Angel: If you want to ask me questions and you have a FanFiction account, you're free to message me! But I will say that I've made it clear when I started this story that I will still write the Golden Guard more often regardless of opinion, so just skip the chapters that he's in or just stomach it if you really want to continue with the story in general. Plain and simple. I'm not forcing anyone to read stuff that they don't like XD If you don't like more stuff with the Golden Guard, that is cool.
Lucila smiled as she was doing her plant spell homework from the Golden Guard. As much as she didn't like the draining homework of drawing spells over and over again, at least now she had gotten the hang of it. And she had almost perfected the spell without messing up any lines, so she was well on her way to mastering it.
Similar to her sister, Luz was also mastering things for school, by reading up on Hexside. "King, listen to this," She spoke up and King sat up.
"Hey, less read-y, more scratch-y!"
"Sorry," She sat up in excitement. "Now that Luci and I will be students at Hexside, I wanna learn all about it! I've got a new crush and her name is Education! Speaking of education, how's your temporary homeschool going along?"
It wasn't until Luz asked that question that Lucila realized that after this spell...she wouldn't be doing any more lessons with the Golden Guard. And for some reason, a part of her heart felt empty realizing that fact. She shook it off for now, smiling weakly.
"It's great. Almost done with homework, actually..." She tried not to sound dismayed and King ate a piece of the brochure.
Eda then kicked the door open. "Hey, freeloaders! Guess what today is?"
"Is it your birthday?" Luz asked with a smile.
"Is it my birthday?" King questioned next.
"It's my birthday!" Hooty chimed in.
"Um, it's no one's birthday, you guys," Lucila raised a brow.
"No!" Eda then closed the front door, holding the portal she usually had to steal. "It's Human Treasure Day!" She threw the portal and it turned into the door, opening up. Owlbert flew in while carrying a large bag. It ripped open to reveal a pile of trash. Eda jumped and landed on it with a satisfied sigh. "Fresh garbage."
"Ooh, give me, give me, give me!" King ran over eagerly, digging through and getting out a stuffed bear. "Yes! Another worthy addition to my army of terror." He pulled away the pull string.
"I love cuddles and kisses."
"Truly horrifying," King stated happily.
Eda then turned to the two sisters. "Yo, kids. Your trash pile is getting cold. While mine's getting hot!" She held up a clothes hangar. "I have never seen such an extravagant earring."
"You can have my trash."
"Yeah, I'm gonna pass because I don't want literal garbage," Lucila deadpanned as she glanced up at Eda.
"Oh! Did you know that Hexside was built on the bones of its rival school? One it literally conquered?!" She held out the brochure to Eda, who had put on the hangars around her ears. She was admiring herself in the mirror.
"Yes, I know all these things. I went there. It was the most harrowing period of my life. Oh, hello," She commented, impressed. Lucila snickered a bit at her.
"Can you imagine it? Me, in the halls of Hexside, studying with Willow and Gus and maybe even Amity. Amity!" She dropped her brochure in a panic. "Oh, cramity! We're supposed to meet so I could get my Azura book back," She ran off, taking her sister's hand. "Lucila, you need a break, please come with me!" Luz said quickly as she dragged her baffled sister out the door. She then closed it before peeking back in. "I love you guys!"
"And I love you, Lu-" Hooty tried to say, but Luz slammed the door shut, muffling it out.
"Eh, who needs them?" Eda crossed her arms.
"Yeah," King popped out of the pile, holding up two bears this time instead of one. "These bears can be our new Lucila and Luz." He then pulled the pull string again.
"Being without you is just unbearable."
King then threw the bears onto the floor. "You're unbearable!"
"Not that I hate going out into town, but why am I going with you?" Lucila asked curiously as the two sisters walked side by side into the market. The girl was attempting to write a new song. While she technically wasn't in the band right now, she still wanted at least some new songs to remember her experiences.
You know what the truth is
It's the beat of your heart
The girl closed her eyes, liking those lyrics, but after that, it was a blank.
"Well, I'm a bit nervous about getting the book back. I know Amity said she'd try to be friends, but I just need you around to...you know, help keep the peace?" Luz chuckled nervously and her sister patted her back.
"Hermana, you don't need me for that. I know that Amity will warm up to you more already just by talking to you more."
Luz smiled up at her and she started running. "Race ya!"
"Hey!" Lucila laughed as she raced after her.
"Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity."
Morton flinched as he saw Lucila running and he dropped his bag immediately. "H-Hey, Lucila! Um, funny seeing you here-"
"Sorry Morton, can't talk!" She said quickly as she ran around him, trying to catch up with Luz.
"Oh," He sagged his shoulders in disappointment.
"Gotta find that—oh!" Luz stopped as she saw Amity waiting up ahead. "There she is!" She was in a black dress and boots with purple stockings instead of her normal uniform. "Hey, Amity! Luz is finally here."
Suddenly Emira and Edric popped up in front of them. "Hi girls!"
The two screamed, falling onto the ground. The two siblings started laughing as the girls were in a heap. Lucila grunted to herself, standing up slowly. Amity then walked over.
"Edric, Emira, stop bothering them!" She held out her hands to them, helping the two up. "Sorry, guys. They insisted on coming for some reason."
"Because we love you, baby sister," Emira pinched her cheeks adoringly, getting pushed away by Amity. She then adjusted her hair.
"They've been extra protective and nice towards me to make up for the library incident," She crossed her arms, not sure whether or not it was a good thing or a bad thing. And Lucila could honestly see why Amity would feel indifferent towards it.
"And we still apologize every day," Edric added in, hands clasped. He then saw the girl and blushed a bit. "Hey Luci!" He greeted her with a smile and she frowned at the sight of them.
"Mm...hey Edric. Hey Emira," She crossed her arms, not happy to see them. The last time she saw them, they left her, Amity, and Luz with a monster, and they wanted to humiliate Amity too. And did she forget to mention that they were kind of unsympathetic towards the whole situation?
