Camila had worked all day in her shop, which had finally reopened after that month of inactivity. Her most loyal customers showed up immediately and many other people in the city also came running as soon as they heard the news. In short, Camila had managed to earn a lot of money in just one day despite her unprofitable profession; and when the afternoon came she started counting these earnings thinking that as soon as Luz returned they could go to the tailor and use them to buy her some new clothes. After all, even if she was a puppet, she still needed to change her clothes from time to time.

But Luz hadn't returned home in the afternoon. Initially Camila hadn't paid much attention to it: her daughter had probably just stopped to talk to someone she had met at school. After another hour, however, Luz still hadn't returned, and Camila had therefore started to think that perhaps she had disobeyed her (again) and had gone to play as soon as she left school without worrying about returning home. However, when evening was approaching and the light started to fade and Luz still hadn't returned, she seriously started to worry: what if something had happened to her? Gravesfield was a city accustomed to strange and magical things, but despite this there was no shortage of people who would have done anything to get hold of a puppet that could move and speak by itself.

"I'll go look for her" she finally decided, and left the house quickly without even bothering to cover herself enough for the cold.

Willow and Gus peeked out from where they lived, both with worried expressions on their faces. Even though they wanted to believe that Luz was just being naughty and therefore fine, they couldn't help but worry. They were silent for almost half an hour, then Willow made a decision she had never, ever thought she would one day make. "I'll go look for her too" she said, heading towards a small crack in the window, but large enough to let her pass. "You stay here in case she comes back"

"Wait, Willow! You can't go out there, it's dangerous!" Gus tried to stop her. "I'll go instead of you. I'm small and I'm an illusionist, I can blend in easily! It's better if you stay here in case she comes back..."

Willow felt moved: she knew that her friend was mustering all his courage to propose such a thing, and that he was actually more scared than she was. "No, Gus, I'll go. I may be clumsy and heavy, but I can still fly and see the landscape from above" she said. "It's evening now, there aren't many birds around. I won't take any risks"

"But I'll still take less risks than you! Sorry Willow, but that's non-negotiable!" Gus answered and without waiting for a reply from the cricket he slipped through the crack in the window and went out of the shop.

Even though it was almost summer, the air was still cold, and as soon as he stepped outside Gus shivered. He took a deep breath: it was the first time he had left the shop in who knows how many years. He looked around and what he saw was a simple road, but even though the sun had not yet set it seemed gloomy and dark to him; his little heart began to beat faster and faster, until it felt like he was running a marathon. Every sound, even the tiniest rustle, seemed amplified thousands of times in his head. His body tensed and his spider legs tightened around his abdomen, trembling in fear. Why, why had he done it? Why did he leave? What was he thinking!? He wasn't a hero, he was just a little spider who couldn't even make a web! He couldn't be outside without a human to protect him! He could already glimpse the horrible shadow of a bird's wings covering the sky or hear the terrifying clicking of the legs of a scorpion or a mantis or even another spider larger than himself. He wanted to run, but he couldn't move...

"Gus" Willow's voice woke him from his immobility; the cricket had come out of the crack in the window just like him. "Do you remember what I taught you?"

That's right, the method to banish fear and anxiety; Willow had taught it to Gus when they first met and he still didn't have the courage to even come closer than half a meter to her. The spider took a deep breath and then began to whistle, and as he did so he raised his eight legs one by one, first in one direction and then in the other; by the time he was finished, his heart rate had dropped significantly, as had his breathing rate, and he could think more clearly. "Thanks, Willow"

"It's okay. You don't have to be ashamed of this" the cricket said. She too was shivering at the thought of being outside Camila's shop and not being well hidden by Luz's closed hand, but she was concentrating as hard as she could on staying calm. "Gus, seriously, I'll go. You don't have to do this"

The spider clenched his legs slightly, ashamed of his weakness. Then he said: "Together"

"What?"

"Let's go look for Luz together, you and me"

"Gus, you don't have to..."

