IN JUST SEVEN DAYS...
Technically six days given the date of this chapter, but I can't wait for the anticipation for the new Owl House season coming this week, including the celebration of Pride Month. And yeah, been avoiding some leaks like the plague. So if you people are one of the few that has seen the leaks, don't spoil them. Also after the chapter I'm gonna stop answering to guests questions.
I don't own Owl House, as it belongs to Dana Terrance and her corporal overlords of the House of Mouse. Enjoy the story.
Chapter 10: The Conjuring Conflict
"Attention students, don't forget that tomorrow is the Moonlight Conjuring. So if you plan to have a Moonlight Conjuring sleepover tomorrow night, better make plans for guests! And if anyone spots the Choosy Hat loose again, do not confront it!" Noises could be heard in the background "What's that? Oh no, it's eating Frank the Coffee Demon! Now it's going to eat me! OH MY TITAAAAA-!" The intercom was cut after a scream.
Amity heard the announcement and sighed as she held up her penstagram, it was about the scheduled Moonlight Conjuring party. She closed her locker, only for Luz to appear. "Gah!" Amity screamed."W-When did you come here?"
"Just now," Luz replied while drinking soda. "So, uh, are you gonna tutor me tomorrow night or something? Do I have to go to one of your famous 'Moonlight Conjuring' parties?"
"Y-You don't have to," Amity replied, looking at her penstagram. "Tomorrow I'm giving you a day off."
"Right, right, but thank Titan you did," Luz said, much to Amity's initial confusion. "Me, Willow, Gus and my trouble making friends are planning to have a Moonlight Conjuring ourselves tomorrow."
"Oh, well that's great," Amity said while looking down, tapping on her penstagram and posting something. "I'll see you after that then." She walked away.
"What, no snippets or sarcastic remarks?" Luz asked as she watched Amity walk away. "Guess Ms. Perfect is too busy to handle this girl." With that boast, she started walking away in the opposite direction.
Around the corner Luz met up with Willow and Gus. "So you guys ready to prepare for tomorrow's Moonlight Conjuring?"
"Yeah, me and Gus also got a new game to play while we wait for the Conjuring!" Willow said as Gus held a board game. The box art had what appeared to be an office building with a suited man holding a mug.
"Offices and Supplies, the RPG desktop game where you roleplay as an office worker class and use your imagination to solve the problems at the office, while learning the downside of work ethics!" Gus explained with excited curiosity.
"Where did you get a game like that?" Luz asked him.
"Oh, I got it from that oddly looking jackal demon hiding in the shadows," Gus pointed out and Luz spotted Anu Bist hiding in the lockers, secretly laughing as he hid himself.
"Yeah, maybe you should check if this game isn't magically cursed or something," Luz suggested to Gus.
"Oh goodie, if it isn't Luzer and her loser friends," said a passing by Boscha, who was with her posse. "Planning your pathetic little Moonlight Conjuring party?"
"Were you just standing there eavesdropping on our conversation like a creepy weirdo?" Luz asked, causing Boscha to frown but she didn't let it get to her.
"If you think that your Conjuring party's going to be anywhere near as good as Amity's conjuring party, think twice," Boscha stated while her posse behind her looked at their penstagrams. Skara tapped on Boscha's shoulder, but she shoved the hand.
"Uh, Boscha-"
"While you're doing your weird lame roleplays, we're going to be," Boscha said before she noticed that Willow and Gus were also checking their own penstagrams with shocked faces. "Hey! Quit ignoring me when I make fun of you!"
"More like making fun of yourself," Luz snickered as she looked at Willow's penstagram. "You sure you'll be having it?"
"Have what?!" Boscha demanded to know as Skara held her penstagram to her. "What is it that's so important on your penstagrams!? Better be some chimera playing a keyboard or-"
Due to unforeseen events, my Moonlight Conjuring party is canceled this year.
-WITCHCHICK128
A student who looked too old to attend Hexside due to his long beard is shown polishing a glass statue of a physique man.
"Finally, after getting myself held back for twenty years, my masterpiece is complete!" the old man student declared. "And I showed them that I didn't need magic to make art!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
The sudden screech caused the old man to hold his ears as he witnessed his glass statue that he worked for years on shatter into pieces. Once the screaming stopped, there was nothing left.
"Oh, ogre butts," he grumbled, "Janna from the Oracle Track always said that my work will be devastated at the hands of a sound of a screaming banshee after getting beaten by a bag of doorknobs."
After school, Amity was the only one in her assigned track class since the Abomination Track was still under repairs. Her assigned class here was the Illusion Track, the same track her… siblings were in. She was lucky enough that they don't bother with her too much, otherwise they would've-
"AMITY BLIGHT!"
Amity jumped up, her things falling from her bag that she dropped. She almost had a panic attack as Boscha marched in with Skara and the rest of her posse trailing behind.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Boscha held up her penstagram, showing the update made by the mint-haired girl.
"Oh, that." Amity said nonchalantly, quickly grabbing her books and things. "I had to cancel so I could focus on my studies."
"Forget the books, the Moonlight Conjuring at your place is something we've been planning for weeks!" Boscha declared, going up to grab Amity's arm. "What has gone into you!?"
Unknown to Boscha, that sudden grab set Amity off and she quickly shoved the triclop witch's hand away from her. "Don't touch me!" she cried out, shocking Boscha and Skara.
"Whoa girl, are you okay?" Skara asked.
"I just…" Amity didn't want to cause a scene in front of them, she didn't even look at them in the eyes "Look, I got to study more in order to make up a lot. The Abomination Track class is still under repairs, not to mention Professor Blanc's asking students for spare change outside the school. So sorry that I need to cut some dumb sleepover over my studies."
"Are you… is this about that human?!" Boscha pointed at her in accusation.
"What? No, I just need to-"
"Need to what? Study with that human thug?" Boscha spoke in a disapproving tone.
"Boscha, I swear it has nothing to do with Luz," Amity denied. "She has nothing to do with what I'm going through right now."
"Well whatever you're going through, get over it'" Boscha told her. "Cause this whole 'busy' attitude isn't going to cut it."
"I think you should reconsider, Amity," Skara said to the Blight girl.
Amity glared at Boscha. "I already gave you the position of Grugby captain, what more do you want? Why not start a Conjuring at your own house?" She was about to pick up her binder, but Boscha's boot was in the way. The triclop witchling got in front of her more.
