Chapter 4: The Intruder

A few days had passed since that incident at Hexside which led to me and Luz getting banned from the magic school. The upside to that was that we made two new friends at the school: Willow Park, a young witch who we helped by getting her to show off her skills in Plant Magic which allowed her to get out of the Abomination Track and start taking the Plant Track; and Augustus Porter, better known by his new nickname "Gus", an Illusion Track student who happens to be the president of the Human Appreciation Society (H.A.S. for short) which is a whole club with witches and warlocks interested in everything human. While we were glad that we made it out of there alive, Luz was pretty much disappointed that she couldn't go back there. I didn't mind not going back there, but I hated seeing Luz so upset like that. Today didn't really help either as Eda decided to go out to town with Juniper and left me and Luz to watch the house. We were both in our rooms as we waited for the Clawthornes to get back until King called us down, saying he wanted to show us something we would be interested in. Though, by the time we got to the living room, we found King a little… busy at the moment.

"Hello, everyone. Welcome to our special documentary." I said while putting on a British accent, Luz using her phone to record King as he struggle to get a sock with ducks on it off his snout. "You are in for a special treat today."

"Indeed." Luz said as she was doing the same thing. "Currently, we are witnessing quite a sight: the most fearsome creature in the world, The King of Demons, facing his natural enemy the ducky sock."

"It is quite a struggle as you can see." I said with a chuckle as this was just silly and adorable. "This is something that we rarely get to see." Me and Luz were enjoying this even as King used his back paws to rip the front of the sock, before standing up and ripping off the rest, stomping on the pieces.

"Where are you now, ducky sock?" King said after he ripped off the sock before pounding on the shreds on the floor.

"Okay, that was great." I said, getting the little demon's attention. "Now, King, mind telling us why you called us down here?"

"Oh, yeah." King said as he recomposed himself and stood up before climbing on the table which had something covered with a tarp behind it. "Human Luz, Hybrid Ryuji, you've been so obsessed with witchcraft that you haven't learned anything about my kind. Prepare yourself for… Demons 101!" He then pulled the tarp off to reveal a makeshift panel covered with various drawings and pictures of demons before he put on a hat that I've seen one of my Big Bro's college teachers wear and started pacing. "Demons, like me, are grim tricksters of the twilight, creatures of sulfur and bone."

"And cute little paws!" Luz commented with a coo, getting a snicker out of me and a sigh out of King.

"And cute little paws, true." He admitted before bringing out a pen and using it to point out the pictures. "Anyway, we live only to create chaos and misery. Our only weaknesses are purified water and passive-aggressive comments sometimes."

"Wow. Didn't know you guys were so sensitive." I said, a little surprised by this.

"Even demons have their inner demons." King said before putting up a large picture that showed this very intimidating, pink demon with long arms and legs, sharp teeth, and long claws along with this big spiked shell on its back. "The most powerful demon of all is the Snaggleback. He's a…"

"Bad boy!" I heard Luz say as I looked to see her adding special effects to the video.

"Luz, pay attention!" The small demon said to the girl was absorbed in her phone. "This information could save your life someday!"

"He's not wrong." I said, backing him up. "As amazing this place is, the Boiling Isles is full of dangerous creatures, so you should probably listen better."

"No, no! I am so paying attention! This is my paying attention face." Luz reassured us before she nodded a few times. "Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm!" Before anything else could be said, we heard the roaring sound of thunder and looked to the windows to see it was cloudy outside.

"Uh-oh. Looks like it's gonna rain." King said.

"And, from the sound of it, it's probably gonna be a big one." I noted.

"I love the rain!" Luz said with a gasp of excitement before she ran to the door, opened it, and went outside.

"Luz, wait!" I said as I ran after her, my friend ignoring my warning.

"Hey, wait!" King said as I got to the door as Luz walked around outside.

"Ahh! I always love feeling the first few drops of rain in my hair." Luz said as she did a spin.

"Uh, Luz…" I said before she kneeled down to a nearby flower.

"I bet you do too, little buddy." She said to the plant.

"Luz!" I called out to her.

"What?" She said to me before a single drop of rain fell onto the flower, burning it and causing her to gasp.

"Luz, get back inside now!" I said as more rain started falling, singing anything they touched.

"Boiling rain! Boiling rain!" Hearing Juniper's cry, we then looked to see her and Eda running in our direction.

"Everybody, inside now!" Eda called out before she grabbed Luz by the arm and threw her at me, sending us both crashing into the Owl House as she and her daughter ran in and closed the door.

"Phew! We made it." Juniper said in relief.

"And none of us got hurt." Eda said, feeling much the same.

"I wouldn't say that." I groaned as me and Luz were buried under the stuff King had set up, my human friend lying on top of me.

"Whoops! Sorry, kids." Eda said with an embarrassed smile.

"It's fine." I said right before a mug fell on my head. "Ow!"

[No one's view]

In Bonesborough, the streets were in chaos as everyone was screaming and running for shelter with a few houses on the side of the walls crumbling down from the boiling rain.

At her house, Willow quickly went to her window to save the plants she had in the planter she had at her window. With a few drops of the boiling rain touching her and her hands full, she jumped up and brought down the curtain with her mouth.

Elsewhere in the streets, the little head-like creature who escaped from the Conformatorium was evading the rain best as she could as she ran around while looking for shelter. After ducking down into a large hole at the side of a building, she then pushes out a rat with three eyes on its back, hissing at the rodent.

[Ryuji]

After recovering from the crash, me, the girls, and King were outside under the cover above the door as we waited for Eda to cast a shield on the house to protect us from the boiling rain, the Owl Lady having a shield over her while she did. I stood there with Juniper with a bandage I got from King on my forehead while the little demon put one over the scrap on Luz's arm.

"Look! Now we're all boo-boo buddies!" King said after he put a bandage on top of his snout, causing Luz to tumble to the side with a squeal.

"Oh, my gosh! I love you so much!" Luz said as she laid against my leg, keeping her gaze on King as she found this adorable.

"Was that for King or DK? Just asking seeing how you just snuggle up to DK." Juniper playfully said before laughing, making me and Luz flinch and blush as we realized the position we were in. After Luz sat up straight, I then gave the witch girl an elbow to the arm. "Hey, I'm just pulling your leg. Those reactions were priceless." She then turned to Eda as she was getting her spell ready. "You sure you don't my help on the shield, Mom?"

"Nah, I got it." Eda replied back.

"Wow! A boiling rainstorm on the Boiling Isles." Luz said, amazed by this. "The weather here is so fun."

"Eh, it's more like a bunch of plagues than weather." Juniper told her.

"Yeah, this is one of the dangers on the Boiling Isles." I explained to Luz. "From what I've read from the guides Dad gave me, this is a phenomenon that tends to happen. It's caused by a mixture of the Boiling Isles climate and the clouds made from the steam in the Boiling Sea. Not exactly sure how, but it's part of some natural process that helps the Isles like how normal rain is for nature in the human world. Other things that happen are gorenadoes, shale hail, and these things called painbows?"

"It's like a rainbow, only looking at it turns you inside out." King casually said, causing Luz to tighten her hoody before putting her knees up against her chest.

"Though the Isles does have snow." I put in, getting a look from Luz. "Don't worry, it's like normal snow back home."

"Yeah, just a little colder." Juniper added before her mother spoke.

"Anyways, until the Boiling Rains stops, no one is allowed outside tonight." Eda then looked over to her daughter. "That means you, Juni."

"Oh, come on! That was only one time! I was still little at the time!" Juniper retorted.

"And, if the rain doesn't get you, the Snaggleback will!" King said while pulling out a book and opening it to show us a page with the said demon. "It wanders the rains, feeding on its boiled victims."

"Well, whatever the case, this barrier should protect the house from boiling rains." Eda said while holding an orb of light.

"Yeah, and made-up demons." Juniper mocked King who gave her a blank look.

"Wait, made-up?" I asked.

"Yeah, the Snaggleback is just a myth." Juniper told me. "There's no demon like that anywhere on the Isles. Even if there was, I'm sure Mom's barrier will keep it out."

"Hoot! Well, she better hurry up with that force field!" Hooty spoke up, getting impatient. "That rain is getting closer to my precious stucco!"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it." Eda said as she grabbed her staff and placed the orb on top of it. Doing a quick twirl of it, the barrier around her expanded out to the house before encasing it in a large bubble and shrinking down to fit around it.

"Wow!" Luz said as she took off her hoo, defiantly impressed by her teacher as walked over with her own barrier to protect her from the rain. "Someday, I'd like to be as cool as Eda the Owl Lady: magical, sassy, surprisingly foxy for her age."

"Yeah, and I'm gonna grow up to be just like her." Juniper proudly stated.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you, Eda." I spoke up as Eda got into the barrier and canceled her own. "Why do they call you the 'Owl Lady' anyway?"

"Because I'm so wise." Eda replied.

"Because she coughs up rat bones." Hooty put in.

"I think it's because she gets distracted by shiny objects." King commented.

"No, I don't." Eda countered before King brought out his pen from earlier and clicked a button on it, making the jewel-shaped blub on the end glow. Almost immediately, Eda's focus was on the pen. She looked like a cat on cat nip. "It sparkles and shimmers and shines and delights! I must have it for my nest!" She whispered the last part before she lunged for the pen only for King to quickly hide it and make Eda miss her mark.

"You have a nest? I want a nest!" Luz said as she got excited from hearing that, running over and kneeling to her mentor who lay on the ground. "Nest party!" She then gasped before turning over to Juniper.

"If you're wondering if I have a nest of my own or hatched from an egg, then no to both." The Clawthorne girl said with a blank expression. "Mom's the only Clawthorne in the house with a nest."

"You okay, Eda?" I asked as I helped the Owl Lady to her feet.

"Yeah. Ugh!" Eda said as she rubbed her back. "That barrier really took it out of me."

"Uh-oh." King said as he spoke to her in a mocking tone. "Moving a little slow. Age finally catching up to ya?" Juniper then pulled the hat over King's face making him scream in fear while Eda smiled. "Aaaaah! Darkness!"

"Come on, let's get you inside." Juniper said as she then put her mother's over her shoulders and helped her into the house.

"This is perfect." Luz said as she stood up.

"What is?" I asked her.

"Since we'll be stuck in the house all night, Eda won't have any excuse not to teach me a spell." Luz said as she then hurried inside.

"But don't you want to finish our lesson?" King said with a sad look on his face, making Luz stop and turned back to us. "I was gonna let you scratch a demon's tummy. Mine! "

"You mean like this?" I asked as I then picked him up and started rubbing his stomach, something he enjoyed as he laughed. "Come on, Luz. Eda's obviously worn out. I think we should just let her be. Besides, don't you want to know how to deal with demons out there?"

"Sorry, guys, but I can't miss a chance like this." Luz said as she then went off to find the Clawthornes, making me stop rubbing King's stomach as his horn pierced through his hat, the little demon looking very displeased.

"Don't worry, King." I said as I tried to cheer him up. "I'm sure when she's done, she'll want to continue learning from ya. In the meantime, you can still teach me?"

"Nah, I'm good." King said as he then leaped out of my arms and walked away with disappointment. "It's not important anyway."

Juniper talked about what had transpired today.

She then walked down the stairs before she took the plate from me and walked down to the kitchen. Taking the other dish in both hands, Luz and I looked at each other as we were both confused by this.

