Meanwhile, the other three nonconformists roamed the rest of the house, searching and searching for a Chad flower.

"You seeing anything?" Luz stage-whispered.

"Nah." King said. "Just normal human stuff. Well, except this thing." He held up a can opener. "Some sort of torture device."

"Nope." Luz said. "Stan!" She whispered. "How are you doing?"

Stan emerged from the hallway, six or seven clown paintings tucked under his arms. "Fantastic!"

"Were you stealing those?" Luz asked, alarmed.

"Maybe…"

"Dude! We don't have time for this!" King complained. "We gotta find that plant!"

"Hey, look, Bud's out front selling lemons and the gremlin's outside, so, clown paintings!"

"We came here for the flower, though." Luz reminded him.

Stan glanced down towards the living room. "Found it."

They turned around to find a boxful of purple blossoms on the Gleefuls' coffee table. "Oh." Said King. "How'd we miss that?"

"Ha ha! Gracias a Dios!" Luz exclaimed, taking one into her arms and gently hugging it. "We can finally get home!"

There was a yell from outside that sounded a lot like Mabel. They all stopped. "Wait…has anyone seen Mabel?" King asked. "Or Eda?"

"Not for at least ten minutes." Stan realized. They all glanced up at each other, then bolted to the front lawn.

……

"Okay, guys, this was funny at first, but you can untie me now." Eda called. "This kid's stone arrow is digging into my skull."

Gideon laughed. "No can do, freak!"

"Hey!" Mabel called. "If she's a freak, so am I!"

"Quiet!" Gideon snapped. "Darling…"

He turned to his bodyguard that wasn't holding Mabel hostage. "You got the matches?"

The man handed Gideon a box of them. "Excellent." Gideon said. He crept up to Eda, grabbed her wrist so she wouldn't struggle, and lit a match. "For justice, for the town, and-"

"Hey!" Came Stan's angry voice. He, Luz, and King emerged form out the front door. "Hands off, you little twerp! That's my ex-wife you're tying to that stake!"

Gideon looked thoroughly confused. "I'm sorry, what?" He chortled in disbelief. "You mean you married this…monster?"

"Yeah. That's right. I did." Stan said. "And I might just do it again."

Eda smiled, raising an eyebrow. "Hm."

"Aw! You guys!" Mabel called from across the lawn.

Gideon shook his head to clear it a little. "No matter. This witch is a menace to society! She and her fellow beast almost ate me! She dies for her crimes right here, right now!"

No!" Luz cried. A third bodyguard stopped her and King from leaping forward.

"Not Eda! I saved her just last week, I don't want to lose her now!" Luz cried.

King tapped a finger to his skull, then gasped. "Luz! You can't use your magic in the non-magic human realm, right?" He whispered.

"Yeah.."

"Well, human realm or not, this place is anything but normal! So…"

Luz gasped as well, then grinned slyly. "Sweet Titan! That just might work."

"Uh, guys, I don't know what's so interesting back there, but, could you maybe stop all this?" Eda called.

"Shush!" Gideon replied. "None of them can save you now! If they make one suspicious move, my men will have 'em down before you can blink! So, don't. Do. Anything. You'll. Regret."

"Cool." Said King. He and Luz glanced at each other.

Gideon smiled wickedly, grabbing the match. "Time to die, honey."

Luz raised her hand. "Ahem! Uh, hi. Luz here. Before my mentor dies, can I…say a few words about her?"

The bodyguard looked to Gideon, who shrugged. "I guess. I've got my eye on you, though."

The bodyguard let her down, and she strode forward to the front of the statue. "Eda is a wonderful teacher, and a fabulous witch, and, even dead, she'll always be in here." She pointed to her heart. Gideon rolled his eyes. "And?"

"Okay. I'm done. Light the match."

The bodyguard raised his hand triumphantly, before realizing the matchbox was lost. "Darn, where'd I put that matchbox?"

"Are you for real?" Gideon said. "Come on! We could've had this burning done ten minutes ago! " He looked toward Mabel. "Come on, my sweet. Don't you want this drudgery to end and the marriage to begin?"

"Nope." She replied. "I could stay tied here forever. Thanks, though."

Trying not to act suspicious, Luz handed Stan and Mabel a stack of glyphs each while Gideon and the henchman searched frantically for the box. "Here. Tap these on my signal."

"Hold them away from your face." King added in a whisper.

"Tap it? It's a piece of paper." Stan murmured. "What are you trying to do here? What is this?"

