The Past Hidden, a Future Unknown

by BardofWorlds

After escaping Belos, Luz returns to school with a new quest; to find a way back to her mother! When a secret that Luz didn't even know she was hiding is revealed, her mission changes to bringing her mother back home! On her quest she will find secrets, threats and foes beyond anything she read in 'THE GOOD WITCH', but in the end the heart is the greatest secret of all.

I've been on an Owl House kick lately, so here is my first work. This takes place in the second season, my way. It's an AU because there is no way this is what the second season will be! And for fanfiction viewers; Humanoid Witches like Eda, Gus, Amity and Lilith are called Elves, that's my take of this.

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Luz looked around the school with a slight frown on her face, a worried feeling as she looked around and tried to spot any of the Emperor's Coven and sighed. She had had to fight Eda to get her to let Luz go, but after they had been left alone for the weekend

"LUZ!" A voice called out before something hit her. Looking down she saw Willow's turquoise-blue hair, realizing who was hugging her. Hearing another she looked up and saw Gus ran towards them, stopping and painting as he reached them and Willow moved away from Luz.

"We were so worried when we heard about Eda's punishment! My dad even said that it was a travesty! And then Willow just spoke about Eda and then that protest started and then you and Eda escaped and the Emperor pardoned you all….. it was crazy!" Gus said and Willow looked at him before looking back at Luz who shrugged and smiled.

"We're fine guys. We have some new scars, and Lilith is staying with us and I have mixed feelings about that, to tell the truth, but we're fine." Luz said as Willow and Gus looked at each other and shrugged.

"Yeah, I mean she did try and capture Eda for years and all, so I can see that." Gus said and Luz bit back a bark as she kept the real reason that she hated Lilith from her friends. Eda wanted her sister to be unknown as the person who had cast the curse, something about what her sister had done to fix it being enough for her but not the law. And with all the trouble we're having, I can let it go. I still want to know why she didn't cast a counter to it or didn't but one! But she's not complete slime, and she took half of it back! I don't know what I would have done, both times she cast magic on Eda, when she cast the curse and when she took it in. Luz thought as she looked at her friends.

Willow looked at Luz and frowned, a strange feeling going through her as she listened to what Luz said or didn't say. I don't know what I'm not seeing here, but I really think it's important. I guess the only thing that I can wait and talk to Luz and Eda about it when I'm alone with them or maybe separately. Willow thought as she looked at Luz as she and Gus talked.

"So I remember that you're going home in a weak, are you okay with everything that happened?" Gus asked and Luz looked down and away from them.

"Not really…to save Eda I…..had to destroy the only way we had to go to earth." Luz said and Willow's mouth dropped open and Gus gasped.

"Oh Luz…." Willow said. I know she wanted to talk to her mother about transferring here full time, I mean she talked to us about that before this went down! I guess we just have to help her however we can and hope that we will find it sooner or later. She thought as she Luz just looked at them and smiled.

"Hey, me and Eda are looking into finding another portal or something, it'll happen but I'll be here longer than I thought and that's fine. I do have to talk to Principle Bump about me maybe being a student here for the next semester at least." Luz said and Gus smiled.

"Great! And the festival in a few days is gonna be great!" Gus said with a laugh and Luz looked at him.

"What festival?" Luz asked and Willow grinned.

"It's to celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of the conquest of our dead rival!" Gus said with a laugh and looked at Luz who ahhed and nodded.

"There's going to be a party, a play that the 3rd year Bard track has been working on for the last year, and a show from the BeastKeeper Track!" Willow said and Luz smiled.

"Sounds fun." Luz said and looked at the school as they walked to class as the first scream echoed over the campus. I guess that there's always a silver lining, and study hall for my first period today will let me check out the library. Luz thought as she waved off to her friends as they all ran towards their classes.

As Willow left Gus and headed towards the Plant Track Homeroom she wondered about something that her grandmother had told her about her own adventures on Earth. I never asked her how she got there, I wonder if Dad or Pappy know anything about it? I need to talk to them about this once I'm done with school. She thought as she entered the room and saw one of the Predatory plants needed food and water, humming an old rhythm to herself as she went to work as the other students came in and started to look at the other plants.

As Gus moved towards the Illusion track he created an Illusion Clone and slipped into the secret passage and looked around, seeing Vinny dressed as she usually was, her brown hair was in her preferred style, four wefted bangs and a messy bun held together by a dark orange hair tie with a fishhook earring on her left ear and she was wearing the uniform that showed she was a Dual Track Student, Healing and Beastkeeping with blue sleeves and orange leggings.

"Hey!" Gus called out and Vinny looked up from the book she was reading, a tired look on her face.

"Hey Gus, did you see Luz? I would have been there at the protest but one of the School's Griffen's was giving birth and most of us in the Beast Keeping track 2nd level up were up all night with the Healing Track, I only learned about it after it was done." Vinny said and Gus whistled.

"Oh, was the baby okay?" Gus asked and Vinny grinned.

"Babies, twins. And thank the Titan I knew enough healing to help one of them, thanks to all my knowledge and my skills on both tracks I was able to save a life." Vinny said proudly and Gus beamed at her.

"Nice, so that's why you're here instead of at Homeroom." Gus said and Vinny grinned sleepily.

"Yeah, both my Teachers gave me a commendation for everything I did, and since they were both there to help and overlook the birth they said we could go home or knock out here, my parents are out at sea fishing until tonight and I just woke up and checked my scroll an hour ago." Vinney said tiredly and looked at Gus. "So about Luz, is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's okay but she lost the portal to earth." Gus admitted and Vinny gasped and looked at him in horror.

"Then she can't get back to her mother?! Oh Titan. What do you need from me?" Vinny demanded and Gus looked around the room, seeing all the doors that led to different parts of the school.

"I, well when Luz showed us this place I always thought it was made with Space Bending Magic, I thought if I learned you made this maybe…" Gus said but trailed off when Vinny slammed her head into the desk.

"Sorry dude, we found this place. And from what we found the only person who might know anything is Luz's master, she was the first person I know of to have used this place." Vinny said and looked thoughtful for a few seconds.

"Oh, then maybe she found the portal here." Gus said and Vinny shook her head.

"Don't look too down. See I remember hearing something about Earth a few years ago, I was listening to this story a captain was telling at a restaurant at the docks, maybe I'll be able to find something there." Vinny said and Gus beamed and grinned.

"Thanks, I have a clone checking out my classes so I guess I'll head to the library and help Luz out then," Gus said and Vinny nodded.

"See ya kid, tell her we'll help her with anything she needs!" Vinny said as Gus left with a smile.

XXXXX

Amity looked down at her scroll and saw a selfie Skara had posted, smiling as she saw Luz walked past her behind her walking with Willow and Gus. Oh Titan, she's okay. I mean I was so worried that the Emperor only pardoned them to send assassins after them to be able to say 'This is the result of letting wild witches go, they kill themselves. Still, I can't wait until I can get back to normal, but after all my broken leg caused me to miss everything I'm so happy that I get to see the Festival in person! She thought as she walked through the halls and smiled. As she moved towards the Abomination Track she bumped into Gus as he slipped out of a secret passage and the both of them tumbled to the floor.

"Amity, sorry! I need to watch where I'm going!" Gus said as he got up and helped her get back to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I saw you were talking with Luz, is she okay?" Amity asked and Gus looked down. "What happened Gus? I know she's here!"

"Yeah, but she's not the best." Gus said as the second scream sounded and he looked at her. "That's the warning scream, see you at lunch!"

"Wait, the Illusion is the other way!" Amity called out as Gus ran away. She shook her head and walked towards her class, promising that she would talk to them once Gym class was over.

XXXXX

Luz walked into the library and smiled as she saw the collection of books. The first time I came here, I mean this place is more impressive than the Town Library. Okay, let's think….. I learned from those primers I read last week that the Construction Track is all the magic used in all the inorganic work on the Isle…. So maybe I should start there? I mean I do need a little work to improve my grade in that subject. She thought as she moved towards the wing.

"Ah there you are Luz." A voice called out from behind her. Luz went still and saw Principle Bump walking towards her and smiled at him. She swallowed as she looked at him.

"Hello sir, I haven't seen you in a few days, not since that lunch in the cafeteria almost killed us all when it came to life, and I promise I didn't have anything to do with it!" Luz said and Bump chuckled.

"I found out what happened a few days ago, an abomination escaped from the control of one of our students and fell into the pot from the ceiling, I've had that area of the kitchen reworked and well…but that's not what I wanted to talk about." Bump said and looked at her with a smile.

"And that is sir?" Luz asked and Bump looked down at her and smiled.

"Before last night…. Well with the fact that the semester is almost over and since you'll be leaving us after the festival I wanted to talk to you about maybe coming back after your school year on earth is over, you've been one of our best even with only being able to caste glyphs and I will happily go with you to talk to your mother about this if that needs to happen." Bump said and Luz looked away.

"I won't be going home sir, I….don't have the way to do that anymore." Luz admitted and Bump looked at her in shock. "I was wondering if I could transition into a full-time student?"

"Of course, but I think we need to talk about this some more Miss Luz, this way to the librarian's office, we can use it." Bump said and Luz nodded as he turned and she followed after him.

XXXXX

"So what happened, I know Eda had a doorway." Bump said as Luz sat down across from him. Luz looked away and tried to gather her thought as Bump waited for her, his long years of experience was telling him to wait and let her gather her strength.

"I…the Emperor offered me a deal, the doorway for Eda's freedom." Luz said and Bump frowned.

"That's surprising." Bump said as he looked at Luz. Why in the world would he want that door? Shouldn't he have one of the others…but why would he even need one in the first place. I don't like anything about this. Bump thought as Luz nodded.

"Yeah…... But you see when I attacked the castle me and Lilith fought and then we fell to Earth. She told me the emperor had promised to cure Eda but went back on his word… and I don't know how I feel about her sir, I don't know if I can truly trust her." Luz admitted and Bump looked at Luz with a worried look in his eyes.

"Why? What else happened that has to do with Lilith?" Bump asked and Luz looked down and away.

"Eda doesn't want anyone to know." Luz said and Bump nodded, held up a hand and cast a spell circle and suddenly the noise from outside the room died away and it was as silent as the grave.

"I'm willing to use a vow to keep silent Luz." Bump said and formed a circle around his hand and Luz grasped it, she felt the same thing from Amity's Vow and nodded.

"Thank you sir I need to get this off my chest…..Lilith is the one who cursed Eda all those years ago!" Luz bit out and Bump went still.

"What." He asked dangerously and Luz nodded, not hearing the note in his voice.

"She said that it was supposed to be a sickness not what happened to Eda, it was only supposed to last a day at most. And then when we got away Lilith took half the curse so Eda would gain back her humanoid form and reason…. Well after that….." Luz said and Bump went still and stared at her.

"I….. is I even what say can't that." Bump said dumbly and Luz nodded and giggled.

"Yeah, but after what she told me about how Belos went back on his word, I knew I couldn't trust him so I put a few fire glyphs on the portal and activated them after he let me go." Luz said and Bump looked at her in shock. She's learned to activate them from a distance? Amazing, this girl has a lot of potential and I am proud she's from Hexside. He thought before he shook himself and looked at her.

"Well that's something. But what are you doing here Luz, looking to do some studying?" Bump asked shrewdly and Luz looked down.

"After the portal was destroyed, I thought that I might look into finding a way to make a new portal or at least a hint about what I'd need to know to do it." Luz said and Bump chuckled before he sighed.

"Smart, very smart. But if there are any books that can tell anything about that, I don't think that they'd be here…. but finding what way to go, that I think maybe you might find a hint of. After all we have one of the greatest collections of knowledge on the Boiling Islands." Bump said and Luz nodded.

"Thought so, but I do need to get my grades up in that a few of my classes anyway so a good review is always smart." Luz said and Bump chuckled and nodded as he got up.

"Smart idea, I'll get the paperwork started and you can stop by the office and pick it up at the end of the day." Bump said and looked at Luz. "You're one of our most creative and attentive students, you learned to read our language in a week, and your academic work is amazing, any school would be honored to have you!"

"Thanks. You know I didn't have any teachers have ever said that about me before that sir, they thought I had something wrong with me." Luz said and Bumped looked at her in shock.