[Ryuji's aside]

Wow. I really feel sorry for King. I know that Luz wants to know magic, but she didn't have to ditch the little guy like that. He was pretty eager to teach us about demons which is still pretty important. Not sure if he did this because Eda was gone or whatever, but it seemed important to him. And to see him give up on sharing his knowledge because of this? That really breaks my heart. Never thought I would be doing this, but I gotta cheer him up.

After King went to sulk, I then went on to find Luz and it didn't take me long until I found her going into a room at the back of the house. Going over there, I watched as Juniper helped Eda who was now in her pajamas out from behind a dressing screen and over to a couch, her mother's staff against a wall.

"Here we go, Mom. Nice and ease." Juniper said as she helped Eda onto the couch before putting a blanket over, her mother sighing in contentment.

"Thanks, Juni." She said with a grateful smile.

"Hey, Eda!" Luz said with a smile as she popped her head out from beside the couch, startling Eda. "Have I told you how rad your fang looks today?"

"Luz, whatever it is, no." Juniper plainly told her.

"What? I'm just telling your mom she looks great." Luz said before she spoke to her mentor again. "By the way, your hair is like… girl…"

"Luz, I know what you're doing and I'm telling you to stop it." Juniper told her. "My mom is too tired for magic lessons."

"Juni's right, Luz. I'm not teaching you magic tonight, I'm sleepy." Eda then pulled the blanket over her face. "I'm a sleepy little owl."

"Please, Eda, please." Luz begged. "How am I supposed to earn my witch staff if I don't know any spells?"

"Juni, go and teach her a spell." Eda said from under the blanket.

"What? Oh, no." Juniper said to her. "You're her teacher, not me." She then turned to Luz with a stern look. "Seriously, Luz, stop bugging my mom. She's already worn out as it is. She'll teach ya later, but right now she needs to sleep." With that, Juniper then walked out of the room and headed upstairs.

"Wow. Never seen Juni so serious before." I said as I walked into the room. "Maybe she's right. We should just leave Eda be and just wait until she's fully rested."

"But I need her to teach me." Luz said. "It's been almost two weeks and I haven't learned a single spell."

"Luz, I know you want to learn magic, but I think we should respect Eda's wishes and let her rest up." I told her.

"Come on, Ryuji." Luz said before she then started giving me those puppy dog eyes. "Please?" I flinched from her using that tactic on me again.

[Ryuji's aside]

Once again, I lose an argument.

"Alright. Wait right here." I told her as I then left the room and went over to King. "Hey, King. Can I borrow your pen?" With that, he then dejectedly handed it to me. "Thank you." Now that I had it, I then went back to the room and over to the side of the couch before clicking the pen.

"Sparkle thing." Eda whispers as she sat up with a gasp before she turned to me.

"Oh, you want this?" I smugly said as Eda eyed the glowing pen in my possession before leaping and perching on the arm of the couch like a gargoyle. "Nuh-uh!" I quickly moved out of the way as Eda tried to snatch it, making the Owl Lady fall to the floor before I leaned over her. "First, teach Luz one spell and the sparkle thing is yours."

"I respect your cunning, kid, but I also hate you for it." Eda said with an annoyed look on her face as I smiled at her before she then picked herself up and grabbed her staff. "Alright. But just one spell. After that, I'm done."

"Alright." I said before Luz squealed in excitement.

Getting to the living room, I saw on the couch and watched as Eda got to teaching Luz, the human girl sitting eagerly in front of her worn-out mentor.

"If you want a staff like mine, don't… make me… repeat… myself." Eda said as she slowly dozed off before I clapped my hands to wake her up. "As I was saying, witch and warlock have magic staffs with power embedded into them. It can be used to help them get around or cast complex spells of any kind."

"Gimme!" Luz said, holding out her hands eagerly.

"But, before one is given a staff, every witch and warlock needs to earn it by knowing how to cast spells on their own." Eda said.

"She's right." I backed her up. "The staff is only meant to be used to help one cast difficult spells if needed. It's not meant to be given away and used as a crutch."

"Exactly. Thank you, Ryuji." Eda said as she tossed the staff aside. "Now, tonight, I'll be teaching you something easy: how to create… Light." With a small spell circle, she then made a little orb of light which then descended down to Luz's face before it popped like a bubble with a few fading sparkles, making Luz gasp in awe.

"Yawn!" King commented from the sidelines with a couple of papers on hand. "Who needs a lesson in something so boring when you could be learning all the fun ways a demon could kill you." He held up a drawing of a demon eating someone. "Look how teethy! Bite, bite!"

"King, do you mind? I need to focus." Luz said, making King slump on the floor. I then used my magic to bring King over to me on the couch while Luz continued her lesson with Eda.

"Now, before you do magic, you need to know what it is." Eda said. "Humans think magic is made out of thin air, but that's stupid. Everything comes from something. Let me ask you, kid. Where do you think magic comes from?"

"Uh… from the heart?" She quickly answered.

"Actually, you're right." Eda said to her, causing Luz to smile even more. "No really." Eda then pulled out a scroll from her hair and unrolls it to reveal the picture of a heart with a large green sack attached to it. "It comes from a magic bile sack attached to the heart of every witch and warlock." It showed a large green sack attached to the said organ.

"Oh, gross!" Luz said, surprised by this. "Can I keep that?"

"No." Eda said, weirded out by her request as she put the scroll back in her hair.

"Wait…" Luz then looked over at me. "Ryuji, do you…"

"Have a magic bile sack? Yeah." I told her. "Why do you think I get checkups in Valla?"

"Oh." Luz said before turning her attention back to Eda.

"Okay, now, everything depends on the spell circle." Eda said as she drew another spell circle, one bigger than the last one which created a bigger ball of light that almost instantly dispersed. "The bigger the spell circle, the more powerful the spell."

"But how can I, little ol' Luz, do spells if I don't have a magic bile…sac?" Luz asked, bringing up a pretty decent question.

"Yeah, I've been wondering that too." I said as I looked at Eda. "How are you going to teach her magic if she can't cast them herself like we can?"

"You know, I'm not actually sure." Eda replied.

"What?" Me and Luz said at the same time in shock.

"Wait, you agreed to teach Luz magic without even knowing how she could do it?" I asked in disbelief.

"I know witches did magic differently in the past, but I never bothered to figure out how." She said as she laughed with a snort.

"Eda!" Luz spoke up with a pout.

"Don't worry. You'll figure it out." Eda said as she kneeled down and ruffled Luz's hair. "Now…" Eda then stood back up, making her bones crack. "Oof! I need to lie down." She proceeded to walk off to the stairs.

"Wait, that's it? Wait!" Luz said, making the witch stop. "I need you to do the circle thingy again."

"Luz, come on." I told her. "Eda needs to get her sleep, especially after casting that barrier earlier."

"Thank you." Eda said in relief that at least someone was looking after her well-being.

"Come on. Please?" Luz said as she then brought out her phone. "I'll record it on my phone this time." She then held it up as she started recording. "Smile! You're on camera. Come on, one more spell won't kill ya." Eda looked at me and I only shrugged my shoulders as I didn't see much harm in it.

"Fine." Eda groaned before she then proceeded to make another spell circle which wasn't really holding up well. "Now, you the spell circle is really key because… Ooh, boy." With a yawn from her, the spell circle dispersed and the Owl Lady lost her footing before falling down on the floor flat on her face.

"Well, looks like one more spell killed her." King commented, making me smack him behind the head while Luz yelped.

"What's going on? I heard screaming!" Juniper said as she rushed down the stairs before looking in shock at her mother lying on the floor. "Mom!" She then rushed and flipped Eda over before shaking her. "Mom? Mom!" Her mother was unresponsive.

"Juni, I'm so sorry!" Luz said as she stood up in a panic. "I just wanted to learn a spell and…"

"You did this?!" Juniper said as she stood up and glared at Luz. "Luz, I told you to leave her alone!"

"I know and I'm sorry!" Luz said with worry.

"'Sorry' doesn't make up for your obsession with magic knocking out my mom!" Juniper scolded her.

"Enough! This is no time to argue!" I said as I quickly got up and between the girls. "We got an unconscious witch right here!"

"Bap!" Looking over, we see King standing over Eda as he tapped his paw on her nose and got no reaction from her. "Yeah, she's out. Bap!" He did it again laughing away before he noticed the glares me and Juni were him. "What? Just wanted to be sure."

"I'll go get help!" Luz said as she ran out the door as Hooty opened it.

"Luz, don't!" I said as I grabbed her by the hood and stopped before she went out of the house. "Boiling rain, remember?"

"No, let her try. It'll be funny." Hooty said, making me use a spell circle to slam his face into a wall before closing it. "Ow! I was just joking! Hoot!"

"But what if Eda's dead?" Luz exclaimed in worry.

"Calm down, spaz." Juniper said, gesturing to her mother. "She's not dead. She just passed out."

"Shiny thing… Big nest…" Eda mumbled in her sleep as she started to snore.

"See?" Juniper said. "My mom's tougher than she looks."

"She's right. Remember when her head got cut off last week?" I said to Luz. "That woman can survive anything."

"Yeah, she's probably just tired from staying up all night chasing shrews and voles." King commented, causing Juniper to clear her throat in response.

"No, she wasn't. It's actually from running all the way back here without her staff." Juniper said. "Now, if we're done talking, come and help me get my mom upstairs so she can rest."

With that, me and Luz then went over and helped Juniper carry Eda, me holding Eda by the arms, Luz holding her by the legs, and Juniper holding her by the back.

After managing to get up to Eda's room and King opened the door, me and the girls then carried Eda inside. Once we were in there, I looked around and saw the room looked more like an attic with the house's eye-shaped window up at the front and a large side window at the side with a large nest right by it.

"Wow, she really does have a nest." I said, surprised by this.

"Less talking, more moving!" Juniper said as we then carried her mother over to the nest which had a few small animal skeletons in it which I moved out of the way with my magic. "Okay, on three. One, two, three!" With that, we managed to lift Eda up and put her in the nest, the three of us panting from the effort.

"Huh. Looks like Eda needs to cut back on your cooking, huh, Ryuji?" King said, earning a smack to the head from Juniper who then walks off to get something.

"Sorry for pushing you, Mrs. Eda." Luz apologized as she grew nervous. "Please don't hurt me when you wake up."

"Don't worry about her getting mad." Juniper plainly said. "After getting a nap in, she'll forget all about that."

"Should I bap her again?" King asked eagerly.

"No." Juniper said as she came back with a blanket before throwing it on her mother. "Now I'm only saying this once. Leave my mom alone or I'll burn you!" She held up her dark red flame to show how serious she was. "Got it?"

"Got it!" Luz said. I was just as shocked to see Juniper act like this.

"Good." Juniper said as she then got rid of the flame before walking off. "I'm going to my room."

"Hey, Juni." I said as I noticed a little round bottle filled with glowing, orange liquid in it sitting on the bedside table by the nest. "What's this potion here for?"

"For my mom, so don't touch it!" She said as she left, the slam of a door coming after she did.

"Geez! It was just a question." I said, thinking Juniper overreacted much.

"Come on, let's Eda rest." Luz said with a smile.

"Right. Come on, you little troublemaker." I said as I then picked up King and we all then left Eda's room as the Owl Lady slept soundly in her nest.

After walking downstairs, we all then went to the living room, Luz pacing around while watching and rewatching the video she took of Eda doing the spell to figure out how she could do it herself and me sitting on the couch with King while reading King's demon book, the little demon watching me as I do while he wagged his tail happily. I was glad I was able to make him feel better and I had to admit that the book was really teaching me a lot about demons that I didn't even know about.

