Willow had had the same, simple morning routine for a few years now. Wake up at around six, spend thirty minutes or so on her workout, get ready for school, and take care of the plants in her bedroom until either her dads called her for breakfast, or she had tended to each one's needs.
The problem with the 'taking care of plants' part is that, on the Boiling Isles, the most troublesome plants loved attempting to draw blood.
"Bad Bitey. Stop. No biting." Willow sternly told the bulbous, toothy plant, while attempting to pull her thumb free from the growling flora's jaw. With her free hand, she pinched at its leaf, the normally tried and true method of gently coaxing it off of her.
This time though, the angry, tiny plant refused to listen, even digging its teeth in deeper, apparently just out of spite. Willow clenched her teeth in exasperation and only slight discomfort, and released Bitey's leaf, forming a spell circle in the air.
Willow only used magic on her plants as a last resort. Using it to fertilise the soil, that was one thing. But on the plant itself? Many of the ones she kept in her room, especially Bitey, didn't always respond well to even the smallest spell. It didn't hurt them, but it did make them afraid, or worse, angry, and made looking after them more difficult down the line. So Willow tried to use it only in exceptional circumstances, when she felt she had no other choice.
Then again, potentially losing a thumb to a ravenous plant seemed like an exceptional circumstance.
A green aura overtook the hungry houseplant, and Bitey reeled its bulb back, letting go of Willow's thumb and imitating a heavy, hacking cough as it turned away. With a scowl, Willow scanned her thumb. Thankfully, Bitey's vampiric attack hadn't managed to draw blood this time, but there were a few cuts on her skin, and a couple of particularly uncomfortable ones on her nail.
Looking back to the plant, her brow furrowed, and she narrowed her eyes. She was worried.
This was twice in the last month that Bitey had gotten particularly aggressive with her. She had thought that he had just been restless, or hungry, or attention starved, but it was becoming evident that there was something actually wrong.
She went over everything that she could think of, but everything seemed fine. A scan of the top soil quality showed everything was fine, Water wasn't infected, the food didn't have any Dragots, he was in the right spot to get enough sunlight throughout the day, and there wasn't anything that would blick his access to the sunlight. The weather had been fine for the last few days as well. Plenty of light. Everything seemed fine.
If there wasn't anything wrong with the basics, then there had to be something wrong on a deeper level.
Summoning a pair of heavy gardening gloves, Willow gently dug her fingers into the dirt, poking around Bitey's roots. The plant seemed to be perturbed by the act, grumbling and growling at her, but the spell Willow had cast kept him at bay just a bit longer. Long enough for her to find the culprit in this dirt riddled caper.
Right at the bottom of his pot, Willow felt a lump. A squishy lump that was grasping onto dear life at Bitey's roots Pulling hard, she discovered that the lump was, in fact, a Leechsyte-Worm. It was glowing red, bloated, and wriggling like a monster in a cage exposed to sunlight for the very first time.
"Well, that explains… A few things, actually." Willow muttered to herself. This Worm had been feeding on Bitey. She could have kicked herself at how obvious it was in hindsight.
"Well, sorry little guy," Willow mused as she cupped her hands over her palm and carried the Worm out to her balcony. "I know you gotta suck all the nutrients you can, but you can't get them from my plants anymore." As soon as she lifted her hand away and uncovered it, the worm's paper-thin wings unfolded, and it flew away in search of a new host to feed from. Willow watched it fly off for a moment, watching it leave the confines of Bonesburough and high into the red-tinted sky.
"There you go, fella." Willow said, turning back to Bitey. "Feeling any better now?"
Bitey seemed to shrink in what looked like embarrassment - Or at least, the closest to embarrassment a hyper-aggressive, blood-thirsty plant was capable of feeling. Willow just smiled, and ran her right index finger atop the bulb, stroking it gently to reassure the little guy that it was safe.
Bitey then bit her index finger.
Well, more like suckled on it, really. Willow just chuckled as she removed her finger from the plant's jaw. Willow rubbed her bitten finger and thumb against one another in an attempt to soothe both. There was a reason she had called him Bitey, after all.
Still, that now was dealt with. Willow was able to make the rest of her morning rounds.
"Let's see… Goldy, your golden petals are coming in beautifully this season… Jack, your pumpkin's looking ripe… No Ariel, I can't give you more water, silly, you'll drown if I do…"
After a quick inspection, it seemed the rest were perfectly healthy, and aside from Bitey's violent compulsions, they all seemed perfectly happy too. The worst issue she found was a couple of them were slightly dehydrated - an easily fixed problem.
Once she had gone over everyone, Willow let herself scan the room. Her hands placed themselves upon her hips as she took in the feeling of satisfaction in her work.
"Right, then." She said to herself, with a small smile and a nod to no one in particular. She dusted down her uniform for any dirt or dust it might have collected, and looked at the inside of her school-bag, just to make sure that she hadn't forgotten any of her usual equipment. Everything was in there. She was good to go at a moment's notice.
And with a few of those moments to spare, and nothing better to do, Willow spun a small circle in the air, summoning her Scroll as she flopped backwards onto her bed. Opening it, she was greeted with her lock screen, a group photo of her and her friends at Grom, and a pair of notifications.
The first notification was from Luz, inside The HexTrio group-chat, made up of both them, and Gus. Given that Luz didn't have her own Scroll, she would regularly borrow Eda's. Willow was so used to it, she sometimes forgot that this was the case, only to immediately be reminded of it whenever she opened her Scroll to see a message from…
THEOWLLADY: GUYS EDAS TRYING TO MAKE BREAKFAST ITS NOT GOING WELL HELP
Underneath was a collection of photos presenting a wide variety of shenanigans currently going down at the Owl House. They seemed to involve King, a frying pan, vaguely egg-like items of some sort, living, dancing vegetables, and glowing pen. At least, that's what it looked like to Willow. A lot of the photos were… fairly incomprehensible.
Willow already had a list of questions for Luz when she saw her.
