Loyalty & Light

by BlehBluhBlah

"You and me, hermana... always." Ever since the Noceda sisters were kids, Lealtad had one thing in mind, and one thing only: protect her little sister's smile. Follow through a journey of The Owl House, as canon events unfold with Luz's big sister watching over her. Can Lealtad keep her sister grounded in her true home? Or will she lose her to this new world's fantastical themes?

10. Lealtad Ventures, Luz Gets Framed

A/N: This is one of those things that really became a longer chapter the more and more I fleshed out the story. Seeing as it IS the midseason hiatus, I think it's pretty fitting it's kinda long. ( ^‿^)

Behold, the second longest chapter of season 1a!

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Chapter Summary: Just as Lealtad adjusts to a new level of comfort, Luz is recruited by Gus to help out with his H.A.S. issues. Meanwhile, Leal tags along with Eda and learns about the Hexside education system but also... Eda's extensive rap sheet.

Word Count: 17,608

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Lealtad Ventures, Luz Gets Framed

"Oh Scruffy!" Lealtad called out, spinning the Nerf gun in her on her index finger. "Where are you!" she asked in singsong.

"You'll never catch me!" she heard him shout.

"Oh, I don't need to catch ya to shoot ya!" She pressed her back up against the corner of the wall. Just down the hall, she knew the little demon was hiding somewhere down there. Knowing him, he'd probably try to be somewhere he thought was hidden but was right in the open. She burst out of cover, whipping her body around and immediately locking onto the poor demon. He was hiding underneath one of Eda's tables, the ones up against the walls and underneath her weird paintings. He had his back turned to her, clearly mishearing her point of origin.

With a sigh, she walked over, making sure to keep her head high. "¡Mierda!" she remarked, hearing a small gasp from below, "I thought he was here! Guess I misheard." She shook her head and kept walking, making sure her steps were loud and noticeable. Of course she could hear the mischievous giggling below, but she kept her attention ahead, feigning ignorance. As soon as she passed the table, she wistfully said, "Guess I'll just keep heading—"

"Ah-hah! Gotcha!" King shouted, springing from cover and aiming his Nerf gun at her. She dramatically gasped and watched as he released a volley of darts, hitting her in the chest and arms.

"Argh, bleh!" she coughed and gagged as she recoiled and fell over, falling to the floor like she had been mortally wounded. Holding her hand out to him, Leal muttered, "You… got me… Scruffy…" and then collapsed face first into the floor.

"Ha ha!" he cheered, marching over as he pumped his gun in the air. "I did it! I did it! I beat Leal!" he chanted with glee. He proceeded to walk onto her back and give a small stomp, making her jolt a bit but no real damage was done. "I am now the King of Nerf!"

She snorted, causing him to gasp.

"Heeey! You're supposed to be dead!" he whined.

Turning over, she chuckled at the demon as he nearly fell, had she not quickly caught him with her hands. "Sorry King, but you forgot the Lone Slinger Leal, doesn't go down so easily," she playfully teased, "And that she always takes her enemies down with her—through tickles!" Her hands launched toward his stomach, beginning an onslaught of scratching and rubbing all over the poor demon's tummy and armpits.

"N-o-o-ooo! Hehehee! Staaahp!" King giggled, falling to her stomach as she sat up and continued to tickle him.

The feeling of the little demon tossing and turning while vibrating with laughter, all atop her lap, made her giggle. She couldn't place when exactly King's laugh became one of her favourite noises, but she was enjoying every second of his "torment."

"L-e-e-a-l!" he whined through his giggles. "I yield!"

She pulled her hands away and smiled at him. "Sorry, Scruffy."

He narrowed his eyes as he bent over and picked up his dropped Nerf gun. "No you're not," he pouted.

Her heart ached at his sadness. Was he actually upset that she cheated? How adorable. She chuckled as she leaned down and patted his head. "You're right. I'm not. I just like hearing you laugh," she admitted, earning a smile from the demon.

"Okay, but that still counts as my win!"

She nodded. "But of course! You're not the King of Nerf for nothing!" she dramatically declared, pumping her fists to the sky.

He cheered with her, whooping as he hopped off her lap and ran around her in circles.

"Oooh, what's all the fun?"

Leal lowered her hands and turned around, smiling as she noticed her sister just a few feet away from them. "Sup, hermana. How are you doing this fine afternoon?"

Luz shrugged with a faint smile. "Kinda bored, to be honest?" She awkwardly chuckled. "I'm really running out of ideas with my light glyphs. I think I might be seeing dots now 'cause of my last one." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder, no doubt in the direction of where their room was and said, "I heard you guys laughing. Well, King laughing."

"Laughing against my will!" he corrected, halting in his running to stomp his feet.

Lealtad snorted as she reached out and gently pet his skull, eliciting a small giggle from the demon. "Scruffy and I were just having a Nerf war." She picked up her gun and spun it on her finger as she explained, "I am the Lone Slinger Leal, seeking to end the tyranny of the great, King of Nerf!"

"That's me!" King giddily cheered, pumping his hands up.

"So far, His Majesty has bested this Nerfslinger three to zero." She dramatically sighed, clenching her fist in mock defeat. "Alas, he is too powerful for me."

Hearing the little demon get excited by each statement she made, rendered Leal's heart into a flutter of joy.

Something about playing with King, it was a part of Leal found herself secretly longing for. Being older than Luz by three years meant while they did have fun moments in their childhood, Luz grew up faster than Leal anticipated. Which meant the childhood she wished she could've had—playing toys with Luz, running around and all that—wasn't as long as she wished because Luz grew up too fast. There was a brief point in time her little sister was adamant about not doing "kiddy" things and she just wanted to read Azura. Yes, that contradicted itself but Leal didn't bother arguing the semantics in favour of respecting her sister's wishes.

So having King around, it kind of brought up a nostalgia Lealtad didn't know she had.

Luz giggled behind her palm, eyes dilated with pure excitement. "Can I join?"

Her older sister blinked at her, surprised. "You sure?"

"Yeah? Of course! I wanna play Nerf with you guys!" she replied as if it was obvious.

Lealtad raised a brow, cocking her head. "Last time I suggested we do that you said it was for kids and wanted to keep reading Azura?"

Luz blushed as she clenched her fists. "I was also eleven, Leal!"

"So? Now you're fourteen."

"I mean I was being a dumb kid—I was just trying to act older!" she explained, stomping her foot. She seemed aware of the childish action as her flushed cheeks reddened more.

Lealtad grinned as she held up her hands placatingly. "Okay, okay, read ya loud and clear! I'll go see if Dama Búho's got another Nerf gun in one of her closets." She stood up and held her Nerf gun out for Luz, who took it eagerly. "For the record, Sunshine," she shot her a wink, "you're never too old to play."

Her sister flushed again as she nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I know…" she waved the gun dismissively.

"Alright!" she loudly stated, pointing her finger up, "A new challenger has approached! Can you hold her off, King of Nerf, until the Lone Slinger Leal returns?"

King excitedly nodded before running off. "You can't catch me!" he shouted.

Luz laughed, chasing after the demon with a flurry of darts. "Just you wait!"

Lealtad chuckled to herself before turning down the hall and beginning her search.

It had just randomly happened that morning after breakfast, Lealtad noticed one of Eda's closests was open and moved to shut it. It had been one of the many doors she already knew was a storage room, but upon closing it this time she noticed a familiar colour of yellow, orange, and black. She rummaged around and found only two Nerf Mavericks, but a huge bucket of Nerf darts—different colours too. She raced to find King and proceeded to shoot him during his midday living room nap, and the rest was Nerf history.

She figured going back into that closet was a fruitless task, since she already checked it over, and thus began searching other doors at random. She could hear the laughter and sounds of Nerf darts being shot and flying all over throughout the halls, and quickened her pace. But it seemed like each door either had an overwhelming amount of junk for her to sift through, or too much junk that would cause a topple. Lealtad groaned to herself as she reached her fourth door and turned the knob.

She heard a clatter of things pile up against the door and froze at the sudden weight pushing toward her. She shouldered the door back, attempting to let the knob lock, but the sounds of more things falling over led her to believe everything was toppling against her. "Mierda," she cursed under her breath, pushing forward. Whatever was on the other side, was getting heavier and heavier.

And then she heard it.

"There she is!"

"¿Que?" Lealtad turned her head over her shoulder and gasped as she watched her sister and King rush her with their Nerf guns. "A-Ah, wait, wait, guys—" but then the hail of darts came. They were by no means lethal or painful, but having so many fly at her was enough to break her concentration and waver her strength. As a result? A huge amount of random junk poured through the door, sending Leal on her rear with a wince, as the clattering and clanging sounds of random things echoed throughout the halls.

"Leal!"

"Oh no!"

She heard the two shout, running to her side.

"You okay?" King asked, as she felt him try to pull her shoulders up.

She chuckled at the appreciated attempt, then pulled herself up. "I'm good, Scruffy, I'm good." She rolled her head around and felt her neck, it was a bit sore from the whiplash of falling but she really did feel okay.

"Sorry about that, hermana," Luz shrugged. "I take it finding another Nerf blaster didn't go too well?"

Leal sighed, kicking the junk at her feet. "Nope. And now we got this."

"What was that noise!" The three of them flinched at the approaching woman coming up the stairs.

Luz brought a hand to her forehead as she said, "Quick, what can we do?"

"Blame it on Hooty!" King suggested.

"Fake our deaths?" Luz fired back.

"Relax you two," Leal dismissed, rolling her eyes. She turned around and shouted, "Just an accident, ¡Dama Búho!" She heard Eda's steps grow near and turned back to the two, shooting them a smile. "Sometimes, being honest is all that counts."

When she turned back, Eda's face had just rounded the corner and immediately shifted into a scowl. The chills Lealtad felt made her gulp and shake a bit as the witch narrowed her eyes and stepped forward… slowly. Each creaking step made the three flinch. "What. Did. You. Do," she sternly asked.

Lealtad took a deep breath.

She could do this.

"King and Luz made me drop all your junk!" she shouted, pointing behind her.

"Hey!" King whined.

Luz gasped, smacking Leal's accusatory finger. "What happened to honesty?"

Lealtad sheepishly shrugged before looking back to Eda with a forced smile.

The witch sighed, silencing them all at once. She raised her hand. "What were you three doing?" she asked as she pointed to Leal.

"I found some Nerf blasters in one of your closets," Lealtad pointed to the one King had in his hands , "King and I were playing around and when Luz wanted to join I went to look for another one and well… yeah." She nervously chuckled as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry for the mess? I-I'll clean it up?" she offered as she turned around, though a frown fell on her face as she looked at the mountainous pile at her feet. "But y'know, you could stand to organize these. Practically all your closets are full!" She felt a swift elbow to her rib, courtesy of her sister. "What? I'm not wrong," she muttered to Luz.

"You're not, Bean Head," Eda agreed.

"I'm not?"

"She isn't?" Luz echoed.

Eda nodded, smiling. "It might be high time I start sorting through some of this junk! Some of these are actual human goods I might've forgotten to sell!" She walked past them and crouched down, inspecting the pile.

"Oh," Leal beamed, "so—"

"Which is why we're organizing them all today!"

"There it is," she sighed, shaking her head as Luz and King groaned. It wouldn't be a day at the Owl House if Eda hadn't made up some sort of chore. She turned around and laughed. "Fair enough, Dama Búho. I'll go get the boxes!"

It looked like today's agenda called for chores.

