All characters from Disney and other properties are owned by their respectful owners. The OCs made here are written entirely for the story. Enjoy the fic.
Chapter 108: The Errands in the Willows
"The BBN-HXN news channel has breaking news!"
Felicity Fox looked at the camera. "This is Felicity Fox, Head of the Media Coven, covering the top story of the day. Emperor Belos has issued his official statement in response to the riot caused by a self-acclaimed goddess that left the Isles in a panic as well as the reveal that Amity Goodfellow, formerly known as Amity Blight, is a Fae! Now without further delay, let's hear what our beloved Emperor has to say…"
Emperor Belos showed up on screen, clearing his throat.
"Children of the Boiling Isles," Belos spoke. "I know you wish to know my thoughts on the last Splatterday's Bonesborough Brawl incident. First, you can be assured that the threat has passed and the lockdown has ended. And after consulting with the Titan, I have decided… to be merciful to Amity Goodfellow." He removed his mask, revealing his sympathetic expression. "We recognize that she is just as much a victim of the Fae and because of this no harm shall come to her. We must not forget that she is still a child of the Titan."
After Belos finished speaking, it cut back to Felicity. "You hear that right, folks. Belos has issued an order to spare the witch-turned-fae girl. Now, while he may give her an exception, we must not forget she is the exception that proves the rule. The Fae are still a menace to our society and we must be wary of any other imposters in our midst! Now as for her family, they have all stayed silent and not commented about the youngest former Blight's Fae status. This includes Head Witch Alador Blight, who has not been seen since his daughter was exposed."
Footage of Geist's bar was shown, reports gathered outside. "Odalia Grunhar has also gone missing and the other relatives and associates of Amity won't comment on it." A large illusion of a dragon showed up, scaring the reporters. This was done by Emira and Edric along with Geist.
"Not even the Owl Lady will give a response." Footage was shown of the orphanage surrounded by news reporters, with one getting hit by a slingshot held by Jak, who hung outside the window.
"Bullseye!" he declared until he saw the camera. "You saw nothing!" he said as he shot the camera, leaving static.
"But one was willing to speak to us about Amity's exposed Fae status!" Felicity noted as footage of Faust appeared. "Here Hexside's Principal Faust giving us an update!"
"This wouldn't have happened under my watch," Faust declared. "Amity Goodfellow was trouble before, but now with this… news of her being an evil Fae… she leaves me no choice but to expel her from Hexside!"
Felicity's emblem charm blinked as she continued. "Just got an update about Arthur and Destiny Blight, who have decided to give out a statement and speak to their son. This is coming live from Blight Industries!"
The screen changed to Arthur and Destiny, who were showing 'concerned' looks while being in front of the camera.
"We are worried about our granddaughter," Arthur explained. "We hope that she is safe, but this wouldn't have happened if not for Odalia, who forced her to be lead astray!"
"That's right!" Destiny agreed. "Our grandchild was probably strung along by a Fae one day just to get away from that vile woman!"
"What can you tell us about Cluckington's cannibalism?" one reporter then asked.
Arthur and Destiny blinked. "Wait, what?!"
Back in the newsroom, Felicity reported. "Recent update we just got from one of our sources. One of the Oracle Coven's top lawyers, Roosten Cluckington III, has gone missing and possibly connected to that is the revelation he is a downright cannibal! After being tipped off, scouts searched his home and found chicken nuggets and roast turkey in his fridge!" Her eyes widened in realization, since this could put a damper in her reputation. "I-I had no idea he was a cannibal! This is news to me… but regardless-"
Felicity faced the camera on the other side. "We are still left with one big question: where is Amity now?"
In the Human Realm, Amity was shown having breakfast with Dipper, Ford, and Soos. Amity ate the food she was given while watching cartoons with Soos from the TV on the counter.
"Mmm, what do you call this again?" Amity asked, enjoying the food.
"It's an enchilada," Soos explained. "Wait until you try the breakfast tacos, Amity."
"Enchilada… neat," Amity said while looking at the cartoon. "So… why does the duck keep chasing that mouse? I don't get the concept."
"Oh, I've seen this before. These are what are considered the worst Looney Tunes since they had those guys from the Pink Panther cartoons work on the shorts back in the 60s," Ford explained while turning to Amity. "By the way Amity, I'm sorry about your current predicament right now. I learned about the Isle's anti-Fae laws during my time there and I know what it's like to be away from your home realm."
"Thank you, Mr. Pines," Amity replied as she kept eating.
"How are you feeling about this, Amity?" Dipper asked her.
Amity sighed. "I think I'd rather not be asked about how I feel. I appreciate the concern, but I would rather just talk about anything else than be constantly reminded of having to leave the Isles."
"Oh, sorry," Dipper replied.
"It's okay, Dipper," Amity reassured him.
In the living room, Acorn looked out the window, checking around. She then flew around, looking nervous. Ghost noticed her and meowed at her.
"What? Do you want to chase me again?" Acorn asked her while Ghost just tilted her head. "Me? Worried? I'm not worried, well, worried for Amity, but not worried for myself! I don't like how you stare at me, you damn cat!" She pointed at Ghost, who just blinked. "Oh who asked you!" she shouted before flying away.
Ghost just shrugged. "Pixies," she said as she decided to get a catnap.
After breakfast, they heard someone knocking on the door and Dipper went over to answer it. "Hey, guys, you made it."
Amity looked out the front door and spotted Vee and the former Gatesfield residents. She smiled.
"Hey, we've heard you have some guests from the Isles living with you," Masha said as she and the others spotted Amity. She waved. "Amity! Good vibes, girl!"
"Hey guys!" Amity shouted as she came over. "Now let's see if I can remember your names: Masha, Clara, second Gus, Dana, and… Rudolph?"
"Rudo, but it's cool," Rudo said.
"Hey, don't forget about me, Amity," Vee said.
"How can I forget you, Vee?" Amity asked as she gave her a hug. "So good to see you guys again." She turned to acknowledge Abigail and Nora as well. "You too, Mrs. Gates and Mrs. Gordon."
"When Dipper told us about your situation, we knew we just had to come over," Abigail said with a concerned look. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Mrs. Gates," Amity reassured her. "Besides, I know Luz will visit the first chance she gets, she just has to take care of some stuff in the Demon Realm first since… since a lot happened over the weekend." She frowned briefly before smiling again. "Plus I can use this as a chance to get to know Willow's friends and Luz's god family better," Amity pointed out before spotting someone else with the Gatesfield teens and adults. "Wait… who's this?"
"Hi, my name is Rose," Rose introduced as she stepped up. "I'm the girlfriend of Jake Long. You know, the American Dragon?"
"Oh yeah, Willow mentioned you… and she was right, you do sound a lot like me," Amity said, feeling a little weirded out. "First Tinker Bell, now you…"
"Yeah, it is strange," Rose admitted as the two stared at each other.
Eventually Amity shook off her weird feeling and turned to the others. "Well, I have the day free and I would like to spend some time with all of you, so what's on the agenda?"
"Well, I may have a suggestion," Ford mentioned as he walked over. "How about going on a quest for me?"
"A quest? Don't tell me those DD&D characters got loose again," Nora said.
"Oh no, not that," Ford assured her. "I've been working on the defenses for the Mystery Shack and I need… ugh, unicorn hair for the task."
"That's not rare, is it?" Gus G. asked.
"Unicorns?" Abigail perked up, a smile forming on her face. "Oh my god, I love unicorns! They're like… the most peaceful and gentle creatures I've ever encountered…"
"Yeah, you wouldn't probably like the ones here…" Vee said awkwardly.
"She's right," Ford said with a groan. "Unicorns reside deep within an enchanted glade and their hairs can only be obtained by a pure good-hearted person who goes on a magical quest to find them."
Dipper nodded. "Me and Luz have encountered unicorns before… they can be very frustrating."
"Fu Dog did warn me that Gravity Falls has its own weirdness bubble here," Rose mentioned. "If these unicorns are different from the ones I'm familiar with, maybe we should be wary."
"So all we need is someone pure of heart," Amity said. "So, which of you are the purest of all?"
Everyone was silent as they looked at each other. They then turned to Vee, who shook her head.
"Yeah, I don't think any of us are pure of heart," Dana said while everyone else nodded in agreement.
"My sorority years are not something I am proud of," Nora admitted.
"Then I guess we'll just have to get unicorn hair by… alternative methods," Masha said with dramatic shadows over her eyes.
"Well, I've been through literal Hell, so why not?" Amity asked with a shrug.
"...Wait, what?" Clara asked, turning to Amity in confusion.
Back in the Demon Realm, Eda and Luz landed in front of the Masterskull Mansion while wearing cowls. Luz looked up at the mansion and whistled.
"Man, so this is where Donna lives. Makes me wonder what Beocrow's house is like," she said as she turned to Eda. "You know, we should visit his home sometime."
"I'll think about it," Eda said, though she wasn't enthusiastic about the idea as Luz knocked on the door.
She knocked to the rhythm of 'We Will Rock You' and a moment later the door was answered by Donna.
"Luz? Eda?" Donna asked, seeing their faces under their cloaks.
"Hey, surprise, Silvy," Eda greeted before Donna jumped up and hugged the two.
"Oh it's so great to see you two!" Donna replied happily, embracing them. "Are you two alright? No one followed you or anything, did they? Is Amity alright?"
"Nah, we know how to cover our tracks," Luz said. "And yeah, Amity's alright. Also, here's your key back," she said while handing Donna's key to her.
"Thank you, Luz," Donna said as she grabbed her key. "Say, since you are here… would you two like to join my family for breakfast?"
Luz and Eda looked reluctant. "Oh, um… we don't want to intrude…" Luz said.
"Yeah, we should go," Eda said before she felt Donna's hand pulling hers and Luz's.
"I insist!" Donna said as she brought them inside. "Come on, let me introduce you to my moms!"
Luz turned to Eda. "You never told me she had such a strong grip."
"I had no idea either," Eda replied while Donna brought them to meet her mothers.
"Moms! Look who stopped by!" Donna announced as Diana and Gladys noticed them while at the breakfast table.
"Oh, you must be Eda, and her kid." Gladys greeted as she stood up and walked over, offering her hand. "Donna has told us a lot about you! I'm Gladys, and this is my lovely wife, Diana."
"It's an honor to meet you, Ms. Clawthorne," Diana greeted as she came over, Eda shaking each of their hands.
"Yeah, nice to meet you two," Eda replied. "This is Luz, my foster daughter, who's um… going through a lot."
Luz waved awkwardly. "Um, hey… Donna's folks."
"Oh she's as cute as a bug!" Gladys said as she shook Luz's hand. "Ain't she, Diana?"
"She reminds me of Denise's boy with that jacket," Diana mentioned. "Would you like some breakfast? We have rash browns, orange blood, bacon and griffin eggs."
"Rash browns sound good," Luz said while walking up the table. "Would you like some, mom?"
Eda awkwardly turned to Donna and her moms, looking a bit reluctant. "You know, it would be rude not to," she decided.
And so the Clawthornes and the Masterskulls sat at the table together, having breakfast with each other this pleasant morning.
"We do want to say thank you for saving our daughter, Eda," Diana said.
"Hey, it's no problem," Eda responded. "She's a good kid and it's, um, all maternal instincts, really. Comes naturally."
Donna smiled and leaned over to Luz. "Hey, you're mom's great, you know that?"
"Yeah," Luz nodded, while eating the scraffles.
"So… what happened to Amity?" Gladys asked, which caused Eda and Luz to pause. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm just concerned for her after what happened over the weekend…"
"Right now she's no longer on the Isles," Luz explained. "We know some places where she can hide from the heat."
"Which she means that Amity's safe for the time being in someplace the Emperor won't reach her," Eda clarified.
"That is nice to hear, though we also did hear that she's pardoned so that's good news." Diana pointed out.
"Belos may have claimed that, but right now she's still not ready to be back yet," Luz explained. "There are a lot of crazies that we are worried about."
"Well, it would be nice to meet her someday," Gladys said. "Especially since Donna and Emira are becoming friends again."
"So um, how did you girls know Denise?" Eda then asked.
"Oh, we go way way back to our St. Epiderm days," Diana explained. "We were both in the cheer squad together and Denise convinced me and another friend of ours, Marvin, to form a little singing group that we were in before we eventually joined covens. It was a fun time, I think I still have an album we did."
"Whatever happened to Marvin?" Gladys asked.
"Don't you remember, he lives up the Neck now with his husband," Diana reminded her. "You know, I do recall that Denise used to have a crush on Raine Whispers."
Eda's eye widened. "Oh… did she now?"
"I mean, yeah, they were both in the Bard Track before Raine transferred to Hexside. I wonder what happened to them, though," Diana wondered out loud. "Since they still haven't found them…"
"Yeah… we hope that they're okay," Eda replied while trying to not think about Denise stealing Raine from her. "Me and Raine go way back as well, ever since I first met them at the IFWOT."
"Ooh, I'd like to hear that story someday," Donna replied.
"It's an interesting story," Luz mentioned.
Donna then remembered something. "Um, so what's going to happen to the orphanage?" Donna asked Eda, who paused.
"I'm… not sure right now," Eda admitted. "So far, the Emperor's Coven isn't doing anything about the place yet, but I'm sure that we'll work something out… even if it means having a talk with the Emperor's Coven about Amity, which I am not looking forward to. Truthfully, I am not even sure that I am the right person to run it anymore."
"Then… maybe we could help you," Diana offered, surprising Eda. "That place means a lot to Donna and we want it to stay open just as much as you do. Even if we're not in the Bard Coven, we might be able to contribute and we know others who could pitch in."
Eda smiled. "Thanks, I appreciate the offer," she said. She was starting to like Donna's family.
Willow had come out of her room while in her pajamas.
"Wonder why nobody woke me up?" Willow asked as she headed downstairs. "Gus? Dads? Where is everyone? And why is it so dark?" she asked as she flipped the light switch
"Surprise!" Gilbert, Sully, Gus, and Skara shouted, having prepared a birthday breakfast for Willow. "Happy birthday, Willow!"
Willow gasped and smiled. "Oh you guys, this is wonderful!" she shouted as Skara ran up to hug and kiss her.
"We wanted to surprise you with a good birthday morning!" Skara declared. "Nina wanted me to tell you that she wishes you a happy birthday, by the way."
"I'll be sure to tell her thanks," Willow replied while looking around. "Thank you, all of you."
"I know you went through a lot this weekend," Sully said. "But that doesn't mean that you still can't have a happy birthday."
"Yeah, so happy fifteenth, little tulip!" Gilbert said in celebration.
And so, they had a birthday breakfast together while talking about their plans for today.
"Since Hexside isn't open today due to the lockdown having just been lifted, we can just spend all day together," Skara suggested. "Oh, maybe we get the girls together to hit town with them!"
"Yeah, I'd like a girl's day out," Willow replied with a nod.
"There will be a party later today," Sully confirmed. "Is there anything else you'd like to do, Willow?"
Willow thought about it. "Well, I'd like to visit Amity, and maybe I can take you and the girls to meet the friends I've made in the Human Realm, Skara," she suggested.
"Really? That'd be great!" Skara shouted. "I've been wanting to meet them and thank them for saving you!"
Willow smiled while turning to Gus. "And what about you, Gus?"
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, Willow," Gus reassured her. "I'm okay staying back here, since you and Skara deserve some much-needed time together."
"Why not spend the day with us, Gus?" Sully suggested.
"Yeah, I don't think we spend nearly enough time together and we could use a helping hand to get the party for Willow ready," Gilbert added.
Gus nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that."
Back at Gravity Falls in the Enchanted Forest, a group of Amity, Vee, Wendy, and the Gatesfield teens traveled to a tavern with a sign that read 'Gnasty's'.
"Is this the place, Vee?" Masha asked.
"Yeah, this place is popular with the gnomes," Vee replied.
"From what you guys say about the gnomes, I'm not sure if I want to be near one," Clara said.
"Don't worry, me, Vee and Amity got your backs," Wendy reassured them.
Inside the tavern, it was indeed filled with gnomes. "Get me a flagon of your daintiest honeysuckle, please," one gnome asked the bartender.
"I'm gonna need to see some ID," the bartender replied before they heard the door being kicked open by Wendy.
"It's the cops! Hit the deck!" one gnome cried out as he flung himself out the window.
Wendy made her way in along with the rest. "Alright, listen up! I'm lookin' for someone who knows how to take down a unicorn! No tricks or games!"
"We're human and we'll take whatever we want!" Dana declared.
"Yeah!" Rudo added.
"Fairy dust," said one gnome at a tree stump booth. "A whole magic bag's enough to put a unicorn out cold. But if you do want a favor, you gotta do something for me."
Everyone turned to Amity, who shrugged. "I don't know how to make fairy dust. Would pixie dust be an option?"
