Owl House Academia

by Stone-Man85

Luz Noceda is a girl who wants a life of magic and excitement. Eli McKnight is an orphaned boy who tries to figure out where he belongs. These two though stumble into a world of danger, adventure, magic, and high school. Together, they are trained by two powerful witches as well as a Demon King, while becoming the most powerful duo of both worlds.

9. Lost in Languages and Memories

Owl House Academia

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Chapter 7: Lost in Languages and Memories

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Owl House

It was another calm day in the Owl House. No danger, no running from the guards, and no magic training...again.

So, to pass the time, Eli, Akko, and Luz did their own things. Eli was standing in front of the couch, looking at his hands. Taking a deep breath before clapping his hands together and using a power spell. After the Convention, he was hesitant to use this spell, but wanted to practice it to have full control of it. Approaching the couch, he grabbed it at the bottom and started to lift while Luz was reading his copy of The Good Witch Azura and Elias, Volume 5 to King and Akko, whom the former was sitting on her lap, while she stroked her tail. This time getting it just above his shoulders.

"Alright! I am getting better at this," he said with a grin and placed the coach down gently. Luz, Akko, and King didn't mind, too focused on the book. She was borrowing it from her best friend, who is the original owner.

"'Our paths have crossed only in battle.' Hecate began. 'But today I stand before you seeking an ally.'" Luz read to King and Akko, before sighing in content.

"Luz, you're getting all swoony again," said King.

"Are you a fangirl of pairings like that," Akko asked.

"She always gets like that with that book," Eli said, sitting down on the couch.

"I can't help it. Azura is able to befriend everyone. Even her biggest rival. I wish I had that kind of power," Luz said.

"You know that only happens in anime, right," Eli commented. The biggest culprit in his option was Fairy Tail. "I mean, if we had that power, Amity would be our friend by now."

"Yeah, that would make things easy," Akko replied.

"Rivals are meant to be annihilated, not befriended," King said, trying to sound wise before he started wagging his tail. "Now keep reading. I've been sucked into your awful fandom."

"Okay." Luz opened the book and continued reading out loud. "'Suddenly the door swung open.'"

Suddenly the door swung open, by Hooty, which caused everyone to jump up in surprise. "Ding‐dong. Ding. Hoot! Hoot!" He yelled, taking them all by surprise.

"The book has come to life! Burn it," King yelled, pointing at the door.

"No," Eli said, taking his book back from Luz. The three friends then walked over to the door and saw a basket with a blanket tucked in.

"Kids! What's going on over there," Eda called from inside the kitchen.

"Eda, you got a package," Luz said as Eli picked it up and closed the door. The three plus King walked into the kitchen, where the young man placed the basket down on the counter.

"It looks like a gift basket," Luz said with a smile.

"Probably an offering. Ah! Being the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles has its perks," Eda boasted as King tied a bib around his neck. Reaching for the blanket, the little demon grunted as he pulled it off the top of the basket.

However, to their surprise, inside was a snoring baby with blue hair.

"Mm. Fresh meat," King said excitedly as he rubbed his paws together.

"Oh, heck no, King," Eli said, pulling him away and Luz pulled the basket away from King. "You're not eating a baby! I won't let you become like Charlie Manson and the Disciples of the Ram."

"Witches eating babies is so 1693," Eda said, looking at the baby, "What is this?"

"There's a note," Luz said, grabbing the note attached to the basket.

While King took the note and read it aloud, "'Take care of my child till morning. Yi Yi?'"

"Nope. Babies are awful. Not happening," Eda said, crossing her arms.

"'You will be handsomely rewarded. X‐O‐X‐O‐X‐O‐X. Bat Queen.'"

"Bat Queen," Eda asked, as King pulled a few snails out of the basket. They were gold coins that were the currency of the Boiling Isle. Eda's eyes widened. "Reward~?"

"Eda, you got that sweaty glistening in your eyes when money's involved," Luz said, as she had picked this trait to notice very well.

"Who's the Bat Queen," Eli asked, with Luz also curious.

King sniffed the snails as Eda explained the Bat Queen to the kids. "She's the wealthiest demon on the Boiling Isles. Get in with her and you're set for life," she said, taking one of the snails. "So, we keep this thing alive for a few hours and we get paid. Pfft. Easy."

"Our greatest adventure yet! Learning about love and life through a child's eyes," Luz said happily.

"Not you. You and Eli have to return the books I checked out from the library," Eda said, drawing a spell circle and summoning a pile of books to fall down, which Eli caught.

"Ah, what!? How come we can't take care of the baby," Eli said as he managed to keep the balance. "These are your books! Besides, I'm a bit worried about your parental skills, Aunt Eda."

"Because life isn't fair, now go on," Eda said, waving him off. She then whispered to King. "I don't want them getting a cut of the loot."

"Good thinking," King said.

"But why am I not going with them," Akko replied.

"You're basically my backup in case those two get banned at the same time," Eda answered.

"You know we can hear you right," Eda and King looked up to see that Eli and Luz were still there, with the redhead giving the witch the sink eye.

"...No you can't~."

Eli deadpanned at her before looking at Luz. "It's okay. Besides, Akko can make sure they don't kill the baby."

"You sure," Eli asked.

"It'll just be a quick run to the library and back. Trust me, we can handle it," Luz said, walking to the back door.

"Ugh! Fine," Eda groaned as her nephew-figure opened the door with his right hand while balancing the books on his left. He walked out of the house and the door closed behind him. "Now, let's take a look at this little darling."

Eda fully took the blanket off, revealing the baby had the head of a human, but the wings and legs of a bat. The baby bat suddenly started screeching, causing the entire house to shake.

"Argh!" Eda and Akko yelled and covered their ears in pain.

"Oh, boy," King said, falling onto his back.

The baby bat continued screeching as Eda looked at Akko. "We got this, right?" She asked, before the baby bat suddenly flew out of the basket and into Eda's face. Making her fall on her ass.

At that moment, Akko realized this was going to be a long day.

"I sure hope Akko is doing okay with Eda and the baby," Eli said.

"I'm sure she'll be okay," Luz replied, but then saw Eli carrying the huge pile of books with ease, and smirked, "You're getting pretty good with that spell."

Using the power spell made it much easier for Eli to carry the pile of books as he walked through the streets of Bonesborough. It was another sunny day on the Boiling Isle, with demons, witches, and wizards going about their business.

---

Bonesborough
Library

"I sure hope Akko is doing okay with Eda and the baby," Eli said.

"I'm sure she'll be okay," Luz replied, but then saw Eli carrying the huge pile of books with ease, and smirked, "You're getting pretty good with that spell."

Using the power spell made it much easier for Eli to carry the pile of books as he walked through the streets of Bonesborough. It was another sunny day on the Boiling Isle, with demons, witches, and wizards going about their business.

As he continued walking, the two realized that they honestly didn't know where the library was and was starting to become lost. Stopping to look around, Luz noticed Tiny Nose walking past them. Carrying a book as big as herself. Luz stopped her when she said, "Hey, Tiny Nose. Do you know where the library is?"

"Oh yeah. It's just right there," Tiny Nose said, turning to face the direction she was talking about. Eli and Luz looked and saw that they were closer to it than they originally thought. The library was right across the street from them. It was a pretty impressive sight, being much larger than their old library and much more majestic.

"Whoa! Thanks," Eli said as they walked towards the library.

"You're welcome. See you around," Tiny Nose happily said to the two that saved her. But then her arms gave out and she was flatted underneath the book. "...dang it."

They walked up the stairs of the library, before entering its halls while taking in all that there was to see. Torches decorated the walls, stained glass windows brightened the corridors as readers and patrons went about their business. It wasn't anything he hasn't read or seen in the Harry Potter movies, but it was just as amazing to see.

Eli stared with amazement as he breathed, "I love magic..."

"This place is amazing," Luz stood in awe.

Before the book pile glowed green and began floating out of his arms towards a wizard with a bored expression on his face. Each book flew through a green spell circle, which turned red with the word "Late" appearing above it as they disappeared with a beep.

"Late. Late." the librarian said, before grabbing the last book. Both Eli and Luz walked up to the front desk as he examined it. "Coffee, grass, and bloodstains? These are Eda's, aren't they?"

"Yeah, sorry about that. It was a crazy night," Eli said, scratching the back of his head. (edited)

Eli stared with amazement as he breathed, "I love magic..."

The librarian let out an irked sigh. "I'll put them on her tab," he said, summoning a small scroll that unfurled into a large list before writing on it. "By the way, we're closing early for the Wailing Star meteor shower." The librarian pointed behind him to a framed picture of the Wailing Star. The picture showed a blue star with a sad face on it falling from the night sky.

"What's a Wailing Star?" Luz asked the librarian.

"And why do I feel like I know what that is," Eli asked himself.

"You two are in a library. Read a book," he said with a deadpan expression as the scroll rolled up and disappeared.

Luz looked enthusiastic as she smiled, "We are in a Library."

"Yeesh, you don't have to be such a jerk about it," Eli said, as they walked away from the librarian.

Luz nodded as they explored before, looking for something interesting to read... and not get eaten...

They walked around the corner and looked up at a banner reading "Demon Decimal System. DO NOT FEED." Luz and Eli looked at and saw a Dewey Decimal System, but each card catalog had the face of a growling monster. Luz bent down in front of them before a mischievous smirk crossed her face.

Pulling out a gumball, the young girl fed it to one of the DDS monsters. It gladly chewed on for a few seconds before barfing up a tone of notecards on Eli. Both of them laughed as they fell down onto the floor with a smile.

"Excuse me," a deep growling mature voice got their attention.

The two bolted out of there, as they continued to look around, until...