"Fine, I'll let you play whatever game you're in," Boscha said while crossing her arms. "Just know this, you may be a Blight but you're not that big a deal if you don't follow the status quo of things." She pointed at Amity's forehead. "So are we gonna have a problem?"
Beat Boscha's getting up and personal.
"Do you have a bone to pick?"
Beat One push on Amity's shoulder.
"You've come so far." Her hands waved up in the air. "So why now are you pulling on my dick?"
Beat Skara, Amelia, and Cat stomped their boots.
"I'd normally slap your face off," Boscha said.
Beat "And anyone here can watch." Beat
"But I'm feeling nice, so here's some advice, so listen up, wiatch!" Boscha went to stand with the rest of the posse as her backup, hands on their hips.
(Music and lyrics to Candy Store from The Heathers Musical, with alterations of the lyrics)
Around the room, in visual, colors spread as Boscha was yellow, Skara was red, Amelia was green, and Cat was blue as they bopped to the music. Amity was purple, each matching their Coven Track colors.
Skara, Amelia and Cat: "I like!"
"Burning peeps, stealing from them for keeps." Boscha sang, demonstrating this by insulting one student and stealing his lunch money.
Skara, Amelia and Cat: "I like!"
"Playing hard, doming Grugby at the yard!" Boscha played Grugby against her opponents.
Skara, Amelia and Cat: "I like!"
"Skipping class, seeing Luz, kick her ass." Boscha came out of class and spotted Willow, putting a kick me sign on her back.
Skara, Amelia and Cat: "I like!"
"Killer nails, (Kicking dogs in the tail!)" Boscha gave a demonstration by shoving Barcus out of the way and scaring Gus with her nails. That's when Boscha turned to Amity, who was trying to pick up her binder as Boscha got close to the mint haired girl.
"If you lack the charisma, you can go read Azura, let your daddy give you cash." Visually Amity saw Boscha mocking her and her personal hobbies like Azura the Good Witch, as well as her father with a bag of cash for her.
Skara, Amelia, and Cat: "Whoa!"
"Or you could come sleep, over and conjure a creep, and hope to find where he keeps his stash." Boscha showed Amity what their Conjuring would've been like, summoning up a shady figure who offers them a "stash" in his windowless white cart.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" All the girls sang together now, surrounding Amity. "Babe, whatchu waitin' for? Welcome to my Cauldron Store!" They invited Amity to what appeared to be a gathering of moving cauldrons, where they popped up like abominations while dancing. "Time for you to prove you're not with Luzer anymore… then step into my cauldron store!" They pointed to Amity while also pointing to a portrait of Luz in comparison. Boscha drew a mustache on the portrait out of spite.
Amity backed away as she saw Luz, but Boscha got in front of her again.
Boscha Amelia, and Cat: "Humans all."
Skara:"Are so uncouth,
Amelia: "she can't be trusted,"
Cat: "that's the truth."
Boscha showed Amity the times Luz acted, fighting and beating up others around her. The three other girls agreed with her.
Boscha, Skara, Amelia, and Cat: "All you."
Cat: "Have to do."
Amelia: "Say goodbye."
Boscha: "To that Luz."
The quartet: "That freak's"
"Not your friend, she will only be your end." Boscha crossed her arms when she pointed out Luz's mean streak, reminding Amity the times Luz antagonized her since she came to Hexside.
The quartet: "If she-"
Cat: "Saw you drown."
Boscha, Amelia and Skara: "She would have you sink down!"
They surrounded Amity, while showing her a cauldron that displayed Luz leaving Amity to drown in a lake.
"'Course, if you don't care, fine! Go study her brain, maybe have her collared with a chain!" Skara sang, making the others look at her strangely.
The quartet with their hands up: "Whoa!"
"Or forget that whore, and come to the shore, where we can bring some pain!" Boscha sang with fire in her eyes while kicking sand castles the kids made along with her gang.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Amity was surrounded by cauldrons while the girls rose up in a snake-like movement. "Babe, whatchu waitin' for? Welcome to my Cauldron Store!" Boscha got close to Amity who stared at her third eye as it swirled hypnotically. "You just gotta prove you're not a pussy anymore…" Through the third eye was a frightened young Amity, who forms into Inner Amity who sang along with them. "Then step into my Cauldron Store!" The four along with Inner Amity sang together, making Amity back away.
Boscha in her grugby gear: "You're part of our team."
"You got the perfect score." Amelia and Cat pointed at the grades Amity makes.
"You can break their dreams." Boscha pointed at Luz, Willow and Gus.
"Or you can get stoned." Skara pointed at a mob holding stones targeting Amity.
"You can fly the staff." Boscha seen holding a staff.
Skara, Amelia and Cat: "Or if you prefer."
"Keep on testing me (and end up like her)!" Boscha looked red along with her backup, glaring down at Amity while pointing at Willow.
A rush of memory went past Amity, remembering a time at the birthday party.
"Amity, look!" Young Willow held up an application. "My parents have made it possible for me to get to Hexside! Now we can both study to be great witches!"
"Color me stoked!" Amity nervously replied, looking at the younger Willow.
"This is going to be a sitch!" Young Willow said before she disappeared, Boscha and her backup appearing again on swings.
"Whoa!"
Amelia: "Babe, whatchu waiting fo-"
"Shut up, Amelia!" Boscha shoved Amelia's swing while she sang. "Step into my Cauldron Store!"
Cat and Skara helped out Amelia: "Time for you to prove you're not going rogue anymore!"
"Oooh woah! Woah oh oh!" Boscha took off from the swing, did a flip. Amity spotted her binder and tried to grab it, only for Boscha to get in front of her again, with the backup girls swinging down. "Then step into my cauldron store!" They sang together. "It's a cauldron store, it's my cauldron." Amelia picked up a cauldron to pour sports drinks all over Cat. "It's my cauldron store, it's my cauldron!" Skara was on a chair, pulling a lever for a cauldron to pour water all over her. Amity tried to reach for her binder, but Boscha held her shoulder. "It's my cauldron store, it's my cauldron store!"
"Now do you understand, Amity?" Boscha asked as she held Amity's shoulder. "You can't let that human push you around. We'll have our own Conjuring, just not with you. But we'll chat with you later when you're done with your business or whatever." Boscha snapped her fingers for Amelia and Cat to follow her. "Ciao!"
