Legend of the Dragon Kid, Book 1: Welcome to the Owl House

by Element Writer

Ryuji Frank, a 16-year-old human/witch hybrid, is boy met with troubles, mostly caused by a terrible curse he inherited from his mother. To help him with this, his father sends him to the Boiling Isles to live with a witch known as Eda the Owl Lady who could help him. With his human friend Luz joining him to become a witch, Ryuji's days in the Isles becomes full of adventures.

9. Chapter 6: Hooty's Moving Hassle

Chapter 6: Hooty's Moving Hassle

Out in front of the Owl House, I was having a little battle with Juniper, my sister coming at me with magic blasts while King, Luz, and Mom watched from the sidelines. It had been about four days since the witch's duels me and Luz had as well since Luz found out that her mentor was my mom and that the Clawthorne girl we'd been hanging with was actually my twin sister. Believe me, Luz was just ecstatic to meet this part of my family. As to why I was in a battle against my sister, I can tell ya that it isn't because we were fighting. If we were, I wouldn't need my Saisho. No, we were actually doing combat practice so I could be able to figure out what my sword could truly do. Ever since I found out that it could change into different types of weapons, I've been trying to see if I could be able to figure out how to get my Saisho to change form. Sure, the Saisho's been a great sword and I got pretty good attack spells with it, but there are other spells I haven't been able to use with it just being a sword. You know, like the spells I used in my duel against Xander. Those were spells I actually tried to do with my Saisho back home, but they didn't actually work. The reason for that was how the Saisho worked as a sword. After learning how to do my Dragon's Roar spells, I actually tried to implement the use of the Saisho in other kinds of attacks. I tried whip attacks, but the only one I was able to do was that Magic Cloak spell: the Vine Lash. I know that this spell actually helped free those prisoners from the Conformatorium, but that was actually pure luck that it work.

The Vine Lash is actually a bit tricky since the vines that wrap around the blade make my Saisho a bit too heavy for any instant whip attack. It also doesn't work well for grappling. Yeah, that spell actually leaves me pretty vulnerable when I use it since it just shoots a long vine out and takes a frickin' long time to retract that. And I need to put a lot of effort to lift that thing up. I also tried to do Strike Spells, but that only lead me to me being blasted away in an explosion or something bursting out of the ground. I also tried spells that involved using my Saisho to break through things like barriers or stuff like that, throwing it for a long-distance strike, and even trying to shoot a blast and make split into multiple shots down to the ground, all of them just leading me to get my sword stuck in a tree, almost blowing myself up, accidentally stabbing somethings and one mailman, and blasts that just shoot off into space. Nothing I did actually work like I thought it would. From these attempts, I realized that the problem wasn't the spells but the weapon I was using. Not the Saisho itself, but what type of weapon it was. While my Saisho can absorb my magic and execute attack spells I've come up with it, it also has a few disadvantages depending on the type of weapon it is. As a sword, it can shoot blast attack spells like it does when I either slash or thrust with it, but it can only do blast attacks. Once the spell is put into action, it builds up the magic power and releases it into one big burst. This is also the reason why the blasts can't scatter into multiple blasts or use the spells to break through things since it's all just one big blast that would explode at close range, like shooting a cannonball.

Another problem is that the sword can't hold in magic unless I'm still holding onto it. The moment I let go of it when I try to through it, I cut it off from the magic coming from me and it just becomes just a blade that can only cut through things. These problems were the reason why I couldn't use most of the spells I came up with because they didn't work with my Saisho as a sword. Before that duel, I had always wondered why Dad trained me into using all four types of weapons when he only gave me a sword. Now I know that it was because the Saisho could be the other three types of weapons. If I could figure out how to change its form, I could be able to use my Saisho with all the spells I came up with. I could be able to do whip attack and strike attack spells along with spells like that drill attack with its lance form like in my duel with Xander, I could be able to throw it for long-distance attacks with its axe form, and even do scattering blasts with its bow form. Mastering all that would level up my game as I would have my own magic arsenal against anything. It's because of this that me and Juniper have been doing combat practice for the last four days. I thought that, since it happened during a battle, I could get my Saisho to transform by going through a combat scenario. Unfortunately, I haven't really been able to make that happen again, leading me to get smoked by my sister. Same thing was happening with today's battle, my sister having me on the run while I was still trying to get my Saisho to change form.

"Come on, DK!" Juniper said as she paused her attack, getting me to stop as I looked to see her smug face. "You gotta try and get a hit on me if you're gonna beat me."

"I'm gonna beat ya this time, Juni!" I said as I then gained a smirk. "Just need to switch it up! Ha!" I thrust my Saisho forward, the sword not doing anything as I held it in front of me with one hand. "Ha!" Pulled back and did another thrust, my sword not even glowing. That's when I lost my smile and looked at my weapon in annoyance. "Seriously?" Looking to see my sister's blast coming at me, I then dove into a California roll to dodge it before I then ran to dodge more of her blasts. "Hey, that was a cheap shot you tried back there, sis!"

"Hey, you left yourself open, bro." Juniper said as she kept on sending magic blasts. "Got to pay more attention to what's going on." Just when she said that, I ended up tripping on something and fell flat on the ground, no doubt Juniper using a spell to lift up some of the ground to trip me like she's done multiple times. I turned over to get back up, but stopped once I saw Juniper holding one of her cursed flames in front of my face, my sister smiling proudly as she had me pinned. "Checkmate, bro." After she said that, my twin made the flame disappear before she did a little victory dance. "Oh, yeah! Juniper Clawthorne wins again!"

"Damn it." I said as I sat up, depressed that I lost to my sister and that I failed to get the Saisho to transform.

"Need a hand, DK?" Luz asked as she offered me her hand, giving me her warm smile. I accepted it and let her help me to my feet.

"Thanks, Luz." I said, returning her smile.

"No problem." Luz said to me. "That went better than last time."

"Yeah, but ended the same way as last time." I said, losing the smile I had while putting the sword back on my back. "With me flat on my face and only have a sword in hand instead of a lance, an axe, or even a frickin' bow."

"Come on. Stop looking so glum." Luz said as she tried to cheer me up.

"Luz is right." Mom said as she walked over to us. "Don't get so down in the dumps over this. You only did just find out your sword could turn into other weapons."

"I know, but this is a big game-changer." I said. "Being able to use all four types of weapons means I'll be able to use more spells than I ever could with just a sword. That's how I was able to win that witch's duel."

"Yeah, I remember and I'm proud of you." Mom told me. "But I also want you to stop worrying so much about not getting your sword's new trick. You just started trying to get it, so don't get upset if you didn't do it again."

"Yeah, but…" I said before she then kneeled down and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"Ryuji, I know you want to how to change your weapon so you can use it better, but you can't expect to get a hold of everything like that." Mom told me with a gentle smile. "You're still young. Just keep doing your best and you'll get it. Okay, kiddo?"

"Okay, Mom." I said, looking down with despair. It only took a moment until Mom spoke up again.

"Hey, you know what always cheers me up when I'm feeling down?" Mom asked me.

"Making chumps out of people by selling junk?" King bluntly put in.

"No. Well, kinda." Mom said before she then started digging in her hair. "But I was talking about a round of Hexes Hold'em." She then pulled out a deck of cards which were split in two colors, black on top and purple on the bottom, with a green eye in the middle acting as the border.

"Hexes Hold'em?" I asked, my depression turned into curiosity. "What's that?"

"Only the most popular card game on the Boiling Isles." Mom explained.

"Oh, boy! Cards!" Luz exclaimed with interest. "The paper rectangles that old people think are fun!"

"Trust me, kiddo." Mom told me. "One round of Hexes Hold'em and you'll perk right up."

"Seriously, Mom?" Juniper said as we turned to see her standing there with her arms crossed, a look of disappointment on her face. "Had you been saving this up just for today?"

"Oh, calm down, Juni." Mom said as she took her hand off my shoulder and stood up. "I'm just looking out for you kids. As I remember, you were pretty happy when I showed you how to play Hexes Hold'em."

"Yeah, and I also remember the many times you got me to play a couple of rounds nonstop after you did." Juniper said. "I already know how this will go. You play one round of it and then you won't do anything but play that stupid game because you're obsessed with it."

"What? No, I'm not." Mom said, getting a questioning look from her daughter. "Okay, maybe I get a little carried away and keep playing, but I'm only doing this now for Ryuji's sake. Besides, if I teach him, then you two will have something to do together as brother and sister."

"Hmm…" Juniper thought about it for a moment before she gave her answer. "Okay, just don't go overboard or get DK obsessed with it too ʹcause considering I didn't get obsessed with it like you are…"

"Oh, relax. It's just one little game. What could go wrong?" Mom said before she then turned to me. "Come on, kids. Let's head on in and play some Hexes Hold'em!" With that, me, Luz, and King joined Mom as she walked into the house, Juniper joining us after.

---

After getting inside and over to the living room table, Mom got everything set up by shuffling and splitting the deck between me and her with Luz, King, and Juniper sitting at the side, my twin having her arms crossed and an emotionless expression.

"Okay, Ryuji," Mom said as she then placed my half the deck in front of me, "since this is your first time playing, I'll have Owlbert helping you."

"Your palisman knows how to play?" I asked, surprised by this.

"Of course. Your dad wasn't always around to go a round or two, so I taught Owlbert how to play Hexes Hold'em." Mom answered as the little owl then landed on my shoulder. "He'll tell you which cards you can play. This is a practice round, so it'll be fine."

"Okay, so how does it work?"

"First, we each draw five cards from our decks." Mom then did just that and I did the same, the face of these cards resembling tarot cards. "Now we each then set up a line of character cards in front of us."

"Character cards?" With getting this sense of familiarity, I then went on to ask her to see if I was correct about this. "Wait, does this game involve some sort of battle sequence where we can also use some special cards that can boost our chance at winning?"

"Why, yes." Mom said, surprised by this and causing me to smile. "How'd you know?"

"Because we have a game like this back in the human realm."

"Oh, right. Yu-gi-oh!" Luz spoke up, realizing what I meant. "Me and Ryuji played that game all the time."

"Wait, you have a game like Hexes Hold'em?" Juniper asked, surprised by this.

"Well, it haves the same principals." I said as I then took one card out of my hand and showed it to Owlbert. "Seeing how got a little help in figuring out which card is which, it should be easy." Seeing him shake his head, I then put the card back in my hand and showed him another one.

"Don't get too cocky, kiddo." Mom told me. "Hexes Hold'em is the most tricky game on the Boiling Isles. It might seem similar to that human game you play, but it is more complicated than that."

"I know. Lesson One of the Boiling Isles: Anything that looks familiar or simple can be more different or difficult than it seems." I said as Owlbert help me pick out and place two character cards from my hand.

"Good. Now, after starting our offensive line with the character cards we have on hand, we each draw one card per turn to build up the rest." Mom said as she then set up two of her own on her side. "Until we have it done, we'll keep drawing cards until we each have five character cards out of the field. While setting it up, you need to be careful of which cards you use on the field. How the five cards you set up can work together can either help you achieve victory or defeat."

"So basically it's like setting up different combos. That I can work with." With that, I then drew a card before showing it to Owlbert, who looked at how mine and my mom's rows were set before shaking his head. Putting it back in my hand, I then let my mom draw a card which she then added to her side of the field.

Me and Mom continued to draw cards with her using her knowledge of the game to set up her offense and Owlbert helping me pick the right cards for my own. Before long, I had my side set up while my mom had four cards set up on her side and gave me a look that told me she had all that she needed to get the game started.

"Ready to see how you're first round goes?" Mom asked me with a smug.

"Ready." I said with a look of determination before she then placed the last card needed for her row down, magic soon surging through the cards for a moment gained insect legs and mouths and roared at each other, this little Boiling Isles twist taking me by surprise. "Whoa!" I soon gained a smile as the cards on my side began to send my mom's cards on the run. "Looks like I got the upper hand, Mom."

"Oh, I don't think so. There's a little thing about Hexes Hold'em." Mom told me, not losing that smug look on her face. "When it looks like the deck is stacked against you, that's when you break out the wild card."

Pulling out a tower card from her hand that began to glow green, I then watched as her cards on the field then began glowing green before they then went on the attack on mine, my cards being knocked right on the ground. The magic that animated them then left the cards, turning them back to normal as the magic then turned into an orb above the table that exploded into these words in all caps: EDA WINS.

"And that's how you play Hexes Hold'em." Mom told me as I sat there in awe.

"Whoa!" I said with a smile, amazed by this as her cards then turned back to normal. "Okay, this is way cooler than Yu-gi-oh!"

"Feeling better now, Ryuji?" Mom asked me.

"Yeah, way better! Thanks, Mom. Hey, can we play again?"

"Sure. You know, I'm glad I have a chance to show you this game." Mom said to me. "This might be a little sappy, but as a mom, this sort of thing makes me feel… fluffy?"