"Ugh!" Hearing that groan, we both turned to see Luz as she was trying to draw a spell circle with nothing happening. "This is all she does and yet it doesn't work for me. Why do you have to be so cryptic, Owl Lady?"

"I don't think she trying to, Luz." I told her. "Besides, you don't have one of those gross magic bile sacks, so you can't just draw them out of thin air, like the rest of us."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" She asked me.

"Well, best I can come up with is finding a different way you could do magic. And besides, Eda's right. You'll figure out and we'll do what we can to help."

"I guess…" Luz said before she then got an idea and looked at me with a smile. "Wait, Ryuji, didn't your dad teach you about the Isles?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, did he say anything about witches and warlocks doing magic differently or anything like that?"

"Well, he did tell me that before the spell circles, everybody on the Isles used spell glyphs."

"Spell glyphs?"

"Yeah, it's an ancient magic technique discovered by the Noble Three. They say it was a gift to the people of the Isles from the Titan."

"That sounds awesome!" Excitedly, Luz then came up and got really close to my face. "Do you know any glyphs? Can you show me some?"

So close… I thought to myself with a blush before clearing my throat and speaking to her. "Uh, no, I don't." Luz then gained a look of disappointment. "Sorry, my dad said the technique was only made to be used here on the Boiling Isles, so he couldn't show me any of the glyphs. Plus, nobody in Isles has used glyphs in centuries."

"Oh, I see."

"Hey, cheer up." I said as I put a hand on her shoulder. "You might not be able to do spells like witches in the past or make spell circles, but that doesn't mean you won't be able to do it. Like Eda said, you'll find your own way to do it. And we'll be here to help you. Just keep on trying and I know you'll do it."

"Yeah, you're right." Luz said as she smiled at me. "Thanks, Ryuji. You always know what to say."

"It's what I do." I told her.

"Hey, you know what's really cryptish? Let me tell you about the most spine‐chilling demon." King said before he then showed us a drawing of what looked like a fish with legs. "Smoochie-Pie the Sweetie Baby! He's a lot more threatening than his name implies." I laughed a little as I pat his before going back to reading the demon book.

"Not now, King." Luz said to him. "I got to figure out this spell so I can do magic like Eda and Ryuji."

"Why do you wanna learn magic so badly?" King asked her.

"Because I was a nobody back home. The only friend I had in school was Ryuji." Luz said to the little demon. "Ever since I found out that he had magic and could do all these amazing spells, I've wanted to do it too. To be someone, like him."

"Okay. Speaking of which, how did you and Ryuji become friends in the first place?" King asked curiously.

"Actually it all started when we first met." Luz happily said as she then sat down between me and King. "I'll still remember that day like it was yesterday. I was just beginning middle school and I was just getting into reading Azura and I loved it." As she kept on going, I tried to make it look like I was focused on reading while listening in.

I pretty much remembered that day pretty well. Listening to her part of the story, I could just imagine it like it played out in front of me.

[Flashback. 4 years ago]

Outside the middle school in Gravesfield, while all the other kids played around in the playground, there was one little girl dressed in a little white dress with a pink skirt, and brown boots sitting by herself as she played with an Azura doll and other figures. This little girl was Luz who was only twelve at the time. She had a hard time making friends, so she often found herself alone at recess and playing with her Azura doll.

"Blam-Blam, you are defeated!" Luz said as she mimicked explosions before raising her hand in triumph while holding her Azura doll. "And Azura the Witch saves the day again!"

"What do we have here?" Hearing that voice, Luz turned to see two boys looking down at her before one of them takes the doll out of her hand. "Let me see this."

"Hey, that's mine!" Luz said as the boy looked at it.

"Seriously? You're playing with dolls?" The boy with her doll said. "Dolls are for babies."

"Yeah." The other boy said as they then laughed at her.

While this was happening, I was over at the swing set, swinging by myself. Yeah, that little boy in the yellow short-sleeve shirt, blue shorts, and black sneakers with the red scarf around his neck is twelve-year-old me. Much like Luz, I didn't really have that many friends in school, so I often played by myself. I was planning on swinging until recess was over until…

"Hey, give that back!" Hearing that voice, I stopped swinging and saw two boys picking on a girl, the boys laughing as they played keep away and held an Azura doll out of her reach.

"Hey, maybe I can make it fly." The boy holding the doll said.

"Yeah! Do it! Do it!" The other boy encouraged.

"No! Please! Give it back!" Luz pleaded to them.

"Okay, here we go!" the boy with the doll said before he tossed it into the air. When the doll hit the ground, it landed on its staff and the top of it broke off.

"No!" Luz said as tried to run over, but one of the boys pushed her back.

"Nuh-uh!" the boy who threw the doll said to her as he then took the doll off the ground. "Sorry, weirdo. We're not done playing with it yet."

"Nice throw, dude!" the encouraging boy said to his friend. "You sent that dolly flying!"

"Thanks, bro." the thrower proudly said before the two started laughing again.

Looking over to Luz, I saw her sniffle as tears filled her eyes, the girl now on the verge of crying. Seeing someone getting picked like this really pissed me off. So I got off the swing and walked over to where I was behind the boys.

"Hey!" I called out, getting the boys and Luz to turn to me. "Leave her alone!"

"Oh, great. It's that goody-goody Frank kid." One of the boys said. "Get lost, buddy!"

"Not until you apologize to that girl!" I told them with a stern glare, the boys laughing at this.

"Yeah, or what?"

"How about I show you?" I said before I then charged at them before nailing them with punches, knocking them back and making them drop the doll and its missing piece.

"Why you!" One of the boys said as they both charged and tried to attack me, leading to a fight between the three of us, Luz watching in awe. I didn't really notice she was watching as I was more focused on the fight. Even though outnumbered, I had the upper hand and was able to handle the two pretty easily. The fight ended after I knocked those back to the ground with bruises.

"Geez! This guy's crazy!" the encourager said with a look of fear.

"Yeah, let's get out of here!" the thrower said before the two then picked themselves and made a run for it.

"Yeah, you better run!" I told them as the two boys ran away screaming. Calming myself down, I turned back to Luz, the girl looking at me in awe. Seeing the doll and the staff piece on the ground, I then picked them up before kneeling down next to her. "Hey, you okay?" Luz only nodded which was enough to get me to smile. "That's good." I then gave her the doll and the broken piece back. "Here. I think this is yours."

"Oh, thanks." Luz said as she took them back.

"Sorry about what happened back there. Some people are the worst." I said to her. "Worse than Hecate, am I right?" Hearing this, Luz gasped in shock.

"You read The Good Witch Azura too?"

"Well, yeah. It's one of my favorite books. Guess you're a fan too, huh?"

"Are you kidding? I love The Good Witch Azura!"

"Man, I thought I was the only Azura fan."

"Me too!"

"Hey, you know, this is an easy fix." I said as I stood up. "I bet we can glue Azura's staff back together in the art room. We can go there if you want."

"Really?" Luz then shot right up to her feet. "That would be awesome! Thank you!"

"No problem. Like my dad always says, 'us weirdos gotta stick together'." I smiled before holding out my hand to her. "I'm Ryuji, by the way."

"I'm Luz." Luz smiled back as she shook my hand. After we broke the shake, we then started our way to the art room. It was then that Luz gave me a smirk. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I would think you were some hero charging in to save the day. In fact, you kind of looked like Ludolf when he saved Azura from those nasty dark wolves."

"Yeah, well, I guess I do like to see myself as some sort of hero." I said while scratching the back of my head. "So what does that make you the damsel in distress?" I didn't really know back then, but it turned out that what I said actually made Luz blush. It was pretty faint so I couldn't notice. After I started laughing, she then joined me.

After talking with each other, mostly about how much we loved The Good Witch Azura, we managed to bond a little and found comfort in each other's company. We became best friends and have been that way ever since.

[Flashback over]

"Him standing up for me back then was the coolest and nicest thing anyone's ever done for me." Luz said as she finished her story, smiling happily at the memory. "Ever since that day, Ryuji's been the best friend I could ever ask for."

"Wow, that's quite a story." King said, surprised by this. "But why did Ryuji just jump in like that?"

"Because those guys were bullying her and I hate bullies." I said as I closed the book, startling them.

"Ryuji, how long have you been listening?" Luz asked with surprise.

"The whole time and I remember that day too." I said as I smiled at her. "It was the day I met someone who loved The Good Witch Azura like me and someone who I was proud to call my friend. Not to mention that it's also when you and me became a team."

"Yeah, you really are the best." Luz said as she returned the smile. "You always were there for me when I needed you and I'm glad we're friends."

"I could say the same for you. I didn't really think I'd find anyone I could really connect with until I met you. I will always be grateful for that." The two of us looked at each other for a moment before King spoke up.

"Wait, are you two about to kiss?" King's question caused us both to freeze and blush from seeing how close we were to each other.

"Uh… I'm gonna use the can." I said, making an excuse before making my way to and up the stairs. "Good luck with the spell, Luz!"

"Thanks." Luz said to me as I made my way up the stairs, going to the bathroom before leaning against the door as my heart felt like it was racing. Right from there, I then decided to wait in there to pull myself together so things wouldn't be so awkward between me and Luz.

[No one's view]

After Ryuji was out of sight, Luz lost her blush as she slump down the couch with a sigh.

"Of course, I don't see the point." Luz dejectedly said. "I'm just gonna be wiggling my fingers just hoping something magically will happen." Seeing Luz so depressed, King had really felt bad for her since she was someone he could relate to as not many people took him seriously either. Though he knew it would be wrong, he knew he had to do something.

"Okay, if I help you learn that spell, could we finish our lesson?" King said to her.

"Oh, yes, yes!" Luz eagerly said, smiling at the demon. "You can teach me about demons all week if you can help me learn this spell!"

"Okay, then. Well, Eda said witches and warlocks used to do magic differently.

"Well, she said witches and warlocks used to do magic differently. Since they stopped so there has to be a way right?" King said as he did a small scribble and showed what he drew. "And I have a theory. Remember that bottle Ryuji found in Eda's room? Well, that's actually some sort of elixir she keeps around. I've asked Juniper about it, but she just tells me to stop asking her about it. Every day, I notice Eda sneaking drinks of this special elixir right before she gets a boost of energy. See, I think that's where she gets her power and if you drink it, then you might be able to do magic too."

"Really?"

"Si." King replied before getting taken into one of Luz's hugs.

"Thank you so much! You're a prince." Luz happily said as she spun him around.

"King." The canine corrected. "I'm King."

"Right." Luz said as she held him.

After sneaking his way up the stairs and past Juniper's room, moving silently enough so he wasn't heard, King made his way over to Eda's room. While still asleep, Eda still presented herself as a great obstacle as he had to get the elixir without waking her up. He opened the door, making it creak, but he didn't wake up Eda who was rolling around in her sleep while still snoring away.

"Now where could it be?" King quietly wondered as he looked around the room. Soon enough, he spotted the glass vial filled with the orange substance and cork cap that Ryuji noticed earlier. "There it is!" With his target in sight, he silently walked forward before hearing a metal clang, quickly retracting his leg to avoid a bear trap that snapped shut. "Nice try!"

"Eh, my heart wasn't in it." The trap said as it gained two small legs and opened an eye, revealing it to be a sort of demon that then ran off.

With the trap gone, King continued to sneak through before he climbed up a tied curtain and got onto the nightstand where the elixir was.

