A/N: So it seems whenever I DO go off the rails of canon, I end up writing more than I expect. Believe me, I DID try to whittle this down but because of how densely packed season 1b is, everything else starts to ramp up in word count and structure. So behold, the longest chapter of L&L... so far.

Chapter Summary: After a nice day at school, Lealtad finds herself invited to an outing with the dual-track kids and for once, she's not at all reluctant to accept!

Word Count: 20,654

Understanding Friends

No matter the dimension, studying for a test was still a bit nerve wracking.

Lealtad had felt nerves and anxiety about upcoming tests before and that was on subject matter she knew. Healing magic was still a shot in the dark as any other coven, but Leal did her best. She only knew the mechanics of anatomy, recovery periods, and all the standard applications of healing. She just couldn't do healing. Even if that wasn't what the test was on, it still felt like a handicap in her eyes. She was still leagues behind everyone else. And everytime she opened a book or walked into a class, that reminder stuck with her.

She let out an exhausted sigh as she turned her textbook to the next page. Just one more chapter…

"Whoa there, Leal." Viney chuckled. "You look like you're about to faint!"

Leal turned to her seatmate and let out a strained smile. Wow, she hadn't even realized how cramped her left hand was. "Heh, guess I'm just really anxious," she admitted.

The witch blew out a raspberry as she waved her hand dismissively. "What for? You've studied hard. You'll definitely ace it!"

She wasn't sure if she wanted to dignify the girl's confidence with her doubt right now, so Leal just turned back to her textbook.

"I get it though," Viney's voice dropped to a whisper as her eyes cast to their teacher who was sitting at his desk, "Mister Rowan's surprise tests can be pretty scary, especially since he only gives a one day head's up."

"I'll say," Leal muttered.

Mister Rowan was a demon with pale skin and navy blue hair that looked sorta like a lion's mane. He had the kind of gravelly old voice that was a mix of soothing and frail. He was also a really lean demon too. Lealtad sometimes felt like his robes would carry him away if a strong breeze came through. Appearances aside, he was a rather excitable teacher. Where Ayla shined in—albeit much to the young girl's embarrassment—holding Leal's hand through certain exercises and concepts, Rowan was the type to go all in. He'd explain so much at once that most of the class had a hard time following his train of thought.

Simply put: he was eager to teach.

On her first day of Healing she had learned it was considered a very "dull" track. It was her teacher's own words, actually. Rowan was the kind of teacher who wanted to excite his students, be it in class participation/engagement, or surprise tests and quizzes. The consensus seemed to be that everyone was a bit put off by that kind of teaching, but Leal still felt like she had the biggest disadvantage.

She shook off her self-pity, refocusing on the latest chapter she flipped to. This test was on the course material they just learned these past few days. She'd have to really get all her notes done in time to review. It didn't help that the carnival day off was only two days ago, essentially cutting out of Leal's review time. Even if she had fun, it was still time lost. Running groceries took longer than she would've liked, and that meant her call with Viney and Barcus barely went for an hour. She couldn't get much review done then, so that was basically a day wasted!

A sudden stinging sensation overcame her left wrist, making Leal drop her pencil. "¡Mierda!" she cursed, cupping her wrist. "¡No te rindas conmigo!"

"Whoa, whoa, easy there," Viney gently said, setting down her textbook. She shot Leal with a sympathetic smile. "Think you strained it."

"Yup, I deduced that too," Leal dryly remarked through her gritted teeth.

"Here, allow me." Her seatmate drew up a spell and seconds later, her wrist began to glow with a blue aura and the pain slowly faded. "Better?"

Leal shyly nodded, unable to help the glowing redness in her ears. Great, and of all things Healing magic had to be what makes her slow down. "Thank you," she quietly said. "But I could've just used one of the healing glyphs, y'know?" she pointed out, nodding toward the stack of slips on Rowan's desk.

Viney snorted. "Yeah, well, those are expensive. And I don't think Mister Rowan would like you using one for a strained wrist," she mused.

Lealtad irritably sighed. She was well aware of that too. The second she learned about those glyphs she asked if she could have some, but was quickly greeted with the reality that it was an expensive commodity in the Isles. It wasn't like the glyphs she and Luz used, but more like the power glyph the Construction Coven used. It was an enchanted slip of paper fueled by concentrated Healing magic. Basically, a more glorified plaster that granted a constant stream of—albeit low level—healing magic instead of making a witch exhaust their magic for a one time spell. But because it was such a purified form of magic, that meant it wasn't something that could be used lightly.

Hence why Rowan kept it on standby in case of emergencies.

She frowned as she looked down at her notebook. She would kill to have something like that around, especially with the hi-jinx her sister and friends got up to.

"Leal, you don't need to push yourself, y'know?" Viney spoke up.

She let out a sigh slumping her cheek onto her left palm. "I know, I know, I know. You, Barcus, and Clawthorne all seem to like reminding me that," she muttered.

"Well… it is a bit true," Viney sheepishly pointed out. "You've taken good notes. And our review the other night was good!"

Leal frowned. "I just… I dunno." She looked down at her textbook. "I want to make sure I do well."

"Don't we all?" her partner joked, elbowing her lightly.

"Excuse me, Mister Rowan?" a voice came from the classroom door. All eyes cast toward it, and Leal was surprised to see Principal Bump looking into their room. His eyes were filled with suspicion, as though he were scanning the class.

"Can I help you, sir?" Rowan asked, rising up from his seat.

Bump clicked his teeth irritably. "The Blight twins have gone up to their usual shenanigans," he explained with a frown, "they made an entire Construction class enter the wrong examination room!" His face contorted into a pained expression Leal could only associate with paperwork. "The aftermath has rendered one of our storage closets inoperable."

A few snickers arose from the class, but Leal noticed Viney's irritated groan as she forcibly returned to her textbook. Leal herself had to hold back a grin. The mental imagery of Construction pillars coming out of a tiny closet was a bit amusing to her, and it was no doubt something even Eda herself would be proud of.

Bump shot the class a glare, silencing their amusement. "Miss Glimpse is busy with photo class today so I'm tracking the two down. Last I saw they were trying to use illusions to disguise themselves as other students. You haven't happened to gain an excess amount recently, have you?"

Rowan looked toward the class then back to Bump. "I'm afraid not, no." He gestured to himself. "Do you need a hand searching?"

Bump raised his hand, motioning a stop as he shook his head. "That won't be necessary. The Hexside Guards are also on the prowl. If they're still here on campus, they should turn up soon." He turned away from the doorway. "Though, should you run into them, do direct them straight to my office," he said in a stern voice that sent chills down Leal's spine.

Edric and Emira must love pissing Bump off.

With that, Bump left their class, continuing his search for the troublemakers. Leal knew the two liked to play pranks, but this was the first time she had heard of it since she enrolled. Judging from everyone's reactions, it seemed to be a common occurrence as well. Rowan let out a sigh as he turned toward the class. "Let that be a reminder to you all to take your studies seriously. There's a time and a place for fun, but within our classes during school hours is not it."

Leal had a remark about how such a warning could easily be cherry picked into saying that meant you could have fun here after school hours, but decided to hold her tongue.

"Ugh, classic Blights," Viney bitterly muttered as she rose her book up a bit, letting it stand straight up.

Leal's brows raised. "You got a history with 'em or something?"

She scoffed. "Not really. But everyone knows those two love to pull pranks and slack off." She flipped her notebook's page aggressively. "I'm sitting here barely managing to convince Bump to do two tracks at once, meanwhile those two barely behave enough as it is to sit in one class."

Leal whistled at the burn. All things considered it wasn't that far off, but she hadn't expected that kind of snippiness from Viney. "Wow, thought you'd kinda like their mischievous streak." She smirked at her. "I mean, Clawthorne got into hi-jinx too and she wanted to study all the tracks," she pointed out.

"There's a difference. It's practically well known Lord Calamity got all her punishments—teachers talk about it as a warning on what not to do sometimes. Those two hardly get caught and punished enough as it is. Because they always cover their tracks! Illusion pranksters are the worst breed." Viney's grip on her book was getting to the point where Leal felt the witch was about to rip the poor thing. "Pranks can be fun, but Illusionists like Edric and Emira Blight go too far. It's just all games to them! It's all about flash. There's no real practice."

Leal felt the need to defend the two a bit at that, but held back, thinking of the library incident. If she and Luz weren't there… she didn't even want to imagine what would've happened. And that was setting aside Amity's issues too. Though, she still felt like minorly correcting. "I mean, Clawthorne did some pretty messed up pranks too. Tricking an entire class to do their examination in closet pales in comparison to the shit Dama Búho did back then."

Viney frowned. "Okay, sure." She set her book down. "Magic can be fun, but it's also hard work! They're Blights. Everything in life has been served to them on a silver platter. And those two? They hardly know the meaning of the word."

Leal frowned a bit. "Well, over a week ago Clawthorne took Sunshine and I down to The Knee to learn magic, they were there helping Amity practice too," she recalled in a light tone. She didn't want to disrespect the effort she was noticing either. Slitherbeast aside, they still sought out to help their little sister.

Viney's brows raised at that. "Seriously? What could Amity Blight need from her siblings that she doesn't already know herself?"

"Experience?" Leal offered.

At that, Viney hummed, considering her response. Though the witch didn't seem like she was willing to reply with anything.

Lealtad shrugged, figuring that was the end of that. One glance to her opened the textbook, then to her notebook, and she let out another sigh.

She could not wait for lunch.

::TITLE OPENING::

Lealtad walked into the cafeteria with her brown lunch bag in hand, and sights in search of her sister.

Who was nowhere to be seen.

The cafeteria hall wasn't as populated as she thought it'd be during lunch. One of the days they were sitting and eating, Leal learned from Gus and Willow it was because most students liked the spare time to practice or study. Some even chose to eat outside so they have room to do magic. And for the most part, their weekly schedule also had room for a few spare periods. So it stood to reason that students found other ways and times of eating outside of the cafeteria at lunchtime.

Yesterday, Luz had forgotten her lunch bag and ended up getting cafeteria food, and afterward her little sister declared she'd much rather have that instead. Leal was still okay with the sandwiches Eda made, but that essentially meant Luz would have to hurry to lunch to get in line and the good stuff before it was all gone. Still, Leal didn't think her sister would be quick to scarf it down and just leave.

Lealtad let out a sigh as she sat at the table near the Home of the Banshees wall. It was the most cleared table, the exception of a bulletin board randomly being placed at the other end, so she settled for the one end that was empty. It was also very Harry Potter of Hexside to have such a long table to eat off of too. She took another scan of the cafeteria, frowning as she concluded her sister was still nowhere in sight.

She began fishing her sandwich out of her brown bag, setting it down on the table before turning to her messenger bag. Maybe now would be a good time to read up on Potions since she had it next? Rifling through her bag was a bit of a task since she had recently begun to fill it with random assortments of potion ingredients. Yesterday, after Potions 'Till You Die—an outdoor class that involved gathering and foraging ingredients for potions—Leal managed to stock up on a decent supply of just about everything she could get her hands on.

While the option stood that you could store them in the classroom, Leal opted to leave some in her bag so she could maybe practice some more back home. So now, her messenger bag was filled with an assortment of potions, bags and vials of ingredients, as well as some of her Potions textbooks and notebooks since she had Potion classes for the latter half of today. "Probably should organize this a bit better," she muttered to herself as she pulled out her notebook.

Doing some review would be good.

She took a bite out of her sandwich and flipped over to the last page of her notetaking. "Sleeping nettles induce deep sleep but also heighten the subconscious mind, effectively enhancing the state of one's dreams," she read aloud, half chewing her food. She swallowed, looking over her photo. A lot of the new uses of her photo printer came with her taking pictures of the ingredients she gathered or saw, and placing them into her notebook. In another time, she probably would've been worried about damaging the photos. But now, she kinda liked the look of it: the photo of the plant next to her notes looked really official! Her eyes glazed down to the rest of her notes on the flora. "Hm, wonder if its applications can be toned down to make a drug like NyQuil or somethin'."

She turned to the next page. The trash slug. Her encounter with it way back when she first arrived, Leal marked it off as another Boiling Isles terror. But apparently, its growth properties—including its spit—had some uses in creating potions. It was just another reminder that everything out there could have other possibilities in other uses. She chuckled at her photo. It was the very same one she took that day at the beach, a photo she honestly never thought she'd actively see again. But hey, a reference was a reference. "Wonder if its growth factor could help enhance potion effects," she muttered to herself. Oh! That idea spurred her into putting her sandwich down.

She made a move to sift through her bag in search of a pencil to mark that question down for Miss Ayla later, but caught up in once again having to go through her scattered belongings.

"Hey Leal!"

She nearly jumped, turning her head to the left.

It was Viney, along with Barcus and Jerbo. Each had a tray of food, with Barcus holding his in his mouth. "Mind if we join you?" she asked, nodding toward the empty space surrounding her.

Leal almost denied the request but stopped, reassessing her surroundings once again. Well, her sister wasn't here after all and if she did show, Leal could always just ask them to make room or they could find space somewhere else. She nodded, gesturing her hand to the table. "Sure, all yours," she replied.