"Uh-oh." I said with worry from seeing feathers growing on her arms.

"Uh-oh, what?" Mom asked in confusion.

"Mom… we got trouble." Juniper said, nervously.

"What kind of trouble?" She asked.

"It's happening again!" Luz exclaimed in fear.

"Okay, seriously. What's going on?" Mom said, wanting a clear answer.

"Your curse is returning!" King told her, making Mom look at her arms and yelp upon seeing the feathers.

"We got to get you an elixir, fast!" Juniper said before we all rushed up to Mom's room where she then pulled the elixir chest out of the closet and opened it, my sister gaining a look of worry upon looking into it. "Oh, crap."

"What? What's the matter?" I said as I went over to her.

"Bad news: we're out of elixir!" Juniper said as she then pulled an empty elixir bottle out of the pile of empty elixir bottles in the chest.

"That's not good." I said, feeling just as worried.

"Yeah, Eda." Luz said to my mom as she pulled out her phone. "Last time you didn't take your elixir, you turned into this thing." She then showed her the picture of the Owl Beast."

"I know I should be repulsed, but that look is fierce." The Owl Lady commented with a smile.

"Mom! /Eda!" Me and my sister along with Luz exclaimed at the same time.

"Sorry, sorry." Mom told us. "This is pretty bad."

"I don't understand. There was supposed to be enough elixir in here for at least one more week." Juniper said as she then looked back into the chest before noticing something. "Wait a minute, some of the elixir stock we got is missing."

"You counted how much was in there?" Luz asked with surprise by this.

"Yeah, I always count to see how long we can keep my mom from turning into the Owl Beast. That stuff isn't cheap." Juniper told us. "Anyway, this chest only has half the elixir stock we got."

"How'd that happen?" I said, confused by this. "I thought it was stocked with enough elixir for both Mom and me."

"What are you talking about?" Juniper raised a brow at me.

"Well, after the last time she turned into the Owl Beast, I talked to Mom about the elixir stock we had and she told me that she restocked on it for me the day after me and Luz got here." I told my sister. "She's been giving me a bottle of it every day for the past two weeks."

"Well, that doesn't make any sense. I've gone out with Mom to get more elixir ever since I found out about it." Juniper told me. "It's the only way to make sure she doesn't pick-pocket anyone and get arrested on the way to the market. Plus, if we did restock, then you would have a supply of it in your room."

"Wait, if there wasn't another elixir stock, then that means…" Suddenly realizing it, I then turned to Mom who had a guilty look on her face. "Mom, you split off the only elixir stock we had between us?"

"Well… yes." She admitted.

"Mom, while I appreciate you doing this, you need this elixir just as much as I do." I told her. "Why didn't you restock and only told me you did?"

"Well, I didn't want you to worry. Like I said to Juni, it's my job to worry about you and not the other way around." Mom told me. "Also, I meant to restock on more, but I've been… busy."

"And by 'busy', you mean 'playing Hexes Hold'em all day with Owlbert'?" Juniper questioned her with disappointment. "Mom, you got to get over this obsession of yours."

"Juni, I told you. I don't have an obsession!" Mom said to her.

"Oh, really? Then why did you set up a Hexes Hold'em field while we were talking?" Juniper then pointed down to the floor where a few Hexes Hold'em cards are set up.

"Uh… Owlbert wanted to go a round with me." Mom said with a nervous smile, her palisman shaking his head as we could all see through her excuse.

"Mom, as much as I would like to keep playing this game with you, your curse problem comes first." I said with a pleading look. "Please, let's just go to the market and get more elixir, then we'll play Hexes Hold'em later, okay?"

"Okay. You're right. This curse comes first." Mom said with a look of defeat. "We'll go to market…"

"Market!" Luz cheered out.

"I'm stealing everything that's not nailed down!" King put in, excited.

"After one more game." Mom said before she looked down and saw her cards were gone. "Hey, where are my cards?"

Looking down, I was surprised as well to find the cards were gone. As my mom searched around for her deck, Luz gave me a little nudge to get me to look at her before she showed me my mom's deck in her hand behind her back.

"Have Owlbert take these and fly off ahead." Luz whispered to me as my mom kept searching. "She'll have to follow us then."

"Good idea." I said before taking the cards, whispering to Owlbert to fly off to the market with the cards, and giving them to him with the little owl flying off my shoulder and out of the room.

"Owlbert, you adorable thieving loser! Give me back my cards!" Mom said as she then gave chase after her palisman.

"Clever move there, Luz." I said to my friend, impressed by this.

"How did you swipe all those cards from her?" Juniper asked with surprise.

"I can be sneaky too, you know." Luz said with a smirk in response.

"Okay, now let's go get us some more elixir before Mom goes all Owl Beast on us." I said before the three of us then ran after Mom and Owlbert, King following behind.

---

After a quick ride on Mom's staff into town, we went to a local potions shop called Mr. Elixir. To help conceal her identity along with the effect of the curse, Mom put on a red hooded cloak. Juniper brought her own cloak along and I got put on my hood in case anyone recognized me from the duel. While Mom was trying to get the guy she knew in the store to attend to us, me, Luz, and Juniper sat on the bench to wait.

"Hey! Open up, Morton!" Mom called out as she banged her fist on the metal fencing of the shop's service window

"Uh, ju-just a minute!" stuttered a voice from inside.

"Is there anything better than people watching in the Demon Realm?" Luz said as King then joined us on the bench

"Eh. I can name a few." Juniper commented as we watched a big egg roll in at what looked like a bus stop before it hatched and a huge, baby bird screeched out from it before flying away. After the bird did, the demons who were waiting there walked inside the shell and closed it before it rolled away much to the displeasure of big nose.

"Wait, wait!" Said a familiar midget as she tried to catch it, but stopped as she saw she was too late. "Aw, dang it!"

"And there it is." Juniper said.

"One of the problems of being short." I put in.

"The curse of tiny legs." Luz added.

"I know the pain." King exclaimed sadly, relating to the midget.

Seeing her then run away in fear, we then watched as these guys dressed in brown cloaks walked in, welling this worm-like demon with bull horns tied to a wooden cart, the one leading them having an eyepatch over his left eye and a sheathed sword on his back.

"Whoa. That is one ominous parade." Luz commented as we watched the group walk by.

"That's no parade." Mom said as we turned to see her watching the group. "Those are demon hunters."

"Demon hunters?" I asked.

"They're dangerous nomads who capture and sell the most powerful beasts on the Isles." Mom explained as we watched the group continue walking through the street.

"I heard about those guys." Juniper put in as the leader of the group took out his sword, the blade glowing green before he then thrust it forward and his weapon sent a surge of lightning that electrocuted and knocked out the demon they were hauling. "They're supposed to be a faction of people from the Warriors Coven that hunt down any wild demon they can find and don't stop until it's captured." It was then that the leader put his sword away before turning to us with a menacing glare, making me flinch. "Hey, what you looking at?" Juniper got a scoff back from the hunter who then motioned his company to keep moving. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Okay, I can already tell those guys are bad news." I said with worry as me, Juniper, and Luz went over to Mom.

"They are and I'm about to become their next big prize if you don't open up, Morton!" Eda yelled that last part as she continued to bang on the metal fencing before it opened up.

The one who answered us was a lanky, young warlock with light pale skin, light brown eyes, and short brown hair dressed in a mint green long-sleeved top with fingerless gloves, a long brown overlay dress with a crisscross sleeve, and a dark brown belt with a frog necklace along with a gray funnel hat.

"Sorry, Eda! I was up all night poison-tasting and, for some reason, I don't feel good." He said while holding his sides.

"Maybe because of the poison?" Juniper said in a deadpan tone.

"Maybe." Morton said, still holding his sides. "I usually don't feel this bad after poison-tasting, but it doesn't seem like that today."

"Here, let me you with that." I said as I then created a blue spell circle. "Healing Magic: Healing Pulse." Holding the circle in front of him, the spell circle then shines a gentle blue light over him. After a brief moment, he let go of his sides and stood up straight, looking much better than before. With that, I then stopped the spell and smiled. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, way better. Thanks." Morton said, returning the smile.

"Okay, now that you're cured, mind helping me out." Mom said before she then handed Morton one of the empty elixir bottles. "We're all out of my juice."

"And we need double the usual amount she buys." I added.

"Double?" Morton said with surprise before whispering to my mom. "Does this have to with you-know-what?"

"I know what you're thinking, but I can promise you that my curse isn't getting worse." Mom told him.

"He knows about the curse, Mom?" I asked with surprise.

"'Mom'? Wait a minute…" Morton said with surprise before he looked at me a bit carefully and gasped. "Eda, is this…"

"Morton, this is my son Ryuji." Mom said as she pulled me over to her, doing introductions. "Ryuji, this is Morton, an old friend of your dad's who's been giving us elixir for years."

"You're my dad's supplier on elixir?" I said to Morton with surprise.

"Yeah, that's me." He told me with a smile. "Whenever your folks need more elixir, I was more than happy to give it to them. It keeps me in business, plus it's the least I can do after your dad helped me start my business."

"My dad helped you open this shop?"

"Of course." Morton told me. "In fact, I probably would be able to have anything to sell if it weren't for him. Your dad is a real master at potion-making."

"Well, the Potions Track was the first track he attended in school." I smiled, knowing how great my dad was.

"Hey, how is old Axel these days?"

"Morton, mind cutting the chit-chat and get me more elixir?" Mom said to him. "I'm already growing feathers and Ryuji used the last elixir."

"Oh, gee! I'll see what I can do." Morton said before he rushed to search through his stock of potions.

"Hi, nice to meet ya." Morton greeted me. "Your dad really helped me get my shop up and running."

[No one's view]

While Eda and her son were waiting, Luz turned around and spotted Willow and Gus walking across the street, gaining a smile before walking over to them.

"Hey, Willow! Hey, Gus!" Luz greeted them before noticing the sad looks on their faces. "Wait, what's wrong? Who hurt my babies?"

"Them." Willow replied, pointing her thumb over to Amity who was hanging out with her friends and Xander. "Amity's having a moonlight conjuring and invited everyone but me."

"And she keeps posting about it on her Penstagram account." Gus said, making a small spell circle before a small, rolled-up scroll appear and he then hovered it to Luz as it unrolled to show a photo of Amity and her group doing a bunch of poses.

"It's conjuring night! No dorks allow?" Luz said, reading a text that appeared under the picture out loud before glaring at Amity. "Okay, that is just rude." She then turned to her friends in curiosity. "Also what's a moonlight conjuring?"

"Oh, it's a thing witches and warlocks do." Willow explained, brightening up with a smile. "You spend the night at someone's house, telling stories, playing games…"

"Like a slumber party!" Luz exclaimed with a smile. "We have those!"

"Then you bring something to life with Moon Magic!" Willow said as she brought up a book showing a picture of three witches holding hands while blue energy gather in between them.

"A weird slumber party!" Luz said. "Still sounds pretty cool."

"It is." Willow said as she put the book away. "Gus and I have never been to one. We would have one of our own, but you need at least three people and…"

"I'm three people!" Luz exclaimed, interrupting her. "I mean, we're three people. Plus, I get Ryuji and Juni to join in to make five. Plus we're way better than Amity and her pals!"

Hearing laughter, the three friends then turned to see Amity and her friends coming by them with the one ahead of them being a witch student with a petite figure, pink skin, magenta hair, and three eyes wearing a uniform with yellow sleeves and leggings.

"Sorry you couldn't get an invite to the conjuring, Willow." The three-eyed girl said in a mocking tone. "Only real witches and warlocks allowed."

"Leave her alone." Amity said with a sigh. "It's not her fault she was born without talent."

Willow growled in frustration making a few thorn vines emerge and even Luz was feeling ticked off after that comment.

"Calm down, Willow. Don't get all thorny over them." Luz said as she smacked one of the vines away, managing to calm Willow down.

"Boscha, would you stop wasting time and let's get going?" Xander said to the three-eyed witch now known as Boscha in annoyance as the witch then noticed something. "We have a lot to do to get prepared."

"Hold up." Boscha said with a smile before pointing forward. "One 'o'clock." Looking at the direction she was pointing, they all saw she was looking in the direction of Eda and her twin children as they were waiting at the potions shop.

"What are we looking at?" Xander asked.

"You'll see." Boscha said as she then started walking over to the three waiting at the shop.

"Where are you going?" Xander asked, keeping an emotionless expression. "Boscha!"

[Ryuji]

While waiting for Morton to come back, I was caught by surprise from someone pulling down on my hood, taking it off.

"What? Hey!" I said as I turned slightly to see who pulled my hood.

"Hi." Said this witch girl that appeared right in front of me, her eyes locked on me as she gave me a little smirk.

The witch girl in front of me had pink skin, three silver-gray eyes, and magenta hair tied into a bun. She was dressed in a Hexside uniform with yellow sleeves and leggings. She was actually rather petite, especially in the chest area.