"It's the best chance we've got!" Luz replied. "Trust me on this!"

"Haha! Found it!" Gideon announced, holding up the matchbox. "Now, for the 'burnin!"

Come on! We've got this! On my signal, okay?" Luz backed up from Stan and Mabel toward the stake and presented Eda with the paper. Eda took one look at it, understood, and grinned evilly. Luz avoided eye contact with everyone. "Um, let me just say one more thing, please?"

They fell silent, looking more than a little annoyed, and Luz continued. "Eda will always hold a special place in our hearts as my mentor, King's BFF, Lilith's sister, Stan's love interest," she added under her breath. "And most importantly….. a glyph user! Let 'em have it, guys!"

Eda tapped the paper, holding it out toward the henchman with the matches. A huge plant flew out of it, grabbed the guy's face and threw him to the ground.

"Impressive, kid." Eda admired. "That was a scheme worthy of my apprentice!"

She glanced up at the Pines. "What are you standing around for? Tap the glyphs!"

Stan hesitantly tapped the top one in his stack and a pillar of ice shot out. He threw it at Mabel's bodyguard's head. The guy toppled over. "Huh." Stan remarked. "That's what it does."

Mabel wiggled free, slapping her own glyph. A jet of fire shot from it toward the sky, narrowly missing Gideon. She stared in awe. "Was that magic I just did?"

"You'd better believe it, kid!" Eda said. Mabel squealed.

"You guys messed with the wrong dream team." Mabel said, advancing on Gideon, glyph in hand.

The chaos began. Sparks flew everywhere, as did shards of ice and plant thorns. Gideon statues, flowers, people, and just about everything in the garden was shot by some sort of glyph. It wasn't a battle, but an execution (where no one died.)

Not long after starting the fight, it was all over, fire and spiked plants randomly dotting the lawn. Gideon backed away from them, bumping into a statue, terrified. "Fine! Take your magic post-its and the demon and just get out already! Begone! All y'all! Just don't hurt me!"

"Will do." Eda said. She reached into her hair and pulled out Owlbert, much to the concern and confusion of her companions. "What? You should see what I keep in my shoes."

"You keep things in your shoes too?" Asked Luz as she, King, and the other humans clambered on to the staff (Stan with much more hesitation.)

"Weapons?" Mabel theorized.

Eda smiled, holding a finger to her lips. "Shh."

They took off and zoomed away over the rooftops. Gideon gaped from the front lawn. "CURSE YOU, PINES FAMILY! AND…OTHERS!"

He kept going, but at that point they were too far away to hear him.

……

Their feet touched slightly damp grass as Owlbert gently slowed to a stop, hovering a few feet over the Mystery Shack lawn. They all hopped down. "Flying like a real witch! What a rush!" Cheered Mabel.

Stan looked more traumatized than anything. Luz checked to make sure the little plant was still cupped in her hand. It was.

"Guess who's back? And still alive?" King announced as the front door opened and they all headed to the living room.

"Well?" Asked Willow, looking up from the dead plant she and Gus had been observing.

Luz held up the pot with the flower inside happily. "We did it. We got Chad! And now, we can go back to the Isles! And-"

Ford and Lilith suddenly appeared from the basement. "We constructed a much more stable portal!" Ford informed them. "Lilith's help and knowledge on the history of Boiling Isles magic was indispensable."

"Glad to be of use." She said. "And it was nice to see you again, Prisoner number 618."

She turned to her sister and everyone else. "Fun fact: I once captured him."

"Luz, the Chad plant, if you please." Ford held out his arms, and Luz carefully handed the little purple flower to him. He, Lilith, and Dipper grinned and rushed downstairs to start a new boring portal.

The kids all noticed that Stan and Eda, once again, couldn't stop nervously glancing at each other. They looked like two people that needed a nice, long chat. Willow grabbed Gus's wrist and pulled him out of the front door, saying, "Oh, wow, is that a fairy?"

"What are you-oh, oh, yeah it is!" Gus played along and let Willow lead him out of the house.

"Oh, Luz look at that. We should go, too, and definitely not spy on whatever's about to go down!" Mabel grabbed her friend's hand and they ran, giggling, out of the living room.

Stan and Eda faced each other wordlessly for a time. Finally, Stan spoke.

"So, uh, are we actually alone?"

Eda snorted. "A bit of advice: you are never truly alone when there's avid shippers in your house."

They heard very faint evil laughter from somewhere in the room. Eda sighed. "Well, we can't ignore what happened or what was said. So…"

"So…."

