Chapter 15

A/N: Finally, we're in season two proper. Hope you guys are ready for this, because I have been wanting to share this one for a while!

I made art for chapter 2 and the second Intermission, both near the end. Go check it out if ya wanna. Also, someone did some art inspired by another fic I did, and I only found out about it because a friend follows their tumblr, so if you guys ever see or do any art based off this AU, please let me know, that stuff makes my day, and I'd love to reach out and see if they'd like their work added to the fic.

I'm also posting this just a little bit early. I'm currently five chapters into the planned eight that I have for 2A's content(not counting the interludes), and am feeling a little unmotivated. It's hard to focus on the future of the fic when I'm not getting any feedback. So I'm thinking, rather than the 2-3 chapters I do a week, I'll do a single chapter upload schedule until I'm done with my planned content.

I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

'Hello, diary. It's been a while since you've heard from me. How have you been? … I'm asking a book I'm writing in how it's doing, what is wrong with me? Ugh, anyway, things have been… eventful, since the petrification ceremony a week and a half ago.

For one, I kinda messed up and got Ed and Em stranded here with me…'

With Eda's added bulk from her now permanent cursed form, squeezing her into her own front door had been difficult, to say the least. It had taken a bit of maneuvering to get her to fit, and she was thrown off by how small her living room now felt to her, constantly bumping into the furniture, knocking over a lot of her decour, ranging from lamps to vases.

"Luz, I'm going to be a bit useless until I've adjusted, so I'm going to have to have you help around here a lot more. Do you think you can find a place to put these new kids to sleep?" She grunted as she made her way up the stairs, taloned hands and feet clacking noisily against the wooden floors, leaving shallow gouge marks as she stepped.

Amity frowned, looking unsuridly at her girlfriend, "Uh, Eda, I don't think we have any spare rooms left to put them in."

"They don't need rooms. Just put them on the sofa, it's a pull out." Eda waved a claw at them, disappearing as she ascended to the second floor, a small smattering of feathers drifting down, having been scrapped off from her body brushing against the staircase railing.

Amity blinked, then clenched her fist, "Wait, we've had a pull out mattress in there this whole time?!"

Luz tossed the cushion off the sofa, revealing said pull out mattress. She grabbed the handle, giving it a hard tug and it came out, uncollapsing into a usable bed.

Emira took one look at the thing and groaned, "Really? Man, we're really roughing it, aren't we?"

"I can already feel my back aching, and I haven't even slept on it yet!" Edric complained, collapsing onto the mattress in defeat.

"I've been sleeping on the floor in Luz's room all these months, you've got no right to complain!" Amity barked, glaring daggers at the two.

'I understand that this is something they never wanted, and it'll take time to adjust. I just wish they'd complain a little less. Everyone else has had to really pull their weight since all of this went down, and it's not exactly cheap to feed all these extra mouths.

Eda hasn't been able to make any potions lately, not with her hands as they are. She's relearning a lot of her finer motor skills, and has mostly adjusted to walking on all fours but for now her brewing business is on hold. Not to mention that without a portal to the human realm, she can't sell garbage to the other witches and demons. It kind of put her out of a job. She's taken on a few odd jobs since we escaped the petrification ceremony, though. This week, she's a bounty hunter. That's going about as well as you'd think…'

Eda pounced on top of a small demon, all teeth and claws, growling like a ferocious animal until her prey surrendered.

"Alright, Eda, I think that's enough for now…" Amity rushed to her mentor's side, laying a hand on her shoulder. Eda turned her head to look back at her student, eyes black and teeth exposed.

"But he looks like a tasty rat!" She snarled, voiced deep and monstrous.

With a frown, Amity took an elixir out of her bag and offered it to Eda. The transformed witch looked down at it with irritation, before reluctantly taking it in her claws and downing its contents in a gulp, her eyes returning to their usual color.

"Ugh, you'd think after thirty years, I'd be used to the taste by now!" She gagged, voice back to normal.

Their bounty laid on the ground, hands raised in surrender, "I'd like to go to prison now, please…"

'The elixir is doing its job, and she hasn't lost it completely yet, but she's got to take at least six a day to stay stable. That's really putting a hole in our funds. I'm doing what I can to fill that hole myself. Here's hoping we can find a better solution in the coming weeks, before we all end up utterly broke.

I'll write in you later, I have to get to my own job soon.

-Amity'

"Come on, Kids, stick close."

Eda moved through the town plaza with purpose, her latest catch tied up and strapped to her back, King annoying the criminal by mashing his paws against the demon's nose and repeatedly yelling "boop!" As he did so.

Luz and Amity did as Eda asked, keeping close to the transformed Owl Lady, while Edric and Emira lingered farther towards the back, unheeding of Eda's warnings. The rest of the town gave her wide berth, most looking like they wanted to keep out of Eda's way now that she was in her more ferocious form. That, and her new bounty wasn't doing her any favors.

Eda had been the happiest she'd been all week when she'd heard rumors they were giving her an increase, until the poster came in, that is. Not because of the amount, no, she was very proud of that. Her bounty, already the highest in the Isles history, had tripled after her escape, and that was something that had the owl lady grinning. No, it was the new art they used for her.

"I used to be so hot…" Eda had groaned, head in her talons as she saw her new beastial body emblazoned on the wanted poster. Even her epitaph had been changed from "the Owl Lady" to "the Owl Beast."