"Not entirely the same thing," the gnome said. "I want butterflies. Trafficking them is illegal in these parts of the forest, but I like butterflies. They tickle my face and make me laugh. Bring me a bag of butterflies and we got a deal."
Vee and Wendy gave each other nods. "We'll get you the supply," Vee promised.
However, unknown to them, one gnome noticed Amity and recognized her, pulling out a poster from his beard and looking at it. The poster had an image of Amity with Acorn…
As the group began catching butterflies and putting them in jars, Amity spoke with the Gatesfield teens.
"So Dipper mentioned that you and Luz had to deal with this… Green Goblin knockoff?" Gus G. asked.
"Don't remind me," Amity replied while watching Ghost trying to eat a butterfly. "But yeah, we ended up fighting this Grim Goblin that's been terrorizing the Isles. Unfortunately, he got away."
"And you guys have superheroes there?" Dana asked.
"Yeah, the League Of Witches That Helps, or LOWTH for short," Amity mentioned.
"That acronym doesn't exactly roll off the tongue," Gus G. pointed out. "Though from what we heard from Willow and Luz, which includes you fighting the Coachman and a rival school, your life sounds pretty crazy."
"Yeah, and there is your latest adventure with Luz," Clara said. "I'm still shocked that you guys went through both Hell and the Underworld… and that they exist… wait, does that mean Heaven actually exists?"
The teens split up to cover more ground, with Amity and Clara ending up together. "So Clara, um, would you like to tell me about yourself? I mean, you're Luz's god sister and I would like to get to know her god family a bit more."
"Yeah, I was actually hoping to get to know you more as well," Clara admitted. "So what do you like to know?"
"Well… I am curious about your mom, like what she's like and… how she feels about Eda," Amity brought up.
Clara fell silent, looking down at the ground while choosing her words. "Honestly, I don't really know what Eda's history with my mom is. She doesn't like to talk about it, but from what I have been able to figure out… Eda hurt her in the past and that my mom isn't fond of Eda as a result," she said with a saddened expression. "I think it may have something to do with my mom's depression, which affected both her and myself."
"Oh… I'm so sorry," Amity replied, knowing full well what that was like. "How bad was it? Unless you don't want to talk about it."
"It's fine… at its very worst, my mom attempted suicide. There had been a lot of red flags before that point as she became more distant, but I didn't really pay attention to it and nobody else did either. After her attempted suicide, she didn't try to hurt herself again, but she still wasn't much better. She would sometimes go entire days without getting out of bed and I caught her a few times taking pills. The neighbors were not sympathetic and would instead talk about her behind her back… I've thought of several other factors that probably contributed to her depression at the time before I knew of Eda. Like I know that when my uncle Joseph died that deeply affected her and after that Camila died in that car crash and after that was the death of my grandparents, who died when I was young. My mother has lost so many people that she was close to and it's… been hard for both of us," Clara explained. "But I think my mom has realized her depression was negatively affecting me as well and has been trying to make it up to me now, Camila and Luz turning up alive having helped her a lot as well. I have definitely noticed a change in her behavior lately. A good change, though Eda is still a sore spot for her. Whatever Eda did to her… it must be bad."
Amity sighed, debating with herself over whether or not she should tell Clara the truth. Soon she made up her mind. "Well, I do know about Abigail and Eda's past with each other… and how it involved a girl named Angel."
"Aunt Angelica?" Clara asked her. "I know that she is apparently a crazy witch hunter, but I wasn't given a lot of the details."
"What I know is that Eda… killed Angel by accident and your mother became traumatized after witnessing it," Amity explained, which shocked Clara.
"Killed? But that's impossible, unless…" Clara remembered from her aunt's visits that she had a prosthetic arm. "Oh god… does that explain her arm?"
"Please don't hold it against Eda, she isn't proud of what she did," Amity told her. "It happened when they were around our age."
"So like thirty years ago?" Clara asked and Amity nodded. "The Gatesfield Beast… it wasn't a wild animal at all. It was Eda…"
The two girls were silent for a while until Clara managed to capture one butterfly and place it in a jar. She then decided to change the subject. "So um, what are your interests, Amity?"
Amity responded while catching some butterflies. "Well, I have been doing Abominations for most of my life. But what I really like to do is read. I'm basically a bookworm, but my favorite book series has to be the Good Witch Azura series."
"Wow, I didn't take you for an Azura fan," Clara commented. "I thought that would be the type of thing you would be offended by."
"Yes, I know that it's not too popular amongst other witches my age, but the series really resonates with me and I have dived deep into lore, including the movies!" Amity explained. "Oh, and Luz recently got me into the Spider-Man comics of hers, which inspired me to find new uses for my Abomination goo, including using them as webs."
"Oh… um, what are Abominations exactly?" Clara asked her.
"Oh, they are these purple ooze-like monstrosities which we can summon and control," Amity explained. "Though the material they are made of can have other uses as well and my family has an entire line of Abomination products that incorporate more advanced machinery. I… used to have an Abomination, Luz named him Phil." Amity gave a distant look at the mention of Phil.
"Oh, so it's like you guys have your own mechanical engineering course," Clara said. "While we don't have it back at Gatesfield, I know that some high up prep schools have robotics."
"Yeah, something like that," Amity noted. "What about you, Clara? What are your interests?"
"Well, I was a member of the drama club back in Gatesfield. I love theater, especially Shakespeare. Have you ever done theater performances?" Amity asked.
"I'm not into theater that much, I don't like performing for a big crowd," Amity admitted. "Except for when I read to children."
"Oh, that's nice," Clara noted. "Well, I also practice cheerleading. Have you ever done cheerleading?"
"No, though my sister used to cheer while I used to play sports. I was a jock and even had my own letterman jacket," Amity said, which surprised Clara. "The biggest sport in the Isles is grudgeby and I was once captain of the grudgeby team before I stepped down."
"Wow… so it's like football to you guys?" Clara asked. "And girls can play it?"
"Well yeah, we're gender-neutral in both cheerleading and sports," Amity explained. "Doesn't the Human Realm do that?"
"Well we do, but not from where I'm from," Clara said. "This girl I know, Paulina, wanted to try out sports but our school board was pretty sexist about it. The only gender-neutral sport most of us kids can do is soccer, but they cut that budget."
"Seriously? Gods, I didn't know humans were that complicated," Amity replied. "Of course, Luz mentioned about the prejudice around here but I still do find it weird. Of course, things aren't perfect back in the Isles. We live under a dictatorship with a rigid coven system that punishes those who aren't part of it. Lycan witches also suffer from prejudice while Fae like myself are ostracized from society."
"Wow, that sucks," Clara said. "But, uh, how does it feel? Being Fae, I mean."
Amity looked down at her own shadow and sighed. "I… still feel like me. And my friends and family still know that I'm me. And that helps, you know?"
Clara nodded before thinking of another question to ask. "Um… so, um… do you like girls, Amity? I mean, since you're dating Luz," Clara said.
"Yeah, I have a preference for girls," Amity replied. "I am what you would call, a Luzbian." That caused Clara to blink. "You know, like a play on words to Luz and my sexuality as a lesbian…"
"I get that," Clara replied. "But my point is that… I recently came out as a lesbian."
"Really? Congratulations!" Amity shouted.
"Thanks, and, well… I do have a crush on someone among the group," Clara said while rubbing her arm.
"Is it Masha?" Amity asked, causing Clara to blush heavily. "Trust me, as someone who had experience with crushes, I can tell," she whispered.
Clara nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, I've had a crush on her and… um, I was wondering if I could get some advice about it."
"Sure," Amity said with a nod. "I can give you some pointers."
Luz and Eda had gone their separate ways, Luz heading to a tea and coffee brew shop. She met up with Felicia, who was disguised with sunglasses and a cloak.
"Nice look," Luz said as she sat in the booth.
"Shh, keep it down, I'm trying to be incognito. Who knows who's out watching," Felicia whispered while Todd walked over to their table.
"Here's the two drinks you ordered, Felicia," Todd said while noticing Luz. "Oh, are you one of her friends? Luz Clawthorne, right?"
"Yeah, and you're…?" Luz asked the fox biped.
"Name's Todd, I'm a colleague of Felicia's mom," Todd replied. "Um… it's not easy to work with her. But I do help watch her daughter while she's busy."
"Oh… nice to meet you, Todd," Luz replied, shaking his hand. Already she found him nicer than Felicity.
"Todd, can you um, let me and Luz do our business?" Felicia asked him.
"Of course, pardon me. I'm just gonna go over there to get some beetle pie," he said while heading to the counter to order himself one.
"He seems nice," Luz said. "So is that your… dad?"
"Oh no, that's just Todd. He works with my mom and is a family friend, he's a bit of a boy scout. My dad ran out on my mom while she was pregnant and she almost got an abortion before deciding that a cute baby would be good for her ratings," Felicia replied casually, which shocked Luz a little. But Felicia did not dwell on it, instead getting down to business. "So um… how's Amity doing? Is she alright?"
"She's alright, just not around for the time being," Luz confirmed. "And I just want to say thanks for getting the dirt on Cluckington and leaking it."
"No problem, you should thank my usual contact for the tip off and info," Felicia replied, "They're a bit of a crackpot conspiracy theorist, but they know their sources. Of course, they do prefer to be anonymous, so we'll just call them 'Thorax' for now."
"Right, whoever this Thorax is, tell them thanks," Luz said.
"Yeah, though too bad Cluckington's not around anymore, probably on the run," Felicia said while not noticing Luz's grim expression. "I wonder what happened to him?"
"If I were to guess, he's probably down with the Colonel," Luz replied.
"The who?" the fox biped asked.
Luz quickly changed the subject. "So… you got any dirt on Gibson, Arthur and Destiny yet?"
"No, but I do plan on looking into their former employees for any info," Felicia said while looking down in guilt. "Honestly, now with what happened with Amity, I think I want to take down her grandparents a lot more. It's the least I can do for all the trouble I gave her before…"
Luz looked at the fox girl and sighed. "Well, if you really want to make it up to her, maybe you could do a little video series against the old Blights."
"Really?" Felicia asked while Luz pulled up her scroll, showing a video.
"This was taken during the Coven Day parade," Luz said, showing the footage of Alador getting beaten by his own mother. "I recommend playing it on loop, the more people see it, the more they realize what kind of awful people they really are to Alador."
"Yeah, I can do that," Felicia said. "It can start out as a segment, and then a series! True Colors of the Blight Family! What goes on behind Alador's life with his parents!" Felicia declared, forming an idea. "Yeah… that's the side hustle I can use." Then she realized one thing. "Though, no one has seen Odalia after the trial…"
"Yeah, I know," Luz responded. "Lilith hasn't heard from her, neither have Geist or the twins. I hope Dalia's doing okay."
Felicia looked down as she then pulled out something from her cloak. "I hope so too… though, I should show you something that you may need to see. Something that Thorax has found," she said while slipping a file underneath the table for Luz to grab a hold of.
When Luz held up the file, she opened it. As she looked through it, her eyes widened in shock, horror… and disgust.
"Fox… tell me… is this for real?" Luz asked her, her hands shaking. She looked upset. "What… why would they do this?"
Felicia whispered to her. "Everything you see in this file, Luz, is real," she confirmed. "I was horrified about this as well, but it does explain why the larger Isles didn't know about you until the petrification ceremony and why very few of the people you've messed with over the years came after you or your family. The Emperor's Coven… silenced them." She saw the guilt on Luz's face. "Don't blame yourself for this, Luz. There was no way you could have known that this would happen."
"All those people…" Luz looked at the specific names, realizing that their deaths were no accident. "Penlit… Ms. Torigore… the victims of the Boiling Pox incident, though I've actually met one of them earlier."
"If I were to guess, some agreed to stay silent about the incident. But those who didn't…" Felicia swallowed, of all the things she had investigated into, this may be the one that shook her. "I'm sorry, Luz, I really am. But please don't blame yourself over this." She then remembered something and pulled out a card. "There's… one more thing that I should tell you. I was told to relay a message." She slipped the card to Luz. "A friend's dad wants to see you."
Luz looked at the home address of the card, along with the title: 'The Atos Potion Research and Foundation, dedicated by Staggertarius Atos.'
"Staggertarius?" Luz asked in confusion.
"Before Vitimir, he was a former Head for the Potions Coven," Felicia explained. "He was one of the most brilliant minds in his generation, having helped define what we now know as potions magic. But these days, he's reclusive. But his daughter, Sarah, wanted me to tell you that he wishes to see you."
Luz looked at the card, looking confused and skeptical. She then slipped the file and card into her jacket. "Thanks, Fox," she told Felicia before slipping out in silence.
At the Bonesborough Library, Eda wished to meet with the head librarian, getting Gary to lead her.
"He should be out on his lunch break," Gary said as he walked away. Eda saw the two doors she had been led to open, revealing a cloak wearing figure who rode on a large book… Malphas.
"Oh, Eda, surprised to see you," Malphas said as he removed his hood. "Though I should have known you would show up sooner or later."
"Yeah, um, I'm here to speak to you about Amity," Eda said.. "She's safe, if you're curious."
"I hoped that she was, considering what's going on around the Isles," Malphas said with a sigh. "If you see her, let her know she still has a job here if she wants it, especially since I can work around Belos having pardoned her."
Eda nodded. "Thanks, hopefully she doesn't have to give up this place. I know that Faust expelled her, which I'm not surprised by."
"That poor girl," Malphas said sadly. "She's been through a lot this past weekend, I do wish her the best of luck."
Eda looked up at Malphas, deciding to bring up the elephant in the room. "So… and I know it's weird to bring this up now, but… are you really from Hell?"
"I was wondering when you'll bring that up," Malphas admitted. "Yes, I noticed you sneaking around Stolas's manor, for whatever reason or purpose."
"I was with an ex who was helping me save my son and Amity's brother," Eda explained. "He was leading me to Stolas who agreed to help. He told me that the other demons at the mansion were aristocrats… you're a royal?"
"Ah yes, I am a member of the Ars Goetia," Malphas confirmed. "But I do prefer being a humble librarian over being a Hell aristocrat. Truthfully I can't stand that lifestyle and the other Goetia. I find the simple life to be more enjoyable, which is why I came to the Isles in the first place. I only return to Hell when I have to make an appearance, since I still cannot escape my duties…"
"Does Belos know who you are?" Eda asked him.
"I don't think so," Malphas admitted. "Especially since I've been cooped up in the library so much, I doubt I am even on his radar. And the less he knows, the better."
"Then I promise to keep your secret," Eda told him. "Though in exchange, I do have a request to look into some… forbidden books."
At the Clawthorne home, Lilith was having a conversation with someone via crow.
"So you heard back from the Emperor's Coven?" Lilith asked the person on the other end.
"Yeah, I was told by them that they don't need me to come back," Cross said. "Looks like I owe Hunter for helping me out, since now I don't have to deal with Graye again."
"That's good news, Cross," Lilith replied, relieved that Hunter managed to help Cross out.
"Think you can pass the message to Hunter for me? Tell him I said thanks for bailing me out," Cross requested.
"That can be arranged," Lilith said with a nod.
"Also, I would like to say… thanks for keeping my secret," Cross said.
"Oh, if this is about your other half-"
"No, I mean, what we talked about in private, back in Hell… after you realized who my parents were," Cross clarified as Lilith's eyes widened in realization.
"Oh…" Lilith said. "I'm… still confused as to why you didn't tell Eda and Luz about it."
"Because I didn't want to be involved with the Clawthornes," Cross said. "Nothing against you guys, but my family's already been put at enough risk without me being mixed up with your family, their misadventures, and all the attention it brings."
Lilith sighed. " I honestly don't blame you, and I understand. Though I do still think that you should have told Eda and Luz that your mother… is a Clawthorne."
"Maybe I will tell them, at a later date," Cross considered. "But right now I just want the Emperor's Coven off of my back and my family's. I wish you the best of luck, Lilith."
Lilith nodded. "I wish you luck as well," she said as she hung up the crow, letting it fly away.
"I wonder how long that will last?"
Lilith groaned and turned to see Vina's ghost still there. "After all, if you think that Belos and the Emperor's Coven will let him completely off the hook, then you are deluded."
"I know," Lilith admitted. "But hopefully this will buy him some time at the very least. Though since you'll be stuck with me for a while, I would suggest keeping your commentary to a minimum while I figure out a way for me to never have to deal with you ever again."
"You sound too eager to get rid of me," Vina said with a sneer. "And is that contempt in your voice?"
"Well do you blame me?" Lilith retorted. "You molded me after yourself and only now have I come to realize how much of a toxic influence you were…"
"Toxic influence? I was an inspiration for young witchlings like your generation," Vina declared.
"I thought you hated children?" Lilith countered.
"Lilith dear, we have a visitor for you!" Gwen called from downstairs.
