Angel: Sorry for not answering this question sooner, but Lucila x Edric I'd pick Ludric. Lucila x Hunter is a bit harder because I don't know if it's easier to say Huncila or Huntcila lol. But I will say nothing further about ships for now because we've got 10 more chapters left to go through before season one is finished.
And if you're wondering, I'm on episode 15–almost at the Grom episode! Bet you're wondering what's going to happen with that one hehe.
At Hexside, Gus was holding a meeting for the Human Appreciation Society. "Behold. The wonders of the human realm." A cheese grater was named nail clippers, a bag of onion chips clipped shut with a cell phone was a whoopie cushion, a bowl of leaves and utensils was a food bowl, a Rubik's cube was a weapon (with a question mark), and a paper clip was a pay-per-clorp. Gus held up the paper clip. "This little fellow is one of their most valued objects. "It aids in the compiling of printed wisdom, the scratching of gunk from under your nails, and my favorite...it even mimics the sounds of the human ocean," He gave it a twang and sighed in bliss. "Ahh, the human realm. So beautiful. He then faced the chalkboard. "It's safe to say that the pay-per-clorp is a stunning testament to human ingenuity. Any questions?"
Several of them looked bored while a boy raised his hand. "Ah, our newest member, Mattholomule."
"Augustus, is this what the president of the Human Appreciation Society thinks passes as 'Human Artifacts'?" He asked in disbelief, gesturing to all the stuff on the table. Gus raised a brow as the boy stood up, walking around. "Because at my old school...he then knocked everything away. Gus panicked and grabbed them. "We had real treasures," He brought his own stuff from his backpack, but they were more fake. A cellphone painted on a rock, an egg with a painted skull on it, and a shoe made out leaves and mud. And yet the members were still intrigued by them.
"So real. I-I wanna touch them!"
"Go ahead," Mattholomule encouraged them. "In my club, we didn't have any dumb rules," He jerked a thumb to Gus' list of rules and he gasped sharply.
"Shh. He didn't mean that..." He caressed it, glaring at the boy. He then took the ones from the members.
"Hey!"
"What?"
"Well, this isn't your club. Thankfully," He remarked to Mattholomule, crossing his arms.
"Exactly. Who thinks I should be president?" Mattholomule raised a hand, smiling.
"I do!"
"Mattholomule for prez!"
"I'm an undecided voter. I wanna touch all the objects first!"
Gus picked up the rock cellphone. "These are fakes!"
The group gasped, Mattholomule flinching. "What?"
"Y-You can't prove that!" The boy stammered, adjusting his hair. "You're just trying to distract these human appreciators. You're afraid of getting kicked out of office. It's your word versus mine."
"Mm."
"I don't know what to believe in anymore."
"MY faith in Gus has been broken!"
He backed away nervously and then glanced back to see bad pictures of his human friends from newspapers. His eyes widened in realization. "What if I brought in some experts?"
"Yeah, right. Who can you find that's a bigger human expert than any of us?" Mattholomule asked in disbelief.
"How about some real humans?" He asked, getting their attention.
"Why the secrets?"
"Show, don't tell, man!"
"Yeah. Uh-huh," Mattholomule crossed his arms. "And you've never brought your friends here. Why?"
"Well, they're both busy. They've got jobs," Gus shrugged at them. "But I'll bring them in tomorrow. They'll prove I'm right."
Mattholomule simply scoffed. "Sure you will, Augustus. Sure you will."
He frowned a bit, worried that he'll lose his position...
He stood in front of the two Nocedas, both of them holding boxes. Eda and King were nearby, sorting through some junk.
"Gus, we'd love to go to school with you, but I don't know how we can," Luz jerked her thumb to the banned posters of them on the wall. "Principal Bump banned us from Hexside."
"But nothing," Eda interjected next to Lucila, who glanced at her. "Bump did you guys a favor. There ain't nothing for you at that dweebus factory," She then glanced at Gus. "No offense, dweebus."
"Eda!" Lucila gave her a warning look to not say stuff like that. Luz didn't look too happy with her statements either.
"It's okay. I come from a long line of dweebuses."
Luz slammed down her box, standing up and facing Eda. "Well, I would love to go someday. Better than unpacking boxes in the Eda Coven!"
"Oh, you think you're clever, huh?" Eda stood up, hands on her hips.
"Whoo! Fight, fight, fight!" King hollered behind the woman and Lucila pinched her nose.
"Can it, King!" Eda frowned at him. "First off, it's the 'Bad Girl Coven,' and second off, I guess you don't want in on the T-shirt order, huh?" She held up a paper where there was a doodle of Eda looking ridiculous, like she was riding a staff like a skateboard.
"i don't care about t-shirts, Eda! I want to learn magic, and they teach that at Hexside!" Luz gestured to Gus. Lucila glanced between the two and cringed awkwardly, slowly stepping away from them.
"I mean, yeah, well...ugh! I don't wanna hear another word about Hexside," She slumped towards the door, opening it. "Unless it's 'Hexside is on fire,' and 'Let's grab front row seats'!" She slammed the door behind her.
"Aw, look what you did," King said in sympathy...almost. "I'm gonna go rub it in!" He laughed as he raced after them. Luz sighed in exasperation, sitting on the couch. Lucila turned to Gus, a frown on her face.
"Sorry about that, Gus. Eda is just being...well, Eda," She looked away in annoyance. Literally no other way to describe it. He had to get them to Hexside somehow...
"G-Guys, about the ban, I, uh...used my HAS presidential authority to pull some strings. You've been given a full pardon!"