Silence. Then,

"Do you still love me?" They asked each other in unison.

"Alright, you go first." Eda said.

Stan sighed. "Alright, yeah. I still like ya quite a lot, despite your curse and the fact that you're not even human, or whatever."

She said. "Well, thanks. I'm not as over you as I thought I was either, Stanley. But, the thing is…now's not exactly the most convenient time for me to get close to someone."

Stan looked confused. "Whaddya mean?"

"Well, the curse definitely complicates things." She said.

"I don't care about the dumb curse! It's a good look for you. Kinda horrifying, but good. Sexy, even!"

She blushed. "Well, you're certainly the first person to ever say that. Stan, I'm sorry, but I just need some time to think things over."

"Oh, come on, what could you possibly have going on that's so important?"

Not much." She said. "Just watching my human, reconnecting with my sister, oh, and there's a high possibility that we'll be taking down an evil empire within the next few months."

Stan snorted. "That's all, huh? Wow, witch, you do need a break…"

"That's it. But, if I can build another portal, maybe I'll come back."

"I-I'd like that." Stan said.

"Me too." She said. "Basically, this isn't a 'yes', this isn't a 'no', it's more of a, 'I'm wading through so much crud right now that I feel like if I tried to start a relationship again, I'd fall right on my face."

"Hey, I can respect that. I spent three decades trying to learn creepy portal science. I know what stress is."

She smiled up and him. "This went a lot better than I thought it would."

"What do you mean?"

"You just seemed more like the sensitive, big baby type, that's all."

"Hey!" Stan lightly punched her in the arm, and she punched back, laughing.

It felt really good to get this sorted out, one way or another.

……

Luz could feel it deep inside her: this was the last she'd see of the human world for quite a while.

Awkwardness hung heavy in the air as she looked at her friends from each of the two realms, down in the basement lab. She sighed. "Look, Dipper, Mabel, you guys are the best human friends I've ever had. We're working hard to get me back home right now, so…maybe…wait a minute!" She grabbed a sticky note from her pocket, along with a pencil, unmarked by a glyph. "When I get back, I'll convince my mom to take me up to Oregon, and I'll come visit! You might be seniors in high school at the time, but it'll be fun! Will you still wait for me?"

Mabel gave a thumbs up. "You know we will! You can teach us more about magic! It would be so fun!"

"That would be really cool, actually." Said Dipper. "We'll keep an eye out for you. Do you want the address of this place?"

Luz handed the sticky note to him, and he scribbled a few lines of writing in blue pen, then handed it back to her.

"Thanks, man. I can't make any guarantees, but I can promise to try to make it back." The girl attempted to stuff the sticky note into her hair much like Eda always did with treasured objects. It fell out of her pixie cut and fluttered limply to the floor. She bent down and tried again, with similar results. "Aw, come on!"

"Bring us with you?" Gus pleaded.

"You know I will!" Luz put an arm around each of her friends' shoulders, sticking the sticky note to the side of her face. "We could visit here and even show them around the Owl House sometime! I bet we could figure it out. You two can see the Isles and meet Hooty, a-and Amity…" Luz trailed off in thought. "Uh, yeah, and you can see Hexside! And the adorable uniforms!"

Mabel gasped. "Oh my gosh, I almost forgot! BRB! Don't go anywhere!" She hurdled up the stairs out of the basement lab.

She came back with a huge armful of colorful material. "Sweaters! They're really warm! There's one for each of you!"

She picked up a grey one that featured a high neck and a sloppy crocheted Grunkle Stan face. "This's one's for Eda." She handed it to the witch, who glanced from the sweater to Stan and back to the sweater. The two snorted in laughter and she tucked it under her arm.

Mabel next selected a navy blue one featuring a sloppy Owl beast eating Gideon. "Lilith…"

Lilith accepted the gift with an expression of half amusement, half horror.

"Willow and Gus…"

They two witches accepted a dark green sweater with a tiny pine tree in a plant pot on it and a yellow sweater with a Pitt Cola can, blender, tater tot, and can opener, along with various other human objects. Gus squealed and slid it on right away, while Willow put hers on more slowly, sighing contentedly from the extra warmth.

"And I didn't forget you, King!" The little demon got a smaller sweater shoved over his head: maroon with a little stick figure of himself wearing a crown and holding a golf club like a scepter. "Yes. Yes!" He said.

