Hey guys, here's chapter 6 of Rise of Zeo. I said in earlier chapters that I'd be swapping the order of certain episodes. The episode of this chapter will be Once Upon a Swap.
It was an average afternoon on the Boiling Isles. King was being King, and today, that meant trying to get a flag that was hanging above him. Suddenly, he found himself being able to reach it. Looking down, he saw he was standing on Thunder Snake's head.
"Damn it, Zeo! Why did you have to give me false hope!?" King asked in frustration.
"Just thought I'd be nice" Zeo shrugged, "I mean, I could just have him electrocute you if you want" he offered.
"Don't mock me!" King said as Luz walked by, carrying something.
"It's been a little slow around here, but I've got just the thing to attract customers…" Luz put up a sign, and then slapped a glyph which lit up the sign in light with Eda's name and face, "And who doesn't like their name in lights?" she asked rhetorically.
"Command Card: Lightning Lash!" Zeo tossed his command card. Thunder Snake then shot a beam of lightning from his tail, causing the sign to explode into pieces.
"Zeo! What's the big idea?!" Luz asked.
"You do know Mom's a wanted criminal with a huge bounty on her head, right?" Zeo asked rhetorically, "That sign of yours would've attracted some unwanted attention and that's the last thing she needs" he told her.
"Couldn't have said it better myself" Eda said, popping out of the curtain behind the stand, "Thanks, Zeo" Eda said.
"Anytime" he replied with a two fingered salute, "Now, if you guys will excuse me, I'm heading out. My "You guys are about to get in a heap of trouble" senses are tingling and I don't want to being involved just yet" Zeo said, Thunder Snake slithering beside him as they left.
"Eh, his loss" Eda shrugged.
"What's there to do? Maybe someone has a quest for me to go on" Zeo said before feeling a painful throb in his back, "Ah!" he winced, "Maybe someone has an amazing bed for sell" he looked at Thunder Snake.
Hiss* "Sleeping on the floor must be rough on your back" Thunder Snake said with concern, though to everyone else except Zeo, it just came out as a long hissing sound.
"Yeah, but don't worry about me, buddy" Zeo reassured, rubbing his shoulder.
"Hey, you" he heard someone say. Zeo looked around to see a bear person, "I hear you're looking for a bed"
"Uh, yeah" Zeo said.
"I can build you one. A mystical one that adjusts to all your sleeping needs" the bear offered.
"That sounds interesting" Zeo said, intrigued, "What's the catch?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"All you have to do is go on a quest for the supplies needed to make the bed" the bear said, "Or you can ask me to do it, but that'll cost extra" he added.
"What do you mean "cost extra"?" Zeo asked as Thunder Snake hissed in curiosity.
"It's 200 snails to do the quest on your own, but I do it then it's twice that" the bear told him.
"Or how about this: you give me the list I need, I come back with everything you need, and I don't sic this guy on you" Zeo said, tossing a card behind himself, summoning Knight Owl.
The bear gulped, "I just remembered, there's a discount today. If you do the quest yourself, it's half price. I'll even throw in a free pillow" he said nervously.
"Make it 75 percent. And just so you know, I'm not bluffing" Zeo said, stepping aside, "Command Card: Feather Knife Storm" he tossed the card into Knight Owl's chest, signaling him to send a small storm of razor-sharp feathers, pinning the bear to the wall of his stand.
"Right. 75 percent" the bear smiled nervously, "The list is in my left pocket" he told Zeo.
"Thank you" Zeo said, taking the list and leaving the snails that they agreed upon before hopping on Knight Owl's back and taking off.
"I love a good body swap. It's like demonic possession with the ones you love" Eda said.
"We're really doing that? That's possible? This is just like my favorite early 2000s movie! Freaky Fraturday" Luz held up a DVD of said movie, "But maybe we should think about this for a second" she said.
"Body swap!" Eda shouted, twirling her staff around which released a beam of golden light upon them. Eventually there was a puff of smoke.