"What caused that to happen?" Bump asked incredulously and Luz looked away.

"Once I brought in snakes I trained for a book report, and then when I acted in a play I used sausages as entrails when I was stabbed." Luz admitted and Bump blinked.

"Did your teacher know you were doing that?" Bump asked shocked and Luz nodded.

"Yeah, but I think they thought it was fake snakes and the director was sleeping through it looking back." Luz admitted and Bump laughed.

"Earth side schools. Next you'll tell me that you made a model of a griffen, gave it fake spider breath and they punished you for it!" Bump said with a chuckle that died when Luz looked down.

"Yeah…. They kinda did and mami was going to send me to conformity camp." Luz said and Bump frowned.

"Never in my school, will I ever punish a student for overachievement." Bump said and walked off, his face thunderous as he made a promise to visit Luz's former teachers and talk to them about how they treated her. He stopped and looked back at her. "Oh and one more thing… will you please ask that demon you live with, what's his name…. King? To come and talk to me tomorrow? A lot of students who listened to his demonology lecture on your first day want a sequel."

"Yes sir, thank you sir." Luz said and Bump chuckled, got up and walked out of the office with Luz following behind him. As Bump left the library as she walked back towards the shelves of books she saw Gus peeking out from behind one and with a smile, she walked towards him. "Hey Gus, let me guess an Illusion Clone back at class right?"

"Yeah, I thought I'd spend the time helping you, I mean it's just busywork with a few vids before the festival soooooo." Gus said and looked around the room, looking at all the books with a hard look. "What do you think, History or Legends?"

"You check out Legends, I'll look into History, I could learn a bit more about this place since I'm staying here longer you know?" Luz said with a smile and Gus nodded. "I could look into the Savage Age; maybe the first mention of earth might have something…"

"Oh! Try Eulalia's Account of the Savage Ages, an Origin of Magic. It's one of the few books that have a timeline of events that we remember from that Age, and it's got two indexs, one that's grouped by location and the other is a list of what legends are from where!" Gus said and with a hint of smile and Luz nodded. As Luz walked off Gus looked at her and wondered if he should talk to his mother, she was where he inherited his fascination of Earth and humans from as she was an archeologist who liked to look at the wild areas of the island and try and understand their past. She was back from an expedition to the Head and she wouldn't leave for a while if nothing happened and maybe she knew something about portals, it wouldn't hurt to ask.

A few moments later Luz walked down the bookshelves and smiled as she looked up at all the books. One thing for sure, I'll be able to visit this place more often in the future at least. She thought as she reached the book she was looking for and pulled it out, moments later she stopped and looked into the space the book had been and pulled out a book that had been left lying against the wall, a small leather journal that she knew was magical, how she didn't know but she knew it deep within her bones.

XXXXXX

Amity sat down at her desk and sighed, glad to be back in class after all the time her father had made her.

"Amity, hey!" A preppy voice caused her to look at Gloria Murklion. Gloria was an Elven witch, as tall as Amity and had brown hair that she wore in four ponytails, one on each side of her ear and she looked at Amity with a smile that reached her black eyes. Gloria was one of the Scream Leaders, the cheerers of the Grudgby game and she was the captain, considered one of the most popular students in school and one of the most sought after for dates.

"Gloria, how are you?" Amity asked and Gloria smiled and laughed and Amity knew something was coming.

"Fine, I had a wonderful date last night and today that human isn't in homeroom today!" Gloria said and Amity barely kept a glare from her face. Gloria and her parents were friends of Amity's mother; in fact she was Amity's god-sister not that Amity like the relation. She and her parents hated humans, for them it was an old wound that was started when Gloria's five times aunt was killed by humans.

Gloria did everything she could to keep from working with Luz and wasn't above calling Luz names but she just weathered them and she didn't react like it bothered her but it was still something Amity didn't like, just like how she was 'friends' with Bosha and her mother usually sent her Palisman, a bee, to keep an eye on her when she was out to make sure that she always acted like a 'Blight should'. "So has your mother been home recently Amity?"

"No Gloria, since I was injured she's been busy with work. Any juicy gossip to share?" Amity asked as she put her 'mask' on and Gloria looked at her and giggled.

"Just that this might be the last month ever that any humans could even think about walking through the hallways of our great school."

Gloria said with a smirk that Amity had seen too much on her mother's face and felt a stab of fear that almost broke through her mask.

"What are you talking about?" Amity asked but before Gloria could say anything their professor was carried in by his abomination. Professor Johann Dix a stubby and short humanoid creature with pointed ears, a round beak-like mouth with two fangs on the top row of his teeth, two claws on each foot, and narrow eyes. He was wearing his usual clothes, a black shirt and pants with an oversized purple coat with a red lining and a light silver bow tie around his neck. He has green chin-length hair with a large bald spot on the top of his head and he had a small beard and he was wearing orange-tinted circular glasses. He always said to call him Professor Dix and most students even thought of him that way.

"Students, everyone get to your seats now! We have a long day ahead so let me talk. With everything going on, with the end of the semester exams finished and the festival only being a few days away, so today I will give you a gift. You all have an option as I have to go and look at the work the higher years are doing for the festival and you can either go practice combat with your abominations, watch a video about the history of the Abominations, or wander about the Abomination wing for this period as long as you don't make trouble or noise doing whatever as long as you don't bother your seniors." Professor Dix said and as he put pressed a button and a movie was shot at the screen as the windows darkened. As some of the students left to do their own thing Amity got up and walked out of the room as Gloria and those students who stayed in the room either got their scrolls out or other books.

As Amity walked through the hallways as some students paired up to head towards the practice rooms she wondered if she could try and get to the library when she noticed the door to one of the private rooms was closed, the markings above it showing that someone was in there and the colors told her who it was. The private rooms were won by combat among year mates and were used for either club activates or to try and create a modified Abomination recipe.

Once she was sure no one was looking at her she opened the door and slipped inside, closing it behind her. As she looked around the room she saw an industrial size cauldron in one corner, three Abominations basking in the sun from the windows, all of them had plants growing from their heads. Looking around she finally found what and who she was sure would be in here, a male Elven teen who looked to be about a year older than her with brown short hair wefted over the right side of his forehead in a Hexside Uniform with green sleeves and leggings colored magenta showing he was studying two tracks. In his hands was a watering can and the abomination he was examine was standing in a pot as he stood on a step ladder as he poured water on the Abomination's head.

"Hey Jerbo, how's the project going? Amity asked out and he looked up and smiled when he saw her.

"Hey Blight, how are you today?" Jerbo asked as he formed a green spell circle and frowned after a few moments. "Again!? What am I doing wrong here?!"

"What is it?" Amity asked. Jerbo was one of the three Multi-tracked students and his magics were Plants and Abominations were thought to be either groundbreaking or heretical depending on who you talked to. Amity had met him when she had been chosen by their professor to welcome him to the track and after an hour of talking with him one day she had to admit, the how and why he wanted to 'merge' the magics made sense, as he really was trying to make an abomination class that you could grow plants on and that was something she could understand, even get behind it unofficially. At least as long as her mother never heard about it of course. "Having trouble with your project?"

"No, well kinda. My first draft recipe is doing okay, great even!

The seeds are growing great so that was a success at least, and I expect to harvest some of them soon, even before the festival for one! But I've found a problem with the water, after a while it goes out the mouth and it's….well look at it!" Jerbo said and gestured towards a stand with rainbow-colored liquids in beakers and Amity frowned as she looked at them.

"Yeeks. So have you looked into that?" Amity asked and Jerbo shrugged.

"Not really, I've been meaning to let someone take a look at them recently but well… I've been dumping the waste into the incinerator every night and I've set up commands for these guys to puke into the cauldrons I set up before I leave." Jebro shrugged and Amity nodded.

"And you've been looking into a work around to get rid of that?" Amity asked and Jerbo nodded.

"Yeah, I was thinking about it and then figured the best way was to work around the problem, maybe lessen the amount of water in the Abomination. But I can't get the roots to move along the limbs to the end!" Jerbo said and Amity looked at him before he continued. "See I thought if I could make the roots go to the limbs they could absorb water through them, maybe have the roots become claws for the abomination or maybe modified the limbs to absorb liquids and have them pool in a hollow for the roots to drink from."

"Smart, but what went wrong with that idea?" Amity asked and Jerbo shrugged.

"I'm stumped really, I mean it should work but it kind of went the other way. I thought if I put a bit of Root Accelerator in the mix I could do it but the roots just don't grow as I want them to, they should be at the feet but the spell shows that the roots become a ball around the heart of this one! I can't understand any of this, but I have a few other ideas to fix this problem." Jerbo said and Amity frowned.

"Too bad you can't just make it so the soil is along the bones of the Abomination right?" Amity said and for a moment she wondered what he meant by heart but ignored it with a shrug and when she looked at Jerbo she saw that he was looking at her in shock before he walked over to a desk and brought out a textbook and started to look through it, a fevered look in his eyes. Amity blinked and looked at him before she realized what he was acting like and gasped in shock. "Wait, you have a way to do that?!"

"I… maybe. See my grandfather used to make Abominations back in his prime before the emperor and he once told me a story about how he made one that he could put a trident into a space he made in its right arm and how he did the same on the left side but put a shield there instead. How he used it as a guard, if he could do that then maybe I could do something like you said. Thanks Amity!" Jerbo said and Amity grinned back.

"He did what? I didn't even think that was possible, I mean the professor and the older students can make their abomination look different, longer or bigger limbs… but actually changing a limb…. The shape?"

Amity asked in awe and Jerbo nodded at her.

"I think there are a few spells that you need to cast into the mix as it forms, his book he gave me…. it's in a code I need to break. I mean he taught me how to do that, said if I want to I could spread the knowledge but after the Detention track and all…" Jerbo trailed off and Amity winced and looked away.

"You have to show me how to do that, I mean if that's possible then who knows what we could make… I mean a flying Abomination… it could be possible." Amity said in awe. I don't believe this, I mean I can't. And if that's possible, to caste spells into the mix and affect it, what else could be possible? I mean there might be no limit to Abomination creation. I can't wait until I tell Luz about this… Amity thought before she cursed.

"Oh Titan, I forgot why I wanted to talk to you, Luz is back in school after everything that happened and I was wondering if there's a passageway to the library from here." Amity asked and Jerbo looked at her

"After what happened? I've been in here for the last two days, just going out to eat what happened, what'd I miss?" Jerbo asked and Amity paled in shock.

"Oh titan you haven't heard." Amity whispered and Jerbo looked at her in confusion and a hint of fear.

"Heard what?! What happened?!" Jerbo asked and Amity swallowed.

"Eda was captured yesterday and was almost petrified along with Lilith. They got away and the Emperor pardoned them after there was a protest about her sentencing." Amity said and Jerbo paled in horror.

"Oh Titan…. Luz! Wait you said she was back in school?" Jerbo said and Amity nodded.

"Yeah, I remember Luz saying that on days where she has a free period for homeroom she usually spends it in the library so I thought I'd try my luck there." Amity said and Jerbo nodded and looked around the room.

"Give me a few minutes to lock the room down and I'll show you the way out of this place into the passageway." Jerbo said and Amity grinned.

XXXXXX

Luz sat at a table and read the book, entrapped in the history it was telling. And the ruins of the First I found in the Bones showed me many wonders and horrors, and I was barely able to escape with my life and the lives of my party so for now I will head home and live, my journey finally at an end, for now at least… it has been years and recently a new force has risen. I leave this book where you found it as a last will and testament, so that at least one person will know the truth of my life. This Belos that has appeared and started to bring magic to 'heel' as he says, but he…there's something about him I can't describe. I will go and see what this man is about, but only after I hide my book away with the rune secret I learned on my travels, so if the worst happens then at least 40 years will pass with no one seeing this, I can only pray that I will come back and get this, that nothing happens as I fear, but if it does I will leave this as my testament for the future. Luz just put the book down and looked into space, her mind blown by what she had read.

"Wow, I mean wow." Luz said as she stared at the words in the leather journal and looking around, seeing no one watching her and the librarian far away she slipped the journal into her backpack and sighed as she leaned back, going over what she read and tried to understand just what this might mean for her and her family. After that wizard thing, I think I'll let Eda look at this first. But if this is anything like I think it is then we might learn something that could help us learn a few new glyphs! She thought as she grinned before frowning.