"Be nice," Luz whispered to her.
"It's okay, Luz," Emira spoke up, as they had heard her.
"We'll work our way to getting back in Luci's good graces," Edric winked at the girl and she got defensive.
"Don't call me Luci!" She snapped a little, earning pouts from them.
"Can we talk?" Luz grabbed the girl's hand and led her away from the two. "Look, I know that you and the twins have problems, but I'm trying to get on Amity's good side, you know? So...can you please do me this favor and get along with them for a day? For me?" Luz clasped her hands, puppy eyes towards Lucila.
She groaned at the look; she didn't want to be anywhere near them right now because of the now-bad impression she had of them. But Luz really wanted to be friends with Amity, who was at least trying on her part too...
"...Ugghh, sisters sometimes," Lucila sighed in defeat.
"Yes!" Luz pumped a fist in victory.
"In any case, here's your book," Amity walked up to them, holding it out to Luz.
"So...what'd you think?" Luz asked curiously as she took it in both her hands.
"It was...fine," Amity glanced away nonchalantly.
"So fine you drew yourself with Malingale the Mysterious Soothsayer?" The younger Noceda held up the drawing. Amity blushed in embarrassment, waving a spell circle to burn the paper immediately. "This is great! Maybe we can even start an Azura Club at school and Lucila can be the president when we're classmates!"
"When we're what?" Amity asked in confusion, as she didn't even know that the two had been accepted into Hexside.
"Surprise~! We're enrolling at Hexside," Luz held up the brochure.
"I just hope you've been studying like I have," Lucila spoke up, arms crossed.
"Oh, uh, sorry, but to be in my class you need to take a placement exam," Amity informed Luz, taking the brochure from her. "And prove that you've mastered two spells," She then held up the booklet, revealing on the page that for advanced people, they needed two spells and runes...just like Lucila had been studying on and Luz hadn't. "I know you have your light thing, and I'm not even...sure what Lucila's got. Do you guys know anything else?"
"Placement exam? Spells?" Luz asked in a bit of a panic.
"Quit giving them a hard time, Mittens," Emira spoke up as the twins joined her side. Edric nodded in agreement, smiling towards the two.
"Yeah, of course they know two spells. Right, guys?"
Luz scoffed nervously, waving it off. Lucila glanced down at her. "Yeah. Of course we know two spells." She chuckled anxiously; this was why she needed to listen to her sister more...
"Because if you don't, they'll put you in the baby class," Amity showed another page about the baby class, for babies.
"Ooh, brain idea!" Edric kneeled between Amity and Luz.
"What if we all train together?" Emira leaned on Amity's head. "We could show off what we know."
"What do you say, guys?" Edric offered them.
"Uh..."
"Oh...training...with you guys. Sounds, uh..." Lucila didn't even know how to answer since she didn't know what to make of their...new outlook. She still didn't trust them entirely, and she wanted to stomach it for Luz, but the library thing was making it hard.
"Actually, we have other training plans in a very faraway place. That we have to go to right now...Bye!" Luz grabbed her sister's arm and took off, the older sister sighing in relief.
Meanwhile, in the Owl House, Eda's hand was detached from her body holding a book 'Bending Ingredients to Your Will' in the kitchen. "Wow, a surprisingly peaceful domestic moment. When will it be ruined?" She asked herself, and she got that answer a few seconds later.
"EDA!"
"There it is..." She acknowledged as Luz came running in.
"Eda, Eda, Eda!" She fell onto the ground, Lucila entering after her. "You have to teach me a new spell, right now."
"Sorry, Luz. These vegetables won't cook themselves...yet," She held up a potion and poured it onto the vegetables. They came to life, standing in front of her. "All right. Everybody in the pot." Instead, they ran off of fear of being cooked. "Why do I always think that's gonna work?"
Luz went up to the table. "But I need to know two spells to get into decent classes at Hexside. I can make light glyphs, and so can Luci," She held up a large paper with the glyph on it. She tapped it, and it flashed the other two.
"Luz, don't use those so close to my eyes, I'm blind enough!" Lucila warned her, taking off her glasses and rubbing at her eyes.
"But at the end of the day that's the only spell I knoooow..." Luz slowly slid onto the floor, Eda and Lucila staring down at her.
"And whose fault is that?"
"Yours!" Luz pointed up at her, her face in the ground.
"Ha! Yep. Got me there. But don't forget Lucila's learning a new spell that she hadn't helped you learn," The girl gave a wide-eyed look, Luz looking up at her. She then waved her hands rapidly.
"Hold on there, I haven't even properly learned it yet. I'm still getting the hang of it. And even then, I don't know if she's ready for that one."
"Just either of you teach me a spell now. Any spell," Luz pleaded with them, narrowing her eyes. "It can be the darkest evil."
Lucila shook her head at Eda, signaling not to teach her sister that. "Well, I have been researching my texts on wild magic, the few books that I have, but I'm much too busy right now," Eda took the book and threw it into the pot. Lucila raised a brow, wondering what Eda could be doing that made her so busy.
"Come on, Eda!" Luz argued back. "You're the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles. How would it look if your apprentice got thrown into the baby class?"
"Hmm," Eda rubbed her chin after blinking. "Weaponizing my pride. Well played. Well," She turned around to them. "In that case, this looks like a job for magic boot camp," She reattached her hand. "And I'm gonna help you learn that spell, Luci, whatever it is."
"Oh, I'll...tell you later," She smiled awkwardly, wondering how she was going to explain this...
The door opened and King came in. "Did someone say boot camp? I agree to run it. We'll rise at dawn! You'll carry me on your back as I yell hateful things about your performance."
"Nope. You'll have no part in this," Eda told him. "The girls need to focus, and I can't have them go all weird when you do something adorable."