The three smiled at that before taking their seats. Barcus sat across from Leal with Jerbo beside him while Viney sat on Leal's right, happily sliding her tray next to her as she sat down. "I was gonna ask if you wanted to eat lunch together but you took off after class!" the girl mused.

Leal awkwardly smiled. "Ah, sorry. I-I was trying to meet with my sister." She looked down at her sandwich. "I thought we were going to eat lunch together," she said in a small voice.

God, why did she sound so childish?

"Where is she?" Jerbo asked, taking a spoonful out of his goatmeal soup.

She shrugged. "No idea. Probably with her friends or somethin'," she casually replied. She looked down at her food once again and took a breath. It was okay. She would be okay. Leal could handle her sister not being with her. "I figured I'd just, uh, do some review," she said, pointing to her notebook before picking up her sandwich once again.

Barcus' brows rose at that. He swallowed his peanut butter and jelly sandwich and barked, "Potions?"

The glowing of her bracelet so close to her face as she was about to take a bite surprised her. She honestly forgot she was wearing the thing. "Yeah. Yup," she replied, "Thought I'd get some review done before Potions for Beginners." She took another big bite of her sandwich. A bit of an awkward silence hung after that, with everyone digging into their meals. "So, Barcus, how was Oracle (Again)?" she asked.

"Great!" he barked in reply. "I got a lot of review done. I think we're going have a fortune test coming up soon, so I've been getting better at my palm reading!"

"Ah, you'll definitely ace it," Viney proudly stated.

"I think Hermonculus might be planning an Abomination presentation," Jerbo spoke up. "He's been leaning very heavily into performance recently, it's kinda got me nervous."

"Ugh, I hear he's super strict," Viney groaned. She jerked her thumb between Leal and herself. "We've got a test in two days. Another of Rowan's infamous surprise tests."

Barcus nodded his sympathies. "What on?"

"Anatomy and illnesses," Leal answered, her eyes glancing back to her messenger bag. Maybe she should've studied Healing instead of Potions right now…

"Nothing we can't handle though," Viney confidently said, bumping Leal's shoulder. "Right Leal?"

She chuckled. "Your guys' endless faith in me is still something I find completely unfounded," she dryly rebuked before taking a bite of her sandwich. Protests arose from her peers, all of them either booing or gasping at her. She stared in confusion. "What?"

"You really got knock off the doubt, Leal," Jerbo asserted, "I mean, I'm not even in any of your tracks but even I can tell you've done a lot of work!"

"Yeah, just 'cause we've all had some more years on you doesn't mean you're not in the same league as us," Viney added. She smirked at her. "Heck, we've only just got into the tracks we wanted, everyone else in our classes still 'technically' have an advantage but we're all doing fine, right?"

Her friends nodded at that.

Lealtad frowned. "I… get what you're saying. Honestly, it's the kinda thing I'd probably be telling my sister—"

"See?"

"—but I'm different," she explained as she set down her sandwich. "This kinda stuff doesn't come easy to me like it does for Luz. Magic and all that, I… I need repetition, practice, to even get an understanding of anything. I don't have that kinda time to catch up!"

"Leal," Barcus barked, "Who says there needs to be a rush to catch up?"

"I—" she stopped herself. Wow. He was right. She looked down at her notebook. What was her rush? It was then, her mind wandered back to her mother. The words they shared that one night she told her she was going with Luz to camp.

"Summers, 'specially high school summers like yours, are only so few and short in between."

Right.

This was only for summer.

It… It wasn't going to stick.

"I dunno," she quietly answered, "I guess… I don't know how long I'll actually be enrolled?"

Barcus' brows raised at that, almost as if he was staring at her inquiringly, but Viney and Jerbo nodded their heads in understanding.

"I get it," Jerbo agreed, "You just wanna learn all you can as quick as possible!"

"Yeah, we totally got carried away like that in the Secret Room of Shortcuts," Viney recalled with an amused tone.

"Still," Barcus said, "it's not really as fun to learn when you approach it with haste." Leal looked to the dog. "There's no need to rush. I know you don't really believe us, but I believe you're more capable than you realize."

She raised a brow. "Really? What makes ya say that?"

He smirked. "Persistence," he barked. "That's all one needs."

It was strange how comforting it felt to hear those words from someone… that wasn't Eda or her mom or even Luz. It was like, Bump, speaking to her back when Eda was trying to enroll her and Luz. There was something so reassuring about it she just couldn't place. So, she let herself smile at the dog's advice. "I'll say, Barcus, you've certainly got quite a way with words."

"Right?" both Viney and Jerbo agreed.

The dog looked sheepish at their chiming in, and it was adorable enough to make Leal chuckle.

Lunch wasn't as bad with them around, filling the void of eating alone. Which was actually strange. Back in the Human Realm, Lealtad had no qualms about eating by herself—it was what she actively sought out to do during lunch. But, here, it felt very comforting being around people. Maybe it was because she still didn't really know the Isles. Or maybe it was because she still hadn't adjusted to Hexside yet. Regardless, lunch definitely tasted better with people to talk to.

As they were all just about finished their meals, Jerbo asked her, "Are you excited for photo class, Leal?"

She chuckled, shrugging. "When I learned it wasn't what I thought it was gonna be, not as much," she joked, sadly gesturing to her camera she had resting on the table. The group laughed.

"Well, it is an optional elective," Jerbo reminded her. "A few people in my Abomination classes are planning on skipping it."

"That's because Abomination is a hard track," Barcus countered. "If I have time for it in my schedule next week, I might do it!"

"Yeah, it is pretty cool," Viney reasoned.

"My sister thought similarly," Leal said. "Ever since she heard it was on her schedule this week and found out what it was about, she was excited."

"Ah, she's lucky," Viney said with a wistful sigh. "With her being multi-tracked, she's got so many more options in a schedule."

"Yeah," Jerbo nodded with a laugh. "We have to basically balance and cram two tracks in one."

Leal slapped the table in excited agreement, feeling vindicated with peers sharing her feelings. "Right? Man, mi hermana has it so good with how much of her day can be cherry picked to fit other classes in!"

"I'd love to have that kind of freedom," Barcus longingly said.

"Guess it's the perks of being the first of your kind." Leal shrugged.

"Funny for you to say, Human," Viney teased.

"Well, technically, Luz came through first so really she's the first human," she amended.

"Then you can say you're technically the first pair of humans to arrive," Jerbo corrected.

Lealtad rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Me being human hardly granted me any privileges. If anything, it's come with more downsides." She placed her hand on her notebook, sliding it closer to her. "For now, a pencil and paper is as close as I can get to 'magic'," she lamely stated.

"But it's still magic," Barcus argued.

She raised a brow at the dog across from her. "You have a response for everything, eh, ¿Perro Guía?" He simply smiled back at her. "Well in that case, you mind helping with the last chapter of demon beast ingredients? I wanna know more about beast traits and its transference to potion effects." Barcus motioned his paw pad to her, prompting her to continue.

She hurriedly dug into her bag, searching through her mess for her Potions textbook.

"Whoa, are those all for potions?" Viney asked. She turned around and found the witch looking over her shoulder in interest, though her eyes were filled with wonder. She turned to Barcus and Jerbo and said, "She's got tons of ingredients in there!"

Barcus' eyes lit up. "So that's what you were doing with the ingredients you scavenged from Potions 'Till You Die! I was wondering why you didn't put it with your storage chest like everyone else."

Leal felt her ears heat up a bit. "Uh yeah. Well, Mixter Phrew said it was okay after I asked them." She sheepishly shrugged. "Figured I could get around to practicing on my own."

"Talk about prepared!" Viney commended.

"Yeah!" Barcus agreed. "Carrying ingredients around is just as handy as a finished potion! You never know after all!"

The praise made Leal's unease at the attention lessened a bit. She let herself smile proudly. "Yeah, well, I hear a good witch is resourceful," she replied cheekily.

"And you still think you're behind," Jerbo mused, scoffing to punctuate his point. "Not a lot of students take the initiative to do that, Leal."

Man, they were really all about this, huh?

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay, I get it—you all think I'm awesome and super cool and really smart," she dramatically stated, bringing her hand to her forehead. The three began to roll their eyes and chuckle at her sarcasm. "If it's what you all say, then I guess I simply must just cope—"

"Alright maybe we were wrong," Viney joked, elbowing Leal's shoulder.

"We've created a monster." Jerbo shook his head.

"That's not my track, Jerbo," Leal teased, throwing a wink.

The screaming bell rang and the four sobered up from their laughter. The hour had gone by already? As they hurried to clean up their food and rush to their next class before the next bell, Leal crumpled up her brown bag and looked down at her notebook. She tucked it back into her bag and pulled out her red bat, resting it on her shoulder as she slid out from the table bench. When she turned back to double check if she left anything, she caught Barcus' eyes.

"Don't worry, I can answer your question in one of our classes today. Or Miss Ayla can," he suggested. With a wave of his paw, he motioned for her to follow. "We better hurry!"

Lealtad smiled. With a casual toss of her left arm, she threw her crumbled bag into the trash as she walked after her classmate. If she wasn't already looking forward to Potions today, she was now.

::::

In Potions 101, they spent the time experimenting with combinations but also creativity. Ayla really wanted them to grasp the picture of what standard potions and brews required, then left the floor for them to work. In that sense, everyone was tasked with creating potions they knew but also paying close attention to their processes. Taking note of every ingredient added, the changes made as they're dropped in—all of it. It seemed like Ayla was pushing for them to be experimentative but not outright: like understanding the basics was the goal.

Not everyone actually got their batches done in time, as most were really concerned with what brews they should make. Only Lealtad herself along with Barcus—and Boscha—got around to actually finishing their batch by the end of class. Leal could tell from a glance Boscha had made a skin cleanser potion, a potion Leal had often noticed her making whenever they had time. Barcus wanted to experiment with his Oracle and Potion brew, which was supposed to be a precognitive potion that was going to allow whoever ingested it to see into their near future.

Miss Ayla seemed to be a bit put off by the experiment, and Leal figured it was because of previous experiences before Barcus was moved to the Detention Track. Witnessing the dog's process was exciting though. He managed to produce a batch but his test yielded negative results: just a potion that seemed to give a headache.

She let out a small chuckle as she walked alongside the dog on their way to their next class. "Ahh, c'mon, Barky, you'll get it eventually!"

Barcus sulked. "It's just frustrating."

Leal nodded. "I get it." She spun her bat around in her hand. "It's crazy how specific and precise these recipes can be but they all can fail the same and yield similar outcomes." Noticing his still downtrodden mood, she went on. "At least ya got to finish a batch? Not everyone got around that. And, well, you still did it after all the errors along the way."

The handy part about Potions magic was its versatility. The ability to reset cauldron brews without having to dump all its contents, or even just levitate needed items with the wave of a finger. Cauldrons, bottles, stirring spoons, fire magic—all around helpful tools that made the process more seamless. And in the end, their magic was able to "scan" finished products. Which meant as long as they scanned a properly finished potion bottle, the next time they made a similar batch all they'd need to do was "scan" it with their magic and they'd know if its contents were similar or not. An easy way of testing that didn't involve using up a potion bottle or risking one's body if it involved drinking.

Leal didn't have such luxuries. She had to get up and get her own materials and stir manually, an entirely exhaustive process and she was the only one doing it that way. If she messed up—something she had yet to do, thankfully enough—she'd only know after she was done and tested it herself. No magic tester for her. Even though Barcus offered to magic scan for her, Leal wanted him to focus on his own work. He was able to mess up five times, reset his batch, and still finish.

"You finished too," he pointed out, smiling at her.

Leal shrugged. She glanced down at her bag, looking at her finished contents. "I just made more fog brew potions." She patted her bag. Three more for the collection. Would've been four but again: she had to test one. "I can sympathize with why everyone else was struggling to come up with a batch to make though. Being given free reign to just… do whatever is hard sometimes."

Barcus smirked. "For your case, you might be limiting yourself too much."

"Oh really, wise guy?" she retorted.

They arrived at Potions in Motion, entering the class and finding their seats. "I'm willing to bet Miss Ayla's going to encourage us to experiment more this class. It'd be a good time for you to try something other than recipes we know," Barcus advised.

Lealtad snorted, setting down her bat and her bag. "Me? No thanks. I don't wanna explode the classroom or something." She pulled out her notebook and placed it in front of her.

Barcus rolled his eyes. "Leal, it's Potions!" he barked. "We all enrolled knowing that's gonna happen daily." He set down his belongings and levelled an encouraging look at her.

"Man, how were you just down on yourself with your project and now you're encouraging me?"

He chuckled. "I like helping people."

Leal sighed, smiling at the dog as she shook her head. "You and my sister have that in common."

"And you listen to her, no?"

"Ugh, I'm gonna need you to stop the wiseness for at least until Miss Ayla's done her opening lecture," she remarked, holding up a palm.

Barcus smirked mischievously, miming his mouth shut. Though, he did continue to pant excitedly—no doubt eager to continue his experimentation. Lealtad, in turn, decided to prep her things: opening her notebook and readying a pencil just in case Ayla had more to say. As the stragglers began to pile in, Leal noticed Boscha levelling a glare at her before sitting down. She rolled her eyes. The witch was unbearably vocal with her snide comments here and there, but for the most part she just seemed to like glaring at Leal whenever possible.