"Still there has to be a connection between Glyphs and how the people use magic, but what? Eda never saw the light Glyph when she makes the spell, it's too fast for a normal eye to see but how did Scrolls miss it?" Luz muttered to herself and looked down at the table and let her mind wander. I mean, after all, there are thousands of spell work on Penstagram so why is my phone the only thing that can record them…Belos of course. Eda did say that she was able to craft her Ice spells easier since she learned about the Ice Glyph. But what is he after, I mean what's his end game. Maybe I should look into who Belos was, if Principle Bump is as old as they say he is, then maybe he knows something that he'll be willing to tell me? Luz thought as she looked up from the table and looked around the library. She saw Gus coming back towards them before she felt something and looked towards where it was coming from and saw Jerbo and Amity slip out of one of the doors from the Passageway and look around before they saw her and moved towards her.

"Luz are you okay? Amity told me, sorry I wasn't at the protest I was trying to get an Abomination to work right and I pretty much slept here for two days." Jerbo said and Luz nodded, she had learned why he was studying what he was and he agreed with him.

"Yeah, I saw you in the back of a selfie from Skara, but is everything okay?" Amity asked and Luz sighed and shook her head.

"Long story short, I lost my only way home to save Eda, so I'm stuck here for the future." Luz said and Amity fought down a smile and a spark of happiness that she would still be here for a while longer as a jolt of shame joined.

"Sorry girl, really." Jerbo said and Luz smiled at him as he and Amity sat down. "So you're looking into the past to find any mention of portals?"

"That and I really need to get my history grade up you know? And this is kinda interesting, at least what is recorded about the Savage Ages." Luz said and Jerbo laughed and smirked.

"I know just what you mean, when I came to study at Hexside from my home on the Hand, I passed by old forts and battle sites, places where history was decided and I felt so small. And wait until the next semester starts, one of the trips for history is to the Battlefield of Anarchy." Jerbo said and Luz looked down at her book and frowned as she found what he meant and looked up at them with her mouth open in shock.

"Wait, how the heck?" Luz asked and Jerbo laughed and even Amity smirked. "How the heck did that happen that way?"

"Nobody knows, most legends say a cabal of defenders from one of the villages dropped enough false information to lead the armies into a trap. There's actually a good historical movie about it." Amity said as Luz looked at her as Gus came to the table.

"So I figured since you were looking up history I could look into folk tales and legends, so…..hey Amity, Jerbo. How's that work of yours going on those walking pots?" Gus asked and Jerbo shrugged.

"Not too bad, my first product worked well and I think I might be able to fix the mixture and magic interaction to get what I'm after to work… might have it finished by next semester at least." Jerbo said and Gus nodded.

"Great… any way I remembered the legend my mom read to me once to help me sleep and then that made me remember the Tale of the Lovers. Soooo." Gus said and Amity blushed and looked away and Jerbo winced and then Gus looked at them before paling in fright.

"What's wrong? I mean Eda never showed me many tales about Earth but the way you all reacted to it….." Luz said and Gus looked away.

"It's a good tale, but….. it doesn't say the best about humans." Amity said and Luz folded her arms.

"What, a mob attacks someone trying to kill them for being different?" Luz asked and the others only looked at her in shock.

"Yeah." Amity said and Luz sighed.

"Yeah, that's something that's all too human." Luz said and shook her head. "Hell, in my old school my locker was vandalized because of where my mother was born and there are hate groups that target people like me for not having a dad!"

"Really?" Amity asked in shock and Luz only nodded.

"Let's just say that my school life before this was terrible and leave it at that." Luz said bitterly and Amity fought down the urge to hug her.

"That's what humans are really like?" Gus asked shakily and Luz looked at him as her face fell.

"No, Gus, no." Luz said and looked at her friend before sighing and shaking her head as she tried to figure out how to tell Gus and the others how complex earth was. "Sure there are villains but for every one of them there are at least ten heroes. And it's not that they are human, it's because they were hurting and because of that they tried to find people to belong to, they just found….people who used them for their own beliefs."

"Really?" Gus asked and Luz nodded.

"Yeah and let's be honest, if you had a choice, would you have Mattholomule as the ambassador for the Isles to humanity?" Luz asked and Gus just looked at her before laughing as he shook his head.

"Never in a million years!" Gus declared and Luz smirked.

"Right, so what's the story behind that tale?" Luz asked and Amity coughed and looked down.

"It's a long story and I have something else to tell you…." Amity began before the bell screamed for their next class. "And we have gym, so I'll tell you later….. and I think we were supposed to be at the Grudgby court."

"And you're not playing, right Amity?" Luz asked and Amity nodded. "Great, I can try out my new trick, I can't wait to see Bosha's face!"

As the group left the library Luz put her books on the counter and was met with a smile from the Liberian as the demon used magic to move the book into the return bin to be shorted and put back as the students left. Amity looked at her friend as they walked as Gus walked away, smiling and hating that she was happy that Luz wouldn't be leaving the Isle just yet and that she would hopefully be here long enough for Amity to get her feelings for Luz shorted out.

XXXXXX

Luz looked around the Grudgby court and smiled. I can't believe that I finally get to try out new Glyph-Cards! I wish that I had some of them ready before I attacked the castle though, that would have helped me fight Belos a lot better! But I can't believe that I actually look forward to gym class for once. She thought as she looked at the other teens in their gym clothes. As she did so she frowned, her eyes wandering around and she felt something bothering her, something that she couldn't even identify as she looked at the forest.

"What's the matter Luz?" Willow asked and Luz shrugged as she looked around, a frown on her face.

"Nothing, I just thought I saw something for a second. Probably an Illusion student cutting class and hiding from the teachers." Luz said and Willow nodded and giggled a little.

"Still, eyes on the game, this is gonna be against Boscha and her friends remember?" Willow said and smirked. "At least it's not Grudgby."

"Yeah, and after how she's at the games lately I really don't want to break any bones." A Cyclops student from the Construction track said as ten other students gathered near them and they looked at Boscha, her gang, and the rest of their class on the other side.

"OKAY KIDS, YOU KNOW THE RULES FOR XORLON BALL! But let's review them anyway." Bump said and the teens all groaned while Bump grinned evilly.

"Even the human knows the rules sir, can't we skip it?" Bosha called out and Amity looked at her and growled, fed up with all her hate on Luz's species.

"No. Remember this game is tactical. Each side gets points for how many are still in play and which side took out the most!" Bump said and Luz looked around and wondered how Bump would split the class out.

"Now you can use magic to block the ball and affect the field, but you can't use it to attack players on the other side and if a spell 'catches' the ball the thrower is still in play, but if you use an Abomination and it gets hit three times the caster is out or if it catches the ball then the thrower isn't out and if the ball goes out of bounds without hitting anyone then it drops on the other side. If you make a hole it can only be half your body height and finally remember that you must throw the ball after ten seconds or the holder is out and finally this is just for you Boscha, don't aim for eyes! Every student with their IDs ending even, right side, odds are the left, all from me as I'm facing you!" Principle Bump called out as he walked over to the benches and sat down next to Amity a smile on his face. It might not be the original game but this takes me back to my youth! I love to watch them try and figure out ways around and new ways to use magic. He thought with a grin as he looked around the field and saw the teams gather on their sides, Luz and Willow with the evens on one and Bosha, Skara, and Cat with the odds on the other.

"Why is Principle Bump looking over the class?" Luz asked quietly and Bump chuckled.

"This is my 'break' period Miss Noceda, everyone have a safe game!" Bump called out and blew his whistle and three balls dropped in the center of the field. Luz dashed towards them as Willow moved back as all but two of their teammates ran with her, the last two following Luz. Willow started to cast a spell and grew a large plant that sprouted vines from the flower bud as it coiled around Willow. As Boscha made it to the balls first Luz threw a card between them and an ice wall grew from it cutting the field in half as it rose in between them, Luz smirking as she heard Boscha curse and snarl on the other side and a moment later Bosha threw one of the balls over the ice wall towards the side, the ball hitting the ground out of the playing field before it disappeared and dropped behind the ice wall and Luz smirked.

"Smart Boscha, smart." Luz said as the Construction student grabbed the ball and cast a basic spell to increase his strength and jumped upwards and threw the ball out of bounds on the other side as the other two balls went over the wall and Willow's plant grabbed the ball and passed it to the other students who started to pass it to each other..

"They're all over the field, and I saw a few copies of Boscha and a few others running around and some standing still; and they don't have anyone from my track!" He said and Luz nodded and she looked at the ice wall she made and saw it start to melt. "And some of them are trying to melt your wall."

"Any ideas, and remember we don't have a lot of time people!" Another student asked and Luz checked over her cards and nodded. As they hunkered down they started to hear music and Willow started to wince.

"Bard magic, I think this spell is to increase our rage or cause us to distrust each other." The Cyclops said and Luz felt her emotions spike and then one of the other students started to scowl.

"How the Emperor do you know that Construction Eye!? You studying other tracks on the side!?" A girl in the colors of the Beast Keeper track snarled and the Cyclopes glared back

"I got a cousin who goes to that girl's school on the Elbow, she complains about her Bard Track and I listened to her music and what's it to you two eye!" The Cyclops snarled back and as the Beast Keeper Student started to growl. "What gonna act like one of you're Beasts!?"

Luz looked between them and while she felt something, she wasn't completely taken in by what was happening to them. I gotta stop this, think think! The Professor said that Bard spells use the medium of air to send magic to all who hears it, most spells use this to steer hearts and minds, and from what Eda told me this magic is dependent on areas of effect or the sound being unbroken, if that happens the spell is broken so then! Luz thought as she grinned and whistled sharply, causing the others to look at her, while she never noticed that she did something with the barest magic she had.

"STOP IT! And he's right, we need to work together to win!"

Luz said and the students looked at her and then Luz looked at her ice wall as it started to melt. "My wall is melting so what can we do to win, and throw those balls out!"

As they threw the balls out of the play zone the Construction student nodded and looked at the Beast Keeper student who offered him a hand.

"Okay, sorry about that." The Beast Keeper said and the Construction nodded.

"Yeah, me too. So what's the play Luz? I can jump high and throw And the name is Todd." Todd Said, holding out a hand towards the beast keeper as his black hair in its ponytail

"I've learned to see through the eyes of any beast and I've perfected controlling them, I just need to hit them with a spell. And I'm called Ella." Ella the Beast Keeper said and she smirked, moving a strand of her blue hair out of the way of her red eyes that got out of the topknot it was in.

XXXXX

"I wonder how she was able to do that with her glyphs? She truly has a way with them." Bump said as he looked at the ice wall she had created and smiled.

"I know, and she learned that one to save our families from a Slitherbeast." Amity admitted and Bump jolted in place.

"Slitherbeast?! Where were would you even be able to run into something like that?" Bump asked in horror and Amity shrugged.

"The two of us had been taken there with our other family members separately, and then well…you know how it is sir." Amity said and looked down and blushed.

"Indeed I do, why I remember how I became the principal by leading the counter-attack after that old rival of ours attacked." Bump said as he shook his head and sighed. "Good times, good times."

"I always wondered, what set them off all those years ago to cause the attack? It's not in any of the history books." Amity asked and Bump shrugged in return.

"I don't know. That's one of the few things about that time I don't know. In fact, there are a few issues that still haven't been solved even after all these years." Bump said and took out a small locket and looked at the picture within it and sighed. I wonder what happened to you sis, I really do. And sometimes I wonder how you would react to everything that happened after that, and how much we've lost over the years. He thought as he looked at the playing field and smiled.

"Funny fact, this was originally created to train tactical thinking, and I think that the other team is going to beat Boscha." Bump said as he saw Todd look up at the sky and grin at something Luz told him.

XXXXX

On the other side Bosca picked up a ball and frowned as passed it to Cat as Skara played her harp but they didn't hear the other side start to fight or get thrown out for holding the ball too long. I don't get it, there should be anger throwing the ball at each other, where are the roars and screams? Somebody should have gotten out by holding the ball but maybe they missed, yeah that has to be it! She thought as she stood behind her other teammates as they threw the ball between them as Cat fired fireballs at the Ice wall. "Skara, stop singing that song and get ready to move, I think they're going to make a move soon!"

