"Mrs. Noceda?" Amity said meekly, twisting her hands nervously. Camila really hoped she wasn't about to pull them off. She wasn't sure she'd be able to handle that. "Can I talk to you in private before we start this next one?"
"Of course, dear," Camila said, and led Amity upstairs. "Before we start, I'm sorry if this is an imposition, but I'm going to have to ask you to please avoid removing any of your limbs in my sight. I know you're probably okay with that sort of thing in the Demon Realm, but in the Human Realm we're…not."
Amity blinked a couple of times. "Uh, I can't do that. I don't know why Eda can – probably because of the curse – but nobody else can." Curse? That didn't sound good at all. "I mean, I guess Lilith can now, because…" She shook her head. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that, uh, what you're about to see, it, well, doesn't make me look the best."
Camila raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Before I met Luz, I was…not the nicest of people. I was really mean. I treated people badly. I wanna say it was all because of my mom, because she expected me to be just like her – cruel and vicious. But I made a choice, and I have to own up to it. I saw how you reacted to Eda…I really, really don't want you to hate me."
Camila was not blind. Unlike her daughter, she was quite an observant woman. She noticed how murderously Amity had reacted every time Nevareth flirted with Luz and she'd seen the looks Amity sneaked at Luz when she thought Camila wasn't looking. Camila was almost entirely certain that Amity at least had a crush on Luz, maybe even full out in love with her. She'd be entirely certain were it not for the fact that Amity was of a different species and thus she could possibly be misinterpreting things. But she bet she wasn't. At any rate, she completely understood why Amity desperately wanted to head any contempt Camila might have for her at the pass.
"Sweetie, first off, thank you for telling me all this," Camila said in the gentlest tone she could think of. Amity looked a little gobsmacked. Wow, Mrs. Blight must have really been a bad mother if such a basic thing from a maternal figure was causing her so much shock. "I was angry at Eda because she put my little girl in danger for a trivial goal, to say nothing of taking her hostage. Maybe you said some nasty things, but it's not like you hurt Luz physically, right?"
Amity coughed. "Well, not personally, no…" She was going to be in so much trouble when Camila saw Principal Bump trying to dissect Luz.
"At any rate, Eda is an adult and you are a child. As you said, it was partially the fault of your upbringing. And it sounds like you've changed and feel remorse for your behavior. That's very important." Camila patted Amity on the shoulder. "Now let's get back down there, okay?"
Amity nodded, feeling a big weight off her chest. "Okay, let's get started!" she said. "Might as well get this over with.
[Open the sun, panning down to show Luz, Eda, and King standing on a beach. Eda waxes rhapsodic about the beauty that is before them. She gestures to the corpse of a trash slug that towers over them. It's surrounded by trash and muck. Flies audibly buzz around the corpse.]
"Even by our standards, this is disgusting," Hunter complained.
[Luz shakes her head, plugs her nose, and complains. Eda walks over to the trash slug and explains that the trash slug eats trash. She pulls a rubber chicken from its mouth. Eda explains that the trash slug died from being exposed to a saltwater wave. She pulls out her pickaxe and announces her intention to extract the trash from its stomach and sell it. Luz is horrified by the prospect.]
Camila probably should have been feeling sympathy for Luz here, but she really didn't. Learning that life wasn't all sunshine and roses was an important life lesson.
[King sarcastically praises the trash slug as he walks away and unfurls a towel. Eda swings the pick at the trash slug. Glass shatters. Luz suggests some new lessons for her apprenticeship. Something crashes. Eda tosses things from the trash slug's mouth and complains Luz's ideas sound like they belong in magic school. Luz is very enthusiastic about the prospect of magic school and all that goes with it, including dark plots that threaten your life.]
Luz: Wait. Is there a magic school here? Like, winding towers, cute uniforms, dark plots that threaten your life kind of magic school?
"Again with the enthusiasm about putting yourself in danger, Luz!" Camila said, throwing her hands up in frustration.
"No, no, I was just alluding to Harry Potter and Hogwarts," Luz explained. "And Hexside was loads safer than Hogwarts. None of my teachers tried to kill me. Though I did have to face a basilisk there too…"
Vee raised a hand. "What is Hogwarts and who is Harry Potter?"
"Harry Potter is the main character of a famous series of books here," Luz explained. "Hogwarts is where he went to school."