Beneath that, a series of messages had also been sent in a second group chat: The HexSquad. It was essentially the same as the first, but this time it included Amity. Occasionally, that meant that it would devolve into more of a public Amity-and-Luz chat than anything. Which is exactly what it was now, as Amity responded to Luz's first message, which was sent in both group chats.
WITCHCHICK128: It looks like she tried using a cooking potion on the vegetables, but it's gone a bit haywire. Perhaps using the griffon eggs to lure them back into the cauldron? It should help get them to calm down.
THEOWLLADY: GREAT IDEA ILL TRY THAT
THEOWLLADY: AMITYTHOSEWERENTGRIFFONEGGSTHEYWERESPIDERYETIEGGSANDNOWALLTHEVEGETABLESWANTMYHEAD!
Another picture. This time, it looked like Luz was hiding behind a kitchen counter, and was taking a photo from over the top of the counter. Various vegetables were holding up toothpicks and dull but still scary looking knives over themselves, like they were waiting to pounce. .
Luz and Amity continued to send messages back and forth. Compared to some of the situations that they had gotten themselves into, Willow felt they had this… mostly under control, so she wasn't too concerned. Still, she couldn't help but chuckle at how Luz always managed to find herself in these situations. The Human was like a magnet for chaos.
As she looked at the messages again though, she found herself pondering something.
She didn't have Skara's-
"Willow!"
That thought cut itself off in a second at the prospect of breakfast.
Slinging her school bag over her shoulder, Willow reached out to give the nearest plant, Bitey, an affectionate pat, but upon realising she would actually prefer to keep her fingers, simply offered him a thumbs up. Bitey shrunk, disappointed.
"I'll see you all when I get back!" She waved to all the plants in the room, trying to make sure the ones with eyes saw her hand, as she shut the door behind her.
Making her way downstairs, Willow found both her parents doing their usual business in the kitchen: Dad was watching the news on the crystal ball, and absently biting at his fingernails, while papa was hunched over their cauldron, utensils in hand, scooping out whatever it was he had made for them all this morning.
"Morning, dad." Willow greeted, before sitting down in her normal seat. "Morning, papa."
Her dad stopped biting his nails and looked up from the crystal ball. He had been the one to call her, but he seemed almost like he was surprised that she had come.
"Good morning, Willow." Her dad said as he looked up from the crystal ball. Almost immediately, his eyes drifted towards Willow's hand, taking note of the cuts along her finger. His pupils then looked back to Willow, and an eyebrow raised, bemused. "Let me guess. Bitey again?"
Willow just nodded. "I think I've found what's been upsetting him though." She paused. "I mean, he did bite me immediately afterwards, but it wasn't as hard as before, so, you know."
"Do you need anything for those cuts?" Her papa asked, walking over, and handing her a plate of Lice Krispies .
"Thanks, papa." Willow said as he placed the food down in front of her. "I'm okay. It barely hurts. I'll put a band-aid on after breakfast and it'll be fine."
"I'll go get one for you."
"Thanks." Willow said again, before biting into a Krispie. Her papa smiled, and briefly left the room and went into an adjoining one, seeking the non-magical first aid kit. Once he had left the room, her dad spoke up.
"So, Willow, how are things over at Hexside?"
"Okay." Willow answered, absently chewing on her food.
"How're all your friends? Luz still getting you into trouble?"
His tone was light, and he was joking, of course. Willow couldn't help but snort. "No, I do plenty of that on my own."
Her dad let out a small chuckle alongside her. There was a moment of silence, and then he spoke again, this time a bit slower. "And what about the others? Gus, Amity…" His voice lingered for a few seconds.
Willow paused. Ah. Okay
She paused for a moment, before looking back at her dad.
"…You're asking about Skara."
"…I suppose I am, yes."
Her parents knew about Skara. Willow had told them a couple weeks ago, back when the Bard first started sitting at their table. She didn't like keeping secrets from her parents. When she did, she always felt bad about it.
Besides that, she didn't think it would be an issue anyway. They knew about the cabin, after all, why not know they were friendly now?
Still, she probably should have expected at least one of them to eventually ask more about it. Of course they would.
"Gilbert." Her papa said, returning from the other room. He walked over, a plate of Paincakes in one hand, and a band-aid he passed to Willow with the other. His right eyebrow was raised, and he spoke with his 'Please don't make this uncomfortable' voice.
"I'm only asking." Her dad said, putting his hands up in front of him as if to show his innocence. He then sighed. "I just…. I'm worried. That's all."
Willow glanced back at her Papa. He had his eyebrows furrowed, just slightly. Enough that if someone didn't know what to look for, they wouldn't be able to spot it. But Willow did, and so did her dad. He sighed. "I know, I know. I'm not…."
"...Skara hasn't done anything to me in months." Willow finally said heavily, and feeling slightly defeated. At this point, the conversation was already uncomfortable - She might as well just get through it all here and now and be done with it. "Not since I played against her in Grudgby, really. It's fine. She helped me in the cabin and stopped Boscha from breaking my face, and they're not really friends anymore either, so…"
"...It was one thing when you told us about Amity."
"Gilbert-"
"You were friends when you were still Witchlings. You at least knew one another. You… I don't know. At least I don't have a lot of memories about us being called into the principal's office because of something Amity did."
"Dad-"
"But with this Skara girl, I have too many to count."
That… made Willow flinch. A tiny, barely noticeable flinch, but a flinch nonetheless.
"I just…. I don't know. I'm worried about you, Willow. You've been spending more time with people who used to make you miserable. I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life, I just… You've seemed so much happier since you met Luz, and I thought that was because you were making friends who cared about you, and now there's just…" He trailed off for a moment, like he himself wasn't sure where he was going with this. "...I just don't want you to end up in a group of friends that treat you poorly."
There was a moment of silence. If she was being completely and totally honest, Willow… got where her dad was coming from. Amity was one thing, but until a few months ago, there had barely been even a vestige of goodwill between her and Skara. Frankly, Willow wouldn't have believed there would be.
It was in part only because Willow knew how much being left on one's own like that hurt that she even reached out to Skara to begin with. But Skara was one of the people who had been involved in that hurt to begin with – and her parents knew that.
Of course they would have these reservations.