::TITLE OPENING::

Sorting human junk was actually kind of fun! It was like a garage sale or hodge podge of random things. It was things like these that reminded Lealtad that Eda's hobby—for however unsanitary and unhealthy it was—was pretty damn cool sometimes. Leal wasn't sure how old Eda was, but she must've started collecting really early in her life because a lot of the things they were sifting through were things that were around before even Leal was born! Record players, walkmans and cassette tapes, stereo boomboxes, and even VHS tapes!

Her eye caught onto a cassette tape labelled, Greatest Hits By Beatles. She smiled fondly at the tape as she picked it up. She whistled to Luz, who was sitting on the floor with Eda near the couch. "¡Hermana! ¡Mira esto! A papá le encantaría esto, ¿no?" she shook the tape in her hand.

Luz's eyes locked onto the label before a faint smile of her own took over. "Si," she chuckled, nodding, "Papá lo haría."

"Hey!" Eda chirped, startling King from his nap on the armrest of the couch. "I don't know what you two were saying but you better not be planning to keep any of these for yourselves."

Leal snorted, waving her hand dismissively as she set the tape down. "Relax, Dama Búho, just an… inside joke," she mused, shooting a wink to Luz who chuckled once again. "'Sides, nobody's gonna want this," she gestured to the collection of VHS and cassette tapes, "they don't know how it works. Let alone actually own something for it to make it work."

The witch smiled fiendishly at that as she raised a finger. "That's the trick, Bean Head. You make 'em think it has something that works! Then ya act like how it works is like nothing they've ever seen!"

"Truly, a master con artist," she sarcastically quipped as she continued to sift through her pile.

Eda's sorting technique was size first, quality, then quantity. If something was too big to display at her stand they'd have to put it aside. If it was small enough then the question came if it was broken or not. If it was broken, there was always the possibility of still selling it but if it was broken to the point it was obvious then it was a no go. And if something matched the first two, the final question was if there was a vast amount enough to sell in bulk or not. Leal managed to find a collection of various shoes, slippers, crocs, and sandals that she had already sorted into the boxes to sell. Broken things like dented lamps and split open air filters went into Eda's keep box. She wasn't sure what she was keeping them for but she didn't want to ask either.

As Leal moved aside an Izuku Midoriya body pillow (she was definitely putting that eyesore in the sell box) her eyes locked onto something white. It had Canon on its label, which immediately pulled her attention toward it. She dug into the pile and loudly gasped as she pulled it out. "¡No me diga!" she exclaimed. "Is this what I think it is?" She could hear the faint inquiries from Luz and Eda—and King, who she had awoken from his nap—as she inspected the device carefully. "It's a Canon Ivy Mini!" she squealed, vibrating in her spot as she sat up from her criss-cross position and onto her knees. She turned around and noticed the three staring at her confusedly. "It's a photo printer!" Luz's eyes lit up at that while Eda raised a brow. "This is perfect!" She looked at Eda with a pleading smile. "Hey, Dama Búho, you mind if I test to see if it works?"

"Uhhh y-yeah!" She blinked with a strangely surprised look on her face. "Go for it, Bean Head."

"Sweet!" She excitedly began digging through the pile in search of printer paper. She couldn't believe someone would just throw this out! It looked intact, aside from some dirt, so she hoped it wasn't broken internally. "This thing is perfect. It has a wireless feature that can connect with my app too, so I can print with bluetooth! And its USB cable is the same as the one I use to charge my phone!" she rambled as she moved to the other pile, "I was just about filling up on storage too, so this is great timing! Ahh, I hope it works!"

"Wow Leal," King commented, "I don't think I've ever seen you this excited before."

Her eyes lit up once again as she saw a box of two by three inch paper perfect for the printer. She looked back with a smirk. "Scruffy, this thing is basically my kind of magic. Instant photos! Instant physical memories!" She laughed, shaking her head in excitement as she began loading the paper in. She checked the battery power—it was still full? This was too good to be true!

As she reached for her camera on the table, she caught the strange smiles Eda and Luz were sending her way. They had a bit of a knowing look to them, but for what Leal wasn't sure about. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," they both said, turning away, very obviously pretending to keep sorting.

Lealtad shrugged, unsure what to make of the two's random expressions. She turned back and pulled out her phone.

"Wait, I thought you downloaded your photos to your phone anyways, what's the big deal with being full?" Luz asked as she leaned over the table.

Leal scoffed. "Digitally, there wasn't much of an issue, sure. But I'd still end up filling up my phone's storage too!"

"But won't printing them make an issue for physical storage instead?" her sister asked, tilting her head.

"Printed photos just hit different, okay?" she argued, feeling her ears flush a bit as her sister giggled. "It's like, a memory that's in your hands." When she turned back and saw Luz's raised brows she rolled her eyes. Did she really have to explain this? "It's like books. Reading them online is nice and all, an-and you could have a near endless space for them. But actually having one?" She laughed in awe and smiled at Luz. "Tell me you'd prefer having a Kindle copy of Azura instead of holding the real deal."

Luz giggled as rubbed the back of her neck, with a faint blush colouring her cheeks. "Okay, okay, I see your point."

"I'm glad," Leal winked before turning back to her phone. She quickly swiped over to her photo app and opened the downloaded photo of their second day here, the one with the four of them on Eda's staff flying high up in the sky and looking out toward the Bones of the Isles. It was perhaps the first real memory she captured here. It was worthy of being the first test. She tapped on the photo and went into her options, selecting Print. With the bluetooth set up, the only name that appeared for printers was "Pic Prints", which left Leal to hazard a guess and try it.

And then the machine spurred to life.

She jumped in shock as she looked at the small printer and watched as a photo slowly spewed out. Her eyes widened in awe as the coloured image slowly emerged centimetre by centimetre, and within a couple seconds, produced a small two inch by three inch photo in the palm of her hand. Leal gasped. "¡Ay! This is amazing! I can print my photos now!" She turned to Luz. "I can decorate our room now!"

Luz's eyes widened for a moment before she shot a big grin. "Ooh, can you print the one of us and Pride Day?"

"Of course, hermana."

"Ooh, ooh! I want some too! Especially that one you took of me and my servants!"

"You got it, Scruffy!"

"I'd like the Owl Beast one." They all looked at Eda with raised brows. "What! I said it was fierce!"

"What happened to not keeping any of this junk for ourselves?" Lealtad smugly inquired.

Eda rolled her eyes. "Fine, don't keep it." She shrugged. "Your loss," she teased as she held her palm out and gestured toward the pile of sell boxes.

Her eyes widened a bit as she protectively hugged the printer close to her chest. "Okay, okay, point taken!" As the witch laughed, Leal smiled a bit. "Any other requests aside from your Owl Beast form? I did take a nice one of you when you casted that protection spell."

The witch laughed as she shook her head. "I'll leave it up to your discretion, Bean Head. You do seem to have an eye for these things."

"As long as you're okay with me plastering a shit ton of pics all over the Owl House. There will be a ton."

Eda scoffed. "Go for it!" She turned around and went back to her pile, moving a large set of snow pants into the sell box. "Not like my walls had much decorative flair to them anyways. Your stuff would liven this place up—which is already saying something considering Hooty."

Leal felt her ears flush a tint once again as she nodded. "Noted."

"But play with that after we're done here, alright?"

She scoffed as she tried to fight the redness in her ears. "I wasn't playing," she muttered before scooting toward her messenger bag to place the printer and photo inside. As she took off her camera and placed it back on the table, she caught Luz teasingly giggling at her. She shot her a glare before sticking her tongue out.

It may have prompted more giggling, but Eda cut in with a glare of her own at Luz. "Goes double for you too, Sunshine," Eda ordered.

Luz's eyes widened as she gaped in embarrassment while Lealtad guffawed.

Taking that as a win for herself, Leal turned back to her pile with an air of pride as she listened to her sister sputter with disbelief. As the three settled back into another comfortable air of sorting and arranging—while King readied himself for another nap—Hooty whipped the door open. "Knock, knock!" he cooed, rotating his head. "Luuuuz. You have a gueeest."

Leal's brow raised as she looked to her sister. "Were you expecting someone?"

She earned a shrug in response.

As the residents turned back, they were met with a sheepish Gus, who stepped in the door frame and waved. "Hi… everyone."

"Gus!" Luz waved.

"Sup, Porter," Leal nodded.

"Y-Yeah, hi," he said again.

Eda sighed, causing Leal to look back in time to catch her rolling her eyes. "Just come in already before you let critters in. Or worse, Hooty."

The door-bird gasped at that as he feigned a hurtful pout, turning his head away as Gus stepped in then slamming himself shut. Leal merely snorted as she shot Eda a smile. "You say that like your nest doesn't have critters already," she teased.

The witch narrowed her eyes. "I can take that printer away with a wave of my finger, you know?"

She balked. "Ah boooo," she whined. "I don't get to have fun anymore now that you have a hostage?"

"Only you would consider a device like that a hostage."

"Oh yeah!" Luz spoke up, waving Gus over. "Leal, show Gus your photo!

The older Noceda gasped as she nodded in equal excitement. "Oh you'll love this," she declared as Gus walked over. As she reached back for her messenger bag, she caught Eda's frown. "Dama Búho, it'll be quick."

"Alright, alright, well make it quick," she relented, waving her hand before she began sifting through a collection of cans.

Lealtad quickly launched into an explanation of the printer, how it works and how it works in conjunction with her phone and camera. She laughed at the amount of awe and wonder the witch boy had at each word. But Leal couldn't help but notice there was a sense of… apprehensiveness as she went on and on. Perhaps something at school happened? As he returned the photo to her, he said, "My dad actually has a camera that does this."

"Wait, you guys have photography cameras here too?" Leal asked. The idea of playing with a Boiling Isles camera kind of excited her.

"Yeah! But they're not nearly as techy as yours. A fair amount of them have some magic to it, some demons can even take photos themselves!" Gus explained. "But all our cameras print and have to develop first."

She nodded knowingly at that. "Ahhh, we have cameras like those too. In fact, we used to use them way before we started developing things like these," she said whilst returning her Canon camera to the table.

Gus gasped at that. "Wow! I-I'll be sure to make a note of that for the H.A.S.!"

"Hey, wait," Luz asked from over the table, "where's Willow?"

"Willow? Oh, she had to help her dads with something." He shrugged. "She did want me to say she said 'hi,'" he smiled then looked to Leal with a definite knowing look, "and wanted me to tell you she said, 'Hey,'" he added with a deeper tone.

Leal cringed a bit as she awkwardly chuckled. "A-Ah? Is that what she said?" Right… that was a thing. She honestly forgot all about that. Part of her hoped Willow would've too…

As Gus nodded, her sister chimed in once again. "So what brings you to the Owl House anyways?"

"And how soon can you leave," Eda muttered, which prompted Leal to shoot her a scowl.

She mouthed a, Knock it off, toward her which the woman seemed to have decency to offer a sheepish shrug as they both continued to sort while Gus made his way over to Luz.

"W-Well, you see, when I was in school at my H.A.S. meeting, I encountered a… problem," he awkwardly explained, tugging at his cowl. Leal put down her box in interest as she looked over with her full attention. "We were reviewing human artifacts today, and well, one of my newest club members caused a bit of… an issue?"

"What kind of issue?" her sister inquired with awe in her eyes.

Gus took a breath as his shoulders sagged. "He came declaring everything I had weren't really human treasures—"

"I don't know if a paperclip is considered a human treasure," Leal mused as she folded a huge black t-shirt and placed it into the sell box. She recalled the time Gus listed off his artifacts for their approval (all they really said was, "Yes, that's a Human thing.")

