"And here we have the most fearsome creature in the world, the King of Demons," Luz said in a British accent as she documented King with her phone. "Facing his natural enemy, the ducky sock."

King tore the sock to shreds. "Where are you now, ducky sock?!"

"He's so cute when he's angry," chuckled Strix.

"I AM NOT CUTE!"

"So, why'd you call me and Strix here again?"

"Oh, yeah." King walked to a board draped by a curtain and put on a beret. "Human Luz, you've been so obsessed with witchcraft that you haven't learned anything about my kind. Prepare yourself for..." He pulled the curtain off, revealing a cork board covered in photographs of various monsters and demons. "Demons 101! Demons like me are grim tricksters of the twilight, creatures of sulfur and bone."

"And cute little paws."

King winced at Luz's words and Strix's chuckle. "And cute little paws. True. We live only to create chaos and misery. Our only weaknesses are purified water and passive‐aggressive comments. Sometimes."

"Oh, you guys are sensitive."

"Even demons have inner demons. The most powerful demon of all is the Snaggleback." He showed Luz and Strix a drawing of a purple monkey with a spiked tortoise shell. "He's a‐‐"

"Bad boy." Luz wasn't really paying attention. Just playing with the sticker app on her phone.

"Luz, pay attention. This information could save your life someday."

"No, no. I am so paying attention. This is my paying attention face." Luz made an interested face and nodded her head. "Mm‐hmm, mm‐hmm, mm‐hmm."

Suddenly, thunder boomed and shook the whole house. "Uh‐oh. Looks like it's gonna rain," said Strix.

"I love the rain," said Luz, running outside.

"Wait, Luzer! It's not human world rain!" Strix shouted.

Luz inhaled and exhaled as she twirled around, watching storm clouds roll by. "I always love feeling the first few drops in my hair. I bet you do too, little buddy," she said to a flower. A drop of rain landed on the flower and it burnt up instantly. "What?"

"BOILING RAIN!" Eda shouted as she ran out of the forest. "Everybody inside now!" She ran up to Luz, tackled her and threw her into the house just as the storm began. Eda closed the door and went, "Phew! That was close. But the important thing is you didn't get hurt."

"Yeah," groaned Luz. "Not hurt." A coffee mug landed on her face.

The people of the Boiling Isles ran for cover as the storm began. Some got badly burnt in the process. Willow managed to save her plants and bring them inside before they were destroyed. And the tiny conspiracy theorist prisoner, whom we'll call Tiny Nose for future reference, hid in a mouse hole.

King put a bandage with a cat on it on Luz's wounded arm. "Look, now we're boo‐boo buddies!" He pointed to the bandage across the bridge of his nose.

Luz cuddled up to King and mewed. "Oh, my gosh, I love you so much." She noticed Eda conjuring a force field spell. "A boiling rainstorm on the Boiling Isles. The weather here is so fun."

"We don't get weather," said Strix. "We get plagues. Gorenados, shale hail, painbows...they're rainbows that turn you inside out if you look at them." Luz put her hood up, tightened it and curled into a ball.

"So, until the boiling rain stops, no one is allowed outside tonight," said Eda.

"And if the rain doesn't get you, the Snaggleback will," said King, showing a picture of the demon they were talking about earlier. "They wander the rain feeding on boiled tourists."

"Well, whatever the case, this force field spell should protect the house from boiling rains and made‐up demons."

"Hoot!" Hooty hooted angrily. "Well, hurry it up with that force field. That rain is getting closer to my precious stucco."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Eda clapped her hands and conjured a giant gold bubble that encased the house and protected it and the grounds.

"Wow. Someday I'd like to be as cool as Eda the Owl Lady," said Luz, impressed. "Magical, sassy, surprisingly foxy for her age." Eda smiled with acknowledgement. "Hey, why do they call you the Owl Lady, anyway?"

"'Cause I'm so wise," said Eda with pride.

"You're not wise," said Strix. "You cough up furry pellets all over the floor of our house!"

"After she eats the rats, of course," said Hooty.

"I think it's 'cause she gets distracted by shiny objects," said King.

"No, I don't." King held up a light-up pen and waved it in front of her. Eda stared, transfixed. "It sparkles and shimmers. It shines and delights. I must have it for my nest..." She jumped at it to catch it, only to miss and crash face first.