Being wanted herself hadn't stopped Eda from turning to bounty hunting, though. If anything, she got a bit of a kick out of it. They couldn't exactly turn her away when she brought people in for their bounties, or she'd just release them, and no one wanted to capture her. Half the town feared her new form, while the other looked at her with respect for what had happened at the Conformatorium, despite Eda not exactly getting why. She wasn't one of the ones leading this weird rebellion that had popped up overnight, or anything.

Luz glanced over at a new statue of the Emperor that had been commissioned, sitting in the center of town. Despite being only a few days old, it already had a few chips in it, missing a horn, with graffiti layered over it. Namely the word 'BATTS' had been scribbled on over the plaque, the second T clearly having been added by a separate person, as it was in a different color and squeezed awkwardly in between the first T and the S.

"The Emperor is really not popular lately, is he?" Luz murmured, feeling more than a bit vindicated after the whole ordeal, and after what Belos had tried to do to her mother.

"If anyone deserved to have their shiny new statue TPed, it was him," Eda chuckled to herself as they approached a booth for Bounty deposits.

That was another thing that had changed in the past week. Open rebellion against the Emperor had sprung up during the petrification ceremony, and no one was entirely sure what sparked it, just that some organization or secret order calling themselves "The BATTs"(or sometimes "The CATTs, if the rumors were to believed that they were currently undergoing a name change) had been behind most of the chaos. The entire thing brought forth a new air around town, an aura completely separate from the one Amity had known since she arrived here.

There was excitement, and fear behind the eyes of everyone in the markets because of it. Things were happening beyond the control of the common folk, yet they felt the pull anyway. And it gave them all something to gossip about.

While Eda turned in their catch, Amity checked out the Bounty Board, checking for any new posters. Or a particular one. Hers. So far, despite Eda's own massively increased bounty, Amity had yet to receive one herself. Neither had Luz, for that matter. Amity hummed to herself, glad to see she wasn't a wanted woman yet, knowing it was likely only due to the Emperor's pride that she didn't already have a poster. They were the only two in this world who knew what went down below the Conformatorium, and it seemed he wanted to keep his loss private for now. His public perception was already at an all time low, he probably didn't want to let the public know a child outsmarted him that day.

The supposed leader of the rebellion had one though, almost matching Eda's former bounty. Their bat masked face stared back at Amity from their poster, and Amity wondered who exactly they were, and why they had done what they did.

"Come on, Mittens, should we really be wasting time here?" Ed asked, stepping in behind her as she looked over the posters.

Emira was quick to join in, "Yeah, shouldn't we, you know, be looking for a way back home? This stuff can wait!"

Amity bit her lip, taking a moment to breathe in and calm herself. The twins had been on her case ever since that first night they had got trapped here, and it was beginning to get on her nerves. "Guys, I know, you want to go back to the Human Realm-"

"Home-" they both corrected at once.

"The Human Realm," Amity insisted through her teeth. Hissing out a bit of tension, she tried again. "I understand. You didn't ask to be here, but we have more important things to focus on right now-"

"Like what?" Emira rolled her eyes, "What could possibly be more important than getting us back home?"

"Not starving to death before we can do that?" Amity suggested condescendingly. "I don't know if you noticed, but Eda's two primary sources of income are gone. Maybe forever. And she's now got two more mouths to feed and shelter, and while Eda's been working hard with her bounty hunting gig, you've both sat back and contributed nothing."

That seemed to take the wind out of their sails a little. Edric deflated, but perked back up, a gotcha on the tip of his tongue, "Then why aren't you helping her?"

Amity jabbed at her brother with a finger, "I am helping her! I got my own job at the library now! Not to mention I have to balance that with school, where I'm taking half a dozen more classes than everyone else, on top of training to join the Grudgby team when we return to school."

She then turned to Emira, jabbing her in turn, "Meanwhile, you two have done nothing but lay around and complain for the past week. So, from now on, you two are going to help Eda with her new gig."

Turning back to the wanted board, she looked around for a suitable bounty for her sibling's level of toughness, yanking it off and handing it over, "Here, go find this guy. Contribute, or something!"

The twins frowned at the idea of having to do an honest day's work. As much as they didn't like their parents, they'd be the first to admit they enjoyed the benefits of being Blights, in that they had unfathomable wealth at their disposal. Working for their meals sounded beneath them. But they did like eating, so they couldn't exactly worm their way out of it, either.

Ed reached out and put an arm around Luz, dragging her into the conversation, "Well, at least we'll have your girlfriend to keep us company!"

Luz chuckled nervously, prying Ed's arm off of her before Amity tried to remove it herself. "I'd love to, you guys, but, actually… I kind of volunteered at the library today. To spend some time with my awesome girlfriend, and read to some kids."

Emira huffed, none too pleased about this news, "Great, so not only is she putting us to work, but Amity is taking the only piece of eye candy around. We'll miss you, cutie."

Luz blushed, flustered by the constant teasing the Blight twins forced onto her. It had been flattering at first, but now she knew that they really only did it to get under Amity's skin, and… she still kind of enjoyed it. She wasn't going to throw away free compliments, after all.

Amity grabbed Luz by the hand, giving it a gentle tug, "Come on Luz. We need to go, or we'll be late. Eda, we're leaving!"

