Chapter Three


Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!

Once, there were five. Now, there are four.

Come, my darling, homeward bound . . .

A bright flash of light -

Luz jerked awake, the shape of the glyph seared into her mind. She hesitated, then quietly climbed out of bed, wincing as the wooden floor creaked. Vee shifted in her sleep, mumbling, but settled back down, to Luz's relief.

Creeping silently to the door, she cracked it open just enough to slip through, closing it behind her and heading down the stairs. The door opened as she reached the bottom step and Hooty grinned at her, stretching forward for a pat.

"Hello, Hooty," Luz whispered, pressing a finger to her lips to tell him to stay silent.

"Morning, Luz!" The demon's voice was a whisper-shout as opposed to his usual volume; improvement, but not much considering how sensitive witch and demon ears were. "What are you doing up so early? Are you hungry? I have some really nice bugs I've been saving for a special occasion!" He began choking and gagging in order to retch up said bugs.

Luz winced. "Well . . . not exactly," she admitted. "Do you know where Eda stores her papers?"

"Follow me!" Hooty shouted, back to his normal volume.

"Shhh!"

"Sorry, Luz!"

Hooty stretched toward the chest lying beside the front door, nudging it open with his beak. He dove into the jumble of items thrown in there before letting out a triumphant cry and emerging with his beak full of small squares of paper.

"Here you go!" he shouted, voice muffled by the papers. He spat them out of his mouth, several dead bugs and a still-living robin following.

"Hooty, what exactly have you been eating?" Luz asked as she scooped the robin into her hands and opened the window.

"Bugs and birds!" Hooty said happily.

". . . I can see that," Luz replied, deciding not to press the subject. She opened her hands, letting the robin spread its wings and take flight into the predawn sky. "Pen, please?"

Hooty brought her the required item as she sat down by the low table in front of the couch. Thanking him, Luz gripped the pen in one hand and closed her eyes, envisioning the glyph as she had seen it in her dream. Carefully, she drew a circle in the center; inside this, she drew a cone from the very top of the circle, and a vertical line down the middle that stopped at the bottom of the circle. Where the line began, she drew a triangle whose bottom corners met at the opposite sides of the circle, and inside, two slanting lines against the vertical line.

"What is it?" Hooty asked, peering over Luz's shoulder at the glyph.

"I . . . I am uncertain," Luz admitted, staring at the drawing before her. "What do you believe I should do?"

"I could eat it!" Hooty offered cheerfully.

Luz groaned. "Hooty, we have talked about this. Please do not eat anything that is not a bug."

"Well, where's the fun in that?" Hooty protested.

Luz shook her head, turning her attention back to the glyph. "What are you?" she whispered to it, raising her hand. "Why did you appear in my dreams?"

As soon as her fingers brushed against the center of the glyph, it glowed brightly, causing her to jerk back. Her jaw and Hooty's dropped, Hooty's crashing against the floor, and they both watched in fascination as the paper began crumpling in on itself, reverting to a bright ball of yellow light hovering above the table.

"Magic," Luz whispered, crawling forward and cupping the ball in her hands. It still hovered above them, but when she moved them, it moved with her. "That was a light glyph."

A new voice shattered the silence. "What in the Titan's name is going on here?!"


"So let me get this straight," Eda began, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You had a weird dream that showed you this glyph," she pointed at a newly-drawn light glyph laying on the table, along with numerous other similar drawings, "and when you touched it, it became a ball of light?"

Luz nodded. "Yes." Reaching forward, she tapped the glyph with a finger, picking up the ball of light that was produced and handing it to Eda. "Have you ever seen anything similar?"

"Never," Eda replied, shaking her head. She peered closer at the spell. "I mean, I guess it must be what witches used to use, but for you to have seen it in a dream . . ."

"Do you mind?" Vee asked Luz. Luz nodded, and the basilisk plucked the spell from the air and happily ate it.

"I wonder if there are any other glyphs similar to this one," Luz murmured, picking up one of the glyphs and scrutinizing it as though it held even more answers.

Eda placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well, you should probably keep practicing with this one for now." Her eyes glimmered. "Unless . . ."

"Oh, no," Vee, King, and Luz chorused.

Eda snapped her fingers, summoning a box of cards to her hand. "Who wants to play a round of Hexes Hold 'Em?"

"Hooty!" the three shouted, but the demon had already thrown open the door, allowing them a quick escape.