They both blinked in surprise, looking towards him.
"I got the ban lifted!" He smiled, trying to hide his nerves.
"Oh, my gosh!" Luz grabbed by the collar, shaking him. "Yes, yes, yes! Of course we'll be there tomorrow!" She stood up on the couch. "Gus, this will be great!" She jumped up and down. "I get to see the school and save the president."
Lucila chuckled up at her. "Thanks for this, Gus. It means a lot."
"Great! I'll see you guys tomorrow!" He leaned in towards Lucila. "Lucila, you do have a human lesson prepared, right?"
"Oh yeah, no problem. I've got just the thing. I was saving it for your next lesson, but I guess tomorrow's a good time as any," She smiled at him.
He closed the door and jumped, cheering. "Yes! You did it, Gus!" He then started dancing in victory. "You did it, Gus~! You're the smartest, you're the best~!"
"Sweet moves, little dude."
He glanced over his shoulder, yelping as he saw Hooty. "Ah! I always forget you're there."
"I forget I'm here too..." He tilted his head a bit, smiling towards Gus. "Boop."
"...This is gonna work out after all."
"This isn't gonna work out at all!" Willow argued after he told her the plan the next morning.
"Well, I feel like I took care of any potential problems," Gus rubbed the back of his head.
"You lied to our best friends and told them you got the ban lifted! That seems like a potential problem to me," Willow told him.
"You don't understand. The members were going mad. They were bloodthirsty. They were touching objects! I had no choice!"
"Really?" Willow asked skeptically. "What about all the wanted posters around school?" She gestured to the building. He lifted up his bag, revealing all of the posters in his bag, which he took down earlier.
"What wanted posters? I also got these," He held up a cowl as well as a giant sun-hat. "To keep them undercover."
"Undercover from what?" Gus flinched as the two sisters arrived right behind him. Lucila was carrying a box with her. Gus quickly threw the stuff on them. "Behold your new cowl and...complimentary hat?"
"Whoa! I love it." Gus turned it around so Luz could actually see and Lucila lifted up the hat. It was big enough to not fall off her head, but enough to also cover her ears. Luz sniffed it and smiled. "On the Boiling Isles, new things smell old."
"Thanks for not giving me one; I'm still not committed to enrolling," Lucila stated in relief.
"Yep. Put it on. Hide your ears," He laughed nervously. "Wanna keep you under wraps till the big reveal."
Willow gave a deep frown at him; she still wasn't okay with lying to the two.
"Oh, a showman. I totally get it. You bring the razzle, we'll bring the dazzle," Luz put on the cowl, releasing confetti from her hands.
The two just stared at her. "...Do you always have confetti on you or...?"
"Yeah, never ask. I still wonder to this day, and she always keeps it cryptic," Lucila waved a hand. Gus' watch screamed, and he pulled down his sleeve to reveal a little demon with a clock for an eye. He pressed on the eye to make it stop.
"That's my alarm. Uh, we better get going!" He grabbed the two by the hand. "See you after school, Willow!"
"Bye, friend. Be safe. Make good choices!" Luz called out.
"Oh, Gus, I hope you know what you're doing," Willow murmured to herself in worry.
"I'm trying to protect them!" Eda stated while sitting outside her house. She picked up a blue flower. "Hexside chews up anything unique and spits out bland mush!" She squished the flower petals to bits.
"I chew insects," Hooty chimed in behind her. "I turn them into mush!"
"But that's my beef. Does she need to draw her own conclusions? Luci's already got herself figured out..."
"My beef is insects. They're what I eat," Hooty beamed at the flies around him.
"You're just gonna be unhelpful, huh?" Eda smirked up at him in amusement.
"All I know is, you taught me and I turned out just fine!" He tried to reach a fly with his tongue, and was unsuccessful. She stared at him and realized that MAYBE she wasn't the best teacher for Luz. And clearly, the girl wanted to actually learn.
"I gotta get that girl into school."
At Hexside, a boy was lifted up by his backpack. "Whoa!" He slipped off the backpack, and it floated away from him. "Hey!" Two kids were playing keep away with it. "Give that back!"
One of them was suddenly pulled away by a cane, held by one of two people. They were dressed exactly the same: with eyes that were stitched over, black uniforms with black hoods, and upside down skulls. One of them sniffed the boy.
"Trouble..."
The backpack was dropped as the other kid backed away, but was pulled back as well. "No! Detention!" He cried out in fear.
"The only thing I'm guilty of is being too real!" The other one cried out, just as Gus and the Noceda sisters walked into the hall.
"That's new," Luz pointed at them.
"Who are they?" Lucila asked Gus, a bit concerned.
"Well, they kind of showed up after your last visit," He answered nervously; this was bad. If they sniffed out his friends, they'd know immediately about the lie. "They smell trouble. Literally." One of them looked in their direction, Lucila flinching a bit.
"Trouble..."
"Okay, that's the scariest thing I've witnessed thus far. And now I'm fearful that something might top it," The older girl murmured quietly.
Gus chuckled nervously. "Okay, time to run for no particular reason!" He grabbed their arms and ran off with the two. He then bumped right into Mattholomule, who was at a water fountain. The wanted posters of the two girls and the crown fell onto the floor. He quickly gathered them.
"Augustus, you should really watch where you're going," The boy looked down at him with a smug look. "Don't want the president of the HAS getting hurt on his last day in office~" He grinned and Lucila narrowed her eyes at him. "This must be your humans," He looked up at the two. "Hmm," He stepped forward and examined them. "Looks like more witchlings to me."
