Loyalty & Light

by BlehBluhBlah

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

15. Making Us Time

A/N: Ah, this chap grew long for the wrong reasons but I think I'm still satisfied with it. Sorry if this comes off as a boring one!

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Chapter Summary: After the Owl House residents receive a random free pass to a carnival, Lealtad decides to really help out Eda in running a stand for a change.

Word Count: 16,549

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Making Us Time

Hexside was certainly interesting.

Or at least, for the moment.

Lealtad was surprised how quickly she was getting used to the routine, despite only having gone two days now. Even after getting her Healing Track schedule, she was able to get a sense of what to expect for the coming weeks. It seemed like all tracks had the same standard of five different classes within the same school day. And they seemed to follow the same naming scheme: Healing for Beginners, Healing and Dealing, Healing (Again), Still Healing, Healing So You Live, and Healing After Living. The pattern Leal noted was that the first two classes were often dedicated to more introductory work and then expanding on those concepts, while the third class would remain a study period.

The last three were more deep dives into the respective tracks. For Potions, it was things like potion and equipment upkeep, or ingredients gathering/care. For Healing, it was actual practical applications of treating minor injuries and wounds, learning about utilizing defences to prevent injuries. Healing, for the most part, was the true challenge since she still couldn't do healing magic. But for Leal, that didn't mean any excuse. She had a lot of ground to cover. There was no "entry level" anything for her. And that meant Leal did not know as much as her classmates.

So any time she wasn't spending with Luz or helping Eda around the house, she was reading up on Potions and Healing as much as she could.

Being a dual-track student—as they so slyly dubbed themselves—meant a lot more work. Many students even asked them about it sometimes, wondering what it was like to study more than one track at a time. The answer was that it was basically more effort. Some classes were slacked from the schedule in a way that assured no day was strictly just one track. That meant, one day would have the first three classes of Potions and Healing, and the next day would have the latter half of those tracks' curriculum. It was effectively a jam packed schedule.

And if this was back in Connecticut, Leal would honestly moan about the exhaustion.

Yet here she was, studying in the morning at the dinner table. She lifted the toasted Bitter Biter Bread from her plate and took a bite, before wiping her hand on a napkin and turning her textbook's page. Luz was on the crystal ball with Gus and Willow, chatting a bit about "Human magic" while they did some last minute homework. Leal already made her scolding comments about Luz putting it off but evidently returned to focus on her own notes.

Fortunately, a lot of the classes in both tracks were strictly participation graded. While on the one hand it sucked since she couldn't do most magic, on the other it meant as long as she showed an active effort in engaging with course material and trying to understand it, she'd do fine. But Lealtad wanted to excel! She let out an exhausted sigh as she flipped to the next page on her notebook. Hard work paid off after all…

"Luz…" King whined as he flopped himself onto the table, shaking everything upon his landing. Leal nearly snipped at the demon for disturbing her writing, but held back after seeing his sad face. "You've been talking to them all morning."

At that, Leal nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Sunshine," she chimed in. She pointed at the ball with her pencil. "I'd appreciate it if you could wrap up soon. I need to quickly double check my notes with Baker," she gently reminded her, tapping her notebook with her pencil.

Another neat thing about the dual-track kids was having them in all her classes—minus Jerbo of course. With Luz essentially rotated out with her whirlwind of schedule, that meant Leal's hours were filled with a vacant seat. Luckily, both Viney and Barcus were the ones able to fill that slot. So she had seatmates she could work with! And though it had been only a couple days, studying with them was great for catching up.

"Don't forget about the Luz and King Comedy Hour!" King also added.

At that, Lealtad smiled, setting down her pencil as she watched the two banter, much to Eda's displeasure. Honestly, Luz and King's pun offs reminded her of Saturday mornings back home. Their mom would be still cooking breakfast because sometimes they woke up too early, and to entertain her as they waited, they'd just goof off at the island. They'd sing songs, make dramatic shows of Luz's Azura stories, or even just chant and act like sports commentators for everything their mom did as she cooked. It all—

Leal's smile fell a bit.

It all started with their dad.

He'd cook with her. Making her laugh, making them all laugh. And when they'd get bored waiting he'd entertain her and Luz while their mother finished up. Leal's gaze fell down to her notebook. She should really finish this last page in her textbook, now that she thought about it. She picked up her pencil and dove back into her work, hastily finishing up her notes. Getting this section done would be a good help for her future notes—less for her to do after all.

As she finished her last jot note, the crystal ball began blinking red as a faint alarm sounded off for a brief moment.

Leal raised her head in alarm. "Mierda, it's eight o'clock already?" She quickly began to gather up her things, shoving them all into her messenger bag. "C'mon, Sunshine, we gotta hurry!" She spared a haste look toward Eda, making her silent plea for a lift to school.

The witch merely shrugged. "Sorry, Bean Head, but I still gotta have my own breakfast," she said, addressing the pot she was stirring. "Plus I gotta feed Hooty." She placed her hand on her hip. "Besides, I thought you said you liked walking your sister to school."

Leal sighed, rolling her eyes as she shouldered her bag. "Yeah, but if I get there earlier then I have more time to review my notes before class. I have Potions first thing in the morning today." She grabbed her red bat and placed it on her left shoulder.

Eda offered a sympathetic frown. "I'll be sure to pick ya up after school if that helps!"

Well, not really, but still…

"Thanks, Clawthorne," she replied as she walked away from the table. Luz had just finished her round of goodbyes with her friends, so she tapped her sister's shoulder. "¡Vamos, hermana!" she sing-songingly said as she plucked Luz's backpack off the floor. She waited at the backdoor, tapping her bat's grip. Turning around, she nearly had another comment on the verge of her lips about Luz's urgency (or lack thereof) until she noticed King's sullen mood.

"Hey, don't worry," Luz assured the demon, "We'll finish our comedy hour when I get home." She leaned over and pecked his skull, then walked over to Leal. "Try not to miss me while I'm gone!" she said before exiting the room.

Leal winked at the demon as she said, "Take care, all!" And with that, she followed after her sister, shutting the door behind her. "C'mon! If we hurry we'll still have time to kill."

"Jeez, hermana, you're more excited than me!" Luz mused.

She snorted. "No," she countered, "I just wanna make sure I have time to catch Baker before class. It's already hard enough communicating with him via slips of papers and charades, I wanna make sure I have enough time to review."

"Yeah, but you're taking it as seriously as you do regular school!" her sister pointed out.

"Well, magic or not, it is still school, Sunshine," she countered, raising a brow at her.

Luz smugly shrugged, no doubt withholding a comment of some sort but Leal didn't see the point belabouring the discussion. Whatever her sister had in mind was wrong, even if she was adamant about it, and Leal wasn't sure if she wanted to spend their walk going back and forth. Just as they were about to loop around toward the front of the house and head toward the pathway, a sudden nearby caw drew their attention to the sky. It was a crow phone! And it was flying right toward them?

It hovered in place, as if expectantly waiting for them. Leal hesitantly moved the barrel of her bat toward the avian, allowing it to perch. Opening its mouth, Bump's filtered voice came through, "Attention—residents of The Owl House—school has been temporarily closed today due to an infestation of pixies! We'll expect facilities up and running tomorrow! Your schedule will resume then." And with that, the crow took off.

Leal and Luz blinked, then stared at each other.

"So… I guess that means no school?" Luz said with a shrug, seemingly unbothered.

Leal frowned. "Yeah… I guess," she replied, unable to help her tone.

Her sister stuck her tongue out. "Ah hah! I knew you were looking forward to it!"

"And what, you're not?" Leal remarked, turning back to the back of the house. "Why's it a big deal anyway?"

Luz pursed her lip. "W-Well, it's not, but I just—"

"Then let's let Clawthorne know. I'm sure King will be thrilled to continue your Comedy Hour," she pointed out.

Once they rounded back at the rear, Luz opened the door and stepped inside. Eda stared at the two in surprise. "Hey, you're—"

"You're back!" King exclaimed, rushing from the bottom of the floor to scale her Luz, planting himself atop her head. "I didn't miss you at all!" he proclaimed.

"Apparently there's an infestation of pixies at Hexside, so school's been canceled," Luz explained as she stepped inside, shrugging off her backpack and placing it on the table.

"That sounds like a crumby situation," King joked, earning a round of laughter from Luz.

"Y'all are hilarious," Leal dryly commented as she shut the door and walked further into the room. "I'll be in the living room," she announced, "doing my notes."

"Neeeerd," Eda teased.

She stopped at the doorway, shooting the witch a look. "Hey, I didn't grow up here knowing what species produces what excrement which would be a good base for a 'Freshner Potion'," Lealtad argued, "I'm behind everyone else! If I really wanna learn stuff I gotta get through as many basics as I can!"

Eda's eyes widened as she held her hand up. "Alright, alright! More power to ya, Bean Head," she mused. "Don't let me stop ya!"

Leal rolled her eyes as she moved into the living room, ducking under Hooty's head as he stretched into the kitchen. She wasn't sure what the door-bird had to say, but right now she didn't want to spare time humouring him. This was the perfect chance to play catch up! A whole day off! She set her things down on the couch and began pulling out her textbooks and notebooks, laying them all out on the table. Now would be a great time to review the body anatomy for Healing for Beginners. She was quick to grab her Healing textbook, flipping to the chapter she last left off at.

"Ah, maybe I should call Viney," she muttered to herself. If the news had spread that school was cancelled today, she was likely at home too. It'd be a good chance to review and get help if needed.

But before she could even weigh the odds of doing so, Luz stepped into the living room and shouted, "Leal come quick!" And then disappeared back into the kitchen.

She could tell from that tone alone it was something exciting. With a sigh, she set down her things and walked over. Hopefully whatever it was would be over quickly. Upon her entry, Hooty had zipped out from the kitchen in excitement as she noticed several scattered letters and a package at Eda's feet, while the witch held a flyer out for her. It read, Boonesborough CARNIVAL 1 DAY ONLY.

She cringed at the paper while her sister declared, "We're going to a carnival, Leal!" King tugged at Luz's pant leg, looking up at her sadly. She crouched down and said, "Aw, don't worry King! It can be a Luz, King, and Leal Day!"

At that, the demon spared a glance at Leal, before an accepted look of joy settled on his face. On that note, the three looked at Leal expectantly, realizing they were awaiting her input.

"A carnival? Ugh, pass," she flatly stated. Eda shot a raised brow at her and Leal shrugged. "I just don't like carnivals." Luz frowned knowingly at this, no doubt the girl was hoping her older sister would consider it this once. Instead, Leal went on, "Basically a dirtier market with more crowds and less hygiene. Scam stalls, overpriced foods—I guess your kind of place, eh, Clawthorne?"

The witch snorted at her summary, not even denying it.

"C'mon, Leal!" Luz pleaded, cupping her hands together. "It'll be fun!"