"She's gotten waaaaaaay too obsessed with that game, hoot, hoot!" Hooty commented, curling comfortably around Luz's shoulders.

"I'm mostly worried she's gonna burn the house down," Vee admitted.

"I wouldn't let that happen! HOOT!"

"HA! What could you do?" King demanded.

"I can do loooooooots of stuff!" Hooty shouted. "I am the Owl House!"

Before anyone could reply to that, Owlbert came flying out the door, holding the box of Hexes Hold 'Em cards.

"Owlbert?" Vee called. "What's wrong?"

Eda came rushing out the door behind the Palisman, wearing a cloak that still didn't quite cover the feathers growing on her arms. "Owlbert, you sore loser!" she shouted. "Gimme back my cards!"

"Eda, your curse!" Luz exclaimed, alarmed.

Eda wasn't listening, intent on getting her cards back. Owlbert gave a muffled hoot as he flew towards Bonesborough. Luz looked at Hooty for a translation.

"He's leading Eda to the market so she can refill her supply! HOOT!"

"Clever Palisman," Luz murmured. "We need to follow," she added to King and Vee. "I worry what might happen now that Eda has depleted her supply."

Vee scooped King up and transformed into a human, running after Eda and Owlbert with Luz.

"How did you run out of your potions so quickly?" Luz asked Eda as she followed her through Bonesborough's winding paths. "You typically restock once every week."

"She's been distracted playing Hexes Hold 'Em," King grumbled.

"I have not!" Eda protested.

"You keep telling yourself that."

"There's Morton's," Vee interrupted, pointing to a nearby stall.

Eda pulled her hood over her head and banged on the grate with a fist once she reached Morton's stall. "Morton, open up!" she shouted.

"J-Just a minute!" Morton called back. There were several crashing noises, drowned out by the sound of heavy footsteps pounding against the rocky floor. Vee yelped, gripping King even tighter and scrambling into the shadows, away from the demon hunters. Luz, meanwhile, tensed, avoiding eye contact with the witches.

"Morton, open the dang door before I become their next catch!" Eda hissed, banging even harder.

Morton quickly opened it. "Sorry! I was poison tasting last night, so I don't feel well."

That was enough to snap Luz out of her panic, and she turned her incredulous gaze on the potions maker. "Morton!"

"What? I have to make sure they're good sells!"

"Forget that," Eda cut in, "I'm outta my juice."

Morton grimaced. "Ah. Let me see if I have anything."

He ducked down, beginning to rummage. Meanwhile, the demon hunters were moving on, allowing Luz to relax while Vee slid out of hiding.

"I hate it when they come through," the basilisk muttered, shuddering. Luz laid a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder, knowing how Vee felt. While she wasn't a powerful and dangerous demon, the Emperor would pay well to have her in his clutches again, and even demon hunters would know that.

"Hey, guys."

"Willow, Gus!" Vee immediately brightened, hugging her friends while Luz smiled at them.

She frowned when she noticed how dejected they looked. "Is everything alright?"

Willow sighed. "Amity's having a Moonlight Conjuring and invited everyone but me."

"And she keeps posting about it," Gus added, summoning his Penstagram scroll and tapping on Amity's Penstagram.

"'Conjuring Night, no dorks allowed'?" Luz's lips thinned, and she had to physically restrain Vee as the basilisk hissed curses at Amity and her friend group. "Please attempt to contain yourself while in public, the hisses tend to be a giveaway to your true nature."

"You know," King interrupted, "you guys could always hold your own Moonlight Conjuring." They looked down at the little demon, who had finally wriggled out of Vee's grip and was walking over to Eda.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked.

"At the Owl House," King explained, glancing over his shoulder. "A Moonlight Conjuring needs at least three people to work. You guys are four people."

"You're right!" Vee exclaimed. Then she hesitated. "Um, will I be able to participate? I am magic, but I don't think I can technically use it the way witches do . . ."

"I do not believe it matters," Luz said thoughtfully. "Alright, I will ask Eda if we can do the Moonlight Conjuring this evening."

"Yes! This is on my bucket list!" Gus cheered. "After owning an actual bucket!"

Vee and Luz giggled, amused, before Luz followed King over to Eda, who was glaring at Morton. "I don't have time to wait 'til next week!" she snapped.

"Well, why'd you wait so long to restock?" Morton asked.

"She's been distracted by Hexes Hold 'Em," King called. "She's obsessed."

"I am not!" Eda protested.