"Psst! Psst!" Gus whispered at them and they looked down. "Dazzle!" He pinched at his ears.
"Oh!" Luz made trumpet sounds, taking off the cowl. Lucila took off her hat, gesturing to her ears. "Ta-da!"
Mattholomule gasped at them. "Humans!"
"Not just any human," Gus stood up, feeling victorious. "Expert humans."
"Yeah, we've been doing this for years," Luz gestured to themselves.
"Well, I've been doing it longer, but you know, who's counting?" Lucila smirked at the boy.
"They're here to authenticate your treasures," Gus gestured to them. "And as a special surprise, my own teacher Lucila is giving out a lesson." He took the crown back, Mattholomule panicking on the inside. They put back on their accessories while walking past him. "See you at the meeting."
"No, no, no!" He slammed his back against the locker, sliding down to the ground. "They can't know I lied. Then they'll never make me president. Huh?" He blinked as he saw that Gus had forgotten two posters, seeing that the two sisters were still banned. He picked them up and he laughed evilly. "Oh, Gus, I have you now..."
Eda stared up at a place that she thought she'd never be back in: Hexside. "Ugh, I had this nightmare before," She said in disdain, walking towards the building. She didn't even want to do this, but it was for Luz...
"As president of the HAS, I should feel bad about dunking on one of our own members," Gus spoke up as they came to a stop. The two just smiled down at him knowingly. "But as a Gus, I feel like doing this!" He then started doing a victory dance, Lucila laughing at him. "Oh, oh, yeah! Oh, yeah, what, oh~!"
Luz walked up to a trophy case. "Wow! Who got the trophy for the most bones?"
One of the hall monitors just happened to be walking by and he sniffed the air. Gus grabbed their arms and they ran off. "Whoa!"
"Hey, Gus, where's the fire?" Lucila called out, a bit confused.
"We don't have time for this right now. We gotta get to the clubroom!"
"Okay," Luz looked away in disappointment. "But next time, you have to give me a full tour."
"Yeah, next time," He laughed anxiously, and then they both saw the Abominations teacher.
"Ooh! It's the abomination professor. We should introduce ourselves! Apologize for the incident."
"Yeah, that seems fair," Lucila agreed with her.
"Hey, Mr. Abomination Professor!" The younger Noceda waved at him. "The abominominator!" He turned around and saw them, Gus wincing. "Remember us?" She acted like an abomination and he looked confused.
"You might not be able to tell, but I was actually here as a-"
"Oh, wouldn't you know?" Gus interrupted Lucila before she could say she was a garden sprite. "We suddenly have time for a full tour of Hexside," Gus pushed them away.
Eda picked up a pencil from a cup, which was a small demon. "Been quite a while since I've sat here, huh?" She put the pencil on her nose, leaning back and putting her feet on Principal Bump's desk, whicj moved the nameplate. Needless to say, he didn't have fond memories of her. "I gotta admit, it's extra weird without you yelling at me for picking fights or stealing."
"I can easily change that," He waved a finger, throwing her backwards onto the floor. "Ow!"
"What are you doing here, Edalyn?" The principal asked, adjusting the nameplate back. She sat back up, adjusting her hair.
"I want to..." She blew some of her hair back up. "I want to enroll one of my humans, Luz, at Hexside. And before you get all judgy-"
"That's not a bad idea," He actually agreed with her.
"You no-good—wait, really?" She asked in surprise.
"I think the student body could learn a lot from having such an exchange student," He stood up, walking to a cabinet. She smiled, putting her feet back up. "But before I even consider that, there's a lot to be answered for." He waved a spell finger, making her go upside down. He then pulled out a LOT of files.
"Alright. Yeah, I heard all about that abomination incident," She admitted, adjusting her upper body. And while she was still proud of Luz for it, it wasn't exactly helping her case right now.
"Oh, I'm not talking about Luz or Lucila. I'm talking about the necrotic experiments, the graffiti, the scams, the cheating, Miss Jenkinmeyer's teeth!" Her eyes widened as she slowly shrunk in her seat, realizing who he was referring to. "The trouble you caused when you were here, Eda!" He slammed down all the files, revealing that all of it was her permanent record.
"...Huh, I thought there'd be more," She stated after a few seconds; she definitely had a lot more to answer for, not that she would state it and diminish Luz's chances further.
"This is where we play the sport," Gus introduced the stadium to them. One of Boscha's friends ran up to a ball, and was grabbed by a griffin before she could do anything with it.
"I hate this game!" She shouted before the creature dropped her into a basketball net, a horn blowing. The three clapped and Gus noticed one of the hall monitors, dragging them away.
They passed by a classroom and Luz peeked in. "Ooh, what's in here?" Inside the classroom was a bunch of plants, trees, and flowers.
"The Plant Homeroom," Gus answered and Lucila gasped at how pretty it looked. A Venus flytrap with eyes opened up, trying to eat one of the students. Willow ran up and tickled the plant, setting the girl free...with all kinds of liquid over her clothes. She gave a disgusted thumbs up.
"Willow, hey!" Luz greeted and she turned around to see them. She smiled and waved, Lucila returning it. Then Willow saw Gus and he waved.
"Hi!"
She gave a disapproving look, shaking her head silently. "Huh? Why'd she react like that?" Lucila glanced down at Gus.
"Bye!" He ignored the question, dragging them away again. He then opened the door to another classroom, letting them in. "And this is where I spend my time, the Illusion Track Homeroom." The classroom was filled with mirrors and books everywhere. Lucila saw that two of the students were Edric and Emira. She gasped sharply, turning around so that she wouldn't have to see them. She really did not want to talk to them...