"I am not adorable!" King stomped his foot.
"Aw," Luz's eyes shined a bit as Lucila squealed to herself. "He stamped his little foot."
He screeched in anger, slamming the door. But it reopened and the same thing happened again when he tried to re-slam it. Finally on the third try he got it, but Luz still thought it was adorable. "Now, no time to waste," Eda spoke up to the two. "You'll have to follow my teachings exactly. We gotta go somewhere special."
"Yes!" Luz answered eagerly.
"A place where magical energy just flows.
"Yes!" She kneeled on the table, Lucila shaking her head in amusement.
"A place like...the Knee!"
All of them were dressed in winter clothing as the Knee was the snowy part of Bonesborough. Lucila was wearing a pea coat in the same color as Luz's coat, with three black buttons holding the coat. She had purple earmuffs over her ears. Her leggings were pink and she had black boots on. She also had black gloves over her hands.
"YES!" Luz cheered happily, pumping her fists, her scream echoing.
"The earliest witches came to the Knee to develop their magic," Eda informed them as they walked. "Drawn to its natural power."
Luz gasped at the sight before her, seeing a whole ruin, covered in snow. And it seemed to be abandoned too. "It's beautiful!"
"This area looks great for practice," Lucila smiled a little.
"Though it's not without its dangers," Eda gestured to something on the left and they looked to see a large giant white beast. They yelped at the sight of it as it was gnawing on wood. "The Slitherbeast. Don't worry, if you don't mess with him, he won't mess with you."
"Good to know..." Lucila bit her lip nervously as Eda walked past. Luz blew a raspberry and he snapped the wood in half with his teeth. Luz screamed and Lucila grabbed her arm, running off.
"Here's where we'll set up shop," Eda stated as they reached the ruins.
"I'll definitely learn my second spell here," Luz replied optimistically, spinning around as Lucila took out her plant homework.
"So who is this mysterious teacher you're hiding?" The woman asked Lucila, who flinched in alarm.
"No one important," She chuckled nervously, waving it off. Eda eyed her as she was sweating.
"Awful lie, but as long as you're learning, I don't care enough to ask further." The girl sighed in relief while Luz was admiring everything around her.
"Gorgeous views, magic in the air. And best of all, we're completely alone!"
Suddenly, a purple light loomed over her. "Watch out!" Eda shouted as she pushed Luz out of the way. Lucila ran over to them, looking over the edge to see what was behind it...or rather who as they were all surprised to see Amity and her siblings, all of them in winter gear.
"Sorry, whoever's over there!" Amity called out.
"Aw, no..." Lucila said in dismay, Luz hiding herself behind a boulder.
"Forget teaching me a spell. Just make me disappear," She placed her hat flaps over her eyes.
"I second that," Lucila sunk down as she didn't really want to talk to the twins so soon...she promised Luz she'd be nice to them, but after the way they acted, it was hard! Especially since she had hoped that Edric would've been a cool guy to hang out with. And he was, at first...
"Mm?!" She blushed as she realized she was thinking about him, snapping out of it.
"Well, okay, but I've got a 60/40 record of making you reappear," Eda rubbed her chin. "Oh!" She then realized what they actually meant. "You two meant...ah, never mind."
However, the three already recognized them, the twins trying to get their attention. "Hey, girls!"
"Luz! Lucila!"
"Hey, it's us."
"Why...? Why here?" Lucila pinched her nose.
"Okay, let's do this," Luz whispered to her sister, coming out of hiding with a nervous wave. "Hey, guys!"
"Who are they?" Eda asked, the younger girl pushing her away.
"Be cool."
"That's Amity with her twin siblings. Otherwise known as the ones who left us to possibly get eaten," Lucila glanced away.
"Yeah, and if they know we haven't mastered two spells, they'll think we belong in the baby class," Luz whispered in embarrassment.
"Man, I don't care what Edric and Emira think about me being in the baby class, I'd rather be over there than with-"
"What's that about the baby class?" Amity interrupted Lucila as she approached.
"Only that it's for babies and these girls here clearly aren't babies," Eda spoke up for them and both of them didn't look pleased by that explanation. "Nailed it." She whistled as she walked away from them.
"Gee, thanks. Your help knows no bounds," Lucila dragged a hand down her face.
"Amity!" Luz slid off the boulder she was leaning on. "W-What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to train. I'm trying to beat Ed and Em's highest score on the exam," She held her arm anxiously.
"Oh, Mittens," Emira appeared right behind her, and she flinched with wide eyes. "That's impossible."
"She still needs to use a training wand to learn new spells," Edric joined her right side, Amity frowning up at him. "So what are you working on? Something powerful?" Amity turned away a bit in annoyance, arms crossed.
"Hey Luci, why don't you show them your spell that you just learned recently?" Luz nudged her sister, who glared down at her. "You know, since you guys are such good friends and all."
She rubbed her chin with a thoughtful smirk. She did fail to use the spell recently, and she was sure that the Golden Guard would love to hear about her practicing it more. "Well, sure, Luz! I'd be honored to." She pulled out a light glyph from her pocket slowly. She then tapped it and flashed the spell in the twins' eyes.
"Ahh!" They both yelped, falling back and landing in the snow. The two blinked as they seemed okay, Lucila smirking down at them. Amity blinked down at them in surprise.
"How was that, buddies?"
Luz pouted at her for that. "Wow!" Edric sat up a bit, rubbing at his eyes. "You learned that on your own?"
"Actually, she's got this mysterious teacher that's been teaching her," Luz answered as Lucila swept her hands.
"That was pretty powerful! How'd you pull that off?"
"Oh, you know, beginner's luck," Lucila hid her hands behind her back. Edric raised a brow at her. It almost seemed like that spell was more powerful than it should've been for someone at her level. If he had to guess, she hadn't been learning magic for about more than a week. So either she had mastered it very quickly, or...she had a really powerful teacher.
