I don't own the Owl House as it's owned by Dana Terrace(please tell me I got the name right) and Disney, yada yada.

Now this chapter's gonna blow some minds.

Enjoy the story

Chapter 16: Mischief Gathering

"And now… demonstrate… with feeling!"

Luz held up her cards, four of them with different glyphs for each spell. She selected one card and slammed it on the floor. An ice path spread out and created three target statues. She tapped her three other cards to shoot at the targets. One card turned into a ball of lightning to hit one target, another changed into a ball of fire to hit another, and the last card turned into large vines to grab the target.

Jerbo summoned his cauldron and planted a seed in the purple mush. He spread his magic to make his Abomination grow, except it was made of moss. The moss abomination stepped out of the cauldron, revealing roots for his feet and extended branches for his arms. Jerbo may have created the first Abominable Moss Man.

Flying high over their heads was Viney and her griffin Puddles. The griffin landed and was revealed to be carrying bags of medical supplies. "Anybody want some healing packs?" Viney asked.

"We're good!" Luz told her before she noticed Barcus throwing a part of his hair into a cauldron full of his own potion brew. He stirred it with a spoon and purple smoke came out. The detention mates looked at the smoke in shock, surprised to see ghost dogs emerging from the cauldron.

"Roof-roof(Meet my great ancestors of my blood line)!" Barcus declares, showing many dogs that looked like him, each from a different era.

"Hello, Barcus's ancestors!" Jerbo waved at them and they all barked back..

"Ah, you've all shown improvement." Anu Bist declared as he stepped forward, seeing their progress. "Viney, I love the bag decor around Puddles. Very useful for a field medic." He looked at the moss man Jerbo had created. "The Abominable Moss Man, now that's an interesting mixture." He looked at the ghost dogs. "Hmm, summoning the ghosts of your ancestors with your potion… not only using the oracle globe but your own hair with traces of your lineage and breed as well? Impressive."

Anu Bist went to look at Luz's work on the targets. "Your attacks have improved, simple as it is."

Luz was shocked. "Simple? Simple!?"

"I'm not saying it's bad, but your form could use more work. You still haven't unlocked a few things." Anu Bist sighed as he heard his watch beeping. "Well, we're out of time. Class dismissed!" He clapped his hands three times.

The four trouble makers were poofed out of the realm and back to the detention room. Anu Bist also popped up at his seat. "If any of you are interested, Bump's leading a trip to Glandis for the Grudgby game. Any of you wish to watch the game, make sure to bring your school spirit. Go Banshees!" He put his hat on, "As for me, I got business elsewhere. Cheerios, everyone!"

"Mr. Bist, wait!" Luz called out for him, but he had already warped out of the door. "Dammit."

"So are you guys going to the game?" Viney asked the gang.

"Totally! Me and Barcus worked on this banner!" Jerbo and Barcus held up a banner that said 'Go Banshees!' on it and was decorated with paw prints.

"Nice, I even brought my lucky goblin's finger for good luck." Viney showed them the green finger that was connected to a chain. "What about you, Luz? Are you coming to the game?"

Luz wasn't paying attention as she looked at the cards of her glyphs. Thinking of what Anu Bist had said until she heard her friends calling her name. "Luz? Luz!"

"Hu-what?" Luz asked, turning to the trio.

"We were wondering if you'd like to come to the game?" Viney asked her.

"Oh uh, sorry, not today," Luz answered, walking to the door. "I'm thinking of practicing to get my form right. I don't want to be simple, next time we see Mr. Bist I want to show him a new combo attack!"

"Okay, good luck with that!" Viney yelled in encouragement as Luz left.

Luz was walking through the halls of Hexside, heading toward the exit as she thought to herself on how she could improve her cards and skills.

'Maybe I should practice on new spell cards… yeah, that way I can make my spells less simple/'

"Hey, Luz!"

Luz turned to see Amity walking up to her with a paper in her hand. "So I've reviewed your paper, and you're about average with your grammar. But your spelling and writing is getting better." She noticed Luz's look. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, just fine and all…" Luz replied while looking down. "Anu Bist said that my spells are a little 'simple', even though he said that I improved. So I don't know if 'simple' is good or bad."

"Hey, there's nothing to worry about," Amity assured her. "I'm sure you'll figure something out."

"Yeah, though I haven't come up with a unique spell," Luz stated, looking at her own cards. "Anyone can do an animation spell from a book, but these glyph cards I make… I don't know if they'll be enough to pass." She frowned. "I don't know if I'll ever be good enough for this." She felt Amity's hand pat her arm, making the delinquent girl look into the mint-haired witch's golden eyes.

"Hey, don't get yourself worked up over nothing," Amity said, giving some encouragement. "Now I don't know much about this Anu Bist teacher, but it doesn't sound like he knows what he's talking about."

"Well he is an old half-genie guy," Luz replied. "But if I'm gonna have to pass at least one part of the exams, I'd have to show off a unique spell of my own. And so far, I don't think I can come up with any… maybe I just have an artist block?"

"Maybe," considered. "By the way, I haven't seen your mom around today. Is she alright?"

"Oh, mom decided to stay at home," Luz explained. "She wasn't feeling well so I told Bump that she's taking an off day. He didn't mind, but told me that she's gonna have to work on the midnight shift."

"Well, I hope she feels better tomorrow," Amity said.

Luz suddenly remembered something and pulled a book out of her bag. "Almost forgot, here." She handed Amity her Azura book back.

"Wow, you finished it?" Amity asked as she took the book from Luz..

"Yeah, it was fine though a little too flowery for my taste…" Luz looked away while Amity noticed a picture under the cover.

"Is that… me?" Amity asked while pulling up a drawing. Luz hid her blush as Amity looked at a drawing of her as the Good Witch Azura, dressed in a purple and black witch outfit while holding a purple staff with a green emerald that matched her long hair and a spell book.