Emira cast a spell where she made her legs longer. Edric then cast a spell to make himself handsome, and the last student...made her face completely disappear. She screamed and the teacher brought her face back.
Luz turned and then saw something. Lucila glanced to the side, gasping. "Wait, if you're here, who is that?" She pointed to an open classroom, where there was another Gus sitting at a desk taking notes.
"That's one of my illusions. It takes notes for me when I'm not around." However, the twin held up a paper where it read 'I'm not paying attention.' Gus gasped at him, the twin giggling. "He doesn't always do what he's told."
"Relatable," Lucila looked to her sister knowingly, who smiled sheepishly.
"Wow, Gus, you're good," Luz complimented him.
"Yeah. I moved up a couple grades." His alarm went off again and he pressed the eye. "Oh, time for the HAS meeting." They ran off as Edric glanced to the doorway, seeing the back of Lucila's body.
"Huh?! Luci?"
Gus came back and moved a finger across his throat towards his duplicate, who gave a nervous look as his creator looked away. Edric ran over to the doorway, glancing around and seeing no one.
"Maybe I created her by accident as an illusion?" He sagged his shoulders as Emira walked over to him.
"Just take your mind off her, Ed."
"I can't," He dragged a hand down his face. Ever since she left, her words kept ringing in his head...
"Human, human! Human, human!" All the members except Mattholomule was cheering. Then Gus walked in.
"Human Appreciation Society..." He twanged the paper clip. "It is my distinct pleasure to introduce to you..." He gestured to the doorway as Luz moonwalked in. She then briefly lost her balance before she revealed her ears. "Luz, the human! And it's even more of a pleasure to introduce my teacher on human things: Lucila!"
Lucila came in with the box, taking off her hat and smiling at them. "Ahh! Such showmanship!"
"They're horrifying!"
Mattholomule glanced away with an anxious look. "Before inspection, I'd like Ms. Lucila to give you my next lesson," Gus gestured to her and she glanced down at him.
"You know, you don't need to call me that..." She then leaned down, a small smile on her face. "But I actually kinda like it, keep it up when I'm teaching you."
"Yes!" Gus pumped a fist.
Lucila stepped forward to the table. She opened the box and took out a bowl, a pack of noodles, a lid, and a teapot. "So I really love ramen, but since I can't get it in the Boiling Isles, Eda sometimes gets me these. You throw these in the bowl," She opened up the pack and threw them in the bowl. "And pour in some hot water...um..." She realized that she didn't have hot water.
"Oh, I got it," Gus waved a finger and hot water appeared in the pot.
"Thank you. It's really hot, so always be careful," She carefully poured in hot water into the bowl, and it steamed. She then placed the lid over it and they stared at the bowl.
"That's it?" Mattholomule asked with boredom, Gus glaring at him.
"It takes 3 minutes," She rolled her eyes, already not liking this kid even more than before.
They actually waited 3 minutes, Lucila even slapping away Mattholomule's hand a couple of times. The timer went off and Lucila turned it off.
"Okay, close your eyes. You're gonna love it," Lucila grinned widely as she touched the lid carefully. "This gets Luz every time. No peeking!" She warned Gus, who gasped and recovered his eyes. "Alright...open your eyes...and presto!" She lifted up the lid to reveal perfectly cooked ramen with ramen with ham, egg, and some green onions.
"Whaaaaaaat?!" The four kids exclaimed in shock, Gus gasping at it.
"It's haaaaam!" Luz shook the table in glee a bit, Lucila laughing at her. Mattholomule took one, scoffing.
"That's fake! Watch," He then threw it into his mouth, burning his tongue.
"Uh, nope. It's actually real," Lucila leaned in towards the kids. "That's called real human stuff, bucko."
"Amazing!"
"It's like magic!"
"I'm so jealous of Gus."
"Luz, Lucila, will you inspect the items now?" Gus asked, gesturing to the table.
"Of course, Mr. President. Allow us to determine if they're truly of our realm's origin," Luz stated professionally.
"Wouldn't want a liar to be exposed," Lucila glanced at Mattholomule, Gus wincing to himself. Luz reached out to the muddy shoe.
"STOP!" He shouted, stopping her. He then knocked everything off the table. "Don't make another move, humans!" He then paused. "I...have something to say. I'm new here at Hexside. M-making friends has been hard, so...I lied. They're all fakes."
The members gasped, Gus looking a bit sympathetic now. After all, he lied to his friends... "I thought if I was important enough, people would like me, but...I've caused enough drama." The trio glanced at each other. "So, I'll go. I'm sorry."
"Hey, man. It's okay," Luz simply shrugged. "You're only human. Well...you know what I mean."
"Yeah. You don't need to lie to be accepted," Lucila agreed with her with a small smile.
"Mattholomule, you aren't alone," Gus smiled softly. "You have a place here here in the HAS."
"You're not alone!"
"We admire your honesty."
"You're one of us!"
"Thanks, guys," He actually smiled. "I knew you'd understand."
"Ugh, I don't wanna do this!" Eda growled out.
"There's the whiny rebel teen I remember," Principal Bump patted her back. "You'll need this," He held out a mop. "To clean up all the hexed graffiti you left us. Good luck," He walked off and she stuck out a tongue. She tried to clean it off, but the art just moved away every time she even got close. She waved the mop around and it just all came together to say 'Mother nooooo!' She smacked the mop against the lockers, missing.
She let out a groan.
"Thanks for coming!"
"Come back soon."
"Thank you," Eileen muffled to the humans, running off.