"And there was a basilisk?" Vee said eagerly. She didn't know much about what the Human Realm thought of her species. Camila had warned her that the internet, for all the knowledge it provided, could be very dangerous, so Vee had mostly stayed away from it thus far.
Luz made a face. "Yeah, but it was a monster. Nothing like this adorable gal here!" She squeezed Vee's cheeks. "Anyway, Harry Potter's author turned out to be a huge bigot, so I don't think the series is probably worth your time."
[Eda is dismissive of the prospect of magic school, because they try to teach magic in an organized fashion, but she believes magic is wild by nature. She points out she dropped out of school and is living her best life.]
"Did you four go to Hexside?" Camila asked. Everyone but Hunter nodded. Camila made a mental note of that. She was very curious about just what Hunter's deal was. He had mentioned being in the "Emperor's Coven," whatever that was. Maybe he had been homeschooled?
[Flies are flying around the pile of trash Eda is currently standing in. Luz's expression falls. Eda drops her pick and teaches Luz that a great witch is resourceful. She sticks Luz's hand in a puddle of trash slug bile. Eda drags Luz's hand back and forth before letting go. Luz continues digging until she pulls something out. Luz is less than impressed with the greasy slime ball. Eda closes Luz's hands around the slime ball. She stands and heads back for the trash slug. Luz bails out on the trash slug extraction after rubbing King's belly.
"I'd ordinarily be cross at you for trying to back out on your chores, but I can't really say I wouldn't have done the same thing in your shoes," Camila admitted.
[King giggles. Luz walks into the woods.]
-THEME SONG-
"You know, you're pretty weird for having your own title sequence," Hunter pointed out.
"And proud of it!"
[A monster that looks very distantly related to a butterfly flies across the woods, panting. Luz walks down the path, glaring at the slime ball. Luz has doubts she can continue training to be a witch since it is so disgusting and pocket's the slime ball. A girl's voice offscreen offers words of encouragement.]
"Willow!" Luz, Gus, and Hunter all called out with a smile.
[Luz looks around for the source of the voice and then finds her on the other side of the set of bushes. Willow turns out to be talking to herself. She tries to convince herself that even if she gets a bad grade, it's not a reflection on her self-worth, and that her parents were right about there being better opportunities on her track.]
"I'm not trying to speak badly of your parents, Willow, but if your parents knew you weren't talented at this field, then why did they encourage you to continue with it?" Camila asked gently.
Willow thought about it for a while. "Well…I have a theory. I think they were worried about me joining the Plant Coven. With my talent, I was probably going to become a protégée of Terra Snapdragon, the leader of the Plant Coven. And she is one nasty piece of work."
"Yeah, I have it on good authority that she's killed dozens of people personally," Hunter said. "I hope she goes to prison when all is said and done."
[Willow steps forward and points confidently, but gets sad when she realizes she stepped on a flower. She expresses great remorse for her actions. She kneels down and repeatedly traces a spell circle. The flower perks back up and fully blooms. Luz gasps. The girl's ear wiggles as something rumbles off screen. She turns as a wagon, being moved by magic, rolls to a stop in front of her, carrying a pot and a girl reading a book.]
Amity looked at the floor. She was just going to have to grin her teeth and get through things. It wouldn't be too bad, right? Everyone understood she changed, and Camila said she was going to be fine. She just had to keep telling herself that.
[Amity looks away from her book and snidely greets Willow. She hops off the pot and taunts her.]
"That's what passes for decent trash talk in the Demon Realm?" Camila said with the shake of her head. "I am not impressed."
[The flower that Willow just healed wilts. Willow greets Amity and stands up. Amity suggests she get to class early to prepare her presentation. Rattling cuts her off. They turn to Willow's pot as it spills, pouring out a purple substance and an eyeball that blinks and groans.]
Luz felt the same pang of sympathy she felt the first time around. There was nothing more humiliating than crashing and burning during a public presentation.
[Amity condescendingly says Willow has nothing to show. Luz is engrossed by the drama of the situation.]
Luz cringed at how cavalierly she was taking this. She should have gone out there and confronted Amity. But instead she was acting like she was watching some interesting telenovela.
[Willow pulls up her hood as she blushes. Amity calls Willow a half-witch.]
"I am so sorry, Willow," Amity said, tears forming in her eyes.