"Excuse me," another deep growling mature voice made them go stiff as boards. The two looked and saw their target.

It was a short child with red skin and seemed to be roughly preschool- age. He had no facial parts besides a mouth with teeth showing. His teeth appeared to resemble those of vampires, having regular human-like front and bottom middle teeth, and then fangs on the outside. He wore an outfit similar to that of students at Hexside, except his hood was up and pointed at the end.

Eli blinked looking at the child and thought, 'Whoa... deep voice.'

"I'm lost and I...," he said, sounding like he was going to cry. "... can't find my friends."

"Hey, it's okay... can you tell me where you last saw them?" Eli asked, kneeling down to help the child.

"Yeah," Luz said, as she knelt down with him. "Why don't we help you find your friends?"

With a little snivel, big mouth demon boy looked up to them, "Really?"

"Yeah, come on." Eli said, as he scooped up the Demon boy in his arm.

"Yay. Thank you." The demon said hugging him.

"You're welcome, uh..." Eli said.

"Braxus," the demonic-voiced demon child smiled.

"Eli McKnight," Eli replied.

"Luz Noceda," Luz double intro-ed.

Eli began to follow Braxus directions to where he last saw his friends while asking, "Is this the place Braxus?"

"It was, but now I don't know where they are," Braxus said, scared.

The trio walked together through the library. Walking past multiple floating books that flew above them, much to the humans' amazement. They then entered a study area, where several Hexisde students were watching things on crystal balls, which remained the hybrid of computers in public libraries. One was watching a "HOW TO FLY" video, another was watching a piano cat parody, and a third was stuck on a loading screen, dial-up internet noises emitting from it, making the witch slap the crystal ball a few times.

"This place is amazing," Eli commented, before a voice made him, Luz, and Braxus stop.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Nothing!" Eli said, holding his hands up.

Luz froze up and pretending she was a bookshelf, "Pretending I'm a book-shelf!"

Then there was the chorus of children giggling.

Eli blinked, "Wait a moment..." That voice sounded very familiar... as he goes to the source of it with Braxus in tow.

Braxus gasped in delight and ran off in the direction of the voice. "It's her!" he said, entering another area.

When Eli and Luz walked over to see where he had gone to, they heard the sound of kids laughing before seeing that it was the kids' area. However, to their utter shock and surprise, the voice from before belonged to Amity Blight. The same girl that bullied Willow, tried to have Luz dissected, and how he had a rivalry with her since the incident at the Convention.

That same Amity was reading to a group of baby-class students from Hexside.

"'We're your friends and we wanna help,' said the Tin Boy with a yelp. Otabin smiled and paced the floor. 'I've never had real friends before.' " Amity read with a depth of kindness and child care that made the two think it was a different girl.

"Amity's reading to kids?" Eli asked Luz, whispering.

Slowly, they snuck into the kid's corner as Amity read. Hiding behind a small shelf and watching the green-haired witch.

"'Then we'll be your first,' the Chicken Witch clucked. Otabin couldn't believe his luck. So, Bookmaker Otabin, surrounded by friends, bound a book of friendship' and that's the end." Amity closed the book as the kids clapped happily for her.

"Wow, I didn't think Amity was capable of smiling like that," Eli said, noting how there wasn't a hint of smugness or arrogance in that smile. He'd even admit she looked pretty when she smiled.

Luz then gasped to herself, "Maybe we can befriend her like Azura did Hecate with the help of Elias."

"Wishful thinking, Luz," Eli replied, not sure if that would work.

Shaking that thought out of his head with a slight blush, Eli hid behind the manga shelf as the kids came his way. He grabbed one of the manga and pretended to read it as the kids passed on by.

"Thank you for reading, Miss Amity," Braxus said, hugging Amity's leg.

"You're welcome, Braxus," Amity said, smiling. "Were you able to find your way back to the room?"

"Nope! That really nice boy and girl helped me," Braxus said, pointing to Eli and Luz behind her.

Amity turned to see who helped her, but she was shocked to see that it was Luz Noceda and Eli McKnight. "You!?" she said, before recomposing herself.

"Ha, ha, hey, Amity." Eli nervously said and put the manga back as he stood up. But then he was surprised when Braxus ran over to him and gave him a hug on his own leg.

"Thank you, mister! You're a good guy," he said with a smile.

"Awe, thanks, Braxus," Eli said with a smile, patting him on the head.

The little demon then turned and ran out of the room to follow his classmates. "Bye everyone!" he said, over his shoulder before disappearing behind the corner.

Amity blinked and asked, "You two helped Braxus Wrath to my reading?"

Luz waved it off, as she smiled, "Yeah, no pro..." But then paled, "Wait, as in Warden Wrath?"

"Braxus is a relative of the Conformitorium's Warden," Eli paled.

Amity narrowed her eyes as if it was obvious, 'His son actually."

Both had their jaws dropped at this revelation. They had beat down and nearly flame broil that kid's father.

But then the moment passed when Amity turned her attention to the two of them. "What do you think you're doing here?" she asked, sounding very displeased with their presence. Her normal attitude returned.

"We were initially returning books for Eda but we've never been in a library here before so... we went exploring until we found Braxas and helped him back to you."

Amity's glare lessened but she still didn't look happy to see them, "Well, it was...nice of you to help him," she said hesitantly, turning away from them before walking back to where she was reading to the kids.

"So, Amity, I'm surprised to see you again. And reading to kids, nonetheless," Eli said

Luz even followed, her as she smirked, "Looks like this ice queen has a hidden soft side to her."

"It's for extra credit. Don't get your leggings in a bunch," Amity said, picking a book off the floor.

Hey, we could help with the kids. We could take turns reading. And do voices. I do the best" before changing into a robotic tone, "monster voice." Before Eli shook his head to Amity before Luz added, "And Eli can play the wise, but creepy guy or the valiant hero."

"I also do fairly good impressions of Darth Vader and Gollum," Eli admitted, as he knelt down and pulled his hood up to look super creepy, as he spoke in Andy Serkis's Gollum voice, "Blees us and splash us. There's a meaty mouthful, my precious!"

"Tone it down a little Gollum, that's still creeps me out." Luz warned shivering.

Eli returned to normal, as he stood up and pulled his hood up, "You were even more creeped out when I did my Vader."

"Yeah but the hood makes me think he's really here." She said, "Remember Halloween?"

But this only made Amity grow annoyed and slammed her pile of books on a table. "Hybrid! Human!" She yelled, facing the two. "Do you see me going to the Owl Shack and bugging you while you... fry up owls?"

"Wait, what?" Eli asked with a raised eyebrow.

She scoffed in response. "Okay, I don't really know what you and your human friend do there, but every time you come near me, I get in trouble."

"Hey, if you weren't such a bully to someone as sweet as Willow or as much of a jerk as that Isaac guy, then maybe you wouldn't be in trouble as much." Eli snapped at her.

"But we didn't mean to get you in trouble," Eli said with a frown.

"I don't care! Just leave me alone!" Amity suddenly shouted, making the two back up from her.

Seeing this Amity turned and walked away... almost disheartened by this...

Eli sighed, as he gently pulled Luz away, "Okay... sorry, Amity"

Amity starts to raise her hand to stop them, but doesn't as it was too late and she walks away...

As the two walked away, a voice spoke up, "You gonna let her talk to ya like that?"

The two looked around for the source of the voice before turning to see twins with green hair standing there.

they had similar golden eyes and pale skin like Amity. They were wearing the Hexcide Academy uniform, only they had a blue back on their sleeve, showing they belonged to the 'Illusion Track'. the boy leaning on a bookcase had short hair, while the female twin had longer hair that was tied in a bulky plait, which was darker at the bottom.

Luz blinked, "And you guys are?"

"Well-wishers on a mission," the boy said as he held up a rabbit lunch box and a hand on his chest.

"A noble quest." The girl said leaning in smiling, more to Eli than to Luz.

Eli blinked, "Huh?"

"Watch this," the guy said, as he then called out to Amity, "Hey, Mittens!"

Amity had her back turned, but she was blushing up a storm like crazy. A mixture of both anger and embarrassment upon getting called by that name. Eli did his best to hold back a snicker or two, while Luz hid her blush on her face, as the older boy held up a lunch bag, "Mom says stop forgetting your lunch. And stop being a jerk to your friend and boyfriend."

Eli blinked, "Wait, Mom?"

Amity turned and roughly took the bag back as she said glaring at the two, "She is not my friend and he is not my boyfriend..."

"Yeah, that makes sense she seems too cool and he seems too good for you." The girl said placing her arms around the two of them.

This confused Luz and Eli as they asked, "We are?"

the girl then asked, looping her arm around Eli's, "If you're not dating him, can I date him then?"

"Go ahead... though I doubt Mom would approve of you dating a hybrid..." Amity commented as she looked at her lunch to make sure the two did not prank her with her food.

But Eli gently got out of the girl's arms, as he stated, "Amity, wait." He had a slightly pleading tone in his voice, as he spoke up, "Look, Luz and I don't want us to be enemies with you. Honestly, that was the last thing we want. And I get that things have been screwy: Hexcide being repaired, the Convention Witch's Duel. But Luz and I wanted to put all tha tbehind us and start over. We don't need to keep hating each other. Just..." he took a deep breath, and let it out, "Could we get a 2nd chance?"

Amity looked back at him before asking, "You really want to make things right?"

Eli nodded, as did Luz, "Amity, we just wanted to make things right."

"Then leave me alone, all of you." She said walking away annoyed, especially to her older siblings.

The girl just laughed seeing Amity walking away.

