Hexes Hold 'Em is a popular card game in the Boiling Isles. Two people with a deck of magic cards must bit them against each other. Whoever has a Wild Card usually finds a way to turn the game around in their favor. And Eda the Owl Lady was addicted to the game.

For the whole day, Eda has been playing the game against Hooty and after winning her last game, she couldn't help but do a little boastful dance. It irritated Stephen Strange who was sitting nearby, but what annoyed him more was Luz's nagging.

"Pleeeeaaaase?"

"No, Luz. I am not attending Hexside."

"Well, I can't go in. I'm banned. But Principal Bump lifted yours. You can go in and be a student."

"If I ever set foot back into that school, it is only to read their library books. But I am not going to be a witch. I told you, that's not what I want."

"But you're letting all that magic go to waste."

"I don't even know how I've got magic in the first place. Eda, how does a witch usually use magic?"

Eda took a break from her dancing to answer Stephen's question. "Well, these days, witches and bipedal demons are born with bile sacs in their hearts which pump them full of magic that they use. I know for a fact that humans aren't born with those."

"Didn't you say that witches used to do magic differently back in the day?" Luz asked.

"Yes, but I don't know how it was done." Eda said.

"Well, maybe Stephen somehow did it. And if he can do it, maybe I can too."

Stephen groaned. "Or I can just forget it. I'm trying to be an Earth surgeon, not a Boiling Isles spellcaster."

"But surgeons are boring." Luz said.

"Maybe to you. But we can see the inner ailments of other people and work to fix them. For example… There are feathers coming out of Eda's arms."

"That's not exactly inner." Eda said.

"No!" Stephen cried out. "I mean you actually have feathers, right now!"

Eda gasped as she saw her own arms. Black owl feathers began popping out. "Oh, crud. It's the curse. Gotta fill myself."

Luz, Stephen, and King followed Eda to her room where she opened up a wooden crate. Much to her chagrin, it was empty save for a dry elixir bottle.

"You're out?" King asked. "This isn't good."

"Huh." Eda said. "I thought for sure I had about a dozen more bottles."

"Last time you missed out on elixir, you turned into this." Luz said pulling out her phone. She showed an image of the Owl Beast on her screen which Eda observed.

"Yikes. But wow, I look fierce."

"Focus, Eda." Stephen said. "We need to get some more. How do you usually get them?"

"Well, I got this potions guy who sells me my elixir over at Bonesborough. But before we go, how about a game of Hexes Hold 'Em?"

Stephen snatched the deck out of Eda's hands fiercely. "Again, focus!"

"Okay. Fine." Eda said. "But we're going to have to cloak ourselves."

"What? Why?" Luz asked.

"After the Covention incident, I couldn't walk two steps in Bonesborough without a witch asking me about Stephen. Everyone wants him to join their coven or their academy."

Stephen groaned taking a cloak. "You see. This is why I didn't want to reveal my magic."

"Open up, Morton!" Eda cried out as she started hitting the window shudders of her potion shop. "I know you're in there! I need more elixir and I need it now!"

Luz was people-watching until her eyes caught a strange group of people passing by. They were witches in rough, hooded outfits. They were dragging along a demon tied to their large cart. It tried to break free, but the leader of the hooded people quickly subdued it.

"Wow. That's one weird parade." Luz said.

Eda glared at the hooded witches. "That's no parade. Those are demon hunters, dangerous nomads who capture and sell wild demons… WHICH WHAT I'M GOING TO BE IF YOU DON'T OPEN UP, MORTON!"

"All right. All right." The potions shopkeeper said as he opened the blinds. "Sorry, Eda. I spent the night drinking poisonous potions. Now, for some reason, I don't feel well."

Stephen raised an eyebrow. "You sell Eda her elixir?"

"Well, she's the only customer who would buy from me." Morton said. "Hey, aren't you that human who…"

"Nope! Different guy!" Stephen said as he quickly turned around. Luz walked up to him while Eda ordered for her elixir.

"Stephen, I really think it would do better for you if you owned your magic."

"No, Luz. Magic is your thing, not mine. Give me one good reason why I should."

"Clea?"