"Got it Boscha!" Skara called out and her harp disappeared and she looked at the wall. I guess with Amity still on the sides because of her injury, this means they won't have her firepower of skill, so we can still win this. And the human might try and take over but some of them should fight against her, but I can't forget the fact that she's creative. Why do I have the feeling that this is going to be bad? She thought as she waited for anything to happen. As a bird flew overhead the same Cyclops student jumped upwards and collided with it.

"Fire!" Boscha cried out and as her teammates threw their balls at his falling form, but before they could hit him he spun around and caught one ball and used it to deflect the other one.

As the Cyclops fell behind the ice wall Bump blew his whistle. "MISS CAT, OUT! Mr. Todd, in the future remember that you should watch where you're jumping! Is the bird okay?" Bump called out and

"YES SIR, I'LL HAVE IT FLYING IN MOMENTS!" Ella called out and Bump nodded as the bird took flight. He watched as it flew around and landed on one of the goalposts and chuckled as he realized what Luz's team had planned.

As Cat ran towards the back Boscha snarled and clenched her hands as she looked back at the Illusion track student and tried to figure out how she could use her to win. We can't get around that human's ice wall, but it's almost done! And with her glyphs she can't reinforce them too much so we just need to keep the balls we have on our side and then take out half-witch then leave that human for last! Boscha thought with a grin and looked at Skara. "Hey, that song you were writing, didn't you say something about when you amped it with one of your spells?"

Skara looked at Bosha and nodded, something was bothering her but she didn't know what. But she knew that something was going to change after this game, she didn't know what but she did. A few seconds later the bird flew that had fallen flew away, but Bosha didn't even notice as she saw the ice start to melt more, letting them see Luz, Todd and Ella as they were away from Willow and her plant protecting the others.

"FIRE AT THE HUMAN AND HER GROUP!" Bosha roared as the ice cracked and within moments the balls flew at Luz and the others before Todd grabbed Ella and jumped away as Luz slapped her hand against the ground and then she fell into the hole she created. The balls went over her head, Bump blew the whistle and the balls stopped in midair and even the students gained a magic outline as they were held in place.

"Time out, checking on the depth of the hole!" Bump called out as he got up. Luz could see Todd in the air as Bump moved to stands and grinned.

XXXXXX

"Listen, Bosha is the Grudgyby captain, she knows how to motivate the team but I know how to play around the rules!" Luz said as she looked at Todd and Ella with a grin.

"Okay, how?" Ella asked and Luz pulled out one of her cards.

"This Glyph will form a hole, I'll drop down to a depth that's just a little above the limit! When my wall shatters Todd you need to jump into the air while holding Ela. Ela use that as cover to use your spell to get a read on them with that bird." Luz said as she points towards a bird flying above them.

"That's a Sight Sparrow! They can see through illusions, If I can get it right I'll be able to have it land on the goal post and I'll be able to see everything as it truly is! But they'll see if I cast a spell on it, so how do we get around that?" Ella said and Luz looked at Todd.

"That's why Todd has to jump up there using this card with an immobilizer Glyph on said bird." Luz said as she handed Todd a card.

"So I'll need to be there with my back to them, make it seem like I mis-cast my spell….. smart Luz." Todd said with a grin.

"Once Bump stars play when I make my hole, that's when I'll make an Ice pillar for you to aim at the real Illusionist, then we try and weather with another wall and fall back to Willow if we have to and we win by hiding and blocking." Luz said she was met with grins.

"Good plan. I'll run to Willow once Todd lands, and if we end with a tie that could work too." Ella said and Luz nodded and handed over three cards to Ella.

"Good point, if that happens use my Ice Glyphs to buy some time, just think about a wall when you throw them." Luz said and Ella nodded.

XXXXXXX

As Bump jogged over to Luz she grinned as she saw the smile on Todds face she knew her plan worked. As Bump looked down and nodded, Luz willed herself to get ready to move as Bump.

"Within limits! Bump called as he made it back to the bleachers and blew his whistle as she sat down and dropped his spells. As the balls dropped to the ground and Willow's plant caught them and threw one to Luz who threw it to Todd as he landed and Ella ran towards Willow. Luz threw another card at the ground in front of Todd and a pillar of ice rose ten feet high. Todd jumped on top of it and Luz hid in the hole.

"DO IT NOW SKARA!" Boscha suddenly yelled and Skara nodded as she formed her harp and started to play it before she called out a screech that her spell reflected and multiplied and then the ice pillar shattered and Willow's flower covered the other students as Luz went still as she heard a loud crack in her ears before she felt a strange jolt go through her before she started to fall.

"LUZ!" Amity and Willow called out, their voices the last thing she heard before Luz blacked out.

XXXXX

"GAME STOP! ALL PLAYERS STOP WHAT THEY ARE DOING OR CASTING!" Bump roared as he saw Luz fall. What happened, I mean if she was feeding magic to what she made maybe she would have felt something but she's human! Bump thought in worry as he got to his feet, Amity flying by him as Todd landed from the destroyed ice pillar and looked at Luz.

"LUZ!" Amity called out as she jumped to the field and dashed towards her, Willow running as well as Ella speed by them, running at Skara who had paled in horror as she looked at Luz.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Ella roared at Skara who paled in fear as Bosha looked at Luz, frowning.

"Nothing, I that….that was only supposed to crack the ice, it shouldn't have hurt her, the ice was supposed to just fall apart!" Skara said defensivly as Ella growled at her as Todd ran towards Luz.

"Hey, guys, isn't she just a human? Then what's wrong with her ears?" Boscha asked softly looking at Luz.

"Is she okay?" Bump asked as he hurried over and frowned as he looked down at Luz, a strange feeling going through him. What is this, she doesn't look different but there's something about her that reminds me of an old friend…but it can't be. He thought as he bent down and opened Luz's mouth, putting a finger on one of her teeth and frowned as he looked at her ears as saw scar tissue on the tips.

"Sir?" Amity asked as Bump picked her up.

"I'm taking her to the nurse's office, Miss Willow I expect that you know where Eda lives, so go get her now." Bump said as he walked towards the school before he stopped.

"All of you go to the gym, sit on the bleachers, I'll have the basic lunch sent to you all. And Miss Skara, we will be having words later, lots of words!" Bump said darkly and she swallowed and looked at Bosha with a glare.

"I'm going to the detention track for sure Bosha, why did I listen to you?!"

Skara said and Ella glared at her as Bump rushed towards the Nurse, Amity following behind him.

XXXXXX

Willow ran through the woods, her mind going terrible places as she tried and failed to understand what was had happened to Luz. Bard magic affected how a person sounded when they sang or played an instrument, nothing that she knew about it could have caused Luz to pass out alone, and her ears had looked different. This is insane, I mean what could have happened to her! I just have to get to the Owl House, Eda's her master, she'll be able to authorize treatment! Willow thought as she came over a hill, never noticing someone in the uniform of the Emperor's Coven was standing on a tree branch and watched her dash through the forest for a few moments before following after her. After a few moments, she reached the Owl House, hoping that Eda was there.

"HI WILLOW!" Hooty roared and Willow jumped back as Hoot extended his body towards her and smiled at her. "HEY IT'S A LOT EARLIER THAN YOU AND LUZ USUALLY COME BACK HERE ON A SCHOOL DAY, SAY WHERE'S LUZ!?"

"She's in trouble I need Eda!" Willow said and Hooty's mouth dropped open.

"EDAAAAA!" Hooty roared as he opened the door and shot his head into the house. The sounds of commotion caused Willow to wince, the cursing and cries coming ever closer before Hooty appeared with Eda wrapped up in his body.

"….and I swear to the Titan Hooty I will tear you a new hole if you….Willow, where's Luz?" Eda asked as she saw Willow as Hooty dropped her. "Hooty if Willow and Luz….wait. Why are you even here, and where's Luz?"

"Luz is in trouble, she blacked out during gym class!" Willow said and Eda's mouth dropped open in shock.

"What! How?!"

Eda growled and Willow swallowed.

"We were playing Xorlon Ball and Skara cast a spell, then she sang this high note that cracked Luz's ice and then Luz was on the ground! Bump sent me to get you." Willow said as Eda summoned her staff and looked at Owlbert.

"Owlbert to the school, fast as you can buddy, Luz needs us!" Eda said as she got on her staff, Willow behind her and they flew towards the school. As they flew away they never saw the Coven member jump after them from tree to tree following them.

XXXXXX

Amity looked at the door to the nurse's room and tried to keep calm, but she couldn't understand anything about what had happened to bring them here. What did Skara do, I don't understand anything about this! And her ears, I saw scar tissue on them, nothing makes sense! Amity thought as she looked at the door and a moment later Bump came out and Mr. Longrix, the Construction Head, a tall demon with gray skin with four eyes wearing a brown robe with a jeweler's lens on his bottom right one.

"What you call me for Bumpy, shouldn't the Lady be able to handle this without me?" Longrix asked and Bump looked at him with a hard look in his eyes.

"I need you to look over these." Bump said as he held out one of his hands and Longrix took the items, both of Luz's earrings.

As soon as he held them Longrix went still and looked at them, bringing them closer to his lens.

"Where did you get these, I haven't seen something like this in years!" Longrix demanded and Bump looked at the doorway he had come from.

"Those are Luz's earrings." Bump said and Longrix looked down at them in shock.

"The human? Smart student, good drawer. I was thinking about showing her a few tricks my special students learn when they work with gemstones….a lot like these.….wait….. this is!" Longrix went still and looked at Bump and started to growl, smoke coming from his lips as he looked at his boss. "There had better be a good reason for her to even be within a Titan body of these things!"

"Bad then?" Amity asked numbly.

"Yeah, these things have a cruder way to dull pain from near them, I think it's a Healing thing I think is based on a few items I've made over the years and an effect that I think makes whoever wears them forget about anything that looks different that touches these things and when whenever however put them on or off, and to never talk to anyone without wearing them. Frankly, I want to talk to whoever made these things and ask why, and if the answer isn't good I will talk to them with my hammer!" Longrix said with a growl as the nurse, Lady Kalisisa Atrodonna a humanoid elven witch with tan skin and purple hair wearing a white cloak over a blue robe walked out with a scowl on her face.

"I just finished my examination and you were right Bump; she's one of us after all. Her ears can be healed with a potion or two but I'd want her to sleep it out, so for about a day when I give it to her, and her bile sack is just starting to work right. Any spell-circles she makes will fail but she'll be able to do that at least. And I think she'll be fine overall but it'll be a few days before her sack is ready to accept general potions without a problem but I want her to take a few nutrient potions for the next month, at least!" Kalisisa said with a scowl and a hint of fear in her eyes as the others in the room looked at her in shock and horror in Amity's case.

"That bad then?" Bump asked and Kalisisa nodded.

"Her body is just starting to get back the right nutrients, since maybe the last two months I think, at best I. From what I saw she could survive but she's been half-starved for most of her life! What is this Bump, I mean nothing about this makes sense!" Kalisisa said and Bump nodded.

"If she's one of us, then why didn't she know, why has she always say she was a human?" Longrix asked and Bump looked down and shook his head.

"I don't know but Eda's the only one who can authorize treatment for now, is there anything else?" Bump said moments before Willow and Eda burst into the room.

"What happened to my kid Bump?! I swear if this school or its residents had anything to do with it I will unleash a horror you have never even heard of before! I will rain terror and fire and end this place! The pranks that I did in the past will look like a good time if she's hurt!" Eda growled and Longrix chuckled and shook his head.

"I see that you haven't changed much! But it's not what happened it's not what was done to her and how it was stopped is the reason she's out!" Longrix said and Eda looked at him and then Bump.

"What are you saying? Eda demanded as Willow looked at Amity who

"She's one of us, and she didn't know it." Bump said and Eda blinked and looked at him in shock. Willow's mouth dropped open and Longrix took over.

"Her earrings, these things have active enchantment to ignore what's wrong with her ears when they're not in and for her to have her eyes closes when their out, only take them out when she's alone, something to keep her bilesack from working and well maybe something else I couldn't identify, it's all pretty much hobbled together, I don't know how anyone could have been this work based on what I know." Longrix said and Ed sat down on an empty chair and Willow's eyes widened.

