Luz and Amity step out of the Library after their brief battle against the man eating books. Luz takes out a scrap of paper from her hair and flicks it away, "My mom says reading never hurts. Wonder what she would say now."

"A lot of things," Amity answers, knowing about her situation with her mother. "But if I had to pick, probably about how terrible we are at babysitting a grown adult! She could be anywhere now! She has probably already transformed and is rampaging through whatever part of town and is already being hunted by a bunch of hunters or the Emperor's Guard and-oh."

Amity stops herself as she notices Luz's face now twisted in fear and worry for her master. "I-I'm sorry, Luz. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I shouldn't have insisted that we leave the house," Luz sniffs, "None of this would've happened. It's my fault she's missing…"

"It's my fault too, Luz! We can still find her before it's too late!" Amity timidly rubs her arm before muttering, "And you know I like it when you smile and you always are positive to set things right. It's what I like about you... So don't beat yourself up, okay?"

Luz blushes at the compliment and lets out a chuckle. Amity gets defensive by the response, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's sweet but," Luz grins, "It's kind of embarrassing to hear you say that…"

"You have some nerve, Noceda." Focusing back on the problem at hand, Amity pulls up her scrollphone to check the map of the area. "Earlier she said she wanted to get something to eat. There's a few places nearby but she wouldn't have any snails on her."

"That's alright, Eda says she would resort to pickpocketing or score a date for a free meal," Luz explains.

"Of course, she would…" Amity rolls her eyes, "Then we better start there. Let's go!" The two run off in search of their teenage guardian hoping to get to her before the curse kicks in.

Meanwhile, Eda wanders downtown after finishing her quick meal while still fuming about her spat with Amity. "Stupid library, stupid parents, and stupid burger joint leaving pickles in when I requested them not to!" Eda kicks the crushed can she's been toying with for a while with more force to vent her frustrations. The can flew further than she intended to and ended up falling into the street drain.

"Ow!" shouted a voice from below, "Hey, whoever threw this can it's mine now!"

"Ugh," Eda groans and tosses her empty burger wrap into the trash. She wanders down the street with her hands tucked into her pockets, unsure of what to do now that she lashed out against her 'parents.' She can't simply just head home like nothing happened. And she still needs a way to blow off some steam.

"C'mon, Skara! Just grab the ball!"

"Hm?" Eda hears the voice before realizing she's walking along a courtyard fence. Through the mesh, she can see three girls out in the sportyard with a few other kids around her age watching from the bleachers.

"It's kind of hard to do that when it's literally on fire!" Skarra protests.

"That's what makes it hard for the other team to intercept!" Boscha snaps back, "Third degree burns are nothing to losing a game!"

"Boschaa!" Skara whines, "We don't go back to school for two days! Do we really have to practice now?"

"A Banshee needs to be in tip-top shape! The fact we even struggled against those amateurs proves we need more practice!" Boscha grips the ball in her hands and squeezes it in frustration from the memory of their match against Willow, Luz, and Amity.

"Can't we at least take five?" Skara pleaded. "Cat still hasn't stood back up after receiving a hit in the stomach." She gestures to the girl lying on the ground while clutching her stomach.

"I feel cold inside," she mutters. "Am I dying?"

"What you should be feeling is the burn!" Boscha ignites her ball and spins it on one finger, ready to deliver another shot. "We still got another hour ahead of us, ladies! Now CATCH!"

Boscha drops the ball and kicks it with incredible force. The fireball soars across the court leaving flame trails behind as it heads directly towards Skara. The girl squeaks in fear and lets the ball through by diving out of the way.

"I got it!" Eda jumps up to intercept the ball before it could burn through the fence and fly into town. She manages to catch it with both hands as the momentum knocks her back but lands safely back down.

"Yikes, that stings." Eda shakes one of her hands away from the blackened ball like it was just a friction burn. Holding the ball in her hand, Eda gets a strange sense of familiarity with it. She tosses it up in the air and lets it travel down from one end of her arm to the other. Her body moves seamlessly in tossing it between her feet.

Everyone stares in awe at the new kid. "Woah, she just stopped Boscha's pass like it was nothing!" shouted one of the boys.