Sometimes - If she really was being nothing but honest - Willow felt them herself, too.
"But, I trust you, Willow." Her dad finally said. "And your judgement. You know how to look after yourself. If you… honestly believe Skara's changed, then I guess you just really have some sort of magic touch that helps bring out the best in people."
With one free hand, he ruffled her hair. Willow allowed him to, a slightly furrowed brow, and a small smile on her face as he did. After a few seconds, she removed his hand. "Thanks. For… understanding."
She couldn't be sure that 'understanding' was the right word, because if she were being totally honest, she wasn't sure she 'understood' the situation herself. But it seemed to satisfy her dad, who just nodded.
Almost as quickly as she had arrived in the kitchen, Willow got herself ready to leave - She had to go meet Gus so the two of them could swing by to get Luz, and all head to Hexside together. If she waited much longer, she was going to be late. That, and the awkward air of this conversation was reason enough for her to get a move on. "I gotta run!" Grabbing her bag, Willow leaned over to kiss her Dad on the cheek, before doing the same with her Papa. "Love you guys!" She called out, grabbing her bookbag and waving goodbye to her dads as she walked out of their home.
Quickly, she made her way out the front door, on her way to catch up with Gus.
As she did, a stray thought crossed her mind.
I wonder if Skara actually lives close enough to walk with. Maybe we could-
But, for whatever reason, Willow never finished that thought.
"...which is how me and Amity aced our Abomination's project, AND stopped the school from blowing up."
"For the third time today."
Today's lunch period was, as it had been for the past few weeks, a table of five. Luz and Amity sitting together on one side, explaining the chaos of their classes. How Hexsides only human was able to find herself in so many wild and wacky scenarios that all seemed to finish up within a half hour to hour time frame was beyond Willow.
"I am becoming increasingly concerned that you have, like, a spirit's curse, or something."
And on the opposite side, Willow, Gus, and, the one currently pulling out a plate of spookghetti and mystery meatballs, Skara.
"Can spirits curse you here?" Luz asked.
"Depends how many graves you've defiled." Skara answered.
"Er… Zero?"
"...Okay yeah, I have no idea how you keep getting into these situations then. Maybe it's a human thing?"
Willow let herself giggle. "I'd guess it's more like a Luz thing. That doesn't even fall into the top ten of her craziest adventures."
"They literally nearly blew up the school thirty minutes ago!"
"I know what I said."
Amity hid a smile with her hand. "You haven't heard about the time Luz unleashed a Centi-Scorpion onto the Bard Tracks Fibula Rehearsal."
Skara blinked, as if being struck with a sudden inspiration, before slamming her hands on the table and pointing directly at Luz. "Wait! That was you?!"
Luz sat there, a Gryphon in the direct path of a Witch riding their Staff as she chuckled nervously "...It uh… it was an accident?"
Skara squinted, leaning into Luz with a serious look of concentration and barely contained anger all over her face.
"...Luz, if I give you food can you promise to like, not destroy anything else that I hold dear for the rest of the day?"
"I can promise to try."
"...That's the best I'm going to get isn't it?"
"Yup." The entire table unanimously said, in perfect unison.
"Okay." Skara sighed exasperatedly. She couldn't stop herself from smiling though. There was just something about this group she had found herself with, and the sheer absurdity of messes that they got into that Skara couldn't help but find herself grinning about it all.
In the couple of weeks since her introduction Willow's friends had seemingly accepted Skara's inclusion at their table - at least, to a certain degree.
Moments like this, where conversation, banter, and jokes were shared back and forth freely weren't exactly uncommon, and as the days went on, Skara seemed to grow more comfortable with engaging in them. But things could still be a bit… awkward, for lack of a better term. Like everyone was still uncertain, and conversation could sometimes turn a bit stiff. Willow could feel that even now, the others were still getting used to this new dynamic.
It wasn't hostile, by any means. Just… A bit awkward. It was kind of like how Willow felt around Amity when Luz started to bring her into their social circle. It did take a while, but Willow did, eventually, get used to it.
The fact that Willow was the one who initiated this, in spite of all the… stuff - That seemed to make it easier for the others to accept.
"Thanks," Luz said with a grateful smile as Skara handed her a plate of what Luz called noodles, but the Boiling Isle's more sensibly named boodles. "Still kinda wish I could do something to make up for all the meals you get for us."
"Don't worry about it," Skara said, hand waving Luz's concerns. "It's all good."
"Still," Luz said. Looking Skara in the eyes, she declared, "I wanna do something cool for you, something to make up for all this."
Skara opened her mouth, ready to argue against Luz needing to do anything. Then, she paused.
"I'm not getting out of this, am I?"
"Nope." The entire table, once again, in unison.
Skara couldn't help but smirk.
Turning her attention now to the plate, Luz beamed. She grabbed her utensils as she licked her lips. Her eyes almost seemed to glisten at the sight. "And actual MEAT with spaghetti! Not an eyeball in sight."
Licking her lips, she spun a few strands of the pale white noodles on her fork before slurping it all down.
"Oh Titan," Luz mumbled through a full mouth, barely able to contain her joy. "That tastes incredible!"
Skara's parents didn't usually make elaborate meals, oftentimes too busy first thing in the morning to do anything too complex. Today was one of those exceptions, and like they always did, when they made anything, it was in massive excess. Skara offered a plate for Willow. "Thanks. The secret ingredient is-"
"Love?"
"Arson-Ick."
Luz froze in place, stared at Skara for a moment, and then looked back at the food. Then, she just shrugged, and kept eating. "...Eh, either way, it wouldn't be the worst thing I've had here."
If there was anyone in the group that seemed to have really taken a shine to Skara, it was unquestionably Luz. Granted, it had probably helped that when she had extras, Skara would share food with her, and that usually gave the Human with something she could actually enjoy eating… Or eat at all - But even outside of that, the two of them got along incredibly well. They had developed a solid rapport in just a few days of being on semi-regular speaking terms, and seemed to have bonded over more than a few points of shared interest. Anything actually edible she could get, Willow knew, Luz saw purely as a bonus.