Eli's hopeful expression for forgiveness dropped as their nemesis walked away into the kids' corner. Luz led him out, as she too hoped to smooth out this rocky relationship. with no reason to stick around, the two walked away.

As they did, and as she walked to where she read to the kids, Amity stopped and looked over her shoulder. Her face expressed a level of shame, as Amity watched the two walking away. She sighed sadly, despite her best effort... she couldn't help but feel guilt within her for how she treated them both. Especially him since he just wanted to apologize. Trying to push those thoughts aside, she went back to work.

The girl then patted him sympathetically on the back before her brother winked at them, "Cheer up."

And led them away.

At the main part of the library the boy spoke, "So you two are the human and the hybrid we heard so much about."

"I'm Emira, this is my brother Edirc. We're Amity's older siblings." The girl introduced themselves to the two younger teens. Emira then added, "We heard how you two embarrassed her both at the school and the witch convention with that Isaac guy last week."

Eli groaned, as he hid his face, "So everyone knows that."

"You guys are also the ones that animated a house," Edric smirked, "Gotta admit, no wonder she hates you. She couldn't even animate a doll during her Moonlit Conjuring."

"Not to mention how adorable you two are as a couple." Emira smirked as well, though inwardly pouting that Eli was dating the human.

"Huh/What?" both asked, but looked to each other, and blushed, as they denied anything, "Oh no, we're not dating/We're best friends."

Emira smirked and asked, "Then can I date him?"

Eli blushed, "Could we... change the subject please?"

Emira pouted a bit before sighing, "Okay then cutie, but don't worry about mittens."

"Yeah, Em and I are waay more fun." Edric told them, before gesturing for them to follow him as they stopped at the directions for the Fiction and Non-Fiction. Quietly shushing them goes and erased the "Non" from the sign before he went back to the others and saw a Staff member leading a group to the sign only hides as a second librarian walks up, leading patrons, "And here we go towards our nonfiction section."

He then gasps when he sees the sign, "Fiction. Fiction." Before having an existential crisis and asks, "Is our world but fiction? Then what in my life is real anymore?" And then broke down sobbing.

"Wow, over-dramatic much," Eli smirked.

Emira got an idea and said, "You haven't seen anything yet cutie-pie."

And then lead the group as they saw the librarian that Eli and Luz talked to putting books back on the shelf while Emira went and used her magic to put them back making it look like an endless supply. Causing the four to snicker and giggle until Edric noticed the librarian from before and used a spell to have the two librarians switch places as the same guy

to see where he was and cried out, "Huh? No! Not again!"

The first librarian falls off a ladder, though it shows that he wasn't harmed by how stoic his expression was compared to his co-worker.

the third thing they did was involving the demon deimal system. First, Edric held up a dusty book, before he blew the dust at the demon decimal system, which all sneezed, showering them all with notecards.

Luz went to dance through it like it was snowing while Emira and Edric high-fived each other. Until..

"HEY!"

The four of them looked and saw Amity standing there with the first Librarian, and they were not happy. Only for the first one to ask, "Where's Gary."

"Coming!" The second librarian said, running over before he went and shouted, "NO!"

Crying and he sobbed like all the other pranks they did.

As soon as they did, the first librarian then pushed them out and listing all the stuff they had done before pushing them out the door and said, "You made reading far too fun. Now, stay out."

before slamming the door on their faces. Eli stood up as he shouted, "Reading is supposed to be fun! Why else do you think i'm a library enthusiast!?"

Soon everyone began laughing after that. Luz then commented, "Amity's gonna be so madder at us now."

Eli sighs, "Didn't think that was possible..."

"No, when Mittens gets mad, she looks like this." Edric then demonstrated by inhales sharply, grunting as his face turns red; exhales, and recited, "Whoa, I almost passed out."

"Aww, it's a Tinker Bell face," Eli smirked.

Luz shrugged, "Well, we better get going," Luz pulled Eli with her, "We may as well help Eda babysit."

Emira smiled as she said, "You two are more fun than I thought."

At that the twins nodded, Emira then leaned forward and said, "So, hey, we're coming back tonight. There's a certain book we forgot to... check out."

Edric mimicked his sister and added, "And bonus, rumor has it the Wailing Star's supposed to unlock some rare magical event."

"You in, friends?" Edric asked looking at Luz and Eli hopefully.

"Rare magical event," Eli's eyes sparkled at this revelation as he asked.

Both twins nodded, as Emira spoke, "Like Edric said, it only happens during the Wailing Star. So, are you interested, cute boy?"

"Heck yeah," Eli smirked.

Luz thought on it, as she stated, "I dunno, breaking into a library isn't something on my to-do list." But then smiled, "Then again, I've been wanting to know more about the Wailing Star like Eli... so I'm in."

"We'll meet you here tonight." Edric said smiling as both twins stood up.

Emira then winked at Eli, "See you tonight, handsome."

With that two left with Luz waving to them.

Eli blinked, as he blushed, "Is it possible I'm attractive in this realm?"

Luz, realizing that her best friend has become a babe-magnet answered, "I think you are."

Before thinking, 'I'm not going to have anyone steal Eli.'

Eli blinked, "Wait, what?"

"I mean... I think you are right that... we're going to meet back here tonight with our new friends." Luz said, smiling sheepish and nervously before running of, calling back to him, "Race you back to the Owl house!"

"I'll race ya because I'm gonna win," Eli smiled, as he ran after her.

When the two left Amity revealed to have heard everything, which made her do what Edric demonstrated, holding her breath until her face turns red, and then exhaled with a grunt, "Phew! Almost passed out."

---

Back at the Owl House

It was complete pandemonium that flew around like mad was the Bat queen's kid, as it screeched out and howled. It wasn't exactly easy from Eda, King, and Akko.

King had tied pillows to his ear holes as he cried out, "It's been hours since this started... how can it keep screaming without breathing?"

"A major mystery," Eda replied. At that moment, Eli and Luz opened the door, as they saw the bat child screeching, "Oh man, am I glad to see you guys."

Eli blinked, as he looked at the bag kid, "I take it this is too much?"

"Please save us Master Eli..." Akko whined clutching her hands into her ears.

Eli sighed, as he looked up and whistled, "C'm here, lil' guy. I've got a story for ya."

The Bat stopped crying as it went to him, curious.

He then pulled out what appeared to be a Boiling Isles version of the Cat in the Hat, entitled Bat in the Hat.

"Ooh. Are you going to read, Eli?" Luz asked, overly excited.

"Actually, I learned a better way to do this," Eli replied, and tore the pages, to which the baby ate with a passion. "I saw a couple of parents doing this with their babies here."

"Hey! That's my favorite!" King protested by Akko stopped him while the baby stopped crying to eat the pages.

He then flew into Eda's arms and seemed to sleep soundly after he had his meal.

Eda shocked before awkwardly began to rock the baby, "Rock... rock... maternal gesture..."

Eli chuckled, "You know, Aunt Eda, you remind me of Randal Ridley."

Eda arched an eyebrow, "Randal Ridley?"

"He's the guy that runs the orphanage that Eli's been staying at," Luz answered, before squinting and commenting, "Now that I think about it, you do remind me of him too."

"How do I remind you of some guy from the human realm?" Eda asked, as she said as a matter of pride, "He's nowhere near as hawt as I am."

"Well, he doesn't know how to deal with kids, he drinks in the morning, isn't a morning person, and he's the biggest scam artist I can think of," Eli replied.

"Sounds like someone we know..." Eda said, thinking of another scam-artist.

Luz smiled, "Well, we'll be heading back to the Library."

Eli nodded as he followed her, "Yeah, Wailing Star and all." and closed the door.

The moment it did the Baby spat out a second baby before it spat out the third. And all three of them made chaos in the Owl House.

The bats flew around knocking things off shelves, and causing mayhem around Eda, Akko, and King. "Ugh, for the money," King asked, nervously, as the tanuki girl held him.

"For adventure," Akko asked.

"Definitely for the money," Eda said. Before helping as she and Akko ducked out of the way of a green liquid that splashed the wall.

---

Back at the library
Night

As the sun lowered down over the horizon, Eli clapped his hands together and summoned a ball of light. Luz sat with him as he sat against the pillar. for a moment, he wondered if this was worth the wait, or why he was here in the first place. But Eli and Luz realized that this was the first time anyone ever wanted to hang out with them, aside from each other, Willow, Gus, Akko, and Sucy.

Luz then asked Eli, "Do you think we need to try and be cool before they get here?"

"I'm thinking they might have set us up," Eli sighed. "I don't think they're gonna show up."

Eli then felt a pair of lips on the cheek away from Luz. He jumped as he blushed up a storm, "Emira!"

"Hey cutie." Emira greeted, with a cute-shy wave, wearing more fancier clothes than the school clothes. Emira wore a long sleeved dark gray shirt under a burgundy tunic with a green, diamond-shaped gem in the center of her chest and a belt around the waist, gray shorts with burgundy cuffs, and the same black shoes from her school outfit. and she still had her gold earrings on. Edric wore dark gray underclothes, black boots, and a burgundy tunic with a belt around the waist.

"Sorry we were late, had to make sure Mom didn't catch us sneaking out. Part of the Oracle Coven." Edric explained. before adding to Eli, "And Emira wanted to look her best for you."

Eli blushed at that, as Luz then said, "Your mom sounds pretty um..."

"Controlling?" Edric asked.

"Overbearing?" Emira asked.

"Yeah, I think those are the words," Luz nodded.

Eli then clapped his hands together, "So how do we get in? The Door's locked."

The twins smirked while Edric said, unrolling a scroll, with the designs of keys and locks, "It says no trespassing, but I'm allergic to the rules."

"And Berries." Emira added, which made Edric comment, "Wow... that's... that pretty much exposed me right there..."