Amity frowned when Boscha turns her back to her. She then spotted her binder, but it was picked up by Skara.
"Hey, is this your binder?" Skara asked. She spotted something in between the binding covers. It looked sharp and shiny, which alarmed her.
"Give me that!" Amity yelled as she snatched it from her. She pushed the sharp object back in.
"Amity, is that-?"
"None of your business!" Amity yelled at Skara, alarming her. She then sighed. "Look, don't tell anyone about this, okay?"
"But, why would you carry a-" Skara felt Amity's hand grab her upper arm as she was given a threatening glare.
"You didn't see it!" Amity seethed her teeth, showing her fangs. She saw Skara looking scared, which caused Amity to pull her hand away from her. "I gotta go." She quickly rushed out of the empty classroom.
Skara tried to chase her, but halted herself. She now gave a look of concern and fear after seeing the knife in the binder. 'What in Titan was that about?'
The next day, before the night of the Conjuring, Luz was with Eda and King to go get Eda's elixir. Luz spotted a worm-like monster getting into the containment cart after getting captured by some demon hunters. They turn to glare at Luz and King.
"Whatchu looking at, Eyepatch?" Luz called out. "Surprised that you're still in business."
"Oh you better not cross us, Luz." the leader of the demon hunters, Eyepatch, responded. "It won't be long until we find a way to lock you up!"
"Do that and I can do the same thing to you that I did to Tom!" Luz called out before she spotted the green man that she was referring to. "Hey, Tom!"
"G-Get her away from me!" Tom hid behind one of the other demon hunters out of fear of Luz.
"Enough, we have no time to deal with that twerp," Eyepatch snarled before turning around.
"Yeah, you better run!" King declared from Luz's hood. "And that eyepatch makes you look like a tool!" This made Eyepatch grit his teeth in irritation.
"Alright, enough antagonizing our enemies," Eda told them as she knocked on the closed window of a shop called Mr. Elixir. "Hey Morton, open up!" Eda called out before the store's window was opened by a brown haired, lanky young man with brown eyes who was very pale looking. He wore a funnel hat and a brown short-sleeve hood with a frog necklace and mint green arm sleeve gloves that were fingerless.
"Okay Eda, I'm open, geez," Morton said as he waved at Luz and King. "Hey Luz, King."
"Good Titan, Mort, are you looking well?" Luz asked him, noticing his pale look.
"I'm uh, just testing out some new medicine that came in, but they may be poison," he said while holding his stomach. "Ugh…"
"You really should stop doing that." Luz advised him.
"Enough chit-chat, where's my elixir, Morton?" Eda demanded.
"About that… the next batch won't come out until next week," Morton told her.
"Next week!? I can't wait that long!" Eda showed him her arm, which had feathers coming out. "The more I wait the more my curse is going to take over. I'll turn into the Owl Beast by the next day!"
"Okay, okay, just keep it down. But why did you wait until now to get your medicine?" Morton questioned.
"Well I've been busy… with a new job," Eda said, making Morton snicker. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, just thought you said job!" Morton chuckled until he saw Eda's look. "Wow, you are serious. That's like the 10th job you've tried before quitting."
"I don't quit every job I've had," Eda protested.
Flashback, 12 years ago
Luz was chasing King around the Owl House, until Eda kicked the door open while dressed in a fast food uniform while holding bags of food.
"Well, I quit the Newt Burger, but I did steal their food," Eda declared, referring to the job that she got just five days ago.
Fast forward to 9 years ago.
Little Luz was drawing in her coloring book along with King. Eda kicked the door open again while dressed in a traffic uniform with a red stop sign.
"Well, I quit that job to escort children through traffic," Eda stated.
"But what happened to the children?" King asked, causing Eda to come to a horrified realization.
"...Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!" Eda turned around to go rescue the children from traffic.
Fast forward to about 4 years ago.
Luz was now dressed in black with her hair more braided with King's help braiding them. The door was kicked open again revealing Eda in a burlesque dress.
"Well, my time as a dancer at the floor show is over. Now who would like some griffin wings I snagged for the week?" Eda was carrying bags of cooked griffin wings she stole.
Present Time
"In hindsight, that burlesque floor show got shut down due to health regulations and the dancers all but me caught the plague," Eda mentioned before shrugging it off. "But this time, I'm a groundskeeper at Hexside. That way I can be close to my little owl pellet."
"Mooom," Luz grumbled in embarrassment.
"Okay, outside from the shock that you have a job," Morton moved on. "I don't just recommend this to anybody, but you should probably try your luck this evening."
"At the Night Market?" Eda asked in a whisper.
"Yeah, guy who calls himself the Grim Hammer, if anybody needs something he'd have it," Morton told her.
"Great," Eda said with a nod, turning to her daughter. "Luz, I can entrust you to watch the house while having the Conjuring, right?"
"You're really gonna allow me to have it?" Luz asked. "On my own this time?"
"Thought you should, since Amity's not gonna tutor you this weekend and with you being on your best behavior from getting sent to the principal's office, along with the cash you bring in from the scam- I mean, sales, I think you've earned this."
Luz was surprised that her mother was allowing her to have the Conjuring on her own. She remembered last year when she, Willow, and Gus had the Conjuring and caused the house to come to life. Long story short, they tried to prank Amity's house that night while she had her Conjuring, but they were almost caught by the demon hunters. Chaos ensued and Eda, who was out in the human world to look for junk at the time, showed up to put a stop to it.
"As long as you don't conjure anything without me, of course," Eda instructed, patting Luz's head.
"Alright, listen up," Eda said while Luz had her friends gathered in the living room. Gus, Willow, Viney, Jerbo and Barcus were all present. "Since me and King will be out in the evening, I expect this house to remain exactly where it should. So do not try to revive the house, nor would you revive anything without me. Also-" Eda grabbed a small, green expensive looking vase. "-this is the last thing I actually care about not to be broken…" Then she threw it outside and shot a beam of magic at it, shattering the vase to pieces. "Now I don't have to worry about it. Luz, you're in charge. Flower girl, make sure Luz doesn't burn Hooty down. The rest of you-" She looked around at Gus, Viney, Jerbo and Barcus. "-nothing funny should happen here. And I'm pretty sure the lanky one is house trained." She pointed to Jerbo, "Okay, now I'm off." She left with King, closing the door behind her.