Lilith looked confused. "A visitor?" She headed downstairs and found her parents in the living room with a cloaked woman. "Um… I wasn't expecting anyone," she said.
"I know… I'm sorry for coming unannounced, Lilith," the figure said as she removed her hood, revealing herself to be… Odalia.
"Odalia?!" Lilith asked in shock.
"We're… going to give you two some space," Gwen said as she escorted Dell out of the room. "Come on, dear."
"Yes, we'll leave you two be," Dell agreed while they left the room.
The two were silent for a while, since this was their first time seeing each other after the night of the trial.
"Um… hi," Lilith managed to awkwardly say, being unable to look Odalia in the eyes.
"Yes, hi," Odalia said awkwardly as her eyes shifted to the floor. "I am sorry that we weren't able to speak after the trial…"
"Oh no, I get it," Lilith said. "You don't have to-"
"But I do," Odalia interrupted, looking up at Lilith. "You were put in a terrible position because of me and we should have spoken, but instead I just ran away…"
"Oh, is that Odalia?" Vina asked, floating around while Lilith looked bothered. "Titan, she really let herself go. I can't believe that you used to date this woman, Lilith. You gave everything to her, and she broke your heart!" Vina shouted, rubbing salt on the wound. "I told you that you were too sentimental to that cow."
"Shut it," Lilith muttered through her teeth.
"What was that?" Odalia asked her.
"Oh, not you, Odalia, it's just… um…" Lilith said, wondering what to tell Odalia. "Okay, as an oracle, do you know when someone… sees a ghost that only they can see? Cause that's what I'm having right now."
"Oh, that," Odalia understood. "I've read about these cases before. You're not the first one to see spirits only you could see… I've had experience."
"Yeah, more experience than one, you fat bitch," Vina commented while Lilith glared at her.
"To be honest, Lilith, I wasn't sure that you would want to see me again after what happened and I didn't even bother to reach out to you," Odalia admitted. "But I feel like we need to talk."
"I… do think we should," Lilith responded. "For starters, about Amity…"
"I know," Odalia interrupted. "Geist has already filled me in and I'm relieved that she's safe."
"Yes, she's safe," Lilith confirmed. "We thought she would be safer away from the Isles… considering her part-Fae status."
"Yes, I was shocked when I heard about that," Odalia admitted. "But the shock has since worn off and… I just want my daughter to be safe." She gave a look of concern. "And you made the right call… there was no way that she'd be safe here. I don't want to imagine what Belos could do to her if he got the chance…"
"I don't either," Lilith responded. "I know Belos, while he may say he keeps his word, he only does so as long as it is convenient to him."
"At least you are smart enough to know that," Vina said. "The Emperor hates the Fae, so the girl is better off wherever she's hiding."
"There is one thing you should know, Odalia," Lilith mentioned. "Your son's former friends, or false friends, were the ones that drugged us. Edric didn't know up until now, but most of his false friends were taken care of."
"I knew someone must have drugged our food, but to think it was those punks," Odalia said while looking down. "Though I do wonder if me and Alador would have eventually gotten divorced anyway even without their interference…"
"Hey, don't forget it wasn't our fault that we were drugged," Lilith pointed out. "Remember that you wanted to do the right thing and that you didn't want anything to happen between us. Neither of us wanted that affair or that divorce. Trini, a succubus, took our agency away from it. Your children are aware of their actions now, though of course it may be too late for us to save our reputation as far as the rest of the Isles is concerned…"
"I don't care about my reputation," Odalia said while looking up to Lilith. "I'm more worried about losing my family… and losing you too."
Lilith's ears dropped a little at this and her face softened and looked more heartfelt. "I… share that feeling too."
Both of them fell silent for a moment, awkwardly looking at each other.
"Is um… Hunter still around?" Odalia managed to ask.
"No, he went back to the Emperor's Coven," Lilith confirmed, which shocked Odalia.
"What?! Why would he go back to Belos?!" Odalia asked in concern.
"Don't worry, he messaged me and said that he's safe," Lilith reassured her while showing her scroll to her. "He went back to free Boscha's family, get Belos off Amity's back, and other favors."
"Well, it is good to hear me is alright at least," Odalia replied, though she still couldn't help but feel concerned for the poor boy.
"By the way… where did you go after the trial?" Lilith asked her. "No one heard from you over the weekend."
"Well, I was ashamed to let anyone know where I was," Odalia admitted. "I returned to my old childhood home in an attempt to get away from it all and be alone for a while… but then I was nearly killed when it burned down."
"What?! Were you… okay?" Lilith asked her in worry.
"I'm fine, but if not for some good samaritan I would've been burned alive," Odalia said. "I actually enjoyed some unlikely company over the weekend, but…" Her eyes shifted around. "I can't talk about them here… though I do want you to meet them."
"Well, it is a relief that you're alright and I do wish to meet your rescuers," Lilith admitted, but she still looked concerned. "But… do you have a place to stay right now?"
"Currently, I don't," Odalia confirmed while looking down and rubbing her arm. "Right now, I could be… considered homeless."
"Oh, Lia…" Lilith said before Gwen and Dell popped up from their hiding place.
"Why not stay here for the time being?" Gwen suggested.
"Mom? Dad?!" Lilith exclaimed, shocked that they had been listening in.
"Really? But I don't want to bother you," Odalia told them.
"Nonsense, Odalia," Dell responded. "We are more than happy to help you out."
"Lilith you cannot let your parents go through with this," Vina advised. "Your reputation is bad enough as it is, it would look worse if you two were seen in the same house together! Not to mention she will just be a distraction keeping you from helping me find my killer!"
While Lilith felt embarrassed by her parents' suggestion, she looked to Odalia and she realized that she couldn't just leave her in the streets. "I… think we might work something out."
All Vina could do was groan at her apprentice's decision.
Meanwhile in the Dark Arts District, Willow and Skara were hanging out with Viney, Cat, Bo, and Amelia.
"So great to get some time with you girls!" Willow declared.
"Yeah, a girls day out is just what we need," Viney agreed. "Um, sorry that Emira couldn't come since she has a lot to deal with her family…"
"Speaking of, is Amity doing alright?" Amelia asked in concern.
"She's fine, she won't be in the Isles for a while but she's safe," Willow reassured them. "How do you guys… feel about Amity being a Fae?"
"Me and Matt were shocked about it when we watched it from the CB," Bo said while looking down. "And I feel… scared for Amity."
"Yeah, with the anti-Fae propaganda going around, it would obviously be hard for her to stay around here. But It's just not fair for her that she has to be in hiding," Amelia pointed out.
"Yeah, after all the good she's done, the Emperor expects everyone to just forget about it because she's only part-Fae," Skara said while looking down. "I wish she could be with us."
"Hey, Amity wouldn't want us to feel sad about her situation," Cat pointed out. "Right now, it's Willow's birthday. We should try to have some fun, and Willow, you and Skara have those plans later in the day to bring us to see some of your new friends, right?"
"Yeah, and then we can bring Emira and the rest of the gang along," Viney said. "But right now, it's just the six of us and we should make the most of it."
Willow gave a nod. "You're right, Amity would have wanted me to have a good birthday at the very least," she said. "So… where to hit first?"
This was followed by a montage of the girls going out through the district to have fun. Their first hit was at the local arcade, where they played all the games. Cat and Viney competed with each other in a fighting game while Willow and Skara played 'Whack-A-Vole' as they whacked a vole with their mallets, earning tickets. Amelia and Bo cheered them on. After earning enough tickets, Skara and the girls managed to give Willow a prize stuffed sunflower toy.
Next they went to an art class that Cat managed to get them in. The six girls painted portraits of objects, though Willow and Skara just painted portraits of each other. They looked at each other's paintings, Willow having painted Skara with her holding a harp spreading music around and Skara having painted Willow like a spring goddess with butterflies and plants around. The two blushed at each other after seeing each other's paintings.
Next they entered a small racing track where the girls each picked out some beasts to ride on the track. Willow picked out a spider-cat, Skara picked out a large beetle, Cat rode on a large rat worm, Amelia rode a unicorn, Viney chose a snake-headed horse, and Bo rode on a pandapus (a cross between a panda and a platypus). They raced around the track, using item boxes to get items and spells to throw at each other, with one having a red turtle shell that knocked out the other players. Willow managed to get a lightning spell that when performed caused her opponents to shrink down as she passed them and went over the finish line.
After that, the girls decided to go have ice scream. They spotted a clothing shop which they decided to visit after their snack break. In the shop, they tried out different outfits.
Viney tried out an orange shirt with blue overalls with one strap, brown boots and a red scarf. Cat tried out a green witches dress with grove patterns, with black knee-high boots while wearing a tied cloth headband as she sported a peace sign. Amelia wore a gray coat with a white ascot, pink blouse and gray pants while having sunglasses over her head and black boots on her feet. Bo was seen wearing a white jacket over her blue shirt with white bell-bottom pants and black flats. Skara came out in a hot pink jersey jacket with matching sweatpants, a pink leopard-pattern shirt with a leopard pattern headband, and red boots. Finally Willow came out of her dressing room in a green shoulderless shirt with a leafy neck-line, a brown waist belt with a tulip-style dress, and green boots.
Seeing that in her outfit, Skara squeed as she jumped up to hug Willow, seeing how cute she looked, even kissing her as Willow hugged her back.
Next the girls find themselves in the karaoke bar, where Willow and Skara sang together.
"There you see her," Skara sang in her mic. "Sitting there across the way. She don't got a lot to say, but there's something about her… And you don't know why, but you're dying to try, you want to… kiss the girl."
Willow was in the spotlight next to Skara as she sang. "Yes, you want her, look at her, you know you do! It's possible she wants you too! There's one way to ask her, it don't take a word, not a single word, go on and kiss the girl…"
"Kiss the girl!" Viney, Cat, Amelia, and Bo sang in the chorus. "Shalalalala my oh my, looks like the girl's too shy, ain't going to… kiss the girl!" they sang as they danced. "Shalalala ain't that sad, it's such a shame, too bad, you're going to miss the girl!"
"Go on and kiss the girl(kiss the girl)," Cat and Amelia sang from behind Skara.
"Now's my moment, floating in the boiling lagoon," Skara sang. "Oh, I better do it soon, no time will be better!"
She felt a finger to her lips by Willow, who sang. "Just don't say a word, and I won't say a word, if you kiss the girl."
"Kiss the girl!" Viney and Bo sang behind Willow.
The four girl chorus sang. "Shalalalala my oh my, looks like the girl's too shy, ain't going to kiss the girl! Shalalalala, ain't that sad, it's such a shame, too bad, you're going to miss the girl!"
The crowd in the karaoke bar waved their hands as they bopped their heads to the girls singing.
"Now don't be scared, you better be prepared, go on and kiss the girl! Shalalalala don't stop now, don't try to hide it how you want to kiss the girl!(Kiss the girl/oh, oh no!/kiss the girl, kiss the girl!)" they sang while Willow and Skara walked over together as Cat and Amelia pressed their backs together. "Lalalala, lalalala go on and kiss the girl!" Viney and Bo did the same. "Shalalalala my oh my, looks like the girl's too shy, ain't going to kiss the girl!"
"Shalalala ain't I'm glad, that it's not so bad, oh yeah, we're going to kiss the girl!" Willow and Skara sang as the two looked at each other before kissing which caused the crowd to cheer for them.
Back at the Parks, Gus had managed to find one of his human board games.
"Hey, this would be good to pass the time," Gus said, holding up Monopoly. "I wonder if the Parks want to play? I can teach them how." He went to find the Parks, but when he went to their room, he spotted Gilbert holding up a photo while he and Sully talked. "Mr. Parks?"
"Oh, Gus!" Sully said as Gilbert quickly hid the photo behind his back.
"We uh, didn't see you there," Gilbert said.
"Um… I just want to know if you guys are up for a game," Gus said while showing them the board game, though he was curious about the photo Gilbert had hid behind him. "It's called Monopoly, it's from the Human Realm but I can show you two how to play," he offered.
"That… sounds great! We can do that, right Sully?" Gilbert asked.
"Y-Yeah, we can!" Sully replied while Gus noticed Gilbert hiding the photo in the drawer.
"Alright, I'll get my game set up," Gus said as he walked towards the living room, though he still had a suspicious look in his eye.
Back in the Human Realm in the Enchanted Forest, the gang met with their gnome contact. They hid behind the bush while Vee walked up to the gnome with the jar filled with butterflies. Both of them were wearing sunglasses and black coats.
"Here's your butterflies," Vee said as she handed him the jar.
"Two bags of fairy dust, just like we agreed," the gnome said as he produced the bags.
Vee checked the fairy dust, confirming it was real. "Where did you even get this stuff?"
"Everyone likes sausages, but no one likes to know how it's made," the gnome replied while looking at the jar of butterflies.
"You disgust me," Vee told him.
"Hey, you got your poison, and I got mine, so we have a deal," he told her.
"Well then… the deal's off!" Vee declared.
"Freeze! Get down!" shouted a gnome police officer while a squad of gnome officers popped up to arrest the shady gnome. They were armed with pinecones while a deer with a red siren on its head walked over.
"What? No, no wait! I've been framed! Those butterflies ain't mine!" he claimed as he got handcuffed and taken away.
"Tell that to the adorable owl we dressed up as a judge!" the gnome officer declared. He then turned to Vee. "My cut?" he asked, extending his hand. Vee nodded and placed one of the bags in his hand.
"What was that about?" Amity asked as Vee walked back over to them.
"You don't want to know," Vee told them.
Later, the group had managed to find the secret home of the unicorns. Wendy led the gang inside the glade, where they found a unicorn with a faun playing the pan flute.
The rainbow-haired unicorn was seen reading a book as she contemplated something. "Oh sure, sure, I wish I could travel, but it's just not feasible in this economy-" She was interrupted by getting hit by fairy dust to the face. "What the hay?!" she asked before she was knocked out completely.
The faun nervously played the pipes in S.O.S. in morse code, but before he could finish he got chloroformed by Dana from behind. "Shhh, sleep now, sleep now," she shushed the faun until it passed out.
"Okay, that feels way more illegal than I was expecting," Clara said while Wendy and Masha went to the unicorn.
"But at least we're getting that unicorn hair," Gus G replied while seeing Amity writing a note. "What's with the note?"
"It's an apology letter, letting this poor creature know that we're sorry that we knocked her out. Just thought that if we're gonna steal her hair, might as well apologize to her," Amity said.
"Relax, we're just taking a bit of her hair," Masha reassured her as she was about to cut the rainbow hair…
"FREEZE!"
Suddenly they were surrounded by pixies. This caught the gang off guard as they saw armored pixie soldiers flying overhead with nets, dropping one on Amity, Clara and Gus G., trapping them.
"What's going on?!" Wendy asked while pixies riding on beavers showed up with rope. She and Masha tried to fight the flying pixies off but then they got their feet tied up by the beavers. The two fell as Vee, Dana, and Rudo tried to help them, only to get pelted by the squirrels and birds.
"Ah! Why are they attacking?!" Dana exclaimed.
"I don't know!" Rudo said while they fell down.
"Alright! Tie them down!" a pixie captain ordered while the teens got restrained and pinned down to the ground.
"…What the hell just happened?!" Clara asked while restrained. Ghost was shown to be tied up as well.
"I'll tell you what," spoke one pixie as the armored pixies bowed to her. The humans, witch, and basilisk looked up to see descending toward them was a woman with long chestnut hair, pale skin, blue eyes, leafy earrings, a pink short dress with a white cape, purple leggings and pink boots. She held a scepter with a broken acorn. "You are all under arrest on suspicion of the kidnapping of my daughter, Princess Acorn."
Amity's eyes widened. "Wait… Acorn's a Princess?!"
Back in the Demon Realm, Luz flew down to an address in Metropelvis.
"Okay, 445 Marrow Bone Lane is supposed to be around… here," Luz said as she looked up and saw… a regular, two-story yellow house. "Huh, for someone who's a former coven head, I expected bigger."
Luz headed to the door and rang the doorbell as she waited. After a moment, opening the door was someone in a yellow hazmat jumpsuit with a helmet. "Um… hey, I'm here to see Staggertarius," Luz greeted nervously.
The hazmat figure took off the helmet, revealing themselves to be Sarah. "Luz! Sorry to scare you like that, I was working on an experiment. You must've gotten Felicia's message, right?"
Luz nodded. "Yeah… you said your dad wants to see me?"
"Yup, follow me," Sarah said as she led Luz inside her home. Luz looked around, seeing that the inside was more spacier than she expected as they went down a hallway with a lot of doors.
"Is this one of those bigger on the inside kind of homes?" Luz asked.
"Yeah, my dad discovered ways to use optical-dimensional magic. Behind each door is where we store most of our inventions. Some are good, others are a failure," Sarah said as she handed Luz a bag. "Want some gumdrops?"