"Uh, hi." I said as I backed away a bit, feeling a little uncomfortable from the girl invading my personal space. But from doing so, I was soon met by two other witch girls who then came up beside me and leaned against me, both of them wearing Hexside uniforms and giving me the same smirk as the three-eyed girl with the one to my left had black hair that was dyed white at the top and tied into a ponytail wearing gold earrings and red sleeves and leggings and the one to my left having shoulder-length brown hair and wearing black square-framed glasses, blue sleeves and leggings, and black heeled shoes instead of boots. "Uh, hello."

"Hey, just wondering." The three-eyed girl said as she then walked over to me before invading my personal space again, getting close to my face. "Are you the hybrid known as DK?"

"Uh, well, yeah. That's me." I said, feeling the sweat at feeling a little uncomfortable by this. "Guess you heard about me?"

"Oh, we heard a lot about you." She said to me. "Like how you won in a duel against a Duskerman."

"What? Xander?"

"Yeah. And I got to say that's actually pretty cool."

"Well, thank you."

"My name's Boscha, by the way."

"Nice to meet ya, Boscha."

[No one's view]

Unknown to Boscha and Ryuji, Luz watched was happening in shock before growling out of annoyance and jealousy for Boscha and her friends flirting with the Frank boy. Willow and Gus saw this and were shocked by their human friend's glare at the three witches surrounding Ryuji.

[Ryuji]

"Listen, my friends and I are doing a moonlight conjuring tonight." Boscha said as she leaned her should on me, placing a finger and gently circling it on my chest. "If you're not too busy, you can join us." She then fluttered her eyes at me.

"A moonlight conjuring?" I said, surprised at what she said before looking away at her. "Uh, no thank you."

"Oh, come on." Boscha then leaned closer to me. "Don't you want to help us in bringing something to life?"

"Look, I appreciate the offer, but—Aah!" Right then, I was pulled by the hood away from the three witches.

"He's not going to your moonlight conjuring!" Luz stated as she held me by the arm, glaring at the three girls in front of us. "ʹCause we're having our moonlight conjuring!"

"What?" I said, confused by this, even when Willow and Gus walked up beside her.

"Oh, please!" Boscha said, speaking to Luz with a mocking tone while her fellow witches glared back. "He obviously wants to be with real witches instead of someone pretending to be one."

"Boscha, leave them alone." Hearing that familiar voice, I then looked over to see Xander as he and Amity walked over to the three witches. "They're not worth the effort."

"Hey, Xander." I greeted him. "I'm guessing these witches are friends of yours?"

"They're actually Amity's friends." Xander flatly told me.

"Don't bother inviting him, Boscha." Amity told the three-eyed witch. "We already have enough people for the conjuring."

"Wait, you're doing a moonlight conjuring with these girls, Amity?" I said, surprised by this.

"Yeah, she is." Boscha proudly stated. "Actually she's the one hosting it."

"Wow." I said, not really expecting this. "And are you joining on this too, Xander?" Xander was going to say something when Boscha interrupted him.

"Of course he is. His girlfriend is the one hosting after all."

"Girlfriend?" I said, looking at the two who looked away with faint blushes. "I didn't know those two were dating."

"As you are not obliged to know." Xander told me. "Now I do believe your answer is pretty clear to this invitation."

"Yes." I told him before speaking to Boscha. "Boscha, I do appreciate the offer, but I think I'll pass on doing any moonlight conjuring."

"You see?" Xander told the three-eyed witch. "He's given you his answer, now let's go." With that, Xander walked off with Amity.

"Fine." Boscha said, rolling her eyes before giving me that little smirk she had earlier. "If you don't want to come, DK, then it's your loss. You're missing the chance to get to spend time with some real witches. Unlike those two." She glanced over at Luz and Willow with that last part.

"Uh-huh." I said, disliking how she was disrespecting my friends. I then used a spell circle to bring out my Illusion Magic and show the witch what happens when you pick on my friend. "Well, let me ask you one thing: what do you think of this?" With that, I then ripped off my face as blood ran down my clothes, revealing the horrifying monstrous face underneath, the jaw splitting two ways as I emitted a god-awful shriek that made Boscha and the two witches with her scream and run away in fear. After they were out of sight, I laughed as I canceled my illusion, my face returning to normal and the ripped-off skin in my hand along with the blood disappearing in a puff of smoke before I sighed in contentment. "Ah, the old 'Second Face Jump Scare' trick. Never gets old."

"Oh, Ryuji. You sneaky trickster." Luz said while giving me a playful punch in the arm.

"That was some pretty impressive Illusion Magic." Gus commented as he and Willow smiled at me. "Even though it was gory and horrific and possibly made me traumatized, it's still impressive. I respect your showmanship."

"No problem." I chuckled a bit, rubbing the back of my head. "Ain't no one gonna mess with you guys while I'm around."

"Thanks, Ryuji." Willow said with a smile.

"Awww! Ryuji, you big softie. Come here." Luz cooed before she then gave me a hug, making me blush a little but still managing to smile as I hugged back. It lasted for a moment until we separated with me managing to lose the blush and recompose myself.

"Okay, now tell me." I said as me and Luz broke the hug, remembering what she said earlier. "What's this about us doing a moonlight conjuring?"

"Well, Amity's doing a moonlight conjuring and didn't invite Willow." Luz explained to me. "So I thought maybe we could have one at the Owl House."

"Wait, you want to do a moonlight conjuring at the Owl House?" I said with surprise. "Luz, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Ryuji, you saw how those girls were treating Willow." Luz countered.

"Yeah, but to do a conjuring at the house, we would need to have to ask my mom's approval and I'm not so sure she would allow us."

"But, Ryuji, look at what Amity just posted about it!" Luz said before Gus used a spell circle to summon a little scroll in front of me, the scroll having a picture and a comment below it.

"'It's conjuring night! No dorks allowed'." I said as I read the comment out loud, looking at it in disbelief. "Really? What are we? In grade school?"

"You see? We need this conjuring to prove those girls wrong."

"Fine, but this has to go through my mom first."

"Okay." Luz then turned to our friends. "Hear that, guys? We're gonna have our own moonlight conjuring!"

"Are you serious?" Gus said as he was beyond excited upon hearing this. "This was on my bucket list, after owning a real human bucket!

"That's a really weird thing to want, but I appreciate your enthusiasm." Luz said to him.

"Okay then. Then you two wait here and we'll go talk with my mom." I said before me and Luz then over to Mom. "Hey, Mom…" Before I could say anything else, Morton came back with a worried look on his face.

"Okay, I've got bad news and good news." Morton told us. "Bad news is I'm all out 'til next week."

"Next week?" I said out of shock. "What's the good news?"

"Well, the good news is that feathers are a good look for your mom." Morton said before more feathers appeared on my mom.

"Morton!" Mom snapped at him, making the warlock flinch.

"I'm sorry, E." Morton said to her. "But why'd you wait to re-up 'til now?"

"I've been very busy." Mom told him.

"Yeah, busy playing Hexes Hold'em." Juniper bluntly said, making Mom glare at her.

"Morton, we used up the last elixir today. We can't wait until next week, especially with my mom turning right now." I told him. "If you don't have any, can you at least tell us where we can find more before she goes berserk?"

"Well… there is one place…" Morton said before he gained a grim expression. "Listen. I wouldn't suggest this to just anybody, but if you need the elixir that bad, you can try your luck later this evening."

"This evening?" Mom said as she then looked at Morton with surprise. "You mean, the Night Market?"

"What's the Night Market?" I asked, curious about this.

"A gathering of special shops that only get together at night." Juniper told me. "People only go there when shopping for something illegal or that they don't want people to know about."

"Illegal?" I asked before I realized it. "Wait, are you saying that this is some kind of black market for witches? Like the kind filled with criminal shoppers and shopkeepers?"

"Yep, and it's filled with the worst of the worst." Mom put in before looking back to Morton. "You're saying there's more elixir there?"

"Yep. There's a guy with a stand, goes by Grimm Hammer." Morton told her. "If anyone has what you need, it's him."

"Mom?" I asked, looking at my mom with concern.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to do some late-night shopping." Mom said, trying her best to hide her fear. "Thanks, Morton."

"Wait, are we seriously going to the Night Market?" I asked out of shock.

"No, I'm going. You are going to be staying at the Owl House with Luz until I get back." Mom told me. "The night market is way too dangerous for someone like you. You'll be better off staying home, okay?"

"Okay." I told her before then going on to ask her what I meant to ask her. "Okay then. Well, seeing how me and Luz will be home the whole night, we wanted to ask you something. This might be bad timing, but I was wondering if me and Luz could have moonlight conjuring at the house."

"A moonlight conjuring?" Mom asked me with a raised eyebrow. "What for?"

"It's for our friends Willow and Gus." I explained to her. "They've never been to one and me and Luz were wondering if…"

"Not tonight." Mom told me with a hand held up. "Sorry, kiddo, but I can't have you or Luz have a moonlight conjuring while I'm out of the house."

"If you're worried that we don't know how to do one, I actually have some experience in…"

"That's not the problem. I need you and Luz to watch over the house along with all the many precious objects in there." Mom told us as she then walked over to the bench King was sitting at.

"Like me!" King said, pointing to himself before Mom grabs him.

"You're coming with me." Mom told him. "I need an extra pair of eyes to look out for pick-pockets." She then turned to give me and Luz a sly smile. "And an extra pair of hands in case I want to pick pocket."

"And I'll be there to make sure you two don't get into trouble doing it." Juniper said as she came over to Mom and the little demon.

"Then maybe Willow and Gus can come to the house and help us…" Luz said as she tried to persuade my mom.

"No!" Mom said as she cut her off. "Besides, conjurings are dumb."

"How would you know?" I asked her with my arms crossed.

"Because I've done it before." Mom told me. "All you do is sit in a circle and hold hands. It's like magic for babies."

"But Mom…"

"No buts." She sternly told me. "There will be no conjurings and no one else but you and Luz at the house, got it?"

"Yes, Mom." I said with depression, knowing there was no point in arguing.

"Good. Now let's go home." Mom said before she then walked off with King in hand and Juniper walking beside her.

"Luz! Ryuji!" Willow called out as we watched her and Gus run over to us. "What did Eda say?" Seeing them looking at us, anxious to know our answer, me and Luz looked at each other with worry before I sighed as I then turned back to give them the bad news.

"Well…" I said before Gus cut me off.

"Oh, look!" Gus pointed up to the sky where we saw the moon of the Isles, oddly enough resembling a human skull, rising above us. "The moon is rising into place! The celestial powers only align once a year."

"Once a year?" I said, surprised by this. "Wait, you mean you can only do a moonlight conjuring once a year?"

"Yeah, of course." Gus happily told me. "That's why they're such a big deal."

"Oh, I can't believe I finally have enough friends for a moonlight conjuring!" Willow happily said as she looked to me and Luz. "Thank you both so much! So, did Eda say it was okay?" Both me and Luz were now more nervous than ever as we exchanged a worried glance. Though I felt terrible about having to crush their hopes, I knew I had to tell the two the truth.

"Actually, my mom said…"

"Yes!" Luz said as she cut me off with a smile, shock me. "Eda said 'yes'."

"Wait, my mom said…" Luz then covered my mouth with her hand before she lied to our friends more.

"We can do it at the Owl House." Luz told them. "As long as we don't make a mess or touch anything or ever bring up that we did it!" Though she gave a nervous laugh and despite me trying to tell them it wasn't true, our friends pushed it aside as they cheered out.

"Yes!" Gus exclaimed happily.

"Oh, you're both the best!" Willow said, now even happier upon hearing the news.

"We're gonna do a conjuring! We're gonna do a conjuring! Conjuring! Conjuring!" Our friends sang out as they walked off. After they were out of sight, Luz finally removed her hand and I took a brief moment to breathe before talking to her.

"Luz, what the hell?" I said with disappointment.

"I'm sorry! It was the heat of the moment!" She quickly replied. "They were just so happy and I just couldn't bring myself to tell them we couldn't do a conjuring."

"Luz, you heard what my mom said! She doesn't want anyone else but us at the house!" I told her. "If my mom finds out, she'll be pissed! We need to tell them the truth!"

"I know, I know. But you saw how bummed out she was. We gotta do this for her."

"As much as I would want to help cheer up a friend, I can't disobey my mom. If we do this, Mom's not gonna trust us again."

"But Ryuji, you heard them. They've never been to a moonlight conjuring before and they can only do it once a year. Out of anybody, they deserve to know what it's like."

"I know, but…"

"Ryuji, don't you remember the first time we had a sleepover?"

I was surprised by her bringing this up. "Well… yeah. It was back in our second year of middle school. We spent practically a whole night watching horror movies."

"Yeah, and do you remember the fun we had?"