Emira then placed the scroll on the keyhole and it dissolved as the spell worked it;s magic and opened the door.

"To be fair, I'm allergic to dust," Eli replied.

Luz raised her hand, "lactose-intollerant."

Everyone shrugged and entered inside. Edric said, "Come on guys. this is where the fun begins."

They then stood in the dimly lit lobby. Before Edric turned to the front windo and pointed, "There! The wailing Star!"

As everyone looked up, they saw the star flying past and heard the wailing from it. The twins looked around expecting something, but it didn't as Edric said, "Huh... I expected something... more to happen."

Unaware of the books glowing. Eli pulled them at the books, "I think we are witnessing... more."

The others looked around to see that it was all of books glowing. Curiously, Luz went and took a book on birds and opened it. Soon birds of many kinds came flying out while they stared in amazement by what happened.

"Wow!" Emira said as she and her brother stared at the birds.

Eli and Luz looked down at the book she dropped and closed it before picking it up. At that moment, they all disappeared into thin air.

"The Wailing Star is bringing the books to life," Luz said in realization. The four of them shared a look and then grinned.

Soon they would find multiple books to open and be amazed by what came out.

The four then went off to go and explore the library. The first place they went to was the magazine section, where Edric grabbed an article of "Regal Couture." He opened the magazine and the magic of the Wailing Star dressed him and Emira in fancy clothing as a peacock flew out of the pages. Eli grabbed an issue of "Witch Wares Weekly". He opened the magazine and clothes were transformed into the Dragonborn from Skyrim, which Emira smile in at what she saw. Luz grabbed a gamer's walkthrough book and was transformed into Tifa Linkheart.

The four of them were now standing next to the graphic novel section. Grabbing one of the books from the shelf, Luz opened it. She and Eli were expecting superheroes and villains to come flying out of the pages and do battle in front of them. However, nothing came from the comic.

"Nothing happened," he said, only for his words to appear in a dialogue bubble that formed from his mouth. They all gasp when it appeared, with the twins taking steps back.

"Wow!" Edric and Emira said in amazement. That too came out in a word bubble. Both of their bubbles popped when Luz closed the book, a "THUMP" sound bubble appearing as she did so.

A moment later, the four of them were having a free-for-all snowball fight. Each having a copy of "Snowballs, a History. Why anyone would write a 400-page book about snowball was beyond anyone's understanding. When Eli saw Emira got Luz snowballed she turned and asked, cutsy, trying to not get snowballed by Eli, "You wouldn't hit a lady who likes you, would you?"

Eli shrugged, "I wouldn't... but he would."

Emira blinked before looking at who Eli was talking about. Edric then fired at her with snowballs. But as she got pelted, Eli and Luz fired at Edric with a surprise attack, as he stated, "But I shall defend the lady's honor!"

"And I shall aid him in his act of nobility!" Luz shouted back as the two pelt Edric with snowballs.

When Emira got up she thought she saw Eli's bag glowing on the inside.

"Whoa, Eli," Emira asked, "What's in the bag that's glowing?"

Eli blinked, as he opened his bag, as he pulled out a copy of what was entitled Who Goes There. "Oh, this? It's actually a horror/science fiction story of Who Goes There?"

"Ooo, What's it about?" Emira asked look at it curiously.

"Um, it's about a base of people in the Artic Circle that are being stalked by a shape-changing entity," Eli replied.

Luz stopped for a moment, as she said, "The real monster of that story was the distrust and paranoia. It also made two cool movies, a string of comics, and an awesome video game."

"Huh... shapeshifting monster huh?" Edric asked sharing a look with Emira.

Luz and Eli got the idea on what they were going for, but Luz shielded the book, "But trust me, you don't wanna mess with this thing."

"I actually enjoy watching horror films, I don't wanna even come close to living in one," Eli confessed.

"Ah what's the matter. Besides if it gets too scary, we can always close the book, right Ed?"

However, at that moment, Eli bolted, as he cried out, "Sorry, I can't risk it!"

he hid behind the corner of a shelf as Edric walked by chasing after him.

Taking cover inside the kid's corner, Eli hid behind the same shelf when he and Luz watched Amity. When Edric and Emira ran past the kid's corner, with Luz trying to reason with them on this, Eli stood up and was about to walk out of the room when he turned around. That was when he noticed "Otabin the Bookmaker." The same kid book Amity had read to the kids early that day. It was still on the table, glowing in the magic of the Wailing Star.

Walking over to it, Eli picked up the book. When he opened it, the character Otabin rose up out of the pages. The little creature looked up at the redhead hybrid as he smiled down at him.

Otabin smiles back shyly as he attached the string to his needle.

---

Back at the Owl House

Akko was running around, trying to stop the bat babies from causing any more damage to the living. One of the baby bats was holding a mace in its claws as it flew over her head. "Baby! No! Don't do that!" She yelled worriedly, looking exhausted.

Another baby poured a green potion out on the floor. "No, don't do that!" She yelled before Eda grabbed her and pulled her down with herself and King. The two were hiding from the babies under the turned-over couch.

"What silences children?" King asked the human girl. "What if we invent a TV network for ages six to 11-"

"No! That's impossible! It can't be done!" Akko exclaimed. She looked around, trying to think of a solution to their problem when she spotted a copy of "Otabin the Bookmaker". Picking up the book and seeing that it was a kid's book, she started getting an idea.

"I see what you're thinking," Eda said with a smirk, before reaching into her hair and pulling out a switchblade dagger.

"Woah! Woah! That's not what I had in mind!" Akko exclaimed, fearing the worst.

"What? I was just going to cut up some apple slices," Eda said, slicing a few random apples into pieces on a plate. "You can't have story time without apple slices."

Akko sighed in relief before holding the book out for Eda. The Owl Lady looked at her student with an upset look but ended up accepting the book.

"All right, brats. Let's do this," Eda said, flipping the couch back over and sitting down on it. "Ugh. Being parental is making me sick."

The baby bats all sit on the floor, with Akko and King joining them, holding the plate of apple slices. Eda sighed and opened the book, before she started to read to them.

"Otabin spend his days alone amongst the many books he'd sewn. With needle and thread..." read looking at the youngsters before her.

While at the same time, Eli started reading too. "'Otabin spend his days alone amongst the many books he'd sewn. With needle and thread, the pages he mend. But all the while he longed for a friend.'"

"Friend?" Otabin asked, perking up as he threaded a needle with string.

Eli smiled and petted the little creature on the head. "Yeah, I'm a friend," he said to him, having known what it was like to have not many friends.

Otabin smiles, "Friend."

"Luz Eli guess what we discovered." The twin came running in with a book, while Edric said, "We it's also what'll solve the who the-shapeshifting-monster-is problem."

"Look what we discovered," Emira said, holding up the book called 'Quacks Eats Snacks.' She opened it and a duck swam out of the pages and landed on the floor. The baby duck quacked happily as it moved around before looking at the three kids. Giving them an innocent and friendly smile.

"Aww, he's so cute," both Eli and Luz said with a smile.

But then Emira held the book out to Edric, who pulled out a pencil. The Blight male drew a pair of human legs on the duck in the book. Both watched in shock as the duck suddenly grew matching giant human legs. Making the poor animal quack hysterically and in panic.

"What the heck!?" Luz yelled.

"It's an affront against nature," Eli paled.

"Now he's extra cute," Emira said, closing the book as the duck vanished into thin air. While Booker was still shocked, the twins laughed before turning to him.

"What? That was horrible," Eli exclaimed.

"It's just a prank. But get this: If we can draw extra added things to someone like Quacksy, then maybe we could draw something to help identify who the shapeshifting monster in your book is." Edric said holding his pencil.

Eli kept the book away, "I sincerely doubt it'll make it more tamed."

Emira then noticed the book in Luz's hand, asking, "Why don't you give it a try, Luz,"

But Eli shielded Luz as he backed away from them. "I don't know. Aren't we supposed to be finding something you were looking for?"

"And we will. Come on. Don't stop the fun," urged Edric as he offered his pencil.

Luz looked at the pencil as she grew more hesitant. In the end, she sighed and took the pencil. "I'm only doing this so we can get this over with," she said, opening Otabin's book to the drawing of him on the page. Luz then drew on him a pair of socks and shoes. "There. Now he has something for his feet."

"Yeah, but what about this?" Edric grabbed her hand and started making her draw. Giving Otabin angry eyebrows and claws.

After yanking his hand back, Luz and Eli saw something start to rise out of the pages before the redhead slammed it closed. "Alright, that's enough. Let's just grab your book and go," he said, looking upset at the twins.

"Whatever. Come on." Emira grabbed Eli's hand and led him away, making the redhead drop both books face down and open.

As they walked away, neither one of them realized this, and what they had just unleashed. A clawed hand grew out of the book, and whatever it was started to growl. And from the other book, an eerie glowing blue light.

---

THe twins led the two to the Romance novel section which didn't make sense to Eli while Luz went, "Luz: Oh, wow. Boiling Isles romance. That's totally lame. I mean, unless you guys are into it?"

"I think I'm into this one." Edric told them, pulling on a book titled "The Lone Witch & Secret Room." Something clicked. The bookshelf sinks back and slides away, revealing a secret room.

This made something click inside the wall before he put it back in. Suddenly the bookshelf sank back into the wall and slid to the side, revealing a secret room. It wasn't dusty at all and it was rather nice inside. With two shelves with books, a carpet on the floor, stars and planets hanging from the ceiling, and a table that had a chair and several items.

"Wow," Eli said as he walked in, looking around the room while the twins leaned against the entrance. He then noticed a candle that was still lit. "Someone's been in here. Does this secret clubhouse belong to anyone?"

