Stephen sat in the Owl Sanctum living room couch combing through the pages of the Ancient One's journal. He also had a separate piece of paper which he wrote notes on as he read through its pages.
"Okay then." He said to himself. "So far, I've only been able to find the Sling Rings. It's only a matter of time before I find the others. And if I can't get to the Book of the Vishanti yet, I'll have to set my sights on one of the others. I definitely can't look for the Eye of Agamotto, not without letting the Emperor know what I'm up to. So which one should I look for next? Maybe Dragonfang. Or perhaps the Wand of Watoomb. I don't even know what some of this stuff even is."
"Hey! Can I help?" Hooty asked.
Stephen removed his eyes from the book with an unamused face. "Hooty, it is physically impossible for you to help solve the riddles of these lost artifacts."
"Oh, come on. I'm great with riddles. I got one. What's one plus one?"
"Hooty, that's not a riddle. That's basic math."
"Wrong! It's yellow!"
Stephen sighed. "Why do you exist?"
Suddenly, the door burst open and Luz ran in. Eda walked in with a tired look on her face before falling on the couch. Luckily, Stephen moved out of the way.
"What happened?" Stephen asked.
"It's Eda's curse. It's acting up." Luz said.
"It's fine. Nothing a little elixir won't take care of." Eda assured groggily.
"Do you need us to stay home and take care of you?" Luz asked. "I could put King in a little doctor's outfit."
"Meh?" King asked.
"No one wants to see that." Eda said.
"Actually, I kinda do." Stephen said.
"Look, I know how to take care of myself." Eda said. "I've had this curse longer than any of you have been alive."
"So how'd you get it?" Stephen asked.
"I don't know. Someone gave it to me. I don't know who or why, and I don't care because I'm fine. And the longer I stay fine, the more I can keep Nightmare from bothering me."
"Nightmare?" Luz asked.
"Yeah. You know, the Dream Demon? Nightmare?" Eda asked. "What, didn't I tell you about him?"
"No, I think we would've known about someone named Nightmare." Stephen said.
"Ooh, boy." Eda sat up on the couch to narrate. "Nightmare is the evil ruler of another realm called the Dream Dimension. He gains power by haunting the dreams of others and feeding off their nightmares. Back in the day, that chalk-faced freak used to haunt the Boiling Isles with a neverending nightmare plague. However, shortly after Emperor Belos took over, he created a magical seal which blocked Nightmare's connection to every witch's dream. It's actually one of the only good things that tyrant ever did."
"If Nightmare is banished, why are you afraid of seeing him?" Stephen asked.
"Because of this stupid curse. Unfortunately for me, it has a strange effect on my mind affecting my dreams. That somehow created a small connection to the Dream Dimention just enough to slip through Belos' seal, but Nightmare is still able to visit. Now, the guy's trying to make a deal with me."
"What kind of deal?" King asked.
"He's saying he can help me with my curse problem by separating me from the Owl Beast. But I was able to see through his lies. As soon as I'm gone, he plans to control the Owl Beast as a puppet to destroy the seal. With it gone, Nightmare will be free to haunt the Boiling Isles again."
"The Owl Beast is capable of breaking into the Emperor's Castle and destroying the seal?" Stephen asked.
"After thirty years of dealing with it, I wouldn't be surprised. Luckily, my elixirs can keep Nightmare at bay as well as my curse, but if I slip, that creep will just show up and offer me again. Well, I ain't giving him the satisfaction."
"Wow, Eda. I'm sorry." Luz said. "I wish there was something I could do to help."
"Don't worry about it. I got it all handled." Eda said. "In any case, shouldn't you be with your future classmates of the nerd school?"
"Oh, right!" Luz suddenly realized. "We're going to that big Grudgby game between Hexside and Glandus High with Gus, Willow, Clea, and Wong."
"Since when are you two into sports?" King asked.
"I'm not," Stephen answered, "But Luz thinks I need to build up some Hexside pride."
"That's a Luz Noceda guarantee." Luz said. "But if you need us to stay, Eda…"
"Gross. Sympathy." Eda said in disgust. "Go have fun at sport. Don't worry about me. I just need a gulp of elixir and I'll be good as new."
"Yay! Hooray for sport!" Luz said. She gave King a kiss on his skull. She then said in a sing-song tone, "Don't spend all night plotting reveeeeeenge."