Eda counted up her bounty, less than what she wanted, but more than what she expected. It was enough to feed everyone for the day, at least. The guy at the counter wasn't going to short her when she had teeth and claws the size of his forearm. She was magicless, not powerless, after all. "Yeah, see you later kids. Be careful, and watch your backs! We don't know if Belos will want retribution, and I'd rather you not die in some place as lame as the library."

As Amity and Luz departed, Edric and Emira took a look at the bounty poster they'd been handed. "The Abominable Cute Pie?" Em read aloud, unbelieving that this was an actual wanted criminal.

"She chose a baby bounty for us! Look, it's the lowest bounty on the board by far!" Ed gestured, holding the poster up to compare it against the rest.

"We'll just have to show her. If she thinks we can't contribute, we'll just have to prove her wrong." Em looked over the board, snagging the bounty with the largest number that wasn't related to Eda, and held it aloft for her brother to see.

Wanted: Selkidomus

Reward: 1,000,000 Snails.

"Do you think maybe you were a bit too hard on them, Amity?" Luz asked softly as they approached the library. She took a moment to bounce ahead of her girlfriend, opening the door for her and bowing lowly as Amity walked by her, both trying to stifle giggles now that they had to be quiet.

Amity, once she'd composed herself once more, lowered her voice as she answered, "Not really. Those two can be really smart, and they'll work hard, but only on stuff they want to do. If they want to be able to eat at the end of the day, they'll have to start pulling their own weight, and using the skills I know they have."

"I don't really mean about that," Luz clarified, having trouble keeping her voice down as much as Amity could. "I mean more about their situation. They didn't really ask to be here, Amity. How would you like being back in the human world against your will?"

Amity sneered just thinking about it, "I know, you're right, I should be more sympathetic… but you don't really get it yet, Luz. You didn't have to live with them for fourteen years."

Luz put her hands behind her head, lips pursed as she thought about what Amity was saying, "I don't know, they seem okay to me."

"Just wait until they get bored, or something," Amity warned, "They'll wind up making trouble, and it'll be on all our heads when they do."

King rode on Eda's back as headed for the harbor. The diminutive demon stood on his legs, craning his neck around, realizing they were short two people. "Uh, Eda? I think we lost the freeloaders."

Eda waved a claw nonchalantly, "Don't worry about it. They'll be fine. Unlike Luz or Amity, the Emperor and his covens have no idea they even exist. As long as they keep their heads down, they'll be fine."

King frowned under his bony skull, "Well, okay, if you say so. What are we going to do again while Luz and Amity bore themselves at the library?"

"We, my tiny partner in crime, are going to give Bounty Hunting a bit of a break. It just isn't paying enough, not when we have to choose between my elixirs or putting food on the table. Instead, we'll be bounty hunting." Eda wiggled her brows, smirking at her own joke.

King, however, didn't get it, "Wait, what? That's the same thing, isn't it?"

Eda rolled her eyes, "No, I mean, there is a bounty in place that we'll be stealing. We're going to rob the reward money! So, we're hunting for the bounty. Get it?"

King blinked, then chuckled, "oh, okay! … yeah, no, still not getting it."

Eda facepalmed, not an easy task with her sharp talons, but having to deal with the Blight twins for the past week had made her more or less an expert at it. "Look, see that ship over there? We're going to rob it blind."

King gazed out to the docks, looking at the biggest, grandest ship currently harbored there. "So, like pirates?"

The Owl Lady made a face full of disgust, "Egh, no. They don't bath enough, and while I may be covered in fur and feathers now, I refuse to grow a beard. No, let's settle with… privateers, how about that?"

"King want a cracker!" The little demon demanded, already perching on Eda's shoulder like a parrot.

"You can have all the crackers you can eat after the heist. I need you to get on that ship, and hide away. Find where they're keeping the coins, and when I swoop in, you steal it and hop on. We fly away, and we're rich by a million more snails."

"Sounds almost doable to me!" King flashed a thumbs up, hopping off Eda so he could scurry to the boat.

"Good, now get on out there, you little sea rat."

Unknown to Eda and King, Edric and Emira had already boarded that same boat less in a bid to prove they could bring something to the table, and more to prove Amity wrong and rub her face in it.

The Captain of the boat, a Salty Sailor named… Salty, strode out on the deck, looking at each member of the crew with an upturned beak-nose, glaring at them through his scar covered eye. "All Hands!"

The sailors lined themselves up, backs straight, to listen to their captain, Ed and Em joined, though their attention was on each other, rather than their new captain. Ed sized up Emira's new outfit, letting out a whistle, "Wow, sis, you look great in pirate gear. Is that the new fall fashion?"

Emira curtsied, wearing a cute blue and white striped dress, with a pair of black boots that went up to her knees, and a bandana to keep her hair tied back. "Why, thanks for noticing. You look pretty decent yourself, for a sailor."

Ed beamed with pride, fixing his sailors cap to make sure it was on straight. His getup consisted of a white sailors uniform, complete with handkerchief around his neck. He felt like he'd jumped right out of a cartoon, but dang if it looked cute and brought out the blue of his eyes.

"If's you're finished preening over one another's dress sense, do you mind paying attention while ye Captain is speaking?" Salty boomed, threatening the two of them with his claw hand, snipping it near their faces.

"Right, right, sorry, cap'n!" The two quickly stood at attention, saluting him and hoping to keep their ears attached to their heads.