"W-well, when I was… reading, I thought of some… inspirational art so… I don't know if you'll like it or not but if you don't that's fine-" Luz was rambling, nervous about whether her crush liked the drawing or not.

"I actually like it," Amity interjected, much to Luz's relief. "This is really good work, Luz."

'She likes it, she really likes it!' Luz thought to herself. 'Don't freak out, just keep calm and play it cool.' She crossed her arms. "Well, if you like it so much, you can have it if you like. It's one of the kind. The only drawing like it I have."

"I'll be sure to keep it then," Amity nodded, smiling. "Thanks. Would you, uh, maybe like to borrow the second volume of Azura? I can bring it to you and even if it's flowery, it might give you more inspiration for your art."

"Sure," Luz answered, smiling back. "I'd like that a lot."

Skara was waiting to get to her seat on top of the large griffin that was taking students to the Grudgby game. She and Bo were supposed to have banners for it, but because Skara had ended her friendship with Bo those plans were for naught. It wasn't like she had a choice of the matter, she knew what Boscha was like. Besides, Boscha has been her friend since they were little. She knows what's best for her, right?

She noticed Willow and her friend Gus behind her in the line. Willow spotted her but Skara looked away, remembering what happened earlier that day.

Skara had just come out of Bard Track and was walking down the hallways when she was suddenly pulled into a broom closet.

"Kyah!" Skara cried out. The light was turned on and Skara saw that she was face to face with Willow. "O-Oh, Willow, didn't know you'd be the one to…" Her face was red for a moment. "Um, so is this about Amity? Because I didn't-"

"Why did you stop being friends with Bo?" Willow demanded to know.

"O-Oh, you heard about that…" Skara said nervously. "Look, it's not like I wanted to, but… you gotta understand, Boscha knows what's best for me and she knows a lot."

"So you let her choose who you can and can't be friends with?" Willow asked, crossing her arms.

"I mean…" Skara sighed. "Look, Boscha's been my friend for a long time, and even though Amity's at the top of the social pyramid most of the time, Boscha is like the enforcer. She makes sure that only the best of witches like me are at the top, so she doesn't want me hanging out with a 'dweeb' like Bo. And Boscha's word is law. That's how it works."

"I see," Willow said. "You know, I'm kinda disappointed in you to be honest."

"Disappointed?" Skara asked in shock.

"I thought you'd be better than that. Especially since you came to me about Amity. It made me think that you actually cared about her, cared about your friends. But I guess I was wrong. If you're really willing to end a friendship just because Boscha says so, then you're no better than her." Willow started to turn away.

"W-Wait!" Skara tried to stop Willow from leaving, tried to make Willow hear her out. "Please Willow, don't go. I didn't want to break my friendship with Bo, but Boscha-"

"It doesn't matter what Boscha did or said," Willow interrupted. "What matters is what you did. And what you did was hurt Bo, someone who thought you were their friend. You can't let Boscha run your life forever, Skara." She sighed. "And you always can't use her as an excuse for your actions forever either."

"But… I had no choice…" Skara said as Willow left.

The Plant Track girl shook her head. "Just keep telling yourself that."

Skara took her seat on the griffin, reflecting upon what Willow had said. 'She's right… I did have a choice,' she thought to herself.

In the dark parts of the woods near Bonesborough was the location of the richest demon in the Boiling Isles. This part of the woods was known to be the territory of the Bat Queen, who was once a palisman for a great giant. Now she took in all of the palismans that were lost, forgotten, and abandoned.

The Bat Queen was also known for her near impossible challenges and today that had brought a challenger hoping to improve her glyph spell cards. In fact, Luz Clawthorne had been a recurring challenger ever since she was eight. Whenever Luz wanted to get stronger, she would find the Bat Queen and ask to do her challenges, aka her chores.

"Come on, how about a snowball spell?" Luz asked as she pulled out an ice glyph card. "No, that won't be good. Has to be something grand, something with a hook." She looked at her other glyph cards, then turned to the people she was speaking to. "What do you guys think? Should I use combo attacks on my cards? Or, fuse both of my cards into one glyph spell?"

The Bat Queen, her children, and the other palismans all stared at the human, who was supposed to be milking the Bat Queen's spider-cow. The three baby bats giggled at Luz's antics.

Luz scoffed as she sat down on a webbed log "I'm never gonna get this right." Unknown to her, a spider-cow was crawling up behind her, preparing to make her a tasty meal. But then Luz leapt up, her fist accidentally hitting its face from behind. "I mean, I have been improving but at the same time I feel like I haven't improved enough!" She noticed the spider-cow. "Oh there's that spider-cow."

Luz started to milk the spider-cow. "I got it! What if I can get my hands on the Construction Track's power glyphs and see how I can use them to make my glyph cards stronger? No wait, those wouldn't be allowed in the exams, would it?"

"Suggestion, maybe talk to teacher for ideas," the Bat Queen advised.

"Yeah, but where would I find him?" Luz asked. "My teacher, Anu Bist, is some kind of jackal man-genie god who shapeshifts and warps around any place he goes to." A porcupine palisman whispered into the Bat Queen's ear.

"Oh, you are in luck," the Bat Queen told Luz. "Porcus saw the jackal god genie to the east. By the red wood trees, but don't go beyond that to where the mist is. You know what lies beyond there, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah, the Forest of Fear," Luz replied, waving it off. But the Bat Queen came closer to Luz in order to give her warning.

"This is no-joke about Forest of Fear!" the Bat Queen exclaimed. "The forest leads weary travelers and increases their negative thoughts. The longer they stay there, the more they're consumed by their fears, regrets, and guilt, to the point of giving up their life to the forest… by becoming part of the forest. Do you understand, child of Owl Lady?"

Luz gulped as she felt the intimidation of the demon bat woman, "Y-Yes, I understand," she said as she backed away. She started to head out. "Thanks for the tip though, bye!"