Boscha recovers out of her daze and scowls at Eda, "Excuse us, this isn't some playpit for anyone to jump in. We're in the middle of practice here."

"Huh? Oh, my bad. Think fast!" Eda arches her arm and gives it a good throw. The ball comes back to Boscha faster than she anticipates but manages to catch it in time.

"Wow! Nice throw!" Skara praises the girl before turning to her best friend. "Boscha! Why don't we let Cat take a rest and let this girl fill in?"

"What?" Boscha said, surprised. "Get real, Skara. Anyone can throw a ball. We're not here to play around!"

Skara wants to protest but she knows better to fight Boscha when it comes to Grugby. She apologetically looks at the girl and shrugs, "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

Eda replies back with a nonchalant shrug, "It's cool. Sometimes it's better to back down than risk it all, y'know?"

Boscha stiffens as those words pierces her pride like an arrow. "Excuse me?" she says, stopping Eda in her tracks.

"Oh, I don't mean anything by it." Eda slyly smiles like a hunter hearing their trap set off. "I mean, losing a match to some kid off the street is nothing compared to the big games. But I understand if you prefer to pass…"

Eda turns around then holds out her hand to catch the ball. The kids all gasp before turning their heads in fear at Boscha. The triclop keeps a stern expression holding back her fury and gives Eda a challenging glare. "Want to put your money where your mouth is?"

Eda spins the ball on her finger and grins, "Gladly."

~/~

Ms. Briar's door flings open as the owner and King both stand at the doorway both exhausted and roughed up from their landing. "Can't believe you had us land directly into a dumpster," King growls.

"Trajectory landing is not my strong suit," Ms. Briar agrees. The two crash upon the couch as the old woman kicks off her sandals. "Ooh, that's the stuff…"

"So," King stretches in his spot and looks over to the woman, "How about those elixirs now?"

Ms. Briar snaps her head to him like he just started gnawing at her couch, "Pardon?"

"Oh no! Don't you pull that on me!" King shoots up to his feet and points at her, "We had a deal, old lady! Now give me elixirs so I'll never have to talk to you again!"

"The deal was that you were going to help me break those two up!" Ms. Briar corrects him, "If anything, all we accomplished was making my Donny mad at me! Now he may never talk to me again!"

"I fail to see the issue here," snided King.

"You can keep talking that smack if you prefer I throw out those elixirs! Now you better come up with a plan that can get that woman out of the picture!" Ms. Briar gets off the couch and yawns. "Ooh, I need a good cup of tea. I'mma whip us up a batch. How do you like yours?"

"What any respectable man would want: milk," King leans over the couch as she enters the kitchen, "And with tons of sugar!"

He waits to hear the old woman start preparing the tea and carefully gets off the couch. He takes both his paws and slams them into his stomach, forcing him to regurgitate out a key he swiped from Ms. Briar while they were in the air.

"Sorry, old lady," King chuckles as he holds up the tiny brass key. "But that tea will have to wait! I'm coming, Eda." Clutching the key in his mouth, King silently but quickly runs up the stairs on all fours. Assuming if the lady is just as paranoid as she seems to be there would be no other place to store deadly curses than her own bedroom.

He takes a peek in every doorway he could find until he finds the one that reeks of old lady smell. King gingerly takes a step inside and looks around for anything where this key could fit into. Luckily, finding it isn't the problem as he spots a large dresser with a matching brass lock to a door.

King inserts the key and unlocks the compartment door. Opening it reveals the same type of bag Eda brought home from Morton's shop. "Score!" he triumphantly exclaims. He straps the bag over his shoulder and gets ready to leave. "I can almost taste that breakfast platter now!"

"And what do you think you're doing!?" King gets startled by Ms. Briar's shrill voice as she runs up to him and snatches the bag away.

"Hey!"

"Hay's for horses!" she snaps, "I can't believe you would try to steal from me! After everything we've been through? I thought we were bonding like… partners in crime sort of thing!"

"I already have a partner in crime!" King retorts, "She never charges me rent! She lets me eat her food even when it's on her plate! And she lets me sleep in her own hair! Eda's family to me and she needs those elixirs!"