"And Luz! I made these one just a few hours ago!" She ripped off her blue-grey sweater to reveal a hooded purple sweater with a white stripe across the top, mirroring Luz's fashion choices.

"Oh my gosh, I love it!" Luz exclaimed. "Girl, you pull it off better than me!"

"And here's yours, Luz." Mabel gave her a sky blue sweater with the two of them as beaming stick figures, above bold black letters displaying the message, ' BEDFF.'

"It stands for 'best extra-dimensional friends forever." Mabel whispered in explanation. Luz immediately pulled the thoughtful gift on, wiped a couple of tears away, and tackled Mabel in a hug. "It's awesome! It's just awesome. I can't wait to show my mom! Oh my gosh, thank you so much!"

"Hey, don't mention it. I'm not gonna see you for six years! I don't want you to forget what I look like." Mabel winked.

"Okay, are we all done here?" Eda said. "Heartfelt goodbyes all out of the way? Sorry to cut anything short, but this gal needs at least a seven hour nap after all this. So, ready to go, kids?"

They all glanced at one another, hesitated a second, and nodded.

"Last one through's a rotten Seklidomus egg!" King called, walking through the portal and waving goodbye. Lilith was right behind, waving, red bushy hair disappearing through the swirling yellow portal.

Gus and Willow followed Lilith, calling goodbye to everyone. Gus wept freely. "Farewell….beautiful realm of wonder…"

"Well, I guess this is goodbye." Eda said, shuffling her feet.

"Yeah, I guess." Stan agreed.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Luz and Mabel chanted.

Eda rolled her eyes, put her lips to her fingertips, and wiped her lipstick across Stan's face. The girls were satisfied and loudly cheered. Eda laughed as well. "Okay, okay…"

She strode to the portal, Owlbert in hand, and disappeared through with a saucy wink at Stan, who reddened.

Finally, Luz hugged each of the twins one last time. "Take care guys, okay?"

"We can't exactly make any guarantees in a town like this." Dipper said, stepping back from the hug.

"You have to. That's an order. I really want Amity to meet you two." Luz said.

"You've mentioned this Amity quite a few times." Mabel mused, batting her eyelashes. "Who is she?"

"Well, I guess it's time to go!" Luz said, going red and hopping through the portal. She stuck her hand out, and she and Mabel performed a long and complicated secret hand shake one last time, before the teen's arm gradually disappeared. The portal's glow faded as Ford unplugged it, saying, "Well, that's that."

Mabel stood at the blank portal still. "Bye, Luz Noceda. See you soon."

……

Six and a third years later…

Luz guided a purple-hair girl with a blindfold tied over her eyes through a beautiful, tree-lined driveway. Gus and Willow followed, very excited to be back. Eda had said she'd be through in just a few more minutes.

"No peeking, okay?"

"Luz, why are we here?"

"To meet my friends, now come on! Amity Blight, was that a peek?"

"No." Amity quickly responded. "Come on, Luz, are we almost there?"

"Almost."

She guided Amity up the steps and across the doorstep, took a deep breath, and knocked on the wooden door.

Almost instantly, a teenage girl with shoulder-length brown hair, a pink sweater and jeans greeted them. She no longer had braces and had plastic miniature cat faces swinging from her earlobes. "Luz? Is that you?"

"Luz? Who is that? Who's talking?" Amity blindly asked. Luz slid the blindfold off her eyes. "Okay. Meet Mabel Pines!"

"Agh! Luz, is this that girl you totally liked? She's adorable! Dipper!" Mabel screamed at the staircase. "The witches! It's finally time! Willow and Gus are here! Luz is back! And she brought a girlfriend!"

Amity shyly waved as Mabel grabbed them both and yanked them into the Mystery Shack entryway, and Gus and Willow afterward.

"OMG! Y'all haven't changed a bit!" Mabel said.

"You sure have! Girl, I think you've got at least two feet on me!" Luz said.

Mabel laughed. "Puberty was good for a few things. DIPPER! ARE YOU COMING OR NOT?"

"Yeah, I'm coming!" A much deeper voice than the squeaky, cracking one from six years ago answered.

"So, why come to this…Or-e-gon, of all places?" Amity wondered, hesitantly touching a taxidermy beaver.

"Are you kidding me? Why would you not?" Gus was simply ecstatic to be back.

"That explains nothing to me." Amity simply said.

Luz took a deep breath in, feeling the old Shack slowly become familiar once again, taking Amity's hand. "I'll tell you why. Besides my mom, these are the coolest humans in this entire realm."

The End