As in, Emperor's Coven level teacher.
"Yep. Powerful spells," Luz stated happily. "I'm working on one that's so crazy. Eda's a pretty incredible teacher."
"Luz," Eda spoke up, walking over with a basket of snow. "I shall now teach you how to identify different types of snow. By taste!" She held out a snowball to Luz, Lucila looking baffled.
"...Run that by me again?"
"Well, go on," Eda pushed the snowball to Luz's cheek. "Eat the snow."
The twins looked on, just as confused as Lucila was right now. "Is this some kind of special magic?"
"Ahem," Amity cleared her throat. "I don't think the Owl Lady wants to show us any of her powerful spells."
They looked back to Eda, who had shoved a bunch of snowballs into her mouth. She then swallowed them whole, holding her head while Luz was rubbing her forehead with her fingers. "Ooh! Brain freeze! Brain freeze!"
"See you around, human, Luci. Good luck with your, uh, training." Edric held up a snowball, raising a brow at it. He tried to lick it, but then Emira slapped it onto the ground.
"Aw...L-Luci, can we take a break later and talk?" He called out as she dragged him away.
"No!" She called out, crossing her arms.
"Yes, yes you can!" Luz interjected, giving Lucila a warning look. She waved to the twins as they left. "You've gotta give him a chance, hermana! You're the responsible one, right? You talk things through with people like responsible people would."
"...Arggh, I hate it when you're right," Lucila said in defeat and then she whipped around to Eda.
"Eda! Can you please take this seriously?"
"You need to take me seriously," Eda argued back. "Go taste snow without my guidance. See where it gets you." Luz then frowned sadly and Lucila crossed her arms at the woman, who looked up at the 16-year-old. She then glanced to Luz and patted her on the head. "Oh, don't worry, kid. If you listen to me, soon you'll be doing stuff like that."
She turned around to Amity, who was holding a book and her wand. She spun a circle and then fired a fire spell that blasted a tree. Noticeably, a battery symbol was beeping from it.
"And it won't be with some wack training wand. It'll be the real deal. But you have to trust me, okay?" She smiled down at the two.
"Okay," Luz smiled back. "I trust you."
"And you, kid, gotta listen to your own teacher," Eda pointed at Lucila. "So you've gotta do your own practicing too."
"I know, he reminds me every time," She stated knowingly and Luz gasped at her.
"Ooh, a boy teach-"
"Luz, if I have to get along with the Blight twins, then you're not allowed to tease me about this," Lucila interrupted with a smirk, earning a whine.
"Alright, fair..."
"Anyway, I've gotta focus for the plant spell," She stated and Eda waved her hands.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! The plant spell? That's pretty advanced so soon. Your teacher's okay with that?" She raised a skeptic brow.
"It'll be fine," Lucila waved it off. "He's a really good teacher, I've practiced it a lot. I just haven't performed it yet."
"Hmm," Eda mused to herself; one day she needed to meet this teacher. Whoever it was sounded pretty powerful if he had Lucila doing an advanced spell so soon, at least, for her abilities.
"We've covered snow. So now it's onto smelling moss," She held some up, inserting it into her nose. "Now the trick is, you really gotta get it up in there," She wiggled it slightly, Luz frowning a bit as she felt disappointed by this.
"I'm gonna go handle my own training," Lucila stated with a hopeful smile towards her sister, walking off.
King was sitting on the front porch, lamenting about being left behind. "This is ludicrous! I once led armies. I can lead a dang boot camp! But I have no recruits..." He then looked down at the stuffed animals in his hands, getting an idea. "Or do I?"
"Yep!" He glanced up at Hooty, annoyed. "It's your faithful pal Hooty, reporting for duty. Up at dawn, taking orders all day long."
"Ugh, no! You are too desperate." He ran over to the door, jumping up and opening it. He then ran inside, coming out with more stuffed animals. "Roll call! New guy, Aloysius Turtle, Chip, Beefy Bob, Francois...oh, you're perfect already!" He hugged the stuffed bunny. "As for the rest of you, I'm only saying this once, so listen up!"
The bear fell onto the turtle and he realized that they weren't alive, obviously. "Huh, it's no fun if they don't tremble."
He heard chuckling, turning around and seeing the vegetables Eda brought to life earlier running around. They threw some kitchen supplies off the cliff.
"Yay!" They cheered at not being cooked.
"Oh, okay. All right. Yep, an idea is happening."
Eda watched Lucila as she was meditating, touching the snow underneath her. Luz returned back to the campsite, tired.
"Okay. I've identified the smells of three different rocks, sorted all the twigs from big to small. And found your glove. And your hand," She took off the glove to reveal the detached hand from Eda's body.
"Ah, I was wondering where that thing went," The Owl Lady took it back and then put it back on her body.
"So, what now?" She looked up ahead to see the Blights training. Amity fired from her wand, Edric dodging out of the way. Emira then summoned some snow, which Amity blocked with her hand. She then turned to wave at Luz. While she was distracted, Edric magically sunk her in snow. Luz giggled at them.
"Hey," Eda turned to her, standing up. "I know my lessons seem weird, but this is what wild magic is all about. Making a connection with nature. The earliest witches understood that. Human witches need to understand it too. I mean, just look at your sister, it's working for her," She jerked a thumb to Lucila, who was holding up her body with her arms, her legs crossed in front of her. Leaves flew past her hair and around her as she kept focusing.
"Whoa," Luz blinked at her.
"You wanna learn a second spell?"
"With all my heart," Luz answered in determination.
"Then you have to learn from the island," She guided the girl to sit on a rock. "Now, look," She gestured to the sight of the Boiling Isles. Similar to Lucila, snowflakes flew past Luz. "And think about what the island is trying to tell you." She then walked off to let Luz think. She took a deep breath.