"I don't care! No one tries to swindle me in my own home! You can forget about ever getting these elixirs back!" said Ms. Briar while shaking the bag in front of him. "The only family I care about and have is my baby boy! And nobody, and I mean nobody, will stop me from ruining his LIFE! AHAHAHAHAHA-"

"YAAH!" King lunges at Ms. Briar's face and scratches at her.

The woman screams and tries to pry him off with one hand while still clutching onto the bag with the other. She stumbles around before exiting into the hallway as King moves on to pull at her hair. "Get off of me! Get. OFF!" she screams.

"Hand over the bag, you old bag!"

"Nev-errRRRrrr!" Ms. Briar takes a step back at the stairway and falls over. King flies off as the woman screams while her body slides down the steps as she lets go of the bag before flinging it to the air. Ms. Briar manages to see it soaring ahead of and outstretches her arms to catch it before the last steps come up.

The bag safely lands onto her hands as she slides out from her fall. She lets out a sigh of relief, "Phew, that would've stained the carpet."

"GIMMETHATBAG!" King screams as he jumps onto her head before the woman continues screaming again.

Both of them continue their struggle for the bag with them knocking things over and slamming into walls. Ms. Briar picks King up and brings his back down onto her knees. He howls in pain before she drops him and raises her arms in victory like a wrestler in a ring before King crawls over and bites onto her ankle.

As the two fought, a loud piercing sound rings throughout the house and ceases their battle as Ms. Briar jumps in fear. "Ah! What was that!?" she screams.

"Isn't that your doorbell?" King replies.

"Oh, right. It's been so long." Their head turns as they can hear the door being unlocked and opens.

"Mom? Are you home? I want to-what in the world!?" Donald Briar freezes at the sight of the living area before settling his eyes on King and his mother. His fiance peeks over his shoulder and waves to the little cute demon.

"I uh…" Ms. Briar clears her throat as one of the hanging picture frames falls down and shatters. "I can explain."

~/~

"That was AMAZING!" one of the boys shouted after the match was concluded between Eda and Boscha. It had been an even match with one obtaining a score after the other but in the end Eda managed to sink in the winning shot.

The group treat themselves to some frozen drinks before strolling down the road. Boscha is upset at being bested by some random girl but admits it being the best game she ever had. "Not bad," she says, "But just so you know, you only got lucky with that last one."

Eda could've egged her on, but catches Skara drawing her finger across her throat. "Eh, sometimes luck's all you need. I can see why they made you captain," Eda said before taking a sip from her cup.

"Are you from around here?" Boscha asks, "I don't think I've ever seen you at Hexside before."

Eda frowns to herself in trying to recall. Unknowing to her, the potion has severely warped and suppressed her memories. She could only recall her times spent with Amity and Luz while only bits and pieces of her real life bleed through the cracks. Only obscuring the memories even more.

"I… think I'm homeschooled." Eda stabs her cup with a straw and sighs, "My parents are pretty possessive. Too young to take care of me…"

"Wasn't asking for your personal life," Boscha said, bluntly. Skara frowns and elbows her friend to try again. "Ow… I mean… It's a shame, I guess. We could use someone like you in our team."

Eda smiles, "Oh yeah? You wouldn't want someone to take the spotlight from you?"

"You could try," Boscha takes a sip before looking around the area as the others chat away. Her eyes catch a door opening and sees a familiar girl stepping outside with a potted plant in her hands. Her eyes narrows at Willow smiling at her plant before heading in the direction of her home.

Feeling like having some fun, Boscha lightly elbows Eda for her attention. "Hey, wanna see something funny?"

Eda frowns inquisitively before Boscha points at Willow strolling on the other side of the road. "Oh, hey cool plant! Is that like a rare species or something?" Eda wonders out loud.

"Let's hope it's not too rare…" Boscha conjures a spell causing the shoelaces on Willow's sneakers to untie before retying themselves together. The girl trips over herself and falls face forward onto the sidewalk with her plant smashing against the concrete.

"Ah, no!" Willow crawls over to the plant and tries to tend to the plant carefully while scooping up the dirt. She hears the familiar laughter and scowls, "Boscha…"

"Hey, check it out everybody!" Boscha calls to her group, "A faceplant!"

Willow angrily turns her back on them and tries to suppress her tears while continuing to save her plant. Just ignore them… she says to herself.