"Yeah. It was pretty great since it was the first time I ever had a friend to hang out at home like that."

"And it was a first for me too and I loved it. Don't you see? Willow and Gus are just like us from back then. Neither of them had a chance to do something as fun as that. As they're friends, we need to help them experience what they've been missing out."

Looking at her and remembering how Willow and Gus were back there, I realized that she was right in seeing how those two reminded me of how me and Luz were back then. Seeing how happy those two were reminded me of how happy Luz was when I accepted her offer to have our first sleepover. It was right there and then that I saw she was right and it would've been wrong to break our friends' hearts like that. Though I knew I was gonna get in trouble for it, I smiled knowing my answer for Luz.

"You're right. Out of anyone, those two deserve to know such an experience. Let's give them the best moonlight conjuring ever."

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She said as she grabbed me in one of her bone-crushing hugs.

"Luz… can't breathe…" I said to her as I was having a hard time breathing as my friend continued to hug me despite me tapping her on the side.

---

Later that night, as Luz sat on the couch, I went over to my mom and sister as they got ready to leave, the two putting on their cloaks and my mom bringing her staff to help her walk if she needed it.

"You sure you'll be okay out there?" I said to them in concern. "In the Night Market, I mean."

"Oh, come on, DK." Juniper told me. "You ain't gotta worry about me and Mom. We'll be fine."

"Uh-huh. I've heard that before." I said as I crossed my arms. "That's typically how it all starts out before it all goes down south." Mom chuckled as she pat my head.

"We'll be okay, Ryuji. Don't worry." Mom said. "Now, while I'm out, you're in charge. Make sure Luz and Hooty don't get into any trouble."

"Hoot-hoot! I don't need a babysitter!" Hooty said with a pout as he swung the door open into the house. "I'm a big boy house!"

"You roll around in the mud on a daily basis." I told the house demon with an amused smile. "And that pout of yours doesn't really help your case."

"Wait, what about me?" Luz asked out of confusion. "What did I do?"

"Because Ryuji's my son." Mom told her. "Also because he's proven to be more responsible than you have."

"She's not wrong." I said to my friend. "You don't exactly have a good track record of being responsible."

"What? Name one time that I wasn't." Luz said to me.

"Well…" I said as I then remembered the times she was irresponsible and got into trouble.

---

[Flashback]

In the kitchen, Luz hummed away as she was preparing to cook a soup as she then added a glowing chili pepper. After doing so, the soup began to bubble and Luz looked at it in confusion before the pot she was using exploded.

"Hey, Luz. How's the cooking going?" Ryuji said with a smile as he walked into the kitchen, freezing with shock as he found the area covered in soup broth and his human friend on the floor, soot on her face as she then coughed up a puff of smoke.

---

We then cut to outside to the Owl House as Luz is doing some gardening. After digging a big rock out of the ground and tossing it over the cliff, Luz paused in her gardening after hearing a roar and looked to the cliff in fear as see a five-headed sea serpent rose up and glared at her, the center head having a bump on its head. Before long, Luz gets up and screams as she runs away from the beast as it chased her.

---

We then cut to nighttime at the Owl House, Ryuji, Eda, Juniper, and King were in the living room as Ryuji was reading a comic book titled RWBY to King, the little demon showing much interest in this. They all then turned to the door as it was slammed open and they saw Luz with a big smile on her face.

"Guys, check what I just found!" Luz said before she holds up a tiny, white dragon with red eyes, short legs, bat-like wings, a snake-like body, and a beak-like mouth in her hand. "Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen?"

"Luz, get that thing out of here!" Eda said with a look of horror.

"What? Why?" Luz asked in confusion.

"That's a Fright Wyrm!" Eda told her. "One of the nastiest vermin we have on the Boiling Isles that always travels…" Hearing chittering, Eda then looked towards the door and became more horrified upon doing so. "In packs."

By turning to the door, everyone then became shocked as they saw a black swirl flying toward them. Upon entering the house, it is revealed to be a swarm of black versions of the dragon Luz had which then flew throughout the place and caused both King and the teenagers to scream out in terror.

[End of Flashback]

---

[Ryuji]

After reminding her of all that happened last week, Luz gained a look of shock in realization before quickly shaking it off.

"Okay, I see your point." Luz said. "But, for the record, I said I was sorry."

"In any case, you got nothing to worry about, Mom." I told my mom. "We got everything under control."

"You two are acting suspicious." Mom said.

"What? No! What makes you say that?" I said with a nervous smile.

"Well, for starters, you're doing that thing where you're scratching your arm like you have a rash." Mom told me.

"No, I'm not." Looking over, I then saw that I was scratching my arm before quickly putting my arms behind my back, trying my best to smile.

"Also Luz is hiding in her hoodie like she does when she's nervous." Mom pointed her thumb at Luz.

"Meow, I'm not." Luz said before I pulled her hood, my friend giving a nervous laugh. "Oh, where's King?"

"Oh, yeah. Where is the little guy?" I asked, trying to help change the subject.

"Oh, King. He's right here." Juniper said before she opened her cloak to reveal King fast asleep in a baby strap she had, the little demon snoring away. "He just conks out when he's weightless." My twin moved around a bit, King's whole body moving along with it.

"Aww! He's so dangly." Luz cooed before she then looked at Juniper, my sister losing her smile as she gave a flat look.

"Whatever the hell you're trying to picture, please get it out of your head." Juniper bluntly said.

"Too late." She smiled in response, making Juniper facepalm herself.

"Anyway, we're leaving now." Mom said as she and Juniper walked away, my mom stopping at the doorway to look at me. "And, Ryuji…" Me and Luz then became worried as she gave us a stern look. "If either you or Luz mess up the house, you'll both be spending your summer in the shed. No magic lessons and no combat practice." After giving us that threat, she then gave us a smile. "No pressure! Bye!" Going outside, we then watched as Mom and Juniper got on her staff before flying off.

"This conjuring better be worth it." I said with worry.

"It is ʹcause we're doing it for Willow. She's counting on us." Luz said as my mom and twin were out of sight before turning to the bushes by the door. "Okay, guys. She's gone."

"Yeah, coast is clear." I put in.

"Release!" Willow said as she used her magic to disperse the leaves covering her and Gus, both in their casual attire. Willow was wearing a long-sleeved tan yellow dress that had a blue tie with an oval light green jewel, gray striped leggings, and brown boots; and Gus was wearing a cyan tunic with light gray sleeves and a black belt along with black tights and dark purple boots. "I'm a sneaky sneakster!"

"I've got leaves in my pants." Gus commented.

"Gus, you do realize you could've just used an illusion to hide." I told him. "You didn't need to cover yourself with leaves."

"Hey, I don't mind." Gus told me as he and Willow walked over us. "I actually like having leaves in my pants."

"Gus, you are something else." I said with a smile, amused by this. "You ready to enter the Owl House?"

"Yeah!" Gus said as he and Willow gave eager smiles.

"Company! Hooray! Finally, someone to listen to my stories!" Hooty said before Luz, Willow, and Gus headed inside. "Okay, one time, a sparrow flew into my mouth and then I…"

"Uh, sorry, Hooty. We don't have time to chat." I said before pointing over to the moon as it was getting close to getting into position. "Moon's about to get into place and we can't miss it."

"Aw!" Hooty said with disappointment.

"Besides, I need you to be on the lookout for my mom." I told him. "If you see her and Juni coming back, hoot to us."

"Oh, okay!" Hooty said before he coughed and a sparrow flew out of his mouth.

"Okay, thanks." I said before I then walked into the house and closed the door before turning to my friends. "Okay. Willow, Gus, I officially welcome you to the Owl House. This here is the living room."

"And we call it that because it's technically living!" Luz chimed in as she gestured to a wall. "The walls are literally breathing. Look!" Luz chimed in and gestured to a part of the wall that was actually breathing air.

"Enchanting." Willow said after she went over to it and heard the breathing.

"That's actually Hooty's breathing you're hearing. As a house demon, his very being is spread through the walls of the Owl House." I said, causing Luz to look at me with surprise. "I read it in one of King's demon books."

"Look at all these human treasures." Gus said as he was looking through a small chest, pulling out an eight ball before pulling out a human skull. "And actual humans!"

"Yeah, we've got it all." I said as I then used my magic to bring a bowl full of eyeballs. "We've got the weird snacks."

"We've got weird music!" Luz exclaimed as she placed the needle on the record, an evil witch laugh coming from the gramophone before it started playing music.

"We've got a bucket!" Gus exclaimed happily with a said object over his head.

"Gus, my man!" Luz said as they both exchanged a high five.

"And, best of all, we've got actual friends to do the conjuring with!" Willow exclaimed, happily holding her hands together. "This is so exciting!"

"So how does this conjuring stuff work?" Luz asked.

"That's easy." I explained. "First, you pick an object to animate. Then you and your friends gather around the object. Then, while the moon gets into place, you hold hands and do a special chant. By holding hands, you can be able to concentrate the Moon Magic through you and into the object you chose, bringing it to life."

"That's so cool!" Luz said to me. "And with all four of us working together, it will be the best conjuring ever."

"Actually, I'm afraid you're gonna have to do that without me." I said with a smile of regret. "I tried this a while back and it didn't go so well."

"Really? What happened?" Luz asked with concern.

"Remember last Christmas when Gravesfield got attacked by evil toys?" I asked her with a nervous smile.

---

[Flashback]

In Gravesfield, there's a snowman sitting on a lawn with a smile made of coal for a moment before a trashcan was thrown at it. Cutting over to the streets, we see people running around in terror while a few houses were on fire with the town being attacked by living toys, the ones with eyes having a menacing red glow in them. One man who was running soon found himself struggling with a teddy bear after it jumped on his face and began beating on his head. A couple of toy soldiers were carrying a brick before tossing it at the window of a house. A giant toy rabbit cut down a telephone pole with a chainsaw, said pole landing on top of a car.

[End of Flashback]

---

[Ryuji]

"Yeah, that was actually my fault." I admitted. "My curse made the spell go haywire and animated those toys along with making them evil."

"Dios Mio." Luz said with shock.

"Yeah, so it would be a bad idea if I joined you in the spell." I told her. "Though I will help you prepare. In fact, I'll go get the materials we need. I'll be right back."

[No one's view]

"Okay, I guess it's just us three." Luz said to her friends. "That's fine. We only need just three people, right?"

"Right. Now we just need to pick something to animate." Willow said before walking over to a nice-looking potted plant. "Since it's our first time, we should pick something meaningful, something beautiful."

"Like this strangely buff, little man?" Gus said as he came over and held out some sort of wrestling action figure with a shirt that said "Beefy Bob".

"I'm half beef, half Bob!" The toy said as Gus squeezed it.

"Yes! He's perfect!" Luz instantly agreed with the idea while Willow was a bit hesitant.

"That's not exactly what I meant by 'beautiful'." Willow said, Gus instantly giving her a whimper as he put on a puppy eyes act. This was enough to get her to give in as she then smiled. "Okay, buff boy, it is."

"Yes!" Luz hugged up on her.

"Tonight, he shall be risen!" Gus declared triumphantly. and then they heard Evan clear his throat.

As the moon outside was moving to where it could be seen from in front of the Owl House, Luz, Willow and Gus got together in a small circle with the toys on the floor right in between them, the three already have lit a few candles and placed them around them.

"According to the conjuring books I've read, we say the incantation to make a connection with the toys." Willow said as they all then grabbed hold of each other's hands and closed their eyes. Gus and Willow then began to chant with blue energy starting to coat the trio.

"Uh… I don't know the words." Luz said as her friends continued to chant, unable to follow along with what was happening. Luz then closed her eyes as she tried to join her friends in the chant.

Outside, Hooty took notice as the moon had finally risen into place before giving off a bright glow. Unknown to the trio inside the house, a wave of blue energy erupted from them and through the house, putting out all the candles and the lights.

The group opened their eyes to see if they were successful.

"That's your cue, little man." Gus said to the toy as the three then opened their eyes to look at it.

[Ryuji]

"Okay, seriously? Where is the chalk around this place?" I said as I got out of my mom's closet and closed the door. "We're never gonna do a conjuring without chalk." Suddenly, there was this rumble and I watched as everything began to shake. "What the…?"

---

[No one's view]

Outside, Hooty—who had closed his eyes closed—instantly opened them as they were glowing bright blue, the shaking becoming stronger and scaring the birds who called the very place home. In that instant, the ground beneath the house began to slowly rise.

---

[Ryuji]

"Whoa, whoa!" I said as the house began to move, losing my balance and collapsing on the floor.

[No one's view]

Downstairs, Luz, Gus, and Willow fell over from the house rising, the action figure they were trying to bring to life sitting motionless on the floor. Outside, the ground finally stopped rising as the house now stood on two giant bird legs.