When the smoke cleared, they found that Luz was in Eda's body, King was in Luz's body, and Eda's was in King's body.
"Wow, look at me! I'm so old… and pointy!" Luz said, admiring herself in the mirror, "I even have boobs! Huge ones!" she beamed, bringing her hands up.
"Don't even think about it!" Eda said sternly, stopping her.
"Hey, don't blame me. I haven't blossomed yet. Which reminds me…" Luz looked at King, "If you do anything suggestive to my body, I will let Zeo sic Knight Owl on you!" she threatened.
"Wow. Zeo's starting to rub off on you" King shrinked a bit.
"I'm serious" Luz said, grabbing King, "If you even so much as touch my unmentionables, it's King soup for Knight Owl"
"Alright, I get it!" King holding his hands up defensively, "I don't even know what unmentionables are" he said, chuckling.
"Alright, here's the deal" Eda began, "Whoever can prove their new body has the easiest life gets out of house cleaning duty. And you know what that means…"
Everyone shuddered at the thought of cleaning Hooty who, they knew for sure, was extremely. Both inside and out.
"Zeo's lucky he's not a part of this" Luz said.
"Where do you think your son went off to, Eda?" King asked.
"Ok, A: He's not my son; and B: Who cares?!" Eda told them.
A Forest…
Zeo clenched his chest as he flew on top of Knight Owl, "Why does it feel like Mom just said something that would hit me right in the feels?" he asked himself, "Good thing I snuck Tracker Ticks on all of them before we left" he said, chuckling.
Zeo pulled out the list from earlier.
"Ok, first we need wood from a dusk tree. It says it's one of the stronger woods, perfect for construction" Zeo said, "It also says it shimmers in the evening" he added, "Now, where do we find one?" he asked.
Knight Owl hooted, spotting purple trees with orange streaks and orange leaves. These were the Dusk Trees. Their cousin, the dawn trees had an inverted color scheme.
"Nice work, Knight Owl" Zeo said. The armored avian descended, landing in front of the trees, "Razor-dillo, arise!" he summoned the armadillo, "I've been waiting to use one of these" he pulled out the first of his two new cards.
This first one was depicted an eagle soaring through the sky, its body shining like metal. The card was an aqua green color. The card had a gust of wind under the name, symbolizing it as a wind elemental. Unlike the rest of Zeo's cards though, this didn't have any levels to it.
"Beast Weapon: Eagle Axe, arise!" Zeo tossed the card, summoning a bronze eagle with silver wings and talons, the bird made entirely of metal, "This is a new type of card I created a couple days ago. Beast Weapons" he looked at his two beasts.
The eagle spread its wings out, forming the blades. It then straightened out its legs and feet, forming the handle. It then fell into Zeo's hands.
"The difference between the beast weapons and you guys is that they don't have levels" Zeo explained, "Now then…" he swung the axe, releasing an air slice that cut through a nearby tree. He stepped to the side, allowing the tree to crash to the ground, "Alright, I'll have a new bed in no time"
It was then that Zeo thought of something. He was sure that someone else in the house needed a bed as well. A smile crossed the card user's face.
"You know what? Let's do another" Zeo said, swinging the axe again, chopping down a second tree, "Command Card: Razor Spin!" he tossed the card into Razor-dillo, causing the armadillo to spin and cut the chopped trees into beams of wood, "Excellent. Now, come on, let's take these back to the bear so we don't have to worry about weight" he said to his beasts.
Town…
"Two beds cost extra" the bear said. Knight Owl spread his wings, "Extra less, I mean" he said in fear, returning some of Zeo's money.
"Excellent" Zeo smiled. He then hopped on Knight Owl's back who immediately took off, "Ok, next item on the list: arctic wool. The softest wool. So soft, it'll feel like you're touching a cloud. Found on sheep that live in frozen areas" he said.
