Hello, readers! WaterDragonMaverick with the next Palisman Café chapter! Last time, Hexside was closed for the day and the students decided to visit the Owl House. With that, Eda hires Luz's friends and we got some great moments with all of them. Right now, Luz will be attending her first day at the school. What will await her inside? Will she make a good impression on everyone? Or will she end up getting into trouble like at her old school? Stick around and find out in "New School Nonsense".
Class is in session!
The Owl House is owned by Disney and was created by Dana Terrace
It was the crack of dawn and Luz Noceda was already awake and getting ready for her first day at Hexside School of Arts and Science. After feeding the animals for the morning and getting Eda's morning drink prepared, Luz went to check the mail after she saw the postman drop off a package. "Yes yes yes yes yes! It's here," she said as she collected the mail and brought it inside. Opening a box that was from Hexside, Luz found her school uniform. "Time to get changed," she said to herself before rushing into the bathroom. When she exited, she was wearing the tunic and cowl of Hexside's witch-like uniform, smiling at herself before seeing the sleeves and leggings against her limbs. "Huh... this sure could use more color," she remarked at the light gray outfit before Eda came down in her pajamas with a yawn.
When the Owl Lady saw Luz in her uniform, she remembered what the day was. "Oh, right. School. Ugh, I feel like a parent," Eda muttered before she got the coffee Luz prepared for her. "Let me finish nursing my drink and get changed, then I'll take you to class."
"Okay, Eda," Luz responded as she got herself something for breakfast. Settling for a few slices of toast, Luz made sure to get food for King. "Just gotta open this bag up," she muttered to herself as she opened the cupboard and found a fresh bag of dog food.
Immediately when the bag was opened, King bolted into the room. "Food! I hear food! Give me food now! Your King commands it," the dog exclaimed as his tag wagged so fast that it looked like it could slice off limbs.
"Take it easy, King," Luz said as she gave the dog a can of food. As soon as the kibble landed in a dish for him, he started chowing down quickly. "Who's a cute widdle demon dog? Is it you? Yes, it's you," Luz cooed as she watched King eat, then heard the toaster go off. "And there's my breakfast to go."
"Good thing, too," Eda said as she finished her drink. "Time to take you to the place of fun's bane."
"We're going to an accounting firm," Luz asked as a joke, prompting a laugh from Eda.
"HA! Good one, kid," Eda told the Latina as she left for her bedroom. "Come on, you don't want to be late."
Along the walk to Hexside after Eda put on her signature red dress, Luz could feel her anxious behavior turn from excitement to dread. Whimpering as her worries flooded her mind, she spoke up. "We gotta go back. This was a mistake," Luz told Eda. "I'm gonna mess things up and everyone will see..."
"Alright. You gotta calm down," Eda said as they kept walking with Owlbert flying ahead while joining the two. "What are you nervous about? You've been to school before," Eda asked, wondering why Luz was freaking out.
"That's why I'm nervous, Eda. At my old school, I didn't make a good first impression. Mom told you all about those incidents," Luz stated, remembering all the times she got in trouble or creeped out her peers. "This is a chance to be seen as something other than a screwup or the freak with the weird hobbies."
"Hey, don't worry about what those dorks think," Eda said to the girl. "If you want my advice, walk into class and punch the first kid you see. To establish dominance. The bigger, the better," she voiced, punching the air to emphasize her suggestion.
"Aw. I won't be doing that, but thanks," Luz told her boss. "Besides, that's prison."
"Only if you let it be," Eda remarked before they arrived in front of Hexside. "Last chance to back out," she said as Owlbert landed on her shoulder. "I can even give you one of the patches I made when Lily and I thought we could be scouts together," the Owl Lady said as she pulled out a homemade patch that was the size of her hand. "Quitting. It's like trying, but easier."
Seeing the patch of a kid holding up their hands like they weren't even going to attempt something, Luz only adjusted the backpack she brought with her. "Nah, I'll earn it when I quit showering. Bye," Luz said as she started to run to campus.
"Hold up," Eda said as Owlbert flew in front of Luz and made her turn around to speak with Eda again. "Just try not to be too much of a goody Luz shoes. You got this," she told the Dominican girl as Owlbert landed on her shoulder again.
"Thanks, Eda," Luz said before reaching into the pockets of her uniform's tunic. "In fact, I have written a heartfelt sonnet to commemorate this occasion," she declared as she pulled out sock puppets of herself and Eda.
Immediately after seeing the puppets, Eda began to run backward while keeping a hold on Owlbert. "Oops! A gust of wind is pushing me away. See you after school," she shouted as she faked being taken away by the forces of nature. "Bye!"
Seeing Eda obviously ditch her to avoid listening to the sonnet, Luz only watched before making the puppet of Eda speak to her. "You're gonna do great, kid. Thanks, puppet Eda."