"Shush!" Luz hissed.

"—then Mattholomule pushed everything aside and presented his own artifacts!" the boy exclaimed, flailing his arms in disbelief. "But they're fakes! I know it!"

"But how would any of you know?" Leal cocked her head inquisitively at him.

"That's what he pointed out," Gus exasperatedly said, facepalming. "So then I realized: I know a human who could help me out!"

Luz beamed at that for a moment, but deflated immediately.

"Wow," Lealtad sighed, feigning hurt, "nice to know I'm in your thoughts too, Porter."

He blushed a bit as he chuckled. "A-Ah. I just figured you wouldn't be into this—or well, that Luz would rope you along."

She snorted as she nodded. "Fair enough."

"S-So what do you say, Luz?" he asked, holding his hands out, "You wanna come to Hexside tomorrow and see for yourself?"

Leal's brows raised at that as she looked to Luz, who picked up a box and scooted it over to the boy on her knees. She frowned as she replied, "Gus, I'd love to go to school with you, but I don't know how I can." Luz jerked her thumb over to the banned poster Eda had pinned up with her wanted poster. "Principal Bump banned me from Hexside."

" But nothing. Bump did you a favor," Eda remarked, pulling out a blue mug, "There ain't nothing for you at that dweebus factory." She turned to Gus. "No offense, dweebus."

"It's okay. I come from a long line of dweebuses," he replied humbly.

Leal blinked at that. "Is that like a gene or…"

Any comment either of the two had prepared was shut down as Luz slammed her box on the floor, startling everyone. She rose to her feet and fixed a glare at Eda. "Well, I would love to go some day," she stated, placing her hand on her chest. "Better than unpacking boxes in the Eda Coven," she commented, gesturing around the living room before crossing her arms.

Leal's eyes widened at that. She really got wound up about this quickly. Was Leal missing something?

"Oh, you think you're clever, huh?" Eda shot back, rising to her feet as she placed her hands on her hips.

A strain of worry swelled up in Leal—not another fight…

"Oooh," King exclaimed, hopping up from his nest and over to the box in front of Leal. "Fight, fight, fight!" he cheered, shadow boxing.

She chuckled as she shook her head at the demon.

"Can it, King!" Eda barked, leaving the boy to sit on his butt. "First off, it's the 'Bad Girl Coven'," she corrected, waving a limp wrist. "And second off, I guess you don't want in on the T‐shirt order, huh?" she asked, pulling her t-shirt template out from her back pocket.

Lealtad snorted as she rolled her eyes. That was a passing joke they made during dinner one night and Eda got all excited about making it "a thing." In all honesty, Leal was dismissive of the idea until she saw Eda's design. "I would wear it if ya put it on a beanie," she chimed in, folding her box flaps shut and pushing it aside.

"Fat chance, Bean Head. Shirts are the rave!"

"I don't care about T‐shirts, Eda! I want to learn magic," Luz shouted, gesturing to Gus, "and they teach that at Hexside!"

"I mean, yeah, well—" Eda groaned, dropping her arms as she threw her head back. She turned away and walked past Leal, heading toward the door. "I don't wanna hear another word about Hexside," she said as she swung the door open, "unless it's 'Hexside is on fire' and 'let's grab front row seats'!" And with that, she exited the building with a slam.

"Aw, look what you did. I'm gonna go rub it in," King lit up with joy as he rubbed his hands together. "Nyeh!" he exclaimed as he hopped down and made his way over.

Lealtad scooted over and held her hand out, stopping him in his place. She shot him a stern look. "Scruffy, try not to rub it in too much. Let Dama Búho sulk in peace for a little."

He nodded. "Okay!"

She chuckled as she shot him a wink. "Now have fun," she grinned as she removed her arm, letting him sprint by with laughter as he left the room.

Leal turned back to Luz with a worried frown as her sister sighed and threw herself onto the couch, slumping her chin into the palms of her hands. The older Noceda released a small sigh of her own as she got up and moved over, sitting next to her sister. She placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. It was honestly a bit of a surprise for Leal that Luz was so adamantly for Hexside, especially considering she hadn't brought it up before.

"L‐Luz, a‐about the ban," Gus spoke up, bringing his index fingers together as he pointed them at her, "I, uh, used my H.A.S. presidential authority to pull some strings. You've been given a full pardon!"

Both Noceda's eyes widened at that as they whipped their heads to him shock.

"You mean…" Luz uttered.

"I got the ban lifted!"

"Ah shit yeah!" Leal whooped, pumping her fist into the air. "Next time, you should lead with that, Porter!"

Luz, meanwhile, grabbed Gus by his cowl and shook him with glee. "Oh my gosh! Yes, yes, yes!" She released the poor boy, causing him to fall on his rear. "Of course I'll be there tomorrow!" She hopped onto the couch, forcing Lealtad to scoot off and give her more room. "Gus, this will be great!" She continued to hop up and down as she proclaimed, "I get to see the school and save the president!"

Leal whistled encouragingly as she offered a round of applause. "Hell yeah, Sunshine, you get that main character treatment!" she teased, prompting Luz to perform a series of bows. She smiled as she stated, "I guess it'll be cool to finally see what this place looks like.

"O-Oh!" Gus chirped. When she looked over she was met with a sheepish smile. "I-I, uh, couldn't get Bump to clear you because well… this was all last minute an-and he doesn't really know about you—"

She sighed, shaking her head. "Say no more, Porter," she held up her hand. Leal figured that was a fair assessment. She was essentially a stranger entering a school after all. When she looked over at Luz, noticing her small pout, she chuckled. "Relax, hermana, you can go without me."

"Really?" Gus asked

"Really?" her sister echoed.

"Really," she affirmed, nodding. "I know this means a lot to you. Besides, Porter will be with you."

Luz squealed, rapidly stomping up and down on the couch cushions as she clenched her fists. "Yes!" she triumphantly cheered.

Gus turned to Luz. "Do you know the way there?" She nodded as she continued to spin around with joy. "Great! I'll see you tomorrow!" he said as she shot her a finger gun.

Leal blinked in surprise as she watched him get up and dust himself off. "Wait, you don't wanna stay for like, dinner?" she suggested. "I mean, I'll ask Eda but I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

He awkwardly chuckled once again. "A-Ah, well, I got a lot of Illusion homework."

She frowned. "Ah damn, fair enough." She glanced back to Luz, who was still hopping up and down with joy. "Well, uh, I'll walk you out?" She caught the alarmed look Gus had and could only internally laugh at it. She figured he knew what she was about to do, but they walked out together nonetheless. As she stepped outside, she found King returning to them. "Hey, where's ¿Dama Búho?"

King shrugged. "By the time I came out I saw her down the path on Owlbert. I tried to chase her with my laughter but I don't think she heard me," he pouted.

Leal snorted as she knelt down and patted the demon's head. "I'm sure she'll be back to hear more of your teasing soon."

He seemed to brighten with that reassurance as he reentered the house with laughter once more, no doubt excited to join Luz's hopping.

Lealtad looked back at Gus, who had been awkwardly standing aside, and chuckled. "You know why I wanted to walk you out, right?"

His face scrunched up as he shrunk toward his shoulders. "Something about looking after her?" he hesitantly guessed.

She barked out a laugh and nodded. "Glad you're quick on the uptake. Ya kinda have to be if you're gonna be hanging out with mi hermana," she mused. She quickly sobered up into a serious look. "It's not that I don't trust you, or her, it's… it's like what happened when she first met Willow. I asked the same thing of her. I just… please look after her?" she softly pleaded, mustering a sincere smile. "I still have no idea what this place looks like so… I'm basically sending her in blind again. I… I don't want any of you getting into trouble, but please make sure she doesn't get into trouble."

Gus gulped, nodding. "I… I promise."

She breathed a sigh of relief, internally laughing. The poor dude looked so stressed! She didn't even have her bat with her and he was already sweating, he must've been really scared. "Thanks." She cleared her throat and shoved her hands into her pockets. "Now you sure you can't stay for dinner or something?" She nodded back toward the house. "Getting my sister's ban lifted is a huge deal. Gotta be some sorta thanks we can do."

"A-Ah, her coming tomorrow is thanks enough!" he stammered out, nervously smiling.

"If you say so, Porter." She winked. "Whelp, travel safe!" She shot up another wave before reentering the house. As she did, she caught Luz excitedly humming to herself as she began stacking the boxes ready to sell. "Where's King?"

Luz turned to her and giggled. "He wanted to nap to rest up for a whole hour of teasing Eda."

She snorted. "He does know jokes have a shelf life warranty, right?" At her sister's confused brow she went on, "Time and place for jokes, context especially. I think by the time the Owl Lady returns his teasing will have expired on its comedic value. Especially since we won't be talking about it then."

Luz laughed. "Only you would be so critical of something as teasing."

She laughed back as she moved over to the couch. "Hey, you know me: I take my teasing very seriously," she said while she sat down.

Her sister nodded as she put down a box and sat with her. "I do indeed." A comfortable silence stirred as Luz scooted close to Leal, resting her head on Leal's shoulder. "Are you gonna ask or…"

She snorted once again. "The fact you know I wanna talk about it is enough, but if you don't wanna—"

"It's fine," Luz huffed. She took a breath and shrugged. "I'm not like… mad at Eda, or anything."

"Oh I know!" Lealtad chuckled. "You've managed to make nice with someone who was a considerable perra and forgive me for my bullshit constantly." She looked at her sister with an amused smile. "I'm starting to doubt if you have it in you to be 'mad' at anyone."

Her sister scoffed, lightly elbowing her.

"Kidding! I'm kidding—go on," she motioned for her to continue.

"It's just that… you know how I was practicing with my light glyphs earlier this morning?" Leal nodded. "Well… I… I didn't get bored, but I did feel like I did all I could do on my own!" Luz explained. She rifled through her back pocket and pulled out a paper with the glyph already drawn on. She thumbed around the drawing as she continued, "It was still so early in the day and I was already done with my 'magic studies'. And then I saw you and King playing," she looked at her with a smile, then looked back down at her glyph, "and it was fun! But then Eda cut in with more chores."

Lealtad cringed. "Yeah, I know they can be rough… and, a little drab."

"And I know it helps bring in Eda's income," her sister tacked on, sighing irritably afterward. "But… knowing all that, it just made me realize I haven't… really… progressed much." She frowned as she shrugged, tapping her glyph and letting the orb hover over her palms. "This is all I can do with a month's time. And… it feels like it's not enough. Not when I know Gus and Willow and Amity and her siblings are just… learning."

That… that really hit Leal for a second.

She had to sit with that idea as she squeezed Luz's shoulder and brought her in for another quick hug. She was right. In the end, what was she really learning here? Being a witch was why Luz stayed here in the first place, it was what she was striving toward. But how much of their daily hi-jinx had gotten in the way of that? Or really… did not having a fixed schedule, like a school, allow Luz to get more distracted from it?

"Sorry," Luz chuckled, pulling herself away. "I guess that was a lot to dump."

Lealtad shook her head as she pulled her hand back, but not before patting her sister's shoulder. "No worries, Sunshine. I know it helps to just get it off your mind a bit." She shot her smile, which seemed to brighten her own. "In any case, I hope tomorrow brings a learning experience you can make something of."

"Me too," she smiled back.

"How 'bout you go on ahead and mess around with King? He shouldn't be napping so early anyways—by the time Dama Búho gets back it'll likely be dinner time," she suggested.

Luz raised a worried brow. "What about all this?" she gestured around them.