Luz accepted and grabbed a gumdrop, chewing on it. "Mmm, this tastes like… waffles… and eggs?"
"Yes, my breakfast gumdrops are working… let me see your tongue," Sarah said while Luz stuck out her tongue, which was blue. "Crap, your tongue's blue."
"Blue?! Is it… is it bad?" Luz asked.
"No, it's supposed to be pastel blue, your tongue is midnight blue," Sarah said while making a note. "Breakfast gumdrops, another failure."
"...You're one of those perfectionist scientist-types, aren't you?" Luz asked while noticing yellow blobs on the walls and the floor. "Um… what's with those things?"
"Oh don't worry about them, they're cleaners. Dad made them to help out around the house while we're busy with work," Sarah said while Luz saw one blob eating a dust bunny, which dissolved away. "Well, here we are," Sarah said as she led Luz to a door that she knocked on. "Dad, you have a guest!"
"Is it Vitimir again?"
"No, it's Luz! The human you want to meet!" Sarah told him.
"Right, bring her in!" he told her and Sarah opened the door, leading Luz inside the study of Staggertarius.
Luz looked around, seeing many awards and medals on display along with potion flasks and a photo of Staggertarius shaking hands with Vitimir. Then she noticed a large portrait of Staggertarius, which she stared at. "He reminds me of Albert Einstein."
"Oh, so you have heard of him too?" spoke up a voice that got Luz startled as she turned to see a large brain in a large jar with mechanical eyes looking at her and a voice box connected to it. "Oh, hope you don't mind my appearance. I know it is probably not what you were expecting…"
"Oh… nonono, you're fine! Just… wow, I did not expect to meet someone who is a brain in a jar, which I think is overdue on my part," Luz said.
"My appearance doesn't shock you?" Staggertarius asked.
"I've lived in the Isles all my life and have been through literal Hell. I've seen stranger shit," Luz replied. "So um… you're the previous Potions Head."
"That is right, my young friend!" Staggertarius declared. "I am Staggertarius Atos, the most brilliant genius to have ever graced the Potions Coven! I'm what you would call the Boiling Isles' own Einstein."
"Okay, I have some questions, like how did your brain get so big, and how do you know Einstein?" Luz asked him.
"My brain is so big because of all the knowledge that I have accumulated over the years," he explained. "The more I learn, the more my brain expands! How I'm in a jar is, well, a different story, which does relate to the answer of your second question."
"Which is…?" Luz asked him.
"Your aunt is Lilith, correct?" he asked her and she nodded. "Has she ever told you about a human named… Stanford Pines?"
Luz's eyes widened in realization. "All I know is… they used to date." She couldn't say more, as she was on the fence about this guy.
"Yes, I am familiar with the relationship they've had before. In fact, me and Stanford became good friends during his time in the Isles. I learned a lot of things from him about the Human Realm's own scientific studies like quantum physics, Schrodinger's Cat theory, oh, and I've come to appreciate your realm's finest and most brilliant music!" He played a country song on the speakers.
"Not my first choice in music…" Luz muttered.
"Dad, the thing you asked Luz over for," Sarah reminded him.
"Sorry, my mind was elsewhere," he apologized. "Anyway, what I'm about to tell you is very important. Now, we're aware that you've been asking around for ways to travel to the Human Realm, correct?"
Luz nodded. "Yeah, I've been looking for a way back to the Human Realm for quite some time. Even found a lead to some Titan's Blood but it's all dried up." She noticed him giving a pause, wondering if he had already figured out that she was lying or not.
"Yes, I've realized that due to the changes to the Isles's environment, the Titan's Blood would be dried out over time," he explained. "Even back then, Titan's Blood was scarce. You see, while Lilith was working for the Emperor's Coven, she was assigned to keep watch over Stanford. However, what she didn't know was that the Emperor had Pines work with me on a project to figure out how to travel to the Human Realm. Belos claimed that it was a way to help Stanford to get himself a way home, so we both started formulating and developing ways to travel between realms. Of course, it would require a miracle power source that could replace the Titan's Blood…"
Luz remembered something. "Odalia told me about that, about how there was an energy race in the Boiling Isles. She mentioned that you almost perfected that miracle power source…"
"I did, with help from Stanford," Staggertarius explained. "We called it ATB: Artificial Titan's Blood."
Luz's eyes widened. "Did you just say… artificial Titan's Blood? You were able to create blood?!"
"Belos gave us blood that was not as potent as regular Titan's Blood, but it was potent enough that we were able to reverse engineer it and make something stronger. However, before we could perfect it… Stanford had this scared look in his eyes when he came to me and warned me that Belos had ulterior motives. But alas, I had not taken heed of his warning." The sound of regret in his voice was evident. "I was too determined to finish our work, there was no going back now. After he left, I continued on with my work. Everything was going well at first with the prototype portal. Me, Vitimir, and a team of alchemists managed to build the portal and put it on a test run with the ATB… that's when things went wrong."
He paused for a moment before he continued. "The Titan's Blood worked, but it opened a dimensional rift. I went to stop the portal's activation… but I was exposed to the rift. My body got sick and my condition worsened until I managed to meet up with Witch Rick. He offered to help me… which is how I'm in this state."
"I'm sorry for your predicament, Mr. Atos," Luz apologized. "And I should have known Rick was involved in all of this..."
"Yeah, he's rivaled even my genius," he admitted. "I've retired since then, allowing Weavil Vitimir to become my successor, and the rest is history." He turned to Luz. "I wanted you to know this because I believe that the Emperor's Coven might restart the Titan's Blood Project, and since Vitimir's my successor and new head of Hieron Labs, he could potentially replicate my work, even perfect it! He could use it to help Belos make another portal door."
"Belos has the portal door to the Human Realm, but he doesn't have the key," Luz explained.
"That is not good at all," he replied. "Because if he attempts to activate it, I fear that the consequences will be severe, theoretically catastrophic even! Belos keeps the remaining isotope in the Potions Coven under guard."
Luz gave him a nod. "Thank you for the warning, sir."
"We'll stay in touch," he replied.
There was then a smashing sound that caught Luz's ear. "What was that?" she asked.
"Crap, I think one of them escaped again," Staggertarius said.
Luz was about to ask what he meant, until she saw a tiny person the size of a mouse running out of the hall. "Crap, he got out again!" Sarah shouted as she ran off to chase after the small person dressed like a king.
She threw a ball that opened up, capturing the small man. The little king was sealed inside and he banged in the ball while Sarah walked over and grabbed him.
"Is that… a tiny person in there?" Luz asked after coming out and seeing what Sarah had captured.
"Yeah, a homunculus," Sarah replied, which surprised Luz.
"No way!" Luz said, looking at the small person banging on the sealed ball. "I've read about homunculi research from mom's books. My mom once offered to help teach me how to make one, but we didn't get around to it."
"Want to see our collection?" Sarah offered.
She led Luz to another room, where she showed Luz the many containers of homunculi. Luz was in awe at seeing so many homunculi.
"Me and dad have done some homunculus creation in our spare time," Sarah said while showing Luz around. "Though I hear that the alchemists in the Potions Coven have been hoping to create more advanced artificial beings."
"And less pleasant ones as well, unlike our homunculi," Staggertarius spoke through the crystal ball intercom. "Like the first one up on top, we call her the Queen."
Luz looked at the top of the containers and spotted a miniature woman dressed as a queen, sitting on her throne. She stood up and bowed before sitting on her throne again.
"Charming, don't you think?" he asked.
"And we had to have a king," Sarah replied, inserting the ball to eject the king back into his container. "He's the most troublesome, we have to be very careful around the king because he's so madly in love with the queen." The king ranted at her, so Sarah scolded him. "Hey, hey! Behave!"
"Then we have the Archbishop who tends to watch over the King and Queen, keep them separate," Staggertarius said while the bishop was shown to have fallen asleep. "And there's even this little devil." Luz turned to see a container with a man in a cowl with devil horns. "Shares a resemblance to me, does he?"
"Then there are others, like the ballerina," Sarah said, pointing to the dancing ballerina. "The painter." She pointed to a miniature-sized painter who was painting a portrait of the ballerina. "The shrink and his patient." She pointed at the aforementioned two, the shrink writing down notes while his patient talked about his problems. "And this one… just screams."
"Waaaaaaah!" the screaming little guy shouted.
"These guys are so small, it makes you wonder what they would do if they were bigger," Luz commented.
"A bigger homunculi? Now that's… a peculiar suggestion," Staggertarius said with amusement in his tone.
Meanwhile, Eda had headed over to Scooter Crane's orphanage after having finished with Malphas. She had everyone gathered while the administrators tried to keep the children calm.
"Alright, alright, calm down, kids," Ban said while trying to ease the kids up.
"Calm down? We're about to get evicted!" Beans shouted.
"We're going to live in the streets, are we?" Jak asked.
"But I don't want to live in the streets…" Jesse said in a panic.
"Nobody's getting booted out," Eda reassured the kids. "Look, I know that I'm under suspicion, which isn't even the first time anyway, but I'm not going to let anything happen to you kids. I've already got some people to work on trying to save this place, Donna's family agreed to help out, and they have connections…"
"So how are you going to explain to the Emperor's Coven?" Ms. Hicky pointed out. "You are guilty of harboring a Fae."
"Now, now, Ms. Hicky, I'm sure that Eda will have a good explanation to tell the Emperor's Coven when they show up," Ban reassured her.
"Wait, they're coming?" Eda asked them.
"Yeah, they told us that they'd come over if you decide to drop by," Ban replied as they heard knocking on the door. "Oh, that must be them now."
Eda looked at the door while Ban walked over to answer it. Opening up, they were met with Captain Leonte. "Oh, Captain Leonte, nice to see you again, sir!" Ban said.
"Likewise, Ban," Leonte replied while looking at Eda. "I see that Edalyn is here. Can I speak privately to her?"
"Of course! Come on, Eda," Ban said as he led the captain and Eda to another room to speak in, while the rest looked with worry.
"Hey, what's happening?" Hessica asked after waking up from sleeping on the couch.
"Oh, just that the orphanage may be in trouble," Demi told the sleepy girl.
"Oh… wait, what?!" Hessica asked.
Inside the room where that was used for the orphans to interact with the promising families that wished to adopt them, Eda and Leonte just stared at each other from different ends of the table.
"I'll be outside the door if you need anything," Ban said as he left the two alone, closing the door behind him.
"Edalyn Clawthorne," Leonte started. "I was sent here because of my familiarity with the place. I have respected my Emperor's decision in making you run the orphanage, considering your folk hero status. However, due to recent events involving Amity Goodfellow being revealed as a Fae, you are under suspicion of harboring a Fae. So I'm going to have to ask you some questions for confirmation. Will you at least cooperate?"
Eda narrowed her eye at him. "Yeah, I will. To be honest, I never liked the whole 'hero' status everyone keeps giving me. As if anyone has forgotten all the crimes and mischief I've done over the years."
"Well lucky for you, I haven't forgotten about your… background," he told her while pulling out a clipboard. "Now then… were you aware that Amity was a Fae?"
Eda knew that she had to do this, for the safety of her family and the orphanage. "No, I've only learned about it recently," she lied, which Leonte wrote down.
"Do you know where Amity is right now?" he asked her.
"I don't know where she is," Eda denied. "After the Bonesborough Brawl, she ran away. All I know is that she's just a scared girl that didn't ask for any of this at all… I know what she's feeling right now all too well."
"Like after Lilith and Odalia cursed you?" he asked her, making Eda glare at him.
"I've already made peace about it, despite what that cannibal chicken may have claimed," Eda told him. "Look, is there really not anyone in the Bard Coven, some rich singer or celebrity, who can take up running the orphanage? We both know that I shouldn't even have this role in the first place. Not that I don't like it here, just… is there really not anyone more qualified to be put in charge around here? And does it really have to be someone from Bard?"
"It was the Emperor's decision and we all must respect it," Leonte told her. "To be honest, it's one decision I have never gotten. But if it's the Titan's will, then so be it, even if I don't like you that much."
"Well the feeling's mutual," Eda replied with a suspicious look. "The Masterskulls have offered to help out running the place if something were to happen to me."
"The Masterskulls… I do know that their daughter was a resident here," he said while putting away his clipboard, "Well, that is it for the questions. Thank you for answering and I will make my report. And Eda… please take good care of the orphanage. This place means a lot to me and many others," he said as he made his leave, while Eda was alone with her own thoughts.
Meanwhile, Willow and the girls were still having fun in the Dark Arts District.
"So what do you think we should do next?" Willow asked.
Before anyone replied, Bo noticed a stand surrounded by some of their classmates. "Hey, what's going on over there?"
The girls looked at the small crowd, spotting that up on stage was Batters in a purple cloak.
"Attention, all!" Batters declared to the small crowd. "Last Splatterday has opened my eyes! There are other gods! Not just the Titan himself, but gods like Melinoe who have revealed themselves to us!"
"Oh my Titan…" Cat said with a baffled look.
"Hey, what's going on, Batters?" Skara asked.
"I'll tell you what!" Batters said as he drew an 'M' on his forehead. "I have converted myself to a new religion other than the Titan! I have forsaken the Titan who has failed us all! Belos is old news, so prepare for a new dawn, a new age of… the MELVINS!" he declared while the other witch teens opened up a banner that had the name of 'The Melvins' over it while an effigy of Mel made of paper mache was put on display.
"Yeah, all hail, the chaos qween!" Tinella Rosa declared from the small crowd.
The girls watched with a mix of shock and ridicule. "Is… is he serious?" Viney asked.
"I can't believe that Mel already has a cult," Skara said.
Willow looked uneasy and uncomfortable about this. "This is… not good at all."
"I wouldn't worry much about it," Amelia reassured them. "Small cults like this often get dismissed or shut down. The Emperor's Coven will probably put an end to this by the end of the week."
"I hope so, cause I don't think I'd be able to bear sharing the Isles with a group called the Melvins," Cat said while they walked away, Willow overhearing Batters's gospel.
"It was the goddess Melinoe that exposed the Emperor's Coven's corruption by allowing that phony Emily Tricks to be the Golden Guard!" Batters exclaimed. "What kind of government would allow a criminal like her to be the face of its law enforcement?"
"Yeah, that make sense!/Boo the Emperor/I want to be a Melvin!" the small crowd cheered. Willow still looked uncomfortable, but tried to not let it get to her while walking along with her friends.
At the Parks, Gus and Willow's dads were playing Monopoly together.
"Okay, so this would be enough, um, 'bills' to pay you the rent for my snow-globe store, right?" Gilbert asked while handing Gus the play money.
"Indeed it is," Gus replied.
"I must admit, this is a fun game to play," Sully replied. "Though I'm still unfamiliar with the currency of using paper money instead of snails."
"Yeah, a game that makes no economic sense to us is great, family fun!" Gilbert replied.
"Agreed," Gus said with a nod. "So um, what was the picture you two were looking at when I walked in on you guys?"
Gilbert and Sully both paused, looking hesitant to answer.
"Um… what do you mean? Looking at what?" Gilbert asked nervously.
"I noticed a photo you guys had and… I thought I saw Willow in it…" Gus said.
"Oh it's just… um… one of her baby pictures!" Sully claimed..
"Really? Why would you keep a baby picture of her hidden? You guys have her other pictures up on the wall," Gus pointed out, noticing their nervous looks. "Alright, if you guys won't tell me, then I guess I'll ask Willow." He pulled up his scroll, about to text Willow…
"Wait, Augustus," Sully spoke up, stopping Gus from contacting Willow. "We'll tell you."
"Sully…" Gilbert said but his husband turned to him.
"We… can't hide it any longer," Sully replied, causing Gilbert to silently realize he was right.
"What is this about, Mr. Parks?" Gus asked them.
"It's not just a picture… it's a memory photo," Sully explained. "It happened a long time ago…"
Willow Park was just a young witchling girl in daycare. All of her peers had magic, but not her. Amity wasn't present due to being at home sick, which meant there was nobody to help her against her bullies.
"Hey, half-a-witch!" said one of the mean kids that spotted Willow with a plant. "What have you got there?"
"Oh, this?" Little Willow asked, holding up the potted plant. "It's an umbrella plant, the schefflera arboricola, something I want to show for the class-" But then her plant was snatched away from her. "Hey!" she cried while being pushed down.
"Aw, aren't you gonna cry?" asked the mean kid while holding the discarded plant. "How about you use your tears to water your plant, Half-A-Witch Willow!" he said while the rest of the kids laughed. He then proceeded to cruelly destroy the plant right in front of her. Willow tried to stop him, but the mean kid's friends kept her back, forcing her to watch her plant being destroyed. "Oops, nevermind."