"Yeah, someone that likes hanging out in a library," Edric said before talking in a joking tone. "'Uh, teacher, I'm in love with a dictionary.'"

"I'm studying toe dork arts." Emira joked.

"This is Amity's secret hideaway." Emira revealed to them.

Both blinked at this, "Wait, what?"

Eli looked around, and smiled, "Am I lame to think that this is awesome? Because nobody would think to look for teens in a library."

"You're not wrong my good sir." Edric stated with a revered tone, before adding, "Shame there aren't any more secret hideouts like this in other places than a boring library."

Emira then aid, "And now to find the book we came to get."

Luz then asked, "Which is what?" She then gasped, "Is it an ancient spell book that Amity's been hoarding?"

"Good guess but no." Emira said, before Edric filled them in, "You see mittens has gotten too... full of herself. Not as much as her so-called friends, but she is definitely on her way with her tattling on us when we cut class and want to have fun."

Emira adopted a concerned look, "She needs to learn not to mess with people like that. So, we're going to find her diary."

"And then post the pages all around school for everyone to see." Edric filled them in. Which ended with the twins laughing at the though

But Luz and Eli looked horrified by this, as Eli pointed out, "But isn't that going a bit tad overboard?"

"No. See, we're her family. It's tough love. She needs to learn to lighten up and enjoy the moment. And we're only doing this so that she doesn't grow to become an old maid alone and bitter." Emira explained and asked, "You'd like to help make sure that doesn't happen right, cute boy?"

"Yes, but not like this," Eli replied. The two began to look for the Diary.

Before Eli could look, albeit half-heartedly, he felt Luz grab his arm and squealed, "Eli look..." Pointing on a shelf.

They both walked to a shelf and was amazed to see The Good Witch Azura and the Dark One books 1-4 as well as a large collection of Manga and graphic novels, including Fullmetal Alchemist, Fairy Tail, Bone, Watchmen, and other books they didn't think to see it this world. Hell, she even had the Dark Tower books.

"Woah! You get these on the Boiling Isles?" He asked, walking over to the shelf and looked at the Azura and Dark One novel series, and saw she didn't have book 5.

"Wait, she doesn't have five," Eli replied.

Eli then noticed something next to the four books. It was a book. Over 200 pages. But it was not like the book series. He pulled it out and looked at it. The cover had a drawing of Amity dressed as Azura. Looking back to make sure the twins were not facing their direction, Eli opened it.

The pages had some writing on them, before a small version of Amity rose up from the pages who then spoke, "I saw that… Human girl and Hybrid boy again,"

Seeing the projection of Amity speaking caused Luz and Eli to gasp, "The diary."

"I may have overreacted. I don't wanna come off as cruel. I know they're trying to be nice, but I just can't show weakness." the small version blushed, "Even though her cat hoodie's adorable and his small pointy ears are... rather cute."

Eli blushed and thought, 'She thinks my ears are cute?'

Luz blushed, "She thinks my hoodie's adorable."

Luz then gasped, "Eli... if the Wailing Star can bring the book that Amity wrote to life, then..."

"My dad's journal..." Eli finished, as he pulled out his father's journey and opened it to the front page.

Once it did, a teen version of his dad appeared, as he smiled, "You won't believe this, but I think I've mastered Light and Illusion Magic."

Eli blinked, "Dad..."

"They think Light Spells are lame, but I see mastering it is a big thumbs up for me."

Eli turned the page, as the teen version appeared again, "Mastered construction magic in two weeks. And you won't believe this, but if I use the fundamentals of Construction with Light, I can make Light Constructs. Like Green Lantern."

Eli then went to another page, which described how his parents met, the projection came up and spoke, "I met this amazing redhead, Cherri. She's all alone, and she doesn't have much of a family. I'm trying to convince Eda and Lilith to help me convince mom and dad to let her stay."

On another page, a projection came up, "It's Grom Night, and I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna ask Cherri out."

Emira looked over his shoulder and asked, "Hey cutie, what are you looking at?"

Both seemingly jumped as they almost dropped the book.

Tom's image then smiled, as he was now eighteen, "Well, Cherri and I are graduating from Hexside. I don't know what is in store for my future, but... I would be happy if she would share it with me."

Eli turned the page as it showed Tom in his suit with a veil-covered bride, heavily obscuring her identity from everyone.

"Oh, come on, we don't get to see the bride," Emira frowned.

"That's my mom! I'm dying to know who she is," Eli groaned.

"Dagnabit," Luz frowned.

Edric looked over and said, "Whoa... Your old man was lucky if he wanted to keep his bride hidden from view until the I-dos huh?"

But then Emira blinked in Luz's hand, "Wait. Is that Mitten's diary?"

Luz realizing jumped back and hid the book behind him, "What?! Ha, ha, NOO! Of course not... It's just Azura and the Dark One 5."

Eli quickly hid the diary behind him. "Yeah, where she goes through her Goth phase," he said. But then the diary glowed blue and flew out of his hands. "Hey! Stop!"

But the twins did not listen and Emira caught the diary and handed it to Edric, who opened it. Another mini-Amity appeared. "It's not fair. I'm the only one who knows Ed and Em aren't perfect. Why do they keep getting away with things?"

"This is it," said the twins with a smile.

"Luz? Eli? Were you hiding this from us?" Emira asked, shocked by their actions.

"Yeah, we were," Eli retorted as he sighed, "This is wrong, you guys."

"She's your sister," Luz replied.

"But you see how she treats people. How she treats the two of you," Edric said as they approached him.

"Yeah, I do. Amity can be kind of hard to deal with, but these are her private thoughts. Now give me back the diary." Eli grabbed the diary and tried to pull it away, but Edric didn't let go. Soon, they were both pulling at it in a tug of war, with Emira tugging Edric's waist, and Luz doing the same as she grabbed Eli's shoulders.

"You want this diary; you're going to have to do better than that!" Luz grunted, struggling to pull it away, tugging on Eli's waist to help him, "You can't do this to her!"

"She needs this! It's for her own good," Emira argued.

"How can this be for her own good?" Eli asked, pulling with Luz behind him.

"Aren't you two tired of her being this cruel to you two tired of her treating you and everyone like we're all beneath her?" Edric asked pulling with Emira.

Luz then kicked a book at Edric's foot, causing him to slip back. But even though the diary was now theirs, pages of it spilled onto the floor. From those pages came more mini-Amity. "Oh no!"

"'I wish I had somewhere to go.'"

"'Why won't the human and hybrid leave me alone?'"

"'Called my teacher mom again.'"

"'Sorry I haven't written for a while. Wait, why am I apologizing?'"

"Oh, crap baskets," Eli mumbled, as the pages repeated themselves. The two got down and hurriedly tried to pick them all up.

"Really?" yelled a familiar voice. They all turned to see Amity standing at the entrance of the hideaway. Her face was all red in fury and embarrassment.

"Amity?! Wha-What are you doing here?" Luz asked nervously.

"I overheard Edric and Emira's plan to come back tonight with you," Amity said, growling out her words as she glared into Eli and Luz's eyes. She glared at her older siblings as they held back their laughter. "I should have known they'd pull something like this."

"But I can't believe you two are a part of this..." She told ELi and Luz, glaring at the two of them.

"No wait... Amity... It's not what you think," Eli tried to tell her.

"Save it." Amity angrily took her diary from Eli. She then had a face that was a mixture of anger and hurt. "They're horrible, but you two? You're the worst. All this time I've been trying to figure out what your deal is. Are you both a poser? Nerds? Some all-powerful being? Did you even mean all those things you said? You say that you don't want to hurt me, but that's all you've been doing. Now I know what you really are."

Amity looked at Eli straight in the eyes.

"You're just a bully, Elijah McKnight. And Luz Noceda's just another human."

Amity then stormed off with her diary in hand and tears close to welling up in her eyes.

Eli, on the other hand, let those words ring into his head, as his dad's journal fell off his person, and just walked off, "I... i need to be alone..."

Luz looked between them, not sure who to go after first, worried about her rival and her best friend.

Emira waved off Amity, "I wouldn't worry. She'll get over it. Wanna hang out more?"

Luz turned, "Wait... you two aren't going to stay and help fix this?"

"Not like we'd do any better," Edric replied, as he accidentally tripped on Tom's Journal.

Suddenly, an entry of a 20-yr-old Tom looked annoyed, "Again, Odalia has to try and rub in her superiority over me and Cherri. Sure, I'm covenless and Cherri's a teacher, but I'm striving to find a way to make a kind of magic that doesn't rely on the Emperor's Control Magic. Seriously, if the Blights are so superior, then they should try and made Coven Heads."

Edric and Emira turned to see the entry, Edric commenting, "Huh... Guess mom annoyed Eli's folks as much as everyone else..."

"Wait… isn't that…" Emira took the book and read more. Seeing the man that Eli's father has become, feeling something familiar about him,

Another entry showed up as he sighed, "Alador asked me to babysit Emira and Edric. Those two are full of a lot of energy, and a bit more carefree than their mother. Glad to know they take after their dad in spirit than their mother does. Also, Edric is worried the spot on his face is a pimple or a boil."

"Turns out it was a gummi goblin," Edric confessed.

"So our babysitter was Eli's dad?" Emira sked confused, "How did we not know this till?"

Another entry played, as Tom looked bashful, "Well, today, I just found out that Cherri's pregnant. We're having a baby boy. I'm gonna be a dad. It's crazy. But on a latter note, when we babysat for Alador again, Emira was jumping up and down, telling us they were gonna have a baby sister. I never saw Emira so happy. Aside from the time she got into the Night Market ice Scream. Cherri and I were having a hard time keeping them from bouncing around the place. Luckily, Hooty was there to help out."