"Clea?" Stephen repeated confusingly. "What does this have to do with Clea?"

"No. There's Clea over there with Gus and Willow." Luz said as he ran over to her sulking friends. "Hey, guys! Wait… You seem sad. Who hurt my babies?"

"Them." Willow said pointing at a group of popular kids which included Boscha, Skara, and especially Amity. "Amity's holding a moonlight conjuring and invited everyone, except us."

"And she keeps posting about it on her Penstagram account." Gus said.

"It's really insulting." Clea said. He held up his scroll which displayed Amity's Penstagram post.

"'It's conjuring night. No dorks or devil spawn allowed'?" Luz read the post with a scowl. "What a jerk. What's a moonlight conjuring?"

"I've read about that." Stephen said. "It's like a slumber party here at the Boiling Isles, but the highlight of it is when a group of people use the magic of the annual blue moon to bring an inanimate object to life."

Luz glared at her brother. "You're willing to read about that, but you don't want to experience it in real life."

"We've never been to one." Clea said. "So we decided to do it together. After all, you need at least three people to do the ritual."

Boscha laughed as she and her friends approached. "I wouldn't get involved if I were you, Clea. Wouldn't want your object to be brought to life by a devil." Clea grimaced at that.

"Hey, why don't you leave her alone?" Stephen asked.

Boscha smiled. "Hey, you're that guy from the Covention, aren't you?" She winked at him which made him groan. "You know, if you were to go to Hexside and attend my class, we could…"

"Hey! Mind your own business, Boscha!" Clea interrupted.

"You stay out of this, devil spawn!" Boscha returned. She and Clea growled at each other before Stephen broke them up.

"It doesn't matter!" Stephen cried out. "I'm not going to Hexside anyway!"

"Bummer." Boscha shrugged. "But if you ever change your mind and wish to be with REAL witches… You know, unlike the devil spawn and Half-a-Witch Willow."

Amity sighed. "Leave them alone. It's not their fault that the human boy's the only one with any talent." She walked away with the rest of the bullies.

"You okay, Clea?" Stephen asked noticing how steamed she looked.

Clea took a moment and finally breathed. "I'm fine. Thanks for sticking up for me, Stephen. I just hate when Boscha does that."

"I know what you mean." Willow said. "So we're having a moonlight conjuring?"

"Yes, we're having a moonlight conjuring!" Luz cried out.

"Yes! That's on my bucket list!" Gus said. "After owning a real human bucket."

"For real?" Stephen asked.

"He's a weird kid. I thought we already covered this." Clea said.

"Well, we're gonna tell Eda." Luz said dragging Stephen back.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE ANY MORE ELIXIR?!" Eda yelled at her seller.

"I'm sorry. Some guy came here last night before we closed and bought ever last one." Morton said.

"Who needs that much elixir? You know, other than me!" Eda cried out.

"It's not my fault, Eda." Morton said. "Why'd you wait until you ran out to restock?"

"I didn't!" Eda said. "I know I had a bunch yesterday. But for some reason, they all disappeared."

"You probably neglected to check out of all the times you played Hexes Hold 'Em." King said. "Face it, Eda. You're obsessed with it."

"I am not."

"You're playing it right now!"

Eda just noticed the stack of cards between her and Morton. Her only response was, "Am I winning?"

"You know, I wouldn't suggest this to just anybody," Morton said, "But if you need your elixir, you can try your luck later this evening."

"In the night market?" Eda asked.

"There's a guy with a stand. Goes by Grimm Hammer. If anyone has what you need, it's him."

"Eda!" Luz called out as she approached her mentor. "Gus, Willow, Clea, Stephen and I…"

"Don't rope me into this." Stephen interrupted.

"…Are gonna do a moonlight conjuring and stick it to Amity. So can we…"

"Not tonight. I'm going out." Eda said. "I need you two to watch the Owl Sanctum. I have many precious objects in there."

"Like me." King said.

"Actually, King, you're coming with me." Eda said. "I need an extra pair of eyes looking out for pickpockets, and an extra pair of hands in case I want to pickpocket."

"Pickpocket!" King and Eda cheered at once.

"Then maybe they can come to the sanctum and…" Luz started to say before getting interrupted by Eda again.