"An elixir a day." King said as he noticed a red tag on the vial and what it said read out loud, not noticing the bottom part looked like it was torn off. "Cryptic." He then tore off the tag and stuffed it into his collar before grabbing the elixir and jumping down to the floor. Once down, he looked hesitant for a moment while quickly looking to Eda before turning back to the vial. "Uh… Nah." Shaking his head, he quickly ran out, letting the Owl Lady continue her sleep.

After he left though, Eda began to struggle around in her sleep, appearing to be having a nightmare.

After King got down the stairs, he then met in the kitchen while getting up on the table.

"Got it!" King said as he gave the elixir to Luz who then pulled the cork off the vial.

"Wow." Luz said as she gazed at the vial in awe. "I can't believe I'm about to learn magic, real magic! This is historic." Closing her eyes, she then tipped the elixir before she slowly started bringing it to her lips to drink the contents.

[Ryuji]

After finally calming myself down, I then went back downstairs to rejoin my friends only to find them not in the living room, but in the kitchen.

"Hey, Luz. How's the spell-casting coming…" I said as I walked in before becoming shocked at seeing Luz about to drink the potion from Eda's room. "Aah! Luz, no!" Acting quickly, I rushed over and got the vial away from her. "Luz, what are you doing with Eda's potion?"

"Uh, trying to do magic?" Luz said to me in an unsure tone. "King said if I drink one of her elixirs, I might be able to do magic."

"And you believed him?" I said in disbelief. "Luz, potions have nothing to do with spell circles. Besides, you don't even know what's in this brew or how it will it affect you. It might be safe for witches and warlocks to drink, but we don't know if any human can drink it." While looking down at the vial, I then got this strange feeling I'd seen this elixir before. "Wait, this looks familiar." To figure out what this feeling was telling me, I then got a drop of it on my finger before licking it off, gagging and spitting at the awful taste of it. "Aah! Ugh!" After recovering, I then realized I had seen this elixir before, a bunch of times in my life in fact. "I know that bitter taste. Guys, I know this elixir."

"You do?" the two asked with surprise.

"Yeah, and I know what it does." I said to them. "This elixir isn't for giving magic, it's for…" Before I could finish, a clash of thunder caught me by surprise, ultimately leading me to drop the elixir and it smashing on the floor. "Whoops! Oh, geez!"

"Oh, no! The elixir!" Luz said with worry. "Oh, Juni's gonna kill us!"

"Don't worry. I'm sure Eda's got more elixir lying around." King said to her, not worried at all. "All we have to do is find one and replace the old one with it and her and Eda will never know."

"You know, I'm surprised the lights are still on. Thought the storm would knock them out." I said right before all the lights went out. "Never mind."

"Ugh! Hooty controls the house lights." King explained with a groan. "He probably just fell asleep."

All of a sudden, there was a loud crash coming from the front door, followed by screaming.

"Hoooot! Hoooooot! Hoot!"

"Hooty!" Luz said as we then rushed out of the kitchen perching himself on her shoulder as we went over to the front door.

Upon entering the living room, we all froze as we found it completely in shambles with the furniture all torn up, windows shattered, and claw marks all over the walls. But what really got us to stop was what was right in front of us. Beyond the door which was broken down with Hooty looking knocked out, there was the shadow of a large creature who no doubt caused the damage. Raking four long claw marks on the door, the creature narrowed its glowing, orange eyes at the three of us before disappearing into the rain.

"Hooty! Are you okay?" Luz called out as we ran to the house demon before she tried to wake him up. "Hooty? Hooty!" She tried to open his eye, but it closed immediately without Hooty giving a response. "Hooty's knocked out!"

"Whatever did this ran out into the rain." I said as I traced some claw marks before looking out to the rain as I remembered what I read in the book. "King, you don't that was…"

"No doubt about it. That thing was the Snaggleback!" King said coming to the same conclusion. "It feeds during the rain."

"It must've stumbled upon the house and seen us inside. And it stayed close enough to get under the barrier when Eda cast it. So now it's in the house." I said before we heard a loud, ear-piercing screech and ran out to see the large creature bust through the eye-shaped window. "We trapped ourselves with a monstrous demon!"

"This is bad. This is really, really bad!" Luz said with the same fear I had. "So why do you look so happy?" With that, I then looked to King who was giggling with joy like a kid in a candy store.

"Because this could be a lesson!" He told us. "This would be a great way for you to see a wild demon up close in person."

"You want us to go towards that thing? No way!" Luz said, knowing that was a terrible idea.

"Yeah, King, that's insane! What if that thing spots us?" I said before another scream was heard, this one coming from inside the house.

"That's Juniper!" King said as he recognize the scream. "We gotta go now!"

"Oh, geez!" I said before we all ran back inside. "We're coming, Juni!"

From this, I went to my room to get my Saisho before going back downstairs to meet Luz and King in the kitchen. With armor made out of pots and pans with duct tape wrapped around themselves to put a pillow in place, Luz and King held up their weapons with Luz taking a hockey stick and King picking a stuffed bunny. Pausing at the stairs, me and Luz lit the way with me using a light orb and Luz using her phone's flashlight. Slowly making our way upstairs, we went over to Juniper's room to find the door broken down off its hinges.

"Oh, no." I gasped in fear before me and Luz rushed in to find the witch girl's room ransacked with said witch nowhere to be found.

"Juniper got Snagglebacked!" King cried out in fear as he was on the verge of tears.

"We gotta get to Eda, quick!" I said before we then rushed to Eda's room, bursting through the doors only to find it in shambles with the broken glass of the window from the demon breaking in scattered across the floor.

"Oh, god! The Snaggleback got Eda too!" I said as Luz rushed over to the nest.

"Eda? Eda!" Luz said as she checked in the nest, not finding her teacher but a single pillow covered in claw marks. She then brought the pillow to me.

"Slash marks." I said as I took the pillow. "King, you're the demon expert. We could use your help."

"I'll go get my demon book!" King said as he rushed out of the room.

"Hurry, King!" Luz called out as I examined the pillow.

As I turned it around, I saw something fall out and land on the floor. What fell out looked like a small white square of paper.

"Huh? What's this?" I said as I picked it up and flipped it over, gasping in shock at what I found on the other side. I didn't have much time to look at it before I flinched at the sound of growling at looked up in fear as I saw a pair of orange eyes staring at me from the ceiling. "Uh, Luz?" With this, I pulled out my sword and held it in defense while Luz gasped from seeing the creature right above us, the demon roaring as it then jumped at us.

[No one's view]

Downstairs, King had searched through a couple of books before finding the ones he was looking for, looking at two books in his hands.

"Okay, which one was it? First edition or second edition?" He asked himself before he heard Luz's scream. "Luz! Ryuji!" Taking both books, King rushed back upstairs to Eda's room. "Luz? Ryuji?" He gasped as he saw both weren't in the room. "Oh, no! Not them too!" Before long, something swiftly passed behind him. "You crazed beast! Give me back my boo-boo buddies!" He yelled out at the top of his lungs before he started chasing after it. Once he turned to the corner, he gasped again upon seeing one of Luz's shoes right in front of a door that closed. "Luz…" He sadly picked it up and glared forward opening the door. With the shoe as a makeshift weapon, he searched through the closet and spotted something hiding behind the coats.

[Ryuji]

"There's nowhere for you to run! Now come on out!" Hearing that familiar voice, I then rushed out from behind the coats and swooped King up.

"King! Boy, am I glad to see you." I told him with a smile before gently putting him down.

"Ryuji?" King said, looking at me with surprise. "Wait, where's Luz? Where's the Snaggleback?"

"I don't know. After you left, the demon attacked us. I held off to let Luz escape before making my own escape." I said before walking over to the coats I was hiding behind. "As for the Snaggleback, well…" I then pulled them aside to reveal the Snaggleback who was actually this small, pink monkey demon wearing this spiked green shell.

"Snaggleback?" King said, surprised by this. "Wow. You are a lot shorter in person."

"I know, right?" I told him. "Turns out this guy can't actually handle the rain."

"Yeah." The Snaggleback admitted with a look of shame. "I'm sorry. I was just looking for shelter from the rain."

"Then why did you break down our door and grab my friends?" King said to him. "That's not cool, man. Bad Snaggleback!"

"King, he didn't do any of that stuff." I told my demon housemate. "He just got here."

"Wait, what?" King said in disbelief.

"Yeah, why do you think we're both in here? I just helped him get in through a window just now. We were hiding from the demon that's actually attacking us."

"Wait, if it wasn't the Snaggleback, then what…" King was then interrupted by a giant hand ripping through the ceiling and grabbing the Snaggleback by his shell.

"Oh, no! Help!" the Snaggleback screamed as he was then taken away.

"Okay, did not see that coming." King said with fear.

"Yeah, quite the unexpected twist, huh?" I said before we heard footsteps coming from above, something moving behind us.

Getting King behind me, I took stance with my Saisho as something slowly pushed the door open, that something happening to be the demon we saw from before as it then spits out the Snaggleback's shell.

"Hey, stay back! I'm armed!" I said as me and King walked back from the demon in front of us moving forward.

"Hey, hey!" King said as he got in front of me, holding a paw up. "I am the King of demons, okay? And, as such, I demand you barf our friends back up!"

When the demon was about to slash him, I put the Saisho back on my back before diving down to save him from the attack and managing to slide past the attacking demon from underneath. Hearing its screech, I then got to my feet and started running while carrying King as the monstrous demon started chasing us through the hall. After a while of running, I turned the corner before I was suddenly grabbed by the arm and pulled to the side, someone clinging onto me as they closed the door. Looking over, I found myself sitting beside Luz.

"Luz?" I said before she shushed me as she pointed to the door as a shadow pierced through the cracks. Seeing it was the large demon, I kept quiet as it then went past the closed door. With both of us giving a sigh of relief, I then let King go before grabbing Luz in a hug. "Boy, are we glad to see you."

"Not as much as I am to see you." Luz said as I then let her go. "What happened?"

"A lot of stuff. One leading to a real twist." I told her. "Turns out that thing that was chasing us wasn't the Snaggleback."

"Wait, really?" Luz was surprised by this.

"Yeah, we just watched him get eaten by that thing." King told her before we then heard a groan from a nearby closet cupboard.

Silently making our way to it, I then opened it up and an unconscious Juniper fell out of it.

"Juni!" I said as me and Luz quickly dragged her out before I tapped her cheek to wake her up. "Juni! Juni! Wake up!"

"Huh? What?" Juniper said as she shot up awake, rapidly looking at her surroundings. "Who? What?"

"Whoa! Take it easy." I told her. "Juni, what happened? What were you doing in the cupboard?"

"I don't know." She said as she rubbed her forehead. "I was listening to my music and reading some manga when the lights went out. I grabbed a lantern and was about to check around and the next thing I know, something frickin' jumped me. So what I miss?"

"Oh, nothing much." I told her. "Just that the Owl House is being attacked by a big, monstrous demon which took Eda."

"Wait, demon? Oh, no." Juniper said as she then got up with a look of horror. "No way. It's happening again?"

"Again? Wait, you know what's going on?" I said as I then stood up in surprise.

"Uh, well…" the witch girl nervously said.

"Hey, you found my shoe!" Luz said as King then gave her shoe back.

"Wait, what's that?" King said, stopping her before she could put her shoe on. He then grabbed and pulled off some red paper that got stuck on her foot. Going over to him, I saw that it was some sort of shred with some writing on it which King read out loud. "Keeps the curse at bay? Wait!" King then pulled another piece of paper out before putting the pieces together as they form a tag with writing on both pieces forming a little rhyme. "An elixir a day keeps the curse at bay!"

