All characters from Disney and other properties are owned by their respectful owners. The OCs made here are written entirely for the story. Enjoy this fic.
Chapter 74: Hexing Out For A Hero
It was morning in the Boiling Isles. Luz woke up to the scream of her alarm clock. She smashed it to pieces before getting up.
"Good morning, Ami-" She stopped when she saw that the spot next to her was empty. She sighed. "Oh, right."
In the Brooke home, the sun shined down on Nina's face through the window. She opened her eyes, letting out a yawn. She noticed her empty bed and realized that she was sleeping on top of the dresser.
"Oh," she said as she rolled over and landed on her feet. "Should set up a hammock here."
In the Masterskull mansion, Donna heard the sound of birds chirping from her window. She yawned and climbed out of bed while in her long blue gown.
"Alright, you guys can stop, I'm awake," Donna told the birds.
"Hey, why not a little morning harmony, Ms. Donna?" one bird asked.
Donna sighed. "Alright, for you guys." She then cleared her throat and started to sing. "Ah~ah~aaah, a-a-ahh-aahhh!"
Luz, while listening to her music, looked at herself in the mirror. "Hey, you there?" she asked Maya. Her reflection nodded. "Let's just get through this," she said while bringing out a comb. "This could hurt."
She combed her hair, yelling in pain. "Ow! Yeow! Titan, why does this hurt so much!?"
"Cause you're nappy-headed!" Eda's voice called out from the hallway. "You should wash it first!"
"But I already had a shower last night!" Luz argued.
"Really? You should at least also take a shower in the morning!" Eda suggested.
"Who takes a shower in the morning if you took one at night?!" Luz questioned. "That sounds like a complete waste of water!"
Skara knocked on the bathroom door. "Nina, are you in there?" she asked.
"It's just me, sweetie," Slasher's voice called out. "Nina's still in her bedroom."
Skara then went up to Nina's room, opening the door. "Hey Nina, just want to check in-"
A long pause followed as Skara saw Nina licking her own knee. Nina stopped as she turned to her. "What the fuck!? I'm having a bath here!" she shouted, despite wearing a black top and shorts.
"I-I'm so sorry!" Skara replied nervously as she covered her eyes. "I didn't know, sorry for intruding!" Skara shut the door and gave a puzzled look.
Nina rolled her eyes before she continued to give herself a tongue bath.
Donna was in her bathrobe after having taken a shower. She laid in a chair while her hair was in a large water-filled sink. A flying shampoo creature poured its shampoo into the water while disembodied hands helped wash up her hair. Some mice were helping to file and do her nails, giving her a manicure and pedicure, along with a facial, as relaxing music played.
"You will look so lovely today, Ms. Donna," said one mouse.
"Yes, your hair is as smooth as it can be," another replied while curling Donna's hair.
"What would you like today?" one bird asked while holding up a magazine with different kinds of hairstyles. "Would you like your hair to look like spider braids? Scorn roles? Oh, they say V-style hair is so in-season for those who want to feel like a dark sorceress."
"Um…" Donna thought about it as she looked at her choices. "Why not something wavy."
"Oh that I can do," spoke a living comb as it along with a living hairspray can and a flying blow-dryer worked on Donna's hair.
"Come on, Kay, eat up," Luz said while trying to feed Kay, who refused to eat.
"Try pretending it's a griffin," King suggested. "It worked with you when Eda tried to feed you."
"Alright, I'll try that," Luz replied as she swung the spoon with the baby food around Kay. "Hey, here comes the griffin, flying in the tunnel…" Kay looked at the spoon while Luz made bird noises. "Hey, I think it's working."
CHOMP!
Luz's eyes widened when she saw that she was holding half of the spoon and she looked at Kay who chomped and munched on the food while spitting out the remains of the spoon. Kay purred in a giggle, while Luz and King just looked at each other.
"Talk about a big appetite," King joked.
"Yeah," Luz agreed before going to get another spoon to feed Kay with.
The Brooke family have gathered at the family table to eat breakfast. Nina walked in and saw them eating.
"Hey, Nina, wanna join us for some breakfast?" Skara asked her, only for Nina to just grab her plate from the table and walk over to sit on the couch. "I… saved you a seat and everything."
"I'm fine," Nina responded as she ate her own breakfast in silence.
"Okay, maybe next time," Skara said while looking down at her own food.
"Give her time, Skarcake," Calypso reassured her while her ferret Palisman got along with Jimmy. "She's still not used to living here, she still needs to adjust."
"Yeah, just give her some space," Slasher added while they continued eating.
Skara glanced over at Nina, who was eating alone. She wished to join her but she knew that Nina would just move away.
At the Masterskull home, Donna was having breakfast with her mothers.
"So got any plans for today, Donna?" Diana asked her.
"Oh you know the usual," Donna replied while eating her griffin eggs. "After school I plan to hang out with my friends… how's work?"
"Oh it's going well," Gladys responded. "Diana just thought of a new toyline to put into production."
"We'll have to test it out with a sample group first," Diana explained. "And by the way, you know that Dr. Mercy from the Dental Coven? He has a son that just got recruited into the Emperor's Coven."
"Really?" Donna asked. "But isn't Mercy's son my age?"
"Yeah, he must've been really good if they decided to recruit him already," Gladys responded. "Maybe we could arrange a meeting so we could congratulate him and you could get to know him better…"
"Uh… I'll think about it," Donna said, knowing that her moms were trying to set her up with someone even though she didn't want to think about dating at the time. She was more interested in why the Emperor's Coven had decided to recruit him now, especially since she hasn't seen anything about tryouts…
At Hexside, Skara and Nina walked down the hall. Skara looked at the missing posters covering the walls and sighed sadly. Nina noticed this and thought about saying something, but then she noticed Luz coming toward them.
"Yo, Skara," Luz called out to her, nudging her head as a signal.
"Um, I'll see you in class, Nina," Skara told Nina as she walked over to Luz.
"Yeah, see ya," Nina replied as she watched Luz and Skara head to the detention room. She narrowed her eyes at them in suspicion before continuing her way down the hall, the other students clearing her path.
As Luz led Skara to the detention room, she was spotted by a certain fox. "Hey, Luz!" Felicia called out to her.
Luz looked back at Felicia before nodding at Skara to head inside the detention room while she went to speak to Felicia. "Yeah?"
"Look, I-" Felicia briefly stopped herself and took a deep breath. "I just want to say that I'm truly sorry. About Amity, Willow and Gus. I mean it. I know that I'm probably the last girl you want to see right now, but I would like to help in any way that I can. I could use my mother's connections and resources in the media coven to help with the search if you would like."
Luz blinked in surprise. "Thanks, Felic," she eventually responded. "I… appreciate it."
Felicia nodded. "Also, I know this is a bad time, but my mom… well, she wants me to give her more information on you. I hate to ask you right now, but-"
"Let your mom know that I have crabs," Luz told her, leaving Felicia confused.
"Um… right. I'll let her know that," Felicia said as she watched Luz go inside the detention room.
At the media coven, Felicity got a text from her daughter and she read it.
"Crabs?" Felicity wondered out loud.
Luz had brought Skara, Viney, Jerbo, Barcus, Edric, Amelia, Cat, and Bo to the detention room in order to explain to them that Amity, Willow and Gus were currently in the Human Realm.
"So they're alright?" Skara asked with a mixture of relief and worry.
Ed was actually wiping away a few tears. "They're at least alive, thank the Titan…"
Luz nodded. "I already told Amity and Gus to head for a town called Gravity Falls. I have people there that I trust to take care of them until I find a way to reach them. I, uh, didn't get the chance to give Willow the same instructions, but she was alive as well when I saw her."
"Does anyone else know?" Jerbo asked.
"My mom already told Willow's dads," Luz confirmed. "And we don't know if we can trust the Blight parents enough to tell them. But I do want to make something clear. We can't tell anyone else about this. Not our other friends, not our teachers, and not our families. We can't risk Belos learning that they're in the Human Realm, because then he might learn how they got to the Human Realm. Right now there's an old witch who has the portal key right now. He is our lead right now, but Belos can't know."
"Right, because then Belos might try to find him and get the key first," Viney realized.
"And not because he wants to help our friends," Cat added.
"But how are we going to find this guy and get the key from him?" Amelia asked.
"I don't think we know enough but who we are dealing with," Luz told them. "Including why he sent our friends to the Human Realm and how he got the portal key. And though I trust all of you to tell you this, I also don't want to put you at risk. Don't go after this guy. I will keep you informed, but leave him to me and my mom. And watch your backs. We have to be careful."
Everyone nodded, though Skara still looked conflicted.
"This isn't totally reassuring," Skara admitted. "Yes, we know that our friends are alive. But we are still literally worlds apart from them. And I don't like that we still can't do anything about this. I feel… helpless."
"I know," Luz admitted with a sigh. "However, I believe that we will have our moment. We may feel helpless now, but it won't always be the case. And we still have to be careful." She turned to Ed. "Think you can relay this message to Emira?"
"Yeah, I will," Edric promised. "Hopefully knowing that Amity is alive will make her feel better…"
"I can come with you if you want," Viney offered.
Edric nodded. "Thank you, Viney."
Barcus barked and Jerbo translated. "What about Eve? Could she be in the human world?"
Luz sighed. "I don't know where Eve is. I didn't get the chance to confirm what happened to her. It is very possible that she is in the Human Realm too, due to the timing and circumstances of her disappearance. But we just can't know for sure right now."
Barcus lowered his head, but understood what Luz meant.
"So what now, Luz?" Bo asked.
"Like I said, don't take any unnecessary risks," Luz told them all. "Keep each other informed. If you see something, say something. This old witch went after people who are close to me and he will pay for that. But I don't want any of you to be his next targets."
Everyone agreed and Luz ended the meeting, everyone starting to leave the detention room. Luz was the last one in the room, but before she could leave she heard a voice behind her.
"I overheard everything," Kitsuni said. Luz turned around, not at all surprised to see Kitsuni suddenly standing there.
"Kitsuni, glad to see you," Luz responded. "I was hoping you could help me, don't Yokai have their own ways of traveling to the Human Realm?"
"We do, but… I can't," Kitsuni admitted. "Not that I don't want to, but I'm pretty much banned from entering the Human Realm. And it is one of those 'for all eternity' bans."