[Ryuji]

"What the hell?" I said as I picked myself up and rushed downstairs to the living room, finding it to be a complete mess with all kinds of stuff scattered all over the floor and my friends lying on the floor. "Hey, everybody alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Luz said before an open book look landed on her head. "Hey, is it just me or did the whole house just hiccup?"

"No, the house definitely moved." I said as I went over and helped her to her feet, the book slipping off her head. "I felt it from upstairs."

"Little buff guy, what did you do?" Gus said as he held a muscular action figure.

"A real man never takes accountability!" the toy said as he squeezed it.

"Okay, will somebody tell me what exactly is going on?" I asked, wanting an answer.

"Well, we were doing the conjuring and…" Willow said before I stopped her.

"Wait, you did the conjuring?" I said with shock. "Guys, I told you that I was getting something for it!"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with it?" Gus asked me.

"Because we weren't ready to do the spell yet." I answered. "You guys skipped a step!"

"What do you mean?" Luz asked me.

"Before you actually do the spell, you're supposed to draw a special focusing glyph circle around both the object you're animating and yourself and the people doing the conjuring." I explained to them. "Because you did it without the circle, the magic you were using went somewhere else."

"Oh, dear. If you're telling the truth then…" Willow said with realization. "I think we animated the house instead.

"The house?!" Me and Luz exclaimed while glancing at one another.

Quickly heading outside, while me, Gus, and Willow stopped in time, I had to catch Luz before she fell of the edge of the amount of ground we had. We were way high up, so high that we could see the tops of the trees. When the house began to move again, I looked to the ground and saw that it was being carried off by two giant bird legs.

"Okay, this is not good." I nervously said while Luz went over to Hooty as he closed the door, the house demon's eyes glowing light blue.

"Hooty? Hooty!" Luz called out. "Hooty, you have to stop!"

"By the power of moonlight, I have risen. Hoot-hoot." The house demon said.

"Guys, what's wrong with him?" Luz asked with worry.

"Looks like he's in some kind of trance." Gus said.

"Well, he is part of the house." I said, already guessing what was going on. "When you animated the house, Hooty must've gotten overcharged with Moon Magic. He can't think straight!" Just then, we went through some trees which led to Gus losing his footing and falling off the edge. Acting quickly, Luz and Willow grabbed his hands and I grabbed theirs to make sure all three of them didn't fall, doing my best to keep myself stable. "Hold on, guys!" I tried to pull them up, but stopped when I looked forward, gasping in shock from seeing Hooty walking towards a cliff. "HOOTY, STOP!" After yelling that plea at the top of my lungs, the house stopped right before it went past the edge. "Wait, what?" Though I was surprised and confused by this, I then remembered my friends and helped the girls pull Gus back up. We then let go of each other's hands after doing so. "You okay, Gus?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." Gus said.

"Ryuji, how did you do that?" Luz asked me.

"I don't know." I said as we all then turned to Hooty. "All I did was tell Hooty to stop, which is weird considering he wasn't listening to us earlier."

"Wait, guys, hold hands again." Luz said as she held out her hands.

"What? Why?" I asked, confused by the request.

"Just trust me, okay?" She answered.

Though a bit hesitant, we all then grabbed each other's hands. After doing so, we found ourselves surrounded in a glowing blue aura.

"Okay, this is pretty cool." I said as we were all surprised by this.

"Hooty, step back from the cliff." Luz said, the house moving back into the forest.

"We're controlling it with the power of friendship!" Willow said. "Uh… and the moon. Probably the moon."

"The conjuring spell you did must be allowing us to control the Moon Magic within Hooty, but only when we hold hands." I said as I realized it. "It's a magic circuit, a special formation that magic flows through. When I grabbed your hands while you grabbed Gus, the magic flowed into me and allowed me to get control of Hooty. That's why he listened."

"This is amazing!" Gus said, excited about all of this. "What do we do now?"

"On the one hand, we should probably stay put." Luz said.

"On the other hand, we've got a giant walking house and should totally take it on a joyride!" Gus put in.

"Uh, guys? This spell is only temporary. We can only do as long as the moon is out." I told them. "Plus this is my mom's house, remember? If she finds out we animated it, we're dead! We got to put it back before it's too late."

"Actually, Ryuji, we're okay." Luz said, pointing up to the moon that was slowly going down. "See? The moon's not gonna be set for a while. I think this gives us enough time for us for a ride through Bonesborough."

"Oh, I don't know…"

"It'll be fine. We'll be back before the moon sets. I promise."

I looked over to my friends and back at the moon for a moment as I thought about it. I then realized this moonlight conjuring was actually better than the last one I did. Seeing how this could be the first chance I could enjoy this, I couldn't see any reason not to make the best of it.

"You know what? Yeah!" I said with a smile. "Let's do it!"

[No one's view]

As they yelled out happily with the Owl House walking through the forest, the group was unaware that someone was watching them, that someone being the leader of the demon hunters they encountered earlier who looked at them with interest.

---

In Bonesborough, Eda and Juniper had just entered the Night Market, having gone past the entrance with the ink-written sign. The area was full of stands selling all sorts of different stuff and a lot of shady. Upon reaching a candle stand with a couple of candles shaped like hands, Juniper stopped as Eda paused and hunched over a bit with a sigh.

"Easy, Mom." Juniper said as she held Eda stand before she then noticed more feathers sprouting from her mother's arms. "We need to get you that elixir." Looking around she then spotted someone in the corner. "Hey, buddy! You know where we can find a guy named Grimm Hammer?" The figure nodded before a small creature emerged from its empty eye sockets and pointed towards a stand with traps in front of it. "Come on, Mom." With that, the mother and daughter then walked over to the stand, the creature in the figure's eye soon getting eaten by a snake.

---

[Ryuji]

"Okay, this is awesome!" I said as we walked through the forest. "Who knew Hooty had his own legs under this house?"

"Wait, stop!" Willow said as we then stopped before we all looked ahead and saw a familiar witch walking through the woods with what looked like a duffle bag. "Is that…"

"It's Boscha." Gus confirmed. "That girl who made fun of us."

"Shhh!" I quickly hushed them before we listened in on what she was saying as she held this crow to her ear.

"Ugh! Yes, Mom. I'm going to a moonlight conjuring." Boscha said out of disgust. "No, Mom. You can't come." It was only a brief moment. "Yes, Mom. It's sad that you're asking." With that, she pushed something on the crow up before it flew off, cawing as it did. She was about to walk away until Luz gave off a sneeze, making the witch turn around and see the house. We were lucky a hill was in front of us as it concealed us along with the house's legs from her vision.

"She noticed us." Willow whispered with worry. "What do we do?"

"Hmm." Luz thought before she gained an idea and whispered it to us, getting all three of us to smile. Putting the plan into action, Gus made a loud horn out of his Illusion Magic before letting Luz speak through it with a deep voice. "Hey! H‐Hey, you! You should, uh… stop being so mean to people! You're kind of a jerk." We all hid laughter at what we were doing, thinking about she was going to react at the end of this.

"Ew. A talking house is giving me a lecture?" Boscha commented. "Whatever. I'll just TP you like I did with the rest of the neighborhood."

"Oh, my turn! My turn!" I whispered as I gently moved Luz aside before using a spell circle on my fingers, making them glow before putting them on my throat and giving me a very deep intimidating voice. "Oh, really? I'd love to see you try!" Grabbing a hold of each other's hands, I then whispered Hooty. "Hooty, stand up." With that, I then did a roar as the house stood up to reveal itself, the combination of my impressive roar and the reveal scaring Boscha into running away, screaming. After she was out of sight, we all shared a laugh as we let go of each other.

"Boy, we really showed her! Ha-ha!" I said.

"I've never pranked anyone before and now I have a taste for it." Gus said.

"Welcome to the club." I said as I put a hand on his shoulder.

"We should follow her to Amity's house to show off our conjuring." Willow suggested. "That will show her who's got no talent."

"Actually, I'm starting to think we should head back." Luz suggested as we saw the moon setting, not giving us enough time to do that and get the house back in time.

"Yeah, the moon's setting. We better get the house back before it's gone." I added.

"Amity's updating her Penstagram." Gus said as he brought back out the scroll from earlier, showing us the photo with a new comment.

"'Shout out to my fellow witches! #Humans can bite it'?!" I read out loud, Luz gasping from hearing it and making me angry. "Okay, I take it back. Let's go show Amity what a real conjuring is!"

"Let's do it!" Luz said before all then joined hands again and got the house to follow Boscha.

[No one's view]

Unknown to the group as they were following Boscha, they were being followed by a group of hooded figures who traveled by the tree lines.

---

Back in the Night Market, Juniper and Eda were walking over to the ominous stand. Once they made it over, Juniper peaked in between the tarps with caution.

"Hello?" Juniper called out. "Uh, we seek the one they call Grimm Hammer."

"I'm the one they call Grimm Hammer." The demon said in an eerie voice as he poked his head out from behind the counter, just before the curtains rose up and startled the witches as well as woke up King.

"Huh? What?" King groggily said.

Jumping up onto the counter, the mother and daughter soon saw that the seemingly threatening demon called Grimm Hammer was a pig-like demon with a curly pigtail with a red barbed tip, huge ears, a pig nose, and two small, protruding tusks dressed in glasses, an orchid vest, and lilac bow added on to a white dress shirt.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome!" Grimm Hammer happily greeted them. "I've got weaponry from the Hinterlands, curses from the Winterlands, and jelly beans!" He threw some of the sweets into the air with that last part.

"Jelly beans!" King happily said as he caught one.

"They're lethally delicious." Tibbles added before Juniper smacked the jelly bean out of King's hand before he ate it.

"You're Grimm Hammer?"

"Tibblet‐Tibblie Grimm Hammer the Third." Grimm Hammer said as he bowed his head. "Please, call me 'Tibbles'."

"Tibbles…" Juniper snickered as King laughed at what he said.

"Okay, Tibbles." Eda said as she passed Tibbles an empty vial. "We need some of this elixir."

"Oh, this is one wicked brew." Tibbles said before using his tail to bring out a new one. "Lucky for you, I just stocked up."

"Huzzam!" Eda cheered out as she and her daughter smiled before she brought out her purse. "I'll give you ten snails for all ya got."

"Add two more zeros and it's a deal." Tibbles said, making the two lose their smiles.

"A thousand snails for the whole stock?" Juniper said in shock.

"Sorry, but that's capitalism for ya." Tibbles replied as he went back into his booth. "The game where everyone wins, except you."

"Hey!" Juniper called out.

"Hold up, Juni." Eda said as she noticed a familiar deck of cards on the table and smiled as she gained an idea. "Say, you play Hexes Hold'em?"

"Really? Now?" Juniper questioned her mother.

"Oh! Is that what that game is called?" Tibbles said he came back over with a chuckle, using his tail to set himself down and grab the deck of cards. "I was just using these as coasters."

"How about we make it interesting?" Eda said to him. "I win, you give us the elixir. You win, you can take something of ours."

"Oh, what fun?" Tibbles said before he gained a serious look in his eye. "You're on."

---

After getting to Bonesborough, we tried to get to Amity's house, but we ran into trouble as we caused a commotion, scaring at least most of the residents who were out walking in the streets.

"Okay, Willow. Where's Amity's place?" I asked, wanting to get this over with before we got into trouble.

"Right over there." Willow said as we stopped the house, the plant witch pointing over to a large mansion with a metal gate and a sign that said "Blight Mansion" in front of it.

"Wait, she's from a pristine family too?" I said, not expecting this at all. "That actually explains a lot."

---

[Ryuji's aside]

I'm not kidding there. It's no wonder why she acts so cold and why Xander's dating her. And to think, we were actually gonna show up a rich girl.

---

"Come on, guys." Willow spoke up, sounding a bit determined. "Time to show Amity what a real conjuring looks like." We tried to make our way over, but were caught by a large rope firing above us, pinning us in place. "What happened?"

"Looks like something roped us." I said before Luz spoke up in fear.

"Uh, guys?" Luz said, pointing over to a giant crossbow in front of us. "Is that a… giant crossbow?" Just then, the weapon fired a rope right above the house, trapping it in place.

Not too soon after, a potion bottle was tossed up to us, the bottle shattering as a green mist surrounded us. As we coughed from it, I then watched as my friends then slowly passed out one by one. Just as I realized it was knockout gas, I fell under the effect and passed out as well. As I was slowly drifting off to sleep, I managed to see the demon hunter we saw earlier land in front of us.

"Knock, knock." He said as he kneeled down to our level before everything went black.

---

Hearing a horn blare, I woke up to find myself on the floor and the house moving again. Seeing as to how I was also tied up to Luz, Willow, and Gus, I already guess that we had been captured by demon hunters who were wheeling us away in a wagon.

"Guys?" I said to my friends. "Guys, wake up!" With that, they then instantly woke up.

"Ryuji? What's going on?" Luz asked, slowly adjusting to what was happening.