Luz, after a long pause, sprang up. "Okay, so since there's more of you than we need for a Moonlight Conjuring, and we can't summon anything until Eda comes back… who wants to see my slingshot?" she asked.
"What is a slingshot?" Jerbo asked, raising his hand. He's shown to be wearing an orange tunic with a gray long-sleeve shirt and blue pants with gray shoes.
"Follow me and find out, just outside the house by the tallest tower there," Luz told them with a grin as she led them.
"So how long have you two known Luz?" Viney asked Willow and Gus. She was wearing a brown tank top with a velvet cloak tied around her waist, cargo black pants and brown boots.
"We've known Luz since about four years ago," Willow answered. She was wearing a yellow jacket over her dark green shirt and black pants with boots. "I was about ten and Gus was eight when we met her."
"Since we've met, I've gained a lot of things from the human world," Gus said. "Like this mysterious puzzle cube." Gus held up a rubix cube. He was wearing a green tunic with black and white striped sleeves and a black belt, black pants and brown boots. "Like you just mix it up and put the pieces back together." Gus demonstrated by mixing the cube, impressing Jerbo and Barcus. The latter was wearing a red hoodie.
The group made it to the top of the roof. They saw a large, hand made slingshot with a chair taped down, the slingshot kept in place thanks to Hooty's assistance. Also there was a bag full of items to use.
"Behold, the Clawthorne Ultimate Slingshot 5000!" Luz exclaimed to her friends. "Magically enchanted to pick any target to sling at, with some useful items to shoot at your potential enemies."
"Whoa, I've never seen anything like it," Gus said. "Is it like a human thing?"
"Precisely, my young favorite illusionist dude," Luz confirmed as she grabbed a large red salmon with three eyes from the bag. "Watch as I demonstrate." She placed the demon salmon in the sling and a magic rectangular screen popped up. "I've had mom enhance this. Here's a potential target." Luz locked onto Boscha walking to a friend's house at Amelia's residence. "And ready to launch!" Luz was about to release the sling.
"H-Hold up, Luz," Willow stopped her human friend, preventing Luz from the sling. "I don't think it's a good idea."
"Whaaaat?" Luz said, surprised. "You mean you don't want to see Boscha's reaction with this fish on her?"
"I'm not saying it isn't, but don't you think it's a bit mean-spirited?" Willow asked timidly.
"Wha-no, no it's not," Luz denied, waving her hand. "Think of it as knocking her down a peg."
"Luz…" Willow gave her a scolding look.
"Come on, Willow, out of all of us, you should be more mad at Boscha for giving us a bad time. If I didn't step in to make sure she doesn't bother you or Gus when I came to Hexside-"
"Yes Luz, I remember how you started it," Willow clarified, shocking the others.
"I started?" Luz repeated. "I only did it because I was defending you."
"I didn't tell you to do that at the time," Willow argued back, putting her foot down. "This is the kind of thing that got you into trouble in the first place!"
"I think it's our cue to go…" Viney said as she, Jerbo, Gus and Barcus started to head back inside.
"But what happened back-Gah!" Jerbo was dragged down by Barcus and Viney while Luz and Willow continued to argue.
"Hey, I was only trying to defend you, Willow. I can take her words, but no one insults my friends!" Luz told her. "I can't just stand by and see you get hurt by others that would get away from it."
"I know, but I don't want you to go too far with your actions," Willow told her. "It's one thing to defend me, but it's another if you take things too far… and it's not just the pepper spray incident, but what happened at the Abomination Track…"
"What? There was no evidence that it was me, remember?" Luz asked her. "And even if I did, I'd only doing you a favor-"
"And let others suffer for it?!" Willow spat while pointing her finger at Luz's chest "Even if you didn't do it, I'd at least let you know one thing. When I saw Amity, she looked devastated from the incident. Even if we're not friends anymore, it doesn't mean that I could care less about her well being… I'll admit, I thought it'd be nice to see her get her short end of the stick. But knowing that you instigated it for my sake only makes me feel guilty." she sounded very upset when saying this, causing Luz to show concern.
"Willow, I-" Luz was halted when Willow went to head down from the roof.
"I'm going downstairs to play Office and Supplies. You're free to join us or use your revenge slingshot." Willow looked down, not facing Luz as she sighed and climbed down. Leaving Luz alone.
Luz looked vividly shocked from Willow's words, affected by them. She stood there in silence, her best friend just having just told her what needed to be said. She felt a feeling in her gut that started to rile up on her, a feeling that was called guilt.
At the night market, Eda and King were looking for the stand of the one who goes by the name of Grimm Hammer.
"Alright, keep on a lookout, King," Eda told him. "And be sure to let me know if you spot some extra change if you know what I mean."
"With these tiny paws, I can snatch their money sacks from where they wouldn't expect," King replied.
"Excuse me, miss…" Eda heard a creepy sounding voice as she turned and saw a goblin fella wearing a cloak. "Would you like to-GAH!" Eda kicked the goblin away from her.
"I've seen enough flashers around to know where this is going," Eda told the goblin.
"W-what? No, I'm not a flasher." The goblin opened half of his cloak, showing him fully clothed and some item bags. "I'm just wondering if you're interested in bootleg hexes."
"Oh," Eda replied apologetically. "Sorry, just that you were wearing a cloak and I thought-"
"No, no, I wore this so that I don't get in trouble you know? That's on me."
"Well not to interrupt this, but do you know where we could find the Grimm Hammer's stand?" King asked the goblin.
"Oh, I guess you don't know about what happened to it." The goblin pointed to the direction to where the stand is… or at least, was.
Eda and King saw a wrecked stand, which was caused by the large block that crashed into it. Eda's iris in her eyes shrank while King winced at the stand. Especially seeing the crying pig demon with glasses and a sweater vest.
"Nohoho!" the pig demon cried for his stand, "This was my family's stand! If I find who was responsible for this, I'm going to pop them! You hear me?! I'm going to POP THEM! EVEN IF IT TAKES ME TO CHASE THEM DOWN TO THE ENDS OF THIS REALM TO GIVE THEM A GOOD POPPING!"
Eda and King stepped back a bit. "Great… so how am I going to get my elixir now?" she asks while seeing her arm popping up more feathers.
"Hey, I know you two."