"That is one strange human," the Bat Queen commented while her three children flew into her hair. "Though she is good at chores. Bless the Owl Lady for raising such a rambunctious human."

Luz ran through the forest. To make the trip to the red wood trees quicker, she drew some plant glyphs to make vines pop out and grab a tree branch. The vine pulled Luz up as she swung from one tree to another. At one point she almost slipped but managed to catch herself. Eventually she made it to the red wood trees and lowered herself to the ground, spotting Anu Bist in front of a rabbit hole. Luz hid herself in the bushes, staying silent.

As Luz watched, the jackal man warped himself down into the rabbit hole. Once he was gone, Luz walked out of the bushes to check the hole out. Crouching down to her knees, she looked at the rabbit hole and noticed a fold. "What the hell?" she asked as she grabbed the fold and ended up picking up the black spot! "What kind of hole is this? Like something out of a 1940s cartoon." She touched it with her finger, only for her hand to get sucked in. "Wait, wait, nononono!" Luz panics as she appears to be warped into the hole. "YAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" she cried as she was completely sucked into the hole and the black circle fell back to the ground.

Luz opened her eyes as she found herself falling down through a strange, psychedelic void. 'Oh Titan, dear Titan… am I going to hell!?' she thought as she fell past a melted clock, her surroundings turning into a white void with black stripes.

She was about to fall past a wheel and she grabbed it to stop her descent, but instead it spun her around and around. "Whoooooaaaaaa!" The wheel suddenly stopped and she was launched downward in a fast motion. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Just before she was about to hit the ground, she stopped. Instead, Luz found herself floating in place. "Huh?!" Luz gasped, looking at the purple and black tile floor. She then suddenly dropped again, hitting the floor with a thud. Luz groaned and stood up, noticing a nearby purple door with a golden jester head. She walked towards the door and attempted to open it, but was interrupted by a voice.

"Hold it, hold it!" spoke the jester head on the door, spooking Luz. "What's the password?"

Luz looked confused. "I… I don't know the password?"

"Oh come on, you should know what the password is!" the jester head insisted.

Luz tapped her chin to think, trying to figure out what the password could be. Eventually, she made a guess. "Um… a secret code?"

"Hmm… Bingo!" the jester head declared, the door opening by itself for her. "Enjoy the Mischief Gathering!"

Now Luz was even more confused as she stepped through the doorway. Once she stepped into the neon hall on the other side, the door closed behind her. She decided to find out where the hall led to, wondering if this was where her teacher came through?

She soon came to some dark green curtains, hearing music and clapping coming from behind them. She pulled her hood up before passing through the curtains. Then her eyes widened in shock. "Whoa…"

The place was full of tables filled with odd looking and well dressed individuals. It was like a nightclub there, especially with waiters going from table to table.

'What is this place?' Luz thought as she moved herself around the passing waiters. She noticed a stage and on that stage was a yellow pony with a bushy brown mane and a cheese sandwich tattoo playing the accordion and wearing a yellow button shirt. "Okay, that's bizarre."

"Yeah, I know!" spoke up a flying eyeball with tentacles next to her "That draconequus from the pony dimension said that his pal could play killer accordion music, but who knew he was right?" He clapped his tentacles for the accordion playing pony.

Luz backed away from the eyeball, looking around until she saw her teacher, Anu Bist, at a table with some other bizarre looking guests. "There you are," she said as she headed toward the booth to confront him, but was then blocked by a large minotaur bouncer.

"I ain't seen you from here before," the minotaur said as he looked down at her. "Which realm are you from? Olympus? Asgard? The Underworld?"

"Hehe, um, I'm actually…" Luz tried to find a way to fight, or better yet, escape the minotaur.

"Hey, it's you!" said a golden fox woman in a brown top and loincloth, with arm guards and shin guards and a bob cut. "I was wondering where you were!" She turned to the minotaur. "This kid's with me, Julio. Thanks for finding her for me." She gave Luz a wink.

"Guess she's clear then," the minotaur said, though not without a little suspicion. He started to walk away. "Enjoy your time here, Kitsumi."

Luz sighed in relief as she turned to the fox woman with nine tails. "Thanks," she told her.

"No problem, though what is a mortal like you doing in a place like this?" Kitsumi asked before grabbing Luz's and bringing her to a certain table. "Hey Anu, I got her for ya!"

"Thank you, Kitsumi," Anu Bist said to the fox woman before looking at Luz. "So Ms. Clawthorne, how did you end up here?"

"I followed you down the rabbit hole and that jester at the door just let me in after I guessed the password," Luz answered.

"Oh there's no password, that's just Jack being funny," mentioned a woman in a purple dress whose body looked like it was made out of stars.

"Everyone, this is the student that I've been telling you about," Anu Bist introduced the human girl. "Luz, this is Eris the Greek goddess of discord and strife."

"Not to be confused with Discordia, the Roman goddess of discord and strife," Eris, the woman in the purple dress, told Luz. "Don't even get me started on her…"

"This is Coyote, the trickster dog from the Navajo community." Anu pointed to an abstract furred dog drinking from a straw. "That one-eyed lady is Hanako-chan, she haunts bathrooms."

"I'm also a part-time plumber." Hanako-chan, who is basically a girl with black bob cut hair and one eye dressed in a sailor school uniform, said with a voice that sounded like a chain smoker who went through ten packs a day.

"Oh, and here's my main man himself!" Anu Bist stood up to greet someone who had just come over to the table, shaking hands and hugging a glowing blue man with winged sandals and blue shades. "How's it going, Hermes?"

"Just the usual, babe," Hermes replied before looking at Luz. "Didn't know you brought a mortal here-"

"Shh, you know that mortals aren't allowed here!" Anu Bist whispered to his fellow trickster god. "She just came in like it's her own business!"