"Oh, no." I gasped in shock as I recognized the words on that tag and realized what it meant. "I told you that you shouldn't have taken that elixir."

"Wait, you took my mom's elixir?" Juniper said as she angrily glared at him.

"I-I didn't know!" King said with a worried look on his face.

"Wait, curse?" Luz said, confused by all this. "Guys, what's going on?"

"Luz, we were wrong all along." I said to her. "That's no demon! That creature is…" I was cut off when an arm came bursting through the door, taking us all by surprise.

Before long, the said monster burst through the door and we were beyond shocked by it. Coming in at all fours as a beast covered in dark gray fur with two regular gray bird wings, black bird talon hind legs, longer and pointier ears with gray hair growing out of them was Eda who stared at us with black, soulless eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth.

"Eda?!" Luz screamed out in shock from seeing her mentor in such a monstrous form.

"Okay, this whole time, the demon attacking us was Eda?" I said in disbelief as Eda crawled toward us before I turned to Juniper. "And you knew?"

"Yeah, found out about it after taking her elixir one time." Juniper told us. "Got grounded for a month because of it." Eda then raised her hand to strike us. "Mom, no!"

Before Eda could swipe, a bright flash came in and managed to blind her as she screeched like she was in pain. Looking to the floor, I saw Luz's phone which had dropped out of her pocket, no doubt the camera snapping a photo of Eda from hitting the floor. As she rubbed her eyes, the four of us took the chance and made a run for it. When she got back on our trail, we all hid behind a stone wall over at the balcony as she started sniffing around for us. As she was close to finding us, I took this little tin can I found before tossing it away, causing a bunch of clatter that Eda followed with a screech, the witch-turned-beast running far from us.

"She's gone." Juniper whispered said after she checked to see if the close was clear.

"Oh, god… Did you see her eyes? They were like…" Luz said as she did a snarl while widening her eyelids before looking with worry. "What happened to her?"

"Exactly why I didn't want you guys taking that elixir." Juniper sternly said.

"Yeah, that stuff King gave you doesn't give you magic." I said as I explained. "That specific brew is made to boost the magic power of any witch or warlock that drinks it."

"Wait, what?" Luz said with surprise. "Why would she need that? I thought she was the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles!"

"She is, but she's also cursed." I told her. "Don't you see? That's why she got so worn out. She had a curse draining her magic. When she becomes drained of magic, she turns into that thing."

"The Owl Beast." Juniper put in.

"The what?" I asked the witch girl.

"That's what we call it, the Owl Beast." Juniper explained. "A very vicious demon that attacks anything it sees. My mom's been fighting with it since even before I was born."

"You knew and you didn't tell any of us?" I said to her.

"How do you expect me to tell you?" Juniper said. "'Hey, guys! Here's my mom, a really powerful witch who sometimes turns into a nasty demon that can kill you!' Yeah, that's a good thing to talk about."

"Okay, geez! I get it." I told her. "You were just worried about what we would think and trying to protect your mom."

"This is all my fault." King spoke up as he sat against the wall in shame. "She turned into this nightmare all because I just wanted Luz to learn about demons!"

"Why were you so obsessed with teaching Luz about demons anyway?" Juniper asked.

"I just wanted Luz to be into demons like she was into magic." King told us. "She and Ryuji are my only friends and I messed up. I just wanted to have some attention and, maybe if I taught them, then finally I'd have someone else would care about creatures like me." From there, I was in surprised to find King open up like this. The guy may act like an annoying jerk at times, but deep down, he was just a lonely demon who wanted to have a friend. He was just like me and Luz before the two of us became friends.

"Well, let's finish the lesson." Luz said with an encouraging smile, causing King to look up at her in confusion.

"That's right." I said as I put a hand on the little demon's shoulder. "And who else knows more about demons than one of the best that we do know?" King pointed to himself, getting a nod from both of us before taking the pen and giggling like crazy as he hugged us both. With that done, King grabbed some leaves and drew Eda's face starting their plan on how to save her.

"Okay, let's see…" King said as he took a leaf and drew out the Owl Beast. "Eda was bigger, covered in feathers, and had giant black eyes."

"Demons with black eyes are sensitive to light, right?" I asked, remembering reading something on that in the book.

"Correct!" King replied, pleased to know I got it right. "Which means we can use that to stop her. With enough light, we might be able to knock her out. But where are we…" He paused before then looking at Luz's phone. "That's it! Luz, use your human rectangle."

"I can't. My camera's all busted." Luz said, showing her phone which now had a cracked screen.

"Wait, DK, don't you have one?" Juniper asked me.

"Yeah, but it's back in my room." I said with regret.

"Then what about that light spell?" King suggested. "I've seen you do it."

"Yeah, but I've never done anything more than a simple orb of light." I told him. "I would need help to create enough light to knock out that Owl Beast." We then turned to Juniper.

"Don't look at me. I don't know that spell." The witch girl told us. "I've always used my flames for light, so I never bothered learning it."

"And I can't draw circles in the air." Luz chimed in with despair as she pulled up the video she recorded earlier. "I'm not like Eda, or Juni, or even Ryuji." As she pressed the screen to replay the video, I looked around and saw King and Juniper having the same look of pity as I did at how disappointed Luz was that she couldn't do magic.

[No one's video]

"The spell circle is really…" The Eda in the recording said before the phone all of the sudden started glitching and, with the video freezing with Eda holding the spell circle, some sort of strange symbol appeared within it.

[Ryuji]

"There's a symbol in the circle!" Luz said with a gasp in awe.

"Wait, what?" I said as I went over to the video, only just to find it frozen with Eda and a regular spell circle. "Luz, there isn't a symbol in that circle."

"Yes, there is! It's right there!" Luz said to me.

"Okay, so what does it look like?" I said.

"It looks something like this." Luz said as she grabbed the pen and a leaf which she then placed on the screen before drawing on it. After drawing a circle, she then drew a strange symbol in it, one made of a large triangle with a smaller triangle and circle above it with the circle between the two triangles, and a long line down the middle of the larger triangle with two smaller diagonal lines across it and side-by-side within the triangle. "There." After she tapped it, the leaf started glowing before in crumbled itself up into a ball. After it floated into the air, we all looked at it in awe as the leaf turned into a little orb of light. "It's beautiful."

"Whoa! Did she just cast the spell?" Juniper said as she wasn't expecting this.

"Yeah, by using a Light Glyph." I said before I spoke to my friend. "Luz, you just used Glyph Magic!"

"Glyph Magic? Wait, you mean…" Luz said with surprise.

"Yeah, you just used the first technique of magic on the Boiling Isles." I said, confirming her assumption. "See? I knew you could do it." She then turned back to the little orb before gasping in awe.

"You're right. I did it." Luz said as she gained a smile. "I just did magic. I just did magic!" She then stood up and grabbed me into a hug. "I just did magic! Now I'm a witch like you!"

"Shh! Not so loud!" Juniper shushed her.

"Sorry." Luz said as she then let go of me with a blush of embarrassment.

"Okay, that's great and all, but we're not going to stop anything with something that small!" King said as he commented on the orb before we heard Eda screech, making all of us quickly duck back down.

"King's right. We still need to figure out a way to knock her out." Juniper added.

"The bigger the spell circle, the stronger the spell." Luz said, repeating what Eda had told her before she turned into the Owl Beast. "Guys, I got an idea to get Eda back." She then held out a fist to us. "Will you help me, boo-boo buddies?"

"I'm over that little nickname." King said with a light scoff. "But okay."

"I'm not a part of that, but count me in." Juniper put in with a shrug.

"Yeah, let's do it!" I said before me and Luz fist bumped each other.

After Luz told us her plan, we then went on to put it into action. It was simple really. All we had to do was lure Eda out to a corner of the house where Luz will then use a big Light Glyph on the wall to send a flash strong enough to knock the Owl Beast out. While Luz got to work on the glyph, I went on to look for Eda. Going downstairs, I managed to find her searching around the living room for me and the others. Ready to put the plan into action, I then went on to get her attention, pulling out the pen she was interested in early before clicking it a few times.

"Wow, this is amazing." I said as Eda looked in my direction. "This is so shiny." It only took a moment of her staring before she then leaped at me. "Oh, crap!" dodging her, I then went on running through the halls to where Luz was, casting my special speed boost spell. "Enhancement Magic: Wind Dash!" With that, I then began dashing through the halls, managing to outrun the Owl Beast.

After running close to the corned, I then stepped into a hallway on the side as King tossed in some papers which Eda slipped on and crashed. As Eda was recovering, Juniper came in and jumped on her with a blanket that blocked her mother's vision. This was for a distraction while was finishing off the big light spell which she drew on the wall in red crayon.

"Juni, it's ready!" Luz called out as Eda tried to shake her daughter off.

"Sorry, Mom! I love you, but this is for your own good!" Juniper said before she then got off.

When Eda was able to move the blanket enough to where she can see, all she could do was stare as Luz slammed on the glyph, sending a flash of light that made the transformed witch screech. After it was done, we all looked over to see Eda knocked out on the floor.

"Quick! Let's get her back upstairs!" Juniper said as we all gathered around her mother.

After managing to get her back in her nest, we managed to find an extra elixir in her closet. Using straws to funnel the elixir into her mouth, we managed to get Eda to drink it. As we waited for the elixir to take effect, Luz decided to pass the time by doing light glyphs. I couldn't help but smile as Luz had managed to learn magic and by using an ancient technique no less. After a while, Eda finally woke up and, after spitting out the straw, sat up where we were all shocked from seeing her left side still transformed by her curse.

"Whoa! Mom, might want to keep drinking." Juniper said with worry as she went over and held up the tube of straws.

"Aaah!" She yelled after seeing the gem she had on was pitch black, taking the tube and sipping more of the elixir. With that, her gem returned to its usual yellow and she became her usual self again.

"You okay, Mom?" Juniper asked with concern.

"Oh, what happened?" Eda groaned in confusion, not remembering anything that happened. "Ugh! I have the worst headache and my mouth tastes like roadkill." Like on que, she threw up a large pellet which split open to reveal the Snaggleback, the pink demon still alive.

"I'm just gonna lie here for a minute." He tiredly said.

"It happened again, didn't it?" Eda said with a look of regret.

"Yeah, luckily we managed to get this to ya." Juniper said with a reassuring smile, holding up the elixir.

"I was wondering where that went." Eda said as took her elixir from her daughter's hands.

"Actually, that's not the one you had before." I said as me and King walked up to her. "King here took it while you were out and we ended up spilling it downstairs."

"Yeah, but we managed to find another in your closet." King said to her.

"King? King?!" Eda said as she furiously glared at the demon. "You stole my elixir? I oughta break every bone in your…"

"Wait! Before you do that, look over there." I said before motioning over to the corner of the room with a smile, Luz doing more Light Glyphs with a pen and a notepad, tapping the symbol she drew and causing the paper to fold up and transform into a light orb of light before floating up to join the others above all of us. After she did one, I then started walking over to Luz. "Pretty cool, huh? She's been doing this since we got you back up here."

"Hey, can I try that?" Juniper asked as she went over to our human friend. With a nod, Luz then gave the pen to Juniper where the witch girl drew the symbol the best way she could before tapping it, making the paper crumble up into a light ball that float above which made her chuckle. "Okay, this is pretty cool."

"Wow." Eda said as I turned to see her bewildered look as she looked at the orbs of light that continued to float around. "How is she doing that?"