Luz babbled excitedly as she helped her up. "You have a nest? I want a nest! Nest party!"

Eda suddenly wobbled, feeling a slight headache. "Ugh. That force field really took it out of me."

"Easy, Mom," Strix said, helping her.

"Uh‐oh. Moving a little slow. Age finally catching up to ya?" King taunted Eda. She responded by shoving his whole head into his beret. "AAAAHHH! DARKNESS!"

Luz grinned as she watched Strix help his mother upstairs. "This is perfect," she said to King. "Since we'll be stuck in the house all night, Eda won't have any excuse not to teach me a spell."

"But don't you wanna finish our lesson? I was gonna let you scratch a demon's tummy. Me!"

"Oh, uh, sorry, King. But... magic."

King, frustrated, poked a hole in his beret with one of his horns.

"Get your hands off me you little..." Eda mumbled, clad in pajamas and trying to shoo away Strix. She plopped down on the couch and closed her eyes. She felt a presence. She opened her eyes and let out a startled yell when she saw Luz grinning down at her.

"Oh, Eda, have I told you how rad your fang looks today?"

"Whatever it is, no.," Eda said.

"Uh, and your hair is like... girl."

Eda pulled the blanket up to her neck. "I'm not teaching you magic tonight. I'm sleepy. I'm a sleepy little owl."

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

"No. Sleep." Eda pulled the blanket over her head.

"Luz, just leave her alone," said Strix.

In response, Luz pulled out the light up pen and clicked it on. Eda poked her head out the blanket and her eyes focused on the pen. "Sparkle thing," she whispered.

"Oh, this?" Eda tried to grab the pen, but Luz held it away from her and she fell off the couch. "Nope! Teach me one spell, and I'll give you your sparkle thing."

"Luz, seriously," said Strix, concerned. "Leave Mom alone."

"It's alright," said Eda. "I respect your cunning, Luz, but I also hate you for it."

Eda took out her staff as she explained to the human, "If you want a witch's staff like mine, don't make me repeat myself." She paused to yawn. "Witch's staffs have power embedded into them."

"Gimme!" said an eager Luz.

"BUT! Before one is earned, every witch needs to know how to cast spells on their own. Now..." She tossed the staff away. "...tonight I will show you how to create...light!" She traced a circle in the air, and a ball of pure light appeared. Luz's eyed it with amazement.

"Yawn! Who needs another boring spell lesson when you could be learning all the fun ways a demon could kill you," King asked and showed an illustration of a demon that looked more like a child's drawing. "Look how teethy. Bite, bite."

"Be quiet. I need to focus."

King's ears drooped in disappointment. "Oh, well. More for us, right Strix?"

"Yeah..." Strix said, a look of concern on his face.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just..."

Eda continued the lesson. "Now, humans think magic is made out of thin air, but that's stupid. Everything comes from something. Let me ask you, kid. Where do you think magic comes from?"

"Uh, from the heart?"

Eda paused. "Actually, you're right." Luz gasped with joy. "No, really." She showed Luz a diagram of a heart with a green sac attached to it. "It comes from a sac of magic bile attached to a witch's heart."

"Oh, gross! Can I keep that?"

"No. Now, everything depends on the spell circle. The bigger the circle, the more powerful the spell." Eda demonstrated by drawing an even bigger circle, creating a larger ball of light.

"But how can I, little ol' Luz, do spells if I don't have a magic bile... sac?"

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

"WHAT?!"

"I know witches did magic differently in the past, but I never bothered to figure out how."

"Yeah, because you never bothered to finish school," said Strix.

"Shut up, son."

"EDA!" Luz shouted.

"Don't worry. You'll figure it out. Now‐‐" She plopped down on the couch. "I need to lie down."

"That's it? Wait! I need to see you do the circle thingy again. I'll record it on my phone this time." Luz held her phone up to the drowsy witch. "Smile! You're on camera. One more spell won't kill you."

Eda groaned. "Fine. Now, you see, the..." She lazily drew the circle. "...spell circle is really key because‐‐" She yawned. "Ooh, boy." And then she fell flat on her back.

"Oh, no," Strix said nonchalantly. "You killed my mom."