Salty narrowed his eyes, before returning his attention to the rest of his crew. "Alright, crew. The Selkidomus has been ravaging the coastline. It was last seen in the Simmering Shoals. You know the drill, Snag the quarry," He dropped a fat sack of snails onto the deck, a few glimmering coins visible from the near bursting bag.

He gestured to their prize, and continued, "get the money galore-y. We all do the work, we all get a cut."

The crew cheered as one, all eager to get their share of the cash when this was all over. The twins, on the other hand, frowned. They hadn't been aware it would be split between them. That was less than a hundred thousand each after all was said and done.

"I thought we were doing this for a cool million…" Edric grumbled.

"Dammit, we'll just end up being thousandaires. What can a hundred thousand snails even buy? Doesn't exactly seem like a lot…" Emira muttered.

"What was that, you two? You already bellyaching before we've even left port?" Salty interrupted, snipping his claws at them once more.

"Nope! Can't wait to catch us a demon whale!"

"Not at all, we're very much looking forward to the scurvy and seasickness!"

Their captain snarled, but accepted their answer. "Fine. 'Til then, keep everything shipshape. This ain't no pleasure cruise."

A broom and a mop were thrown at Edric and Emira, who looked like they didn't know which way to hold it. "Don't be a burden, sea squirts."

Ed grimaced, "I'm sure you can count on us!"

Before the day was through, the twins were back on the main deck, Salty before them. He eyed them up and down, before speaking. "Well, ye had me confront my own biases, and-"

The two looked at each other hopefully-

"You've only made them worse. You're the worst sailors I've had the displeasure of ever sailing with, and I curse ye names to the bottom of the seven boiling seas!" The captain hollered, making everyone within earshot wince at his volume.

Both Blights flinched as he yelled, but wouldn't just take this slander standing. Ed straightened his back, and stepped forward, "Come on, man, you're being way too harsh! I thought we did fine!"

"Fine? Ye tore a hole in the mainsail, broke the broom I gave you, then broke the replacement broom too. Your sister lost one of the cannons on the starboard side, knocking it to the sea below, and broke the spokes of the ship's wheel."

He then gestured with his arms to the very sea itself, "Not te mention the fact you got us lost at sea, and set fire to the map!"

He jabbed at Edric's chest with his clawed hand, "If'n you weren't still good for one thing, I'd have you both keelhauled the rest of the trip, and serve ye boiled bones for broth!"

Emira took her brother's arm and pulled him back, taking his place. This called for a more diplomatic approach. "So, we are still good for something, right? That has to count for something."

"Aye, you're good for one thing. We're gonna use you both as bait to lure the Selkidomus out! Tie them up, men!"

Emira's eyes went wide as a lasso was thrown around her, and she was pulled against her brother, the two back to back as rope was spun around them until they were bound, then suspended into the air until the crew was ready to dunk them into the sea to lure in the beast.

Perhaps they'd been too hasty, tried taking on too much, all to prove their sister wrong. Perhaps they-

"Weh?"

All eyes fell onto a tiny demon, with a hefty prize in his paws. King had stepped out of the Captain's cabin, carrying with him double his weight in golden snails, the sack so heavy he had to drag it behind him. It was just his luck that his sneaky skills were all for naught when he spotted a pair of faces he had least expected to find aboard this ship.

And in his surprise, he'd unwittingly alerted them all to his presence.

The crew of cutthroat pirates and sailors closed in on King, some brandishing knives, others curved swords, all capable and willing to slice him like a Winter solstices' ham. With a nervous gulp, he gave a shout to the sky's, "Eda, any day now!"

The sailors stilled, waiting for anything to happen. To their glee, nothing did, and emboldened they continued to close in on the self proclaimed King of Demons. "Wait! Stop! Keep away, your King demands it! Edaaaa!"

A roar tore through the sky as a large winged beast descended upon the crew of the ship, swiping at them with tooth and claw and scooping her partner in crime up and onto her shoulders. The bag of coins settled in one of her talons, heavy, but that was to be expected. Nothing she couldn't carry.

"She's stealing the loot!" Salty exclaimed, dashing to his men's sides, abandoning Ed and Em where they were and calling for the rest of the crew to fight beside him. The captain attacked the Owl Beast with sword and pincer, swinging wildly as he rushed her, only to be taken out with a single backhand strike from Eda.

"Dang, not having magic anymore might be a pain, but this body does have its benefits." Eda smirked, flexing the mass of muscles she had under her feathers.

"Eda! Save us!" Emira yelled, her face turning green as she and Ed began to spin in the air from the rocking of the boat twisting the rope that held them suspended. Ed didn't look much better, already having been seasick beforehand.

"What's the dynamic duo doing here?" She asked King, who just shrugged from his position on her back. "Hey, were you guys trying to steal the treasure too? Nice effort, but your technique needs some work!"

"Just get us down, please!" Ed groaned, doing his best not to hurl all over the deck.

Eda took to the air once more, slicing the rope above their heads and grabbing it before it could fall. The twins now dangled even higher in the air, Eda gaining lift and leaving the ship behind.

"This isn't exactly what we had in mind!" Emira shrieked, kicking her legs as she looked down on the boiling water below them. Edric would have protested as well, had he lost his internal struggle to not lose his lunch.

Eda was in agreement. Having people on her back was one thing. Having their weight pulling her down from a dangling rope a dozen feet below her was another. She batted her wings, attempting to stay up in the air, but it was a losing battle, "Hang on, kids. We're going to need to land. Hold on tight!"