"Uh, hi, I'm Luz," Luz replied with her hand up for Hermes to shake, which he did.

"The name's Hermes, babe, messenger of Mount Olympus, which means I know all the good gossip," Hermes said as he sat down. "Like how Aphrodite's son is trying to start a musical career in the human world."

"Oooh, tell me more, Hermy," Eris said with her hands clasped together, Coyote and Hanako-chan took interest as well.

"Mr. Bist, what is this place?" Luz asked her teacher.

"What we're in right now is called a pocket dimension," Anu Bist explained. "Here, time moves faster than it does in the Isles."

"Wowzers, you mean like in Narnia?" Luz asked, causing the group to laugh.

"Ha!" Coyote laughed. "Narnia! Like this is anything like Narnia!"

"And that was Cheese Sandwich with his accordion cover of 'Pinball Wizard' ladies, gentlemen, and eyeballs!" spoke a ginger haired pale man in a green suit and yellow tie. The audience claps. "I, Loki the God of Mischief, am here to present to you the best comedy hour and entertainment for all the trickster gods, goddesses, and deities of the Third Race who enjoy sharing some laughs and tricks, and not to forget the tomfoolery!"

"Wait, tricksters?" Luz asked Anu Bist. "This place is full of them?"

"Yup, this club's full of tricksters from every realm," Anu Bist explained. "We come here to relax and enjoy ourselves after tricking mortals and immortals alike." He spotted someone "Oh, don't look now, Rumpelstiltskin's here."

Luz saw a strange little man at the club's bar, drinking his sorrows as he cried away. "I don't know how they keep correctly guessing my name!" he cried while a blue winged cat patted him on the back.

"Poor guy," Luz commented.

"Don't feel too bad for him, he keeps trying to make deals with people for their first born," Hanako-chan said, alarming Luz.

"I'll remember that," Luz replied. "So… you guys come here often?"

"Usually twice a week," Anu Bist said as he drank a living worm from his glass. "By the way, I never asked earlier but how is that office game?"

"Terrific," Luz said sarcastically.

"A board game? Please, I started the Trojan War." Eris summoned a golden apple. "One apple is all it took. That's what happens when you don't invite me to Thetis's wedding."

"Yeah, you've told us that a thousand times," Hermes mentioned. "It's always Trojan War this and Trojan War that. Newsflash babe, the Trojan War isn't relevant anymore. You can stop bringing it up all the time."

"Heh, on a more recent note I've been inhabiting this boarding school in another dimension," Coyote brought up. "In fact, I know a redhead there that reminds me of your mortal student, Anu."

"Does she cause as much trouble as this little witch-in-training?" Anu Bist asked his fellow dog spirit.

"Ha! Let's just say a lot of interesting freaky shit's been happening!" Coyote laughed as he and Anu hi-fived each other.

Luz's attention had turned to the other occupants of the club, looking around until she noticed and overheard a conversation from a deity man who was blue skinned but dressed in an icy suit as he sat next to a fiery nymph.

"I'm telling ya, those higher gods think they're so great," he said while eating his cold turkey. "Like, Zeus is nothing but an overgrown frat boy who likes to drink and party! Odin just sits at his throne while his warriors fight and die over and over and then they feast like kings! And not to mention that bird brain Ra, overlooking Egypt and the sun!" The ice deity drank his alcohol, setting his glass down before continuing to complain. "But at least they're not as bad as that pompous bastard, Oberon…"

SHATTER

The ice deity heard the sound of breaking glass near his table and he turned to a messy haired waiter with short horns standing over a tray that he had dropped. "What the hell is wrong with you?" the ice deity asked, towering above the young waiter who looked like a teenager. "Hey, hey I'm talking to you!" He grabbed the waiter's shoulder, slightly freezing it as the boy looked down. "Do you know who I am? I'm Jack freakin' Frost, they make songs and TV specials of me!" The horned, messy haired waiter still didn't say anything, making Jack Frost scoff. "You a mime or something? Pssh, you're just a nobody." The boy just knelt down, summoning a broom and pan to sweep up the glass. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Luz glared at the ice deity for picking on the young waiter, she wanted to call out at him but Anu Bist stopped her. "There's nothing you can do, Luz. Keep your hood on." They watched as the waiter left and Jack Frost went back to his dinner. "Not every trickster here's friendly."

"You got that right," Luz replied as was handed a glass of water by another waiter, this one a penguin. "Thanks." She was about to drink it but Anu grabbed her hand. "Hey!"

"Don't drink this," Anu said, taking the drink from Luz and pouring it on a plant next to the table. The plant turned into a balloon. "Better be careful, sometimes the waiters like to pull a joke or two themselves."

"Is everything a joke around here?" Luz asked, looking at the stage and seeing clown demons hitting each other with large salmon. Yet another waiter, this one an eyeball, handed her a second glass of water. Anu Bist inspected it, nodded in approval, and Luz drank her water.

"And the Banshees scored another goal!" the Grudgby announcer shouted.

Willow and Gus cheered as they stood up in their sears, along with Bo, Viney, Jerbo and Barcus.

"Just want to say thanks again for inviting me here, Gus," Bo said to her fellow club member.

"No problem, it's the least we can do to help you out while you're going through… well, you know…" Gus said, trying to not mention her in front of Bo.

"Don't worry, it's hard to talk about or even mention her," Bo said, sighing. "But hanging out with you guys and knowing that you care really helps." She noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Luz?"

"These kinds of games aren't her style," Willow replied. "She's not a fan of any sport that uses the rusty smidge rule."

"Oh, I guess-"

"Come on!" Viney yelled. "That's a foul! That Glendal bitch made a fowl!"

"Yeah! Come on, ref!" Jerbo yelled as well while Barcus barked.

Bo joined in their calling out the ref, while Gus sat back and talked to Willow. "Hey Willow… have you noticed anything about Luz with Amity?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked while watching the game.