"And about her bile sack, it was was nearly completely inactive, she hasn't had any of the nutrients she needs, I mean she's in a near-starvation state from the readings I got. Frankly I'm surprised she's as healthy as she is and can do magic the way she can." Kalisisa cut in and looked at Eda. "I think, give her a month and she'll be able to make spell circles like the best of us."

"Wait, if her magic is nearly completely sealed, then what about what you all did on Conjuring Night?" Amity asked and Willow nodded as Eda looked at them with shocked eyes

"She's right, what about Conjuring Night, how did that get by the seal?" Willow asked and the nurse looked up, muttering to herself as she tried to figure it out before she nodded.

"Yes, I think the power of the Blue Moon would have slipped by the seal, of course, your own abilities and friendship would then be the most important factor." Kalisisa said and looked at Willow with a smile. "And what did you Conjure?"

"The Owl House." Will said and Bump looked at them and facepalmed.

"She meant what you animated, not where you were." Bump said and Eda laughed.

"They all animated the Owl House it's self Bumpy!" Eda said and the teachers all stared at Willow in shock.

"Wait….were you and Luz were part of the group that was behind that walking house!? Of course, you were involved with that Eda." Bump said and looked at Eda and shook his head.

"Actually Bump Luz, Plant girl and Dorkus did it all on their own. I had an….errand to run that night." Eda admitted and the teachers looked at her before looking at Willow with shocked expressions.

"I will have to give you three some extra credit for next year, all three of you! That was an amazing piece of magic! But then the moon did most of the heavy lifting." Bump said and Amity looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked and the teachers all smiled.

"The Blue Moon is the ancient symbol of friendship and trust, that is because the magic that is drawn from it to animate items is equal to the power, skill, and friendship of those doing the Casting." Kalisisa said with a smile and shook her head.

"Then it won't work if the friendship is fake?" Amity asked shocked and the nurse nodded.

"Well yes, but only if all of them are built around lies, if one person believes in their friendship then that one alone will call the magic down, but it will be halved by how many people are 'faking it', halved once then halved again and so on." Kalisisa said and Amity leaned against the wall and looked down, Willow put a hand on her shoulder and even Eda was getting worried about her.

"Amity?" Willow asked and Amity sighed and looked down.

"All five of us couldn't even animate a simple doll I got from my grandmother." Amity said and Willow's eye's widened and looked at her as Eda laughed and sorted while Bump and the other teachers started to look concerned.

"How big was the doll?" Kalisisa asked and Amity looked down.

"A regular-sized one." Amity said and Kalisisa winced and Longrix and Bump looked even more concerned.

"That's something….." Kalisisa said softly and looked at Amity. I always thought that I needed to talk to Bosha before, but maybe I should look into all of them instead. But after Luz's situation I really need to get Blump to authorize complete physical and mental health checks. Kalisisa said as she looked at Bump who was looking at Amity.

"Wow, after your parent made you dump me and make friends with them, I really don't know why I didn't expect something like that." Willow said and Amity looked even more ashamed.

"I'm sorry, they what?" Bump said darkly and Willow swallowed and looked away. "Miss Willow….. I'm waiting."

"It was an…incident that Amity caused that Eda fixed, we discovered that her parents forced her to break our friendship, saying that they would make sure that I wouldn't be allowed to study here." Willow said and Bump looked at them silently for a few seconds be he exploded.

"THEY. SAID…..WHAT!?" Bump bellowed his eyes actually as his face red for a few seconds as Kalisisa's mouth dropped open and Longrix looked down as Eda looked confused and shocked. Amity looked at Bump and paled in shock and when he saw her reactions he calmed down. "I'm not mad at you, your parents on the other hand I will have a long talk with, and I will probably fight them….your father will be a problem, your mother never was able to see more than an hour from now."

A screech caused Kalisisa to frown and walk towards a desk, looking at a scroll that appeared on it. "That's the blood sample I took from her….. I wanted to see if her mother ever came through the school…. It's odd that it's done already."

"Then we'll know who her mother is? Good! I want to know who I'll be talking to harshly." Longrix said and Eda spoke up.

"She said her mother was named Camila." Eda said and Bump went white.

"I would think that the person who did this to their own blood would only do it because they had no choice." Bump said faintly. Camila, that's impossible, there's no way…maybe it was a name that was inherited. He thought as they looked at Kalisisa as she

"That's odd, a 50 match between two blood gems, A. C. Jinxlirtic and E. Vegatrot? Who's that?" Kalisisa asked and Bump walked backward into the wall, shock and horror on his face.

"Az, she's Az's and Emrys's kid?" Bump whispered in shock and Eda frowned.

"Az, Emrys, I don't think I ever heard those names before in any of the scrolls of past graduates, and I once had to polish the entire wall of Graduates once." Eda said and Bump nodded.

"You wouldn't, she's an honorary member of the school…. She was a member of the previous school and my best friend, practically my big sister in all but blood." Bump said and everyone looked at him in shock.

"But how… oh Titan. She was hit by a banishment curse." Longrix whispered in shock and horror and Bump nodded.

"A banishment curse, what's that?" Amity asked and Bump looked away.

"'Beyond Time and Space, do the sands await your fate'. That was the curse cast that she took for me back then." Bump said and got up, walking away. "I going to get a picture of her back then, maybe it will connivance Luz we're speaking the truth."

"A banishment curse is a spell that sends the target away… we don't know more because it was from one of the Drifting Islands during one of the early invasions." Eda said and looked towards where Luz was. "I think the only place that had them still was destroyed during the Age of Bloodshed, about twenty years before Belos took over."

"Yeah, my family actually studied them after a friend got hit back then, they found that the spells transport people through time or space, sometimes both and it was like the old banishment spells, the ones we used to get rid of the Giraffes."

"I'm going to be by Luz's side, she'll have a lot of questions." Ed said and walked towards the room, Willow looking torn between being happy that her friend was one of them and wondering how she will react to her mother lying to her all her life.

"This isn't something I thought would happen, you know?" Amity said and looked at the door. At least this way if they ever find out about my crush on her, then they might not be too mad about it, she's one of us after all. Amity thought moments before the door slammed open and the former Detention track students and her siblings came in.

"Mittens, we just heard! What happened to Luz?" Emira asked and Amity sighed and looked at them with a somber look.

"A lot of things, for one Luz is one of us for starters." Amity said and Emira and Edric were speechless as Barcus, a dog with a human-like face. He is covered with chestnut fur with light tan fur on his stomach and neck area, dark orange tufts of hair on his head just nodded. "Wait….you knew?!"

" Woof-woof." Barcus barked and shook his head. The teens all looked at Barcus in shock.

"You knew that one of us would have a revelation revealed to them, that's it!? And you couldn't warn any of us!?" Willow asked and Barcus whimpered a little and covered his head with his paws.

"Mess with Oracle predations, and then it's a coin toss if it's better or worse." Eda said as Longrix nodded.

"Yeah, best to be there to help and save if you have to, that's the best way to handle Oracle predictions. Of course, that's all chaos, and Oracle magic works from when you cast it…what? I've heard a lot of debates over the years about the morality of Oracle magic and using what it tells you." Longrix said with a shrug at the looks everyone sent him. "Nothing wrong with debating magic, it's learning other Coven that gets the Emperor on your tail."

"True, true." Eda said and nodded. "Of course most of his laws aren't the worst, I mean if they keep the peace, and it was because of my curse that I ran from Lilith most of the time anyway."

XXXXX

Bump moved through the hallways, the students parting from his path as he moved, his mind going strange places. She could make the best artifacts back then, she could have made those to hide their features. Okay, think through this clearly. She had to have a few spells to find a way home but if they didn't find anything… but if she was half as bad as Luz was, then her sack was probably in bad shape and she used it all for the birth, then she would have done what she did…..If the portals are locked down then that means why he wanted the portal from Eda… I don't like this, I really don't. He thought as he entered his office and grabbed a picture and moved back towards the Nurses office.

XXXXXX

Luz blinked her eyes and looked up at the ceiling as she tried to remember what had happened to her. Where am I… the last thing I remember is the game and…..what's wrong with my ears? And what's this? She thought as she tried to get up and realized she felt something else pumping through her body and felt an echo with each beat of her heart. She looked around the room and saw Eda and Nurse Kalisisa talking, both of them in deep conversation.

"Eda? What happened to bring you here? And what happened to me… I feel…. Different, what's wrong with me?" Luz asked, causing her and Kalisisa to turn and look at her, Eda smiling in relief as Kalisisa looked a little shocked.

"Hey, kid are you okay?" Eda asked as Luz tried to sit up.

"My ears, they're bothering me and I don't understand how but my heart and stomach, they feel different." Luz said and Eda nodded.

"Yeah… there's not an easy way to say this so I'll just rip the bandage off…. You're not human, you never were." Eda said and Luz looked at her in shock.

"WHAT?!" Luz called out in shock as she felt her ears, feeling the scar tissue and paled in shock.

"Your earrings, they were made to keep your biology, our biology asleep in other words and your ears, the points were cut away." Kalisisa said and Luz's eyes turned into pinpoints.

"what? But mom, she never, she would have told me!" Luz said and felt some liquid move in her chest, something that told her they were telling her the truth.

"I think she's under something much harder than yours, only coming up when certain conditions are met." Bump said from the door and walked towards her, a picture frame in his hands.

"This is impossible; there can't be a reason that explains this. I that can't be true!" Luz said and Eda frowned at her, a sorrowful look on her face.

"I mean if that was true I could make a spell circle!" Luz said and moved

"Luz, I want you to focus within yourself, just do that for me okay? Just look within until you find something that's pulsing." Eda said and Luz looked at Eda before nodding.

"Okay Eda, but I won't find anything." Luz said and closed her eyes and started to breathe slowly and looked inwards. After a few moments she felt something that pulsed within her and nodded.

"I found it." Luz whispered slowly and Eda smiled at her as Bump looked on with a raised eyebrow at what Eda was doing.

"Now I want you to reach for it, open your eyes and think of your light spell, everything you know about it and make a circle." Eda said and Luz opened her eyes and, extended her right ring finger and made a small circle, her eyes widening as she saw a rainbow circle of light form from her motions before a light Glyph appeared and a ball of light formed before it pulsed and released a blast of light that blinded everyone.

"That was… there's no way." Luz whispered and Blump blinked his sight back and looked at Luz and smiled.

"There might be a way. That is if this is her?" Bump said as he handed over a picture. Luz looked down and saw her mother as a teenager in a robe and with sea-green hair, a younger Bump and a girl teen with red hair and a teen boy with pale skin and black hair with blue eyes with his arm around her mother's neck, all of them in robes and smiling at the camera.

"Mami, but her hair?" Luz said in shock and looked at Bump with a strange look in her eyes. "But wait is that you Principle Bump!?"

"Yes, I knew your mother when I was a child hundreds of years ago." Bump said and Luz looked at him and smiled. "But before you go how it isn't her, she was hit by a spell that banished her from the island, it was during the attack that led to the founding of this place actually."

"A spell?" Luz asked and Bump nodded.

"The portal Eda had, it was stable, if you use a spell like our people used to have, then those who the spell hit would just, disappeared." Bump said and looked down. "The only reason I'm sure who your mother is because you match 50% on an old blood gem."

"Whats" Luz began before Bump interrupted.

"Blood gems; their gemstone that holds a single drop of blood, in the past they were used in these runic arrays that stayed lit as long as the person who donated the blood was alive." Bump said and looked at Luz and smiled. "Nowadays they serve as security and heirlooms really, a mark of adulthood."

"Runes?" Eda asked and Bump shrugged.

"A lost art, one of hundreds that died in the Savage Ages. The things I saw in my youth, by the Titan the wonders and horrors…..Titan, you can't understand how much more we once were." Bump said with a sigh and shook his head.

"I can't believe this, mom is a nurse….. a healer for crying out loud, none of this makes sense!" Luz said and looked at Eda who smiled.

"That makes sense; her mother was a Healer back then….. if she was lost on earth trying to survive then do what you know." Bump said and Luz swallowed.

"She was?" Luz asked in hope…..if mom didn't remember her past here, then that's why she can't remember anything about her past… this might be real. I…. I have to bring her home. Luz thought as she looked at Bump who nodded.