"What? Why were you banned?" Luz asked her.
Kitsuni looked down awkwardly. "Let's just say, me and Jack once pulled a prank in Egypt that got us in a lot of trouble…"
Luz sighed. "So back to square one then."
"Not exactly," Kitsuni told her. "I wasn't at Hexside yesterday. Instead, I was investigating the disappearance of your friends. I think I know what we are dealing with and I believe it is connected to other recent events."
"What do you mean?" Luz asked her.
"I think whatever kidnapped Skara and killed the previous Abomination Coven Head could be connected to this 'old witch' that has the portal key," Kitsuni speculated. "All of these events are strange and you once told me before that you threw the portal key into the Forest of Fear. No witch would be able to get the key from there… but perhaps a Fae could have."
Luz paled. "You think… a Fae is behind this?"
Kitsuni nodded. "While I was investigating Eclipse Lake, I felt a Fae's presence. But something about this Fae felt… wrong. They were neither an Unseelie or a Seelie, so it could be a rogue. But something about its scent… it seemed different."
"So what, are we dealing with a new kind of Fae?" Luz asked her.
"I don't know, but this is why I'm hesitant about bringing this to anyone else," Kitsuni explained. "If the Fae are involved, we have to handle this very delicately. Especially since we don't know enough about what we are dealing with. And it could get Oberon involved, which I don't want. If he knew that Amity was in the Human Realm, that could put her in great danger."
"Do you think Oberon may be behind this?" Luz brought up. "He did send that Meteora woman to infiltrate Glandus."
"I don't know," Kitsuni admitted. "But we have to be very, very careful. I have a bad feeling about all of this."
Luz nodded before leaving to head to class. Kitsuni was left alone, looking very concerned…
Luz made it to Beast-Keeping, where she spotted Skara and Nina at a table with a third seat.
"Ah Luz, glad you can make it," Jane spoke to her. "Don't worry, me and Redback have set up your seating arrangements in light of the extra students transferred here."
'It was mostly your idea,' Redback noted through his sign language.
"Alright, I guess it's better than nothing," Luz replied while walking to her table, sitting next to Skara. Nina looked at them suspiciously as Skara quietly doodled in her notebook while Luz leaned back with her arms crossed before noticing Nina's look. "What?"
"What were you and Skara talking about?" Nina questioned.
"None of your business," Luz responded.
"You were clearly up to something," Nina told her. "So what were you doing?"
"Your mom," Luz answered, which caused Skara to turn to her in shock.
"Oh my… Luz, Nina, maybe try not to antagonize each other while we're in class?" Skara asked nervously, hoping the two would comply. They didn't even seem to hear her as they kept glaring at each other while she was trapped in the middle.
Viney and Edric saw this and felt bad for Skara.
"This is going to end in bloodshed, right?" Ed asked Viney.
"Oh, definitely," Viney said with a nod.
At St. Epiderm, Donna walked down the hall while waving at the people passing her by. Walking up to her was Veronica and Beocrow.
"Hey guys," Donna greeted them.
"Sup/Hey, Donna!" Beocrow and Veronica greeted back.
"Hey Donna, I found out about what happened to Slithy," Beocrow explained. "My mom heard it from Great-Aunt Gwen that the Slitherbeast is basically living in my cousin's backyard."
"Whoa, that's great!" Donna replied. "Guess your friend's alright after all."
"Yeah, I plan on going by to check later," he added.
"Gotta say, love your hair, Donna," Veronica complimented Donna's wavy hair.
"Thanks, I wanted to spice things up," Donna replied before they heard someone get slammed against the lockers.
They turned and spotted Kyle being targeted by a group of blue-skinned witches… the Graux Sisters.
"You better pay up, boy," the leader, Muka, threatened while her larger sister, Gorlei, pinned him at the locker. "Or else Gorelei and Ashey will beat you down."
"But… but I need my lunch money!" Kyle stammered nervously.
"Hey!" Donna called out while pulling Kyle away from them. "Leave him alone!"
"Oh, and what are you going to do, princess?" Muka asked while facing Donna. Beocrow and Veronica came over to back up Donna and Kyle.
"You three are from Glandus, right?" Beocrow guessed.
"Yeah, we got ourselves transferred here after blackmailing the school's PCA," Muka said proudly. All three were in St. Epiderm uniforms: Construction for Muka, Bard for Gorlei, and Oracle for Ashey. "Place is full of rich witches for our jacking business."
"Jacking? Gross…" Veronica winced in disgust. "Why would you sell jackets?"
"We don't sell jackets, we just take money in exchange for 'protection'," Muka explained while looking at Donna. "Wait, you're the Masterskull girl, right? You're probably worth something…"
"How about you leave?" Donna asked as she swatted Muka's hand away. "Next time I see you messing with anyone, we will have problems." She narrowed her eyes at them while Beocrow and Veronica stood behind her.
Muka scoffed. "Whatever. Come on, let's go," she said while leading her sisters away.
Donna sighed as she turned to Kyle. "You okay, Kyle?"
"Yeah," Kyle replied while rubbing his arm. "Thanks for helping me out, guys."
"No prob, if those girls come after you again we got your back, Kyle," Beocrow reassured her.
"Man, ever since Glandus got shut down, every other school has been forced to take its students," Veronica complained. "Now we have to deal with Glandus kids here."
"As long as they learn not to mess with other students, I don't think we will have a problem," Donna told them. "Come on, let's head to class. I'll see you guys later at our… spot." Donna then started to escort Kyle to the Healing Track classroom, where they both had class.
"Yeah, the spot," Beocrow nodded.
"What does she mean by spot-oh, right," Veronica realized. "Sorry, long morning."
Back at Hexside, Luz was in her Bard class for music practice when Nina walked in.
"Nina? What… what are you doing here?" Skara asked in surprise.
"Yeah, shouldn't you be in a Beast-Keeping class right now?" Luz asked her.
"Oh, I just thought I would see what this multi-tracking was all about," Nina claimed. "Nothing official yet, I just wanted to see if it was for me."
"Really? And what do you know about Bard magic?" Luz asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Simple, my mom once gave me this drum set to let out my urges through music. My family are Bards and my older brother's a playwright," she explained. "So I thought multi-tracking could give me the chance to revive my drumming passion… I had to stop because it disturbed the neighbors."
"Your family's in Bard?" Skara asked excitedly. "Wow, that sounds neat, Nina!"
"Yeah, hey is there a drum set so that I can play a demo?" Nina asked.
"There's a drum set over by the corner next to the gong," Ms. Mantis said, summoning the drums and gong over. "Come, Ms. Fangs, share your passion for the drums with the class."
Nina nodded as she sat in her seat, surrounded by drums. She then started playing a drum solo. This caused the Bard class to turn to each other and admit that they were impressed by Nina's drumming skills.
"Wow, I didn't know she could play that well," Skara commented.
"Please, she's no Cindy Blackman," Luz scoffed as Nina hit the gong after her drum solo.
Donna, in her Healing Track class, was performing a healing spell on one student when Tyrone came up. "Let me guess, lifting bricks again?" she asked him.
"Yeah, I felt a muscle pull," Tyrone replied while setting his arm on the table. Donna raised her hand and his arm started to glow. "So we're still going to the spot?" he whispered.
"Yeah, urgent meeting," Donna whispered back.
"Alright, you have your assignments," Rupert told the students in the Beast-Keeping pens as Luz took care of the hand dragon, cleaning it up.
In the next pen, which held a spider-cow, were Nina and Skara, who Luz noticed.
"Hey, Nina wants to help me feed Giselle," Skara explained.
Luz looked to Nina suspiciously. "That so?"
"Yeah, no big," Nina replied nonchalantly while looking at her nails. "I think this could also give us a chance to have a little… chat."
"Chat about what?" Luz asked as the hand dragon tapped her head. "Ow! Okay, I'm getting there, geez," she said as she cleaned the hand dragon's side.
Nina hummed while turning to Skara. "So… how are you and Luz friends? Like, how did that happen?"
"Um…" Skara looked up to Luz, who looked to Skara. "We… well, after Luz became friends with Amity and I became friends with Willow we started to spend more time together, and at the time Luz…"
"I was in the detention track until I was accepted into Bard," Luz finished the question. "Skara helped to show me the ropes and later we both decided to take Beast-Keeping and we have been the Beast Bard Girls ever since."
"So like, do you two hang out together?" Nina asked them. "Like, outside of class? Or are you just 'class-friends' where you only know each other from school and you don't spend any time together outside of class?"
"I mean, we are a bunch of classy girls," Skara joked.
"Jokes aside, I would love to just hang out with Skara more," Luz admitted. "But there is a reason that hasn't been possible. Things have been very stressful lately, no thanks to the school war." She narrowed her eyes at Nina. "You know, the one you helped wage against Hexside."
"Ugh, you just had to bring that up again," Nina muttered.
"And you're one to talk about friends, considering that yours are locked up in the Conformatorium," Luz added.
"Hey, it ain't my fault those idiots got themselves locked up," Nina defended. "And besides, I don't consider them friends, just acquaintances with a common goal in being top of the food chain… least until Tricks revealed what a fraud she is."
"Oh yeah, I forgot, you were her lapdog," Luz said, which got under Nina's fur.
Back at St. Epiderm, a self-defense class was taking place. Beck Saltstar was the referee as Donna stood in her navy-blue gym shirt and jersey shorts facing off against a magenta-haired teenage witch girl who was tall with an athletic build, a brown gym shirt, and shorts. Gathered around were Donna's friends and a few other students, including Kyle. Ever since the muggings and kidnappings have gotten worse, Beck Saltstar had been making requests to Midday about setting up a self-defense class for students to partake in to help them defend themselves without magic in case they were put in a situation where they couldn't rely on it.
"Alright, today's lesson is how to escape when you are being grabbed by an attacker," Beck instructed. "Roxy, Donna, demonstrate."
The two marched up to each other and Roxy Armstrong put Donna in a choke hold. The demonstration began as Donna grabbed onto Roxy's arm, trying to move.