"I don't want to let you go out alone, Willow. I'm afraid of the outside world… but I'm much more afraid of losing my friend. If we work together we will find Luz faster, right?"

Willow smiled touched by Gus' affection; he was like a little brother to her, and she didn't want to put him in danger, but she knew he wouldn't back down. Gus may be afraid of many things, but he would always face those fears if it meant protecting someone dear to him. "Okay. We'll do it together" she said, and as she did so she grabbed him by the abdomen with four of her six paws.

Gus had a bad feeling. "Um… what do you have in mind?"

"I told you, let's go look for Luz together. We'll do it faster by flying"

"But I don't have wings!"

"But I have them. I'll take you"

"Are you crazy!? You're already too heavy to fly well on your own!"

"Hey!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. But you can't deny that this seems like a really bad idea!"

"Don't worry, you don't weigh that much. I'll just have to push myself a little more than normal. We'll just fly in a slightly eccentric way... there's no risk of crashing"

"ARE WE IN RISK OF CRASHING!?"

"I just told you no!"

"Yes, but you used that phrase!"

Willow sighed. "Stay calm, okay? I'm telling you again, there is no risk of crashing" she said, and then she got into position to make a big jump; she bent her two back legs as much as she could and then she spread her wings. "Maybe" she added at the last moment.

"What did you just say… AAAAH!" Gus screamed as Camila's windowsill disappeared from under his paws and he and Willow leaped upward. The cricket began to move her wings frantically as she had never done in her life; for a few seconds they found themselves falling but then, miraculously, their fall reversed direction and they headed upwards. For a few minutes they continued to go up and down as if they were on a roller coaster; the poor Gus looked like he was about to throw up. "Can't you at least go straight!?"

"I'm doing my best!" Willow exclaimed. "Stay still and don't talk! You're unbalancing me!"

The two poor arthropods continued to move through the air in a completely irregular trajectory; if anyone had seen them they would probably have thought that cricket must have been a fan of acrobatics... or that she had fallen into a barrel of particularly strong beer. But despite that most ungraceful flight, Willow slowly managed to drag herself upward, until the houses were small below them. "Okay, Gus, you check if you see anything, I'll take care of making sure there are no birds around!"

The spider obeyed and looked down, searching all the streets and alleys Willow passed, but found no sign of Luz. "Let's try going towards the street that goes to school" he proposed.

Willow knew which street Gus was referring to, because she had listened when Camila explained it to Luz, so she had no trouble finding it; but even there they couldn't see the puppet anywhere. She let out a huff of irritation: her wings were hurting from how much she was beating them. "Let's try to think like her" she said. "If you were a capricious and naughty girl, with your head perpetually in the clouds and only intent on having fun, where would you go?"

Gus looked around and noticed a group of tents and rides nearby. "Of course! A circus!" he exclaimed. "Luz might have gone there after school! Let's go check it out!"

With the last strength she had left Willow flew towards the circus and as soon as she was above one of the tents she dropped onto one of them; the two arthropods bounced on the soft surface a couple of times before managing to stop. As soon as he was able to get to his feet Gus ran to Willow; the cricket was so exhausted that she didn't even seem to be able to move. "Are you okay?" Gus asked her.

"Yeah... I just need to catch my breath" Willow answered. "Let's look for Luz now"

The two arthropods dragged themselves to the edge of the tent and from there they could see the circus below; the visitors had now left and the workers were taking advantage of the last hour of daylight to clean and dismantle the attractions. "Hmm. If Luz was here, she should be gone by now" Willow murmured. "Maybe we made a mistake. We should..."

"Hey, Adeghast! Is it true what they say? That your show was interrupted by a living puppet?"