"No! Besides, conjurings are dumb. Sitting in a circle, holding hands. It's like magic for babies."

"Fine by me." Stephen said with a shrug. "But Eda, Clea should at least come, right? I mean, I do need my daily treatment from her."

"Fine. She's the exception." Eda said as she walked away. That was when the other kids walked back to them.

"Luz, Stephen, what did Eda say?" Willow asked.

"Did she say it was okay?" Clea asked. "The moon is rising into place."

"Awesome!" Gus cried out. "Its celestial powers only align once a year!"

"I can't believe I have enough friends for a moonlight conjuring! Thank you, guys!" Willow cried out. "Did Eda say it was okay?"

"Actually, Eda said…" Stephen began to say before Luz slammed her hand on top of his mouth. Being the good friend she was, she wasn't going to let him speak.

"Yes! She said yes!" Luz lied nervously. "We can do it at the Owl Sanctum… as long as we don't make a mess or touch anything and never bring up that we did it."

Stephen growled and swatted her hand away. "Don't pull any of that, Luz! Sorry, guys, but Eda said no. She's got an errand and doesn't want us to mess up the sanctum. Only Clea's allowed to come though."

"Oh. Okay." Willow said with a frown.

"Sorry, guys." Clea said as she walked away with Stephen.

Luz puffed her cheeks angrily before turning back to her sad friends. "Don't worry, guys. You'll have your moonlight conjuring yet."

"But Stephen said…"

"Don't think like that, Gustronomer." Luz interrupted. "Look, Stephen and Clea are going to be upstairs during his treatment. While they do that, we'll do the conjuring."

"Really?" Willow asked.

"I promise." Luz said.

"Stephen, you're in charge while I'm out." Eda said putting on her cloak. "Between you and Luz, you're the most likely to keep Hooty from getting into trouble."

Hooty opened up the front door to respond to Eda in the living room. "Hoot, hoot! I don't need a babysitter. I'm a bit boy house."

"Don't worry, Eda." Stephen said. "I'll keep the sanctum ship-shape by the time you and King come back. Wait, where is King?"

"He's right here." Eda opened her robe revealing King sleeping in a pink baby carrier. "His little body just conks out when he's weightless.

Stephen chuckled. "Okay. I admit, that's adorable."

That's when Clea appeared stepping into Hooty's doorway. "Hey, Stephen. Ready for our treatment?"

"Always." Stephen said.

"Well, that being said, I'm off." Eda said as she walked out of the sanctum.

Stephen sighed turning to Luz who sat in the living room couch. "Okay, Luz. Me and Clea are going to be upstairs for a few minutes. Don't break anything."

"Oh, Stephen. Why would I ever betray your hard-earned trust?" Luz asked nervously.

Stephen raised an eyebrow. "What are you up to? You're doing that thing where you hide in your hoodie."

"Meow, I'm not." Luz said keeping her cat-like hood wrapped around her head.

Though he was suspicious, Stephen continued up the stairs with Clea. While they were up, Luz hurried for Willow and Gus to step inside.

"Okay." Clea said as she and Stephen settled in the upstairs bedroom. "Let's start with the mending treatment so you don't feel any pain tomorrow." She circled her finger around his hands and they glowed for a second. "Now, tonight, I'd like to try…"

"Hold on." Stephen said. "Sorry. I just remembered I left my notepad downstairs. I'll go get it."

Stephen walked out of the room with Clea beside him But once he got downstairs, his eyes were instantly fixed on Luz, Willow, and Gus sitting around a Beefy Bob action figure while holding hands.

"WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Stephen yelled out spooking everyone.

"Okay, Stephen, this isn't what it looks like!" Luz defended.

"Really? Because it looks like you invited Willow and Gus without permission and are trying to do a moonlight conjuring behind my back!"

"…Okay, so it might be what it looks like." Willow said.

"Luz, private talk, now!" Stephen demanded. He and Luz walked on over to the hallway and stopped in front of an open door closet. Out of concern, Clea stood beside him.

"Okay, just hear me out and…"

"No. I won't have you mess this up." Stephen interrupted his sister.

"Mess what up?"