"All right, Luz. Look. Look with everything you've got." She thought of what her sister was doing, trying to concentrate. "Focus..." Then she pretended that her hands were talking to her. "Focus? On what? On how you'll be stuck in the baby class? No, don't think like that! Face it. You'll never get a second spell following Eda's lessons. Silence hands!"
She heard Amity destroy another tree, turning to her campsite.
"Amity! Dinner's ready!" Emira called out to her.
"I caught a bat!"
"Edric, don't eat that," Amity warned him as she walked to the tent, putting her stuff down. Luz eyed the wand left behind, rubbing her chin.
"If I wanna be in the same class as Amity, I'm gonna need to learn magic like Amity...Great work, Luz. Shh! I don't need your validation."
King was in the kitchen, reading Eda's cookbook. "Military discipline, cooking. I truly am a demon for all seasons!" He then poured Eda's potion all over the toys. "Just a dash of Eda's secret sauce and I'm the creator of life!" He watched proudly as they started to come to life, standing on their own two feet. "Yes, yes, yes! My loyal recruits!"
He put his hands behind his back, just like a commander. "Welcome to boot camp. You sure need it. Look at you," He paced in front of them. "Look at you. Raggedy, pathetic, chewed on. You got a button hanging off of your eye. Pathetic! But I will mold you worms into slightly...better kinds of worms. Your first mission, give me snacks!" He watched as they walked off. "Your commander is hungry, so pick it up!"
The teddy bear was about to go in the opposite direction when King stopped it. "Hey, Private Dingdong. Snacks are that way." He pointed right and the teddy bear tettered off. "You better shape up, recruit," He crossed his arms in disappointment. "You're in my boot camp now."
The bear's eyes glowed red...
"Ed, give me the bat," Emira demanded him and he held it away from his sisters.
"No! If we're not gonna eat it, I wanna give it to Luci as a present!" He then ran off from them.
"Get back here before that thing bites you or her!" His twin protested as she and Amity chased after him. While they were distracted, Luz snuck off and reached the tent. She pulled away the cover to find Amity's wand and a 'Magic 101' book, but there was a battery symbol from it that was now half gone. She took the wand and the book, walking off towards the edge of the cliff...right past her sister.
"Hm?" Lucila opened her eyes as she had finally broken out of her trance, glancing at her sister. She saw her sit down and open up the book. She saw a picture of Amity in anime style.
"Huh. Her cross-hatching has improved."
"And what are you doing exactly?"
She flinched and then chuckled nervously, glancing up at her glaring sister. "Luci...heeeey..."
"What are you doing with Amity's wand?" The girl pointed down at it.
"Look, I wanna learn that spell, and I can't do it with Eda's...weird lessons! I need to learn magic the right way."
"There is no right way to learn magic if our glyphs are any indication. I know you don't wanna be embarrassed by being in the baby class, but it takes patience. Not stealing a wand that doesn't belong to you."
Luz moved away the drawing to see a page about a fireball. "Oh, man. Oh, man." She then stood up and pointed the wand.
"Luz, if you use that wand, I will-"
Luz casted the fireball, gasping as it appeared. "Oh, yes!" She then fired it into the sky, a firework appearing. Lucila blinked at what she just did. "I did magic! I did magic! Without drawing anything. This thing is the coolest."
"That thing is also Amity's," Luz looked away guiltily as Lucila spoke up. "Or did you forget that? I thought you wanted to be friends with her, remember? Friends don't steal from each other."
"But I'm learning real magic," She frowned up at her, and Lucila snatched away the wand.
"I'm giving this back to Amity, and you're gonna come and apologize before things get worse."
"Hold it right there," The two froze as they heard Eda's voice. They turned around to see her and she looked furious. "What are you doing with that?"
"I'm doing magic," Luz argued, snatching the wand back from her sister. "What would you have me do? Eat more snow? Lick a rock?"
"...Okay, so maybe my methods are unique, but so is your magic," Eda reminded her. "Connecting to the island can help you. That wand can't. Luci, show her."
Lucila stepped back and then drew the plant glyph. Luz gasped in disbelief as vines sprouted around the girl, and that just made Luz more jealous now.
"Well, the wand's already helped me. Just watch what I can do without connecting to anything!" She spun the spell circle, but it looked more distorted, mainly because the batteries were running out. This in turn caused the spell to go out of control. Luz turned around and it fired. The two looked back in shock as it flew and then landed in an explosion. A roar then occurred and Eda gasped. The Slitherbeast jumped out, landing in front of the group. There was a mark on the side of the head where the fireball landed, and it roared.
"You've angered the Slitherbeast," Eda murmured in a bit of fear for once. The beast roared at them. "You've angered the Slitherbeast!"
"And this is why you listen to people!" Lucila pointed at Luz angrily.
"Will it accept a heartfelt apology?" She asked nervously as it faced them with a grunt. It saw the cause of the fireball, since the wand was scorching, and it roared, running up to Luz.
"Watch out!" Eda pushed her out of the way, and got grabbed by the Slitherbeast. It roared in her ears and she winced.
"Eda!" The two shouted to her.
"Luz! Lucila!" Amity called out as the Blight trio ran over.
"What did we miss?'
"And what are you doing with my wand?" Amity pointed at it in Luz's hand.
"Um..."
"Look, it's a long story, and we'll explain later, but that's not the issue here," Lucila stated, the green-haired witch taking back her things.
"She's right," Emira stepped up. "Mittens, we've got bigger problems." The Slitherbeast stepped forward, bending down and growling at them. "Aw, he's so cute," She and Edric ran forward. "Can we keep him?"
"It's no bat. But we could try."
"Let Eda go!" Lucila threw some snowballs at it. The Slitherbeast roared at her and then raised the other arm. It swiped at her side, and she grunted in pain, landing in the snow. She glanced over her shoulder and gritted her teeth up at it.