"She's using a Light Glyph." I told her. "I'm not sure how, but she managed to find one in your spell circle earlier. Good thing she did or we wouldn't have been able to get you back to normal."

"Hey, Eda?" King said as he looked at the Owl Lady in shame. "I, uh… kind of messed up a bunch of things back there and I just wanted to say…I'm sorry."

"Well you better be." Eda firmly said, making him flinch. "I got a long list of disgusting chores with your name on it." She then calmed down as me and the girls walked over. "But it's not entirely your fault."

"Yeah, it isn't." Juniper said. "Mom, I think it's time to come clean."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Eda said with a sigh. "I haven't been completely honest with you guys. When I was young, I was cursed." She then picked up her elixir bottle. "I don't know how exactly it happened, only that, if I don't take my elixir, well…that's why people call me the 'Owl Lady'."

"Yeah, and believe me, I was shocked when I found out about it." Juniper told us.

"Hey, I didn't tell ya for a reason." Eda told her daughter. "I'm your mom, which means it's my job to be worried about you, not the other way around.

"Is that why you live all the way out here?" I asked her, feeling sorry for her. "Or why Juni's was so eager to go on that fake quest?"

"Yeah. It's also the reason why Juni hadn't met her dad either. When I told her about it, she's been trying to find a way to break the curse." Eda said. "I try to tell her not to, but like her dad, she's too stubborn to quit. Nobody like's having a curse, but if you take the right steps, it's…manageable."

"Yeah, but it also helps if have the right people to help take those steps." I told her. "You should've told us about this. Take it from me, pushing people away only make things harder for yourself."

"Heh. You know, Axel said the same thing to me." Eda said as she managed a smile. "Starting to think you're both right."

"You sure you're okay?" Luz asked in concern.

"There's nothing to worry about." She told us. "It's all under control."

"Is it?" Juniper said as she kneeled beside her mother, clearly not buying it.

"Juni, I promise you, it is." Eda said with a smile before she kissed her daughter's forehead. "And as long as no one steals my elixir…King…" She pointedly glared at the skull demon. "Then I'm fine." She then motioned to Luz. "But hey! Look at this! A human doing magic. Good on you, kid."

"Well, I had some encouragement from a great teacher." She said, looking at King.

"Oh, you…" He said as he gave a playful wave at the compliment.

"Hey, hey!" Hearing that familiar voice echoing through the house, we then remembered that we had left Hooty on the floor. "Is anyone there? Hello? Hoot! I'm on the floor! It's cold!"

"Well, looks like someone's finally up." Juniper flatly commented.

"That voice…" King exclaimed in annoyance before he trudged out of the room. "That horrific voice!"

"We'll take care of him. You stay in bed." Luz said to Eda before picking up the Snaggleback. "Come on, you goopy fella. We'll set you free now."

"Ow, ow, ow! I think my tail was digested." The pink demon winced as Luz then started carrying him.

I was about to join her until I paused and looked back at the Clawthornes, Juniper looking at her mother in concern. Remembering what I just found, I knew that I needed to talk to her as I needed to see if my suspicions were correct.

"Uh, I'll be right down." I said to my friend, getting her to stop at the door and turn to me. "I need to talk to Eda for a bit first."

"Okay." Luz said before she then walked out of the room, leaving only me, Juniper, and Eda present there, the witch girl checking on her mother.

"Uh, Eda?" I said, getting the attention of the two. "I got something to ask. It has something to do with today."

"DK, my mom just turned back from the Owl Beast." Juniper said to me, confused. "I don't really think she's…"

"It's okay, Juni." Eda said to her daughter. "I can still talk to him. Besides, I think I already know what he wants to talk about."

"You sure?" Juniper asked, getting a nod from Eda. "Alright then."

"Okay, so what's up, kid?" Eda said to me.

"It's nothing, just…" I said, picking my words carefully. "During the chaos when your curse acted up, I found something."

"What did you find?" Eda asked me with concern.

"Well… I found this." I said as I then pulled out the picture that fellow out of the Owl Lady's pillow and showed it to her.

The picture was of her and my dad, both of the looking a little younger with Eda having short orange hair, smiling as each was holding a little baby wrapped in a blanket with Eda holding a baby with witch ears and my dad holding one with human ears. In between them was a little boy with neatly combed orange hair and yellow eyes who I knew was my brother when he was eight. All three of them were smiling happily as the two babies were sleeping. The sight of it made Eda's widen with surprise before she then sighed.

"I knew it. So you found out, huh?" Eda said to me as I gave her back the picture. "How long have you known?"

"Not long. I only just realized it today." I told her. "Before today, the things that led me to figuring things out didn't make much sense to me. It was only after finding out about your elixir, seeing your curse, and especially finding that photo that I could piece it together."

"Piece it together?" Juniper asked before she went over to look at the photo Eda had, the Owl Lady smiling at it while her daughter was not really catching on to what I was saying. "Hey, hang on. Is that you? And Mr. Frank?"

"Yep. This photo was taken a week after you were born." Eda said to her.

"A week after I was born? Wait!" Juniper said as she then realized something. "That baby you're holding. Is that…?"

"Yeah, that's you, Juni." Eda told her daughter before she then started pointing at the picture, telling who the other children were. "And the little guy there is Ryuji and the kid in between all of us is Ben."

"Wait, Ben? As in DK's big bro?" Juniper said as she was surprised by all this. "Wait, were me and Ryuji born on the same day?"

"Yeah, you were." Eda said.

"But I don't get it. Why would you take a picture with DK's pops and bro while me and him were still babies? And where's Dad or DK's mom?" I couldn't help but snicker for Juniper not figuring it out already, something which didn't go unnoticed by her. "Hey, what's so funny?"

"Sorry, it's just that… you're struggling with something that's clearly obvious." I told her.

"What ya talking about, DK?" Juniper asked me in confusion.

"Think about it." I said before I then gave her the pieces. "Adegast said that Eda would give everything to save me, there was no Marilyn Clarkson at Hexside but she was there around the same time my dad was, me and her drink the same elixir, me and you have the same color hair and eyes, my father was a human and my mother was a witch?" Juniper then took a moment to think about it as she took it all in. When she finally gasped in shock, I knew she finally got what I was getting at.

"Wait, Mom…" Juniper said as she turned to Eda who smiled at her. "You're Marilyn Clarkson?"

"Yeah, that's the name I went with while living in the human realm." Eda said to her.

"But that means that you are… And he is…" Juniper spoke out in disbelief of what she heard, pointing around the place. "And my dad is… And I'm… Me and DK are…"

"Brother and sister." Eda finished her. "Twins to be exact."

"Believe me, I'm just as shocked as you." I told Juniper. "I had no idea I had a sister, let alone a twin." I then turned to Eda. "But the one thing I don't get is why you didn't you tell us the truth about you and Dad before?"

"Well, I did want to tell, but I wasn't sure how to tell you." Eda told us. "I mean, you had grown up without me in your life while I stayed here taking care of your sister. Honestly, I thought the shock would've been a bit too much for you. You could only stay with me for a summer after all."

"Yeah, but you still could've told me about it." Juniper spoke up, looking pretty upset. "I mean seriously! I bumped into him a bunch of times and I only just found out that he was my dad! All this time, I wondered where he was and he was just a portal trip away!"

"Juni…" Eda said after seeing how upset Juniper was as she kept on.

"I mean, Mr. Frank is so cool! He was a human who actually fought against the system for witches like us, made his own track, and almost made his own coven which I could've joined in a heartbeat! Not to mention that he's a Fire Dragon who makes badass weapons like DK's sword! To find out he's my dad, I really can't believe it!"

"Juni?"

"And I have two totally frickin' awesome bros! You always told me I was an only child!"

"I didn't say that…"

"And I could have met a whole other family I didn't know I was part of! Why would you keep all this away from me?"

"Juniper!" Eda said as she got up and grabbed Juniper by the shoulders. "Calm down. I understand you're upset, but I didn't tell you for a reason. If you just settle down and listen, I'll explain everything." After a moment of silence, Juniper took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Fine. But I want nothing but the truth, got it?"

"Got it and I'll give nothing but that." Eda told her as she then let go and we all sat down, the elder witch sitting in her nest. "Now I know what I did what was wrong, keeping the truth about this family away from both of you, but I did this for a reason. To understand, I'll start at the beginning." She then took a deep breath as she began to tell us what had led to this. "Before I got cursed, I was pretty happy with life. I had a great life, a couple of good friends, and someone who was more to me than a friend."

"That someone was Dad, right?" I asked her with a smile.

"Yeah. Your dad was the greatest guy I had ever met." Eda told me as she smiled at her reminiscence. "He was the most amazing man in the Boiling Isles. Strong, brave, helpful, and humbly cute. But he had his moments when he was as hot as dragon fire." Seeing her shiver with a blush and a smile, I became uncomfortable from seeing that was a shiver of pleasure. "Just thinking about this gives me goosebumps."

"Ewwww!" Juniper said as I gagged with the same disgust she had.

"Ugh! Could've gone my whole life without knowing that." I said with a shiver of discomfort.

"Hey, you should be flattered, Ryuji." Eda told me with a smirk. "Means you could have chances with some pretty girls too, like your little human friend."

"What?" I said as I gained a blush. "Mom!"

"Sorry, just had to see that look on your face. Reminds me so much of your dad." Eda said a little chuckle. "In all seriousness, I loved Axel with all my heart. He was everything I ever wanted in a man. Of course, I wasn't the only one who wanted him as there were plenty of witches who were crushing on him. But, out of all of them, I was the only one he ever had eyes on. We were always together ever since the day we met. I don't know what such an amazing guy like him ever saw in a little witch like me."

"Well, Fire Dragons have always been sort of unique enigmas." I told her.

"Yeah, and your dad was the most unique. Having him by my side made me the happiest woman in the world." Eda said with a little chuckle before she then lost her smile. "Of course, when I got cursed, I thought I would lose that happiness. As you already know, I have no idea who cursed me or why they did it, only that this curse caused a lot of problems. These problems didn't make life easy for me."

[Flashback. 30 years ago]

Within a darkened room, a teenage Eda is lying in bed with a troubled look on her face and her back facing the door. Looking over to a nearby dresser, she sees a picture of her and a teenage Axel who smiled as she kissed him on the cheek. She sighs as she felt that was a moment she could never relive.

Eda: It was a really hard time for me. I was young and barely knew what to do with something like this, especially when it led to people getting hurt.

Ryuji: I know the feeling. A curse like this isn't something you can just roll with.

Sure, Big Bro found a way to do that, but it's not the same for all of us.

Eda: You got that right, kiddo.

At that point, after it showed up, all I wanted was to be alone. Pretty much everybody had no problem with it as they were all pretty much afraid of me, afraid of the monster I was.

Well, all except for one…

Eda soon turned slightly so she could look to the door after hearing a pounding on it, the door possessing a yellow barrier on it.

"Eda, you in there?" Said a voice from the other side. "It's me. Axel. I came here to see if you're okay."

"Go away, Axel." Eda sadly said as she laid back down, keeping her back to the door.

"Eda, please." Axel said to her as Eda grabbed her pillow and held it close. "I need to know if you're okay."

"I'm just fine, Axel."

"You don't sound like you're okay."

"I'm okay, Axe. Really."

"Eda, I know you're lying. Just come out."

"Go away, Axel!"

"I'm not leaving until I know you're okay."

"I said 'go away'!"