"Hold on to what?!" Edric cried as they began to lose altitude, his heart leaping into his throat as he and Em more or less fell from the sky.

Eda's eyesight was tuned more for farsightedness in her new form, so she could just make out an island not far off. Redirecting herself, she spread her wings to glide the rest of the way, carrying herself and her cargo on the winds. King pulled at her hair like he was attempting to steer her, making airplane noises with his mouth, earning fond chuckles from the witch as they drifted to safety.

Ed and Em crashed into the soft sands of the beach, rolling and groaning until they came to a stop, still bound together by ropes. They spit out dirt that had gotten into their mouths, shifting their bodies as they tried to get out of their bindings, to no avail. With a pathetic whimper, Em called out, "Can someone untie us already? I'm begging here!"

Eda left her bag of gold in the sand, strolled their way, and with a swipe of her claws the ropes were shredded, releasing the two from their captivity. "So, what happened back there, anyway?"

"We don't want to talk about it," Edric groaned, picking himself up and out of the sand, which had already worked its way into some uncomfortable areas under his clothes.

"Suit yourselves." Eda shrugged, turning to King. "Alright, Mr. Wiggles, let's see that gold. Should be a million in there. We won't have to work for a while with that kind of cash."

As Eda began to look over their bounty, a grin on her face, Ed and Em crumbled. They really were useless in this world. They couldn't do magic. They couldn't make potions. They couldn't even sail on a ship, and Eda had to bail them out. They really were freeloaders.

"Maybe we should have stuck with the work Amity tried to give us," Emira conceded, casting a sad glance to her brother.

"She was right. It was way more our speed." Edric agreed, kicking at the sand with his shoe.

"It was dumb of us to rush things. We could have been killed."

In a flash of blinding red, a being appeared, cloaked in white and wearing a golden mask that hid his face, bearing a staff with a glowing red gem. "That can still be arranged."

Amity wheeled her cart of books, keeping busy by placing them one by one on the shelves they belonged, by genre, then by author, then by title, all alphabetically. That was something she loved about the library. The order. Everything was categorized, everything had its place. As much as she loved the chaotic nature of the Owl House, it was nice to have something that was structured, that she could control.

Also, she liked the scent of the musty old books. It made her feel relaxed.

The idea of being a librarian was an impossible one back on Earth, no matter how much she might have enjoyed it. It was too low class. Amity wasn't even allowed to converse with the librarians at her school beyond needing their assistance for something, because they were 'the help,' and as such, beneath the Blights.

Now that she was here, now that she got to work this job every day, and be around all these books that she loved so much, she hoped this could be the career she found herself in as an adult. Maybe as the head of her own grand library.

She placed the last book that belonged in this row of shelves, dusting off her hands and gazing up proudly to admire her work. She breathed out a happy sigh, grabbing the handle of her cart as she began to roll it to the next section, when a voice off in the distance caught her ear.

"'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.'" Luz's familiar, energetic voice met her ears. Amity was near the Kids corner of the library, where Luz had volunteered to read today. It was a blatant way to spend more time with her girlfriend, but Amity didn't mind in the slightest, and Luz was clearly having fun, if the bouncing cadence of her voice said anything.

Amity peeked around the corner, catching a glance of her girlfriend's animated reading session. Even in the library, with a book in her hands, Luz couldn't keep still, acting out the scenes from the book and bounding from place to place, puppets on either hand based on the characters. Amity giggled to herself as she watched Luz struggle to turn the page with both hands covered in felt, but she managed to do so, and continued the story.

"'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!'" Luz grinned from ear to ear as the children around her clapped, the witch taking a cartoonishly over exaggerated bow as she closed the book.

"Thank you all so much! I really liked reading to you guys, I hope I can do so again really soon."

The children swarmed her, begging for another book to be read. Luz opened her mouth, but before she could reply she caught a glimpse of Amity, and glanced over to her, a twinkle in her eye.

The two blushed a little, and unbeknownst to either a little check mark was scratched off in Amity's mind concerning Luz that said "good with kids."

Luz sent her a little wave that Amity was quick to return, then Luz turned her attention back to the small group of children, "Alright, you guys wore me down. We'll do one more book, which one should we rea-"

"How to summon the Dark Lord!" A little girl suggested excitedly, shoving a book into Luz's hands.

The witch gave a strained smile as she set it aside, and took the girl by the hand, "maaaybe next time, this one looks a bit too advanced for you right now. Come on, let's go find a more age appropriate one, okay?"

Amity let out a contented sigh, happy to see Luz in her element. She made a quick alteration to her plans for the future. She'd be the head of her own grand library, beside Luz, who would help out in their own kids corner, where they could read together to all the children.

A throat cleared behind her, and she jumped, turning to see the Head Librarian, Malphus looking down at her. His towering height made him look intimidating, but when he opened his mouth, his voice got rid of any such notion. He was just a librarian, after all, not some monstrous demon warrior. "I know, you two are still in your honeymoon phase, but you can't doddle on the clock, Amity."

The human blushed, brushing a lock of her brown hair back behind her ear, flustered over having been caught making eyes at her girlfriend during work hours. "Right, sorry, I'll get back to it right away, sir."

He sent her a well humored smile as she quickly grabbed her cart and pushed it forward, not knowing or caring where she was going, as long as it was away from all of that embarrassment.