"Eda put me in charge of the Owl Sanctum and she clearly didn't want a moonlight conjuring in here. No visitors."

"It's not fair." Luz protested. "You've got Clea over."

"Clea's here to mend my hands. That makes her an exception." Stephen said. "So unless you've got a sickness that can only be cured by a moonlight conjuring, then I can overlook this. Otherwise, the party ends now."

"Come on, Stephen." Luz said. "This is Willow and Gus' first conjuring. How can I say no to that?"

"Do you know what your problem is? You give in way to easily. You never seem to understand that no means no. Eda said no to a moonlight conjuring, but you're doing it anyway. I said no to studying magic, but you can't stop bothering me about it. One of these days, your inability to use the word no is going to get us in big trouble."

"Clea, back me up here." Luz said.

Clea scratched her head. "Actually, I kinda have to agree with Stephen."

Luz frowned. "Of course, you'd defend him."

"I'm sorry, Luz, but the party's going to have to end." Stephen said. He turned back downstairs, but before he could take another step, Luz grabbed him by the wrist.

"Wait. Before you go, can I just say one last thing please?"

Stephen rolled his eyes. "Okay. What is it you have to say?"

"…Sorry."

Luz used all her strength to push both Stephen and Clea into the closet. Once they both fell in, Luz slammed the door shut and propped a chair to keep it closed.

Luz said in a hurry, "Sorry, guys. But I gotta do this for my friends. Don't worry. I'll let you both out after we're done. Love you. Bye." She hurried back down the stairs.

Inside the messy closet, Clea shook herself only able to be in a sitting position. Stephen sat back up across from her with an upset tone.

"You okay?" Clea asked.

"Sometimes, I really hate that girl." Stephen sneered.

A few minutes later, everything shook at a violent rate. Everything inside the closet rattled around like snow in a snowglobe. That wasn't good for the two kids that were trapped in there. All of a sudden, everything stopped. Stephen groaned while Clea checked on herself.

"What just happened?" Stephen asked.

"I don't know." Clea said.

A knock was heard at the closet door followed by Luz's voice. "Stephen. Are you okay in there?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. It's all gumdrops and ice cream in here." Stephen said sarcastically. "What's going on?"

"Well… something kinda went wrong with the conjuring ritual." Luz said. "Instead of bringing a little toy to life… we kinda spread our magic through the Owl Sanctum and now, it's walking."

"IT'S WHAT?!" Stephen cried out.

"Bringing an entire place to life? That's a good conjuring." Clea said. Stephen glared at her making her nervous. "But still, it's a bad idea."

"Willow, Gus and I managed to figure out how to control Hooty." Luz said.

"Good." Stephen said. "Then use it to put the Owl Sanctum back where it was."

"I will. I will… right after we show it off to Amity."

"WHAT?!" Stephen asked loudly. "No! Look. If the Owl Sanctum isn't where it was by the time the moon sets, the whole place is going to plant itself wherever it is at the time. And I'm pretty sure that Amity wouldn't want a new building on her front lawn."

"I get it, but Amity posted that humans can bite it." Luz said. "Plus, this means a lot to Willow."

"Luz, this isn't the time to say yes to everything." Stephen said. "You go on out there, turn this sanctum around, and we'll clean up whatever mess you made when you raised it from the ground."

"Uh… What? I can't hear you. We're going through a tunnel." Luz said nervously.

"What? No, we're not!" Stephen said before hearing his sister's footsteps run out. He groaned in frustration kicking at the door, but it stayed shut.

"Why don't you use your magic to force the door open?" Clea asked.

"I can't. I only know that light spell." Stephen said.

"But didn't you part that fire blast at the Covention?"

"I don't know how I did that. Probably some kind of instinct or something." He slouched on the door. "The only thing we can do is just sit here and wait for Luz to lose control of the sanctum and find a way to frustrate me even more."

"You don't really think she'd do that, do you?" Clea asked.

"I don't know. She's basically an agent of chaos. You'd think after the four years I lived with her, I'd guess what she's going to do by now."

"Four years." Clea repeated. "Stephen, if I may, I noticed that you and Luz aren't really blood siblings."

"No. Her mom just adopted me."