"No you don't!" Eda said defensively, turning to see who spoke to her. It was a brown skinned vampire teenage girl with dark hair tied in a ponytail, green eyes with noticeable mascara lines, a dark purple long dress and black knee length boots.
"Whoa, chill there, Owl Lady," the vampire girl said. "You may not know me, but that human girl with you does. Back when you two freed us from the Conformatorium."
"We did?" Eda asked, while King realized who she was.
"Oh yeah, I do remember her from when we went in to get my crown," King stated. "We freed a lot of prisoners in the process."
"Hey, you said you're looking for an elixir, right?" the girl asked Eda. "If you want, you can try my old man's place over there."
Eda and King turned to see what looked like is a normal sized black tent with glowing red lights coming from inside. It was covered up as privately as any secret, mysterious shop is.
"He normally has his own shop elsewhere, but takes his business to where ever one can sell, or whatever." She said as she waved her hand around the subject. "Well, I better get going. Got some material to write for my food love fanfics." She floated away.
"Well, I guess we have a new option," King said to Eda as she curiously walked towards the tent.
She went inside and saw that the tent was larger on the inside than it looked from the outside. There was a lot of stuff around on various shelves and tables, such as jars filled with lizards or eyeballs and stone dragon statues with glowing red eyes that caused a startled King to hide in his sack.
"So, uh, where's the shop keeper?" King asked.
"I've been to a lot of creepy places in my life. I don't know if it's the black and red color scheme around, but I'm used to something like this." Eda shrugged before her ear picked up a voice from behind the counter and a red curtain showing two shadows.
"You sure this will give me what I want?" spoke the one on the left, a short man.
"Yes, the Lion's Paw will grant you everything you want in life. It's even more effective than the usual monkey's paw."
"Well, I don't know…"
"Did I mention the Lion's Paw grants you six wishes?"
"Six wishes? That's more than a genie! I'd wish I'd known that sooner."
Something shook the man's hand, the paw-shaped shadow as Eda and King noticed a clock, the right hand turning back to one minute.
"Now you have five wishes."
Stepping out happened to be a hunchback man holding a lion's paw. "Well then, I'm convinced! Thanks for doing business with you, Mr. Ator." He shook the hand of the man from the curtain as he said this.
"It's no problem. And thank you for offering me the recipe of your granny-mama's goulash recipe." His voice sounded calm, smoothly relaxed, yet hypnotic.
"Well normally I wouldn't give away my granny-mama's recipe," the hunchback responded. "But I could wish for a copy of the recipe if I want to, but I'm gonna use this paw for all my needs!" He walked past Eda and King before exiting out of the tent.
Eda narrowed her eyes suspiciously, turning to the figure behind the curtain. The figure noticed her and spoke. "Are you here for something or just looking around? I do not tolerate on-lookers unless they're here for something." Coming through the curtain is a tall, skinny and pale vampire wearing a black turtleneck with a cowl around. His nose was angular and his pointy chin had a goatee, while his red eyes stared down at Eda and King.
"I was actually just checking the place out," Eda said, not looking intimidated about this guy. "I hear you're supposed to have everything that the demon pig does."
"Oh yes, it was unfortunate about what happened to Tibble's stand," the vampire said in a nonchalant, indifferent manner. "But then again, Tibbles was a jerk to his business. But hey, it's just capitalism, where everyone wins but him." He chuckled to himself. "His slogan, not mine. My name is Vanz Ator, whatever you need will be all here. You could say that I'm the new Grimm Hammer... but that name's just borish." He clasped his hands together, facing Eda as he lowered himself to her length. "Now what can I do for you, young lady?"
"Enough introductions and flattery," Eda told him. "I need an elixir that can get this curse away."
"Hmm," he hummed as he stroke his goatee. "Well, I do have one for you. And does your little Cubone want something as well?"
"Who are you calling a Cubone?" King asked the shop owner.
"My mistake, you just remind me of a small creature from my travels," he explained, turning his back to enter through the curtain.
"So... what's a vampire like you doing with all of these items?" Eda asked him. "And where did you get these from?"
"Oh, here and there," Vanz answered. "I have my ways of travel, just like you. Though not recently since my daughter was wrongfully imprisoned by that accursed Warden, so I've been making sure that it doesn't happen again." Vanz held up a potion as he talked, looking at it as he put it back. It was the wrong one. "I owe my gratitude to the witch who broke her out along with the others"
"Gratitude, eh?" Eda asked, a smirk formed from her face. "Would that someone be, I don't know, the wanted Owl Lady?"
Vanz stopped in his tracks, slowly glaring at her "Did you say... the Owl Lady?"
"Yes sir, the strongest witch of the Isle... at least from what I've heard." She played it up to not say it was her, but from the looks of Vanz's glare…
"The Owl Lady." He turns his body forward like clockwork. "The most wanted witch of the Boiling Isles, wanted by the Emperor's Coven. A covenless witch who refuses to join covens, known to own a hocus without a pocus. The Owl Lady who is said to be running tons of illegal operations, such as monopolies, Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, pocus schemes, gambling parlors, potion merchandising, human world merchandising, escaped imprisonment, and of course caused a jail break with a demon and a human child?!" He leaned down towards her and King, looking serious with a frown. His shadow loomed over Eda and King whom both back away from the man as he listed off what her crimes were. "And all I have to say is…" he slowly held up a round glass of the elixir. "Here's your elixir."
Eda looked at the elixir in his hand. "Um...do I need something of trade?"
"No need, consider us even," he said, shocking Eda. "Hiding under that hood won't fool anyone around here. My advice, at least wear something to cover your face, like those mustache glasses or simply a mask."
Eda looked at him and then the elixir, she saw the feathers growing more on her arm. "You won't call the Emperor's Coven on me, would you?"
"Like I said, Edalyn. We're even." Vanz turned his back on her. "What would I benefit in calling the Emperor's Coven to take you in? I do not run that kind of business, consider me a neutral party, as all I want to do is make business. You're happy to return if you are not satisfied on what you need."
Eda narrowed her eyes at him as she plucked the cork from the glass and quickly drinked it. The feathers disappeared from her arm, meaning her curse was delayed... for now.
"So are you like the devil or something?" King asks Vanz.
"Heh, not even close to the devil." He scoffed, crossing his hands behind his back. "Just a vampire who loves doing business for those that need something even if they don't know it."