"That drooly-faced heathen will know my wraaaaaath." King returned with the same tone right as Stephen and Luz left the Owl Sanctum.
As soon as the duo made it to Hexside, they found their four friends waiting for them at the front of the school. They stood with the rest of the Hexside students who were getting ready to enter the flying ship to their game.
"Hello, my fellow Hexsidians." Luz said. "Or is it Hexodes? Hexolios?"
"Actually, people call us… winners." Willow said with determination in her tone.
"Aren't you excited?" Gus asked. "The players go through these action-packed trials. And the audience gets to wave flags. Look. I practiced." He pulled out two blue flags before waving them.
"It's the first ever Grudgby game you get to attend." Wong said.
"I know, Geronimo." Stephen said with another mononym joke. "And to prepare for this day, I've been doing some research on the sport just last night."
"Imagine trying to sleep with that light spell on." Luz said.
"Well, I think you'll find that seeing the sport in real life is a lot different from reading about it on a page." Clea said. "And playing it really makes you alive."
"How do you know that?" Stephen asked.
Clea realized what she said and widened her eyes as big as dinner plates. "Uh… Never mind. I think the important thing is that Luz changes clothes."
"What?" Luz asked. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"
"Nothing… except that the purple-and-white color scheme is the same as the Glandus High team." Wong answered.
Luz suddenly realized her mistake. "Oh, man! Are there any Hexside clothes I can wear?"
"There might be some in the lost and found." Willow said. "If you go now, you can probably find something and make it back before the ship leaves."
"Ah, the lost and found," Luz sighed happily, "Where mouthguards go to retire."
Luz looked through the treasure chest full of lost items until she found blue sports clothes. As soon as she changed, she returned to her friends just outside the door. However, much to her surprise,
the ship wasn't there anymore.
Luz looked up and saw the ship full of students and teachers just flying away. The good news was that her brother and friends were still at the front of the school.
"They already left?" Luz asked.
"No. The ship just had to go to the restroom." Stephen said sarcastically.
"It turns out we miscalculated." Clea said. "Turns out you came out just after the ship left, not before."
"Well, why are you guys still here?" Luz asked.
"We weren't going to leave you behind." Willow said.
"I was." Gus admitted before Willow elbowed him.
"In any case, it looks like we're stuck." Wong said. "The game's at the other side of the island and we can't get there by foot."
"Well, we can fly by staff," Clea said, "But Mordo would kill me if I touched his stuff."
Suddenly, Luz gasped when an idea popped in her head. Stephen looked at her and changed his expression to worry.
"No, no, no. Don't you dare, Luz."
"You don't even know what I was going to say."
"You're planning on borrowing Eda's staff and fly it to the Grudgby game."
"…Okay, so you do know what I'm thinking. But if we both thought of it, it can't be that bad."
"Yes, it is a bad idea. It's a terrible plan. Eda will never approve of this. And even if she did, there's not enough room for all of us. That thing can only carry three people at a time."
"We'll figure it out." Luz said. "Come on, Stephen. It's for our friends."
Stephen thought for a moment before reluctantly surrendering. "Fine. But we get Eda's permission first."
"Sure, sure." Luz said.
"Eda actually gave you permission?" Stephen asked as Luz left the Owl Sanctum. She held onto Eda's staff with Hooty locked on its top.
"Yyyyeah." Luz said.
"That 'yeah' was pretty liberal with the letter Y." Stephen said raising his eyebrow suspiciously.
"Look, we're running low on time." Luz said. "Everyone on."
"Uh, Luz," Wong said, "Remember the issue about capacity?"
Luz tried to wrap her head around the solution until she came up with the first thing she thought of.
Within a couple of minutes, everyone was crammed on top of Owlbert's staff wrapping their arms around each other. Gus was barely hanging at the end hanging onto Willow.
"This is your brilliant plan?" Stephen asked in an annoyed tone.
"You got a better plan?" Luz asked.
"Every plan is better than this plan."
"You sure this will hold, Luz?" Clea asked.
"Pretty sure." Luz answered. "You okay, Owlbert?" The Palisman had a worried look on his face before the staff began to hover.
"So far, so good." Willow said.
"See? What did I tell you?" Luz asked. "Now, gun it, magic stick!" She gently patted the staff, but that's when everything went out of control.