"When getting grabbed from behind, there are many targets you can use to get them out of your grip," Beck instructed. "Elbow them from behind, stomp on their feet, but the most effective way to get out of this is to get both your hands and press the joint of your attacker's elbow. Force straight inward against your own body to maintain pressure. And then, turn the toe of your right foot outward…"
Donna demonstrated by turning her right foot outward. "Spin the heel as your left knee coils," she said as she spun around, swinging her left leg in a sharp turn to her right at a half-circle, having broken from Roxy's hold. She twisted Roxy's arm back, bending her down for her to fall.
"Good, Donna." Beck nodded in approval "Now everyone, get your partner and practice what those two demonstrated."
Tyrone was partnered with Tina, while Veronica and Beocrow each took a partner. Donna walked back as she stood by the wall next to Roxy.
"Yo, Donna," spoke Roxy, with her hand extended. "Good job."
"Thanks, Roxy," Donna replied as she shook her hand.
"Ahh!" Kyle shouted as he fell onto the floor.
"Are you alright, Kyle?" asked a witch girl of sixteen with long brown hair, tanned skin, blue eyes, and a Potions Track gym shirt and shorts.
"J-Just slipped, Sarah," Kyle responded to Sarah Atos.
"Maybe we should switch," Sarah suggested as she helped Kyle up.
Donna leaned back as Beocrow joined her. "So have you thought about extending membership to anyone here?" he asked here.
"I can think of a few, Beocrow," Donna responded. "Sarah's the smartest in her Potions Track, plus we're both in the same gymnast and cheer squad, and Roxy's just as strong as Tyrone. How about that guy you know?"
"You mean, Cross Drakescale?" Beocrow asked, looking over at a student who was eating coal. He was a sixteen year old boy with semi-tan complex skin, amber eyes that bordered on orange, and untidy jet black hair. He wore a green gym shirt and shorts and there were some visible scales spots on his elbows, neck, and forehead. "He's a good sport, I think he'd be a good addition."
Donna thought of another potential member. "Hey… how about Kyle?"
Beocrow looked at her. "Really?"
"Yeah, I mean, why not? He's got a good heart. He'd fit right in," Donna argued.
"Um, no offense, Donna, but Kyle is… Kyle. I mean I like the guy, but I don't think he's…"
"What, tough? Being a hero is more than just strength, you know," Donna pointed out. "It is also about wanting to help others. I mean, you agreed to be in the team, you have plenty of heart."
"I agreed because you asked me, and I said 'okay'," Beocrow reminded her. "But I do trust your judgment. We can talk about it with the others later."
At lunch, Luz was about to sit with her friends until her lunch was knocked out of her hands by Nina's tail.
"Whoops," Nina said as she passed by. "Sorry, sometimes this tail has a mind of its own."
"Luz, are you alright?" Skara asked while walking up to her.
Luz took a deep breath. "You know what, it's fine. I'm not bothered by it. This is just a happy accident," she said while turning to Nina. "Trying to make me mad is not going to work, Nina. I know that Amity wouldn't want me to pick fights for no reason anymore."
"Amity? You mean the billboard forehead girl?" Nina asked.
And that did it, as Luz's eye twitched at what Nina said.
"Alright, that's it you %&^&!" Luz shouted which drew the attention of everyone else in the cafeteria. "I can take all of your crap on me, but insulting Amity is where I draw the line! I challenge you to a witch duel!" she declared, earning some gasps from the students. "The terms: the loser does what the winner wants them to do, and I want you to take back that comment about Amity!"
Nina smirked, digging her hands in her pocket. "Very well, I agree to this duel. If I win… well, I'll think of something. Just be prepared to lose, Clawdork." She turned away and started to walk out of the lunch hall, but then stopped. "Wait, when do you want the match in?"
"After school!" Luz declared.
"Right… see you after school, and we'll settle this like gentlewitches," Nina said while continuing on her way.
Skara watched in dismay, this day wasn't going like she thought it would. Luz turned to Viney, Jerbo and Barcus. "Alright, guys, you know what to do," she told them.
"Way ahead of ya, boss," Viney replied while holding up the betting pool board. One for Luz's win, one for Nina's win, and another for no one wins.
Meanwhile, Donna was attending a meeting of the St. Epiderm student council.
"Roll call." A male student of seventeen stood up. He had short blue hair, rectangular glasses, pale skin with three small horns on his forehead, and an Oracle Track uniform. "I, Danny Dilburn, head of the student council and top Oracle, will begin this meeting as soon as everyone else states their name and confirms that they are here."
"Donna Masterskull of the Healing Track, here," Donna announced as she stood up.
"Sarah Atos of the Potions Track, reporting for duty," Sarah said as she stood up. She was in her St. Epiderm Potions uniform with yellow sleeves and leggings and black-heeled boots. She also wore a potions belt.
"Andrew Rollers of the Construction Track, here as well," said an armadillo biped demon boy with yellow armored skin, blue eyes, a long snout, a Construction Track uniform, a shell thar stuck out from his back, black arms with his yellow hands having claws that formed like drills, and black yellow feet with claws.
"Riley Strange, master of the Illusion Track and the visual arts, at your service!" declared a non-binary witch who spoke dramatically. They had jet-black hair, green eyes, and pale skin with a black spot on their left eye. They wore their Illusions Track uniform while dawning a black cape, blue gloves, and blue boots.
"Minerva Witchmore of the Bard Track, here," said a gray bunny biped girl with long, onyx hair tied to a ponytail. She had noticeable violet eyes and wore her St. Epiderm Bard uniform along with thigh high white boots and long white gloves.
"Um… Lindsay Shystream of the Beast-Keeping Track, here," a cyclops girl spoke quietly. She had long pink hair and green eyes with a yellow complexion. She had wings sticking out from her back while donning a uniform with the Beast-Keeping colors. She was the only one who didn't stand up.
"Beel Zetar of Plants Track," said a bee biped demon boy who resembled a humanoid bee. He had large orange eyes, spiky green hair, and black stripes around his yellow arms. He wore his Plant Uniform while having four legs connected to two, his stinger sticking out of his lower back.
The final member of the council sighed. "Peter Bloomhog of Abominations, here to serve," spoke a witch student with a white bob cut, black shades, and tusks sticking out from each end of his mouth. He wore his Abomination uniform loosely as he wore his sleeves like long arms and his collar like a turtleneck. He also appeared to have a tail that resembled a paint brush and he was also wearing a pink beret.
"Alright, now that everyone's here, let's get down to business," Danny said as he pulled out some papers. "First topic is the migration of the new students we have here."
"Oh yes, the former Glandees," Peter sighed. "Some of them made their way into our school."
"How did that happen?" Minerva questioned.
"Blackmail," Donna replied. "I had a run in with some of them, the Graux Sisters, infamous for stealing money from students. But I've made them know that we don't tolerate it here in Glandus. Didn't even have to get into a physical altercation with them."
"Excellent conflict resolution, Ms. Masterskull," Danny congratulated her. "And I think we should all follow your example. Make it clear to our new classmates that St. Epiderm isn't like Glandus. Reinforce our zero-tolerance policy for starting trouble, but still treat them like you would any of other classmates. Don't pick any fights and instead help them get adjusted. They are not our rivals anymore."
"I guess we can help them," Lindsay replied with a quiet nod.
"Yeah, let them know that St. Epiderm welcomes them!" Andrew agreed.
The rest of the top students agreed, even though the reputation of Glandus spoke for itself, they still resolved to treat its former students like they would treat any new student.
"And now for the next topic, and the most interesting one," Danny said while adjusting his glasses. "Let us talk about… the Emperor's Coven coming to St. Epiderm."
This got everyone to exchange curious and slightly worried glances.
"The Emperor's Coven? Why are they coming here?" Donna asked.
"Yeah, they don't usually visit the schools outside of Coven Career Day," Beel said, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
"Headmistress Midday told me that the Emperor's Coven will be sending recruiters here some time after the Coven Day Parade," Danny answered. "They will be accompanied by a representative of the Emperor, likely a Coven Head. We have been told to prepare St. Epiderm for their arrival."
"Ooh, do you think it could be the Golden Guard?" Peter asked, sounding excited. "Cause I've got some ideas for remodeling his uniform. No offense to him, but that mask is so… medieval."
"Unlikely, considering that the Golden Guard hasn't been seen in public for a while," Beel said with his arms crossed. "I just hope that they don't send Terra Snapdragon…"
"Regardless, if the Emperor's Coven is sending recruiters, that can only mean one thing," Sarah pointed out. "For whatever reason, they want to recruit witches into the Emperor's Coven now. Perhaps they want someone like Danny, who demonstrates strong leadership skills while abiding to the rules. Or they are looking for someone like sweet, sweet Donna Masterskull, our super star student who is obviously Coven Head material."
"I'm not that good, Sarah," Donna humbly said.
"I think you are Coven Head material as well, Sarah, just like your father," Danny pointed out, which made Sarah look down.
"That was a long time ago, and besides, I don't think daddy would like it if I were recruited by the Emperor's Coven," Sarah admitted. "He's not on… good terms with them."
Donna thought about this before she raised her voice. "I have… concerns. Why is the Emperor's Coven focusing on recruitment? Shouldn't their priority be finding the missing witches, including some of our fellow classmates?"
"She's right," Beel agreed. "It was recently revealed that Glandus's star student and principal were connected to criminal activity. That was a massive scandal and the Emperor's Coven is still… wait, could that be the true purpose of their future visit? The Emperor's Coven wants to make sure that St. Epiderm is loyal to the Emperor and not wrapped up in some criminal conspiracy as well."
"If that was the case, I don't think they would have informed us ahead of time," Sarah pointed out. "They would have just shown up unannounced."
"I understand your concerns," Danny interrupted. "But I do believe that the Emperor's Coven is doing everything it can to find those missing witches. Their investigation is not what we are discussing though. Their impending visit is."
"Hmm, well I am not going to pass up on a chance to show them my power!" Riley declared while demonstrating their illusions, duplicating their arms in motion.
"Do you really need to show off?" Minerva asked while rolling her eyes.
Before he continued, Danny saw Riley raising their hands. "Yes, Riley, what is it?"
"I want to talk about Hexside's multi-track options," Riley brought up. "I think maybe we should consider something similar."
"You mean we should allow mixing magic?" Minerva asked in surprise.