"What the heck was that!?"

"Huh?" Willow looks over her shoulder to see the girl with the large orange hair standing up to Boscha.

Boscha isn't amused at her reaction and sneers, "What's your deal? It was just a joke."

"You call that a joke?" Eda snaps, "That girl hasn't done anything to you! You could've seriously hurt her! And you ruined her plant!"

Boscha feigns her mortified surprise and leans back with her hand on her forehead in dramatic fashion. "Oh no! Anything but the plant! Oh woe is she! Hahahaha!"

Eda clenches her teeth while glaring daggers at them. Her expression softens as she smirks at Boscha and says, "Guess I was wrong about you."

Boscha narrows her eyes at the new girl who turns her back to them to go and help Willow out. "What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"Oh you know," Eda looks over her shoulder, "For thinking you guys were cool and all." She shrugs, "My bad."

"Ah," Boscha scoffs, "You wanna come back and say that to my face?" Eda pays her no mind and continues walking to Willow. Boscha tightens her grip on the ball and bares her teeth. "Hey, new kid! I'm talking to you!"

"Boscha, wait!" Skara tries to stop her but is too late as Boscha throws the ball.

Eda spins around to extend her hand and stops the ball instantly with the aid of magic. "Oh, you shouldn't have done that," she grins. The ball flares up in bright golden flames before incinerating into ash. Eda cups the ashes in her fist and blows back at the group before creating a spell sigil to enchant the ashes.

The kids all cough and sneezes with ash flying up their noses while barely paying attention to the magic affecting the straws of their drinks. Boscha is the first to notice as the straw grows long and takes a solid form. An owl face matching Hooty's features appears on them as it snakes its way around her arm.

"Ah!" Boscha drops the drink and screeches. The group all do the same as some of them try to pry off the creatures while one of the boys falls to his knees as the Hooty-like snake crawls into his mouth.

The group all runs away screaming for their dear lives, leaving Eda and Willow behind.

"Huh," Eda admittedly didn't expect any of that to happen. "Do I, like… create owls or something? Or do I summon them?"

"Thank you for standing up for me." Eda turns back to the girl giving her a grateful smile before resuming her attempt to save the plant.

"No probs, here let me help." A memory of a certain spell comes to her mind for the occasion. Eda conjures the spell and watches the broken pottery coming together along with the dirt and the plant. As if time itself rewound, the potted plant sits before them without a single crack or a speck of dirt spilled.

"Whoa! " Willow cheerfully picks up the pot, "It's good as new! How can I repay you?"

"Eh, consider it as an apology." Eda shrugs before shooting a glare where the kids ran off. She scratches her head and mutters, "Didn't know I was hanging out with a bunch of jerks…"

"If you think that's bad, you should see her during Grudgby season." Willow takes another look at Eda and squints her eyes, sensing something off about the girl before her. "Have we met before?"

"Don't think so? I've only been around recently," Eda shrugs.

Willow still couldn't put her finger on it. It was like trying to look at an abstract art and see what someone told her they saw. For some reason she could only think about Luz's home. "Sorry, maybe I was just thinking about how you kind of remind me of my friend. She always sticks up for me when Boscha starts antagonizing me at school."

"Oh, yeah?" Eda asks, intrigued. "Is she as cool as me?"

"She's pretty cool," Willow smiles, "She's from another world and is studying under a wild witch. Plus, she makes funny character impressions but I never heard most of them before."

Eda whistles, "Did you say a wild witch? Sounds dangerous… where does she live?"

"At the outskirts of town, in a big house guarded by a dreadful door demon." The voice draws their attention over to Lilith stepping out from an alley. Her accompanying guard, Steve, holds out a cross-out sign to redirect citizens from interfering. "Of course, you would know. Wouldn't you, Edalyn?"

Willow feels like she had just been called into the principal's office and shifts uneasily under Lilith's gaze. "The Emperor's Coven!" Willow gasps and looks back at her friend, "Did she just say Edalyn…?

Eda doesn't back down and stares back at the woman. She doesn't recognize her at all but feels a confliction of emotions rising within. Most being irritation. "Do I know you?" she asks.