To that, more than once, Willow had noticed Amity's face ever-so-slightly twitch, apparently displeased that she wasn't capable of making something Luz actively enjoyed, while Skara could just hand it out. Still, she seemed to value Luz actually enjoying something, so it was only a momentary twitch. Willow couldn't help but smirk to herself whenever that happened.
She had to admit, she was surprised by how well Amity seemed to be taking this whole development. A part of her had suspected that she would just want to block out anything that reminded her of her association with Boscha, since that relationship was now completely down the drain, or that it would be some kind of ticking time-bomb until one of them finally said something about the other, and everything just sort of fell apart.
Instead, Amity seemed to welcome Skara. Hesitantly, yes, but still welcoming. It was like without Boscha, and the environment she helped to foster, the two didn't have any real reason to act out the way they used to, or have any distaste for each other. Willow never got the impression the two were ever super close friends, granted, even when Amity hung around Boscha,, but the two certainly weren't enemies.
Gus on the other hand…
Glancing at her oldest/youngest friend from the corner of her eye, Willow noted that Gus had been quieter than usual for the last couple of weeks. He was… harder to read than he used to be. He would still talk, and joke, and engage, but…. She didn't know. There was just something she couldn't read about his expression. She wasn't sure if it was just adjusting to Skara, or-
"Nah, my parents don't own a restaurant."
"Seriously?"
Willow blinked, and found herself pulled back into reality. What was this about restaurants?
"Nope." Skara shook her head. "That's just homemade."
"How are they… This good then?"
"Well, they did actually first meet one another in one of Hexside's old Cooking Clubs. That probably had something to do with it." Skara explained. "Apparently they hated one another at first."
"Seriously?"
"Well, that's how they tell it to me." Skara shrugged. "My mom says that dad was constantly challenging her to competitions to make the best meals, and then they just argued whenever they saw each other after that."
"...Can't say I got that impression when I met them." Luz said, plainly, thinking back to the Knee incident.
"Yeah. They're all lovey dovey now." Skara agreed, with a smirk and a single chuckle. "You should see them at home. I dunno, maybe it's just me being a Bard and all, but to be totally honest, knowing them, I kind of think they had a thing for each other the entire time." She shrugged. "But yeah, they met through that, and they cook a lot at home, so I guess that's why they're so good at it."
"So… what do they actually do then?"
"Dad's actually an Exorcist. Maintains good relations with the spirits, gets them to not possess Witches and junk. Even performed an exorcism on me once." Then, squinting her eyes, Skara muttered, "Well, maybe twice…"
Seemingly unfazed by the idea of Skara having to be exercised, Luz spun more noodles on her fork. "And what about your mom? She seemed pretty… dramatic when we met her."
Skara chuckled again. "Makes sense, being as she's an actress and all."
Luz's eyes went wide with curiosity. "Really? An actress? Like on Bleeding Hearts?"
"Nope." Skara shook her head. "She's an award winning stage actress. Has like, six Boney's"
Willow couldn't help but wonder for a moment what exactly a 'Boney' was. But before she could ask, Luz continued with her own line of questions.
"Really? That's so cool!"
"Oh yeah. She's been in all sorts of shows. Frankenspearian tragedies, comedies, dramas, musicals-"
At that last mention, Luz's eyes went wide. "Musicals? You guys have musicals here?"
To that, Skara looked at Willow in confusion, like she was surprised that Humans even had a concept of musicals at all, and expected Willow to have some sort of answer. Willow, for her part, just shrugged.
"Yeah," Skara finally stated. "We do musicals. We even perform them at-"
"Oooooooh, that gives me an idea!" Luz squealed. She turned to Amity, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. "Amity! Are there any spare rooms in the school tonight?"
"Er, I think so?" Amity nodded. "I know a couple of Abomination Classrooms don't get used for anything after hours. Room 1313 usually doesn't have anything going. Why?"
"Heck yeah!" Looking towards her friends with a classically large Luz smile, she asked, "Guys! Who wants to experience one of the human realm's sneakiest, and coolest, traditions tonight after school?"
Before Willow could say a word, Gus leaped from his seat, waving his arms around in glee. "I do! I do! I can show off any new information at my next H.A.S meeting!"
Luz turned to Skara and Willow. "Do you guys wanna see it then? I think you'd like it at least, Skara."
For a moment, Skara hesitated, raising an eyebrow. "And, uh… what exactly do you wanna show us?"
"A two hour slime tutorial."
Everyone at the table just sat there, blinking at the human.
"I'll, uh… explain later."
Before anyone could say anything else to question just what exactly Luz was thinking, the bell screamed to life, reminding all the students that lunch was over now. Heavy sighs could be heard around the lunchroom as students picked themselves up to put their trays away and walk out into the halls to their next classes. Including the Hexsquad themselves.
Before most of the members went their separate ways, though, Luz turned back to Willow and Skara. "You two interested?"
Both Skara and Willow looked at each other.
Then, Willow nodded. "Okay, sure." She then turned to Skara, and offered her a smile. "Skara?"
Skara blinked, shrugged, and sighed. "You know, I feel like any sane person should say no, but this sounds so utterly bizarre I need to know what in the Titan's name this is about. Sure, why not?"
Luz beamed! "Great! I'll meet you guys in room 1313! See you after school!" She walked away, clearly ecstatic.
Meanwhile, Skara and Willow just looked at each other in confusion again.
"...Okay, so, do you have even the slightest idea what a 'slime tutorial' is?" Skara asked.
"None whatsoever." Willow answered.
"Terrific."
Why does a slime tutorial need to be two hours long? Don't you just need to scrape it off a tree?
Willow pondered this as she made her way towards Room 1313. It was, admittedly, not the strangest thing Luz would bring in from the Human Realm. But it definitely sounded weird. Throughout all of her classes, she couldn't help but wonder what in the world this was supposed to be.
Did slime even work the same way in the Human world? Or was this something else entirely-
"Hey, Willow."
Looking up from the floor, Willow saw Skara, cowl-hood up, weaving between a couple of other students to get to her.