"Like… I think she has a crush on Amity," he replied. "Do you think so?"

Willow looked at him and nodded. "Yeah… I think she does. Honestly, it's pretty obvious."

"Yeah," Gus said. "I thought so. But it's just so… strange."

"I know, right?" Willow told him. "I mean, out of everyone, it's Amity of all witches."

"Not too long ago those two were like werecats and werewolves," Gus said. "They could not stand each other. What happened?"

"I don't know," Willow admitted, rubbing the back of her neck "I mean, Luz didn't tell me what went down during their tutoring sessions but it seems like it made them… close."

"I just don't get it…" Gus said, confused.

Meanwhile, Amity walked up to the Owl House and found that the door was open. She took a peek inside to see if Luz or anyone else was home.

"Hello? Luz forgot her books so I came to-" Amity waked in to see King trying to keep the Owl Beast under control.

"Amity! Um, Luz isn't home right now… but you can go ahead and put down those books and I'll make sure Eda doesn't eat them," King told her as he struggled. Amity dropped the books and quickly shut the door, wanting nothing to do with whatever was going on inside.

'Okay, that was weird,' Amity thought as she walked out. She checked the time and decided to head out. Though she wondered what she had just seen was about, but decided that whatever their deal was would work itself out on its own.

"I remember this time I scared a bunch of school girls when they were picking on this blind girl," Hanako-chan recounted. "Bunch of cruel girls, right? Their victim couldn't see me, so I escorted her to her worried mother and made sure that she was alright."

"Wow, that's surprisingly nice for a trickster god," Luz commented.

"Actually, I'm more of a Yokai," Hanako-Chan corrected. "You've heard about us, right?" Luz shook her head. "Basically, I'm a spirit from Japan. Yokai behavior ranges from malevolent or mischievous to friendly, fortuitous, or helpful."

"As for Hanako, she's a saint," Hermes complimented while drinking his martini. "As for me, business has been going great since the Underworld was put under new management, but that's old news." He looked at Anu Bist. "However, I did hear that you're a school teacher now, jackal-babe."

"It has its perks," Anu Bist confirmed. "Sure, the pay isn't good, but what does money mean to me? No, I'm more interested in teaching young witchlings and helping them improve their magic."

Coyote stared at Luz and turned to Any. "She doesn't smell like a witchling."

"That's because she's a human," Anu Bist replied, causing Eris to do a spit take.

"A hu-HMM!" Eris's mouth was pulled off her face by Anu Bist's hand.

"Yes, and I'd prefer if you don't speak out loud about it, okay?" Anu Bist smiled while Eris grabbed her mouth from him and put it back on.

"I outta put you in the pound for that…" Eris growled, before turning to Luz. "So how does a… human like you end up in a school for witchlings?"

"Well…" Luz looked down at her own drink before responding. "I was raised by a witch."

"Oh, so away from your own kind, I see," Coyote replied.

"You poor thing, it's a miracle you weren't sacrificed by those savages," Eris said.

"They are not savages," Luz shot back at her. "Not all of them. Especially not my mother, Eda the Owl Lady." Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the same horned, messy haired young waiter from earlier cleaning glasses at the bar. "She rescued me when my human mother died. She took care of me, protected me, and taught me how to protect myself. She also taught me other useful skills like this." She held up a watch, smiling. "I swiped this from the bouncer earlier without him knowing it."

The table shared a laugh. "Ain't she great?" Anu Bist asked. "She's definitely the life of the party!"

"Nah, I mostly just sneak into teen parties for the free food," Luz said while swinging the watch with her finger. "Think this is the only party I crashed uninvited?"

"Oh please, most of us are party crashers here," Coyote replied. "We're tricksters, after all!"

"Wait, how is a human able to survive in an environment like the Boiling Isles?" Hermes asked, remembering something. "Last I heard, it was under a new and very strict government system."

"You mean the coven system?" Luz clarified. "That's been around for fifty years under Emperor Belos."

"Fifty years?" Hermes asked. "Eh, to me, empires never last. The delivery system outlives them all. Emperors come and go. Civilizations rise and collapse. But the delivery men and messengers will always remain."

"Well, me and my mom aren't part of that coven-shit," Luz explained. "Like, sure the coven system seems good and orderly, but it still dictates what magic you perform, and if you don't join a coven you get, well…" Luz made a hanging gesture.

"Yeesh, how benevolent," Hanako-chan said sarcastically.

"That's the government for you," Coyote noted. "Doesn't matter what realm it is."

"Indeed!" said a voice as the large purple and pink head of a cat with yellow eyes appeared at the table next to Luz.

"YAH!" Luz cried out in fright, causing her to let go of the watch she was swinging and send it flying over to a nearby table where it landed on a fire nymph's butt. The nymph looked at her date, Jack Frost, and slapped him on the face.

"Ow, why did you do that Miranda?" Jack Frost asked the angry nymph.

"I don't play like that, Jack!" she told him as she spit lava on his face. "And the name's Jessica!" She stormed off.

"Hey wait a-OW! OW! The lava spit's burning my icy face!" Jack Frost cried while fanning his face on fire. "Help!"

A waiter ran up to Jack Frost and splashed his face with water. Unfortunately, the water only seemed to make the flames worse and Jack Frost screamed louder, not noticing that the waiter who had splashed his face with water was the same waiter with messy hair and short horns that he had harassed earlier. Jack Frost ran through the club, making a scene while the young waiter smirked in delight.

"Cut with the theatrics, Cheshire," Anu Bist told the purple and pink cat head floating over the table.

"Ah, yes," the large cat said, making the rest of his purple and pink striped body visible. He laid on the table and summoned a basket of fries. "Would anybody care for some bottomless fries?" he offers. "Sorry that I was late though, I had jury duty. It was a good show, though the outcome was predictable because they always end with someone losing their head." He laughed and began eating the endless fries from the basket.