Putting away the sock puppets, Luz made her way to campus and saw Amity approaching her with an automaton carrying some of her larger books. "Hey, Luz. Congrats on getting into the rest of the summer program," the green-haired girl said with a wave, which the robot copied.
"Thanks, Amity. Up top," Luz said as she held up her hand for a high five. Amity slapped the girl's hand, but the robot copying her movements ended up putting its palm against Luz's head too hard. "Ouch," she muttered as Amity winced.
"I'm so sorry," Amity exclaimed as she checked to see if Luz was hurt. "I shouldn't have set it to Imitation Mode."
"I'm okay. It doesn't hurt that bad," Luz reassured her friend. "I'll see you later."
"Okay," Amity sighed, glad that her friend wasn't harmed by her mistake.
The top student walked off with her automaton following her. After she was out of sight, Luz took a deep breath before exhaling. "Well! That hurt," she muttered before the pain subsided. "Wow! My first day at Hexside. A chance to discover my potential in art and science! And maybe meet a hot, yet vulnerable upperclassman," Luz said as she was excited for her new school, whispering the last part to herself as she thought of figuring out her love life as well.
"Dream on," retorted a familiar voice from Luz's backpack.
Turning to see King snuck his way into Luz's backpack, she was surprised at the dog's sudden appearance. "King! Why are you in my bag," the new student asked as she put the dog onto the ground.
"You're a free ride to the best buffet in town," King declared before jumping into a nearby trash can and pulling out a box of half-eaten donuts. "The trash cans here are filled with half-eaten gold."
"I can't have you eating garbage all day. I literally just fed you this morning," Luz told the canine. "Look, I gotta get my class schedule. You stay out of trouble and if anybody asks, you don't know me," she instructed.
"Have a wonderful day at school, person I don't know," King said as he went with what Luz wanted.
As she made her way to the school's main building, Luz saw Willow and Gus waiting for her. "Luz!"
"Hello, Hexsquad," Luz greeted with a smile.
"Hello, classmate," Willow greeted back with a wink and a smile.
"Glad to have you here," Gus said as he pressed a button on his projector, displaying a message for his friend. However, it said 'Better Luck Next Time' and not something supportive. "Sorry. I think something's up with this," Gus apologized as he checked his projector.
While Gus inspected his tool, Willow pointed to the nine banners around the front entrance of the school. "Look at this, Luz. Those banners represent the heads of the main nine industries in the region. Each one excelled in their studies at a school like Glandus High, St. Epiderm, and, of course, Hexside," Willow told Luz. "Are you prepared to enter these hallowed halls?"
Luz looked at each of the banners as she tried to figure out what Track to study for herself, then turned to her friends. "That's what I'm gonna figure out now. I have to talk with Principal Bump about my schedule. See you on the other side, friends," she said before running inside.
"See you later, Luz," Gus said before activating his projector again, only for it to say 'Goodbye Forever'. Willow looked at the younger boy and gave a glare of disappointment, like a mother catching their child with a hand in the cookie jar. "You know what? I'll go take this to get fixed up," he said before rushing to his homeroom to get help.
Inside Principal Bump's office, the elderly man was watching the news on his computer when Luz stepped inside. "Hiya, Princy B," she greeted. "Can I call you that?"
"Absolutely not," the principal told Luz. "Now, today is Hexside's routine inspection from Imperial Industries. Because they supply the schools in the area with all sorts of technology for classes, they want to see if things are in proper order and to scout out potential recruits for their various businesses," he explained. "If we want to impress them to gain more funding for some much-needed repairs, you'll need to find a Track to study before the inspector arrives."
"Actually, Principal Bump, I've made my own schedule. There are just so many cool things to study here that I couldn't choose," Luz said as she pulled out a paper from her back pocket.
Bump chuckled before speaking up again. "Studying multiple tracks at once? Nobody's done that before," he said.
"Then I'll be the first," Luz declared.
"Sorry, but you won't," the principal said as he showed the school's rule book to Luz. "For the last 50 years, students in the region have been assigned one track so that they can focus on everything that subject has to offer. You can only pick one of the nine tracks to study alongside your typical school subjects."
"But... all of them are so cool. How can I choose," Luz told the elderly instructor. "It's too bad there isn't something like the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter that can help me."
"That sort of thing can be tricky given a student's personality traits anyway," Bump remarked.
"Still, I don't know if I can choose just one track," Luz bemoaned.
"You have been working in Edalyn's café this summer, haven't you? Why not Concoction Track for now? It'll help with cooking, mixing drinks, and as an added bonus, you'll be able to make all sorts of fun chemistry experiments," Principal Bump suggested, opening a drawer next to his desk and pulling out a pair of small vials. One with a yellow liquid and another with black. Taking the droppers out, he let the substances drip onto Luz's uniform. When it did, the light gray colors of Luz's sleeves and leggings turned into a vibrant yellow while the cowl and tunic turned black. "Useful, isn't it," Bump said with a smile while putting away the fast-acting dyes.