There was something just a bit weird-feeling to Willow about Skara being the one to approach her like this - The two were on decent enough terms now, but Skara barely seemed to spend any time around her outside their lunch-breaks, or whenever Willow was the one to approach her. Quickly though, Willow put those feelings to one side.
"Oh," She mouthed. "Skara. Ready for… whatever Luz has in store for us?"
"It's Luz. Is anyone ready for anything she does?"
"You catch on quick."
Skara let herself smirk.
The two of them made their way to Room 1313 in relative silence. Willow occasionally glanced at Skara, and found herself unsure of what to say. When Skara was emotional, she was easy to read. When she wasn't, Willow wasn't entirely sure she could read her. When there was drama with Boscha, or something else, then talking to her was easy. When there wasn't, it was… trickier.
Willow coughed. Skara looked her way. Willow realised she didn't know what to say. They both remained silent, and just continued on their way.
Good terms or not, their relationship was still somewhat… there simply wasn't any word for it other than 'awkward'.
Eventually, the girls reached their designated room, Willow pushing the door open to see Amity and Gus taking two front row seats. Gus turned to the pair as they entered, and Skara raised a hand. "Uh, hi."
Gus raised a hand himself. "Hey."
"Hey." Willow did the same. Looking over towards Amity, Willow noticed she looked far more invested in what was happening on her Scroll. "Amity?"
Amity blinked, looking towards Willow. "Oh. Willow. Hey.. Sorry. Just… worried." She looked back at her phone, brows furrowed. "Luz is never late to an Azura Book Club meeting. She's usually here before me, even." She shook her head. "I texted Eda but she told me not to worry about it."
Which, as Willow knew, was the perfect way to get Amity to worry about something.
"I'm sure she's okay." Gus assured Amity. "Luz's a tough cookie to crack. Even if something bad was happening-"
"Which," Willow interrupted, trying to help stop Amity's worries from growing worse, "it most likely isn't."
"Right, but even if something bad was happening, Luz's gonna be A-Okay."
"Are you… sure this isn't a bit premature?" Skara asked, eyebrows raised hesitantly. "I mean, it's not like every time Luz opens a door she gets whisked away on some insane, highly implausible and dangerous adventure."
Everyone in the room looked at Skara.
"...You know what, actually, forget what I just said."
"No, no, I know, I know, you're right." Amity sighed. "I don't know, I just -"
A sudden tap at the window caused everyone in the room to turn, spotting Luz, floating atop Owlbert, waving through the window. She had a burlap sack slung over her left shoulder, and looked like she was struggling to balance with it.
"Hey guys! Can one - Woah!" She yelped, nearly falling off, before placing a hand on the wall to balance herself again. "Can one of you let me in, please?"
The closest person to the window was Gus, and he quickly jumped up to open the window and let Luz fly into the classroom. She jumped off her staff, nearly falling flat on her face in the process, while the Palisman shifted into its more adorable form. Amity just let out a small, near silent, content sigh of relief.
"Thanks, little buddy." Luz cooed, placing the sack heavily onto the desk with a heave, before scratching the top of Owlberts head. She reached into the sack, rummaging around inside. "Tell Eda I said thanks again, and also definitely be taking care of that… thing later for this."
With no further elaboration, and Willow being too afraid to ask, Owlbert, after recognizing Luz was all out of head scratches, flew off.
"Sorry I'm late." Luz said, still rummaging inside the bag. "Took me a while longer than I thought it would to find all this stuff."
"Is that all the stuff we'll need to perform this… human slime ritual… thing?"
Willow saw Gus's eyes light up in anticipation of new Human based knowledge. But Luz only chuckled, pulling out a short, rectangular box with a dark circle in the centre.
"Kind of, but not exactly."
Luz pulled out a jar of Lightning Bugs, crackling and sparking with electrical fervour. She then took a tail cord from the box, with tiny silver… Willow could only think to call them 'stabby bits', poking out. She then stabbed those stabby bits into the top of the jar, causing the dark centre of the box to flicker.
"So, this isn't actually a slime tutorial." She explained. "That's a sort of… fib, we have in the Human realm."
She pressed the top of the box, and a circular compartment popped up. Not having even the vaguest clue what these human contraptions were, all four witches huddled around Luz, trying to make sense of what in the Titan's name any of this was.
"So, long story short, theatre kids in the Human realm have to get a little tricky when they wanna hide stuff from ol' evil Commander Copyright." She pulled out a small, thin case, opening it to pull out a silver disc. Written on it in black ink, Willow could make out 'AZURA SLIME TUTORIAL' in block capitals. Placing the disc into the box, she closed the lid, then pressed down on something else. "Basically, they started calling uh… not entirely legal recordings of shows 'Slime tutorials' as a way of sorta cheating the system."
"But if that's for plays…" Willow spotted Amity's brow furrow. Then, her eyes suddenly shot open, wide in an excitement Willow couldn't remember seeing on Amity's face in a long, long time "THEN THAT MEANS!"
"That there's an Azura musical that I downloaded a riff of off the internet when I was little and tried sneaking to Camp with me, and that Eda had a spare projector from her junk pile I could use to play it, and I wanted to show my awesome friends a bit of Human awesomeness?" Luz beamed. "Heck yeah!"
From the box (or 'projector' apparently) Luz had brought, a beeping noise began to repeat. She tapped the side of the projector, and pressed a few more buttons.
"Oh WOW! What books is it adapting?! Is it adapting any books!? ARE AZURA AND HECATE STILL-"
"No spoilers!" Luz shushed Amity, but was clearly just as excited as her friend. "Just watch on! I promise, it's gonna be amazing."
She pressed a few more buttons, but nothing happened.
"...As soon as I figure out how to make this thing work."
Willow couldn't help but smirk at just how incredibly giddy both girls were. She had to admit, she had absolutely no interest or understanding of Azura, outside of some basic level concepts Luz and Amity had explained to her a few dozen times. Still, seeing her best friends so eager and excited always made Willow feel similarly herself.
Gus dashed over to see if he could learn anything about the mysterious silver-cookie consuming box Luz had brought, while Willow decided that it would be best if she got out of the way - She didn't have even the first vestige of a clue of what to do to help. She went and dropped her bags off on one of the nearby desks.