Donna remembered seeing Barcus use Potions and Oracle magic to fight off against the zombie weasels in the school war. "I, uh, did hear that some of the students at Hexside mixed magic to win the war against Glandus," she said while covering up the fact that she was there.
"I see the potential," Peter considered. "Maybe I could try out some new things for my next art show."
"And I don't mind learning from other tracks," Lindsay said. "I could learn to help animals when they're sick or injured with healing magic, or provide food for them with plant magic, and-"
"Absolutely not!" Danny stood up and everyone turned to their Oracle leader. "I will not allow St. Epiderm to follow Hexside's example!"
"A little overdramatic?" Sarah pointed out.
"I'm just saying that we should not look to Hexside for inspiration, especially since they have tossed away their reputation by enrolling troublesome upstarts that spark controversy within the isles," Danny ranted. "Luz Clawthorne, Amity Goodfellow, Boscha Hieron, Willow Park, and I even heard Nina Fangs was transferred there." Donna flinched as he mentioned the last name.
"Hey, you know that two of those girls went missing, and one of them I heard was paralyzed!" Andrew pointed out, making Danny realize his own insensitivity.
"My apologies for my outburst and inappropriate response," Danny said, lowering his head. "I genuinely hope that those two girls are found while the other makes a full recovery. It's just… suggesting that we can break the rules because another school did riles me up. Because if we did that, we would be no better than Glandus. You guys must understand, Hexside right now is seen as rebelling against the coven system with their multi-tracking option. We can't lower ourselves to their level, it would hurt our image."
"I understand, Danny," Minerva nodded. "I'm fine sticking to Bard magic. I have no interest in learning more than one magic. My life's with the cello."
"But if Hexside is defying the coven system, why hasn't the Emperor done anything about it?" Donna questioned.
"If I were a gambling bug, I bet he's waiting for the right moment to strike them down," Beel suggested.
"Or he's seeing it as an experiment," Sarah suggested. "Like he wants to see how it goes over."
"Yeah, and once he's seen enough, he'll likely shut down the whole program," Andrew added.
Riley slumped into their seat "You guys just don't get how we could benefit from it."
"If the Emperor's Coven is coming here to find new recruits, we can't take on any unnecessary risks," Danny told them, while noting the mixed reactions from his council members. "There will be no further discussion on this subject.."
Nobody protested, though Donna did notice Riley's looking frustrated while Lindsay nudged her fingers nervously and Peter huffed about the proposal being declined. Andrew and Beel looked indifferent, while Minerva looked serious and Sarah was just as frustrated as Riley is. She could tell that not everyone was in equal agreement on the matter.
"Now then, onto the most important matter," Danny said as he brought out more papers. "Lunch menus."
This caused everyone to groan.
"Oh, someone curse me already," Beel muttered.
In Julia Traveler's office, Luz was having her session with the counselor.
"Is there anything you want to talk about, Luz?" Julia asked her.
"Well, I think you already know what has happened," Luz replied quietly. "I have been taking my medicine when I feel a little… stressed."
"Does it help?" Julia asked her.
"Yeah, I think so," Luz admitted. She was silent for a few moments, deciding whether or not to tell Julia. "There is something else. I… I know where Amity, Gus, and Willow are. They are alive and in the human world, just without a way to come back home. Because of that, I'm doing better than I would otherwise, but… I'm still worried about them, especially since there isn't much I can do for them right now besides hope that they stay safe. Knowing that they're alive gives me some comfort, but… it's still hard. It is hard to wake up without Amity by my side or without her even being in the same house, since I have gotten so used to her living under the same roof as me. And coming to school without Gus and Willow being here to welcome me in the morning is also hard. I have other friends… but I can still feel their absence from my life."
"I can understand why that is difficult," Julia told her. "But don't stop hoping. As sorry as I am that you are going through this, I know you are strong enough to beat this. So are Amity, Gus, and Willow. You are all very capable witches that I have the utmost faith in." She decided to change the subject. "What about Maya? How is she doing?"
Luz lowered her head. "She's still here… but she isn't talking to me right now. There was an incident, but I'm not comfortable discussing it."
Julai nodded. "Understood. Now about your issues with Nina-"
"Look, Ms. T, I know that you'll try to convince me to not go through with it, but you can't talk me out of this duel," Luz told her. "She clearly has a problem with me and I am not going to let her get away with insulting my girlfriend while she's gone. So if you have a problem with it, I'm sorry-"
"Actually, Luz, I think this duel may be good for both of you," Julia admitted, which surprised Luz. "I am normally against a violent resolution, but I think this could be a good way to work out your feelings. Cause let's be honest, Nina wouldn't respond well if we sat her down to talk about her feelings, considering her background. She would just remain uncooperative and we would get nowhere. It is probably best that this is happening now instead of later."
"So… you're okay with us taking it out with our fist?" Luz asks her.
"Sometimes a gentlewitch's challenge offers an opportunity to vent," Julia replied. "Good luck on your witch duel."
The bell rang at Hexside, signifying the end of the day. However, rather than heading home many of the students and teachers headed to the grudgeby field to watch the witch's duel, Barcus and Jerbo collecting their bets.
"Man, too bad Viney has to miss out on this," Jerbo states as Barcus barked a response. "Yeah, I know. She has to go check up on Emira. Luz understands."
In the gym locker room, Luz wrapped some tape around her fists while looking at herself in the mirror. "You ready for this fight, Maya?"
Her reflection gave Luz a nod.
Luz, now with her left eye red and her right eye hazel, felt both her strength and Maya's running through her body. "Come on, let's go whoop some ass," she declared as she left the locker room.
In another part of the locker room, Calypso Brooke found Nina with Skara. "Nina Fangs," she said, placing her hands on her hips.
"Don't try to talk me out of this," Nina told her as she pointed to her collar. "I'll fight her even with this collar on."
"Mom, she's not listening at all!" Skara told her.
Calypso sighed. "Temporary shut-off spell," she said, voice activating Nina's collar to shut down. "A witch's duel declared is your loophole. But you're putting it on immediately afterward."
Nina stood up, feeling her neck. "Don't worry, I won't run wild or something. I know the conditions of my parole," she said as she started to head outside.
"You will be watched," Calypso warned as she and Skara followed Nina.
The students watched as Luz and Nina came out of the building entrance. Both girls faced each other, while the crowd cheered for Luz and booed for Nina. Calypso grabbed a flying microphone.
"Alright! This witch's duel shall proceed shortly! Luz Clawthorne of the Clawthorne Clan!" She pointed to Luz as the crowd cheered. "Versus Nina Fangs of the Fang Clan!" She pointed to Nina and everyone booed at her while Nina just shrugged. "As Head Witch of the Beast-Keeping Coven and Nina's parole officer, I shall oversee this duel and put a stop to it if things go too far." She turned to the two young witches, who were glaring at each other. "Alright, you two have a fair and non-lethal fight, got it?"
"Don't worry, Mrs. Brooke, I won't hurt her that much," Luz said while getting in a fighting stance.
"We'll see about that," Nina responded while getting into her own fighting stance.
Calypso stepped back and as soon as the bell rang, the duel commenced. Luz and Nina let out a yell as Luz's arm changed into her cambion arm, while Nina's arm expanded into muscles, and the two collided their fists into each other's faces, leaving an impact that sent the two back from each other.
Luz's eyes glowed red as she transformed into her cambion form, Maya mode. Nina changed as well, into her reptilian form as Luz flew towards her opponent while Nina rushed in as well, jumping up with her fists raised up as they collided again.
Nina launched her fists down at Luz, who grabbed her and managed to pin her to the ground. Luz had Nina pinned, but Nina transformed her legs into kangaroo legs to push back Luz off of her. Luz slid back and saw Nina jump up and transform into a large ball of fur, ready to hit Luz. Luz rolled over as the ball of fur hit the ground, but it continued to roll at a high speed towards Luz, spreading out spiky quills.
"Shit!" Luz flew up in the air while Nina kept rolling around. 'She's like an armadillo mixed with a porcupine! But I have the advantage of the skies.' She drew a spell circle, shooting out light beams. "Bang-bang, shot to the ground, bang-bang, hit the ground!" she sang while flying over to shoot at Nina with her light beam spell, giving her an aerial strike.
Nina gets hit by the beams causing her to stop rolling and fall back. She got on her claws, glaring at Luz who had advantage over the skies. 'No fair! I haven't even gotten to the flying forms!' she thought as she considered making due with what she had. "Taste quill, you flying rat!" she shouted while quills popped out straight from her arms, Luz attempting to dodge until one hit her in the shoulder.
"Gah!" Luz shouted as she falls towards the ground while grabbing the quill out of her cambion shoulder. "Fuck!" She winced as she let her shoulder heal.
"Oy!" Nina jumped up and delivered a kick to Luz's chest. "Don't take your eyes off of me, Clawdork!"
Luz adjusted herself after getting launched back. "Bring it on, pussy!" she shouted as she flew back into the fight.
Nina ran towards her while revealing her nails as Luz extended her claws. Eventually, Luz uses her talons to pin Nina down while her opponent swiped her claws at her shins. Luz jumped out as she spun and punched Nina down. The werecat jumped over the punch and used her tail to wrap around Luz's talons, bringing her down.
Luz looked up and used her taloned legs to wrap around Nina's neck and grab her arm. She wrestled Nina down to the ground as she punched her in the face. The werecat then transformed into a humanoid cobra, like a naga, as her coils wrapped around Luz. Luz tried to fly away from her coils, but Nina had her arms still out and punched Luz rapidly. It was then her wings grabbed both Nina's arms as Luz bit her coiled tail.
"AAH!" Nina shouted as she tried to get Luz to let go. This forced her to change back, releasing Luz who flew back. "Alright, no more playing around!"
"Same here," Luz replied as they collided with each other again, this time throwing punches at each other's faces again, sending them back.
Nina did a flip as she aimed to kick Luz, who stepped aside and swung around to kick Nina back. In response, Nina managed to grab Luz by her shirt and throw her to the ground. Nina's fists shifted from fur to scales, hardening them as she punched Luz in the face. Luz did the same with her hardened scaled fists to Nina's face. The two were now in a knuckle fist fight.