Lilith scoffs and rolls her eyes, "Very funny. I suppose you thought I wouldn't recognize you in this? Who do you take me for, exactly?"

Eda shrugs, "Iunno. Probably someone old and nosy?"

"Old!?" Lilith exploded. "You're not that much younger than me!"

Eda scoffs, "Yeah, maybe in eighty years or something."

"I'M FORTY-ugh," Lilith ceases her temper before letting herself be played by her sister's games. "I don't know what silly antics you're playing at by taking that form of yours, but it'll do little to trick your own sister. If you're done making a fool yourself then-"

"Sister!?" Eda's face couldn't be sure whether to be disgusted, afraid, or sad for this senile woman claiming to be her relative. She looks over to Willow and spins a finger at her head while silently mouthing, "Cuckoo cuckoo!"

"Stop it!" Lilith shouts at her. "We've been through this enough times for you to be familiar with the easy way. The Emperor is growing impatient, Edalyn, and I can't keep coming back to him empty-handed! Come with me now, or I'll be forced to settle it the hard way."

Willow fearfully looks between the two and backs away slowly. But Eda just shrugs her threat off as a bluff. "Yeah, look, I think you got the wrong person, lady. I'm just a shut-in runaway trying to enjoy what little freedom I have before my parents find me and ground me for life. So if you don't mind, me and my new friend here are gonna bounce and do uh… whatever it is she wants to do."

"I was going to do a bit of gardening," suggests Willow.

"Aww, you have your own garden?" Eda asks, turning her back to Lilith and ready to walk out with Willow. "Can I see it?"

Lilith grips her staff in trembling hands. Her temper renewed by her sister's blatant disrespect and mockery while under the guise of feigning ignorance of their past together. "Fine," she growls, pointing the staff at the girl's back. "Hard way, it is then."

Despite her anger, Lilith fires a simple concussive blast meant to only grab Eda's attention. However, when the girl notices the attack and tries to protect herself with a magical barrier, the spell rips through it like paper mache. The blast hits Eda and sends her flying to the ground.

Willow lets out a terrified scream as Eda slowly raises her head. Her vision blurs before coming back to focus on the witch who attacked her. "What the heck!? You trying to kill me?"

Lilith blinks and slowly raises her staff. "You were supposed to stop that…" Her voice is barely a whisper. In her previous battles with Eda, an attack like that is nothing more than a jab. How could she be caught off guard by it? Is she testing her?

Eda rises to her feet and wipes the dirt from her face. "So you're not above swinging at a kid, huh? Well, just so you know, I'm afraid of swinging back!" Eda conjures up a few golden spheres and launches them at her.

Of course, the attacks are much weaker than Lilith is used to. She easily deflects the magical orbs away with her staff. Redirecting them into the ground area around her without causing any damage to buildings or civilians that could be around.

Seeing them bounce away like harmless pellets infuriates Eda. She slams her spell glyph onto the ground and creates a living earth-mold of Hooty beneath her. The mold lifts Eda up into the air and stretches her around to give her an aerial-advantage to her magical attacks.

"What are you doing!?" Lilith shouts at her, unsure whether to be confused or annoyed at her unusual methods. "Are you even taking this seriously?"

"Oh, I'm taking it aplenty seriously!" Eda raises her hands together to concentrate her energy together. Forming it like a Grudgby ball, but capable of incredible combustion, Eda swings her arm back and throws it.

Lilith sees the attack coming before her and sighs in annoyance. "Really?" she mutters. With a twirl of her staff in one hand, she bats the ball towards the outstretched neck of the Hooty-mold.

The ball detonates and blasts the mold into pieces, causing the entire structure to shatter instantly. Eda falls to the ground screaming and painfully lands on one her right knee. A sharp cry of pain from her lungs sends shivers down Lilith's spine and gets her running to her.

"Eda!? Are you alright?" Lilith asks in genuine concern, all the battle adrenaline and aggression disappearing in fear of her hurting her own sister. Eda clutches her knee to soothe the pain but when Lilith tries to reach out a hand it gets slapped away.

"Get away from me, you freak!" Eda screams at her.

Lilith is visibly struck by those words. Her eyes wide and her mouth agape in shock. Despite their differences. Despite all the mockery and teasing her sister shares, she had never called her that before. Staring at the girl who looks back at her like a stranger, it became clear to her now.