Luz screamed. "Oh, my gosh. My obsession with spells knocked out Eda. I'm a monster."

King slapped Eda's face. "Bap! Yep, she's out. Bap!" Strix bopped him on the head. "Ow! Just making sure!"

Strix knelt and picked his mother up bridal style. "Man, you've gained some weight." He turned to Luz. "She's fine. She just needs sleep. Like she told you."

"But what if Eda's dead?!"

As if to answer her question, Eda mumbled, "Shiny thing. Big nest..."

"Luzer, my mom was decapitated last week. She can survive almost anything. Now come on, help me get her in her nest."

"Don't call me that."

Strix and Luz gently set the Owl Lady down in a nest the size of a king-sized bed. "Good night, Mom," Strix said, kissing her forehead.

"Sorry for pushing you, Miss Eda. Please don't hurt me when you wake up," said Luz.

"Should I bap her again?" asked King.

"Bap her again and I'll feed you to Selwyn," said Strix. "Speaking of, I should probably check on her. She's probably feeling claustrophobic from being in this force field."

Back in the living room, King wanted to give Luz another lesson while they waited for Strix, but Luz wasn't paying attention. Instead, she kept tracing circles in the air, growing more and more frustrated with each failed attempt to make a spell circle. "This is all she does. Why you gotta be so cryptic, Owl Lady?" She looked at the phone to find some sort of clue when King blocked the phone with his note pad.

"Hey, you know what's really cryptish? Let me tell you about the most spine‐chilling demon. Smoochy‐pie the Sweetie Baby!" He showed Luz a drawing of a fish with hands. "He's... He's a lot more threatening than his name implies."

"Not now, King. I want to figure out this spell. But if I don't have a magic sac, what's the point? I'll just be twirling my fingers around unmagically forever." Luz sat down on the couch.

King sat down next to her. "Why do you want to learn magic so bad, anyway?"

"I was a nobody back home. But becoming a witch is my chance to be someone. Do you know what it's like to have no one take you seriously? I'm sure Strix does, being the son of the most powerful witch ever and yet unable to cast any spells."

King sighed then conceited. "If I help you learn that spell, could we finish our lesson?"

Luz beamed at him and said, "Oh, yes, yes. You can teach me about demons all week if you help me learn this spell."

"Well, she said witches used to do magic differently, so there has to be a way, right? And I have a theory. Every day I notice Eda sneaking drinks of this special elixirs, see? Then she always gets a boost of energy, see? I think that's where she gets her powers. And I know where to get some."

"Really?"

"Sí."

Luz hugged him and spun him around. "Thank you so much. You're a prince!"

"King. I'm King."

"Right."

King snuck into the Owl Lady's bedroom, finding her still fast asleep. "Now where could it be..." Then he saw it: a bottle partially filled with a golden liquid sitting on Eda's bedside table. He stepped forward, only to get his leg nearly snapped off by a bear trap. "Ha! Nice try!"

"Nah, my heart wasn't in it," said the trap.

King went to the bedside table and took the bottle. He read the label on it. "'An elixir a day.' Cryptic." He was about to walk out with the bottle when he stopped. It didn't feel right stealing from Eda. Then he thought, if this is what it takes to get Luz to pay attention to him, so be it.

Down in the kitchen, King said to Luz, "Got it." Luz took the bottle and popped its cork off.

"Wow. I can't believe I'm about to learn magic. Real magic. This is historic." She put the bottle to her lips but before she could drink the golden liquid, a booming crash of lightning made her drop the bottle onto the floor. "Golden elixir. Gone! This is awful."

King tried to brush it off like it was no biggie, "Who even needs a light spell when we have tons of lamps?" At that moment, all the lights in the house went out. King groaned. "Hooty controls the house lights. He probably just fell asleep."

Suddenly there was a loud crash and they heard Hooty scream, "Hoot! Hoot!" They ran to the living room and stopped short. They saw some...thing... clawing at the broken in door, but it was so dark, they couldn't make out what it was. When it saw them, the creature took off in another direction.

"Hooty! Are you in there?" Luz poked the owl door knocker, but he was out cold. "Whatever did this escaped into the rain. What could survive that?"

King suddenly gasped, "Oh, my gosh. The Snaggleback! It feeds during the rains. It must have stumbled across our house and seen us inside."