Willow was distraught, shutting her eyes while she shed tears. But when she opened her eyes again… they were glowing green.
"When they called us to tell us what happened, we hurried up down there to pick her up," Gilbert said. "But when we got there…"
Gilbert and Sully rode down on their Palismen as they saw the other parents consulting with their children outside. The teacher walked up to them.
"Thank Titan you're here!" she said, looking distraught.
"Willow? Where's our Willow?!" Gilbert asked her.
"She's… she's in there…" the teacher said, pointing to the building.
The Parks went inside, spotting large vines having grown out from the ground. Willow was seen in the middle of the room, her body shaking as her eyes were glowing green.
"Willow? Willow, we're here!" Sully said while he and Gilbert made their way through the vines.
Willow turned to her dads, her eyes still glowing green. "D-Dad? P-Papa?" she asked while still shaking and crying. "My powers are… I can't stop!"
"We knew that we had to do something for her, so we took her to an oracle institute that could help her."
Willow was in her room at the Institute. Despite her best efforts, plants and vines still kept growing around her. Willow's eyes continued to glow green.
"I… I can't turn them off!" Willow cried out as she gripped her head. "Please, turn it off!"
The oracles who were watching this quickly wrote down some notes. Later they confronted the Parks, one of the oracles speaking to them. "A witch's powers are connected to their emotions. But we have never seen anything like this before, especially with a child so young…"
"But we can help her," another added. "However, this whole experience has been incredibly traumatic for her and could negatively affect her development as a witch. So it is in her best interests, with your permission of course, that once we manage to turn off her powers, we make it so that she doesn't… remember this. Do you two understand?"
Gilbert and Sully looked at each other, knowing that this may be for their daughter's own good. Gilbert nodded while Sully turned to the oracles. "You… have our permission."
"We didn't want to do it… but we were worried that her development would be stunted otherwise. Then Alador showed up once we had brought Willow home…"
At the Park household, Alador knocked on the door. Sully opened the door and saw him. "Alador, what a surprise to see you here!"
"Um, yes. I've heard about what happened," Alador said. "How's Willow doing?"
"She's calmed down and… she'll get better," Sully said while looking nervous. "The oracles removed her memories of the incident though."
"That's good. I can help with the damage control, and have the whole incident covered up as a Boiling Isles environmental disaster," Alador offered.
"Really? That's great!" Sully said as he shook Alador's hand. "How can we repay you, old friend?"
Alador gave a concerned look. "Well, there's no need for repayment. But I do recommend you have Willow focus her magic elsewhere. Plant magic may be too dangerous for her, at least until she gets a better hang of her abilities. For now, I can recommend Abominations."
"Yeah, I think we may have to think about it," Sully said while noticing Alador's concern. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, it's just… I'm concerned about my daughter hanging out with Willow after the incident," Alador admitted. "I… I worried what could have happened if she wasn't sick that day…"
"Hey, you don't have to worry about it, Al," Sully said. "Me and Gilbert will be sure that there are no incidents like that ever again."
"I… hope so," Alador said. "I hope your daughter gets better," he added before he left.
"This was before the birthday party when Amity was forced to end things with Willow," Sully said while looking down in guilt. "Of course, at the time we didn't realize that it was Amity's parents who forced her to end her friendship with our daughter. Now that we know the full story, I think I understand Alador's reasons for going along with his wife, though it is still inexcusable what he and Odalia did."
"After the incident, we took Willow to counseling to help her handle her emotions," Gilbert mentioned. "We then placed her in the Abominations Track so that she could hopefully focus her energy elsewhere and not have another… incident again. But then the haunted Abominations Track incident happened and Bump had Willow switch over to Plant Track. While we did have a long discussion with Bump over whether or not she was ready for the Plant Track, we ultimately agreed with Bump because it made Willow happy."
"I hope you understand this, Gus. And we are planning on telling her the truth soon," Sully said while Gus gave a shocked look.
"So then… all this time, you guys had Willow's memories erased of the incident and you haven't told her this up until now?" Gus questioned.
"We will eventually, Gus," Gilbert said to him. "Please, just… promise not to mention any of this to her."
"Don't worry, I won't tell her," Gus reassured them before he gave a serious look. "As long as you tell her. Not on her birthday, after her birthday. She deserves to know the truth."
The two fathers looked at each other, then at Gus. "We will," Gilbert replied while Sully nodded.
Back with Amity, Vee, Wendy, and Gatesfield teens, they were still currently under custody of the pixies.
"So you can understand what I say, witch?" the pixie queen asked Amity. "Are you part-Fae by any chance?"
"Actually, yes ma'am," Amity replied. "Only recently, but I can translate for you to my friends."
"What's she on about, Amity?" Wendy asked her.
"She mentioned that Acorn's a princess," Amity replied while turning to the queen. "Look, this may be a little misunderstanding," she tried to explain. "I did not kidnap your daughter and we had no idea that your daughter was a princess! She never told us and I just assumed she was a simple pixie folk."
"A simple pixie folk?!" the queen snarled at her, holding her scepter against Amity. "My daughter is a royal princess of the Noble Fir Tribe!"
"What is she saying now?" Masha asked.
"Apparently, Acorn's the heir to a… Fur Tribe?" Amity asked in confusion.
"No, Noble Fir Tribe, a Noble Fir is a kind of tree here in this state of Oregon, the 'noble' part is in the name, not an adjective, and the Fir is with an 'I' replacing the 'u'… but that's not the point!" the pixie declared. "I, Queen Juniper of the Noble Fir Tribe, demand that you humans, fae-witch, and basilisk tell me where my daughter is or you will be judged harshly!"
"And now she is threatening to judge us harshly," Amity translated while turning to the queen. "Please, ma'am. If I send my shadow to go find Acorn for you, will you let us go?"
Juniper looked at Amity for a moment before nodding. "Fine, tell your shadow to get my daughter."
Amity turned to Sam. "Sam, I need you to get Acorn. She should still be back at the house."
"On it," Sam replied as she flew off to retrieve Acorn.
Amity turned back to Juniper. "So um… you're Acorn's mom. I… don't think she mentioned you when she came to the Demon Realm with me."
"She went to a Demon Realm?!" Juniper exclaimed. "Is that where you've taken her?!"
"Nobody took your daughter, she came with me willingly," Amity reassured her. "In fact, after meeting you, I think your daughter may be a runaway."
"A… runaway?!" Juniper narrowed her eyes, looking angry. "So then… all this worrying over her safety, all because she decided to just… run away?! Of all the gamboling… the childish thought of… skylarking… this is the worst FUCKING thing she did to me!" She immediately covered her mouth. "Oh dear, I shouldn't have sworn."
"Even if we don't understand her, I can tell she swore," Gus G. said while Dana and Masha snickered.
"I can see where Acorn has her sailor mouth from." Amity said while turning back to Juniper. "So… what kind of royalty is Acorn from anyway? There's a lot I apparently didn't know about her."
"The Noble Fir Tribe resides in the Noble Fir forest," Juniper explained. "We usually try to avoid Gravity Falls because of its own brand of magic and weirdness. We are fall pixies that are part of a noble pixie clan and Acorn is part of a royal family… and my only child."
"Oh… your only child?" Amity asked her. "Is there a king?"
"Her father is… absent," Juniper said, sighing. "But I don't understand why she would run away. I've been trying to make her understand that what we do is important, especially when the season is about to change. I did everything for her, from getting new friends from the other royal families, putting her in the best pixie school, making sure that she focused on her studies…"
As Amity listened to Juniper ramble, she couldn't help but notice how familiar it sounded, realizing that her and Acorn's lives were actually similar. "Have you tried to… talk to your daughter about this?"
"I…" Juniper answered. "It's actually hard to talk to Acorn…"
Sometime later, Juniper was laying down on a large leaf while a freed Amity listened to her vent.
"I just try to do what any mother would do for their child," Juniper was saying. "Give them a good education, have them learn how to fly, and how to help the critters in the forest. Am… am I pushing her too hard? Is that why she ran away? Is… is it my fault that she couldn't come to me to talk about her problems?!" Juniper teared up, crying while Amity handed her a tissue, which the pixie queen took a piece out of to blow her nose.
"I'm sure that you're only trying to do your best for her," Amity reassured her. "But perhaps you haven't communicated that clearly to her.."
She sniffed. "You're right, the moment I see my daughter, I'm going to talk things through with her!" she said while shaking Amity's finger. "Thank you for listening, Ms. Goodfellow."
"It's no problem, ma'am," Amity replied, while seeing Sam showing up… with Acorn. "And there she is now."
Acorn flew along with Sam. "I came as fast as I could-" Acorn then saw who was talking with Amity. "M...Mom?!" She tensed up, seeing her mom fly up to her.
"Acorn!" Juniper flew up to give Acorn a hug. "Oh my little caterpillar, I'm so glad that you're alright!" She let go of Acorn, her expression becoming more stern. "Where the hell have you been, young lady?! And what's this I hear about you running away to another realm?!"
"I was being safe most of the time, mom, okay?" Acorn argued. "Fuck, of course you'd be pissed about me."
"Oh watch your language, young lady! Cause you are in so much trouble!" Juniper pointed out.
"I'm old enough to say whatever the fuck I want, mom!" Acorn shouted back.
"Stop saying that!"
"Shit, piss, fuck, c-"
"STOP SAYING THOSE FUCKING WORDS!"
Amity groaned as she watched the two pixies cursing out to each other
"So… is everything settled?" Clara asked.
Amity shook her head. "And I thought Luz had a swearing problem," she said while hearing them shout their colorful language to each other.
"Yeah, it's not every day you hear the pixies swear like that," the unicorn comments, having woken up from being knocked out. "Say, who are you people?"
Masha hid the piece of unicorn hair behind her. "Uh… tourists?" she answered nervously.
Luz flew over a dark home, where she knocked on the door. Snope's Abomination answered the door, spotting Luz.
"I'm here to see Professor Snope," Luz explained. "Um… is he awake?"
The Abomination led Luz inside the home. Luz noticed how messy it looked, especially with a lot of mail laying around. She then saw Snope, who seemed to have just woken up and was drinking coffee brew.
"Luz?" he asked with a drowsy look. "I don't get many visitors… how is Amity?"
"She's fine, sir," Luz responded. "She's somewhere safe from Belos."
"That is good news," Snope said while he gave a tired sigh. "I heard that Faust expelled her… but hopefully Bump can overturn her expulsion when he gets back… though, with Belos's anti-Fae laws getting in the way…"
"I know about that, but we can worry about it another day," Luz responded. "I'm actually here to get information about the Inner Demon… I plan to put a stop to him once and for all."
Snope's eyes widened and he stood up. "Absolutely not! Luz, you cannot face him. It is too dangerous."
"But I have to!" Luz pointed out. "Look, I've made this deal with this loa, the Baron, who has my aunt's soul. If I claim the Inner Demon's soul for the Baron, then he lets go of Lilith's debt."
"While I get your reasons, I still recommend going against it," Snope told Luz.
"But Snope-"
"You're just a kid, Luz," he told her. "And as a teacher, it's my responsibility to keep you safe from harm. I know full well from experience on how poorly fighting the Inner Demon can go for kids!"
"But I can't back down now," Luz said with a determined look. "I'm doing this not just to save my aunt, but also because of everything that bastard has done to my friends!"
Snope looked down at Luz, wanting to say something but unable to find the words. Eventually, he sat back on his couch with a sigh. "You… really are stubborn about this?" he asked and Luz nodded. "You remind me of Goggles."
"Goggles?" Luz asked.
"An old friend of mine back when I was around your age," he told her. "She was the leader of our little gang of misfits. We attempted to put an end to the Inner Demon, but… I was the only survivor."
Luz was shocked to hear about this. "Damn… I'm sorry, Professor."
"No worries," Snope responded while his Abomination patted his back. "Just that… guess we both know what it's like for that monster to hurt the people we care about."
Luz looked down and sighed as she went to sit beside Snope. "Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing. Like, how does the Baron expect me to claim the Inner Demon's soul? This is why I came to you for any pointers."
Snope thought about it. "Well, I did have a plan to stop him. That plan was to remove the Inner Demon from the mindscape. The mindscape is where he has power; if you pull him out of the mindscape and into the physical plane, he has no power against us."
"Huh, that kinda reminds me of Nightmare on Elm Street," Luz commented. "So that means he's at a complete disadvantage!"
"There is a problem though," Snope added. "The Inner Demon is a coward who always flees whenever he gets hurt or has lost control of a situation. So getting him in a position where he can be pulled from the mindscape won't be easy."
"It never is," Luz replied with a sigh. "So the plot thickens… I may have to find alternative resources to deal with a dream demon. Though maybe we can still help each other."
Snope nodded. "Honestly, I have been trying to fight this battle on my own for so long… it might be nice to have some help."
Back at the orphanage, Eda was telling the kids stories about her years in the Human Realm.
"So yeah, humans know how to travel through space," Eda said, which wowed the kids. "They have managed to build rockets that they use to go up to their moon."
"You can go to the moon?!" Beans exclaimed. "Wow, humans sure know how to use their magic!"
"Yeah, I'm also curious if I could go to the moon someday," said one boy with curly red hair, glasses, blue eyes, and a yellow shirt with black sweatpants and boots.
"Dream big, Sockrates," Eda encouraged. "Maybe you'll be the first witch to create a space coven."
"A space coven… yeah," Sockrates said thoughtfully.
"Hey, Eda!" Ban jumped in. "I apologize for interrupting your time with the kids, but there's someone who wishes to see you."
Eda groaned. "Ugh, is it another one of the scouts? Tell them that I-" She paused when she saw someone coming in. "Oh… you're here."
"Hello, Eda," Julia Traveler said to her. "I thought I would stop by to check up on you."
"And… you didn't see if I was at the Owl House…?" Eda asked.
"Oh, I knew you'd be here," Julia said.
Eda narrowed her eyes at Julia in suspicion as she got up. "Ban, watch the kids. I wish to speak with Julia alone," she told him while walking down the hall with Julia following her.
"What was that about?" Jak asked.
"I don't know, but she seems like a nice lady," Ban replied. "She even gave me a card I can use to call her in case I ever want to talk about the issues I have… do I have issues?" he asked them.
"You've just realized that now?" Ms. Hicky asked him dryly.
In another room, Julia sat down while Eda put a lamp in her face.
"Alright, Julieanna Travelatlanta, if that's your real name," Eda interrogated Julia. "When you first showed up during Hexside's new semester, I thought you were some regular but really intimidating witch who liked helping people. But now, it's come to my attention that there's something weird about you. Not the kind of good weird, but the weird that is like… something off about you," she said while Julia kept her face neutral. "So don't give me some second hand fibs, cause one: Lily mentioned how you helped scare off the Inner Demon, and two: I've seen someone in Hell like you who has the same umbrella as you… a woman named Rosie who saved Willow and Gus," she pointed out. "Then you appeared to have stopped the fox teacher of Luz's sister from taking Kay… just what are you?"
Julia looked up at Eda. "I am a counselor with a responsibility to Hexside and its students. That is the role I play."
"The role you play, right," Eda scoffed. "I've seen a lot of crap over the years. I've been through Hell, met some demons, met gods and, well, I know a dragon family. Are you some kind of… deity of some sort? Don't try to deny it, alright? I'm not gonna snitch on you to the Emperor's Coven."
Seeing Eda's frustrated look, Julia sighed. "Well, I know you deserve some answers, but… I can't tell you."
"Can't tell me… and why is that?" Eda asked her.
"I can't tell you or the others who I really am because that would make my role as guidance counselor more difficult," Julia responded. "It is important that they see me as just a counselor that they can trust and talk to. If they knew anymore, it would jeopardize that."
Eda scoffed. "Really? Make your job difficult?" Eda asked while walking back and forth. "Honestly, where were you when I needed you?!"
"Eda, calm down…" Julia advised.
"Calm down?! Do you know what the fuck I had to go through? I wish I had met you when I was cursed for thirty years… but only now have you showed up out of nowhere."
"I'm not the only therapist you could have gone to, Eda, both here and in the Human Realm," Julia pointed out. "There is a reason why you didn't get help then, but I am still terribly sorry for all you've been through over the years."
"That-that's fine," Eda responded. "But… one thing I don't get is… why? Why didn't you just go with us to the Underworld or help us out against Mel?" Eda asked her.
"I could ensure that you made it to the Underworld safely, but no more than that. I am limited in how much I can interfere by the roles that I play. If I interfere too much, it would deny you your chance of being able to grow and develop and reach your full potential," Julia responded.
"So being traumatized a lot helps build character for not just me, but for the kids?" Eda asked her. "For Titan's sake, Luz is going through a rough time right now, with Amity gone and having to bear the burden of taking down the Inner Demon… I do not want Luz to end up like me." Eda covered her mouth before she sat down with a sigh. "But now it looks like Amity's the one following my footsteps…"
"Is that what you fear?" Julia asked her. "Do you… fear that Amity or Luz would become like you?"