Quite possibly the most teenage thing ever.

After the second bell rang, a fog brew mist appeared at the head of the class and Miss Ayla was suddenly there, arms above. "Welcome to Potions in Motion! Now, in Potions 101, we opened the floor to experiment: be it working with recipes you know or things you want to try. However, I'd like you all to try your own brews! You can make whatever you like, even a brew you might be familiar with, but no recipes!" the witch stated, raising a warning finger.

Leal could sense the tension in the air. The agency has been given right back to them. Biting the bullet, Leal raised her hand.

"Ah, yes Leal?"

"Um, h-how exactly can we make a potion when we can't see the recipe?" she sheepishly asked. She gestured to her notebook. "You've told us following the recipe exactly is important!" Murmurs of agreement echoed out here and there throughout the classroom.

"Indeed! That is correct!" she said with a nod. "But, this is an opportunity for you all to think outside the cauldron. You follow the recipes and know it produces perfect results—why?" She began to pace around the front of the class, gesticulating her hands. "What ingredients in your batches are making the final touch? What ingredients are enhancing the potency? What ingredients are being neutralized in their raw form by other ingredients? I can tell you the answers. Or…" she gestured toward the class. "You can learn for yourself. And I'll be here to help you understand what you learn."

At that, silence overtook the room. Leal glanced around with her fellow peers, all of them feeling the same level of satisfaction from their teacher's answers. This was the deep end, she supposed. Lealtad let out a sigh as she glanced down at her notebook. Did she even know enough to experiment?

"Begin!"

Dozens of spell circles were conjured, and cauldrons and bottles began to levitate everyone's desks within seconds. Leal let out an annoyed groan as she rose out of her seat. But when she turned around, she caught her cauldron and a few bottles floating toward her. She ducked under the floating items and spun back, just in time to see Barcus' spell circle whilst everything gently landed on their desk. She frowned as she sat back down. "Thanks," she flatly said.

The dog chuckled. "Leal, sometimes people just want to help."

She sighed, fighting the embarrassment flushing up to her ears. "Y-Yeah. Sorry." She shot her seatmate a small smile. "I am grateful," she asserted sincerely. "It's just… hard."

"Accepting help?"

Leal shook her head. "Accepting help from magic. It just feels like it's more of a reminder of what I can't do as well as you guys."

Barcus' eyes widened. "Oh… well, I can ask next time if you'd like my help?" he suggested.

Leal's brows raised at the dog's polite reply. She offered a brighter smile back at him. "Actually, yeah. I think I'd appreciate that." She held out her fist toward the dog. "Thanks… B-Dog."

He raised a brow at her. "First: B-Dog? Second: what am I supposed to do?" he asked, looking down at her fist.

She laughed, shaking her head. "Well, first off—it's a nickname. Second…" she completed the gesture, knocking her fists together. "You bump them. Back where I'm from, we call it giving 'props' or a 'fist bump'," she explained.

The dog shrugged obliging her request as he bumped his paw against hers. A smile fell on his face. "Huh. That was cool, I guess."

"You'll get used to it, Barky," she teased.

After that, the two fell into a comfortable silence, along with the rest of the class, as everyone began looking into their personal projects. Leal wasn't sure where to start exactly, so she deferred to her notes. She looked at the ingredients she knew, the effects they had, and thought of what she could make of them. The last two things she wrote on: the sleeping nettle and trash slugs. She looked deep into her messenger bag, pulling out all the ingredients she had and assessing them. A couple vials of various animal saliva and fluids, some claws and fangs from an assortment of beast demons, and her wits.

Creativity and understanding.

This was her sister's suit.

Could Leal have the same innovation?

At that, her mind drifted toward Luz. What would her sister do here, if granted the same instructions? Part of Leal mused that Luz would've already made something new all on her own by now. And that's where Leal latched onto. What could she make with what she had? Or… no, what would she want to make? From there, her imagination ran. The first thought that came to mind was a healing potion. The thrill and excitement of such a possibility screamed out to her, and so she dove into her ingredients book, looking up what she could.

But it didn't seem like she had anything on hand or understood enough to work from this. But… maybe that was an idea worth investing in.

This line of thinking made Leal rather excited, as she felt she had somewhere to venture from. What would be something helpful? What were things she or people at home could use? Then again, Eda was a Potionist herself, King didn't seem to really need things and Hooty was… Hooty. Her eyes widened at the opportunity. Between King and his excitable late night hours when he should be sleeping, and Eda's exhaustive waves in relation to her curse—a sleep remedy could be helpful!

Her eyes had wandered to her bat and a smirk fell onto her face, another idea gracing her. Something to give her the edge in a fight, a boost maybe. Looking at the trash slug's properties with its saliva, along with the Slitherbeast saliva… she considered if there might've been a possibility she could make something of these thoughts. So many ingredients. And… she actually did understand what they could do. But could she do it?

Thirteen and a half minutes into class, and Leal was neck deep in her ingredients list. There were actually two routes for her to pursue. She just wasn't sure if either of them were worth it? Maybe she should just back out and make more fog brews—

"Leal, making something will help start the process," Barcus spoke up, not taking his eyes off his cauldron. He had already begun work on his potion, stirring and waiting.

Leal frowned. "Easy for you to say—you already have a decent idea of where to go!"

Barcus shot her a smug look. "And how do you think I got there?" He raised a brow. "Half the fun of Potions is trial and error!"

At that, Leal turned to her empty cauldron.

He was right. She couldn't be afraid of mistakes. She… She had to learn somehow. If the class managed to blow up in the process? Well, Ayla did say it was time for experimentation. With a deep breath, Leal took the plunge and began working.

::::

One reset was all she needed. But afterward, she did it.

A sleeping brew.

It was, well, rather embarrassing having to test it and just conk out in the middle of class, but Miss Ayla was quick to wake her and congratulate her on her project. Leal proudly smiled at the finished batch lined up beside her cauldron. Two bottles of an indigo substance, for a true total of three. It could be utilized through its odour, as scented brew meant to coax the body into relaxing into sleep or drank from directly for immediate effects. Though, one sip test was all Leal needed to know that was not a procedure one should do repeatedly.

She had to smash the bottle afterward to do the odour test, at which nearly half the class fell asleep until Miss Ayla dealt with the effects.

Regardless, Leal was on a roll. Because now she was coordinating with Barcus on a new potion. Out of everyone in the class, only she and him managed to get their projects done. Barcus had made a subset potion from his original precognitive potion: a potion that helps recover forgotten trains of thought, memories, or ideas. It was a bright pink, almost lemonade-like liquid. Needless to say, lots of eyes were on them for the rest of class. And that was another thing! They still had half of the period to go!

"You really think it'll work like that?"

Leal nodded as she ground up the manta bear claws in her mortar and pestle. "The trash slug properties of increasing size and mass mixed with the Slitherbeast saliva to glue the raw properties together will create a solid foundation for the manta bear claws," she explained as she grabbed two tablespoons of the freshly founded up claws and poured them into the cauldron.

Barcus was currently stirring the pot for her, as he was also eager to work on another project. He had some Slitherbeast saliva in a vial and Leal decided it was a sign to venture her line of thinking. He had become intrigued with her idea of a "Strength Potion" but not all too convinced, so she simply asked him to handle the stirring as she explained. The mixture had become more viscous and orange, and if there was one instinct Leal understood with potions was that once the mixture changed shade or viscosity, it was time to act.

With the manta bear claws added, Leal smiled and turned to her partner. "With the claws in, it should enhance the strength properties, mixing into the trash slug spit courtesy of the Slitherbeast saliva!"

Barucs raised a brow. "'Should'?" he worriedly clarified, though he still maintained his levitating stirring.

She rolled her eyes, waving her hand. "Relaaax. It's either that, or it'll just be like, a growth serum or something. Might make you grow in size or some sick sharp claws," she casually replied.

Her partner chuckled, shaking his head. "I'll say Leal, I am impressed with your confidence!"

"Yeah, well, I've had encounters with both the trash slug and the Slitherbeast—"

"And you're alive?" he bewilderedly exclaimed.

She laughed. "My mentor's awesome," Leal proudly stated, puffing her chest. "Anyways, working from that, I just have a hunch this will blend the way I think it will… but hey," she shrugged, "who knows?" She shot Barcus a smile. "Trial and error, right?"

"Trial and error," he agreed.

A comfortable silence hung as Leal stared at the pot, waiting for the mixture to change in some way. Be it shade, viscosity—something. But after a minute of this, she realized Barcus was smiling at her still. She turned and raised a brow, prompting him silently. He just chuckled.

"Sorry it's just, this is what I mean! You sell yourself short but, in the week's time you've been learning potions you're already done so much more than I was when I first started," Barcus barked proudly. "Maybe it's ego, but I'm proud of you!"

Leal's ears flushed at the earnest praise. "Thanks, Barcus," she softly replied. "And, well, Clawthorne did a good bit of filling me in from that Peter Potionist book—helping me with what was fiction or not—and well, I somewhat had a grasp on things beforehand." She smiled back at the dog. "But yeah, it was mostly you. Your explanations were really helpful!"

Barcus brightened at that. "I never did get to ask you what you thought of the book."

Leal sheepishly chuckled. "Ah, I wasn't a huge fan. It was a bit… young for my taste," she said in a strained voice. She didn't want to sound pretentious. "I liked the story. It was cheesy, but I think that also gave it charm. And Peter was really cool for a main character! He was also a good teacher too. Like when he was teaching his little sister as practice for the competition."

Barcus laughed. "It's okay, Leal, I know it's not for everyone. Just because it's my favourite doesn't mean it's free from scrutiny."

She let out a relieved sigh before quirking a brow at him. "Lemme guess… childhood book?"

He nodded. "My parents are Oracle Coven. They taught me everything I know and well, one day I found that book in a library and read it." He shrugged with a fond smile. "Peter opened my eyes to the possibility of what Potions could be for me."

"Hey, far be it for me to argue against sentiment," Leal said with an amused smile. "My little sister's favourite book, The Good Witch Azura, is in the age range six to eleven. But, it was the last thing our dad left her after he passed… so, she has a lot of attachment to the series even if she grew out of it." She shrugged with a fond chuckle. Her eyes widened for a split second.

Whoa.

Why did she just… volunteer that information?

Her ears reddened a bit at the realization, but Barcus continued. "I get it," he simply said. "Memories like those strengthen the sentiment." His casualness kind of surprised her. Was he just… being considerate? "But like you, Peter's teaching moments with his little sister, Tawny, are my favourite too. Actually, it kind of motivated me to my true desire: to be a teacher." Leal's eyes widened at that revelation. Shaking off her discomfort from seconds ago, she observed the dog's wistful smile. "Though, I doubt anyone will be wiling to learn from someone as dual-tracked as me."

"Hey, my teacher's the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles, and she knows all kinds of magic," Lealtad proudly defended, "My sister and I are happy to learn from her." She dipped into a smug smirk as she crossed her arms. "And well, as one of your first students, I think I can confidently say you've got a good potential. I'd be glad to have ya as a teacher."

He chuckled. "Thanks, Leal."

She winked. "No problem, B-Dog."

He rolled his eyes at the nickname, turning back to the pot. His eyes immediately widened. "It's bright red!" he announced.

Leal glanced toward the pot and it had indeed changed shades. She quickly began filling bottles, only managing two. The Slitherbeast saliva really ate up the density of this thing when it was stirred. She set the two bottles down in between her and Barcus. This was it. The strength potion. Her "edge" against all the dangers this realm posed. Something she could do.

"Wow!" Miss Ayla's voice startled her from her trance. "Another brew finished?" Their teacher chuckled as they took in her presence. She was suddenly behind them, eyes filled with awe. "And does this one do?"

"It's uh, supposed to be a strength potion," she explained.

Ayla's eyes widened. "Strength, eh? So like a Power glyph?"

Leal awkwardly chuckled. "Well, ideally."

"Let's see a test of your new potion then, shall we?" their teacher prompted.

"Oh, we collaborated on this one," Lealtad said with a proud smile, patting Barcus' shoulder.

"It was just my pot and some of my ingredients we used," Barcus hurriedly explained.

Leal scoffed. "What happened to not underselling yourself?" she whispered. "It was a team effort, Miss Ayla," she said more loudly.

The woman took note with an acknowledging nod, but gestured for them to continue. With a smirk, Leal concluded herself the test subject and popped open the cork stopper, bringing the bottle to her lips. The second it went down its through, Leal's eyes widened. Okay, so it tasted like cold medicine but more thick. It wasn't necessarily terrible tasting, but it was slow to drink and definitely a tad uncomfortable. But once the whole bottle was downed, Leal set a surge of adrenaline course through her body. She let out a deep exhale as she exclaimed, "Oookay that hit."

Ayla's eyes furrowed into concern. "And? How are you feeling?"

Leal mustered a smile at her. "Has a kick, but no immediate effects from drinking," she noted. Looking down at her hands, she shrugged as she rose out of her seat. "Not sure how I can test it…"

Barcus barked, "Miss Ayla's desk?"

With a look of permission, to which their teacher nodded, Leal walked over to the front desk and assessed it. It was pretty large. With a deep breath, Leal squatted down and grabbed it from the middle, and lifted. And it felt like picking up a chair! There was still some heft—and weight distribution going on—but Leal managed to lift the desk up off the ground and pull it up to her chin, before losing her grip and dropping it. The thud echoed throughout the classroom and before Leal could get out an apology, she turned to see Ayla's look of astonishment.