A tap on her shoulder pulled her attention towards Skara, who looked utterly confused.
"Hey, uh, weird question." She whispered, leaning in close to Willow. "Has Amity always been this… excitable?"
Willow blinked. Then, she remembered that Skara and Amity had spent a long time around one another, so seeing her so happy, after years of her being… not, must be a bit surreal.
"When it comes to Azura?" Willow shrugged. "Amity's always been excitable. At least, all the times I've seen her around it."
And Luz, Willow thought, chuckling internally.
Skara seemed surprised, but accepted the answer without another word. The two of them pulled up a few chairs, and reoriented them so they were facing the chalkboard. Luz, Amity, and Gus were all still fiddling with the human contraption.
"Do they... Actually know what they're doing?" Skara asked, sounding slightly concerned.
"Luz and Gus probably do. More than me, at least, with the… box… thing. And Amity knows what she's doing with Lightning Bugs. I think they'll figure it out."
"To be honest I was thinking more 'Is that thing gonna explode?'"
"...Probably not?"
"...Eh, good enough." Skara shrugged. She finally pulled down her cowl-hood, revealing a big grin. "A human musical, huh? This is gonna be interesting."
"I'm guessing you like musicals?" Willow asked, with a small smile.
"I'd have a nightmare of a time in the Bard Track if I didn't."
"Fair point." Willow nodded. Then she paused. "Hey, you said your mom's an actress, right?"
"Yup. The Lovely Lulea, they call her."
"I've…. never heard of her. Was she ever on Treks of the Boiling Seas?"
Willow had to admit, she had more experience with Crystal Ball drama's then she did with stage shows.
"My mom's too… sophisticated for the Crystal Ball." Skara snorted. Then, as if to sound as un-snooty as possible: "Er - Her words, not mine."
"...Huh. She sounds a bit…"
"Stuffy?"
"...I was gonna say 'elitist' but that works too."
Skara seemed to get embarrassed at that assertion. She turned her head away, biting her lip, but still smiling slightly. "Yeaaaaaaah, with acting and stuff, she can be a bit. But she's a good mom. An awesome cook too."
"So, uh… Do you wanna go into theatre too?"
"Uh, not really." Skara blinked again, seemingly surprised at the idea. She then shook her head. "I mean, I'm not like, opposed or anything, but I'm more of a musician than an actress. I mean, I've thought about trying out for a production at Hexside, but." She shrugged. "Eh. Maybe one day I'll give it a try, but I'm mostly okay with working behind the scenes."
Willow paused. "Huh. That… sorta makes you sound like a supervillain."
That stopped Skara dead in her tracks. Turning to Willow, she just stared at her, blinking for a good, solid ten seconds in sheer confusion. For a moment, Willow had to admit, she was worried she'd offended Skara to some degree.
Then, a small grin grew on Skara's lips.
"I mean… thinking about it, I guess it kinda does." She held out a palm into the air, moving it across the air for emphasis as she spoke. "Supervillain Skara! Has a fun ring to it, don't you think?"
Willow had to snort at Skara's sudden, immediate turn to villany. "It sounds funny, I'll give you that."
"What, you think I can't make a good supervillain?"
"I just think the name's a bit on the nose."
"...Fair." Skara conceded, letting herself giggle at the conversation they'd just had.
Willow had to chuckle along.
Then, she simply told the honest truth.
"Well, I think you'd be just as cool if you were in the spotlight."
Skara stopped chucking. Then, she looked away, like she had with Willow's 'elitist' comment.
"...I, er… Thanks. I… appreciate that."
It was a touch strange of a moment, and both girls would look back at it curiously. This odd bit, while waiting for their friends to figure out some incomprehensible human box, in the back of the room, just the two of them, with this private conversation and Willow's private assurances. Bordering on the intimate, with how personal it seemed. For Skara to show off this wackier side to herself. For Willow to encourage her.
Both girls would admit it seemed… weird.
And yet, it was also a moment neither of them would ever want to forget.
It did create a bit of a long, slow silence though, and neither girl fully knew how to react for a good minute.
Finally, Willow's mind suddenly kicked her for forgetting what she'd wanted to ask Skara for a while now!
"Oh, right! Skara, I was thinking. You have a Penstagram, right?"
"Uhm… yea?"
"Well, I was wondering - you want to exchange names? I could add you to some group chats with the others if you wanted. Or we could just talk. Whichever you want.."
If Skara had looked somewhat embarrassed before, now she seemed downright petrified.
"E-Er… Well, jeez, I'd uh, love to," Skara stated. "It's just uh…"
Suddenly, Willow felt kind of bad for putting the Bard on the spot. "If - you don't have to if you don't want to, I didn't mean to -"
"No, no, it's not that - I'd like to. It's just, my Pensta's kinda… embarrassing, and…"
"Oh. It's okay," Willow said with a shrug. "We all post dumb stuff from time to time."
"It's er, not about the posts." Skara said with a shake of her head. "I barely use it at all for that stuff. It's the… uh… the name. See, I made my account like, the day I graduated the Baby Class… and…"
"..."
"..."
"...Oh, now you have to tell me."
"Please don't make me say this."
"Come on, Skara. It's fine, no need to be embarrassed. I promise I won't laugh."
Skara stared Willow dead in the eyes. "You promise?"
Willow nodded. "On my honour as a Plant Track student."
A sigh, a red face, and a singular focus on the ground in front of her, Skara admitted, "It's… it's BestestBard1234567."
She tried - She tried so hard to stop herself from grinning. She pulled her lips into her mouth to try to stop herself from smiling, and covered her mouth and nose with her hands, felt her entire body shake, repeated the same thought in her head over and over, and tried, like her life depended on it, to not laugh.
Willow had to admit, her honour as a Plant Track student was being thrown into question.
"That is… a name."
Skara blushed. "It sounded cooler when I was eight!"
"Why only up to seven?"
"...Because that was as high as I could count."
At that, Willow couldn't hold back anymore. She burst out laughing - and instantly felt bad about it, but she couldn't stop herself.