"This guy is the Cheshire Cat, he's from a realm of nonsense," Anu Bist told Luz.

"It's like I'm meeting one interesting character after another." Luz said while helping herself to some fries.

"Alright, big thanks to Dionysus for his one-man show!" Loki said on stage, looking drunk. "And now, for my all time favorite, it's karaoke time! Pick a song and get up on stage!" The crowd cheered as he held his microphone up. "Yeeaaaah! Like giving birth to a horse, snake and dog, things are going to get wild here!"

Every trickster was given a song menu to pick from, while Loki went first as the music played and the lyrics were shown on the curtains behind him. "I love this song!" he said drunkenly, beginning to sing.

While Loki sang, Luz decided that this would be a good time to talk to Anu Bist. "So Mr. Bist, there's something-"

"-you want to ask me, which is why you followed me?" Abu Bist asked, finishing her sentence.

"Yeah," she said. "I just want to talk about what you said, about calling my spells as simple."

"Are you really that bothered by it?" Anu Bist questioned and Luz nodded/ "I forgot you mortals can be so fickle-minded."

"Well, I have yet to figure out a unique spell to cast. Most of these spells are what I learned from books or from the Secret Room of Shortcuts." Luz sighed. "I don't know if I'll improve or get better at this-"

"Luz, Luz, Luz," Anu Bist stopped her. "Look, I said that your spells are simple, because I haven't seen the true you in them."

"What?" Luz asked him, confused.

"Anyone can learn these spells, just not with the glyph cards," Anu Bist told her while eating some fries. "You have your own way of performing spells of your own even without the magic sack that witches possess. But… I see the potential that even you haven't realized yet."

"I'm not getting what you're saying," Luz told him, still confused.

"In order to perform a unique spell, you have to realize what makes Luz Clawthorne unique," Anu Bist explained. "More than just being a human raised in the Boiling Isles, what makes you Luz Clawthorne? Are you more than just a free-spirited scalawag that trouble seems to always find?"

Luz looked down, thinking over what Anu Bist told her as Loki finished his song.

"And the tiiiiiimes, they are-a changiiin!" Loki sang with a laugh. "Now who could top me, right?" He slurred through his speech until a hook pulled him behind the curtains. Taking over for him was a bi-racial red capped wearing boy with only one leg, wearing a red shirt with grill chains and blue baggy trousers.

"Okay, while Loki's being sobered up, Saci's here to take over!" Saci declared as the crowd hollered. "Now I see some fresh faces around here, and I see one just about where Cheshire-C is!" The spotlight found its way to Anu Bist's table and Luz's eyes widened. "Yo, AB, how about your new guest come over here to sing!"

"Oh Titan, why me?" Luz asked in embarrassment.

"This is on me," Hermes told her. "I may have some spread some gossip around, here and there…"

"But I haven't picked a song-" Luz was suddenly teleported from her seat to the stage in a puff of smoke. "-yet." She noticed all the onlookers staring at her as she was given the mic by Saci. "Uh hey… oh boy this is the first time I've been on stage. "She looked at the screen showing lyrics. "Um… I'll be singing this song and- oh, the piano's already starting to play. Alright, I'll get down to it." She took a deep breath and began.

"Well I've been waiting, waiting here so long," Luz sang, her eyes closed while her lips were close to the mic "But thinking nothing, nothing could go wrong…"

Luz imagined herself walking with her friends at Hexside, but then she looked past them at the back of her crush, Amity holding books as she turned around and noticed her.

"Well now I know… she has a built-in ability,"

Luz thought of the times when Amity helped Luz with her studies and with stuff she didn't understand.

"To take everything she sees"

Luz imagined Amity looking at her, their eyes making contact. Luz blushed as her heart started beating and popping out of her chest.

"And now it seems I'm falling, falling for her."

Luz imagined Amity grabbing her hand, both of them running down a colorful path.

"She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah, she reaches in, and grabs right hold of your heart!"

Luz imagined Amity holding up a heart. The heart belonged to Luz, who looked awestruck.

"She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah, it takes control and slowly tears you apart!"

Luz held her neck up, thinking about Amity when singing this song. Her feet tapped to the music. "I didn't really know her, I only know her name." She thought of her first meeting with Amity at Hexside, remembering they didn't get along at first. "But she crawls under your skin, you're never quite the same."

The messy haired waiter looked at Luz from the bar he was working at, smiling while the other gods cheered and partied. Anu Bist and his friends at the table were among those cheering.

"And now I know… she's got something you just can't trust, and it's something mysterious!"

Luz began walking forward as she sang. "And now it seems, I'm falling- falling for her!"

She leapt off the stage and landed on a table, she was singing hard.

"She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah! She reaches in, and grabs right hold of your heart!" she points to her chest, "She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah! It takes control, and slowly tears me apaaa-AAA-ooo-aaart!"

"Sing it!" Kitsumi cheered for Luz as the crowd danced to the song. Kitsumi felt a tap on her shoulder and she looked behind her to see Anu Bist. She gave him a flirtatious look and the two started dancing. A still drunk Loki was supported by Eris and Hermes as they danced together.

"Well, I don't like losing, cause I'm not playing her game," Luz sang while thinking about how she bonded with Amity. "The thought she'll mess up your life, but she's not quite the same."

She was unsure about where her feelings for Amity would lead, just like she was unsure of herself.

"But now I know, she has a built-in ability," she smiled, remembering her mother's advice. "To take everything she sees." She raised her head up. "And now it seems- I've fallen, fallen for her!"

She stomped. "She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah! She reaches in, and grabs right hold of your heart! She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah! It takes control, and slowly tears you apart!"

Luz raised her mic, inviting the other tricksters to sing along. "She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah! She seems to have an invisible- Ooh-ooh-ooh!"