She rolled her eyes. "Why can't you three go?" she asked. Jerking her thumb to the living room, she said, "I already told you, I plan on working on my notes today." She looked at Luz, as if she felt the need to explain more clearly. "Free day means extra time, hermana, you already know I'd rather be ahead than behind," she told her.

Luz pouted in response and Leal ignored the well of guilt creeping in her stomach. This happened a lot back in Connecticut too. Having homework to do, projects to work on, presentations to rehearse—her sister would pout whenever Leal was unavailable. Maybe it was because of their bond growing up, but their mother pulled Lealtad aside once and told her that she couldn't always be expected to play or entertain her sister. She had an apology in her throat, ready to voice out a series of, "Take pics for me," and "Have enough fun for the two of us!" but then Eda placed her hand on her shoulder.

She nearly jumped at the affectionate gesture, surprised by how soft it was. Locking eyes with the witch, she realized she was trying to silently plead at her. "C'mon, Bean Head. As good as it is to bury your nose in your books, it's also good to get your head outta of 'em for a day too!"

"B-But—"

"Ah, ah," she lifted a finger and smugly smirked at her. "Mandatory day out! As your guardian and owner of this house, I demand it!" she stoically declared. Her eyes narrowed at Leal as if daring her to challenge this statement.

A blush crept to Leal's ears as she sheepishly nodded, accepting the witch's words wholeheartedly. She unsure of why she even felt embarrassed by the scolding. It wasn't even scolding! Regardless, she was glad she had her red-orange beanie tugged all the way on to shield her embarrassment. "Fine. I guess I'll get my stuff." She turned away, walking back into the living room.

"Oh!" Luz shouted as she sprinted behind her, heading up the stairs. "We should also change out of our uniform!"

Leal sighed at the addition as she approached the living room table, begrudgingly stacking her books together. She barely started too! She clicked her teeth in annoyance. Honestly, what was she thinking? Eda was right—sure, and she's made a point to respect the woman as owner of the house—but Leal had good points about her studies too! Heck, what was to stop the witch from letting her read up on things when they got there anyway? She let her read her books, what was the difference with textbooks and notes?

With that in mind, she began to sneakily slide her things back into her messenger bag.

"Oh, and Bean Head?" She startled, whipping to face the doorway where Eda hung off with a smile. "Don't even think 'bout bringing any of your school work with ya!"

Lealtad's eyes widened. How did she—

"Ugh, fine! ¡Mierda!" she cursed, dropping her bag on the table and pulling her books out. She made a big dramatic show of slamming her stack of textbooks and notebooks on the table, before marching past the witch and up the stairs, on her way to changing out of her uniform. Part of her knew the motion was childish, and it didn't help that Eda's smug look fixated on her as she passed by and ascended. But another part of her didn't like why she was feeling embarrassed and guilty that Eda caught her.

As if to get the last word, she shouted, "This carnival better be fun!"

::TITLE OPENING::

Luz and King played I Spy on the fly over, which meant the two wanted the back of the staff so they'd be able to play closer together. Which also upset Leal a tad bit because their usual seating arrangement—almost always—was Leal at the back and Luz then King behind Eda. So she was left to stare at the woman who was shooting her smug looks every so often. She couldn't even take photos because the darn woman's hair was flying in her face but even then, she was also not in the mood to do so. Luz could sense Leal wasn't in the most joyous of moods and unfortunately, with her sister, that meant she'd try two things.

One was either back off and give her space, or two was get real involved and try to cheer her up. So of course, to her great Sunshine, that consisted of talking and theorizing what possible Boiling Isles fun they'd have! Leal still had no qualms about forcing herself to enjoy this event. Of course that still wouldn't deter her sister's excitement, which only increased when King joined them. She wasn't sure why King had some attachment issues to Luz recently, but she could gather the two were going to benefit the most from this day of bonding. Eda on the other hand, no doubt had a slew of scheming and scamming in store.

"Y'know, Bean Head," Eda spoke up as they began to descend into Bonesborough, her voice low enough so King and Luz wouldn't hear, "most kids would be thrilled going to the carnival."

Lealtad snorted, tilted her head at the witch. "Come on, Clawthorne, I thought we established I'm not like most kids."

She turned her head and smiled at her. "I know," she said in a soft, almost affectionate tone, which caught Leal by surprise, "but you are still a kid." She winked at her. "Have some fun." Turning back around, the witch continued descending straight to the carnival, leaving Leal barely any time to process her words.

The archway of, BONESBOROUGH CARNIVAL was hard to miss, as were the plethora of tents and booths within the large gated area. Even from up here, despite the Boiling Isles-ness she was used to, it still looked like a regular old carnival.

"Well, here we are, kids," Eda announced as they came down, hopping off the staff.

They passed through the archway and took in the scenery. Luz and King were giddy looking at all the stalls and tents but Leal wasn't a fan of it. It wasn't like she thought there wasn't anything worth taking a picture of. She just didn't like carnivals. For all the reasons she mentioned before, it just wasn't an ideal hangout/activity oriented thing for her. Some people didn't like the beach, some didn't like malls, others it'd be the park or cafes. For Leal? It was carnivals. Simple as that. She let out a sigh as she shouldered her bat and tapped the grip.

This was gonna be a long day, huh?

Eda, on the other hand, had an impish grin on her face as she was busy scanning the patrons walking about. "Look at all that fresh meat," she remarked.

Lealtad saw what she expected, just regular people shopping and playing at booths and stalls, carrying prizes and food. In her mind, being victims of the carnival consumerism was already a scam in and of itself. Though she supposed that wouldn't stop Eda regardless.

"And smell all the fresh meat!" her sister chimed in, taking a deep breath. Seconds later, she heard her choking and when Leal looked to her in panic, she watched her sister cough a fly out of her mouth. Leal gaped in disgust as Luz merely shrugged and said, "Fun!"

"¿Qué? There was literally nothing fun 'bout what I just saw," she incredulously argued.

A cheerful hoot came from Lealtad's right and she turned in time to see Owlbert attempting to hop off his staff, only to be stopped by Eda's finger. His look of excitement lingered toward his owner as she shook her head. "No games for you, Owlbert, we've got scams to run," she said with an eager smile.

The poor palisman let out a dejected hoot as he returned to his staff form.

Wow, even Owlbert wanted to mess around in the carnival.

Leal was the minority in today's outing, wasn't she? Well, actually, when wasn't she?

"Friends, welcome!" a voice shouted as hopped in front of them.

For some reason, everyone startled and dropped into a defensive stance, making Leal raise her bat defensively by reflex. Yet when she looked at the small demon, she didn't really pick up on any hostility. A small yellowish pig-like demon with glasses dressed in a ringmaster costume—it didn't exactly scream caution. She was the first to drop her guard, but for some reason the rest of them still seemed on edge.

"I see you got my postcard," the bipedal demon addressed, tipping their hat to them.

"Tibbles?" Eda exclaimed while fishing out the flyer. She turned over the paper. "You sent this?"

"Mm-hmm," they hummed while swaying in place.

"Aren't you mad at us for destroying your stand?" her sister asked with her palm gestured outwards.

Leal gasped as her eyes widened in realization. "Ohhh! That's it! I forgot about that!" So that was where she knew him from. That was also how Eda and King knew what they did that night after all, since they were at his stand. Though she could barely recall seeing the demon's destroyed stand momentarily on their return home.

"Ooh, and destroying his life! That was the best part!" King taunted whilst pointing at him.

Leal cringed at the young demon's blasé attitude toward what would be considered a tragedy.

However, Tibbles waved it off. "No, no, no! I should thank you." He turned away, walking further into the carnival leadingly, so the four of them followed. He led them to a circus tent as he explained, "After my stand was destroyed, I reevaluated my life and found my true calling! I'm now ringmaster of," he turned back around, revealing a whip in his hands of which he snapped, "Tibbles's Tent of Tiny Terrors!"

And true to its title, that was what they could find! In a small glass vivarium, there was a miniature circus inside with small beast demons: from griffins to unicorns.

"Aww. It's like a regular circus but adorably small!" her sister observed, poking the glass. A tiny griffin hissed, which of course caused her little sister to press her face against the glass in excitement. "You're my friends now," she whispered.

Lealtad chuckled as she lifted her camera, zooming in on the small creatures. "Wow," she commented. "It looks pretty regular sized from here," she mused as she looked through her viewfinder. Though as she inspected the creatures' faces, she noticed they all bore quite significant… displeasure in their faces. She cringed as she pulled out of her camera. "Mamá would probably argue the ethics of this, eh, ¿hermana?" she joked, lightly elbowing her sister.

Luz chuckled. "Yeaah, but maybe they just don't like big things?"

"Well, I don't buy it," Eda declared while approaching Tibbles with a skeptical stare. She recalled Owlbert into—well, wherever she recalled him when she did that—and crossed her arms at the demon. "What kind of con are you running?" she accused.

Leal snorted. Even if he was running one, why would he answer it so blatantly?

"No cons here, Owl Lady," Tibbles said with a wide smile while shaking his head. "Only pros! In fact," he proceeded to pull out a strange bottle with a bright pinkish hue substance and held it out to Eda, "why don't we toast our newfound friendship with this totally innocent bottle of water?"

Okay now that was suspicious.

Eda yanked the bottle out of Tibbles' hand, pretending to bring it to her lips as she tauntingly said, "Oh yeah, sure! Why don't I just—" she then turned her torso and tossed it, throwing right at the entrance and knocking someone in the head.

"I'm okay!" Leal could hear them faintly mutter, though it was no surprise no one seemed to care.

"I know poison when I see it! You can't scam a scammer!" Eda accused as she pointed at Tibbles menacingly. But just when Leal was starting to enjoy this exchange, Eda pulled away from them. "Now speaking of scams…" she rushed off toward one of the stalls. "Beat it loser!" she shouted at the vendor while swiping off all their merchandise in one swoop. It felt wrong, but it was a bit hilarious to see Eda scaring off the poor dude as she hopped into the booth and drew up a spell. "Step right up to—" she cast the spell and a flash of yellow smoke and light hit their eyes for a moment. And then, the empty stall was filled with random assortments of junk, pictures, and a large sign. "—Eda's Human Horror House!" she announced.

Leal's look of amusement faded as she realized what exactly was being sold at Eda's stall. It was some of Luz's clothes! Lealtad gasped as she realized what else was hanging around the stall. Photos. Printed photos. "Hey, those were the photos I took!" she shouted. A few of the bedhead pictures and goofy shots of Luz in the morning, pictures they kept within the Owl House! It was stuff they all had a laugh about during breakfast or whatever, but stuff kept between them.

And it was just out on display!

"Humans shed their skin and I've got proof!" Eda declared, pulling out a pair of fishnet stockings.

"You should really put a lock on your luggage," King commented.