"I guess I can use the experience for the Owl House," Luz remarked as she inspected the new colors.
"I expect you to be on your best behavior, Miss Noceda," Bump stated as he gave the girl her schedule. "Now, off to class with you."
After checking her schedule, Luz went to Chemistry 101 and took a seat by the window. When she did, the teacher immediately gave them a project to work on. "Today, you'll be making homemade smoke bombs with the instructions given to you," the teacher said as she threw a smoke bomb at the ground. With the cloud of purple smoke obscuring her, the teacher was already at the cabinet where all the equipment for the class was. "You may begin when ready," she said as she gave each student the chemicals and safety gear.
Not wanting to cause any problems like her old science classes, Luz made sure to follow the instructions as best as she could. Luckily for her, the idea of making smoke bombs was able to keep her attention for a bit. "This isn't so bad," Luz said to herself as she added the contents of a test tube into her main mixture. "I could spend the rest of my life doing this," she remarked, trying and failing to convince herself. As she let her brew simmer on the burner, Luz looked out the window to see Willow planting a sapling in an area designated for new trees. As the Korean girl finished placing the tree into the ground, a student from the Broadcasting Track took her photo. Seeing everything, Luz pressed her face against the glass to get a better view until the teacher cleared her throat.
"Miss Noceda. Pay attention to your workstation," the woman reminded the Latina.
Seeing that her smoke bomb mixture was making too much smoke, Luz frantically apologized as she stirred the contents. "Sorry! Sorry," she said as the teacher went to check on the other students. Luz spent the rest of class upset at the idea of not seeing what the other specialized classes had to offer, then heard the bell ring after she finished her pack of smoke bombs. "Stirring is the pits," she commented to herself as she left the room with everyone else. "What else is on the schedule for today," she questioned as she checked her pocket for her class assignments. Seeing that her next class was actually a cooking lesson, Luz smiled slightly. "At least I can try something I liked to do with Mom back home," Luz voiced before seeing something that caught her eye.
The student from the Broadcasting Track that Luz saw with Willow outside was putting a high-tech camera away in a storage locker, but nobody closed the door to it as she left. "Wow... what a cool camera. Maybe it has stuff with the other tracks on it," Luz said in awe, but shook her head as she focused herself. "No, don't be tempted," she told herself. "It's your first day. Make a good impression."
After saying that, Luz held her head high and walked away before immediately going to the camera exactly one second later. Holding the camera in her hands, Luz found the gallery of photos and videos that showed all the other tracks in action. As Luz was amazed at everything each class had to offer, she didn't notice somebody coming up behind her. When she heard them clearing their throat, Luz panicked and dropped the camera. On impact with the ground, the device shattered into pieces and Luz felt her blood turn to ice. Turning to see Principal Bump behind her, the girl could see the disappointment in his eyes. "I was going to say that you were nearly late for class, but it appears that we have other matters to deal with," Bump told Luz as he took her by the wrist and dragged her through the school.
"But I wasn't studying other subjects. I just wanted to see what that camera had. It was an accident," Luz said as she tried to explain herself. When it wasn't working, she remembered something that Eda taught her during her first two weeks in Bonesborough. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it onto the ground in hopes of making another cloud to hide her escape attempt. "Smoke Bomb," Luz exclaimed, only to see the tool fizzle out instead. "Yeah, I figured that wouldn't work," Luz said as she saw the pathetic results of her first chemistry project at Hexside.
"Much like your previous incidents at your old school," Principal Bump guessed, knowing about Luz's previous record before summer started.
Hearing that made Luz wince and look at her feet as she was dragged back to a room she recognized from the time she helped Gus with the UMAS. "Detention on my first day!? Please don't tell my mom," Luz begged as she grabbed at Principal Bump's feet.
"After what you did, it's the appropriate punishment," Bump stated as he pulled out a vial of dark gray liquid. After changing Luz's sleeves and leggings to the same dreary color as the other three students in the room, the principal started to walk away. "You try for a new track after the summer program ends," he told Luz before closing the door to detention.
With everything that happened, Luz hung her head in shame before trying to return to her usual positive personality. She gave the three students in the room an awkward smile as she got a better look at them. The tallest boy had messy brown hair, brown eyes, and a pointed nose. The shorter boy had short and spiky auburn hair, a simple gold earring in his right ear, a pair of green-tinted glasses that were held together with tape, and was holding a whiteboard in his hands. The only other girl in the room had brown hair in a messy bun with a spiked hairband holding it up, olive-green eyes, a fishhook earring in her right ear, and her uniform's cowl held in place with a pin instead of the usual button. They all gave her a single look before returning to bored expressions as they looked away.
"Hello, fellow detentioners. Room for one more," Luz asked as she sat next to the girl. None of the other three students gave her a response as Luz tried to figure out what else to say. "I like the little spikeys in your hair," she told the girl, complimenting her hairband.
"Hey! You all better be quiet unless you want to scrub the classroom again," the teacher supervising detention warned.