Leal scoffed. "I'll stack the boxes away, don't sweat it!" She caught her sister's apprehensive look and sighed. "Sunshine, relax, I'm gonna need to do something while I'm printing photos anyways! Plus, I really don't mind sorting this crap. I'd hate to bum you out with more boring shit. You go ride that high of yours and play with King." She winked and held up her fist.

Luz grinned as she bumped her fist against Lealtad's, then leaned in for a fast hug. "You're seriously the coolest sister ever."

She laughed as she pulled away, moving over to the table while Luz walked toward the stairs. "You should try looking in the mirror more, Sunshine!" she teased, earning a chuckle back, "It might be blinding, but I find myself looking at someone cool everyday."

Despite the playful scowl, her sister's blush was so noticeable. "You're a dork!" she shouted as she exited the room.

"Bye kettle!" she shouted back. With the room to herself, Lealtad began work right away. "¡Oye! ¿Casa del búho?" she called out.

Hooty whipped himself inward with a smile. "Hiiii Leal! Whattya need!"

She giggled as she shook her head, kneeling down at the boxes. "If ya see Eda coming, mind giving me a shout?"

"You got it!" he shouted before slamming himself shut.

Leal sighed as she moved to the box and flapped it shut. What was the deal with everyone slamming the front door? Though she supposed she was guilty of doing so too sometimes. Nonetheless, with the room clear, she continued her pace of moving the boxes over to the corner behind the couch. She wasn't sure where exactly Eda planned on putting these, but keeping them out of the way for now was the best bet. The bigger issue was the remaining unsorted boxes and piles.

She looked back and frowned at the scattered mess.

This might have to be another day's problem. At least, a day where they weren't upset at each other or at something. Growing up doing a lot of chores, Lealtad knew one's temper grossly affected how one approached something trivial like cleaning. There were days her mom told her to fold, sweep, or put away dishes, and if Leal was either in a bad mood or under the weather, she was about a tick away from blowing up. That mindset led to a lot of frustrated cleaning over something that she usually enjoyed or didn't mind doing.

Today's fiasco was a good example. She hoped Eda—wherever she went—had time to cool off. Lealtad could understand her beliefs on education, but she hoped the witch would be at least a bit open to hearing Luz out. It honestly surprised her to see everything tense up as quickly as it did. That must've spoken to how deep rooted both Eda and Luz were with their beliefs. The issue this time was not too dissimilar to their first week here, when they met Willow and Gus.

Lealtad clicked her teeth as she started resorting all the junk back into their boxes. A long haul was ahead for her, and nothing but her thoughts could help.

Last time, Leal wanted the best for Luz's education but also didn't want to entirely disregard Eda's status as her mentor. However, she wasn't sure how much faith she could really place in the witch having not really known her as well as having a semi bias to school systems in general. But this time? Things were different. She had been a bit more exposed to the Isles but also to Eda as a person. When it came down to it…

Personally?

Not even Lealtad knew what her stance would be.

Those kinds of thoughts were what plagued her mind for a good few minutes, until she finished cleaning and went back to her photo printer. She needed the distraction for now, so she could organize her thoughts. And this was the best distraction there was. She already began the requests and printed the group photo they took on Pride Day as well as the HAPPY PRIDE sign she made. Then the photo of King and his stuffed animals dressed in all his souvenirs he collected from Covention, and lastly the Owl Beast one she took by accident.

And then the spree began.

She started with some of her favourite scenic shots, the photos of Adegast's fake castle, the Covention hall, and even the library. But once she got to the library, she was met with a horrifying reality—there was no more paper. Lealtad quickly checked the box she found it in and realized there was only ten sheets, the exact same amount the printer could only manage. She sighed as she looked at her photo gallery. Just when she got to her favourite photos… of course.

Though, looking at the array she had on the table, it was still amazing to see everything she once captured in a collection before her… physically. "Guess I could always venture to the Human Realm and buy some printer paper," she mused to herself, organizing the photos by dates.

The door opened as she looked to see Hooty beaming. "Eda's back!"

She smiled. "Oh cool—" the sound of Owlbert cooing, followed by the bird flying inside and straight into the kitchen, cut her off. Eda followed suit, slamming the door behind her as she walked in. The first thing Leal noticed was that she had a very neutral look on her face. The second was that she also had a paper bag in her hand. "You, uh, you good?" she awkwardly asked with a tentative wave.

Eda sighed as she walked over and sat beside Leal. "Here," she muttered as she placed the bag on the table, nearly on top of the photos.

"Easy!" Leal chided as she grabbed the bag. "I don't wanna crease 'em!" Eda didn't even respond with a quip or scowl as she just slumped against the couch. Lealtad looked in the bag and gasped in shock as she saw what was inside. "Printer paper?" she murmured as she pulled a box out. She looked at the witch. "Where did you get this?" A quick inspection made her even more befuddled. "And it's the right measurements too? You guys have inches here?"

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Dweebus already told you we have our own kind of cameras here too. I know a shop in town that sells paper. When I flew off to cool my head I figured I might as well pick some up before I came back, so that's why I—oof!" she exclaimed as Lealtad crashed into her, giving her a hug.

The action even surprised Leal herself, as she pulled away and coughed, fighting her ears blush. "I, ahem, s-sorry." She coughed into her fist.

Eda uncomfortably rubbed her neck as she chuckled. "Heh… it, uh, it was not a problem kiddo." She straightened herself up as she scooted closer to the armrest, creating more distance—which in all honesty, Lealtad wasn't sure if she minded that or not. "I dunno if they work with human photo printers but—"

"Only one way to find out!" she hastily suggested, turning back to her printer. She rambled only about the fortunate timing with how she just ran out and how limited the stock size was on the device as she loaded them in. A couple seconds later, Lealtad and Eda were staring at a printed photo of the outside of the library. "Sick!" she exclaimed, pumping her fist before placing the photo with the rest. She looked to Eda with a smile. "Thanks… Eda."

"No problem, Bean Head." She winked.

"Anything you want me to print for you? Lot of sweet photos of you. Heck even that one I caught where you tripped and your head came off."

"Got anything you can print that'll get through to your sister's head?" Lealtad scowled at that. "Kidding, I'm kidding," she replied, holding her hands up placatingly.

Leal took a small breath before softly speaking. "I understand your stance, but you could at least be less dismissive to her wants, y'know?"

Eda's smile fell a bit as she looked away. "Okay, I really don't want to get back into it tonight." She stood up and clasped her hands. "I gotta get started on dinner anyway."

"Fine, fine," Leal nodded. "But… uh, you want help with that?"

"Nah, I can handle a little cooking, Bean Head," Eda replied with a small smile before walking off toward the kitchen.

Getting rejected stung for some reason but luckily she had a distraction. Lealtad looked down at her collection of photos and beamed. This was perfect. She pulled out her phone and drew up a quick text.

Fave Bebé [6:02 PM]: Good news!

Fave Bebé [6:02 PM]: Turns out the camp has a photo printer here! And they're letting me use it!

Fave Bebé [6:02 PM]: Means I can make a lot more space for my photos but also that I can bring some premature scrapbook material when we come home! A whole new binder of memories in store!

She already began collecting the photos when she received an immediate reply. Gathering it all in one stack, Leal returned to her phone.

Mami [6:04 PM]: That's great! Can't wait to sort through them with my girls. ( ^‿^)

Lealtad smiled.

In spite of it all, at least she had a good day.

::::

Last night's dinner was as awkward as this morning's breakfast, King humming to himself as he enjoyed each munch while Leal glanced between Eda and Luz. King and Eda always sat at either end of the table while Luz sat closer to Eda. The "power move" made during both meals was as she arrived, Luz would sit in Leal's spot instead. Lealtad was honestly amazed at the childishness the two could muster, but mostly amused since sitting in a different seat didn't matter as neither spoke to the other.

Lealtad managed the small talk last night by talking about all the photos she was gonna print and where she'd pin them. Eda affirmed she really was fine with Leal plastering her walls with all her photos, while King and Luz thanked her for printing their requests. After dinner Luz had gone straight to bed in anticipation for the next day while Lealtad began pinning up some photos near her camping bed. Since she was tucked in the corner, she had a wall to wake up to with now a good view of a gallery.

Though today's alarm hadn't been the cause of her awakening. Luz was already up and excitedly prompting Leal to follow suit, looking forward to what today would bring. Of course the morning routine of getting ready and rolling up their beds played out like usual. And when breakfast came the same awkward atmosphere returned. But this time, Lealtad wasn't sure if her talking would help. She wanted to talk to Luz about today but she also knew bringing up Hexside would upset Eda.

The four could only eat their meal in a tense silence, not even sparing glances at each other aside from King and Leal.

She hated drama.

"So… do y'all want to talk about the obvious issue or shall I lead the conversation topic to something else again?" she offered.

"You having fun with that printer of yours, Bean Head?"

"Latter it is," Leal muttered. "I am!" she beamed. "I've printed everyone's requests, and I've got my little corner near my bed all prettied up!" She beamed as she chewed her last bite. After swallowing, she looked between Eda and Luz. "Does anyone have more requests they want me to print? I find there's often a lot more people want than they can remember to talk about. So if something pops in your head right now, go ahead and say it!"

"Real subtle, Bean Head."

"Super slick," Luz muttered.

She rolled her eyes. "What about you, King?" she turned to the demon, "Any requests?"

He raised a finger… and let out a big burp, drawing all attention toward him. "Heh… sorry," he shyly looked down at his meal.

Leal chuckled before releasing a burp of her own, releasing that good old scrambled griffon egg air from her digestive tract, which made King giggle.

And then came a loud belch from Eda, a heartier one with a lot more echo courtesy of her apple blood.

And finally Luz's, which was honestly adorable. Her sister wasn't much of a burper, and so the quietest and most brief burp erupted and the room fell into another silence.

Then into a round of laughter.

"Glad to know we're all kinds of disgusting," Lealtad joked, placing her utensils on her finished plate.

"Blame Eda's cooking," King teased as he went for another bite.

"Can't blame perfection," she smirked, glancing over to the witch.

The Owl Lady's cheeks reddened the tiniest bit as she rolled her eyes. "Enough flattery. You two are already done eating," she noted, nodding toward the Nocedas' plates. "Just send her off already. I'll take your dishes." She spoke with no malice, which was a positive in Leal's perspective.

"Alright, you heard her, hermana," Lealtad said as she pushed herself out from the table and rose out of her seat.

Luz brightened up as she launched out of her seat. "Don't worry!" she shouted while running out the room, "I've already got everything I need!"

"Ah, wait!" Leal shouted after her, hastily shouldering her messenger bag and grabbing her bat from behind her seat. She pursued her sister through the living room. Once she made it out the door she caught her by the arm. "You got everything you need?" she inquired, raising a brow.

"Yup! Including confetti," her sister responded, brandishing a small flurry between the two.

"Whelp, that's the H.A.S.'s problem now." Lealtad seethed as she stepped back and released her sister. She looked down at her and frowned a bit at her antsy smiling and foot tapping. "I'm sorry—I can't help but feel nervous… sending you off." Leal clenched her fists as she asked, "You sure you don't want me to tag along?"

"What did we say about hovering?"

"I know, I know—"

"Leal," Luz softly spoke, smiling at her as she placed her hands on her shoulders, "No te preocupes. Todo va a salir bien. Isn't that what Mamá always says?"

She sighed, nodding as she grabbed Luz's hands. "Have fun?" she offered.

"Always do!" her sister replied before retracting her hands and turning away. And with a sprint, she was down the path and beyond the treelines.

"Don't worry!" Hooty chirped, nearly startling Leal from her melancholic moment, "She'll be back!"