"Right... well, see you never," Eda said as she left off with King while mumbling how weird he was.
Vanz chuckled while looking at a display, speaking to himself. "Another Clawthorne comes to me for aid, how interesting..."
Ring
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's me. Listen, are you bus-"
"He-hey on, I'm kinda busy with something with someon-GAH!"
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just… look, it's a bad time to call right now."
"But… but I need someone to talk to-" A loud crash was followed by a click and dial. Luz looked at the phone as she gripped it with her hand, then at the slingshot while still sitting on the rooftop. Everyone was having fun down there without her, but could Willow's words be true? Does she really take things too far? All she wanted was to have some fun and mess around with people that wronged her and her friends. Though Luz wasn't sure what to think, she was too busy looking out at some lights beyond the forest.
"You've been asked by the redheaded secretary that she needs some staples to put together some documents," Gus told the others as the board was set to play their game. "The only way to find the staples is through the supply closet, but you're currently working on an important paper. What do you do?"
"Flirt with her," Viney suggested.
"Ask if she has a key to the supplies closet," Jerbo said.
"Arf (Eat the leftovers in the trash)!" Barcus commented.
"I guess… ask your neighbor if they have staples for her?" Willow asked.
"Roll the dice," Gus said as the four rolled their dice. Luz came down to the living room and everyone noticed her. "Luz, are you here to join?"
"Well, I can if you want me," Luz replied, looking at Willow. "I-I came down because I realized that you're right, Willow. I'm sorry that I wasn't being fair to you and I do take things too far. Not with just Boscha, but Amity and everyone else that I've wronged. I just love you guys so much, I felt the need to protect you all, but instead I do more harm than good. I understand that the whole 'bad girl' image I play up stops being charming a lot of the time and can be problematic. I really should've taken your feelings into consideration. And you were right, I really should've admitted to having caused the ghost spill at the Abominations Track."
Willow listened to what Luz had to say and sighed. "I'm really glad you realized that, and I'm sorry for snapping you earlier. I did think your slingshot was cool."
"Yeah, I'm glad we can bury the hatchet," Luz said, shifting her eyes out the window and then to her. "So who wants to-"
"Hoot! You can't be around here!"
"Luz Clawthorne! You have a lot of nerve!"
Everyone paused when they heard that voice. "Luz, what did you do?" Gus asked.
"What didn't I do?" Luz said jokingly, but her friends looked at her suspiciously. "Alright, so I kinda used the slingshot, but it's not Boscha."
The gang goes to look out the window, shocked to see the demon hunters outside from the Owl House. Each of them with their weapons at hand, including their hooks and traps set. What was also noticeable about them is that they were covered in eggs.
"You've fudged with us for the last time!" Eyepatch shouted at the house.
"I'm sorry, did you say fudge?" Luz asked him. "Why not use the other f-word?"
"We're nomads, we have common courtesy!" Eyepatch shouted. "But we know that you egged us, and this is the last time your shenanigans reign upon us!"
"I'm gonna push every child off a cliff!" Tom declared.
"Hooty, keep those bozos away from the house!" Luz told him.
"You got it, Luz!" Hooty replied as he extended his tube neck in a snake like manner, and charged his head at one nomad.
"Alright, let's defend the house before mom gets home and we can all laugh about it later!" Luz said as she gave the command. "Now, let's get these guys out of my property!" She held her cards and kicked open the door as she charged at them. "Prepare for my steam attacks!" She was holding a glyph card containing the water and fire spell, slamming them on the ground to create steam in front of the group of hunters.
"Puddles, assist!" Viney summoned her large griffin to tackle against the hunters.
"Abomination, vine whip them!" Jerbo summoned as his abomination rose up and attacked them with large vines.
"Gus clones, trick them!" Gus brought out his illusions to play trickery around the hunters.
Barcus used a small cauldron he brought to mix his potions with his Oracle magic, creating a steaming mist of ghosts to haunt the hunters, scaring them away.
Willow spotted one hunter coming from behind the house. Her eyes glowed green as she summoned a grass root that sprouted around the hunter. "This is just like last year!"
"I know, such fun memories," Luz replied while swinging her bat at one hunter's face. "I wonder if Tom will get a concussion this time too." Willow used her vines to grab Tom and throw him away.
"YAAAAHHH!" Tom cried out as he was thrown by the large vines. The rest of the gang continued to fight against the hunters.
Luz avoided getting shot by the blasts from the hunters as she ended up back inside along with the rest. They wouldn't stop shooting their magic at them, while Jerbo's abomination was the only line of defense after Puddles was summoned back. Luz then stumbled upon the Office and Supplies game. She saw it glowing and she remembered that Gus got it from Anu Bist yesterday. "I don't think I checked to see if it's curse free… quick everyone, we should hold hands around the game!"
"What are you talking about?" Viney asked while avoiding the shots. Luz grabbed both her and Jerbo's hands.
"Just grab everyone's hand! We're about to do an emergency Conjuring!" Luz declared. Willow and Gus looked at Luz after hearing this, they went to her as well as Barcus, all back inside. Now all six of them held hands as they performed the Moon Conjuring chant around the Office and Supplies game. "Moonlight, we call, we sing. Moonlight, take this chance. Moonlight, come tie the string. Moonlight, start the dance!" While they chanted, their eyes glowed as well as the game.
"Ceasefire!" Eyepatch declared, the hunters stopping as his eyes narrowed. "Something's not right here."
The door suddenly opened and coming out were glowing giant versions of the gang. The hunters backed away when they see the conjured characters from the Office and Supplies game, resembling the gang. Jerbo was wearing a white button shirt with black tie and gray pants. Barcus was in a brown suit jacket with a brown tie and beige button shirt. Viney was in a pink button shirt and black pants. Willow was in a blue sweater jacket and blue shirt and black long skirt, Luz was in a velvet shirt and black pants, and Gus was in a black suit with a light blue tie holding a coffee mug that said '#1 Boss'.
Giant Gus took a sip from his coffee mug. "Let's show them how we deal with HR."
"Man, that guy was a weirdo," King commented as he and Eda headed out of the night market.
"Yeah," Eda agreed. "But he was helpful at least, since I got my elixir." She took notice of a short cloaked figure with green bangs. "Hmm? What's a child doing around this time of night?" Eda was also alarmed when she spotted the cloaked figure holding a knife under her sleeve. "King, I think we've found a mugger, a little short for one."