"I'll say!" Lealtad grumbled as she stomped over. The gathering crowd near the stand was quick to divert the second she brandished her bat and slapped it on the counter. "¡Qué coño! Clawthorne?" She gestured to the photos, "I printed these for us. Not for you to ridicule my sister in front of complete strangers for a quick snail!"

Eda sighed as she raise her hands placatingly. "Relax, Bean Head, your sister doesn't seem to mind," the witch pointed out, nodding over to said sister.

When Leal glanced over, she found Luz and King giggling to themselves as they walked off. Wait, they were just leaving? She shook off her shock as she fixed an annoyed stare at Eda. "That's besides the point, Clawthorne. That's an invasion of privacy!"

"Bean Head, c'mon, it's not like your sister is wearing any of these," she argued, lifting some of Luz's assorted hoodies and pants. While they did own a lot of the same clothing, Luz had some outliers here and there. Neither of them had just gotten around to changing out of their standard outfits yet (at the same time, they were packing to go to a summer camp). "And the photos are just to grab suckers," Eda explained. "Watch!" She tapped one of the few onlookers who stayed and asked, "Hey suck—I mean—customer! Did you come here because of these photos?"

The bipedal demon with a yellow beak blinked at her as they nodded. "Uhh, yeah?"

She smirked at Leal vindictively. "See?"

Lealtad scoffed. "But…" her voice trailed off as she glanced up at the photos, cringing at the sight of them. Okay, so subject wise, they weren't bad. It was just Luz with messy hair and some with her sticking out her tongue with a goofy wide smile. Stuff that, sure, she wouldn't show a new friend or stranger for the first time but not really anything truly embarrassing. And Luz didn't seem bothered by it at all either. Heck, she was hardly bothered by it even when they showed them back home at the Owl House! If anything, Luz revelled in the humour—it was the reason why Leal knew she could take them without any trouble.

But…

The quality. Blurred edges, terrible light exposure, highly contrasted tones: it was a mess. She felt her ears going hot as she gripped at her bat. She's taken many photos over the years, especially of her sister, and these… just didn't do her work justice. Leal's thoughts flew back to the few she had on the Hexside pamphlet, how Bump was so satisfied with it he still felt the need to bring it up on their first day of school. But those were ones she was proud of. She chose them. Another glance at the photos and her gaze fell back to the ground.

She didn't ask for this.

It was embarrassing.

"Lealtad?" Eda's soft voice came, bringing her out of her thoughts. The woman was staring at her in concern as she motioned for her to come inside the stall. With a sigh, Leal hopped onto the counter and swung over, letting her feet hang on the other side. She rested her bat on her lap as she let her thumb trace over its grip. God, she felt like a stupid child. Why was she like this? "What's wrong?"

Taking a deep breath, Leal raised her head and met Eda's eyes straight on. It was still concern laced within them. Right. Because Eda wasn't really a terrible person. Selfish, conceited, smug, but also… kind. And caring. She could be honest and blunt. "I…" she couldn't help the softness in her voice, "Why'd you put them up without asking?"

Eda's eyes widened with surprise. "I… I didn't think—I mean, I've done plenty of other things with you two without asking—heck, today I basically made you come to this!" She gestured around them.

"Yeah but… I mean…" she frowned as she looked at the nearest photo that was eye level with her. It was one of Luz mid blink with her hair a bit untidy. It had all the wrong qualities: red-eye effect, blurred foreground, and the subject was half in the damn photo! And people were seeing it. It was making them come to Eda's stall! This wasn't at all like the pamphlet. "It's embarrassing," she finally said.

"But Luz—"

"For me," she added, meeting Eda's eyes once more.

That seemed to catch her by surprise, as her eyes widened for a moment before she settled with a, "Ohhh." It was as though a look of understanding flashed across her before she smiled at Leal. "Bean Head, just say the word," she said as she drew up a spell circle, "but for the record? I think they look great."

Leal blinked at her in surprise.

She… understood what she meant?

Eda waggled her brows as she held her smile, patiently waiting with her drawn spell circle.

Without hesitation, she confidently told her, "Clear 'em. I'll take better ones you can use next time." The witch shrugged and cast her spell, and a flash of smoke later, the photos were gone. Relief swelled up within her as she looked back to Eda, who spared her with a wink. She was glad Eda was willing to respect her nonetheless. Feeling like she had to own up to it, she smiled at the woman. "Thanks Eda," she softly said.

"No problem, Bean Head," the witch casually replied. She cleared her throat and straightened up a bit. "So you roaming around on your own or going after your sister?" Eda placed her hands on her hips as she tilted her head curiously.

She opened her mouth to respond but hesitated. Just a moment ago her sister and King were expressing how eager they were to try all the things, and bond like they never bonded before. And it was strange. Because maybe on another day, she would've been okay to go. But she wasn't excited or at all eager to babysit the two throughout an event she didn't enjoy. If anything, she still would rather head home and study. Though… when she looked at Eda's expectant face, she found herself rather calm all of a sudden.

Eda was the one who pushed for her to go. She was the one who was trying to hammer home the message of making sure to have fun and take a break. She was the one who got Leal into Hexside. It was strange how these past few weeks, it felt like the witch was as much as her mentor as she was Luz's. Still, in all the time they've had together, it felt like she didn't really spend time with Eda either. Yet there were moments. Cooking together, talking about Luz, even back at the Knee—she wasn't someone she needed to pull away from.

"You trust me to look after her, right?"

It was strange how she couldn't exactly place what she was feeling, but she did know one thing: she trusted her. Maybe that was all she needed. And in any case, from what it seemed like, King and Luz wanted a day to themselves anyways, there was no sense third wheeling them.

And it wasn't like she liked doing anything at a carnival anyways…

So why not?

Lealtad hopped down from the counter and set down her bag and bat in the corner of the stall. She fixed the woman with a smirk. "Well, someone has to make sure you don't sell too much of mi hermana's stuff." She tilted her head. "Hope ya don't mind having a helping hand."

Eda shrugged with a smile. "A partner's a partner! If King is Luz's partner in crime today, you're mine! Let's sell, Leal!"

Despite it all, she actually laughed and carried over the woman's excitement. All things considered, Eda did know how to rile people up at the end of the day.

::::

Lealtad wasn't a stranger to selling things.

While she had a simple Page position back at the Gravesfield library (with the occasional reading to kids), she did have moments where certain people would ask her opinions on the books they had for "Daily Recommendations". Oftentimes, it was material she read and something she had to proposition to others when asked. And even here on the Isles, running Eda's stall and going around and delivering potions—that was as serious a transaction as any (even with the scamming on the deals). But running this stall with Eda… it was a strangely nice change of pace.

For the most part, she let Eda take the reigns—much like any other day at the market; the witch would call out to passersby and pull them in with her showmanship, haggle them in with supposed slacked prices and deals, then auction off "novelty" items to the crowd en masse. The thing about Eda's merchandise or human goods, was that she didn't actually have prices for anything. She often measured a customer by their interest or how susceptible they were to being fooled, and drove up the price from there. It was something Leal honestly found quite amusing to watch sometimes.

So that was why all she did was stand outside the stall, helping hand out merch and junk to people who asked, but mainly staying out of the way. If it was like any other day, she would've resorted to pulling out her book and reading here and there. She wasn't the type of teenager to have games on her phone and she also wasn't a big fan of reading on her phone, so having her books on her was her only way of entertaining herself. Yet her bag sat inside the stall, next to her softball bat, practically empty. With the haste of getting ready to leave for the carnival, she didn't really pack it with her usual things—she couldn't even bring her potions! But in the end, all that meant was Leal had to be engaged with the customers that passed them by.

But her legs were killing her from standing so long.

"Yeesh, Coach McCarty would be livid if he learned I was slacking on the off-season," she muttered to herself as she leaned her head and back against the stall wall. She wasn't exactly a huge exercise or workout buff, but she did what she could to maintain her shape/stamina. Jogs here and there, practicing pitching and batting in the backyard—whatever worked. But this might've been the first summer in a long while she wasn't consistently doing anything. She chuckled to herself. "Though, constant life-threatening encounters do good for stamina too," she quietly joked.

She felt a stare burrowing her direction as her ears flushed. Looking over in front of her, she found a large salmon-skinned demon averting their eyes as they looked back at the stall. She raised a brow, then caught them nervously averting their gaze from the stall to elsewhere. She noticed this habit occurred four or three times, and when she pushed off the wall and looked over to the counter, she realized they were staring at something. It was just that Eda was too busy with a group of three trying to sell them a shitty broken backpack to notice the demon.

Leal traced the bipedal demon's gaze back to the display of sunglasses sitting on the edge of the counterspace. She opened her mouth, ready to call out for Eda's attention, but stopped. The witch was animatedly in the zone, pulling the three suckers in by each word. Messing up her rhythm might make them slip. Lealtad turned to the salmon-skinned demon and stepped toward them, smiling. "Hey there, Mixter, can I help you with anything?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

They blinked nervously as they averted their gaze for a moment, before shyly nodding. "U-Uh, k-kinda?" they replied with a pitchy voice.

She held her smile. "Any of our wares here interesting you?" she offered, gesturing around at the stall before lingering her palms near the sunglasses. Put it in their line of sight more, make them initiate it.

And it worked out well! Their eyes fixated on the sunglasses for a longer period this time, before they eventually said, "U-Uh actually, I-I'm kinda interested in these." They stepped forward and pointed at the collection.

It was a mix of sunglasses from the human junk pile, a few pairs Luz brought to camp, and some that Luz called dibs on after a few Human Trash day loots. They ranged from horrendous qualities like one with American flag colours all over, to gimmicky frames of the Eiffel Tower or the Gateway Arch. Honestly, majority of them hardly actually functioned as proper sunglasses—which is probably why her sister wanted them. Getting rid of them would be all the more better.

"My, my, what a good eye!" Leal proclaimed, making the demon flush a darker red. "I'll say though," she squinted as she tilted her head, "you seem like the kinda person who needs some good framing around that face of yours. Really highlight your good features!" She grabbed the Gateway Arch pair and handed to them. "This'll really compliment your face!"

They accepted it and placed it on their head, embracing their blushing. "R-Really?" they excitedly asked.

Leal nodded with a chuckle. "Definitely!"

Without hesitation, they started to pull out their wallet and fish out snails. "I-I'll take it then! How much?"

Getting rid of just one wasn't enough honestly. Lealtad turned back to the collection and clicked her teeth. "But my good customer, I, myself, being a human, would know that we come with pairs! And getting one set of sunglasses is not nearly as good as getting two!" She said temptingly as she grabbed the pair of sunglasses with the American flag frames.

"I'll take them both!"

"That'll be fo—fifty snails," Leal declared as she handed the other pair and held out her left palm to the demon. "It's a good deal too!"