"Well… This may be a sensitive subject, but what happened to your actual mom?"

Stephen lost himself for a second before bringing himself back to reality. "Why do you want to know?"

"If you don't want to tell me, that's okay."

"No, no. It's fine." Stephen sighed. "Fine. It's not that easy to look back, but here it goes." He took a second to take a deep breath. "It was a stormy night and my mom was driving me back home. Suddenly, we crashed and I lost consciousness. When I came to, not only were my hands crushed, but my mom…" He stopped himself and frowned.

"I'm sorry." Clea said sympathetically.

Stephen smiled. "The doctors said that if we arrived at the hospital any sooner, then they'd at least have been able to save my mom. But luck just wasn't on our side. All I had then and there was my childhood dream of being a doctor. But I can't do that if my hands are hurt. That's the whole reason I'm staying at the Boiling Isles. You, Clea, are probably my last chance to make my mom proud."

Clea felt warm in her chest when Stephen said that. She smiled softly and sat next to him. "It's good that you know your mom. I have no idea about anyone in my birth family."

"Really?" Stephen asked. "Mordo never told you?"

"He said it was a closed adoption. No contact with my parents. But I feel like whoever they are, they're waiting for me somewhere no matter how I choose to find them. So Stephen, I don't think you need to be a doctor to make your mom proud. If she loved you as much as you loved her, then she'd be proud that you're even alive."

Stephen smiled back. "Thanks, Clea. After everything that went on tonight, I needed to hear that."

Suddenly, the entire place shook again and felt like it dropped. Stephen and Clea both toppled over for a bit.

"What was that?" Stephen asked.

"Again, I don't know." Clea said. "The moon shouldn't have lost its magic already."

"STEPHEN, HELP!" Stephen heard Luz's voice cry out from downstairs. "DEMON HUNTERS CAUGHT HOOTY!"

"Demon hunters?" Clea gasped. "Oh, that's not good."

"Why?" Stephen asked. "This is clearly a misunderstanding. We'll just tell those guys that…"

"They won't care what we say." Clea said. "Those guys answer to no one but themselves. They'll rip Hooty out of this sanctum and kill us to keep us from stopping them."

"Well, how do we stop them?" Stephen asked.

The two of them heard the front door open. They then heard the gruff voice of the demon hunter leader.

"All right. Time to take care of you."

"No!" Luz cried out. "Do what you wand with me and my friends, but don't hurt the demon in the closet!"

"The demon in the closet? You're saying there's another demon? Let's check it out."

Stephen widened his eyes and whispered. "Oh. The briar patch trick."

"The what?" Clea asked quietly.

"Just get ready to attack when they open the door."

Both Stephen and Clea armed themselves with books hearing the hunters remove the chair from the door. They then opened up the door and Stephen and Clea wasted no time striking the books on their heads. With them temporarily stunned, Stephen and Clea ran back downstairs to find Luz, Willow, and Gus tied up together.

"Stephen!" Luz cheered. "I'm so sorry! If I had listened to you, then…"

"No time!" Stephen cried out untying the trio. "Get us out of here!"

"Not so fast." The hunter leader growled as he showed up back in the living room with his group. "You think you can just get away with this? You're just children."

"We may be children," Willow said holding her hands up, "But we're witches too. Powerful ones!" Her hands glowed green and several plant vines shot right through the front door. They quickly wrapped around the demon hunters before throwing them outside.

"All right, everyone! Join hands!" Luz commanded. She, Willow, and Gus held onto each other and the moon's blue magic irradiated from them. "Hooty, go home!"

"Hoot, hoot!" Hooty exclaimed as the Owl Sanctum picked itself up and turned itself around.

It was a bit of a hassle trying to get back to the sanctum's usual spot. They had to cut through the night market and accidentally stepped on a random stand. Eventually though, the whole building returned to the crater where it once was. And just in time for the conjuring's magic had just worn off and Hooty had returned to normal… or as normal as he could be.

"Is the room spinning or is it just me?" Hooty laughed. "A little house humor."

"Sorry we made you walk, Hooty." Luz said.