She skidded to a halt in the romance section, cheeks red that she managed to somehow wander over here subconsciously. She still had Luz on the brain. Hoping to silence the voices in her head about how cute Luz looked, she quickly grabbed a book, looking for the right place to put it.

It was a synch to find where this book went, though Amity frowned when she saw there wasn't a space for it. It was far too crammed to fit this volume on the shelf, and she soon found the reason why. Another book had been put in this one's place, one that clearly didn't belong because, well, why else would a book by the author 'Dana Terrance' be among the H's?

Amity grabbed the book to remove it, the title emblazoned on its spine to be "The Lonely Witch in the Secret Room," only for the book to not want to move. Brow furrowed in confusion, Amity tried again, but the book didn't budge. She set the other book aside, back on her push cart, and placed both hands on "The Lonely Witch in the Secret Room" and yanked, hoping this wasn't someone's stupid idea of a joke, and that this volume had been glued down or something.

Finally it moved, sliding out of place with a loud, mechanical creak, before slamming back into position. The grinding of gears met Amity's ears, as the bookshelf itself began to move, revealing behind it a secret room.

Inside it was barren, empty of anything except a desk and a chair, but it seemed to have been abandoned for quite a long time. Dust had built up on every surface, thickly layering everything within, and making Amity's nose tingle with the urge to sneeze. Pinching her nostrils shut, Amity stepped inside, her feet leaving prints in the dust on the floor. From the amount of build up, she didn't think even Malphus knew about this room. If he did, he certainly hadn't stepped in it within Amity's lifetime.

"Wow… I should… maybe I should go get him…" She thought aloud, voice echoing lightly off the walls. She took a step back, going to do just that when an idea sprang into her mind.

A secret room that no one but her knew about. She could use this for… What could she use this for? A secret hideout? What for? Maybe to get away from the twins? To share with Luz, maybe?

Her cheeks darkened, as the idea of sneaking off with her girlfriend to a secret room no one else knew about sunk into her mind. That… that was an incredibly tempting idea, one with a lot of promise.

She quickly left, shutting the door behind her. That was an idea for another day, when their relationship matured past hand holding and kisses on the cheek. For now, she'd keep this to herself.

"Hello, criminals. What's about to happen should be relatively painless, if you just do what I say." The Gold masked individual said, keeping his staff trained on the residence of the Owl House.

"And why exactly should we listen to a word a dork wearing a bucket on his face has to say?" Eda asked, preparing to pounce on the newcomer.

"Because none of you can use real magic," He explained cooly.

Eda narrowed her eyes, "Yeah, well, I can still slash you into meat chunks."

The helmeted figure cocked his face, "Perhaps you can. So maybe I should just do this!"

He shot a beam of red light from his staff, making them all leap aside, except for King. The beam hit the demon, forming a cage around him that appeared to be made of flesh and bone, until it formed into steel, caging him inside. The trap then flew over to the Coven guard, who caught the handle in his hands and held King aloft.

The humans and witch were ready to attack, but the guard held his staff against the cage, the gem glowing a deep red and humming as power built up in the tip, "There, now if you want to go free, you'll just have to listen to me."

That stopped them in their tracks, Ed and Em holding their hands up, while Eda snarled, her inner beast reflecting in her eyes as dark pools of magic built behind them. "Let King go." She growled.

"Ah ah ah, now, see, there are two ways this can go." The Golden Guard said, before correcting himself, "Well, actually, three. The first, is you can give yourself up, Owl Lady, and accept your petrification. The humans will work the money you stole off, which, let's face it, will probably take a lifetime to do. The second, is one of you follows the Selkidomus and hunts it, for the glory of the Emperor, and you all walk free."

"And the third?" Ed asked, gulping. King was thrashing around in his cage, and he never liked watching anything cute have to suffer.

"The third, should be obvious. You try to fight, or flee, and your little friend here drowns in the boiling sea, if it doesn't burn him to death first."

Emira grimaced, not liking any of these options. The man before her was certainly cruel if he'd threaten to boil someone a quarter of his size alive. Still, the Blight twins were known for their schemes and their pranks, and for getting away free from any consequences, even under their strict parents, so all it took was a little planning and… she got an idea, glancing over to her twin and shooting him a wink, "Are you sure we can't work something else out?"

Ed seemed confused, until Em's expression turned flirtatious, and she took a slow step forward. "I mean, I don't know about my brother, but I just love a man in uniform."

The Golden Guard cocked his head, turning his staff away from King to point it in Emira's direction, "Ah, you must be the human, Amity Blight, right? Odd, the reports said you were shorter… and had brown hair."

Em smirked, placing a hand on her chest, which she puffed outward, "Me? No, no, I'm Emira, but you, handsome, you can call me Em, if you ask nicely."

Eda watched with confusion and mild disgust, wondering just what in the world was going on, only for it to click when Ed followed up, grabbing Emira by the shoulder to pull her back while stepping forward himself.

"Em, I saw him first! You know I've been single longer than you have, that means I automatically get dibs!"

Emira stomped her foot, kicking up a bit of the sand from the beach, "That's ridiculous, and you know it!"

The guard kept looking at them back and forth, unable to keep up with what was going on, or who to keep his staff trained on. Just as he switched his aim towards Ed, Em pounced forward, pressing herself against the guard seductively and trailing a finger over the chin of his mask, while keeping his staff wielding arm partially pinned and away from King or her brother.