Luz pushed herself in and asked, "Eli's dad knows Hooty?"

"Well, anyway, I'm writing this entry because I hope that my son, Elijah... or Evelynn if we made a mistake and it's a girl... becomes good friends with the latest edition to the Blight Family. Not because that it will raise their prestige or something, but that this girl has a good friend to help her out."

The twins paused as they looked at each other sadly to each other... before smiling sincerely Edric said, "You go after Amity... doubt she'll want to talk to us... we'll bring this over to Eli and talk to him."

Luz closed the diary, and smiled, "Thanks."

And immediately rushed to find her... only for her to slip on a slime trail, "Ugh, Guys! What's with the slug trail?"

"Don't look at me," Edric replied, defensively, "I wanted to, but the book had a giant spider in it. Wasn't looking forward to doing that."

Emira shivered and said, "Umm... when did the library relocated itself to the Knee, I just felt something cold pass by me..."

Luz paled, "Oh no... "

---

Elsewhere

Meanwhile, Amity was sitting alone against one of the hundreds of bookshelves. She was curled up in a ball while trying to hold back her tears. But some ended up coming out. Her diary was the one thing she felt safe to let out all her feelings and secrets. And now it wasn't even safe in the one place she felt safe being in. Safer and even her own home. she heard footsteps heading in her direction. When she stopped they stopped too.

She turned around to see... it was Eli. Though his hood was up and his face was hidden in the shadows.

Amity turned and groaned, "What do you want? Come to make mix signals again?"

But he just stood there, not even flinching or making a snarky remark.

Amity turned around and said, "You should just leave me alone... like everyone else..." And began walking faster away from him.

However, it continued to follow her, as they rounded a corner, and he was catching up to her.

Amity shouted, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

It finally grabbed her hand, and pinned her to the bookcase, but still spoke or said nothing, as he looked right at her, keeping her from leaving.

Amity struggled while looking at him, "What are you... Stop it!"

"Will just leave me alone, Amity," Eli's voice spoke up on top of the bookshelf, as she looked up. "I get it. I'm a bully, so leave me alone before i pants you," he said dejected, giving in to what she called him, feeling nothing but self-loathing.

Amity blinked at this, as there were two Elis. It couldn't ahve been an illusion, this was a soldi interaction. She then noticed his eyes as they were more glassy and lifeless, adn more zombified,and said, terrified, "You're not Eli... Who or what are you?!"

Eli also rose up as he saw it. It pulled off its hood, as it seemed like Eli normally... utnil is face ripped open, revealing the skull underneath, as it let out an inhuman roar.

Amity let out a scream during the roar.

Its body began to warble and shift, as its back bloated until it exploded with thin tentacles and started branching out spider legs. Eli saw this, as he immediately summoned a Light orb, to which he turned into a light saber, and jumped down, slicing its head and torso in half. He grabbed Amity's hand and scooped her up bridal style and bolted. As the creature began to regain it's footing, the severed halves formed teeth and a tongue, as it turned around, with its arms exploding out of the sleeves becoming ape-like with spiney feelers, as its feet exploded out of the shoes and began hind dog-like. It then ran after with the movements of an ape.

Amity ran with Eli as she tried not to look back as she asked, "What is that thing?"

"Um, actually, that's what it's called," Eli answered, looking super freaked out, "the Thing."

"WHAT!?" Amity asked, never seeing him so freaked out before, "Where did it come from?"

Suddenly, the two were pulled behind a bookshelf. as The Thing looked around, even with its separate halves making them like stock eyes to look around. The ones who pulled them back were Luz, Emira, and Edric, as they saw the creature.

Luz got an idea, and gently pulled one of the books out... and threw it across, as it opened, revealing Witch Hunters, "We shall hunt those filthy Border Beings,"

A witch hunter puritan and his fellow hunters nodded as they appeared, but then saw the creature, "Sweet St. John, it's the devil!"

The creature howled, as tentacles shot out of its mouth, grabbing the men, and fusing them to its tissue in the worst ways. Luckily, it gave the kids enough time to reach the stairs, as it was continuously absorbing the book characters.

"You two didn't say it could do that." Edric said as it kept running.

"I was actually trying to tell you that. The creature needs to be alone and in close proximity with a lifeform to digest or absorb," Eli explained, "And in the process, it shapes it cells to imitate what it eats."

"Guess this is where the phrase You are What You Eat plays in," Emira asked.

"Honestly, it freaked me out when I first saw the film," Luz nervously smiled.

"How do we stop it then?" Amity asked looking at them.

"Fire," Luz replied, before adding, "And lots of it."

"Shame none of us are great with fire spells at the moment..." Edric lamented.

Suddenly, they heard thud sounds, like footsteps, as they heard it was coming from behind them. They turned around to see...a monstrous creature that snarled viciously. It had a large body with long arms with razor-sharp claws, fang-like teeth, and two large legs, and a long tail. The toes of its large foot were sticking out of a pair of shoes. However, right in the middle of its chest where its heart could be heard beating loudly. When they looked closer, they saw an open book that acted like its beating heart. The book showed the page showed Otabin after Edric forced Luz to draw on him.

"Wait, Otabin?" Luz and Eli asked in shock, seeing the lovable book character turned into a terrifying monster.

"With claws and fangs and breaking bones, I found a friend to make my own," Otabin said in a deep voice and reached out as he snatched Amity in his claws.

Eli rushed forward. As he rushed, his journal fell open, as Eli jumped at Odabin, who simply grabbed him as well, as he snarled, "Once again with Fangs and Breaking Bones, a 2nd Friend I shall make my own."

Otabin would carry his new friends away as a hand from from the journal pages.

Luz called out, "Amity! Eli!"

Eli shouted, "Luz! Help!"

The three others would run after the monster Otabin as a body formed and a figure looked and asked, "Eli?"

Back at the children's section, Eli was being held by otabin's arm as he held Amity close with his leg and began to threat around Eli's arm and pulled fusing Eli to the page.

"Oh, this is not good. Not good at all," Eli said, as he was slighlty freaking out, "I know everyone says to live in books, but this is ridiculous."

Amity was slammed against a giant book that was crafted by Otabin. Holding her in place, the monstrous book character brought out a large needle that was threaded with a giant ball of thread. He raised the needle and lowered it in Amity's direction. The witch yelped and turned away, thinking that he was going to stab her. However, instead of killing her, he wrapped her arms and fingers with the glowing green sting.

Otabin pulled the thread and sewed her arm into the book. Becoming part of the paper itself. "Why are you doing this? I've been reading you since I was a kid. I know you're not like this. Someone changed you," she told the book character.

"But friends are what I've always sought. And now a friend my claws have caught," the monster said.

Luz, Edric, and Emira came running in as Luz shouted, "Alright, big guy, let our friends go..."

The Thing suddenly showed up, looking even more grotesque as it had fused with the Witch Hunters, gaining mass, and using the sword hands as spider legs, as it roared out.

Before anything could be done an array of magic came flying out and hitting both the monsters and freeing the kids. Everyone would look back a through the smoke as a figure came walking out and to their shock Thomas McKnight stood there in a heroic posture with his hand over his bracer and said, "Hey you two! Get your hands off my son and his friends!"

Eli blinked, "Dad?"

Thomas McKnight smiled, as he waved at him, "Hey, Eli. Man, I knew it'd be a boy."

The monster Otabin growled, "Who dare stand way of claiming friends should he instead face woe amends."

Thomas went and waved his hand over the bracer as the symbols formed around it, as he swiped his hands and two glyphs formed before him as they were of Light and Construction as he put his hands between them and drew two light construct swords. Unafraid even as The Thing got up and roared, rushing at the human adult who leapt up slashing it's back causing it to scream as it went away to attack after it heals. Thomas then slides his hand making a another Light Construct spell as what appeared to be shurikens shot out trying to keep it from leaving only one touching it.

He then turned and saw the parts of Otabin that glowed, and surmised, "Ah. Now I get it..."

He then looked and asked, "Okay...which one of you drew over Otabin and made him like this during the Wailing Star night?"

Edric sighed, "That was me."

Thomas shook his head, "Edric..." he sighed and asked, "But did you learn your lesson about altering?"

"Yes sir..." Edric said.

Otabin roared running over to try and grab him, but Tom ducked and slid under Otabin before using his bracer to make gylph combination of Ice, plant, and construct to make icy Vines form and wrap Otabin, keeping his limbs and head. Otabin struggled to get free which made the ice vines tighten their grip. Calmly, Tom went and said, picking up a pencil, "Easy Otabin... I know what happened and I'm going to fix you. Return you to the book maker who wants to make friends not force friends." He then went and erased the doodle additions done to him.

"Nooo..." the monstrous Otabin roared, until he suddenly popped back to normal, as the book that held both Eli and Amity poofed, as the two landed, with Otabin in their arms.

"There you see? Back to your regular and friendly self." He said gently patting Otabin's back to let him know none of it was his fault.

Thomas then asked Eli, "So... how did I do making a first impression to my son?"

Eli smiled, "A cool one. But wait, you're the 20-year-old version of my dad. How'd you recognize me after fifteen years?"

He smiled and said, placing a hand on the teen's shoulder, "You really think I couldn't tell who you were when you look like the spitting image of me and your mother? Even without that I'd know you from anywhere."

He knelt before Eli and told him, "You look like me but inherited your mom's beautiful hair and eyes..."

Tom then looked at the girl and said, "And you must be Alador's baby girl..." Then noticed her hair, "Inherited your father's hair and your mother's forcing you to dye it green?"

Amity blinked, surprised this guy who appears to be Eli's father could recognize her just by a glance, "Wait, how did...?"