"Thank you!" they exclaimed as they placed the money in her palm and walked off, joyfully holding their new sunglasses.

"No, thank you!" she shouted. With a content sigh, she turned toward Eda, ready to hand her the money but was immediately met with the woman's proud smirk.

She winked at her. "I saw that. Nice hussle, Bean Head."

Leal shrugged. "Learned from the best," she simply said. She handed the woman the money, noting how a faint blush graced the Eda's face before she turned away.

It was nice knowing even The Owl Lady could be sentimental sometimes.

"Did I hear correctly that you're human too?" a witch asked in awe. "D-Does that mean you know what this is?" Leal turned toward them in time to see they were holding up an empty Sour Cream and Onion Pringles can toward her with child-like wonder.

Lealtad had to fight everything in her power from snorting at the witch's genuine curiosity. Goodness, whenever witches and demons matched the fascination Gus had it was hard not to be a bit amused. Taking a breath to control herself, Leal leaned up against the stall's counter and smirked. "You heard right, good customer, I am indeed a human!"

What was it Eda told her again?

"That's the trick, Bean Head. You make 'em think it has something that works! Then ya act like how it works is like nothing they've ever seen!"

Lealtad held her smirk, knowing exactly what to do. She tilted her head and pretended to observe the Pringles can before pulling back in a feigned pride. "Why, what a great find you've got there!"

The witch held the can closer as they inspected it with a wide eye. "Really?" they skeptically asked, suspicion evident in their tone.

"Really," Leal asserted. She leaned close, making a big show of checking to see if anyone was listening in even though there was like four other people gathered at the stall. "Ya see," she stage-whispered, "this, Soor Cram and Oni-on, is an enchanting spice back in my world." She held out her palm and blinked at the witch. "If I may?"

They hesitantly handed the can over, nearly pulling back for a second before placing it on her palm.

Lealtad carefully handled the can, acting as though it were made of glass, and maneuvered her left hand up to the lid, popping it off in one swift motion. The sound of the lid popping off elicited an exclamation of awe from the witch. She gave them a knowing smile before carefully shaking the can, spilling a bit of crumbs onto her right palm. "This, will flavour up your meals like no other spice has before!"

They gasped, leaning close to inspect the crumbs. "Wooow!"

Leal dropped them back in the can and closed the lid, smiling proudly. "Why, we're lucky there was any left at all!" She gave the can a onceover before shrugging. "These things are a hot commodity back where I'm from. They're usually finished up immediately after purchase." She raised her voice a bit as she said, "Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if this was swiped up by the next customer!"

At that, the witch's eyes grew wide with fear. They moved their hand hastily toward the can but Leal pulled back, raising an inquiring brow at them. "I-I'll pay fifty snails for it!"

"Really?" Leal asked. "Because I've heard higher offers…"

"Seventy-five!" they amended, fishing out the snails in one swift motion.

Leal grinned as she held out her hand, accepting the money as she handed them the can of Pringles. "Pleasure doing business with you! Be sure to tell everyone about Eda's Human Horror House!" she shouted as the witch happily walked off with their Pringles.

She fanned the through the stack of five and ten snail bills and smirked.

This was pretty fun after all.

::::

The more and more customers started paying, the more Lealtad started realizing the benefit of marking up the prices. Something that lingered from her three day babysitting was that errand run she did: were it not for her haggling, she would've ended up paying for some expensive groceries. If she thought about it, there were lots of things they needed to stock up on. For her, she'd gone through a large amount of her photo printer paper. Luz needed more notepads since she threw one of hers a couple days ago at the Basilisk. There was a bit of a need to get some sewing material since some of King's stuff toys were all ripped up and torn.

Basically, there was a good reason for Leal to talk up their merchandise.

And hey, if people were willing to spend their deep pockets on human junk, who was she to stop them?

"I've been told those who solve this cube of Rubiks will earn a well of pride and rights of bragging." She danced the toy around in her hands, enticingly capturing the witch's multiple eyes as she did so.

"Wow!" she gasped.

"And the usual mark up price for these bad boys back in my world is like, two hundred snails! But for you? I'll chop it down to a hundred."

"I'm sold!" the witch declared, immediately handing over the payment in exchange for the cube toy.

Leal gladly accepted the money and turned toward Eda behind the counter. She handed her the money and smiled at her impressed look. "Another hundred for the house," she announced, before leaning against the counter. The crowd around their area of the carnival began to fizz out, with only a couple or so people coming at a time, so Leal had taken with just casually waiting next to Eda.

"Y'know," the witch said as she pocketed the cash, "I've been to the human shop that sold those. They're not that expensive."

"Yeah, well, getting more paper and pencils for glyphs is." She dipped her smile into an impish smirk. "'Sides, they don't know that."

Eda's smile grew tenfold. "Bean Head, when did you get so darn good?"

"I figured you'd try to take some of the credit for that influence, Clawthorne." She winked in spite of the proud feeling she was swelling up with.

"I am a good teacher after all," the woman smugly stated.

Lealtad snorted, rolling her eyes as she shook her head. She took back to scanning the scenery. Their stall was in the middle of a pretty dense intersection split to two strips, so it meant people would often linger by their way. Though it seemed the flow of customers pouring in was dying down a bit. Perhaps it was fatigue, but Leal wagered people were taking lunch breaks—both the stall owners and the patrons—so the natural speed of things would dwindle a bit. Maybe she should try going out and gathering people?

"Gotta say, though, I do admire your work ethic," Eda suddenly said.

Leal turned to her with a raised brow, taken aback a bit by the bizarre comment. "Where'd that come from?"

The witch snorted as she rested her arm on the table and leaned her chin onto her palm, smiling at her. "I mean your ability to step up." She shrugged lightly. "I know I didn't really give off the impression, but help around the stall is honestly appreciated. But between Luz and King, it's hard to really get sales going and not having to babysit." Lealtad chuckled in agreement. "Even still, I know you've got your own gripes 'bout how I do things, but I admire that you not only come in to help, but go beyond."

Meeting the woman's genuine smile for so long made Leal's ears redden more, causing her to avert her eyes as she awkwardly laughed. "Geez, Clawthorne, I thought I already sold the pancake syrup! Because where'd all this sap come from?"

The witch laughed, shrugging once more. "Nowhere! Just wanted to say thanks." She brought her other arm up and gave her chin more room to lean on, swaying her head back and forth between her palms.

She had another witty comment on the verge of her tongue, but meeting the woman's sincerity just made her swallow it. "It's no problem, Dama Búho," she softly said. Letting a moment of silence pass, Leal thought on the meaning behind Eda's appreciation. It wasn't too dissimilar to something her mom would say actually. "I don't know if I ever mentioned this, but my mom's a veterinarian, so she works with animals—takes care of them and all that. When I started high school, every now and then, I came in to help at her clinic. Luz too sometimes. I mean, selfishly, I thought it'd do good for my community hours."

"What? You got a prison sentence?" Eda excitedly asked, perking up.

Leal snorted. "No, not like that. It's a standard twenty hours minimum that ya need to complete or you can't graduate. It also looks good on your applications for college or university," she quickly explained. "But yeah, I told her and myself that that was the main reason I was doing it. But eh," she shrugged. "It was fun helping take care of animals and man the front desk here and there." She smiled up at Eda. "This is kinda the same thing, I guess."

Eda's eyes widened, but Leal couldn't exactly place why. Before she could think on it further, the witch pulled out a wad of snails and slid it over to Leal. "Go get some lunch."

She blinked. Where'd that come from? "Uhh, what?"

"We've been here for an hour or so, and the foot traffic ain't that high so let's take a small break," she nodded her head over to the side. "Go on, get us some lunch."

"You trust me to get your lunch?"

"You've made my meals, haven't ya?" She winked. "Surprise me, Bean Head."

Lealtad accepted the wad of snails, stepping back curiously. "Well, if ya say so," she shrugged. "I'll be back in 'round thirty minutes."

"Heh, no rush, take your time!" she waved off, turning to the back of the stall to ready some more items.

Just as Leal was about to take off, she caught Owlbert perched on the edge of the counter, gazing longingly toward the Whack-a-Giraffe machine. She spared a quick glance to Eda, making sure she wasn't paying attention, before leaning down and whispering, "Go on a head, pequeño búho, I'll cover for ya if Eda asks." The little palisman quietly cooed up at her, looking as though he was asking for assurance.

She nodded at him.

With a final appreciative coo, he took off, and Leal was quick to follow his example, walking down the strip. She couldn't help the grimace on her face as she strolled through, keeping her hands tucked into her army jacket pockets. She kinda wished she brought her bat with her so she had something to fiddle with, as she was currently fanning her fingers between the wad of snails in her pocket. As she expected, a good portion of the people roaming about were gathered at food stalls or areas designated to sit and eat. She felt a bit of relief knowing the strip wouldn't be as packed as usual then.

But another thing she hated about carnivals was the food choices. Overpriced? Definitely. Good? Like most food, debatably up to interpretation. Or in other words: shit. Okay, maybe not all food but definitely the majority. And even from her brief glances at the prices as she walked, she could tell the quality was not matching quantity. She had been on the Isles long enough to gauge that a good portion of the food being served was coated with a heaping helping of grease, and regardless of species genetics, that could not taste that great.

Or rather, it wasn't worth those prices just to inhale grease.

Lealtad sighed to herself as she walked on. Goodness, her pretentiousness was gonna make her starve at this rate. And Eda was also relying on a lunch as well, so she couldn't just think about herself here—even with all her gripes. As if on cue, her stomach growled at her, aching her brain at the fact regardless of her pickiness she was hungry. She stopped at the end of the strip, wherein seemed to be a large collection of food stalls and carts. There had to be something worth getting here…

"Leal?"

She perked over toward the familiar voice and was met with Edric Blight, with his counterpart in tow, approaching her from the mess of the hustling and bustling crowd. He was holding what looked to be a burrito while Emira had a sort of takeout cup in her hand, but both had looks of happiness as they reached her.

"Sup, Blights," she greeted. "So I suppose you decided to make the most of today's school closure and have fun as well?"

The twins tilted their heads, mirroring confusion.

"Class was cancelled today?" Emira asked.

Leal furrowed a brow. "You didn't hear?"

The two shared a look before expressing a sheepish expression toward her.

"We, uh, didn't get the memo?" Edric suggested.

Leal blinked. "You guys were skipping today to go to this, weren't you?"

"Wow you're good," he gaped in shock.

"More like you two are just easy to read," she mused while crossing her arms across her chest with a smirk. "Pixie infestation. So classes resume tomorrow," she surmised. "Though, based on your delinquency, I doubt you'll still show?" she teased.

Emira dropped her jaw while her brother's cheeks coloured red. "Hey, don't act like you've got us all figured out now," Emira slyly said.