"Hey, it's okay," Willow said with a gentle smile. "We've gone through this before. I've forgiven you. It's just water under the bridge now." In truth, Willow still felt hurt hearing it over again, but would it really help anyone if she said that? Obviously not.
Hunter looked Willow straight in the eyes. "I promise you, no one will ever say that about you ever again. I won't let them." Willow couldn't help but blush.
[Rattling. Amity announces her abomination has something she wants to say to Willow. She takes the cover off her pot and commands her abomination to rise. Her abomination rises, becoming more solid until it's humanoid in shape. It bends out of the pot to poke Willow's forehead, leaving behind mud in a star-shape. The abomination says Willow is a star. Amity nastily compares the star to her own top student badge. She says as top student, it is her duty to "encourage" Willow, since even she can get a passing grade one day. She commands her abomination to cower.]
"Wow, you were nasty back then," Vee observed. Amity just nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
"She's gotten better!" Luz defended her. "She's gone through a lot of changes, and she's a really nice person now! Well, good anyway." Amity stuck out her tongue at her.
[It groans as it melts back into the pot. Amity replaces the pot lid and takes hold of the cart. Amity walks away with a final taunt.]
Amity couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It was jarring seeing her old self. She'd really been trying to put her person she'd used to be in the past, but this was a reminder that it wasn't as far in the past as she'd like.
[Willow removes her hood. As Amity leaves, Luz sticks her tongue out at her. Willow mocks Amity's comments, wipes the star from her forehead, and complains about Amity's bullying tendencies. Luz flinches as she watches. Wind blows leaves around Willow as she rants about how she hates abominations and the bad grades she gets making them. Her eyes start glowing green as she reaches her breaking point. Luz gasps. The flower from earlier gets lost among giant thorny roots that burst out around it. They surround Willow, glowing and writhing angrily. One snakes out and grabs Luz by the ankle. Luz screams. The root drops her on the ground a bit behind Willow, who turns and glares at her, her eyes still glowing.]
"Incredible," Gus whispered. "Wow, I can't believe how powerful you were, even then with absolutely no training. Just another reason why I made a good choice in my best friend."
"Aw, thanks, Gus," Willow said, feeling embarrassed at the praise.
"You don't like getting praised, do you?" Hunter observed. Willow shook her head. "Well, I'm afraid you're just going to have to suck it up, captain, because there's a lot more where that came from."
[Luz is watching in awe as the roots are still writing around Willow. She finally seems to snap out of it, leaning forward worriedly and letting the roots fall. Willow profusely apologizes as she makes the roots wrapped around Luz's legs retreat. Luz rubs her leg and says the thorns only went through a few layers of skin.
"Mija, even one layer of skin is a layer too many!" Camila said, sounding somewhat panicked.
"No, no, I was just joking!" Luz clarified. "I was fine!"
[Willow gets very close to Luz, forcing her to lean back a bit.]
"Gee, Willow, did anyone ever tell you about a little thing called personal space?" Vee asked. Willow gave a nervous laugh.
[Luz squeals and covers her ears. Willow is amazed Luz is human. She gasps and grabs Luz's face, then helps her stand and walks around her. She tries to interrogate Luz regarding why she is there, but bells ring in the distance before Luz can say anything. Willow flinches and puts Luz's arm down. She says she has to leave to disappoint her teacher, then walks away, half-waving.]
"Mood," Luz said emphatically.
[Luz waves back, then rushes after her. She introduces herself and praises Willow's skill, calling it wow.]
"It was pretty wow," Hunter said quietly. Willow blushed.
[Willow admits she is not allowed to use plant magic since she is in the abomination track.]
Camila raised a hand. "What do you mean by tracks?"
"Uh," Luz said. She looked very uncomfortable and so did everyone else. Camila wondered why. It seemed to be a rather innocuous question. "It'll all be explained," she said eventually.
Luz: [Squeals, grabbing Willow.] Like, magic school?
[Luz squeals and grabs Willow and asks her if she goes to magic school. Willow nods. Luz lets go of Willow and says how jealous she is of Willow, since she is dissatisfied with Eda's teaching. She laments Eda would not let her enroll at the school and wishes to spend a day there.]
Camila felt her heart warm at hearing Luz be so enthusiastic about the prospect of education for once. True, it was a magical school, but still, school had long been the bane of Luz's existence, so this was a positively lovely change of pace.