"We got captured by demon hunters." I said to her. "They must've seen us going by. We gotta get out of here!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" Gus retorted as he tried to chew on the ropes.

"Hooty! Hooty! You have to wake up!" Luz said, kicking on the door.

"If you want this to end as you say, all of you must hold hands. It's the only way." The house demon said, still under the Moon Magic.

"¡Oye, no me hables así!" Luz snapped in Spanish.

"Ah, kirisuto no tame ni!" I cursed in Japanese before I turned to the plant witch. "Willow, can you help Luz with Hooty?"

"No." Willow replied with a look of guilt. "I don't think you shouldn't ask me to help with anything."

"Willow…" As Luz was about to say something, the house stopped moving and we all rolled to our sides. "Did the house just stop moving?"

"Yeah, with you three on top of me." I replied in a flat tone as I lay there with my friends laying on me.

"Sorry." The trio said, their tone telling me that had apologetic looks.

---

[Ryuji's aside]

You know, to be honest, I once had a dream that had Luz on top of me. But I was actually much happier in it.

---

I sighed, not just as a way of accepting their apology, but also of regret that I didn't haven't my Saisho on me. If I hadn't left it upstairs, we all would've been able to escape with ease. We all then looked to the door as it suddenly opened to reveal the leading hunter as he made his way inside while laughing a bit. He then picked us up by our restraints and shoved us to the ground near some of his subordinates.

"Take the house and rip out the house demon!" He said as the four of us sat up. "We can sell it to restaurants as exotic meat."

"No! Hooty would taste terrible." Luz told them.

"Hey, I'm a refined taste. Hoot-hoot!" The house demon exclaimed, offended by what Luz said even though it wasn't her attention.

"What do we do with the worms?" A green-skinned hunter said as he looked at us.

"Throw them over the cliff." The leader said, his green associate smiling as he walked over to us.

"Wait just a moment!" Said a voice, the green demon stopping as we all looked at one of the hunters walking over to me and my friends. The hunter had his hood on, so the only thing I could see was the burning glare of his orange eyes. "I need to speak with that one." He pointed a finger at me.

"Oh, come on, Kai." The green demon said to him in annoyance.

"Shut it, Tom!" the orange-eyed man snapped at his associate. "Do you even realize who we captured?"

"Uh… a bunch of kids?" Tom asked, not sure how to answer.

"I'm talking about the boy here." He said as he turned his eyes to me. "That's the Dragon Kid, the offspring of Axel the Deserter and the Owl Lady." With that, the other hunters gasped in shock.

"Axel the Deserter?" I asked, confused by this.

"It's a title your dad got when he left." Gus told me. "Barely anyone uses it."

"Yes, unless those who say it believe he deserves it." The man named Kai said as he came up in front of me. "And I am one of such who believes it."

"And who are you to talk crap about my dad?" I said with a glare at the man.

"Someone who actually knows your father quite well." Kai said as he then took off his hood to reveal himself as a warlock with the usual pale skin along with short and feather brown hair. "My name is Akkaitto Vallake, Son of Bushikatagi Vallake and soon-to-be leader of the Vallake Family!"

"You're a Vallake?" I said in disbelief.

"Yeah, and I also happen to be the Vallake who was associated with your father before he fled." Akkaitto said to me. "As such, I know everything about him, especially when recognizing one of the bastard's spawn."

"I don't understand." I said, having a hard time taking all of this. "Out of everyone on the Isles, I thought the Vallake Family would've understood why my father ran away."

"And you're right." He said. "We completely understand why he left. Considering our familial bonds of our ancestors, we knew exactly the reason why he fled on the night of his coven ceremony."

"Familial bonds?" Luz asked, confused by this. "Ryuji, what's he talking about?"

"Well, the truth is that the Frank Family and the Vallake Family are distant cousins." I answered, causing my friends to gasp.

"You're related to one of the Noble Three families?" Gus said in disbelief.

"Yeah, which is why I'm more confused." I said before turning back to the Vallake in front of me. "If you understand why my dad left, why are you talking crap about him?"

"Because he's not just a criminal deemed by the Coven System," Akkaitto told me, "he's a criminal deemed by the Vallake Family as well."

"What?!" I said with a gasp of shock. "What'd my dad do to you?"

"Heh. Axel hasn't told you a thing, has he?" He said with a scoff. "You really don't know."

"What exactly don't I know?"

"Unfortunately, you won't live long enough to find out." Akkaitto then turned to Tom. "Tom, go ahead and throw these four off the cliff."

"With pleasure." Tom said as he regained his smile while Akkaitto walked over to the house.

"Wait, what?!" Luz spoke out in shock as Tom then forced us to stand up.

"Hold up, Kai." The leader of the hunters said. "If that kid is who you say he is, then he's worth more to us alive—Aaahhhh!" He was then taken back from Akkaitto smacking him in the face with the side of the big blade of a red broad axe he took out.

"Watch your tongue." Akkaitto coldly told him as the hunter stood there with a broken nose. "When I joined this hunt, I thought we would only be dealing with hooligans. Had I realized one of them was the Owl Lady's spawn, I would've destroyed this house with him in it. As of now, you are no longer in charge and you will do as I say or you will be joining that lot over the cliff! Understand?" With a growl of annoyance, the eye-patch-wearing hunter stepped back as he stepped down. "Good." After turning around, he then spoke out. "Tom, do what must be done!"

"No!" I spoke up. "Leave my friends alone! They have nothing to do with this!"

"Tough luck, kid." Akkaitto told me, not even daring to face me. "But we in the Akkaitto Family like to keep the trust of the people of these Isles as they should. Considering how much your father has gotten praise more than the scorn he deserves, if anyone had gained knowledge of any member of our family responsible for the demise of a Frank and exposed it, we would lose that very trust we worked so hard to keep. As such, we can't have any witnesses." After shocking me to my core, he then spoke out to his fellow hunters. "Listen, all of you! Once we take the house demon out, I want you all to search this house! The Dragon Kid's parents had stolen something very important to my family and I sought to get it back! I don't care if you have to tear this place apart, I want it found!"

As Tom then started taking us to the cliff, I was completely shocked in disbelief by what Akkaitto just did, even more so by his words.

---

[Ryuji's aside]

Okay, seriously, I didn't see that coming. That guy was a Vallake, a member of the family who my dad said was the most honorable and kind of all the Noble Three, and he just sentence four kids to death without a second thought. And the way he spoke, it was so cold and so full of malice. I expected words like that from the Duskermans, but never the Vallakes. I had no idea so much of the Isles was actually against him so much.

---

"Keep going!" Tom said as he kept pushing us forward until we were right at the edge of the cliffs. "All righty, kids. Here's the end of your short little lives."

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Gus said as he managed to maneuver us around so he could to face Tom. "Is this really what you wanna be doing with your life? Tossing kids from cliffs?"

"Yeah, especially as an order from a Vallake." I put in, trying to help Gus convince the hunter to let us go. "I mean, he did just take control of your group."

"Eh, Kai might be a jerk, but he's a Vallake. We all know better than to argue with a guy like that." Tom told us. "Besides, this is actually what I wanted to do with my life. It's been my dream since I was a boy." Hearing us, the four of us gave him questioning looks. "I was a strange kid."

"Yeah, obviously." I spoke up. "You have some problems, dude."

"What are you? My mom?" Tom told me. "Anyway, bye!" With that, he then pushed us off the cliff, the four of us screaming while he laughed.

Luckily, we didn't fall all the way as the rope we were tied with got caught on a long branch.

"Phew! Good thing that branch was there." Luz said with a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure how long this branch is gonna hold." I put out, knowing we were in a bad situation. "Even if we survive this, we're still gonna be dead if my mom finds out about the house. If it gets destroyed, she's never gonna trust me again and you and me will have to spend our summer in the shed."

"What? What are you talking about?" Willow asked, confused by what I said.

"He means that's what Eda told us before she left." Luz said in a depressed tone before she spoke to our friends. "Willow, Gus, I'm sorry. I lied about the moonlight conjuring. Eda said no to it and just wanted me and Ryuji to watch the Owl House."

"What?" Gus said in disbelief. "But why didn't you just tell us in the first place?"

"I know it was wrong, but you guys just looked so happy since you always wanted to do a conjuring." Luz explained. "I just didn't have the heart to tell you it wasn't happening. You're the first friends me and Ryuji have here on Isles and we didn't want to hurt you."

"Yeah, even I didn't want to crush your hopes of having your first conjuring." I put in with a smile. "A moonlight conjuring is one of the most exciting things to do, especially with friends. You two deserved to see what it was like. We're sorry for leading you on like this."

"It's okay." Gus said in an understanding and forgiving tone.

"Yeah, we get it and we're grateful." Willow said with the same tone before gaining a more shameful one. "Luz, Ryuji, I'm so sorry. You both wanted to turn back, but I pushed you guys into doing what I wanted all just to show off to Amity."

"It's okay, Willow. This isn't your fault." I told her. "But why did you want to show off the conjuring to Amity so bad?"

"Because I wanted to show her how good a witch I was." Willow said before she then gave a sigh. "The truth is Amity and I used to be friends."

"Whaaat?" Me and Luz said together, not expecting this plot twist.

"But if you two were friends, then what happened?" I asked.

"Yeah, why is she being so mean to you?" Luz asked, just as curious as me.

"Well, we played together as kids and we got along." Willow explained to us. "But, when she got her magical powers and I didn't, she stopped hanging out with me." Willow then sighed in despair. "I just wanted to prove to her that I was a powerful witch too."

"Willow, what are you talking about? You're a great witch." I said to her. "Remember back at Hexside? You stopped Bump and all those abominations with just one seed. If that isn't the skill of a powerful witch, I don't know what is."

"Yeah, he's right." Luz backed me up. "You helped bring a house to life. Amity doesn't know what she's talking about." Willow smiled hearing her words. "Next to Ryuji and his family, you're the most powerful witch I know. No offense, Gus."

"No, not at all." Gus said, not bothered one bit. "I know what I'm about." Hearing a few cracks, we then looked to the branch as it was slowly starting to break.

"Oh, boy! Looks like this is it!" I said as it looked like we were about to fall. "Luz, if this is our last moment together, there's something I need you to know." I then took a moment to muster up the courage before I was ready to tell her. "I wanted to tell that…"

"Wait, I think I can get us out of this!" Willow said as we turned to her, the plant witch managing to wiggle one of her arms free to reach out to a little root below the branch. "Just need to reach that… root…" Seeing what she was planning, I then used my foot to create a spell circle before kicking a wind blast that pushed us closer to the cliff and allowed Willow to grab the root. "Gotcha!"

As she used her magic on the root, the branch we were on finally snapped and we began to fall again. We didn't fall for very long as we soon found ourselves on a giant leaf which came from the root Willow was using her magic on, the root having grown out to save us.

"Yeah! Nice job, Willow!" I said to her with a proud smile.

"Thanks." Willow said, returning my smile.

"Okay, so Ryuji, what did you want to tell me?" Luz curiously asked, causing me to blush out of realization.

"Uh… oh, that? Nothing important." I told her before coming up with an excuse. "Let's just go save the Owl House!"

---

[No one's view]

Back in the Night Market, Juniper and King looked in shock at the aftermath of Eda's round against Tibbles, the pig demon having best her.

"Oof! That was painful to watch." King said from witnessing what transpired.

"Yeah, that was brutal." Juniper said, feeling the same way.

"You card shark, you hustled me!" Eda said, now beyond furious

"Looks like you forgot about my wild card." Tibbles said with a mere chuckle, holding up a card before it jumped out of his hand and roared before turning around to reveal a buff goblin. It then tore off the shirt the goblin had on before doing a small victory dance. "In any case, I'd like my prize now." Eying King, he then takes the little demon away from Juniper. "And I choose the little bone boy. I've always wanted a tiny servant to model my line of baby clothes."

"No! I don't look good in clothes. I'm all natural!" King said with fear before turning to his friends. "Eda, Juniper, do something!"

Eda attempted to make a spell circle, but instead a whole bunch more feathers sprouted out of her arm, making her grunt in annoyance

"I got this!" Juniper said as she then tried to make a spell circle before Tibbles snapped his fingers and made two energy chains burst out of the ground, the chains wrapping up around Juniper before tumbling to the ground.

"Juni!" Eda said before she got wrapped up in chains as well, these chains keeping her from moving.

"You think this can stop me?" Juniper said before giving a grunt as dark red flames erupted from her body. But, after this happens, the chains start glowing blue before a mist came out of them. After the flames suddenly disappear, the mist dissipates as Juniper gains a look of shock. "What?"