"Your grandmother was the doctor of my town before I was born; she helped my own mother with my birth. Your grandfather on the other hand he was one of the militia and it's because of him that I'm even alive." Bump said with a bitter sigh and he shook his head.

"This is real, mom was from here, you knew her?!" Luz asked shocked and Bump nodded. Luz looked away, deep in thought. If this is true, then could he know anything about him… that's if this is real… it explains everything but is it possible? She thought and Eda looked at Luz and sighed.

"What is it Luz, I know you kid and you're doing that thing where you look away and close your eyes when you're wondering about something." Eda said bluntly and Luz looked up and sighed.

"Do you know anything… about my father?" Luz asked softly and looked down. "Mom, she doesn't have any memories about her past and how I was born, I mean she did that to herself to protect us I guess but mom…... she doesn't remember him at all."

"Oh Kiddo." Eda said and Bump looked at her before sighing and nodding.

"I do, his name was Emrys. That guy loved to learn just like you, and he was a great fighter but as kind as guardian griffin with his flock but as fearless as a mother Growlor defending its young." Bump said and smiled, a tear coming to his eyes as he remembered all his old friends, all those lost to time.

"Was he the Emrys that folk tales are told about or was he named in honor of him?" Eda asked and Bump chuckled.

"Really Eda, how old do you think I am? The legend of Emrys was old when I was born, he just said that mom loved the stories and named him after the hero, and he always thought the name was something to live up to." Bump said fondly with a chuckle.

"What happened?" Luz asked and Bump looked away. "Sir, please."

"I don't know. When the former school that used to be here attacked our school and town, it was chaos. I found your mother during the fight and she said he died before her eyes than a moment later she was hit by the spell that sent her through time and space to earth. After we recovered we attacked the school and remade Hexside over the remains." Bump said before looking down. "All this time, I thought she was dead."

"Enough about that…..Luz I want you to go home for today, we'll talk about everything tomorrow when school starts tomorrow okay." Kalisisa cut in and looked at the humans. "I have nothing planned tomorrow afternoon so I'll give you a full physical and I'll see what we can do okay everyone."

"Yes, the rest of the school will be working on the festival for the next few days, and I have a lot of paperwork to finish." Bump said and then got up and frowned as he thought he saw a glint in the vents before moving on, opening the door and revealing Luz's friends trying to listen in.

"LUZ!" Willow and Amity called out as they all rushed her.

Luz looked at her friends, noticing things about them she hadn't before and she barely hid a blush as she saw the look in Amity's eyes. Did Amity always look that cute? Luz thought as she looked at her friends.

"Are you okay kid? I mean wow I can see her ears and the scar tissue. I can't believe this." Edric said and Emira elbowed him, sending a look at her brother.

"Not the time bro. But Titan Luz we were so worried when we heard about what happened." Emira said and Luz smiled at her friends

"Ruff Ruff." Barcus chimed in and Luz looked down at him.

"Thanks guys, I just have to absorb this…. And getting a portal to get my mom back here, that's my goal now. And I understand that you couldn't tell me Barcus, I remember learning that in my studies." Luz said and they all blinked, Eda whistled and shook her head. "Wait I understood him!?"

"I'm guessing that the earrings kinda blocked your understanding of most Demon-tongues, this is going to be something else!" Eda said with a laugh. "I have got a thousand new shows to show you on the ball back home!"

"I guess so." Luz said and looked around, her senses of hearing seemingly better than before she backed out, but she felt a strange sense of safety from Eda's voice.

"You sure you're okay kid? I mean she is right doc?" Jebro asked and Luz chuckled.

"I'm fine guys, I just need to think about a lot of stuff, I'll be fine by the festival right?" Luz asked and Kalisisa nodded.

"Yeah, I will want you to sleep for a few days after it's done through, and I will have a few potions for you to take, nutrients only of course until your sack it better." Kalisisa said and handed Eda a paper with a list on it, Eda looked at them and whistled.

"I recognize most of them, aren't these intended for starvation recovery?" Eda demanded and Kalisisa nodded.

"Yes, your body was missing a lot of nutrients growing up. Take one each tonight and I'll have a better understanding of what I can do to help you when I see you tomorrow okay?" Kalisisa asked and Luz looked at her before nodding.

"So come on kid, we've got the end-of-semester festival, then break when I'll help you cram everything to cast spells and we can spend it trying to find a way to get your mom home!"

Eda said and Luz smirk as Amity perked up.

"And I can teach you how I control my abominations!" Amity said and Luz smiled at her as the others chimed in, all of them promising to help her prepare for her second term at the school. As they all left the room, they never noticed a small rat made of rock with blue crystal eyes had been spying on them from the ventilation, not even Barcus would see this as it left, to return to the place where it had been sent out from.

"Say Miss Eda? Can you stop by the Passageway when you're here tomorrow, I need to talk to you." Jerbo asked and Eda nodded, having realized he was one of her successors who had found her old hideaway.

As the scream sounded for Lunch to end, Bump looked at his students as they left for their classes, Eda and Luz heading towards the front door as Longrix came out behind him with his arms crossed.

"We're going to talk about this at the meeting today, aren't we?" Longrix said bluntly and Bump nodded.

"Yes, yes we are. I don't know how we all missed this but what else has slipped by us?" Bump asked and Longrix sighed and shook his head

"I don't know old man, but I think we should talk to everybody about it, but how do we even know if we missed something?" Longrix asked before he walked towards his class, leaving Bump in deep thought and worry about his students before he shook his head and walked back into the nurse's office, closing the door behind him and using a Bard spell to make sure no one could overhear the resulting conversation.

Bump frowned at Kalisisa. "What was that, I thought you said any magic she did would fail?"

"I thought it would! And the way she did it, I don't understand anything about that, I've never seen a rainbow circle before!" Kalisisa said and Bump frowned and looked into his past, a strange look in his eyes.

"I have, once when I was younger before I was even ten and the town was attacked." Bump said softly as old memories danced behind his eyes. "The only one I saw do something like that was a self-proclaimed master spell caster who was particularly cagey about how he did that, he died in the attacked that led to the counter-attack that made this place."

"Interesting but Titan, did you see how Eda taught Luz to gather her magic? I always knew that one would go far, but that? I have to admit I was surprised a lot!" Kalisisa said and Bump nodded.

XXXXXXX

As they flew back towards the Owl House Luz looked around, seeing more than she had before and hearing songs she hadn't fully heard before. I can't believe this, it's like I was half awake before, the colors seem more vibrant, the way the air whistles through the trees. I can't believe this…wait is the sun setting? Luzthought as she noticed the sun was starting to set but she still saw everything as night came. As the moon started to rise behind them Luz gasped in awe as she saw a flock of Yaglitixs, a nocturnal species of griffin with bat wings take flight and noticed a flash of light on the underside of their wings. "Wow, that's what are you talking about with their wings Eda?"

"You can see it now? Wow, those runes were really something to have held that back." Eda muttered the last part softly, soft enough that she thought Luz hadn't been able to hear her but she felt Luz shift slightly behind her and Eda winced. So she can hear that now, can she? Guess I gotta stop talking like that! Eda thought as she looked back at Luz and saw the frown on Luz's face.

"Not taking this the best, are you kido?" Eda asked and Luz looked up at her and nodded.

"I can get why my mom did what she did, people are stupid, a person is smart. And kids can't keep secrets for long. And if she did it to herself as well… I just maybe if I had called her before Lilith and I went back, maybe she would be here and we could have beaten Belos." Luz said and Eda sighed.

"Maybe kid, maybe. But a lifetime of maybes is lifetimeme of never, it isn't good. Take each day as a present and hope for the future, at least that's what my grandmother told me once." Eda said and looked back at her and smiled. "But the time we've got from between the end of the school year and the vacation is perfect to put everything me and Lilith know about casting spells into your head. And we'll keep looking for more glyphs, I've been casting my ice spells a lot stronger strong because I learned the glyph….. wait a second." Eda muttered as she looked at the forest and for a second she thought she had seen something and moved Owlbert upwards and turned around.

"Eda?" Luz asked as she hugged Eda tighter and Eda looked at the trees.

"I thought I saw something kid, something near the house. I'm going to fly around a bit, if Lilith asks it's to calm you down." Eda said silently and Luz nodded, forcing a wide smile onto her face as she looked around the area.

"Where?" Luz muttered softly and Eda smiled and nodded.

"The third tree from the cliff, ten back from the house. Might be something, might be nothing, could be a wild Steel Wing." Eda said as she flew her staff in a circle around the house.

"Those bird things that have that biometal in their feather, the ones that you said make up most of the metal harvested on the island?" Luz asked and Eda nodded as she looked down at the forest and shook her head.

"Yeah, I mean you were there last week when we caught a few and sold them to my old friend, I mean it could be, all it would take is one of those things hatching and getting away from the henhouse, but then the wild ones are rare but they happen." Eda said and looked at the trees before shaking her head, keeping her real thoughts to herself. Of course, that bastard would send a watcher to keep an eye on us! I think maybe I should look into dropping those statues of mine around the forest again after I talk to Lilith about finding how to find those Coven scum! She thought as she flew the staff above the forest and looked down, not knowing that she hadn't fooled Luz but she was happy to let Eda think she had.

"Could it have been that creeper you told me about, the ones that grow after boiling rain?" Luz asked and Eda nodded as she looked around the trees.

"Maybe….. but I thought I got them all, they do make great Potion ingredients… so what else is bothering you?" Eda asked and Luz sighed and looked away.

"Could there be….there are others like mami on earth? Others like her who were lost not banished like the giraffes?" Luz asked and Eda looked at her over her shoulder. " I mean is there a chance?"

"Maybe…. Probably but why…Belos, your thinking about him right kid?" Eda said and she shook her head. "The thought crossed my mind but he would have told people about it, I mean there are enough stories and folk heroes who've saved those from the Isle when they fall onto Earth and encounters mobs of humans…but Titan I would have helped if it was something like that!" Eda declared with feeling and Luz nodded.

"Yeah, I mean he never said just what he wants it for when he talked to me….." Luz said and Eda nodded.

"Yeah, whatever he's after, we act like it's something bad for now. We learn differently we help him, if not we stop him." Eda said and Luz nodded and Eda looked back down at the forest, not seeing a single glint of light, releasing a sigh as she looked at the forest, the thought about others like Luz's mom staying with her and dominating her thoughts. It would be something I'd get behind but it's imposable that's what he wants it for. I mean, how would he even find them? I don't think whatever Belos is after is good for any of us, I…might have to go and talk to the others at the Foot, maybe bring Luz along, King loves how that one treats him so maybe I should bring him and Lilly along, once I get rid of her mark of course, I need to call him sooner or later, no other choice. Eda thought as she looked at the forest.

After another loop Eda judged whatever she saw either gone or hiding so she landed and looked into the forest and sighed.

"LUUUUZZZZ!" Hooty cried out. Eda just sighed again and turned to see Hooty who shot and wrapped around Luz, Luz laughing as she hugged Hotty.

"Hey, hey I'm okay Hooty, I just learned something and we need to talk about." Luz said calmly to Hooty who kept babbling until Eda knocked him on the head with her staff and he started to uncurl from Luz.

"Keep an eye out Hooty, I thought I saw something so stay on guard." Eda said and Hooty nodded and looked at them as they walked through the door, Hooty standing guard. As they walked into the room Luz dropped her hoodie and Lilith walked in, still in her normal dress and after a moment king shot through the room and hugged Luz's legs.

"When I heard my minion was injured it was all I could do to stay here and you left without me Eda!" Kind said and narrowed his eyes at Eda as Luz reached down and hugged him.

"Thanks King, I'm fine, it wasn't much then but what really happened to me…." Luz trailed off and Lilith looked at Luz before glaring at Eda.

"What happened sister, was it a wound on the sports field?" Lilith asked and Eda sighed and shook her head as Luz felt a shot of anger course through her. How dare Lilith sound so concerned about her after everything that happened, how dare she. Luz never knew if she could get her feelings about Lilith under control but she would try, for Eda's sake at least.

"Actually it was an Artifact crash like mom told us about." Eda admitted and Lilith gasped and looked at Luz with necked horror and shock.

"A crash!? But where on the Titan did she get an Artifact!?" Lilith demanded and Luz looked away as Lilith looked at her and gasped as she saw the scar tissue on her ears. "Luz your ears, what happened to them?"