The fight went on like this as everyone watched. It was brutal, seeing the two duking it out. Eventually the two were exhausted, covered in bruises and scratch marks along with their clothes torn a little. Luz kept her fists up when facing Nina, who had her claws out. Both were about to reach their limits, but still wouldn't back down.
"Ready to… give up… pussy?" Luz asked while panting.
"Not by… a long shot… baby bird," Nina responded as she charged again.
Luz sent out another punch, Nina's fist colliding with her stomach while her fist hit Nina's face. The two backed away, kneeling from the impact but they didn't fall down. Once they were recovered, they charged again. This went on for a few more times as both girls grew tired from the fighting.
They were panting, covered in blood and bruises while looking at each other through their black, swollen eyes. It was then they each raised their fists up, about to hit each other again… only for both girls to collapse to the ground.
The crowd looked up in concern while Calypso went to check up on both girls. "Can you two still stand?" she asked them, but neither of them gave a response.
Calypso went over to a mic. "Both girls are unable to continue to fight due to exhaustion! Making this Witch Duel a draw!" she declared.
At the Porta-Geist, Emira was in her room, hugging her own pillow. She had this numb and miserable look in her eyes. She then heard a knock on the door, followed by Ed and Viney's voices.
"Emira, can we come in?" Ed asked her.
"We have something to tell you!" Viney replied. After a moment the door opened. They saw Emira without her concealment stone, showing her unkempt hair along with her acne. Her numb expression showed that she was not feeling well. "Oh Em…"
"Listen, we have some news about Amity that you should know," Edric said as Emira tilted her head up.
"What… what did you hear?" Emira asked them.
"Luz has learned that she's alive and in the human realm," Edric explained, which caused Emira's eyes to widen. "She, Willow, and Gus were sent there by an old witch who somehow has access to a portal."
"Luz was able to talk to her after managing to get some Titan's Blood. Not enough to travel to the Human Realm, but enough to go to an in between place… it's a lot to explain," Viney added while tears fell down Emira's face.
"She's… she's alive," Emira said as she started to cry. "Thank the Titan she's not… she's not…" She started to have a breakdown, causing Viney to rush over to her. Both she and Edric tried to comfort Em.
"Are… are you alright, Em?" Ed asked her.
"I'm… I'm sorry," Emira stammered with a sniff. "I'm just grateful… that my baby sister isn't dead," she said as she cried, Viney hugging her while Edric patted her back. "Even though she is still stuck in another realm and I have no way of reaching her…"
"Oh, Em…" Viney said softly to her girlfriend.
"Ed, a friend's here to see you!" Geist announced from downstairs.
Edric turned toward the door and then looked back at Emira, reluctant to leave. "I… I don't know if I should…"
"Hey, I'll take it from here," Viney assured him. "Check to see your friend."
Edric nodded. "Thanks, Viney. For everything," he said as he walked out of the room.
"I'm sorry you have to see me like this," Emira whispered pathetically. "I didn't want you to see me without my concealment stone…"
"It's okay," Viney said as she stroked her girlfriend's hair. "It doesn't bother me at all, Em. I'm here for you. I'm not going anywhere…"
Downstairs, Ed went into the bar and found someone waiting for him. "Oh, it's you from the speed dating thing," he said, recognizing Mel.
"That's me," Mel said with a smile. "I decided to come back here because, well, I heard about what happened to your sister, and I wanted to see how you were doing."
This surprised Ed. "Oh, wow, thanks Mel," he responded. "That was nice of you."
Mel shrugged. "I guess. I just wanted to see if I could cheer you up somehow. Like, take you out to have some fun and take your mind off things."
"Wait, are you asking me out?" Edric asked. "Is this because you pity me?"
"Nah, I was already thinking about you after our speed date, since you seemed like a fun guy," Mel told him. "And maybe I could be asking you out… but it doesn't have to be a date. It could just be two friends having a good time together. Whatever you want."
Edric thought about it. "That does sound nice… you know what, sure. But I want to check on my sister for a sec first, be right back," he said as he quickly left.
"I'll be waiting!" Mel said while looking down to her shadow, which moved on its own and snickered. She smiled. "Don't worry, we'll be having lots more fun soon enough…"
Metropelvis was the second largest town in the Boiling Isles, located at the thigh of the Titan close to the Knee. Many upper class witches lived here, including families who sent their children to St. Epiderm.
In Metropelvis there was an abandoned pizza place that had been shut down years prior due to something about missing kids in the ball pits or a pizza-rat infestation. A group of five St. Epiderm witches, Donna and her friends, had agreed to meet there after school. Making sure they weren't being watched, they went behind the building and Beocrow drew a circle on the ground, which opened up a portal for them to jump through.
The portal led to an underground lair beneath the pizza place. It looked more like a clubhouse with a working pinball machine, bean bags, a couch, a large crystal ball, band posters, stacks of comic books, and speakers playing rock music. There was also a training room, a tire swing, and a conspiracy board along with the map of the Boiling Isles with certain points.
"Yo, Ty, bet I can beat your score this time," Beocrow said, nudging Tyrone.
"I bet you can't!" he responded.
Tina set aside her spider Palisman along with the rest of the Palismen: an alicorn, a crow, a spiked turtle, and a bell-flower. "You guys stay put, we have a meeting to get through first," she told the Palismen.
"Alright, Donna, what's on the agenda for today's meeting?" Veronica asked as they all gathered on the couch.
"We have a very important matter to discuss," Donna said while pointing towards the missing posters of Eve, Amity, Willow, and Gus. "More witchlings went missing this week. This time from Hexside and… they're Luz's friends and her girlfriend."
All looked distraught, especially Beocrow who was the most concerned. "Do you think this is connected to the kidnappings?"
"Maybe," Donna responded. "Worst part is, we know the Emperor's Coven isn't going to do anything about it. They are more interested in recruiting young witches and arresting wild witches. Which means it is up to us."
"And we've already had some close calls," Tina said, rubbing her arm which made Veronica pat her on her back in concern.
"Hey, we have managed to keep the neighborhood safe," Tyrone pointed out. "Our patrols have even prevented a few kidnappings"
"Yeah, but anytime we leave the kidnappers for the coven scouts, we don't hear anything afterward and the disappearances continue," Donna explained. "So obviously we can't rely on the Emperor's Coven to help us and the only lead we have is this symbol." Donna pointed to a picture of the symbol of the Tarot Guild, a double-circle with an X crossed out. "I think we also need to expand out membership, get all the help we can get."
"So who do you have in mind?" Veronica asked.
"For one, these five." Donna summoned some pictures to place on a board. They were pictures of Sarah, Riley, Roxy, Cross, and Kyle. "And I am willing to listen to any of your suggestions."
"I like the choices but… I'm not sure about Kyle, Donna," Tyrone admitted.
"He could still be a valuable member of the team," Donna replied. "He may not be super-powerful or strong, but Kyle has heart and loyalty, which we could definitely use."
The others weren't sold, but Veronica had a suggestion. "How about that Teri Oscorne kid? He has plenty of resources from his dad's company." She summoned a photo of the aforementioned student and placed it on the wall.
"You mean the deadpan goth boy who writes good poetry?" Tyrone asked. "What we need is more willpower, how about that Simon Saltstar guy from Hexside?"
"Professor Saltstar's brother? I don't think she'd approve of us putting her little brother at risk," Tina pointed out.
"Then who do you suggest, Tiny?" Tyrone asked.
Tina sighed. "I hate that nickname… well, I guess we could reach out to those who are also missing their friends. Like the Shadowy Secret Expozers. We could do a team up with them."
"Yeah, they're pretty much heroes as well and St. Epiderm's mystery solvers already turned us down," Beocrow pointed out. "That is a great suggestion, Tina."
Tina hid her blush. "T-Thanks, Bail."
"Yeah, we could reach out to them," Donna accepted the suggestion while turning to Beocrow. "We may also have to reach out to Luz sooner or later. She may need help in looking for her friends."
Beocrow thought about it. "We could approach her, but I can't promise you that she will join, no matter how much you try to convince her."
"I understand. But we should at least try," Donna replied as she brought out her key. "Also, I want to show you guys something about my key. You know that I've had this as long as you've known me, but recently I learned about a new ability that it has…"
Donna focused on the key and it glowed brightly. It then started to expand, turning into a keyblade in front of the others, surprising them.
"Your key can do that?!" Veronica exclaimed.
"I've never seen any artifact like this before," Tina said as she got a closer look at it.
"And I don't recognize the metals," Tyrone said while analyzing the blade. "As a blacksmith, I've never seen any sword like this before. Especially with an unusual shape and helm."
"Just… what is it?" Beocrow asked.
Donna looked at the keyblade in her hands. "I don't know, but for some reason it… chose me. And when I first found it as a kid, I had this… vision."
"What kind of vision?" Tina asked her.
Donna took a deep breath. "It happened during my time at Scooter Crane's Orphanage…"
We were having an outdoor event at the time, a picnic. While the staff had us playing games, I decided to sneak away on my own.
"Donna, where are you?"
"That troublesome girl, making us look around for her..."
I hid myself from the staff members that were looking for me until I heard something. It was like… a call. And I followed it.
I ended up walking up a hill, where I could hear the call coming from a specific spot. I started digging with my bare hands until I found a box. And when I opened it, there was a key there. It was like finding my own personal treasure.
When I held it for the first time, that's when I had the vision. I was suddenly on a beach and I saw this beautiful woman dressed in a crimson gown. She had butterfly-like wings, long blue hair, glowing pink eyes, and a crown. She was holding this key-like sword as she looked at me and spoke.
"In your hand, take this key. So long as you have the makings, then through the simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me, friend. No ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love."
My little hands grabbed the helm of the key-sword. As soon as I did, that's when I found myself waking up. I was back on the hill, where the staff found me. After they scolded me and had us return to the orphanage, the key was still in my hand.
Donna looked at the keyblade. "I've had this ever since. At the time I wrote off the vision as some kind of dream. A fantasy about a destiny far more exciting than life in the orphanage. I believed that for the longest time. But now… I think I was chosen for something… but I don't know what and why."
The gang looked at each other and then to Donna after hearing her story. "Well, stranger things have happened in the Isles, so this is not even close to being the strangest," Beocrow pointed out.
"Maybe we could get a look into it," Tina suggested. "I can see if they have any information on it in the Maginet."