"Oh, you won't be able to melt those chains. They're made with special magic strong enough to handle your flames." Tibbles said, leering down at the girl. "You think I don't know who you are, Juniper the Demon Flame?" He then pulled out copies of wanted posters for both Juniper and Eda, making the witches realize they were in more trouble than they thought. "Yes, that's right. I knew all along it was you and your mother, the infamous Eda the Owl Lady. I've seen your wanted posters around here and I knew that you two would eventually come to my shack. I wonder how much the Emperor's Coven would pay me to hand you both over." The witches glared at him, trying to conceal the worry they were feeling.

---

Back in the forest, the hunters were waiting for Tom to return and the former leader of the group walked up to Akkaitto.

"Okay, mind telling me what exactly is this all about?" the hunter said. "That kid you just had Tom get rid of could've had a bounty bigger than what we could get with this house demon."

"And you don't find it strange that the Emperor's Coven hadn't announced a bounty on him?" Akkaitto retorted. "It's because they know that kid is more dangerous than he's worth. While I wouldn't want to have Frank blood on my hands, I need to do what I must in order to protect the Isles."

"I'm back!" Tom exclaimed as he walked over to the two.

"Did you dispose of the Dragon Kid and his associates?" Akkaitto coldly asked.

"Yeah, sent them down for a dip in the Boiling Sea." Tom answered proudly. "They tried to fight back and they nearly got me. But, you know, I handled it."

"They're just children, Tom." The eye-patch-wearing hunter said in a flat tone.

As a large shadow hovered over them, they all looked over the cliff and were shocked to see the kids they threw over were on top of a massive plant controlled by Willow's magic. Evan couldn't help but smile seeing they were okay, and he grinned feeling the chains were feeling looser.

"We may be children," Hearing Willow's voice as a large shadow hovered over them, the hunters then looked over the cliff in shock as they saw the kids they tried to get rid of standing on the leaf of a large root accompanied by other roots, "but we're also witches and warlocks. Powerful ones." A thorny vine then lashed at and cut the ropes holding them.

From this, Willow then begins attacking the demon hunters, Akkaitto and his eyepatch-wearing associate dodging one before the Vallake pulls out and uses his axe to cut through it before his associate pulls out his sword and uses it to zap the roots and destroy them, causing the teens to fall to the ground.

"Enough of this!" Akkaitto yelled out as he walked over to the teens furiously. "You three and that Frank boy are not going to take away our bounty and…" Akkaitto stopped in front of the frightened teens as he then notices Ryuji wasn't with them. "Wait, where's the Frank?" Upon realizing it, he then turned back to the house and found the door hanging open, causing him to growl before he spoke out to his fellow hunters. "Bring that boy to me!" With that, three hunters then rushed over and charged through the doorway.

"Attack Magic: Wind Dragon's Roar!" Almost in an instant, the three hunters were pushed right back outside to the ground by a blast of wind shaped like a dragon's head.

[Ryuji]

"And stay out!" I yelled as I walked out of the house with my Saisho in hand before jumping down to the ground.

"Stay right where you are!" Akkaitto called out as I looked to see him holding my friends captive with the use of his axe, the blade sparking with white electricity. "One more step and these three are fried!"

"Let them go." I sternly told him.

"Not until you surrender." He said. "Drop the sword and I'll let your friends go."

"I said, 'let them go'." I repeated, not backing down.

"You think you're in any position to give me orders? Look around you! Your friends are at my mercy and you are outnumbered! You have no chance in winning!"

"You're wrong! Look, I don't what my father did to piss you off, but that's no excuse for you to act like this! You're a Vallake, you should be protecting and saving lives with courage and honor, not threatening them out of malice!"

"Don't lecture me, child. What your father did was unforgiveable! And you are an addition to his crimes! As such, he needs to be punished!"

"No, he doesn't! Seriously, what crime did he ever commit that would get a family of the Noble Three so mad at him?"

"Doesn't matter. You won't live long enough to find out. Now drop your weapon!"

"No. Listen here, bub! I don't care if you even have an army of hunters! I'm leaving here with my friends tonight!" With that, I then bought my Saisho to my face to where I could see my eyes reflected on the side of the blade. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes as I then placed two fingers on the bottom part of the blade.

[No one's view]

As Ryuji stood there with his fingers on the blade, the Saisho's guard slowly began to be enveloped in white light. After it did, Ryuji then slowly move his fingers up it, the light on the guard spreading onto the blade, following behind his fingers. While the hunters gave perplexed looks at what was happening, Luz, Willow, and Gus looked at Ryuji in surprise at what he was doing. After reaching the end and the blade was now shining white, Ryuji took his fingers off the blade, placing his hand to the side as he then brought the Saisho down to his side, the blade pointing upward. After opening his eyes with a look of determination, he then thrust his sword upward where it then gave off a blinding light that forced the hunters to shield their eyes. As this happens, the Saisho's guard and blade change shape. After a moment, the light disappears and everyone looks to find the sword had taken on its lance form as it did in Ryuji's witch's duel with Xander, the hunters were shocked by this while the three teens were left in awe.

[Ryuji]

"Yes! Finally!" I said as I held my Saisho in front of me, feeling proud of myself that I was able to get it to change form before I looked to Akkaitto with a smug smile. Reeling my lance back, I then focused my Plant Magic into it as I got ready to use an attack spell. "Attack Magic: Vine Whip!" With one thrust, I sent a vine right at the Vallake which then wrapped around his right arm, the one where he had the axe in his hand.

"What?" Akkaitto said before I then pulled him away from my friends before swinging him around to knock down the other hunters and then tossing him into a tree, the Vallake hitting his gut before falling flat on his back, his axe beside him on its side as he tried to recover.

"You guys okay?" I asked as I ran over to my friends who managed to pick themselves up, canceling my attack spell and returning my lance to normal.

"Yes, we're fine. Thanks to you." Willow said with a smile.

"Ryuji, you did it! You changed your sword!" Luz excitedly exclaimed.

"Yeah and good timing too." I said. "Now let's get back to the house and get out of here!" With that, we all then ran over to the Owl House.

"Hold it right there!" Hearing that shout, we all then turned to see Akkaitto who stood up with his axe in hand, the Vallake man glaring at me. "You may have gotten the drop on us with that little trick of yours, but you haven't won this battle." Hearing groaning, I then looked around to see the other demon hunters getting back up. "It'll take a lot more than a lance-style combat spell to take us down."

"I know that." I told him with a confident smile. "Which is why I'm going to make sure you guys won't be able to follow us."

"Really?" He asked me. "And how do you plan to do that with just a sword or a lance?"

"Who says I'll just be using those types of weapons?" I told him. "If you hadn't already figured it out, my Saisho is able to become all types of weapons."

With that, I then held out my Saisho in front of me with the spear pointed to the left. Focusing my magic into it, I then watched as the spear started glowing white before it then started to change shape. As the spear slowly became thinner and a bit shorter, a white light sprouted out from the bottom of the grip like a plant sprouting out of the ground. As it grew, it also morphed to resemble more of the spear on the other end. After both sides now glowing extensions that looked about two feet, they then curved back toward me to where they made an arc. After the bottoms sprouted some crest-like additions, from the ends of the points, two string-thin lights spouted out before colliding and combining into one. A moment after this, I then watched as the thin light lost its glow as it turned black from the middle. The same thing happened to the other parts of my weapon, the white light slipping away from the tips down to where they met the grip. With that, I looked at my Saisho as it had become a great battle bow with steel limbs with golden dips along with feathered wing-shape crests on both sides of the grip.

"And, thanks to you, I've now figured out how to make it all those types." I said as I held my new bow.

"Uh, is that a bow?" Tom asked as he and the other hunters looked in shock while I then turned the bow into vertical position.

"And I know how to use it!" I said as I then switched to holding the grip with my left hand and pulling back on the string with my other, aiming towards the sky as I did. From pulling back the string, electricity surged around it and gathered around where I pulled the string before forming into an arrow made of light. "Attack Magic: Storm Shot… Lighting Storm!" With that, I then fired the arrow high into the air. Once it got above the hunters, the air then transformed into a ball of energy before almost instantly exploding into blasts of lightning that rained down upon the hunters.

"Oh, crap." Akkaitto said right before the blasts landed and exploded amongst the group of demon hunters, electrocuting them. The electrocution lasted for a moment before stopping and all the hunters collapsed to the ground.

With all of them knocked out, I then went on to use my bow to cut the restraints on the Owl House, using arrows of pure magic that formed every time I made a shot. Shooting at the ropes from the sides, my arrows cut the house free as the ropes then loosened up. Turning my Saisho back into a sword and putting it back on my back, I then turned to my friends who looked at me with awe.

"Come on, guys! Let's get the Owl House back where it belongs!" I said as I held my hands out to them, giving them a smile. Returning my smile, my friends then rejoined hands and got ready to get to tell Hooty to go back.

[No one's view]

With the hunters who were now giving off smoke, the eyepatch hunter tried to pick himself up, managing to lift his head up to see the Owl House stand up before beginning to walk with one foot going down where he was.

"Uh-oh." Was all he could say right before the foot stepped on him. He managed to pull his face out of the ground and watch as the Owl House walked away.

"They're just children, Tom." Tom mocked, repeating what his former boss said earlier and earning a glare from him.

"Clearly, we underestimated him." Akkaitto said as he got himself up and glared at where the house was going. "He may have escaped us now, but he won't be so lucky next time. I swear, no matter how long it takes, I'm going to get that boy and I won't stop until he's dealt with once and for all! Run all you like, Dragon Kid, but you're days are numbered."

---

Back in the Night Market, Eda and Juniper were still in chains and King sat on the counter with an upset look on his face and his arms crossed while dressed in some sort of green sailor suit with a leash on his leg.

"King, come on!" Juniper said to the little demon. "Help us out of these chains!"

"King? Who's King?" King said as he crossed his arms and looked away in anger. "I go by 'Little Bone Boy' now since Eda lost me to Tibbles."

"See? This is what I was talking about!" Juniper angrily said as she looked at Eda. "You're too obsessed with Hexes Hold'em and it's causing more trouble for us."

"I know and I'm sorry to both of you." Eda said to them with a look of shame. "You were right. I do I have a problem. My obsession with Hexes Hold'em has gotten out of hand, but I'm gonna get a better handle on it. From now on, I'm done with that stupid game."

"You promise?" Juniper asked as she and King looked at her mother in surprise.

"I promise. In fact…" Eda answered before she then found one of her cards on the ground and stomped her foot on it. "Now let's get that elixir and get on home." This causes Juniper to smile before she then turned to King.

"King, you heard her."

"Okay, okay." King said with a chuckle as he managed to get his leg loose. "I'll grab the elixir and then we can bust out of here."

"You will do no such thing, Bone Boy!" Much to the trio's luck, Tibbles had come back from the back of his shop. "The Emperor's Coven is already on its way to send these witches here to the Conformatorium." He then helped up a clothes' hanger with another costume which looked like clothes from medieval times. "Plus, I just rustled up some more clothes for you to try on."

"Just because I have a model's body, doesn't mean you can use me like this." King said while taking off and throwing down his green sailor hat. As the two demons were locked eye to eye, they were unaware paying to the ground shaking along with the sound of loud footsteps.

"I can and I will, Bone Boy." Tibbles said in a dark ominous tone as he got up to the counter. "I've got the cards stacked against you. If you haven't noticed, I got just about everything for anything you could possibly throw at me." As she felt the footsteps getting closer, Juniper began to wonder what the heck was coming their way. "Nothing can stop me, nothing!" Just after he made that declaration, a large bird foot stepped onto his stand, leaving a large hole at the top and making a vial of elixir roll out. That bird foot belonged to the Owl House as it walked through the Night Market.

"Sorry, mister!" Luz apologized as she waved from one of the windows while the walking house continued its way through the market, leaving Juniper laughing as she then stood back up on her feet. While Tibbles was distracted, King saw the elixir on the ground and seized the chance to help Eda and Juniper by sneaking away.

"Wait, was that my house?" Eda said in realization. "And was that Luz and Ryuji?"

"Eda, quick!" King said as he then managed to grab the elixir, uncorked it, and threw it over to her. Luckily, Eda was able to catch in her mouth and tilted her head up before gobbling down the contents. After finishing the last drop, she then spat it out and made it shatter on the ground before dealing with the restraints on both herself and her daughter, breaking them free from the chains.

"Ha!" Eda proudly said as the feathers on her arm popped off.

"No, no, no! My scam stand!" The pig demon said with an upset look before Juniper came up to him with a glare and a flame in her hand, Tibbles yelping out of fear.

"Okay, enough games, buddy!" Juniper said in a threatening tone. "Either give us all the elixir you have or you burn with your stand!"

"Okay, okay!" Tibbles said before running off to the back to get the supply of elixir.

Moments later, Juniper was holding two crates full of elixir, the Clawthornes smiling proudly for managing to obtain what they were after and escaping the pig demon.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Tibbles." Juniper said as she held the crates. "This should be enough elixir to get us through the two-week wait."

"I don't understand." Tibbles said with a look of disbelief. "I had all the cards! My plan was flawless!"