"You are playing it currently," Luz said flatly. And indeed Eda was.

". . . Am I winning?" the Owl Lady asked.

"Eda -"

"Try your luck at the night market," Morton interrupted, voice lowering to a whisper. "Grimm Hammer will most likely have what you need."

Luz looked worried as she looked at Eda. "I do not believe that is the wisest choice …"

Eda shrugged. "Can't be helped. I need the elixir. You and Vee can stay behind and watch the Owl House."

"That works to our favor as well," Luz nodded. "Vee, Gus, Willow and I are holding a Moonlight Conjuring this evening."

"Absolutely not," Eda said. "Conjurings are dumb magic for babies."

"Eda, this is going to be our first time doing a Conjuring," Luz pleaded.

"I said no. Come on, we need to head back. Who knows what mischief Hooty has gotten up to while we were gone." Eda began walking away, leaving Luz staring after her helplessly.

"Luz!" She turned as her friends came running up. "What did Eda say?" Willow asked.

Luz hesitated for a long moment. "Yes," came out of her mouth. She clapped a hand over her mouth, shocked at her own audacity.

"Whoo-hoo!" Gus and Willow cheered. "We're gonna have a Conjuring, we're gonna have a Conjuring!"

Luz slowly removed her hand from her mouth, looking at her friends, seeing how happy they were. She couldn't believe she had just defied Eda's orders!

. . . But if it made her friends happy . . .

Wasn't it worth it?


The rest of the afternoon went by in a haze for Luz. By the time Eda left, there were inch-deep footprints in the waist-high mound of snow she had accidentally summoned in her and Vee's shared room. She still hadn't told Vee that they were going against Eda's wishes and holding the moonlight conjuring without the Owl Lady's permission, but everything would turn out fine!

She hoped.

"Luz, you gotta calm down." Vee attempted for the tenth time to get her friend's attention. "You're gonna start leaking snow outside of our room if this keeps up."

"I am completely, utterly calm!" Luz replied with an hysterical laugh.

Vee eyed her warily. ". . . Uh-huh."

"Come! Gus and Willow are cloaking themselves beside the door; we should let them in so that we can finish this quickly and never speak of it again!" Luz rushed into the hallway and down the stairs, beckoning her friends inside. Vee followed more slowly, looking at Luz as though she'd gone mad. And perhaps she had, Luz thought wildly. After all, she was going against orders for the first time in her life, surely that was insane -

"Uh, hello? Isles to Luz?" Gus's hand was waving in front of her face. "You've been grinning at the wall for the past five minutes," he said when he saw he had Luz's attention. "Did something happen?"

"Nothing at all!" Luz exclaimed. "We should proceed with the Conjuring immediately! What shall we bring to life?"

"Um, how about your sanity?" Gus suggested.

"I think we're well past that point," Vee commented. "Luz, did something happen with Eda?"

"Of course not! Why would you assume such a thing?" Luz smiled nervously. "Is there anything we can use to Conjure?" she added before anyone could answer her question.

"We'll need something beautiful," Willow began.

"Obviously!" Gus agreed.

"Something meaningful," Willow continued.

"I'm liking where this is going!"

"Something like -"

"This buff little man!" Gus interrupted, shoving the Beefy Bob toy in Willow's face.

Willow eyed it cautiously. "Not quite what I meant."

"Awww!" Gus widened his eyes and let his lips tremble, staring pleadingly at Willow.

She sighed, smiling. "Oh, alright."

"YES!"

Once everything was set up, the four friends sat in a circle around the figurine.

"Now we just say the incantation and bring the doll to life!" Willow said, grabbing Luz and Gus's hands.

"Figurine," Gus protested as he grabbed Vee's hand and Vee grabbed Luz's other hand.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Vee whispered under her breath to Luz as Willow and Gus began chanting. "You've been acting weird since we came back from the market."

"I am as well as I have always been," Luz said, though she could tell Vee didn't believe her. Honestly, she wasn't believing herself, either.

The two startled as a burst of blue light appeared in the center of the circle. They all looked down at the figurine; it wasn't moving.

". . . Well, that's anticlimactic," Vee commented.

Suddenly, the house lurched, sending the kids sprawling and screaming.

"What happened?!" Gus shouted.

"I think we animated the house!" Willow shouted back.

"THE HOUSE?!" Luz demanded, running to the front door and throwing it open. She screamed as the house began moving forward; the door slammed shut as soon as everyone was outside. "Oh, Eda is going to murder me!" Luz moaned, attempting to keep her balance.

