The younger Clawthorne kept on walking until she was far enough away from her sister. She walked through the school's courtyard, keeping to herself as students from the nine different Tracks were mingling with each other. They talked about magic, their classes, and their social lives.

Despite having the Emperor's Coven leader as their mother, neither Clawthorne sisters have many friends. Well, not many "real" friends, to be exact. Whenever students approach them, they usually try worming their way into the sisters' lives to raise their status. Their mother has always told them to never associate with those kinds of people. She speaks from experience.

Aside from the people they can genuinely call friends, the sisters mostly have each other at Hexside. Hoot. Eda does also have Owlbert, who is currently perched on her shoulder. But whether a palisman counts — though it does in her book — is up for debate. She smiled as she gave him a little appreciation scratch, which he always loved. Hoot.

Commonly, witches should only carve their palismans after graduating from a magical school, which is when they get a staff to attach them to. It is something Lilith has constantly pointed out to her little sister since Owblert's creation. But Eda's never been one to follow tradition and continuously challenge their society's norms and practices.

Eda carved him from a sacred tree, just like her mother, aunt, and uncle carved theirs from. Uncle Edric's was an albino bat he named Snowball, while Aunt Emira's was a mini slitherbeast she called Cutie.

But what makes palismans unique is that they share a life bond with the witch who created them. If the witch feels something, the palisman will feel the same. In a way, the witch and palisman are the same being; if the witch dies... so will the palisman. And Eda would annihilate anyone who would even dare think about her hurting her little Owlbert.

"Eda!" A voice called out to the redhead, and she turned to see that it was Morton, her fellow Potions classmate, and usual study partner.

"Oh, hey, Morton." She greeted him. As he got closer, Eda realized he looked paler than usual and had bags under his eyes. "You alright? You look terrible."

"I had to spend all night last night poison tasting at my dad's store, and for some reason, I don't feel great."

Eda wanted to point out the apparent reason for his illness. But she decided it would be funnier to let him figure it out. "Well, do you at least have it?"

Morton blinked. "Oh yes." He unfastened his knapsack and rummaged through it until he found three sheets of paper. "My class notes for the test today. These are all that I know, so I hope they're helpful."

"Sweet." Eda took the papers. "For that, meet me at the bleachers after lunch, and I'll teach you something new."

Morton was not like the students Amity warned Eda and Lilith about. He wanted to be friends with her for no other reason than just that. Honestly, the best way to describe their relationship would be more in line with… beneficial acquaintances. Eda would teach Morton how to do real magic, the kind that Hexside refuses to teach, in its purest, most beautiful state, unrestricted by the laws of the Isles. And in return, Morton would help with her homework. She did try getting him to do it for her instead, but it did not work.

Without warning, Eda was then knocked into Morton, who caught her. She was pushed by none other than Leon, who was in a hurry. "Hey!" Eda shouted at the tri-clops. "Watch where you're going, Pipsqueak!"

Leon stopped and looked back at the redhead. "Sorry, I didn't see you there, Owl Brat." He snarked back in his usual tone before leaving without so much as an apology.

Eda extended her finger, planning to whip up a hex to teach him a lesson, but Morton gently grabbed her hand. "He's not worth it, Eda." He told her.

Eda growled and lowered her finger. "Little punk." She and Leon have always tried avoiding each other whenever at school. But when they do meet, it is never on friendly terms.

That is how it has always been ever since he stole Lilith's lunch money to buy his sister a treat from the school's bakery. It still dumbfounded Eda that a sweet baby like Hannah could be related to someone like Leon. Eda retaliated to the thievery by creating an army of Abominations to search for him. Only for said Abominations to revolt, requiring her, Lilith, and Leon to all work together to stop them.

"Leave me alone!" Eda snapped out of her current thoughts as she and Morton turned their heads to the cry for help, recognizing the voice.

"Raine." Eda and Morton ran to the voice, leading them to circle the school and head straight to the Grudgeby field behind the building.

Raine was on their rear and had a bruise on their cheek. "We told you, didn't we?" Raine's attackers were students from the Construction Track. One was a male minotaur named Ivan, and the one who was speaking. The other was a girl with snakes for hair named Abby, who folded her arms with a smirk.

"Jussst give usss the sssnailsss, and we won't hit you again." Abby threatened, sticking her forked tongue out.

"But it's my lunch money," Raine replied.

"But it'sss my lunch money." The snake-haired girl repeated in a mocking tone. "That'sss too bad." She looked at her comrade and nodded. "Ivan." The minotaur lifted Raine off the ground, and they kicked their feet, struggling to free themselves from the grip. "Now hand the sssnailsss over or—"

"Or what?" The two bullies froze, recognizing the voice, and slowly turned around to see it was a less than pleased Eda right behind them.

"Ah, it's Calamity." Ivan gasped and quaked in his boots, letting Raine go as they backed away.