"Anytime, you guys," Lucila smiled and waved.
"Hey Augustus, Luz, Lucila...thank you for being so forgiving," Mattholomule spoke up, actually sounded genuine.
"We've all been the new kid before. Right, Gus?" Luz smiled down at him.
"Yeah!" He agreed with her.
"It's a magic school, obviously not everything is gonna go off to a great start. But, you know, you seem to be a good kid," Lucila shrugged at him lightly.
"Well, I just have one thing to say..." The hall monitors burst into the room. "There they are!" He pointed to the two. "They're the intruders!" He held up the wanted posters of them and one of them sniffed the room.
"Trouble..."
"No, it's fine," Luz waved her hands. "The ban's been lifted. Tell 'em, Gus."
However, they both got grabbed by the crooks. "Huh?! What are you doing?!" Lucila cried out.
"Ahh! Gus, tell them!" Luz shouted as they were both dragged away.
"Oh, who's the liar now, Augustus?" Mattholomule crossed his arms with a smug smile.
Willow was thinking to herself in the plant classroom, frowning. "Maybe I've been too hard on Gus," She started water the Venus Flytrap. "I mean, what trouble could they get into?"
"Help!"
Willow turned to the door as she heard Luz's voice, seeing her and Lucila get dragged away. "Ahh! I don't even learn here!"
"Exactly, so you can't do this! This is so illegal!" Lucila argued, but they didn't listen.
"Luz! Lucila!" Willow shouted in worry.
"Where are you taking us?" Luz asked while her sister attempted to free herself.
"Detention."
"Oh. That won't be so bad, right?"
Lucila turned to her wide-eyed and they stopped in front of a hall. They turned to see a giant door...which had three eyes and a large mouth with fangs. It opened up its mouth, and they realized what was happening, screaming.
"I can't believe you guys fell for that," Mattholomule bragged to a furious Gus. Like I'd actually apologize."
"What. Did you do?" Gus gritted his teeth, his fists shaking.
"Oh, boo-hoo. I'm sorry. I'm the new kid. I want friends," Mattholomule gave an innocent look. "Ha! No. I want power! And I want drama! And I got one of those right now." He walked up to Gus, who backed away from him. "So what are you gonna do, Mr. President?"
Gus reared his right fist back, looking as if he'd actually punch this jerk. "...Executive action," He reached out and pulled the tongue from the alive fire alarm.
"Ow!"
It went off, spraying water at them.
"But I didn't pull the alarm!" Mattholomule protested as they got dragged away from one of the hall monitors. "It was Augustus! Are you even listening to me? I demand justice!" As he was dragging them away, Willow peeked around the corner.
The monster door opened up and he threw the boys inside. He then left, Mattholomule looking up in a panic. "Wait!" The door closed and he rushed over, slamming on it. "Get me outta here! Open up!"
Gus looked up and his eyes widened as he saw his friends. "Luz! Lucila!"
"Gus," Luz called out while hiding behind two rocks. "You said the ban was lifted!"
"But we wouldn't be here unless it was the opposite...would we?" Lucila asked him slowly and knowingly, and he could tell that she figured it out: that he lied to them. He looked down sadly from her look of disapproval.
"Well...I..." Before he could properly explain, the floor suddenly opened up, revealing a hole full of teeth and flesh and some pods. The two sisters screamed at the sight.
Two doors opened as Eda slowly came into the cafeteria, dragging in a bag of ghosts. She was doused in ectoplasm and she threw down the bag to a satisfied Bump. "There. The girls' changing room is ghost-free." She clearly didn't want to do any of this...
"Are you ready to give up? You've barely scratched the surface," Bump pulled off some ectoplasm from her hair. She growled in response, looking back and seeing two girls together, one of them from the HAS, and the other was one of Boscha's friends.
"No, like this," The brown-haired girl made a fireball and then it turned into snow.
"Oh," The other girl tried it and got the same result. "Wow." The two then hugged with smiles. "Friendship is the real magic."
"They're just as bad as Luz. She'd love it here," Eda smiled, remembering why she was even doing all of this in the first place. "Alright! What's next, Bumpikins?" She rubbed her hands together. He smiled and held up a toilet plunger. She groaned, making her hands into fists.
"How is this detention?!" Luz shouted out in disbelief. "This is a death sentence!"
"And this is okay with the school board?!" Lucila gestured to the teeth.
"I don't know! I've never been in detention before!" Gus called out, Mattholomule joining his side.
"Welcome to my world. Believe it or not, in my old school, I was in detention plenty of times."
"That isn't hard to believe," Luz agreed with him. "You're kind of a jerk."
"Yeah, you little punk!" Lucila clenched a fist. "You're the reason why we're even in here." If she could, she'd punch him in the face, but her sister probably wouldn't let her do that.
"Well, down in detention, this jerk slash punk is king!" His eyes got a little creepy stating that. "So, if you wanna get out, you better do exactly what I say," He stepped towards the hole. "First, before anything else, we gotta-"
A snake with a human face burst up and spat a blue jelly-like substance at Mattholomule's leg, grabbing him. "Already?" He screamed as he was pulled down.
"Mattholomule!" Luz called out as she looked down, and the next time she saw him, he was floating around in a pod, just like several other students. "You lied to us," She looked up at Gus. "You lied about the ban! Why?"
"I was afraid. I acted stupid," He admitted to them.
"Yes, you did!"
"That jerk got us in here," Lucila pointed down to Mattholomule. "But you played a part too," She pointed at Gus. "Because you didn't tell us the truth, and because of that, we were led to believe that everything was fine!"