"Ahh. Being pampered all day is great. I don't know what King's always complaining about" Eda said.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" a voice called out. Eda turned to see an emperor's guard with a Cerberus-style bulldog-bloodhound mix.
"An emperor's guard!" Eda said.
"You thought you could get away with it, didn't you?" the guard asked, continuing to advance towards Eda.
"Wait, you know who I am?" Eda asked.
"Of course, I do. You're… the cutest little angel I've ever seen! Who wants a lolly?" the guard handed her a lollipop.
"Ha! That's more like it" Eda said, taking the treat, which she used to whack the dog, "Ha! You got nothing!" she taunted in a sing-song voice, walking away with her usual sass. She gave a relaxed sigh, "Being King is a walk in the park. I'm gonna win this bet for sure. Wha—" she stopped when two shadows loomed over her. They were two old ladies.
"Oh, Dottie! Look at this lost little dumpling!" one of the old ladies said while the other remained silent. The other's name was Roselle.
"What's that? Whoa!" Eda was then lifted into the talking lady's arms, "Hey, I'm not lost, you creeps!" Eda squirmed.
"Poor baby! Do you need us to make you a delicious meal?" Roselle asked.
"No, I don't need you—" Eda stopped midsentence by Roselle scratching her belly, "Tummy scratches? Ooh. You know what? Maybe I am lost. Take me away, ladies" she told them.
Kitty Café…
"Welcome to our kitty café. This is our little safe have for cherubs like you" Roselle said as she and Dottie entered with Eda in Roselle's arms.
"Ugh… What hot mess is going down here?" Eda cringed.
"You see, precious cargo like you should be taken care of. Boop!" Roselle poked Eda on the tip of her nose, "All you should have to worry about it how many belly rubs you want or how many tasty num-nums you're gonna eat" she told Eda, setting her in a bassinet and handing her a cupcake.
"Well, my creep alarm is ringing, but I can't argue with num-nums" Eda said while eating the cupcake.
"Yes, just relax. You're safe here, where no rotten teens can get you" Roselle told her before she and Dottie left.
"Teenagers. That reminds me, I hope the others are having a good time" Eda said sarcastically, "Oh, being adorable is the life" she said with a yawn, "Time for a yawn"
When all of a sudden, a cat-like demon wearing a bowtie appeared.
"Leave this place" he told her.
"What? Why?" Eda asked.
"Danger is near" the cat told her.
"Baby demon! We have a surprise for you!" Roselle said.
"You hear that, Bowtie?" Eda shooed that demon cat thing away, "There's a new star in town" she said.
"A gift for our new, cutest demon" Roselle pulled out a miniature bumblebee costume and putting it on Eda.
"Ok, I'm out. Novelty costumes are where I draw the line" Eda said, hopping out of the crib and making her way to the front door, only for Dottie to step in front of her.
"Oh, no, sweetie. You can't survive out there without us" Roselle told Eda.
"Ladies, stand back. I'm not above disrespecting my elders" Eda pointed at Roselle. She drew a circle with a finger, only to find nothing happened. Eda sighed, "Oh, damn. I'm not a witch right now" she remembered.
Eda then spotted another door just behind Roselle. She ran and slid under the older woman, running through to the other side of the door. Dottie let out a screech and charged at her, only for Eda to slam the door in her face.
"Damn! If only I had my magic. Or Zeo's Frost Lizard could put them on ice" Eda said to herself. She then turned to see a bunch of tiny demons with dazed looks on their faces, "What the?" Eda backed up a bit.
"Their minds are gone" Bowtie said, coming out of the shadows, "They've been pampered so much, they forgot who they are" he told her.
"Geez, I thought I liked being babied. But I feel so small and helpless, like some sort of… baby" Eda said, "But that won't happen to us, right?" she asked the cat demon. She received a response in the form of Bowtie purring and meowing like a regular cat, "Well, it won't happen to me" Eda said.