"I bet he's as gorgeous under his mask as his voice is." She purred, cringing at the line because from what little she had heard of it, his voice was actually kind of annoying.

"What are you-" The Golden Guard tried to struggle, to shake Emira off of him, but found himself trapped as Edric joined his sister on the Guard's other side, pressing a hand against his chest, while also restraining the Guard's arm that held King's cage ina way he couldn't throw the demon into the water behind him.

"And he works out, too," Ed smirked, trying to push his sister away, "Come on, why don't we ditch the chicks, and have a guys night? You're a wizard or something, you should know wands are better than a bra stuffed with crystal balls."

Emira shoved him back, jostling the guard between them, who almost lost his balance in the loose sand. "God, why do I have to be related to such a manwhore?"

Ed struck back, "Oh, like you're one to talk, you'll makeout with anyone or anything halfway pretty that walks on two legs."

The Guard's temper began to boil over until he'd had had enough, and attempted to throw the two off of him, "Enough! You are both irritating, annoying, and not to mention making me wildly uncomfortable! Are all humans this infuriating?"

Ed smirked despite himself as he lunged for King's cage, yanking it out of the guard's grip while he was flailing to shake them off, "Yeah, probably."

"You want to see some really terrible flirting, you should see Amity with her little girlfriend." Emira laughed, kicking the guard's staff out of his hands, and over towards Eda.

The guard threw both the twins to the ground, then threw himself to the dirt with his arms outstretched to get to his discarded staff. His gloved hand landed right on top of it at the exact same time as a heavy, taloned claw, which kept it pinned down. Slowly looking up, he was met with the fang stuffed maw of the Owl Beast, a deep rumble of a growl in her throat.

"Well… farts." The Golden Guard cursed, then activated his staff's teleportation ability, bringing him out of Eda's reach. He kept going and going, tearing through the air and getting as far away from those freaks as possible, orders to take down the Selkidomus be damned. He'd just send more sailors after it, they'd achieve the Emperor's goal eventually for him as long as the bounty kept getting higher.

Eda's snarling faded into laughter as she watched the guard flee with his metaphorical tail in between his legs. Ed, cage in hands, brought King to her and with a slash of her claws she cut through the lock, her tiny demon friend springing free. "Hurray! I'm saved!"

Rather than throwing himself at Eda, King instead latched onto Ed's leg, making the boy's lip tremble. He bent down, and threw his arms around King, squeezing him tightly like a teddy bear until the demon had enough, fighting back against the Blight, "Hey, hey, I didn't say you could do this! Eda, save me! Again!"

"You know, that was some pretty smart thinking you guys did there. Good job." Eda congratulated the two, feeling a bit surprised when the twins became bashful under her praise.

"Thanks… We've been feeling kind of useless lately. It's nice to have been able to do something helpful for once." Emira smiled.

Edric nodded, dropping King into the sand. "Yeah. From now on, you can count on us to pull our weight more around here!"

"As much as I appreciate the thought, you really don't have to. I mean, we got the gold!" Eda lifted the heavy sack up, jangling the coins inside. "We can all breathe easy for a while, no one needs to work!"

"Oh thank God," The twins breathed out together in relief.

Eda laughed again, tossing the sack of gold their way. They caught it, almost succumbing to its weight. "Hold onto this, won't you? I need to go have a talk with the Selki, tell it to move out to farther, deeper waters. They'll send more ships after it, we haven't stopped anything."

The Twins and King waited patiently on the beach while Eda retreated into the cave behind them. When she returned, Eda was grinning, even happier than when she'd left. "You'll never guess what I got in return for helping that giant excuse for a fish out!"

She gestured to a pile of golden goo beside her, "Selkigris! The bounty of the seas!"

The twins raced for the glimmering pile, pressing their hands into the warm, sticky gunk, "Wow, where did this even come from?" Ed asked in wonder.

"Well, the Selkidomus chucked it up before we went our separate ways-"

Needless to say, the twins joined the Selkidomus in emptying their stomachs as soon as those words left Eda's mouth.

In the later afternoon, later that day, Amity walked home hand in hand with Luz, feeling more blissful than she had all this past week. A day away from the twins and the worries about the future of the Empire she found herself living in had done her some good, and the knot of stress that had been building between her shoulders this morning had long since gone.

And she had a nice pocket full of snails to bring home, to boot.

"Hoot hoot! How was work today you two?" The ever curious, ever boundary breaking Hooty inquired, pressing his face right up against Amity's the moment she was in sight.

Ah, there was the knot of stress. She must have only misplaced it.

"It was great, Hooty," Luz supplied for her, pulling on Amity's hand to guide her away from the house demon. "We'll be sure to tell you all about it later, okay?"

"Well, okay! I'll just be here, hooting it up!" Hooty blinked as he watched them go, then found himself immediately distracted by an insect.

Luz made a face as she watched him go, "Man, I feel really bad for him being alone all day. He needs a friend."

"We should have volunteered Lilith as punishment," Amity smirked, and Luz laughed along with her.

The two teens stepped into the house, and were immediately greeted by the sight of Ed and Em lounging on the couch together, while Eda was on the floor, far too large for any of the furniture. Em was flicking through the crystal ball, looking for something to watch, while Ed read a book, and Eda was casually flipping through a magazine, or as casually as she could with her talons, which kept piercing holes into the thin paper.