As soon as they heard those words, both Willow and Gus rushed to the other side of the tent, from which they could see two men arguing. One looked a bit like an octopus, while the other was so short he looked like a gnome and had a nose so hooked it looked like a bird's beak. "That's right, Hermonculus!" the octopus-like guy, who supposedly went by the name of Adeghast, was saying. "A real pain in the ass... but I've taken care of it. I've locked her in the puppet storage room along with her peers and have already informed Mr. Bump"

"Oh oh! I almost feel sorry for her. You know how much Mr. Bump hates those who cause trouble in his circus!" the man named Hermonculus chuckled. "He will surely be angry like a bull..."

Willow and Gus didn't hear what else that man said: instead, they rushed at full speed to find the puppet storage. They jumped from one tent to another and finally found one whose sign warned that it was a puppet theater; they entered and went behind the stage, and found a large quantity of puppets scattered on the floor, including that of a strange old man similar to a magician. It didn't take them long to find a locked door; they slipped under it, passing through the thin space between the door and the floor, and finally they were inside. And there, sitting on the floor and with her head tucked between her knees, was the unmistakable silhouette of... "LUZ!" they shouted in unison.

The puppet looked up in surprise. "Guys!?" she exclaimed with a relieved expression, which however quickly turned into concern. "What are you doing here? Weren't you afraid to go out?"

"We were more afraid for your safety! You didn't come home and answered was worried! And so were we!" Gus replied.

"Yeah! Are you okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?" Willow asked apprehensively.

"Don't worry, guys, I'm fine. They just locked me here" Luz replied, touched by the fact that her two friends had defied their fear to come and help her. But the smile soon disappeared from her face when she saw the cricket's furious expression.

"Very good, now that we've made sure you haven't been abused or hurt... WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" Willow exclaimed. "I hope you have a good explanation for this, because I almost blew my heart out flying all the way out here looking for you, and Gus nearly threw up at least twenty times!"

Luz blushed embarrassed. "I didn't do it on purpose! I thought that here I would find puppets like me, and when I saw the puppets acting on stage I thought that was it, and that one of them was really about to hurt someone else and I intervened ... instead they were inanimate, and the puppeteer locked me up here"

Willow's anger waned a little. After all, Luz had acted in good faith. "Okay, I can understand that you just wanted to help, but anyway why were you here? Camila told you to come home after school!"

"Um..." Luz scratched her head even more embarrassed than before.

That behavior made Willow raise an eyebrow. "Luz... you went to school, right?". She didn't need an answer: the puppet's guilty expression was worth a thousand words. "Ugh, you're really incorrigible! Uff, okay, I need to stay calm. Let's think about getting you out of here now"

"Maybe I can pick the lock" Gus offered, pointing to the door. "I should be small enough to fit in. Once inside it should be easy"

Luz took him and brought him to the lock. "Have you done this before?"

"Um... no. I'm not a thief, and even if I were I wouldn't need to break into doors to get into other people's homes" Gus admitted. "But there's no harm in trying. So, let's try..."

But just then the door burst open and Adeghast appeared grimly; Gus and Willow barely had time to hide in one of Luz's pockets before he noticed them. "I hope you enjoyed your last hours, wooden girl, because now Mr. Bump wants to see you" he said, grabbing Luz's arm and roughly dragging her away, ignoring her protests.

Even this chapter, while remaining connected to Collodi's original story, is completely of my invention given that, as I have already explained, Jiminy Cricket is not a constant presence in Pinocchio's life and therefore does not go to help him after he is captured by Mangiafuoco; that is a Disney invention (the fact that Gus suggests picking the lock is a reference to the Disney film, where Jiminy Cricket does just that). This chapter rather served to better outline Willow and Gus's insecurities and their fear of the outside world, which are in turn connected to the canon of The Owl House: in the series in a flashback it is in fact shown how both Willow and Gus were afraid to mix with others, precisely because they were different and inadequate and therefore were bullied, which here, given that they are a cricket and a spider, translates into being treated like food by anything. The method that Willow and Gus use to calm down is also present in The Owl House, always in the same flashback (Gus will even later teach it to Hunter), with the difference that there they use their fingers instead of their paws because... well, there they have human form and here not.