The door then busted open as the old ladies tried to capture Eda. Eda, however maneuvered around them. She then saw a little tunnel and ran into it. Sadly, she quickly found that it led to the café's display window.
"Oh, come on!" Eda groaned. The old ladies then showed up.
"Oh, wonderful! Now everyone can see out bestest baby… forever" Roselle said with a bit of sinister tone in her voice.
"NO!" Eda shouted.
The Knee…
Zeo and Knight Owl were on the knew of the Boiling Isles. Zeo had had also summoned the lizard brothers; Frost Lizard for tracking down the sheep and Magma Lizard for keeping himself warm. It was because of Frost Lizard that he was able come to The Knee; being an ice elemental, the reptile was able to sense and locate icy tundra areas with ease.
"Find and anything yet, Frost Lizard?" Zeo asked the icy reptile while he had his brother draped over his shoulders. Despite their size, the lizard brothers were surprisingly light.
Frost Lizard chirped and pointed in a direction. They had found a flock of icy blue sheep whose wool was as white as snow.
"Looks like Zeo has a little lamb" Zeo joked. Knight Owl and the Lizard Brothers casted awkward glances towards him, "It sounded better in my head" he told them. "Beast Weapon: Eagle Axe, arise!"
Zeo brought out his bird themed weapon. He gripped the handle with both hands, raised it above his head and twirled the weapon between his fingers. This in turn caused a cyclone to be unleashed from the weapon and into the sky before coming down on eight unsuspecting sheep, spinning them in the air. Zeo then set the axe aside before pulling out a card.
"Command Card: Feather Knife Storm!" Zeo tossed the card into Knight Owl's chest, the bird unleashing a barrage of sharpened feathers into the cyclone.
The cyclone soon subsided, releasing the sheep from its grasp. The sheep landed safely on the ground, their wool removed. Knight Owl's feathers had shorn them. Zeo held out a sac as pile of wool fell from the sky, filling it up.
"Good. Now we've got the wool for the beds…" Zeo looked at the sheep and smirked, "and meat for dinner" he looked at Magma Lizard, who immediately hopped down, "Command Card: Magma Blast" he tossed the card, causing the reptile to unleash a blast of fire that singed the sheep.
With the sheep cooked, Zeo used the axe to cut them up before placing them in a separate sac.
"Hope everyone likes mutton" Zeo smiled.
The Market Place…
"By the end of the day, I'll be ruling over Luz's feeble demographic!" King cheered.
[Cutaway]
"Strange. I just got the feeling I need to pummel King into a pile of pudding later" Zeo said to himself as he flew on Knight Owl.
[End of Cutaway]
As King was walking, a water balloon hit the ground, causing a swarm of tentacles to erupt from the water.
"What the?" King looked up and saw teenagers hanging out in an old shack on a cliff, shooting the water balloons with a slingshot, "Ah, those must be the cool kids. This is perfect!" King said, running up to the cliff.
At the cliff, some kids were preparing to fire more water balloons. Only for it to backfire on one of them.
"Hey" King greeted them, "Where's the one in charge here?!" he asked. The kids not being tangled by tentacles pointed to the shack. King kicked open the door, "Greetings! Bow before your new teen king!" King told them.
"But you're a girl" one of them said.
A familiar laugh then entered everyone's ears, and Boscha appeared. Everyone looked at the girl.
"Penstagram update: Loser human thinks she can just come into our secret treasure shack and hang out" Boscha said as she typed on her scroll/phone thing, "Spoiler alert: She can't"
"Oh, is that what you think? That I'm not good enough for this rundown shack? Well I'll show you!" King said, slightly annoyed.
King then grabbed a large garbage bag full of water balloons and snatched the flying shoes off one kid's feet. He then tossed the bag and it erupted with a large number of tentacles in the city.
"Whoa…" the other kids said.
"Now, come with me and have some real fun!" King said. Everyone except Boscha cheered and followed him.