"We're back!" Amity greeted, giving them all a wave. Her siblings looked up at her, sending her polite smiles, but turned their eyes back to their current tasks as if she hadn't interrupted them at all.

Eda set aside her magazine, standing up on all fours to greet her daughter and student, stretching as she did so in a fashion that made Amity think of a dog. "So, how was your day?"

Luz beamed up at her Mom, grinning ear to ear, "It was amazing! I got to read to a bunch of kids, and they loved me!"

"Who wouldn't?" Eda chuckled, nuzzling her daughter. She looked to Amity, "and how about you?"

Amity puffed her chest out with pride, "I did an honest day's work, and even got paid, see?" She held out the coins she had earned, offering them to Eda.

"Eh, keep 'em. You can tak Luz out on a proper date next time, since you're clearly the moneymaker of you two." Eda insisted.

Amity wanted to argue, to insist that she'd done this for the family, but Eda gave her a look and Amity's challenge died in her throat. A date with Luz did sound nice…

Besides, she didn't have time to get uppity, or feel self important, she had to go and apologize to the twins for how she'd talked to them this morning. Luz had been right, she'd been a little too hard on them. She approached them from where they sat on the couch, neither looking up at her until she cleared her throat.

"Yeah, Mittens?" Ed asked, looking at her through his reading glasses.

Amity opened and closed her mouth half a dozen times before swallowing her pride. "I wanted to apologize to you for what I said this morning. I should have been more sensitive about your situation, and I didn't mean to imply you guys weren't contributing to anything by being here. That was really rude of me, and I'm sorry."

Emira sat the crystal ball down on the cushion beside her, "Wow, that's really mature of you, Amity, but you don't have to worry, it's water under the bridge."

Ed nodded in agreement, "Yeah, besides, you were right, we weren't pulling our weight. But we looked into that bounty hunting stuff like you recommended, and we managed to score some gold. How much did you make today?"

Amity smiled, happy for them, and glad they were starting to take their confinement on the isles seriously. "I made a good, even fifty snails. Not bad for a day at the library. How about you? Did you catch the Abominable Cutie Pie?"

The twins glanced at each other, unable to hold back their smug smirks any longer. Em opened her mouth to answer, while Ed reached behind the couch to grab their prize, "Well, about that, we went after a bigger target-"

"And made out with, what, a solid five hundred thousand snails each?" Ed finished for his sister, slamming the pile of stolen snails down on the coffee table, which buckled under the weight of the bag.

"Twice that, if you count the disgusting Selki vomit we've yet to sell," Em added, elbowing her brother.

"But congrats on spending all day making only fifty snails, little sister. We're all very proud of you," Edric finished, folding his arms and leaning back in his seat.

Both of the Blight twins looked Amity in the eye, matching, mischievous grins on their faces as they tried desperately to hold back chortles as a vein began to bulge in Amity's forehead.

The youngest Blight breathed out slowly, then calmly replied, "I'm going to devote as much time as I can to getting you two back to the Human Realm from now on-"

Luz smiled behind her, relieved to hear those words, "That's great, Amity-"

"-Because I can't stand living under the same roof as you two for one more Titan damned minute!" The brunette screeched, tugging at her hair.

That made Eda lose it, followed immediately by the twins, who spent the next ten minutes laughing at Amity's expense.

A/N: Amity: You guys need to learn to work an honest job!

The Twins: Try and fail spectacularly

Eda: Have you guys ever trie G?

Twins: Oh, shit, you're right! Let's do that!

Amity: Mad face

Amity will be so happy to know she doesn't have to stress about the Owl House finances anymore, but she will be mad for the twins outdoing her and rubbing it in, because who likes having siblings who are asses?

A slight return to form this chapter, following the events somewhat closely, though you can expect things to go a bit off track next chapter.

Amity found her secret room. What will she use it for? When will it be used? Was it just a one-off joke about being a future makeout spot to pad for time? … yes, kinda. I did say I have everything for this season planned out, and that's true. Sorta. I have a few paragraphs written for each chapter, that don't add up to all the events of the chapter. I like to wing it, write by the seat of my pants, while sticking to an outline for a plot. I don't have anything planned for the room right now, but it's better to introduce it NOW in case a later chapter ends up having a place I can insert it for plot reasons, or even for season 2B when I eventually get around to drafting plans for that. If I never use it, it still makes for a funny joke, and if I do, it had set up to be used. Boom, writing genius.

I don't ship Hunter with anyone, sorry. That boy needs therapy, not a relationship. I kinda like the AroAce take on his character, too.

Mini-rant time. I wish Hunter stayed as he was in his pre-Hunting Palismans appearances. Dedicated to his leader, cold in his actions, but humorous in his tone. I'm kind of absolutely sick of redemption arcs in literally every piece of media ever, and wish we'd get more villains who were entertaining, but also not redemption material. If I could change anything about the show, it'd be Hunter, by removing any trace of his redemption arc and keeping him a sassy villain.

Not to worry, I won't up his villainy or anything. I completed his redemption arc in my last fic, and will plan to do so in this fic as well, I won't butcher his character for the sake of my own preferences. Rant over!

I always love comments, so if you've got something nice or constructive to say, let me know! Give me that sweet, savory inspiration needed for me to keep writing! Love you, thanks for reading, see you again soon!