The crowd began to sing. "She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah! She seems to have an invisible- Ooh-ooh-ooh!"

"Gotta admit, A.B., you definitely found a mortal with a lot of spunk!" Hermes told Anu Bist while dancing with Coyote.

"I know that," Anu Bist acknowledged. "Say, you got that thing I asked for?"

"Sure! Found it while passing through the Underworld!" Hermes handed Anu Bist a package. "Just be careful with it, you know how much trouble I went through getting this!"

Amity made it home as she entered the Blight mansion. It was a lot safer on the streets now that the coven guards were out on patrol for muggers. Amity had even been escorted home by one.

"You're back early," said a woman sitting in the chair. The back of the chair was facing Amity, so the only part of the woman that Amity could see were her hands pouring tea into her purple tea cup.

"Yeah, well, Luz wasn't home and I didn't really see much of a point in staying," Amity replied as she took off her cowl and placed it on a rack.

"As long as you remember our agreement…"

"How could I forget?" Amity muttered, looking down. "But right now I just want to go up to my room." She started to head up the stairs.

"I expect to have a talk with you later."

Amity's hand gripped the stair railing tightly "Of course," she said, continuing to head upstairs. She made it to her room and closed the door behind her. She looked frustrated as she set herself on her bed, deciding to study later.

The Mischief Gathering was a lot of fun for Luz. After her performance on stage, she went up to the bar where the waiter with the messy hair and small horns was working. "Hey, you with the horns!" she called out.

The young horned boy looked up at her, then he looked around as he pointed to himself. "Me?" he asked. Luz grabbed his hand and placed some snails in it.

"Here, a tip for your service," Luz told him.

"But… I never served-"

"It doesn't matter, keep it," Luz told him with a smile, before hearing Anu Bist calling out for her. "Later."

"Welp, I better get going," the Cheshire Cat said when Luz went over to Anu Bist and his group. The Cheshire Cat stretched, his body slowly disappearing until only his mouth and eyes were left. "Nice seeing you, Luzy Q." He hummed to himself before completely vanishing.

"I gotta go too, I have about thirty bathrooms to haunt." Hanako-chan said, handing Luz a hard. "Here, just in case you have a problem with your pipes that you need fixed."

"Uh, thanks, I'll think about it," Luz replied while putting the card in her pocket.

"Here, Luz," Anu Bist handed her a package. "Don't open it until you're home." He saw Kitsumi waiting for him. "I, uh, gotta catch up with an old friend."

Luz looked at the fox with the nine tails. "Wow, you sure have good taste, Mr. Bist," she said with a smirk.

"Hehe, it's nothing like that," Anu Bist tried to deny as he walked up to his old friend. Luz headed toward the exit of the club, waiting near it as she waved at some of the gods, goddesses and deities she had met as they were leaving to their native realms.

She couldn't help but look at the package Anu Bist had given her and wonder what was inside.

"You were great tonight," said a voice. "On stage, I mean."

Luz looked up and saw the same waiter with the messy hair and small horns. "Oh, it's you," she said, giving him a friendly smile.

"I just want to say thanks for the tip," he told her.

"Hey, it's no probs," Luz waved it off. "I mean, I've seen you around working here. And getting harassed by that jerk Jack Frost. It was the least I could do."

The waiter chuckled to himself. "At least I'm not invisible to you," he said with a smile.

"I'm Luz by the way," she told him with her hand raised.

"And I'm Puck," he introduced, shaking Luz's hand. "Puck Goodfellow, at your service." He bowed and as he did so, Luz noticed that his shadow seemed to be moving on its own. She looked back up at his small horns and her eyes widened in realization.

"Wait, are you that Fae-"

"Ta-ta for now," he said before she could finish. He grinned before and disappeared in front of her eyes, much to her surprise.

"Huh," Luz said to herself. "Puck… why do I feel like I've heard that name before?"

On the other side of the room, Anu Bist was talking to Kitsumi. "It's been like what, three centuries since we last met?" Kitsumi asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Only that long?" Anu Bist asked her. "How's tricks?"

"Been good," Kitsumi stated as she leaned on the wall with her arms crossed. "But times are changing, humans are changing. I decided to change as well and join the Order."

"The Order?" Anu Bist looked surprised. "I was not expecting that from you, Kit."

"Even the best of jokes and tricks get old eventually," Kitsumi told you. "Just look at Hermes and Hanako-chan. The former is focusing more on his postal service these days, the latter is focusing more on her plumbing business. They're moving away from just mischief for mischief's sake."

Anu Bist nodded. "But that's the thing about us tricksters, isn't it? We're adaptable."

Kitsumi glanced at Luz. "That human girl… how long has she lived in the Boiling Isles?"

"About her whole life," Anu Bist replied.

"Strange…" Kitsumi muttered.

"You could've gotten to know her, Kit," Anu Bist pointed out. "Why didn't you sit down with us? Don't tell me it's me?"

"I'm a lone wolf, or fox if you want to get technical," Kitsumi replied. "Or at least most of the time." She started to leave, looking back at Anu Bist one last time. "Sayonara, Biscuit."

"You two, nine tails," Anu Bist waved at her before rejoining Luz so he could take her home.

After returning to the Boiling Isles through a portal, Luz noticed that it was still the afternoon despite all the time she spent at the Mischief Gathering.

"Wow, time did move slower in there," she mentioned.

"Yep," Anu Bist said as he yawned. "So your mother shouldn't be too worried. I'm a bit exhausted, so… goodbye and good luck."

Luz nodded. "I'll be seeing you at school, Mr. Bist," she told him. "And… thanks."

"You're welcome," Anu Bist told him. "And don't forget to open that package when you get back home." He pointed to the package in her hands.

"I won't," Luz promised and the two began to go their separate ways.

"Well, that turned out well," King grumbled. The insides of the Owl House were a wreck. Couch torn, claw marks around, stuff broken, etc. "At least Hooty isn't dead."