Owlbert hooted before he shot forward into the forest. Everyone yelled at the out of control flying staff barely missing the trees. Of course, their panic made everyone shift their weights wildly making Owlbert's flying more out of control. Suddenly, everyone fell off after hitting a tree. Owlbert landed on the top of his head so hard, a crack appeared.
The six kids groaned getting up from the ground. Stephen turned a disappointed glare at his sister.
"Eda didn't give you permission, did she?"
"Well… King said he did. Then again, I think he just wanted to get me out of the Sanctum."
Stephen sighed. "Of course. All right. Is anyone hurt?"
"I'm fine." Clea said.
"Me too." Willow said.
"Same." Wong said.
"My flags are still intact." Gus said.
"All right. Let's just get Owlbert and…" Stephen stopped when he noticed the crack on Owlbert's head. "Oh, no."
"Owlbert, are you okay?" Luz asked. When she reached out to him, he jumped back to avoid her. It's clear he was afraid.
Owlbert quickly turned around and flapped his wings. He raised himself off the ground and flew away from the kids fast as a bullet. He disappeared into the dark part of the forest leaving everyone worried.
"OWLBERT, COME BACK!" Luz cried out with no answer. "Oh, man! Eda's going to kill me!"
"We have to find Owlbert." Stephen said. "Let's go."
The kids ran off to Owlbert's general location. The deeper into the forest they went, the darker it got. Their footsteps began to make crunching sounds.
"Wow. I keep stepping on a lot of crunchy twigs." Willow said.
"Those are bones, Willow." Wong said.
"Not if I never look down."
"We should be careful." Clea said. "This part of the forest is dangerous."
"How dangerous?" Stephen asked.
As if on cue, the sound of three landings were heard from the shadows. The kids got ready while the three tiny figures revealed themselves.
"Wait a minute." Luz said recognizing the little ankle-biters. "I know you. You're the Bat Queen's babies."
"The same critters who Eda babysat for the night?" Stephen asked.
"The Bat Queen?" Clea asked in shock. "Oh, boy! We need to get out of here now! I'll take my chances with Eda!"
There was no longer any need to run. Luz looked at the edge of the light and she finally found Owlbert, who was still distant and scared.
"Owlbert!" Luz cheered. "Thank goodness you're okay. Come here, buddy. Time to go home."
Suddenly, a large bat-foot the size of a log stepped in between the kids and Owlbert. Out of the shadows was the Bat Queen herself, in her large, winged essence and her black, greasy hair.
"Hello, small humans." She said.
"Oh. Hey, Bat Queen." Stephen said nervously. "I see the kids are doing great. They certainly have your… wings."
"Flattery will get you nowhere." The Bat Queen said.
"So…" Luz chuckled as equally nervous as her brother, "Owlbert ran away and we need to get him back. I'm just gonna grab him and we'll be on our way."
"No." the Bat Queen denied.
"What?" Stephen asked. "What do you mean, no?"
"To be careless with a staff, it's very serious. I protect him."
"And thank you for that," Luz said, "But he belongs to Eda the Owl Lady. And you owe her a favor,
remember?"
"Owl Lady is careless. Her staff left her sight. Taken by human who steals, hurts, frightens. He told me all." Her eyes began to glow yellow as did Owlbert's.
"Oh. So you can talk to Palismen. That's a neat trick." Stephen commented. "Look, Bat Queen, you can't blame Eda for what happened to Owlbert. Luz was the one who took him without her permission."
"Thanks for the support, bro." Luz said before turning to the Palisman. "Owlbert, I never meant to hurt you. Please, trust me."
Owlbert was still scared. He hooted and flew up to the Bat Queen's head. The Bat Queen then flew up to a perch.
"Trust must be earned… through trials!" The Bat Queen extended her wings and three pillars of fire burst from the ground.
"Trials?" Gus asked eagerly waving his flags.
"Luz, Stephen, the Bat Queen is well-known for her impossible trials." Willow informed. "I've never heard of anyone winning against her."
"But we have to get Owlbert back." Luz said.
"Well, we'll be there with you." Clea said.
"Until the end." Wong said.
Suddenly, as the Bat Queen closed her claw, strings of web covered all the kids except for Luz.
"No helpsies." The Bat Queen said.
"What?" Stephen asked trying to escape from his caccoon, "Bat Queen, be reasonable! You can't honestly expect one kid to…"
The Bat Queen flicked her talon and an extra bit of web covered Stephen's mouth. He glared at Luz and mumbled something under the web.