"Hooty, snap out of it!" Vee shouted at the demon.

"By the moon's power, I've risen, hoot hoot!" Hooty exclaimed.

"I think he's in a trance!" Gus exclaimed. There was a jolt, and Gus fell over the ledge.

"GUS!" the others shouted, lunging forward. Vee and Willow each grabbed one of Gus's hands while Luz gripped their opposite hands and attempted to pull them backwards.

"Hooty, STOP!" Luz shouted just before the house could walk off the edge of a cliff. Immediately, it paused; while shocked, Gus was still pulled to safety.

"How'd you do that?" Gus asked Luz.

She thought for a moment. "Everyone hold hands again," she said at length. As soon as that was done, the house backed away from the cliff, stopping in the middle of a clearing.

"We're controlling it with friendship!" Willow grinned. Then she turned sheepish. "And probably the moon."

"What should we do now?" Gus asked.

"I believe it would be a good idea to take the house back before Eda arrives," Luz said nervously.

"It's a giant walking house!" Gus protested. "Let's take it for a joyride!"

"Yeah!" Willow cheered. Even Vee looked pleadingly at Luz. She hesitated, holding out for several seconds before giving in.

"Alright," she agreed. "But we must return before the moon sets or Eda will be furious."


"I believe it would be best to return home," Luz commented an hour later; she had been repeatedly looking at the moon, hoping to arrive back before Eda did. "We do not want Eda to catch us animating the house."

"One more stop," Willow urged. "We should show Amity what we did! That'll show her who's half-a-witch!"

Vee and Gus added their assent. Luz whimpered under her breath. "Very well," she consented. "But afterwards, we will return straight home!"

Right as they approached the manor, however, a large rope crossed over the roof, pinning the house in place. Another soon followed, bringing the house to its knees.

"Demon hunters!" Luz cried. Vee gasped, trying to transform, but she hadn't eaten any magic in awhile, and was unable to transform.

One of the demon hunters jumped up in front of the kids. "Well, well," he said, smirking at them all. "Look what we have here: three kids, a giant demon house, and a basilisk . . ." He grabbed Vee by the chin, ignoring her as she tried to jerk away. "Oh, the Emperor'll give us a handsome price for this beast." He turned to his men. "Load 'er up, boys! After tonight, we'll be rich!"

The demon hunters cheered; their leader dragged Vee away, ignoring her desperate screams. "Luz! Willow! Gus!"

"VEE!" the three shouted, horrified. Desperately, Luz wrenched off her gloves. "Unhand her!"

The leader turned, a sneer contorting his face. "Heh! The little girly is making demands now, is she?" The other demon hunters laughed and jeered. Their leader tossed Vee to one of his henchmen, causing her to cry out in pain. "So, little girly . . . ready to put on a good show?"

Luz glared at him. "It is one thing to threaten me," she said, her voice dangerously low. "It is quite another to threaten my sister."

A mental image already forming in her head, she thrust her hands at the ground. A cloud of mist appeared, and a moment later, a large snow monster was standing before the demon hunters. They backed away, shocked; the creature roared, icicles sprouting from his skin.

Willow's vines grabbed hold of Vee, pulling her to safety inside the house; Luz ran over to the thick ropes, creating a thick, sharp icy sword and hacking one of the ropes away. She rushed to the other side to do the same to the opposite rope. As soon as she was inside with her friends, they all grabbed hands.

"I didn't know you could do that!" Willow shouted as the house rose to its feet and began running away from the demon hunters.

"I had no idea either!" Luz shouted back. "I was not expecting Marshmallow to be formed in such a way!"

"Marshmallow?" Gus looked confused.

Luz blushed. "That is the name that came to my mind when he was fully formed. I apologize for not telling either of you sooner; I still cannot fully control these powers, and I would not like to see those close to me hurt."

"It's alright," Willow said. "I'm sorry for insisting that we go to Amity's. I just wanted to show her that I wasn't Half-A-Witch Willow anymore. We used to be friends, but when she got her magic and I didn't . . . we drifted."

The house suddenly crashed to its side again, sending the kids tumbling. "Hide!" Luz hissed to Vee, scrambling to her feet and rushing to the door. The demon hunters had managed to slip past Marshmallow and were attempting to tie up the Owl House once again. Luz shot blasts of ice toward them, forcing them to dodge so they weren't hit. "Amity has no idea what she is talking about, Willow!" she shouted to her friend. "Next to Eda, you are the most powerful witch I have ever met! Anything that you believe is unattainable may be in your grasp! Will you help me?"