"Hey, don't blame them! I'm the one who was talking because this is so boring," Luz snapped, defending the kids who didn't do anything wrong at the moment.
"Well, if the hero wants something to do, you can mop the floor," the teacher said as he got up, handing Luz a mop and bucket before returning to his phone.
Seeing that she got in more trouble, Luz groaned in complaint. "Ah, farts," she muttered before she started in the far corner of the room. As she got mopping, the girl with the fishhook earring looked at Luz again before giving an appreciative smile that the Dominican-American didn't see.
In another section of the school, King was wandering around the halls before he found another trash can to dig through. "Yummy, yummy! Time for more snacks," the dog declared before making an impressive jump for his small size. As he licked away at the frosting inside of a donut box, King soon felt the can wobbling around. "Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa! Falling," he exclaimed before the can tipped over and he rolled into a nearby room. "Ouch," he moaned before seeing the group of teenagers staring at him. "What? Never seen a talking dog fall out of a garbage can before?"
"Isn't that the same dog from the Owl House," Bo questioned as she was in that class.
"I think so," remarked a student from Luz's chemistry class.
"Somebody should get him out of the school," a student from the Botany Track suggested.
"I'll do it. Our teacher just quit anyway. I guess it's a free period," said Skara as she picked up King and grabbed a hall pass hanging near the door. As she made her way to the school's entrance, the Music Track student took advantage of what she was doing and scratched the dog behind his ears. "Who's a cute little puppy? You are! Yes, you are," she told King before kissing his nose.
The dog squirmed in her grip, but his tail wagged happily at the girl's affections toward him. "As much as I enjoy the attention and scritches, those are reserved for Luz! Now put me down," King exclaimed just as Skara made it outside. Setting King down, the girl returned to class while humming a cheerful song to herself. "Well, might as well go see if I can find Luz," King remarked to himself before he saw something.
Approaching Hexside was two figures. The first was a woman with a black dress and black hair that King recognized from when Luz and Amity faced off against each other in Dimensional Duel, Lilith Clawthorne. Next to her was a teenage boy that King didn't recognize. He had messy ash-blond hair, huge bags under his magenta eyes, a notch in his left ear, a scar on his right cheek, and a gap in his teeth that King noticed as he spoke to Lilith. "So, you went to school here? That's interesting," he said to Lilith as he made sure his white and gold uniform was neat.
"Hunter, I know that we were both assigned to this inspection, but you were homeschooled while I have actually graduated from this particular educational establishment. I'll handle what needs to be looked at while you make sure to take notes," Lilith stated.
"Ooo, the boss lady has to use the big fancy words to show she's better than me," Hunter replied in a mocking voice. "I can get myself that same word of the day calendar you have on your desk at the labs. The real reason they sent me with you was that you're not all that great with kids and I can actually pass as a student here. Leave the talking to me, okay?"
"Brat," Lilith growled.
"Old bird," the boy retorted before seeing King looking in his direction. "Have there always been dogs around the campus?"
"Ever since my sister decided to release an entire shelter's worth onto the property as a prank," Lilith complained, remembering the incident. "Our mother didn't even punish her for that," she added in a whisper, but noticed the dog's appearance. "Hold on, is that one of our translation collars on its neck?"
"One way to find out," Hunter remarked as he walked up to King and grabbed the dog. "Gotcha!"
Looking at the collar's tag and the technology on it, Lilith groaned as she let go of the animal. "Ugh, why is it my sister is always making things hard when I least expect them?"
"Did you curse her or something and karma's biting you back," Hunter asked rhetorically before pulling out a small cube from his pocket. Pressing a button and tossing it in the air, it expanded into a large birdcage that could fit King due to the size. "In you go for now, little guy," the teenager told the dog.
"You'll never be able to hold the King of Demons! I'll break out of here and you shall face my unending fury! Burning hailstorms will rain down upon your home," King exclaimed while barking at the blond. He only responded by placing a blanket over the cage like when trying to get a bird to sleep. "Dark already? Naptime," King said before snoring was heard.
"We'll return him to my sister after our inspection," Lilith stated. "Just make sure he doesn't bother us too much."
"Yes, Mom," Hunter sarcastically remarked as the two headed into the school.
Back in the detention room, Luz was sadly cleaning the windows as the teacher in charge fell asleep. She watched as a group of Hexside's kindergarteners follow their teacher on a field trip. "Lucky little babies," Luz sadly said as she actually wanted to join them rather than be stuck in detention.
"Luz," Willow exclaimed as she and Gus ran toward the window from outside.
"Oh my gosh, I missed you so much," Luz said as she saw her friends. "Help me open this window so I can squeeze your faces."
"I'd rather not," Willow remarked, knowing Luz tends to mess with her cheeks like a chubby puppy's.
"We didn't see you in any classes so far. What's going on," Gus asked.