"Eda, come on! I just want to help! If you let me in, then…"

"Just stop! Just…stop! Look, I know you're trying to help because we're together, but you're not! This is something you can't help me with!"

"Eda, don't say that. This is just a rough patch. Besides, we're…"

"No, we're not! Alright? We're not a thing! Not anymore! Honestly, I'm not sure we ever will be!"

"Eda, I know you don't mean that! Please, can't we just talk?"

"Axel, just drop! Do yourself and just go!" Eda yelled as tears flowed from her eyes. There was a moment of silence before Axel gave out a sigh and spoke again.

"Fine, have it your way."

After hearing him walk away, Eda quickly wiped away her tears as she kept the pillow close to her.

Within a darkened room, a teenage Eda is lying in bed with a troubled look on her face and her back facing the door. Looking over to a nearby dresser, she sees a picture of her and a teenage Axel who smiled as she kissed him on the cheek. She sighs as she felt that was a moment she could never relive.

Juniper: Geez! Way harsh, Mom.

Eda: Believe me, I hated myself for saying that.

I knew he just came to me wanting to help, but I was scared and I didn't want him or me to get hurt. I thought pushing him away was the only way to keep him safe. I would be lying if I said it didn't break my heart to do that.

Of course, your dad wasn't willing to give up that easily.

Just when Eda thought she could continue wallowing in despair, she was met with surprise as she heard footsteps come to her door. After turning her body halfway in the direction, an explosion rang from outside the door which caused the barrier to break. Sitting up, Eda then watched as the door fell to the floor, revealing a teenage Axel dressed in a Hexside uniform with azure sleeves, his right sleeve having a golden cuff that had nine different colored rings on it, and a staff that had a wooden falcon on top of it with glowing green eyes in hand. Axel then stepped into the room as the falcon's eyes closed.

"Axe!" Eda said with shock as Axel placed the staff against a wall by the door.

"Hey, you let me no choice, Eda." Axel told her. "If you weren't gonna come out of here, then I was coming in." As Eda glared at him, Axel then started walking forward. "Like I said, I'm not leaving until…" He paused as he caught the pillow Eda threw at him before he then tossed it aside. "Eda!"

"I told you I don't want your help!"

"I know that, but I refuse to leave you here like this."

"Axel, just… leave me alone." Eda crossed her arms as she turned away from him with her eyes closed tightly in constraint.

"Eda, please…" Axel said as he walked over to her with a pleading look.

"I said LEAVE ME ALONE!" After she instantly turned around, Axel then dodged two swipes from Eda who now had black eyes, fangs in her mouth, and clawed hands covered in feathers. Axel then ducked as Eda tried to pounce him, the cursed witch landing outside the door before getting up. After turning around, Eda then tried to swipe at Axel again, the Fire Dragon doing his best to dodge them. On the fourth swipe, Axel managed to catch Eda's hand by the wrist before catching the other as she tried to get herself free.

"Eda!" he held both her hands up as he looked at her, his girlfriend screeching out as she struggled to get free. "Eda, look at me! Look at me!" With that, Eda then looked at Axel in the eye, giving the Fire Dragon a growl. "Calm down."

After a moment of looking into each other's eyes, Eda's glare of anger was turned into surprise by Axel's determination to help her. Before long, the feathers molted off as her hands turned back to normal along with her teeth as she stopped gritting them. With a blink of them, Eda's eyes returned to normal as they then began to fill with tears.

"Axel…" Eda said as the tears then left her eyes. "You bonehead."

As Eda sniffled a little, Axel regained his calm demeanor as he then let go of Eda's wrist and gently pulled her into a hug, giving her his shoulder as she then began to cry while returning the hug.

"Eda, it's okay." Axel smiled as they broke the hug while still holding each other in each other's arms, wiping a tear from Eda's eyes. "We're going to get this, I promise."

"But what if we can't?" Eda gave Axel a look of concern. "What if we can't fix this? What if I'm stuck like this? What if I end up hurting everyone?"

"I'm not gonna let that happen. We will find a way."

"Axey…"

"E, please. I'm not letting you do this alone. Us weirdos got to stick together. Besides, we're Axeda, remember? The day and night…"

"Darkness and light." Eda finished with a smile. "Axel and Eda, us against the world."

"Together forever."

"Always." Saying that at the same time, the two then embraced each other, happy to have the one special to them in their lives.

Eda: No matter how much I tried to push him away, your dad refused to let me do things alone.

Ryuji: Dad did say that he couldn't imagine his life without you in it.

You are his Flare Flower after all.

Juniper: "His Flare Flower"?

That's a weird pet name.

Ryuji: Actually it's not really much a pet name.

It's something Fire Dragons like him call someone truly special to them. It's their way of calling that certain person their one and only true love.

Eda: He's right and that's how important I was to him.

I had come to realize that I was actually okay with this. Despite the problems that come with it, I wouldn't really care as long as I had Axel by my side.

After some crazy shit happened, I left the Boiling Isles with your dad and went on to live in the human world. Living there, he had me stay with him and his family.

I didn't think they would accept me because I came from the Isles, but they were willing to help me and welcomed me in.

[Human Realm]

Inside of a suburban house, we see a woman with short brown hair opening the white door and is surprised to find Axel and Eda standing there, Eda giving an awkward smile as she waves at her while Axel stands beside her with a smile. Though it seemed she wasn't expecting it, the woman smiled as she then went over and gave Eda a hug, a gesture which Eda happily accepts. After they break the hug, the three of them then walk inside.

Eda: In order to make sure I didn't freak anyone out, your dad got me a concealment stone.

Sure, the only thing it hid was my ears, but it was enough so I could be able to walk out of the house and blend in.

In the living room of the house, Axel holds up a black string necklace with a yellow stone on it to Eda before he then places it around her neck. In a puff of yellow smoke, Eda's ears become circular human ears instead of her pointed witch ears. Amazed by this, Eda then turned to Axel as the two smiled at each other.

Eda: I also changed my name to one that sounded more… human.

Ryuji: Marilyn Clarkson.

Eda: That's right.

And, to help make sure the curse didn't cause any trouble, Axel had some relatives go to the Boiling Isles and bring back plenty of the elixir I needed.

Before I came there, I never thought I would ever like living in the human realm, but your dad was one who knew how to give a girl a good time.

At a carnival, Axel and Eda are seen walking around with Eda having an arm wrapped around Axel's. Instead of uniforms, Eda is dressed is in a yellow crop top, a red, open, zipper-less, hooded jacket, and a pair of shorts and Axel is dressed in a long-sleeve shirt with black and blue horizontal stripes, and blue jeans. We then see them enjoying what the fair has to offer such as riding a roller coaster, walking through a house of mirrors, and doing bumper cars before sharing some cotton candy with Axel feeding some to Eda, the young witch enjoying the taste of the sweet treat.

When then cut to see Axel and Eda walking around a darkened hallway decorated with cobwebs and luminescent Halloween decorations with Axel dressed as a medieval knight and Eda in her Hexside uniform and without her concealment stone. As they turn the corner, two people jump out in front of them, one wearing a hockey mask and wielding a chainsaw and the other dressed in a black cloak and ghost mask. Their effort to try and scare them didn't work as the couple only had a little laugh before walking away, leaving the two scarers confused.

We then cut to a stadium where Axel and Eda are at a football game with Eda a velvet foam finger and Axel wearing a matching football jersey. They both cheer out as the team their rooting for makes a touchdown. Looking over to the stadium's jumbo screen, Axel and Eda watch as it showed a Kiss Cam view, switching from different pairs until it stops on them with the screen showing a heart with them in it. Though surprised by this as they look at each, the two then smile as they share a kiss with the crowd cheering for them.

Eda: Axel was everything I ever hoped for and more.

Smart, kind, charming. He was the total package.

We then cut to a park as Axel and Eda were dressed in the clothes they had on in the carnival as Axel hands her a beautiful bouquet of flowers, Eda accepting them and taking a whiff of them before smiling at her boyfriend with a blush, touched by the affection.

Eda: After graduating from high school along with college, the two of us soon decided to make a life together.

We moved to the place where we had used the last place where we ever used a portal and decided to make a home for us.

Ryuji: The old cabin in the woods, back at Gravesfield!

Eda: That's right.

And, thanks to the key, we managed to turn our own front door into a portal exit so we would be able to access the Isles whenever we wanted.

Ryuji: That explains why the portal is connected to it.

Hey, by the way, where did you guys find a portal from the Boiling Isles to the human realm?

Eda: Let's save that as a story for another day.

Anyway…

[Time skip: 7 years later]

Out in a familiar neck in the woods, we see an adult Axel and Eda walking around with Eda wearing a pair of jean shorts, a white t-shirt with a hot pink collar, a black leather jacket, black leggings, a familiar pair of red boots and Axel wearing a blue flannel shirt, a pair of jeans, and brown loafers. After stopping, the two smile at the clear field before they instantly got to work with building equipment on hand. After some time, they two managed to build a brand new house that would later become the abandoned cabin. We then cut to Axel who uses the portal key Eda has on the front door, putting it in the keyhole and turning it like he was either locking or unlocking it. After doing so, he removed the key and opened it to reveal an open field in the Boiling Isles, Axel and Eda smiling at each other.

Eda: Now that we were old enough and living on our own, me and Axel went on to buy the supply of elixirs on our own.

In order to make enough snails for every restock, we sold elixirs to people on the Isles. Believe it or not, business was booming back then. I honestly have no idea how Axel was able to get people to buy the stuff we had.

We then cut to the Boiling Isles marketplace as Eda and Axel who were in disguise were at their stand as they sold potions and elixirs to other witches and warlocks. As Eda took the money from paying customers, she turned to Axel as they two smiled at each other.

Eda: Axel was the man who truly made my life complete.

Every moment with him just seemed to get better and better.

It was because of him that I got to have special moments that I didn't even think I would get. Going from being boyfriend and girlfriend to husband and wife…

We then cut to a wedding chapel to see Axel who was dressed in a black tux with a black bow tie as he holds hands with Eda who was dressed in a beautiful white wedding dress, the two smiling at each other before they then kissed to signify their marriage, the crowd made of their closest friends from the human world and Axel's family cheering out to congratulate them, the brown-hair woman from before who is no doubt Axel's mother crying tears of joy as she was happy her son found someone to spend his life with.

Eda: To starting a family together.

Everything was perfect.

Juniper: Yeah, until me and DK came along.

Eda: Juni, what happened had nothing to do with you or Ryuji.

Juniper: Oh, yeah. Then what was it?

Eda: What had happened… was because of me.

We then cut to the front of the cabin as Axel and Eda stood there on the porch dressed in the clothes they had on when they built their home, the two smiling at the little sleeping baby Eda was holding. Wrapped in a white blanket with strands of orange hair on his head and a little red dragon tail sticking out a crack at the side of the blanket, and pointed ears like Eda. After the baby yawned, Axel gently hugged his wife and son, Eda gladly accepting it.

Eda: It was only a few weeks after you were born.

Expect for you two having one gray eye from getting some of my curse, Titan knows why it happened with you two and not your brother, nothing seemed to be wrong. In fact, besides Juni's ears, you two looked like normal, healthy babies. Boy, was Ben happy to meet ya.

Juniper: But if things were fine, how come you came back to the Isles and took me with you.

Ryuji: She did it because of her curse, Juni.

Dad told me that it had gotten worse after I—well, we were born.

Eda: Yeah, it did.

Before, I was able to keep myself from transforming. But by then I was starting to have less of a handle on it.