"Amazing! Two potions in one class! You, Lealtad, are destined for a career in Potions!" Miss Ayla praised, applauding. Murmurs of awe and observation stirred from the rest of the class, with Boscha glaring at her annoyedly.

Leal flushed from all the attention as she walked back to her seat. "R-Really, Miss Ayla, Barcus—"

"Didn't do nearly as much as she wants to imply," her partner spoke up, "All her idea, all her notes."

She frowned at the smug look on the dog's face, but Ayla's hand came down on her shoulder in a congratulatory pat. She startled, looking up at the woman with surprise.

"Please keep at it, Miss Noceda," Ayla softly said, "Aside from Barcus here, it's been awhile since I had a Potions student with your level of excitement and curiosity in my class." She turned away and spoke a bit louder. "You could all do well to take note from Miss Noceda and Mister Baker here! There's no rush or need to create a successful potion first try, but there is satisfaction in creating a project and having it work! Don't be afraid to try new things, my students!" she cheerily announced.

Leal felt like her ears were gonna burn off with the amount of attention Ayla was placing on her. She was a bit glad she shifted some of it to Barcus, but honestly, this was embarrassing.

"Be sure to turn in a copy of your recipe list whenever you can, Miss Noceda, and you'll have your extra credit!" Ayla sing-songingly said before walking off.

Her eyes widened as she turned to Barcus, who smiled at her in equal excitement. "That's great!" She turned toward her batch of potions: two bottles of sleeping brew and one strength potion. "I'm gonna take a photo to commemorate the occasion!" she declared, readying her Canon camera. She took several shots, some of just the sleeping brew, some of just the strength potion, and others of the ingredients gathered around them.

Her own potion! Two of them!

"I cannot wait to show Luz and Eda!" Leal giddily said, looking into her gallery. She turned and furrowed a brow at Barcus' smile. "What's up?"

He shook his head. "I just thought it's nice seeing you be so excited. You must really like using your camera, huh?"

Leal's smile didn't diminish as she nodded. "Yup. This thing is a ticket to memories, staying in the moment, and just capturing beauty." She let out a fond sigh, looking down at her device. "I love taking photos."

"That's quite an interesting outlook," Barcus commented. "Our cameras don't have the same kind of… advancements?" he said, trying the word. "But our scrolls are close as we get to capturing photos the way you do. Still," he looked at her camera with eyes of wonder, "I'd like to try something like that someday…"

Leal's brows raised. "Really?"

He nodded. "Much like Oracles, you're seeing and capturing moments but knowing the context for yourself first." Barcus shrugged. "Though in your case, you actually can seize the moment more than I." He smiled wistfully. "I like to live in the moment as well…"

She hummed. "Huh, never really saw it like that I guess." She glanced down at her camera, then at Barcus. "Do… Do you wanna take a photo with me?" It felt weird to ask someone this way. It felt like something Luz would try.

"Really?"

Leal eagerly nodded. "Yeah! Nothing commemorates the event more than a photo with my partner too!" She awkwardly shrugged. "I-If you want to? I don't mind," she tacked on.

Barcus dispelled her worries as he brightened up with a big smile. "How should I pose?"

Lealtad chuckled. "As you are is fine." She leaned over, unstrapping her camera from her neck as she wrapped her arm around Barcus, pulling him close. She turned her camera around and held her finger above the shutter button. "Say Potions!"

"Potions!"

And the memory was sealed.

::::

Turns out, her strength potion had residual side effects. A bit of migraine, but it wasn't too bad. Miss Ayla was kind enough to give her a soothing remedy potion in Potions (Again). Her study period was spent in high spirits, and Barcus was sure to tease her about her "completely unfounded self-doubt" each time she smiled. So, okay, fine, the dual-track kids were right. She just wanted to bask in the excitement of having made her own potions!

The period was silent for the most part, but Leal wanted to get ahead of the course material so she began reading the next two chapters. It prompted continuous inquiries back and forth with Miss Ayla, who kept trying to tell her she didn't need to study so hard. But Leal couldn't help herself. She was at the curve, she wanted to remain inclining. Of course since it was supposed to be a designated quiet study time, many others noticed her constant questions. Boscha had chimed in with a snide remark too.

"Must be hard, Human, catching up when you're so far behind!"

Lealtad clenched her bat hard, holding back from throwing a potion bottle at the witch as she recalled Luz's request of not hurting Boscha back during the Moonlight Conjuring business. So instead, she just scoffed and levelled an unimpressed look at the witch. "Must be hard, Boscha," she told her, "using playground insults and jokes to entertain yourself instead of… well, doing literally anything else with your life."

That managed to spark a round of chuckles throughout the class, which Boscha did not like.

And neither did Miss Ayla. Their teacher did not appreciate the loud disruption, but for some reason Boscha got off scott-free while Ayla told Leal to not engage with Boscha. So the triclops had a free pass, Leal supposed. It wasn't enough to damper her spirits, however. Her day was going far too well for her to care about some stupid girl. Once class rolled out, Leal departed a quick goodbye to Barcus and set out for Luz's locker. She was so excited to show her sister what she learned today! And, with Luz's schedule, she probably hadn't even gotten around to experimenting in Potions yet, so Leal could help teach her too!

But when she arrived at her sister's locker, she was nowhere to be found.

Worry crept in Leal for a few seconds. Where was her sister today? It wasn't strange to not see her, given their schedules hardly aligned at all, but between lunch and this? She couldn't help but worry a bit. Eda wasn't picking them up today, as she had plans to stock up on more elixir serum and other errands, so Leal figured they'd be walking home together. She waited a few minutes, hoping to catch Gus or Willow, or maybe even Amity? But nothing.

And then the reality hit her that maybe… just maybe, her sister just went on ahead. Leal grimaced a bit as she looked down at her bat, thumbing the knob. It made sense, actually. Her sister had friends now, of course she'd want to hang out with them now. There was no need to "wait up" after school or even walk together.

The carnival proved that Luz was perfectly fine—hi-jinx aside—with Gus and Willow. She let out a sigh as she leaned her head against Luz's locker. She wouldn't hover. She promised. She could show Luz her potions when she got home anyways. With Eda and King and Hooty! That graced a smile on her lips as she looked down at her messenger bag filled with potions. Now that was something to look forward too.

"Hey Leal!" Viney's voice echoed out. She turned down the hall leading from the massive circular pathway, and noticed her running toward her with Barcus and Jerbo in tow. "Jeez," she took a breath once they arrived near her, "you're fast."

Jerbo chuckled. "Barcus had to round us up real quick to make sure we caught ya before you left."

Leal raised a brow. "What for?"

"You wanna hang out?" Barcus offered. "We were planning on walking the streets a bit and getting some street meat once the day was over."

"Yeah," Viney nodded, "We were gonna try out this not dog stand!"

Leal's eyes lit up at that as she pushed off Luz's locker. "¡No me diga! You mean Venny?" She let out a nostalgic sigh. "Oh, I love their ham-bug-ers!"

Their faces brightened at that. "So you in?" Viney excitedly offered.

Her face fell into an apologetic smile. "Ah, sorry I have to walk my—" she stopped herself. Whoa. She nearly just said it out of reflex. It was then, a weird sense of shame crept up on Leal's spine. Why was she defaulting to no? Luz already went ahead and Eda didn't say anything about needing to come home right away. It was the reality of her habitual response that made Lealtad's inside swarm with guilt and embarrassment. She was about to use Luz.

As an excuse.

"Leal?" Barcus tilted his head at her worriedly. "If you're too busy…"

No.

Not this time.

"Nah," she hastily shook her head. "I'm down!" She jerked her thumb behind her. "Mi hermana went home ahead anyways, so I'm free!" The three smiled at that as she joined their line up, all of them heading toward the exit. "This is perfect too, I've been craving Venny's ham-bug-ers for awhile now." She and Eda couldn't get any on the carnival day because they were already done for the day by then.

"Great! You can even help us find their cart then!" Jerbo pointed out.

Lealtad happily smirked. "I'd be glad to."

::::

"Seriously? Two new potions in one class?" Jerbo exclaimed in awe.

"Right?" Barcus agreed, gesturing at Leal eagerly. "And she still kept trying to insist I helped when all I did was basically lend her my ingredients!"

Viney and Jerbo laughed, shaking their heads as the four of them walked along Daydream Film Street. Leal knew based on Venny's scheduling and route, they'd be arriving around this time before taking one last neighbourhood and calling it a day. She figured it was the best option to go through since it also led out toward the woods outside of Bonesborough pretty quickly with some shortcuts here and there. Talking about school along the way, Leal was genuinely curious to hear how Viney and Jerbo were faring in their other tracks. Of course, Barcus talked up his own potion discovery, but then immediately transitioned into talking about Leal's work.

She tugged her beanie down, trying to cover the redness in her ears. Why the Hell were her friends so keen on praising her? She had a retort ready but stopped as she latched onto something Barcus said. "Wait, 'lend'?" she inquired.

Barcus smirked at her. "Slitherbeast saliva is expensive, I expect compensation in trade for when I need to borrow ingredients."

Leal grinned, lightly bumping the barrel of her bat against the dog's side (as she couldn't bump his shoulder in any other way). "Hey, any way to repay ya is welcomed for me!"

The three chuckled, but Viney narrowed her brows. "Wait… you do know we're not gonna let you pay for all our meals when we get to Venny's, right?"

Leal gasped. "¿Qué? Why not!" she complained, tempted to stomp her foot.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Leal, we don't need compensation for helping you." She smiled softly at her. "We just wanna help. It's what friends do."

"Yeah!" Jerbo agreed.

Though Leal couldn't help but notice the smug and knowing "I told you" look Barcus was wearing. She let out a conceding sigh, nodding her head. "Fine, fine… but please promise you'll let me help you guys with stuff too?"

"Uh, duh," Viney snorted. "Someone needs to be my test subject in Healing!"

"I may not share tracks with you, but having someone to spar with for my Plant Abomination is always welcomed!" Jerbo addressed.

"Free excuse to swing my bat around something and not get in trouble for it?" Leal smirked devilishly as she spun her bat in her hand. "Consider me your sparring partner, Bo-Man."

The four shared a laugh as they continued their walk. It was honesty… nice, walking and talking with people. A leisure activity she had come to love growing up with Luz, but for the most part, it was something only she and Luz did. A small nagging feeling prodded at the back of her mind at that thought. No, it was something Leal chose to make exclusive between her and Luz. Sure, she had done so with others before, even with Eda and King here and there. But walking with the dual-track kids like this, talking about school and such, it was different. And she actually didn't mind that one bit.

As they neared the Slayground, Leal assured the group that Venny would just be ahead past the park. They would've started on this street recently, so that meant they'd run into each other by then. She was actually really excited to see them again. Seeing Venny with someone aside from Luz for a change, she wasn't sure why it was exciting for her, but she felt it nonetheless.

"Leal?" two familiar voices called out.

The girl stopped and turned toward the Slayground, surprised to see Edric and Emira Blight sitting at the park bench.

She smiled and waved at the two. "Sup Blights!" she greeted. She turned and walked toward them. "How's it hanging?" They rose up from their seats, waving at her as they met her halfway. It was during their waving that a glint off Edric's right wrist caught her eye, making her smirk upon her realization of what it was. "Still wearing the watch, eh Ed?"

The boy's face lit up proudly. "Yup!" he nodded, shaking his right wrist around dramatically, much to his sister's annoyance.

"You like that watch, huh?" she mused.

"Yeah! I mean, not having to deal with something biting your wrist is pretty sweet! Plus, it's got flair," he pointed out, gesturing to the watch with his left hand.

"Our mom thought it was tacky," Emira chimed in, "He's wearing it around the house more out of spite."

Leal laughed. "Points for pettiness, Ed."

Emira's brows raised as she pointed to Leal's left hand. "Looks like Ed's not the only one sporting some accessories," she observed, "nice bracelet."

She lowered her left hand from resting her bat on her shoulder and she switched it to her right hand, freeing up her left to show off her bracelet. "Thanks, I guess? It's from Barcus," Leal explained, turning to her left, "he—" Her brows furrowed as she realized the dog wasn't to her left like she thought. Actually, none of the dual-track kids were. Leal spun around and saw them standing at the park entrance, as though they were waiting for her. She chuckled, waving at them. "Guys, come over!" she shouted.

The three exchanged hesitant looks and it was then Leal remembered Viney's words from before lunch, Wait, did they all feel uncomfortable with the Blights? She felt a stab of guilt in her gut as she glanced back to the twins, sheepishly smiling. She was ready to apologize and make up some excuse about them being shy until she saw them slowly make their way over. She nearly breathed out a sigh of relief at that. "Edric, Emira, this is Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus," she introduced as they arrived.

"Oh yeah, your fellow dual-track students!" Emira said with an excited smile. "Heard 'bout the kinda shenanigans you guys got up to before you were in the Detention Track."

Leal felt a cold shift as irritation fell upon all their faces.