Luz sighed as she slumped against the window. "Principal Bump gave me detention because I accidentally broke a camera."
Willow and Gus winced as they both knew just how expensive the school's equipment could be. "You're lucky he just gave you detention instead of kicking you out immediately," the Korean girl said.
"You can't even learn anything in there," Gus added. "They just have you sit around and stare at the chalkboard all day."
"I'm better than this 'class'. You gotta help me break out, please," Luz begged.
"Don't worry. We'll get you out, Luz. Dead or alive," Gus declared, prompting Willow to glare at him for the last words and shake her head. "Okay. Alive."
"Oh, thanks, you guys," Luz said as she smiled at her friends, then heard a chair scraping against the floor. Gasping as she looked in the direction of the teacher, she only saw him sleeping away without a care in the world. "I gotta go. Don't want the teacher to see me talking with you," Luz told her friends. Gus and Willow nodded, but they looked behind Luz and gestured for her to turn around again.
Facing away from the window, Luz saw the spike-wearing girl was directly in front of her now. "Shh... Follow me," the older girl whispered. When Luz trailed behind the girl, she stopped in front of the chalkboard and pressed a certain spot that resembled a keyhole. Luz gasped quietly as she watched a secret door open up and reveal a hallway illuminated by fairy lights.
"Whoa... Secret door," Luz muttered as the other girl stepped into the hidden entryway. Taking the girl's hand and following, they shut the door behind them and went down the hall to a second door that read 'Keep Out' on a hanging sign, similar to a teenager's room. "What is this place," Luz asked as she looked around.
"This is the last room you'll ever see alive," the spiked girl said threateningly as she tapped a finger against Luz's chest. The vicious glare she had only lasted for a second before she backed away. "Ah, just messing with you. I'm Viney."
"I'm terrified," Luz admitted before correcting herself. "Um, I mean, I'm Luz."
"Thanks for standing up for us earlier, Luz," Viney said. "Not that many people would do that for me or the boys. Come on, I'll show you what this place is," she told the girl before approaching the door. "You're one of us Troublemakers now. So, you get special access to our secret club," she declared as she opened the door and revealed the room behind it, which Luz could only describe as a massive tower of a stairwell that had doors everywhere. "Welcome to our not-so-little clubhouse, the Secret Room of Shortcuts."
Luz was amazed at the sight. "This is incredible! It's like the school itself is a castle," she remarked as Viney called out to the others in the room.
"Hey, Jerbo! Barcus! You can stop hiding now," she exclaimed.
One of the many doors opened up to reveal the boys from detention. "How do we know she's cool, man?! How do we know she won't turn us in," the lanky boy questioned as he was more cautious than the other two. "What do you think," he asked the bespectacled kid, who started to write on his whiteboard. After reading it, he spoke to Luz. "Barcus says that your aura is strong and silly like a baby's laughter. Welcome," he said happily after getting a second opinion about the newcomer.
Luz squealed in excitement as she was accepted by the three. "I love secret rooms! What is this place? Where do the doors go," she asked.
"This room was made back when Hexside was first built as a way of students needing to get to whatever room or hall they needed," Viney explained as a crow flew down from the top of the stairwell and landed on her shoulder. "They sealed up most of the ways, but several of them are still around. They're just hidden and you need to know where to look."
Luz decided to open the door closest to the entrance she and Viney took, which lead out to the hallway through a locker. When she did, she saw Amity pacing around and talking to herself. "So, you two go to the same school now and she's moving into town later. That doesn't change anything," the green-haired girl voiced to nobody in particular before sighing to herself. "At least she forgave you for that thing earlier," she muttered before hearing something close. "Huh? You must be imagining things, Amity."
Luz smiled at Viney as she spoke up again. "We found this place after being thrown into detention. Another student found it in the past and we've been hanging around here whenever we could. We like to call that alumni 'Lord Calamity'."
Viney pointed over to a portrait on the wall that Luz saw was heavily graffitied, but several other names surrounded the picture. "They started this troublemaker wall and we added their names in their honor," Jerbo declared as he gestured to the portrait dramatically.
"This place is amazing! I bet you guys can get into so much trouble here," Luz said.
"Sure, we can, but we can also do so much more," Viney said as she pointed to Barcus as he was looking into a room on the second level. Luz went up to see that one of the hidden doors was behind a chalkboard in a classroom. She and Barcus paid attention to the teacher's lesson as Barcus was writing notes on his whiteboard then took a picture with his phone. "We're not really allowed to study the more advanced stuff while in detention," Viney explained. "So, we study what we want in secret."
"You guys actually like school," Luz asked in pleasant surprise.
"Yeah, we might have liked it too much and that's why we're in here," Viney replied.