Lealtad scoffed and walked back in. "I know that, Hoots. I know." She sat down at the couch and slumped in her seat, tossing her messenger bag and bat beside her. She already began sorting her bag to fit the excess boxes of printer paper, and decided now would be a good time to work with her gallery some more.

"Then what's the problem?" Hooty asked, making Leal realize the door was still ajar.

She shrugged. "Just worries, is all," she replied as she laid out her camera, printer, and the paper on the desk. She spared a look over to the bird, noticing his confusion. "You ever get worried when Eda and King leave the house?"

"Not really. I know they always come back! Hoot, hoot!"

A fond smile instinctively overtook her. "Aww, that's sweet, Hooty," Lealtad said with sincerity. She looked down at her camera as she turned it on. "I guess I need to adopt that mindset more often…"

"Well who knows! I'm just a house demon!" Hooty beamed before slamming himself shut.

She snorted, shaking her head. "Everytime I think we have a moment he goes and does something like that…"

"You get used to it," Eda chimed in as she entered. "Mind if I sit?" she nodded over to the couch.

Leal quirked a brow as she mused, "Your couch, no?"

The witch rolled her eyes as she sat down, just on the other side of Leal's messenger bag. She propped her feet up on the table and leaned back, watching Leal as she sorted through her gallery and phone. The silence hung for a good while. Neither speaking, just Lealtad looking through her photos and Eda observing her looking at her photos. She didn't feel like there was a pressure to speak, but in all honesty Lealtad was just prioritizing her photography.

But as soon as she began printing, Eda released a heavy sigh.

She glanced back at her, finding a small pout on the woman's face but nothing came out of her mouth.

So the girl merely shrugged and went back to her printing. But another sigh erupted, this time louder.

She turned back and raised a brow, but no change from Eda.

"Am I supposed to ask what's wrong or…"

"Do you think I'm being unreasonable?"

"Generally or—"

"You're very funny, you know?" she dryly remarked.

Lealtad grinned as she turned back and placed her newly printed photo of Hooty sleeping in a curled up pile onto the table (a request by him, of course). "I've been told so by many," she joked, already sorting through for another photo. "For real though," she stopped and looked back, raising a brow, "Is this about you feeling bad for Luz?"

Eda shrugged, sliding her feet off and moving her arms to rest on her knees. "I dunno. It's just… she seemed really excited to leave."

"Part of that might just be the tension," she suggested.

"Even still," Eda argued, "she shouldn't feel like that. She's here to learn, like ya said." She crossed her arms over each other as she bounced her right leg up and down. "She deserves an education, but I know what she's getting there wouldn't count as one. Not in the way she thinks. Because I know how she wants to learn. I've witness what she looks like." She smiled, a look of fondness overtaking her. "I've experienced it," came the soft addition.

Lealtad smiled at that, letting her newly printed photo show. It was Luz back during the Owl Beast fiasco. Shortly after Eda was all good and Hooty was patched up—Luz went back to her circle of glyphs and Leal had to snap it. She pulled out the photo from the printer and showed it to Eda. "It's certainly something to witness, huh?"

The witch's smile grew at the picture.

Finding satisfaction in that reaction, Leal pulled it away and placed it on the table.

A brief silence hung before Eda spoke resolutely. "I'm trying to protect her," she leaned forward and grabbed the photo from the table, looking down at it with a serious face, "Hexside chews up anything unique and spits out bland mush."

Leal looked back. "Sounds like you're speaking from personal experience?" she wagered.

Eda sighed, shrugging. "I suppose that is my beef." She looked at Leal with a curious stare. "Does she need to draw her own conclusions?"

She could only smile back. "I feel like you already know the answer." She winked.

Eda laughed, shaking her head. "What about you?" she asked, nodding at her.

Leal furrowed a brow. "What about me?"

"Don't you want to learn too?"

She turned back toward the desk, looking at the array of photos she had printed. That was the question… wasn't it? Much like yesterday, Lealtad couldn't see where she'd insert herself in this. In the end, this was Luz's domain, wasn't it? "I dunno," she honestly answered, turning back, "Sure, learning all this is cool and all but I'm only here for her. I want to protect her, and if learning some crazy spells helps with that, then sure?"

Eda seemed to like that answer as she smiled at her. "Well, what do you think about magic? You seem to like those light glyphs almost as much as Luz—using them for your photography and whatnot." She waved her hand aimlessly.

"Not sure." She shrugged. She thought back to all the cool feats she'd seen—Eda and Lilith fighting, Willow summoning her plant vines, Gus teleporting across the convention floor—it was all objectively amazing things. "I mean, you, Park, and Porter do some pretty cool shit with magic," she said in all earnesty, "But I guess I'm not as… creative as Luz to see a use for casting a ball of fire at random or summoning an optical illusion. I guess I can't see the practicality of it."

"You're not as Azura driven, eh?"

She snorted. "I suppose not." She turned back to her photos and gathered them all into one pile. "But don't let my opinions on magic influence your teaching methods with her. You're her teacher after all."

"Yeah… I am…" Lealtad looked back and raised a brow at Eda's pensive face. The witch locked eyes with her, expressing her seriousness within them. "I'm gonna get that girl into school."

Her eyes widened. "Wait… seriously?"

Eda smirked as she stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "Whattya say, Bean Head? Feel like tagging along while I try to enroll your sister?"

Leal grinned. "Hell yeah." She hurriedly gathered her things, leaving her newly printed photos behind as she grabbed her messenger bag and stuffed her printer back inside. She slung her camera over her neck and grabbed her bat, resting it on her shoulder. "Yo Scruffy!" A series of rapid footsteps came marching toward the living room as Eda made her way over to the door, calling Owlbert to her.

"Weh?" King chirped, poking his head in.

Leal jerked her free thumb at the door. "Dama Búho and I are heading to Hexside—she's gonna enroll Luz. You coming?"

"Nope!" He shook his head and pulled out a set of photos from under his collar. "I've gotta figure out where I'm gonna start putting all these photos of yours! I wanna decorate my closet!"

She smiled, touched by the sentiment. "Alright, suit yourself." She followed after Eda, who already exited. "Don't leave the Owl House!" she shouted over her shoulder.

"I won't!" he shouted back.

Eda was waiting on her staff, raising a brow. "You ready?"

Lealtad hopped on and grinned. "Let's go get my sister an education!"

::::

Seeing Hexside up close was a little intimidating. Having the few photos of it from the front—with Luz in a cauldron and Willow beside the cart—wasn't the same as actually landing in its pathway and walking up its steps. It certainly wasn't the same kind of photo, as she took about five new ones since landing outside. Seeing all the students, witches, demons, and creatures of all kinds walking about—it was amazing. Everything was so diverse and grand, even walking inside! The lockers had weird teeth, like the Demon Decimal Systems in the library. The overall colour and design screamed magic and education. It was all so overwhelming and yet…

Fitting.

She took another shot and looked down at her screen. She just captured an upward angle of all the floors above them from the lobby. The circular walkways above looked immensely cooler from down below. "I honestly can see Sunshine's excitement now," she mused, readying another shot of a set of lockers.

Eda snorted as she looked over at Lealtad. The witch herself had been just talking with a teacher, asking them to inform Principal Bump they were on their way to his office. She had to convince them she really was here just to talk to Bump and not for their teeth—Leal wasn't sure if she wanted to know the context. "Bean Head, you ain't seen nothin' yet!"

She dropped her camera back down to her chest and pulled her bat out from under her arm, shouldering it once again. "Does that mean we're finally heading down to the principal's office?"

Eda winked and shot her a pair of finger guns before motioning for Leal to follow her.

"Do I even wanna guess how many times you've been called down here when you attended?" she teased as they walked.

"Hah! Good luck counting that high!"

Lealtad laughed, fondly shaking her head. She really couldn't expect anything less."

Walking down the halls was oddly familiar to her. Much like the very high school she attended, nearly bumping shoulders with kids her age and streaming by lockers and scattered litter of food wrappers and forgotten pencils. And yet still, she found herself in awe with the scenery. They happened by a class with an open door and Leal couldn't help but lag behind, catching the group inside. They all had brown coloured sleeves and pants and in the centre, were summoning slabs of rock to form a structure of some kind.

"Construction Track," Eda supplied, leaning her head back to peek into the room as well. "All sorts of fun with that one." She leaned to Leal and whispered, "Once built a huge wall in front of my classroom's door and used Illusion magic to make it invisible."

Lealtad snorted loudly at that, immediately covering her mouth as she and Eda hurried down the hall, avoiding the stares of the class inside. After a bit of walking, the two found themselves outside the principal's office. Eda gave a quick rap on the door, and a gravelly voice replied from within.

"Come in."

She gulped at that. Leal herself had never been to the principal's office back home, least not called down to it for being in trouble. So hearing the man's voice unsettled her a bit. Though she had heard and seen him back at Covention, this was different. Eda confidently turned the door open and waltzed in, leaving Leal to shut it behind her.

"Hey, Bumpikins!"

"Don't call me that," the witch replied. He took note of Leal's presence and raised a brow at her. "Hello there, you are?

Lealtad stepped in and shyly waved. "Hello! I'm uh, Lealtad Noceda?" She held her hand out as she stepped forward, but the man only blinked down at it before shaking it cautiously.

"Principal Bump," he supplied.

"I know," she nodded. She gulped once again as she pulled her hand back. "I-I'm Luz's older sister?" He raised a brow once again. Right. Her ears! Leal reached back for her beanie and tugged it up a bit, exposing her ears.

The principal's eyes widened. "The human," he uttered in disbelief. "She had an older sister?"

Eda plopped herself down in the chair and chuckled. "Yup! Humans—two of 'em! Travel in pairs from what I hear."

"Not true, i-ignore her," she awkwardly stammered out, rubbing her neck. "I-I know I'm not her guardian, I'm just her older sister, an-and I know Gus already took care of things but I'd still like to apologize for my sister trespassing your school grounds and disrupting your learning environment." Lealtad cleared her throat and shrugged. "I… I did have a hand in letting her get away with it. I likely could've done more to stop her but didn't. So I'm sorry for that."

A brief look of confusion coloured his face, but it washed away immediately. "Hmm, I appreciate your honesty, Lealtad." He nodded an appreciative smile before drawing up a spell circle and summoning her a chair. "Thank you for your apology."

She smiled back as she took her seat next to Eda.

His expression dropped as he turned back to the witch, who plucked a pencil out from his pencil cup and rested it on her lips. "Been quite a while since I've sat here, huh?" she recalled as she leaned back in her chair and rested her feet on the desk, brushing his name plate aside. "I gotta admit it's extra weird without you yelling at me for picking fights or stealing," she mused as she rocked back and forth.

Leal sighed, facepalming as Bump's frown grew. She was not helping…

"I can easily change that," he remarked, drawing another spell circle and levitating the witch out from the chair and dropping her onto the floor.

Lealtad snorted, biting her lip as she looked back to Bump, avoiding Eda's glare.

"What're you doing here, Edalyn?" he inquired as he telekinetically moved his name plate back.

Eda propped herself up back onto her seat, fixing her hair as she straightened her spine. "I want to—" she noticed her messy hair and blew it back into place. "I want to enroll my human, Luz, at Hexside." She placed her hands on the table, narrowing her brows, "And before you get all judgy—"

"That's not a bad idea," Bump agreed, his hands folded together.

"You no good—wait… really?" Eda blinked.

"Really?" Leal parroted.