"No, I… Amity is too kind but thank Titan she has some people that can watch over her, though I still can't help but worry about her safety," Eda responded. "Luz on the other hand… I've been afraid that because of the way I've raised her, she'll turn up like me. And now just like me, she's going to live with the fact that she's taken a life…" She looked down. "I've hurt a lot of people. Emily, Angel, Abigail…"
"Abigail… what can you tell me about her?" Julia asked.
Eda sighed. "Well, I really hadn't given her a second thought for decades, just because she was from a witch hunting family. I didn't realize how much I've impacted her life since… Angel's death. Even after I learned she was Luz's godmother, I was actually terrified of her, but then when I met her again… she was different from the girl I knew a long time ago." Eda then had a thought. "Now I wonder if I made the right choice when I took Luz in, especially since she did have family that could have taken care of her instead… Abigail should have been the one to raise Luz after Camila's death." She became more guilt-ridden. "I… I kidnapped Luz from a family that would have loved and cared for her, keeping her for myself instead. And because of me, Abigail had no idea that Luz was alive…"
"Eda, you should know that Luz clearly doesn't resent you for the life that you were able to give her," Julia pointed out. "And I should point out that you did not know that Abigail was Luz's godmother, so it wasn't like you took Luz just to spite her."
"Well… maybe Abigail could have given Luz a safer life," Eda pointed out. "A life with no slayground incident, no Belos, no Glandus war…"
"But do you think Luz would have a happier life with Abigail?" Julia asked her. "Do you think your life would have been happier if Luz had been raised by Abigail? What about Amity? Or Willow? Or Gus? Or what about the countless other lives that Luz has touched during her time in the Isles? Rather than wonder if you made the right choice, you should wonder how you could do right by Luz now and how you could make it up to Abigail now."
Eda remembered her talk with Luz last night. "Well, Luz does want to spend some time living with Camila and Abigail in the Human Realm after she finishes with some stuff here, which I do believe is a good idea," she admitted. "Though, I don't know how to make peace with Abigail, especially since the last time I tried talking to her, she gave me a punch out to the face."
"Still try," Julia encouraged. "You both care about Luz, and if you both want to continue to have a relationship with her, it's important for you two to work through the issues that you have with each other. If you want my suggestion, maybe Camila can help you reach out to Abigail."
Eda gave a nod. "Yeah… yeah, I can ask Camila-" Then Eda realized something and she turned to Julia. "Wait a minute… did you get me from interrogating you to venting my issues to you?"
Julia tilted her head up with a smile. "That is what I'm here for."
Back in Gravity Falls, Amity was trying to settle things between Acorn and her mom, Juniper. Firstly, she tried to talk to Acorn about her actions.
"Acorn, I don't know where to begin," Amity scolded her. "Running away from home just to live with a cool witch family instead? This is not how you handle your problems!"
"I'm sorry, alright?" Acorn responded. "I just… I'm just sick and tired of all the rules and learning how to be a proper princess like my mom wants me to be. Which I'm not! I want to be free, be like the other famous pixies like Tinker Bell! Don't you know what it's like to want to be free from that whole royal status life?"
"I do, Acorn," Amity responded. "But what I've also learned is how damaging it is to just run away from the problems you had at home, rather than talk things out with your family. I feel very strongly about this, because the last thing I want is to be responsible for ruining another family just like I did with mine," she admitted, causing Acorn to realize what Amity meant as she looked down in shame. Amity then turned to Juniper. "Queen Juniper, I get why she ran away, but it doesn't excuse her for doing it. Though arguing about it and just scolding her instead of actually talking to her won't help."
Queen Juniper looked to her daughter, who just crossed her arms while looking down. "Acorn," Juniper started, reaching out to touch Acorn's shoulder. "We need to talk and I promise that I will listen to what you have to say."
The others watched as the two pixies talked. "What do you think they're saying?" Wendy asked.
"Beats me, all I hear are jingling noises," Vee responded.
"Well at least they're not fighting and swearing at each other," Gus G responded.
Eventually, the two pixies hugged each other.
"Hey, it looks like they're hugging it out," Clara said.
Acorn then flew over to hug Amity's hand. "Thank you, Amity! I think me and mom are going to be okay!"
"Really, that's great!" Amity replied. "So have you two figured out a compromise?"
"Yeah, she said that I can continue hanging out with you as your companion," she replied. "She said that I could use some time away from the palace tree and that traveling with you would be a learning experience! But I also have to send letters to my mom every week about what I've learned and experienced." She then paused briefly, looking up at Amity sadly. "And… I'm sorry for lying to you, Amity, about who I really am. I should've been honest. Could you ever forgive me?"
"Well… you're forgiven," Amity told her. "I'm just glad that you had a chance to settle things with your mom."
Juniper flew up to Amity. "Thank you for your help. How can I repay you, Amity the Fae-Witch?"
"Well, just call me Amity Goodfellow, and… can you let my friends go?" Amity asked, pointing to her still tied up friends.
"Oh, right," Juniper said. She turned to her guards. "You can let them go now."
The pixies proceeded to release Wendy, Vee, and the Gatesfield teens from their bonds.
"Finally, we're free!" Dana declared.
"Yeah, freedom!" Rudo replied.
"So what were you kids doing in the Enchanted Forest in the first place? Especially in unicorn territory?" Juniper asked them.
"Yeah, why are you all here and… why is my faun friend sleeping over there?" the unicorn asked, pointing at the knocked out faun.
"Oh… well… you see…" Gus G awkwardly tried to explain.
"It's for a good cause…" Clara pointed out.
"Yeah, like taking your hair to create a magical force field," Rudo admitted.
"Oh crap…" Clara slapped her own forehead at this while the unicorn looked shocked.
"Nay?! You took my hair?!" she nayed in shock. "I-I-Ah-Ah-Ah, you goat herders! All of you, bad children! You could've just asked… then again, I wouldn't have given you my hair even if you had asked!" She then lifted her head up in a pout. "Like, whatever!" she said as she walked away.
"You weren't kidding about the unicorns being frustrating," Wendy told Vee, who nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, back in the Demon Realm, Luz had met up with the Shadowy Secret Expozers in the back room of Vanessa Pierce's shop.
"So Amity is alright?" Cindy asked Luz.
"Don't worry, she's safe and sound," Luz replied. "She's no longer in the Isles and is somewhere Belos can't get to her, so you can rest easy."
Eve gave a smile. "I think I got a good idea where she is."
"Man, the system is whack," Korn said. "Amity shouldn't have to leave for what she is now."
"He's right," Linkin said. "Even if Amity comes back, there's no guarantee that the Emperor would keep his word despite all the good she's done…"
"The situation's difficult as it is," Sioux said. "But we want to help out as much as we can. We're all involved in this now."
Luz nodded in agreement. "Besides keeping you updated on Amity, the other reason why I'm here is if you guys got anything on Gibson Oscorne."
"Well, thanks to the stash on the original SSE that he kept in secret, we know that he's hiding something about them," Linkin brought up.
Eve looked down. "I've known the Oscornes all my life, but now I feel like I never really knew them at all. And I am still worried about Teri. We haven't heard from him and… I do fear what the Grim Goblin could have him do."
"Don't worry, Eve, we'll find him," Vanessa Pierce said while walking in. She turned to Luz. "By the way, Luz Clawthorne, I want to thank you and your friends for bringing in all of the stuff Gibson had on the original SSE."
"It's no problem, Ms. Pierce," Luz said with a nod. "Oh, and can I get an autograph for a friend? It's her birthday and she is a big fan of the movies."
"Of course," Vanessa responded with a smile.
"Great! Uh, by the way, how did you meet the new SSE?" Luz asked her.
"They helped me solve a case, and since then we've kept in touch," Vanessa responded while autographing a photo and handing it to Luz. "Sometimes they come to me when they need help. Like when they wanted to know more about the symbol on your brother King Clawthorne's collar."
Luz's eyes widened. "His collar?"
"We came to her to talk about the symbol after seeing it on that Penstagram video King made," Blondie explained.
"We all thought that she may have known something about it," Cyndi mentioned.
"Yeah, given her experience with solving mysteries around the Isles," Patty commented.
"And I actually have seen symbols like that before, back when I was part of the original Shadowy Secret Exposers," Vanessa explained. "I even have an artifact with markings similar to the ones on the collar."
"Artifact? Can I see it?" Luz asked, her curiosity piqued..
"Absolutely not," Vanessa immediately refused, surprising Luz. "I am sorry, but I promised to never let anyone else see it. The risk is too great…"
"Uh, okay, I get it," Luz replied. "Though if you really have seen symbols like it before, I can offer to bring King's collar over if you let me check what was found at Gibson's."
Vanessa nodded. "That works," she said while leading Luz to the chest of the stuff that was found at Gibson's.
A bit later, Eda flew over to the Park home and landed outside, where she found Luz waiting for her.
"So, how was your errand run?" Eda asked her.
"Made a few stops and talked to some people, old and new," Luz responded. "But that and anything else can wait. I think right now we should just enjoy Willow's party."
"Yeah, we should. Got her a new shirt. What about you?" Eda asked while holding her present.
"An autograph from Vanessa Pierce," Luz responded.
"Crap, you upstaged me on the gifts again," Eda pouted.
"Come on, let's go in," Luz replied while knocking on the door. Opening it was Willow.
"Guys! You made it!" she shouted while hugging them both. "Come in," she said as she led the two inside and to where the other guests were. The other guests consisted of Gus, Skara, Amelia, Cat, Bo, Viney, Jerbo, Barcus, Edric, Emira, Eileen, Matt, and Elliot.
"I am sorry that I couldn't spend the whole day with you, Willow," Luz apologized.
"Don't worry about it, Luz," Willow told her. "I know that you had other stuff to do. And you're here now."
Luz smiled and handed Willow a frame. "Here, got you something."
Willow gasped. "Is that…?!" she asked while holding up a signed picture of Vanessa Pierce.
'Have a frightastic birthday, Willow Park -Vanessa Pierce.'
"Oh thank you, Luz!" Willow shouted as she hugged her, Luz hugging her back. "This is a great gift!"
"Hey, anything for you, Will-o-Wisp," Luz replied with a smile, glad that Willow liked her gift.
"And here's your gift as well," Eda said as she handed her a box and pulled another box from her hair. "King made you one as well, he couldn't make it since he's still taking care of the squirrel he has and he is helping Camila watch Kay."
"I understand, tell him thanks," Willow responded as she went to put the box on a table with the rest, which included a present marked 'From Hunter'.
"Well, I'm going to do some meet and greet with the parents, you kids have some fun," Eda said while meeting up with the parents who were in the other room.
As Eda left, Luz turned to Willow. "So you got everyone ready for the… visit?"
"Yup," Willow said with a nod. "Though don't forget to say hi to our other friends, since you haven't spoken to them since we've gotten back."
Luz nodded and walked around the room while Willow went over to Gus and Skara.
"Luz! You've made it," Bo called out while chatting with Matt, Eileen, and Elliot.
"Yeah. Hey, guys," Luz replied. "Glad you guys came."
'How are you feeling?' Elieen asked through her marker board.
"Yeah, with the whole Amity being a Fae thing," Elliot said.
"I'm doing okay," Luz responded. "Especially since I know that Amity is safe out of Belos's reach. It's hard that she had to leave, but it was necessary." She looked at Bo and Matt, who gave her secretive nods. "Anyway, how is the party?"
"Great music, great food, great company," Matt responded. "What's not to like?"
"How was your day, Luz?" Bo asked her.
"Oh you know, I had to run a few errands, clear some stuff, get info… after running around the Isles all day, being here was what this girl needed," Luz said. After she finished catching up with the members of the Human Appreciation Society, she spotted the Blight twins. "Yo, Ed and Em!"
"Hey Luz!" Emira waved while she and Ed were hanging out with Viney, Jerbo and Barcus. "Glad you could be here. We barely managed to escape from the media."
"We had to disguise ourselves," Edric said.
"Well at least you guys are here," Luz said.
"How is Amity, by the way?" Jerbo asked.
"Don't worry, she's safe from Belos," Luz reassured him.
"Ruff(Emira has already filled us in about her whereabouts)," Barcus mentioned.
"As long as she's alright, we can rest easy," Viney said.
"You haven't suffered any from the media coven hounding your house, right?" Emira asked.
"No. Hell, the scouts camped out around our perimeter are nice enough to help keep those media vultures away from the house," Luz mentioned.
Emira then whispered to Luz. "Hey, um, we are still up for seeing Amity in the um… thing?"
Luz nodded. "Yeah, we're planning on it after the party," Luz said.
"Hey girl!" Cat waved to Luz as she and Amelia walked over after Luz finished talking with the Blight twins. "You're here!"
"Yeah, we knew you wouldn't miss this out," Amelia replied as they hugged Luz.
"Of course," Luz said while hugging them back. "So how are you guys doing?"
"Well, we're fine. Though we're worried for Amity right now," Amelia admitted.
"Yeah, Faust expelling her is so wrong," Cat said. "Like, we're not gonna stand for this. Our folks right now are going to do everything they can to get Amity reinstated and make a case for her by pointing out all the good she's done."
"And with Principal Bump continuing with his recovery, soon we can say goodbye to Faust," Amelia added.
Luz smiled. "Thanks, you two. I appreciate it and Amity would appreciate it as well," she said.
When there was another knock at the door, Willow went to answer it and saw Simon. "Simon, you made it!"
"It's good to be here, Willow. And I'm not the only one," the large teen said as he moved aside, showing Boscha and Tom.
"Hey Willow," Boscha said before Willow hugged her.
"Boscha, glad you make it!" Willow responded, Boscha being surprised by the embrace. "Thanks for coming."
Boscha smiled. "Well, thank you for inviting me over, and here's your present," she said while handing Willow her gift. She looked around. "Wow, everyone is here, huh?"
"Boscha, you daughter of a witch, put it there!" Luz shouted as she came over, she and Boscha clasping their hands, causing their muscles to flex. "Glad you came! How's your mom doing?"
"Pretty great now that she's out of jail along with Tom," Boscha said. "Oh, whom I need to introduce you to. This is Tom Lucitor, my boyfriend."
"Nice to meet you, guys," Tom greeted.
"Nice to meet you too," Willow replied with a handshake.
"Ooh, that must be the boyfriend you've mentioned before," Cat said.
"He looks nice," Amelia said.
"Say… don't I know you from somewhere?" Luz asked, finding the guy familiar.
"Yeah, I was the fire guy back at Pleasure Island," Tom said.
"Oh yeah, you were the mystery guy that helped us fight the Coachman," Luz realized, snapping her fingers. "Thanks, man."
"It's no problem, just glad I could help," Tom replied.
Luz then turned to Simon. "So Simon, how's your arm?"
"It's a little sore, but I think it's better," Simon responded, rubbing his arm. "Is Amity alright though?"
"Don't worry, she's left the Isles and is out of danger," Luz reassured him.
Meanwhile, Cat and Amelia walked over to Boscha. "Hey, Boscha. How are you?" Cat asked.
"Yeah, we've heard that you, Luz, Willow, Gus, and the others went through Hell and the Underworld," Amelia mentioned.
"Yeah, it was an experience," Boscha said while looking down. "It has really made me think…"
And so it wasn't long before the Parks brought in the cake for Willow. "Happy birthday, Willow!" everyone shouted as Willow blew out her candles and everyone celebrated her fifteenth birthday.
They then heard yet another knock on the door. They all turned to it in confusion.
"Anyone else you invited?" Luz asked Willow.
"Not as far as I know," she replied as her dads went to answer the door.
"Did you invite someone else?" Sully asked his husband.
"Thought it was you," Gilbert replied as he opened the front door. Both he and his husband were surprised to see who was there. "No way…"
"It's you!" Sully said to the woman in the hood.
"Long time no see, Gilbert and Sully," she spoke to them while entering the house. Everyone took notice of the woman coming in. She had light skin, black hair, and almond-shaped eyes. "Hope I'm not too late," she said as she turned to Willow. "Willow, nice to see you again."
"Um… who is she, Willow?" Gus asked her.
"I think I saw her before… back in the park when me and Skara had our first date," Willow said, recognizing the woman.
"Yes and we didn't get a chance to speak then, but we have met before," the woman said while offering Willow a hand. "My name is Sam Shin… and I am your godmother."
Willow's eyes widened, now realizing who this woman was. "No way… I do remember you."
Luz was shocked by this. "Godmother… did you know about this, Gus?"
"No," Gus responded. "This is my first time hearing about her."
"Yeah, Willow, how come you never mentioned you had a godmother?" Luz asked.