[Willow wishes she could get a passing grade and have people stop bullying her. She kicks her spilled abomination, which groans. Luz picks up abomination goo in both hands and splashes it on her hoodie. She proposes to impersonate an abomination, allowing Willow to pass and Luz to visit the school.]
"Wait a second!" Camila said. "Your brilliant offer was to help her cheat?!"
"Uh, kind of?"
Camila crossed her arms and gave a look of disappointment to Luz. "I thought I taught you better than that, Luz. Do you not understand the importance of academic honesty? How would Willow have learned if she didn't do the work herself?"
"I wasn't thinking about that," Luz admitted. "I just wanted to show up Amity."
[Luz points out that she, like Amity's abomination, is made up of chunks of stuff that talks weird.]
"It's hard to argue with that," Hunter deadpanned. Luz scowled at him.
[Willow accepts Luz's offer. They shake hands. They try to pull their hands apart, but the abomination goo on Luz's leaves them stuck together. Luz uses her foot to free them, but the force sends her splashing in the goo on the ground. Luz praises the plan. Willow perks up. Cut to the exterior of a school.]
Camila had to admit that Hexside looked quite impressive.
[Willow says the school is the Hexside School of Magic and Demonics and urges Luz to stay hidden. Luz, of inside Willow's abomination pot, squeals and giggles. Cut to the interior of Hexside.]
Camila was fairly shocked to see how normal Hexside looked. Aside from being a fair bit fancier looking, it really wasn't all that different from Luz's high school.
[Willow stops at a locker, tickling it to make it open its mouth and give her her books.]
Though of course there were bound to be exceptions.
[A shorter witch reading a magazine bumps into her.]
"Wow, I can't believe how much I've grown since then!" Gus said wonderingly. "Truth be told, I kind of miss being short. Once you're tall, everyone expects you to get stuff off of tall shelves for them. And taking pictures is always a pain in the neck."
[Gus starts talking about humans. Willow unconvincingly denies knowing any humans. Gus shows her a human magazine and muses about the purpose of braces, getting it quite wrong. Luz claims they are for storing treats.]
"Luz is actually messing with you," Camila explained. Luz sulked. Trust Camila to ruin her fun, if only retroactively. "Those are called braces and they're for straightening teeth that are starting to get crooked."
[He looks confused. Willow tells Gus he has to be cool about what she's going to tell him. Gus claims he can be cool, mangling the term in the process.]
"Smooth," Hunter said. Gus hit him with a pillow.
[Willow bids Luz to rise. Luz stands up. Willow criticizes Luz's performance. Gus is amazed to realize Luz's human. Willow says Gus is president of the Human Appreciation society and thus an expert on humans. Gus wonders where Luz's gills are.]
"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, cariño, but humans don't have gills," Camila told him. Gus's face fell theatrically. In truth, he'd realized this a while back, but it seemed to give Luz a great deal of pleasure to troll him with talking about her gills, so he played along.
[Luz says she knew an Augustus back home and he was called Gus.]
Camila vaguely remembered that Gus from Luz's time in elementary school. The two of them got along reasonably well, she recalled. They were even heading in the direction of friends when Gus's parents moved to California.
[Gus enthusiastically accepts the nickname. A bell screams.]
Camila jumped into the air. She would have appreciated some advance warning!
[Gus announces he has to leave and runs off. Willow tells Luz to get into the pot. Luz hisses as she sinks down.]
"You make such a cute abomination," Amity said.
[Cut to Abomination 101. The students are very nervous. Professor Hermonculus harshly fails a student for her admittedly bad abomination.]
Camila clenched her fists. As much as that abomination had lived up to its name, that was no way for a teacher to treat his students.
[The abomination and the student deflate. She wheels her abomination off the platform at the front of the room. Professor Hermonculus insults everyone and threatens them with extra homework if the next abomination is a failure.]
Hexside may not have been like Hogwarts, Camila reflected, but this professor seemed to be as much of a bully as Snape was.
[All grumbling. Amity offers to go next and commands her abomination to rise. It rises from the pot, groaning, and poses. Professor Hermonculus refuses and orders Willow to go next. Everyone gives disparaging comments towards Willow.]
"They had no right to talk to you like that!" Hunter said, shaking his fist at the screen.