"Hey, don't be mad at me." Luz replied. "I was just trying to help you and our friends."
Stephen said something muffled again.
"Fine. Be that way."
Stephen said something muffled again, but it sounded like he was mocking.
"Oh, you're totally misquoting me. That's not even how I said it."
"Enough!" the Bat Queen said. "Let the trials begin!"
The first trial that Luz had to do was to milk the spider demon, which was basically a giant spider with utters. It was gross and the demon was swift, but Luz managed to pull it off. Once the task was done, one of the fire pillars died out. The second trial was to remove the bees nest. She was chased by a giant bee, but she pulled through, earning a second fire pillar to be gone. Her third trial was to give the Bat Queen's babies a bath. The little ones were feisty, but Luz managed to make them squeaky clean. The third and final flame died out after that.
Stephen looked at his sister feeling proud of what she put herself through to make up for losing Owlbert. He continued to watch as Luz presented herself to the Bat Queen and Owlbert.
"Okay, Bat Queen. That's the last one. I've done all your chores and I've proved my dedication to Owlbert. I'm so sorry for the pain I caused you, Owlbert. I promise to be more careful. Will you come back home with me?"
Owlbert looked at Luz no longer afraid of her. He nodded and lowered himself off of the Bat Queen's head. However, right when he landed, the Bat Queen closed her claw at him covering him with web just like she did to Luz's friends.
"No!" the Bat Queen refused. "More trials! Last trial! You must face… ME!" She expanded her wings again and a jet of flames went up behind her.
"WHAT?!" Luz gasped right before the Bat Queen flew over to her. Luz ran off to her brother and
forced the web off of him. "Help!"
"On it!" Stephen jumped right in front of the Bat Queen and raised out his hands. He shot his own fireballs to keep her at bay, but she kept coming.
"This isn't going to last forever." Stephen said. "If I had something that can restrain her…" Then, he got an idea. "Willow, can you give me some pointers on basic plant magic?"
"What?" Willow asked.
"Just give me something! Anything!"
"Okay! Basically, you have to get to the roots! They make up the plants themselves! But when using magic, you have to use it with a gentle gesture or the plants will start to resist! Don't let them see you as a threat!"
Following his friend's advice, he reached his magic out to the plants and forming a green magic circle. Suddenly, right before the Bat Queen attacked him, vines burst from the ground to wrap around her. She worked to wrestle her way out.
"That's how it feels!" Stephen said with the Bat Queen. "Now, let Owlbert come home with us!"
"NO!" the Bat Queen refused trying to break out. "LAST TRIAL!"
"Bat Queen, the baby bath was supposed to be the last trial!" Stephen argued. "You changed the rules at the last minute! Why are you so determined to keep Owlbert for yourself?"
The Bat Queen screeched trying to claw at Stephen with her talon. He stepped back to avoid it, and that was right when Luz noticed the hole at the bottom of her foot. She gasped recognizing what it was.
"Is that an interlock?" she asked.
"What?" Stephen asked seeing the same thing his sister saw. He gasped and threw the Bat Queen a few feet back with the vines that tangled around her. "Luz is right. You were on a staff, weren't you? You were a Palisman."
The Bat Queen gasped feeling her past haunting her. She looked at her interlock before lowering her head sadly.
"Yes. I was once part of a grand staff. A staff made for a giant. But I was broken, discarded."
"So that's why you're so protective of Owlbert." Luz said.
"I protect all!" the Bat Queen pointed her wings to the trees. All around were animal-like Palismans with cracks and broken parts looking down from above. The sight of them made the kids drop their jaws. "I made home in forest. I'm here to take the lost. The forgotten."
"I understand." Luz said. "But Owlbert is not forgotten. He has someone at home who loves him very much."
"He will not go back with you." The Bat Queen said.
"That's not your decision to make!"
"I won't let him!"
"Hey!" Stephen shouted. "Don't you understand how much you're hurting Owlbert?"
"What do you know, human boy?" the Bat Queen asked. "He gets hurt. It's my responsibility to look after him."