"We may also have to be discreet about it." Veronica added. "Who knows what kind of people would be interested in your key-sword, Donna. Not just the Emperor's Coven, but powerful people could use it for, you know, crooked stuff."
Donna nodded in agreement. "Yeah, best to keep this between us," she said as she turned the keyblade back into a regular key.
"Hey guys!"
Suddenly, the ghost of a dead kid phased through the ceiling, getting their attention "Guess what? It's my birthday!"
"Oh, well happy birthday, Ritchie," Donna said as the others did the same, not surprised at all by the presence of the ghost kid. They were very used to this by now.
Meanwhile, Luz and Nina were in the healing ward at Hexside, being treated by the two nurses.
"Well, you two girls are going to feel sore for a while," spoke the orange cyclops nurse woman with a bobcut. "You two really brought out your beast game, right Mandy?"
"You said it, Cindy," spoke the brown skinned witch healer with a strong build. "Ms. Fangs, Head Witch Brooke will be picking you up. Ms. Clawthorne, your mom's on her way."
The nurses then left the two alone. Luz and Nina were both covered in bandages and ice packs. The two were silent for a moment, not sure what to say to each other. Eventually, Nina was the first to talk.
"Look… I know why you don't like me and it is justified," Nina admitted. "I did a lot of bad things to your friends. Dusty, Amelia, Gus… and I get that you're going through a lot recently, due to the disappearance of your friends and your girlfriend. I don't know if I was making things worse or if I was just a target for you to vent your frustration at, but…" She glanced at Luz, who remained silent. "I'm an idiot, alright? Especially for following Emily." Her voice cracked at the mention of that name.
This made Luz curious. "What… happened between you and Emily? Why did you follow her in the first place."
Nina sighed. "I guess I owe you something. Where I come from, we werecats respect and recognize strength. Unlike werewolves, werecats follow only the strongest leaders. Before Belos, there was once a leader long ago that we used to follow, but that leader was dethroned by Belos, who allowed my kind to live. Since then, all werecats worshiped Belos as our alpha without question. But in my case, Emily was my alpha. I once fought her for dominance, and she bested me with her wits and her illusions. So I followed her orders without question and kept her secrets. I didn't care what happened to others around me, because she claimed that she could help me reach my goal of being the first lycan Head Witch." She paused and patted her stomach. "I told you that I didn't consider any of my former classmates friends. I lied. I at least considered one of them a friend and I even thought Emily was my friend as well, but when Glandus was losing, she stabbed me in the stomach… and left me for dead."
This shocked Luz. "That bitch," she said with a sigh. "And I'm… sorry that happened to you. I actually know what it's like to be betrayed by someone I thought was a friend. It hurts."
"Really? Someone betrayed you?" Nina asked her.
"Let's just say that I had this friend who secretly invaded my privacy for their creepy uncle," Luz said, leaving out Hunter's name and Belos, along with certain details. "Recently I got so mad that I ended up hospitalizing them. I wasn't thinking straight at the time, I wanted them hurt… but it only made me feel worse."
"Sounds like your friend's a real creep," Nina commented.
"It's a lot more complicated… messed up, even," Luz told her.
Nina sighed. "Honestly, I'm jealous of you, Clawthorne. Because you are surrounded by friends, people who like you and want to hang out with you even though you're a human. I hope you know how lucky you are even now. I had only like one real friend back at Glandus and now I'm not even sure if he considered me a friend or if he was just using me too. But you have no shortage of friends, even after several went missing."
"It wasn't always that way," Luz admitted. "When I started at Hexside, my only friends were Gus and Willow. My situation was actually very similar to yours. And when I see you, a rough around the edges bad girl fresh into Hexside, it is like looking into a mirror. Because that used to me and back then I ended up hurting someone that got me into really big trouble, and I was lucky enough to not get expelled."
"Really? What did you do?" Nina asked.
"Tricked Boscha into pepper-spraying herself," Luz mentioned, which shocked Nina. Luz then looked down in guilt. "Damn, I don't even think I ever apologized to her for that. I do regret it, especially after I heard the news about her being paralyzed…"
Nina's hands were shivering as she remembered the last time she encountered Boscha. She knew she couldn't talk about it out of fear of being put down. "I… also owe her an apology as well," she said as she turned to Luz. "And I guess I owe you an apology too. I mean, you are strong. Strong enough to beat Emily and strong enough to take me on in a fight, which I can definitely respect. So… I'm sorry for hurting your friends and insulting your girlfriend. Maybe… maybe we should call a truce. After this, I think it's best for both of us to just… try to tolerate each other. You don't have to like me and I don't have to like you. You are even free to continue hating me. But I won't mess with you and you won't mess with me."
Luz nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I can agree to a truce, but under the condition that you apologize to Amelia and Dusty."
Nina barely managed to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "Agreed," she said as she and Luz tried to reach out to shake hands until they winced due to the soreness of their muscles, but they finally managed to grip their hands to shake.
"Mind if I ask one thing," Luz added. "I've been curious but… do you have a witch form? Cause I have noticed that while werewolves have a bestial form and a witch form, you guys always seem to be in your bestial form."
Nina nodded. "We're not like the other lycans," she admitted. "My ancestors were able to shift between their witch forms and their bestial forms, but at one point we had that ability taken from us, trapping us in our bestial forms."
"Can other werecats do what you can do? Transform into different beasts and reptiles?" Luz asked.
"No, just me," Nina confirmed. "It was just something I picked up from a… special teacher I had back in my Glandus days."
"Huh, must be some kind of Beast-Keeping master, right?" Luz asked while Nina paused as she briefly relived a memory.
Nina was in a cooling tank, with a breather mask on as syringes were inserted into her body. She screamed as some sort of elixir was injected.
Nina blinked back to reality. "Let's just say my first time transforming into a different beast was traumatizing. But I got used to it over the years."
"LUZ NOCEDA CLAWTHORNE!"
Luz and Nina were startled as Eda kicked the door into the room. Luz winced as Eda marched over, her eyes narrowing at her daughter. "Hey, mom…" Luz said, awkwardly waving to her.
Eda looked at the two, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I blame myself for not expecting that this would happen. After all, you're my kid." She turned to Nina. "How you doing, Eda the Owl Lady, or Eda Clawthorne for professional reasons. Come on, Luz, can you walk?"
"I can-" Luz was about to reply but Eda picked her up and started to carry her out of the room. "Mom!"
"Ah hush," Eda told her. "You got yourself in a tussle with a werecat, eh? You know, it reminds me of my experience with a tiger werecat back when I was fiery. He kidnapped me, brought me to his cave, toyed with my escape attempts, and he still owes me one boot when he tore it up while he sat on my back-"
"Mom, I do not want to hear it!" Luz cried out, feeling grossed out.
"What? Wait until you hear about how I had to burn his tail in order to escape! I don't know why werecats have such kidnapping habits though…"
Nina chuckled as she overheard Eda's story. "Huh, sounds like how my dad met my mom," she said as she laid back in bed, waiting for Calypso to pick her up.
After Eda and Luz had made it home, Luz saw her human mother with hot cocoa and a thousand yard stare.
"What's with Mami?" Luz asked Eda.
"Oh, while you were in school, I helped her get caught up on what she missed in the human world. Let her know who died, the disasters that happened, not to mention, um, what happened in 2001…"
"I never realized how much the world changed," Camila muttered to herself. "James Brown, Bea Arthur, Michael Jackson… oh lord, those poor people in New Orleans.."
"Yeah, the human world's a lot more complicated," King said while comforting her. Kay was next to him.
Camila then noticed Luz all bandaged up. "What happened!?"
"Witch duel with a werecat," Eda answered.
"We ended in a draw, but I could've won," Luz claimed while going over to the couch. "But we settled on a truce, which is probably for the best."
"So remind me again why we have to show up dressed in our superhero-sonas?" Beocrow as Crowbar asked as they hid behind a tree outside of the Owl House.
"Because in order to convince your cousin to join our team, we need to give a presentation!" Donna as Wonder Witch declared before she started heading toward the Owl House. "Now, follow my lead."
"Hey, um, Luz, you got someone who wishes to see you." Hooty announced.
"Okay," Luz said while going to the door, Eda and King joining her. Opening the door, they saw Donna in her Wonder Witch costume and Beocrow holding a music player.
"Crowbar, music!" Donna said as he turned the music on, playing some up-beat 80s-style music. "Luz Clawthorne!" She pointed to Luz with her other hand on her hip. "You have been chosen!"
"What's uh… going on right now?" Eda asked.
"I don't know, did someone order a telegram or…?" Luz muttered.
"The League Of Witches That Helps extends you an invitation," Donna said as she crossed her arms while doing an interpreted dance, stylishly posing. "To join our superhero ranks to make the Boiling Isles a better place! To be a true ally of truth and justice!" She pointed to Luz in an epic manner. "So Luz Clawthorne, do you wish to join us in help fight against evil!?" she declared in an overly-dramatic way.
A moment of silence follows, the Owl family had no idea what the hell they just saw.
"I'm sorry, but what is… going on?" Luz asked them.
"Did you not get the presentation?" Donna asked her.
"I'm just… confused right now." Luz admitted.
"We're L.O.W.T.H., the League of Witches That Helps," Donna clarified. "Haven't you heard about us?"
"I think so, you guys were from the school war… and I recognize that guy, Beocrow, right?" Luz pointed to him.
"Hey, cuz." Beocrow waved at her. "Donna wants to know if you wish to join our superhero team."
"Oh, so that's what it was?" Luz asked
"Yes! So would you, Luz, like to join our group?" Donna asked her.
"No thanks," Luz responded.
"...What?" Donna asked in confusion. "But… I thought you'd be up for this kind of thing, we could use your help-"
"Look, no offense but I have my reasons why I don't think I should join," Luz interjected "For one, I'm more of an anti-hero, I don't think you want someone like me to be a part of your team. Also the fact that I don't think my moms would let me go around dressed as a showgirl."
Donna gasped. "S-Showgirl? But this is a superhero costume! Well, made from my gymnast leotard, which is practical!"
"I mean, if you like to go around with no pants on, that's your business," Luz said, making Donna feel personally attacked.
"You… you don't have to say it like that…" Donna said while she turned to Beocrow. "Your cousin's mean, Bail!"