Leal just shrugged. "Eh, call it an educated guess, but seems like ditching is kinda a common habit with you guys." She felt a little proud about her intuition there, but was surprised to see the two's eyes widen for a moment, before looking a bit guilty. It was then Leal's face shifted into mortification as she gasped, realizing what they thought she was referencing. "Mierda, n-no, guys, I didn't mean like that," she hastily explained, "I-I was just talking 'bout school!"

The two forced out a few strained chuckles, mustering some smiles her way.

She let out a sigh. "Sorry," she said, "I-I didn't mean to make you—"

"I-It's fine, Leal," Edric interjected.

His sister's face seemed to mirror his level of plastered reassurance, but it wasn't enough for Leal.

"No, guys, really," Leal asserted. "You guys have changed a bit since we first met, an-and, yeah, I don't know y'all that well but I do know you've grown enough for me to notice." She shot them a confident smile. "Don't let my dumbassness sour your mood."

Edric snorted, then he quickly covered his mouth in embarrassment, causing his sister to laugh.

"No, it really is fine, Leal," Emira assured her. "We have some pretty thick skin, and yeah, you weren't off base about us ditching class," she pointed out, winking.

Lealtad gladly accepted the conversation change. "Well, in any case, hopefully that's not a common occurrence. 'Cause I was looking forward to maybe seeing you guys 'round Hexside?"

"Same!" Edric blurted out, causing him to stuff his mouth with the burrito.

His sister rolled her eyes at his antics, but Leal fixated on the food in his mouth. "Say, Ed," she pointed her finger at food stuffing his face, "is that a ¿burrito?" She couldn't help the excitement in her tone as she watched the boy awkwardly chew. It really looked like a burrito. The bread looked like a tortilla, and even its folding style looked similar.

Edric blinked at her before looking down at his meal. Shaking his head, he said, "Oh, uh no? It's an octobeetle wrap!" He perked up with a happy smile.

A bit of disappointment swept up in her for a moment, with the nostalgia and craving for some Latin American dishes. Sure, ham-bug-ers reminded her of a jerky plantain, but it wasn't the same thing.

"You wanna try?" he asked. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, pointing to a small cart with a couple customers in line. "I can buy for you," he offered.

Leal's brows raised at the gesture. "Ah, no thanks," she pulled out the wad of snails in her pocket, "Clawthorne's got me. I'm, uh, actually supposed to be heading back to her with lunch." She gave the cart a once over. It seemed kinda similar to Venny's food cart except it had a sort of umbrella/awning over it. The four armed witch heading the cart had a welcoming smile, maneuvering all sorts of tasks at her fryer as she dealt with customers. "You give it a glowing review?" she asked the Blight.

Edric smiled and shot a thumbs up. "It's great! It's actually why I came here!"

"Really?" That was good enough, honestly, better than standing around. As Leal walked into the small line, the Blights stood beside her.

"Yeah," Emira said, a bit of annoyance laced in her voice. "I wanted to go on some rides, but he just came here for a wrap."

Edric pouted, protectively covering his wrap. "Aw c'mon, we went on like six rides before I got this!"

"That's your fourth one!"

His cheeks went red at his sister's remark, and Leal could only whistle her amazement. "Damn, Edric, guess that means it's well over a glowing review if you've gone for fourths."

"He's a bit of a glutton," his sister teased.

Leal chuckled, nudging his shoulder as he pouted. "No worries, food's food," she reassured him. "I can be a bit food crazy myself if I'm dealing with something I like."

"Oh, like that bree-to you mentioned?" he recalled.

She bit her lip, holding back her laugh. "It's, burrito," she corrected, "but your attempt was adorable." She winked, feeling her smile grow more at the return of his red cheeks. "And yeah. Mi Mamá and I used to make 'em together. It's kind of rare meal we make together these days, but I usually make one for myself or Luz," she casually explained.

"So you like cooking?" Emira asked.

Leal paused at the inquiry. It was strange. She hadn't really thought much about it before, but comparing it to something like reading or even her photography, Lealtad didn't really associate "like" with the task. She could enjoy it, sure, but when she really thought about it…

"Well, for a brunch novice," Eda smirked, gesturing to the table, "you did a pretty solid job."

She smiled.

"I think, I like cooking for people. My sister, my mom, King, Eda—I dunno." She shrugged. "Guess it just makes it more fun for me that way."

"Well, hey, I hope to make that list someday!" Edric mused.

Leal chuckled. "Not sure if you'd like anything I made. My f—the residents of the Owl House have kinda biased palates," she shyly argued.

What was she about to say?

Edric seemed to have another remark ready but stopped himself, turning forward and suddenly shouting, "Two octobeetle wraps, please!" And suddenly, Leal was realized they were at the front of the line.

The witch made one of her sets of arms cross her chest as the other began shuffling the wraps. "Seriously, more, kid?"

He laughed. "Nah, I'm still working through your last," he explained, shaking the wrap in his hand with his index finger extended. "It's for her," he nodded to Leal.

She offered a small wave. "He's given me an amazing recommendation, though," she teased, throwing the witch a knowing look.

"Oh I know," the vendor remarked, "he's been here for the past half hour!"

"Even she's keeping track!" Emira addressed, directing to her brother.

He sighed. "Fine, fine, we can leave after this."

Leal quirked a brow at the two's exchange as they stepped aside, letting other customers through. "Why don't you just leave now?" she asked Emira.

Edric's eyes widened, almost as if out of fear, before glancing to his sister.

Emira simply sighed, tossing her now empty drink into a trash can with a small levitation spell. "We left the Manor together, Mom would throw fit if I returned without him," she dryly explained.

"Ahh," she acknowledged, nodding her understanding. Well, that was a bit weird. She could see Edric was trying to play off whatever reaction he just had, and thought she'd at least help him out. "Well, I'm not really much of a carnival gal myself, actually."

Both twins stared at her in surprise. "Really?" they asked.

She chuckled. That stereo thing was a bit amusing sometimes. "Nah, not my kinda scene," she replied. "The crowd's a bit much, not really a clean space especially since it's an event thrown together for a temporary time, scams everywhere, and overpriced—" she furrowed her brows. Wait. She shoved her hand into her pocket and still felt the wad of snails inside. "Ah, excuse me Miss," she called the vendor, "Sorry, I don't think I paid for the—"

"Order up, two octobeetle wraps," the witch announced, handing her the food wrapped in napkins.

"W-Wait, I didn't pay?"

The vendor cocked a brow. "I know?" She pointed over to Edric, "He did."

Leal whipped her head at the witch in a mix of surprise and a bit of annoyance. "¿Qué? How!" she shouted.

Edric impishly smirked as he and his sister began backing away from the stall. He spun his finger around as he stage-whispered, "Magic."

She groaned as she marched after the two, shuffling the wraps into her right hand as she fished out the money in her left. "C'mon, Blight, I told ya I didn't need you to pay!" She frowned at him. "Tell me the price."

"Leal, if I was gonna immediately cave in and accept you paying me back, why would I even do this?"

She rolled her eyes. "I don't even get why you did it, period," she flatly rebuked.

Edric shrugged. "Just wanted to," he said with a smile.

She felt a bit of a flutter in her chest at the nonchalance in his voice but couldn't be bothered with it as she was still filled with anger. Okay, not real anger, but it was about principles! "Edric, c'mon, lemme pay you back," she tiredly pleaded.

"Leal, just give it up," Emira advised. She shook her head with sympathy. "When he's stubborn 'bout stupid things, there's no winning."

He gasped.

Leal snorted, tucking the money back into her pocket. "Sounds like a common occurrence then," she mused.

He gasped again. "I pay for your meal and this is the thanks I get?" he dramatically exclaimed.

She slapped his arm, causing a bit of the octobeetle meat to spill from his half eaten wrap. "I didn't ask for that, dork."

"Hey, hey, watch the food!" he chided, protectively hovering his arm over it once again.

A mischevious smirk fell on her lips as she raised her hand up. "Lemme pay you back or I'll slap the wrap outta—" He hastily shoved the wrap into his mouth whole, leaving his cheeks puffed but a very stupid grin in its wake. Emira sighed while Leal cackled, unable to help herself from the silly display. That was something King would do! "You're ridiculous," she laughed.

He just shrugged, obviously unable to say anything with a mouthful.

"Well, if you guys are headed out anyways, at least stop by our stall before you do?" she offered, lacing a bit of hopefulness into her voice. "It's along the way?"

Edric and Emira exchanged a look before nodding.

The rest of the walk back was Edric trying not to choke while Leal began trying out her wrap, also trying not to choke at the sight of Edric chewing with puffed up cheeks. She ended up looking toward Emira in order to actually enjoy her wrap. Which, all things considered, wasn't half bad. It was no not dog or ham-bug-er, and it was definitely no burrito, but it was still pretty tasty. And filling. Part of her was kinda glad Edric paid for it, as she no doubt knew it was a pricey meal considering its size and quality.

Once they arrived at the stall, Leal was halfway done with her wrap, and waved to Eda with a smile. "I come bearing lunch!"

"Ah, an octobeetle wrap!" Eda observed with a smirk. "It's been awhile since I had one, but I welcome the nostalgia," she happily declared, drawing up a spell to take it out of Leal's hand. It unwrapped as it flew over to the witch behind the stall, who happily accepted it and took two large bites. She let out a satisfied hum.

"It was Edric's suggestion," Leal pointed out as she leaned up against the stall counter's side. She threw him an unimpressed look. "And his money," she added.

Eda swallowed as she looked at the witch in surprise. "Ah, well if you're in a spending mood, Eda's Human Horror House has got great deals!" she announced, gesturing up at the sign.

As expected, Edric's eyes widened with excitement while Emira's narrowed with skepticism. "Nothing seems labelled," she noted. She placed her hand on her hip and shot Leal a smug look as she continued to eat. "Scam stalls, huh?"

Leal just shrugged and continued to bite into her meal. If you couldn't beat 'em after all…

As she munched at her meal, Leal realized Edric was actually inspecting the stall with eyes of wonder. Leal raised a brow at the sight. She considered, with him and his sister's history of mischief, he would've caught onto the whole "bit" with their stall. Yet, to her surprise, the witch lifted up a silver wristwatch. His lips formed an "O" as he cooed, inspecting it over. "Wow, what's this?" he asked.

Leal hurriedly chewed and swallowed her food as she set down her nearly finished wrap on the counter. "That's a wristwatch!" She held out her hand. "May I?"

He blinked, shrugging as he handed it over.

Unclasping the watch, she stepped toward the boy and wrapped it around his right wrist. "It's like a mini clock. You guys have 'em, I think, but they're… well, sentient. This works on the same principle." She pulled out her phone to check the time: 1:08 PM. She turned the small dial on the side, matching the time. "And just like that, you have a handy way to tell time on the fly!" She smiled up at him.