"It's okay. I'm just happy to be included." Hooty said. Suddenly, his door was flipped away by Eda and King who had very angry expressions on their faces.

"Oh, boy." Stephen said with worry. "Here it comes."

"You held a moonlight conjuring after I told you not to?" Eda asked angrily. "And you animated the Owl Sanctum, MY HOME! Stephen, I put you in charge and…"

"Eda, wait!" Luz stopped. "It's not Stephen's fault! He had nothing to do with the conjuring! If anything, he tried to stop it! But I was too stubborn to listen!"

"It's not Luz's fault either." Willow said. "Gus and I were the ones who pushed her into doing the conjuring."

"If you're going to eat me, do it now!" Gus dared. "Do it now!"

Eda sighed. "Well, you're all guilty, so you're all going to have to clean up." She materialized a set of cleaning supplies which she gave to everyone. "And another thing, that was an awesome conjuring. I'm so joining you for next year."

"Sounds like you had an eventful night." Stephen said.

"Oh, boy. You wouldn't believe it." Eda said. "Turns out that Grimm Hammer, the potion seller at the night market, is also a little pig demon named Tibbles."

"He overpriced his potions." King said.

"So I challenged him to a game of Hexes Hold 'Em, but he hustled, took King, and tried to turn me over to the Emperor's Coven."

"He put me in silly clothes."

"Thankfully, your walking conjuring destroyed Tibbles' stand and gave us the chance to take his potions and escape."

"You don't say." Stephen said. "Me and Clea basically spent the whole night locked in a closet during the whole thing. Which reminds me." He headed up the stairs to the closet. Luz frowned and met him up there.

"Look, Stephen," she said getting her brother's attention, "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. You were right. If I just took no for an answer in the first place, we wouldn't have nearly been killed. Sorry for insisting."

Stephen took a breath before replying. "I guess… I'm sorry too."

That answer surprised Luz. "What?"

"I suppose that if I knew a little more magic, I'd have escaped this closet and stopped this conjuring much sooner. So… perhaps it wouldn't hurt to expand my studies."

Luz flashed a smile. "Does this mean…"

"It means that I'll STRONGLY consider attending Hexside." Stephen said. "Nothing more just yet."

"Gracias, Stephen!" Luz expressed with a hug. She then picked up a sheet of paper which Luz giggled at. "I was wondering where Eda put this."

Stephen looked at what Luz held and widened his eyes. He snatched the paper from Luz's hands and took a much closer look on it.

"What? Stephen, is everything all right?"

Stephen shot himself up to his feet and ran down the stairs. He found Eda laying on the couch. "Eda! What is this?" He held up the paper.

"What's what?" Eda asked.

"This image right here!" Stephen said. "It looks like a heart!"

"That's because it is a heart." Eda said. "It's a witch's heart."

"Well, what's this growth right here?"

"That? That's just a magic bile sac. I told you. That's how a witch uses magic these days."

"But I've got one of those!"

That sentence clearly surprised everyone. They turned their heads toward him.

"Weh?" King asked.

"What are you talking about?" Willow asked. "Humans don't have bile sacs like those?"

"Just hear me out." Stephen said. "The day of my accident, the day I lot my mom and hands, the doctors did an X-ray on me."

"A what ray?" Clea asked.

"An X-Ray." Stephen said. "It's like a picture they take of the inside of your body. Anyway, they checked to see if there was any other damage the crash did to my body. That's when they found this abnormality in my heart. It was a growth that they had never seen before, but it wasn't doing anything bad to me, so they left it alone for now. But that growth matches the bile sac in this picture."

"How do you know?" Luz asked.

"Because I kept a copy of that X-ray." Stephen said. "During my recovery, I spent a lot of nights going through all my heart notebooks to match it to whatever I could find. Nothing came close. Nothing was a perfect match… except for this one."

"Wait." Eda said. "You're saying you have a bile sac?"

"How is that possible?" King asked.

"I don't know." Stephen said. "But whatever it means, I think it can lead me to the explanation of why I can do magic."

"Whoa!" Luz exclaimed. "Big mystery alert."

After everyone went to bed, Eda went to her room to do the same. Before she did, she took all the potions she swiped earlier and put them in her crate. After she closed it, she still had an unconvinced look on her face.