[Cutaway]
"My "King's about to get in huge trouble" sense is tingling" Zeo said
[End of Cutaway]
King and the teens made ruckus all over town, from making a sign that reads Self-Storage read Elf Rage—which they immediately regretted as an elf started chasing them, to magically rearranging people's faces. They were currently snickering behind a stand, when King shushed them, pulling out a raven phone and dialed the Owl House's home phone, which Hooty answered.
"Hello?" Hooty answered. King and the teens snickered as he put the phone in the receiver end of a giant gramophone, "Oh, great! Finally, someone to talk to! We can talk for hours and hours!" Hooty's incredibly irritating voice rang out all over Bonesbourough.
This irritated everyone. Even Zeo, who was dropping the wool off at the bear's stand.
"Great, and here I thought I wouldn't have to listen to this when in town!" Zeo said while covering his ears, "Can you watch this for me?" Zeo asked the bear
"Sure" the bear said, licking his chops.
Seeing this, Zeo turned to Thunder Snake and told him, "Stay here and make sure he doesn't touch tonight's dinner, will you?"
Thunder Snake nodded and hopped on the stand, hissing as he pointed his rattle-tipped tail at the bear which glowed with electricity. Zeo got back on Knight Owl.
"To the final item!" Zeo declared dramatically before Knight Owl screeched and took off into the sky.
"Just who is this kid?!" the bear asked in horror as Thunder Snake wrapped his tail around his neck with the rattle pointing dangerously close to his neck.
King was hanging out with the teens, when suddenly…
"Enough!" Boscha said, confronting them.
"I don't know why they can't remember what a weirdo loser you are, but I'm going to remind them" Boscha said, her intimidating glare alone causing the other teens to flinch and return to her, "Luz, I challenge you to a race… around Dead Man's Curve!" she pointed to an incredibly scary stretch road, "And we'll be racing on those…" she point to a pair of rat/worm hybrids, "Giant rat worms"
"Boscha, I accept your strange teenage, coming-of-age challenge thing" King said with determination. Moments later, they were on top of Dead Man's Curve, "I regret this immediately" King said from atop of the dimwitted rat-worm.
"On your mark… Get set… GO!" on of the teens shouted.
The rat-worms then charged, with Boscha's taking an early lead, and King's… well, he wasn't exactly going anywhere.
"Come on, you stupid rat-worm, move it!" King, kicking the creature with annoyance.
King's rat-worm eventually managed to catch up. But soon, Boscha noticed something in the road and stopped hers. Unfortunately for King, since he was facing backwards, he didn't see what made the Potions Track student stop. King hit the thing in the road. Unfortunately for him, it was a bridge out. Even more unfortunately, this gap was directly above the shack the teens were in, which was destroyed.
King groaned in pain. He then noticed where he was, "Oh, crap…" he said.
"She destroyed the treasure shack!" one teen said.
"Double crap!" King said.
Seeing this opportunity, Boscha said, "Get her!"
"Triple crud!" King said in fear before taking off running.
As King kept running, he noticed the Kitty Café. Seeing no other options, he ran to the door, hoping to hide in there. Unfortunately, he was approached by an angry old lady with a broom.
"Dottie! This rotten teen has come to steal our little babies!" Roselle said. The old ladies approached him.
"Wait! I am a little baby! Thank goodness Zeo didn't hear that…" King muttered that last part under his breath.
"Oh?" Roselle said curiously, only to steel her resolve, "No, you're not! You're a dirty teen!" she said.
"Lady, please, I just want to get my body back!" King said, before looking to the side to see Eda in his body, wearing a bumblebee outfit, holding a lollipop, "I really do!" King whined.
"You can have it; your life's pretty horrible. But, hey, looks like it will be over soon" Eda said.
"What?" King asked as the old ladies approached him menacingly, "AHH!" he screamed.
A Cavern…
Zeo was walking through a cavern which lit up with glowing moss, Knight Owl following close behind.
