect. She takes a deep breath as she stands in front of Blight Manor, having just received another cheek kiss from her girlfriend, who now has purple hair. It took them so long and so much work, but now what Gwen told them paid off- the recordings of a journal of a Witch who, like Evelyn, came out of nowhere one day.

The two girls let the Echo Mouse activate, projecting on the wall of the manor…

"The Titan Trappers came for the heir. I was barely able to get away, and the heir is swimming away as fast as he can, but I know that they were closing in on me. The wailing meteor has incredible power, so I used it in an old ritual from the Age of Peace. I gave one singular wish: the return of the Palistrom forests. We would need all the power we could get to aid in this new world we wanted to make.”

“However, something went wrong. I have gone back in time, to the Age of Peace. Palistrom forests cover the Father Titan, and the Titan Trappers are nothing more than a distant rumor to these people. I got what I wished for, but at what cost?”

“It doesn’t matter. Today, I begin my journey to devise a ritual to return to my time.”

“My name is Evelyn, and this is my tale.”