"I know what you're feeling. My sister gets herself in so much trouble, that I feel like I have to intervene whether she likes it or not. But that's just trouble on its own. Look, the truth is, Owlbert can think and feel for himself. It's his freedom to choose. There's no telling whether or not he'll be hurt again, but if you keep him here against his will and make him miserable, then you'll surely be hurting him. If you truly care for him, then the best thing you can do is let him follow his heart."
The Bat Queen frowned before turning to Owlbert who had just slipped out of his web trap. His eyes began to glow along with hers.
"You care for them." The Bat Queen said. The eyes stopped glowing and she watched Owlbert return to Luz and Stephen. "Very well. Go. And take your friends."
Willow, Gus, Clea, and Wong were finally released and allowed to return to their friends. While they conversed, Owlbert picked up his staff and put it in Luz's hands.
"You two okay?" Willow asked.
"Yeah. Are you?" Stephen asked.
"Well, I'll be picking web off of me for a week." Wong said. "Other than that, I'm good."
"Bat Queen," Luz said, "Do you know what happened to your owner?"
"It has been thousands of years. I have forgotten."
"If you ever want to search for the truth, we'll help you."
"Thank you." The Bat Queen gave a small smile before flying back into the dark forest with her babies.
"I can't believe you two took on the Bat Queen!" Clea praised.
"And we're not dead!" Gus cheered waving his flags.
"And that's some nice plant magic there, Stephen." Willow congratulated. "I was just giving you a random tip, and there you have it."
"Yeah. I don't know why though. It's like I'm acting on instinct."
"Anyway, thanks for helping get Owlbert back." Luz said. "I'm sorry we missed the game."
"You're kidding, right?" Wong asked. "Action. Trials. I'd pick that over Grudgby any day."
"Well, glad we got our excitement for the day." Stephen said. "Now, let's get home before Eda finds out and throws a fit."
What they didn't know was that as they were leaving, a basset hound Palisman stuck his head out to watch them, specifically Stephen. The dog Palisman panted happily with his tongue sticking out while he was taking an interest in the human boy.
After returning to the Owl Sanctum, Luz put a little band-aid on Owlbert's crack. She welcomed him into the Boo-Boo Buddy Club right before Eda and King came in from the front door.
"Owlbert, why are you off the staff?" Eda asked.
The Palisman flew up to Eda's shoulder and purred in her ear.
"What? Luz and Stephen took you to get ice cream? Aww… That's a horrible lie. Well, lucky for you twerps, I don't care right now. I'm going to take a nap." She walked over to her room
"What happened to her?" Stephen asked.
"It's… been a long day." King admitted. "I'll tell you later. It's a good story too. A tale of conquest. Which reminds me, I gotta be at the playground." He left the Owl Sanctum.
"I swear," Stephen said, "Sometimes I feel like I'm the Bat Queen trying to take care of all you crackpots."
After sleeping in her nest, Eda found herself in a dark-green environment that she recognized as her dream. She groaned with an annoyed tone.
"Oh, boy. I know how this goes. And cue the Nightmare." She turned around seeing the pasty-faced, green-suited dream demon hovering slightly above her. "You don't surprise me anymore. This time, I knew you'd be here."
"There's nothing clever about the obvious, Clawthorne." Nightmare said.
"Uh, huh. Look, I'll save us both a lot of time. The answer is still no!"
"Oh, don't be like that." Nightmare said. "I'm offering you a chance to be free."
"Which in turn is a chance for you to haunt the Boiling Isles again." Eda argued. "Just stay out of my dreams. I'm never accepting your deal."
"Oh, if today is any indication, you'll have to sooner or later." Nightmare said with a smug. "You became the Owl Beast and terrorized a bunch of kids."
"So what? It all worked out, didn't it?"
"Yes, but there's one thing you seem to have forgotten." Nightmare said. "You drank a flask of elixir before you rested, and yet, you still transformed. What does that tell you?"
Eda widened her eyes finally feeling the fear that her enemy craved. "The elixir. It isn't working on the curse anymore."
"That's right." Nightmare said beginning to circle over Eda's head. "Thirty years of drinking the same remedy every single night. And now, your curse is developing an immunity. Very soon, no amount of elixirs will change you back from the Owl Beast ever again. So you've got two choices. You either accept my deal, or you get to eventually become a bloodthirsty monster unleashed on all your friends. The choice is yours, Owl Lady."
Eda woke up with a sudden gasp. She felt herself sweating as her mind flashed back to the dream she had.
"This is bad. What am I going to do?"