Edric's face was red as he looked at her in awe. She furrowed a brow, but he quickly beamed back at her, shaking his right wrist around. "Wow! It looks so neat!" He turned to his sister. "Whattya think, Em?"

The girl's skepticism didn't seem to fade, though she granted her brother a look of amusement for a moment only to say, "I think Mom will hate it. It looks tacky."

Edric's smile grew. "Then I guess all the more reason to get it, huh?" He turned back to Leal and began fishing into his pocket. "How much?"

Leal smiled back. "On the house!" She ignored the fit of coughing coming from behind her.

"Ah what? Nah, c'mon I gotta least pay," he asserted.

She smirked, tilting her head. "Hmm, sure sounds familiar, eh Blight?" she teased.

"Hey, hey, if he's offering you gotta accept!" Eda hissed from behind her.

Leal sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fine, the least I can do for you is give ya a deal." She held out her hand. "Ten snails. And honestly, for that kinda watch? That's a steal where I'm from."

Edric grinned, happily handing over the payment. "Then this is a theft I'm proud of!"

"Uh oh, don't tell me you have a history of kleptomania?"

"Nah," he shook his head, turning away, "I'm a saint!" He loudly whispered, pointing to his sister, "She's the troublemaker."

"Hardy har," Emira sarcastically replied as he reached her. The two then turned and walked, waving goodbye to her. "See you in school!"

"Thanks for the watch!"

Lealtad waved back as made her way back to her octobeetle wrap.

"Who were they again?" Eda asked.

"Amity's siblings, ya dork," she muttered, continuing her waving. They soon moved out of her eyesight, merging with the coming crowd as they headed toward the gate.

"Hmm, didn't expect ya to be buddy-buddy with all the Blight kids." Eda threw her a smirk. "Ya did give him an actual proper deal for once."

Leal raised a brow at her. "Is there somethin' wrong with that?"

"Nah," Eda shrugged. "Just an observation." She took another bite of her octobeetle wrap and beamed a smile at her. "Fanks for the meal, Beam Fed!"

She snorted, rolling her eyes. "Even if it weren't for Ed, I would be thanking you. It would've been your money."

The witch swallowed, shaking her head. "Nah, it'd've come outta your cut."

Leal gasped. "Ah what? Boo!" she jeered. "I'm the only one staying to help you anyways!"

Eda's brows furrowed at that. "Yeah, that reminds me, where's Owl—"

"Customers!" Leal shouted, hastily pointing down toward the crowd approaching their stall. "Looks like I better take the reins while you sit and eat. Huh, Clawthorne?"

::::

"Lealtad?"

She perked up from her spot, pushing off from leaning against the stall wall as she looked toward the source. Just a few feet away, was none other than Viney, Barcus, and Jerbo. The three approached her, the bi-pedal of them waving at her in excitement.

"It is you," Viney said, jutting out her hip as she placed her hand on it.

"Fancy seeing you here!" Jerbo said.

"Sup guys, how's it going?" she greeted, throwing up a two fingered salute.

"Pretty nice," Viney answered. She jerked her thumb over her shoulder, "We just walked around for a good bit. Hit some of the rides. Not all of 'em though."

"Yeah, they're kinda pricey," Jerbo complained.

Leal scoffed, nodding. "Yeah, tell me 'bout it."

Barcus barked as he drew a spell circle, pulling up his scroll and allowing him to type up a message. He turned it toward her and she read, I was wondering where you were. I tried calling your crystal ball to see if you wanted to join us.

Her brows raised at that. Wow, an invitation? She was kinda surprised that after only knowing him for a short while, the dog was eager to bring her along. "Ah, well, I kinda got roped into this anyhow," she explained, nodding back to the stall behind her. "If I had it my way, I would've been back home studying."

The three laughed, nodding in agreement.

"Oh totally!" Viney sighed. "But my folks told me to stop being a shut-in and 'go outside and play'," she bitterly said.

"Same," Jerbo. He scratched his chin. "Well, not the play part, but to the same effect."

Barcus nodded, typing up another message and turning it for Leal. My potions were fuming up the house, I got kicked out. :(

Lealtad laughed. "Ah, I feel ya, Baker." She jerked head toward the front side of the stall. "Clawthorne basically banned my books for today. Couldn't bring a single one." She shrugged with a frown. "Really living the dream."

Viney chuckled, shaking her head. "Well—not that I'd admit it—my parents were right about this. I did need a bit of a break."

"Yeah," Jerbo agreed. "With us finally getting to study the tracks we want, it's easy getting carried away again."

Leal snorted. "Speak for yourselves! I'm still new to all this, I gotta play catch up!"

Barcus barked, frowning at her. She furrowed a brow and was met with another message. Don't sell yourself short! We caught up on a lot of chapters yesterday!

She smiled in appreciation. "Well, that was mainly thanks to your help, dude." She winked. "But I appreciate the sentiment."

The dog frowned a bit, seemingly as if he wanted to argue more, but he didn't bark or type anything.

"Oh!" Jerbo snapped his fingers. "Barcus, didn't you have something you wanted to give to Leal?"

Barcus' eyes lit up as he barked in what she assumed was agreement. He drew up a spell circle and summoned a small bracelet with a black band and a purple gemstone attached to it. The bracelet hovered over to her, leaving Leal to curiously hold out her left palm. Upon touching it, she realized it was one of those elastic bands too. She looked toward the dog, and realized he was looking at her expectantly. Barcus smiled as he raised his right arm, shaking it to highlight that he had a similar bracelet on his right wrist. Unsure of what else to do, she shrugged and slid it on her left wrist.

"Can you hear me?"

Leal blinked, feeling a bit disoriented hearing another voice in her head aside from her own. Was it… Barcus'?

He chuckled, barking again. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Whoa, what was that?" she asked, looking down at her bracelet. It was glowing now, and when she looked at Barcus' matching one, it had a similar shining effect.

"It's a crystal ball charm," he explained, "Oracle magic. Lets me communicate somewhat telepathically with you."

Leal gaped in awe as she glanced down at the glowing gemstone on her bracelet. "Really?" she exclaimed.

Barcus barked with a smile. "Yes, but only for communication. And it's one-way." He shrugged sheepishly. "You'd need Oracle magic to make it a two-way link."

She awkwardly rubbed at her head. It felt… weird having someone else's voice in her head. "This isn't like, something you can read my thoughts with, is it?" she lightly mused, unsure of what else to say.

His eyes widened as he shook his head. He barked. "No, no, no. It doesn't work like that." He barked with urgency. "It's a very common technique for demons like me, to communicate this way with people."

She hummed, inspecting it over as she turned her wrist around. "But… why?"

"It's good practice for me." The dog smirked at her. "Good way to train my Oracle magic."

"Wow, Baker," Leal said with an appreciative smile, "thanks! This must've… I mean, going out of your way for me—"

He barked again. "It really was no trouble, Leal." He barked again with a smirk. "And you can call me Barcus."

She raised her brows at that. "O-Oh, um, really?" She felt stupid for saying that.

"Really, Leal, you don't have to call me by my last name."

"Ah, same," Viney agreed, nodding. "Viney's fine by me!"

"Yeah, hearing Galvin kinda reminds me of my dad, feels weird," Jerbo mused, shuddering a little as he did so.

Leal felt her ears flush a bit at the sudden attention to her habit. This had never happened before. This was the first time she really had anyone—especially her age—call her out on it. Eda… was different, and she didn't seem bothered by her habit to keep going. And there were plenty of other kids her age she had spoken with like this. But no one really said anything. And that made it weirder. In all her years in the later half of middle school to now in high school, not one of her peers said anything about the way she addressed them.

And yet, these three felt like it was too formal.

She let out an awkward laugh as she rubbed her neck. "Ah, sorry 'bout that then," she sheepishly said.

Barcus' eyes widened. "Oh no, it's fine! It's not a big deal!"

"Y-Yeah!" Viney chimed in, nodding with a smile. "It's just…"

"We're all friends here, right?" Barcus said.

"Exactly!" Jerbo agreed.

Leal blinked at that. "Right," she smiled back, "Exactly." She nodded. She cleared her throat as she straightened up. "A-Anyways, thanks for this Ba-rcus," she quickly amended, shaking the bracelet in her hand. She felt another wave of awkwardness wash over her as she blanked on things to say. How did Luz do this? What would she say next?

"So, uh, we were about to head out and grab something to eat," Viney spoke up, pointing toward the exit, "You wanna come with?"

"Yeah, we didn't wanna grab anything here 'cause well, carnival prices," Jerbo explained.

"Oh, uh, I already ate. And I'm actually busy right now." She gestured to the stall behind her, now realizing when she did it earlier she wasn't exactly clear on what she was doing. At their curiosity, Leal motioned for them to follow her to the front of the stall. "I'm running the stall with Clawthorne."

"Oh!" Viney snapped her fingers. "This is the Human merch stuff I've heard about!" The three looked on in genuine interest as they turned around the corner.

Leal felt herself grow a bit self conscious at the intent curiosity from the three. It wasn't like with Edric and Emira. She wanted to show them and even then, it was mainly because she just thought they'd like to look and laugh. Edric legitimately wanting something was a surprise too. But they were people she hadn't known much about yet. And they were basically meeting Eda for the first time! Leal wasn't even sure why that was a big deal to her either!

"Ahh, more customers!" Eda cheerfully announced, gesturing all around. "Come, come, take a look!"

And to both their surprise, the three gaped in shock at the witch.

"Oh my Titan! It's Lord Calamity!" Jerbo exclaimed.

Barcus barked in awe. "You're an inspiration!"

"I-I'm a big fan of all your graffiti!" Viney cooed.

The excitement emanating off them made Leal proudly smile. "Thought I told you guys she's my mentor?" Leal could've sworn she mentioned it over the crystal ball, but maybe her just using "Clawthorne" didn't clear that up either. When she glanced to Eda, she was confused to see the witch staring at her in surprise. What did she say? "Well, anyways yeah, Lord Calamity," she introduced, gesturing toward Eda, "A.K.A., the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles."

Whatever reaction Eda had was quickly sobered by a smug smile as she cupped her chin. "Calamity, eh? I see Raine's nickname stuck around, huh?"

Leal tilted her head. "Raine? Who's Raine?"

The woman's cheeks coloured as she straightened up. "No one!" She leaned onto the counter and narrowed her eyes at the dual-track kids. "You kids getting anythin' or what?" Suspicion grew at the witch's obvious attempt to change the subject, but Leal resigned to leaning up against the counter and ignoring it. If she was her sister, she would have definitely pressed on it a bit more.

"I-I mean, something you're selling?" Viney excitedly said, holding her head. She looked down at the items displayed on the counter. Her face quickly shifted into confusion. "What are you selling, exactly?"

"It's human stuff right?" Jerbo asked, picking up a plaid t-shirt.

Leal nodded. "Basically, yeah. Things that we have in the Human Realm," she explained.