"Both questions have the same answer, my mom." Luz said and Lilith gasped in shock as King's eyes widened.

"Long story short, she and her mom are both Elves like us. In fact, her mom was the 'older sister' of old Bumpy before she was banished during the attack that led to Hexsides's founding." Eda said and Lilith just stammered in shock, her mouth open as King's eyes dilated. "Thankfully the nurse said we can talk about how to fix this, that is me and Luz can, you're still banned for impersonating a teacher King. Even though 'your' students think you were the best teacher they ever had."

"My genius is never appreciated!" King said and Lilith was shocked back to reality.

"HE WAS A TEACHER!?" Lilith demanded and Eda nodded.

"The real teacher run away, and he started to lord over the class. He taught them a demonology lesson that is still helping them get A's." Eda said and she looked at King who grinned and wagged his tail.

"They actually want another lector and Bump asked me to tell that to King, something about maybe doing a lector during the festival." Luz said and King started to laugh and Eda raised an eyebrow and when Luz nodded she whistled.

"Okay, you do know demonology King, I'll never forget that again." Eda said and King grinned under his bone helm. Lilith meanwhile stared into space and started to mutter under her breath. "You okay Lilly?"

"I'm sorry, Luz is one of us, her mother is from the Savage Ages and was born before Bump, and King was such a good lecturer that his students want another to hear another one from him!? Since I must still be asleep I'm going back to where I was sleeping, you can wake me up when the Titan awakens!" Lilith said and turned around and Hooty head-butted her and she fell to the ground. "Owe. Okay this is reality."

"So Luz needs a few nutrient potions for right now, and I think I can make most of them with what we have here…. so you're on supper duty tonight sis!" Eda said as she moved towards the Potion lab in the tower when Luz remembered something.

"Hey, Eda… I there's something else." Luz said as she reached into her bag and brought out the leather journal. "I found this in the library today… it's something I think you should see first."

"What's this….. The diary and travel log of Sarah Smaldor? Luz, you found this in the library of Hexsides?" Eda said and Lilith went still.

"Sarah Smaldor, she was a wild witch that the emperor petrified a year into his reign. I saw her name on a few documents when I took over and Belos always made sure her statue was in its own chamber in the main palace." Lilith said and Eda frowned and Lilith looked away. "Most of those petrified because of the crimes they committed against their fellow witches are locked away in a special prison somewhere past the Neck."

"What about Wild Witches Lilly, where are they kept?" Eda asked sharply

"They were said to have been taken through the catacombs to a site only Belos knows, at least that was what the papers my predecessor left behind said." Lilith said and Eda raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"You don't know where the emperor keeps the Wild Witches he petrifies?" Eda asked dumbly and Lilith shook her head.

"No, but then he hasn't done that to a Wild Witch besides you in years, but then how could he, you are the last of those people." Lilith said as she looked at Luz and missed how Eda's eyes widened and King went still.

"Yeah I am." Eda said and glared at King and Luz with a look in her eyes that said to back up her lie.

"From what I read, she was an explorer looking into the past of the Island, she found ruins underground and she wrote that she was going to confront Belos, she only hid the book so there would be a record of her life through her eyes." Luz said and the sisters looked at her as King went still.

"Underground ruins? Sounds inviting!" King said and Luz looked at him, a frown on her face as she saw King's tail was dead still.

"So then tomorrow the three of us, me, Luz and Kind will head to the school and you can stay here with Hooty and remember, don't go in the basement or open the door even if someone pounds on it or screams." Eda told Lilith who nodded.

"Let me guess, you want to keep them prisoner for ransom or something?" Lilith asked and Eda shook her head.

"No, Hooty has another 'body' down there and he has 'tea time' with them. If he doesn't want to let them go he might have you join them all." Eda said and Luz shuddered and King whimpered. Lilith looked between them then at Hooty and swallowed, looking at the door in fear as all the old stories the Coven Guards had told about Hooty suddenly seemed even more real as Hooty looked at her hungrily.

XXXXX

As the scream died down and the school day ended Gus and Willow walked out of the school, Gus just shook his head in shock at what Willow had whispered to him. "I can't believe this, I just can't."

"I know what you mean, I mean how the heck could her mom not have told her." Willow asked and Gus nodded.

"That too, but I can't believe that somebody was lost on earth and survived with a child." Gus said and looked at Willow. "And the nurse said she was malnourished?"

"Yeah, a pure earth diet I guess. But she's not now and she was prescribed a few potions to take and we can only hope she's okay now with no long-term complications." Willow said and Gus nodded.

"Yeah…. I got to go Willow, dad's taking me and mom out for dinner tonight and I want to get ready!" Gus called out as he ran towards one bus and Willow moved towards the path to Bonesborough.

As Amity and came out of the school she looked and saw Skara's parents walking onto the grounds and put up her hood and kept quiet until they had passed each other and only then did she sigh. So Boscha's not being called out again, great. I can only hope that mom doesn't hear about what happened to Luz, I know she hates the idea of a human studying at the school is a travesty. And I can't wait until she learns Luz isn't human… I wonder how much Luz's 'species' was really bothering her or was it her personality? I think when she realizes that it might cause her to snap. Willow thought with a wince and looked around, not seeing Bosha anywhere she shuddered before she started to walk away from the campus.

After a while Willow stopped looked towards the path to the Owl house and then towards Bonesborough and she wondered if she should go see Luz and the others, but something caused her to stop and look around, a strange feeling going through her. She stood there for a few moments before she took a deep breath and walked off, stumbling into a bush and she dropped a seed, one of her creations that would let her know what was around here when she picked it up in the morning. As soon as she was out of sight the Emperor's Coven member from before dropped down and looked at the plants before he burned all the ones Willow had fallen into and within a few moments the ground was barren and then with a single spell the evidence of his actions was gone, all the plants were back, all but the one Willow had created out of sight of the Coven member.

As she walked through the town, Willow couldn't keep a frown from her face as she moved ever closer to her home. Her relationship with Amity had improved and she didn't bare Amity too much hatred because of what her parents had forced her to do, in fact she thought she was a lot stronger than even she knew, at least as far as Willow was concerned, and that wouldn't have happened without Luz's help, and she didn't think she would ever be able to thank Luz enough. Luz is like a whirlwind, she blew in and changed my path in ways I didn't think possible. But this, I mean she's one of us who lived her whole life on earth, she thought she was a human but because of that she's able to maybe not break our magic but she's able to see things we can't. Whatever happens with the Emperor, I will fight with her if I have to, but part of me hopes he isn't planning anything too bad. Willow thought as she reached her home and walked into her house. "Dad, Pappi? I'm home!"

"Hey darling! How was school, did you find Luz, was she there?"

Her biological father Robert Parks asked her. He was a tall man with a cleanshaven face and wore beige pants, a black shirt and had an apron on with stains. His job was to man the deli counter of the grocery store her parents operated.

"She's back in school, they got away but she lost the only portal back to her mom." Willow said and Robert looked shocked before he closed his eyes and muttered a prayer to the Titan.

"Oh that poor girl, I hope that she finds a way to get back to her world." Robert said and Willow giggled

"Actually….she's already here." Willow said. Robert looked at his daughter and hit his ears, sure that he had misheard her.

"What do you mean?" Robert asked and Willow grinned.

"She's biologically one of our people. Her mom was banished to earth with no way home and made herself forget about it and created earrings to keep Luz's bile sack from working and hide her other traits from her and everyone they were around. We only learned this after Luz passed out during gym class." Willow explained and Robert gasped and shook his head.

"Not what I was expecting. But on that subject is there anything that we can do to help her?" Robert asked and Willow nodded.

"Do you know anything about Earth? That's what she wants to, to find a way to bring her mother home." Willow said and Robert nodded and frowned, a thoughtful look on his face. "And I was thinking about the story grandma told me about how she was lost in this forest on earth once."

"Yeah, I remember mom telling me about that when I was growing up. And I think I might have come across something else years ago, a strange story from when I was a child." Robert said and looked into space. "I don't remember when I was when I first heard it, give me a few days and I might….. Oh, I remember now! Mom is coming to visit for the festival, your friend could ask her then!"

"Thanks dad. I'm going to get started on dinner, tonight is stew night!" Willow said and Robert frowned as he watched his daughter leave him. He remembered more about his mother's adventure than he told Willow, and he remembered that his mother had destroyed the portal to keep some strange soldiers from invading, they still kept the mark to remember and he would have to talk to Luz about it when he saw her next.

XXXXXXX

Edric threw a ball against the wall and sighed, looking at his sisters. They were all in Amity's room, Amity was working on an Abomination recipe and Emira was making a square between her hands and changing the patterns on it with her magic. "Am I the only one who wants to talk about what we learned today, or will we just ignore it all?"

"What's there to talk about?" Amity asked and looked at her siblings.

"She's one of us, one of our own kind." Edric said and his sisters looked at him. "I overheard mom talking about her once, how she would make a law to ban humans from studying at any school on the island."

"Bump would fight it, he's really mad at our parents for making that threat to Willow about keeping her from studying." Amity said and her siblings looked at her in shock.

"They what?" Emira asked softly and Amity looked at her siblings, seeing how they were both looking at her in concern with a hint of anger in their eyes.

"When did they do that?" Edric demanded and Amity shrugged.

"My sixth birthday party, when Willow came. Mom and dad, more mom said that if I didn't dump Willow, then she would make sure that she couldn't study at Hexsides." Amity admitted and Emira's mouth opened and closed and the ball Edric threw hit his head as he stared at her in horror and shock.

"Your sixth birthday. You mean the one during the same week that I spent at the hospital because I broke my leg in that accident.

On that day mom and dad threatened Willow's future if you didn't say that to her?" Edric asked and Emira looked at him, noticing that Ed was looking at Amity with a strange look in his eyes.

"Wasn't that the year I missed the party because I got stuck with Grandma because of that Sea Serpent attack that kept travel from the Hand to the Chest for a weak?" Emira asked and Amity nodded.

"Yeah, and you never told us what the rents said to you Mittens." Emira said and Edric frowned as he looked at his little sister.

"I didn't tell you how whey forced me to dye my hair either, but it happened." Amity admitted and Emira gasped and Ed frowned and looked at his sister in horror.

"Oh Amity." Emira said as she got up and hugged her sister Amity closing her eyes as Edric joined in.

"Why are you two treating me like this, you've always just loved to make problems and cause trouble, what changed?" Amity asked and Emira and Edric felt their hearts break a little as they realized they had made a lot of mistakes with their relationship with their sister.

Edric looked at his twin and saw the same pain that he knew was mirrored in his and he knew that he had to treat his sister a lot better in the future, and maybe share a few of their secrets about why they acted the way they did.

"We've always loved you Amity, we might not show it because of a few old scars mom gave us, our pranks are because we really hate what she's done over the years." Edric explained and then shrugged. "And maybe we like finding new ways to do new things like Luz, but acting like how our mother wants us to, it always seemed the wrong way for us to be us."

"That makes so much sense. I always thought that you two were just liked to make me mad…but I can see where you're coming from." Amity said and let a few tears drop from her eyes, feeling tears form Emira and Edric hitting her head. "Thanks you two."

"Don't Mittens, we're family. We might not have shown it much but we do love you, a lot. So any plans for the Festival, we're working on the backgrounds for the play!" Edric asked and Amity grinned.

"I'm with my class tomorrow directing my Abomination to help construct the stands and attractions. And I think there's going to be a Grudgby game between the current team and some of the teachers like last year." Amity said and Emira nodded as Edric chuckled.

Edric held his sister and frowned, Amity's story bothered him more than he could admit. He remembered how someone who he had thought was their father had visited him with a small cupcake, he had said he wasn't at the party because the Abomination Coven had an issue he had to look over as the head. He didn't know what bothered him more, the fact that Amity might have been tricked or that he was, but he needed to talk to his father to find out what was going on here. "So we don't let mom know, let her waste whatever political capital she has and then go from there?"

"Yeah, I'd love that! I think grandmother would love to visit just so she could see mom's face when it blows up on her!" Emira exclaimed and Amity frowned and looked at her sister.

"Why does grandmother hate mother?" Amity asked and Emira snickered and Edric scowled.

"Straight out of a crystal ball drama sis, straight out." Edric said and Emira nodded.