Bump smiled as he turned out of his chair and walked over to his filing cabinet off to the side, explaining, "I think the student body could learn a lot from having such an exchange student."

Eda looked to Leal, smiling as she shared a hasty fist bump before comfortably resting into her chair again, feet on the desk and hands behind her head once more.

"But before I even consider that," Bump stated, levitating Eda once again but this time spinning her upside down and dropping her, "there's a lot to be answered for." He returned to his desk with a stack of books, files, and papers.

Lealtad prayed that this was just paperwork.

"Oh right, yeah," Eda muttered as she fixed herself up. "The uh, abomination incident."

"Oh, I'm not talking about Luz." Bump's tone grew more aggressive as he went on and listed, "I'm talking about the necrotic experiments, the graffiti, the scams, the cheating, Miss Jenkinmeyer's teeth!" He narrowed his brows as he picked up the stack and dropped it close to Eda, who thoroughly sunk in her seat in shame. "The trouble you caused when you were here, Eda."

At the same time, both Leal and Eda rose out of their seats and looked at the top of the stack.

PERMANENT RECORD ~ EDALYN CLAWTHORNE

"Huh, I thought there'd be more," she weakly joked.

Lealtad's brows raised as she thoughtfully tilted her head. "Clawthorne's your last name? Hm, dope name." She leaned back and thought about it. "Miss Clawthorne," she tried, "neat."

Eda furrowed a quick confused brow at her before looking toward Bump. "So I have to clean up all my graffiti?"

"And apologize to all your teachers you've wronged."

"Including you?" the witch asked.

"And clean all the pranks you've left behind."

Leal's eyes widened as she exclaimed, "They're still here?" Eda sheepishly chuckled while Bump groaned in irritation. Well, she got her answer. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know how Eda accomplished all that.

"And once all that's square, you'll let her enroll?" Eda clarified, to which he responded with a nod.

"Wait, wait," Lealtad's hands shot up, "do you even have enough snails to enroll my sister?" She knew Eda had some snails saved up, but a whole tuition was something else entirely.

Eda scoffed. "Snails? What, you think it costs money to be educated?"

"The bare essentials are always financially provided for our students," Bump explained, "they simply have the option to devote more of their resources to their tracks of interests of course. But there's no fee to enroll, if that's what you're asking."

"Wow, guess even magic school can beat the human education system on something as simple as finances," Leal uttered in awe.

Eda turned back and grinned. "So? Where do we start?"

Bumped smirked. "Follow me."

::::

"Ugh, I don't wanna do this!" Eda complained through her gritted teeth.

The three were currently standing before a set of lockers, all covered in graffiti. Leal chuckled as she snapped a quick pic of the defaced property. She supposed Eda was artistic in the end. But even the sprayed words of "Hoot" made Leal wonder how long the owl fixation had been an interest to Eda.

"There's the whiny rebel teen I remember!" Bump teased, patting Eda on the back. "You'll need this," he handed her a mop, "to clean up all the hexed graffiti you left us. Good luck."

She stuck her tongue out as Bump stepped aside, smiling in pride.

Lealtad was about to ask him how it hadn't been cleaned up, but found herself quickly answering as she watched Eda dip her mop into the bucket then drive it toward the graffiti. Though instead of getting splotched up in water, it all moved away from Eda's mop. The Owl Lady began a series of swipes and strokes before the graffiti morphed into a pleading, MOTHER NOOOO!

Leal could only laugh along with Bump at Eda's regretful groan.

"You're totally gonna enjoy this, aren't you?" she asked him.

He cheerfully smiled as he kept his hands behind his back. "A principal has to have his own brand of fun sometimes."

"You don't mind me taking photos, do you?" she asked as she shook her camera.

He shook his head. "Not at all! Unless a student has something to say, I'm sure there's no issues. In fact, I'd love documentation on this… rewarding moment," he smugly said. Lealtad could only laugh once again. Just what kind of Hell did Eda put this guy through in her youth? He leaned over Leal's shoulder as she snapped another photo of Eda taking a pitiful swipe at the lockers.

"So have they all been here or…"

"The caretakers managed to remove a good deal of them, but it takes a lot of effort and time so the faculty collectively agreed to leave them be," Bump sadly explained.

Lealtad clicked her teeth as she shook her head. "Shame." She looked back at Bump. "Good thing it's all on her now, huh?"

He chuckled. "Indeed." As she looked down at her photo he asked, "Are you a photographer back in the Human Realm?"

She raised a brow. "Uhhh, I guess? Th-This is sorta just a hobby," she shyly admitted, dropping the camera to her chest.

"Do you mind showing me some of your photos?" he inquired with a curious tone.

Leal shrugged, turning her camera back on and flipping through her gallery. She kept scrolling through, going past photos of nature, buildings, and just them in the Owl House goofing off. Though the latter was a bit embarrassing to show off, she noticed Bump's awe seemed to increase with each photo.

"Amazing!" he exclaimed. "You know, I have been thinking about updating our school's pamphlet for the new semester." He brought his hand to his chin and stroked it thoughtfully. "We're in need of some new eye-catching and scenic shots. As well as some everyday student life. Would you mind taking photos for it?"

Whoa.

That was like, a legit offer.

For her photography?

"Uhhh, sure?" she hesitantly shrugged. "I-I mean, I don't know how to transfer them to you, but I do have a photo printer so I can give you those if that helps?" she offered, pulling out her newly acquired Canon Ivy Mini.

"Should be fine," he waved off, "Duplicating those into copies would hardly be an issue."

"Ah, bup, bup!" The two looked over at Eda, who turned around and raised a finger. "She will be charging for that!"

"I will?"

"She will!" Eda asserted.

"Fine, it's a fair deal." Bump shrugged. "I assume I'll be working out the fee with you, then?"

Eda grinned before turning back and smacking the locker, surprising the poor graffiti and managing to smudge THER and OO! off. "Yes!" she cheered, continuing her battle with her left behind pranks.

Leal nervously chuckled as she pulled her camera away from Bump's eyes. "I-I don't really know if what I have will be good but—"

"Then you better take lots of photos," he suggested, "Having a variety will be good to have so we could pick and choose."

She dug into her messenger bag and pulled out one of her photos, showing the one she had of Hexside from the front. "This okay?"

He smiled. "That's lovely! Looks marginally better than our current cover. If nothing else, that alone would be worth buying."

Lealtad flushed a bit. "W-Wow. Thanks." She bit her lip and pointed over her shoulder. "I guess I'll, take some more around here?" He nodded. "Cool."

She turned around and looked down at the lobby they once stood in and gasped in awe. Now an above shot, but this time capturing the hustle and bustle of the students walking beneath. She stepped back from the railing and smiled at her newly captured photo. Something about the everyday life here… it was fun to see.

"As a teacher," Bump spoke up, his eyes still on Eda's torment, "I will say 'hobbies' are often the precipice to great potential."

Leal walked back to him and tilted her head. "You often observant like that with your students?"

He sighed, looking down at the floor, as if regretfully. "I try to be. Not every student is willing to listen. Or rather, can listen." She chewed her cheek as she thought that over. Lealtad knew plenty of classmates back in her school who were like that. Even Luz was guilty of that sometimes and Eda? Well, she seemed like she was the experience he was speaking from.

"I respect a teacher dedicated to their craft and their students," she admitted, offering a small smile. He shot her an appreciative smile back. "How was Clawthorne as a student anyways?"

"Honestly? A nightmare," he muttered, spurring a giggle from Lealtad. But a fond sigh escaped him. "But I respected her resolve."

"Resolve?" Leal echoed. "Dama Búho makes school sound like the bane of her existence."

"Well, for a time I suppose it was. But make no mistake when I say her academic potential was above and beyond." The way he looked at Eda, she could see he had a sense of pride in that stare. Despite him staring at a woman who was triumphantly declaring her dominance over her own hexed graffiti. "Of course she would say it was the system that was at fault and… sometimes I can't help but agree," he softly said.

"Hmm," Leal hummed. "Noted."

"Graffiti is done!" Eda shouted, chucking her mop back into its bucket. She wiped off a bead of sweat before grinning. "What's next?"

Bump mirrored her grin. "I believe you're overdue for an apology for a certain teacher with now false teeth?" Eda's smile fell in an instant as she slumped and groaned. "Please, lead the way," he gestured ahead.

Lealtad snorted once again as the two followed after a begrudging, muttering Eda. She could only smile and laugh as they walked through the halls, occasionally finding good angles of the student life to snap photos of. She did ask the students afterward if they were okay with it—and she was met with a surprising amount of approval. She glossed over her collection of photos and chuckled, hoping she'd run into Gus and Luz, or Willow, or maybe even the Blights! Seeing all the various coven colours was aesthetically nice to see in her lifestyle photography.

But on their way to Miss Jenkinmeyer's classroom, a loud boom erupted. Lealtad stopped and looked toward the classroom guilty of the noise and whistled as she saw the smoke emitting from the door. The teacher at the front magicked away all the smoke and coughed, explaining, "And that is why it is crucial we follow ingredients to the letter!"

She noticed their yellow colours and mentally translated its meaning: Potions Coven. It looked like something straight out of every witch media ever. Cauldrons, vials, thick misty smoke—the whole cliché! Leal had half a mind to take a photo but figured a mishap like this wouldn't be a good advertisement.

"How about you, Lealtad?"

"Pardon?" she turned back to Bump, realizing he was waiting with her. She looked forward and realized Eda was long ahead..

"Do you not fancy enrolling yourself?" he curiously asked.

That seemed to be the ongoing question of the day, huh? She shrugged. "Not really, Mr. Bump. I mean your school does look beautiful. And Park and Porter make the classes out to be kinda fun, but I don't really… know?" She awkwardly chuckled as they walked to catch up with Eda. "My sister is definitely more driven about this magic junk than I am."

Bump's raised brow remained as he hummed thoughtfully. "Hm, well I often find the first step to venturing and expanding knowledge entails taking a small peak." He nodded to the classroom beside her, stopping in his tracks.

She mirrored his pace. When Leal turned she realized they were looking into the open door of the Healing Track, and they were currently performing a spell on an injured classmate, tending to all her cuts and bruises. They circled around her and within a second, she was pristine and clean like she hadn't been hurt at all. "And that is why group healing is the most effective form of immediate aid!" the teacher proclaimed. "Learning starts with the self, but can only grow as a group!"

Lealtad chuckled as she looked back at him. "Either that's just coincidental or you knew what she was going to say because she always says that," she accused.

Bump smugly smirked as he continued walking, hands behind his back as he sing-songingly said, "Oracle magic is a thing after all."

"Is that a joke or did you actually use magic to do that?" she shouted as he walked past Eda, who had stopped and watched their exchange. Leal furrowed a brow at her. "What?"

Eda shook her head. "Nothin', Bean Head, nothin'."

Leal remained confused as she followed the two adults over to the classroom of interest, where they were greeted with a woman with three eyes, long blonde hair, and very noticeable fake teeth protruding outward. She immediately recalled this was the same teacher Eda requested to let Bump know they were arriving! Earlier's encounter made a lot more sense to her now…

"Hi Miss Jenkinmeyer…" Eda mumbled, shyly kicking her feet as she poked her index fingers together.

"Edalyn," she said with a scowl.

"Soooo… about your teeth—"

The teacher growled as she launched into a fury of curses (some magical, others more explicit) while Eda shrunk at each shout.

Bump blankly stared, watching the encounter unmoved.

Lealtad sighed, shaking her head as she leaned up against a nearby pillar.

Eda had quite the afternoon ahead of her…

::::

"What about Oracle magic?" Leal asked, taking a sip of her juice.