[Luz encourages Willow. Willow gives her a small smile and nods. She wheels her pot to the front of the room and sets it down nervously. She commands Luz to rise. Luz p unches the lid off and jumps out. Everyone gasps. She commands Luz to bow, which Luz does. The professor asks if Luz speaks. Luz gives an awful pun.]
Everyone winced at the horrible pun.
[The professor is impressed with Luz's pun and gives Willow an A+.]
"See!" Luz said. "He liked my sense of humor! And everyone was happy. Well, not everyone." She looked over at Amity. "So we're good, Mami?"
Camila sighed. She still didn't approve of Luz helping Willow cheat, but it did have to be said that any self-respecting expert in abominations could see that Luz wasn't one and this professor, despite his pretentions, was clearly nothing of the kind. Hell, even Camila, a total laywoman, would probably have been able to tell even if it wasn't her daughter. If he was that bad at his job, perhaps he deserved to be tricked a little. Not that she'd ever admit it aloud, of course.
[Students cheer. The bell screams, coughs. Students leave the room. The professor announces Willow is the new top student. Amity, who was leaving the room, gasps and drops her books as she stops. Professor Hermonculus takes her top student badge.]
"I'm so sorry, Amity," Willow admitted. "I shouldn't have stolen that from you."
"Well, I did kind of deserve it," Amity offered.
Willow shook her head. "No, you earned that badge fair and square. You may have been a bully, but you always earned every single good grade you ever got. Camila's right. I cheated. That badge belonged to you."
[Professor Hermonculus pins the badge to Willow's cowl. Amity is aghast. He nods and his abomination carries him away. Willow turns to leave, but Amity is standing in front of her. Willow gasps. Amity points out Willow was failing when she saw her. Willow deflects her suspicions. Amity is unconvinced and vows to regain her badge. She walks backwards, not breaking eye contact with Willow even as she bumps into another student. Willow worries Amity will expose them. Luz, back in the pot, is sitting at the end of a table with Willow and Gus. Gus wonders if humans eat PB&Js.]
Gus smiled wistfully. "Man, what I wouldn't give for a good pain butter and jelly sandwich, right now."
"Wait, that's what I ate?" Luz said, sounding sick to her stomach.
[Gus breaks the PB&J in half and gives Luz one. She takes the whole thing in her mouth and sinks back into the pot. Willow worries what Amity will do if she sees them. Amity suddenly jumps onto the table. She rants about Luz being an imposter, since abominations don't eat, and demands answers. She g rabs Luz by her shirtfront and shakes her violently.]
"Not quite the meet cute you were dreaming of, eh, Luz?" Willow said teasingly.
Amity looked at the floor, feeling utterly humiliated. "Aw, batata, it's okay," Luz assured her. Camila wondered why Luz was calling Amity a sweet potato. "It's not like Azura and Hecate's first meeting went any better. Hecate cut off Azura's arm, remember?"
[The professor appears and calls Amity out for her jealous ravings. Luz groans as her head falls back.]
"I'm a pretty good actress, aren't I?" Luz said smugly. "Those philistines didn't know when they were missing when they chose not to cast me in Romeo and Juliet."
"Well, your sausages didn't give a good impression," Camila reminded her.
Luz scoffed. "They were a bunch of wimps! True art should shock you! I'll do better in my audition this year, you'll see. You'll all see," she added in a menacing hiss.
[The professor sends Amity to Principal Bump's office. Amity drops Luz and runs off. As Professor Hermonculus leaves, Luz pops back out, sharing a concerned look with Willow. Cut to a classroom, where Luz is standing out of the pot. She urges Willow and Gus to high five her. Willow and Gus stare at her hand, then share a confused look. Gus shrugs. Luz explains what a high five is.]
"As much as the high five is such a part of our society," Vee lectured, "it was actually only invented in the late 1970s, around forty-five years ago." Everyone looked at her with surprise. "I've been reading the encyclopedia a lot," she explained. "There's a lot of useful human facts in there."
"I've got to get my hands on that," Gus said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
[Gus hesitantly gives her a high five. Then he does it several more times with growing confidence. The classroom door opens, revealing Amity. She smirks and steps aside, allowing Principal Bump to enter the room.]
Camila couldn't help but blink. "Would it be rude of me to ask what that is on his head?"