One time I actually transformed and went on a rampage through town. I was lucky that Axel was there to save me and turn me back before I caused too much damage.

Ryuji: It wasn't your fault.

Dad told me the only reason you did that was because that defeated Dargon kidnapped me.

Juniper: Wait, you got kidnapped by one of those evil fire elementals?

Ryuji: Yeah, a defeated one named Kevin Shutzman.

She only got mad because that guy was trying to use me as a hostage.

Eda: I know, but it still doesn't make up for what happened.

Ryuji: But everyone's forgotten all about that. They all think it was just some made-up story.

Eda: Yeah, but that's when I was starting to think that it wasn't such a good idea for me to stick around the human world.

I had been living there for eighteen years and the curse was just getting harder to deal with. While I appreciated Axel for trying his best to help me, I didn't want him to waste so much time in trying to break the curse.

After that, I told Axel that I decided to go back to the Isles since it was the only place that could handle something like me and that I was going to break the curse by myself. Your dad tried his best to get me to stay. I wanted to stay just as much as he wanted me to, but I was too afraid of what was going to happen. Took a lot of begging, but I finally got him to let me go back.

He gave me the portal key so I could come back. He gave Juni to me because he didn't want both twins to grow up without a mom.

[Time skip: 8 years later]

We cut to the inside of the cabin as Eda is sitting in a chair while holding a baby Ryuji and Juniper in her arms, Eda smiling happily at her twin children. We then cut to the two babies sitting on the floor while an eight-year-old Ben makes funny faces at them, causing the twins to laugh. From afar, Eda and Axel (the husband now sporting a mustache) smile at their children getting along.

We then cut to Eda in her Owl Beast form as she charges through some streets, people running away from her in a panic. Cutting to the woods, we see Axel as he gives Eda an elixir, turning her back to normal as he holds her in his arms.

We then cut to the cabin as Eda and Axel are talking with each other, Axel trying to change Eda's mind about going back to the Isles while Eda tries to convince Axel to let her go, Axel even taking both her hands as he pleaded for her to stay.

We then cut to outside the cabin as Axel stands in front of Ben who was holding Ryuji while Eda stood between her husband and the door, her back facing the door as she wore the portal key around her neck and held on to Juniper. Both twins were fast asleep while their older brother looked like he was about to cry while Eda and Axel looked at each other with sad expressions. Having a single hug goodbye, Axel stood there as Eda walked to the door, her hand slowly leaving his. As Ben goes to stand by his father as Eda reaches the door, she looks back at her husband and her sons, not wanting to leave as much as them. Taking a deep breath, Eda opens the door and steps through, the door instantly shutting before giving off a bright flash.

[End of Flashback]

[Ryuji]

"And ever since then, I've been living here, trying to deal with my curse and taking care of the only daughter I have." Eda said as she finished her story. "Before I left, me and your dad decided not to tell you about either of us as a way of keeping you both safe. We both knew if you had known you had family just on the other side of a portal, you two would probably get into trouble from trying to get to them."

"Yeah, but for good reason." Juniper said as she looked down at the floor.

"Juni, I know that you're upset and you have every right to be." Eda said with a sad look. "Back then, a part of me had told me not to go and to stay with our family. Keeping all this from you was nothing but selfish and, for that, I'm sorry." She then turned to me as I looked at her with pity. "Ryuji, I bet you're upset too. You no doubt tried so hard to look for a mom who you now know only ran away because she was afraid of what was going on. I missed out on your first steps, your first words, your first spell. I wanted nothing more than to see you grow up and become the strong, brave man I knew you could be. I love you just as much as Juni and Ben. I'd get you're too angry at me to even forgive me, but I just want you to know that I'm…" From there, I then grabbed her into a hug.

"You don't need to apologize. I understand." I said to her as I let tears of joy leave my eyes. "I'm just glad that I got to finally meet my mom and see she's okay."

"Thanks, Ryuji." Eda said as she returned the hug, where I looked up to see her smiling at me. We then turned to see Juniper sitting there with her arms crossed, trying her best to look away as she pretended she didn't want to join in the hug. "Juni, don't be like that."

"Yeah, come on and hug Mom, sister." I told her.

It took a moment, but she sighed in defeat and went over, me and Eda getting her into the hug. It took a moment but my sister smiled as she then returned the hug, joining me as we hugged her—no, our mom in a family embrace.

"Okay, so you're my mom." I said after we broke the hug and I wiped away my tears. "Guess it makes sense seeing I'm following in your footsteps as much as Dad."

"Yeah, just like me." Juniper said as she gave me a playful nudge.

"Yeah, though I had a feeling me and you were related." I told her with a smug smile.

"How so?" My twin asked.

"Your necklace." I pointed to the accessory Dad gave her. "It haves the Vallite royal crest, a symbol to show someone who's a member of the royal family of Valla. Of course, I thought you might've been a cousin or something, but not my sister."

"Really? Even after you just pointed out the obvious?" She arced a brow at me, getting a shrug out of me.

"Okay, you two." Mom said as she pat us both on the head. "Now that we got all this taken care of, how about you two head downstairs and help clean up?"

"Got it, Mom." Juniper said.

"Yeah, we're on it." I said before I then remembered something I wanted to ask her. "Oh, by the way, can we keep the fact that you're my mom and Juni's my sister a secret from Luz? As much as I would want her to know this, I know she's just going to ask you all kinds of questions about this family, specifically the Clawthorne side which I know isn't something you'll be comfortable with telling her about it yet, especially after what happened."

"Yeah, I'm not in the mood for revealing any more of my past than I already have today." Mom said to me. "Okay then. Nothing leaves this room until you want it."

"Thanks, Oka-san." I told her.

"Oka-san?" Mom asked me in surprise.

"Yeah, it means 'mother'." I explained. "I thought I could call you that until we let Luz in on this family secret. She only knows a little Japanese, so it'll be fine."

"Oh. Okay then." Mom said, approving the idea.

"Hey, since you can't actually call me your sis," Juniper spoke up, "do you have any Japanese you can call me?"

"Hmm…" I said as I thought about it. "How about 'Onee-san'?"

"Onee-san. I like it." She said, liking it.

"Okay then. Now let's go and help Luz and King out." I said as I then stood up.

"Right. Race you down the stairs, bro!" Juniper said as she did the same before she rushed out the door.

"Hey!" I said as I then followed her out, stopping at the door as I looked back at Mom. "You sure you're gonna be okay, Mom?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Mom waved off my concern. "Now go help the girls."

"Okay. Just call if you need anything." I said to her with a smile. "Love ya!"

"Love you too, kiddo." Mom said as I then rushed down the stairs to help out.

[No one's view]

After he leaves, Eda sighs in contentment as she then lays in her nest, happy knowing that her son knew the truth and that he didn't hate her for what she did.

"He called me 'Mom'. He really is a sweet boy." Eda said as she then drifted off to sleep.

[Eda's dream]

Instantly opening her eyes, Eda found herself in a dull gray area, standing in front of a door that resembled much like the one she had in her flashback as low whispering echoed through the very area.

"No… Not this again…" Eda said with fear before the door suddenly opened with a bright white light, revealing a blurred-out silhouette of a person that appeared to have large white eyes. "You! You're the one who cursed me, aren't you?" Eda got no reply, only more whispers. "Hey, I'm talking to you! Who are you? Who are you?" As she reached out to them, the door suddenly slammed shut, making her tumble back and bump into something as the area turned completely pitch black.

Hearing the sound of a deep low growl, Eda slowly looked up and locked her eyes with two solid glowing red orbs that stared down at her while accompanied by a set of sharp fangs. She was terrified, frozen in fear, and the only thing she could do was scream as it roared while lunging its open jaw at her.

[Eda's room]

Suddenly shooting up awake while gasping in shock, she quickly examined her surroundings and was a bit relieved to know that it was only a dream.

"Oh." Eda said before she held up the picture Ryuji had given back to her, giving a sad sigh as she wipes away a stray tear while looking down at the picture. "I really wish you were here, Axe."

[Ryuji]

A while after getting downstairs, we were finally able to fix the damages to the Owl House and clean up the mess, me using my combo spell of Healing Magic and Construction Magic to help with the damages. I even used it to get Hooty's door back on its hinges. By the time I was done, I felt the sunshine over the house as the boiling rain had passed.

"Welcome to the Boo-Boo Buddy Club, Hooty." Luz said as she was finished putting bandages on the claw marks on the door left by the Owl Beast.

"Finally, I get to be a part of something!" The guardian happily said.

"Hey, Luz." I said as I got her attention. "I really got to say, you blew me away back there with that Light Glyph. Great job learning your first spell."

"Thanks, DK. Now you're not the only magic user anymore." Luz said, playfully nudging me.

After everything that happened, I was so happy that I couldn't help but reach out and pull Luz into a hug.

"Ry-Ryuji?" Luz stuttered, surprised by this.

"Thanks for being here, Luz. I'm glad you're here." I said to her with a smile.

"Me too." Luz said as I could feel her smile as she returned the hug.

[No one's view]

"Well, that's the last of it." Juniper said while dusting her hands off before she looked with surprise at Ryuji and Luz hugging. She smiled as she saw Luz's light blush which no doubt came from Ryuji complimenting her.

"And then she had teeth in her stomach, teeth in her stomach!" Hearing the Snaggleback's voice, Juniper turned to see him talking to King who was writing it down. "Can you believe that?"

"Getting info on the Owl Beast, King?" Juniper asked as she walked over to the little demon.

"Oh, yeah." King said, showing his drawing of the Owl Beast along with the notes he took. "This'll make a great addition to my demon book."

"That book is filled with so many interesting things, like this." Snaggleback said as he picked up said demon book, showing the supposedly accurate picture of him. "I'm one of the strongest demons on the Boiling Isles, huh?"

"That's what it says." Juniper bluntly said. "Something that really isn't true.

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to edit that." King added.

"Oh." The pink demon sadly said.

[Ryuji's aside]

Well, this turned out to be quite an eventful day. Me and Luz survived our first boiling rain storm, we saved the Owl House from the Owl Beast, Luz finally cast her first spell, and I finally got to meet my mom and got a new sister to boot. It was nice to see Eda—I mean, Mom opened up like that, especially with her relationship with the family. It definitely explained a few things, like my discomfort from when I met her and Juni. And now I know that the Owl House is the place to be in the Boiling Isles and that I can trust the most powerful witch on it to help me with my curse, especially now that I also got my twin helping me out too. I know that it might be a while before she's ready to talk about it, but I can't wait to learn more about my mom and the Clawthorne side of our family. Knowing all the different parts of me is just how I come to embrace all that I am as I work up to who I want to be, to make my family proud. All I can say that, as far as I can see with no pun intended, it's clear skies from here on out. DK out!

Author's Note: Hey, guys! I hope you all like the new chapter. Now you finally know. Why Eda is called the Owl Lady and about her curse. I bet some of you were surprised to see that Eda was actually Ryuji's mother and that he and Juniper were twins the whole time, huh? At least now Ryuji had finally got to meet his mother and found his family in the Boiling Isles. Though many questions have been answered, new questions have arisen as well. Who was it that cursed Eda? What was the mysterious red-eyed beast from her dream? The answers await as the story continues. By the way, Teenage Axel is voiced by the same actor who is the voice of Benjamin Frank. And just wait as, in the next chapter, Luz and Ryuji will take a closer look at the Coven System. That's all I got for now. Don't forget to leave a comment to tell me what you think of it. See you all in the next chapter!