"I told ya," he pointed out.
"Why don't you two come in?" Eda asked, particularly curious about Beocrow.
The two teenage self-declared superheroes were invited inside. Donna spotted King and Kay, instantly gasping as her eyes shine.
"Oh my Titan, they're so cute!" Donna exclaimed, kneeling over to them. "You must be King, right? I saw your video on Penstagram, Veronica is so gonna be jealous!"
"Yup, proud son of Eda, big brother to Luz," King declared as he patted Kay. "And this is Kay, she lives with us."
"Nice to meet you, King," Beocrow responded while removing his mask and greeting the Owl Family. "I'm Bailey Clawthorne, but you can call me Bail, or Beocrow."
"Okay, so you're our cousin in the Clawthorne Clan, do I know your parents in some way?" Eda asked him.
"You may know my granddad, Brolin Clawthorne, and his daughter and my mom, Denise Clawthorne," Beocrow answered.
"Wait… Denise… oh my Titan, you're her son!?" Eda asked in shock and he nodded. "Ugh, Denise. I didn't think you'd be her son, you don't seem to be anything like her."
"Eh, I'm going through stuff," Beocrow admitted.
"Um, it's nice to meet someone else in my daughter's witch family," Camila said, raising her hand up. "I'm Camila, Luz's mother from the human world."
"Nice to meet you, ma'am," Donna greeted, shaking her hand. "And I should also introduce myself as well." She looked to Eda and for some reason she felt something familiar about her. She knew much about her exploits, but now that she was finally meeting the infamous Owl Lady she was even more curious about her. My name is Donna Masterskull."
"Masterskull?" Eda asked. "Well, that's surprising. I heard they had a daughter but I didn't know their daughter's going around dressed like a rebel."
"We're not really rebels," Donna clarified. "Thing is, we started this group over a month ago as a response to all the muggings and kidnappings." She looked down. "One of our friends was almost taken off the streets. She escaped, but she got hurt and was left with a few cuts."
"We reported it to the coven scout precinct and they said they would look into it. But then some of the students from St. Epiderm and other schools went missing, along with some other witches. Our neighborhood no longer felt safe," Beocrow added. "And the coven scouts weren't doing enough about it."
"And we figured that we had to do something," Donna continued. "That's why I formed L.O.W.T.H., to try and put a stop to whoever is behind this. We have had a little success during our patrols and managed to stop a few of the kidnappers. But they wouldn't talk and when we sent them to the precincts, we wouldn't hear from them again. At least once we heard that someone had died before they could talk, apparently via suicide. So once again, we realized that the Emperor's Coven wasn't going to help us. Which is why we've been wanting to expand our membership, hence why we want to recruit Luz."
Eda looked interested. "I may be of help to you guys," she mentioned. "Recently, during the school war, the Owl House was attacked. This attack was led by the Tarot Guild, the criminal organization that had ties to Glandus."
"Did they have this symbol?" Beocrow asked, drawing the double circle with a cross over.
Eda took a look. "Yeah, that's what they had on."
"That's great, we now have a name for the enemy we've been looking for," Donna said happily. "Thank you, Ms. Clawthorne."
"No prob, and um, if you want, I could join you on your patrols," Eda offered, which surprised Luz. "I may not be as young as you kids, but this old Owl Lady's still got her fighting spirit. And I want to bring the Tarot Guild down just as much as you do, especially since they targeted my family. Which they definitely regretted when they had to face…" Eda transformed into her harpy form, much to the shock of the two guests. "Harpy Eda! How do you like this presentation?"
"Whoa…" Donna looked impressed.
"This could help us cover more area," Beocrow realized. "What do you think, Donna?"
"We'd be happy to have you helping us, Ms. Clawthorne!" Donna agreed, shaking Eda's hand. She then turned to Luz. "Also, I want to say that we are really sorry about the disappearance of your friends, Luz. We will try to find them and bring them home as well."
"Thanks, but you don't have to," Luz dismissed. "I uh, may have an idea where they could be. So the whereabouts of my friends are covered. You should probably prioritize Eve."
"Uh, alright," Donna agreed, not sure why Luz was turning down their offer to help find her friends. "If you say so."
"Say um, one more thing," Beocrow pointed out. "I heard that an old friend of mine lives around here."
"Uh… who?" King asked.
"Big guy, used to live in the Knee," Beocrow answered, Luz and Eda's eyes widening as they realized what he meant.
The Slitherbeast was chewing on a piece of bark when he heard a whistle. Looking up, he picked up a familiar scent and spotted Beocrow.
"Yo, Slithy!" Beocrow waved at the large beast. Luz was standing behind her cousin as he reunited with the Slitherbeast. "It's me, your old pal!"
"Careful, don't want to agitate him," Luz advised as Beocrow slowly walked towards the Slitherbeast, which walked forwards as well.
To the surprise of Luz, Beocrow brought out a large fruit. "Here, got your favorite. Spikaberry," he said as the Slitherbeast sniffed at the fruit, then licked it off of his hand and started to chew. Beocrow patted the beast on his head.
The Slitherbeast sat down, the two cousins sitting in front of it.
"So… when did you hear about me?" Luz asked.
"I've kept up with Aunt Eda's exploits over the years, including the rumors that she had a 'human minion' with her," Beocrow mentioned. "Then I heard about some St. Epiderm students who received some human world items from you, along with some black eyes."
"Oh yeah, those snooty Epiderm kids…" Luz remembered.
"And then, I saw the footage of the Petrification Ceremony, how you declared yourself the daughter of Eda Clawthorne, showing your Clawthorne pride with no fear," Beocrow mentioned. "I almost choked when you straight up vowed to kick Belo's ass. My brother and I were rooting for your escape. Since then, you've been the talk of the Isles, especially after you and your girlfriend managed to beat this crazy Coachman a while back. Some of my relatives have mixed thoughts on you, but to me you're definitely a Clawthorne."
"Thanks," Luz said with a smile. "So what's your brother like?"
"Felix is in Abominations, unlike me he tends to focus more on his studies, but he's your standard goofy little brother," Beocrow explained. "He's about a year younger than you, and he's eager to meet you and Amity."
"I would like that, once I find Amity of course," Luz admitted. "I really should get to know the rest of my extended family better. I actually only just met my grandfather."
"Well, there is going to be a Clawthorne Clan reunion before the solar eclipse," Beocrow mentioned. "Maybe you should come. Just wait until you meet the vampire cousins."
"Vampire Clawthornes? Okay, now I'm hyped," Luz replied. "So you plan to be a Beast-Keeper?"
"Well, not really," Beocrow said. "I actually have another life goal in mind… becoming a Death God."
"… A what?" Luz asked in confusion.
"You know, beings from the Underworld or the afterlives that go around collecting and guiding souls of the deceased," he clarified. "It became my life goal after a near-death experience with a demon bear when I was young. I joined Beast-Keeping so I could bond the souls of the creatures of the Isles and learn about their life cycles. Life and death are two sides of the same snail."
"Oh," Luz said, realizing what he meant. "I think I get it. Though you know, I've had my own experiences with death gods. I knew the son of one, I met the loa of the dead, and I even met the ruler of the Underworld after I caught his rampaging Cerberus."
"Really? What's he like?" Beocrow asked.
"He was a cheapskate," Luz said with a shrug.
Donna flew over to the Brooke home, having changed into her normal attire: a blue vest shirt with sleeves, gray mid-shorts, and black flats. She took a deep breath as she walked up to their front door.
"Okay… you can do this," she said to herself, having been notified by Tina who heard from her cousin Viney that Nina was living in the home of Head Witch Brooke. She thought about the text Nina had sent as she raised her fist to knock on the door…
But then she stopped herself. "I can't do this," she whispered to herself as she walked away from the Brooke home, quickly leaving. She couldn't bring herself to face Nina. Not now.
Skara put on her red hoodie before going over to her window and opening it up. It was now dark outside. She sighed, knowing that she would definitely get in trouble for this if she got caught.
But she couldn't hold it in any longer.
And Skara wasn't the only one who had snuck out. In another part of Bonesborough, Nina was jumping from rooftop to rooftop while not getting spotted. Eventually, she leaped off the roof and landed in an alleyway.
"Alright, I'm here," she whispered.
"I was starting to worry that you hadn't gotten my message," a female voice said. "My birds never came back."
Nina burped, a few feathers flying out of her mouth. "Uh, sorry," she said sheepishly.
Sonya chuckled. "Don't worry about it," she told Nina. "It is just good to see you again." She dug something out of her pocket. "I got something for you…" She held up a bag of catnip, which made Nina's eyes sparkle.
"Oooh, yes. The good stuff," Nina said as Sonya gave her the bag. The werecat opened the bag and sniffed the catnip. "Oh, yeah. This will get me through the night."
"So how have you been?" Sonya asked while leaning back against the wall with Nina. "Are the Brookes treating you well?"
Nina sighed. "I don't know what's worse, living in the home of your worst enemy, or living with a bunch of soy-lycans. The only good thing about them is that they don't sing in the morning, even if half of them are Bard. Skara and her daddy are wimps, but the little one… super creepy. I've also had a little tussle with that Luzer."
"Oh? How did that go?" Sonya asked her.
"I'll admit, she put up a good fight. We ended in a draw, but I could've won," Nina claimed. "If only I knew how to transform into aviary beasts…"
"You'll learn soon enough," Sonya told her. "I am sure that the Adapter Formula I gave you should allow you to transform into aviary beasts as well. Are you having any issues with your other transformations?"
"No," Nina said as she smelled more of the catnip. "Though I don't like it, this parole was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm lucky that the lycan hunter decided to let me live. It may not be ideal, but I am more than happy to play along if it gets me back on track to becoming a Head Witch. I have the Brooke daughter completely fooled and I even got Luz to buy my 'apology'. Though I do still think that they are hiding something…"
Sonya nodded, while looking down. "You should… know something. Emily was released."
This caused Nina to turn to her. "What!? They let that bitch out!?"
"Yeah, turns out Coven Head Graye was interested in her abilities, so he recruited her as his apprentice," Sonya informed an appalled looking Nina.