"I know," He squeezed his eyes shut sadly. "Being younger than everyone is hard. You're overlooked. Ignored," He started moving carefully to the left. "But at the HAS, I mattered. I could make sure no one would ever get left behind. I didn't wanna lose that. I'm sorry."
The two sisters glanced at each other, sharing the same conclusion that they could see where he was coming from. Luz placed a hand on his shoulder. "We get it. I just wish you told us the truth."
"Best friends don't lie to each other, remember?" Lucila smiled down a bit at him and he smiled back.
A screech interrupted the moment and they looked down to see several snakes screeching at them. "Let me make it up to you, guys. I've got a plan!"
One of them showed itself to Luz, who yelped and kicked it in the neck. "We're in. Where do we start?"
Gus grabbed both of their hands. "By leaving no one behind!" He jumped, taking the two with him inside. They landed at the bottom of the pit roughly. He looked up and saw Mattholomule's cocoon, grabbing him.
"You will be a good student," A voice echoed.
"I will be a good student," Mattholomule repeated back, almost like a drone. Luz sunk her teeth into the pod, but it was no use. She looked up at the two.
"You know, it didn't taste as bad as I thought it would."
"Ohh!" Lucila groaned as she looked away. "I would've been fine not ever knowing that fact."
"Oh, you're a witch!" Luz remembered, pointing at Gus. "Do magic."
"Oh! I'll use magic," He pulled out the paper clip and unfolded it. "Human magic!" He pierced the pod with it and then cut open the cocoon.
"Am I...a good student?" Mattholomule asked in a daze.
"Far from it," Lucila scrunched up her nose. Luz picked him up and threw him over her shoulder.
"Oh, gosh, he's so little." The snakes surrounded the trio, hissing. "This is part of the plan, right?"
"Or the illusion of a plan." Gus spun a spell circle and then did a duplicating spell, making copies of him, Lucila, and Luz. The snakes started destroying them, hissing as they were essentially confused.
"A genius and a wordsmith," Luz smiled and they ran off. Lucila stared at Gus, feeling a bit more...confident, for lack of word. She didn't know how, but his bravery and his quick-thinking were changing her mind about magic. As in...maybe she could actually do things with it, such as protecting others. They started climbing up the teeth and eyes. Some snakes started slithering after them, and they eventually got to the top. Another snake appeared and Luz kicked it. Lucila slammed down a fist on its head, the creature backing off. Gus started smacking them with a huge bone while Luz and Lucila used hands-on combat. He ran off with the bone.
"We're gonna have to bust down the door!" He called out over his shoulder.
"Right behind you," Luz threw Mattholomule over her shoulder, Lucila yelping and running off as the snakes were on their tail. They all grabbed the bone, screaming as they ran for the door.
Willow walked up to the door, making sure no one was watching her. She then lifted up the door latch.
"I washed off all the graffiti," She glanced to the hall as Eda and Bump were walking. "Apologized to Miss Jenkinmeyer for stealing her teeth. Caught all the wild cerebi. Ah, we should be good." She turned to him triumphantly, hands on her hips.
"It will be very exciting to have a real human exchange student. Lucila isn't enrolling?"
"No," Eda looked away awkwardly. "She's got her own thing going on."
"Well, if she ever changes her mind, we'll be happy to welcome her," The two shook hands.
"And you won't tell the Emperor's Coven about this, will you?" Eda asked cautiously; everyone knew she was wanted, and she wouldn't want him to blab about it...
"No. Hexside School is safe for you both. I'm the principal, not a stooge. Consider your pupil our pupil."
A loud thud was heard and they turned to the detention door. It pounded, breaking open the latch and Willow stepped backwards. Suddenly the door broke open, with the three standing there panting in exhaustion.
"Eda?" Luz asked in confusion.
"What are you doing here?" Lucila smiled nervously, thinking they were getting a lecture.
"Guess who got Luz into Hexside!" Eda announced happily, and Principal Bump didn't look as happy.
"What?" Before Luz could say anything else, the snakes appeared behind them, the sisters screaming. Luz even dropped Mattholomule. Bump snapped his fingers and then they backed off.
"Sorry, Principal Bump. Sir," One snake stated and they left. Bump looked down at Luz furiously.
"What did you do?"
"Ugh, kid," Eda facepalmed at this.
"To think that any student of yours would be capable of doing anything, but create chaos! Eda, take your student and Lucila and leave!" Luz and Lucila both frowned. "You are all banned from this campus!"
"What?!" Lucila exclaimed in disbelief.
"Argh, come on, kids," Eda waved them forward.
"Principal Bump, this isn't fair. I can explain all of this—well, not without you getting more angry, but-"
"Out!" He pointed to the hall and Lucila clamped her mouth shut. She closed her eyes sadly and the two walked over to Eda.
"Let's go."
"Sorry, hermana," Lucila placed a hand on Luz's shoulder as she tried to hold back tears.
"Wait, Principal Bump," Gus suddenly spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "Don't blame them. I told Luz and Lucila the ban was lifted, that we were fighting over the Human Appreciation Society. I brought them in because I wanted to win." He looked away sadly, before biting his lip and facing the principal again. "This is all my fault."
"If that's so, Augustus, would you be willing to accept their punishments as your own?" He asked sternly.
"Yes, Principal Bump. I would," Gus answered as he mentally prepared himself for it.
"Huh," Eda placed her hands on her hips, impressed. "Dang, dweebus." Meanwhile, the two sisters looked concerned for him, as they knew how much it meant to Gus being the president of the HAS.