Bump chuckled, putting his cup of whatever down as he looked toward the ceiling thoughtfully. "Fortune-telling, mind reading, spiritual summoning—"

"Sounds like all of these are meant for fighting," she remarked, slumping her chin onto her palm as she rested her arm on the cafeteria table.

He shook his head, chuckling once more. "Of course nearly all kinds of magic could be used for offensive or defensive means, but I assure you spiritual summoning is helpful in ways of fortune-telling too. As well as a semi means of physical aid."

Leal cocked her head. "Physical aid? Like an abomination?"

He grinned. "Precisely."

She slowly nodded, humming an understanding note as she looked out into the field through the windows. "What about Beast Keeping?" She looked back at him. "Sounds like a summoner's arena for brawling to me," she argued. When Eda set out to clean the girls' change room from ghosts, Lealtad and Bump found themselves parched so he offered to buy her a drink, thus leading them to the cafeteria. When they sat down, he left the floor open for any inquiries of hers. So far, Lealtad could only think to ask about the Nine Covens and what other uses their kind of magic had aside from combat.

Because that was all she could see with what she witnessed.

"True, and you can create some beastly traits for yourself too," Bump tacked on, nodding. "But guide creatures exist. Some help others see or smell, or sense dangers if they're physically disabled."

Leal's eyes widened at that. "Huh. We have things like that in the Human Realm."

"See?" Bump smiled, gesturing at her. "And even then sometimes wrangling up wild beasts is crucial to save lives. There are also adoption shelters for beasts too."

"People keep them as pets?"

"Yes, very commonly actually. There are multitudes to choose from." She rolled her tongue around in her mouth as she nodded. Bump then went on, smiling, "You could spin your point of view the other way around too." At her confusion, he elaborated, "Take the Bard Coven: while entertainment wise they excel above all other covens and are most known for that, they also are capable of some of the most deadly offensive spells and strongest combat techniques."

Lealtad nodded at that. "Wow… so everything has a use?"

"Indeed. And Hexside works toward making sure its students find their own use with their magic and understand it." He leaned over and whispered, "After all, education is the real magic."

She rolled her eyes. "That was cheesy." And though she said that, she actually kinda liked that dumb slogan.

The doors of the cafeteria whipped open and a fog blew out from it. The two stood up from their seats once they saw Eda emerge, trailing deflated purple ghosts in her wake as she had a sack of said ghosts hunched over her back with purple sludge. She had a big frown on her face as she stomped over. She strained one last move, throwing the sack over before Bump's feet. "There. The girls' changing room is ghost‐free."

"Are you ready to give up?" Bump teased, reaching to pluck a ghost out of Eda's hair. "You've barely scratched the surface."

Leal furrowed a brow at the taunt. Was this a test against Eda? Because the deal was all that was offered, but Bump made it sound like he was testing her resolve.

Eda growled through her teeth as she turned away, no doubt biting back any snide comments that would've worsened this deal. She followed the witch's eyes and noticed the other pair of students near the door. Leal felt like the one with Bard colours was vaguely familiar, though she couldn't place where, but watched along with Eda as the Healing student helped her classmate and the two shared a hug, loudly declaring, "Friendship is the real magic."

She wanted to gag.

Eda, scowled as she said, "They're just as bad as Luz." A smile grew as she looked to Lealtad knowingly. "She'd love it here, wouldn't she?" Leal smiled back at the witch, who rubbed her hands together and stood a head taller. "All right. What's next, Bumpikins?"

He beamed as he produced a plunger and held it out for her, earning a groan from the witch. "The hexed reversed toilets in the unisex washroom on the first floor—"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it," Eda muttered, swiping the plunger from his hand and stomping past the two.

"Reversed toilets?" Leal asked.

Bump sighed. "When you flush it shoots it back up and—"

"Ew, ew," she shook her head, "Dios mío she was a troublemaker…"

He sighed again. "Yes, yes she was."

"And you're not like, doing this to test her are you?"

He looked back toward Leal. "A teacher never truly stops teaching," he replied before following after his former pupil.

Lealtad rolled her eyes before grabbing her bat from the table. "This guy and his cryptic witticisms," she muttered under her breath. She sped past Bump and caught up with Eda, elbowing her arm as she stomped.

"What, Bean Head," she growled.

Leal smirked. "Wanted to say thanks for the show. Your torment is vastly amusing."

"I can still give you chores back home, y'know?"

She scoffed. "Your chores beat this embarrassment you're having to suffer through any day." Eda's tinted cheeks made Leal chuckle once again. "But… seriously though, Clawthorne," she smiled at her, "I… I genuinely appreciate you going through all this hassle for my sister."

Eda smiled back, shrugging. "Eh, you did say she could use some traditional learning."

"Well, yeah, but only in an attempt to get you to mix up your teaching style. I never expected you to compromise your own beliefs or whatever for our—her sake."

"Well, I'd be a pretty terrible teacher if I didn't." Eda winked. "Gotta learn somehow, right?"

Lealtad nodded, looking back over her shoulder and shooting Principal Bump a small wave. "Yeah. Somehow…"

Did she…

No.

She shook her head, pulling up her camera once again. "Wanna see the photos I took of the cafeteria while you were ghost huntin'? They're Bump approved!"

::::

Lealtad had to hand it to Edam doing so many degrading tasks—that were created because of something she did—took a lot of determination and will. And Eda marched on at every step. She still complained, because of course, but she marched on nonetheless. And she did it. She cleaned up ever disgusting prank, apologized to every teacher she humiliated or pissed off (including Bump), and even managed to get rid of the irremovable graffiti! Despite all her grievances, she still did it and triumphed.

"I washed off all the graffiti. Apologized to Jenkinmeyer for stealing her teeth. Caught all the wild cerebi," Eda listed off. She turned around and placed her hands on her hips. "Ah, we should be good."

Bump extended his hand out, prompting Eda to accept it and shake it as he said, "It will be very exciting to have a real human exchange student."

"And you won't tell the Emperor's Coven about this, will you?" Eda asked, cupping her hand over her mouth.

"No," Leal's eyes widened at that, "Hexside School is safe for you both. I'm the principal, not a stooge." He gestured between himself and Eda as he said, "Consider your pupil our pupil."

Before Lealtad could thank the principal a loud bang echoed just down the hall. The three looked over and Leal noticed Willow was at the, stood a huge set of doors. Doors that burst open with Gus and Luz in tow. Gus fell to his knees as Luz held a massive bone in her right hand and a student over her left shoulder? Oh, Leal prayed they weren't dead.

"Ahh mierda, what did you guys do?" Lealtad groaned, facepalming at the sight of Bump's angry face.

"Leal? Eda?"

"Guess who got you into Hexside!" Eda cheered.

Lealtad buried her face further into her palm, shaking her head repeatedly. But then a loud hiss startled her from her anguish, causing her to glance up and gasp at the pair of weird worm-like snakes over Luz's shoulder. Before anyone could even think, Bump snapped his fingers and the once terrifying creatures receded their faces into fearful expressions.

"Uh, sorry, Principal Bump," one apologized as they both slithered back. They emerged again, this time hiding behind Luz. "Sir," they added, before slithering away for good.

"What did you do?" Bump stomped forward, hands clenched.

"Ugh, kid," Eda facepalmed.

Bump whipped back to Eda and Leal. "To think that any student of yours would be capable of doing anything but create chaos…" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "Eda, take your student and leave!" he pointed down the hall. "You and your humans are banned from this campus!"

Lealtad's heart dropped at that.

What?

But she didn't even do anything?

Why was she getting roped into this?

"Argh. Come on, kid. Let's go," Eda motioned Luz to come over.

Lealtad blinked, shaking herself out of her disbelief. Right. Why was that her concern right now? "Luz, are you okay?" she asked as she grabbed her sister's shoulders as she walked toward her and Eda. Luz silently nodded as they continued to walk. Leal felt Eda's hand on her shoulder, giving her a comforting squeeze while Leal sighed.

"Wait, Principal Bump. Don't blame Luz," Gus spoke up. The three halted in their tracks, turning back to see Gus approach the witch. "I told her the ban was lifted. We were fighting over the Human Appreciation Society. I brought Luz in because I wanted to win. This is all my fault," he admitted, gesturing to himself.

Leal's jaw dropped. Seriously?

What was it with Luz's friends?

She wasn't sure if she should be disappointed in him or herself that she didn't see shenanigans like this coming!

"If that's so, Augustus, would you be willing to accept her punishment as your own?" Bump asked as he approached, gesturing to Luz.

"Yes, Principal Bump," Gus firmly said, "I would."

"Huh. Dang, dweebus," Eda smiled.

Lealtad shook her head and briefly laughed. Just like with the Moonlight Conjuring, this damn kid. "You guys are going to give me a heart attack I swear," she muttered to Luz, who was visibly touched by Gus' admission.

"Very well," Bump accepted. He turned back to the three of them, his hands behind his back as he reapproached Eda. "In light of that, barring any more trouble," he gestured toward Luz with a smile, "you shall officially be enrolled in Hexside School next semester."

Luz gasped with a smile as Leal slid her hand into hers, giving her an encouraging squeeze. This was it! Luz was one step closer to—

"Uh, hold on, hold," Eda declared, stepping forward. "I also changed my mind." Leal's brows furrowed. Eda locked eyes with Lealtad then turned back to Bump with a confident smile. "I'd like to enroll both my Humans into Hexside."

Wait.

What!

Bump shrugged. "I don't see why not. She's given me no reason to doubt her so far." He looked over at Leal and smiled. "I find her inquisitiveness to be quite fun."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Lealtad stepped forward, waving her bat around to gather their attention. "What? Hang on, don't I get a say?"

"Of course you do! But you also don't fool me for a second, Bean Head." Eda crouched down and met her eyes, placing her hands on her shoulders. "I saw your eyes as we walked around here and I can tell when you look interested in something." She managed a faint smile as she added, "But I also can tell you don't really know what to make of it yourself. You think you don't know but you do. You are interested."

Lealtad took a breath. If she thought about it in her heart of hearts? "So?" She gulped, shrugging. "So what if I am?"

"Then that's enough. No need to act tough about it," Eda softly said. She looked to Luz, "School's all 'bout expanding interests, right?" Her sister nodded in agreement, eagerly glancing back and forth between their exchange. "Here's a chance to expand yours! Besides, you said you wanted to stick by her right?" Eda nodded to Luz. "Whattya say?"

Lealtad looked at her sister, who smiled at her encouragingly. Luz came here to learn magic, not her. She stayed for her sister. Her sister was the one who wanted this. And she was finally getting it—her dream. But where did Leal fall into all of this? She used her free hand and dug into her messenger bag, pulling out her recent printed photo she took for Bump's Hexside pamphlet. She held it in her palm as she stared at it seriously, eyes glued to every speck of it.

It was nothing more than a shot of an empty hall of Hexside. Lockers, trophy cases, bulletin boards, and classroom doors. She closed her eyes for one second.

And she could see it.

She could see herself walking in those halls.

For now, if she could envision it? Well…

"I'm in," she said before she even realized it was out her mouth. She opened her eyes and was met with a pair of smiles from her sister and Eda. "I'll attend Hexside."

Eda grinned, holding her fist up once more, the two exchanged props and that was when Eda leaned closer, pulling the Nocedas into a huddle. "Good, now listen close both of ya," she said seriously, "I'm only doing this because I have faith in both of you. And I know you're both too smart to fall for that One‐Witch, One‐Coven nonsense," she affirmed as she looked between Leal and Luz, "You can learn a lot from the witches here." She looked over her shoulder and smirked. "And maybe teach them some of that Bad Girl Coven magic too."