"They weren't 'shenanigans'," Viney corrected with a glare, "we were actually trying things in school." She crossed her arms across her chest. "Unlike some people who're just in it to ruin others' examination days."

"Titan forbid you get thrown in the Detention Track for that," Jerbo sarcastically remarked.

Barcus scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Lealtad's heart ached at the twins' downtrodden expressions. Leal was tempted to step forward, but she didn't want to escalate the tension by making it seem like there was something to butt heads about. But… she understood it now. To the dual-track kids, being tossed into a track where you can't learn anything because you wanted to learn everything sucks. Yet, it's not as painful as knowing there were two troublemakers out there who weren't being tossed into the same punishment as you even when they're purposefully causing trouble.

Still… Leal didn't like seeing these looks on any of her friends.

The Blights might've seemed insensitive and mean spirited, but Leal came to understand that they were some really sweet and well meaning people. On the other side, Barcus, Viney, and Jerbo may seem cold and standoffish, but Leal was quick to learn they had a lot of passion and love for school and magic. They were all really nice people.

What would Luz do here?

What could she even say?

Unsure of anything else, Leal forced a laugh. "Oh yeah, we heard 'bout that in Healing (Again)," she spoke up, "got a few laughs in the class out of it too. Bump did not look happy."

The twins chuckled at that, their smiles slowly returning.

"Yeah, but the Construction class definitely were," Edric smugly stated.

Leal raised a brow at that. "Why?"

"They were supposed to have an examination today, but Ed and I overheard their class talking the other day about how no one was prepared," Emira explained.

"Who's their teacher?" she asked.

"Mister Stonecutter," Edric answered.

At that, the dual-track kids winced. Leal turned to them with a raised brow. "He's one of the strictest Construction teachers in the school," Viney explained.

"He's notorious for causing students to swap out," Barcus sadly explained.

The twins chuckled. "And that's why we did our little prank," Emira said with a grin. "Stonecutter had to delay the exam two days 'cause of it."

At that, the dual-track kids' eyes widened. Viney, arms still crossed, raised a suspicious brow. "And you had to make 'em think they were in the wrong room to do it?"

They exchanged a smirk. "Well, it was pretty fun watching a class of Construction students wreck a room with nothing but rock," Edric replied.

Viney rolled her eyes at that, but Leal noticed she wasn't grimacing at them anymore. In fact, none of them were. That was a start!

"The Blights can be pretty considerate sometimes," Lealtad proudly stated. "When their interests align with their shenanigans, they can be quite fun." Library incident and paper rain aside, the pranks they pulled back then were kind of fun.

"You seem to hold them in high esteem," Barcus observed.

Leal shrugged. "We've hung out here and there," she casually explained, waving her hand.

"Uh, why's your bracelet glowing like that?" Edric pointed at it confusedly.

She glanced down and chuckled. "Ah, it's a crystal ball charm, courtesy of Barcus!" She pointed to the dog with a smile. "He made it for me so no one has to translate what he's saying. It's been a real help!"

Edric's eyes lit up as he glanced between her and Barcus with a worried look. She furrowed a brow, unsure what to make of his expression, until Emira patted his shoulder, making him shift back into his usual smile. "That's cool," he commented, though it sounded more stiff than Leal expected.

"And skilled," Emira added. "Our mom's Oracle Coven, she uses it for telepathy magic too. But not nearly enough for constant translation."

Barcus shrugged. "It's not that hard. Pretty low level since all it's really linking is my words and translating it for Leal."

"Again with the underselling, Perro Guía." Lealtad clicked her teeth disappointedly as she shook her head. "Practice what ya preach, Teach." He rolled his eyes with a smile. Turning back to the twins, Leal asked, "So you guys didn't get caught with Bump?"

They let out a sigh. "We did," Emira answered, "and we have to clean up the supply closet because of it."

"But totally worth it," Edric added.

"Seriously? You guys mess up a whole closet and your only punishment is cleaning up after yourself?" Jerbo said in disbelief.

"Guess that's what happens when your parents are on the PCA," Viney mused.

"'PCA'?" Leal echoed. "What's the—"

"Parent Creature Association," Barcus explained, "An organization for faculty to help communicate with parents about school events, fundraisers—"

"Oh, We have that back home too." Leal's brow furrowed more. "But why wouldn't you still call it the Parent Teacher—"

"Do you guys have a problem with us?" Emira asked, crossing her arms as she cocked a brow.

"Yeah," Edric spoke up, mirroring his sister, "'Cause it's kinda feeling like you do."

The three simply stared back, faces blank and unmoved.

Lealtad groaned. She didn't even care that all eyes flew to her because of it. This is why she didn't hang out with people, let alone teenagers. This was so high school. Okay, they were technically still in high school but that was not the point! She understood gripes and she understood not clicking with people, but she just could not deal with this petty back and forth. Though it was coming more from the dual-track side than anything else.

Her stomach growled.

Titan, she just wanted to eat.

Her eyes lit up at that. "Hey, why don't you guys join us?" she asked.

"Wait what?" Viney harshly whispered while Barcus' and Jerbos eyes widened with shock.

"We're gonna go to Venny's and get some not dogs and ham-bug-ers," Lealtad explained to the twins. She turned and looked at the dual-track kids pleadingly. "The more the merrier… right?" The three exchanged unsure looks which made Leal frown. She turned back to the Blights, who visibly looked hurt as they no doubt noticed everyone's expressions, and shot them an apologetic look. "Give us a sec?" she asked.

The two shared a look and nodded, retreating back to the park bench.

"Leal, what are you doing?" Jerbo asked.

"Guys, I get you have your issues with them, I do, but they're really not that bad," she sincerely said.

Barcus sighed. "Leal, it's sweet that you want us to get along, but we really don't need to—"

"I-I know. I understand that some people just… don't get along. And honestly? I totally respect it." She took a breath, clenching her bat. "But I just know you guys would like them." They exchanged yet another round of unsure looks. "I-I can't speak for everything, because I don't want to bring up private affairs, but even I've been a… semi-victim, to their pranks."

Viney's face contorted into a mix of confusion and irritation. "So why are you—"

"Because they helped and tried to save my life from a Slitherbeast," Leal interjected. Their eyes widened at that. The twins may have failed, but she recognized the effort they put in and the fact that they went out of their way to help. "And I've seen them really try to be better than they were. I just… I think they can also be more than you guys think, if people gave 'em a chance to be." She smiled at the three. "I mean, can't you guys relate to that too?"

Barcus sighed. "If Leal seems to think so, we can give it a shot, right?" He looked to his friends.

The two exchanged a look and nodded.

"Only until we eat our food," Viney declared.

"After that, we leave and go somewhere else without them," Jerbo added.

Lealtad smiled gratefully. "Thanks guys. I-I promise you, they're really not as bad as you think." While Jerbo and Viney held reluctant looks, acknowledged her with a small back to the twins, she walked over and said, "You guys coming or what?"

Edric and Emira looked up at Leal from their seats and smiled at her.

"Leal, you really don't need to do this," Emira said.

"Yeah, your friends clearly don't like us," her brother added.

Leal sighed. "That's because they haven't gotten to know you. But I have. And I know that Edric and Emira Blight are some really cool and fun people outside of the shenanigans," she said with an earnest smile. Their faces coloured red a bit at that, making Leal feel more confident about this. "C'mon. I want you guys to hang with them too! I-I know they were pretty snide back there but they're really chill people, I swear. Just… give 'em a chance. We share a meal over some street meat and that's it! You're free to leave after!"

The two shared a look of hesitance, but Leal wouldn't be deterred.

"I swear on my sister, these guys are plenty fun when you get to know them!" she declared.

With that, the two shared one last look and nodded. Lealtad let out a relieved sigh while grinning gratefully. She motioned the two to follow and regrouped with the others. Walking along the sidewalk was a bit awkward since it was so cluttered, so the twins were forced to walk in the back while Lealtad led ahead with Barcus beside her and Jerbo and Viney filling the middle. The spacing wasn't ideal, but she knew they just needed to get to talking and it'd be all good!

And Edric chipped at the first bit of ice.

"So you're in Beast Keeping right?" he excitedly directed to Viney, eyes filled with curiosity. "What's that like?"

The girl's face shifted into surprise as she turned back to Edric.

And thus it began...

::::

"No, no, no," Emira shook her head violently as her eyes were filled with excitement, "no way you have a pet griffin."

Viney beamed proudly as she puffed her chest. She held up her half eaten not dog as she brought up her left hand, summoning her scroll. "His name is Puddles, and he is the best assistant ever," she declared, showing the picture to everyone.

Edric gaped in awe while Emira cooed. "Aww, you two look so cute together!" she said with a smile.

Viney flushed a bit as she retracted her scroll, suddenly focusing on her unfinished meal.

"That's awesome!" Edric exclaimed. "Man, Beast Keeping is sooo cool. I'd love to work with animals like that," he said in a wistful tone.

Emira leaned forward and raised her finger. "Edric tried to get a pet griffin once. Ended up tearing our living room inside out!" The group laughed at that, while Edric pouted. "There's been a pet ban ever since."

"That sounds almost as bad as me filling my basement with Abomination and Plant goop. It was not fun to walk in," Jerbo mused, earning another round of laughter. "My parents were also not happy. I'm no longer allowed to experiment down there without supervision."

"Can't imagine why," Lealtad sarcastically teased.

"I still can't get over the fact that you guys just blend your tracks together so well," Edric commented, plucking a chinch chip from the tray sitting between Leal and him. He tossed it into his mouth and shook his head. "That's so cool."

Lealtad snorted. "Not as cool as you finishing my chinch chips, Ed," she dryly remarked, lifting her nearly finished tray. "Titán mío you eat as much as my sister does when I share with her!"

He sheepishly shrunk, apologetically smiling at her. "Sorry?"

Seeing his face, Leal let out a sigh, not even finding it in her to be upset. "It's fine, I wasn't really eating them much anyways," she said as she pushed the remaining chinch chips toward the Blight, of which he happily accepted. She got full after her two ham-bug-ers anyways. The chips were really just a side as she wagered somebody would want to snack on more. She didn't expect it to only be Edric, but it was still a win she supposed.

Barcus laughed. "Despite your brashness, you can be really kind, huh Leal?"

"That's Lealtad alright," Edric agreed, smiling at her.

"Yup," Emira nodded.

She rolled her eyes. "Geez, y'all are all kinds of cheesy, huh?"

The group laughed at that and Leal just sighed. Maybe them getting along wasn't a good idea.

Though, it was nice to see.

They were currently sitting on a stone railing just along a sidewalk, all in a line. Lealtad took the centre, with Edric and Emira on her left while Barcus, Viney, and Jerbo took her right. The distance and spacing wasn't bad at all. Along the way to Venny's, it was easy for the five to start talking once Edric and Emira expressed their interests in the multiple tracks they all studied. Of course because they were all nerds, everyone was happy to talk about their experiences so far. Lealtad knew her friends would enjoy Edric and Emira's company, but she could tell they were appreciating their captive interest more.

Venny was ecstatic to give their food to more customers for a change, and while everyone else dipped into a single meal, Leal was still happy everyone seemed excited to try. She was a bit surprised that there were residents of Bonesborough who hadn't tried Venny's food yet, but she supposed street meat wasn't always a craving for most. Either way, the gang quickly settled into their meals and it wasn't long after that the conversations picked up. To Leal's surprise, the Blights' interest in multi-tracks continued to persist, with them asking questions ranging from the difficulty of managing two tracks at once to overall enjoyment.

She grabbed her bunched up wrappers from her ham-bug-ers and tossed them into the empty chip tray. "I'm gonna throw out my trash," Lealtad announced, rising up from her seat, "anyone wanna pile on me to make it a one trip?" Down the line, people started handing her their trash as she piled it all onto her empty chinch tray. She moved down the sidewalk and toward an egg stop bench, where a trash bin was posted. Just a few metres away from it, was Venny, happily selling their food toward some passerby.

She bid them a happy nod as she tossed her trash into the bin, ready to make her way back to her friends. But when Leal glanced at Venny, she noticed them waving her over. "Yeah, Ven?" she asked as she neared. They handed her a paper with a happy look.

I LIKE THIS LOOK ON YOU

Leal furrowed a brow. "Whattya mean?"

They blinked mirthfully at her as another note was passed.

YOU SEEM HAPPY, DIFFERENT KIND OF HAPPY THAN WITH YOUR SISTER

She shrugged. "I mean, I dunno." She looked toward her friends, smiling at the sight of all their smiles. It reminded her of Luz, seeing so much positive energy all together. "I just feel happy all around," she honestly said.

Venny jiggled a bit, no doubt laughing to themself. They produced another slip.

WE TALKED ABOUT BEING IMMERSED WITH PEOPLE BEFORE, RIGHT?

Lealtad nodded as they already handed the next paper.

WELL, SEEING YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS TOGETHER IS THE KIND OF PEOPLE I LIKE BEING IMMERSED WITH

Her heart swelled at that. "Wow, Ven, that's… that's really sweet." She smiled at them and instead of handing them back like usual, she tucked the paper into her pocket. Venny's eyes lit up at that, no doubt touched by the sentiment. It was a note worth keeping. "Thanks for the insight and awesome street meat, as per usual," she playfully said.