"Oh, this is neat!" Barcus chimed in, lifting up a pair of red shades. He placed it on his nose and turned to the group. "How do I look?"

Leal raised her brows as a smile fell on her face. "Honestly? Pretty rad, dude."

The dog smirked happily in response.

Eda grinned devilishly as she leaned toward the dog. "You liiiike? That'll be—"

"It's on the house, Barcus," Leal interrupted, shooting Eda an unimpressed look.

The witch gasped at her while Barcus furrowed a brow, taking the shades off. "You sure, Leal?"

She nodded. "Definitely!" she asserted, ignoring Eda's appalled look. She waved the three off. "See you in class!" she excitedly shouted, waving goodbye.

Three waved back, departing from the stall.

"Or better yet," Viney shouted back, cupping her hand near her mouth, "give us a call on the ball tonight! We can do a quick study sesh!"

Barcus barked in agreement as he smiled, "Yeah! We can do review!"

Leal's eyes widened. "Y-Yeah! Sounds great!" Sweet! And she still got a study session out of today too! She turned back to Eda who looked at her with a frown. "What?"

"That's coming out of your allowance, y'know?"

She scoffed. "The imaginary prices? Oh, no," she sarcastically quipped, leaning against the counter. "Face it, Clawthorne, you could afford one freebie."

"And that's the only one," Eda warned, pointing at her. "Now go scrounge up some more suckers!" she ordered.

Leal shot off a two fingered salute before pushing off the stall, shouting, "Come one, come all, to Eda's Human Horror House!" Several patrons just entering the carnival instantly gravitated toward them. "With me, a human to authenticate these valuable human trinkets!" she added, pointing to herself as she leaned back toward the counter.

Murmurs of, "Oh wow a Human!" and "Really!" spurred about as the group neared the stall.

Eda slammed her hands on the table as she nodded in eager agreement. "You heard her right folks, that, is a bonafide Human!" She dramatically gestured her hands around as a wave of awe emanated from the group. "Round as the moon, her ears are, with mood swings as terrifying as night itself—"

"¡Oyeé!" Leal glared.

"Now," Eda ignored her as she ducked under the counter, returning with a blue fidget spinner in her hand, "who wants to touch an outdated human reference?" She spun it between her fingers as she smirked toward their customers.

Dozens of eager hands filled with snails launched toward the stall, declaring themselves the buyer.

"Alright, alright," Leal stepped forward, "five snails to try it out! And—"

"Okay, show's over," a deep gruff voice announced, "This witch doesn't have a license."

All eyes drew toward the source, where stood a comically weird clown with a badge on his chest. The crowd immediately dispersed in a panic and Leal furrowed a brow in confusion. Who was this guy?

"Ah, what are you?" Eda griped, crossing her arms, "The fun police?"

Lealtad snorted.

"Yes!" the clown affirmed, squeaking his badge. He reached his hand behind his back and pulled out a strip coloured nightstick, slamming it against his palm with a squeak. "And you're coming with me," he demanded.

Leal's confusion only grew. "For real?" she exclaimed.

"Uh, excuse me, sir. I'd like to have a word with your staff!" Eda whipped out her staff, and much to her surprise and Leal's horror, Owlbert wasn't on it. Shit. Eda began frantically looking around, shouting, "Owlbert! Owlbert! Where are you?" Leal cleared her throat and jerked her head over to the Whack-a-giraffe machine, where the palisman was having a joyful time playing. "Owlbert, you're lucky I can't be mad at your adorable antics," Eda muttered as she hopped over the table. She grabbed Leal by the shoulders. "Quick, Bean Head, ya got a spare fog brew on you?"

Leal flashed the witch with a look of confusion and irritation. "Uhh, no?" she snipped, "Because someone said not to bring school work!"

Eda facepalmed. "Potions ain't school work, Bean Head, they're life and death!"

"You didn't make that distinction!"

"You should know better by now!"

"Don't put this on me!"

"Ahem." The two turned in front of them and found the clown standing with a spell circle already drawn.

"Dammit," they muttered simultaneously.

A yellow binding wrapped around them and the two were suddenly hovering in the air, floating over the stall.

"I hate carnivals," the witch dryly stated.

Leal gasped in betrayal. "Then why the Hell did we come here!" she shouted, writhing in her restraints as they were levitated away.

::::

This sucked.

Carnivals sucked.

Being taken to the Carnival Boss' office was humiliating for many reasons: being floated around like a balloon in front of dozens of people, being dropped into a chair like a sack of potatoes, and getting blackmailed by a literal clown. The end result was either getting pawned off to the Emperor's Coven, directly heading straight to the Conformatorium, or working for him. The obvious conclusion fell onto the latter, which meant she and Eda had to go around selling crab apples from a cart while wearing the most tacky of uniforms. And so, the two were currently going around the grounds, wheeling a cart filled with trays of Caramel Crab Apples, both wearing expressions of annoyance.

While Eda was stuck in some jester looking saloon dress, with puffy pants and—an admittedly—adorable top hat, Leal had more of a suit ensemble going on. The clown either gave her the option of the puffy dress, or pseudo-waiter/jester outfit. To her displeasure, she had on a pair of red clown shoes with polka dot orange suspenders and an indigo dress shirt to match Eda's colours. She thankfully was allowed to keep her beanie, but that didn't change the fact that she hated how goofy she felt. She was resigned to keeping both her and Eda's clothes in her messenger bag, along with her bat being stuffed inside, but it was better than leaving it in the clown's office.

They'd gone through several strips of the carnival at this point, begrudgingly selling overpriced snacks to passing customers. Some stared at them in confusion, no doubt aware they had just bought human merch from them awhile ago. Others impatiently rushed forward, eager for some crab apples without a care of manners. She wasn't sure what was in these things, but she did know two things: they pinched, and people really wanted them.

"Get your Caramel Crab Apples, three for one deal, five for two," Leal dryly announced as they wheeled the cart down.

"Uggghh," Eda groaned, throwing her head back.

Leal ignored the woman's groaning for the umpteenth time the past half hour, turning to exchange a small tray of crab apples with an eager demon practically throwing their snails at her. They continued to wheel down the strip. "I think our last stop on this strip is Tibbles' tent?" she recalled, looking toward Eda.

"Ughh," the witch groaned again.

Leal sighed, placing herself at the end of the cart to stop Eda's approach. "Alright, fine, what is it?"

"Our snails!" Eda exclaimed, slumping her elbows on the push bar. "All those hard earned snails!"

She snorted. "Well, scammed snails, but yeah, it was a lot of snails."

And it had all gone straight to the carnival's own funds. Hooray.

Eda frowned. "Now we're earning money that's not even ours!"

Leal shrugged. "Could always make a break for it?"

"And leave your sister?" The witch snorted. "Damn, when did you get cruel?"

She rolled her eyes. "We don't leave-leave, we can stay in Bonesborough and just wait until King and Luz are done then head out!" she suggested.

Eda just sighed. "But the snails…" she pouted.

"We'll live to scam another day, Dama Búho." She offered a small smile and nodded toward Tibbles' tent. "Let's at least finish this strip before we decide if we're bailing or not."

"Yeah, yeah," Eda grumbled, pushing the cart along.

Tibbles Tent of Tiny Terrors surprisingly had a lot more going on than Leal thought. She figured it was a simple small diorama showcase—people come in and "ooh" and "ahh" then leave. But apparently, it was actually a full fledged circus… just small. There was a small vivarium in the centre of the room, and some sort of magnifying magic going on where it amplified what was happening inside the glass onto the projector, but Leal couldn't be bothered to watch. She had her own gripes with animal cruelty and circuses, she couldn't put up with even looking toward the screen.

That, and she was busy dealing with some very annoying audience members.

"Hey, girlie, I asked for a Caramel Crab Apple!"

"Relax your yaps, I'm coming," Leal grumbled as she walked over with the cart. She reached into the cart and pulled out a crab apple, narrowly dodging its pinching before pawing it off to the grumpy customer. She yanked the snails out of their hand and pushed the cart down, monotonously saying, "Caramel Crab Apples, get 'em while they're hot and pinchy."

"Move the cart!"

"I can't see the show!"

"Get lost!"

"Wow, I guess whether it's in the Human realm or on the Boiling Isles, minimum wage workers always get treated like dirt," Leal remarked, pushing the cart all the way to the other end where Eda was.

The witch was dealing with her own batch of irritation, carrying a tray of crab apples around her neck as she exchanged a few more for some snails. Though her annoyance faded the second she noticed Leal's approach. They scurried off to the side a bit, free from the shouting of the audience. "Yeah, we're definitely leaving after this," Eda tiredly said.

Leal smiled up at her. "Gladly," she agreed.

Suddenly, a loud wave of booing occurred, catching them by surprise. Some had even begun tossing their food away.

"Hey, hey," Eda shouted, stepping forward, "No discounts, buddy,"

"Yeah, pump the hate breaks, everyone!" Leal chimed in.

"You guys owe me. There's nothing happening in this show!"

"Not a single one of those dumb kids have gotten hurt yet!"

"Dumb kids?" Eda turned around. "Wait. Those are my dumb kids!"

Leal whipped her head around and gasped.

"Dios mío," she exclaimed, gaping in shock. It was Luz! With Gus and Willow? And they had some sort of pink aura glowing around them. Where was King! She seriously couldn't leave them alone for five minutes?

In that moment, the three began to grow larger, growing out of the projector's field of view and causing a blur. Leal's gaze fell on the vivarium, shielding her eyes from the sight as the glass began to glow pink. A flash later: it exploded and a regular sized Luz, King, Gus, and Willow were in its place. The four glanced at each other and let out a collective sigh of relief.

Before Leal could ask what the hell was going on, another flash of pink occurred, and behind the four grew the very creatures they were encased with. All looking very large and very angry.

"You shrunk the animals too?" Luz shouted, directing her aggression toward Tibbles.

Leal glared at the little pig demon laying atop his pile of gold. This was his fault?

"It's the Tent of Tiny Terrors, something needed to be tiny!" he defended.

"Finish the job!" a man shouted.

"Feast!" a Hexside kid yelled, throwing his crab apple at the creatures.

The largest unicorn of the bunch caught the food in its mouth, munching down on it immediately. It's face shifted into a bright eyed awe before turning toward the crowd, realizing the source of more food. It was in that moment, the audience realized what they were holding, fear reaching all their faces. Eda and Leal shared a look before coming to the same conclusion, "Ditch the food!"

The unicorn neighed, as though it were ordering its companions to charge the crowd, creating panic and a mob to form within seconds. Everyone scattered, screaming for their lives, as Leal and Eda rushed off to the side and out of the line of fire. They scurried off toward Tibbles direction, where the demon watched at the ensuing horror with shock.