"You… really don't remember me?" Lilith asks her. "What happened to you? Is this a result of the curse?"

"Seriously, what are you talking about!? What curse?"

"You don't remember anything…" Lilith wonders if this form of hers was Eda's desperate attempt in curing it. Had she been looking for a way to be rid of it forever on her own? All this time Lilith thought Eda was carelessly ignoring her problem. Is that why she's been so adamant at refusing her offer?

Clearly, to Lilith those desperate attempts are no closer to the solution than her's. Raising her staff, Lilith conjures a spherical barrier entrapping Eda inside. "You always prefer to face your problems alone, but I'm afraid I'll have to take charge from here."

Eda bangs her fist against the barrier, "Let me go! You can't do this!"

"There's no point in resisting," Lilith warns her, "I have long surpassed that form of yours. You can't break this spell with that level of magic. I don't know what happened to you but I promise once I take you to the Emperor he will fix everything."

"Ugh, seriously are you trying to triple the wrinkle count with that scowl?"

Lilith angrily flusters and flares her nostrils. "... Funny, I was just thinking how it's already past your bedtime." She channels electricity into the sphere and shocks Eda in an attempt to incapacitate her.

Willow covers her mouth as Eda lets out a painful howl. She couldn't bear to stand by anymore and runs over to Lilith. "Wait! Please let her go!" she pleads while tugging at Lilith's robe.

"Stand back!" Lilith raises her other hand and blasts a weaker concussive force to push Willow away. The strength is still too much for her as it sends flying back a few feet into the dirt.

Helpless to act and humiliated by this crazy witch, rage fills within Eda's veins. Something stirs inside, a source of power that is faint yet familiar. Suppressed somehow. Desperate to help her friend and to break out of this barrier, Eda focuses on drawing it out using her emotions.

Lilith senses the familiar power and sees the golden outline of her magical prowess manifesting around her. She channels more power in strengthening the barrier. "Stop! If you use too much magic you'll-"

"Leave. Her. ALONE!" Eda releases the pent up energy and shatters the barrier. The force pushes Lilith back and sends her staff flying out of her hands. Eda takes a moment to breathe before grinning at the bewildered witch.

"Try surpassing that! Now you're gonna get what's coming to-agh!" Pain flares throughout Eda's body as her renewed strength dissipates. The pain spreads throughout her body forcing her to go on all fours.

The harrowing scene is all too familiar to Lilith. She stares at the scene replaying the memory that has haunted her for years. Eda's arms sprout feathers rapidly as the transformation sets in. What stands before her now is no longer the young version of Eda but the Owl Beast. Scared and confused, Eda lets out a whine.

Lilith slowly rises to her feet. Her mouth parted but no words to speak. All the emotions she felt that day of the tryouts comes back to her. Shock, terror, pain, and guilt.

Steve, casually and unaware of the transpired events, rushes to Lilith's side. "Phew! Sorry I wasn't here! Honest to Titan, there was a family of ducks crossing further down the road. Would've been cute if they weren't ten feet tall." Steve looks to Lilith for a response but finds her gaze focusing on the Owl Beast and the devastated area around them. "... I missed something, didn't I?"

Paying him no attention, Lilith approaches the scarred Owl Eda and gently cups her face. "Oh… dear sister. To think I would be forced to see this again…"

Owl Eda still has most of her mind intact after the transformation but finds comfort in her sister's hands. She tries to speak but it only comes out in unintelligent growls.

Lilith pities her sister and takes a moment to compose herself. "But things are different now. I can fix this. He will fix this. Once the Emperor rids you of this curse everything will be back to the way it was. We can finally be a family again."

She conjures a magical leash and tightens it around Eda's neck to stop her from running off. Eda tries to pull away but Lilith drags her over to her Steve. "We must get ready to head to the Emperor's castle at once. Steve, I need you to acquire a reinforced caravan for transport while I take Edalyn to the nearest precinct to keep her away from the locals. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Steve salutes her and immediately heads off.

Lilith remembers about the child Eda was with and looks around to see if she's still lingering. Seeing Willow nowhere to be found, she shrugs it off and pulls her sister along to head over to the station.