They blinked happily as they pulled their cart away, gesturing down the sidewalk. Right, it was about time they'd get moving anyways. They waved at her as they began pushing it away.

"Bye, Ven! See ya around!" she shouted, turning back to the railing. As she approached her friends, she slowed her pace to catch the conversation they were all so engrossed in.

"Still, I don't know how you can go on about us being cool when you guys took on a Slitherbeast!" Viney exclaimed, gesturing toward the Blights.

Emira's cheeks coloured a bit as she rubbed the back of her head. "That was less us, and more our baby sister and Leal's," she mused. "And the Owl Lady."

Edric frowned as he looked down at his hands. "I would've preferred if I was able to tame it."

"Like Beast Keeping?" Viney inquired.

Before he could expand, Emira gave his shoulder a light bump with her own. "Just so you can keep it as a pet, of course." Her brother rolled his eyes at that.

"Hey nothing wrong with that," Viney chirped, raising her hand as though she were making a pledge, "I'm a firm believer that every Beast can be tamed and trained, if given enough time and effort."

Emira's brows raised at that. "Seriously?"

"How do ya think I got Puddles?" the girl smugly replied, eliciting a chuckles across the group.

"Guess you kinda have to be strong to be in dual-tracks," Emira said with a smirk, "I mean, you guys did take down the Greater Basilisk earlier this week."

Leal's fellow dual-trackers all grew semblances of a blush at that remark.

"That was a team effort," Jerbo replied.

"Seems like we're all kinds of modest, huh?" Leal loudly said, announcing her presence. The group all turned to her excitedly and out of surprise, no doubt because they hadn't realized she was there. She was happy for that though. That meant they were enjoying each other's presence. As they all exchanged a variety of sheepish and amused looks, Leal walked over to where her stuff was and picked them all up. "So, meal's all done," she obviously stated while resting her bat on her shoulder. She raised her brow at them, prompting them all to catch what she was leading to.

Looks of realization and disappointment graver their expressions within seconds. She didn't even hold back her smugness. She simply shrugged and said, "What were our plans after again?"

Barcus was the only one to shoot her an unamused look, but he still smiled at her shortly after.

Then the twins' faces lit up.

"Oh!" Emira exclaimed, "Brain idea!"

"Why don't we all go train together?" Edric eagerly finished. He held his palms out to them. "Anyone up for some sparring?"

At that, Leal felt a bead of sweat. Everyone else seemed really pumped to do it but what could she do? She looked at her bat's grip and gulped. While everyone else proclaimed their agreement, she bit her lip. "I-I uh, I don't know if I can—"

All five faces spun to her with blank expressions.

"Are you serious?" Barcus dryly said.

"C'mon, Leal, really?" Jerbo said.

"Again with this?" Viney sighed.

"You of all people hesitating?" Emira said with an amused smile.

"You're right, Leal, we are all kinds of modest," Edric teased.

She let out a loud groan, letting her bat fall to the side of her leg. "You guys are a really comedy group, you should go on tour," she flatly said. The twins shared a round of chuckles while the rest of her friends just smirked at her. "Guys, I get what you're saying, but I don't know any defensive magic—"

"You have your glyphs, no?" Edric pointed out.

"And a couple fog brews and your new strength potion!" Barcus added.

"Wait, strength potion?" the Blight boy asked.

"Leal made her own potion in class today. Well, two…" her Potions partner explained.

At the Blights' look of astonishment—a look Edric was wearing a lot more of—Lealtad rolled her eyes. "But I only have one strength potion left! And it only lasts like five minutes! A-And the glyphs," her face contorted into exhaustion, "I-I can't use them the way my sister does! I'm not like her!"

And that was when Barcus hopped off his seat and stood before her, raising a brow. "Well, what else is training for?" he asked her.

Baffled, she looked to the rest of her friends, all wearing smug looks Luz would definitely be proud of.

She let out a big sigh.

Well… shit.

::::

It wasn't hard to find a clearing in the woods for them to have at it. It was just a bit off from Bonesborough, over in the direction of the Owl House. Courtesy of Jerbo and his Plant magic, they all drew literal straws to determine sparring partners. Edric was paired against Barcus, Emira was against Viney, and Lealtad had Jerbo. In her opinion, the strongest member of their group. Maybe it was because she was biased toward what she'd seen of Willow but Leal understood Plant and Abomination magic was a deadly combo in terms of offensive and defensive capability. And all she had were three fog brews, two sleeping brews, one strength potion, a couple poorly drawn glyphs, and a softball bat.

Yeah, training was going great.

"Heads up!"

She ducked from the projectile dirt clod. Readying her bat once more, she narrowed her eyes at the approaching abomination. Any second now and—another dirt clod over the abomination's shoulder launched toward her, causing her to dodge just in time but also be left open to the summon's attack. She swiped at its hands, severing them with her bat and forcing the abomination to stumble back. She rolled away from the creature and gathered some distance, focusing her attention back at Jerbo.

The boy gaped at her in awe. "You've got quick reflexes!"

She smirked. "Guess being in danger constantly has its perks!" Maybe Coach McCarty wouldn't have to worry about her being out of shape when the softball season returned! Suddenly, she felt her feet quaking a bit and glanced down. Leal yelped as another tendril vine burrowed out from beneath her. She hopped out of the way, gaining more ground toward Jerbo. If there was one thing she could note about him, it was that he was hiding behind his magic a lot. From what she'd seen of Eda, getting in close was sometimes the way to go.

Wait a minute.

Maybe that was it!

A growl from her right alerted her, causing her to glance over for a second. His abomination's hands grew back and it was running at her! She heard another slither of branch and vine and knew what was coming next. But before either attack could connect, Leal dug into her bag and tossed down one of her fog brews, covering herself and the entire area with a yellow mist. She quickly acted on her opportunity, springing out from the other side of the smoke and pulling out an ice glyph. She circled around the boy's field of view—his eyes still lost on the fading smoke of where she was—and then she pounced.

With a leap, she tossed down an ice glyph at her feet and landed on the emerging pillar, sending herself flying toward Jerbo.

The poor boy turned and screamed in fear, noticing her attack too late as he brought up his hands to shield himself. If this were an actual attack, he would've caught a bat to the face… so instead he just caught her… directly to the stomach. A loud thud and a resounding groan from the two erupted as they tumbled across the grass. Leal pushed herself off his stomach. "Do… you… yield?" she slowly huffed, trying to catch her breath.

He just laughed, in spite of the bruise on his face. "I yield all over," he whined, holding his gut.

She chuckled, sitting flat on her bum as she dropped her bat and quickly checked over her camera and bag. She honestly was testing fate by keeping this thing strapped to her neck but luck seemed to play out so far.

"You are insane," Viney's admonishing tone came in. She turned in time to see the girl kneeling beside the two, already whipping up a spell. "You're lucky these just seem to be minor bruises—I'm not strong enough for any real injuries."

With Jerbo's face back to normal, he beamed at her. "Thanks, Viney."

Leal held up her hand, shaking her head. "I'm good, Vi." The girl raised her brows, her spell circle still cast. Leal just frowned slightly. "Vi, seriously, I'm fine. Anything else, I can use one of my plasters but really: not hurt."

"If she says she's okay," Barcus chimed in, approaching with Edric, "you gotta respect it, Viney."

The girl furrowed a confused brow before shrugging, conceding her stance and adjusting herself to sit more comfortably beside the two.

Lealtad made sure to shoot the dog an appreciative nod. She then quirked a brow at the sudden audience. "Are you guys already done with your matches?"

"We've been done." Emira scoffed, sitting herself down beside Viney. Leal could've sworn the brunette stiffened a bit, but it must've been her shivering or something. It was quite cold after all. "We all had enough time to go at least twice."

"Yeah," Edric said as he and Barcus remained standing, "you and Jerbo were the only ones still fighting."

Leal flashed a surprised look to Jerbo, who looked at her annoyedly. "You're really good at dodging," he complained, "I barely touched you the entire time!"

She honestly felt like she was on the edge of her rope for the entirety of their spar. She just shrugged. "I barely did anything though."

"Maybe magic wise, but in terms of combat you have tons of experience," the boy countered.

"Honestly, having you and Luz with us made things more reassuring during the Greater Basilisk ordeal," Viney chimed in.

"Yeah, you said your sister was great in a crisis," Edric recalled. He then pointed at her with a smile. "But I'd say the same goes for you too! I mean, the way you used your fog brew was clever!"

It was sweet what they were all saying, but it didn't change the fact that she wasn't on the same level as them. Her fight with Jerbo was just luck. In a real fight she would've been done in and had to be saved by Eda or someone else. Her hand snaked onto her bat's grip, tightening around it. "It's just not enough," she muttered. She could sense her friends exchange looks at each other, no doubt unsure of how to respond. She just let out a sigh. Eda was right to let Luz learn on her own for a change… but what did Leal really know on her own?

"Why didn't you practice with any of your glyphs more?" Barcus asked.

She dug into her bag and pulled out her glyph notepad, staring sadly down at her crudely drawn ice glyphs. "Glyph wise, I only have the ones mi hermana made for me. I-I haven't gotten around to making any of my own yet because the circles aren't perfect." She raised her head and noticed everyone's smiles. It was like an inside joke had passed and she was a part of it. "What?"

"Leal, the circles don't need to be perfect," Viney softly said.

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, you think our spell circles are perfect?" Edric drew up a half-hearted attempt, at which she realized his finger barely closed its own loop but the circle itself somehow still connected the circle. A puff of blue smoke appeared and the boy suddenly had a goofy mustache on.

She giggled at the visual gag, but still shook her head. "I-I had no idea! Clawthorne, Park, Porter, you guys—it all looks so seamless!"

"That's training," Barcus explained, "At first it's about perfecting the circle. But once you get a hang of it and the spells you wanna make, it's almost like second nature that the circle completes."

"I'm willing to bet that the same goes for your glyphs," Jerbo reasoned, pointing at her notepad. "If all it needs is that design then no matter how crude, the spell should still cast the same."

She looked down at her jagged ice glyph and then looked up, realizing her friends expected her to try it now. With a sigh, she yanked it from the pad and placed it down on the ground, tapping the glyph. And to her surprise, it shone blue and a small pillar of ice emerged! She gasped in shock, gripping her notepad excitedly. "¡No me diga!" She pumped her fists to the sky. "It works!"

"Seems like someone needs to worry less about being a perfectionist, eh?" Viney teased.

Her excitement fell a bit at the remark, leaving her to fix a glare at the witch while her friends all laughed. Okay, fine, maybe they all had a point. She flipped through the rest of her poorly drawn circles. Maybe over time, it would get easier. But for now, she could do magic. Without relying on her sister. With a smile, she ripped out another ice glyph, smacking it downward and pushing it forward, creating a sharp slanted pillar of ice toward the empty space beside them.

Viney whistled. "Damn, remind me not to get on your bad side," she joked, tugging at her cowl nervously.

The Blights laughed. "We can already advise against that," Emira mused.

Leal shot the two a look. "Relax, I'm just practicing. It takes a lot of… imagination to get the ice to shape the way I want." She placed another glyph, causing a small spherical ice ball. A round of awe sparked from that, making her chuckle a bit. "Well this certainly changes things!"

"You can place those anywhere?" Edric asked, tilting his head. When she replied with a nod, he added, "You ever try sticking those glyphs on other things aside the ground?"

"Um… no?" She rubbed her neck sheepishly. At least, not her. "To be honest, Luz is the one who is more inventive with them. She already knows how to make, like, working circuits and light shows with her light glyphs."

"But, they can stick anywhere right?" Emira asked, tilting her head.

Leal blinked. Huh, they were right about that. Yanking out one more piece of paper, she pulled her bat over. With a shrug and nothing to lose, she placed the glyph onto the barrel of her bat. She gasped when the piece of paper stuck on, holding its light blue hue as it shone around the bat for a second. She stood up in alarm, causing everyone else to back up. "Guau," she uttered in surprise, holding onto her bat firmly. Taking a step away from everyone, she swung her bat forward…

And nothing happened.

With a confused look, she gave a few more test swings, but nothing else came out of it. With a small scowl, she proceeded to slam the bat down, causing a sharp pillar of ice to pierce out from the ground nearby. The whole group gasped. Leal pulled back and looked down at her bat, realizing the glyph was now gone. "Whoa…" she uttered in awe.

"That's pretty cool," Edric said, eliciting a round of groans.

Leal just fixed a smile at the Blight, while Viney tilted her head curiously. "Is that helpful though? Wouldn't it be better just to cast it as is?"

Suddenly, Lealtad recalled her words back to her sister at the Convention, when they were helping Luz.

"How about we get a Yu-Gi-Yoh Duel Disk and place all your light glyphs up on there?"

"If you roll up slinging your glyphs like trap cards and shit, that'll be badass!"

At that, the girl smirked, moving back to pick up more ice glyphs. Just maybe… "Well, that's where you're wrong Vi!" She proceeded to slap on five more glyphs onto the barrel, rotating it all around creating an honestly neat aesthetic of glyphs. Hopefully, this worked. Otherwise, she was about to create an ice rink. With another slam on the ground, a pillar emerged, and Leal pulled back. As expected, only four remained. She let out an excited laugh as she slammed the bat again, creating another pillar.