"A little," Amity admitted. "It'll be explained later." Camila nodded. No need to rock the boat.
[Willow greets the principal.]
Camila tensed a little. Her experience with administrators was mixed in the extreme. While Principal Hal was relatively reasonable though somewhat understandingly frustrated with Luz, Vice Principal Stone was a rather cunning and manipulative individual with a grudge against Luz. Camila often butted heads with him and rarely came out the winner. She hoped Bump would be closer to Hal than Stone.
[Luz drops, pretending to be an abomination. Principal Bump steps closer to her. Willow and Gus back off as he kneels down, turning her head. Bump commands Luz to rise. She does, looking nervous. Bump commands Luz to lie down. Luz misinterprets the command and spouts out several lies, including chemtrails being real.]
"What are chemtrails?" Gus wondered.
"Conspiracy nonsense," Luz said dismissively. "Really not worth your time, Gus." Vee shivered a little. She bet that awful curator guy was a big fan of chemtrails.
Principal Bump: Oh, no, abomination. How strange for it to get the command wrong. I mean lie down. [Points to a desk.]
[Bump explains the command and points to a desk. Luz whimpers as she goes to lie down on it. Bump approaches the table with Willow and says he wants to see what Luz is made of. Willow tries to give Bump a list of ingredients, but Bump pulls out a dagger and announces his intention to dissect Luz.]
"OH MY GOSH!" Camila screamed. "Oh, wow, you weren't kidding about almost getting dissected."
"In his defense, Luz had trespassed in his school under false pretenses," Willow offered. "He's a really reasonable person at the end of the day. I don't think he'd have really hurt her…probably."
[Willow takes the offered dagger and smiles at him nervously. She steps closer to Luz. Bump commands Willow to make the first incision.]
"This was probably just him psyching me out and trying to get me to confess," Willow said, wishing she sounded more certain.
[Gus knocks over three abomination pots. The goo spills together, and the formed abominations stand.]
Gus: Run!
Camila grinned a little. Luz may have gotten herself into trouble, but she'd certainly gotten some very loyal friends in exchange. It was marvelous to see someone Luz's age actually go out of his way to help her, something that was distressingly rare in her life.
[Willow and Luz run.]
Amity: They're getting away!
Principal Bump: No, the intruder won't get far.
[He approaches a wall and traces a large spell circle, then slams the wall in the center of it. Red light forms patterns on the walls and floor, spreading from the spell circle. Cut to Willow and Luz running through the halls, both panting as they stop at a corner.]
Luz: This is all my fault, Willow. I just wanted to see what a real magic school was like.
Willow: Well, how do you like it?
Luz: It's lovely, actually.
[Both giggle.]
Willow: Okay, we should get out of here before—
[The red light patterns converge on the walls. When they reach a doorway, a red shield blocks it off. Several more doorways are blocked off, the patterns taking over the school.]
Willow: ...Bump seals us in.
[Willow and Luz reach the central atrium, but doorways are still being sealed off. Shadows fall over them. They turn and gasp. Bump is there, directing abominations toward them. They run a bit and hide behind a pillar.]
Willow: Oh, this is awful. [Sinks to the ground.] I don't know what to do. Amity's right. I'm just Half-a-Witch Willow.
"NO, WILLOW!" Amity shouted. "You're Full-Witch Willow! If anyone's a Half-a-Witch here, it's me!" Luz squeezed Amity's hand.
Luz: You're Full-Witch Willow. And you're great. And someone once told me great witches are resourceful. [Pulls out the contents of her pockets.]
Willow: That's it! [Takes the slime ball.]
Luz: You mean that greasy slime ball?
Willow: Luz, it's a seed! Thank goodness you had it on you.
Luz: Yeah. Thank goodness someone told me to hold on to it.
Willow: [Puts the seed in her lap and traces a spell circle over it.] Please grow!
[Thorny vines grow from the seed, reaching to the ceiling. They stab through abominations and eventually target Principal Bump, sending him to the ceiling and pinning him there. Principal Bump gasps. Vines now cover the entire atrium, curled around pillars and reaching from the bottom most floor to the absolute ceiling. Pink petals fall from above, and several of the vines have flowers on them.]
Principal Bump: Remarkable.
Camila nodded approvingly. At least this Bump was a man who recognized talent when he saw it. Hal, as justified as his exasperation with Luz may be, could never see her positive qualities.