"Lucila!" Luz cried out as she slowly sat up.
"Hey!" Emira protested angrily.
"No one does that to Luci!" Edric added in as the twins cast a spell. They grabbed the creature's arms, pulling it onto the ground. They both struggled to keep it there since the thing was pretty strong.
"You got it! Now, finish it off!" Eda called out, wanting to be free.
"I'm on it!" Amity ran forward and pointed her wand...only for the fireball spell to not work. "What?" She then noticed the low battery, glaring a bit at Luz. "Did you use this all up?"
"I...I didn't know!" Luz stated sadly, bending down to her sister. She moved away her hand to reveal small scratch marks from her coat. She felt horrible; if she hadn't done all this, this wouldn't be happening right now.
"Come on, Luz!" Emira grunted while pulling.
"Do those powerful spells you were talking about," Edric called out. Lucila gave her sister a look that said to tell them the truth.
"But I don't...actually...know any."
The Slitherbeast pulled the ropes away, knocking the two between Lucila. "Edric, Emira!" Amity cried out as they were all scooped up and taken by the Slitherbeast. "No!"
"Luci! Eda!" Luz shouted as the beast held the twins in one hand, and Eda and Lucila in the other. It then ran off with the four, and they screamed as it took them into the forest. The two girls looked on in horror, both of them panting.
"Yep, keep 'em coming," King ordered around the toys as he was surrounded by snacks. "And don't forget the pretzels this time!" He snatched a chip bag and opened it. "Running a boot camp is hard work, but as my second-in-command you deserve this," He then dumped Francois in chips, the bear looking on. He tried to reach for some, only for King to stop him. "Hey, hey! Private new guy. You are not privy to snacking privileges! Back away!"
The bear's eyes glowed red as the body turned around and then jumped off the couch in a sort of creepy way.
King let out a yawn, leaning against the couch. "Leading this boot camp has tuckered the little guy out. So, Sergeant King singing off," He placed hats on him and the bunny doll, a shadow looming over him. "Excuse me!" He looked up to see the teddy bear's glowing red eyes. "Could you maybe turn down those eyeballs?" King failed to notice the incoming doom. "I'm trying to sleep."
More shadows loomed over him and he looked up to see the glowing red eyes from the toys. Beefy Bob pulled the string from the teddy bear.
"Don't you want a hug?"
He squealed in fear.
Back at the Knee, the trees up ahead moved as the Slitherbeast was getting further away. "What do we do?" Luz asked in concern.
"I am going after them. You are staying here," Amity instructed the girl.
"But the beast has Eda and my sister!" Luz protested to her.
"And because of you, it also has my brother and sister," She argued back. "Now stay put! You'll only get hurt." She spun a spell circle around Luz, creating a cage. She then turned around and ran in the other direction.
"Amity!" Luz called out as she could only watch. "Wait!" She tried to touch the cage, but it shocked her in return. She then ran forward and kicked a large rock. "Stupid island!" She held her foot in pain, hopping up and down. "Ow..." She then sat down in dismay. "You were supposed to teach me magic," She said to herself, frustrated with herself. Snow started to fall and she started to lose faith. "But I'll never learn more than this," She drew the light glyph, tapping it. She watched as the light orb rose to the sky, disappearing. However...there was something in the sky that got her attention.
"Wait...is that..." She squinted as she saw a light glyph in the sky. She drew it in the air. "A light glyph? But what does that mean?"
She looked at her hand, seeing a snowflake with a different glyph on it. It melted away in her hand. "Whoa..." She glanced to the side, grabbing a big stick. She then broke off a smaller piece. "It means...magic is a gift from the island." She caught another snowflake and quickly drew out the glyph. "It means..." She tapped the glyph and a small column of ice appeared. "Magic is everywhere!"
She ran towards the cage, drawing out a larger glyph. "Magic is everywhere!" She jumped and landed on the glyph, which shot her out of the cage. "Whoo!" She screamed as she landed in snow, but seemed to be okay. Well, better than okay. "My second spell! Thank you, snow. Thank you, island. Thank you, Eda and Lucila...Lucila and Eda! I have to save them!" She then ran off to follow Amity.
Hooty was listening to music on headphones outside. "Hey! How dare you mutiny!" King protest from inside the house. "Unhand your commander right now!"
He was then thrown out the window by his 'soldiers.' "I gave you life, I can take it away!" He declared angrily. Various weapons followed, which knocked off the headphones from Hooty's ears...or his head really.
He rolled onto his back, standing up and facing Hooty. "Hooty, Hooty! Great news, buddy. You can be in the boot camp. First task, destroy the boot camp."
"Hmm," Hooty looked very suspicious of this. "No thanks," He turned away.
"What?! But you begged to join!" King protested at this.
"Sorry. You said I was desperate. So now I'm playing hard to get~" He turned his head around.
"Grr! What do you want?"
"I don't know. What are you offering?" King thought about it and then held up a chalk. He drew Hooty a human boy body. "Wow, this is incredible. It's so real! You got yourself a deal." He opened the door and slid inside. "Hoot!"
He started destroying the toys, ripping them apart to pieces. "This day shall live in infamy..." King stated as he watched, turning away a little when the teddy bear's head landed nearby.
Luz ran until she found a cave with smoke surrounding it, low growling being heard from inside. The Slitherbeast carried the four in, spitting slobber on the wall. It then trapped Lucila, Eda, Edric, and Emira in it.
"Eww..." Lucila squirmed in disgust. "It's already getting into my leggings..."
"Don't worry, we'll be fine," Emira tried to assure them...but then skeletons landed in front of them...from people that the Slitherbeast had eaten.
"No, we're gonna die," Edric stated simply.
"That's right," A skeleton head spoke nearby. "Death is here." But then it was revealed to be Luz. "Just kidding. Luz is here."