"I didn't hear that," Bump sing-songily quipped as he walked over to Gus.

"Don't worry Eda, we won't let you down," Luz nodded. "Right, ¿hermana?"

Lealtad nodded, smiling. "Right."

Three looked back to Bump. "—o, as of now, I'm removing you from the Human Appreciation Society," Bump declared, stripping Gus' crown off his head.

"Does that make me president?" the Construction student face planted on the floor asked.

"Impressive. Still alive," he smirked. He then ungraciously tossed the crown onto the kid's head as he enthusiastically stated, "Yes, I suppose you are." The newly formed president raised a weakened fist in joy as Bump turned away. "Now, with that accomplished, Eda, we have some paperwork to fill out," he ordered as he walked away, expectantly awaiting Eda's following.

"Wait! I gotta do more stuff? Ugh!" Eda groaned, slumping her hands before she turned back to her and Luz. "You better enjoy this place, kiddos," she lightly threatened as she walked away.

"Wanna finish that tour?" Gus offered to Luz.

"I can show you guys what plants not to touch in the greenhouse." Willow's face shifted into a mischievous smile. "And then I can let you touch them."

"Yeah!" Luz cheered. "Let's go!" They joined hands and walked off, heading the opposite way of Eda and Bump, but suddenly skidded to a halt. "Leal!" her sister called out.

"A-Are you coming?" Willow asked.

"Free tour!" Gus offered.

Leal looked back at the three then back at Eda and Bump, who noticed her hesitance and stopped walking.

"Go on, Bean Head," Eda waved her off, "explore your soon-to-be school grounds!"

"Please feel free to make good on those promised photos as well," Bump suggested, smiling. Both of the adults parted with a wave before continuing their walk down the hall.

Lealtad turned back and shrugged at the three. "Guess I'm tagging along." The three whooped with joy. "But you so owe me an explanation."

She would get her explanation too, as well as profuse apologies from Gus for lying and Willow for not stopping him. She brushed it all aside and found the silver lining: no one was hurt and all was good now. Leal did affirm that her trust wasn't something that should be taken lightly, and that none of them should take advantage of it again. She wouldn't let whatever hi-jinx that was get in the way of her exploring this new school. Leal went on to take more photos and watch in awe as the two witches led her and her sister around, introducing every foriegn concept to them.

But even with the anticipating excitement rising with each new "attraction" on their tour.

Lealtad couldn't help but think about what Eda said.

"…my Humans…"

Hers, huh? Leal smiled. That was… oddly fitting?

::::

Eda had felt nostalgic and decided to look through her permanent record once they got back, as Bump declared the files to be null and void courtesy of all her bitter work today. Actually seeing the causes for all the pranks Eda had to clean up put even more perspective in Leal's perception of Eda today. These past few days had been such a highlight to her, and Lealtad couldn't even surmise it for their mom in her texts. She could only say, Things were so so so good today. That wasn't exactly false, but man was she too excited about current events ahead to properly respond. Gus and Willow even invited the two out to a Grudgby game in two days as Leal was on the very game stands taking photos of the court, and she inquired about the sport but could only receive a vague answer.

She wasn't sure what it was about but Luz seemed all for it.

Leal never really anticipated being this into going into Hexside, but maybe that was why. The experience, the unknown, it all would make sense when she got there, right? Exploring the campus, taking photos of the life inside, the everyday—it was a sense of clarity Lealtad could peek into through her own lens. In any case, she figured her conversations with Bump and Eda really helped clear her thoughts. She was there for Luz at the end of the day, but today was a good reminder that it helped Leal to think about herself.

She smugly smiled as she dropped the last stack of snails onto the living room table. Most especially in this case.

Principal Bump really liked her photos. Apparently the pamphlet they were going to receive for the new semester was going to feature a good portion of her pictures! But to top it off, Leal brought in some more cash for the household, half of which she managed to bargain from Eda into going into her personal allowance. She never really thought about her photography going that far, but this was a nice venture to try nonetheless.

She leaned back from the table and looked at Eda's report pile. Over seven thousand incidents. Yeesh.

"Wow, Bump was not exaggerating!" Luz remarked from her criss cross position on the couch. "You were a terrible student."

Lealtad laughed with her sister.

Eda rolled her eyes before looking at her. "What about you Bean Head? Ever get into trouble at your school?" she taunted.

"I was a saint," she beamed.

"I somehow doubt that."

"You wound my pride, Clawthorne."

"Actually, Leal's sorta telling the truth. Not in high school but when she still attended the same middle school as me she would constantly—ouch!" Luz winced, covering her cheek. The two looked at her and noticed a Nerf dart fall from her cheek to the floor. They all looked toward the hallway entrance and found King standing there, triumphantly cheering with two Nerf guns in hand.

"Behold! The King of Nerf has prevailed! Bow before me!" He laughed maniacally.

Luz grinned. "Ooh-hoo you're gonna get it, Your Majesty!" she shouted as she sprung from her seat, chasing King up the stairs and down the halls of the second floor.

Eda and Lealtad exchanged a look. Leal mused, "How much you wanna bet they'll break—"

A loud crash echoed throughout the house.

"It wasn't me!" both King and Luz shouted.

The witch smirked at her. "Would've been a losing bet anyways."

She shrugged, getting up from her seat. "You want me to check and make sure nothing important broke?" she asked, pointing over at the hallway.

Eda shook her head and placed her records on the table. "Nah, it's fine." She stood up and stretched. "But go on, join your sister and King for that whole weird dart game. I'll fix up dinner." Leal chuckled as she made her way down the hall with Eda trailing toward the kitchen. "Hey Bean Head!"

She sighed. "What now, Clawthorne?" she remarked as she turned around, watching the witch hang on the door frame of the kitchen entrance.

"Promise to make me proud in that fancy school?" she pleaded with a doughy smile.

"If that's your way of saying, 'Don't do anything you'd do' don't worry, I wasn't going to." Leal winked with a smug smirk.

"Hardy har," Eda dryly replied. "Don't blame me if I end up spitting in your food!"

Leal smiled at the joke. As she watched Eda step back in, that strange, familiar queasy feeling she felt for the past few days returned. But this time, she trusted its instinct. She stepped into the kitchen, catching Eda's eye right away. "You uh… you want help?"

Eda blinked in surprise. "Ah nah I—" she stopped herself. A smile overtook her face as she stepped aside from the stove, gesturing to the empty space. "Well, if you're offering."

Dinner was lovely that night.

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A/N: As stated in Hooty's Moving Castle, undermining Luz's natural skills isn't something I want to do. I'd rather let Luz shine in the spotlight as Leal watches it over and makes sure the bulb is bright. Essentially, I didn't want her getting involved with Luz's detention fiasco but I also genuinely contemplated not having her enroll. I figured it would stunt Luz's growth if Lealtad was also involved and learning, but I eventually figured it was easier and also more logical to bring her along. And well, I also realized during my development of this story how crucial it was to have this chapter be the midseason point (hence why I didn't skip last chap).

If last chap was the turning point, here we have the beginnings of the actual walk down the trail. I know it was kinda hectic and all over the place with pacing, but that's kind of because Luz and Eda take all the tension and conflict with them. Leal's conflict is more internal, but the actual canon episode presents both character's conflict quite clearly. At the same time, this is the start of Leal accepting the Isles. It's certainly a more tame chapter, but I believe the merit behind that is its brevity.

Eda and Luz's spat being elaborated on more was done mainly to give Leal some more material to work with, but also to increase the impact of Eda's gesture in enrolling Luz in the end. I always found that gesture to be sweet in canon, but here it's amplified. And along with enrolling, this was a good way to show Leal and Eda's subtle growth in their bond. Eda noticing Lealtad's excitement in things but ALSO being able to understand Leal's reluctance and push her, it's an important distinction to notice how differently she's managing to adapt to each Noceda (and I mainly say that because it's hard to write and make it contrast).

In Gus' case, his guilt and anxiety about lying to Luz obviously amplified, considering Lealtad was putting a lot of trust on him and he was straight up lying to the both of them.

Fun fact: in canon, the scene where Eda's rap sheet is brought up, that's the first time we learn her last name!

Now for the big news: I cannot guarantee a return date of L&L but only promote that you keep an eye out on my Tumblr for occasional updates, or heck, asks where I share details. I'd like to have a decent amount of season 1b finished before starting uploads, but I do not want to leave you all hanging dry for long. So sorry if y'all were hoping I'd be your TOH content filler during the hiatus after season 2's finale, but alas I must prepare too.

I understand in terms of how midseason hiatuses usually go, this wasn't the most anticipating or thrilling "cliffhanger." But, not every chapter can be as heavy or crazy as 8 or 9. As much as I wish they could be, the breathing room counts for something. Besides, it only picks up from here. Really. Like, even in canon it picks up so it picks up even MORE here. Hence why I need the hiatus to write.

Big thanks for sticking around these past few months! I hope to see you all back here when this fic updates! ( ^‿^)

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Review Responses:

starrat: Always happy to hear that! ( ^‿^)

bloodlust002: Yup! Growth all around for the gals! Eda wouldn't really incite herself into Leal's relationship with Luz like that, at least, not in THAT way... YET. Though from what we see in canon, the older sibling dynamic between Eda and Lilith is hardly noticeable. And the non homophobia thing is essentially for the most part, things you've stated, but also because even Dana Terrace herself said there's no homophobia on the Boiling Isles. Which makes sense.

MarauderPrime12 : Thaaaank yoooouuuu!

Thomas Holmes II: Glad you like how I expand on it! Hope this one was expanded in a good way as well. Ed and Em coming in was always a planned thing, and it was really rewarding to not only write it but see your guys' reactions to it. And yeah, the sister moment at the end was sweet to write as well. It made my sister cry!

Sir Chaos Omega: Alas, season 2 problems are foreshadowed and played with! Dramatic irony is SUPER fun!

Kagaminelover657: I'm glad last chapter managed to reach you at a good time then! A challenge I have set for myself is using EVERY episode in canon! So I do not plan on skipping anything. Regardless of popularity or POV, I will try to use it all. And for the season 3, 40 min specials? I'll probably make them two parters or something. Glad you liked Leal's title! I had fun coming up with it! And yes, I love reading your reviews, so fun to sift through with everyone else's on here and on Ao3! Yes, choosing to conflict Eda and Leal's personalities now was perfect for a penultimate midseason finale especially because this chapter is more... tame.

Venny being included and having more of a role is definitely a result of the well received responses but also because I think they really represent an interesting aspect of the Isles to Leal. At this point, Leal's definitely beginning to mellow, but in the twins' case she's not willing to kick someone while they're down. And the Queer discussion was, as you say, a great avenue to show how caring Camila is as a mom but also highlight how different life is on the Isles. And yes, Luz revealing she was getting bullied was always planned for this chap especially. I figured it was the best time to recall something earlier in the story while still not being too late or too far back, but just far enough that most would forget.

Using the swap as a vehicle for everyone to apologize and learn their lessons was one of my better moves. Especially since in Luz's case it shows her maturity and ability to communicate with her sister. A very fun reality with these stories is that A, B, or even C plots are at my disposal. And while they may not all be dramatic or emotional, they tell an important story to the entirety of L&L. Good luck trying to figure out how Chapter 11 will play out! ( •‿-)

OMAC001: Glad you do! Those comparisons are basically the bread and butter of this story, lol.

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Stay safe and take care all.

Until next time,

- Bleh