"I tried to mix my lessons in the Botany Track with Automatons," Jerbo explained as he showed Luz a robot in the corner of the room, which soon changed into a small vehicle and rolled over to them. "Bump wasn't thrilled when it went out of control and broke several pots. Getting his face pelted with dirt was the last straw for me and I got sent here," he said as Barcus sat down with the three. "As for Barcus, he was a Concoction student before he tried to livestream his work with stuff from the Broadcasting Track. There was an incident with a blender an-"
"Please don't make her hear about that," Viney begged. "I still get sick at the mention of it."
"A-anyway, you can see Barcus doesn't talk much and he uses that whiteboard to help communicate with us. He also likes fortune-telling," Jerbo said as he changed the subject.
"With me, mixing Healing with Beast Keeping was slightly unconventional," Viney said as the crow cawed. "But Puddles here was a great assistant, dang it! It's not my fault she knocked stuff off the shelves while bringing me things."
"Puddles," Luz questioned as she looked at the crow.
"I found her in a mud puddle as a chick and helped clean her up. Crows are smart birds and she remembered me as she grew up. Now, she's my little sweet birdy," Viney said as she scratched the crow's neck gently. "We all want to have more than one special study, but Bump says we need to focus. Especially with all the messes we caused that landed us in here," she explained before her tone became sad.
"Sounds like Bump's priorities are out of whack. There's so much cool stuff to do, especially if you mix tracks together," Luz voiced.
Viney smiled as she put her hand on Luz's shoulder. "I'm glad you're one of us. You've made a great first impression," she told the Latina, cheering her up quite a bit because of her worries from the start of the day. "Wanna add your name to the wall," she asked as she held out a marker.
Luz gasped happily as she was glad to be included and have more friends. As she took the marker, she went to the wall and wrote her name in a stylized font, adding a witch's hat and several of the 'glyphs' she made for the Palisman Café to it for artistic flair. "This means so much to me," Luz said. "Back at my old school in Connecticut, I was this outcast because of my hobbies and creative projects. I'm glad to know I actually have somewhere to fit in at Hexside."
"We're just glad we found somebody that understands us," Viney said happily before a new voice was heard.
"Luz! We're here to get you out of detention," Willow called out from the detention room.
As Willow wondered where Luz was, Gus checked the sleeping teacher and saw he was out cold. "Man, this guy can sleep through anything," he said as he pulled the man's mustache and released it. "I'm gonna test that theory," Gus said as he held up the mop Luz was using earlier, ready to smack the dripping threads against the man's face.
"No, Gus. We have to find Luz," Willow scolded gently like a mother to their child. "If only these walls could talk," she said to herself just before she heard a click and Viney opened the hidden door. "Thank you, walls," the Korean girl said happily.
"Hey, guys," Luz greeted as she popped her head out above Viney's by riding on the girl's back. "Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus are actually pretty cool," she told them before hopping out of the doorway. "They have this cool hidden space in the school that lets them go anywhere."
"Does that mean my goal of digging a tunnel under Hexside is pointless," Gus asked in a worried tone.
"You do realize that would take a bit of time, even with new tools from the Construction Track," Willow pointed out. "Anyways, we're here to get you out," Willow said to Luz.
"But I just joined a cool new club," Luz told her friends.
"Well, the inspector Bump talked about is here. We shouldn't let them find this whole secret room thing," Gus explained.
"The inspector? Oh man," Luz said as she knew it would be tricky to get to her other classes with Bump making patrols with the inspector.
"Yeah. Lilith Clawthorne and some boy are here," Willow explained, having seen them along with Gus when making their way to the detention room.
"Eda's sister!? Oh, this will definitely be tricky if we want to talk with Bump," Luz said before hearing a voice in the hall.
"Release me at once! I don't care how many chin scratches you give me! I don't belong in a cage!"
Immediately recognizing the voice, Luz gasped. "KING! Come on, we need to get him back to Eda before she loses it," she told the group of five as they left the detention room. But after they did, Gus returned when the coast was clear and placed the mop on the snoring teacher's face. Laughing to himself, the 12-year-old went to help his friends.
Principal Bump waited on the front steps of Hexside as Lilith and Hunter made their way to the school. "Welcome to Hexside again, Lilith," Bump said to the black-clad woman.
"A pleasure to return, even if it's for work," Lilith greeted. "This is Hunter. He works alongside me at Imperial Industries, so he'll be taking notes of our inspection," she said as she gestured to the blond boy. When no response was given by him, Lilith and Bump looked to see Hunter was lifting the blanket off of the cage he carried King in.
Watching the dog turn around inside the cage as he lifted and lowered the cloth, the teenager only chuckled to himself. "You're a strangely endearing little animal," he said before hearing Lilith clear her throat. "Fun's over for now," the boy said as he didn't bother lowering the blanket again, letting King look around the school again as he scratched the dog's chin.
"Release me at once! I don't care how many chin scratches you give me! I don't belong in a cage," King exclaimed.
"Forgive the talking dog, sir. We found it wandering around the school and thought it was one of Edalyn's pranks from so long ago," Lilith told Bump.
"Actually, Eda cleaned that mess up a while ago," the elderly man said as the group started walking through the school.