"Kid, get outta here. I'm just gonna sneak away when the thing starts eating the twins."
"Wait, what?!" Emira exclaimed while Edric gasped sharply.
"Eda, don't do that! They're my friends," Lucila protested immediately. "And I noticed that you didn't mention me at all."
"We're friends again, Luci?" Edric asked hopefully and she blushed in embarrassment as she realized what she just said. She looked away and Luz grinned widely at her.
"Well, you did save me back there…so I guess that makes us sort of even."
"We can hang out with our vision again," Edric smiled happily.
"Oh, because she wears glasses. Getting pretty comfy with those nicknames," Eda smirked and she groaned at this.
"Yes, Eda. Thank you for that."
"Don't worry, Eda," Luz spoke up. "I get it now. I was so obsessed with learning my second spell, I didn't listen to you or Lucila. But now I'm gonna save you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah," She danced away and Lucila looked over to her.
"Wait, Luz, what are you doing?! You never listen anyway, get back here!"
"Onto the saving!" Luz called out, and Lucila sighed in dismay, hanging her head.
"Even to this day, I don't know what goes through her head sometimes..."
"Well, at least I got to see her misplaced confidence one last time," Eda commented to the older Noceda. Edric turned to the girl.
"Anyway, remember when I said I wanted to talk?"
"Is now really the best time?" She gave him a deadpanned look.
"Well, if we are gonna be eaten...I just wanted to say that while I know it won't make up for what happened...I'm sorry for the whole library thing." Her eyes softened at him as he turned to her. "And...actually, you're the reason why I'm trying to be a better brother for Mittens. You and Luz...you kinda inspired me—us!" He blushed deeply as he looked away and she smiled softly.
"Apology accepted—but definitely maybe not leave me to deal with a pig demon for a first impression of you."
"So what I'm hearing is, I still have more chances to impress you," He smiled and she stammered, flushing.
"Ah, duh...um..." She then clamped her mouth shut, clearing her throat. "It's gonna take time, and that is all I will say on the matter."
"You know, Luci, my brother here really wanted to get your attention to show you how much of a man he's becoming," Emira teased and he glared up at her.
"Emira!" He hissed a bit, Lucila giggling.
"Ugh. I'm sitting in the middle of a rom-com, great," Eda groaned to herself.
Amity peeked around the corner, and Luz joined her side. "Luz!"
"Hello," She greeted with a smile and they both went into hiding.
"How did you get past the barrier?" Amity asked in shock.
"Magic! Literally! Now forget that, because you and I have to work together if we wanna save everyone. Okay. Here's what we're gonna do," She then whispered in Amity's ear.
The Slitherbeast crawled back to his lunch, putting seasoning on all of them. Eda sneezed a little. "Oh. I hate garlic."
"Hey, you big idiot!" Luz shouted, waving her hands. "Over here!"
It growled and faced her, running after the girl. "My sister's gonna get eaten," Lucila sweated a little. Amity crawled over to the four.
"Amity!" Edric cried out in relief as they smiled.
"Use that fire spell we taught you," Emira instructed her.
"But I can't do it without the wand," She stated as she got onto her feet.
"Yes, you can. Just focus," The older Blight encouraged with a small smile.
"Okay," Amity spun a spell circle, bringing her hands together. She then created a fireball, smiling.
"Cool. I didn't actually think you could do it."
Amity brought the fireball closer and melted off their restraints. They landed roughly on the ground and heard screaming from outside. They all gasped in realization.
"Luz!"
Lucila scrambled onto her feet immediately, sliding down the rock with ease. "Whoa," Edric blinked at her as she landed safely with a flip, following the sounds from both Luz and the Slitherbeast.
Luz was still being chased by it as she ran out into the open. She gave a look of fear as she was cornered at a tree. The Slitherbeast let out a big roar. "Gotcha!" She grinned, stepping on a large ice glyph she made after talking to Amity. It lifted the beast into the air and she braced herself. The beast flew up into the air and landed on its back. The others ran out and saw what happened. The beast got back onto its feet, roaring at the group. Then it pounced towards them.
"Want me to teach you kids something cool?" She smirked at them.
"Yes!"
"Yes, please."
She ran forward and cast a big spell circle. "The sleep spell!" It washed over the Slitherbeast, and he fell to the ground, knocked out.
"Now that's my mentor!" Luz cheered as Lucila ran over to her.
"Luz!"
"Luci!" Luz jumped up and hugged her. The older girl laughed as she spun the girl around, putting her back onto the snow. "Are you okay?"
"I'll live. But you were pretty clever, though," She smiled, ruffling her sister's hair a little. Luz smiled up at Lucila and Eda.
"Did you guys see? I learned my second spell. I made the connection!"
"I saw," Eda placed a hand on her shoulder. "Nice work, kiddo," She also patted Luz on the head.
Emira sighed a bit. "You showed some real bravery in there, sis."
"Yeah. Nice work, kiddo," Edric messed up Amity's hair, annoying her.
"Ugh, stop!" She groaned as she walked over to the three, adjusting her hair. "So, it looks like we'll be in the same class."
"Azura Book Club? Azura Book Club?!" Luz asked in excitement.
"As long as it's a secret club, okay?" Amity blushed as she spoke quietly.
"It's not a secret," Edric called out, earning wide eyes from his younger sister.
"We're gonna tell everyone."
She sighed at this and Lucila waved a hand. "Don't worry, I'll make sure they won't. I have my ways." She then held up a snowball with a smirk towards the twins. And that look said 'if you tell anyone, you'll regret it.'
Edric gave a wide-eyed look, chuckling nervously. "And we'll be looking forward to seeing our little Luci in our class," He winked at the girl, who dropped the snowball.
"We're gonna have a ton of fun together," Emira added in.
"That's right…I will be in your class…" Lucila cleared her throat, rubbing her arm. "Can't wait."