"The last time I met your parents Emira there." Tom said, pointing to Emira, "Was jumping up and do in such a joy at having a baby sister."

"Plus you have brown roots here." he said lightly tapping the brown crown on her hair, "Dead giveaway on how you're Alador's," And glowered, "...And Odaila's," Straightened his face, "daughter."

Standing up Tom looked at his bracer and made a small light construct spell hologram of the library with a red dot blinking, "Judging from my spell that creature is somewhere here in the library, trying to grow stronger."

He then noticed Luz and asked her, "I take it you've been here for a while and just learning Glyph magic?"

"Yeah, but Eda's kinda... well, her teaching is a bit eccentric," Luz confessed.

Tom laughed at that, "Same old Eda. Always going for originality. Especially when she tried to teach me how to use magic." he then said, "Come on, we need to strategize before we face that thing again."

And leads them to the hideaway. before closing it behind them and putting protective glyphs on every surface of the place.

"How do you know about this room?" Amity asked, raising a brow.

"I've been coming here since I was ten," Tom smirked. "Luckily, I had a hiding spot in the library. Nobody ever thinks kids hide in a library... or have a secret room in it."

After finishing putting the protective glyphs up Tom turned to the kids.

"So, I put a protection glyph at every angle of this old secret room of mine." Tom said before sitting down and asking, "How is it that The Thing from "Who Goes There" got here in the demon realm only for it to come to life during the Wailing Star night. Anyone want to tell me?"

Eli sighed, as he raised his hand, "I may have had a copy of the earliest book on hand with updated segments of the 1982 film, as well as rewrites of elements from the 2011 prequel."

"They made a prequel of the movie in 2011?" Tom asked, surprised, he has an expression and said, "huh... times have changed..."

Getting serious, Tom spoke to them, "Okay we need to find the book that it came out of and close it before it becomes too strong for it to exist outside of the Waiiling Star's light."

He then said, "We need to isolate it somewhere where it cannot escape, change forms, or absorb more books."

Tom then said, "It's been some time since I was last in the library, but I don't remember if there are any isolated rooms, we can use to keep it alone before we find it's book and close it."

Eli scratched the back of his head, as he looked away in shame, "I... haven't really been around this library for long... and I got banned on the first day."

Tom chuckled before assuring him, "Don't worry about it. Eda's been banned on her first minute."

Amity thought on it, as she nodded, "Actually, there are several isolated rooms. And not even in the Forbidden Section."

Tom then looked at her and asked, "Can you lead us to the closest one?"

---

Later On

The Thing was now more gigantic, to a centipede than a spider. Tentacles sprouted out of its back, as its mandibles looked like jagged scythes, as it had millions of eyes in front, as it scurried and towered over the first floor.

Tom examined the room and nodded, "Sealed and isolated."

Smiling back, he said, "This'll do nicely."

He then pulled out some sticks with chalks on them, four of them while telling, "Okay Amity, Luz, and Eli. Help me draw the glyphs of light and Fire on the walls and ceiling and draw a line connecting three of them. Edric, Emira, caste and illusion to hide us, because once we start scratching it in, it'll probably hear us. and we need your best illusion to hide the door until it moved on."

"Got it, Mr. McKnight," both Emira and Edric said, as the two worked together to make a very powerful illusion. Even as the creature crawled around, towering above them, even while making sure the library was in one piece.

Tom would show both Amity and Luz what the glyphs for fire and light looked like as he drew a light glyph on the floor.

The beast sensed something was off. Its mass added to its intelligence, as it scratched its carapace. As it did, the pieces sprouted legs and scurried around to sense what was going on. Scouts or drones to signal the mass.

With the door hidden and closed it won't be able to sense them until they were ready and with their' effective teamwork they got it done easily while he overlooked everything quickly and deemed it ready before saying, "Make sure you all don't touch the glyphs yet We need it inside before we can activate this trap."

"Got it, Dad," Eli replied. But then blinked, "Wow, this is weird. A journal projected version of my dad."

Tom paused before asking, an expression of shock on his face, "You... knew?"

"Well, yeah. I mean I saw the miniature entry versions of you, but I didn't expect a full-blown sentient version," Eli replied.

"It's almost as if you knew something like this would happen. And then wrote that version of you in case something like this happened," Luz thought aloud. She looked to Amity, and asked, "You ever think of doing stuff like this?"

Amity shook her head at that question, embarrassed.

Tomas let out a little chuckle and said, "I didn't think I'd be able to keep the act up for long but... you definitely got my brain if you caught on so quickly." He then pulled out his still open book and said, "You know that written message "For my child so he'll always have a piece of me with him"? Well... the me you see now is that piece, but I'm both Tom and not Tom... he's poured a lot of himself into this journal so that you'd know that he written everything and made sure that you'd never lose your way incase you find yourself being filled with doubt and feel hopeless. The version of my form that you see is actually the last thing he wrote before he stopped writing."

He paused and asked, "Is anything like this making sense to you?"

Eli nodded, "It does, but one thing escapes me. What happened?"

"You mean what cause me to not be able to raise you with your mother and aunts?" Tom asked Eli.

Eli nodded.

Tom sighs as he said, "I remember when I wrote my last entry that I was so angry with Belos and someone else... however the other person's name was crossed out for some reason and it's like someone put paint over a portrait that obscured the image, and you can't remove it without damaging the entire thing."

But what really made me angry was a dangerous subject of research that Belos had me research for him... something that would threaten both realms if not all realms in existence should he unleash it upon us just so his plans and bias for 'wild magic' can come to fruition... When I made it home, what you would now call the Owl House I wrote that I would call the one person I trust the most other than your mom and you, and ask them to help me to keep my research from being used ever again and threaten the realm that I've come to call my home with my family... and that's all I remember..."

Eli blinked, "Wait, you were the original owner of the Owl House? Not Eda?"

"Of course not. You know about her curse, right? She hasn't even known about the elixir until I pointed it to her. Her curse made it hard for her to stay in one place for too long, especially a place that makes her condition un...friendly to a house."

He lightly beat his hand to his hip and asks, "Why did I work for him? If I didn't then maybe the realm would be better off… But then I would have lost everything..."

"Uh, Mr. McKnight," Edric called out, "We've got a problem here!"

"The thing?" He asked, concerned, going to Edric.

"Yep, and I think it's learned to divide and conquer," Emira said, as they all looked.

The creature began to tear bits and pieces off itself, as it began to make swarms of humanoid monsters, each one just as grotesque as the Eli monster.

Tom sighs as he knew what he needs to do, "Ed, Em. Use your magic to make illusions of all of you here. I'll supply you with a booster spell-glyph from Construction magic. After you all make it out I'll lead the creature in and set off the trap."

The two did as instructed as Tom supplied aid with the spell he said he'd use, making the most amazingly multiple and realistic illusions. The creatures attempted to attack them, only to hit air, or each other. But this also caused the Things to fight one another, in a futile attempt to absorb everyone for themselves.

When they made it out of the library Tom cast an illusion of himself to the kids as he said, through it, "Eli... Before I do this, it is important you need to know something... Your mother is still alive."

Eli blinked, and even Luz and Amity when they heard this information, as the young man asked, "What?"

"She had to go into hiding ever since I disappeared because she represents what Belos fears and despise in 'wild magic'... and the only reason you had to be in the human realm would have been because it was the only way to save you from Belos because of the type of witch your mother is."

The Thing's scouts and drones all had refused back into the main body as they could detect the one smell of a living creature somewhere below, the feast it will have.

"There is a special kind of witch known as Superd... they were known to be the first ones to have been born on the Isles before the witches and demons you see now a days, the fact that they rose from the Titan's blood after it expired is proof in their eyes, hair, and magic talent. They all deemed that it would be better for themselves and the Isles if they blend in and got to know the younger generation of witches and demons who were born with an extra bile sack in their hearts."

The creature would then slink its way, as if knowing that the prey wouldn't be able to move and went, hungry to feed on it.

" It was a peaceful time... before Belos came and deemed all magic that was free and the superds who use it as dangerous and that they were a mistake by the titan, and as he claimed they listened because the magic that the Superds wield reflect in their hearts which is why when Belos came and began his conquest."

The Thing felt itself salivating as the scent of this prey was the tastiest and strongest than any it had consumed before...

"They were sensitive to the fear and anger of the witches who were forced to either join a Coven or perish during what we call the "Savage Age" caused them to become Berserkers like in Norse Lore because of the negative feelings in their hearts and make them lash out in such a violent manner that gave weight to the words Belos gave the people. and because of it the Boiling Isles had its own version of the Witch Trials, which was more accurate but still as tragic as ours was..."

The creature noticed the door ajar as it cautiously touched it and opened it to see his prey, the human projection that wounded it earlier. this was just deserts. and moved itself into the room and closed the door. activated the glyph that sealed it.

"When it was revealed that your mother was a Superd Belos threatened to petrify her and you while she was still pregnant with you... After I ensured her safety, I began my work with him about the realms and that lead to my disappearance."

He paused and looking up, "It's already here with me so I'm going have to wrap this up now, son. Sorry..."

Taking a breather he said, "Eli. Your mother and I wanted to be there for you and help you be the best you can be, but because of what happened you were most likely living like an outcast in the human realm because of your witch ears and connection to magic. Please do not blame her son, she just wanted you to have the best possible chance in a world that is much safer than the Isles... But that's not the only reason... your mother was part of a group who had a special type of magic... you might have heard of it, but there is a threat in the Boiling eyes known as "The Curse Master" he wanted to free the Isles from Belos' control so much he turned to the dark arts and curses for him and his followers "The Dark Coven". Which was to be an opposite to the Emperor's Coven, and he might still be alive to the day... hiding to regain his strength with who knows how many followers left who remain loyal to him after his defeat at the war... Son Please don't hate your mother or me... we would have never left you for any reason. We loved you so much that we risked everything to keep you safe and be there with you throughout your growing up... it is the darkness in the heart you cannot let control you otherwise you'll just make Belos' prejudice real when it doesn't have to be..."