The creature howled and the two ran out to see it crash into an upper window. "This is terrifying. So why do you look so happy?"

King said, giddy, "Because this could be a lesson. This would be a great way for you to see a wild demon up close and personal."

"You want to go toward those creepy sounds? No way!"

"What if Eda gets eaten? She's upstairs and defenseless because you knocked her out. And Strix will definitely blame you for it."

Luz groaned. King was right as much as she didn't want to face that...thing.

Strix came out of the garage, though his head was still in the door. "I promise, Selwyn! As soon as this storm lets up, I'll take you flying!" Selwyn groaned in protest. "Okay. Just stay here." He closed the door and walked back to the house only to stop when he saw the door ripped off its hinges. "Hooty!" He ran to the door and nudged the door knocker, but got no response. "King! Did you take your anger out on the door again?" No response.

When he walked into the living room, he saw something that frightened him. The magic lock Eda put on the chest the Mask was kept in was gone. His eyes widened and his heart raced. "Oh, no," he gasped.

Armed with a hockey stick, Luz quietly walked up the stairs to the bedroom with her phone's flashlight shining her and King's way. To their horror, the bedroom was empty and the window was smashed. "Oh, my gosh. Eda!"

"She got snaggle‐backed," exclaimed King.

Luz inspected the nest for clues. "Eda?" Then she saw Eda's pillow. It had been scratched to Heck and back. "Slash marks. King! You're the demon expert. I need your help."

"I'll go get my demon book." King ran out the door and downstairs.

Suddenly, a pair of hands clamped over Luz's mouth and dragged her off.

Later, King came back with two books. "Wait, wait. First edition or second?" Then he realized his human companion was gone. "Luz? The Snaggleback got her." He heard something behind him. He turned to see a small shadow run by. He chased after it. "You craven beast. Give me back my boo‐boo buddy." He chased the thing to a closet where he found Luz's left shoe. "Luz?" King got mad and kicked the closet open. "There's nowhere for you to run!" His anger subsided when he saw a small, purple monkey with a tortoise shell. "Snaggleback? Wow. You are a lot shorter in person."

The snaggleback whimpered in a timid voice, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I‐I just needed a place to hide from the rains."

"Then why did you break down our door and take Luz? That's not cool, man. Bad snaggleback."

"I‐I didn't do any of that stuff. I snuck in through a window just now."

"Huh?" King paused. Then he realized something. From the way the window in Eda's room was shattered, whatever was in there broke out. Not in. The thing was in the house with them the whole time! "Well, then what..."

Suddenly, a hand with talons burst through the ceiling and grabbed the snaggleback. "Oh, no! A twist," he said as he was pulled in. The door to the closet slowly opened and King whimpered when he saw it. The creature that attacked Hooty and smashed through the window. It burped out the snaggleback's shell and glared at King. "Oh, my." The thing stepped closer. "Stay back. Hey, hey. I am the King of Demons, okay? And as such, I demand you to barf my friends back up."

The creature tried to slash at him, but it missed. King ran between its legs and down the hall, but the thing chased after him. He ran out of its reach only to be pulled into Luz's bedroom. He looked up and saw who it was. "Luz? Strix?" Strix immediately covered their mouths with his hands and they listened as the thing stomped by. When they were sure it was gone, they all exhaled in relief.

"What did you two DO?!" Strix hissed at them.

"It wasn't our fault," Luz said. "That thing broke into the house! I was checking on Eda, and she was gone, and then King was gone. I also tripped and lost my shoe. Oh, hey, you found it." She took the shoe from King and put it on but not before King saw a piece of paper stuck to her sole.

"What's that?" It looked like part of a label. It said, "Keeps the curse at bay." King's eyes widened when he remembered the label on the bottle he found in Eda's room. "An elixir a day, keeps the curse at bay!"

Strix took the paper from King. "Hey, this is from Mom's medicine bottle." He glared at King and Luz. "I'll ask again. What did you two DO?!"

"I...I...I thought that Eda had a potion that gave her her powers," King confessed frantically. "I tried to give it to Luz so she could have powers and do that light spell so she could do my lessons, but it broke!"