[The lights sealing off the hallways fades.]
Luz: There's the exit!
[Willow puts the seed on the floor and follows Luz to the exit.]
Amity: [Blocking the way.] Not so fast!
[Both gasp.]
Amity: I'm not letting you get away so easily. I want my badge! Abominations, seize!
"Sorry," Amity said with a wince.
"Eh, we kind of had it coming," Luz admitted. "Kind of."
[An abomination comes from behind them. Luz punches it through the chest, then takes Willow's wrist and runs. Amity reforms the abomination and sends it after them again. Luz and Willow now seem to have a clear path to freedom, but another abomination forms in front of them. Willow screams.]
Luz: Whoa!
[The abomination staggers forward. Willow traces out a large spell circle, causing vines to trap the abomination.]
Willow: Get outta here!
Luz: No! I'm not leaving you.
Willow: I may get detention, but you'll get dissected.
[The abominations from before melt through the vines, reforming and staggering toward the girls.]
Willow: So go!
[She waves a hand, summoning two vines to carry Luz over the abomination and out the door. The door slams after the vines retreat.]
"That was very brave of you, Willow," Camila praised. "I'm so grateful you were willing to go to such extreme lengths for my lucecita."
"Of course I would have," Willow said dismissively. "Who wouldn't?"
Camila bit her lip to stop her from saying that the answer to that question was, regrettably, pretty much anyone. It was Luz's place alone to talk about her dismal school experiences with her friends.
Luz: Willow! [Sighs.] I can't save you right now. But I know someone who can! [Runs off.]
Luz: [Running toward them.] Eda!
Eda: Hey, hey, hey, hey! What is this? [Luz hugs her and King.] Ugh! I never understand when you do this.
Luz: Your lesson worked! Keeping junk in my pocket saved my life! [Gasps.] But wait. My new friends. They're in danger.
Willow: Luz!
[Willow and Gus hug Luz, who happily returns it.]
Eda: Seriously, what is that?
Willow: You won't believe it, Luz. Everything is perfect now!
Luz: It's true. I don't believe it.
Camila nodded. That was probably the most sensible thing Luz had said since her adventures began.
Willow: Principal Bump was so impressed by my plant work he's switching me to the plant magic track! Look!
[She backs away and snaps her fingers. With a glow of green magic and a twirl, her sleeves and leggings go from magenta to green.]
"It was well deserved, Willow," Amity said. "Yet I can't help but wonder if you would have become just as talented with abominations without me tormenting you all the time."
"You give yourself too much credit, Amity. I'm just not good at abominations, that's all. Even with your complete support, I'd probably have flunked."
Luz: [Hugs Willow again.] Yes!
[Willow giggles.]
Luz: Whoo! Oh. What about Amity?
Gus: Last we saw, she was asking Bump if today could count as extra credit.
"One should always seize whatever opportunities one can," Amity pontificated.
Luz: Well, I can't wait to see you in action next time I sneak in. [Behind her, Willow winces.]
Gus: Uh, about that. You're kinda, sorta... banned.
Camila tilted her head. Didn't Luz say she was going to the school? How had she managed to reverse the ban?
[He pulls out and unfurls a poster reading "BANNED" with a picture of Luz covered in abomination goo under it.]
Eda: That's my girl!
Camila scowled. Eda shouldn't be encouraging Luz to get into mischief.
Willow: But we could come here and teach you what we learned.
Luz: Aw. That would be nice. But... I have a pretty great teacher already.
Eda: Yeah, that's right. Luz is my student. [Steals the poster.] Back off, academy twerps.
[All laughing.]
Eda: Ah, baby's first wanted poster. Good job, kid. [Pats the top of Luz's head.] Looks like I taught you something after all.
Gus: Uh, you high five with your hands, not your head.
[Confused on what she heard, ending the episode.]
Amity gave a huge sigh of relief. At least that torment was finally over. Not that she hadn't thoroughly deserved it. "The next one isn't going to make me look bad, is it?"
"Not you, no," Luz said. Eda, on the other hand…well, she just hoped Camila would be able to look past Eda's curse to see the incredible person she truly was. Or the fact Eda had almost eaten her. On the bright side, it was when she'd wielded magic for the first time. Hopefully that'd be enough to distract Camila. But Luz didn't hold out much hope.