"It's just been a while since I've seen her," Willow replied. "My dads used to take me to see Ms. Shin, particularly whenever I was struggling with my magic and the after falling out I had with Amity. She had helped me a lot back then."
"It's no big deal, ttal," Sam Shin said with a wave. "Though it sounds like you have been doing well without me, since I've heard a lot about you lately, especially about how powerful you've gotten. And it is nice to see you again too, Skara, right?"
"Uh yeah," Skara said as she shook her hand. "Nice to see you again too, ma'am."
"And you two must be Luz and Gus, her closest friends," Sam Shin said as she shook their hands as well.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am," Gus said.
"Yeah," Luz nodded.
Sam Shin turned to Willow. "I would like us to catch up…"
"I wish we could, but I don't really have much time," Willow admitted. "Me and my friends have somewhere to be for my birthday. But we can still have some time to catch up and talk."
Sam nodded. "That'd be wonderful and I also have a gift for you," she said while handing Willow a small box.
Willow opened the box and held up a necklace. "Wow, it looks perfect!" she said, seeing an emblem necklace with Korean letters on it.
"Had it handmade to you, it says your name," Sam Shin said as Willow hugged her.
"Thank you, Ms. Shin," she replied as Sam Shin hugged her back.
While Willow and Sam walked to another room to talk, Luz and the others turned to the Parks. "So… Willow's godmother." Luz said.
"Yeah, it's a surprise to see her… or to learn Willow has one," Gus said.
"Well, Sam Shin is like a family friend to us," Sully mentioned. "We met her shortly after Willow was born and she helped us a lot back then. It's why we chose her to be her goddaughter."
"Though it can be hard to get in touch with her," Gilbert mentioned. "She moves around a lot and has been all over the Demon Realm…"
"That sounds like my aunt," Skara mentioned. "Like, she's hard to reach because she is never in one place for very long and has been all over the Demon Realm, which means she is very inconsistent with her visits."
"She seems nice, right Luz?" Gus asked.
"Yeah, she's very nice," Luz replied.
Back in the Human Realm, the kids had returned from their guests and were now helping to set up a party in the woods.
"Alright, is everyone ready?" Amity asked while holding up a clipboard.
"The tables and the food are set," Clara said while with Masha, Vee, and Abigail.
"The presents are good to go," Gus G. said while he, Nora, Dana, Rudo, and Soos helped out with the presents.
"And the banner's set," Rose said as she and Wendy helped set up a 'happy birthday' banner.
Amity turned to Dipper. "And how's the security check?"
"Ford and the agents are on standby and watch, making sure this party goes without a hitch," Dipper said while Ford, Trigger, and Power kept watch along with Durland and Blubs.
Amity then heard the familiar ching noise as she saw a glowing portal door opening. "Alright, everyone get into place!"
While everyone got ready, the portal door opened. Coming out was Luz, who spotted Amity as she flew into her. "Hey, my batata, I missed you all day!"
"Oh Luz, me too," Amity replied with a hug as she spotted Willow coming out of the portal. "Willow! You're here!"
"Hey Amity!" Willow responded before she noticed that it wasn't just her.
"Surprise!" the Human Realm folks declared as Willow saw the party they had set up for her.
"Happy birthday, Willow!" Masha greeted her.
"Masha! Clara!" Willow shouted as she and the girls embraced each other. "So good to see you guys again!"
"When Amity told us it'd be your birthday, we knew we had to do something for you," Clara said.
"Yeah, so we pitched in to celebrate," Gus G. added while he, Dana, Rudo, and Rose walked up.
"Hey Willow, hope you remember me," Rose said, waving to her.
"Rose! I'm surprised to see you here," Willow said. "I didn't know you were in Gravity Falls. Oh, you should all meet our friends!"
As she said this, coming out of the portal door was Eda, Gus Porter, Skara, Bo, Viney, Jerbo, Barcus, Emira, Edric, Boscha, Amelia, and Cat.
"You guys have made it!" Amity shouted with a smile as she saw her friends. She immediately went over to embrace her sister.
"Mittens, you're okay!" Emira hugged her sister with heartfelt tears as Amity hugged her back.
"I am," Amity responded as she smiled at Ed who smiled at her back. "There's… a lot to talk about."
"I know," Emira acknowledged.
Willow got the Gatesfield teens to meet her friends. "Everyone, these are the friends that helped me find Luz and the others. Meet Clara, Masha, Augustus, Dana, and Rudo. And guys, this is my girlfriend Skara and our friends Bo, Boscha, Amelia, Cat, Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus."
"Nice to meet you, friends from the other side," Masha greeted them.
"It's so nice to meet you all," Clara said politely.
"The feeling is mutual, and thank you for helping out Willow." Skara told them.
"Yeah, we owe you," Boscha agreed.
"And it is nice to meet other humans, especially friends of our friends," Amelia commented while noticing Gus G. "Wait, your name is Augustus too?"
"Well, people call me Gus Gordon," he clarified.
And so the teenaged humans and witches began to mingle, since this was the first time they were all together. But for those who had never been in the Human Realm before, they first looked around in awe.
"Wow, the Human Realm looks beautiful," Bo commented.
"I agree, this place looks… greener than the Isles," Boscha commented before looking at Bo. She realized something and awkwardly cleared her throat. "Hey, Bo… I just want to say that… I'm sorry for making Skara end her friendship with you. You didn't deserve that and, at the time I couldn't stand… there was no excuse for what I did to the both of you."
Bo looked at Boscha and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Honestly, I'm not mad at you about it anymore. You've done a lot to make up for it and been through a lot. So… maybe we can be friends after what we've been through."
Boscha was surprised. "How can you… forgive me?"
"Because you need it," Bo said. "Come on, let's meet up with Luz's human friends."
Boscha smiled. "Yeah, we can." She then saw Acorn fly up to her, making her smile. "Acorn, nice to see you again too. Hey Bo, meet Acorn, a friend of Amity's."
"Wow, I've never seen a pixie like her before," Bo replied as she greeted Acorn. "Nice to meet you!"
Cat met up with Vee, looking at her hair. "Wow, your hair is so smooth, you must've taken care of it so well," she commented.
"Uh yeah, I have," Vee replied while trying to hide that she was a basilisk.
Meanwhile, Skara was talking with Clara and Masha. "I just want to say thank you again for helping out Willow when she got stranded in this realm."
"It's no problem, and it's nice to meet her girlfriend," Clara said. "So what can you tell us about yourself, Skara?"
"Well, I'm learning Bard magic and I'm also taking Beast-Keeping," Skara replied. "Since I'm a werewolf witch."
"Really? Now that is fab!" Masha replied, sounding interested. "Willow is lucky to have you."
"Oh, that's heh… I'm not that lucky…" Skara said as her tail suddenly appeared wagging behind her. "Oh, this has… never happened before." she said while feeling embarrassed.
Gus and Amelia sat at a table across from Gus Gordon while Gus P. spoke. "I'm sorry that I didn't take the chance to interact with you much last time, Gus G."
"Hey, it's no sweat, Young G," Gus G. reassured him. "Especially since we have the chance now."
"So what can you tell us about yourself, Gus-Two?" Amelia asked him.
"Gus-Two… I'll take that," he replied. "Well, I'm an aspiring musician, like I wish to be a rockstar. Or a bard as you'd call it. What about you two?"
"Well, I'm an aspiring illusionist, but I wish to be an ambassador for the Human Realm," Gus P answered.
"And I aspire to take up law like my mom," Amelia said. "Like a councilwitch who wishes to reshape the oppressive government in our realm."
"Really? Sounds wicked," Gus G replied. "I think if John Lennon was still alive, he'd be proud."
"John Lennon?" Gus P. and Amelia asked.
"Guess I should get you two into the Beatles," Gus G responded with a smile.
Meanwhile, Dana and Rudo met up with Jerbo and Barcus. "So you guys are like Luz's sidekicks?" Dana asked them.
"Yeah, we're pretty much second bananas," Jerbo admitted. "Same with you guys?"
"Oh totally, man," Rudo replied. "Like, me and Dana are pretty much always together and it feels like we get far less focus and development than the rest of the Gatesfield crew."
"Ruff!" Barcus barked in agreement.
"Yeah, me and Barcus feel the same. Like we're always together most of the time and it feels like as the summer goes on we aren't as important as we once were," Jerbo admitted. "Like, it even feels like some of the newer characters are getting more screen time than us."
"Yeah, we're just the Gafunkels in the grand scheme of things," Dana commented.
"Yeah but, at least on the bright side, no drama around us," Jerbo mentioned.
"Yeah, at least there's some perks in being comic relief," Rudo agreed while Dana nodded.
Meanwhile, Edric and Viney were interacting with Wendy and Soos as Edric showed them Batric. "This is my cyclops-bat, Batric. He's my companion animal."
"A one-eyed bat, now that's something you actually don't find in Gravity Falls," Soos commented.
"So what are the animals like in this realm?" Viney asked.
"Well, we have Waddles and Gomper," Wendy said while pointing to the pig and goat walking up to them.
"Wow, this one looks like it's related to am imp!" Edric commented while going over petting Gompers, who took a bite at his sleeve.
"Aw, and this one looks adorable," Viney said as she knelt down to pet Waddles, who enjoyed her petting him. "Hey Ed, pet this guy."
Edric knelt over and petted Waddles, who oinked in response. "Wow, I think he likes me."
Amity was with her sister as they watched their brother with the animals. "Ed looks like he's having a good time," she commented.
"Yeah, and I've decided to help him find friends," Emira explained. "Viney is happy to help out and I know they'll get along well, honestly it is overdue that they start hanging out more."
"Well, glad that my future sister-in-law is getting along with our brother," Amity commented, the two laughing together before Amity gathered her courage to ask something. "Emira… do you think… I could've handled things differently with mom?"
Emira looked at Amity, realizing something. "You're… calling her mom again?"
Amity nodded, "I have realized now that rather than disown the family, I could've talked things out with her," she admitted. "But because I didn't, I broke this family. I should've done more but instead I was just… running away from my problems." She looked down. "I'm so sorry for how things ended up for us."
Emira thought about this and placed her hand on her little sister's shoulder. "Amity, listen. You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened. Honestly, we were already at a breaking point by then. And personally, I'm glad that you did what you did. Because it gave me the courage to leave our abusive parents, something that I needed to do."
"Maybe, but-" Amity looked up to Emira. "I still want to fix this family, Emira, I really do."
Emira sighed. "I don't think this family can be fixed, Amity," she admitted. "Or at the very least I don't want to call that woman… mom ever again. I won't judge you if you do forgive her, just as long as you don't judge me for not forgiving her."
Amity nodded and pulled her sister into a hug. "Thank you, Em," she said while Emira smiled and patted Amity's back.
"Don't mention it, sis." Emira responded.
Abigail and Nora were talking together when they noticed Eda walking over to them.
"Abigail," Eda spoke up to her while Abigail narrowed her eyes at her. "Look, I don't want any trouble or anything, just that-"
"Whatever you have to say, Eda, save it," Abigail told her.
"But Abby-"
"Don't call me Abby," she hissed at her while Nora got in between them.
"Okay, okay, let's not start anything," Nora said while trying to be the peacemaker. She turned to Eda. "Um, I don't think we have formally met, my name is Nora Gordon, nice to meet you, Eda."
"Uh yeah, nice to meet you too," Eda responded, while looking at Abigail who didn't make eye contact with her. She sighed, knowing this was going to be hard.
Luz, meanwhile, walked over to Dipper and Ford. "Hey Dips, I'm surprised Candy and Grenda aren't here for this."
"Oh, they're at a sleepover at Pacifica's," Dipper responded while holding his phone. "I've been texting Candy a lot and she says the girls are doing fine, and they wish Willow a happy birthday."
"Really? Wait, a sleepover at Pacificas, and you're texting Candy?" Luz asked in shock. "How much did I miss?"
"Um…" Dipper hid his phone away. "Well, Preston got arrested for hitting Pacifica and trying to kill me, he got punched by Mrs. Gordon, and Tyler Cutebiker's our new mayor."
"Seriously?!" Luz exclaimed in surprise. "I really missed out a lot."
"Yeah, it was one election week we'll never forget," Ford responded. "Um, how are your mom and Lilith doing, Luz?"
"Oh, they're doing fine," Luz replied as she snapped her fingers. "Oh, I recently met someone you know from the Isles. Do you remember Staggertarius?"
"Stagger? He's still alive?" Ford asked in shock. He smiled. "Well, how's the old Einstein counterpart doing?"
"He's now a brain in a jar," Luz responded, which shocked Ford even more. "He's got a daughter too and, well, he warned me about the Emperor's Coven possibly greenlighting this… artificial Titan's Blood project."
"Artificial Titan's Blood?" Ford's eyes widened in shock. "Oh no…"
"So you do know about it." Luz replied.
"What is she talking about, Grunkle Ford?" Dipper asked.
"Artificial Titan's Blood was something I helped create during my stay in the Emperor's Castle a long time ago," Ford responded. "It's actually how I was able to leave the Isles in the first place."
"According to Staggertarius, he made more of it and tested it out on a proto-portal… it didn't end well on his part," Luz confirmed while looking down.
The guilt hit Ford. "Oh god…poor Staggs," he said. "I feel awful about this. I made sure to sabotage the project before I left, in hopes that they would be unable to recreate it… but I didn't consider what might have happened if they tried to recreate it anyway."
Luz looked up at Ford and sighed. "Hey, don't beat yourself up, Ford. This is not your fault. But if Belos really does plan on restarting that project, I'll think of something to stop it."
"Thanks, Luz," Ford responded. "And perhaps in the future… I can pay Staggs a visit."
A little bit later, another cake was brought out for Willow. "Happy birthday, Willow(again)!" everyone shouted as Willow blew out her second batch of candles. Everyone clapped while the Gatesfield teens and Amity brought her gifts.
"Here, you can open whichever you like, Willow," Amity said as Willow picked out one.
"This one's from you," Willow said as she opened it up and looked surprised to see a vintage camera. "A camera?"
"I was shopping around and saw it and it reminded me of you," Amity said. "It's something I think would help you save the good memories."
Willow smiled and hugged Amity. "I love it, thank you, Amity," she said as Amity hugged her back.
And so Willow looked through the rest of her gifts. It included a mix-tape made by Gus G, a new dress from Clara, a unique plant from Dipper, a hand made jean jacket from Masha, a New York Giants jersey from Dana and Rudo, and a good luck charm from Rose.
"Thanks guys, I love your gifts," Willow said while Skara leaned against her side. "You know, I would like to look around Gravity Falls some more, since I didn't get the chance last time. Would you like to have a look around town, Skara?"
"Yeah!" Skara replied. "Oh! Maybe we can make this as a double date with Luz and Amity!"
"Yeah, that's a great idea!" Luz agreed while Amity wrapped her arm around her.
"A double date is long overdue," Amity nodded with a smile.
"You girls go ahead and have fun, just try not to get in trouble," Eda advised. "And be sure to make it back before it gets too late, alright?"
"We know!" Luz said as the four headed out to town together.
The two couples walked down the main street of Gravity Falls, Skara and Willow looking around in awe at the town with its lights and people.
"Wow, compared to the Isles, this place is so… calm," Skara commented.
"Yeah, small towns are usually quieter than big cities," Luz said as she led the group. "Come on, I know a good place we can go to."
They followed Luz, who led them to a door in the wall with the number '13' on it. She opened the door, which only showed a brick wall behind it.
"That's a nice… brick wall?" Skara said.
"Oh it's just a cover," Luz said as she pulled out a key. "But with this president's key Dipper gave me…"
Closing the door, Luz inserted the key into the lock, causing the knob to glow red. She then opened the door again, revealing a tunnel made of living skin with some teeth sticking out.
"Whoa…" Amity, Willow, and Skara said in awe.
"This definitely reminds me more of the Isles…" Willow admitted.
"Come on in, let's go!" Luz said as she leaned back, falling down the tunnel.
"Luz!" Amity jumped in as well
Willow and Skara held hands as they nodded to each other. The two then jumped down into the tunnel as well.
Falling through the fleshy tunnel, they soon reached the bottom and made their landing. "Welcome to the Crawlspace!" Luz declared as they looked around to see where they were.
They were now in an underground marketplace where they saw the magical creatures of Gravity Fall going to and from different stands, selling and buying weird stuff from each other. Amity spotted a scarred unicorn purchasing something from a gnome, Willow saw a guy in a trenchcoat that he opened up to reveal another trenchcoat, and Skara was surprised to see a giant Bigfoot-like creature pushing a cart full of boot-legged legs. The three were in complete awe.
"Amazed? This place is a paranormal black market underneath this town where all of Gravity Falls' weirdness can do their business in secret during the day," Luz explained. "Thought this place would be perfect to get something special for you on your birthday, Willow."