He stopped and gave a yell, before explaining why he yelled since they couldn't see, "Sorry... this guy developed such big teeth... All the better to eat me with..."

Before continuing, "Don't trust Belos... he's a snake with two heads... don't lose yourself to your negative emotions... and I don't know if Luz or Amity are with you... but I hope they'll be there for you from here on out, because as your mother said, "Love is what makes magic strongest" and that means..."

They could see the legs part of his illusion disappearing, "Sorry... That means that the more positive emotions you feel the stronger you'll be not just physically or magically, but mentally too to resist them. Promise me you won't give in to fear and negativity Eli... Promise me..."

Realizing this could be the last time he would see him, he called out, with tears in his eyes, "I promise, Dad!"

He smiles and told, "You've made me proud Eli... Luz, Amity. Please watch over him until he can find his mother... He'll need you now as he probably did before tonight..."

His torso disappeared before calling, "Ed, Em. be nicer to your sister got it? I don't want to come back and put you to bed early like how I did when I babysat you for Alador."

part of his left arm missing as he said, with a defiant chuckle, "Wow... this guy really wants me to feel the pain..."

"Luz there's a way for you to make a bracer like mine if you look at the pages where you see familiar signs that are hidden in plain sight..." he said to Luz before adding, "Much easier than using paper which could tear or go missing before you can cast your spells."

He then looked at Eli and said, "I really wanted to spend as much time with you until the sun rose... maybe get a reaction from Eda as payback for all the times she scared me as a prank... but I'm afraid that this is... I love you son. Don't give up looking for your mother, don't give up on your family, you hear me? DON'T EVER GIVE UP!" And with that slammed his hand down and the illusion disappeared.

"DAD!" Eli cried before he and the others looked back to the library.

Inside the room he said, "Good luck Eli... May you find your mother... and hopefully find your father..." And then all the glyphs activated causing a bright light to shine and burn The Thing as it began to scream and incinerate from the combination of light and fire.

---

Outside
Dawn

Eli sat there hugging the journal to him.

Amity and Luz were concerned while Ed and Emira peaked inside to check if it was really gone.

Luz asked, "Is it gone?

"Yeah, looks like it all got wiped away, clean," Emira smirked.

"Wow... Mr. McKnight really was something." Edric said, before being elbowed by Emira before he cleared his throat, "I mean... he's still amazing."

Luz went over and asked, "You okay, Eli?"

Eli sniffled back a bit as he rubbed his eye, "Y-Yeah. I'll be okay, Luz."

Though Amity walked past them unfazed at all this, as she simply replied coldly, "This night, like everything else... didn't happen."

"Amity wait." Luz going and held out her Azura book 5 and said, "It doesn't make up for reading your diary but would you wanna borrow this? I noticed you only had up to four. "

Amity looked at the book, and graciously accepted it, "I'll return it when I can."

Amity took the book and looked at it. "Thank you," she said, holding it to her chest.

Eli smiled and nodded, before sighing a little. "Well, we'll get out of your hair," he said, and he and Luz walked past her.

"Eli, wait," Amity said, making them stop and turn back towards her. Walking up to him the young witch took a breath and said, "I'm sorry."

This confused Eli, as he asked, "Why're you apologizing for? I'm the one that read your diary and nearly got us all killed with my book."

"Truth, and maybe you're not a bully, but I haven't exactly been the friendliest witch either," she said, looking down in shame, "I've been thinking about what you said yesterday and you're right. I don't want us to be enemies. I'm not a hundred percent sure if I'm ready to call you friend either, but...I'll think about that."

Eli smiled, feeling happy to hear Amity say that. He held out his hand to her. "Thanks, Amity."

Amity glanced at the hand and then smiled at Eli. She grabbed him and the two shook on it. All the while Emira and Edric were smiling at this, and Luz was all teary-eyed at a good bond being made. Even if it was a small step, it was a giant leap for the two former enemies. One that could lead them to become something more.

---

Later On

The Owl House

The owl house was filled with sounds of sleep with Eda in the couch holding the babies comfortingly in her arms, King on her lap, and Akko asleep on Eda's legs.

After taking off his backpack, Eli smiled softly at the scene. "Well, what do you know?"

Luz smiled, "Awww."

Suddenly the moment was shattered when Hooty slammed the door open. "Ding dong!" He screamed.

"AH!" both Luz and Eli yelled in surprise, but Luz frowned, "Hooty! What the …"

Her sentence came to a halt when something large started to come through the door.

Stepping back, Eli activated Ddraig as he and Luz saw the object crawl into the living room. It was soon revealed to be a giant human head with wings and legs connected to it. Her face had Asian characteristics, with long dark hair, black lips, and red eyes. She also had fangs and talons.

Eli looked at the giant bat creature with wide eyes before glancing at the sleeping babies then back at her.

But Luz blinked, "Whoa... you must be Mama."

"Uh, are you the mother?" Eli asked.

"Yi Yi. Mama is I. And I is the Bat Queen," the Bat Queen said before whistling loudly. Surprisingly it didn't wake Eda, Akko, and King. But it did wake her babies. The baby bats flew away from the Owl Lady's arms.

They came to their mother and settled into Bat Queen's hair, who sighed contently, "Aah! Snuggle dumplings."

She then threw up a large treasure red chest that opened to reveal several hundred snails inside. The Bat Queen spat out an Aztec death whistle on top of the snails.

"For troubles. Eda is owed one," she said before squeezing back out of the doorway and flying away. The two human inhabitances watched her before closing the door and looking at the chest of snails.

Eda moans, "Sweet Babies..." Then felt and eyes snapped open, "Babies? Where are the babies?!

Luz made a bird like movement with her hands, telling them they flew the coop.

Eli shrugged, "Their mama came by and picked them up."

"Oh. And I just taught Junior how to pick locks too," Eda said, feeling sad that the babies were gone.

"Yeah, but at least your night was more successful than mine. Look at all that money you made," Luz said, gesturing to the chest.

Eli held up the spit-covered whistle. "The Bat Queen even gave you this. I'd wash it before you use it."

He tossed it to Eda, which bounced off her chest and into her lap. The Owl Lady picked it up and stared at it with a frown. "Yeah. We did it all for the money."

"I miss my babies!" King sobbed. Luz quickly picked him up and hugged him to her face.

"I missed the babies too!" Akko cried hugging Eda.

"Not again..." Eda said tearing up too, "This is the second time a mom came took back babies from my watch..." Then began crying.

"Stay strong, King. We'll make it through this together, "Luz cried with King in her arms.

"Shut up! Don't touch me!" King hugged her back.

Eli picked up his backpack and pulled out a book. "Well, I got this from the library. Maybe it can help," he said, handing it to Eda, titled 'Coping with Empty Nest Syndrome'.

Eda chuckled a bit as she took the book from Eli, "Thanks, kid."

Akko stood up as she stretched, "So, how was your night? Did you two have fun with Amity's siblings?"

"Meh, there was a lot of chaos going about," Eli said, before smiling a little. "But on the bright side, I think we might actually be making progress with Amity."

The door squeaked open. "Hey, you wanna hear about my night?"

"NO!" Eli, Luz, Akko and Eda yelled all at once.

"That's not a thing anyone ever wants!" said King.

---

Later On

Upstairs

As soon as they got back, Luz and Eli plopped themselves in bed, with Luz pulling the covers over her as she slept, while Eli closed the door behind him. After a long night, the two were more than ready to sleep like a log for the rest of the day. Walking over to his bed, Eli set his backpack next to him, pulled out the journal his father wrote, and crawled under the covers. Lying on his back, the young man stared up at the ceiling.

Last night really was quite the adventure. He wondered if Emira and Edric would be a bit more considerate to Amity for having it too rough. Turning his head towards his book bag, he unzipped one of the smaller pockets and started digging for something.

He then pulled out a photo and looked at it with a growing smile.

It was a picture of him and Luz with Miss Noceda, all happy together. In it was the orphanage owner and caretaker, Randal Ridley. It was one of the very few things to have kept during his time in the orphanage. But even though it's been years, this picture was taken during Christmas.

During that year, all the kids had been adopted and had families celebrating that year. Eli was all alone, but so was Roger as the two went to a Denny's to celebrate. It was there that Luz and Miss Noceda were there celebrating as well. Seeing as they were already there, they celebrated together.

Eli almost cried a bit, but stopped as he heard Luz stir in his sleep. He put it away, as he scooched in bed to sleep, as he sighed. But smiled as he realized things were a bit different now. He had friends in this world, and a family. He hoped one day they'd all celebrate together like that.

---

Next Chapter: Power of Gods and Demons; Inner Darkness Unleashed

---

In this chapter, we see Eli's dad for the first time. Yay! And we've also got news that his mother's alive as well. And as for the Thing, I wanted something to get all five kids in danger, and I thought of using the Thing. Because… well, it's the one monster that I always thought of as the most dangerous.

Also in the chapter, it seems Emira has a thing for Eli. Either that, or she's flirtatious. We also find out that Eli's parents used to babysit for Emira and Edric. As well as hoping that Eli and Amity would become good friends.

Next chapter will be an original, and will also show the darkness within us all. A part that Eli wishes he wouldn't have later.

I give thanks to Twilightnite13 for helping me write this badboy out.