"You WHAT?!" Strix shouted, forgetting that they were in danger. "YOU IDIOTS! It doesn't give Mom powers! It prevents her from becoming-"

Suddenly, the door broke down and the creature stepped into the room. Lightning flashed and they could get a better look at it now. It looked like a silver owl with a woman's face with solid black eyes. Luz immediately recognized the creature's face. "EDA?!"

The Owl Lady let out a screech and raised her talons at them when Strix blocked her. "Mom! Stop!" She paused and stared at him. "Look at me, Mom! It's me! Your son!" The Owl Lady then turned to Luz and made a leering grin. Luz let out a scream, dropping her phone in the process. The phone's flash camera shone in the Owl Lady's eyes and she covered them with a screech of pain.

Quickly, Luz grabbed King and Strix and they all hid behind a stone garden located at the terrace. The Owl Lady sniffed the air, searching for her prey. Strix grabbed a can and tossed it, making it hit the door. The Owl Lady heard the sound and chased after it.

"Oh man, did you see her eyes," asked Luz. "They were like, BLAUGH!"

Strix glared at Luz and King. "What were you two thinking?! Don't you know it's wrong to steal other people's medicine?!"

King looked like he was about to cry. "I'm so sorry, Strix. I‐I just wanted Luz to be into demons like she's into magic. I don't have many friends, and no one even pays that much attention to me. I thought maybe if I taught Luz, finally someone would care about creatures like me."

"What are you talking about? I take your lessons seriously," said Strix. "I care about you."

"No, you don't. You only take my lessons out of pity. Because I'm so small and unnoticeable."

Strix's anger subsided. "I don't pity you. Until Luz came along you're the only one who made me laugh through hard times. And I do care about you. And I'm sure Luz does too."

Luz nodded, giving King a hug. "Well... let's finish the lesson."

"Huh?" King asked.

"Eda's turned into some kind of demon, and we need to save her. So who knows more about demons than the best teacher in the world?"

King squealed with glee. "Oh, and just to show you how much of a good teacher I am, Strix, tell her what I taught you."

"Very well." He took a pencil and a leaf and drew a picture of the Owl Lady on it. "It's her eyes that are the weakness. Demons with solid black eyes hate light."

King snapped his fingers. "Luz, use your human wonder rectangle!"

Luz held up the phone. "I can't. My camera's all blasted."

"Then... what about that light spell?"

"You saw me. I can't draw circles in the air. I'm not like Eda." Luz replayed the video. She narrowed her eyes. "Wait, what was that?" She replayed the video, this time in slow motion. The moment Eda finished drawing the circle in the air, a symbol appeared. "There's a pattern in the spell circle!"

"What?" Strix and King looked over her shoulders.

"It looks like this." She drew on a leaf an arrow going through a triangle in a circle. "There." Then something amazing happened. The symbol glowed, then the leaf turned into a small ball of light. Luz held in her hands. It felt so warm. "It's beautiful." Then she realized, "Oh, my gosh. I just did magic." She jumped up and did a dance. "I just did magic! I just did magic!"

"Well I'll be darned," Strix laughed, impressed.

King shushed her. "We're not going to stop anything with something that small." They heard the Owl Lady shriek again. "What do we do now?"

"I think I know how to get Eda back. Will you help me, boo‐boo buddy?"

King scoffed. "I'm kind of over that nickname. But okay."

Strix held up his hand. "Wait. Let me help too. She's my mother after all."

Luz nodded.

The Owl Lady was in Eda's room, sniffing around when she heard a clicking sound. She turned around and saw King holding the light up pen. "Oh, what lovely thing do we have here? It's just so dang shiny. Oh, my. Oh, dear." The Owl Lady stared at the pen, transfixed. Then she tried to chase after King, only to have a piano smash onto her head. The next thing she knew, she was bound in a straight jacket with a ball gag stuffed into her mouth.

Strix, wearing the Mask, dragged the Owl Lady down to the end of the hall and toward Luz, who was drawing the spell circle. "Now, Luzer!"

The Owl Lady screeched at her. "Sorry, Eda! But it's for your own good!" She finished drawing the circle and pressed her hands on it. The whole hallway was enveloped in a bright light and the Owl Lady screamed.