"Really now," Lilith questioned in surprise.
"Indeed. She fixed a number of issues she caused all just to help a student transfer here," Bump stated.
"What kind of issues," Hunter asked.
"Graffiti on lockers, stealing a teacher's false teeth, releasing wild animals into the changing rooms, rigging the intercom to blare pop music for hours, and so many others," Bump elaborated.
"My sister was not a good student despite her passing grades," Lilith remarked before seeing a trophy case with a few familiar awards and pictures. "Or her skill on the soccer field," she added as she saw a picture of a teenage Eda holding up a trophy that read 'Star Player'.
"Yes, you and Edalyn were quite the formidable duo on the soccer team in your day," Bump said. "Too bad that the groundskeeper retired and we haven't found somebody to fix the field up lately. The current team has had to practice in other locations, but they've still won countless matches."
"A shame to hear about the field, but we'll need to check it over later to get every detail for the inspection report," Lilith stated.
"Understandable. For now, we have a presentation of all our various specialized classes," Bump told the inspector. "Right this way," he said as he guided Lilith and Hunter to the auditorium.
As they left, Luz and her friends all popped out of a nearby hidden door stacked on top of each other like in cartoons. "Okay, I think I have a plan for how we can show Bump's wrong about one specialty class," Luz said as she smiled.
Luz, Willow, Gus, and the Troublemakers all got to work at Hexside's soccer field. As everyone moved supplies around to find what was needed, Jerbo fixed up his Automaton with parts from a broken lawnmower. "And that should do it," he said after testing his machine. "Let's get to work." With the push of a button, the machine came to life and immediately started to maintain the soccer field to a regulation length.
Luz and the others all cheered at the machine cut the grass enough for them to make the boundaries for the soccer field. "Barcus, you're up," Luz said to the quiet boy, who nodded before setting up the borders. As Willow and Viney worked together to set up the goals, Luz and Gus went and made sure all the available balls were inflated fully. "Okay, I think that's good!"
The six students all looked at their handiwork and smiled as they were satisfied with it. Before they heard somebody speak up. "What is all of this," exclaimed Principal Bump as he, Lilith, and Hunter all came out to the soccer field with King in the cage. But instead of an overgrown mess, they found it was in pristine condition without even a gopher hole.
"Principal Bump, you shouldn't limit students to just one track," Luz declared. "Look at what Jerbo's robot could do for the soccer field," she said as she gestured to the boy.
Bump and Lilith looked at the results and were actually impressed that the students were able to do all of this. But they were soon interrupted by the sound of a dog whining. "King! Are you okay," Luz exclaimed as she tackled Hunter to the ground and caught the cage King was in.
"Hey! Not cool," Hunter said as he picked himself off the ground.
Luz didn't listen to him as she was more worried about King. Releasing him from the cage, the Latina saw that he was curling up and moaning. "Luz, let me see him," Viney said as she stepped forward. Handing the dog to her new friend, Luz was worried for the next few minutes. "Did he eat anything out of the garbage? From everything I can check without the right equipment, he just seems like he ate something bad," Viney said before King hurled onto the grass.
"We just finished fixing this up," Gus complained.
Viney soon whistled and Puddles flew onto her shoulder. "Puddles, go get the medicine in my locker," she instructed the bird, who cawed before flying off toward the school.
"You've trained that bird well," Lilith remarked, interested in how Viney's crow listened to her.
"Thanks," Viney responded while Barcus removed a backpack he was wearing and started to mix together various items he had.
"What's he doing," Hunter questioned as he saw Barcus working on something.
Using his phone while he stirred something in a bowl, Barcus showed the principal and inspectors a video he made that explains he was creating an edible mixture to make sure King took the medicine by hiding the taste. "Huh," Principal Bump voiced as he was surprised at everything, then saw Puddles returning with the medicine Viney asked for.
"Attagirl," Viney said as her bird dropped the bottle of pills into her hand. "My cousin at St. Epiderm has a dog like this little guy at home and they like to visit whenever they can on weekends. They wanted me to keep something like this with me at all times," she explained before dropping some medicine into Barcus' mixture. "Okay, little guy. Eat up," she told King.
The dog sniffed the concoction Barcus made and immediately started to lick away at the bowl, cleaning it all up and taking the medicine in no time. "You know, that wasn't bad," King said before walking over to Luz and curling up in her arms.
After watching what happened and sighing in relief, Luz turned to Principal Bump. "You see what they were able to do when we all needed it? Sure, they made mistakes that got them in detention, but they aren't bad people. They just wanted to learn everything they wanted to. So do I," Luz stated. "And while you do need the funding for repairs around the school, you shouldn't get them by hurting your students. They love the school enough to do all of this, so they should be allowed to study what they wish."
Hearing Luz's speech, Bump only had one thing to say. "Wow. I failed you as a principal."