Willow peeks around a building she was hiding behind. Watching Luz's poor mentor being dragged against her will. "Luz!" Willow realizes she must be around if Eda was here. She needs to know what happened to her. Seeing the coast is clear, she takes off in desperate search of her best friend.

~/~

"For the last time! I'm asking if you saw a bright orange girl here!" Luz shouts into the open mouth of a demon being used as an intercom for the burger joint to transmit the order inside. Amity stands behind her with her face in her own hands.

The voice on the other picks up, although heavily distorted. "Number2mediumwithnopicklesextraonionsandorangesodawithnoiceisthatright?"

"What? No! That's not at all what I said! Are you even listening?"

The intercom went quiet for a while before it blares, "Pulluptothenextwindowandwe'llhaveitready." The Demon shrugs as Luz lets out an annoyed groan and walks back to Amity.

"Well, that crosses this one off the list," Luz comments.

"Luz! Amity!" The two perk their heads over to Willow running towards them as fast as she could.

"Willow?" Amity notices, "What's wrong?"

The girl stops before them to catch up her breath. Impatiently she wheezes, "Eda… she's… been taken!"

The girls shouted, "What!?"

Willow explains everything to them. From the time she met Eda to when the Emperor's Coven showed up and to her transformation. Luz clutches at her own arms while feeling sick to her stomach. "No… how could we let this happen? This couldn't get any worse!" Luz desperately looks to Willow and asks, "Where are they now? Have they left town yet?"

"They're taking her to a precinct first before transporting her to the Emperor's castle," Willow replies.

"Then we still got time…" Luz paces back and forth trying to clear her mind and think of something. "Okay, no problem. We'll just have to free her! It won't be easy to sneak her away but maybe if we train Eda to stand on two legs and wear a trench coat then we could-"

"Luz," Amity steps up and snaps her out of her mind, "You're not seriously thinking of intervening, are you?"

Luz looks back at Amity like she had just said something crazy, even for her. "Of course, I am! We can't let the Coven take her in," she explains.

"But why not?" Amity shakes her head, "Isn't this good news? Eda is not being arrested, she's going to the Emperor for treatment. If there's anyone who might know a way to cure it, it would be him!"

"But that's only if Eda joins the Emperor's Coven!"

"And that's supposed to be a bad thing?" Amity couldn't understand the motivation behind Eda's rebellious lifestyle. Despite her acknowledging Eda to be extremely powerful and knowledgeable, the practice of wild magic is a taboo and a grave misuse of the Titan's blessings.

"Luz, I know you respect Eda and I do too, but you cannot seriously think that she's in the right here. Her sister is in the most respectable position of the coven and is handing a spot to her on a silver platter! How can she just stay being a wild witch if joining the coven means she gets to have the freedom of practicing all forms of magic legally, have access to a wealth of information and magical relics, a respectable high-paying job, and a dental plan! Who in their right mind would refuse such an offer?"

Luz is at a loss for words and looks to Willow for support but only receives a shrug. "I'm with Amity on this one, Luz. The reason why I was put into Abomination Track was to hopefully increase my chances at getting into the Emperor's Coven. It's the ideal one to be in."

"I… look, I don't know enough to speak on Eda's behalf as to why she doesn't want to join. But it's not what Eda wants. She shouldn't have to be forced to join a coven just to get rid of her curse!" Luz could tell Amity still doesn't understand but doesn't blame her. Being in the Emperor's Coven is her lifelong dream and she's working hard in school to hopefully be accepted.

Amity is just as desperate to stop her from making a grave mistake. "Luz, you know what you're talking about here? Intervening with the coven's affairs is a serious offense! Not to mention you would have to go through Lilith Clawthorne! One of the most powerful witches in the Boiling Isles! How can you expect us to stop them?"

"I didn't say anything about us," Luz replies.

Amity and Willow went pale by those words. To Willow it came as a surprise that Luz is considering doing this alone. For Amity however, she felt as if someone took a piece of her heart away.

"You're going at this alone?" Willow said in wide eyes.

Luz simply nods as she couldn't bring herself to ask for their help. It would be easier and more comforting to have her friends by her side but Skara's words still remain in her mind. She can't drag them into trouble again.