"Ok, the last item on the list is golden silk. It says it's a mystic silk that helps you have lucid dreams" Zeo said, Knight Owl looking at him with confusion, "You know, the kind of dreams where you know you're dreaming so you can control it" he explained, "It says it's created from a giant, golden silk spider, which can have up to 1000 babies"
Hoot* "That's a lot of babies" Knight Owl hooted.
"Good thing I have you by my side, buddy" Zeo told the armored bird, "Just where the hell is this thing anyway?" he asked.
Suddenly, they ran into a spiderweb.
"Well, we found the web. But that means…" Zeo said, looking up. He saw a golden spider with blue eyes that hissed, "Dude, that thing is freaking huge!" he said. However, Zeo wasn't afraid, "Just the way I like them! Command Card: Shadow Rush!" he commanded his ace.
Town…
Luz was at Eda's stand, trying to walk in Eda's shoes. Literally.
"Heel, toe. Heel, toe. Heel, toe" Luz tried to walk in the high heels, "Heh. I wonder if I'll ever walk in high heels in my own body" Luz said to herself, only for her to get distracted and fall over, causing a lamp to fall and break, "How does Eda walk in these?" Luz asked, looking at the heels of her boots.
Luz then noticed the lamp, "Oh no! What am I—" she said before realizing, "Wait a minute, I'm a ding-dang witch!" she said, forming a spell circle. However, she fired a super strong energy beam that sent her flying. She then landed several feet from the stand.
Zeo passed by, carrying bunch of silk, his face covered in soot, "I'm not even going to ask" he muttered as he approached the bear, "Alright, that's everything on the list" Zeo handed him the silk.
"You actually made it?! No one's ever gotten past the spider!" the bear said, surprised.
It was at this point Zeo noticed all the supplies he dropped off were left untouched.
"So, what now?" Zeo asked.
"Now we use magic to bring everything together. Once the beds are finished, I'll sprinkle them with some magic dust which, not only adjusts them to the person's firmness, but keeps the beds from being easily destroyed" the bear told him.
"Good" Zeo nodded, "Now do it before Knight Owl and I show you exactly how we got the silk!" he threatened.
[Flashback]
"Command Card: Shadow Rush!" Zeo tossed the card into his ace. Knight Owl transformed into a shadow, slamming into the spider and knocking it back, "Now for the second weapon I created…" Zeo pulled out another card. It was his second beast weapon card.
Like Magma Lizard, it was a fire type card. The card depicted a red lioness walking through a field of flames.
"Beast Weapon: Lion Gauntlet, arise!" Zeo tossed the card, summoning a red lioness with blank, green eyes.
The lioness roared before doing a backflip in the air and landing on Zeo's entire right arm, encasing it like a gauntlet with the beast's head and mouth acting as the fist.
"Sweet!" Zeo smiled.
The spider stood up, hissing as it approached the card user. Zeo punched the air, the gauntlet making a roaring sound as it unleashed a cannon of heated air. It sent the spider flying and landing on its back.
"Command Card: Feather Knife Storm!" Zeo used his free arm to toss a card into Knight Owl, allowing the unleash a barrage of razor-sharp feathers that cut the spider's legs clean off.
Zeo ran a bit before launching himself in the air, reeling his right arm back. The head of the lion gauntlet was then engulfed in blue flames. With a scream at the top of his lungs, Zeo came down on the giant arachnid, the punching a hole into its abdomen. Knight Owl came up behind it and stepped on the now dead creature's… web sac thing, releasing several strands of golden silk web. Soon the web sac was drained and emptied, leaving behind a pile of golden silk.
"Nice. That should be enough for both beds" Zeo said, removing his fist from the dead spider's guts. The second he did though, its body was engulfed in blue flames. The flames quickly spread to the moss, which caught fire as well, "Aw, crap, this stuff's flammable. Knight Owl, let's grab the silk and get out of here" he told his armored bird as he took the silk.