"They… foiled my plans!" Tibbles stated in disbelief. "This time, I'm going to personally squash you!" he declared as he pulled out a spray bottle—which looked a lot like the bottle he tried to make Eda drink earlier—and pointed it at Luz and the others.

Eda hurriedly stepped in, plucking the bottle out of his grubby little hands and tossing it over her shoulder as she said, "Oh no, Tibbles, that's not how entertainment works." She smirked at him impishly as she dumped her tray of remaining crab apples onto his head. "The bad guy always gets his just desserts."

"Oh no! Not desserts!" he exclaimed in fear.

"Leal? The honours?" Eda offered, stepping aside.

Leal grinned manically as she pulled her bat out of her bag. "Gladly." She arched up her bat and shouted, "Batter up, bacon!" Then took a golf club swing, launching the small demon straight into the herd of hungry creatures. Whatever fate awaited the scam artist was unknown, as all could be heard and seen was his faint crying as his former captive entertainment chased him outside the tent.

Eda chuckled as she patted Leal's shoulder. "Y'know, I think I finally see the appeal of that bat of yours, Bean Head." Leal smirked at the witch proudly.

"Looks like we ruined his life for a second time," Willow mused.

"We're on a roll!" Gus cheered, his fists clenched in excitement.

"Gus, Willow, you're okay!" King happily observed.

"All thanks to you, King," Luz spoke up, walking over to him. She knelt down with her hands folded atop each other and held it out to him. "Here." Leal curiously walked over to the four, just in time to see Luz open her palms and reveal a broken locket or necklace? "It was all that was left," she softly said.

Leal's heart broke at the sight of King's sadness as he accepted the shattered pieces. She hadn't even understood what the heck just happened, but even she could tell the little demon was attached to the broken item.

He closed his eyes, as if to compose himself, before opening them with happy look. "It's... It's okay. Because now there's a piece for everybody." He turned toward Willow and Gus, holding out two of the broken pieces for them. The two exchanged a look with each other. "If you'll accept it, that is?" he shyly asked.

"Thanks King," Willow said as she accepted the piece.

"Yeah," Gus agreed, picking up his piece with a smile, "I've always wanted to own a jagged piece of cheap metal!"

"That's very sweet," Luz said while picking King up.

"I'm sorry, Luz. Demons do crazy things when they've been missing somebody," King said apologetically.

Leal furrowed her brow at that.

"And can I tell you a secret?" She dropped her voice into stage-whisper. "I've been missing you too."

King giggled, nuzzling his head against Luz's cheek.

At that, Leal cleared her throat, resting her bat on her shoulder as she raised a brow at the two who turned to her (or rather, Luz turned as King was still in her hands). "Do I even wanna know?" she asked, her exhaustion leaking into her voice.

The two exchanged a look before shrugging. "Maybe?" they said together.

Leal let out breath. She had her own suspicions of what might've happened, but she figured Luz would tell her more about it tonight before they went to bed. In any case, from one scan, Leal could see Gus and Willow were fine and so were Luz and King. She wasn't sure what exactly happened though she could tell a problem arose and was solved. And judging from the way Luz and King were acting, a bit of pride stirred in Leal as she no doubt knew Luz managed to handle things on her own. Part of her might've been getting a bit sick of the hi-jinx occurring without her watching over them, but she had to swallow that.

She wouldn't hover.

Instead, Leal stepped forward and placed her hand on Luz's shoulder. "Regardless, I'm glad you're safe, Sunshine." She turned to King and patted his head. "And you too, Scruffy."

The demon giggled more at the gesture, clearly enjoying it. "Hey, we still have a few hours of carnival left." He jerked his thumb behind him. "Wanna hit those bumper carcasses?"

Luz's smile dipped into a teasing one as she said, "You bread my mind."

King laughed, pumping his fist into the air. "Yes! Bread puns! Bread puns forever!"

Luz set the demon down and turned to Eda, who was lying on Tibbles' pile of snails. "You coming, Eda?" she asked.

"Nah." The witch happily plucked some coins up from the pile and let them drop. "I think I got everything I wanted." The stands behind her proceed to quake before collapsing entirely. "Yep. Another great year at the carnival."

Lealtad could only laugh at the sight. "Hey, don't go taking back what you said earlier now!" she shouted.

"What about you, Leal?" Luz offered, turning back to her.

"Yeah, wanna give carnivals a shot?" King temptingly offered as Gus and Willow grouped up with them, leaving Luz to wrap her arms around her friends.

"You can take photos!" her sister sing-songingly suggested, pointing to her camera strapped around her neck.

Leal took one glance at the group. The four of them, crowded together, all smiling. Then she looked to Eda, who was comically content atop her pile of coins. She chuckled, shaking her head. "I think I'll stick with Eda," she said, turning back to Luz, "Better make sure she doesn't break any more booths than needed."

Her sister's brows raised in surprise. "You sure?"

"Yeah. You guys have fun. We'll pick ya up at the gate for closing time, yeah?" Leal offered.

"Um, okay!"

With that, the four turned and ran, heading out the tent in an excited hurry.

Leal made her way over to the lounging Eda and tapped the pile of snails with the barrel of her bat. "Whaddya say, ¿Dama Búho? Feel like spending some of these snails on some scam stalls?"

The witch snorted. She slid off the pile and drew up a spell, causing the snails to bunch up into a knapsack conjured from one of the tent's torn walls. "Actually, I think I really should go shopping and stock up on groceries." She shouldered the knapsack, like Santa Claus. "Some stalls have better deals late at night anyways. You go on ahead with your sister." She smiled, throwing Leal a wink.

She then turned and walk, no doubt thinking that was the end of it.

Leal nearly scoffed, marching after the witch as she exited the tent. "You could use a hand carrying grocceries, no?" she pointed out.

"You do know I have magic, right?" Eda countered.

"You want me to ditch you?" Leal amusedly replied. "Besides, I could stand to get some more printer paper anyways." She glanced down at her Canon camera and shrugged. "Been going through them a lot these past few weeks."

"Pfft, I would've gotten you some anyways," Eda casually pointed out. The two continued to walk, heading toward the exit. Leal couldn't help but notice the witch wasn't denying her company yet. As they neared the gate, Eda spoke once again. "You want anything to eat before we start?"

"Dios mío, yeah I do!" Leal cheered, tilting her head back. The octobeetle wrap was good, but it wasn't enough to satisfy this craving she had. And she said the first thing that came to mind. "Ham-bug-ers?"

"Ugh, you gotta watch your diet, kiddo."

"You're one to talk, Miss Apple Blood."

Leal still didn't like carnivals, but at least today wasn't a total waste.

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A/N: I think it was important to really express that the ending here is Leal's first brush with trusting her sister AND her friends to be off on their own. The Escape of the Awkwardness was more of a "oh because A happened, B is happening." Here, Lealtad decidedly steps back and lets Luz have her fun without her hovering for a change. It's also a moment of her being proud of her sister's growth and deciding to respect it. As for willfully spending time with Eda, it was good way of showing her comfortability with Eda. Sure, we've had a lot of instances by now, but it's still a dynamic that rarely occurs by choice and on purpose.

It's a good way to establish that Lealtad and Eda's natural banter IS good and strong when they're not butting heads. I think both of them are aware of that but neither are willing to comment on it either. They've got good chemistry! Just a bunch of stubborn gals they are. Also, as we can see, Leal can very easily match her sister on the waves of obliviousness—case in point, this chap reveals a LOT about Leal's real feelings and not even SHE is aware of what she's saying half the time.

I think another interesting thing to consider is King and Luz's relationship here is more enhanced than canon. Not outright, but personally and more subtly. For Luz, always being the little sister, King represents a persona she could never take with Leal and lends herself to being a big sister for once. We've already seen how natural Leal is taken with King's childlike glee because of her experience with Luz, but Luz growing into that role as well is something that drives home this familial bond they all share. Yet again, a theme of sisterhood!

Now, in terms of how Barcus communicates, think of it as him speaking AND thinking out loud. While it is telepathic, he is also thinking what he is speaking or barking, so that's why there's quotations. It's not really him telepathically communicating, as he still has to "speak", so it really is just a translator. The dual-track squad, I hope you've all gathered, have a bigger role in this story now for Leal's side of things. And speaking of bigger roles, the Blights! The twins coming in were great instances of showcasing Leal's growth outside of Luz for a bit, but also her own brand of awkwardness. Despite all things, Leal IS an introvert at the end of the day. For all her bravado, Luz—as we see throughout the show—has good social skills!

Leal? Well, we all have things to work on...

For those who are curious about what the actual courses entail in terms of content:

1. Potions for Beginners [introductory class of recipes and concepts]

2. Potions in Motion [applying recipes and concepts to mixtures—essentially a period where one can experiment more]

3. Potions (Again) [study period for all things Potions]

4. Still Potions [maintaining potion upkeep; expiry dates, proper storage, cauldron cleaning, etc]

5. Potions 'Till You Die [field class, gathering ingredients around school grounds (or further beyond) and studying them—used as an opportunity to also stock up on one's own supply]

6. Potions After Death [recipes and applications of deceased fauna and bones]

and then,

1. Healing for Beginners [introductory class of the body (all kinds of bodies) and the various treatments they require daily]

2. Healing and Dealing [applying healing knowledge toward the illnesses and medicines upon the body; how one can essentially treat a body with X problem]

3. Healing (Again) [study period for all things Healing]

4. Still Healing [learning about healing wounds and treatment of the process of recovery]

5. Healing So You Live [learning about defences and other applications of Healing magic (spells like shields and Healing glyphs)]

6. Healing After Living [live practical demonstrations, often utilizing students injured from battle practises from other classes or from Healing So you Live]

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Review Responses:

starrat: Thanks!

LostKagamiWitchInTheIsles: Heh, not even Leal can manage to be coordinated all the time. Luz's ADHD or ADD is definitely a fanon concept, but I was willing to give it some confirmation in this because I felt like-as you say-it gives a great deal of context to this story. The rock, paper, scissors gag is one of my favourites in this series but also serves as a showcasing of Leal respecting Luz's individuality and letting her step up (she definitely would've fought her on it, but decided the game was the best way to determine a bait quickly). Upon my first draft of notes for this entire series, Leal would've been the antithesis to Luz in nearly every way: including being just one track. But as I wrote on, I decided that Healing would be an interesting track to explore but also give more depth toward her role as a protector. Definitely more Eda/Leal moments to come regarding school work, we have several more to go through!

Thomas Holmes II: Yup! Don't think Luz would be too concerned with that at the moment, just instead excited her sister is also dual-tracking. Not sure why Bump would give her a job like that though. It's not like a photographer is a required thing throughout Hexside (as we've seen so far, no school paper).

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As always, feel free to hit me up on tumblr if ya got asks! And leave a comment if you liked this chapter!

Next chapter update: October 11th, 2023

Stay safe, and stay lovely y'all.

Until next time,

- Bleh