There was a moment where Skara just looked at her, and between her fit of laughter, Willow thought that she may have genuinely hurt Skara. But then, the Bard couldn't stop herself - Her own lips formed a bashful smile, and before long, she had erupted into a fit of giggles of her own. And that only made Willow laugh more, which only made Skara laugh more, which only made Willow laugh more, and so on and so on.
"That is - Wow, what a name." Willow snickered to herself, once she was able to pull herself together.
Skara snickered again as well, trying to calm herself down, before bursting into another fit of giggles again.
"I'll try to remember to friend request you later, okay?"
At that, Skara grinned. "Sure. That sounds fun."
"AHA!"
The box Luz had brought was now projecting an image onto the wall. After it flickered for a moment, the light showed a stage, albeit from a very awkward angle, high up and from the right. The image began to move, almost like a Crystal Ball image would, only on a flat surface. Luz punched the air with both fists in celebration.
"It's working! Hit the lights! Close the curtains! Prepare to be amazed!"
As the room darkened, and everyone around them went to sit down, Willow found herself feeling a lot more comfortable around Skara. Their relationship was awkward, and they were still finding their footing, but she was convinced and reaffirmed once again that she'd made the right call by inviting Skara to join their group.
She was glad she had done it.
While Skara was no expert on musical numbers from Humans, or if it was considered a good showing by their standards, Skara had to admit, she'd certainly seen far worse showings. How they managed to make all the pieces move across the stage without Magic was impressive, if nothing else.
She had enjoyed herself - Good by Human standards or not, she had found it enjoyable enough by her own. Even if it did seem like the play was assuming that anyone in the audience was already into Azura, with a lot of seemingly out of nowhere cameos and twists and in-universe rules that got Amity and Luz excited, but leaving Skara and Willow side-eying each other, asking the other silently if the other had any idea what was going on. Inevitably, neither of them did.
Gus meanwhile, had seemed more fascinated by how magic was being portrayed in a world without it, as well as all the mechanics and stage-stuff that the Humans were using, or just by the image-creating box itself. Though more than once, Skara could have sworn she saw Gus looking at her from the corner of his eye. She could never be certain, though.
Unfortunately the 'slime tutorial' had only wrapped up its final act-one number before the human box-thing suddenly went black, sparks flew out of it, and nearly burst into flames. Apparently. Somehow.
"Oh, no no no!"
Skara had watched as Luz and Amity rushed to the box, Luz picking it up and pressing buttons and squinting into the cracks. A blue light emanated from a page Luz had then slapped onto it, and the flames became doused with snow.
"Wait - bad idea BAD IDEA!"
As quickly as she had thrown them on, Luz shook away the snow, and took off her cowl to dry any water away. She then let out a long sigh, apparently not concerned about it exploding.
Apparently the shiny cookie hadn't been damaged, and so it was possible that if she found another one… Wherever she had found the first one, Luz would be able to show them all how the story ended. Something which, confused as she was by it all, Skara liked the sound of.
-From there, everyone had gone their separate ways. Luz back to the Owl House to 'dispose' of the light-box, Amity to her own house, Gus to drop off his discoveries with the Human Appreciation Society, and Willow to check in on one of her plant-wards in the Plant-Track rooms. Skara, meanwhile, needed to pick up her ghost-written, ghost-writing textbook, 'History of Ghost Writers' for her Ghost-writing class tomorrow morning, so after waving the four off, she made a beeline to grab it.
Halfway there, her Scroll chimed, with a Penstagram friend request from a 'Hello_willow' - So either this was a massive coincidence, or Willow had gotten on her Penstagram to send this request the moment she got to the Plant Track rooms.
What a… Creative name. Skara smiled, and accepted it, before continuing on her way.
Still, Skara couldn't help but smile at the sight. It had been the first time she had spent any time with any of Willow's friends outside of lunch, and she'd had a whole lot of fun.
And in a small, maybe selfish way, it helped remind her that she had made the right choice in protecting Willow during that game.
Approaching her locker, she tickled it open, and began to collect her books. She pondered, and smiled. Knowing that there were people who supported her, from Bo, to Cat, to Willow, had helped her to keep her head up over these last couple weeks.
Luz is pretty cool, if a bit wrong about everything with Bellatrix. Goops seems… nice. Amity's still cool. Happier than she was around… her. Maybe-
"You sure have some nerve still showing up here after the game."
Skara's heart stopped. That voice. That angry, bitter, venom infused voice. She'd recognize it anywhere. Even if it wasn't her old best friend.
She turned and her eyes met Boscha's (well, two of them, anyway). The Potions student stood there, arms folded, hands balled up into fists, face scrunched up, and cheeks red underneath the Grudgby paint that she had on, reminding Skara that normal Grudgby team practices were on today, and she was beginning to regret her choice to pick up her ghost-Writing book at this exact moment. Boscha looked almost exactly like she had when Skara had walked out of the changing rooms.
That was to say - Livid beyond words.
"Yeah, well… you have a lot of nerve being… alive."
Not her best comeback, admittedly.
"Is that the best you've got?" Boscha sneered.
"No." Skara lied. "But it's the best you're getting."
"Don't get snippy with me, Skara. I wasn't the one who threw the game!" Boscha snapped. "You did! You left us!"
Reflexively, Skara leaned back, not wanting to make Boscha upset. Except, she remembered, she didn't care about what Boscha had to say anymore. So, she stood back tall, unflinching.
"'Cause you had to attack Willow like some sort of lunatic, because of your precious ego!" Skara snapped right back. She allowed herself to feel the frustration with what had happened, and how school had treated her these past few weeks, and used it to fuel her retorts to the person responsible for it all in so many ways, who now seemed to be looking for a fight.
If Skara had learned one thing throughout all of this, and from finally snapping back at Boscha after the match, it was that Boscha didn't respond to concessions, or attempts to de-escalate a situation. She'd always find a way to escalate until she was bored - Or outmatched.