Knight Owl hooted with nod, allowing Zeo to hop on before he ran out and took off just before the flames could burn them.
[End of Flashback]
Zeo groaned while cleaning his face with a washcloth.
Luz put on some oven mitts to try to control the magic.
"Ok, now to do what Eda does" Luz said.
Luz formed another spell circle. This time, not only did it fix the lamp, but also improved it, adding legs, a tabletop and an extra lamp. Luz gasped.
"I just did magic with my hands!" Luz said excitedly.
"Ooh, so unnecessarily extravagant! I'll take it!" One person said. Luz smiled.
"Zwippo-Zwappo! Sold to the savvy shopper!" Luz said, animating the lamp. The shopper then handed her several snails. Luz then made an extravagant sign, even more so than the one before, "Come one, come all and view the amazing wonders of the human realm!" she told everyone.
"Your sign's too bright and I forgot what I came here for" one customer.
"Was it for laughter?!" Luz said, using a feather duster to tickle him.
"Joy, it's so painful! I'll take two for my enemies!" he said, dropping a pile of cash.
"Awesome!" Luz smiled.
She continued to use her magic to help people, from drawing a face on the head of the centaur with eyes and mouth on his chest, to summoning a pacifier for a crying baby. That is, until she made a pacifier appear in a guard's mouth.
"Oops" Luz said nervously, realizing what just happened.
"Edalyn Clawthorne" the other guard said.
"You're coming with us!" they said, slapping handcuffs on Luz, who nervously chuckled.
"Gentlemen, can't we talk about this?" she asked.
The guards, however, didn't respond as they just took her away.
The Interrogation Room…
Soon, Luz's mugshot was taken and she was taken into an interrogation room. Then, much to the guards' surprise, Lilith appeared.
"I heard my sister had been captured" Lilith said, "I want to talk to her" she said menacingly.
"But Madame Lilith, we've been ordered to take her to conformatorium" one guard said, holding up a piece of paper with said order. Lilith drew a circle which burned up the paper.
"Consider that order terminated" she told them.
"Gentlemen, there's been a mix-up. You've got the wrong Eda" Luz said, trying to reason with the guards.
Lilith then entered the room, "Hello, Edalyn" she said.
"Oh, finally, a familiar face! You're Eda's sister, right? I want to say, Libby? No, Limby?" Luz said.
"Normally you'd be sent to the conformatorium. But you can be a part of the Emperor's Coven like we always dreamed" Lilith said, taking Luz's hands in hers.
"Eda wanted to be part of a coven?" Luz asked with shock and disbelief.
"Don't worry, just let this happen. Bring in the branding gloves!" Lilith commanded the guards.
"The what?" Luz asked as the guards approached her with metal gloves, "Oh, if only Zeo were here…" Luz muttered with worry.
Suddenly, the wall crumbled down, knocking Lilith and the guard with the branding gloves off their feet. When Luz looked at the wall, she saw the familiar silhouettes of Knight Owl and Zeo.
"I leave you guys alone for a few hours and this happens?" Zeo said from atop his ace, his face hidden with his hood up.
"Zeo? How did you know I was here?" Luz asked.
"I saw you getting arrested. And why is Luz's voice coming out of your…" Zeo then realized, "Oh, god. You idiots swapped bodies, didn't you?" he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Luz chuckled, "Yeah, we decided to make a bet and, well…"
Zeo sighed, "You're just lucky I don't care" he said, "Now get Owlbert and let's bust out of the place"
"Owlbert!" Luz called out to the palisman. The staff hit her in the head, but she managed to catch it.
"Great. Now, come on" Zeo said, Knight Owl hooting in agreement.
Lilith saw as they escaped on Knight Owl's back and growled in anger.
"We need to find Eda and King" Luz said.
"This signal from the Tracker Ticks I placed on you guys sat they're near" Zeo said, his spying insect having the ability to multiply itself.
"You put Tracker Ticks on us?!" Luz asked.