"Whoa, this place is like the Magus Bazaar or the Bonesborough Night Market," Willow commented.
"Come on, we should explore!" Amity suggested as the four took a look around the place. She noticed a wanted poster of Eda on a nearby wall. "Whoa, even here Eda's a wanted criminal?"
"Don't ask," Luz responded before she spotted a familiar face. "Wait… is that Toby Determined?"
A hooded Toby Determined was seen handing money to a monster wearing a green jacket whose face was covered in darkness with only his teeth visible. He was holding a bag full of faces and he gave one to Toby. "A face with a chin! Now Shandra will remove that restraining order for sure!" Toby declared while handing over his payment. "Thank you, Mr. What's-His-Face!"
"Anytime, my friendly-looking goblin man!" Mr. What's-His-Face replied.
The girls then saw a large hand crawling past them, coached by the Hand Witch with her own stand. "Yehehe! Hey, Eda's child, how have you been?"
"Doing good, Handy!" Luz responded. "And nice seeing you again."
"Likewise! Would your friends like to make some deals?" she offered. "All it takes is a hand shake!"
"Thanks, but we're not interested!" Luz responded while leading the girls through the market.
"Nightmare fuel! Get it while it's traumatizing!" said a skull with a lock hole on its head while it was carrying buckets of nightmare fuel.
"Assorted curses! Back by unpopular demand!" spoke a being hidden in a dark doorway, with only his eyes, teeth, and several black tendrils visible.
"Limby Jimmy's the name, and appendages are my game! Lend me your and I'll lend you a hand! But it'll cost you an arm and a leg! Wacka-wacka!" spoke a purple fuzzed creature with button eyes and different kinds of limbs sticking out from his back.
"Welcome! Are you young witchlings here for a trade?" asked a gnome wearing a beanie hat as Luz led them over to his stand. "We got souls trapped in VHS tapes, skulls in chains, and this elf on my shelf!"
The elf on the shelf behind the owner just stared at them with a menacing smile.
"I'll trade you snacks from the Demon Realm for those magical cards," Luz offered while holding up a bag of 'Batwing Crunch'.
"Snacks from the Demon Realm? Sold!" the stand owner agreed while handing Luz some cards. She handed him the bag of crunchy batwings, which he opened and pulled out one to eat. "Mmm, you can taste the crunch on those wings."
Luz handed the cards to Willow. "Here you go, these cards can actually summon monsters for a limited amount of time."
"Whoa, thanks Luz!" Willow replied. "Though I do want to keep looking around and see what else is here. What do you think, Skara?"
"Yeah, I want to see more of the Human Realm's magical side as well," Skara said while they looked around until she spotted something that caught her eye. "No way…"
They spotted a hairy mailman who had set up a stand of his own labeled 'Werewolf Goods'. The man smiled when he saw the girls. "Hello there! Seeing what you like?" he asked, showing off many trinkets and items on his table.
Luz recognized the guy. "Oh yeah, you're that werewolf mailman Soos has told me about."
"Soos? You mean the guy who gives me dirty looks when I pass him while he is on his lunch break?" the mailman asked. "Name's Russell, and other than delivering mail, I'm doing a little side hustle selling some werewolf goods. I got werewolf charms, spells, and other used items."
"Wow, I've… I've never met another werewolf before," Skara admitted.
"Oh?" Russell asked. He took a sniff. "Hmm, you do have the smell. Well, it is always nice to meet a fellow wolf."
"Thank you. My name's Skara and I'm from the Demon Realm, where me and my dad are the only werewolves in the family," she said while looking at the items.
"Really? Well it's nice to meet you, Skara. Please feel free to look around," Russell replied while the girls checked out his items.
"What do you call this?" Amity asked, holding up a chewed up pipe.
"That would be considered a werewolf's chew toy," Russell answered.
"Whoa, this guy even has glamor charms, spell books and… werewolf dentures?" Luz held up the dentures.
While looking around, Willow went over to Russell. "Say, do you have any suggestions for what to give my werewolf girlfriend? I'm thinking of getting something special for Skara," she explained.
"From your smell, you must be a plant witch, correct?" Russell asked and Willow nodded. "Well, here is a fun fact about werewolves: there are certainly flowers that are incredibly attractive to them. Flowers that I bet you don't have in the Demon Realm."
"Really? What do you got?" Willow asked while Russell dug through his stand until he handed her some flowers and a bag of seeds.
"Red Azaleas, they are best for attracting a werewolf of strong passions and emotions. On the house for your girlfriend," he offered.
Willow smiled. "Thank you, sir!" she thanked while turning to her girlfriend. "Skara, check these flowers out!"
Willow handed the flowers to Skara, who sniffed at them. "Wow… wow, they smell so good!" she said while Willow, Luz, and Amity watched as Skara's ears grew furry and pointy, while her tail popped out and her black nose and fangs appeared. The others were surprised by this and Skara did not even seem aware of her partial transformation. "Thank you!" Skara said while hugging her girlfriend, her tail wagging excitingly.
Willow giggled while hugging her girlfriend back. "It's no problem, Ska."
The girls continued to look at the other stands, one item in particular catching Willow's eye.
"Guys, check this out!" Willow shouted as she brought up a human-faced squash. "I just have to have this, it's a squash with a human face and emotions! I'm so going to buy this!"
"That's… great…" Luz said while she, Amity, and Skara were equally creeped out by the squash.
"I think it's staring into my soul," Amity muttered before she spotted another stand nearby. "Wait… is that…"
A red cloaked figure had set up a stand with a cart full of memory canisters. "Repressed memories! Buy one, forget one free!"
Amity got Luz to look at the stand, causing her eyes to widen. "Is that… one of the Blind Eye Society members?"
"Dipper said that they were disbanded and they got their memories wiped," Amity pointed out, her eyes narrowing. "But it looks like they may have missed one of the members. Come on."
Luz looked at Amity, seeing the serious look on her face. Luz nodded and the two walked over to the stand. Willow and Skara looked at them in confusion, but decided to follow.
"Yo, red-hood guy!" Luz spoke up, getting the Blind Eye Society member's attention. "You uh, selling memories for a living?"
"Why yes, all the memories I could gather, um…" the Blind Eye member said as they looked at Luz. "Have I… seen you around before?"
"Maybe I can help refresh your memory," Luz replied with a smirk, cracking her knuckles.
The Blind Eye Society member looked nervous. "Um… lunch break!" They trampled their stand as they made a run for it, dropping canisters of memories in the process.
"Come back here!" Luz shouted as she chased after them, seeing them run through the crowd. Luz used her wings to fly over the crowd, but when she saw them turn a corner, she followed them around that corner… only to see that the figure had disappeared. "Aw fuck."
Flying back, Luz saw Amity, Willow, and Skara looking through the canisters. "Did you get them?" Amity asked.
"No, they slipped away," Luz responded as she helped sort through the canisters. "We should get these to Dipper, and Ford."
Amity nodded before she spotted one particular canister that caught her interest…
Back on the surface, a door in a tree opened and out came Luz, Amity, Willow, and Skara, all with bags of items in their hands.
"Now that was an interesting trip," Skara said.
"Yeah, though this whole thing makes me feel hungry," Willow replied.
"There's some fine eats to go around here," Luz said while spotting a taco restaurant that had a sombrero roof. She saw the sign. "The Hermano Brothers… okay, since my Spanish is better now, I can now tell this place is just called The Brother Brothers."
Despite this, the two couples went in to order themselves some tacos. Luz and Amity shared some nachos while Willow and Skara tried out tacos for the first time.
"Mmm, this is good. You never find food like this in the Isles," Skara commented while sitting next to Willow.
"So Skara, what can you tell us about Wonderland?" Amity asked while sipping her cola.
"Yeah, I've been meaning to check there some day after meeting the Cheshire Cat," Luz commented.
"It's very strange, even by the standards of the Isles," Skara replied. "Like, there were rocking horseflies, a dodo guy, walking and talking fish and large birds. And then there was that tea party…" A shiver ran down all over her before Skara felt Willow's hand touch hers. "If it weren't for Nina being there to calm me down, I don't know what would have happened."
"I'm glad that Nina was there to help you out, Skara," Willow replied. "Honestly, I am surprised by how much she has come around."
Skara nodded. "I remember not being sure if Nina living with us would work out… but I'm glad that it did, since I really do like having her around." She sighed. "She was also more helpful than the Cheshire Cat, who I feel like only helped us because it amused him."
"Yeah, I guess I should've warned you that the Cheshire Cat is a trickster," Luz said.
"Still… crashing a wedding was something I never thought I would do, especially a royal wedding," Skara said. "But I'm glad that Donna is alright. Me and Nina had some rocky bumps with LOWTH at first, but everything worked out in the end and Donna and Nina have even begun to work things out."
"I'm still surprised that Donna and Nina have a past history together," Luz commented. "Then again, Donna is an oddball herself, though I'm odder."
"Honestly, it is no different than me and Willow having been childhood friends," Amity pointed out.
"Maybe, though I do think Willow's tougher than Nina." Luz said while turning to Skara. "Don't tell Nina that… you know what? Tell her I said that."
"So… how was your guys' trip through Hell and the Underworld?" Skara asked, causing everyone to fall silent. "Oh… is that still too strong of a subject?"
"We're not ready to talk about it yet," Willow replied while lowering her head.
"Yeah, it's… a lot to talk about," Luz said with an uneasy tone.
"Oh, sorry about that," Skara replied while the four girls sat in silence for a while.
While they ate their food, Luz and Amity thought about Skara mentioning a wedding, which reminded them of the outfits they wore at the Socket. Luz then looked out the window, spotting the water tower and causing an idea to come to mind.
"I think I know how to finish this double date," Luz commented.
The girls flew up to the water tower, where Luz showed them where she tagged 'Luz was here' over the muffin spray paint.
"Just write anything you like to make your mark on the world!" Luz declared, handing Willow a spray can. "Since it's your birthday, you go first Willow."
"I never tried this before… but it feels so good!" Willow said as she tagged the water tower.
She then handed the can to Skara, who also spray painted the water tower. "I think I'll make mine scary…"
"You don't think we'll get caught, do you?" Amity asked.
"Relax, Blubs and Durland are like the only cops in this town or at least the only two cops you ever see and they are currently at the party," Luz reassured her.
As Amity was handed a spray can, she looked at the water tower before leaving own tag.
Once the witches had left, the water tower was marked with three new tags: 'Happy B-Day, Willow!' from Amity, 'Water Flowers' by Willow, and an image of a wolf with its fangs out, made by Skara.
The girls headed back to the outdoor birthday party, where they met up with the others.
"Alright, you guys are back!" Masha waved to them.
"How'd your double date go?" Boscha asked.
"It went great without a hitch! Luz showed us this Crawlspace where it was like the Night Market in Bonesborough, but underground," Amity explained.
"And I met up with another werewolf there and Willow gave me these special flowers that I really like!" Skara replied.
"We also went to this taco place to have tacos for the first time," Willow added. "We should learn how to make some in the Isles."
"Yeah, I think Korn would like that idea," Jerbo commented as Barcus nodded in agreement.
"Well glad that you kids enjoyed yourselves," Eda said while Luz went up to her.
"Also, we ran into one of the members of the Blind Eye Society at the Crawlspace," Luz told her, which shocked Eda.
"What?! Are you girls alright?" Eda asked her.
"We're fine, he was selling memory canisters, though we don't know why," Luz responded while turning to Wendy. "Yo, Wendy!"
Wendy turned to Luz, who handed her a canister. "Here, think you'd like this."
The redhead's eyes widened when she looked at the label on the canister: 'Mrs. Corduroy'.
"No way… these are my mom's memories!" Wendy shouted, covering her mouth in shock. "Why… why did the Blind Eye Society erase her memories?!"
"We don't know, but we felt like you deserved to find out," Amity said.
"Well, thank you," Wendy said to the girls, nodding at them. "Seriously."
While the party continued, Clara snuck away from everyone else while carrying a plate of leftover cake.
"Hey, are you still here?" she asked while leaving the plate of cake on the stump. "If you are, I saved you some cake in case you were hungry."
A large, stitched up hand went to grab the cake, which went into the mouth of the monster hidden in the bushes. "Thank you… friend," said the voice of the creature.
"No problem!" Clara replied to the creature.
"Clara, where'd you go?" her mom called out to her.
Hearing her mom calling for her, Clara began to head back, turning to the creature in the bush. "I'll see you next time!" she promised as she ran off. Behind the bushes, the creature poked his head out to wave goodbye to Clara.
Then Frankenstein's monster went back to enjoying his cake.
Back at the party, Luz and Amity sat together, just relaxing in each other's company.
"I am happy that Willow enjoyed her birthday," Luz commented.
"Yeah, and it's so great to be here for her after so many years missing her birthday," Amity replied. "Actually, I think I owe her a lot of birthday presents."
"I think having you at her birthday party is good enough, so there's no sweat about it," Luz reassured her. She looked down, thinking over the events of the day. "You know, I still have to go back to the Isles after this. I made some progress today, but I still have a lot of work to do."
"Yeah, and I still have to stay here in good ol' Gravity Falls," Amity replied and the two girls sighed. "It sucks that we do have to separate, but maybe…" She paused briefly. "Maybe we can still be together in spirit."
"Yeah, that would be nice. I mean, just because we're two worlds apart, doesn't mean that our connection is any less strong," Luz responded before an idea popped up in her mind. "Say Ams."
"Yeah?" Amity asked, turning to Luz.
"You wanna get married?" Luz suggested, causing Amity's eyes to widen.
Being within earshot, Abigail did a spit take from her drink while turning to Luz in shock. "WHAT?!"
Alright, this chapter was longer than we expected it to be.
The "Errands in the Willows" title is a reference to "The Wind in the Willows" which tells the misadventures of Mr. Toad. Thought it'd be a neat reference, given the title.
So this chapter centers around that it's Willow's birthday in this chapter! Reason why we have it in this chapter was that we've come to realized that Willow did had her birthday offscreen at some point during the first two season and it must've happened prior to Willow's hair change. So while Willow's birthday is happening here later than it would have in canon, we knew it was something we wanted to show on-screen and it would give the characters a break after the Underworld arc.
It has been our mission to include "Kiss the Girl" as a Skarlow moment since Book 1. We've tried to use and place it there but we couldn't find a spot to place it due to how much in the second season did. But now we've found a place to have it placed, during Willow's Girls Day Out. We are happy to place it there, especially with The Little Mermaid's popularity. And if you're wondering which version of Kiss the Girl we used, it would be the Ashley Tisdale cover.
The Crawlspace is something from the Gravity Falls: Lost Legends, in which is where in the graphic novel Dipper uses the President's Key to get access to the Crawlspace(something he didn't used within the series). Here is where Luz uses the Crawlspace for the double date, which we've fulfilled in doing after quite some time as we intended to do. And yeah, we've decided that hairy mailman Soos suspects would actually be a werewolf.
And yeah, this chapter is set to confirm and have everyone to stop worrying about certain plot points. Eda will still run the orphanage after some questioning, Eda knows how to lie to the police.
Felicia's contact, "Thorax", is Beel Zatar who may not make an appearance yet, I mean I've thought of but he's who Felicia goes to for a good story, like an informant.
Staggertarius is pretty much a homage and reference to Albert Einstein, The Brain from Doom Patrol/DC Comics, Dr. Vegapunk from One Piece, and Dr. Pretorius from 1935's Bride of Frankenstein, including a reference to the homonculi he and his daughter Sarah creates.
Now as for Acorn's mom, Juniper, I will admit that despite her being based off of Glimmer's mom, Angella, I did named her after Professor Juniper from Pokemon: Black and White. Cause if going by the tree-theme naming, Juniper would sound great for a queen.
Also yeah, the Squash with a Human Face and Emotions is also in the Gravity Falls Journals.
Answering Reviews:
Krypton Joy Writes: We'd be happy to answer your questions as much as we can answer.
1) Bill will be back. 2) We do have a lot of plans in how we could expand the LCU further. 3) We do have some ideas about it.
The Great Fossil King: We've got tons of story arc ideas for Book 3 that whether or not it'll be longer than Book 2 will depends.
Gl1uck: We'll think on any more unique creatures. We've just been using canon beasts for a while.
Matteso585: 1) You bringing this up has really lost any meaning. As for the questions for chapter 107: 1) I'm pretty sure Emily doesn't really care about that part. She's already familiar about Delara Saltstar. 2) Or you know, she's not ready to talk about it yet. 3) It's pretty much obvious that they are. As Cross said, "weredragons" aren't really a thing, but it's an assumption. 4) Possibly. 5) Rose is still in Gravity Falls. Honestly, you do not really need to point out such obvious thing that would or would not happened.
Franco Almiron: We do plan on how we'll bring in the Collector.
Thanks for reading and see you next chapter!