Luz looks to Amity again, nearly at a loss again to see the pain etched across her face. Is she that worried for her? She tries to calm her by putting on a smile, "Amity, it's alright. You can head back to the Owl House and wait for me there. You can let King know me and Eda will be back shortly."

"No," Amity shakes her head, "No! I can't let you do this! Please reconsider! Maybe we could just talk to Lilith and-"

"From what Willow told us, she doesn't sound interested in hearing anyone else out. She's clearly getting desperate." Luz takes Amity's hand to comfort her and says, "It's ok! This isn't the first time I broke Eda out of prison."

"What do you mean this isn't the first time!?" Amity shouted, incredulously. "What the heck do you guys do when I'm not around!?"

"Probably shouldn't have mentioned that…" Luz shrugs while catching Willow being equally as baffled as her. "The point is, I can't risk you guys getting involved. Especially you, Amity. I know how much you want to be in the Emperor's Coven. I can't stand in the way of your future. I'm not going to hold it against you if you prefer to stay out of it."

"I don't like the idea of doing something illegal," Willow intervenes, "But I'm not going to leave my friend's mentor behind. I can show you where they're taking Eda but that's about as much as I can do. My parents are expecting me home soon and I don't want to make them worry, let alone get arrested for a breakout."

"Thanks, Willow." Luz looks to Amity hoping she would help out as well, but only sees distraught in her eyes. "Amity, I'm telling you it's okay if you don't want to help. Just trust me, okay? I'll be back before you know it."

What else is there for Amity to say to her? Is she even in the right to stop her from saving her own master? After everything they did for her? And yet, Luz is willing to let her stay out of it because she's concerned about her sake. Is it okay to back down and let her go? Luz has grown stronger since they met. But this is the Emperor's Coven they're talking about. To go against them is suicide.

Why is she so hesitant? Why can't she say anything right now?

Amity gets pulled back into reality as she feels Luz slipping away from her. It was as if Luz could hear the turmoil brewing within Amity's emotions that she said this to her, "Before I came into this world, I had no place to call my own. I was just a weirdo in my own world. But then I met Eda, and she gave me a place where I can fit in. Because of her, I'm studying to become a witch. Made new friends. And even got to throw my first sleepover! I owe everything to Eda. She's like family to me. And if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have met you, Amity."

A place where she can fit in? Hearing that out loud made Amity realize what an idiot she was to never have noticed before. She thought they were different. Amity went through her life being told what to do and how to act while Luz had the freedom to do whatever she wanted. But they were the same. Neither of them had a place where they belonged. But they found the Owl House, and eventually found each other.

It was Eda who helped her how to deal with her feelings with Luz. Eda, a wild witch persecuted by the Emperor's forces, who brought such an amazing and wonderful person into this world and helped broaden her life for the better. It's because of her, she has a place to go to.

Luz prepares to leave with Willow, taking Amity's silence as an answer to stay out. But she stops after feeling a tug from the back of her sweater. She looks over her shoulder to see Amity clinging to it with her head facing down.

"I… I want to help Eda too," Amity mutters, "She has done so much for me. And… I don't want to lose you either. I already knew how that felt. I don't want to go through it again."

"Amity," Luz's heart leaps with joy. She couldn't restrain herself from taking her arms and pulling her in for a hug. "Thank you! Oh, you're the best! The best girlfriend I could have asked for!"

Willow just felt like she had witnessed a horrible crash happening in front of her from hearing the 'G word' thrown out there. "Back up a minute…" she calls out to them, "Are you two… dating?"

Amity and Luz snap their eyes open, realizing they were caught in their own world and completely forgotten about Willow. Not good with acting under pressure, Luz blurts out, "Gus knows about it too."

"What!?"

Author's Note:

For those who are expecting the Seventh Day to be its own arc, I'm afraid to tell you all that it will only serve as the epilogue to the fic. It will be uploaded after the next chapter in probably a couple of days. This was how it was always planned as this fic will come to a close with no plans for a sequel. I prefer to write new material anyways, especially after what Season 2 might bring.

To also answer the question I received in the reviews. I am a huge fan of Kingdom Hearts and there is an idea brewing. But any more fics will have to wait after Season 2. Thank you all for reading!