"We know Edric can't," Emira teased him and he elbowed her.
"Cut it out, she's right there!"
Eda then sneezed, hugging herself. "All right, the adorable banter and teasing is literally making me sick. Let's go home already."
"On it, teach!" Luz drew a glyph around the three with her finger.
"Is this safe?" Lucila asked her.
"Suuuure..." Luz grinned widely.
"Bye Luci," Edric blew a kiss. Lucila blushed at Edric's gesture, saying nothing and turning around.
"You like him~!" Luz sung knowingly to her sister.
"Ah…uh…hmm," Lucila smiled awkwardly while crossing her arms, unable to say anything at the moment. Luz tapped the glyph, and they flew into the sky towards home.
"I think we can go the normal way," Emira told her siblings.
Hooty panted as King stood in the carnage that happened in the living room. Stuffing and limbs were everywhere, with the stuffing flying around. "Private Hooty, today when the felt flew, you showed grit and determination that were instrumental in securing our victory. May I just say it has been an honor to be your commander."
"Sir, the honor is all mine," Hooty smiled at him.
"Private, our hearts have been touched by fire," He hugged the house demon. "And..."
Eda cleared her throat as the others had arrived and they did not look happy about the mess. "What the heck did you two get into?"
"Why is the house trashed?! You better not have done anything upstairs," Lucila looked around.
"Um, excuse me, we're having a moment here," King stated in protest.
"You'll never understand what we've been through together. Never, never!"
"Ugh, moment ruined," King walked off.
"I will be haunted by my actions forever. Hoot, hoot!"
"Yeah, I-I don't even wanna know anymore," Lucila murmured as she walked off towards her room. She then smiled as she couldn't wait to tell the Golden Guard about today. And then she realized...that she had met the requirements for Hexside now...so she technically didn't need his lessons...
So why did it make her sad now that she wouldn't be his student anymore?
The two sat across from each other as she wanted to tell him the news as soon as they started. She felt a pit in her heart for some reason, though. And just by looking at her, he could tell that she had something on her mind.
"You've got something to tell me, don't you?"
She smiled weakly at him reading her so well. "...I learned my new spell," She revealed while rubbing her arm and he froze. "Thanks to your guidance, it felt natural when I performed it. So I...guess I don't need your lessons anymore. But thank you for all your help, even if I wasn't the best student. See you around." She then stood up on her feet and he snapped out of it as she was about to leave. For some reason, he...didn't really want to stop it. Maybe because it was wild magic. Maybe because he wanted to teach more to her and have someone to talk to about wild magic, but...he wanted to continue teaching her.
"W-Wait!" She turned around to him in confusion. "I, um, think you still need your lessons, you know? In case you get stuck on your homework. Who else are you gonna turn to for help? And...you weren't actually that bad for a first-timer."
Lucila slowly smiled at him. "Really?"
"Well, yeah. After all, you did manage to get accepted into Hexside. You did great," He told her and she sat down in front of him.
"So what can we learn next?" She asked him eagerly.
"So I was thinking we could tackle the ice spell next like your sister so she won't get suspicious. And there's actually an interesting history for this one..."
He pointed to the page and she held the other side of the book as she listened to him, smiling. She then winced and he stopped talking as he noticed her clutch her side. "What happened?" He asked in confusion and she moved away her hand.
"Ah, nothing. It's just...well, I went to the Knee with my sister and Eda to help me learn the spell, and...Luz got the Slitherbeast angry. That thing packs some serious firepower, it knocked me into the snow..." She rubbed her side and he sighed.
"I should've known you wouldn't stay out of trouble..."
"Wasn't like I meant to," She remarked back and he spun his staff. A medical kit landed between them and he grabbed it, opening the box. He then tossed her some gauze as well as some disinfectant. She bit her lip, looking a bit embarrassed.
"...What?"
"I, um...can't really reach it at a good angle," She replied, scratching her cheek. "So it'll be a few minutes-"
He sighed as he took the stuff from her. "Come here." She stared at him in disbelief. "What, you think I'll just teach you while you've got an untreated injury? And why didn't you do anything about it?"
"I ignored it because it was fine earlier," She pouted while crossing her arms. He rolled his eyes at her stubbornness and she lifted up her blouse out of being tucked in. He applied disinfectant to the wound and she winced. "Ow!"
"It wouldn't hurt if you took care of it sooner, Lucila."
"It's fine," She told him and he shook her head.
"Keep telling yourself that." The girl groaned a bit at him and he put his staff in her mouth. "Here, bite down on this so I don't have to hear your unnecessary whining." He tied the gauze around her waist, tying off the injury after cleaning it. She narrowed her eyes in annoyance at him, but he seemed to ignore it. He then took away the staff and she sighed.
"...Thanks..."
He looked up at her while cleaning his staff. "No problem." He glanced at her songbook in her bag, slowly reaching out. He then recoiled his hand back, looking to her. "Can I?"
She bit her lip at him. She never really showed anyone her songs before...he'd be the first one to see them. But it wasn't like he'd tell anyone, he had nothing to gain by doing so. And she was kind of stuck on her recent one...
"Just one peek."
He took the book, opening it up to the recent page.
You know what the truth is
It's the beat of your heart
"Hm," He rubbed his chin. "Actually not that bad. You're still writing this?"
"It's a work in progress. Haven't gotten much farther than that," She took her book back from him. "Thanks for not reading the other ones. It means a lot, you know?" She confessed with a small smile, feeling like she could fully trust him now.
"Now let's get started on getting you mastered with that ice glyph."
Angel: The song that Lucila was trying to write, it's not original. It's from Violetta, a telenovela, I forgot the name of the song, I just know that it's from season 2, episode 8. And I know it's not much in terms of lyrics, but I didn't want to put too many XD I'll try to put in more lyrics next time she writes a song.