What Boscha did respond to was force. To her own game being thrown right back at her. She could dish it out, but she couldn't take it. And now, here she was, trying to pick a fight. The only way Boscha would back down would be if someone pushed back. And Skara had plenty of reasons to respond in kind.
Well, if she wants a fight…
"And now, all your stupid rumours… What, 'I have a crush on the Glandus team captain.' Seriously? I wonder how you, of all people, came up with that one."
The red that already covered Boscha's pink cheeks became a deeper shade, though it wasn't entirely clear if it was more from anger or embarrassment. "You little… What's next? Gonna hang out with that half-a-witch four eyed ferny freak?"
"And if I did? What then?"
Boscha paused.
"Maybe I already am." Skara carried on. "And her human friend, and Goops, and Amity."
Then, Boscha's face morphed into confusion, clearly caught off guard. "What?"
"What if I'm hanging out with Willow AND Amity? What then? Losing two friends to, what do you call her? Half-a-witch?"
She took a step forward, getting up in Boscha's face..
"I guess that would make you a quarter Witch, right?"
Skara expected Boscha to get more red, to yell, to get so mad her yell would echo throughout the whole school.
Instead, she laughed.
"Wait! You think that worthless Witchling wants to be friends with you, of all people on the Titan's corpse?" She barked out another laugh, and smirked a smirk that made Skara's stomach turn. "You remember asking me if I thought you were stupid, Skara? Well, the answer is 'I do now.'"
"What are you-"
"Do you remember how often you helped me make fun of her?"
Skara felt a lump form in the pit in her stomach.
"How many pranks did we pull on her? How many times did you tell me how funny 'Half-a-Witch' was? Do you even remembef? Or did we do too many to count?"
Skara didn't answer.
"Amity," Boscha carried on, venom in her voice as she said that name, "was friends with her before we ever even met. There's at least something there. But you? Can you even tell me one time you and her got along before the last couple of months? Before any of this?"
When Skara didn't answer for a few seconds, Boscha shook her head.
"Didn't think so. Let me tell you what's actually going to happen here, Skara. Once everyone else forgets about the match, and you drop this 'Oh, woe is me' routine, she is gonna remember all we did." She raised a finger, jabbing Skara in her ribs with each syllable. "All you did." She smirked, fangs bared. "And she and her little friends are gonna drop you like you dropped that Grudgby ball. Then what do you have? Hm?"
Skara took in a long, deep, not-very-calming breath through her clenched teeth. She WANTS to get to you. Get under your skin. She wants you to get mad.
I mean, it's working pretty well, but-
"...Even if that were true - I'd still have Bo, and Amelia, and Cat. And even if I didn't, even if I was all on my own -" She paused, before narrowing her eyes. "I. Don't. Need. You."
Boscha just stood there, for the longest second of Skara's life, smirking.
"We'll see."
Skara attempted to think of the perfect comeback, but before she could say anything, she was already being elbowed into the locker as Boscha passed her, leaving her alone without a second word.
Skara wanted to follow. She was a Bard, letting the bully get the last word in didn't seem right.
But she also knew that starting a full blown fight in the halls of Hexside wasn't a great idea. Even if it was mostly empty now, Skara was on thin enough ice for the game.
So she did the next best thing. The mature, adult thing to do - She stuck her tongue out at Boscha as she turned the corner.
Still, as Boscha disappeared, Skara couldn't help but dwell on what she had said.
She's gonna remember all we did. All you did.
Skara shook her head. Boscha's just a bully. A lying bully, with an obsession with stupid sports and stupid popularity and the stupid Glandus's team captain. Skara was done answering to her. She was done being Boscha's lackey.
Boscha's just… wrong.
Willow knew that
Right?
QuirkQuartz: 'Ello all - We've been busy on like, ten different things since last you heard from us, but here we are, having finally got this thing wrapped up and ready for ya'll - Which we hope you enjoyed! We're getting into a part of the story we've been looking forward to since we started, so hopefully the build up will be worth it!
I am not a theatre kid - I despise musicals, and have only watched videos on Starlight Express to laugh at the failures. Any and all references to musicals or theatre kids is entirely from Desmond on this one, I'm throwing them to the wolves on this one, if something is inaccurate, hiss at Desmond with a flute or a tambourine or whatever the theatre kids think is holy.
Notes from us - If you recall from last chapters notes, we're starting a Webcomic, and we're getting close to a number of pages where we're happy with posting. I'm the artist and right now it's just a matter of me getting a backlog done so I can be ahead of releases, but it's coming soon! We're 40 Pages strong so far! (I am very tired, my life is drawing, I crave sleep)
So if you enjoy GS, and you're interested in the insane ramblings and insanity we come up with in our own heads, we've got a Lintktree here with a dozen or so links you can follow for direct updates. Hopefully we'll have something out by the end of the 2023!
All our socials can be found under "TheWeirlands"
DesmondKane: Howdy everyone! A few things fun things to note on this chapter:
Firstly, I'm now part of not one, but TWO TOH Zines! I'm officially a part of the Titan's Tome Zine, meant to highlight the writers of this awesome fandom. Like with Elements, I'm writing a comic for it, this time drawn by Maddiedrawz and Beckers522 . Check out the Titans Tome Twitter for updates!
Speaking of Zines, the first Zine I was a part of, Elements, is now shipping! If you ordered a physical copy and live in the U.S. it should be arriving soon! I even got mine already! If you live outside the U.S., I'm afraid it'll be a bit longer for the physical products to arrive. But luckily the digital emails should be going out early this week, so keep an eye out for those! To those who did end up buying the Zine, thank you for being awesome!
I still have a few socials active, particularly Tumblr. I don't have a lot of questions to respond to now, but if you're interested in asking anything about Skarlow, The Owl House in general, or me and Q's upcoming webcomic (PLEASE CHECK THAT OUT) , I'm always happy to answer them here at desmondkaneofao3fame on tumblr and if you want to see some of my old commissions or other Skarlow art I reblog, check out my other account at skarlowart.
Song of the Chapter: 'Venus' by Anais Mitchell (Just imagining Skara describing Willow as 'the only woman I've ever seen' and longing to see her again makes my little Skarlow heart flutter.)