Eda Clawthorne is the more than proud holder of the title "Hexside Academy's number one troublemaker" and owner of the nickname "Calamity" from her peers and teachers. She has done much to own up to her title. Not even her mother could not even begin keeping track of the number of times Hexside called her. Only to learn what her daughter did to end up in the principal's office again.

Her "crimes" against the school have ranged from ditching classes to openly mixing magic on campus. On occasion, she has gotten into fights, a handful of which resulted in those students being sent to the Healing Coven for proper treatment. And that look in the witchling's eyes was telling the bullies all they needed to know about what was going to happen very soon. "Would either of you care to tell me what you were gonna do to my friend? Because I promise." Crackle. Crackle. She cracked her knuckles. "It'll pale in comparison to what I'll do to you two."

"Nothing!" Abby screamed, slowly backing up, shaking herself. "We were gonna do nothing. Don't hurt usss!" She and her partner ran for their lives.

Eda drew a circle, and a yellow aura surrounded the two bullies, levitating them into the air. "Put me down!" The minotaur begged. "I'm scared of heights."

"Sorry, but I don't appreciate having some punks picking on my friend like that."

"Just let them go, Eda," Raine spoke, standing up.

Eda looked at her friend in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes. I think they have learned their lesson."

"Ugh, fine." Eda snapped her fingers, and the bullies fell face-first on the ground. They picked themselves up and ran away.

"You alright?" Morton asked Raine, looking at the bruise.

Hoot. Owlbert also hooted with concern for Eda's friend.

They nodded. "It's just a bruise. I'll just stop by the nurse's office. One spell from Ms. Viney, and it'll be gone." They snapped their fingers. "Like that."

"What's going on here?" The three friends turned to the voice; one Eda happened to be all too familiar with. And her suspicion was proven right when Ms. Jenkinmeyer came out from behind a corner. "Edalyn Clawthorne." The teacher growled. She noticed the injuries that Raine had. "Well, well, well. Look at what we have here."

"What do you want, Jenkinmeyer?" Eda hissed.

"I saw two students running away, and here I find you. And Raine has a bruise on his face." Eda and Morton noticed how uncomfortable Raine felt at being labeled as something other than what they were. The two of them are the only people on the Isles that Raine ever shared their true gender with. Eda has wanted to share the information with Lilith but ultimately decided that it was not her place to tell her. "You did this to him, didn't you!"

"No, I did not." Eda snapped, standing her ground against the teacher.

"Don't you lie to me, you little punk! I'm going to report you to Principal Bump, and hopefully, the senile fool wises up and expels you."

"Ms. Jenkinmeyer, Eda didn't hurt Raine," Morton spoke up.

"Don't defend her actions. No-good brats like her and that Leon give this school a bad name."

"Stop talking; your voice is giving me a headache," Eda responded. "And don't waste your breath on her, Morton. Everything just goes in one ear and out the other with her. Let's get out of here." The three friends turned around and walked away. The teacher continued to rant at them, but Eda tuned out whatever she was saying. It was then quiet, so she probably went to tell the principal as she declared. Not that Eda cared.

"Edalyn, I don't want you to be expelled because I couldn't defend myself," Raine said in an apologetic tone.

"Jenkinmeyer's always had it out for me." The younger Clawthorne shrugged it off. "Can't recall when it began, though. Probably after I stole her teeth." She smiled, remembering that prank fondly.

"Didn't Principal Bump give you detention for a month for that?" Morton asked.

"Yep." And one would think that would be the end of that. But not for, Jenkinmeyer. She has taken every opportunity she can to get Eda expelled; they have not worked yet. She would not be surprised if Jenkinmeyer orchestrated Raine being bullied just to rile Eda up. Eda noticed that despite her self-assurance, it did not alleviate Raine's fear for the worst. "Hey, it's gonna be okay." Eda stopped and looked at Raine, grabbing their hands and staring into their eyes. "Nothing bad's gonna happen to me. You believe me, right?"

Raine stared into Eda's and tightened their grip. "I do. Hexside wouldn't be fun without you."

"Dang right."

Eda and Raine continued to stare at each other, only to realize what was going on, and both their faces turned red. RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! The bell just screamed, and the trio of friends realized they had to get to their classes now. "I gotta go!" Raine quickly said as they released the still-blushing Eda's hands and ran into the building. "I'll see you at lunch."

"Um… yeah…" Eda said, still experiencing the strange feeling. She noticed that Morton was still right next to her — he knew that Eda and Raine had feelings for each other for a while — and was about to open his mouth. Eda stuck her finger in his face. "One word out of you, and I'll find the Choosey Hat, break it out, and feed you to it." Not wanting to take the chance she was being straight with him, Morton dragged his index finger and thumb across his lips, zipping them. He and Eda ran alongside each other to their shared class.


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