"Sorry, Tibbles, old boy." Eda said with a smirk as she picked up a few cards on the ground. "Looks like you forgot about the wild card." After flicking them into Tibbles' face, Eda, Juniper, and King then began making their way out while ignoring his ranting.

"Curse you, witches! Curse you, Bone Boy! I'll have my revenge!" Tibbles angrily told them. "Tibblet‐Tibblie Grimm Hammer the Third will have his revenge!" After that declaration, the stand then crumbled on top of him.

---

[Ryuji]

After a while, we all braced ourselves as the Owl House set itself down after finally coming to a stop.

"Did we do it?" Luz said as we all let go of each other and I went over to the door.

"Yep! We did it!" I said with a smile as I saw the house was back right where it belonged. "The Owl House is now right where it should be." I then looked over to see the moon finally set. "And just in time too."

"Is the room spinning or is it just me?" Hooty chuckled a bit while looking a little worn out. "Ah, just a little house humor. Ooh."

"Yeah, sorry about all that, Hooty." Luz said to him.

"It's okay. I'm just glad I was included." The house demon told us.

"Well, guys. Looks like we did pretty good for our first moonlight conjuring." I said as I then turned to my friends with a smile. "But also, thanks. Even though we also got killed and turned into the law, this night was pretty fun. Now let's clean this place up before my mom gets back." Hearing some clearing their throat, I lost my smile as I realized my luck had just ran out. "She's right behind me, isn't she?" With a nod from all three of them, I then turned around and saw my mom glaring down at me. "Mom!"

"Ryuji, you are so busted!" Mom said as she marched at me, causing me to back away over to my friends.

"Oh, boy…" Luz nervously said.

"Mom, I can explain." I said as I raised my hands, hoping she could listen.

"Save it, Ryuji!" Mom snapped, shutting me up as she got closer to us. "I told you to watch the house and keep an eye on Luz and Hooty and what did you do? You held a moonlight conjuring, even when I told you couldn't, and you animated our house, our house!"

"I know and I'm sorry." I said with a look of shame before Luz spoke up.

"Eda, wait!" Luz said as she got up in front of me. "I'm the one who caused all this. I told Willow and Gus they could come over even though you said they could. I made Ryuji do this even though it was wrong. If there's anyone you should be mad at, it's me."

"No, don't punish them!" Willow said as she and Gus then got in front of both of us. "We're the ones who pushed Luz and Ryuji to do the conjuring."

"Yeah, it wasn't their fault!" Gus exclaimed. "They were just being good friends and helping us have our first moonlight conjuring!"

"Guys, what are you doing?" I said as me and Luz leaned over to them.

"Yeah, you didn't have to do that." Luz added.

"Yes, we did." Willow told us. "At least I did. After pushing you guys into doing what you didn't want to do, I know you don't deserve to be punished. You two were just trying to help after all."

"Well, you're all guilty." Mom said as she walked past us. "So, as punishment, you'll be cleaning the house from top to bottom." Using a magic circle above us, she summoned and gave us cleaning equipment with Gus getting the broom, Luz being given the mop and bucket, me receiving my own bucket and the sponge, and Willow getting the spray with paper towels. "And you can also count this as punishment for getting into a fight." Hearing that, I then turned to Mom with surprise as she stopped at the couch. "I can tell, especially when you have your sword on ya." From there, I then realized that she was right and I still had my Saisho on my back. She then turned back to us. "One more thing, about that conjuring…" I and my friends all gulped nervously as we were afraid of what she was going to say. "That was totally amazing!" We were all amazed to find that glare turned into a proud smile.

"Wait, you're not about the conjuring?" I asked in disbelief.

"Well, I am a little pissed considering you used my house for it, but I'm still impressed by this." Mom said to us, causing us to smile. "I mean, giving my house legs? I think you just gave me a way of keeping myself hidden. I'm so joining you for next year's conjuring. Now get to work."

"So I take it that the late-night shopping was a success?" I said as me and my friends started cleaning, noticing my mom no longer had feathers all over her.

"Does this answer your question?" Juniper proudly said as she came in with two crates full of elixir. "And, yeah, there's enough for both you and Mom for two weeks. I'll get one of these crates up to your room for ya."

"Thanks, sis." I said to her as she then walked away and up the stairs before I then talked to Mom, putting the bucket down. "By the way, Mom, do we have any beef with the Vallakes?" My question surprised her before she looked at me with worry.

"Who told you that?" She asked me.

"No one. I found that out for myself." I explained to her. "I did get in a fight last night, against some demon hunters. And they were being led by a guy named Akkaitto Vallake."

"Akkaitto?"

"You know him?"

"Well, yeah. He actually was one of the first members of the Warriors Coven, not to mention one of the guys who helped your dad make the Warriors Track."

"Wait, he was one of the first members of the Warriors Track?"

"Yeah, something he was grateful for."

"Well, is there any reason why he's so mad at Dad?"

"Well, there are about two reasons, one of them being that he stole their portal to Hoshido."

"Wait, Dad stole the Vallakes' portal? Why?"

"To make sure that they couldn't follow us there. Anyway, the big reason for them being pissed off at your dad is because… of, well, me."

"What?" I was shocked by this.

"You see, the Vallakes are pretty noble and great people, but that's only when there's stuff they can keep in check. They liked to keep things pure and clean. When your dad made the new track, his cousin family thought of him as something great, saying that he was going to be the hope for the Isles."

"Okay, but what does that have to do with you?"

"Well, it's actually because of what I am now."

"Your curse." With saying this realization, my mom then nodded. "But didn't they understand that you couldn't control it?"

"Yeah, but that wasn't the reason. You see, the Vallakes don't mind much of things and would be willing to help anyone who's in trouble as long as whatever they have doesn't drag others into it. After I was cursed, they actually told Axel to stay away from me, saying that being with me would actually hurt the Isles. Apparently, they put your dad on a pedestal that had no room for me and my curse. They even told me to stay away from him as they thought my curse would affect his bloodline powers."

"Well, they weren't wrong. Your curse got passed on to me, Big Bro, and Juni. While Juni seems fine, me and Big Bro got the rough side of it. Ben was lucky he got control of his dragon form. But still this curse was still just as manageable as yours. There's no reason for them to be so mad."

"That's just the thing. The Vallakes don't really care if my curse was controlled or not. They just didn't want it to affect the bloodline. They tried their best to keep us apart, but your dad was just too stubborn to leave my side or let anyone break us apart."

"Wait, so the Vallakes are mad at you and Dad just being in love?"

"Basically, yeah. And they're especially mad because the two of us had kids who got my curse. They see it as my curse infecting the bloodline and turning anyone with that blood into something else, something so dangerous that not even the Isles can be able to handle."

"So they consider me, Juni, and Big Bro as an act of taboo."

"And they see you as nothing more than a monster which they can't let exist. Not really sure if they care if one of is a Fire Dragon or not, only that they wouldn't hesitate to kill you on the spot if they have the chance. Of course, because they want to keep their image, they'll try to get you into a situation where they can cover it up."

"Yeah, found that out the hard way." I then gained a smile from remembering the results of encountering the hunters. "Though one good thing came out of this." Taking out my Saisho, I then transformed it from a sword to a lance, surprising my mom.

"You figured out how to get it to transform." Mom gave me a proud smile.

"Yeah, and…" I then transformed my weapon into a bow. "I got its bow form too."

"That's great. Good job, kiddo." She pat me on the head.

I then turned my Saisho back into a sword and put it on my back. "And to think, I wouldn't have figured it out if it weren't for the conjuring." With that, I then grabbed the bucket and went on to help my friends clean up the mess we made.

[No one's view]

"I can't believe they animated a whole house." King said as he came over to Eda as she sat down on the couch.

"Yeah. You're right." Eda agreed before looking over to her son who was getting ready to scrub the floor with the sponge. "Ryuji, did you do this with them?"

"No, I didn't perform the ritual with them." Ryuji told his mother. "Last time I did a moonlight conjuring, it was a disaster. Luz, Willow, and Gus did it without me. And without a focusing circle which is why the house got animated if I might add!" He looked toward Willow as he said that last part.

"Sorry." Willow said, trying her best to smile.

"But, yeah, these three did that on their own." Ryuji said. "Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing, just that…" Eda said to him with a look of disbelief. "A conjuring like that takes some powerful magic. Even though it was unintentional, it would either need someone with the magic skill like you, me, your brother, or your sister or at least four more witches with those three, especially considering Luz is human with the only magic she knows being with glyphs on paper and you didn't use a focusing circle."

[Ryuji]

Hearing that, I was surprised to hear that. Luz, Willow, and Gus were actually able to do a conjuring which was at least master-level magic? Needless to say, I was just speechless.

"Well, that's a real kick in the pants." I said as me and my friends looked at each other. "Guess that means we did the greatest conjuring of all time."

"Yeah, we did." Luz said with a smile as she mopped the floor. "Makes me wish we got to show up Amity even more."

"Yeah. Too bad no one will know of our daring adventures." Willow said as she used the spray and towels.

"Eh, who cares?" I told them as I continued scrubbing. "Whether anyone knows or not, it was our adventure. One that we're defiantly going to remember, that's for sure." After I saw Willow smile, I then went on to tell them one thing I knew. "Besides, I think it might've hurt her ego pretty bad considering her own conjuring failed."

"What makes you say that?" Gus asked me.

"Because, considering how you and Willow didn't know about the focusing circle, I'm pretty sure she didn't know either." I explained. "Considering what level she's at, her, her posse, and Xander would need that circle to get it to work."

---

[No one's view]

At the Blight Manor, Amity's friends were currently all gathered around a small doll, most likely what they tried to animate. With the lit candles around them, the witches had looks of disappointment as the doll lay there motionless.

They all stared at it in silence and confusion as Boscha spoke up.

"Ugh! So what if we couldn't move a doll?" Boscha groaned out, breaking the silence. "Now we have time for what really matters." Boscha then used a spell circle to summon a small scroll which she then grabbed. "Penstagram!" With her fellow witches doing the same, they all then started to look at them like how teenagers would look at their phones with either updating or checking out the latest tweets.

"Well, that was a waste of time." Amity said as she and Xander sat at the edge of her window.

"Not everyone gets the conjuring right, Amity." Xander told her. "At least no one saw us fail or we have to deal with seeing any other conjuring." Hearing a gasp of shock, the two look over to Boscha to see her shocked expression before walking over to her.

Sitting down next to the three-eyed witch, Boscha then showed what was on her scroll, scrolling down through the latest updates which had pictures of what happened last night. The first was a photo posted by someone called Tin3Noz and it was a picture of the Owl House walking with a comment that said "OH MY TITAN HAVE YOU SEEN THIS?" with three surprise emojis. The second was another photo of the walking house posted by 4eyedPride with "#WALKINGHOUSE" underneath it. The third was a picture with a closer view of the front of the house with Luz, Ryuji, Willow, and Gus standing at the door while holding hands, the post being from BonezBorough_Bro with the comment saying "#AMIDREAMING?!" The last post was a clear picture of the four posted by Gutz-N-Gorey with the comment "Who are they?!" with a shocked emoji, a heart, and a 100 stamp next to it.

"You have got to be kidding me." Xander said in disbelief as Amity and Boscha looked at each other in shock at seeing the people they mocked had managed to do a better conjuring than they did.

"WHAT?!" The two witches said, their voices echoing to where they could be heard from outside and scaring away a flock of crows who cawed as they flew away.

---

[Ryuji's aside]

Okay, well, that's one night me and my friends are never gonna forget. Mom told us that after seeing our conjuring last night, she decided to keep on letting me have combat practice and she would keep teaching Luz how to do magic. Of course, now I know that not only do I have the Emperor's Coven after me, but also one of the Noble Three families who wants to kill me and it happens to be the one I'm closely related to. Just when I thought I didn't already have enough to deal with in the Boiling Isles. Though, on the plus side, I now know how to transform my Saisho and now can use it as a sword, a lance, and a bow. Sure, more problems have now piled on me, but now I'm leveling up my game to take them head-on. I know there's gonna be some more bad times for me and Luz, but I can definitely tell that we'll also get some good times like this conjuring to balance it out. Can't wait to make some more memories here on the Isles. DK out!

---

Author's Note: Hey, guys! I hope you all like the new chapter. Well, Luz and Ryuji sure had a crazy night, didn't they? And it looks like Ryuji has more enemies on the Isles than he thought, but the young hybrid is also getting stronger every moment. At least he haves his friends by his side to help him through the troubled times. How far will Ryuji go with his magic? How will his encounter with a member of the Vallake Family affect his journey? We'll all just have to wait and see. Also, Akkaitto Vallake is voiced by Christopher Robin Sabat. In the next chapter, while Eda, Juniper, and King are busy with a special task, Luz and Ryuji go to the library where they come to discover more about some certain rivals of theirs. 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!