"Ooh, if we bust this mugger, we could collect whatever bounty placed on them!" King suggested.
"No, I think we should check this little mugger out," Eda said, deciding to confront the suspected mugger to see for herself and King.
Following the cloaked suspect, who was looking around, Eda placed her hand on the figure's shoulder. This startled the figure, who turned around and drew her knife "What do you want!?" she declared.
"Whoa, whoa, easy there… Amy?" Eda recognized. The hood had fallen down, showing the figure's green hair with her natural brown roots. "No wait, Amity! Yeah, you're Luz's tutor."
The figure revealed to be Amity was shocked, recognizing the owl lady. "Wha...what are you doing here?" she asked, her eyes noticeably tired.
"I should be asking you, what's a young witchling doing up around in the middle of the night?" Eda wanted to know as Amity's hands shook, including the knife she was holding. "You're not out mugging people?"
"What? No! No I wasn't!" Amity dropped the knife, looking afraid.
"Then why do you look all shaky?" King asked her.
"I-It's none of your business!" Amity declared as she hid herself with her hood.
Eda looked down on the knife, then looked at Amity's scared look. Realizing what's going on, she sighed. "You were looking for those muggers that have been striking at night, weren't you?" she asked. Amity didn't say anything. "Now, I don't know what the titled 'Little Miss Perfect', as I've been hearing you called around school, would be doing out here with a knife. Either that you are actually mugging other teenagers at night or you're after the muggers to face them yourself."
'Don't you dare say anything!' The inner voice inside Amity kept telling her, sounding a bit aggressive. She didn't look at Eda as she was too nervous.
"Cause I know a mugging victim when I see one," Eda continued as she patted Amity's shoulder and crouched down on her level, showing some sympathy. "Do your parents know you're out here?"
Amity was silent, which confirmed Eda's question given the guilty look in young witchling's eyes.
"Yeah, I figured," Eda said calmly to Amity "Look, how about I take you home and-"
"No!" Amity interrupted her, "Please, they can't know why I'm out here. Just… take me to your place. I can just… sneak back in tomorrow, they won't notice me gone anyway." She sounded a bit awkward on the subject.
"Okay, if you insist," Eda said as she summoned her staff while King was on her back "Hop on." Amity pulled her hood over her head as she climbed onto the staff and held onto Eda around her waist. Soon they flew off to head back to the Owl House. "How are you feeling though?"
"Like I was prevented from doing something stupid," Amity replied. "Coming out here on my own, I mean."
"Consider yourself lucky enough to be alive," Eda told her. "Getting mugged isn't an easy experience, kid. Did they hurt you in any way?"
"T-hey just took my things." Amity admitted
"Well, sounds like you got off easy." Eda told her, her face serious. "Cause they could've done something far more worse to you than just steal your stuff." Amity felt like her heart stopped from how Eda emphasized it. King didn't understand what Eda meant but didn't push the issue as it sounded serious. "If you feel like there's some things you need to talk about, I'm all ears, and King here can be your unlicensed-therapeutic animal."
"Helped with Luz when she had her teenage problems going on," King mentioned.
"HIYAH!" Giant Luz stomped on the ground, sending the hunters trembling. Back in the house the gang was still holding hands and using the Moonlight Conjuring to control the characters from the game. The living room now looked like an office, given it brought the game to life. "Haha! Isn't this fun? This is even crazier than last year!"
"Are you seriously enjoying this?" Willow asked, controlling her giant version of herself shooting staplers at the hunters to trap them. "Ugh, maybe Amity's right about you."
Giant Luz stopped before sending her fist at the flinching Eyepatch. She turned to the giant Willow who stopped along with the others.
"What?" Giant Luz asked. Unknown to the girls, both were speaking to each other while their characters were. Hence the roleplay part of the game. "Are you calling me a thug right now?"
"I'm saying that… I don't think you're being a good friend right now!" Giant Willow told her off.
"What?! I apologized and said you were right!" Luz responded.
"Only after you decided to egg these hunters who did nothing to you, or us!" Giant Willow countered.
"It's true, we're just doing our jobs! We're the ones innocent here-"
"QUIET!" Giant Willow shouted at the hunter who spoke, silencing him. She turned back to Giant Luz. "When will this end, Luz? When are you going to be satisfied until you decide to cross the line? How many paybacks does it take for you to be satisfied!? If that's the way you want to live your life, then I don't want to be a part of this any longer!"
Giant Luz looked shocked, tears running through her eyes as both characters disappeared, mainly because Luz and Willow let go of hands along with the others. Willow turned around with her arms crossed, while Luz was upset.
"Willow… I-" Luz tried to say with her words, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. She sighed, knowing Willow wouldn't be able to talk to her like this. She turned her head, looking out through the open door to see all the hunters knocked out, beaten, and traumatized. Also trapped by the vines. "I'm putting an end to this," she said as she marched out of the house, and walked towards the downed Eyepatch. "Hey, Eyepatch."
"Ugh, what?" he asked in his dry tone.
"Look, I know we have our differences and… I don't think any of us can keep up. I've decided to end this conflict, by apologizing to you and your gang. You all were innocent, you didn't deserved it this night, and for that I'm sorry. Tonight I was supposed to have fun with my friends during the Moonlight Conjuring, but I let my own anger out on you."
"Wow, that must be real brave for a delinquent like you to admit their faults. You're one interesting little human, I'll give you that." Eyepatch commented, standing up while holding his sides.
"So does that mean we're off the hook?" Luz asked him hopefully.
Eyepatch smiled, but then grabbed Luz and brought her to him, holding his sword. "I don't think so."
"LUZ!" the gang cried out, seeing Luz in trouble as Hooty prepared for the initiative.
"Hold it right there!" Eyepatch halted them. "None of you do anything! I may be a demon hunter, but the price for the Owl Lady is far more profitable than a demon! Using this human girl as bait will have her surrender to us! Hahaha! Just this sword near her neck will make the Owl Lady bend her will to us!"
"LET GO OF HER NOW!" Willow warned him.
"Or what? If you think of using that plant magic on me, I'd gut her!" Eyepatch threatened.
"No man, you don't understand! You shouldn't grab her like that!" Gus warned Eyepatch.
"Don't… you… touch me…"
CRUNCH!