She cried out as two of the demon hunters wrestled her to the ground, pinning her beneath them. "The Emperor's little brat," one hissed; his breath was sour and rotten, causing Luz to gag. "I didn't realize we had you. When we bring you back to him -"

The two hunters were suddenly wrenched off of Luz. She scrambled to her feet, watching amazed as Willow used her vines to fight back against the demon hunters.

"Luz!" Gus waved, catching Luz's attention. She ran over to him, grabbing his hand, and the four friends formed a circle once again. Sending the Owl House forward, they crushed the demon hunters beneath them.

"Mama?" a deep voice rumbled.

Luz turned, delighted. "Marshmallow!" She stepped to the edge of the cliff as the snow monster bent down, retracting his icicles and letting Luz place her palm against his nose. Leaning forward, she pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Thank you, dear one," she whispered. Then she stood. "Now you must leave, find somewhere safe to stay beyond the Emperor's reach. Should I ever have need of you again, you will know where to find me."

"Mama," Marshmallow agreed, smiling at her before turning and beginning to stomp off.

Luz turned to her friends. "It would be best if we returned now; the moon is waning quickly, and I believe Eda will be arriving any second."

"Okay, but seriously, you gotta tell us how you did that!" Gus insisted.

"Before that," Vee interrupted. Luz looked over at her; Vee had been silent since Willow had saved her. "Luz, that thing you weren't telling me . . . Eda didn't give her permission, did she?"

Luz sighed. "No," she admitted. "And yet I wanted to help Gus and Willow feel better, which led to me disobeying orders for the first time in my life." She paled. "And now I believe Eda is truly going to kill me."

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Gus retorted. "Also, Vee's your sister? Why did we not know this before?!"

Luz yelped, blushing. "I said that?"

Vee was blushing too. "Y-Yeah . . . I kinda liked it," she admitted. "It fits really well."

"Ah. I suppose in that case . . . we can become sisters from this point onward?"

"Yeah. I'd like that."

CRASH! CRUNCH! BAM!

"Okay, so maybe walking through the night market wasn't our brightest idea," Willow said with a wince.

Luz glanced out a nearby window to the shop owner. "Apologies, sir!" she called.


The house settled comfortably in its original place just as the moon fully dipped below the surface. Hooty moaned. "Is the room spinning, or is that just me?"

"Apologies for any inconveniences, Hooty," Luz said, walking over to the demon and stroking his head.

"It's okay! I was just glad to be a part of something, hoot hoot!"

The door slammed closed, revealing Eda and King. "You had a Moonlight Conjuring?!" the witch demanded. "And you animated my house?!"

Luz shrieked, closing her eyes and cowering away as a stream of muttered words left her lips.

"-d, hey, Luz, it's alright." Eda's voice, gentler than before, reached her ears. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare ya. I'm not really mad. To be honest, I thought that was amazing! I'm so joining you guys for next years' Conjuring!"

Luz managed to look up into the witch's eyes. "Y-You are not upset?"

Eda shrugged. "Maybe a little. But hey, everything worked out in the end. Now," she got to her feet, stretching out a hand, which Luz hesitantly accepted, "I was gonna make you four clean my house, but I think it's been a long night." She snapped her fingers, and immediately everything was back in its original place as though it had never been messed up. "You kids can finish your Conjuring or whatever."

"YES!" Gus and Willow shouted, leaping to their feet. They headed off with Vee while Luz lingered behind, examining Eda carefully.

"Everything okay, kid?" Eda asked, raising an eyebrow.

Luz hesitated, opened her mouth, debating, then changed her mind. "Of course. Everything is wonderful. I shall see you come morning. Good night, Eda."

"Night, Luz." As she walked off, Luz couldn't help overhearing the conversation between Eda and King. "Strange kid."

"Weh, aren't we all?"

"Very true. Hey, wait a minute - MEAN! I LEFT OWLBERT AT THE NIGHT MARKET!" King burst into laughter. "WILL YOU QUIT THAT?! HANG ON, OWLBERT! I'M COMIN' FOR YA, BUDDY!" CRASH. "HOOTY THAT MEANS OPEN THE DANG DOOR!"

"Hoot, hoot! Sorry Eda!"