"Very well," He then faced the three. "In light of that, barring any more trouble, Luz shall officially be enrolled in Hexside School next semester." She gasped sharply, smiling widely. "And if Lucila decides to enroll, we will gladly reserve a spot for her."
She rubbed her chin upon hearing that. She honestly didn't think she'd ever change her mind on magic...but after today, she was actually more interested in it. And to be fair, she couldn't exactly learn more about the school if she wasn't enrolled. So she could see herself as a student now...
"Uh, hold on. Hold on," Eda faced Luz, placing her hands on the girl's shoulders. She glanced back at Bump, gesturing that this was a moment between them. He backed away a little bit and she bent down a bit to face the girl. "I'm only doing this because I have faith in you. And I know you're too smart to fall for that One-Witch, One-Coven nonsense. You can learn a lot from the witches here," She did a quick glance over her shoulder. "And maybe teach them some of that Bad Girl Coven magic too."
"I didn't hear that," Bump walked off, Lucila chuckling. He approached Gus, Willow frowning a bit. "As for you, I would be saying detention right now, but...that seems to be out of order. So, as of now, I'm removing you from the Human Appreciation Society," He took the crown off Gus' head.
"Does that make me president?" Mattholomule asked from the ground, having seemingly woken up.
"Impressive. Still alive. Yes, I suppose you are," He tossed the crown onto the boy's head.
"Yes!"
Lucila gave a look of disbelief that he got what he wanted. "Now, with that accomplished, Eda, we have some paperwork to fill out," He started to leave.
"Wait!" Eda called out in annoyance. "I gotta do more stuff? Ugh! You better enjoy this place, kid," She ruffled the top of Luz's head.
"I trust that you have the essential documentation should I need it?" Bump glanced over to Lucila, who nodded.
"Of course, and thanks for the offer too."
He nodded with a small smile and left. The two then turned to their friends. "Wanna finish off that tour?" Gus asked them.
"I can show you guys what plants not to touch in the greenhouse. And then I can let you touch them," Willow added in.
"Yeah! Let's go," Luz grabbed Willow and her sister's hands. Willow grabbed Gus' hand and they laughed, running off together.
"Hey! Wait," Mattholomule called out, still a bit disoriented. "Take me. I'm your president." He sighed as everyone forgot about him. "Come on..."
"Well, thanks, Gus," Lucila smiled as she looked over her shoulder. The three glanced at each other.
"For what?" He asked in confusion.
"For inspiring me," She stated softly. "In more ways than one, too."
He gasped at her. "I've been noticed by my human teacher...!" He murmured happily. "I don't know how, but I have been recognized."
Back in the Owl House, the group were going over Eda's book of misdeeds. Stuff like releasing ghosts into the girls' locker room, starting a food fight with abominations after Lilith got her lunch money taken making the bells sing, releasing giant bugs, and letting out the school griffin.
"Wow. Bump was not exaggerating," Luz interrupted the reminiscing. "You were a terrible student."
Lucila snickered at her. "Take it from me, kids. Sometimes you can't help yourselves."
"And I'm out already," The older girl stood up, walking over to the door. "I'm going to the library, gonna check out some books."
"Have fun, kid," Eda waved to her.
"Oh! Bring me back something!" Luz called out and she rolled her eyes in amusement.
She hummed as she walked back to the Owl House, hugging a book about spells. Unfortunately, she couldn't find much on glyphs specifically...and the books she could find were about wild magic, but she already had one back home. Glyphs were probably unheard of for a long time if they were never documented...in which that case, made things even harder to research! And she found herself in another dilemma...
She didn't even know any spells.
"Ah! I can't believe I'm not even thinking clearly when it comes to this," She pinched her nose. She was clearly unprepared...
She didn't notice the Golden Guard hovering over her. He stared down at the girl as she looked a bit frustrated with herself. He glanced away; he could've just left without saying anything, but...for some reason, he felt a bit inclined to help her. Even if something in the back of his mind was telling him not to. After all, she was affiliated with Eda the Owl Lady. But he mostly didn't care nowadays. He floated down and landed behind her.
"Lucila."
She blinked in shock upon hearing her name from the familiar voice, turning around to see the Golden Guard. She stared at him, not even having words right now.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked in confusion.
"You've never called me by my name before," She murmured softly, a bit taken aback that he actually remembered it.
"Slip of the tongue," He waved it off. "Anyway...you seem to be distracted."
"Distracted is the least of my problems...I'm actually getting into magic now, if you can believe it," She admitted, then letting out a small groan. "But I don't know exactly where to start."
He rubbed the back of his neck in thought. He was pulled out of Hexside and then inducted into the Emperor's Coven at a young age, so he was hoping that she'd impress the school. And...she could learn about wild magic if she just looked into all 9 covens.
"You can kinda...sort of...get into Hexside," He suggested to the girl.
"Hey, I'm kinda sort of a beginner, and they have requirements," Lucila deadpanned at him.
"Really? Wow, I had no idea!" He replied sarcastically.
The girl snorted; honestly that sarcasm was kind of growing on her. And since this was the fourth time she had seen him, it was almost normal for her. Though she didn't know if he had the same sentiment...She shook her head, snapping out of it. "Doesn't matter. The point is, I don't know any spells, and you can't teach me any."
"Well, no, but I've been reading up on some stuff. You told me about glyphs, and I got curious. And I noticed that you like to read, so I tracked some books for you to read so you can learn more about wild magic," He held out some books to her and she slowly took them. She didn't think he'd be super prepared enough to give her a head-starter on magic.