"AAAAAAAAHHH!" Eyepatch screamed as Luz sank her teeth into his arm, making him drop his sword. He felt a kick below his belt. "Mommy," he squealed and Luz tackled him to the ground.
"LUZ!" Willow and Gus cried out in shock, seeing Luz beating Eyepatch in the face. Her fist pummeled him. Viney, Jerbo and Barcus were also shocked.
"Don't you…" Luz was seeing red as flashes of her memories popped up. It was like pure instinct had kicked in. "Rotten… bastard!" she cried out as she kept beating him until his fang broke, his nose was bloodied, and her knuckles were drawing blood. She was immediately grabbed by someone.
"Luz! Luz stop! That's enough!" Eda cried out, having returned to see what happened. She looked at Eyepatch's bloodied face while Luz struggled angrily and snarled. "Luz! Calm down!" she said as she hugged Luz close to her, binding her arms which struggled to be released. "It's okay, it's okay, I'm here," she hushed and Luz stopped struggling, calming down. She stopped seeing red and her breathing returned to normal. She looked at Eyepatch, seeing what she had done to him. King was there to hear his chest, giving a thumbs up.
"Good news, he's not dead," he confirmed. "Just knocked out."
Eda turned around and saw the results of the night's battle. She sighed. "Hooty, get these intruders out of my property," she said as she escorted Luz back inside. "You okay, hon?" She noticed that Luz's knuckles looked bruised up from the beating. A teary eyed Luz didn't answer. Once she was inside the house, she rushed past her friends and headed straight for her room.
"Is Luz going to be okay?" Viney asked, rubbing her arm in worry.
"She just needs some time alone." Eda responded, looking just as worried for her daughter.
Willow noticed someone else with Eda and King. "What is she doing here?" she asked, looking at Amity, who avoided her gaze.
Eda looked at Amity, then answered Willow's question with a little lie "Found her late at the library," she said, covering for Amity much to the witchling's surprise. "I thought I'd give little minty here a ride home, but she decided to spend the night here." She patted Amity's head, rustling it. Amity was not amused by this, but she didn't say anything. "By the way, on our way we saw some weird giants dressed as some kind of office worker… and with those hunters… do I even want to know?"
"Let's just say, we had a long night," Willow said solemnly, avoiding Amity's gaze.
"So uh, since you're here, Ms. Owl Lady, do you wish to partake in our own Moonlight Conjuring while the moon is still up?" Jerbo interjected, trying to lighten the tension in the room.
"Sure," Eda replied as she brought out a taxidermy squirrel. "Let's see if we can reanimate this squirrel. This guy owes me a lot of acorns before the hunter had him stuffed."
But Amity was more curious about what went down with Luz, as she had witnessed her beating up the demon hunter. She had never seen Luz lose control like that and she didn't know what to think.
Or where to sleep since she was spending the night.
Laying on her bed, Luz covered herself with the blanket while reflecting on her actions. She looked at her knuckles, still bruised and bleeding while she tried to wrap them with some bandages she had. She could ask for her mom to heal them later. But for now, she needed to be alone.
Luz looked from her side of the bed, seeing just the window and an old children's book she loved and remembered well when she was young. Next to it is a framed photo of her with a human boy.
Knock-knock
Luz was startled by the knocking. "Go away!" she shouted, her voice hoarse.
"Luz?" asked a voice, surprising Luz. She recognized it and climbed out of bed, going over to the door of her room to open it.
On the other side was Amity and for a moment the two just silently looked at each other, neither knowing what to say. Finally, Luz spoke.
"Hey, Amity."
And that's a wrap!
Thank you to BuckJohnson for helping with the beta-reading of this chapter. Also for his OC to appear in the chapter and the story, Vanz Ator, who appears to be in the role of the "mysterious shop keeper" that gives you what you want and what you didn't know what you need. And it appears that he's gonna be around for a while in the show. When writing for this, I imagine Tim Curry-like baritone range voice. And the "Grey" vampire girl at the Night Market is indeed the fanfic prisoner from the pilot episode. Also some conflicts, especially between Luz and Willow as it appears their friendship is in question. The argument between them is probably my favorite scene to write, along with the moment between Eda and Amity, which appears that Eda and King are the first to know that Amity's been mugged, and offer her to talk about it. And yeah, the scene with the "Cauldron Store" as a parody to the Heathers musical's villain song "Candy Store" is very noticeable, but fun to write. Also I wonder if anyone would get The Office reference...
If things can go well, I may have the next chapter made by the end of Saturday, through the right motivations.
And for this to answer your questions:
BuckJohnson:
Gotta admit, was not expecting you to make an Undertale reference. But overall, a pretty good chapter despite some grammar slip-ups here and there. What really stood out to me was Luz showing interest when it was mentioned that one could use voodoo magic to communicate with spirits of the dead. Making a prediction now: this is foreshadowing and Luz will eventually use voodoo magic as a way to speak to her birth mother.
Yeah, did based the Healing Track teacher from Toriel, but the complete opposite of her personality. And yeah, you'll be seeing much on about Luz's interest in voodoo.
RonaldM(not gonna type the numbers): What was the inspiration for the Demon Realm?
Watch the show.
The Great Fossil King: Nice Yu-Gi-Oh reference. So, did Luz ever been to a Moon conjuring before? Also, I want to see what Amity, Boscha, Skara, Cat, and Amelia are doing, and see if Amity still traumatize about the mugging.
Pretty much she had one with Willow and Gus from last year, which referenced to the canon episode. This year though, as you can see, history repeats itself but different results. And yeah, you pretty much get a surprise from reading the result of Amity's trauma.
Sunblast X: Is Luz going to play Grudgby?
That is something I haven't decided on. She would learn about Grugby, but probably think what's the point in playing with the Rusty Smidge. Seriously, that episode is pretty much Dana's rightful rant about the rules of Quibbish, especially with the Golden Snitch rules being completely pointless to watch the game with interest. One point for human sports over wizarding sports.
ultimate-drax: Astounding.
Love the inclusion of Anubis children and the many reference to mythological beings. That cow bitch sure got what she deserved. Toying with children's emotions is among the lowest things you can do. I do love seeing Eda as a PE teacher. But the highlight of that part of the story was seeing Willow outdo even Boscha. You go girl.
Looking forward to see more.
Glad you like it, and hopefully this chapter's good for your interest.
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