"Still odd though. I could have sworn I had more elixir just yesterday."

It was a lot of trouble for Tibbles to pick up all the pieces of his destroyed stand. Once he loaded them all to his wagon, he grumbled to himself and proceeded to head on home. But as soon as he arrived at a dark alleyway, he was cut off by a dark figure that struck fear into his heart.

The pig demon was startled by a tall, thin, green demon with a brown suit and fedora on. He stepped closer to Tibbles making him quiver in his lips while he gave a small chuckle.

"Oh, Tibbles. I hear you messed up."

"Bitterhorn, let me explain!" Tibbles pleaded.

"Do you know what we had to go through to make this happen?" the demon named Bitterhorn asked creepily. "Narrowly evading the gaze of the Owl Sanctum's house demon. Stealing the Owl Lady's elixers. Buying the same potions from her usual seller. Teaching you how to master Hexes Hold 'Em. All of that so you can bring us her little furball. I know we did our parts perfectly. So if someone dropped the ball…"

"But it wasn't my fault!" Tibbles said desperately. "Some kids drove a big house that destroyed my stand! It's their fault the little bone boy got away!"

"Enough!" Bitterhorn said. "You're just incredibly lucky that my boss is giving you another chance. Remember, you still have a debt to pay. Bring us the little demon and we're square. But if you fail… Well, you can consider this your new home."

Bitterhorn approached the wall and drew on it with a red piece of chalk. He made the shape of a red pentagram which began to glow. What was once stone was now a portal to a red world made of fire and brimstone. Tibbles shuddered in fear seeing the evil figures beyond the flames that gave demonic cackles.

"Don't keep us waiting too long, Tibbles." Bitterhorn said before he stepped through the circle he made. It closed right as soon as he went through.

Though the portal was gone, Tibbles was still petrified with fright. It took him a whole minute before he stood up and composed himself.

"I've got to pay them back, no matter what. I'll get you, Bone Boy, if it's the last thing I do."

Author's Note: And that's the Hooty's Moving Hassle chapter. Next time, Stephen has himself a little adventure in the library along with an encounter with the Owl House's favorite trouble-making twins.

Before we end this chapter, I'd like to make an announcement. As you know, I've been trying to brainstorm new Marvel/Disney Channel crossovers and I had a big idea. I could give each one a Young Avengers element. Not sure about all of them, but with the Young Avengers being built up in the MCU, I figure I should include them in my fanfics somehow. Aside from the Owl Sanctum and the Black Panther of Amphibia, here are my ideas so far.

Iron Hero 7: Tony Stark is a college student of SFIT in the world of Big Hero 6. When the fire erupted in the beginning of the movie, it also impaled his heart. He managed to fix it with his own arc reactor and he eventually joins Hiro and the others in their adventures as superheroes.

America and Star: Instead of Marco Diaz, Star Butterfly's first human friend is America Chavez. Of course, America is utterly surprised that the princess is from another dimension just like her, but they eventually grow close to each other and fight off monsters and forces of evil.

Howard's Ducktales: Wanting to escape from the Nova Corps and the Collector, the crook known as Howard the Duck hides out on Earth where he discovers that the inhabitants are almost exactly like him. He decides to take up residence with the Duck family and helping them out on their adventures in exchange for protection.

The Ghost, the Trickster, and Molly McGee: After dying during one of his fights against Thor, Loki was reincarnated as a kid by the Ghost Council on the condition that he works alongside Scratch in making Brighton miserable. It should be easy (especially since Scratch idolizes the trickster), but then the McGee family comes around.

Marvel Falls: Kamala Khan works at the Mystery Shack as a summer job. She goes with Dipper to discover not just the third journal, but a Terrigen crystal which gives her elastic powers. Now, the Pines Twins and Kamala must discover the secret of Gravity Falls and the secret of the Inhumans.

That's all the ideas I have for now. How the Young Avengers fit in it is a surprise (although, I suppose a couple of them might be obvious). If anyone has any ideas that could work with the Young Avengers or at least where they can make an appearance, I'd like to hear your notes as well as what you think of my ideas so far. Any and all comments are welcome.