"Yeah, she was kept captive in an insane asylum on orders of grandfather, when dad found out about it he brought it up to the Emperor anonymously and that's why granddad was petrified." Edric said and Amity blinked.

"Really?! And why does grandmother hate mom again….wait." Amity said and blinked. "She's mad that mom believed her father?"

"No, grandma thinks mom was part of the plan." Emira said and Amity's eyes widened. "Of course granddad said it was all him, all his idea but then he tried to attack mom, and we still think it might have been a pan between those two."

"She was put away before dad's parents and grandfather forced dad to marry mom, so the timing shows it's possible. I think she just tolerates her now, but she tries and she does that by making sure that she's not around her too much, not that mom minds." Edric said and Amity whistled, looking back a lot of interactions between her father and his parents made sense.

"Why did they want dad to marry into the Blight's, I never understood that?" Amity asked and Edric looked at Emira who shrugged.

"You're guess is as good as mine Mittens, I really don't know what our paternal relatives were thinking; if dad knew then he's not talking." Edric said and Emira nodded and she sighed.

Another mystery on top of what was happening with Luz, sometimes Amity thought they might be living one of her 'Good Witch' novels.

XXXXX

A teenage boy Elven witch with beige skin, dark brown eyes, and straight brown hair which is shaved at the sides in the Construction Hexside uniform moved through the school hallways, smiling as he walked. "Those idiots are really going overboard with the stand for the club at the festival, I didn't even have to lift a finger to do anything! I can't believe that Augustus even volunteered to man the stand for lunch!"

As he passed the Construction wing he looked down it and saw it was empty and let a scowl form on his face. I can't believe that I have to limit myself to this kiddy stuff here! I mean titan I was finished with all that stuff years ago! I knew the family is one of those who kept the lost arts that people lost over the years but to think that the general level is so low, I can't wait until we can attack and take this place down! At long last we will have our vengeance and I'll be able to destroy all those human lovers! He thought with a smirk as he turned away and walked towards the front door.

A soft whine caused him to smile at a vent and form a violet spell circle moments before a violet ray hit the circle and his mouth dropped open. I can't believe this, that human is a Jinxlirtic?! I thought those scum were all dead…..wait her dad was who?! I have to tell the others, this could be something to help get us back in that library after all! And to think after all these years Bump doesn't know about that place, oh Titan this is a true gift! Mattholomule you were so right to volunteer to come and spy on these losers! Mattholomule thought as he formed a brown spell circle and sent a bolt where the first had come from. "And to think that idiot believed me when I said I wanted power, no I want what my family wants, revenge on this school!"

Mattholomule walked off, laughing as he wondered how his parents would take this news. He never noticed that someone had seen him, he never noticed a teen female Elven with brown eyes, five freckles on her nose, and brown shoulder-length hair with some strands lying in front of her pointy ears in the colors of the Hexside healing track who had been hidden by a statue, she hadn't seen anything but she had heard everything he has said, and she was worried just what Mattholomule was after.

"I need to talk to Gus, I need to talk to Luz! They'll know just what to do, or they'll have some idea about what to do! Come on Bo, hold it together!" Bo said as she stayed where she was for a few minutes more before she moved and wondered just what she should do.

XXXXXX

Kalisisa sighed and locked down the last of the paperwork and sighed. I haven't seen such damaged outside of theoretical in years! I mean Titan help me I can only guess how bad her mother is, I hope there's no lasting damage. I need to call my teacher about this, but I need Luz's permission first. If she wants things to go back to how she was used to too I could understand but I hope she doesn't. She was already moving towards being one of our best students, if she's on the same playing field of the others there is no doubt in my mind that she will be one of our celebrated students when she graduates. She thought as she finished the last of the work she needed to

"Maybe I should put this into my notes tonight? I mean it's easier than everything but patent safety… I need to send in my prescriptions after the festival and someone will figure it out….I can talk to her tomorrow about this." Kalisisa said and sighed before a scream from her waist caused her to blush. "Goodness, is it that late?"

She got up and took a cloak from the wall and picked up a folder and smiled before she felt a breeze and turned slowly to see her window was open. That's odd, didn't I close that… she thought before she let go of the folder and dropped down, spinning around as she summoning a blue wood staff with nothing on top as she moved away from the wall a moment before something invisible hit where she had been moments before.

She got up and struck out and felt her staff hit something she couldn't see but moved in with another blow towards where she hoped the body was at least but instead she heard the wind as something jumped over her and she spun around and saw something land on her desk and papers fly off it. She moved slowly as she heard her opponent jump from the desk to the ground and rush towards her as she thrust her staff forward and she felt her staff catch on something for a moment before she was hit in her chest and she was pushed backward and she fell to the ground.

As she got back to her feet she looked around but before she could move she was pushed backward by nothing but force, her staff fell from her hands as she hit the wall. Before she could react her arms were grabbed and pushed above her head. As she struggled to break free the same Emperor's Coven member that had chased Eda and Willow appeared holding her arms with one hand.

"What do you want?!" She demanded as he brought a round stone against her ear before she blacked out. As she was held against the wall the Coven member pulled the stone away from her head and looked at the white energy line that came from her head and he cut the line, grabbing her and putting her down on the ground gently and bowed to her before he disappeared from view.

XXXXXX

"I didn't try and hurt anyone principle Bump, honest!" Skara said and her parents crossed their arms.

"And what did you expect the spell to do then?" Bump asked and Skara's parents scowled.

"You said someone was hurt, who? I demand to know who before this goes any farther Bump!" Skara's mother, Talis snapped. She was a tall Eleven woman with a shapely figure, dark brown skin and her eyes were like her daughters and she wore her pink gray hair loosely and wavy.

She was a member of the Oracle coven and worked to predict the weather. She was wearing a tight black dress as she said she was hosting a dinner that evening in a few hours.

"What does that matter, but the person who was hurt was Luz." Bump said and both adults stood up angrily.

"Luz, that human?! You brought us here because that round-eared was hurt!" Talis snapped and Skara winced a little, something her parents missed but Bump saw.

"I still can't believe that you brought us here because of that one Bump, but then I can't believe that you let her study here!" Skara's father Raphilx snapped. Like his wife and daughter, he was an Elven witch with dark brown skin but his hair was pitch black and his eyes were gold. He was wearing a grey robe, and he worked in the Abomination coven as a general manager, at least that was his 'public' job but Bump didn't think that was the truth.

"You're feelings on her enrolment aside; I can't let any student hurt another by choice.

"I didn't, I don't even know how that happened!" Skara said and Bump looked at her and sighed.

"What did you expect it to happen then?" Bump asked softly and Skara nodded.

"I was writing a song and I tried a spell to affect the pitch, I sang a high note and I could hear the vibrations, but then the ice in my drink was destroyed in a crack!" Skara said and Bump blinked, looked down and nodded. "And since she was using her Ice magic to help her team, I thought if I broke it would help my team win! I never thought that she would pass out because I broke her ice!"

"It wasn't breaking the ice." Bump said and looked down before he held up a hand. "I'm sorry but I need to think this out for a few moments."

As Skara and her parents watched Bump clasped his hands together and muttered to himself for a few moments then looked up at Skara. "What was the ice made from, water?"

"No, Beat blood." Skara said with a blush and Bump just looked at her before he nodded.

"Yes, that makes sense. If that's the case then… you might have saved her life." Bump said and Skara's eyes widened as her parent's mouth dropped open.

"What, but didn't I make her pass out?" Skara asked and Bump shook his head.

"It was a secondary effect actually; an old …injury that she got in the human world, the nurse even said it might have become fatal down the line so you might have saved her life." Bump said bluntly and when Skara's eye lite up and her parents frowned he barely kept a frown from his face. "But since one of our students, a Construction track student who had jumped to the top of the ice was still up there and you caused him to fall, I still have to punish you."

"Yes sir, but please not on my permanent record," Skara begged and Bump smiled at her.

"Very well then your punishment will be to work at the festival for a single shift in the morning at the Bard show, and how and why will go on your record." Bump said and Skara nodded as looked relieved and her parents huffed.

As Bump watched Skara walk off with her parents, he sighed. So all she did was find a way to let her crack organic ice when she sings a certain note, surprising. But then why did it affect the earrings….it must have had a drop of Az's blood in them, that must have been it. I can't punish her for that; I mean she didn't want it to happen. I'm just happy I was able to connive them that it happened because Luz is human and the note caused her to pass out because of an injury she had that Kalisisa was able to fix. Her parents are particularly interesting, I know I saw a hint of disgust about Luz's when I named her as the victim of the mother, and I wonder what Odalia will do with this information when she finds it? He thought as he turned and walked towards the meeting room and frowned when he saw Longrix walking towards him

"You seen Kalisisa around here old man? She's not at the meeting and she's usually first there." Longrix asked and Bump looked shocked for a few seconds.

"No, she wasn't at the meeting with Skara and her parents." Bump said with a frown. "That's not like her at all."

"We keeping quiet on what's up with Luz?" Longrix asked bluntly and then Blump nodded and Longrix groaned.

"Yes, for now." Bump said and smirked. "I see a chance in this to let that idiot Odaliawaste a few things to pass a law I've heard about, not knowing that I have an exception from the Emperor himself that gives the principle complete authority here."

"Nice, Gorm a part of that bargain?" Longrix asked and Bump shook his head.

"No, most schools have rituals like that, I just used something that happened during the Wild Age to make a bargain with him." Bump said and frowned. But where is she, she's usually with me to give the medical side as much as she can when things like this happen, I mean this isn't like her at all. He thought as he looked towards the Nurses Office. "Let's collect her and head back to the meeting, there's a lot to do and I want to finish this before we have to stay here too long."

Longrix just nodded and they walked in silence. As they reached the nurse's office they looked at the door and opened it before their mouths dropped open in shock. Kalisisa was laying against the wall with papers all over the ground.

As Bump rushed towards her Longrix activated a strength and speed spell as he looked around the room, noticing nothing missing but the signs of a battle caused him to frown. She's strong with that staff of hers, no sign of her palisman, so it had to have been somewhere else, so she was there… no sign of anything missing, the papers are thrown about, so that wasn't the target….so what did happen here? he thought as he looked around as Kalisisa started to cough and her eyes fluttered open.

"Hieronymus? Longrix? What happened…where'd the time go!? It was just time for the meeting with Skara's parents when I got up….. my head!" Kalisisa said as she put a hand to her forehead and winced.

"Nothing was taken, besides her and her staff this looks like nothing happened here… but I can see that someone attacked her." Longrix said bluntly as Bump looked at Longrix as he deactivated his spells.

"I just got up to join you with Miss. Skara and then I'm here, what happened?" Kalisisa asked weakly and Bump looked at her and frowned

"Easy, easy. Sounds like an extracted and forget interrogation…but who would….." Bump said and Kalisisa sat down and started to breathe easier.

"I remember hearing the old lady talk about that kinda use for memory extraction, isn't it just best used for within the day?" Longrix asked bluntly and Bump nodded.

"Then whoever did this will know about Luz." Bump said and Longrix looked at him before he nodded and looked around the room, trying to find why and how would have been behind this.

"Or they were after my paperwork, maybe my thoughts on them?" Kalisisa asked as she picked up her staff and sent it back to her home.

"I need to look into maybe getting some upgrades around here, maybe a complete redesign of the campus, it has been two hundred years" Bump said softly and Longrix smirked.

"Wait until the next semester Bumpy, I can make it a yearlong project for my classes." Longrix said and then smirked. "I could call in some of my brothers to give lectors or show them how it's done right."

"Good idea and I could look over the finances after the festival, see what money we have leftover." Bump said and Longrix smirked as Kalisisa took a deep breath and nodded.

"I'm okay, let's get to the meeting, just give me a minute to gather the paperwork I need to give you Bump." Kalisisa said and Bump nodded.

"End of the year work of course, so how did we do?" He asked as they left the room and Kalisisa smiled.

"Good, fewer student injuries and no deaths three years running." Kalisisa said brightly and Bump grinned.

"That's wonderful." Bump said and smiled as they walked off. All in all no matter what had happened in the last week everything was going well in his opinion. He had found the daughter of one of his oldest friends, his school was going to celebrate two hundred years of being open, he just knew that this was the start of something good for his school no matter what happened.