"Oh..." She blinked in shock.
"I-I mean, they were junk, anyway. At least they'd be of some use now," He stated; he found them in a pile of junk from the Coven's vault, so it wasn't like they'd miss them anytime soon.
"Do you have a magic staff for me to use like you?" Lucila looked up at him, baffling him. He wasn't expecting that, and he couldn't exactly make her one or give her one without the Emperor noticing...he wouldn't care if some books were missing, but he'd definitely know something was off if a whole staff was gone from the reserves.
"Well...n-no, but I can go and confiscate one-" He noticed her smiling and then she giggled. "That was clearly a joke."
"But...thank you for these," She glanced down at the books, hugging them. "It's really cool of you. But I still don't know any spells."
"So then learn some."
"Gee, you think?" She replied a little sarcastically. "But I don't know how I would. Eda's too busy with my sister for the time being, who am I gonna get as my teacher in such short notice?" She blinked and grinned at the person standing in front of her. He flinched and held up a hand.
"Absolutely not."
"Hey, you said so yourself you were curious about wild magic; now you get to teach someone with wild magic," She argued back.
"No, I won't; it's off-limits," He pointed out to her. "And if anyone finds out-"
"Hey, no one will find out because we'll start tonight when everyone is asleep," She pointed out, holding up a finger. "No one's gonna see us; therefore we won't get into trouble."
"You expect me to sneak out to teach you wild magic?" He scoffed a bit, arms crossed.
"No, I expect you to go out without anyone seeing you so you can teach me wild magic," Lucila corrected him with a smug smile. He blinked behind his mask; he would be stupid to give into her request. But...this was an opportunity to finally talk to someone about wild magic, something he wasn't even allowed to talk about with the Emperor. Then again, it was dangerous for her to practice, but if he was her teacher, he would definitely stick to the safer stuff.
"...Fine," He finally relented and she grinned. "At midnight exactly, meet me by the lake by...your owl residence or whatever. And don't be late."
"I won't, I won't," She waved it off, running back towards the Owl House. "See you later!"
He turned around and flew off, trying to hide his excitement.
Later that night, Lucila slowly opened the door to her room, glancing around the hall. She slowly tiptoed into the hall, wearing her pajamas. If she changed into her regular clothes, she'd get a few questions should someone see her. She pressed her back against the door, closing it quietly. She couldn't believe she was doing this...
She snapped out of it, shaking her head. "Okay Lucila, just grab it and go..." The girl encouraged herself, for two reasons: One, because she knew that if she didn't do this, she'd be late for her lesson. And two...
Because she was stealing Eda's staff.
She slowly opened the door to the woman's room, using her phone flashlight to guide her way in. She then saw the staff leaning against the wall next to her. The girl slowly reached out to it, when Eda suddenly snorted.
"Ahh, Miss Jenkinmeyer...you look so bad without your teeth..." She murmured tiredly and Lucila raised a brow, deciding not to say anything. She reached out to the staff again. "Hold on!" The girl flinched, seeing Eda sit up with her eyes closed. Eda then reached out to a box of voles nearby in her sleep, eating it. "Ahh...much better."
The girl gagged and quickly took the staff, leaving the room. She reached her room again, entering quietly. She walked up to the window, opening it up. Owlbert came to life, hooting up at her. "Heeey, Owlbert...you're not gonna tell Eda about this, are you? I swear I'll be super careful."
He stared at her and she sighed a bit. "I'll let you beat me in Hexes Hold 'em~!"
He nodded in agreement, the girl climbing onto the staff. She then flew out the window, thankfully without waking anyone.
The Golden Guard rubbed his chin as he waited for the girl. He already had the lesson in mind, though he had no idea how this would turn out. After all, he was out here, to teach a human magic, with the risk that someone would eventually find out. He couldn't believe he even said yes to this whole thing...but he was kind of looking forward to it.
Lucila came into view, landing in front of him. "Alright, teach. What are we learning first?" She dusted herself off. He glanced at her up and down, snickering a bit.
"You look ridiculous, you know that?"
"Stop laughing at me. I couldn't change, otherwise people would ask questions!" She defended to him.
"So get into Hexside, you need to learn two spells and learn basic runes." He paused as he stared at her. "Can you even do magic?"
"No, of course not. I don't have the...genetics, if you will," She glanced away awkwardly.
"So how does your sister get around?"
"She draws them, but I'm a terrible artist," Lucila admitted and he sighed, sitting down. She sat down next to him as she pulled down a notebook. He took a pencil from her, holding it up for her to see his fingers positioned.
"We can start by teaching you how to draw basic shapes," He silently rolled his eyes at the irony how she can write songs, but sucked at drawing. "Show me the glyph your sister knows."
She pulled out her phone, pulling up the video Luz sent to her about the light spell in the assumption that she would learn magic. "Watch my hand, and see how I draw a straight line." She watched his movement, paying careful attention. "Now, with the pencil, you gotta have a comfortable grip when you draw. When you start drawing circles, rotate your wrist to create a curve so that it'll result in a loop." He handed her the pencil and moved the paper, crossing his arms.
She moved around her fingers until she was comfortable, slowly drawing a straight line. She drew at least three more before she moved her wrist to make the loop. It looked good enough to him and he took out a pencil of his own.
"We're gonna practice straight lines and circles before we get to the spell. And you, Lucila, are gonna practice this before tomorrow's lesson."
"Homework already?" She asked in disbelief.
"Hey, you wanted me as your teacher, you gotta keep up," He told her and she sighed.
"Okay."
She looked down at the paper as he started telling her about different lines.