Stepping back to observe the several protruding structures, Leal brought the barrel over to her right hand, turning it to where the remaining three glyphs were exposed. Tapping and flicking her finger forward, she shot out an icicle from the glyph straight at one of the pillars. "Woo!" she cheered, repeating the process two more times. The icicles flew and demolished the recently constructed pillars, crumbling them down. She turned back and pumped her bat to the sky. "Sick!"

Her friends all wore looks of awe.

But Edric was the first to shake out of his stupor, gesturing toward her as he shouted, "And she thinks she can't keep up!"

She flushed, feeling her ears redden at the laughter and praise her friends threw her way. So pre-placing the glyphs like this meant she could use them more quickly: less time to pull out and cast, meant more efficiency. She twirled her bat and grinned. "This calls for celebration!" She hurriedly slapped on a few more ice glyphs before powering up her Canon camera. Summoning a small pillar, she placed her camera atop it as she shouted to everyone, "Gather 'round! Group photo!"

Everyone seemed to hesitate a bit, but Leal just smiled in encouragement, motioning them to group up. That seemed to wash the hesitance away a bit, as everyone slowly began to gather closer. She set the timer to fifteen seconds and looked up, frowning at the awkward distance between them all. There was very noticeable small gaps in nearly everyone's spacing. She ran back to them and grabbed Barcus and Edric by their shoulders, pulling them close as she shouted, "C'mon bunch up! Ten seconds left!" It seemed the hesitance was now fully washed away, as everyone soon piled close and smiled at the camera. The beeping began to increase and Leal grinned, making sure her bat was in full view. "Say magic!"

"Magic!"

And then a flash.

::::

"And this is me and my sister at the batting cages," Leal said with a happy smile, swiping her phone to the next photo. Which was one of Luz in the batting cage, gripping at the fence frantically as she wished to be let out. The next was over and Luz sitting down on a bench, smiling together with their helmets still on. Lealtad looked to her friends, and felt happy seeing their interest grow at each photo.

Barcus and Edric were currently sitting on either side of her up against a tree. After another round of matches, the group began to feather off into needing a break. Jerbo wanted to clean up their mess as he didn't like all the vines and ice left behind for the flora and fauna to deal with, but Emira and Viney were in need of a bathroom break and drinks. They rushed off to get some drinks for everyone who asked, leaving the three of them to just sit and catch their breaths.

During their relaxation, Barcus brought up the fact that he was actually surprised with Leal's insistence to taking more photos with everyone. After their group photo, she made a habit of taking more after a spar or even during some of her friends' fights. Leal just shrugged and said she liked making memories and documenting them. And that was when Edric asked if she had anything in her gallery from the Human Realm.

"Huh, it's funny that not even Gus has ever asked me 'bout them. Though I guess since he's no longer a part of the H.A.S. he's not as curious," she told the two, "Anyways, I don't actually have anything from the Human Realm in my camera. I cleared it up to save space before we left. I do have some in my phone!"

And that was what spawned this whole gallery slideshow thing. She dove into her phone's albums, scrolling through her Sunshine to Noceda Memories to even just her Lifestyle/Landscape albums. Their interest seemed to skyrocket once they saw glimpses of the Human Realm in some of them. A few questions here and there, some about softball, others about what Gravesfield was like, but Leal realized the two also seemed just as interested in their family photos.

"You guys look so happy together," Barcus beamed, eyes still locked onto her photo of them at the batting cages.

Leal snorted. "Yeah, well, that part comes easy. It's hard not be happy around my sister. Though, Sunshine was not happy about the cages though. She mainly went 'cause she knew I liked to go, but she gets a bit scared with the ball coming flying at her." It was Leal's fourteenth birthday that day and it was the only thing Luz felt like she could do for her. Though it was actually a ruse to get her out of the house so their mom could set up the cake and tostones. It ended with Luz vowing she'd never do it again, but it was still a sweet gesture Leal cherished deeply, as she still tried it.

Lealtad glanced to Edric, noticing his face shifting into curiosity. At her raised brow, he noticed and awkwardly smiled. "Sorry, I just uh… I kinda noticed you're not in a lot of these…"

Was that disappointment?

She shrugged. "Well, I am the photographer. No real sense in being in them. And lifestyle and landscape photos aren't really about having me as the subject. Kinda ruins it." She swiped over to another photo of Luz eating at the Snack Shack, sitting in their usual booth with a mouthful of chimichurri. She chuckled at the sight. Luz was having a bad school day that time and Leal cheered her up with her recent payday.

"No, I-I get that, but… I kinda like seeing your smile." The sincerity of his tone surprised Leal, and honestly? It looked like it surprised Barcus and Edric himself! The boy's brows raised as his face almost entirely coloured red. Wow, it must be a Blight thing. "I-I-I mean in your photos! You-You uh, look really happy in them! And when you're taking them! Like earlier!"

Sensing his embarrassment, Leal threw the guy a bone—which was ironic considering Barcus seemed more amused—and just smiled, nodding at the Blight. "Yeah, I mean, I love photography. It's fun! But, yeah, I'm not really keen on being in my photos as much. Or at least, not taking them of just myself as the subject."

Barcus' brows raised at her. "So that's why you took a photo with us!"

Leal snorted, looking at him amusedly. "I took it with you guys 'cause you're my friends. If I just wanted to capture my discovery, I'd've set up my bat and taken the photo as its own subject. But I like the story that comes with these photos," she said as she continued to swipe through her gallery, seeing the bits of Gravesfield, her home—and for a brief second, a photo of the three of them gathered around a grave—and she kept swiping. "These… tell stories. I know what happened with each one of them and having more subjects or details in the picture creates more stories to pull from."

She put away her phone and brought up her camera, showing them the photo she took of all of them. "Like this one," she explained, "I'll remember that yeah, this was the moment I learned I can slap a glyph on my bat, but I'll also remember how all of you helped me get there, what we were all doing." She laughed, putting her camera down. "But if it was candid, it'd be more genuine of course, but there's nothing wrong with wanting to stop and actually let the moment be pictured."

"Wow…" Edric sighed.

Barcus smiled at her. "You have a real nice way of putting it, Leal. I think your photography is astounding!"

"Yeah!" the boy to her left agreed. "You're really passionate about it, huh?"

She shrugged once again. "It's cool," she lamely said.

"I mean, I really like hearing you talk about it though," Edric went on, with a bit of a fond look about him.

It was honestly a bit charming. It kind of reminded her of well… a lot of people. Luz, her mom, Eda—whenever they just looked interested in what she had to say. He truly looked captivated. It was a bit… adorable.

Suddenly, Barcus stood up, startling the two.

"I should, uh," he awkwardly barked, nodding toward the clearing, "probably help Jerbo."

She furrowed a brow. "Uhh, kinda late now, huh?" Their friend was nearly done cleaning up.

He shrugged. "Well, the girls might need help carrying drinks too." With that, he walked off toward Jerbo.

Leal blinked, unsure of what that was about. She turned to Edric, who seemed as confused as she was, and shared a shrug with the boy. As they sat in silence, Leal let out a content sigh, leaning her head back. "Today was awesome. I didn't think I'd learn so much!" she happily said.

Edric chuckled. "You seem really excited about that."

She raised a brow at him. "And you don't? Between me, Barcus, and Viney, you haven't stopped asking about Potions and Beast Keeping." She immediately noticed his smile falter a bit as he looked off into the clearing. She lightened her tone as she said, "You seem really interested in those tracks too."

He chuckled half-heartedly. "Maybe a bit." After a few seconds, he turned to her, realizing she was smiling and opening the floor for him. With a sheepish smile, he went on. "I've always been a bit… intrigued, I guess." He crossed his legs and placed his hands in-between his lap, looking down. "Potions is well, I-I guess I just always liked mixing things and making things. It-It just seemed so cool! And, well, I love animals."

Leal recalled last week. "Ah right, you tried to adopt a bat when we saw you guys at The Knee, right?"

"Yup! I actually did!" He proceeded to draw out his scroll and swiped to his photo gallery, showing her several dozen photos of him and his pet bat. "I named him Batric!"

"Wow!" Seeing the way he looked, holding his bat, pecking its cheek, hugging it, it made Leal smile. "You… look real sweet with him."

His cheeks flushed. "A-Ah, well, my mom isn't a huge fan of him, so I gotta keep him out of her line of sight."

Leal scoffed. "Sounds like your mom's not a fan of a lot of things…"

His face soured. "Yeah…"

"Why don't you consider multi-tracking as well?"

He sighed. "Well, honestly, Em and I actually wanted to try other tracks." Her eyes widened at this. "But, when we were young, we showed a lot of proficiency with Illusion magic. And, while yeah, every Track is hard, Illusion takes a lot of concentration and skill to make complicated things. And we were doing that before we hit double digits!"

Leal blew out an impressed whistle. Everything she had seen or heard of it so far was from Gus. Luz had told her about Gus having an illusion take notes from him and Leal wasn't surprised after learning the boy moved up a couple grades. Knowing the Illusionists she knew so far had near prodigy level skill, it was astonishing. Everyone around her was amazing. And it seemed Edric's mom recognized that about her kids too. "So she made you guys take Illusions?"

"Yeah," he said in a sad tone. "Being good at Illusions meant good things for the Blight name after all." Edric frowned a bit. "Well… honestly, Em was better at it than me. At the time. But our mom thought it made sense for us to go together."

Her face contorted into confusion. "What? Why?" In what way did that make sense? His scowl deepened a bit, and Leal backed off. Whatever was seemed to be a bit of a touchy subject. "N-Nevermind, you don't have to answer that." She turned toward the clearing, letting the silence breathe as she thought of something else. The first thing that came to her lips: the truth. "I'm actually surprised at how much I enjoyed today."

That seemed to take its effect, as Edric turned to her bewilderedly. "Why?"

She wasn't sure why she felt like saying this, but she checked to make sure Barcus and Jerbo weren't near. "Promise not to say this to them?" His eyes widened but he quickly nodded. "I was actually gonna say no to them, when they invited me to hang out today." His shock grew and made her giggle a bit. He was so expressive, it was comical!

"Why?" he asked again.

She shrugged. "Habit. It-It's not like I didn't want to hang out. But… back home, I never really went out with people my age. Or at least, not like this." She leaned her head back once again as her hand found her bat's grip. She tapped the grip softly. "I just, I always wanted to be around my sister. I wanted to look after her. I had to walk with her to and from school. I… I just always had to be around her." She looked toward Jerbo and Barcus, who were just near done dismantling her last ice pillar. "It got to the point where I just made excuses to not hang out 'cause I had something to do with her. Or... I'd rather do something with her. But today, I almost did it, until I realized there was no reason to."

Edric seemed to let her words sit for a moment, looking at her attentively. Then, he spoke. "So, why did you make all those excuses back then? If you wanted to hang out?"

She raised a brow. That was a question alright. But when she thought about it, did she want to hang out then? "I think the difference then was that I thought I didn't want to hang out," she slowly said, thinking on her words. "I mean, I always put mi hermana first. I thought, 'There's no way these people are as fun as her!' I… I never really realized what I was missing out on." She shrugged at him. "I guess, I sorta convinced myself it was more practical?"

God, that sounded so shitty.

How anti-social was she?

She literally made up excuses to avoid people, using her little sister as a shield! For what? For a reason to be a loner? She cringed a bit, thinking on all those dates and invites she received over the years. And the flat out nos she shot back. She was a terrible person.

"But you had fun today, right?" Edric said, breaking her out of her thoughts. She noticed his kind smile, and how it… felt like it was directed right at her. Which was weird, because usually that's how that worked. But this… felt different. She nodded wordlessly. And his smile brightened more, making her smile back. "Then that's good! Living in the moment is what I'm all about!"

She laughed, bumping his shoulder with hers. "Explains all the pranks."

He awkwardly chuckled. "Well, those help excite the moment."

"Relax, I'm not on your case 'bout the library incident anymore," she softly assured him.

He let out a relieved sigh, but shook his head. "Still, I promise our pranks won't reach that extreme ever again."

She furrowed a confused brow. "Uh, thanks?" She was unsure why he was making this promise to her.

He cleared his throat, straightening his back. "N-No problem."

Leal turned toward the clearing, noticing Jerbo was about to call their attention—or say something—but Barcus suddenly pulled him away, directing his attention toward the direction Emira and Viney had gone. Maybe they were on their way back? She and Edric were the only ones who didn't ask for drinks, so there was no need to rush. "I think your sister might be back," she stated, making her assumption known.

Turning toward Edric, she was surprised to see his smile shift into an almost… wistful look.

"Ed?"

He blinked, turning toward her. "Yeah?"

"You good?"

"Oh… uh…" lifting his head up, he nodded and waved, and Leal turned in time to see her guess was right and the two had returned with beverages. Emira had just said something that made Viney really laugh and blush a bit, at least until Barcus and Jerbo joined. They all wrapped up into an immediate conversation as the drinks were handed out, but Leal didn't hurry over. She turned back to Edric, maintaining her interest, prompting him to go on. He nervously glanced at his sister then turned to Leal with a hesitant frown. "Don't tell my sister?"

Her heart stilled a bit at that.

She swallowed, nodding seriously.