"Unbelievable… fucking shit!" Nina cursed as she punched the wall, trying not to let her anger get the better of her. "I get out and have to wear this collar so I won't go feral, yet Tricks get out scott-free!? AH!" She felt a zap from her collar as Sonya patted her shoulders.
"Calm down, what happened between you two?" Sonya asked her.
"She stabbed me in the back!" Nina declared, pointing to her womb. "Or more accurately in the stomach! She left me for dead when I told her that we were losing the war." She looked down, her fists tightening. "When I see that #$%#…"
Sonya sighed. "Okay, look. I get it. That is messed up. But you survived." She moved a lock of Nina's hair from her face, cupping her hand on her cheek. "And you don't need her. You only need me."
Nina looked up to Sonya and smiled as she sighed. "You're right, I shouldn't let her get to me."
"Here," Sonya pulled out a flask of apple blood and offered it to Nina. "Have some of this,"
Nina took the flask and smelled it. "Is… this apple blood? Should I really drink this?"
"Hey, you're practically a grown up," Sonya waved it off. "Give it a try."
Nina looked at her reflection of her flask. "Maybe just a sip," she said as she drank from the flask. She winced. "Oh… oh wow, this is strong. I didn't think it would be this strong!"
"You'll get used to it," Sonya said as she took the flask. "So what about the Masterskull girl? Have you talked to her recently?"
Nina blushed. "Um… not since the war. But do you want to hear more about my time at Hexside?" she asked, changing the subject.
Sonya smirked as she drank from the flask, finding Nina's expression cute. "Sure."
A little red hooded witch was spray painting something on a statue. Her ears picked up footsteps, causing her to rush away.
One coven scout was seen on patrol as he walked onto main street. "Ah, nothing beats the night patrol," he said to himself while swinging his nightstick. He passed by the Emperor Belos statue. "Having a good night, Belo-" He froze as he got a good look at the statue. "Great Beelzebub's wings!"
The Belos statue had been vandalized and spray painted on it in red were these words: FALSE PROPHET.
Skara ran away as she zapped wings onto her shoes, flying into the night. When she landed near her house, she heard someone call to her.
"Skara?"
"Eep!" Skara turned and saw that Nina was out as well. "Nina! What… what are you doing here?"
"Stretching my legs, nightly walk, cat stuff," Nina said as she stretched. "Question is, what you doing out this late at night?"
"Um… looking for you?" Skara asked nervously.
"What's with the spray can then?" Nina pointed out, making Skara hide it in her hoodie. "What were you really doing out here in the dark?" She leaned close to Skara, who backed away nervously as she saw Nina's eyes glow in the dark.
"O-Okay, okay!" Skara shouted. "I um… went out to spray paint 'false prophet' on the Emperor's statue." Nina's eyes widened in shock. "I might as well tell you since I know that you'll eventually hear about it and realize that it was me."
"Whoa… you… did that?" Nina asked her. "But why?"
"Because he does nothing but hurt people," Skara told her. "And I want to feel like I am at least doing something instead of just feeling helpless." She sighed, looking down. "I know it isn't much, but it is at least a statement. People will see it and that has gotta mean something, right?"
Nina looked at Skara, still surprised that she would do something like it. She then sighed and extended her hand. "Give me the spray can," she said while Skara brought it out and looked at the can before giving it to Nina. The werecat's arm changed into a gorilla's arm and she threw the spray can across the sky at high speeds.
"Whoa… now that's some pitch game," Skara commented. "Where did you send it?"
"My guess, all the way to the Palm Stings," Nina replied as she led Skara back home. "Come on, let's head back."
Nina and Skara were about to climb back in through the window, but then the lights flared up, causing them to turn and see a not so pleased Calypso and Slasher.
"Skara, Nina, inside now," Calypso told them.
Calypso gave the two girls a good scolding as she paced back and forth.
"Do you know how worried sick we were when you two were gone!?" Calypso shouted. "We thought something bad happened to you two like what had happened to Skara weeks ago and while I'm glad nothing bad happened, you two are in a lot of trouble!"
"Where have you two been?" Slasher asked calmly.
Skara looked down nervously. "Um, I-"
"It's my fault, Mr. and Mrs. Brookes," Nina interjected, everyone turning to her in surprise. "I was out stretching my legs, wanting to feel the cool breeze of the night. Skara was just looking out for me and making sure that I didn't get hurt or anything. I knew that I shouldn't have been walking around at night, but I didn't like being cooped up in my room much."
The Brooke parents were surprised by Nina and her confession. Calypso calmed herself down and sighed. "Alright, we'll talk about this tomorrow. You two go to bed."
Skara and Nina went upstairs and headed to their separate rooms. Skara turned to Nina. "Hey, Nina."
"Yeah?" Nina asked her.
"Thank you for covering me," Skara told her. "You didn't have to do that. I-I mean, not that I'm ungrateful-"
"Hey, I'm used to getting in trouble, so it's no big," Nina replied. "Besides, I didn't want to see you acting like a crybaby. G'night."
"Night," Skara said as she headed into her own room.
Once Nina was in her room and she closed the door behind her, she went to lay on her bed and stared up at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened today…
Donna looked at her key, having gotten ready for bed. She heard a knock at the door. "Come in." she said as Gladys and Diana checked in on her.
"Just want to be sure that you're not staying up all night," Gladys told her.
"And to see if you're okay," Diana added. "Do you need anything?"
"No, I think I'm good," Donna replied. "Thanks for checking up on me."
"We love you, Donna," Gladys told her.
Donna nodded. "I love you guys too," she said as Diana flicked the lights off and the two moms left. Donna got into bed and looked up at the ceiling. She gripped her key tightly, thinking about the day she had.
Back in the Owl House, Eda was laying in her bed-nest when she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in!" Eda shouted. The door opened and, to her surprise, Luz came in. "Luz? What's wrong?"
"Hey, mom," Luz replied awkwardly, scratching the back of her head while holding a pillow. "Can I… sleep here tonight?"
The owl mom looked at Luz and realized what was going on. She nodded. "Of course. Hope you don't mind the feathers," she said while scooting over for Luz to lay beside her.
"Thanks, mom," Luz replied as she laid her head down.
"Hey, it's like when you were little," Eda told Luz. "Good night, kiddo." She kissed Luz's forehead before turning in for the night.
"Goodnight, mom," Luz replied as the lights went out.
And so another day in the Boiling Isles came to an end.
Okay, some introduction and details for OCs submitted;
Cross Drakescale is an OC made by Crosshot. Who is a weredragon from a descention of witch/dragon-biped demon relationship. Sort of like Firebreather's Duncan Rosenblatt(his description). His description of him can be found in one of the reviews.
Sarah Atos and Roxy Armstrong are OCs made by Navy-Heart. Sarah Atos is the daughter of a previous Potions Head that somewhere on the line, had a distrust towards the Emperor's Coven, thus retired from the position, as she wishes to use. Roxy Armstrong, who is from a construction track, as well as her father being a guard in the Emperor's Coven, she wants to keep things in line in order to protect others around her. These are the basic descriptions Navy-Heart gave but will be fleshed out more.
Other OCs created for the fic that were made to fill in for St. Epiderm's lore. Such as the student council members:
Danny Dilburn- imagine those archetypes of the Class Rep-types, like Tenya Ida from My Hero Academia mixed with Scott Summers of the X-Men. He's all about the rules, but he's not malice enough about them. He cares about the importance of St. Epiderm's safety and keep the school in line. If you
This chapter is pretty much the Day of the Limelight to have a proper exploration of Donna Masterskull's life and what St. Epiderm is like. Also throwing in the return of the Graux Sisters from the Glandus War arc, as if they're going to be like the expy-counterparts of the Gross Sisters, than it would make sense that they would attend St. Epiderm through blackmail. Minerva Witchmore and Lindsay Shystream are pretty much expies of Octavia and Fluttershy from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, only one is a rabbit biped demon, and the other is a cyclops demon. Peter Bloomhog is definetely the Boiling Isle's equivalent to Andy Warhol. Beel Zatar is a humanoid bee that I've thought up of imagining what a humanoid Beedrill with hands would look like. Andrew Rollers I've based off of Armadillomon from Digimon. Riley Strange is, obviously, an expy of Dr. Stephen Strange of Marvel comics.
About the twist of Sonya and Nina, yeah it's pretty much to show that Nina's still a, well, bad girl. So her character development hasn't happened at this point. It's like, way too soon. But we will see more of how Nina has gotten to know Sonya and why she trusts her more. But we have some insight on what werecat culture is like, along with how and why they worship Belos, as well as explaining that Nina's family are a literal musical family. As well as, according to Eda and confirmed by Nina, that werecats do naturally have a habit in kidnapping those they have an affection with.
Hope you like Donna's life. The singing tune she sang to the birds is meant to be like Ariel's iconic singing voice from The Little Mermaid, or to some you might think of Princess Fiona's iconic harmony voice from Shrek. Pretty much, Donna is like a Disney Princess.
Also yeah, Eda's experience with a tiger werecat, is a reference to the Goofy cartoon "Tiger Trouble."
That's all to say for now. Also to note that the OC Contest still continues. The OCs you bring out can be seen and shown in the story, however you make. They can be parodies, or fleshed out original, old OCs you're not using much, etc. They can be more St. Epiderm students, werewolves and werecats you can find in the Isles, even vampire OCs. As long as they can be fit to the story.
Now for some reviews:
The Great Fossil King: We did before in Book 1, Book 2 is to show a positive of it.
JTK: We don't know, since there's nothing in canon that states she wears glasses. I mean, by design it may not be a case.
Wolf of howl street: Thanks, you'll see more of it soon.
BlueKnight-X2: Oh he will soon.
Crosshot: Yeah, expect more what we can do to utilize more in this X-Over.
Guest: Stay tuned.
Matteso585: 1) Interesting fact. 2) There's another reason why, but that would be spoilers. 3) If she knows which dimension he's from, specifically speaking. 4) Stay tuned.
61394: Yeah, wait til you see more of Michael…
Franco Almiron: Stay tuned.
Shuffollower: Probably chapter 68 is where the Human World Arc starts, as a prelude to the arc.
RJWritingInk: Excellent reviews, much appreciated. Also Pugsley is based off of Mugsly, Rocky's partner from the Looney Tunes.
The OC contest is still underway, so be sure to submit.