"This isn't good," Eda said while looking at the empty elixir bottle, along with another empty bottle on the table. "Now it takes two elixirs to keep my curse in check." Her tone was worried. "It's getting worse, King."

"So, do we tell Luz about it?" King asked.

Before Eda could answer, Hooty spoke up. "Hoot-Hoot, Luz is here!" Hooty announced as Luz kicked open the door.

"What's up, family!" Luz stepped in and saw that the place looked like a wreck. "Well, it looks like you two had fun. Don't know about you, but I think I'm gonna call it an early night! Feeling tired from all the, um, training I did. So… what happened here?"

King looked down at his little claws. "Well, the thing is-"

"Oh some punk kids switched my elixir again, so I went wild and crazy until King and Hooty put the elixir on me. Right?" Eda looked at King and then Hooty.

"Wait, you were turned into the Owl Beast again?!" Luz exclaimed in worry.

"Yeah, but everything's fine," Eda waved it off and put her arm around King's shoulder. "The little guy's a hero, ain't ya, King?"

"Um… yeah…" King said, sounding unsure.

"Well alright, I'll just head to my room then," Luz said as she walked past them.

King looked at Eda and spoke in a whisper. "Why did you tell her that?"

"Cause I don't want to worry her," Eda responded as she put the empty elixir bottles in the trash. "Look, I'll figure something out. It's just two elixirs, but I can still keep the curse under control."

"But… we lied to Luz…" King pointed out.

"Look King, we're only doing this for her sake." she told him. "She already worries enough as it is. Just… don't tell her, alright?"

King nodded, but still looked a little unsure. "I hope you know what you're doing, Eda. But let me tell you one thing. If Luz gets hurt because you kept the truth from her, that's going to be on you."

Eda looked away, but couldn't deny the truth of what King was saying. She didn't like keeping this from Luz, but she still had everything perfectly under control… right?

Alone in her bedroom, Luz managed to unwrap the package that Anu Bist had given to her. Out of the package she pulled out a pair of broken glasses.

"Broken glasses?" Luz asked in confusion, "Why would he give me glasses?" She then saw a note that was also in the package and she pulled it out. The note read:

Dear Luz,

I know that you've taken an interest in voodoo and spiritual talking, so I pulled some strings and got Hermy to ask around. The Underworld is pretty much a vast region that not only contains Hades, but a bunch of other realms where souls inhabit. So far, his connections allowed him to find a pair of glasses that were in storage in the limbo dimension. With these glasses, you can create a connection to speak to your birth mother's spirit. You will still need some additional materials, but I have made a list and Barcus can show you where to get them.

Your favorite trickster teacher,

Anu Bist

Luz's eyes widened and she looked down at the glasses in her hand. "My birth mom's… glasses?" she whispered.

That night while everyone else was asleep, Hooty was wide awake and once again speaking to Mr. Butterfly.

"So yeah, things got really interesting around here! My day has been-" Hooty stopped talking to the butterfly when he noticed someone else had appeared. "Pucky, you're back!"

"Hey Hooty, how's tricks?" asked the messy-haired Fae known as Puck Goodfellow.

"Oh you wouldn't believe the day I had!" Hooty said excitedly. He started going on and on while a smiling Puck listened.

"And what about your day?" Hooty eventually asked his friend.

Puck chuckled. "Game-changing," he told Hooty. "And I have a feeling that the fun is just getting started…"

Wow now that was a blast! And since I still got the Genesis-bug on that karaoke bit, Luz can sure sing. There's also a lot of well named gods, goddesses and deities especially a few cameos. Eris is more of a mixture of the version from Sinbad with the personality of the Billy and Mandy version. Hermes is you probably figured out by now is based off from the Disney's Hercules, just like the Cheshire Cat is from Disney's Alice in Wonderland. Don't you like cameos? Hanako-chan is an actual myth, a yokai of Japanese urban legends of a one-eyed school girl spirit that haunts restrooms of schools, specifically the girls restroom(side note: Realizing that it's Hanako-san and given the difference in honorifics, but then again in this version Hanako-chan likes to be prefer that to make herself feel younger since she sounds like she smoked ten packs a day). This version of Coyote is based off and possibly a version from Gunnerkrigg Court, and is another of Anu Bist's acquaintances. Loki here is more based off of the mythological version, and Saci is based off of Brazilian folklore. And I do know many would know who Cheese Sandwich is...

"Ahem"

(Me looking at a certain Discord crossing his arms) Oh, forgot about him. And now I'm going to be turned to a muppet.

Also introducing is a new OC called Kitsumi, who I've pretty much modeled and based after Renamon from Digimon Tamers. She's an old acquaintance to Anu Bist and works for The Order. What is the Order? Well, you'll learn soon enough, as well as their history.

And now Luz has met with the trickster known as Puck, who you all already knew from the previous chapter is. And if you've been following from previous chapters for the last scene, well you may have missed some. Thank Buck for helping me with this chapter as well as adding in some scenes.

And now, answering reviews:

RonaldM4: Ask Dana.

MysteryGirl7Freak: A bit spoilery, all I can say is...left.

OMAC001: Thanks and hope their friendship gets fixed...

The Great Fossil King: Totally agree, and when this story can go as long as it likes, Boscha would get some development as part of the themes of the story.

RJWritingInk: I think it was the one where it had Hunchback of Notre Dame level. And hehe, let's just say that Belos has a reason to take interest in Luz as well...

ultimate-drax: Karma does follow Boscha and Mattholomule. And yeah, the flashbacks are the best parts of the chapter.

Wolvmbm: Willow flashbacks can also come in play soon.

BuckJohnson: Indeed, Willow didn't take it well. Skara is also an interesting character to write. And Belos' appearance does raise some questions here.

Remember to fav, follow, and review.