Letting out a breath, he looked down at his hands in his lap again. "Our mom really prefers if we match. It's… It's honestly why we take the same track." He picked at the grass. "But… I know Em is so much smarter than me. And… I-I get scared. Because some days I can feel our connection so strongly but others… it feels like she just wants a break from me."

Leal bit her lip, thinking carefully on her next set of words.

"I-I kinda get that. I mean, I just admitted I basically devote my whole life to my sister," she awkwardly joked. "But, I recently had to come to grips with the fact that she's better off without me hovering around her. And well, space is good sometimes. Even with all the hovering, I knew Luz sometimes needed a minute away from me or my mom."

Edric shook his head. "That's not what I mean though." She furrowed a brow. "It's just… I-I feel like she wants a break." The emphasis this time stuck with Leal, and her brows shot upward in surprise. Before she could say anything, Edric continued, "I can tell I'm just… smothering her with my presence sometimes. It's suffocating."

"But… this is not mutual?" He looked at her with confusion. "I mean, you don't ever feel this way?"

He scoffed. "I feel like I'm nothing without her."

Her eyes widened. "Ed…"

His face coloured again as he whipped his head to her desperately. "N-No, that came out wrong." She fought her urge to speak and deny him, and simply just took a breath. She let him go on, allowing him to voice out his thoughts properly. "I-I just… I worry. Emira has always been ahead of me, so I had to work hard to catch up so we could be on equal footing. We need to be. Because… I-I don't know what I'm capable of when I'm not with her…"

Lealtad's heart quaked as she watched the boy sadly frown. In a lot of ways, she could really relate to that. She didn't really know what to say in response to that. If she did, then maybe she'd work out some things herself. Though, when she looked at the boy's frown, she didn't like the look of it on him. It looked childish, sure, but it was also too sad. Especially when she knew what he looked like smiling. So she said the first thing that came to her mind: "Hey, well, I happen to like Edric Blight by himself." He raised his head and turned to her, surprised. "He's pretty nice," she said with a wink.

The boy's face reddened a bit, and Leal chuckled. She supposed he couldn't take a compliment either. Credit to his recovery, he let out a laugh and bumped his shoulder with hers. "Well, I happen to like Leal spending time to herself. After all the stuff I've seen and heard you do for your sister, you've earned it."

Karma quickly caught up with her as she ignored the flushed heat in her ears. And for a while, the two sat there, smiling at each other. It was strange… how nice it felt to just… do that. She didn't mean to compare so much, but there was a different sense of calm with the way the two just sat there. Leal wasn't sure what to make of it, though she knew she really liked it. And then it happened. Emira had called Edric's attention—Leal could just barely make out that his sister got him a drink anyway—and he laughed, smiling his appreciation at her.

Without thinking, she brought up her camera and snapped a pic.

He startled, and honestly, so did Lealtad. She wasn't sure where that came from, and she felt embarrassed the second she caught his surprise. "S-Sorry!" she hastily shouted. "I-I don't know—I just—you looked so photogenic and it was such a nice candid—" she turned the screen toward him with an awkward smile. "I-I'll delete if you want. I'm so sorry, I don't usually do that."

Edric shook his head, smiling at her as he pushed the camera back. "N-No, it's fine. I… I'm happy to be a subject of your pictures!"

She let out a relieved sigh. "Thanks. And, uh, I'm happy to take 'em."

"Hey, what're you two up to?" Emira shouted as she tossed Edric's soda bottle toward him. The boy quickly scooted away from Leal and caught the bottle, shooting his sister a weird glare that Leal wasn't sure what for.

Leal decided to simply answer the girl, shrugging as she rose up to her feet. "Just chatting."

Emira threw a cocked brow toward her brother, but before Leal could see his reaction he had already turned to her with an awkward smile. So… she was missing something here. She wasn't sure what else to really say, so she opted to rejoin the rest of the group back in the middle of the clearing. "So what's next on the agenda?"

The three exchanged amused looks before turning back to Leal. "Uhh, home?" Jerbo obviously stated.

Leal tilted her head, confused.

Viney snorted, pointing upward. "Yeah, it's getting late. My parents'll start to worry if I stay out any longer."

"Same!" Barcus barked.

"I think we're just gonna see how long until ours notices," Emira mused, elbowing her brother playfully.

He laughed, nodding his head. "Twenty snails on them realizing 'til after dinner."

The two bantered a bit, but Leal was honestly in shock. Sunset had already begun to pass! She hastily dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone, gasping at the time. It was almost six! Lealtad stepped back in disbelief, nearly stumbling.

"Whoa, Leal, you okay?" Edric asked, reaching out for her.

Leal nodded, sheepishly smiling toward her friends. "Y-Yeah. I just, I-I didn't tell Luz or Eda or anyone I was gonna be out late. I-I better head home before they worry," she jerked her thumb back over toward the forest. She remembered that a path was just a bit away, and that it eventually led toward the Owl House. "See y'all tomorrow?"

Five simultaneous smiles grew and she couldn't help but mirror them.

"See you tomorrow!" Emira shouted as she and Edric took off one way.

"Thanks for the invite!" Edric added.

"See you guys tomorrow!" Jerbo shouted to the Blights.

"See you tomorrow, Leal!" Barcus waved with his tongue sticking out.

"I can be on the crystal ball tonight if you wanna review, Leal!" Viney shouted.

Lealtad stopped backing away and looked at Viney. "I think I'll take a break tonight."

::::

It was dark out and Leal's anxiety was skyrocketing.

She'd never been out this late or come home late before. What would Eda say? Would she get in trouble? She wasn't really the type to dole out punishments over traditional rules like her mother, but she also had some cruel and unusual punishments. Luckily, Leal managed to convince Hooty to be mostly a good sport about his hygiene, so cleaning him wouldn't be first on the agenda. Still, Leal was worried Eda would be posted on the couch waiting for her.

And her sister!

Leal shook her head. "No, Luz will be fine." She wouldn't be worried about her, Luz would be more focused on something else. King might be a bit worried, but if Luz was there then he'd be distracted from worrying about Leal. The enigma was still Eda. She had no idea how the woman would react. She didn't think she'd be the type to dish out curfews or forbid her from hanging out with her friends again. But still…

She blinked in surprise as she saw the Owl House in the coming distance, but more closely, a familiar green haired witch walking toward her. "Amity?"

The witch startled, nervously staring at her. "O-Oh. Leal."

She worriedly frowned at her. Why was she here? What happened? She had nearly asked but her instinct stopped herself as she assessed the girl's posture. She didn't seem upset or sad… just conflicted. Lealtad gripped at her bat as she looked around. "You good Blight? Need me to walk you home?" she asked, tilting her head back the way she came.

"N-No," she hastily shook her head. "I'm… fine. Really."

Leal squinted at her skeptically, but the girl's soft smile seemed confident enough. "Aight," she shrugged, "suit yourself. Travel safe!" She waved at her as she passed, heading toward the house.

And to her surprise, she found Gus there. It looked like he was taking notes after Hooty, possibly interviewing or interrogating him? Though he looked more frantic then anything else. Before she could even shout to announce herself or greet them, Gus smacked his forehead with his notebook.

"Agh, I can't take this anymore!" he shouted, throwing his pencil and notebook away.

Leal quirked a confused brow as she neared, she was about to wish the boy a safe trip home but he seemed too bothered to even register her presence. Hooty, however, was in the middle of his Bored Hooty song, and was unbothered by the young boy. He turned to Leal with a happy smile. "Hiii Leal!"

"Uhhh, hey Hoots, what was that 'bout?"

"Gus just wanted to interview me because I'm an interesting person!" Hooty happily cheered.

Leal snorted, nodding her acknowledgement at the bird. "Well, I could've told you that, casa del búho," she amusedly teased. Opening the door, she stepped inside and to her even greater surprise, Willow was sitting on the couch animatedly talking with Luz. She turned to the rest of the living room and looked in shock as she watched the mess splayed about. King was begrudgingly putting everything back into boxes—including a bunch of bells? "Did I miss a party?"

They all turned her. "Leal!"

King stopped his cleaning and rushed toward her, hugging her leg. "Save me from this mess!"

Luz tilted her head, releasing her hands from Willow as she asked, "Wait, you weren't home this entire time?"

Leal chuckled as she bent down, hoisting King up to her chest. "You didn't notice?"

Her sister sheepishly laughed, rubbing her neck. "Well… I was kinda occupied."

Oh, she knew that tone well. That was shenanigans. She set her bag and bat down on the chest near the door as she narrowed her eyes. "What'd you do?"

King giggled. "Oooh, you're in trouble!"

Luz flushed while scowling at her. "I didn't do anything this time!"

"Yeah, actually," Willow chimed in. "She helped more than anything."

Lealtad smirked, walking forward as she bounced King up and down a bit, eliciting another giggle from the demon. "Yeah, well, that's always a given with mi hermana."

"Alright, brat," Eda announced as she entered the room, "I let your folks know you're here. It is probably best you stay here tonight just to make sure nothing else is wrong—y'know, watch over ya in case?"

Willow nodded. "Thank you, Eda!"

"Sleepover!" Luz excitedly shouted.

"Okay, what happened?" Leal asked.

Eda turned to her, her eyes wide. "Ah, there you are!" She smiled, as she drew up a spell, causing the remaining bells to float into King's cardboard box. "Any later and I was close to going out and looking for ya."

Leal furrowed a brow. "What? You weren't worried before that?"

"For you? Hardly, Bean Head," the witch said with a casual shrug. She placed her hand on her hip and smirked at her. "Have a nice day out?"

Lealtad smiled as she adjusted her grip on King. "Yeah… I did." She looked down at the demon looking at her happily, then to Eda, then to her sister and Willow. Her smile grew as she said, "I actually can't wait to tell you guys about it!"

A/N: This, of course, was another difficult one in terms of deviating from the main Luz plot. And it's more difficult since the show doesn't go in much depth about magic systems, let alone Potions, so I have to work on my own for a lot of these things. Having Lealtad fall in love with her school side is not too dissimilar to her Human life. She enjoys school too, but there's definitely more engagement here in Hexside than back home and I think it mainly comes from the challenge being presented.

In terms of timeline, Luz and Co. leaving when Willow's brain starts to kaput naturally lends itself to the idea that they skipped the rest of the school day. It was only lunch when they burst into photo class, and it would stand to reason that they'd want to keep the conflict on the down low and bring Willow straight to Eda instead. It's not stated in canon so I'm merely inferring it for the sake of the fic. And along that note, it is day time when they're in the Owl House and it's nighttime when they're done, so it's easy to assume they spent a long time repairing Willow's mind.

In terms of plot, having it semi be about the Blights is still a neat parallel towards the true heart of the matter in Understanding Willow. I know most argue the episode is REALLY about Amity, despite being named for Willow, but at its core the theme is the two's relationship. Heck, the title itself could also allude to both Luz's AND Amity's separate understandings of Willow. In the end, it's the beginning of the true growth path. Which also lends itself to THIS canon as well!

The things that happened between Leal and Amity still have had their effect, similarly to how Leal's interactions with Edric and Emira got their act together. But it's not immediate. Just like in canon, L&L Amity still says in the beginning of the episode that Blights only associate with a select few—because it's a coping tactic. She's responding to her friends in a way that distances herself from Willow. In her eyes, Amity still genuinely believes erasing herself from Willow's past is the best way to help her. Here, her "I'm sorry, Willow" before she burns the photo has more significance as she views this as a legitimate way to make everyone's lives better; Willow won't have the memory of their bad blood and Amity can live on distancing herself from her.

And even within the guise of the twins, something I wanted to capture was their relationship with each other and their growth from it. For all accounts, we don't really SEE them with anyone else for the rest of the show, so I thought befriending them to the dual-track squad was a neat way of making all the Blight kids grow and develop a bit in terms of socialness. Edric's fear of being alone forever might've been a throwaway gag but I still want to take it seriously since he's a part of the supporting cast I'm utilizing for Lealtad. If you can tell what last minute addition was made to this chapter, it was Barcus wanting to be a teacher! Haha!

The title shifted from Understanding Blights to Understanding Lealtad, but evidently I went with Friends because I thought it encapsulated what Leal was going through and on the flipside, what her friends were going through for her sake. They all just want to get to know her! And here, we see more examples of despite Leal's cool demeanour and tough attitude, Lealtad IS the introvert while her sister is very much the extrovert. Having her be shy and embarrassed is sort of new for her because in the Human Realm, despite her good grades, she likes to be low profile and keep to herself. But being the only other human draws attention to her studious nature.

Review Responses:

Big Fan: Hah, you were saying? Heh, just joking of DID make a good point about utilizing the last chap for friendship time, but as I've referenced with this chap's A/N, friendship is a big theme in the canon episode of this chapter so paralleling it with her hanging out with them today. I thought about doing it last chap, but felt it fit best to do so now. Hm, never really thought about Leal having Aspergers or any kind of neurodivergence. I more so leaned to Luz in that regard. I have ADHD, but didn't really feel like I created any traits of neurodivergence within Leal, but maybe I did unintentionally? I'd say her being socially awkward is just a stunted growth because she doesn't spend time with people-she chooses not to. And if you're referring to China Anne Mclain's song? Oooh, loved that song. What a bop!

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 25th, 2023

Stay safe, and stay lovely y'all.

Until next time,

- Bleh