"I had a feeling you guys would do something stupid. Especially King" Zeo replied, "The signal's coming from that building down there" he said as Knight Owl landed.
They saw Eda and King in the display window. Zeo looked at Knight Owl and nodded. With a screech, Knight Owl ran head first, shattering the glass upon impact.
"Thank goodness you found us!" King said.
Zeo then noticed that Eda, in King's body, was wearing a bumblebee outfit, while King in Luz's body was wearing a t-shirt that labeled him a volunteer.
"I'm not even going to ask" Zeo deadpanned. One of the old ladies then noticed the broken window.
"You!" Roselle hissed.
"Uh-oh" Eda and King said.
Then Boscha and her group arrived, "There she is! Get her!" Boscha said.
Then Lilith and several Emperor's Guards appeared, "You can't get away"
"You three are unbelievable" Zeo shook his head, "Just switch back and figure a way to get us out of this mess" he told them.
"Right" Eda took staff, "Body swap!" she spun her staff around, putting everyone back into their original bodies, "And now…" Eda spun her staff again, unleashing an energy beam on their would-be attackers. Lilith then started barking like a dog.
"Time to get out of here" Zeo said.
"Edalyn! When I get my hands on you!" The dog said with Lilith's voice as the group took off amidst the chaos; Eda, King and Luz on Eda's staff, and Zeo on Knight Owl.
"So, wait, who's going to clean Hooty? It's getting dire" Luz said, "I know! If we all work together, we can—"
"Not it!" Eda and King cut her off.
"Aw, man…" Luz groaned.
"Don't worry, Luz, I'll help you" Zeo offered.
The Owl House…
"Magic Card: Light of Cleansing!" Zeo tossed the magic card.
A ball of light appeared in front of them. The light then zoomed around the house, magically cleaning every speck of dirt and grime until the whole house literally sparkled. It then returned to its original position where it burst into specks of glitter that quickly dissipated. The card then reappeared in Zeo's hand.
"Whoa, it cleaned the whole house in seconds. Literally!" Luz said, amazed.
"You guys are idiots. Not only did you make a stupid bet, you forgot I had this!" Zeo said, holding up the card he had just used, "You're just lucky I don't care. Now, come on, I got dinner. Hope you guys like mutton" Zeo said.
"I do, actually" Luz said as she followed him.
"And once we've finished dinner, I've got a surprise for you. One that I know you'll love" Zeo told her.
"Can't wait!" Luz said.
After dinner was done, Zeo walked Luz to her room while covering her eyes.
"Ok, you ready?" he asked.
"Is King too adorable to be taken seriously sometimes?" Luz replied excitedly.
"I heard that!" King shouted from another part of the house angrily.
Zeo removed his hands from her eyes. Luz gasped at what she saw. It was a full sized bed, complete with a wooden frame, a headboard, sheets, pillows and a large, comfy blanket.
"Well? What do you think?" Zeo asked
"I… I… I…" Luz stuttered. But who could blame her?
"There was a guy that had a quest for beds. I did it so I could have a bed of my own, but then I realized you could use one too, so…" Zeo said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
"Thank you!" Luz shouted, giving Zeo a big hug, "I've been sleeping in a bag on the floor since I came here. It was starting to get terrible" she told him.
"Heh. You're welcome" Zeo said, returning the hug, blushing when he felt Luz nuzzle his chest
And that's the end of this chapter. Hope you enjoyed this adaptation of Once Upon a Swap (co-written with JTWAS1994). Honestly, out of all the episodes (there's still only one season of the show at the time of me posting this), this is the one I've re-watched the least. Not because I don't like the episode, but because the episode hardly ever airs on TV (I don't have internet at my house yet. Also, damn you COVID-19).
Beast Weapons were thought up by Jss2141.
Next episode adaptation will be Sense and Insensitivity, so keep an eye out for that.
Remember to Read, Review and Favorite/Follow.