"Never too late to do the right thing, you dingus," Gus told Bump, getting a chuckle out of Hunter and what the old man was called.
Bump sighed as he turned to each of the students. "Alright. I'm smart enough to know when I've made mistakes and when students have good points," he told the four teenagers. "Which Tracks would you like to be in?"
Gasping happily, Viney was the first to speak. "Healing and Beastkeeping. I want to open up my own veterinary clinic after I graduate."
"Automatons and Botany," Jerbo told Bump while Barcus wrote 'Concoctions and Broadcasting' on his whiteboard.
"Then so be it," Bump said as he pulled out several colored vials for the three Troublemakers. "You can change your uniform colors yourselves. But if any of you cause more property damage, I'm putting you on stable cleanup duty for the rest of the year," he said with a warning.
Immediately after being told they could change their outfits themselves, Viney made her sleeves blue and leggings orange, Jerbo made his sleeves green and turned his leggings orchid, and Barcus changed his right sleeve purple and left sleeve yellow. "Thank you, Principal Bump," they all said before returning the vials and heading off to get new schedules for their classes.
"A very good call," Lilith stated. "This will definitely be added to my report on the school's inspection."
"Thank you, Lilith," Bump said before turning to Luz, who set King back on the ground. "And what about you, Luz?"
Luz looked at her sleeves and leggings, wondering about everything after the day's events. "I still can't choose between the nine," she said. "Maybe it's crazy, but I wish I could study a little bit of everything."
"I don't see why you can't," Bump remarked as he offered the fast-acting dyes to Luz. "You can always choose more specialized classes during the next few years you're at Hexside."
Gasping in amazement, Luz immediately grabbed the dyes and changed her outfit's colors. "This is so cool! I'm gonna study everything," she exclaimed after giving herself the new colors she wanted. Her right sleeve had two shades of green, the left was two different shades of purple, her right leg was red at the thigh and pink at the shin, and her left leg had two different shades of blue.
"You know, only one other student at Hexside wanted to study every advanced track," Bump stated. "Unfortunately, she was never given the opportunity," he said as Lilith looked at her feet.
"Who was it," Luz asked, curious about the student in question before Lilith spoke up.
"Eda."
Hearing that, Luz gasped in surprise and chuckled. "I should've guessed," he remarked as she looked in the direction of the Owl House.
"Well, if this whole life-changing school experience is over, maybe we should focus on what we came here to do," Hunter told Lilith.
"Right," the black-clad Clawthorne replied. "The sooner we get this finished, the sooner I can get something to drink."
When the day was over, Luz immediately ran toward Palisman Café to talk with Eda about everything. Bursting through the front door, Luz startled her boss and the current customers. "Eda Eda Eda Eda Eda Eda!"
"Luz, I know you're excited to talk about your first day, but don't scare Hooty and the customers like that," the Owl Lady mentioned as she pointed to Hooty, who was flopping on the floor before getting up.
"Sorry, but look," Luz told the woman as she posed in her new uniform. Eda turned and her eyes went wide as she saw the multicolored sleeves and leggings. "I'm in all the specialty classes in Hexside now! This is going to be amazing," Luz exclaimed as King walked into the building.
Eda was still gawking at Luz's uniform and remembering when she wanted to learn everything at school. "Wow... I can't believe it," she said with a proud smile. "You're gonna do great, kid," she said as she ruffled Luz's hair. "Now get ready for work."
"You got it, boss! Oh, I also made some new friends and they should be here soon," Luz told Eda just as the door opened and Hooty sounded off. "That's them," she said as she put her apron on.
Stepping into the café, Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus looked around and were amazed at the establishment. "This place is so cute," Viney said before seeing Owlbert and scratching his neck, making the owl happy.
"Yes, my sister's home has this cozy feeling," said Lilith as she stepped inside, but got startled by Hooty. "AH! I still don't know why you insist on having these animals in here, Edalyn."
"You and I both know the answer for that, Lily," Eda said as she started getting her sister a cup of coffee. "Luz, how'd your day go," she asked while Willow, Gus, and Amity all arrived to help.
The Dominican girl chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "It's a long story," she said before she began to recap her day's events to Eda.
And finished! With this chapter done, I've gotten Luz into Hexside and we meet some fan favorites, the Troublemakers. Adapting Barcus was a bit tricky, but I hope you liked this version of him. We also have some details from Season 2 added here like Hunter joining the changed inspection and some of the details from "Hunting Palismen" like Luz's home state. Hunter's too enjoyable to leave out and I thought this was a good placement for him because of no magic or monsters for the AU.
Next time, we'll be having another break between plot episodes. Before we cover "Understanding Willow", we'll get to see Luz and all her friends so far enjoying a carnival. Nothing like a little summer fun in town before other stuff happens. And when we get to Willow's memories, I have something fun planned for that adaptation so we can keep most of the plot.
Hope you liked this chapter and I'm looking forward to getting the next ones finished. Until then, WaterDragonMaverick signing out.