Eda sat up from her nest with a start. The left side of her face was still owl-like and the yellow pearl embedded in her chest still had some black to it. She quickly drank her potion until she was entirely back to normal. She groaned and put a hand to her head. "W‐What happened? Oh, I have the worst headache. And my mouth tastes like roadkill." She vomited a pellet, which broke open and revealed the de-shelled snaggleback.

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

Eda held the bottle up. "I was looking for that."

"Actually, we found an extra one in your closet," said King.

"King?" Then she put two and two together. "King! You stole my elixir? I ought to break every bone in your‐‐"

"Shh! Over there." He pointed to Luz and Strix, who were making the light spell with the symbol Luz learned from the phone. And Strix never looked happier than he was now.

Eda gaped in amazement. "Wow. How are they doing that?"

"I don't know, but she did it all on her own. Hey, I, uh, kind of messed a bunch of things up back there. And I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Well, you better be. I got a long list of disgusting chores with your name on it. But it's not entirely your fault." She gathered everyone around. "I haven't been completely honest with you guys. When I was younger, I was cursed. I don't know exactly how it happened, all I know is that if I don't take my elixir, well, that's why people call me the Owl Lady. No one likes having a curse, but if you take the right steps, it's manageable."

"There's more to it," said Strix. "When she becomes the Owl Lady, she loses the ability to cast magic."

Luz stared at him. "Wait, is that way you can't do magic?"

Strix took off his shirt, revealing his skinny frame and turned around. Sprouting out of his back were a pair of small, vestigial wings. "I inherited the curse from Mom. She figured that out the hard way when she laid an egg instead of having a live birth." He put the shirt back on. "And unfortunately for me, my transformation is gradual and the elixir can't stop it. I don't know how long I have until I end up becoming...well...you've seen what Mom looks like. That Mask is the only thing that stops it, but we all know it's too dangerous to wear."

"And that's why he blames me for his state," Eda said sadly. "That's why I'm so ashamed of myself. I didn't mean to give him this burden." She held her knees up to her chest. "I shouldn't have been so careless."

"Well, he's here now," said Luz. "You can't undo what happened, but you can make up for it now. Besides, he can do magic now!"

Strix drew the circle on a scrap of paper and watched it become a ball of light. "I am a witch." He shouted out the window, "DO YOU HEAR THAT, WORLD?! I! AM! A! WIIIIIIIIIIIITCH!"

Eda laughed. "That's the happiest I've ever seen that kid."

"So are you okay?" Luz asked her.

"There's nothing for you to worry about. It's all under control, and as long as no one steals my elixir‐‐ King‐‐ then I'm fine. But, hey, look at this. A human doing magic. Good on you, kid. And look at you, my little chick, you can cast magic." Eda hugged Strix tight. "I'm proud of you. You and Luz." Strix hugged her back.

"It wasn't all us," Strix said. "We had some encouragement from a great teacher."

King blushed. "Oh, you."

Suddenly, Hoot's voice rang out, "Hey, hey! Is anyone there? Hello? Hoot? I'm on the floor. It's cold!"

King growled, "That voice. That horrific voice!"

"We'll take care of him. You stay in bed." Luz picked up the snaggleback. "Come on, you goopy fella. We'll set you free now."

The small creature winced. "Ow, ow, ow. I think my tail was digested."

Eda smiled as they left, then plopped down into the nest.

She was all alone in a black void. "No, not this memory again." Suddenly, a door appeared and she could make out a figure with large round eyes. "You! You're the one who cursed me, aren't you? Who are you? Who are you?"

Eda awoke with a start. She panted heavily. That same darn dream every single time she felt the curse getting stronger.

Luz applied all kinds of bandages on Hooty after she and Strix fixed his door back on its hinges. "Welcome to the boo‐boo buddy club, Hooty."

"Finally I get to be a part of something."

Meanwhile, King was taking notes on Eda's Owl Beast form with the help of the snaggleback's...up close experience. "And then she had teeth in her stomach. Teeth in her stomach! Can you believe that?"

"Oh, yeah. This will make a great addition to my demon book," King held up his journal.

"That book is filled with so many interesting things. Like this." The snaggleback pointed to his own entry. "I'm one of the strongest demons on the Boiling Isles, huh?"

King gave him an unimpressed look. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to edit that."

"Oh."